The one at Inchinattin, in West Cork, is notably different: it is square in cross-section, measuring roughly half a metre on each side and rising one and a half metres from the ground, with a regularity that implies deliberate shaping rather than a convenient piece of fieldstone dragged upright.

The stone sits in tillage ground, positioned so that it overlooks the Argideen River to the south-east. Why it was placed here, and by whom, is not recorded. Standing stones of this kind are broadly prehistoric in origin, though the term covers an enormous range of possible purposes, from boundary markers to ritual monuments to aids in astronomical observation, and in most cases the original intention is simply unknown. What can be said is that someone at some point in the deep past took considerable care with this one, selecting or working a piece of stone into an unusually precise form and then planting it in a spot with a clear view across the river valley.