Stones like this are known as bullauns, a term for boulders bearing one or more cup-shaped depressions that were hollowed out, either by human hand or through a combination of natural and deliberate action, in early medieval Ireland. They are found scattered across the country, often near ecclesiastical sites, though their precise function remains debated. This particular one carries a more immediate local identity: it is known in the area simply as the Wart Stone, a name that points to a long-standing folk belief that the water pooling in its basins held the power to cure warts.

The boulder itself is substantial, measuring roughly 1.3 metres in length and just over a metre wide, and the three basins range from about 24 to 32 centimetres in diameter and up to 16 centimetres deep. The wart-curing tradition was noted by H. S. Crawford in 1912 and later recorded again by Liam Price in 1959, suggesting the local name and the belief attached to it were well established by the early twentieth century. This kind of curative attribution is not unusual for bullauns. Across Ireland, water that collects in their hollows has historically been associated with healing, and the stones themselves often accumulated layers of ritual significance long after their original purpose, whatever it was, had been forgotten. The Ballintombay stone has been protected under Irish national monuments legislation since 1940.