Historical records indicate a standing stone was marked on early Ordnance Survey maps, though by the time the second and third editions were published in the late 19th century, cartographers had already removed it from their drawings. Whether the stone was destroyed, buried, or simply misidentified remains unknown; what was once poor agricultural land has now been reclaimed by dense forest, making any archaeological investigation particularly challenging.

The original documentation of this lost monument comes from the Archaeological Survey of County Donegal, a comprehensive catalogue compiled in 1983 that traces the county’s human occupation from the Mesolithic period through to the 17th century. The survey team, led by Brian Lacey and comprising eight other archaeologists, systematically recorded every known archaeological feature across the county, including those that existed only in historical records. Their brief entry for the Drumabodan stone reflects the frustrating reality of Irish archaeology; countless monuments have been lost to agricultural improvement, urban development, or simple neglect over the centuries.

Standing stones, which date primarily from the Bronze Age (c. 2500–500 BCE), are amongst Ireland’s most enigmatic prehistoric monuments. These solitary sentinels were erected for purposes that remain largely mysterious; some may have marked burial sites, others might have served as territorial boundaries, whilst many possibly held astronomical or ritual significance. The Drumabodan stone, now existing only as a cartographic ghost, joins hundreds of other monuments across Ireland that survive solely in the historical record, reminding us that the landscape we see today is merely the latest chapter in thousands of years of continuous human modification.