Originally belonging to the medieval church at Lynn, it sat for centuries in the adjoining graveyard before being relocated in 1954 to the west porch of the Roman Catholic church at Gainestown, some 2.65 kilometres to the south-south-east. The move was carried out by Fr. Finian O'Conor, and the font has remained there ever since, a piece of one sacred site now quietly absorbed into another.

What makes it genuinely unusual is its form. When Cogan recorded it in 1867, he described a circular bowl just under two feet in diameter, which sounds conventional enough for a medieval font. But a later account by Roe, published in 1968, reveals the full picture and uses the word "unique" without apparent exaggeration. The font is cut from a single stone and stands 0.72 metres high and 0.66 metres wide. Rather than the typical cylindrical or simple square block, it is built up in three descending stages, each narrower than the one above. The underside of the topmost stage curves inward in a gentle concave profile to meet the middle section, while the lowest stage, instead of being left as a plain cube, has its corners shaped outward into a convex profile. The basin itself, 0.56 metres in diameter and nearly 0.19 metres deep, is flat-bottomed and notably has no drain hole, which is an uncommon feature. The overall effect is of something carved with considerable sculptural intention, not merely functional stonework but a considered piece of craftsmanship whose exact age and origin remain tied to the now-ruined church at Lynn.