These structures were the working warehouses of the canal age, built to receive, hold, and dispatch goods moving along artificial waterways that connected the Irish midlands to the coast. Their presence in a place like Dunlo is a reminder that the Grand Canal's reach extended well beyond Dublin, threading through towns and small settlements that have since lost much of their connection to that era of commercial water transport.

The Grand Canal's extension into Ballinasloe via a branch off the main line was completed in the early nineteenth century, opening the town to trade in turf, grain, and livestock goods that could now move efficiently by barge rather than by road. Canal stores were typically solid, functional structures, often limestone-built, positioned close to quays or harbour basins where barges could unload directly into storage. Dunlo, sitting as it does near the River Suck and the canal infrastructure that served Ballinasloe, would have been a natural location for such a facility, serving the commercial needs of one of the largest livestock fairs in Europe, the famous Ballinasloe October Fair, which drew traders from across the country.