When the field was ploughed, local people noted a spread of heat-shattered stones and charcoal-darkened soil, the classic signature of a burnt mound. These low, crescent-shaped accumulations of fire-cracked stone are found across Ireland in their thousands, most dating to the Bronze Age. The working theory is that they were used for cooking or processing, perhaps by repeatedly heating stones in a fire and dropping them into a water-filled trough to bring it to the boil. Over time, the discarded, spent stones pile up into the mound that survives.

What makes this particular site quietly interesting is its near-disappearance. By 2007, no burnt material was visible at the surface at all. The ploughing that briefly exposed the site is also what helped to disperse it, leaving only a level dry area amid the surrounding rush-growth as a faint trace. The field sits on a gentle north-east-facing slope, unremarkable to the eye. Yet the site does not stand entirely alone: two further possible burnt mounds lie within roughly 100 metres to the north-east, suggesting that this corner of Rathcoursey may have seen repeated, or at least clustered, activity during the same broad period. Whether those sites are better preserved underground is unknown.