The rock sits at 110 metres above sea level, partly obscured by heath and scrub, with Mount Gabriel visible on the horizon to the south-west. What makes the panel unusual is not just its density of carving but the fact that it was only relatively recently exposed, as evidenced by the thin rim of sod still clinging around its perimeter.

Rock art of this kind, typically dated to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, involves carving abstract symbols directly into natural rock surfaces. The most common motif type is the cup-and-ring, a circular depression hammered into the stone and surrounded by one or more concentric carved rings, the meaning of which remains genuinely unresolved. At Derreennaclogh, the variety is considerable. The most elaborate motif is a cup surrounded by eight concentric rings spanning roughly 63 by 60 centimetres, one of the more complex examples of this form. Alongside it sit motifs with four rings, three rings, two rings, and single rings, as well as a two-cup-and-ring design and an unusual heart-shaped ring enclosing two cupmarks. Three small pickmarks arranged in a line appear in the space between the middle and outer rings of the three-ring motif, a detail that seems deliberate rather than incidental. Additional cupmarks, linear grooves, and radial cuts fill the surrounding surface. The stone itself is rough and fractured, and its natural pocking means the carved marks require some attention to distinguish from the background texture. Gary Cox and David Myler first identified the panel as rock art in 2012.

The stone sits about six metres west of a second, neighbouring panel, with a third possible example approximately forty metres to the east, suggesting this hillock may have been a focal point for this kind of activity in the prehistoric landscape. A three-dimensional model of the panel, produced by the archaeology department at University College Cork, is accessible via the Sketchfab platform, which allows the carved surface to be examined in detail without visiting the site.