What is recorded here

Macalister found the slab between 1898 and 1905. He saw a cross drawn inside another cross, the second one tilted like a child's drawing. The stone stands half a metre tall in Clonmacnoise, its edges worn smooth by rain and time. What hand made that inside cross, and why? Perhaps a monk learning to carve, perhaps a child playing on a forgotten grave. The stone no longer answers, but it still holds the shape of that first attempt.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00035 Dimensions: H 0.58, W 0.35, T 0.04 An outline cross with the lines intersecting at the centre inside a single line frame. There is a diagonal cross in the square formed at the centre. Inscription: None. Evidence of discovery: Macalister 1898-1905 Condition: Flaked surface. The frame is very worn. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81-4, 429, 761 Lionard, Early Irish Grave-slabs, PRIA 60(1959-60), p 106, Fig 6, no. 12. 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

Probably from the early medieval period, associated with Christian symbolism. The cross design may reflect liturgical or commemorative use, common in monastic or burial contexts.

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