What is recorded here

One tall limestone pillar stands at the southern edge of St Brecan’s Grave in County Galway, its grooved cross rising from a base shaped like a pair of bent legs. It is the smallest and most exposed of four similar slabs, yet its sharp lines and odd footing suggest it marked a boundary someone still walked. The stone does not claim to be ancient or sacred; it simply points upward, waiting for a hand to test whether the groove remains deep enough to trace in darkness.

This is one of four cross-slabs (see also GA110-023022-, GA110-023023- and GA110-023024-) now associated with St Brecan’s Grave (GA110-023009-); it is the southernmost example. It consists of a tall limestone pillar (H 1.25m; Wth 0.18m; T 0.13m) that bears a grooved Latin cross with splayed terminals (Waddell 1973, 19, no. 11). The cross rises from a base with two L-shaped legs (Higgins 1978, vol. 2, 308, no. 35). Crawford (1913, 154 (j)) described the latter feature as being shaped like ‘a pair of bent legs’. A similar base is evident on the cross-slab (GA110-023014-). Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 9 March 2016

This cross-inscribed pillar likely dates to the Early Christian period (5th–9th centuries AD) and is associated with the spread of Christianity in the region. The cross may have served a commemorative or liturgical function, possibly marking a religious site linked to St Brecan.

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