Cross-slab (present location) in Inishmurray

Removed to the Schoolhouse/ OPW store from Altar Beg leacht (SL001-001019-) in 1989. Cross slab (H: 1.145 m, W: 0.345 m, Th: 0.085 m) broken in three but subsequently reassembled. Its semi-circular upper edge, tapering form and tenon-like terminal is the result of careful shaping. The upper portion is almost filled with a deeply incised equal armed cross in circle, whose arms widen gradually from the crossing. It is delimited by a narrow (now intermittent) raised border around the upper edge of the slab. The tapering lower portion of the slab is decorated with an incised shafted cross (0.51 m by 0.235 m). The horizontal arms curve outwards from the crossing and fuse with the elaborate serif of the upper arm to leave a raised border at the edges of the slab. This serif is similar in shape to the transom itself. It helps to define the upper cross by creating a curving border under it. The shaft bifurcates near its base forming a terminal (0.12 m wide) shaped like a downward facing ‘C’. The above description is derived from the results of a survey of the archaeological monuments on Inishmurray undertaken in 1997-1999 and published in: Jerry O’Sullivan and Tomás Ó Carragáin 2008 Inishmurrary. Monks and pilgrims in an Atlantic landscape. Volume 1: Archaeological Survey and Excavations 1997-2000. Cork. The Collins Press. Date of upload: 16 January 2018

Date likely to the early medieval period (c. 7th–10th century). The cross slab may have served a Christian commemorative or liturgical function, possibly associated with a monastic or ecclesiastical site on Inishmurray.