Ara Coeli
Cathedral Road
ARMAGH BT61 7QY
Tel (028) 3752 2045
Fax (028) 3752 6182
Email: [email protected]
Administrative Staff:
Mrs Caroline Hicks
[email protected]
Mrs Donna Gray
[email protected]
Mrs Kathy Lennon
[email protected]
Chancellor:
Very Rev Michael Toner PP
[email protected]
Assistant Chancellor:
Rev Paul Murphy
[email protected]
Diocesan Secretary:
Rev Colm Hagan
[email protected]
Financial Administrator:
Mrs Brenda O’Hare
[email protected]
Media Queries:
Mr Martin Long – Tel: 01 5053010
Mobile: 086 1727 678
[email protected]
In the churchyard of St Jarlath’s Church, Clonfeacle, is a massive sandstone cross set on a modern base. It is said that this monument formerly lay prostrate in a place nearby which is known as the “Nine Wells”.
Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1956) p. 84-85
In the grounds of Tynan Abbey, Co. Armagh, three crosses were erected about the year 1844. Two of these, the “Well Cross” and the “Island Cross” are said to have been brought from the monastic foundation of Glenarb (Clonarb) and the third, the “Terrace Cross”, was removed from Tynan churchyard.
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Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1954) p. 111
Above the vaulted arch over a well in the grounds of Caledon Demesne a cross-shaft and a head have been set up. These remains are said to have been removed from Clonarb (see below). They represent parts of two monuments, the head being that of a smaller cross than the shaft was designed to support.
The shaft is an almost square column rising from a slightly splayed plinth and finished on the upper part by a bank or collar. The angles of the shaft are rounded and each side is treated as a single full-length panel, delimited by a shallow rounded moulding. In the middle of each panel is a large roundel or medallion containing a decorative device.
Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1956) p. 84
The cross known as Tynan Cross stands by the roadside, opposite the churchyard wall in the village of Tynan. It is said that formerly the monument was within the church grounds, that it fell and that about the middle of the 19th Century it was repaired and set up in its present site. As it stands the monument is a composite one representing parts of two or three crosses. The base, which is somewhat battered and irregular in outline, is a truncated pyramid with a shallow step at the top. It does not appear to have been decorated. The shaft is in two parts. The lower portion has rounded angles and the surface on all four sides is delimited by a roll moulding. The upper portion is a short length of shaft surmounted by an open-ring cross. The head is extensively repaired and restored.
Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1955) p. 113
In the old churchyard there is one cross base and two broken cross-heads. There seems to be no trace of the shafts belonging to these fragments and while the base may indicate the original position of one of these monuments, there is nothing to suggest the site of the other. The base is a truncated pyramid with a flat top without a step. It does not appear ever to have been decorated. The cross-heads are solid ring heads with deeply sunk panels.
Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1955) p. 110-111
In the churchyard of St Patrick’s ( Church of Ireland) Cathedral stands the base and fragment of shaft of a High Cross. A large base of truncated pyramidal form with shallow step at top. The sides appear plain. In the socket is a short fragment of a decorated shaft. The stone is badly worn. Inside the Cathedral the greater part of the shaft of an elaborately sculptured sandstone cross has been erected on a modern base. Close by on the floor is the fragment of the cross-head belonging to it. This is badly damaged and the entire ring, the top of the shaft, the cap and one arm are missing. This shaft and the head are part of the cross known as the Market Cross which is situated in Market Square in Armagh City.
Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1955) p. 108-110
Nothing remains of this monument but the head, which itself is damaged and incomplete, and it has been mounted on a modern cement shaft and base. Having regard to the size and nature of the cross-head it is probable that the original monument may have stood eight to ten feet high. It has an imperforate ring-head, i.e., the spaces at the intersection of the arms with the shaft are not pierced but remain as recessed panels behind the inner edges of the ring arcs and the cross proper. All the decoration on the cross-head is well laid out and excellently executed.
Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1954) p. 113-114
There are three High Crosses located in the churchyard, Monasterboice, Co. Louth. The best known of these is the South Cross or, as it is commonly called, Muiredach’s Cross, so described on account of the inscription which appears on one side of the shaft which reads: OR DO MUIREDACH LASNDERNAD IN CHROS (A prayer for Muiredach for whom the cross was made). The Muiredach referred to is believed to be Muiredach, son of Domhnall, a cleric of considerable importance and abbot of Monasterboice who died in 922. Consequently the monument is regarded as dating from the early tenth century.
The Cross stands about seventeen feet high and consists of a truncated pyramidal base from which rises a shaft surmounted by a large ring-head, on which the billet mouldings are not placed on the arcs of the ring, but on the rounded angles of the intersections of the arms on the shaft. The cross is finished by a roof-shaped cap; this is represented on each wide side of the shaft by panels of shingling topped by a massive roof-tree, while on the two narrow sides the heavy gables rise to form crescentic or horned finials decorated by pellets.
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Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1954) p. 102-109
The monument consists of a base made from a large roughly rounded stone which is devoid of decoration. From this a panelled shaft ornamented on all four sides rises to a ring-head without billet mouldings and the cross is finished by a roof-cap. The cross as it now stands is between eight and nine feet but may have been higher as there seem to be traces of an incomplete panel between the top of the shaft and the eave of the shingled roof.
Abstracted from Seanchas Ardmhacha, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1954) p. 111
