chapple, r. m. 2014 new adventures with high crosses - clogher, co. tyrone. blogspot post

8/10/2019 Chapple, R. M. 2014 New Adventures With High Crosses - Clogher, Co. Tyrone. Blogspot Post

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New Adventures with High Crosses | Clogher, Co. Tyrone

Originally posted online on 29 January 2014 at rmchapple.blogspot.com

(http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-adventures-with-high-crosses.html)Earlier this summer I took time off work to help out with childcare and to spend some timewith my two sons, while their regular child-minder took a much needed and deserved holiday.It turns out that my wife and I had lets call them divergent ideas as to what constitutesa fun day out for the children. She does things like making aliens out of cardboard boxes andtissues, providing home-made playdough (called squashy in our house), and buildingtemporary housing for our garden snails (a snail aquarium, or snailarium, if you will). I,however, appear to have a different idea of fun. My tendency is to stick the kids in the car andhead out in search of ice-cream, bacon, and archaeological sites though not necessarily inthat order. Results are variable, but we more often than not have a great time looking atinteresting sites (and playing hide & seek), arriving home tired, bedraggled, and smellingsuspiciously of pork products. This year my plan was to take them west to beautiful,wonderful, Fermanagh in search of island experiences.

On one of these excursions, we passed through Clogher. Today it seems like a relativelyordinary Tyrone village, but it appears to have been a place of importance, on the intersectionof major route ways, from antiquity.Clogher Hillfortprobably dates to at least the Late Bronze

Age and the complex includes a ring barrow, a possible inauguration mound, along with thebanks and ditches of the Hillfort proper. Excavations by the wonderful Richard Warner in the1970s, though sadly unpublished, allowed the recovery of numerous high status artefactsincluding portions of decorative metalwork and exotic pottery. By tradition, the nearbymonastic foundation was founded by St. Aedh Mac Cairthinn (c. 430505 AD), an earlydisciple of St. Patrick. The site was later recognised as an episcopal see, and it retains its statusin the 18thcentury Cathedral Church of Saint Macartan.

In all the years I worked in field archaeology in Northern Ireland, I spent quite a lot of themout west, in Tyrone, Fermanagh, Derry/Londonderry, and Cavan. I that time I passed throughClogher on more times than I can count maybe as many as a thousand times well, goingeach way every day for months at a go certainly racks up the numbers! In that time, I believe,

I only stopped in Clogher once in the company of theHistoric Monuments Councilwhen westopped to visit Clogher Hillfort. Most of the other times I was rushing to get to work or rushing
http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-adventures-with-high-crosses.htmlhttp://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-adventures-with-high-crosses.htmlhttp://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-adventures-with-high-crosses.htmlhttp://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clogher_(disambiguation)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clogher_(disambiguation)http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/clogherhillfort.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/clogherhillfort.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/clogherhillfort.htmlhttp://www.hmcni.gov.uk/http://www.hmcni.gov.uk/http://www.hmcni.gov.uk/http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H8DvWoJe3MI/UnAzEySsDII/AAAAAAAAEdE/BIaPSO_hdrA/s1600/DSC_2474.JPGhttp://www.hmcni.gov.uk/http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/clogherhillfort.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clogher_(disambiguation)http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Playdough-Play-doh/http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/new-adventures-with-high-crosses.html


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to come home never a chance to stop and see the Early Christian High Crosses! This occurredto me on our first summer excursion as I passed through with my boys in the back of the car,moving with all legal velocity towards the delights of Fermanagh. This time, as we passed, Inoted that the church appeared to have replaced its gates in the relatively recent past theyrecertainly newer, shinier, and taller than I remembered them. Ill write about where we went inFermanagh on some other occasion, but on the way home, I decide to stop the car and see ifwe could get into see the crosses. I parked, and explained with much enthusiasm to my youngsons that (if we could get in) we were going to see a couple of very old crosses. In fairness, theyhad been tramping about Fermanagh since early morning and their patience was thin. Itwas only when I offered a bribe of (more) ice-cream they reluctantly agreed to follow me. Withrefreshments purchased, we made our way up to the gates, only to find them locked andbarred. Even over the cacophony of the passing traffic, I perceived the sound of knocking. Aftersome blank-faced searching, I spotted an elderly lady in one of the first-floor windows on thefar side of the road. Once she was sure she had acquired my attention, she made a series ofhand-gestures that I understood to mean go around to the left, there is another entrancethere. I now realise that this was the wrong interpretation of whatever she meant. Instead, weended up on the grounds ofSaint Macartans Nursing Home,explaining our situation to amember of the Sisters of Mercy. Unfortunately, there was no entrance on that side and therenever had been. The very lovely and kind Sister looked at us three tired and bedraggledtravellers, and offered us refreshment. Not wanting to put her to any trouble I, of course,declined. My beautiful sons had, it appears, not read the samemanual of etiquetteas I, andprotested loudly even more so when they learned that biscuits would also be forthcoming.That was how my sons and I spent a very pleasant late afternoon in Clogher sipping ice-coldMiWadi orange drink, crunching on biscuits, and passing the time with a delightful nunwho made a great fuss over my (suddenly) shy boys. We didnt get to see the crosses and, iftruth be told, I didnt particularly mind either.

We may have missed seeing the crosses, but Id not forgotten them.

A week or two later the whole family was heading west in search of another Fermanagh islandexperience. As we passed through Clogher, I instinctively glanced to my left at the new gates,giant and impenetrable. Only this time they were OPEN!! There was only one thing to do!I dropped anchor and hurriedly pulled the car into the side at the nearest available spot,spraying gravel and divots in my wake. As no one else was interested in accompanying me upthe tiny to non-existent pavement, against the prevailing traffic, I grabbed my camera andwent for it. As I suddenly faced a very large and fast-movingScaniatruck bearing down on meas I rounded the corner, I rather though that I had made a particularly poor decision inattempting to see these crosses and that I was about to meet my end in Clogher. Thankfully, itwas not to be and I successfully just! negotiated the traffic and got into the churchyard.
http://www.sistersofmercy.ie/ireland_britain/northern/2011_w_mercy_care.cfm#stmacartanshttp://www.sistersofmercy.ie/ireland_britain/northern/2011_w_mercy_care.cfm#stmacartanshttp://www.sistersofmercy.ie/ireland_britain/northern/2011_w_mercy_care.cfm#stmacartanshttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/39293/39293-h/39293-h.htmhttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/39293/39293-h/39293-h.htmhttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/39293/39293-h/39293-h.htmhttp://www.miwadi.ie/http://www.miwadi.ie/http://www.scania.co.uk/http://www.scania.co.uk/http://www.scania.co.uk/http://www.scania.co.uk/http://www.miwadi.ie/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39293/39293-h/39293-h.htmhttp://www.sistersofmercy.ie/ireland_britain/northern/2011_w_mercy_care.cfm#stmacartans


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The crosses are probably of 9thor 10thcentury date and were found in the grounds of the churchand re-erected. Coincidentally, both crosses appear to be missing a portion of their respectiveshafts and look somewhat squat and inelegant as a result. At 2.75m, the more southerly crossis the taller of the two. Its east face displays a rectangular panel of 18 bosses (set in threecolumns of six). A similar arrangement probably was repeated further up the shaft, thoughonly eight appear to wholly or partially survive. The centre of the ringed cross head isdominated by a single, large boss with indistinct traces of interlace decoration within it. Thetwo lower ring portions of the cross are decorated with different patterns of interlace andscrollwork. The opposite (west) face is a relatively similar arrangement with a rectangularpanel of interlaced circles and knot-work dominating the shaft. Originally an harmoniouspanel of similar knot-work would have been placed above this, but the effect is spoiled by themissing middle section. Again, the centre of the ringed cross head contains a prominent boss,

decorated with interlace, possibly in a triangular or triquerta knot pattern. However, owingto the low relief of the surviving carvings, this is difficult to ascertain. All three survivingportions of the outer ring appear to be decorated in an analogous manner to before, thoughthis too was difficult to see in the prevailing light conditions.
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The north cross is, today, slightly shorter at 2.30m. Its east face of the shaft is dominated by a

rough square of four interlaced spirals, and the cross head is decorated with a smaller cross-like arrangement. It is difficult to make out, but it appears to me to be an interlaced cross ofsinuous vines, possibly with a four-petalled flower at its centre. The opposite face has a low-relief roundel, or pseudo-boss at the centre of the cross-head, and a diamond of false-reliefknot-work in the centre of the shaft. Although, owing to the light conditions, I couldnt makeit out on the day, it appears from other photographs that some decoration exists on the armsof the cross, possibly some low-relief interlace, but it is difficult to be sure.
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Lying between the two crosses is what appears to be a portion of a shaft of a third cross. At thebase of the north cross there is a double bullaun stone. From older photographs(e.g.Richardson & Scarry 1990, Pl. 45) it seems that it once was leant against the base of thesouth cross, where it was accompanied by the upper stone of a rotary disc quern. I may bewrong, but I did not notice it on my visit, so it may have been moved indoors. Photographs ofthe site from a1982 visitby Billy Dunlop (now part of The William Dunlop ArchaeologicalPhotographic Archive collection [Facebook|Website]) appear to show the same quern stone,if in somewhat more battered condition. Thus, despite the date of the Richardson & Scarrypublication, Im inclined to believe that the photographs used are considerably older. Where Ihave seen photographs taken inside the cathedral (e.g.here|here), Ive not noticed it hangingabout in the background, so it may not have been placed there for safe keeping. Unless its stilllurking about around the church or grounds, Im afraid that it may have been lifted and thatsthe last we may see of it.

While I felt lucky to get into the graveyard, my luck didnt run so far as to get me past thechurch door. Inside I would have found an Early Christiansun dial,probably dating to the the

period from 700 to 900 AD, and probably the oldest surviving item from the site. Well, maybeits all for the best! This way, I still have a reason to keep an eye out for open gates as I gothrough Clogher. I dont know what Ill find maybe just ice-cream, maybe the sun dial, maybeeven the kindness of strangers lavished on weary, parched travellers!

ReferencesHarbison, P. 1992 Guide to the National and Historic Monuments of Ireland. Gill &Macmillan, Dublin.

Richardson, H. & Scarry, J. 1990 An Introduction to Irish High Crosses. Mercier Press,Dublin.
https://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visitshttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visitshttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visitshttp://www.facebook.com/DunlopPhotographicArchivehttp://www.facebook.com/DunlopPhotographicArchivehttp://www.facebook.com/DunlopPhotographicArchivehttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/homehttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/homehttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/homehttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visitshttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visitshttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visitshttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttp://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/tyrone/clogher/cloghercrosses.htmlhttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visitshttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/homehttp://www.facebook.com/DunlopPhotographicArchivehttps://sites.google.com/site/dunloparchive/home/tyrone-site-visits

chapple, r. m. 2014 new adventures with high crosses - clogher, co. tyrone. blogspot post

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