It is the kind of stone easily walked past, and indeed the Ordnance Survey never marked it on their maps at all. Yet it stands, quietly persistent, on ground that looks out over Dingle Harbour and the valley of the Milltown river below.

Standing stones are among the most enigmatic survivals in the Irish landscape. Erected most commonly during the Bronze Age, though some date earlier or later, they resist easy interpretation: boundary markers, ritual focal points, or commemorative monuments are among the explanations that have been proposed, and none has been conclusively settled. This particular stone in An Baile Íochtarach, the Irish name meaning roughly "the lower townland", was recorded in J. Cuppage's 1986 archaeological survey of the Dingle Peninsula, published under the title "Corca Dhuibhne" by Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne in Ballyferriter. That survey remains a foundational document for understanding the remarkable density of prehistoric and early medieval monuments on this peninsula, and this modest stone earned its place within it despite never having attracted the attention of the map-makers.