Its existence came to light not through excavation or archival research, but through the patient scrutiny of aerial photographs, the kind of quiet detection that has transformed understanding of the Irish landscape over the past few decades.

The monument was identified from aerial photography taken by the Archaeological Survey of Ireland on 18 September 2005, which revealed a circular enclosure of approximately 20 metres in diameter. Subsequent orthophotographs, taken between 2005 and 2012, and Google Earth imagery confirmed the form in more detail: a scarp, an inner fosse (a ditch, typically cut to define or defend an enclosed area), a bank, and an outer fosse, all describing the characteristic profile of a burial barrow. A further Google Earth image dated 24 September 2018 showed an external bank running from the east, around the south, and across to the west. The site was compiled and documented by Fiona Rooney, with the record uploaded in April 2021. Roughly 55 metres to the south-southwest lies a separate ringfort, a circular enclosed settlement of early medieval Ireland, suggesting this stretch of ground was in active use across different periods. The barrow itself sits approximately 90 metres east of the townland boundary with Ballyhahill.

Because the monument does not appear on historical Ordnance Survey maps, there are no conventional landmarks to guide a visitor toward it, and the poorly drained ground makes approach uncomfortable in wet months. The site is most legible from the air or from orthoimagery rather than at ground level, where the earthworks, though measurable in plan, may read as little more than a slight rise and depression in rough pasture. Anyone wishing to locate it should consult the Archaeological Survey of Ireland's database entry and cross-reference the 2005 aerial photographs, which remain the clearest record of its form. The company of the nearby ringfort, invisible from most angles, adds an extra layer to a landscape that rewards attention more than spectacle.