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Cross

Cross, High cross

What is recorded here

Half-buried in a farmer’s stone heap west of the road to Ross, the severed head of a seventeenth-century ring cross still wears its chamfered edges sharp against the encroaching grass. Local tradition claims two ill-fated lovers sleep beneath that tangled ground, a story Anne Ahern Getty later carried into her 1970 novel Orwen and Sabrina. The shaft lies missing or hidden, leaving the circular stone to mark love, loss, or boundary alone.
The base of a high cross is within the graveyard (ME016-006007-) at the site of the early monastery of Diseart Chiarin (ME016-006----) (O'Connell 1957, 24). Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 6 June, 2014
The high cross in Castlekeeran was likely built in the 9th or 10th century by a monastic community associated with the early Christian site of Diseart Chiaran. It is a typical example of an Irish high cross, possibly dedicated to a local saint, and represents the religious and artistic heritage of early medieval Ireland.

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

What survives
Recorded monument

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