Castledermot Monastery
As you enter the site through the main gate there is the plain base of a third cross on your right and you then walk through a reconstucted romanesque archway, pictured above. Standing at 20 metres high attached to the modern church is a round tower, this tower has an unusual feature in that the original cap has been replaced with battlements. Scattered around the graveyard are many interesting early grave slabs, a few holed stones and the hogback featured below. |
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The carved stone found at Castledermot in 1967 is the only example of a Hogback stone in Ireland. The stone lay just below the ground in it's present location. Hogbacks are recumbent monuments with a curved ridge similar to 10th century viking houses at Trelleborg. They are often termed as Houses for the Dead. Although this type of monument originated at viking settlements in North Yorkshire, other examples have also been found in Scotland, none have ever been discovered in scandinavia. It is thought that this particular example may be another form of tomb shrine and could possibly be marking the location of a saints grave. The tomb shrines at Banagher in Derry and St Tighernachs at Clones are known as mortuary houses. Other tomb shrines have also been given the term House, such as St Molaise's house at Devenish Island and the Priest's House at Glendalough. |
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Holed Stones
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Situated: In Castledermot, County Kildare, from Dublin take the N7 west, then the N9 South for Carlow. The crosses are in the grounds of St James Church of Ireland, situated in the middle of Castledermot about 7. 5 kilometres South of Moone.
Last Visit: April 2019. |
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