Gleann Cholm Cille is famous for its "Turas", the journey, the path that people follow from one station to the other one during their pilgrimage done between June 9th and August 15th. The round of the stations is about 3 km long. The stations are both in the village and outside the village.
This cross pillar the the 9th station of the Turas. It is set vertically in a socket among other small stones in the ground. It's 1.83 metres tall, 42 centimetres wide and only 6 centimetres thick
Towards the top of its northwest (330°) side there's a St. Chad's cross inscribed into a circle which has a diameter of the same size of the width of the stone. At the centre of the cross, at 1.52 metres from the ground, is a through hole with a diameter of 2 centimetres by 2.5 centimetres.
A vertical groove on the stone surface starts from the cross and goes to the base of the slab passing through two circular motifs, one at about half height of the slab, the other one at the base.
The slab is called the "Stone of the Gathering". At this stone pillar, people would gather to attend a ceremony where a couple would engage. Through the hole the couple would intertwine their fingers as a promise of engagement.
|