The monument, which commands views to the north, east and south, was investigated in 1989 by O Floinn and Cherry on behalf of the National Museum of Ireland. What they found was a trapezoidal stone cist, measuring roughly 0.94 metres north to south and 0.65 metres east to west, constructed with meticulous care. Four flat stones formed the main structure, with two additional large slabs placed across the short ends to support a massive capstone that measured 1.7 by 1.1 metres and lay just 15 centimetres below the modern ground surface.

Inside this ancient tomb, the excavators discovered the crouched remains of an adult who had been carefully laid on their left side with their head facing east, a burial position common during the Bronze Age. The floor of the cist had been thoughtfully paved with one large slab and several smaller stones, creating a proper resting place for the deceased. Perhaps most intriguingly, a complete bipartite bowl was placed in the northeast corner of the burial chamber; a grave good that speaks to the beliefs and customs of these ancient people. Radiocarbon dating of bone samples from the burial placed it between 2205 and 1776 BC, firmly within Ireland’s Early Bronze Age period.

This cist wasn’t alone in its hillside location; just three metres to the northeast, archaeologists had previously excavated a second burial cist in 1984, suggesting this ridge held special significance as a burial ground for the local Bronze Age community. The oval pit dug to house the main cist, measuring approximately 2.3 by 1.5 metres, indicates the considerable effort invested in creating these final resting places. Together, these monuments paint a picture of sophisticated burial traditions and careful treatment of the dead over 4,000 years ago in this corner of Donegal.