What is recorded here

Inishcaltra is a small island off County Clare where St. Caimin’s church still stands beside the sea. A sandstone cross-slab is cemented into the south wall of the nave, not far from the east end. It carries a sharp Greek cross, small circles in the corners, and the name MUIRAITH written across the upper part. The island is tiny, but that stone has kept its line through water, wind and forgotten years.

Cemented to the S wall of the nave of St. Caimin’s church (CL029-009011-) and 1.6m from the E end. A sandstone slab (H 0.67m; Wth 0.47m; T 0.09m) noted by Macalister (1916-17, 151, no. 20) as 'of eighth-century type' and described as ‘a stone bearing a Greek cross of four lines within a square of two lines; four-line diagonals are stopped by two-line circles in the cantons of the cross. The angles of the cross are hollowed and all joints are mitred.’ There is an inscription in one horizontal line, divided between the two upper quadrants of the cross. It is in half-uncial script and reads ‘MUIR[-]A[I]TH’. If the penultimate letter were a C rather than a T, then the text could be a form of the name ‘Muiredach’. According to Okasha and Forsyth (2001, 95-6) this stone was first recorded in 1880 when it was in the graveyard but not in situ and it was in St. Caimin’s church when Macalister saw it but he seems not to have noticed the text. (Okasha and Forsyth 2001, 95-7) Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 5 October 2015

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