What is recorded here

Break the edge of a cross and it becomes a chamber for imagination. The surviving fragment holds a linear cross with wedge-shaped terminals inside an outline cross marked by a median line and ring. The missing frame and stepped arms must be guessed, but the central geometry still points outward. Clonmacnoise has given up whole slabs and hidden ones alike; this is one of the hidden ones, small enough to carry and strange enough to remember.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00281 Dimensions: H 0.22, W 0.155, T 0.02 Outline cross with median line and ring. In the centre is a linear cross with wedge shaped terminals. The whole was probably enclosed by a rectilinear frame and had stepped arm terminals. No inscription. Evidence of discovery: OPW 1954-58 Condition: Fragment with part of the centre. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81-68, 395. 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 early Christian period (6th–10th century AD). The cross-slab may have served as a grave marker or commemorative monument, reflecting Christian symbolism and artistic tradition in medieval Ireland.

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