Tag Archives: Wayside Cross

Time to Move?


What remains of one of Ireland’s last surviving market crosses stands in the centre of Athenry, County Galway. Believed to date from c.1475, originally it would have been part of a much larger, and taller, monument; it was placed on the present plinth at the start of the 19th century. The south face carries a depiction of the Crucifixion, while on the other side can be seen (just about) a crowned Madonna and Child. The cross is badly weathered, its condition not helped by being in the middle of a busy traffic junction. Although this is now the only market cross in Ireland still in situ, perhaps the time has come to move it to another, less environmentally damaging location?


*New post on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2cvPCjwXwU&t=11s

At the Crossroads

Opposite the main entrance to Dunsany Castle, County Meath stands this wayside cross, a rare surviving example of religious veneration once common across the country. Usually located independent of church buildings, these crosses offered Christians an opportunity to recall their faith as they went about the day. This one is believed to date from the late 16th or early 17th century. On a stepped rectangular podium, the limestone shaft is wrapped by a collar before the upper section carries a depiction of the crucifixion below a winged ox, the symbol of St Luke the Evangelist.