The name crannog derives from the Old Irish for tree or timber, reflecting the wooden foundations and palisades that gave these lake-dwellings their structure. They were chosen for their natural defensibility, accessible only by boat or a submerged causeway known only to residents, and they appear in their hundreds across the Irish landscape, many still visible as low, reedy humps breaking the water's surface.

Dumha Locha itself is a quietly suggestive name. In Irish, dumha can refer to a burial mound or a raised earthen feature, and locha simply means of the lake, so the placename carries a faint archaeological hint of its own, pointing to a landscape that was already layered with human meaning before any formal record was kept. Crannogs in County Mayo vary considerably in date and character; some were modest seasonal refuges, others the fortified residences of local lords occupied across many centuries. Without more specific documentation for this particular site, its construction date, period of use, and the identity of those who built or inhabited it remain open questions.