Carndonagh stones
The Carndonagh stones are a set of five sculpted stones in the town of Carndonagh, County Donegal. All five stones are on the grounds of the Donagh Church. The group consists of one free standing high cross with two smaller, attendant pillars; a free-standing pillar known as the "Marigold Stone"; and a decorated door lintel. The pieces apart from the lintel are thought, on the basis of their stylistic similarity, to be roughly contemporaneous. These stones are generally now dated between the 9th and 10th century, though a minority date them to the 7th century on the basis of stylistic comparisons with the Book of Durrow.[1]: 167–169
French scholar Françoise Henry (who held the 7th century date) made the Carndonagh high cross famous by citing it prominently in her theory of the origin of Insular high crosses. She believed that high crosses gradually emerged from carved slabs (such as the St Mura Cross at Fahan) and that the Carndonagh high cross "marks the final victory in the attempt to free the cross from the slab".[2]: 128 This theory gained few supporters, with later archaeological evidence substantially refuting it.[1]: 169 Scottish archaeologist Robert B. K. Stevenson sharply criticised her interpretation of the Carndonagh stones.[3][4]
References
- ^ a b Newman, Conor (2007). "Iconographical analysis of the Marigold Stone, Carndonagh, Inishowen, Co. Donegal". In Walsh, Niamh (ed.). Making and meaning in Insular art. pp. 167–183.
- ^ Henry, Françoise (1965). Irish art in the early Christian period, to 800 A.D. Cornell University Press.
- ^ Stevenson, Robert B. K. (1956). "The Chronology and Relationships of Some Irish and Scottish Crosses". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 86 (1): 84–96. JSTOR 25509235.
- ^ Stevenson, Robert B. K. (1985). "Notes on the Sculptures at Fahan Mura and Carndonagh, County Donegal". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 115: 92–95. JSTOR 25508883.
Further reading
- Harbison, P. "A group of Early Christian carved stone monuments in County Donegal" in Higgit, J. (ed.) Early medieval sculpture in Britain and Ireland. Oxford (1986), pp. 49-71
- Roth, U. "Studien zur Ornamentik frühchristlichen Handschriften des insularen Bereich: von den Anfängen bis zum Book of Durrow" Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission. Vol. 60. Berlin (1979), pp. 5-226.
- Walsh, N. "The Early Medieval sculpture at Carndonagh, Co. Donegal: iconography, context, date". MLitt thesis, NUI, Galway. (2003)