What is recorded here

Half a metre of worn stone, no name carved, only a double cross whose arms loop outward like hands releasing something. It lay complete in Clonmacnoise when Macalister worked there at the century's turn, bare-faced and quiet beside graves that still had stories. Perhaps it marked a child, a traveller, or a monk who stopped asking to be remembered; the loops suggest letting go rather than claiming.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00093 Dimensions: H 0.89, W 0.585, T 0.075 Double outline cross with median line on the arms, the ends of which are looped outwards. The centre has a circle made by the arms of the cross forming curves. The slab's surface is naturally uneven. No inscription. Evidence of discovery: Macalister 1898-1905 Condition: Complete but worn. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81-1365. 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 9th to 11th century AD, based on the style of the double outline cross with looped arms and central circle, characteristic of early Christian Ireland. Such crosses were often used as grave-markers or commemorative monuments in monastic sites like Clonmacnoise, reflecting both Christian symbolism and local artistic tradition.

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