kinnitty high cross

In the garden of Castle Bernard, nearly a mile east of Kinnitty, is a High Cross with a David scene and the Crucifixion on the east face, and Adam and Eve, intertwined birds, interlacing and other geometric motifs on the west face. Important inscriptions at the bottom of both faces of the shaft indicate that the cross was erected by Colman for Maelsechnaill, High King of Ireland from 846 to 862. The south wall of the courtyard behind the castle formed part of a 15th century church, of which some windows remain. The original monastery was founded by St. Finian Cam, a disciple of St. Brendan of Clonfert, in the second half of the 6th century . One of its abbots died in 850, another in 884, and yet another, Colman, was killed at the Battle of Ballaghmoon in 908 when supporting Cormac Mac Cuileannain, King-Bishop of Cashel, to become High King.