Moone High Cross ( ga, Ardchros Maoin) is a

high cross A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...

and national monument reputedly dating from the eighth century located in

Moone Moone (; ) is a small village in the south of County Kildare, Ireland. It is on the former N9 road (now by-passed) about south of Dublin. It has only a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a national school, one shop and a small community ce ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. At 17.5 feet high (including the base) it is the second tallest high cross in Ireland, and also one of the best preserved of its kind.

History

Moone High Cross is located within the ruins of the early monastic site of Moone Abbey, believed to have been founded by St. Palladius in the 5th century and dedicated to St Colmcille in the 6th century. The abbey lies on the banks of the

River Greese The River Greese (also spelled Griese; ) is a small, fast-flowing river in south-east, Ireland, and a tributary of the River Barrow. Name The river takes its name from Killeen Cormac, which bears the name ''capella de Gris'' ("Gris Chapel") ...

in the village of Moone, County Kildare. Fragments of other high crosses are also present within the grounds of the abbey. The high cross lay undiscovered until 1835, when two sections of the high cross were unearthed whilst works were being carried out in the graveyard of the ruined abbey. The then-

Duke of Leinster Duke of Leinster (; ) is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are: Marquess of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, ...

Charles FitzGerald Charles Fitzgerald ( – 29 December 1887) was an Irish officer in the Royal Navy and Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847, then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855. Son of William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, Fitz ...

, arranged for the re-erection of the cross as the sections were so well-preserved. Sixty years later, in 1893, the middle section was found and added to the cross revealing its true height. The high cross is featured on the 'Kildare Monastic Trail', a self-guided tour designed to facilitate discovery of County Kildare's

round towers Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number ...

, high crosses and

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

. A roof exists over the cross to protect it from erosion.

Description

The high cross is made of granite and was constructed in three sections; an upper, middle and base. The cross is heavily decorated and depicts scenes from both the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, including

Daniel in the lions' den Daniel in the lions' den (chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel) tells of how the biblical Daniel is saved from lions by the God of Israel "because I was found blameless before him" (Daniel 6:22). It parallels and complements chapter 3, the story of ...

, the three children in the fiery furnace and the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The cross was intended as a

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...

tool with which to teach the illiterate native population about

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. This is conclusive as the iconography of the cross pertains to that of the popular form of prayer at that time, with references to both the old and new testaments.

References

{{High cross National Monuments in County Kildare High crosses in the Republic of Ireland