Kilnaruane Pillar Stone

The Kilnaruane Pillar Stone is a carved monolith and National Monument located in County Cork, Ireland.[1]

Kilnaruane Pillar Stone
Native name Irish: Cill na Rómhán
Bantry Pillar Stone, St. Brendan's Stone
View of northwest face
Type	high cross remnant
Location	Kilnaruane, Bantry, County Cork, Ireland
Coordinates	51.671382°N 9.468068°W
Height	2.13 m (7 ft)
Built	8th century AD
National Monument of Ireland
Official name	Kilnaruane/Bantry Pillar Stone Shaft of High Cross
Reference no.	436
Location of Kilnaruane Pillar Stone in Ireland

Location

Kilnaruane Pillar Stone is located about 1.6 km (1 mile) southwest of Bantry, atop a drumlin, in a square enclosure in a field.[2]

History

A monastery may have been founded here by Brendan in the 6th century AD.[3]

The pillar was erected in the 8th or 9th century AD. The name may refer to "Church of the Romans", and a community which accepted the Roman dating of Easter, a major controversy in the early Middle Ages.[4][5]

The monastic settlement on the site may have been destroyed by a Viking attack.[6]

Description

The stone is a thin schist pillar 2.1 m tall.[7]

On the northeast face:

• Celtic knot
• an orans (praying figure)
• Greek cross
• Saints Anthony the Great and Paul the Hermit meeting in the desert: both were important figures in Christian monasticism. A raven flies down from heaven with a loaf of bread to feed them

Skin-boat carved on the SW face.

On the southwest face

• Celtic knot
• Two pairs of sheep/goats with interlocked horns — this is now the symbol of the Sheep's Head peninsula
• a currach boat with four oarsmen and one figure steering the rowers through a sea of crosses. This could be Brendan or Cessair.[8]

Mortises on either side of the pillar were probably for attaching arms of the cross.[9] Nearby are stone fragments, possibly a bullaun or the arms of the high cross.[10][11]

• 
  Arm of the cross?
• 
  Celtic interlace
• 
  SE face

References

1. Day, Catharina (1 January 2007). Southwest Ireland. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 9781860113628.
2. Johnstone, Paul (12 November 2013). The Sea-Craft of Prehistory. Routledge. ISBN 9781317762225.
3. Map, The Megalithic Portal and Megalith. "St Brendan's Stone (Kilnaruane)". megalithic.co.uk.
4. "The Kilnaruane Pillar Stone, Bantry, Ireland - BMD Notices".
5. "Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society". The Society. 1 January 1978 – via Google Books.
6. "Kilnaruane Stone - Museums and attractions - Bantry". ireland.com.
7. "Some Spared Stones of Ireland". irishmegaliths.org.uk.
8. McLaughlin, Barney. "Cork Cross - Irish High Crosses". irishhighcrosses.com.
9. McNally, Kenneth (2006). Ireland's Ancient Stones - A Megalithic Heritage. Appleby Press. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
10. "Kilnaruane stone - Sheep's Head Places". sheepsheadplaces.net.
11. "Kilnaruane Carved Pillar". irishantiquities.bravehost.com. Retrieved 10 June 2018.