The structure is tiny, just 1.4 metres across internally in either direction, with walls that survive to no more than half a metre in height and half a metre in thickness. The interior has filled over time with its own collapsed material, and a west-facing entrance, 0.7 metres wide, is the only feature that hints at the deliberate human arrangement of what remains.

The hut is built in the drystone tradition, meaning the walls were laid without mortar, relying entirely on the careful selection and stacking of stone. Structures of this kind were once a common presence across Irish upland landscapes, used variously by seasonal herders, pilgrims, or those working the higher ground during summer months. This particular example sits within a wider archaeological landscape studied by F. Coyne and published in 2006 under the title 'Islands in the clouds: an upland archaeological study on Mount Brandon and the Paps, Co. Kerry', a survey carried out by Kerry County Council in association with Aegis Archaeology. Mount Brandon and the Paps are both significant peaks in the Kerry uplands, and the study brought together evidence of human activity across terrain that can feel remote and inhospitable even today.

What the hut communicates, even in its denuded state, is a sense of the minimum required for shelter. The internal floor area is barely enough for one person to lie down. The westward entrance would have faced into prevailing Atlantic weather, which suggests either a practical reason related to the surrounding topography or simply the conventions of whoever built it. At 1.4 metres square, it asks the imagination to do considerable work.