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<< Text Pages >> Kildavnet Churchyard Crosses - Ancient Cross in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Mayo

Submitted by Sunny100 on Tuesday, 01 November 2011  Page Views: 3219

Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: Kildavnet Churchyard Crosses Alternative Name: Kildownet Crosses, St Dymphna's Crosses
Country: Ireland (Republic of)
NOTE: This site is 6.116 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Co. Mayo Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Castlebar  Nearest Village: Carrick-Kildavnet
Map Ref: L731997
Latitude: 53.931191N  Longitude: 9.932767W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Ancient Cross in Co. Mayo

At the south-eastern shoreline of Achill Island, along Atlantic Drive in western Co. Mayo, is the tiny village of Carrick-Kildavnet. The early Christian churchyard of Kildavnet (Cill-Damhnait) has a medieval ruined church, once dedicated to the 7th century St Dymphna, and several tiny stone crosses and pillar-stones standing within the graveyard. Also, there are many other small stones jutting out from the ground surrounded by more recent gravestones - these curious stones may date from well before the first church here; in fact they may be of prehistoric origins, perhaps an earlier, pre-Christian settlement. Just outside the graveyard wall is St Dymphna's holy well - a site of pilgrimage as is the ruined church that has no roof.

In the 7th century an Irish princess called St Dymphna (Dimpna) took refuge here from her father a king of Monaghan who disaproved of her Christian views. She founded the first church here, but soon after she fled to the Netherlands with her confessor. Eventually her father caught up with her at at Gheel and murdered his daughter there in 650 CE. Dymphna's confessor, St Gerebernus, was also murdered at the same time.

The collection of rather crude crosses and pillar-stones in Kildavnet churchyard are no more than a few feet high, one cross in particular still has its three arms intact and signs of carving - there is also a thin pillar-stone that is intact - the others are barely recongnisable as being Christian and are worn and broken. They date from the 7th-8th century CE. Dotted about around these Christian stones are other stones embedded into the ground, some of them in between recent tombstones - but what are they - are they, in fact, the remains of some prehistoric settlement, cairns or an ancient burial ground ?
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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
L7399 : Achill Sound by Kenneth  Allen
by Kenneth Allen
©2019(licence)
L7399 : R319, Achill Island by Kenneth  Allen
by Kenneth Allen
©2019(licence)
L7399 : McLoughin's Bar by David Quinn
by David Quinn
©2008(licence)
L7399 : Achill Sound Library by David Quinn
by David Quinn
©2008(licence)
L7399 : R319 by N Chadwick
by N Chadwick
©2022(licence)

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"Kildavnet Churchyard Crosses" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
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Re: Kildavnet Churchyard Crosses by Sunny100 on Wednesday, 02 November 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
Hi Klingon, can you alter the Irish grid reference for Kildavnet to approx L719938 and 53.887211, -9.944021. Thanks.
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Kildavnet Churchyard Crosses by Sunny100 on Thursday, 03 November 2011
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Hi, please would you alter the grid reference to L719938 and 53.887211, -9.944021. Thankyou.
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Kildavnet Churchyard Crosses by Sunny100 on Tuesday, 01 November 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
Sorry, Im useless at these Irish grid refs - please would you try L.731997. Apologies for the muck-ups.
[ Reply to This ]
    Online map that accepts Irish grid refs by Andy B on Wednesday, 02 November 2011
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Thanks, I've found somewhere that accepts Irish grid refs for checking. Good old http://nearby.org.uk
    Put the grid ref in the box (minus the dot, ie L731997) and search, you'll get lots of map options to link to. Getamap seems to work. They even link to us, which is nice.
    [ Reply to This ]

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