Kilnasaggart

Inscribed Pillar Stone

Standing at 2.8 metres high the Kilnasaggart pillar stone is probably the oldest dateable stone monument in Ireland. The Pillar stands in a small enclosure in the townland of Edenappa in County Armagh. The pillar stands at the edge of a graveyard that was excavated in the later part of the sixties, these excavations revealed both stone built and dug graves. There are several small stones lying around the standing stone and some of these stones bear crosses.

The south east face of the pillar bears an inscription in old Irish that reads,

'In loc so Taninmarni Ternoc mac Cernan Bic er cul Peter Apstel'

This means that Ternohc the son of Ceran Bic put the place under the protection of Peter the Apostle. As Ternohcs death is recorded in either 714 or 716 this dates the stone to the early 700s. Above the inscription is a Latin cross and at the base of the pillar stone is an equal armed decorative cross inside a circle, on the top of the pillar on the same face s another cross within a circle, see bottom image. The north west face of the pillar is decorated with at least ten crosses, nine of which are within a circle.

Situated: From Dundalk head north on the N1, at the roundabout for Carlingford head for Newry and take a left at the next crossroads, then right at the T-junction, then next left then right at the T-junction as you come to the next left turn the pillar stone is across two fields immediately on your right, well sign-posted.

Discovery Map 36: J 062 149. Last visit May 2010.

Longitude: 6° 22' 44" W

Latitude: 54° 4' 20"N

Google Map

Photos: Jim Dempsey.

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