What is recorded here

On Inis Cealtra, the slab stood inside St Caimin's Church, its arcs and spirals marking eighth-century faith. It has travelled from that Clare island to an Athenry depot, removed from the chancel wall where Macalister first saw it. Distance does not erase the carving; it only changes the silence keeping the stone company.

Macalister (1916-17, 151, no. 21, and plate XVI) recorded this cross-slab on the N wall of the chancel of St Caimin's Church (CL029-009011-), on Inis Cealtra (Holy Island), Co. Clare. He described it as being of 'Eight-century type' and it measured '1 foot 7 inches by 1 foot 1 inch by 3 inches [0.48m by 0.33m by 0.07m]. Within a circle of two lines, a cross formed of four arcs of circles, with interlacing at the intersection, was visible. The ends of the arcs terminated with a spiral treatment and within the cantons were triskeles of one line. When de Paor recorded the slab in the 1970s (SMR file), it was on the S wall of the nave of the church. It is currently in the OPW depot in Athenry, Co. Galway. See CL029-009032- for original location. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 16 February 2023

This cross-slab, originally from Inis Cealtra (Holy Island), Co. Clare, likely dates to the early medieval period (7th–10th century) and may have had a Christian liturgical or commemorative function. Its location within a church context suggests it could be associated with monastic activity or ecclesiastical symbolism linked to St Caimin.

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