Yet deliberate is almost certainly what it is. Standing stones are prehistoric upright stones, typically set into the ground by human hands, though their precise purposes, whether ceremonial, territorial, astronomical, or funerary, remain largely unresolved. What makes the Cullenagh example quietly arresting is its blocky, unworked character: irregular in outline when viewed from any angle, and roughly aligned on a north-east to south-west axis.

The stone stands 1.7 metres high and measures 1.5 metres by 1.1 metres at its base, giving it a broad, planted quality rather than the lean silhouette associated with the more celebrated examples elsewhere in Kerry. It sits a short distance south of the River Laune, which drains Lough Leane eastward toward Killorglin and the sea. The surrounding landscape is agricultural, a large open field, and the slight rise on which the stone stands would have made it visible across low ground even before centuries of farming altered the terrain. The stone was documented as part of an archaeological survey of the Iveragh Peninsula compiled by A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan and published by Cork University Press in 1996, which remains the primary record for many such monuments across south Kerry.