Made from plaster applied over a wooden frame, it is a relatively modest thing by the standards of the era, yet it commemorates a man who held one of the senior ecclesiastical positions in Ireland during one of the most turbulent periods in the country's history.

The monument is dedicated to Edward Parris, who served as Bishop of Killaloe and died in 1650. That date alone gives pause. The year 1650 fell in the immediate aftermath of Cromwell's campaign in Ireland, a period of severe disruption to the established church, to civic life, and to ordinary patterns of commemoration. That a memorial to a Church of Ireland bishop was installed at all, in a functioning parish church, speaks to the complicated continuities of religious and civic life in Dublin even during conflict. The church itself, St Audoen's on High Street, has origins stretching back to the medieval period and retains fabric from that earlier era, making the nave in which the monument sits a genuinely layered space. Wall monuments of this type, using plaster over timber rather than carved stone, were a practical and relatively affordable means of commemoration that became more common in the seventeenth century, and this example is an early surviving instance of the form in Dublin.

St Audoen's is located on High Street in the Liberties area of the city, and the medieval church is managed by the Office of Public Works. It is worth distinguishing it from the neighbouring Roman Catholic church of the same name, which sits just beside it. The medieval building is open to visitors seasonally, so checking access arrangements in advance is advisable. Once inside, the nave is compact, and the monument is not dramatically signposted; moving slowly and looking at the walls carefully is the right approach. The church also retains other early features including a fifteenth-century font, so the Parris monument rewards being seen as part of a broader reading of the interior rather than sought out in isolation.