It is the kind of object that raises more questions than it answers: why was it buried there, face down or sideways in the foundations, rather than displayed or preserved in the conventional way? No definitive answer survives, but the slab itself is substantial, measuring 1.67 metres long and 0.45 metres wide, and its craftsmanship is deliberate enough to suggest it was never meant to be forgotten.

The slab is limestone, now cracked into two pieces, with a narrow-stemmed cross incised into its upper surface. The cross measures 1.45 metres in length and 0.39 metres across, and its arms end in round terminals, a feature found on early medieval Irish cross-slabs that softens the geometry and gives the design a quiet formality. The edges of the upper surface have been chamfered, meaning the stone was deliberately angled or bevelled along its sides, though the finish is rough in places, suggesting the work was either interrupted or never fully completed. After its discovery, the slab was relocated to the interior of the abbey, where it now sits beneath the east window, a position that at least gives it some dignity and shelter. The abbey in question is recorded under the site reference MA118-022002, situated in the Friarsquarter townland near Ballinrobe, in an area whose surroundings include Lough Mask and Lough Carra to the west and north.