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Cross-slab in Inishcaltra OR Holy Island

Cross-slab

What is recorded here

Inishcaltra, a small island off County Clare, once held a trapezoidal cross-slab near St. Mary’s church. The stone measured about 1.1 metres long and 0.53 metres wide, tapering to 0.4 metres, and bore a wheeled cross with squares and triangles at its centre. Macalister recorded it in 1916 after it had already vanished, leaving only a drawn memory of what the island lost.
Macalister (1916, 162, no. 84 and Plate XXIV) describes a slab (L 3ft 9in (1.1m); Wth 1ft 9in (0.53m) tapering to 1ft 4in (0.4m)) pictured in a Board of Works report (1879-80) near St. Mary’s church (CL029-009008-). The trapezoidal slab bore an elaborate wheeled cross (three-lined in outline) with a pattern of squares and triangles at the centre and slightly expanded terminals, all contained within a single-line frame. The slab was missing in 1916 and its precise current location is unknown. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 3 November 2015
Probably dates to the early Christian period (5th–9th century). It may have had a liturgical or commemorative function, possibly associated with the church or local saints.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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