It is a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking site found in considerable numbers across Ireland, typically dating to the Bronze Age. The mound itself is oval in shape, roughly twenty metres from north to south and eighteen metres from east to west, rising to about one and a half metres at its highest point. That modest rise represents centuries of accumulated burnt and shattered stone, the characteristic debris of repeated use.

A fulacht fia works on a simple principle: stones are heated in a fire, then dropped into a water-filled trough to bring it to a boil. The repeated thermal shock eventually cracks and crumbles the stones, and it is this discarded material that builds up into the horseshoe-shaped or oval mounds we see today. At Roughgrove, the mound opens to the north, towards a boggy area, which is exactly the kind of low-lying, water-retentive ground these sites tend to favour. A reliable water source was essential to the process. What makes the location quietly notable is that a second fulacht fia lies a short distance to the east, suggesting this stretch of ground saw sustained prehistoric activity, or was simply well-suited to the purpose over a long period of time.