It sits on a natural platform on the north-west-facing slope of the Mushera Mountains, above the head of the Owenbaun River valley, and its proportions are precise enough to still be read clearly: the entrance stones set parallel to one another, placed end-on to the circumference rather than flush with it, a detail that distinguishes this Cork type from stone circles elsewhere in Ireland.

Five-stone circles are a specific regional form, concentrated in Cork and Kerry, and typically Bronze Age in date. The five uprights, known as orthostats, range here from just under a metre to a metre and a half in length and reach similar heights, with one exception: the western side stone survives only as a stump, standing a mere fifteen centimetres above ground. The main axis of the circle runs north-east to south-west, an alignment that recurs in many Cork examples and is thought to relate to solar or lunar events, though the precise significance remains debated. What gives Cloghboola Beg an additional layer of interest is that the circle does not stand alone. A radial-stone enclosure, a standing stone, and a number of prostrate slabs lie to the south, making this a genuine ceremonial complex rather than an isolated monument. Radial-stone enclosures, in which upright stones are arranged like spokes around a central space, are themselves unusual features in the Irish prehistoric landscape, and their relationship to associated stone circles is not yet fully understood.