Its long axis runs west-southwest to east-northeast, an alignment that may be intentional or incidental depending on who is doing the interpreting, but which gives the stone a distinct orientation in the landscape rather than the appearance of something simply left behind.

Standing stones of this kind are among the most common, and least understood, prehistoric monuments in Ireland. They appear across the country singly or in small groups, and theories about their function range from territorial markers and boundary indicators to astronomical alignments and sites associated with burial. The Mealagh Valley, a quiet valley in west Cork, contains a cluster of archaeological remains, and this stone was recorded as part of a local survey published in 1998, which catalogued the prehistoric and early historic landscape of the area. The description of the stone as irregular is worth pausing on. Unlike the more carefully dressed megaliths of certain portal tombs or stone circles, many standing stones were selected from what was locally available, chosen perhaps for size or presence rather than any particular shape, and set into the ground with the broader end down.