This slender cross is situated opposite the entrance to Dunsany castle and church, which we would have liked to see, but a sign on the gate said it is a private property and the access is denied.
The cross stands on a four-stepped plinth. The first three steps have an increasing height, from 27 centimetres of the first step, to 34 centimetres of height of the second step and to 46 centimetres of height of the third step. The last step is a thin base of about 14 centimetres of height.
The lower part of the shaft measures 24.5 centimetres of width and 14.5 centimetres of depth, with all edges chamfered and a wider collar at about two thirds of its height. The upper part of the shaft is a bit narrower, and the top part of the cross it's even narrower.
The cross has a height of 2.41 metres, the arms open at 38.5 centimetres. With the plinth the total height is 3.62 metres.
On the southwest (225°) side of the cross, on the head, a bas-relief of a crucifixion is represented, and in the small panel above it there's a bas-relief of a winged ox, which is the symbol of St. Luke.
It is believed that the cross dates to the 1600.
On the other side of the cross, a T-bar supports the whole monument. This is the evidence of the restoration works carried out between 2013 and 2014, after the heavy damages that a vandal did to the cross on June 1st, 2013, when it was broken in several pieces.
At the foot of the cross, on the south side, there are two bullauns about 19.5 centimetres apart, each of them being 13 centimetres in diameter.
|