St.Fiacc speaks of it as having been richly adorned by an ecclesiastic contemporary with the saint.
A curious MS.

is still preserved in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey, containing an examination of "Sir Gerald Machshayne, knight, sworn 19th March, 1529, upon the Holie Mase-booke and the _great relicke of Erlonde, called Baculum Christi_, the presence of the Kynge's Deputie, Chancellour, Tresoror, and Justice." Perhaps it may be well to conclude the account of this interesting relic by a notice of its wanton destruction, as translated from the Annals of Loch Ce by Professor O'Curry:-- "The most miraculous image of Mary, which was at _Baile Atha Truim_ (Trim), and which the Irish people had all honoured for a long time before that, which used to heal the blind, the deaf, the lame, and every disease in like manner, was burned by the Saxons.

And the Staff of Jesus, which was in Dublin, and which wrought many wonders and miracles in Erinn since the time of Patrick down to that time, and which was in the hand of Christ Himself, was burned by the Saxons in like manner.

And not only that, but there was not a holy cross, nor an image of Mary, nor other celebrated image in Erinn over which their power reached, that they did not burn.

Nor was there one of the seven Orders which came under their power that they did not ruin.