What is recorded here

Half a metre of stone lies flat in Carrowmore, marked by two shallow grooves cut across its width. It belongs to Both Chonais, an early monastic place where burial, prayer and memory crossed one another. A road now divides what was once a single enclosure, yet the slab still holds its shape beneath grass and rain.

Carrowmore ecclesiastical complex has been identified with Both Chonais an early monastic site (Gwynn and Hadcock 1970, 30; Lacy et. al 1983, 248). The site consists of a series of monuments (DG011-049----/049010-) divided by a modern road, but obviously it originally formed part of a larger unit. On the W side of the road there is a rectangular enclosure of a burial ground (DG011-049001-). Near the SW corner of the enclosure two jamb-stones 1.5m apart, and at right-angles to the line of the wall, probably indicate an entrance. Just beyond the N side of this wall is a flat-topped boulder (DG011-049003-) which may be the base of a high cross. S of this dividing wall is a possible cross-inscribed slab (dims. L 1.5m x Wth 0.45m x T 0.02m) partially buried in the ground. Two groves are cut transversely on the slab (Lacy et. al. 1983, 248). In 2012 the Bernician Studies Group carried out a magnetometer survey in the fields surrounding the high crosses (DG011-049005-/006-) at Carrowmore which revealed the sub-surface remains of a bi-vallate early Christian ecclesiastical enclosure (DG011-049----) (O'Brien and Adams 2014, 4). DG011-049004-_01.jpg line drawing made by Donegal Survey in 1980 (SMR File). The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 4 March 2015

Probably dating to the early Christian period, the cross-slab may have served a liturgical or commemorative function within the monastic complex. Such stones often carried Christian iconography and were associated with burial or ritual practices.

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