| Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1949:916 Okasha/Forsyth/2001:Church Island 1 |
| Site: | LCURN |
| Discovery: | first mentioned, 1908 Lynch, P.J. |
| History: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 139: `The stone was first recorded by Lynch in 1908 when it was described as standing `To the north of the church' .. Presumably in its present position. O'Sullivan and Sheehan (1996, 319) [OSullivan/etal/1996] suggested that it was erected here by the OPW during the work on the site in 1883'. |
| Geology: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `purplish sandstone'. |
| Dimensions: | 1.61 x 0.6 x 0.08 (Okasha/Forsyth/2001) |
| Setting: | on ground |
| Location: | earliest Macalister/1949, 97: `in the old graveyard'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 139: `The stone stands upright on a leacht-like structure, outside and immediately to the north of the chancel of the ruined Romanesque church'. |
| Form: | body-slab Macalister/1949, 98: `tapering [slab]'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `The stone is a decorated slab ... Which tapers slightly towards the base'. |
| Condition: | complete , good |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: latin; outline; straight; plain; curved; cruciform; inner curv; tenon; plain |
| Decorations: | Macalister/1949, 98: `Bears a wheel cross fitchée with A -- [omega] on the upper and lower terminals'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `On the finely dressed main face is incised a full-length outline Latin cross with a tapering shaft which continues below current ground level. A single line rings the cross-head and the whole cross is silhouetted by a continuous line. Related designs of outlined ringed crosses are found on four uninscribed slabs of similar size from the site'. |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1949): | {*} | IH~S~ XP~S | {*} Expansion: {alpha} IHS XPS {omega} Macalister/1949 98, Plate XLIII reading only |
| Okasha and Forsyth (1998): | + | {A}~ | IH~S XP~S | {W}~ Expansion: + ALPHA IHESUS CHRISTUS OMEGA Okasha/Forsyth/2001 141 reading only |
| Orientation: | horizontal |
| Position: | n/a ; broad ; on cross ; undivided On the arms of the cross, and running at right-angles to the main shaft of the cross. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `arranged horizontally in the four arms of the cross-head leaving the crossing bare'. |
| Incision: | inc |
| Date: | 1000 - 1199 (Okasha/Forsyth/2001) See Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 145. |
| Language: | Greek (rbook) |
| Ling. Notes: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 141: `Text a reads + A~ W~ for + a(lpha) o(mega), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, which constitute a nomen sacrum for Christ. The reference is to the book of Revelations, for example Revelations 22:13. .. Text b reads ih~s xp~s for Ih(esu)s Chr(istu)s. These are the usual abbreviations for the Latin Iesus and Christus'. |
| Palaeography: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `Text a has alpha as a form of capital A, but the omega is a form of non-capital Greek W. The forms of both letters are unusual but not unparalleled. The capital A with x-shaped bar may be compared with similar forms of slabs from Toureen Peacaun [TOURP/32, TOURP/36]. ... a similar form of the omega occurs on an eighth-century cross-slab from Hartlepool, Co Durham [Okasha/1971, no. 48] ... The script of ... [text b] is half-uncial'. |
| Legibility: | good Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `complete ... legible'. |
| Lines: | 3 |
| Carving errors: | n |
| Doubtful: | no |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1949): | BENNACHTF~ANMAIN | || ANMCHADA Expansion: BENNACHT FOR ANMAIN ANMCHADA Translation: [CISP] A blessing on the soul of Anmchada (PN) Macalister/1949 98, Plate XLIII reading only |
| Okasha and Forsyth (1998): | BENNACHT F~ANMAIN | ANMCHADA Expansion: BENNACHT FOT ANMAIN ANMCHADA Translation: A blessing on the soul of Anmchadh (PN). Okasha/Forsyth/2001 141 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical down |
| Position: | inc ; broad ; mixed ; other Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `two parallel vertical lines one inside and the other to the left of the shaft. These read downwards with the bottoms of the letters to the viewer's left'. |
| Incision: | inc |
| Date: | 1000 - 1199 (Okasha/Forsyth/2001) See Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 145. |
| Language: | Goidelic (rbook) |
| Ling. Notes: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 141: `The formula bennacht for anmain is much less common than the oróit do. The only other examples in Munster are on two slabs from Lismore, nos 1 and 2, [LISMR/1 and LISMR/3] and possibly Church Island 2 [LCURN/2]'. |
| Palaeography: | Macalister/1949, 98: `The fifth and last letters are certainly A's and appear as such in the photograph accompanying Mr. Lynch's paper...but he reads them as O's'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `half-uncial'. CISP: The inscription is in Insular half-uncial. Most of the A's are in the 'OC' form, with the first A of anmain having an almost lozenge-shaped bow. The H in line one appears to have a wedge-shaped finial atop its ascender. The ascender of the B is not vertical but is angled to the right, while that of the D is angled to the left. The F is also in a typically Insular form with a short additional stroke to the left from the top of the ascender. |
| Legibility: | inc Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 140: `complete ... legible'. |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | n |
| Doubtful: | no |