It is, in fact, a fulacht fia, a type of ancient cooking site found in great numbers across Ireland, typically dating to the Bronze Age. The standard interpretation is that such sites were used to heat water by dropping fire-heated stones into a trough, then using the boiling water to cook meat. The burnt and shattered stones were discarded to form the characteristic mound that survives today, often curved or horseshoe-shaped around the central working area.

This particular example is a well-preserved specimen. The mound measures roughly 21.4 metres east to west and 22 metres north to south, with its incurved front opening to the north. It rises approximately 0.8 metres above the central hollow, and on its crest sits a depression measuring 9 metres by 6 metres and about 0.6 metres deep, likely the ghostly outline of the trough or working pit around which the whole activity once centred. The proximity to the stream is no coincidence; a reliable water source was essential to the function of these sites, and across Ireland fulachtaí fia cluster persistently near rivers, streams, and boggy ground. The Kilcooly example follows this pattern precisely, its location suggesting whoever used it had a practical eye for topography as much as anything else.