What is recorded here

Death and rebirth are carved into one stone. The cross is life given shape, the circle is continuity itself, and the bird above them is the part of us that leaves the body and returns changed. Together they form a complete map of what happens when human life ends and transformation begins.

This cross-slab fragment was recovered from the children's burial ground (KE070-043001-) during its excavation (see Sheehan 1994, 41-2; 1995, 43-4; 1996, 40-41; 1997, 47; 1998, 82; 2000a, 89; 2000b, 112; 2004, 211-12; 2006, 214). It is derived from the uppermost part of a slab and features a portion of an encircled Maltese cross above which is a carving of a bird. Compiled by: Elizabeth Byrne, Ursula Egan and Sheila Ronan, Archaeological Survey Unit, University College, Cork. Date of upload: 30 May 2011

Dated to the early Christian period (6th–10th century AD), the cross-slab likely served a Christian funerary or commemorative function, possibly associated with the nearby children's burial ground. Such stones often carried religious symbolism and may have been linked to early monastic or ecclesiastical activity in the region.

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