Cross-slab

The National Monuments Service's description

The cross-slab from Lemanaghan was described by Petrie in 1872, the precise location of this cross-slab cannot be identified and it is possible that the slab has been removed from Lemanaghan. Described by Petrie in 1872 as 'The design of the very beautiful ornament upon this stone...was formed of a band so interlaced as to make a large cross of the Maltese pattern, with a smaller cross at the centre: and the angles are filled in with four larger and four smaller triquetra knots, all flowing from the graceful interweaving of a single band' (Petrie and Stokes 1872, 60). In 1913 Crawford (1913, 264) described this which measured 'about 1ft. 3 in. (0.3m), carved with a rectangular panel containing an interlaced cross in relief. This cross is made up of triquetras joined by their angles and showing the unusual feature of pairs of bands uniting in one. Above is the word retar and below a word not deciphered'. In 1911 Crawford (1911, 151) suggested that that this word 'may be a mistake for [O][ROITAR; but Miss Stokes remarks that the name may be RETARA, or, perhaps, RETAR, which is mentioned in the Annals of Ulster as the name of the father of an abbot of Clonmacnois'. Crawford states that by this time the stone was then missing from Lemanaghan (ibid.). In 1949 it was described by Macalister as an `Equal-armed cross in cave rilievo in a square panel, made up of elaborate interlacing' (Macalister 1949, 77). The slab bears an inscription RETA[R]. According to Petrie `This name may perhaps be read as Retara. It is also possible that it may have been Retan, or Redan, a name which occurs in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 954' (Petrie and Stokes 1872, 60). See attached image taken from Petrie and Stokes 1872.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien.

Date of upload: 24 April 2014

References

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.

Macalister, R.A.S. 1949 Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum, 2 vols. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Petrie, G. 1878 Christian inscriptions in the Irish language. Chiefly collected and drawn by George Petrie, LL. D.; and edited by Margaret Stokes, 2 vols. Dublin.

Ó Riain, P. 2011 A dictionary of Irish Saints. Dublin. Four Courts Press.

Crawford, H.S. 1911 The early slabs at Lemanaghan, King's County. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 41, 151-6.