Cooly Ring-Headed Cross Slab

The early ecclesiastical site here consists of a sub-rectangular shaped graveyard inside of which are a number of earlier features. The monastery is located on excellent land sloping to Lough Foyle to the E and is traditionally claimed to have been founded by St. Patrick (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 399; Lacy et. al. 1983, 261). A magnetometer survey carried out by the Bernician Studies Group in 2014 in the fields surrounding the churches (DG021-008002-/003-) and graveyard (DG021-008001-) at Cooly revealed the outline of the ecclesiastical enclosure (DG021-008----) of the Early Christian monastery of Cooly (O'Brien and Adams 2014, 4). The graveyard was subject to a clean-up scheme in 2010 which resulted in the discovery of several unrecorded cross-slabs. The Bernician Studies Group carried out a survey inside the graveyard and recorded twenty cross slabs, 10 of which were ringed cross-inscribed slabs. One of these slabs contains an incised ringed cross, with incised shaft and pointed base which has been placed up against S face of N wall of graveyard, 18m W of the NE corner of Cooly graveyard (O'Brien and Adams 2014, 3). The attached image (DG021-008019-_01.jpg) is a line drawing of the cross-slab taken from Bernician Studies Group 2014 Report on Cooly graveyard. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 22 October 2015

Dated to the early medieval period, likely between the 7th and 10th centuries, the Cooly Ring-Headed Cross Slab is associated with an early Christian monastic site. Such cross slabs often served as grave markers or commemorative monuments, reflecting Christian symbolism and the spiritual significance of the site.