Cross, Inishshark, Co. Galway

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Crosses & Monuments

Cross, Inishshark, Co. Galway

Off the western coast of Connemara, the island of Inishshark has been uninhabited since 1960, when its last residents were evacuated to the mainland.

On a headland at the island's south-eastern end, a burial ground occupies the kind of exposed, windswept ground that was often chosen for such places along this coastline. Within it, in the south-western quadrant, a finely carved stone cross serves not as a freestanding monument but as the headstone of a single grave, a quiet distinction that sets it apart from more ceremonial crosses elsewhere.

The cross may be of medieval date, which would make it a remarkable survival given its exposed position and the centuries of Atlantic weather it has endured. A 2017 cemetery survey and impact assessment of the site, carried out by researchers Ian Kuijt and Ryan Lash, documented the cross and noted the quality of the carving. The broader burial ground it belongs to has its own designation as a recorded monument, suggesting the site has been recognised as one of some archaeological significance. Medieval grave-markers of this kind, carved directly for use as headstones rather than as processional or boundary crosses, are not especially common in the Irish archaeological record, which adds a degree of interest to what is, on the surface, a very plain arrangement of stone on a remote headland.

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