Roof slabs, some shifted from their original positions, poke through the vegetation, hinting at a structure beneath. Stone walling is visible where the interior once opened, though the passage itself is now inaccessible, sealed by time, collapse, and the encroachment of plant life.

What lies here is a souterrain, a type of underground stone-built passage or chamber constructed during the early medieval period in Ireland, typically between the seventh and twelfth centuries. Souterrains were associated with nearby settlements and served various purposes, most likely as places of refuge, cool storage for foodstuffs, or both. They were built by corbelling or lintelling stone into long narrow tunnels, sometimes with right-angle turns and low creeps designed to slow an intruder. The displaced roof slabs at Beenalaght suggest the structure was never particularly robust at surface level, or that the ground has shifted considerably over the centuries since it was last in use. The settlement it once served on the western side of this North Cork slope has left little else visible above ground.