What is recorded here

The Ruarcan slab stands beside the north church at Monasterboice, its greenish stone marked by a Latin cross and the Irish words Or du Ruarcan. It is one of three such slabs at the site, yet this irregular block still points toward a particular person buried or honoured there. The concrete base and iron paling protect it now, but the chiselled lines and name suggest a living community that believed memory should cut through stone as deeply as knife through flesh.

Sometimes referred to as the Ruarcan slab, this is an irregular-shaped greenish coloured slab (max. L 1.72m; max. Wth 0.77m) which bears a Latin cross, a rectangular frame of two deeply incised lines and an Irish inscription which reads ‘Or du Ruarcan’. It is set in concrete and surrounded by a low iron paling on the N side of the N church (LH021-062003-). It is one of three cross-slabs at Monasterboice (see also: LH021-062012-; LH021-062014-). (Lionard 1961, 131) Compiled by: Claire Breen Date of upload: 20 July 2012

This cross-slab is likely from the early medieval period (5th–11th century AD) and may be associated with the monastic site of Monasterboice. The Latin cross and Irish inscription suggest a Christian context, possibly marking a grave or commemorating an individual.

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