This is one of the two crosses which once stood in the grounds of the ancient church of Kiltuck in the Shanganagh Castle Demesne, which is about 1 km south from here. This ancient church was mentioned in a Papal Bull of 1179, so we can easily say that these crosses date from around the middle of the 12th century.
During the works of the Ordnance Survey in 1837 it was reported that a stone cross was found along with a cross base inside the ruins of that church. According to an old tradition, this stone cross was originally located at the end of a lane nearby Rathmichael Church, so in 1911 it was moved to what was believed to be its original location, where an empty cross base was, and where we can find it today.
The cross is quite well tucked away behind some wild bushes at the end of a lane.
It's a granite cross with a solid wheel. It's 82 centimetres tall, about 65 centimetres wide at its arms and 18 centimetres wide at its base, and about 16 centimetres thick.
The cross base is roughly barrel shaped, it measures about 75 centimetres of diameter and has a height of about 50 centimetres. On this base someone has left some pebbles as a sign of devotion.
The cross is aligned southeast-northwest (135°-315°).
On the northwest side of the cross a crucifixion has been carved in outline, similarly to the Kiltuck Cross and Fassaroe Cross. On the southeast side of the cross there's a crucifixion carved in bas-relief, with very little details remaining, apart from two small marks that might resemble two eyes.
A nice finding indeed!
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