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Cross-inscribed stone in Inchagoill

Cross-inscribed stone

What is recorded here

Inchagoill holds three cross-inscribed stones, including this limestone block now buried as a wall step between St. Patrick’s Church and Templenaneeve. Its crudely pocked Greek cross and four small dots mark it as a reused grave marker, perhaps lifted from an older burial place and dropped into a newer boundary. The island has done what islands do: taken a dead person’s stone and made it part of a living path.
This is one of three cross-inscribed stones (see also GA040-013014- and GA040-01315-) found by Higgins (1987, vol. II, 275, no. 6) on Inchagoill. This example, which consists of a limestone block (L 0.58m; Wth 0.26m; T 0.12-0.13m), now serves as a step in a style in a wall between ‘St. Patrick’s Church’ (GA040-013001-) and ‘Templenaneeve’ (GA040-013004-). It bears a crudely pocked Greek cross and four small dots or pock marks, one between each of the arms of the cross. It most likely is a reused gravestone. Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 1 February 2018
Probably dating to the early Christian period (5th–9th centuries AD), the cross-inscribed stone likely served a religious or commemorative function, reflecting the spread of Christianity in the region. Such stones are often associated with monastic activity or as markers for sacred sites.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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