Drumadonnell Cross

This impressive granite cross stands in a tall, cubical base. The head is ringed but unpierced, with a circular motif at the crossing on each face. Within the distinctive, wide edge mouldings are panels of interlaced and spiral decoration, badly weathered but still of great interest, which may date from the 9th century. For nearly 200 years (c. 1778-1972) the cross was fixed into the gable of a schoolhouse at Drumadonnell, with only one face exposed to view. It had been put there after having been moved from a graveyard (believed to be Drumgooland Old Graveyard, DOW035:025, in the townland of Deehommed, next to the townland of Drumadonnell). The tradition that it had stood for a long time at Drumgooland seems quite likely – it is described in the 1740s in that location – but we do not know for how long, or where it had come from beforehand. The school was derelict by the 1970s and the cross was taken into state care at this time for its protection; it is currently housed under cover.

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