What is recorded here

In the Hermit's Garden at Coomanaspig, a cross-inscribed stone marked a monk's burial before men moved it four kilometres southeast to cover a family grave in Killemlagh graveyard during the 1900s. The hermit may have gardened beside his own marker, tending soil and shadow until the stone left the place where he lived.

This record was formerly classed as cross-inscribed stone (original location). According to local information, an area known as the 'Hermit's Garden' was the location of a cross-inscribed stone which marked a monk's burial (KE087-094001-). In the 1900s however, the stone was removed from the 'Hermit's Garden' and repositioned at a family grave in Killemlagh graveyard (KE096-009003-), c. 4km to the SE. That stone is more than likely the cross-inscribed stone (KE096-009002-) which is described by O'Sullivan and Sheehan (1996, 360) as serving as the cover of a tomb in Killemlagh graveyard. Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

Likely dating to the early medieval period, the cross-inscribed stone may have marked a Christian burial or served as a waymarker along a pilgrimage route. Local tradition associates it with a monk's burial site, suggesting a possible connection to early monastic or hermitic activity in the area.

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