Graveslab in Durrow Demesne

National Monument No. 313. A sixth century monastery was founded at Durrow reputedly by Colum Cille [of the church] who died in 597 and whose feastday is celebrated on the 9th of June (Ó Riain 2011, 213-14). Coffin-shaped graveslab (H 1.08m; Wth 0.59m; T 0.18m) dating from the 12th-15th centuries that was built into the E face of the W wall of the graveyard (OF009-005009-) at Durrow. This graveslab has been moved into the disused C of I church (OF009-005013-) where it has been mounted on the S wall of the church. The church has been recently restored by the OPW and now houses the Durrow high cross (OF009-005010-) and some of the cross-slabs (OF009-005016-) that were located in the surrounding graveyard (OF009-005009-). Graveslab described by Crawford (1913, 263) as 'the lower portion of a tapered slab of sandstone 3 ft. 4in. (1.01m) by 1 ft. 10 in. (0.55m) bearing a cross formed of two bands, which fork and interlace in the arms and are joined to the two bands which form the enclosing panel. The bands are mitred at the centre and interlaced with a ring. There is a partially effaced inscription in three lines in the upper sinister corner'. Durrow (a) in Crawfords catalogue of cross-slabs at Durrow. This slab was recorded by Macalister in 1949 when he described it as consisting of a 'slab, top broken, bearing a Latin cross with a circle surrounding the centre: partly decorated with interlacement. Inscription in three lines in the upper sinister canton, undeciphered. This slab is here mentioned lest it should seem to have been omitted, but it is actually of the 16th century' (Macalister 1949, 42). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 23 April 2014

Early Christian gravestone, 6th–7th century AD. Associated with the foundation of Durrow Monastery, traditionally linked to St. Colum Cille, indicating the site's religious and cultural significance in early Irish Christianity.