The stakes are slender, averaging just three centimetres across, and each one has been deliberately pointed at its base, shaped to a pencil, chisel, or wedge profile before being driven into the sediment. They stand between half a metre and seventy centimetres above the lakebed, a quiet and easily overlooked arrangement that has survived, apparently, for a considerable span of time beneath the water and peat.

The structure was recorded in 1992 as part of a survey carried out by the Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit, which was systematically documenting archaeological monuments in and around the lake. The stakes are made predominantly of willow, though ash, hazel, birch, and mountain ash were also identified among them, suggesting either a pragmatic use of whatever timber was close to hand or a deliberate mixing of species. What gives the site a particular edge of interest is the discovery of red deer antler fragments found adjacent to the post row. The function of the structure remains open; a post row of this kind extending from shore into open water could have served as a fish trap, a jetty or landing platform, a boundary marker, or a support for some kind of wicker or net screen. The antler fragments add a further layer of ambiguity, since deer antler was widely used in prehistoric Ireland as a tool for working wood and bone, but its presence here could equally reflect hunting activity near the water's edge or something less easily categorised.