What makes it quietly notable is its material: mica schist, a metamorphic rock with a faintly glittering surface, rather than the sandstone or granite more commonly used for early Irish ecclesiastical stonework in the region.

The cross is a plain Latin form, meaning it has a simple upright shaft with four equal-ish arms and no decorative ring or figural carving. It measures roughly 1.4 metres tall by 0.9 metres across and is only about 12 centimetres thick, giving it a relatively slender profile for its size. It sits in a mortised base, a socketed block of the same mica schist into which the shaft of the cross has been fitted and secured, a method of mounting that suggests some care in its original installation. The base itself measures around 1.1 metres by 0.8 metres and stands 13 centimetres proud of the ground. These dimensions were recorded by Patrick Healy in a 1972 survey of ancient monuments at Glendalough carried out for the Office of Public Works, which remains the principal published account of the cross.