page_title: Drumcliff monastery, County Sligo
section_title: The High Cross
hierarchical_section_title: Drumcliff monastery, County Sligo / Present Site / The High Cross
caption_attribution_description: English: The west face of the 9th century AD High Cross at Drumcliff churchyard, County Sligo
context_page_description: Drumcliff Monastery was located in Cairbre Drom Cliabh, now County Sligo, five miles north of the modern town of Sligo. The site consists of the remains of a round tower and several high crosses, including one outstanding example. It is currently also the site of a Church of Ireland parish church and a graveyard. It is the burial place of the poet William Butler Yeats. Founded in the 6th century by Saint Colmcille, he is said to have declared in a later literary fragment
  Beloved to my heart also in the West—
  Drumcliffe at Culcinne's strand.
context_section_description: The main high cross is the only example of its kind surviving in county Sligo. It is carved in the Urnes style. It has been dated tentatively on artistic grounds to the 9th or 10th century. It measures 3 metres (10 feet) high x 1.1m arms span, the shaft is 47 cm wide by 31 cm. The west face shows scenes from the New Testament, the east face shows scenes from the Old Testament. There is considerable debate about interpretation of these scenes, many of which remain uncertain.
  The cross has the only known representation of the Virgin Mary and child on any cross in Ireland, on the south face of the cross arm.
  The cross gives prominence to the infancy cycle of John the Baptist, a story known from the apocraphyl Protoevangelion of James, attributed to James the brother of Jesus. John the Baptist was a particular focus of the Columban monastic tradition.
  The west face consists of
  3 figures facing to the front, the central figure holds a child diagonally across her body. Harbison argues that the scene represents the presentation of John the Baptist in the Temple.
  High relief of a camel walking across the shaft.
  Arrest/Mocking of Jesus. Jesus is the central figure, flanked by two soldiers.
  Return from Egypt / Zachariah, Elisabeth and John the Baptist.
  Crucifixion, Jesus is depicted centrally with long robes to the knee - Stephaton offers vinegar and Longinus lifts his spear.
  Arms, heads that may represent the thieves in the crucifixion.
  The east face consists of
  An interlace pattern composed of four circles. Stokes suggests the base of the Tree of Life.
  Adam and Eve, Eve eating the apple in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3
  High Relief of an animal, arguably a lion due to its mane, walking across the shaft.
  David kills Goliath. 1 Samuel 17.49.
  Daniel in the Lion's Den. Daniel 6:16.
  This panel is uncertain. Suggestions include the Second Coming of Christ, The Last Judgement, Maiestas Domini.
  Top and ring, interlace, animal heads (presumed) spirals.
  The cross arm of the south side depicts Mary with the Child Jesus, held in front of her.
caption: West face of the Celtic High Cross at Drumcliff, Sligo
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