Kilkieran High Crosses

On the lower S-facing slope of Kilmacoliver Hill, overlooking the valley of the River Suir. Associated with the early medieval monastery of Kilkieran, and within Kilkieran graveyard (KK034-032002-) standing c. 4m NW of the church (KK034-032001-). A sandstone high cross (H 2.45m; base of shaft Wth 0.45m, T 0.42m; arms Wth 1.08m), described by both Harbison (1992, 117) and Roe (1976, 35-7) as the West Cross. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 4, 243) this is one of two high crosses which had been maliciously broken ‘long ago’, but was restored, ‘in an admirable manner, in 1858, by a blind mechanic, from Faugheen, named Paddy Laurence’. The base of the shaft widens out to form a basal plinth which is defined on each face by a moulded surround framing a panel with no obvious decoration. The cross is described in some detail by Harbison (1992, 118-19). The cross stands on a straight-sided decorated rectangular base (H c. 0.67m; dims. 1.18m x 1.1m) which is stepped towards the top. The ‘riser’ of the middle step has interlace ornamentation (ibid. 118). It has a flat-topped beehive-shaped capstone (H c. 0.5m) with a horizontal incised towards the base which may be the upper edge of a horizontal band, similar to though not as pronounced as that on the capstone of Harbison’s South Cross (KK034-032004-). The edge of the cross is defined by a thick rope-moulding. The E face of the cross head is decorated with interlace and has a central domed boss and one on the side arms and upper arm. The outer moulding and boss on the lower arm do not survive. The shaft has two panels of decoration, the upper consists of six spiral motifs and the lower of close-meshed interlace. The E base is decorated with two panels, side by side, framed by rope-moulding. Each panel contains four horses and riders, two over two, all facing the same direction except the horse and rider in the lower corner of the N panel who is facing the opposite direction. The W cross head is similar to the E, though all five bosses are present and the interlace is more closely meshed (ibid. 119). The lower portion of rope-moulding around the lower arm is missing. The shaft has two panels of decoration, the upper consists of six interlinking spirals and the lower consists of two sets of vertically placed animals crossing at the neck, with a small cross at the centre of the panel (ibid.). Both the E and W face of the ring are decorated with interlace framed by a roll-moulding. The W base has three panels of decoration, all framed by a roll-moulding within a broader rope-moulding. The N panel is filled with interlace, the central panel has five interlinking spirals and the S panel has three vertical panels of interlace. The N side and S sides are similarly decorated, the upper arm being decorated with a central vertical panel of interlace separated from two outer narrow panels of interlace on either side by a vertical roll-moulding. The shaft is similarly decorated, though the N central panel consists of one continuous pattern of interlace while the S is divided into vertical panels of interlace. The side arms of the cross are decorated with a roll-moulding forming a rectangle, within which there is a smaller roll-moulding framing a sunken interlace panel. The side faces of the ring are also decorated with interlace. The N base is divided into two panels framed by a roll-moulding within an outer, possible rope, moulding. The E panel is decorated with circular motifs, including a marigold pattern in the two bottom corners (ibid.). The W panel is filled with interlace, the upper portion and lower E quarter of which is quite tightly meshed compared to the loose interlacing in the lower W quarter. The S base is similarly framed and has two panels, both filled with interlace. The W panel is quartered while the E panel consists of smaller panels which Harbison describes as being, ‘arranged so as to form a cross’ (ibid.). Roe (ibid., 9) suggests an 8th-century date for the Kilkieran high crosses.

(National Monument no. 79)