Burnt mounds, known in Irish archaeology as fulachtaí fia, are among the most common prehistoric monument types in Ireland, typically appearing as kidney-shaped or horseshoe-shaped spreads of fire-cracked stone and charcoal-darkened earth. They are generally associated with the repeated heating of stones in a fire and plunging them into a water-filled trough, a process that may have served cooking, bathing, brewing, or industrial purposes, though their exact function remains debated.

Archaeological testing carried out in 2022 by T. McHugh of Fadó Archaeology, under licence 22E0863, examined an area at Cargagh that had been earmarked for soil storage as part of a proposed development. The testing revealed this particular feature, recorded as site 2, as a spread of charcoal-enriched soil and heat-affected stones measuring approximately 3.3 metres north to south and 2.2 metres east to west, with evidence suggesting it extended further southward beyond the excavated area. A second burnt mound lies just 5 metres to the north-east, and a third was identified nearby, all within that compact 1.25-hectare zone. The proximity of the three sites to one another is notable; it implies either sustained activity over time at this location, or repeated return to a spot that offered some particular practical advantage, perhaps reliable water, shelter from the slope above, or both.

All three features have been preserved in place beneath a geotextile membrane and a layer of introduced soil, meaning they remain intact underfoot, unseen but undisturbed, waiting in the dark beneath whatever development now sits above them.