Cross-slab, Inishcaltra, Co. Clare
Co. Clare |
Crosses & Monuments
On an island in Lough Derg, within a graveyard known as the Saint's graveyard, a broken slab of stone sits in the south-west corner with a precision that time has not entirely undone.
Its position is recorded to the nearest half-metre from two walls, a detail that speaks to how seriously medieval stonework on Inis Cealtra has been catalogued, and how much quiet attention this particular island rewards.
The slab was noted by R. A. S. Macalister in his survey work of 1916 to 1917, where he classified it as being of twelfth-century type. A cross-slab, in the Irish early medieval tradition, is a flat stone incised or carved with a cross rather than fully sculpted in the round, and this example carries a Latin cross whose angles are hollowed out, giving each quadrant a slightly concave corner. More unusually, the lower shaft of the cross widens and angles outward to form its own base, a design detail that suggests both visual confidence and liturgical intention. The slab measures roughly 1.67 metres by 0.76 metres. It is broken, and the lower left portion is missing, though a drawing made by de Paor captures the form as it was recorded.
Inis Cealtra, also known as Holy Island, sits in the southern reaches of Lough Derg on the Clare shore and is accessible only by boat. The Saint's graveyard, where this slab rests, is one of several distinct ecclesiastical enclosures on the island, and the density of carved stonework across the site makes careful looking worthwhile. The slab itself, positioned 8.3 metres from the south wall and 2.5 metres from the west, is easy enough to locate if you know to look in the south-west corner of that enclosure.
