The name suggests ancient druidic ceremony, and for a long time that impression stuck. In fact the structure's identity has proved more complicated, and more interesting, than the romantic label implies.

The slab itself measures 1.4 metres by 0.9 metres, with a thickness of between 0.6 and 0.75 metres, and its supporting base spans roughly 1.8 metres by 1.4 metres, giving the whole thing a straight, deliberate southeastern edge rising between one and one and a half metres from the ground. It was recorded on the Ordnance Survey six-inch map as early as 1837, already carrying its evocative name. William Borlase, writing in 1897, classified it as a megalithic structure, meaning a monument built from large, unworked stones in the prehistoric tradition. That interpretation was later set aside by de Valera and O'Nuallain in 1972, who concluded it does not belong to that category. What it may belong to instead is suggested by a structure roughly five metres to the east, identified as a possible mass-rock. Mass-rocks are flat stones, typically found in remote or concealed spots, used by Catholic priests to celebrate Mass during the Penal era, when public worship was suppressed under colonial law. The proximity of the two features is unlikely to be coincidental, and the offerings and crucifix on the upper surface speak to a continuing devotional use that has nothing to do with druids and everything to do with a much more recent, and distinctly Irish, form of quiet religious persistence.