The hollow is all that remains of a hut site, roughly rectangular in shape, and the fact that it has survived at all, let alone within the interior of another monument, gives the spot a quietly layered quality that rewards a careful look.

Ringforts, the circular enclosures that dot the Irish countryside in their thousands, were typically domestic settlements dating from the early medieval period, roughly the fifth to the twelfth centuries. Finding a hut site positioned at the centre of one is not unusual in principle, since these enclosures were built to protect exactly this kind of dwelling, but the preservation of the hut's outline as a readable depression is more uncommon. The structure at Clonickilvant is subrectangular, defined by a sod-covered bank enclosing the hollow. A gap on the south-south-west side is interpreted as the probable entrance, which would align with a preference in early Irish building for doorways facing away from the prevailing wind. A second gap on the east side is thought to result from later disturbance rather than deliberate design.

The site sits on top of a low rise, giving it open views across the surrounding pasture in all directions. That elevated position was almost certainly a practical choice by whoever settled here, offering both visibility and a degree of natural drainage beneath any structure built on the ground.