What is recorded here

Six centuries of Galway rain have not erased the twin crosses carved into the western edge of Teampall Chiaráin. The upper marker wears a single line while the lower uses two, suggesting two different chisels or two different beliefs at the same place. A person may have stood beside this pillar when the field boundary was first drawn, reading the stones instead of writing a name.

This tall cross-inscribed pillar (H 2.47m; Wth 0.32m at top; T 0.11m) is incorporated into a field boundary c. 14m to the W of Teampall Chiaráin (GA111-002001-). The top of the pillar is rounded off and its E face bears two crosses, one placed above the other. The upper cross is a single-line Latin cross with semicircular terminals and a central roundel. The lower cross is a two-line Latin cross with terminals similar to those on the upper cross at its top and base. There is also a central roundel. Between the two crosses another feature is defined by two parallel lines with a pair of projecting leaf-shaped terminals at both ends. (Wakeman 1891, 357; Crawford 1913, 155(b); O’Flanagan 1927, vol. 3, 369 and facing p. 200 (2); Higgins 1987, vol. 2, 378, no. 98). Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 12 February 2016 This monument was taken into Ownership under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 - National Monument 43.

This cross-inscribed pillar likely dates to the early medieval period, associated with Christian worship or waymarking. Its placement near a chapel suggests a liturgical or commemorative function, possibly linked to local saints or pilgrimage routes.

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