That absence is itself a kind of curiosity. The structure has earned a place in the national record of archaeological sites, which typically encompasses everything from megalithic tombs and medieval tower houses to post-medieval vernacular buildings and industrial remnants, but what exactly this particular building is, who built it, or when, remains publicly unstated.

The monument sits in a county with an extraordinarily layered past, from Bronze Age field systems preserved beneath blanket bog to the ruins left behind by famine and clearance. Mayo's recorded monuments range across thousands of years and dozens of types, and the simple designation "building" can cover a considerable span, from a roofless stone cottage to a more substantial planned structure. Without further detail attached to this record, the Corlisland building occupies an intriguing position, officially noted, formally classified, and yet essentially unknown to the public in any meaningful descriptive sense.