Cross-slab in Inchcleraun

Formerly located within the ecclesiastical enclosure (LF021-048001-) on Inchcleraun Island, this cross-slab is one of four (see also LF021-048009-, LF021-048010- and LF021-048011-) now in the care of the OPW (Athenry depot, county Galway; see GA084-151001-). Bigger (1900, 72, 85) recorded that it stood between 'Templedermot' (LF021-048002-) and 'Templemore' (LF021-048004-). It is a round-topped, subrectangular, grey, limestone slab (H 0.74m; Wth 0.34m; T 0.14m) with an incised cross carved on both faces. On one face the cross is a well-defined, single-lined Latin cross contained within another single-lined cross with stepped angles at the junctions of the arms and rectangular shaped terminals. A single-line border encloses the shaft but just below the cross head it appears to turn into a possible spiral pattern, resembling the head of the crosier. On either side of the head there is a circle carved in the area between the arms of the cross. On the other face of the slab there is a single-line Latin cross with rounded angles at the junctions of the arms, with the faintest suggestion that this may have been an incised ringed-headed cross with thistle or bell-shaped quadrants. (Macalister 1949, Vol. 2, 29; English 1971, 148; Ciuchini 2010, Stone A, 90-91, 101, fig. 3-4) Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 6 June 2013

Likely dating to the early medieval period (7th–10th century), this cross-slab was associated with a monastic or ecclesiastical site and may have served a liturgical or commemorative function. Such stones often carried Christian iconography and were linked to early Irish monastic traditions.