Cross-slab in Kilbride (rathdown By.)

Situated on a gentle SW-facing slope. The modern housing estate which now occupies most of the site is believed locally to be built on the site of a church and graveyard. Not visible at ground level. The 1907 OS 6-inch map shows an approximately semicircular curve in the field boundary which may represent the line of an enclosure and the adjacent field is named 'Glebe' on the 1838 edition. A cross-slab (H 1.22m), said to be situated in the graveyard (O'Flanagan 1928, 28), stands to the E of the estate between it and the road. It has an irregular cross in relief on the upper part of one face flanked under the arms by two raised bosses. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 01 February 2013

Likely dating to the early medieval period, the cross-slab may have been part of a Christian settlement or ecclesiastical site, possibly associated with the local folklore of a former church and graveyard. Such stones often served as grave markers or commemorative monuments.