Raphoe Cathedral Carved Lintel

Raphoe Cathedral (DG070-003001-): Adomnán (c. 624-704) ninth abbot of Iona and author of the famous 'Life' of his kinsman Colmcille was closely connected with the monastery at Raphoe. In the 12th century, Raphoe was established as a Diocesan See. There was formerly a round tower at Raphoe. It was demolished by Bishop John Leslie when he built his palace in 1636-7 (Wood 1937, 304-5). It can be inferred from a reference to it in John Lynch's De Praesulibus Hibernicis (O'Doherty, ed. I, 1944, 243) that the bishop's palace occupies the site of this tower (Ó Gallachair 1973, 323 also Barrow 1979, 74-75) The only visible remains of the monastery are two pieces of a sculptured door-lintel (DG070-003002-). The left half is preserved in the vestibule of the cathedral and is carved with the representation of the arrest of Christ, St. Peter cutting the ear of the High Priest's servant Malchus and in the lower right hand corner, a soldier kneels with a lance below the left arm of the crucifixion (Longinus?). The remaining section of the crucifixion now very spalled and weathered, is represented on the right hand half of the lintel which is set in the external face of the N wall of the nave. There is a winged figure above the right hand arm and below it are traces of the head and lance of another soldier (the chalice bearer,Stephaton?). Only fragmentary outlines of the remaining figure-carving are discernible. On stylistic grounds, the lintel has been dated to the ninth-tenth centuries (Henry 1967, 189) but could be later.

The carved lintel at Raphoe Cathedral likely dates to the early medieval period, reflecting Christian monastic traditions associated with the site. Its carvings may symbolize spiritual authority or biblical themes, linked to the influence of figures like Adomnán and the broader Insular Christian tradition.