What is recorded here

On the lower slopes of Leathaoibh above Dingle Harbour, a triangular sandstone slab carries a wide plain Latin cross carved through its heart. It sits near the eastern edge of the old burial ground, surrounded by hundreds of smaller unnamed markers that cluster like forgotten voices. The cross does not decorate; it anchors. In that crowded darkness of stone and time, one straight line still points downward into the lives buried beneath it.

In 2010 a graveyard survey carried out by Laurence Dunne recorded the following details about cross-inscribed stone No. 92: 'Kildrum Graveyard is situated on the N side of the Dingle Peninsula 4km NE of Dingle. It is situated on an elevated site at 50m OD on the lower ENE slopes of Leathaoibh with views S over Dingle Harbour and Mount Brandon to the NE. The old graveyard [KE043-130001-] is studded with around three hundred small unnamed headstones, notched grave markers and cross-slabs that are disposed around the interior. The spatial and density patterning of these gravemarkers most likely reflect the location of the medieval church [KE043-130----] and also the oval enclosure that is evident on the 1st Ed OS map of 1841. There are no visible, above ground, coherent, remains of the medieval church of Kildrum today. Twelve previously unrecorded cross-slabs were plotted and recorded in the old medieval burial ground. Cross-slab 92 situated near the eastern limits of the old burial ground is a triangular sandstone, 0.54m x 0.32 X 0.09m, with a wide incised plain Latin cross'. See attached plan and photographs courtesy of Laurence Dunne Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Laurence Dunne Date of upload: 27 June 2022

This cross-inscribed stone likely dates to the early Christian period in Ireland, possibly between the 7th and 10th centuries AD. Such stones often served as memorials or markers in burial grounds and may have had both religious and commemorative significance.

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