Cross, Clonagh, Co. Kildare

Co. Kildare |

Crosses & Monuments

Cross, Clonagh, Co. Kildare

In a field of gently rolling Kildare pastureland, a small grass-covered mound carries the remains of what was once a standing cross. The mound itself is modest, barely thirty centimetres above the surrounding ground and only three and a half metres across, yet it lifts the fragment just enough to suggest that someone, at some point, considered this a place that warranted a degree of ceremony.

What survives is sparse but legible. A roughly dressed limestone block, almost square and with chamfered edges, sits as the base, and from it rises a hexagonal shaft-fragment, less than half a metre tall. The hexagonal profile is an uncommon form for a cross shaft, distinguishing this remnant from the more typical round or square sections found elsewhere in the Irish midlands. Together, base and shaft stand as the surviving portion of a cross that tradition associates with a former burial ground in the vicinity. The precise history of that ground, whether it was a pre-Christian site later absorbed into Christian practice or a more conventional early medieval cemetery, is not recorded, but the pairing of a low circular mound with a memorial cross is a combination that turns up repeatedly at sites where long-term funerary use has left its mark on the landscape.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Cross, Clonagh, Co. Kildare. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement