The mound, measuring roughly four metres across in each direction, is the kind of feature that reads as a natural undulation in the ground until you know what to look for. It is classified as a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking site found in considerable numbers across Ireland, typically identified by their characteristic burnt and fire-cracked stone, which ancient communities used to heat water in a trough for boiling meat. The horseshoe or kidney shape is the classic signature of the type, formed as stone was raked away from the trough and accumulated into a crescent around it over repeated use.

The Kellistown example sits in close proximity to a recorded burial ground, a pairing that is not entirely unusual in the Irish landscape, where different periods of human activity often leave overlapping traces in the same patch of ground. The cairn itself is modest in scale, and the detail of its location and form was recorded through personal communication from Emmet Byrnes, suggesting it came to attention through local knowledge rather than any large-scale excavation campaign. Without further investigation it is difficult to say much about its precise date, though fulachtaí fia as a class are most commonly associated with the Bronze Age, spanning roughly 2000 to 500 BC.