The only clue to its existence is a spread of burnt material reported by local sources, and even that is not visible from the surface. What lies beneath is a fulacht fia, one of the most common prehistoric monument types found in Ireland, yet one that still generates genuine debate about its purpose.

Fulachta fiadh, as they are known in the plural, are ancient outdoor cooking sites, typically Bronze Age in date, consisting of a mound of fire-cracked stones accumulated beside a trough or pit. The usual interpretation is that stones were heated in a fire, then dropped into a water-filled trough to bring it to boiling point, allowing meat to be cooked by immersion. Thousands of these sites have been recorded across Ireland, often turning up in low-lying or waterlogged ground. The example at Skenakilla fits a familiar pattern in one respect: nothing marks it on the landscape today. The burnt stone scatter noted by local informants is the kind of residual trace that can persist in the soil for millennia, even after ploughing, drainage, and centuries of agricultural use have levelled any original mound. The site itself leaves no impression on the pasture above it, which makes its continued presence in the archaeological record quietly remarkable.