It is just over half a metre long and five centimetres across, made from mountain ash, with one end weathered and degraded by long exposure and the other carefully worked to a chisel point. That deliberate shaping is what elevates it from debris to monument, from accident to intention. Something or someone drove it there, for a purpose that has not survived alongside the wood itself.

The stake was recorded in 1992 as part of a survey of archaeological monuments in and around Lough More, carried out by the Irish Archaeological Wetland Unit, with findings published by Jennings in 1995. Wetland archaeology of this kind is particularly valuable because waterlogged conditions slow decay dramatically, preserving organic materials that would vanish entirely on dry land. Isolated stakes like this one are a recognised feature of Irish lake and wetland environments, sometimes the last visible remnant of a structure such as a fish trap, a landing point, a marker post, or the edge of a crannog, which is an artificial island built from timber, stone, and peat that was a common form of settlement in early medieval Ireland. Whether this stake belonged to any such structure cannot be determined from what remains. It may once have had companions that have since rotted away or sunk beyond detection. It may have stood alone. Mountain ash, also known as rowan, was widely used in early Irish construction and also carried strong folkloric associations, which adds a layer of ambiguity that the archaeological record cannot resolve.