Cross

The National Monuments Service's description

From Potterton (2005, App. 13, 400-01):
This freestanding hexagonal shaft is now located in the ground floor of the tower of St Patrick's church (ME036-048012-), but it has been suggested that it was brought here from Ratoath (Roe 1966, Pl. 23). The shaft is decorated with the carved figures of six bearded and moustached apostles (Figs 11, 11-17). The figures have curled hair and flat caps and they wear tunics and mantles. Each apostle is identifiable due to his individual iconographic attributes—Bartholomew, who was flayed to death, is depicted holding a flaying knife; James Minor carries a fuller’s club—the implement used to beat wool and cloth and with which James was slain; John, often associated with an eagle, is holding what seems to be a feather; Matthias is shown with an axe—the weapon with which he was beheaded; Andrew, who was crucified, is depicted with a saltire cross, while Thomas holds a spear to represent the manner of his death. Each apostle also carries a book in his left hand, and is set in a crocketed, cusped and pinnacled ogee-headed niche.

The base has a small mortise and the upper part is broken. The upper part may have had another set of six figures (presumably the other six apostles) because the lower part of three figures can be seen on one side. This piece is among the finest sculptures produced in Ireland during the middle ages. Although its function is unknown, the stem of the apostle font in All Saints’ Church, Norwich, is similarly decorated (Gardner 1937, 302-04) and the shaft of a cross now housed in the Château Comtal at Carcassonne (France), also bears a striking resemblance (see Figs 11.18, 19). [Height: 80cm; Width: 26cm at top, increasing to 33cm at bottom; Depth: 20cm].

Date of upload: 15 February, 2015

References

Roe, H. 1966 Some aspects of medieval culture in Ireland: the presidential address. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 105-09.

Potterton, M. 2005 Medieval Trim: history and archaeology. Dublin, Four Courts Press

Gardner, A. 1935 A handbook of English medieval sculpture. Cambridge, University Press