It is a crannog, the term for an artificial or partially artificial island dwelling used throughout early medieval Ireland, and this one occupies the tip of a narrow promontory that extends out into the lake rather than sitting fully detached from the shore, giving it an ambiguous, in-between quality that is part of what makes it interesting.

The site was described by archaeologist Aidan O'Sullivan, whose 2004 survey places it on the southwest shore of Newtown Lough. The mound measures roughly 19 metres north to south and 29 metres east to west, rising only one to two metres above the surrounding ground. Its upper surface is level and grassed over, while the sides facing the water on the north, east, and west have been scarped, meaning cut or eroded into a steep face, dropping away sharply to the shoreline. No wooden posts are visible, which is not unusual given the age such structures typically represent, but there is a slight kerb of stones traceable along the north side, hinting at deliberate construction beneath the grass. Whether the promontory setting was always part of the design or whether the lakeshore has shifted over centuries is the kind of question the site quietly raises without answering.