Moone High Cross

The Moone cross stands about 5.3 metres, making it one of the tallest in Ireland, and it is carved in granite rather than the softer sandstone used elsewhere - which is probably why the figures look the way they do. Instead of the flowing scriptural panels of Monasterboice or Clonmacnoise, Moone's are geometric and abstracted: the twelve apostles as a grid of twelve identical blocky figures with round heads, the flight into Egypt, Daniel in the lions' den with the lions arranged symmetrically, the loaves and fishes reduced to shapes. It reads as closer to early medieval manuscript ornament than to naturalistic sculpture, and it is more memorable for it. The cross was found broken and buried in the nineteenth century and re-erected. It now stands under a roof inside the ruined church at Moone, which protects it from weather, and the site is free, unstaffed and usually empty.

History

The cross, reputedly of the 8th century, stands within the ruins of Moone Abbey, said to have been founded by St. Palladius in the 5th century and dedicated to St Colmcille in the 6th. It lay buried until 1835, when two sections were dug up in the graveyard, and the Duke of Leinster, Charles FitzGerald, had it set up again; at 17.5 feet it is the second tallest high cross in Ireland (Wikipedia, Moone High Cross).

What you'll find

• The twelve apostles - a grid of identical blocky figures on the base.
• The granite carving - abstracted and geometric rather than naturalistic.
• The height - about 5.3 metres, among the tallest Irish crosses.
• The shelter - the cross housed inside the ruined church.

When to go

Any season - the cross is under cover. It takes half an hour. Combine it with other early sites in the area rather than making a special trip.

Practical notes

A single monument on a quiet site with minimal interpretation. Unstaffed, with roadside parking. It is a twenty-minute stop unless you are specifically interested in early Christian sculpture.

Nearby

Ballitore Quaker village is close; Athy and the Barrow are south.

Key facts