What is recorded here

Purple sandstone, thin as a knife, lies flat in Garfinny graveyard with a small cross cut through both ends. The unusual shape suggests a tool or marker rather than a grave, yet it rests among dead men and women. Maybe it marked a boundary, a meeting place, or a warning before crosses appeared on Christian stones. The possibility of faint letters underneath keeps the question alive.

In 2010 a graveyard survey carried out by Laurence Dunne recorded the following details about cross-inscribed stone No. 61 in Garfinny graveyard (KE043-228----): 'Fourteen previously unrecorded cross-slabs or simple cross inscribed headstones were plotted and recorded in Garfinny. These crosses comprise eight small unhewn stones inscribed with crosses (59, 61, 63, 77, 95, 203, 530 and 708); five 18th / 19th century cross inscribed slabs (98, 130, 347, 449 & 712) and one late stone cross (181). Cross-slab (61), thin rectangular purple sandstone, 0.38m x 0.33m x 0.04m, with small equal armed cross with T-bar terminals. Possibility of faint letters underneath. Uncertain date' (Dunne 2010, 16). See attached photograph courtesy of Laurence Dunne Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 29 June 2022

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