It was moved there, probably by a farmer clearing land, at some point more than twenty years before anyone with an interest in such things noticed. That displacement matters, because this is a bullaun stone, a type of ancient carved boulder in which one or more cup-shaped basins have been deliberately hollowed out. Bullauns are found across Ireland, often associated with early Christian sites or holy wells, though their precise origins and purposes remain debated. This one had been earthfast, meaning set firmly into the ground and only partially exposed, until something or someone prised it loose and shunted it to the field margin.

The boulder is substantial, measuring roughly one metre by one and three-quarter metres, and at one end it carries a single large oval basin approximately half a metre in diameter and nineteen centimetres deep. It is one of two bullaun stones recorded in close proximity to one another at Sroughan, which adds a layer of interest: paired or clustered bullauns are not unheard of, but the grouping is notable enough to suggest this small area once held some significance, whether ritual, communal, or otherwise. The original position of this particular stone was probably a short distance to the east of where it now rests, nudged to the boundary by agricultural activity that went unrecorded and, for a long time, unnoticed.