Cooly Wheel-Head Cross Slab

The early ecclesiastical site here consists of a sub-rectangular shaped graveyard inside of which are a number of earlier features. To the W outside the entrance to the graveyard (DG021-008001-) is a tall, plain, ringed high-cross (DG021-008005-). Inside the graveyard are the remains of two churches (DG021-008002-/003-) and a mortuary house or tomb shrine (DG021-008004-). One of the churches served as a medieval parish church (Leslie 1937, 265). Incised ringed cross on an upright slab (H 0.32m; Wth 0.29m) with T-shaped base exposed after a recent graveyard clean-up scheme carried out in 2010. This cross-slab is located immediately N of the S wall of the South Church (DG021-008002-) in Cooly graveyard (DG021-008001-). The site 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). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 22 October 2015

Dated to the early Christian period (5th–9th century AD), the Cooly Wheel-Head Cross Slab likely served a liturgical or commemorative function, reflecting the spread of Christianity in the region. Its wheel-headed cross design is typical of Insular art and may have been associated with a monastic or burial site.