150 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



between the wheel and the cross are not pierced through. The cross is now 

 2 feet 10 inches high, hiit was probably an inch or two higher, as the top is 

 broken. It is 1 foot 2 inches broad at the base, and 7 inches thick at the 

 bottom, tapering to 3J inches. The complete monument consists, as the 

 drawing shows, of two stones ; the lower stone is 1 foot J inch high. 



a?). ONS 2, Plate XVIII ; BW plate 4. A large and very elaborate, but 

 much injured, cross ; the outline sketch in the BW report, where it is marked, 

 " Cross found near St. Caiman's Church," gives no real idea of the complexity of 

 its ornamentation. It is a wheel cro.ss, 6 feet 3 inches high, the arms 2 feet 

 7i inches broad, thickness 6 inches. It was broken into many pieces, which 

 were not all recovered ; and it has been restored with cement, and fastened 

 against the wall of the church. This is a pity, for by slipping the hand 

 between the cross and the wall one can feel that the monument is orna- 

 mented on the concealed side as well as on the face that is exposed. 



The stem bears a plait. The cross has five bosses, one in each arm and one 

 in the middle. These were decorated with basket work ; but the pattern is 

 almost totally defaced, and is wholly undecipherable. The background, 

 confined within the hea\y frame that surrounds the edge of the face, is covered 

 with a minute interlacing pattern, resembling much more closely the elaborate 

 specimens found in Scotland than the generality of Irish examples. 



On the dexter side there is a plait on the stem, and the arm-end bears a 

 representation of Adam and Eve. On the sinister side is a key-pattern ; 

 there was a figured panel on the arm-end on this side also, but it is broken, 

 and only about half remains. The surWving part seems to bear a figure 

 walking, holding a long staff, but the intention of the sculptor can no longer 

 be recovered. These are the only figure sculptm-es on the island ; they have 

 not been noticed previously, so far as I can find. 



XrV. ne Becumhent Slahs (Plates XVL, XIX-XXIV). 



In my book on the memorial slabs of Clonmacnois I showed that it 

 was possible to deduce from that series of stones a certain chronological scheme 

 of classification. Inis Cealtra is near enough to Clonmacnois to make this 

 scheme applicable to the monuments it contains ; we may accordingly classify 

 the Inis Cealtra slabs on similar lines. 



The Clonmacnois classification is as follows : — 



Eighth century : small stones, mostly with equilateral (Greek) crosses 



in squares or circles. 

 Xinth centiiry : slabs with wheel (" Celtic ") crosses. 



