But the deep channels cut into them suggest a more deliberate purpose: these stones are thought to have served as hinge or corner-stones, the kind of elements that would have anchored the frame of a substantial structure, guiding a heavy door or locking a corner into place.

The boulders lie adjacent to the Kilnaruane Pillar Stone, a carved early Christian monument near Bantry that bears figural and interlace decoration of considerable age and artistry. The pillar stone itself draws most of the attention from anyone who makes it out to the site, but these four worked stones beside it hint that the area once supported built architecture of some kind, now entirely vanished. The grooves are described as deeply cut, which implies repeated, sustained use rather than casual or incidental working of the stone. Whether the structure they once held together was ecclesiastical, domestic, or something else remains an open question; without further excavation or documentary evidence, the boulders keep their function at the level of informed suggestion.