crosses historical ireland

Founded by St. Doulagh, who lived around 600. The old church is entered through that part of the church now used for Divine Service which was built in 1864.

The east end of the church, dating from the mid-12th century, is vaulted, above which is an attic room whose walls also serve to prevent the steep-pitched stone roof from caving inwards.

The remainder of the church is of 15th century date. At its centre is a room called 'The Hermit's Cell' which is reputed to be the burial...

The church on the site of a monastery founded by St. Buodan was built probably in the 17th century but the lintel over the door, with worn carved figures on it, was taken from an earlier church.

In the north-east angle of the church is a grave-slab erected by Magnus MacOrristin (possibly a Scotsman) with a sword and a hurley stick on it.

In the adjoining field to the west is a very pleasing High Cross. On its east face in the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, and on the we...

The High Cross in the field is one of the most satisfying of the earliest carved Irish Crosses, the interpretation of the symbols still exciting scholars. The worn stone carvings include St. Anthony and St. Paul in the desert; the Temptation of St. Anthony; Jacob and the Angel; a figure flanked by two horsemen and a hunting scene. Strong traditions holds this to be the burial place of Niall Caille MacAeda, High King of Ireland, who died in 846 A.D. The early church was reconstructed in the Mid...

Typical of the late 13th century, the castle is nearly square in plan, with rectangular towers at the two southern corners, and smaller turrets at the other two corners. Remains of the main interior buildings can be seen on the eastern side of the courtyard. While the castle is not mentioned in existing records until the 14th century, the shape of the trefoil window in the south wall shows that it was built probably towards the end of the 13th century. Clonmore was captured by the Earl of Kil...

The church, which was dedicated to Saint Bridget, is unusual in that the chancel is broader than the nave. The chancel has a rounded chancel-arch and two round-headed east windows. It is of 12th or 13th century date. After the Norman conquest it was granted to the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, and was attached to Kill of the Grange. In a field on the opposite side of the road is a tall, narrow cross with a bishop on one face and a head on the other, while a little down the road an ancient u...

St. Patrick placed St. Cianan over the first church here in the 5th century. St. Cianan, who is credited with the building of the first stone church in Ireland, died in 489 and his body was said to have been preserved without decay. The monastery was plundered at least 10 times between 830 and 1149. The bodies of King Brian Boru and the other heroes slain at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 rested here for a night before being brought to Armagh for burial. Duleek became the centre of a diocese...

Outside the graveyard is a slender cross, ten feet high, in a rectangular stone base. As well as the normal perforations, the cross has a hole in the 'head' of the cross.

In the graveyard are the remains of churches, and a small building called 'The Skull House', which is probably a tome-shrine....

The cross marks the site of a monastery founded by St. Canice, a disciple of St. Finian of Clonard.

Possibly of 9th century date, it is a granite cross set in a square base. The cross bore figures which are no longer recognisable, and the ring of the cross is not pierced.
The nearby church is of little interest....

The monastery at Kells would appear to have been first founded in 804 by monks from St. Colmcille's foundation at Iona who were fleeing from the Viking invasions and seeking a safer place for their treasures. In 877 reliquaries of the saint were transferred to Kells. The monastery was raided by the Vikings in 919, 950 and 969.

The greatest treasure of the monastery - the Book of Kells, now in Trinity College, Dublin - which had possibly been written here in the early 9th century, wa...

St. Goban Find is reputed to have been the founder of the original monastery here. Not far from the modern ruined church stands the fine High Cross which has been dated to the 9th century. Both cross and base are richly ornamented with a variety of geometric motifs. The west face of the cross has a stag-hunting scene, a chariot-procession and panels possibly representing the Lord Sanctifying the Seventh Day, and Adam and Eve after expulsion from Paradise. The east face is largely decorated wi...