When excavations began in 2003, archaeologists believed they were looking at a corn-drying kiln, a familiar enough find in the Irish midlands. It was only when further work was carried out the following year that the structure revealed itself as a souterrain, an underground passage built from drystone walling, of the kind commonly constructed in early medieval Ireland as a place of refuge, storage, or concealment.

The souterrain had a particular detail that sets it apart from a routine underground find: its entranceway had been heavily burnt. Whether this burning was accidental, deliberate, or connected to whatever circumstances caused the structure to be abandoned is not recorded, but at some point after it fell out of use, the passage was filled in completely, which likely accounts for why it went unrecognised for so long, and why it was initially mistaken for something else entirely. The site is cited in research by O'Conor, published in 2007, and now carries a preservation order under the National Monuments Acts, which gives some indication of its significance despite its modest surface footprint.