The mound measures about fourteen metres long, eight metres wide, and rises to just over a metre in height, with a four-metre opening facing west. It is, by any measure, unassuming. But that shape and that material tell a specific story stretching back thousands of years.

This is a fulacht fia, a type of prehistoric cooking site found in great numbers across Ireland, particularly in low-lying or wet ground. The characteristic horseshoe form results from the gradual accumulation of fire-cracked stone, the debris of repeated use. The typical method involved heating stones in a fire, then dropping them into a water-filled trough to bring the water rapidly to a boil; the cracked and spent stones were discarded to the sides, building up over time into exactly the kind of mound visible here. The proximity to a well is entirely in keeping with the type: reliable water was a practical necessity, and fulachtaí fia are very commonly found near streams, springs, or other water sources. While cooking is the most widely accepted interpretation, researchers have also proposed uses ranging from textile processing to bathing. The Rowls example, overgrown as it now is, preserves that distinctive profile clearly enough to confirm what it once was.