The monument sits in a natural bowl, surrounded by rocky hills and ridges that limit views in most directions, save for an open outlook towards the north where the landscape stretches away.

The tomb’s chamber, measuring about 1.3 metres wide and originally extending 2 to 3 metres in length, showcases the classic portal tomb design with its distinctive entrance at the southern end. Two imposing portal stones, each standing 2 metres high, frame this entrance like ancient sentinels, positioned 0.7 metres apart at their outer edges. The eastern portal stone maintains a relatively level top with just a slight downward slope towards the back, whilst its western counterpart features a more pronounced angle. Single stones form the east and west sides of the chamber, though time has dislodged the eastern one from its original position, and it now rests across the inner half of the chamber, supported against the opposite walls.

At the rear of the chamber, a tall gabled stone seals the back, rising 1.6 metres high and extending 0.45 metres above the western sidestone. The entire structure is crowned by a single massive roofstone; an impressive slab measuring 3.5 metres long, 2 metres wide at the front and tapering to 1.6 metres at the back, with a thickness of 0.45 metres. Though somewhat displaced over the centuries, this capstone still rests on the portal stones and the repositioned sidestone. The chamber’s interior shows evidence of deep excavation, as does the ground immediately in front of it, suggesting either antiquarian investigation or perhaps earlier treasure seeking. An unfinished sketch from 1834, captioned ‘Cromlech near roads in Gortnavern’, appears to depict this very tomb, providing a glimpse of how it appeared to early antiquarians exploring Ireland’s ancient monuments.