What is recorded here

One tempting possibility is that the slab marked a burial or memorial before becoming a church marker. The clear disc at the top of the cross may have represented the sun, moon, divine light or an eternal flame, while the line running downward connected that height to the person below. In a small Kildare church, such a stone would have turned prayer into something seen, touched and remembered.

In Furness Church (KD019-024001-). A gently tapering granite slab (dims. L 1.62m; Wth 0.37-0.53m; T 0.22m) carries a broad shaft and transom of a cross carved in low relief, with the head of the cross formed by a circular disc from which an incised line runs down the centre of the shaft. (Synnott 1969, 468-9; Healy 2009, 72) Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011

Probably dates to the early medieval period, associated with Christian worship or territorial marking. The circular head may symbolize the sun or have Christian iconographic significance.

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