What is recorded here

Half a metre of rough boulder, small enough to lift yet heavy enough to mark death, stands in Clonmacnoise with an expansional cross cut through its grain. The blanks at the centre and terminals refuse explanation, but the letters M A E L P H E T remain sharp enough to accuse forgetting. That is why the stone still matters: it preserves a name the river and centuries could not erase.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00284 Dimensions: H 0.58, W 0.46, T 0.11 A rounded rough boulder. An expansional outline cross with centre line. The centre and terminals are blank. Inscription: The slab is inscribed 'OR DO MAEL PHET'. Evidence of discovery: Graves 1854. Condition: Rough boulder worn but complete. National Monuments Service, Photo number: 81- Lionard, Early Irish Grave-slabs, PRIA 60(1959-60), p 132, Fig 23, no. 5. 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 medieval period, given the Christian cross motif typical of monastic sites like Clonmacnoise. The blank terminals and centre may indicate a simplified or abstract cross used for commemorative or ritual purposes.

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