Church Chancel (in Ruins) — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

The chancel itself has vanished, but its broken cross still stands in the churchyard, a limestone disc with one arm raised like a gesture unfinished. Carved on one side is the Crucifixion beneath a canopy, and on the other the Virgin and Child, their faces worn smooth by rain and centuries of passing hands. It probably dates to the sixteenth century, when the church was whole and the cross complete enough to cast a shadow across the yard. Now it leans slightly, incomplete, as if waiting for the missing parts to return or for someone finally to stop asking it to remember what it has already given up.

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 Fragment of cross discovered in the grounds of St Mary's Church and erected on a concrete base and shaft. All that remains is part of a limestone disc head with one arm. The other arm, the top, the shaft and base are missing. A simple Crucifixion scene with canopy over is on the W face, the other side having a depiction of the Virgin and Child under an ogee-headed canopy. The cross, according to King (1983, 213), probably dates to the sixteenth century. (CLAJ 1943, 203, pl. I; King 1983, 210-14)

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.