That quiet act of reuse, spotted and noted as far back as 1900, sets the tone for a site where the boundaries between building material and memorial have always been porous. Ranged along the interior walls are more than half a dozen carved grave slabs, several of them so worn that their decoration is barely legible, yet the patterns that survive belong to a regional tradition that rewards careful looking.

The church, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, is a nave-and-chancel structure, meaning it follows the standard medieval plan of a rectangular congregational space leading into a smaller sanctuary. It is built of coursed granite masonry with dressed granite quoins at the corners, and the gable walls survive to their full height, which is relatively unusual for a ruin of this age. Sections of the west and south walls may pre-date the Norman arrival in Ireland, according to O'Brien's 1988 survey, suggesting the site has a longer Christian history than the standing fabric alone implies. The grave slabs collected against the south and west walls are of particular interest. Several belong to the so-called Rathdown type, a grouping of decorated slabs associated with this corner of Leinster and studied in detail by Ó hÉailidhe in 1973. The motifs are abstract: concentric circles, cupmarks, radiating lines, central bands. One slab carries two sets of three concentric circles joined by a divided central band; another has cupmarks at the centre of each circle; a third shows a single large cupmark from which five lines extend to the stone's edge. Cupmarks are shallow, deliberately carved depressions whose precise meaning in this context is debated, but their repeated appearance across these slabs points to a shared, localised carving tradition.

The church sits within an enclosure on the eastern slopes of Carrickgollogan, a hill best known for its tall chimney stack, which serves as a useful landmark when approaching from the surrounding roads. The slabs are propped against the interior walls rather than lying flat, so most of the carved surfaces are visible without any scrambling. The decoration is subtle and weathered, so low-angle morning or evening light helps bring the incised lines and cupmarks into relief. There is no substitute for simply moving slowly along the wall and letting the eyes adjust to the stone's surface.