The four stone monuments that are situated at the edge of the town of Carndonagh in the Inishowen Peninsula are absolutely fascinating both in terms of aesthetic beauty and antiquity. The monuments include St Patrick’s High Cross, the Marigold Stone and two stone pillars. The stones are believed to all date to the 8th or 9th century and may have come from a monastery that predated the current 18th century Church of Ireland structure.
The High Cross is a fascinating 2.5metre tall sandstone edifice. What points to it being one of the earlier examples of Irish High Crosses is that the crucifixion scene is on the shaft of the cross rather than its head. The head on this cross is decorated with an attractive interlaced ribbon cross design. What is also of note and interest is that in Irish High Crosses Jesus is never depicted in a slouched or suffering position more so as a victor over death and resurrected. There are two figures flanking Jesus which are believed to represent Mary and Joseph and below this scene are three figures wearing robes, they are thought to represent the women who visited Jesus tomb after the resurrection. The west face of the cross is covered with another wide-ribboned interlaced cross design. The south side has several carved figures that are believe to represent the apostles and further interlaced designs. The north face is undecorated.
The two small pillar stones are just under a metre in height. The more northern stone’s east side depicts a figure playing a harp, believed to be King David and one of the earliest representations of a harp in Ireland. Its west side appears to show an image of a soldier or warrior with a small shield and a sword, the north side of the pillar shows a fish and a bird and lastly the south side is covered in spirals. The stone that’s south of the high cross’ eastern face appears to show a religious figure or a pilgrim holding a bell, a book and a crozier. The other sides of this pillar are decorated with trifold knots, an animal headed figure with large ears/horns carrying a hammer and lastly a head in profile and a fish believed to represent Jonah and the Whale.
The Marigold Stone which stands in the nearby Church of Ireland graveyard is another fascinating and unusual monument. It is named after its western face which depicts a seven petalled motif with a long stem, this is believed to be depicting a flabellum, this is a fan that is used to keep flies away from the altar, one of the relics of Saint Columcille was believed to be a flabellum called the Cuilebaidh. The two figures either side of the stem are thought to depict pilgrims. The bottom of the cross is carved with the image of a Maltese Cross, common to pilgrimage sites in Ireland. The eastern side of the cross is incredibly charming in that there is a small domed projection at the top of the stone that marks out the shape of the head of Jesus. Much like the High Cross he is depicted as a wide eyed victorious smiling character rather than suffering his fate on the cross. Below this are the images of two people believe to be saints. The bottom of the cross shows a Greek style key or maze pattern; this is also reflected in the south side of the cross with the north side depicting an interlaced design.
There is another lintel stone in the graveyard that I didn’t notice on the day of my visit. The Inishowen peninsula is a real gem as it tends to be one of the lesser visited areas of Ireland so it sites can be visited in perfect peace and tranquillity.
GPS: 55.24997, -7.27228