The routine archaeological monitoring that accompanied the Bord Gáis Éireann development in 1999 flagged an anomaly in the ground, and a subsequent excavation that August uncovered the remains of a fulacht fia, the type of prehistoric cooking site found in considerable numbers across Ireland, typically consisting of a mound of fire-cracked stone accumulated beside a water trough or pit. At Parksgrove, the mound itself had been heavily worn down by centuries of ploughing, leaving a spread of burnt sandstone and charcoal-rich, silty sand measuring roughly 8.5 metres by 6 metres, and no more than 0.2 metres deep at most points.

What made the site particularly legible, despite its degraded condition, was the survival of the working areas associated with the mound. To the east of the main spread, excavators identified two separate zones of burnt soil. One was interpreted as an informal circular hearth, approximately 3.5 metres across; the other, larger area, measuring around 12 metres by 6 metres, appeared to have served as a combined hearth and platform, the place where stones were heated before being transferred to the trough to bring water to temperature. The deposits within this platform area included distinct layers of pink ash and white ash alongside a disturbed spread of limestone and sandstone, the accumulated residue of repeated firings. Together, these features sketch out the functional logic of a fulacht fia with unusual clarity: stone heated here, moved there, and the whole cycle repeated until the characteristic mound of shattered, discarded rock built up beside the water source. The boggy, flood-prone ground of the Nore's western plain would have made the site well suited to this kind of activity, with water close to the surface and easy to manage.