Cross-slab (present location) in Inishmurray

Brought to the Schoolhouse store in 1989. A label on the reverse reads: 'From Cashel wall, S & W of Church'; but Wakeman (1893, 82, fig. 39) describes this stone in the 1880s as 'now placed in Teach Molaise' (SL001-001005-). Heraughty (1982, 35) says that its whereabouts were unknown for some time until it was recovered by the OPW then set into the Cashel wall. Tapering slab (H: 0.725 m, W: 0.28 m, Th: 0.1 m) whose broader half is filled with an incised slightly shafted cross with a circular expansion at the crossing and triangular terminals with cusped butts. The crossing and terminals are decorated with a flat, false relief circular boss. In the upper left quadrant is a damaged inscription: CRUX (i.e. ‘cross’). 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: 12 March 2018

Dateable to the early medieval period, likely 7th to 10th century AD, the cross-slab may have originally formed part of a monastic or ecclesiastical site, reflecting Christian symbolism and possibly used as a memorial or liturgical object. Its relocation suggests historical interest in preserving local heritage.