What is recorded here

Inishcaltra is a small island off Clare where a lost eighth-century cross fragment once stood beside St. Caimin’s church. The surviving piece is barely larger than a bread loaf, yet it carries a circled cross, triquetras and tiny dots, marking it as a made object rather than a forgotten rock. It may have been set in a wall, buried under grass or carried away when the island changed hands. Whatever happened, the stone still points back to a time when a small place could hold a visible share of the wider world.

A fragment of a cross-slab, noted by Macalister (1916-17, 152, no. 23) as 'of eighth-century type' and described as a ‘fragment, measuring 1ft 2in (0.35m) by 9.5in (0.24m) by 1in (0.02m), bearing a cross similar to the last (CL029-009060-) (i.e. a cross ‘pattée’ in a circle); triquetras on the arms of the cross, and dots in the angles of the trefoils.’ Although Macalister noted the stone at the N wall of St. Caimin’s church (CL029-009011-) the present location is not known. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 5 October 2015

A Christian cross-slab fragment, likely dating to the 8th century, associated with early medieval monastic or ecclesiastical activity; its cross design reflects Insular artistic traditions.

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