Laghta Columbkille

Located on Crossatemple leacht (SL001-003001-). First recorded by Wood-Martin (1882, 150, no.5) and Wakeman (1886, 274–5, fig.49) in the men’s cemetery (SL001-001029-). By 1901 it had been moved to the Clocha Breaca leacht (SL001-001013-) where it was photographed (Heraughty 1982, 30). The date and circumstances of its removal to its present position are unknown. Slab (H: <0.834 m, W: 0.396 m, Th: 0.064) whose upper two-thirds are filled with an incised slightly shafted central cross (0.495 m by 0.342 m) with a false relief dimpled boss at the crossing, and broad forked terminals. The tips of the lower terminal curve into an incised rectangular frame that surrounds the whole motif. In each quadrant is a crosslet similar to the main cross though lacking a boss and, between the crosslet and cross, a circular pit. In the case of the lower crosslets, the forked terminal tips of their outer arms join with the frame. This is a National Monument (no. 117) in state ownership. 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: 16 January 2018

Laghta Columbkille is likely associated with the early Christian period, given its name referencing St. Columba. It may have originally functioned as a grave marker or memorial stone, later relocated and possibly repurposed within a monastic or ecclesiastical context.