These stones, erected during the Bronze Age or earlier, are among the most enigmatic features of the Irish landscape. Archaeologists have proposed many purposes for them over the years, from boundary markers and memorial stones to sites of ritual or astronomical alignment, though none of these explanations has been conclusively proven for most individual examples. They tend to be solitary, unaccompanied by inscription or obvious context, which is much of what makes them compelling.

Killaclohane is a rural townland in Kerry, a county that has an unusually high concentration of prehistoric monuments, partly owing to its relative remoteness from large-scale industrial development and partly to the density of Bronze Age settlement in the region. Standing stones in Kerry are often found in association with other monument types, including stone circles and boulder burials, though whether the Killaclohane example forms part of any such grouping is not currently documented in available records. The stone's presence in the landscape is, in itself, the record of a decision made by people who left little else behind.