St. Leos Flag

Named 'St. Leo's Flag' on the 1839 edition of the OS 6-inch map and shown c. 16m to the SE of St Leo's Chapel (GA009D002----). This location was also noted in the Ordnance Survey Letters, where is was referred to as a 'stone Cross called Leac Leó' (O'Flanagan 1927, vol. 1, 237). On the 1898 resurvey of the map it is named 'St. Leo's Flag (Site of) and is shown on the E side of a roadway, c. 35m to the E of the chapel. By 1905, 'St Leo's Cross, the Leac Leo' was set on the E gable of the chapel and it was said to have 'a chalice carved on one side of it, and a human figure with hands outstretched on the other, the latter being supposed to represent a bishop (Anon. 1905, 42). On inspection in August 1984 both locations were checked but the cross could not be found. (Hardiman 1846, 115-17; Crawford 1913, 151) Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 21 February 2023 O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1927 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Mayo collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838. Bray. Anon. 1905 Illustrated guide to the northern, western and southern islands and coast of Ireland. RSAI Antiquities Hand Book Series, No. 6. Crawford, H.S. 1913 A descriptive list of early cross-slabs and pillars. (cont.) Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 43, 151-69, 261-5, 326-34. Hardiman, J. (ed) 1846 A chorographical description of West or H-Iar Connaught written in A.D. 1684 by Roderic O'Flaherty, Esq. Dublin.

St. Leo's Flag on Inishshark is a high cross, likely erected in the early medieval period, associated with St. Leo's Chapel and thought to have had a Christian or ecclesiastical function. Its name and location suggest a dedication to St. Leo, though specific builders and exact date remain unrecorded.