What they eventually uncovered was a flat cemetery, a type of burial site that carries no mound or visible earthwork above ground and so leaves almost no trace on the landscape. This one occupied an area just twelve metres by four, and within that modest footprint it preserved a sequence of cremation burials that speak quietly to ritual behaviour several thousand years old.

The site at Farrankelly came to light in stages. A geophysical survey carried out in 2015 by Joanna Leigh identified circular anomalies and associated features in the south-western corner of a proposed development. Testing followed in 2017, led by Rob Lynch and Enda Lydon of IAC Archaeology, which confirmed three distinct areas of archaeological interest. Excavation of the relevant area was eventually undertaken in 2020 by Muireann Ní Cheallacháin, also of IAC Archaeology. What she and her team found were nine small token cremation pits, a token cremation deposit, and a burial pit that still contained a food vessel in its original position. Token cremation is a practice in which only a small portion of cremated remains is placed in a pit, rather than the full deposit, suggesting deliberate and possibly symbolic selection. At the western end of the site, several pits had been cut into one another over time, creating a layered sequence of burials. The earliest pit, C142, was later truncated by pit C156 and partially sealed by a shallow cremation deposit. The final pit in the sequence held a large quartzite stone that appears to have been placed there deliberately, with the cremated material deposited carefully around it. The remains are considered likely to be Bronze Age in date, consistent with comparable sites elsewhere in the surrounding Wicklow landscape.