Cross-slab (present location) in Raheen (athenry By.)

This cross-slab (H 1.1m; max. Wth 0.69m; T 0.07m) was found ‘among the ruins of the church [WM015-001----] on the island of Inisbofin, in Lough Ree’ (Petrie and Stokes 1872, Vol. 1, 57, Fig. 122). A drawing by Stokes (ibid.), from a rubbing of the slab taken in 1869 by Rev. James Graves, shows a two-line ringed cross with a central circle and plain straight ended terminals, apart from the base which was looped. An inscription, in two lines, across the top of the slab reads [O]ROIT DO [C]ORMACAN (Pray for Cormacán). Due to a fracture, the letters O on the first line and C on the second line were missing. When visited by Macalister (1912, 29-30), the slab had been broken into three pieces. It has since been repaired and is currently kept in the OPW depot in Athenry. See WM015-001007- for its original location. (Crawford 1913, 329, 1. (a); Macalister 1949, vol. 2, 79, no. 873, Pl. VII; Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland 1913, Appendix E, Slab E) Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 2 March 2023 Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland 1913 Eighty-first annual report of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland with appendices for the year ending 31st March 1913. London. HMSO. Petrie, G. and Stokes, M. (ed.) 1872-8 Christian inscriptions in the Irish language. 2 vols. Dublin. Royal Historical and Archaeological Association.

This cross-slab, likely dating to the early medieval period (7th–10th century), may have originally served as a Christian memorial or liturgical monument, reflecting the spread of Christianity in the region. It was later reused or moved to its present location in Raheen, possibly during the 19th century.