A bullaun is simply a large stone, usually boulder-sized, into which one or more circular depressions have been ground or worn. The hollows collect rainwater, and that water has long been considered to have curative or protective properties. The stones turn up beside early medieval churches, inside monastic enclosures, and occasionally in open fields with no obvious ecclesiastical context nearby.

Bullaun stones are generally associated with early Christian sites in Ireland, though some may have origins that predate Christianity entirely. The grinding action that formed the basins was sometimes ritual, sometimes practical, and the line between the two is rarely clear. At sites across Ireland, the rounded stones found sitting inside the hollows, known as bullaun balls, were turned by visitors seeking cures, particularly for ailments of the eyes or skin. Whether the Kilbree stone retains any such associated folklore or objects is not currently documented in available sources, and the site itself remains one of many in the west of Ireland that have yet to be fully described in the public record.