This is a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking site found in great numbers across Ireland, typically Bronze Age in origin. The form is almost always the same: a trough was dug near a water source, lined to hold water, and stones were heated in a nearby fire before being dropped in to bring the water to a boil. The shattered, fire-cracked stones were then raked out and piled up, over repeated use across years or centuries, into the characteristic curved mound that survives today.

At Templevally, the mound measures 13.3 metres long, 11.6 metres wide, and rises to 1.15 metres, making it a reasonably substantial example. The opening of the horseshoe faces south-west, oriented directly towards a well that lies to the west of the site, a detail that underlines how deliberately these monuments were positioned in relation to their water supply. The lane that now runs beside the site has done some damage; the arms of the mound are truncated where the lane cuts through, and the western side of the lane itself is made up of the same burnt material, suggesting the mound once extended further in that direction. A circular enclosure lies to the north-north-east of the mound, hinting that this small area of ground held more than one focus of prehistoric activity, though the relationship between the two features is not recorded in detail.