During preparatory test trenching in 2006, archaeologists uncovered a fulacht fia on a south-facing slope at Newrath, close to the northern bank of a small stream. A fulacht fia, sometimes called a burnt mound, is one of the most common prehistoric site types in Ireland: a mound of fire-cracked stones, typically found near water, associated with the repeated heating of liquids, most likely for cooking or bathing. They are so ordinary in Irish archaeology, in one sense, and yet their sheer frequency makes each one a small confirmation that people were busy along these watercourses for thousands of years.

The excavation, carried out under licence E3198, revealed an irregular spread of burnt stones measuring roughly 15.5 metres north to south and 12.5 metres east to west, sitting in a black, sandy clay laced with charcoal flecks. The depth of the deposit varied considerably, from as little as five centimetres to over a metre in places, suggesting sustained or repeated use rather than a single episode. At the base of the slope, cut into the subsoil, was a trough measuring 1.4 metres by 2.2 metres and roughly 0.3 metres deep. This would have been the working heart of the site: a water-filled pit into which heated stones were dropped to raise the temperature, a method that is both simple and surprisingly effective.