What is recorded here

Cross-slab (present location) in Inishmurray is a cross-slab (present location) in Inishmurray, County Sligo, Ireland. It is a 0.375 m high, 0.32 m wide and 0.065 m thick slab incised with an irregular ringed cross whose arms reach the slab edges. A 0.132 m horizontal bar crosses the shaft 0.02 m above the lower edge. The slab cannot stand upright, and its crude work suggests it may have been made for burial with a body.

Brought to the Schoolhouse/OPW conservation store from Teach Molaise (SL001-001005-) in the Cashel (SL001-001001-) in 1989. Slab (H: 0.375 m, W: 0.32 m, Th: 0.065 m) filled with an irregular incised ringed and slightly shafted cross. The arms extend beyond the ring (radius 0.07 m) and the horizontal arms and shaft extend to the edges of the slab. 0.02 m from the lower edge, is a horiztonal bar (0.132 m long) that traverses the shaft. This could not have stood upright and the crudity of its execution raises the possibility that it was intended for burial with the body. 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: 12 March 2018

Date likely to the early Christian period (5th–9th century AD), based on the incised ringed symbol, which may represent a solar or ritual emblem, or an early form of a ring cross. Such stones were often associated with monastic or ritual sites, and may have had both religious and territorial significance.

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