The find belongs to a category of monument known as a fulacht fia, a term used in Ireland for ancient burnt mound sites that typically consist of a horseshoe-shaped mound of fire-cracked stone accumulated beside a trough or pit. The leading interpretation is that these sites were used for cooking, most likely by heating stones in a fire and dropping them into water-filled troughs to bring the water to a boil, though some researchers have proposed brewing, bathing, or hide-working as alternative uses.

The Shankill site came to light during topsoil monitoring in 1998, when excavation revealed an oval trough measuring 1.5 metres by 1.1 metres and around 0.3 metres deep, cut down to the local shale bedrock. Rather than being filled from a surface water source, the trough appears to have filled naturally, with water percolating up through the shale beds beneath. When excavated, it was found packed with a sticky grey clay heavily stained with charcoal. Surrounding the trough was a cobbled area, and to its south a pattern of stake-holes arranged in an oval setting measuring 3.6 metres by 2.1 metres. The stake-holes, running parallel to the trough, are thought to have formed a windbreak or light tent-like structure, shielding the working area from the prevailing winds. Multiple overlapping lines of stake-holes suggest the shelter was rebuilt or repaired across several phases of use. A subrectangular hut site was also associated with the complex. The findings are documented in O'Neill's 2000 report.

The site lies in suburban south County Dublin, where development pressure and landscaping have long altered the ground surface, which makes the survival of this kind of evidence all the more notable. Because the discovery came through monitoring work rather than a planned research excavation, there is little in the way of public marking or interpretation on the ground. Visitors with an interest in the archaeology of the area are better served by consulting the record and, where possible, the wider landscape context, bearing in mind that similar burnt mound sites are distributed across low-lying and waterlogged ground throughout the Dublin coastlands.