It is neither. Beneath the turf lies a dense accumulation of burnt stone and charcoal, the accumulated debris of a fulacht fia, one of the most common yet persistently mysterious monument types in the Irish landscape.

A fulacht fia is a prehistoric cooking site, typically consisting of a trough dug into the ground, a hearth, and the characteristic horseshoe-shaped mound of fire-cracked stone that builds up over repeated use. The stones were heated in a fire and then dropped into a water-filled trough to bring it rapidly to the boil, a practical method that left behind the scorched and shattered material that now forms these distinctive mounds. What makes the Garranes site particularly notable is that it does not stand alone. It is one of a cluster of three such monuments in close proximity, a grouping that raises questions about how this particular stretch of West Cork was used and by whom, and over what period of time. Clusters like this are known elsewhere in Ireland and may reflect repeated return to a favoured location, or the activities of a community over many generations.