Cross-inscribed pillar

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated 16m E of the Abbey (MA085-013001-) in the eastern part of the graveyard. However, on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1840), its location is shown c. 45m W of it. By the time of the original Clare Island Survey (1909–11) (Westropp 1911a, 25, 37, also 17), it had been incorporated into the southern boundary wall of the adjoining National School, which had been built in 1887. Photographs of it that were taken c. 1910 show that its decorated side faced S (Westropp 1911a, pl. II: Gosling 2005, pl. II). It is unclear when exactly it was re-erected in its present spot, but it was certainly there by 1952, when a photograph of it was taken (Photographic Section). It may have been moved to allow for the construction of the present bell cot, which stands close to its original location.

Known as ‘Stáca na Cille’ (Mac Neill 1913, 31, MA085-020----), it comprises a tall, slender, parallel-sided pillar of stone (H 2.65m) of subrectangular section (Wth 0.45m × T. 0.25m at mid-point). Its top, which is distinctively sloped at a rough 45° angle, contains a small socket-like depression (dia. 0.1m × D 0.12m). Incised on its broader, E-facing side are two parallel lines (0.15m apart on average) that delineate a plain cross. These incised lines are U-shaped in profile and are, on average, 8mm wide × 3mm deep. The lines forming the shaft begin just above the sod at the foot of the pillar, rising vertically to the cross arms that spring from the shaft three quarters of the way up its length. While the top of the cross is squared off by a horizontal line 0.35m below the top of the pillar, the ends of the arms simply terminate at the pillar edges. The suggestion by Cullen and Gill (1992d, 2–3) that the cross was added to a pre-existing standing stone is unlikely. See also Crawford (1913, 158), Ó Muraíle (1999, no. 216, 126; Corlett 2001, 40). The striking sloping head of this pillar is matched almost exactly by that on another cross- inscribed pillar (H 1.9m) at Dadreen, near the Silver Strand, in SW Mayo (Corlett 2001, 52, pl. 54).

The above description is derived from: New Survey of Clare Island. Volume 5: Archaeology. Edited by Paul Gosling, Conleth Manning and John Waddell. (Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. 2007). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated.

Date of upload: 4 December 2018

References

Gosling, P., Manning, C. and Waddell, J. (eds.) 2007 New Survey of Clare Island, Volume 5: Archaeology. Dublin, Royal Irish Academy.

MacNeill, J. 1913 Clare Island Survey: placenames and family names. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 31 (1911-15), section 1, part 3, 1-42.

Corlett, C. 2001 Antiquities of West Mayo. Bray. Wordwell.

ó Muraille, N. 1999 The place-names of Clare Island. In C. Mac Cárthaigh and K. Whelan (eds) New Survey of Clare Island. Volume 1: history and cultural landscape, 99-141. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy

Westropp, T.J. 1911 Clare Island survey: history and archaeology. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 31, Section 1, Part 2, 1-78.

Crawford, H.S. 1913 A descriptive list of early cross-slabs and pillars. (cont.) Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 43, 151-69, 261-5, 326-34.