The name points to something older than archaeology: a folk belief, recorded in the 1930s Schools Manuscripts, that the stone carried a cure for warts. That kind of curative reputation attached itself across Ireland to particular stones, holy wells, and wayside crosses, and it often survived long after the original religious or ritual context had been forgotten or obscured.

What remains visible is a pyramidal cross base, the socketed block into which the shaft of a standing cross would once have been fitted. The base measures roughly 68 by 64 centimetres at the bottom, tapering to around 38 by 33 centimetres at the top, and stands about 49 centimetres high, though part of it is buried. A mortice, the square or rectangular socket cut to receive the cross shaft, is still present, measuring 25 by 18 centimetres and about 10 centimetres deep. There are indications of moulding along the sloping angles, suggesting the piece was carved with some care. The base itself is uneven underneath, which may explain why it has settled at an angle in the ground. More intriguing still is a separate fragment: according to local accounts, a portion of an actual stone cross was turned up in the same area during drain-cutting and was reburied on the spot. It has not, as far as is known, been recovered since. The site sits in low-lying ground, with drumlins, the rounded glacial hills that give this part of County Monaghan much of its rolling character, rising to the north and south, and a small stream running some 20 metres to the south.