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Cross-slab in Cill Mhic An Domhnaigh

Cross-slab

What is recorded here

Second half of the 20th century, a narrow cross-slab stood beside a low burial mound at Calluragh, its eastern face widened into a circle and its western face marked by a strange bar that nearly touched the cross. The mound, clochaun stones and forgotten quernstones suggest people kept returning to that shallow slope, perhaps to remember, pray or bury what love could not carry elsewhere.
Calluragh Burial ground (KE052-105001-) /An Cheallúnach: Situated on the lower E slopes of Mount Eagle, this oval enclosure contains within it the remains of a clochaun, a possible Man-made underground passage and a cross-slab. A 2nd cross slab was listed at the site by Crawford (1912, 235), and Curran (no.4) recorded the discovery of 2 quernstones here but the present whereabouts of these is not known. Another cross-slab (KE052-106----) stands against the E side of a field fence c. 45m to SE of the site. Cross-inscribed Stones: (1) (KE052-105005-) This stands directly SE of a low circular mound of earth and stones, .6m high. It is a narrow rectangular pillar measuring 1.25m in height x .27m in width x .1m in thickness. The E face is inscribed with a cross with large circular expansions to arms and shaft, the latter terminal now almost completely spalled away. The W face is inscribed with a plain Latin cross above which is an unusual bar with a rectangular, downturned projection which almost meets the head of the cross. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 860. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 8 August 2013
Date likely to the early Christian period, given the presence of a cross-slab within a burial ground context. Such stones often served as markers for Christian burials or as memorials, reflecting the transition from prehistoric to early medieval religious practices in the region.

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What survives
Recorded monument

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