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Cross-slab in Clonmacnoise

Cross-slab

What is recorded here

Half a metre tall and no thicker than a knife-edge, the slab stands complete though worn smooth by centuries of rain and handling. Its outline cross carries no name, leaving the dead person behind it unnamed and unrecorded. That absence is not a failure but an invitation: whoever lay beneath it entered Clonmacnoise without needing stone to repeat their identity.
Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00027 Dimensions: H 0.51, W 0.42, T 0.06 Simple outline cross on a rough slab. No inscription. Evidence of discovery: OPW 1954-58 Condition: Complete but worn. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81-121, 384, 646. 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
Early Christian period, likely 7th to 10th century. The simple cross may have marked a burial or served as a memorial, reflecting the religious significance of Clonmacnoise as an early monastic site.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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