Cross

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument in state guardianship No. 337. Situated on a gentle E-facing slope with a steeper slope immediately to the E. A granite cross (H 1.42m; T 0.16m) known as St Vallery's Cross with a circular head and chamfered edges. The west face has a depiction of Christ, represented as naked, with head inclined to the right. In the centre of the E face are two apparently bearded human heads in relief one possibly wearing a mitre. There are two other much worn heads, one on the lower S edge of the cross-head and one on the NE side of the base (Ó hÉailidhe 1958, 101). There is no trace of the octagonal limestone font described in the OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1928, 22) but a simple circular basin occurs in a small granite block immediately S of Fassaroe Castle (WI007-027----) from where the font is reputed to have been removed. Possibly the remains of an ecclesiastical site.
Archaeological test excavations carried out in 2002 adjacent to this cross failed to reveal anything of archaeological significance (Tobin 2004, 534)

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wicklow' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 17 January 2013

Revised by: Claire Breen

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 42/1935).

References

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1928 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Wicklow collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838. Bray.

Tobin, R. 2004 Fassaroe. In I. Bennett (Ed.) Excavations 2002: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 534 (No. 1967). Bray. Wordwell.

Ó hÉailidhe, P. 1958 Fassaroe and associated crosses. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 88, 101-10.