CELTIC HIGH CROSS OF AHENNY
Ahenny is an unusual place - a graveyard with two
ancient Celtic crosses. Two Celtic crosses, striking
and subtly different from many crosses seen on
ancient monastic sites up and down the country, and
different because there is nothing in the Annals or
in any other records to tell us why they are there.
Of course the local people know why they are there
and they also know that there were once three
crosses in Ahenny and someone tried to ship one -
the most beautiful if the three they tell us - out
of the country (to England? to America?) but the
attempt failed when it was lost either in Waterford
Harbo
ur
off Passage East or further out to sea. The locals
say that the three crosses marked the burial place
of seven bishops of the early Irish Church. Again we
have no record, but it certainly was quiet usual for
seven holy men to come together to form a community
of prayer. However if the crosses marked their last
resting place that is unusual because Irish High
Crosses celebrated living persons or large
flourishing monastic communities, not burial sites.
Many scholars think that the Ahenny crosses were
carved at an early date, perhaps in the 8th Century.
The faces of the cross have no scriptural carvings
but are most beautifully decorated. At the centre of
the cross are five projecting bosses, reminding us
of St.
Martin's cross in Iona, again raising the question
about the importance of Ahenny in the past. All over
the head and shaft of the cross are elaborate
designs, spiral and interface and fret. Dr. Peter
Harbison in his scholarly work "High Crosses of
Ireland" is moved to poetry as he describes the
head of the west face as "covered like a
spiders web with a single panel of intricately
composed coiled spirals." The faces and ring of
the cross are surrounded by a high relief rope
moldings which adds to its distinctive appearance.
The fact that the rest of the decoration is in low
relief makes us ask "What did the cross look
like when it was first erected?" and many would
say that it must have been coloured - only in this
way could the marvelous work of the sculptor been
fully seen and appreciated.
