What is recorded here

Kilmainhamwood still keeps a sandstone cross-slab for the Knights Hospitallers, its ringed cross facing east and a small rectangular hole piercing the top like a forgotten lock. The slab stands just over a metre tall in the preceptory graveyard, narrow enough to touch with both hands yet heavy with the idea that some vows were cut into stone instead of written. Perhaps the hole held a chain, a lamp or a warning for the dead; more likely it marked the boundary between human memory and knightly obligation.

Situated in the graveyard associated with the preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers at Kilmainhamwood (ME005-028004-). The sandstone cross-slab (dims 0.46m x 0.13m; H 1.08m) has a rectangular hole (dims 0.14m x 0.12m) near the top, and on the E side is a ringed cross in relief. The shaft and arms (Wth 11-12cm) are delineated by two raised lines and the two raised lines of the ring (int. diam. 0.16m; ext. diam. 0.25m) connect the lines of the shaft and arms. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 31 July 2014

12th- to 13th-century cross-slab, likely associated with Christian burial practices linked to the Knights Hospitallers; the rectangular hole may have served as a ring for hanging a bell or as part of a ritual or symbolic function.

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