What is recorded here

Breakage removed most of the story, leaving UM behind a partial frame. The small slab still stands inside the greater field of Clonmacnoise, where many stones lost edges before people learned to read them. What is missing may have been a name, a prayer or a warning; what remains is a corner of that forgotten language, still sharp enough to mark the place where memory broke away.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00586 Dimensions: H 0.22, W 0.17, T 0.05 Part of an inscription and two lines above. Inscription: 'UM'. Evidence of discovery: Macalister 1949. Condition: Part of an inscription and frame (?).. 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

Dated to the early Christian period (5th–9th century AD), the cross-slab is associated with the monastic site of Clonmacnoise and likely served a funerary or commemorative function. The inscription "UM" may represent an abbreviation or personal name, common in early Irish Christian gravemarkers.

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