The cutting exposed an arc of stone-lined pit, roughly 80 centimetres wide and a metre deep, surrounded by fire-reddened clay, the characteristic burnt-orange discolouration that marks sustained, intense heat in the soil. Above the stone lining the pit opened out to around two metres across, and there was approximately a metre of accumulated fill sitting over the stone-lined portion. A separate fire-pit, wider at three to four metres and at least a metre deep, lay about four metres to the north-east, its sides equally reddened. Both features sit at the crest of a small valley carved by a north-east to south-west stream.

Kilns of this general type appear across Ireland in a range of forms and periods. They were used for drying grain, firing pottery, processing lime for mortar or agriculture, and a number of other industrial or domestic purposes. The stone lining and associated fire-pit here are consistent with deliberate, repeated use rather than a casual burning episode. Yet the archaeological record at Graigue offers no clue as to what was actually produced. No slag, no waster pottery, no burnt grain, no relevant debris survived in the examined material to indicate a function. The kiln exists, clearly and physically, but its purpose remains unresolved.