Graveslab, Inishcaltra, Co. Clare

Co. Clare |

Tombs & Memorials

Graveslab, Inishcaltra, Co. Clare

On a small island in Lough Derg sits a graveslab that managed to appear on a scholarly map and yet remain, in a sense, nameless.

Measuring one and a half metres long and less than half a metre wide, the flat recumbent stone lies in the western half of a burial ground known as the Saint's graveyard on Inis Cealtra, that island off the Clare shore long associated with early Christian settlement. It carries no inscription, no knotwork, no carved cross; nothing that would allow a researcher to attach it to a particular life or death.

The stone was recorded by R.A.S. Macalister, the prolific archaeologist and epigrapher who surveyed the island's antiquities in 1916 and 1917. Macalister drew the slab onto his plan of the graveyard, plate XV of his published work, but assigned it no number, a small act of omission that has left it hovering at the edge of the formal record ever since. Its position is precise enough: 14.6 metres from the southern wall of the enclosure and 6 metres from the western wall. That specificity, set against the complete absence of decoration or identification on the stone itself, gives it a quietly odd quality. Someone thought it worth measuring and placing on a map, but not worth distinguishing from the ground it lay on.

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 Graveslab, Inishcaltra, Co. Clare. 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