What remains is a grass-covered spread of burnt and heat-fractured stone, the characteristic signature of a fulacht fia, scattered across the ground where a mound once stood roughly a metre high.

A fulacht fia is a type of prehistoric cooking place found in enormous numbers across Ireland, typically consisting of a trough dug into the ground, a hearth for heating stones, and a mound of the shattered, fire-cracked stones that accumulated over repeated use. Water in the trough was brought to the boil by dropping in the heated stones, and meat could then be cooked in it. The Derryleigh example is not isolated; another fulacht fiadh lies approximately eight metres to the south, and a further one is recorded immediately adjacent, suggesting this area of mid Cork saw repeated or sustained activity during the Bronze Age. The clustering of such sites in a single locality is not unusual, but it does hint that this patch of ground held some particular practical appeal, perhaps reliable water, convenient fuel, or simply a location already associated with communal use.