This is a midden, essentially a prehistoric or early historic rubbish deposit, the accumulated remains of meals eaten and discarded over time in the same spot. The exposed face stretches only about four metres and stands less than a metre high, which makes it easy to overlook entirely, but the stratigraphy, the sequence of distinct soil layers visible in cross-section, tells a quiet story of repeated human activity in this exact location.

Above the shell layer, the bank reveals further deposits: a dark band of black soil roughly ten centimetres thick, then a pale whitish layer of around five centimetres, and finally a thicker brownish layer at the top containing more burnt stone. Each of these layers represents a different episode of deposition, though without excavation it is impossible to say how far apart in time they were laid down. What is clear is that the site sits in a historically loaded location. Dunboy was the stronghold of the O'Sullivan Bere clan, and the castle nearby is associated with one of the most dramatic episodes of late Elizabethan Ireland, the siege of 1602 that followed the Battle of Kinsale. The midden itself may predate that history considerably, but its proximity to the castle means it occupies ground that has been in use for a very long time.

The bank is actively eroding, undercut by the sea, and material is being lost with each tide. A sea wall stands just four metres to the north, but the bank itself remains exposed and vulnerable. Shells and soil are gradually washing away, meaning the deposit visible today is likely only a fragment of what was originally there, with more probably buried beneath the collapsed material at the base of the bank.