killucan wayside crosses

Three 16th and early 17th century wayside crosses erected in a grove just outside the village of Killucan. The first has an inscription 'This stone was for Tir: McKin : and Alson Plunkett his wife in the year 1531'. Those commemorated, Tirlogh McKenny and his wife, died in a coaching accident (it happened even then!). The cross originally stood beside the Dublin - Athlone road. The second cross says 'Arthur Darcy et K. Fitzgerald me feri na Dni 1604. The rest of the Latin inscription is from the Service for the Dead. The cross was removed here from the centre of the village of Killucan. The third cross bears the inscription 'Pray for John O McLaghlin and his wife Jovan Hughes died 1601'. This is the only cross of the three standing in its original position. It was erected to commemorate a couple who were killed by a runaway horse. In the village of Killucan not far away is a Protestant church containing a finely carved 13th century baptismal font inside, and with the remains of a 15th century church at its east end.