It looks, at a glance, like little more than a stony patch of ground. Three seasons of archaeological excavation, carried out between 1990 and 1992, confirmed that it is in fact a deliberately constructed settlement platform, built by laying stone surfaces over a natural mound of glacial till, the dense, unsorted sediment deposited across this part of the Irish midlands during the last ice age. A rough perimeter of larger boulders was set around the edge to consolidate it. The result is something intentional, even careful, yet stubbornly silent about its purpose.

The excavations, directed by Brady and reported across three seasons under licences issued in 1990, 1991, and 1992, gradually revealed a more nuanced picture than the first cuttings suggested. The northern half of the platform, the side facing the lake, was given noticeably more attention during construction. A metalled surface, that is, a compacted layer of stones laid to create a firm working area, was laid down there, and the remains of at least one and possibly two small circular stone structures were identified, measuring roughly four by five metres and three metres in external diameter respectively. Despite that degree of effort, excavators recovered no artefacts, no bone fragments, no charcoal, nothing that would normally accumulate where people ate, worked, or sheltered over any length of time. By the end of the third season, around seventy per cent of the platform had been investigated, and a second platform abutting the site to the north had been partially examined. The evidence suggested both were built at the same time, though Platform 2 yielded even less: only a loosely made stone perimeter, with no internal features at all.

What the site leaves open is the question that makes it genuinely interesting. The construction is careful enough to suggest real effort and organisation, yet the absence of any domestic debris means the platforms either saw very limited use, were kept unusually clean, or served some purpose that left no material trace. Platforms of this type in Ireland are often associated with lakeshore or wetland settings, sometimes interpreted as seasonal or specialised activity areas rather than permanent dwellings. At Robinstown, that question remains unanswered.