Yet this is precisely the situation with a remarkable early medieval stone that began its known life within the south-eastern corner of an ecclesiastical enclosure at Aghafad in County Longford, and now resides at St Mel's College in Longford town.

The pillar is large and rectangular, measuring 2.45 metres in height, 0.35 metres wide, and 0.25 metres thick. On its face, a Latin cross is carved in relief, a form common in early Christian Ireland where the upright is longer than the three remaining arms. What gives this example its particular interest is the technique used around the junction of the arms: the stone has been cut away in the angles between them to create a ringed effect, linking the arms visually in a manner associated with the ringed or Celtic cross tradition. The stem of the cross carries an additional decorative detail, a transverse groove running across it horizontally. These are modest embellishments by the standards of high crosses with their elaborate scriptural panels, but they suggest a craftsman working within a considered decorative vocabulary. The original ecclesiastical enclosure at Aghafad, a roughly circular or oval boundary demarcating an early church site, points to a settlement of some religious significance in the early medieval period.