The symbol, long before its twentieth-century associations, was a common motif in medieval and early Christian carving across Europe and Ireland, where it carried connotations of eternity, the sun, or simply ornamental geometry. Finding it carved in relief on a chest tomb, a box-like above-ground grave monument formed of stone slabs, is a reminder of how thoroughly that history has been overlaid.

The tomb is wedge-shaped and constructed from two pieces of stone fitted neatly together. Alongside the swastika sits an interlaced curvilinear design incorporating a pelta motif, a crescent or shield-like form with curved arms that appears frequently in insular decorative art. A tapering graveslab associated with the tomb, measuring roughly 193 centimetres in length and between 92 and 97 centimetres wide, lies to the south of the church's east end. The stonework is undated, though it is generally considered medieval in origin. Mary Hickson noted the monument in the late nineteenth century, and John Bradley described the slab in detail in 1987, drawing attention to the quality and specificity of its relief carving. The Dingle Peninsula as a whole is exceptionally dense with early medieval ecclesiastical remains, and this tomb fits within that wider landscape of carved stone that stretches from the early Christian period through the later Middle Ages.