It is the kind of structure that asks more questions than the surviving fabric can answer, which is partly what makes it worth knowing about.

What remains is a drystone foundation, built without mortar in the ancient tradition of the region, with an internal diameter of 4.7 metres and walls between 1.15 and 1.7 metres thick. A doorway, 1.15 metres wide, faces south-east, a common orientation in early Irish vernacular buildings, thought to offer shelter from prevailing westerly winds while admitting morning light. The walls survive to a maximum height of 0.6 metres, enough to read the plan clearly but not enough to say much about how the structure was roofed. The site was recorded as part of the Corca Dhuibhne Archaeological Survey, a systematic study of the Dingle Peninsula published in 1986 under the editorship of J. Cuppage, which remains a foundational reference for the archaeology of this part of Kerry. An Gabhlán Beag sits within a landscape exceptionally dense with early remains, where field boundaries, hut sites, and ecclesiastical ruins sometimes cluster within a few hundred metres of one another.