The site first caught attention in 1901 when split bones, shells and distinctive black layers were spotted throughout the area, hinting at centuries of human activity. By the time formal excavations began in September 1985, the ancient midden was already badly damaged, though what remained would prove remarkably revealing.

The dig exposed at least three distinct phases of occupation, with the centrepiece being a small, rectangular stone-lined hearth surrounded by carefully laid cobbling. Local memory suggests that stone house foundations once stood here too, though these had vanished long before the archaeologists arrived. The excavation yielded fascinating glimpses into daily life: amongst the abundant bones and shells, the team discovered a bone or horn harp peg, a bronze pin, and a fragment of handmade pottery rim, all pointing to occupation during the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries.

This coastal midden represents the kind of everyday archaeological site that rarely makes headlines but tells us volumes about how ordinary people lived in medieval Ireland. The layers of shells and animal bones speak to generations of meals consumed, whilst the harp peg hints at music and leisure in between the hard work of coastal living. Such sites, recorded in the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, form an invaluable record of Ireland's past; each eroding midden and forgotten hearth adds another piece to our understanding of medieval Irish society.