Cross-slab (present location) in Inishmurray

Brought to the Schoolhouse/OPW conservation store from Teach Molaise (SL001-001005-) in the Cashel (SL001-001001-) in 1989. Small slab (H: 0.55 m, W: 0.245 m, Th: 0.025) with damaged motif, probably a cross, filling its upper two-thirds. The middle third has a thin incised border running along the edges of the slab. At their lowest point these lines both turn inwards and upwards at c. 45º until they meet on the slab axis. From this point two slightly irregular lines rise, diverging slowly until they reach the upper third of the slab, where a roughly horizontal line runs from the left of the two and joins with the slab border. These lines probably represent the shaft and left arm of a cross but above this the sculpture comprises a number of randomly placed irregular shapes and a few sub-circular hollows. There is an intermittent border along the top of the slab. It would appear that this slab was rejected before it was finished, for a number of areas in the upper third which are flush with the surface of the slab would seem to preclude the possibility that the partial cross motif in the middle third was once complete. 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