It is a rectangular block, just over a metre tall and roughly three-quarters of a metre wide, aligned along a northeast to southwest axis in a way that may reflect deliberate astronomical or territorial intent, though the precise reasoning behind such orientations has never been fully settled among archaeologists.

Standing stones of this type are a recurring feature of the Irish prehistoric landscape, erected most commonly during the Bronze Age, though some may be earlier or later. They could mark boundaries, burial sites, routeways, or meeting points; the honest answer is that their function varied and is rarely recoverable from the stone alone. What can be said of the Lisheen example is that its placement on the crest of a hillock suggests its builders were thinking about visibility, both of the stone from the surrounding land, and perhaps of the surrounding land from beside the stone. Its dimensions, height 1.18 metres, width 0.75 metres, and depth 0.52 metres, make it a solid, deliberate presence rather than an incidental outcrop.