What is recorded here

Knock graveyard holds a jagged cross-slab cut from dark island stone. Its small Latin cross carries a hollow hole at the head, ready to receive a nail, rope or flame. Monks may have set it beside buried friends or dragged it across tidal roads when the sea retreated. The missing edge and empty hole preserve more life than a finished monument would.

Located in the graveyard (GA009D014002-) associated with the early monastic foundation at the SE end of Inisbofin Island. This cross-inscribed slab was recorded by Higgins (1987, ii, 277, no. 8) who describes it as a subrectangular piece of gneisse or schist (L 0.5m; Wth 0.44m; T 0.05-0.07m) with irregular jagged edges. A small Latin cross occupies the centre of it. A circular hole on the head of the cross pierces the thickness of the slab. The shaft tapers to a point. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 15 June 2018

Probably dating to the early medieval period, this cross-slab likely served a Christian funerary or commemorative function, associated with the monastic settlement on Inisbofin Island. Such stones often symbolized religious devotion and may have marked important ecclesiastical or lay figures.

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