It is the kind of object that raises more questions than it answers: where the cross originally stood, when it was broken, and who thought to salvage a piece of it and set it here are all details that have not survived.

The fragment was noted by Rowan in 1953, who recorded that a portion of an old cross had been erected on the wall surrounding the holy well at this site. Holy wells in Ireland were frequently enclosed in later centuries, often with low stone walls built to mark and protect them, and it was not uncommon for fragments of earlier ecclesiastical stonework to find their way into such structures, either as a gesture of continuity or simply as convenient building material given new purpose. That this piece was deliberately placed on top of the wall rather than built into it suggests some intention to keep it visible, though what significance it held for those who placed it there is unknown.