What is recorded here

Cross in Commons South stands loosely on the wall beside Toberinneenboy holy well in County Clare, its limestone arms narrowing inward like a breath held back. The sloping letters HC and IH mark one side while a plain cross cuts the other, suggesting it may have fallen from Killinaboy church or been set there as a penal warning. Rain has worn the edges smooth, yet the small hollows and chipped arm still catch the light, inviting wonder about the hands that cut them and the prayers spoken beneath them.

Situated on the NE side of ‘Toberinneenboy’ holy well (CL017-027001-), where it is set loosely on top of the enclosing wall. This heavily patinated cross (H 0.59m; Wth 0.3m; T 0.095m), probably of limestone, has a wide base (Wth 0.22m) which narrows toward the arms (max. Wth 0.12m), with the arms, likewise, narrowing inwards towards the shaft. Similarly, the cross head (max. Wth 0.14m) narrows down to the arms. There is rough punch-dressing on the narrow sides of the cross. Both the arms and the head bear curved indentations, with a central raised ridge (Wth 0.035m) at the top of the head. The SW face of the cross (i.e. facing the well) has a narrow horizontal incised line across the shaft under the arms. There are two small hollows on this face, one on the head and another near the base, which are probably natural imperfections or solution holes. Across the arms, is a crude irregularly spaced and unclear incised inscription, not running horizontally but rather sloping down to the lower extremity of the right arm. This inscription includes the letters ‘HC’, then a gap, then ‘IH’ which presumably is followed by an ‘S’. On the left there is a date, possible 1715 or 1702 (pers. comm. Tim Robinson). The NE face of the cross bears a simple incised cross, while this face of the NW arm has been chipped. This was originally a finial cross, perhaps taken from the nearby medieval church (CL017-020001-) of Killinaboy, although it gives the general appearance of having been a penal cross. It is described as a ‘modern little stone cross’ in the OS Letters of 1839 (Comber 1997, 13). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Conn Herriott Date of upload: 9-10-2025

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