It is catalogued under the name Gaddaghanstown 1 and classified as a crannog, the term used for an artificial or artificially modified island, typically built during early medieval Ireland as a defended homestead. The complication here is that the island may not be artificial at all.

Researcher Aidan O'Sullivan, writing in 2004, described the feature as probably a natural island, roughly 30 metres north to south and 20 metres east to west, rising about three metres above the lake surface with a gradual, even profile. A causeway of approximately 15 metres in length and 5 metres in width links it to the shore, and the island carries a light cover of trees. What adds further texture to the site is the presence of at least three rock platforms nearby, composed of closely packed limestone blocks. One lies out in open water to the northeast; two others sit on the shoreline directly above the island. They are low and irregular, ranging from roughly 15 to 20 metres across. Whether these platforms are geological accidents of the limestone-rich midlands landscape or whether they played some role in the use of the island is not resolved by the available description. The word "probably" in O'Sullivan's account does considerable work: the island looks natural, but the question of human modification, and the purpose behind the causeway, remains open.