The ambiguity itself is part of what makes the site worth attention.

A rath is a roughly circular earthen enclosure, typically dating to the early medieval period in Ireland and most commonly associated with a farmstead or dwelling. Souterrains, the underground stone-lined passages or chambers often found within such enclosures, were built for a variety of purposes, including storage and possibly refuge. Their roofs were generally constructed using large flat stones laid as lintels across the passage walls, and it is precisely this kind of stone that appears here at Carrowbaun. Whether what is visible represents the collapsed or partially exposed roof of such a structure, or whether the limestone is simply part of the natural geology of the area, remains uncertain. That unresolved quality is not unusual in Irish field archaeology, where the distinction between human construction and geological accident can take careful excavation to establish.