Atty and his people would make haste down the hills to the island dwelling called a crannog, which was easily defended, until assistance arrived. The crannog would be reached by dugout canoe or by an underwater pathway. These lake dwellings may have been used as retreats as early as the Bronze Age. Reconstructions of crannogs are open to the public in Craggaunowen near Ennis in County Clare and in the Ulster History Museum just north of Omagh, Co. Tyrone.

The symbols include the stag, a man on horseback, a dog in chase, and often a dirk or a dagger. In this case there is a representation of a flax flower and the two human-like characters at the bottom of the stone, each with one arm raised.