These wooden structures leave no wall standing above the soil, only the slow stain of decayed posts and, where fire was involved, charcoal. It is precisely that fragility that makes them so easy to miss, and so interesting when they do appear.

The site at Coolbeg came to light during archaeological excavation carried out by Goorik Dehaene as part of the N11 road improvement scheme, recorded under excavation licence E3254. Among the various features uncovered, this enclosure was the most extensive on the site. Concentrations of charcoal in the northern portion of the feature suggested the possible burnt remains of timber, consistent with the kind of evidence left when a palisade, a fence-like boundary of wooden stakes or posts, is destroyed by fire or simply rots and chars over time. The excavators interpreted the feature as a possible enclosing palisade, though the partial nature of the excavation means its full extent and purpose remain open questions. The findings were reported by Dehaene in 2009.