At some point between 1977 and 1986, both were destroyed. What had persisted in that quiet river basin for thousands of years was gone within a decade, and the site now holds nothing visible above ground.

The pair had been recorded in enough detail to give a sense of what was lost. The northwest stone was 1.05 metres long, 0.55 metres thick, and 1.35 metres high; its southeast companion was slightly narrower but taller, at 1.7 metres. Standing stone pairs of this kind, two uprights set at a deliberate distance and on a consistent alignment, are a recognised monument type in Cork and Kerry, and their northwest to southeast orientations have long attracted speculation about astronomical or calendrical purpose, though no firm conclusions have been drawn. What made the Gortavranner pair particularly interesting was their proximity to a possible stone circle recorded approximately 50 metres to the east, suggesting this was once part of a broader ceremonial landscape in the Foherish basin. The pair is catalogued by Sean O Nualláin in his 1988 survey of the type.