What is recorded here

Half a metre of worn stone stands in Clonmacnoise, its upper edge and right side broken, yet the pointed cross stem still cuts through the moss. The name TETL[AL] survives on the face, a small identity preserved while the body and story slipped away. Petrie saw it in 1822, but the hands that cut it and the life it marked have vanished into the green field.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00029 Dimensions: H 0.64, W 0.475, T 0.07 Outline cross with pointed cross stem. Inscription: 'TETL[AL]'. Evidence of discovery: Petrie 1822. Condition: Very worn. Upper part and right side damaged. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81-138, 301, 640, 1312 Lionard, Early Irish Grave-slabs, PRIA 60(1959-60), p 106, Fig 6, no. 1 Stokes, M. (1878) Christian Inscriptions in the Irish language, Vol 1, p XXIV, no. 59. 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

Dateable to the early Christian period, likely 8th to 10th century AD, the cross-slab reflects the monastic tradition of Clonmacnoise. The inscription "TETL[AL]" may be a personal name or abbreviation, typical of early Irish memorial stones.

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