A cairn, in the Irish prehistoric context, is a mound of stones raised over a burial or series of burials, sometimes modest in scale, sometimes forming the centre of a more elaborate funerary complex. The one at Ballynultagh was apparently unremarkable enough that a forestry road was driven straight through it.

What emerged from the disturbed earth was a small but telling collection of objects: prehistoric pottery, worked flint, and cremated bone. These were gathered and brought to the National Museum of Ireland in 1979 by a man named Paddy Healy, whose intervention ensured the material was not simply lost to the machinery and soil. Analysis of the cremated remains indicated they belonged to a single individual, possibly a young adult male. The combination of worked flint, pottery, and cremation is broadly consistent with prehistoric funerary practice in Ireland, though without further excavation, the precise date and cultural context of this particular burial remains uncertain.