Among its remains is a carved cross-slab, the kind of upright stone incised with a simple cross that served as a devotional marker in the early medieval period, long before the elaborate high crosses of later centuries became the more familiar form. These slabs are often modest in scale but carry considerable weight as evidence of a community's spiritual life, sometimes marking graves, sometimes simply placed as a focus for prayer.

Caher Island, known in Irish as Cathair na Naomh, the city or stone fort of the saints, was a place of pilgrimage associated with Saint Patrick, and a pattern, meaning a traditional religious gathering tied to a particular saint's day, was still being observed there into relatively recent times. The island holds the remains of a small oratory, enclosing walls, and a number of carved stones, all consistent with a modest early monastic or hermitage settlement. The cross-slab fits into this broader ensemble of early Christian stonework, a quiet material record of the island's long devotional use.

The island is accessible only by boat from the Louisburgh area, and the crossing depends entirely on sea conditions. The pilgrimage pattern was traditionally held at the end of July, and the island sees most of its visitors around that period. The terrain is rough and the site is largely unmanaged, so the stonework sits much as it has for centuries, without interpretation panels or formal pathways.