<< Image Pages >> Cross of the Scriptures (Clonmacnoise) - Ancient Cross in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Offaly
Submitted by Sunny100 on Monday, 06 September 2010 Page Views: 10150
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Cross of the Scriptures (Clonmacnoise) Alternative Name: St Ciaran's Cross, King Flan's CrossCountry: Ireland (Republic of) County: Co. Offaly Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Moate Nearest Village: Shannonbridge
Map Ref: N00993066
Latitude: 53.326443N Longitude: 7.985879W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
Jansold visited on 11th Sep 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 The crosses have been replaced by replicas, and the originals are housed in the museum at the site
HChavez visited - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4 Access: 4.5
Perhaps one of the finest of the the high crosses is that called 'The Cross of the Scriptures', dating from around the 9th century CE and partially restored. It stands at 4 metres high and is made of sandstone; the front shows scenes from the life of Christ and other biblical scenes. The bottom panel shows King Dermaid helping St Ciaran to build the first section of his monastery in c545 CE. The base has scenes showing horses pulling a cart and warriors riding on horses. An inscription recalls 'a prayer for Colman who made this cross for king Flan'.
Undoubtedly this is one of Ireland's greatest monastic centres, with so much remaining from the early Christian period. It was regarded as 'a Cradle of Celtic Christianity' with many scholars and saints being taught there. However, poor St Ciaran died shortly after it was built at the age of 33. There is a visitor centre on the site.
The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for Clonmacnois Monastic Site, County Offaly, Southern Ireland, which includes a photograph of the cathedral, a drawing of the cross, background information on both the side and St Ciaran, and a list of reference sources for more information. Also see Discover Island, Churches, Abbeys and Monasteries page, which says there is an on-site visitor centre which displays a number of cross slabs and the 9th century Cross of the Scriptures.
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