Carved in the late sixteenth century, it ended up not in a graveyard or on a village green, but in a Dublin institution, having apparently been removed from its original setting long before anyone thought to record precisely how or why.

According to a 1984 paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, the fragment was probably first erected at Market Square in Townparks, County Meath. Free-standing stone crosses of this period were fairly common markers of civic and religious life in Irish towns and villages, often placed at crossroads or market places where they served as focal points for trade, assembly, or public devotion. What distinguishes this particular piece is the uncertainty surrounding its removal and transfer. The PRIA record notes the Meath provenance only tentatively, using the word "perhaps", which suggests the object had already lost its clear documentary trail by the time scholars examined it. How it came to Dublin, and when, is not recorded in the available notes.

The fragment is held by the National Museum of Ireland, whose main collections are split across several Dublin sites, including the Archaeology branch on Kildare Street in the south city. Visitors with a specific interest in early modern stonework would be best advised to contact the museum directly before visiting, since not all collection items are on permanent public display; objects of this kind are sometimes held in storage rather than exhibited in the galleries. If it is accessible, the piece would repay close attention, as late sixteenth-century carved stonework often retains traces of the tools used to dress it, and occasionally shows decorative motifs that reflect the transitional moment between Gaelic and New English cultural influence in Irish towns of that period.