Cross-slab, Kilduff, Co. Kerry

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Crosses & Monuments

Cross-slab, Kilduff, Co. Kerry

At the head of a valley separating Flemingstown mountain from the central mountain range of the Dingle Peninsula, a small stone slab stands near the south-east corner of an ancient rectangular enclosure.

It is just over a metre tall and barely a third of a metre wide, but its carved faces reward close attention. This is Cill Dubh, the dark church, and the enclosure almost certainly marks an early Christian burial ground whose name has quietly survived in the Irish.

The slab's south-west face carries an equal-armed cross set within a circle, a design sometimes called a ringed or wheel cross, with each of the four quadrants filled by a smaller saltire cross, that is, a diagonal cross in the shape of an X. Below the main circle, the lower arm of the cross extends further and appears to end in a scroll or pelta-like motif, a curved decorative form occasionally found on early medieval stonework, though here it is only faintly legible on the stone's surface. The opposite face, to the north-east, is considerably plainer, bearing just a simple equal-armed cross with no surrounding ornament. Two other stones set on edge and a large prostrate slab lie to the west and south of the cross-slab, though what purpose they originally served is not known. The site was documented in J. Cuppage's 1986 archaeological survey of the Corca Dhuibhne region, which remains a key reference for early medieval remains on the peninsula.

The enclosure sits on a steep south-south-westerly facing slope, which means the approach is uneven and the ground can be difficult underfoot. The valley setting, tucked between two significant upland masses, gives the site a sheltered but somewhat remote character, and the faint carving on the lower arm of the cross-slab is easier to read in low, raking light than in flat midday sunshine.

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Pete F
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