What makes it particularly odd is not its age, but its origins: the dial was originally made for Lissadell in County Sligo, on the opposite side of the country, before being relocated to this unremarkable gatepost at some point in its long life.

The dial itself is a compact square of horizontal brass, measuring 0.25 metres on each side, and it is more ornate than its current setting might suggest. The four corners carry an eight-petal flower design, and around the face the hours run from one to twelve in Roman numerals. An outer fractional time ring allows for readings between the hours, and at the centre an eight-point compass is engraved into the brass. The gnomon, the triangular blade whose shadow marks the time, is pierced rather than solid, a decorative flourish common to finer instrument-making of the period. Above the dial face, the inscription reads simply: "Time is Swiftly Fading," with the year 1697 set above it. The phrase belongs to a tradition of memento mori sentiments on sundials, a reminder that the instrument measuring the hours was also measuring a life. Adding another layer of accumulated history to the same pier, a medieval stoup has recently been built into its side. A stoup is a small stone basin originally used to hold holy water, typically found at the entrance to a church.

The pier stands on the western side of the entrance connecting the grounds of St Patrick's Church to the cemetery on the southern side. It is not signposted or fenced off, and the dial sits at the top of the pier in the open air, accessible to anyone passing through the gateway. The engraving remains reasonably legible, though the brass has the patina one would expect of an object that has spent centuries outdoors. The sundial's journey from Sligo to Limerick is unrecorded, and the parish priest, who confirmed the dial's provenance in November 2022, appears to be the current source for that detail. The question of how it travelled so far, and when, remains open.