Whether they served primarily as refuges, as cool storage for dairy produce, or as some combination of both, souterrains are among the more quietly unsettling features of the Irish landscape, invisible from the surface until the ground decides otherwise.

Souterrains were typically built between roughly the seventh and twelfth centuries, often in association with ringforts or early ecclesiastical settlements. They were constructed without mortar, relying on carefully placed stone lintels overhead and dry-laid walls to either side, which is partly why many have survived at all. The one at Conagher is recorded as a monument, though detailed information about its dimensions, condition, or precise construction has not yet been made widely available, meaning the site remains something of a blank on the public map for now.