What is recorded here

Half a metre of weathered stone lies buried in Clonmacnoise, its two ends still visible despite cement and age. Each end holds a circle around a straight cross, and the crosses touch across the gap like a bridge built for someone who could no longer walk. The slab may have marked a grave or supported an altar, but it no longer speaks with letters. It speaks only in shape, waiting for a hand to trace the line and imagine the life that disappeared beneath it.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00491 Dimensions: H 0.57, W 0.38, T 0.05 The surviving two terminals show two circles enclosing linear crosses which are connected. Possibly an altar slab. No inscription. Evidence of discovery: Macalister 1898-1905. Condition: Fragment - 2 terminals; weathered/cement encrusted. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81-405 Lionard, Early Irish Grave-slabs, PRIA 60(1959-60), p 137, Fig 27, no. 2. 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 medieval period, given the cross design and context of Clonmacnoise. It may have had a liturgical or commemorative function, common for Christian sites in Ireland.

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