What is recorded here

That crude shale cross still stands at the NE end of St Michael’s nave in Tubber, locked inside a glass cabinet since June 2011. It was pulled from the Blakemount graveyard near Teampallnadeirka, small enough to hold in two arms yet old enough to have watched fields, fevers and forgotten prayers come and go. Its uneven ring and dimpled head suggest a local hand more than a grand workshop, perhaps from the 17th or 18th century rather than the first millennium.

Housed within a glass cabinet, at the NE end of the nave of St Michael’s Roman Catholic Church, Tubber since June 2011. According to the SMR file, it was found in the graveyard (CL018-003002-) when digging near the N wall of Teampallnadeirka (CL018-003001-) at Blakemount (see CL018-003004- for the original location record). A small, relatively crude cross (H c. 0.7m; T c. 0.12m) possibly carved from a type of shale. The disc-shaped head (0.28m x 0.24m) is in the style of a Celtic cross, although it is not completely circular and is irregular around the edges. The shafts of the head are broad in relation to the four residual quadrants which are quite small and not equal in size. The lack of symmetry makes this a crude and quite rustic type of cross. The surface of the head has slight dimples suggesting that it was dressed. These may have continued onto the slightly curvilinear stem (L 0.42m; Wth at top 0.11m; Wth at base 0.16m), although it bears no obvious markings or depictions. According to Higgins and O’ Grady (2011, 38), the head of the cross is ringed on both faces and dates to the first millennium AD, however this cross is likely to date to the 17th or 18th century. The following images have been uploaded: CL018-111----_01.jpg Cross in glass cabinet which is built into one of a pair of confessionals. CL018-111----_02.jpg Cross-head. CL018-111----_03.jpg Cross and stem. Compiled by: Mary Tunney, Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 6 February 2019

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