What is recorded here

Half a metre of dark mica-schist stands in a Galway graveyard, marking the oldest bones ever pulled from that soil. A carved cross glows faintly on its eastern face, arms swollen like muscle, centre puffed into a ring that suggests a body rather than a symbol. The stone may have been reused, dragged from elsewhere to anchor a dead person whose name has vanished. It left the island later, but a copy now holds its shape in the grass while the original sleeps in a government warehouse.

Roughly centrally located in the graveyard (GA021-026026-) on High Island. Recorded by Fisher(2014, 206, no. 11, Fig. 7.2), this tapering garnet mica-schist cross-slab (H 0.62m; Wth 0.39m; T 0.06m) forms the footstone of Grave 5, which contained the earliest human remains on site, dating from the late 9th to the late 10th century. It was found in situ but was probably reused. Only its E face is decorated. It bears an expansional cross in relief with a raised central roundel and roughly D-shaped terminals. Incised grooves in the upper and lower terminals and horizontal bars in the side terminals are suggestive of an anthropomorphic figure. The roundel is notched at the angles to form an equal-armed cross with expanded arms and a linear cross is superimposed on this. This cross-slab is now in the care of the OPW (Athenry depot, Co. Galway, see GA084-151015-). A replica has been placed on site. (White Marshall and Rourke 2000, 152-3, no. 20) Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 19 November 2015

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