What is recorded here

In 2015 a small cross-inscribed limestone pillar was pulled from the east wall of the old Annaghdown church and carried to an OPW depot, not because it had done wrong but because rain and handling had begun to fray its edges. It had already wandered: buried beneath another slab, pried up in the 1950s, set outside, moved inside, propped against the gable. On one face a plain Latin cross; on the other a stranger cross with twin lines between its arms. Whatever it marked before Christianity gave it shape, it has spent centuries being remembered by being moved.

When this cross-slab was recorded by Higgins (1987, part ii, 321, no. 38, Fig. 38) it stood to the E of what is regarded as the earliest church (GA069-001007-) at Annaghdown (Harbison 1975, 81) but it was not firmly set into the ground. It came to light during works in this area, by the Office of Public Works (OPW), in the 1950s when it was subsequently set upright (pers. comm. J. Higgins, 23 October 2014). A lost slab (GA069-001010-) used to lie beneath it (Higgins 1987, part ii, 312). By the early 1980s the cross-slab had been moved to the interior of the church (GA069-001011-), which lies c. 55m to the SE (SMR file 1983). It was moved again and when inspected in October 2014 it was standing against the external face of the E gable of this church. In April 2015 it was temporarily removed to the OPW depot for safe-keeping. The cross-slab consists of a small round-topped limestone pillar (H 0.63m; Wth 0.16m; T 0.09-0.1m) decorated on both faces with a cross. The cross on the front face is a simple one-line Latin cross, which occupies the upper third of the slab. The cross on the reverse face is more complex in design and it occupies the upper half of the slab. It consists of a cross with two arms with two additional vertical lines running midway between the arms (Higgins 1987, part ii, Fig. 38). Updated by: Olive Alcock Date of revised upload: 10 April 2015 The following images have been uploaded: GA069-001009-_01.jpg GA069-001009-_02.jpg

Probably dates to the early Christian period (5th–9th centuries AD) and may have served as a memorial or ecclesiastical marker, associated with the nearby early church. The cross inscription suggests a Christian function, though specific folklore or dedications are not recorded.

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