It sits in that curious category of listed sites that are known to exist, known to matter in some official sense, but whose details remain largely undigested by the broader record.

Caves in the Irish archaeological landscape can carry considerable significance. Some served as shelters in prehistoric periods, others as places of ritual deposit, and a small number contain evidence of habitation stretching back thousands of years. Mayo itself has a geology, shaped in part by limestone karst formations in some areas, that is capable of producing cave systems of genuine archaeological interest. Whether the Ballinvilla cave falls into any of these categories, what has been found there or near it, and when it first came to formal attention, are questions that the available record does not currently answer.