I came across some old photographs recently of an interesting antiquity which would be part of the Heritage of County Laois.
Even more interestingly it was tucked away in neighboring Kildare at Crossmorris.
The antiquity itself is the base of a Wayside cross which once held the Cross proper, upright.
The entry in the archaeological records state it is known as the Wart Stone. It also goes on to say that a portion of the decorated shaft is at Kilkea Castle.
Wayside Cross's were erected from around the 12th Century onwards as memorials and markers to specific events or people.
This one was erected to mark the spot where the Knight Sir Maurice Fitzgerald was killed in 1520 by Con mac Melaghlin O'More of Leix.
The base is Diamond shaped with a deep recess where the Cross was inserted. It has a small pool of water in it now.
Presumably you put some of the water from the recess onto some body parts or Warts in hopes of a cure.
I was fortunately unafflicted by Warts at the time I passed by so I can't vouch for the efficacy of the "Wart Stone" cure.
The clip below is from the Journal of the Kilkenny and South East of Ireland Archaeological Society Vol 4, 1863.
This is the entry for Con mac Melaghlin on the Ancestry website.
The following entry is at williamgray101 and presumably taken from John Canon O'Hanlon's History of the Queens County.
On it Con's full name is listed as Connell og mac Connell mac Melaghlin O'More. Quite a mouthfull.
The O'More Clan were an indescribable "thorn in the English side" for many centuries in Laois.
The killing of Maurice Fitzgerald would be just one of hundreds if not thousands of conflicts and scores settled and meted out throughout centuries of bitter internecine conflict in Ireland.
It was another legacy of British Imperialism which seemed to bring more misery than fortune to those inhabitants unlucky enough to have the pleasure of hosting our near neighbours.
I don't know exactly when the Cross was initially erected at this spot in Kildare but it's quite amazing to think this little known memorial to a Leix Chieftan may well have been constructed in 16th Century Kildare.
Keep the wheels turning.