Local reports tell of a souterrain; an underground passage or chamber that once served as a place of refuge, storage, or both for the area's early inhabitants. Though completely covered over today, this subterranean structure remains part of the archaeological record of this low-lying grazing land, which sits in the shadow of the steep hills that rise dramatically to the east.

The field has yielded other intriguing artefacts that speak to centuries of human activity. A saddle quern, one of the earliest types of grain-grinding stones used in Ireland, was discovered here and has since been incorporated into a nearby wall, where it can still be seen today. These primitive mills consisted of two stones; the grain was placed on the lower stone and crushed by rubbing the upper stone back and forth. Another find from the same field appears to have been part of a rotary quern, a more advanced grinding mechanism that represented a significant technological leap in food processing. Unfortunately, this latter artefact has since vanished from the archaeological record.

These discoveries paint a picture of continuous occupation and agricultural activity at Gortahork stretching back through the centuries. The presence of both souterrain and querns suggests this was once a thriving farmstead where grain was processed and stored, and where the inhabitants had prepared defensive or storage structures beneath their feet. While the souterrain now lies sealed beneath the earth and the rotary quern has been lost to time, these remnants remind us that even the most ordinary-looking Irish fields often conceal extraordinary histories.