What makes the site unusual is less any single monument than the sheer density of them: twelve features in close proximity, including nine ring-barrows, a tumulus, and two platforms, all sharing the same waterlogged, unassuming ground.

Ring-barrows are a form of prehistoric funerary monument, typically consisting of a low circular mound enclosed by a surrounding ditch, known as a fosse, with no raised outer bank. They are found across Ireland and Britain and are generally associated with the Bronze Age, though their exact function and date can vary. When the archaeologist M. J. O'Kelly surveyed the Carrickittle complex in 1944, he noted that all the barrows were identical in their method of construction, even if their dimensions differed. The diameters range from roughly 4.5 metres to about 11 metres. Eight of the barrows and the two platforms occupy a single field, with the tumulus in the nearest corner of the field to the east, and a ninth barrow tucked into the corner of the field to the north. O'Kelly observed that despite the concentration of monuments, there is no obvious arrangement or pattern to how they have been laid out across the fields. The road runs immediately to the west of the complex, and a sand-pit sits just beyond that.

Because the site occupies working agricultural land on a marshy meadow, a visitor should expect the ground to be soft underfoot, particularly in wetter months. The monuments themselves are described as very slight, meaning the mounds are low and unspectacular to the untrained eye; what rewards attention here is the cumulative effect of so many features gathered in one place rather than any dramatic individual structure. The road to the west provides the clearest orientation point. Access to fields of this kind is subject to landowner permission, and it is worth bearing that in mind before approaching.