It is irregular in shape, roughly nineteen and a half metres across east to west and rising about a metre and a half above the surrounding ground, and at first glance it might pass for a natural rise in the landscape. What gives it away is the stone underneath. At some point, the top of the mound was partially quarried away, and in doing so, whoever removed the material inadvertently exposed the cairn construction beneath the turf and sod that had otherwise concealed it.

A cairn of this kind is essentially a deliberate accumulation of stones, typically raised in prehistoric times as a funerary or commemorative monument. They vary enormously in form and date, but the combination here of substantial diameter, flat top, and stone core places it within a tradition of monument-building that stretches back thousands of years in Ireland. The position is characteristic too: elevated ground with a commanding view across lower terrain was a recurring choice for those who built such structures, though whether that reflected concerns about visibility, the symbolic importance of high places, or something else entirely is rarely straightforward to say. The partial quarrying, common at many similar sites across the country, is an unwitting archaeological service, since it confirms what the grassy exterior does not obviously advertise.