Cross-inscribed pillar in Inis Gé Thuaidh

On top of Bailey Mór mound (MA023-014003-), at a house (MA023-014007-). Françoise Henry (1951, 67; Pillar 9) found this fragment of a cross-inscribed pillar amongst ‘some stones lying on the ruined side of House B [MA023-014007-]’. She describes it as follows: ‘It is the broken top of another pillar, and bears a very unusual decoration. Just above the section there seems to be a cross potent. Above this is a curved line, and still above it a human face indicated in a few lines.’ Attached image: MA023-014019-_01.JPG Image published by F. Henry (1951, Pl. XI, no. 1: Pillar 9) Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 18 July 2023 References: Henry, F. 1951 New monuments from Inishkea North, Co. Mayo. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquities of Ireland 81, 65-69

Probably dates to the early Christian period (5th–9th century AD), based on the presence of cross inscriptions, which are commonly associated with monastic or ecclesiastical sites in Ireland. Such stones may have marked a holy site, served a liturgical function, or been linked to local saints or pilgrimage traditions.