Tuesday 14 February 2023

Castlekeeran High Crosses, Ogham Stone and Well, Meath

Castlekeeran High Crosses

Castlekeeran in County Meath is a magical location.

It is also a site where three High Crosses, an Ogham Stone, a further High Cross base, an early Christian Cross slab and a Holy Well and Oratory are located.

Castlekeeran High Crosses, Ogham stone and Holy Well.

There is also a plaque commemorating Carnaross Cumann na Mban who are probably best described as a national Women's Militia within the Independence and Republican movement of the time.

Cumann na Mban and the women within the independence movement in general went for quite some time unrecognised for the integral role they played in the historic events of that period which went on to shape the early Republic of Ireland.

The plaque records a rally here in 1917 and an address by Countess Markievicz to a crowd of 10,000 people.

The County of Meath today is just one of 26 Counties within the Country making up the Republic of Ireland.

It was in antiquity however in fact a Province which covered a larger area than its present day boundaries and was named Mide.

Sometimes described as the "Royal County" it is held that Tara in Meath was the traditional seat of Ireland's "High Kings".

Ireland throughout recorded antiquity actually had relatively sparse periods of unified rule under "High Kings" and rarely could one ruler claim undisputed Kingship.

Most Kingship in Gaelic Ireland seems to have been in a perpetual state of constant warring and dispute although Tara was without doubt hugely significant throughout the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron ages and the early medieval period.

It is possible therefore that colloquial references to the Irish "High Kings" are occasionally tinged with hyperbole and a hint of mythology in spite of Meath's de facto historical significance.

The reasons for describing Meath in a little more detail lie perhaps in trying to gain an understanding for the apparent richness, abundance and diversity of its historic monuments including of course, Castlekeeran.

Alternative names for Castlekeeran have included : Belach Dúin, Castlekyran, Castlekearne and Díseart Ciaráin among others.

My preference is for Díseart (or Dysert) Ciarán,

translated into English the Desert of Ciaran.

The word Díseart or Dysert, or a derivative of it was often used in the place-naming of early Monastic or ecclesiastical settlements.

The word literally translates

as desert while it actually describes a hermitage.

Early Christian settlements in Ireland were often located at remote and barren locations in an effort to be as far removed from worldly distractions as possible and closer to God.

Hence such places as Dysert Ciarán, Dysert Aeongus, Dysert O'Dea, Dysert Gallen, etc. each referencing both the desert (hermitage) and the patron.

Of the three High Crosses at Castlekeeran all have rounded edge roll moulding and are very plain while two have, and possibly all three once had, geometric interlace patterning carved on the outward facing ends of their terminals.

The Crosses are all constructed of Sandstone on large bases, two of which also have roll mouldings.

One Cross has a central hemispherical boss while two have what I would describe as "knuckles" around their centers and inside the rings.

There is a further fourth High Cross base minus the Cross it once housed and another smaller empty Cross base lies not far from it.

I have read that these plain High Crosses are sometimes described as Termon Crosses, a type of boundary marker.

It is also possible that many of the more elaborately decorated High Crosses in Ireland may have also served multiple roles including demarcating a boundary, who knows for sure?

I am presuming that solely because of their "plain" look these Crosses at Castlekeeran are occasionally described as Termon Crosses although how accurate a description this is I do not know.

Despite the lack of elaborate carvings it is both unusual and very rewarding to see three High Crosses in such close proximity at one location.

This and the further antiquities on the site provide ample reason for visiting.

In fact I was quite surprised to be alone for the entire duration of my visit.

There is an early Christian Cross slab affixed to the wall of the ruins of what was once a medieval Church.

Also located there is the fourth Cross base and an Ogham Stone believed to date to the 5th Century.

Ogham was an early

20 letter old Irish alphabet

written using groups of linear slash marks.

It is also called the tree alphabet. Each letter is also purported to represent a specific species of tree.

The Ogham alphabet may well have also been inscribed onto wooden tablets however at the present time the only surviving Ogham is found inscribed on stone.

They are a hugely important historical artifact and it is a real pleasure and a privilege to see them dotted about Ireland.

Ogham stones are found throughout Ireland with a few rare examples in Britain.

They are thought to be memorial stones or perhaps boundary markers and are first believed to have appeared around 350 C.E.

The nearby Holy Well lies just a few hundred metres away on the same road.

It is dedicated to a Saint Ciarán who is unrelated to Ciarán of Clonmacnoise nor Ciarán of Saigar.

The Well which is a natural Spring is located below a beautiful green grassy Knoll atop which sits a contemporary but nonetheless beautiful stone built Oratory.

It was overcast on my visit so my photographs just can't capture how beautiful the setting is.