What is recorded here

In the 1950s, workers east of the church at Eanach Dhúin uncovered a cross-slab buried beneath another, revealing a hidden layer of the site's history. The lost slab bore a three-line Greek cross with semicircular terminals and small recessed marks, a design that still feels deliberate rather than decorative. It may have marked a grave, a boundary, or a prayer made visible in stone before it disappeared from ordinary sight.

Higgins (1987, part ii, 339, no. 65, Fig. 61 a and b) noted that the only record of this cross-slab, which is now lost, was a photograph in the files of the Department of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Dublin. The photograph indicates that it was lying recumbent beneath another cross-slab (GA069-001009-). The latter cross-slab came to light during the works to the E of the church (GA069-001007-) in the 1950s (pers. comm. J. Higgins, 23 October 2014). Based on the available evidence a conjectural drawing of the cross-slab by Higgins (ibid.) indicates it was a three-line Greek cross with semicircular expansional terminals. Each terminal had a pair of sub-triangular recesses on either side of the central lines of the cross. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 12 February 2015

Likely dating to the early medieval period, this cross-slab may have served a Christian ritual or commemorative function. Its design and context suggest a connection to early Irish monastic traditions, though specific folklore or use remains unrecorded.

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