Drumcliff High Cross Photograph by John Moyer

Drumcliff High Cross

by John Moyer

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Wood Print

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Ornament

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Portable Battery Charger

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Yoga Mat

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iPhone Case

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Round Beach Towel

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Men's Clothing

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Title

Drumcliff High Cross

Artist

John Moyer

Medium

Photograph

Description

This is the high cross at Drumcliff, Sligo, Ireland. It is at the site of a monastery founded by Columcille in about the year 525. I made the photo on April 25, 2007.

William Butler Yeats mentioned this cross in the poem "Under Benbulben" and the last lines of the poem are on Yeats grave marker near the cross.

Under bare Ben Bulben's head
In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid,
An ancestor was rector there
Long years ago; a church stands near,
By the road an ancient Cross.
No marble, no conventional phrase,
On limestone quarried near the spot
By his command these words are cut:

Cast a cold eye
On life, on death.
Horseman, pass by!

A sign near the Drumcliff Church says:

Drumcliffe Monastery

This monastery, which is now divided in two by the main road. was founded by St. Colmcille about 574 on land donated to him by a local king. Later coarbs of the monastery (guardians who were responsible for administration) were often members of Colmcille's family, the Cenél Conaill. In 1267 the monastery suffered extensive fire damage.

The 10th or 11th century Round Tower, which was struck by lightning in 1396, originally had a doorway high above ground level and facing eastwards, probably towards the doorway of the monastery's principal church.

The High Cross, which dates from about the 9th century, has on its east face carvings of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Daniel in the Lion's Den and Christ in Glory, and on its west face a Crucifixion and other unidentified images. There is also extensive interlacing and animal ornament. These crosses were used to illustrate stories from the Bible to a mostly illiterate congration.