[2] The placename derives from "Crosslands" (Latin: Croceae), a term applied to lands that were owned by the Catholic Church.

There are seven civil parishes in the barony: The Nethercross or Lowercross was carved in granite at St Canice's abbey sometime between the 7th and 9th centuries.

The original height of the cross is not known as it was dismantled by the clergy during the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland and hidden to prevent its desecration by the Roundheads.

[7] He tracked down an old man whose grandfather, as a boy, had been present at the burial of the cross in a corner of one of the glebe fields.

Walsh unearthed the cross from its hiding place, as described by the old man, and had it erected in the south-east corner of the parish graveyard, where it now stands.

The cross was the northern boundary marker of the parish from early times at a place which is still called Watery Lanes, north of Mellows Road.