Cross-slab

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the N slope of Three Rock Mountain on the S side of Kilgobbin Lane, near Stepaside Village. A cross-slab of Rathdown type has been attached to the internal face of the northern wall of Kilgobbin Church ruins (DU025-016001-) which stands in the centre of Kilgobbin graveyard (DU025-016002-), Co. Dublin. Discovered in 1983 when Dublin County Council undertook conservation works at Kilgobbin church and graveyard. Cross-slab described by Ó hÉailidhe (1984, 142) as follows; 'Grave-slab of the Early Christian period built into the porch as a lintel over the west door. Due to the movement of the porch wall this doorway had become dangerous and was blocked up at some period, so that neither face of the slab was visible. It appears, however, to have been face downwards as there is a considerable amount of limewash on the decorated face. The slab is of granite and measures 160cm long, tapering in width from 46cm to 41cm and is 10cm thick. It is rounded at the narrower end and is decorated on one face only. The decoration consists of lightly incised lines running diagonally from comer to comer and forming a saltire cross, and a similar line down the centre of the face. This type of decoration is found on the Rathdown Group of grave slabs, and similar motifs appear on the Rathfarnham slab [DU022-013003-] along with side loops and cup marks (Breen 1981), and on the Whitechurch slab [DU022-030003-] along with herringbone pattern and cup marks (Ó hÉailidhe and Prendergast 1977). This group of slabs has been dated to the Viking period (Ó hÉailidhe 1973)'.
The granite slab (L 1.6m), tapers in width (0.46m-0.41m, T 0.1m). Decoration consists of deeply incised lines running diagonally from corner to corner to form a saltire or diagonal cross also known as St Andrew’s Cross or Crux Decussata. An incised line can be seen running down the centre of the slab and there is a shallow cup-mark or small hollow at the centrepoint of the X-shaped cross. Possible traces of a loop or circle and other lines are visible on the surface of the stone. The presence of a vertical line running through a diagonal cross represents I and X which are the Greek letters of I C for the name of Jesus Christ and so this symbol can be seen as a Christogram or a Chi Rho symbol XP.

To see a 3D model of this graveslab, visit: https://skfb.ly/oFGIM

Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 31 March 2023

References

Anon. 1900 Proceedings. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 10, no. 4, 388-450.

Turner, K. 1983 If you seek monuments: a guide to the antiquities of the barony of Rathdown. Rathmichael Historical Society.

Anon. 1900 Excursion to Tully, Rathmichael, Kiltiernan and other places in south County Dublin. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 30, 180-92.

Breen, T. 1981 A pre-Norman grave slab at Rathfarnham, County Dublin. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 3, 120-22.

Ó hÉailidhe, P. 1984 Decorated stones at Kilgobbin, county Dublin. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 114, 142-4.

Ó hÉailidhe, P. 1973 Early Christian graveslabs in the Dublin region. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 103, 51-64.