| Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1949:936 Okasha/Forsyth/2001:Lismore 4 |
| Site: | LISMR |
| Discovery: | in/on structure, 1820 builders |
| History: | Macalister/1949, 107: `found about 1820 in excavating for the foundations of Lismore Cathedral tower, and for a time lay loose on the nave floor'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 342: `The stone may have been found around 1827 ... It was either found or re-found by Cotton after his arrival in Lismore in 1834 and before 1849 when it was in the cathedral and was examined and drawn by Windele ... Along with stones 1, 2, 3 and 5 the stone has been fastened to the cathedral wall since some time before 1912'. |
| Geology: | Macalister/1949, 108: `Grit'. |
| Dimensions: | 0.94 x 0.37 x 0.05 (Okasha/Forsyth/2001) |
| Setting: | in struct |
| Location: | on site Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 341: `The stone is fastened to the west interior wall of the cathedral nave'. |
| Form: | cross-slab Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 342: `The stone is a large rectangular slab'. |
| Condition: | complete , some Macalister/1949, 108, notes that the stone was later reused as a tombstone and his drawing would suggest that it has perhaps been trimmed somewhat. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 342: `appears substantially intact despite some damage to its edges, especially to the lower edge'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: latin; outline; straight; plain; plain; none; none; angular; plain |
| Decorations: | Macalister/1949, 108: `A plain Latin cross'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 342: `It is incised with an outline Latin cross with plain terminals set on a rectangular base. The right and left cross-arms extend to the edges of the stone and appear to be open-ended'. |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1949): | OR~DO || DONN ||| CHAD Expansion: OR[OIT] DO DONNCHAD Macalister/1949 108, Plate XLIV reading only |
| Okasha and Forsyth (1998): | O~R~DO || DONN ||| CHAD Okasha/Forsyth/2001 343 reading only |
| Orientation: | mixed directions |
| Position: | n/a ; broad ; mixed ; separated Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 342: `The text is complete and is set in two lines (or one line turning a corner), the first line to the right of the cross and the second above it'. |
| Incision: | inc |
| Date: | 900 - 1050 (Okasha/Forsyth/2001) Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 351, argues that this stone might be `a century or more later' than LISMR/1-3, which they date to the 9th century. |
| Language: | Goidelic (rbook) |
| Ling. Notes: | none |
| Palaeography: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 342: `Two modern letters, D and C, are incised in the top two quadrants around the cross. ... The [main] text ... uses half-uncial script of maximum letter H. 8.5 cm. As noted above, it appears that the letters have been spaced around the cross, presumably so that the cross-arm falls at a word division'. Macalister/1949, 108: 'The stone must have been adapted as a tomb stone at some recent date, when the initials D - C were cut in the two upper cantons'. CISP: The lettering is Insular half-uncial. The first two Ds have ascenders which bend to the left over an open bow. The final D the the A before it are similar in form. Both have lozenge-shaped bows. In the case of the D the ascender continues above the bow while in the case of the A is continues below the bow with a curved extension to the right. The R is majuscule. Abbreviation mark above R. |
| Legibility: | good Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 342: `The text is legible'. |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |