This is a burnt mound, a type of site found across Ireland and Britain and dating typically to the Bronze Age. The general principle is straightforward: stones were heated in a fire, dropped into a water-filled trough to bring it to the boil, and then discarded once spent. Over time, the shattered and blackened debris accumulated into a mound, often crescent-shaped, beside whatever water source was being used. They are among the most common prehistoric monument types in Ireland, yet individually they tend to attract little attention, sitting quietly in the corners of fields.

This particular example was first identified by the geologist and archaeologist G. F. Mitchell, a reference that appears in M. J. O'Kelly's foundational 1954 study of the monument type. The site sits on level ground with a small canalised stream running roughly north-northeast to south-southwest about forty metres to the south-east, which would have provided the water supply the activity depended on. By 1970, the spread of burnt and broken stone was visible in disturbed ground following ploughing. Archaeological testing carried out by J. Whittaker, at a location approximately ninety metres to the north-west, produced no related material, suggesting the activity was fairly localised around the mound itself.