This is a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric outdoor cooking site found in considerable numbers across Ireland. The typical arrangement involves a trough dug into the ground, a nearby hearth for heating stones, and a horseshoe-shaped mound formed from the discarded burnt and shattered stones that accumulated over repeated use. Water placed in the trough would be brought to a boil by dropping in the heated stones, and food, most likely wrapped meat, lowered into it. The method is simple and effective, and experimental reconstructions have shown it works reliably.

When P. J. Hartnett recorded this example in 1939, he described a bank standing three feet high, with the horseshoe measuring fifty-six feet by forty feet and its opening facing to the north-west. Those are substantial dimensions, suggesting repeated or prolonged use of the site over time. The characteristic horseshoe shape is formed almost incidentally, as spent stones are tossed to the sides and rear of the working area, leaving the open end clear for access to the trough. By the time of more recent inspection, the site had become too overgrown to estimate its dimensions reliably, though the mound of burnt material remains in place.