It has been identified as a fulacht fia, a type of ancient site found in great numbers throughout Ireland, typically consisting of a horseshoe-shaped mound of fire-cracked stones, the debris of repeated heating and water-boiling over many centuries. The usual method involved heating stones in a fire and dropping them into a water-filled trough until the water boiled, a process thought to have been used for cooking, and possibly for other purposes including textile processing or bathing.

What makes this particular example quietly curious is the uncertainty surrounding it. A low mound is present, and the site sits in the characteristic position beside a watercourse, which is the single most consistent feature of fulacht fia sites across Ireland. Yet the burnt and shattered stone material that normally defines and confirms these sites was not identified during survey. The site was recorded as part of the archaeological inventory of mid Cork, yet it sits in an ambiguous space, geographically and evidentially, close enough to the expected pattern to be classified, but without the physical confirmation that would settle the matter.