They appear as low, spread mounds of fire-cracked stone, the accumulated debris of a cooking method that involved heating rocks in a fire and dropping them into a water-filled trough to bring it to the boil. The one at Gortearagh in north Cork is not easily overlooked, however. Where a typical example might measure a modest few metres across, this site spreads across a remarkable 75 metres from east to west, with a broad circular spread of burnt material at its eastern end reaching 22 metres north to south, trailing off into a narrower linear extension heading west.

The sheer scale sets it apart. That circular eastern portion alone would constitute a large fulacht fia by any standard, but the elongated westward extension suggests either a very long period of use, repeated episodes of activity across different areas of the same spot, or possibly some combination of functions that went beyond straightforward cooking. Burnt mounds of this type are generally dated to the Bronze Age, roughly 1500 to 500 BC, though some sites show evidence of use stretching across centuries. At the time of recording, the Gortearagh site lay in pasture and was described as undergoing reclamation, meaning agricultural activity was actively working against its survival. What remains visible above ground is the spread of heat-shattered stone that gives these monuments their characteristic dark, scorched appearance.