The slab originated at Lynally monastery, a site whose physical remains are modest today but whose history reaches back to the earliest centuries of Irish Christianity.

The monastery at Lynally was founded in the sixth century by Colmán Eala, a saint who died in 611. Colmán Eala, whose epithet connects him to the River Eala in the region, was one of many figures instrumental in the spread of monastic culture across Ireland during this period, when monasteries functioned not merely as religious houses but as centres of learning, craft, and local authority. The graveslab that once marked a burial at this community has since been removed to the National Museum, where it is held under registration number X 2899. Its departure from the site is not unusual; early medieval stonework from Irish monasteries has frequently migrated over the centuries into museum collections, private hands, or simply into obscurity.