What is recorded here

Half a metre of forgotten life. Clonmacnoise holds a broken cross-slab, no taller than a child's knee, carrying the name LITH in weathered letters. Petrie saw it in 1872, but LITH still belongs to the field, not the museum. A person lived, died, and was remembered there before records existed. The slab survives because someone cut a name into stone instead of letting the field swallow the claim.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00584 Dimensions: H 0.30, W 0.27 Two lines above and below an inscription. Inscription: The letters 'L]IT[H'. Evidence of discovery: Petrie 1872. Condition: Fragmentary. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81- Stokes, M. (1878) Christian Inscriptions in the Irish language, Vol 1, p LV, no. 135. The Clonmacnoise inventory was compiled by the Office of Public Works. A copy of the record for this slab is available for inspection in the relevant Archaeological Survey of Ireland (SMR) file. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

Date likely to the early Christian period (6th–10th century AD), given the form and style of the cross-slab and the Latin inscription. The fragmentary inscription "L]IT[H" may be part of a name or a short phrase, possibly related to a dedication or commemorative text.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.