This particular barrow in Mitchelstowndown East, County Limerick, exists in the archaeological record largely because of a faint smudge of discolouration in a field, the sort of circular cropmark that appears when buried features alter how grass or crops grow above them, and which is all but invisible to anyone standing on the ground.

The site belongs to a cluster of three barrows, a grouping that suggests this stretch of wet Limerick pasture was once a place of some significance for the communities who buried their dead here during prehistory. A ditch-barrow, the likely classification for this example, is a burial mound defined by a surrounding ditch rather than simply a raised earthwork, and the probable presence of one immediately to the east adds further interest to the group. The site first came to official attention through aerial photographs taken on 3 November 1984 during survey work for the Bórd Gáis Éireann Curraleigh West to Limerick gas pipeline. Those images, catalogued as BGE 1/5000, reference 2579, Site 245, caught a circular cropmark with a diameter of approximately 4.5 metres. That same faint ring remained visible in Ordnance Survey of Ireland orthophotographs taken between 2005 and 2012, and was clearly legible again in a Google Earth image dated 20 March 2018. The record was compiled by Fiona Rooney and uploaded to the national monuments database in September 2021.

Because the site sits in wet pasture on private farmland and carries no marker or signage, there is little to see at ground level for the casual visitor. The cropmark itself is best appreciated through the satellite and aerial imagery now freely available online, where the circular outline reads with surprising clarity once you know what you are looking for. Anyone with a serious interest in the site should consult the national monuments record before making any approach, and should bear in mind that the surrounding ground is likely to be soft and poorly drained for much of the year.