Ahenny High Crosses

The two crosses at Ahenny are among the earliest of the great Irish high crosses, probably eighth-century, and they belong to a group known as the Ossory crosses. What distinguishes them is that they translate metalwork into stone: the surfaces are covered in interlace, spirals and fretwork of the kind found on Celtic brooches and reliquaries, and both carry raised bosses at the centre and on the arms that imitate the rivets holding a metal cross together. A cap, sometimes described as a bishop's mitre, sits on top of each. The figurative carving is confined to the base panels, where processions and animals appear, weathered and hard to read. Later crosses at Monasterboice and Clonmacnoise cover the whole surface with scripture instead, which makes Ahenny a clear earlier stage in the form. The graveyard is small, free and unstaffed, with roadside parking.

History

Ahenny lay in the ancient kingdom of Ossory, and megalithic tombs stand on the hills around it, among them the Baunfree tomb on Kilmacoliver Hill and the passage tomb of Knockroe two kilometres to the north. The crosses stand in the graveyard beside the early Christian foundation of Kilclispeen monastery (Wikipedia, Ahenny).

What's there

• The metalwork imitation - interlace and raised bosses copying rivets.
• The two crosses - both eighth-century, of the Ossory group.
• The stone caps - the capstones on top of each cross.
• The base panels - the only figurative carving, and heavily weathered.

When to go

April to October for the ground and the light. Low sun makes the interlace far easier to read than flat midday light. Half an hour covers it.

Practical notes

Two monuments in a small graveyard with a panel and nothing else - no facilities, no staff, roadside parking. Base carving is weathered to the point of being hard to interpret.

Nearby

Carrick-on-Suir and Ormond Castle are south; Kilkenny is north-east.

Key facts