What is recorded here

Broken cross and ring, thirty-three centimetres tall, lying in Clonmacnoise since before Davis found it in 1984. No name carved, no date written, only a line-drawn circle holding a cross whose centre may have stepped like a tiny staircase. Whoever set it down understood that some prayers need no words, only a shape sharp enough to cut through forgetting.

Clonmacnoise grave-slab inventory (1992) number: CLN00253 Dimensions: H 0.33, W 0.21, T 0.04 Outline cross with outline ring (possibly stepped at centre(?) inside a two line circular frame. No inscription. Evidence of discovery: Davis 1984 Condition: Fragment with part of frame and cross.. The Clonmacnoise inventory was compiled by the Office of Public Works. A copy of the record for this slab is available for inspection in the relevant Archaeological Survey of Ireland (SMR) file. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

Date likely to the early medieval period, given the cross-slabs found in the Clonmacnoise area are typically Christian in origin and associated with monastic sites. The design may have had a liturgical or commemorative function, common in early Irish Christian grave markers.

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