The cross-slabs of Clonmacnoise: reassessing one of the largest collections of early medieval carved stone monuments in northwest Europe

Abstract

This is the first comprehensive overview of the cross-slabs of Clonmacnoise in more than a century. The collection comprises c . 720 monuments and fragments thereof dating to the period c . 700–1200. While they are relatively simple, requiring a modest amount of investment, their sheer number is remarkable. It was unusual in northwest Europe for an early medieval community to invest in stone memorials for a significant proportion of its dead, and for some of its royal benefactors, over such a long period. This collection can contribute significantly to our understanding of the evolving relationship between the living and the dead, and of concepts of memory, salvation and community. Building on existing records and substantial survey work, we present a detailed typology of the corpus and an analysis of its chronology. This indicates a high rate of production in the period c . 700–850, while the mid-ninth century into the tenth saw the production of the finest of Clonmacnoise’s slabs, coinciding with the erection of its finest high crosses. Production continued after 1000, and probably after 1100, albeit at a reduced rate, but by 1200 Clonmacnoise had ceased to be the innovative centre of stone-carving of centuries past. We consider what these fluctuations may reveal about the character and identity of this community, and the waxing and waning of its fortunes, over the course of half a millennium.