The shaft is nineteenth century, relatively unremarkable in itself, but it sits in a base that is considerably older, and that base carries an inscription in medieval Gaelic that turns out to be a small window into the abbotial history of one of Ireland's more significant monastic sites.

The base, measuring roughly 91 centimetres long and 77 centimetres wide, is carved in relief with a prayer that reads, in translation, as a request for intercession on behalf of two men: Nicol and Gilbert O'Duffy, both of whom served as Abbots of Cong. The inscription uses the medieval Gaelic form of their names, Niahol and Gillibard, and identifies them by their family name, O'Dubhtaigh, the O'Duffy sept. The pairing of two abbots in a single commemorative inscription is unusual; it suggests either that they served in close succession and were remembered together, or that the base was carved some time after both had died. William Wilde, the surgeon, antiquarian, and father of Oscar, recorded and transcribed the inscription in 1872, which remains the primary published source for the text. The base now rests on a set of modern concentric limestone steps, a practical mount that lifts it clear of the road surface without pretending to be anything ancient.

The cross is easy to find, sitting as it does in open ground in the village, though the traffic-island setting means it is often passed without a second glance. The inscription itself is worth looking at closely; the relief lettering is cut directly into the stone face of the base, and with reasonable light the individual characters are legible to anyone patient enough to crouch down and work through them.