It is two metres tall and roughly rectangular in section, measuring about ninety centimetres by sixty-five centimetres at its base. Nobody recorded who put it there, or why, but the alignment is almost certainly not accidental. Standing stones across Ireland are frequently oriented to mark solar or lunar events, territorial boundaries, or routeways, and this one, facing broadly towards sunrise and sunset along its longer axis, fits a pattern that recurs throughout the prehistoric landscape of Munster.

The stone overlooks the valley of the Fealge River to the north, which gives some sense of why this particular spot might have been chosen. High ground with a commanding view of a river valley was a practical and perhaps a symbolic asset in prehistoric Ireland, useful for marking land, for gathering, or for orientating movement through the landscape. West Cork has a notable concentration of standing stones, many of them associated with the Bronze Age, though dating individual examples without excavation is difficult. The Ballyduvane stone offers no inscription, no associated monument, and no documentary history, only its dimensions, its orientation, and the fact that it has remained upright long enough to be recorded.