These distinctive carved boulders, featuring one or more cup-shaped depressions, can be found scattered across the Irish countryside, often near holy wells, church sites, or ancient monastic settlements. The hollows, typically smoothed from centuries of use, were likely employed for grinding grain or herbs, though local folklore often attributes healing properties to the rainwater that collects in them.

Bullaun stones like this one offer a tangible connection to daily life in medieval Ireland, when communities would have gathered around these stones for both practical and ritual purposes. Some were used as cursing stones, where turning a stone in the hollow whilst reciting a curse was believed to bring misfortune to one’s enemies; others were associated with pattern days and religious observances.