What is recorded here

On a slope above Blacksod Bay, a two-metre pillar still stands in open pasture, marked with five crosses cut across both broad faces. The stone may have watched the castle nearby or guided people along the coast, yet it fell or was laid before the 1990s and now keeps one face hidden beneath the earth. Its crosses remain sharp enough to read, but the reason for their number has drifted out of memory.

In pasture, situated on a slope, overlooking an inlet on the inner reaches of Blacksod Bay. This early medieval cross-inscribed pillar stone (H 2.05m; Wth 0.63m N−S; T 0.09m E−W), roughly rectangular in shape and in cross-section, with its top sloping up to N, is incised with five crosses, three on one broad side and two on the other. A small plain equal-armed cross is incised just below the top of the E face of the pillar. It is directly above a Maltese cross in circle (diam. 0.47m), which expands to almost the full width of the stone. A stem (L 0.35m) descends from the lower edge of the circle, composed of three parallel incised lines, with two curved lines splaying from the terminals. An equal-armed cross (H of stem 0.31m; L of arms 0.22m) of three lines with expanded semi-circular terminals is incised on the lower portion of the E face, slightly offset towards the S edge of the stone. On the W face, just below the top of the stone, is a single-line equal-armed cross with curved terminals, and immediately below that is a three-line cross with looped terminals, similar in form to the three-line cross on the E face. The stone was upright, embedded in the ground with the long axis N−S, when recorded in the early 1940’s by Moran (1942, 149-151), but when inspected in 1997 it was lying on the ground, with the (original) E face uppermost and the W face concealed. The site of a castle (MA044-008----) is located 70m to N. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 18 May 2021

Early medieval in date, this cross-inscribed pillar may have served a Christian ritual or commemorative function, possibly associated with a local monastic or ecclesiastical site. The cross may also reflect the fusion of pre-Christian and early Christian symbolism in the region.

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