| Corpus Refs: | Lacy/etal/1983:1567 Macalister/1949:951 |
| Site: | FAHAN |
| Discovery: | first mentioned, 1881 Doherty, W.J. |
| History: | |
| Geology: | Macalister/1949, 118: `shale-like stone'. |
| Dimensions: | 2.1 x 1.04 x 0.18 (Lacy/etal/1983) |
| Setting: | in ground |
| Location: | on site Lacy/etal/1983, 268: `SE of the church'. |
| Form: | cross-slab Lacy/etal/1983, 268: `cross slab'. |
| Condition: | complete , some Macalister/1949, 118, speaks of the stone as being `much worn and clogged with lichen'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: latin; interlace; expanded; half-round; lozenge; angular; none; none; decorated 2: latin; interlace; expanded; plain; plain; angular; none; none; decorated |
| Decorations: | boss; figural; geometric ribbon interlace Macalister/1949, 118: `Eastern Face. A cross formed of interlacements within a marginal groove. In the pedimental top, two bird figures with long necks hooking into one another: in the four cantons, flat circular bosses bearing incised concentric circles... Western Face. A similar but more elaborate cross, the top shaped to fit the pedimental summit of the stone. An ecclesiastic in a long robe, with his face in profile turned toward the stem of the cross, on each side'. |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1949): | B || E | ND | E || XT | ARARD | EBSCOB | MA/R | GAUU | ARIN | AGAIN | [--] | [--] | [--] | SIRRIG | TADG | AIN Expansion: BENDEXT AR ARDEBSCOP MARGA UA RINAGAIN [RAB I N-ABAIDECHT IN AIM]SIR RIG TADGAIN Translation: A blessing upon the Archbishop Marga ua Rinagain(PN) [who was in the abbacy?] in the time of King Tadgan(PN). Macalister/1949 118, Pl. XLVII reading only |
| Orientation: | horizontal |
| Position: | W ; broad ; below cross ; separated |
| Incision: | pock+rub Macalister/1949, 118: `inscriptions pocked and rubbed'. |
| Date: | 600 - 699 (Hughes/1966) Hughes/1966, 95--96. 900 - 1099 (Stevenson/1985) Stevenson/1985, 92--94, argues on the basis of numerous paralells drawn from Scotland, England, Man and Ireland, for a tenth or eleventh century date for this stone. 700 - 799 (Edwards/1985) Edwards/1985, 395--396, argues for an eighth-century date for the stone. |
| Language: | Latin (rbook) |
| Ling. Notes: | none |
| Palaeography: | CISP: Taking the illustration by Macalister at face value the following can be said about the script. It is in Insular half-uncial. The Bs and Ds are generally open-bowed; the A's vary between an almost square bow, and the 'OC' A. The Gs are all half-uncial while some of the Es have a closed, and others an open, bow. Alongside a number of majuscule Rs there is one half-uncial R. The M is reminiscent of the first M of line 2 at Llanllyr in Cardigan [LLLYR/1]. There are no ligatures, but a number of letters, such as X and T, A and R, S and C, are conjoined. |
| Legibility: | poor Macalister/1949, 118, read an inscription placed above the heads of the two figures on the western face, also continued within the frames of these figures. This inscription has been rejected by more recent scholars such as Lacy/etal/1983, 268. |
| Lines: | 7 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | yes |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1949): | DOEAKAITIMEPATRIKAIUIW | KAIPNEUMATIAGIW Expansion: DOEA KAI TIME PATRI KAI UIW KAI PNEUMATI AGIW Translation: Glory and honour to the father the son and the holy spirit. Macalister/1949 120 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical up |
| Position: | N ; narrow ; n/a ; undecorated |
| Incision: | pock+rub Macalister/1949, 118: `inscriptions pocked and rubbed'. |
| Date: | 600 - 699 (Hughes/1966) Hughes/1966, 95--96. 900 - 1099 (Stevenson/1985) Stevenson/1985, 92--94, argues on the basis of numerous paralells drawn from Scotland, England, Man and Ireland, for a tenth or eleventh century date for this stone. 700 - 799 (Edwards/1985) Edwards/1985, 395--396, argues for an eighth-century date for the stone. |
| Language: | Greek (greun) |
| Ling. Notes: | Macalister/1949, 120: `The unusual variant of the formula - `Glory and Honour' etc. - finds its precedent in the liturgy of the Spanish Mozarabic rite'. Hillgarth/1962, 193: `... the great significance of the Fahan Mura cross in Donegal, with its Greek inscription of the late seventh century presenting a "literal, not to say servile" version of a doxology first appearing in the Acts of the Fourth Council of Toledo in 633. This doxology, which seems a typical piece of Irish scholarship in its showy disply of a superficial knowledge of Greek, is, incidentally, the only ancient inscription in that language in the country. The presence in this remote cemetery in the extreme North of Ireland of a Spanish formula only promulgated half a century beofre is striking evidence of the influence of seventh-century Spain on Ireland'. |
| Palaeography: | Macalister/1949, 120: `Greek, written in uncial characters'. |
| Legibility: | good |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |