The nave is entirely gone; what remains is the chancel, the eastern liturgical end of the building, its south wall still standing to full height and preserving two tall twin-light windows whose glazing grooves are still legible in the stone jambs, even though the mullions and tracery that once divided them have long since vanished. The chancel arch, a pointed opening three metres wide with a dressed limestone surround, survives intact, and on its western face you can still read the roofline of the demolished nave, pressed into the masonry like a ghost. More quietly, a slot cut into the soffit of the arch and later filled in may mark where a rood screen once stood, the timber partition that in medieval churches separated the clergy's space from the congregation's.

The church sits in the north-east corner of an active graveyard, with the remains of Caherelly Castle some 340 metres to the west. Local tradition credits St. Ailbe of Emly as the church's founder, though the antiquary Thomas Johnson Westropp, writing in 1904 to 1905, was sceptical, suggesting the attribution might rest on a misreading of the placename rather than any firm record. The name itself has been interpreted variously: the scholar John O'Donovan proposed "fort of Ailltheach," while others argued for "Cathair Ailbe," linking it directly to the saint. Documentary records place the church firmly in the medieval period: it appears in plea rolls as "Caherelny" in 1296, and disputes over its presentation, meaning the right to appoint its clergy, were running between Almeric de Bellofago and the Abbot of Wethney by 1323, with further claims made against the bishop of Emly in 1342. By 1615, a map records the building as thatched, suggesting a structure in reduced circumstances. The 18th century left its own mark: burial vaults were built against the south wall, both inside and out, and two wall memorials were inserted into the exterior face of the same wall, one commemorating a Mathew Heo, dated 1717, another associated with the vault of the Furnells.

The ruins occupy the north-east section of the graveyard, which remains in use, so the site is accessible. The south wall, being the best-preserved elevation, repays close attention: the empty window openings, the broken-out aumbry (a small wall cupboard used to store liturgical vessels) near the south-east angle, and the corbels at the wall tops that once carried a timber wall plate are all visible. The north-east angle of the chancel has collapsed, and the east gable has largely fallen, leaving only the southern splay of the east window embrasure. The castle to the west, though a separate monument, gives useful orientation to the wider medieval landscape of the area.