A fulacht fia typically consists of a horseshoe-shaped mound of fire-cracked stone and charcoal built up over repeated use, the byproduct of a process in which stones were heated in a fire and dropped into a water-filled trough to bring it to the boil. They date predominantly from the Bronze Age, though some were used into the early medieval period, and their precise social function, whether for cooking, bathing, textile processing, or some combination of these, remains a matter of ongoing debate among archaeologists.

This particular site came to light in 1990, not through a planned excavation but through the practical business of digging a water channel close to the river. The construction work exposed a spread of burnt material running roughly four metres from north to south, with further burnt material visible in cross-section within the channel cut itself. That kind of accidental discovery is not unusual for fulachta fia; because they tend to sit in low-lying, waterlogged ground close to rivers or streams, they are often encountered during drainage or groundwork rather than dedicated fieldwork. The Awbeg River, which flows through the demesne, would have made this a practical location for prehistoric use, providing the ready water supply that is a consistent feature of these sites.