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Cross-slab in Clonmacnoise

Cross-slab

What is recorded here

Four feet of carved stone stood in Clonmacnoise until Petrie saw it in 1872, bearing a triple outline cross and the name Suibine. The slab vanished after that sighting, leaving behind only a written trace and a shape remembered through other carvings. What remains is a gap marked by a cross, waiting for someone to imagine the hand that cut it and the life it covered.
Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00303 Dimensions: H 4 ft, W 3ft Triple outline expansional cross with median line and centre and terminal expansions containing spiral and fret patterns. Inscription: 'SUIBINE MC MAILAE HUMAI' Evidence of discovery: Petrie 1872. Condition: Lost after 1872. Stokes, M. (1878) Christian Inscriptions in the Irish language, Vol 1, p XXXI, no. 82. 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, associated with early Christian monastic activity in Clonmacnoise. The cross-slab would have served a funerary or commemorative function, its intricate designs reflecting both Christian symbolism and traditional Celtic artistic motifs.

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What survives
Recorded monument

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