What is recorded here

Half a foot of stone remains where a whole slab once stood, its ring cross stepping inward to touch the edge of its own frame. The missing half departed before Macalister walked the grounds, leaving behind a geometry so tight it still resembles a complete thought. Clonmacnoise kept the surviving fragment rather than discarding it, proving that absence can shape memory as sharply as chisel work.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00141 Dimensions: H 0.32, W 0.23, T 0.015 Outline ring cross with median line and stepped outline ring inside a two line rectilinear frame. The outer line of the cross makes the inner line of the frame. No inscription. Evidence of discovery: Macalister 1898-1905 Condition: Only half the slab has survived. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81-69, 493, 494, 779. 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 8th to 10th century AD, consistent with early Christian insular art in Ireland. The ring cross may have had a liturgical or commemorative function, reflecting the influence of monastic Clonmacnoise.

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