What is recorded here

Inchbofin Island, Lough Ree: the missing slab reappeared in Athenry, not lost but displaced. Cross and circle still mark the stone; the D-shaped arms and faint O preserve the hand that cut them. Rain and time have rubbed the edges, yet the shape resists forgetting.

This irregularly shaped and much-weathered cross-slab (H 0.9m; max. Wth 0.67m; base Wth 0.26m; T 0.09m) bears a faint three-line cross with D-shaped terminals and a central circle. Very faint traces of an inscription are visible on the dexter side. Only the letter O is clearly visible on in the upper quarter. It was found during ground-clearance works in the vicinity of the church (WM015-001----) on Inchbofin island on Lough Ree, Co. Westmeath (Commissioners of Public Works 1913; Appendix E, Slab B) and is currently kept in the OPW depot in Athenry. See WM015-001011- for its original location. (Crawford 1913, 329, 1. (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.

Likely dating to the early medieval period (c. 7th–10th century), this cross-slab may have served a Christian commemorative or liturgical function. The D-shaped cross and central circle are typical of Insular Christian symbolism, though specific meaning or folklore associated with the stone is not recorded.

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