Cross-slab in Abbeyshrule

Within the burial ground (LF023-113002-) c. 30m to the NE of the Cistercian abbey (LF023-113----). This possible sandstone cross-slab (H 0.97m; Wth 0.46m; T 0.12m) has been inserted into the ground in such a way that part of the decoration, which is incised, is hidden. It is aligned NNE-SSW and was probably originally rectangular in shape; its top end is broken. Two panels are evident on the ESE face. Three vertical lines are visible in the lower one and centrally located in the upper one is the outline of what appears to be a representation of a shoe or foot. A line runs from the pointed part of the shoe up through the border of the panel where it continues on and forms a cross. It has been suggested that this may be the remains of a medieval cobbler’s headstone or that it may have been an early Christian cross-slab that was altered in the late-medieval period when the outline of the shoe was incised on it (Murphy 1996, 6). Two shoes are visible on the surface of a 10th-century cross-slab (CL029-009037----) from Inishcealtra or Holy Island, county Clare (Crawford 1980, 61). In Scotland in the graveyard of the parish church at Kilmichael Glassary in Argyll, a graveslab with the outline of a shoe is also thought to be that of a shoemaker and may be medieval in date, although the possibility of a post-medieval date has not been ruled out (RCAHMS 1992, vol. 7, 148). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 June 2013