That combination is the signature of a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking site found in considerable numbers across Ireland. The basic principle involves heating stones in a fire, dropping them into a water-filled pit or trough to bring it to the boil, and using that heated water to cook meat. The process is simple and effective, and it leaves behind exactly what was recorded here: scorched, shattered stone and soil blackened by centuries of organic residue.

A local farmer provided the description of the mound as it stood, roughly half a metre high and irregularly shaped, before it was levelled in 1986 and 1987. During that levelling, a pit-like feature was noted within the mound, consistent with the kind of trough, whether wood-lined or dug directly into the ground, that would have held the heated water. The site sat in a marshy field beside a stream, which is entirely typical of where fulachtaí fia tend to be found; proximity to a reliable water source was essential to their function, and low-lying, damp ground appears to have been actively preferred. Thousands of similar sites have been identified across the island, with concentrations in Munster in particular, though they appear throughout every county. Most date to the Bronze Age, roughly 2000 to 500 BC, though some have produced dates extending into the early medieval period.

The mound no longer exists above ground, having been levelled during farm work in the late 1980s. What remains, if anything, would lie beneath the surface of the field. The marshy ground beside the stream is likely much as it always was.