Stone Cross

In a field to the N of Kilmactranny graveyard (SL041-038002-). Set into the top of a large conglomerate erratic (H 1.3m) is a plain Latin cross with a moulded base (H 1.25m; T c. 0.15m). The N face of the cross is carved with an inscription in false relief, now very weathered and, in parts, almost illegible. The monogram IHS is carved on the head and the remnants of a cross rising from the cross-bar of the H can be traced. The inscription runs across the full length of the arms (3 lines) with the remainder on the shaft: PRAY FOR THE SO/VLE OF [E?]DMOND/ET OWENE MDE[R?]/MOE/[R?][O?][E?]/WHO/EREC/TED/THIS/MONV/MENT/168[6?]. The last digit of the date is unclear though it might possibly be a '0' as noted by J. C. MacDonagh (d. 1960) who gives the following: 'Pray for the soul of Edmond et Owen Mc Dermot Roe … this stone … 1680' (n.d. vol. 18, 19). There is a break in the cross which has been repaired by two iron bands and MacDonagh (ibid.) records the story that it had been accidentally broken by a local landowner who, on the death of his cattle, had a blacksmith repair it. A second 17th-century cross (SL041-038007-) was noted in the adjoining graveyard (pers. comm. M. B. Timoney) but it cannot now be seen. (Crawford 1907, 215; King 1985, 31). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008