The lower of the coping stones gives way to a corbel pushing outward to the south, on which a very worn human figure has been carved, its head caught between what may be supporting arms or legs in a contorted pose. One course below that, a second corbel projects eastward, and from it another carved human figure appears to be emerging, as if pulling itself free of the stone itself.

Figures of this kind belong to a broader tradition of exhibitionist or apotropaic carvings found on Irish ecclesiastical buildings throughout the medieval period. The most widely discussed are sheela-na-gigs, exaggerated female figures thought to ward off evil or carry older fertility associations, but male and ambiguously gendered contorted figures also appear, sometimes in corners or on corbels where they would catch the eye of anyone passing close to the building. The Knockgraffon examples are badly weathered, which makes precise identification of posture or intent difficult, but the placement at the south-east angle and their incorporation into the church fabric suggests they were deliberately positioned rather than incidental decoration. Whether they predate the standing structure or were built in from an earlier phase of the site is not recorded.