⁴³Macalister, R. A. S., and R. Lloyd Praeger. “Report on the Excavation of Uisneach.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature 38 (1928): 78. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25515935.
Macalister attributes the curse to the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick (c. 9th-12th century CE). In his telling, the meaning of the curse is further clarified: “’A curse-‘ began Patrick, ‘-be on the stones of Uisneach,’ interrupted his follower Sechnall, hastily. ‘Be it so,’ said Patrick, adopting the correction. Thus a curse fell upon the stones of Uisneach, and from that out they have not been of any use even for ‘washing-stones,’ that is, for stones used to make water warm, by dropping them when heated into it.”
A different version of the curse is also related by Macalister: "...[St. Patrick] remained...at Uisneach, apparently with the intention of there establishing a church; that certain pilgrims were slain there by the son of Fechu mac Neill; and that St. Patrick cursed him, saying that none of his seed should ever succeed to the kingship, but that he should serve the descendants of his brethren."
A sign at the sites suggests that "The name of the site may derive from its use as a mass rock during penal times."