County: Kildare Site name: BALLYMORE EUSTACE: North Cross, St John's
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 99E0143
Author: Heather A. King, National Monuments and Historic Properties Service, Dúchas The Heritage Service
Site type: Cross - High cross and Burial ground
Period/Dating: Medieval (AD 400-AD 1600)
ITM: E 693230m, N 709931m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.131757, -6.606808
Peter Harbison noted in his study of The high crosses of Ireland, published in 1992, that the north cross in St John's Church of Ireland churchyard at Ballymore Eustace was leaning at a 'perilous angle'. In 1998 a site inspection gave rise to fears that the situation was deteriorating, and a decision was made to take down the cross and rectify the problem.
The large granite cross, 3.5m high, was set in a granite base that was almost completely buried in the ground. The cross was removed from the base by the National Monuments staff of Dúchas The Heritage Service, and the main reasons for the 'perilous' angle of the cross shaft were immediately evident. An examination of the mortice showed that the shaft was sitting in the base without any mortar, and there was a gap of c. 20mm on three sides between shaft and mortice. The cross shaft had no tenon and sat loosely in the mortice to a depth of c. 0.3m. The mortice was over double that depth but bellied inwards at c. 0.3–0.35m below the upper surface, resulting in a narrowing of the mortice, which did not permit the shaft to be seated securely in position. The gap between the shaft and the mortice had allowed an old iron key, probably for the church door, to slip down into the bottom of the mortice, which was filled up with soil, dead leaves and water.
A small excavation took place around the base to facilitate its removal and to prepare the area for the re-erection of the cross. The base consists of a large granite boulder that had been worked to create a stepped pyramidal shape on its upper surface. It is crudely cut, and the steps are of uneven height. The lower part of the stone is unworked, and the eastern side is steeply concave. The base was sitting on the undisturbed natural esker and was propped on the east by a number of stones overlain in places by mortar.
Excavation was confined to the area immediately around the base so that no stratified burials would be disturbed, although a number of cuts for burials were recorded. The lack of significant stratigraphy or any great depth of burial would suggest that this area of the graveyard has not been extensively used. The finding of two sherds of medieval pottery, slag, a bronze binding strip and a small quantity of animal bone would seem to indicate some medieval occupation activity in the area before its use as a burial-ground.
6 Upper Ely Place, Dublin 2
