Carved into its four sides are figured scenes arranged in panels, each divided by a cross in relief: a hunting scene on the north and south faces, Daniel in the lions' den on the east, and the fall of man on the south. The west face has been worn to near-illegibility by centuries of exposure. Above this busy base rises a sandstone ringed high cross, the ring being the characteristic wheel of stone that connects the arms, standing 3.35 metres tall and topped with a low conical capstone. The ornamental patterns covering the cross shaft are not the biblical imagery one might expect but something closer to jewellery: interlacing and abstract designs that scholars have closely compared to Irish metalwork of the 8th century, suggesting the stonemasons may have been directly imitating the work of goldsmiths and enamellers.

The crosses at Ahenny belong to a wider group associated with the former medieval kingdom of Ossory, a territory that once covered much of what is now counties Kilkenny and Tipperary. This regional grouping has been recognised by researchers including Crawford and Edwards, who traced stylistic and geographical connections across several sites. The southern cross sits centrally within a square walled graveyard on an east-facing slope, with a second high cross standing to the north and a surviving cross base to the northeast. The remains of a later medieval church lie roughly 30 metres to the north, hinting at continuous use of the site across several centuries. Moss now covers the north and east faces of the base, while lichen has claimed the west and south; the slow work of weathering that has already erased whatever the carver put on that western panel.