What is recorded here

Gallen Priory in County Offaly yielded a cross-slab dated 1729, proving local people still shaped stone long after the medieval era. Its expanding arms and crude chisel work suggest a deliberate echo of older sacred carving rather than a careless mistake. The slab left the graveyard during the 1980s and now rests in Swords, carrying a measurable bridge between centuries.

Slab now located in the NMI Collections Resource Centre in Swords, Co. Dublin (DU018-310----/DU011-159----) which bears a cross in false relief defined by carving segments to form a circular shape. The arms of the cross expand slightly. Below the cross is the date 1729, also in false relief, set within a rectangular panel and below this a section of the slab has been crudely chiseled away as if to highlight the carvings. Although the design would not be out of place within the canon of pre-12th century cross-slabs the possibility cannot be ruled that it may represent an early 18th century expression of a desire to emulate the earlier carved stone work on the site. The slab was recovered from the graveyard of Gallen Priory, Co. Offaly during the 1980s. Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 14 August 2012

Date likely to the early medieval period, possibly 7th to 10th century AD, based on the style of the cross. Such cross-slabs were often used as markers for Christian burials or as waymarkers along pilgrimage routes.

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