Eigg, Kildonnan
Cross Incised Stone (Early Medieval)
Site Name Eigg, Kildonnan
Classification Cross Incised Stone (Early Medieval)
Alternative Name(s) Kildonan 4
Canmore ID 319403
Site Number NM48NE 24.04
NGR NM 48 85
NGR Description NM c. 48 85
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/319403
- Council Highland
- Parish Small Isles
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Lochaber
- Former County Inverness-shire
Kildonnan 4 (St Donnan), Eigg, Skye & Lochalsh, cross-slab fragment
Measurements: H 0.31m, W 0.29m
Stone type: pink Torridonian sandstone
Place of discovery: NM 4885 8536
Present location: in St Donnan’s Roman Catholic Church at NM 4741 8853.
Evidence for discovery: found in 1931 near the west end of the ruined church of St Donnan. Initially displayed in the porch of The Lodge at Galmisdale, this fragment is now in St Donnan’s RC Church.
Present condition: broken and set in a modern wooden frame. The carving is in good condition.
Description
This fragment comes from the central area of a cross-slab which was carved by pecking with a cross within a circle some 0.20m in diameter. This is an equal-armed cross with expanded terminals and a lozenge at the centre, and the voids between the arms are filled with triquetra knots, each within its own frame.
Date range:
Primary references:
Compiled by A Ritchie 2016
Reference (2001)
(4) Fragment of a slab of pink Torridonian sandstone which was found near the W end of the church in 1931 (v). It is broken across and preserves no original edges, measuring 0.31m by 0.29m. It has been carved by shallow pecking to expose a darker layer, and bears an equal-armed cross with rounded armpits within a circle which was 0.2m in original diameter. The arms have expanded terminals and axial grooves which bifurcate at the terminals and link at the centre of the cross-head to enclose a lozenge (vi). The angles of the cross contain triquetra knots but one of these, which is enclosed by a moulding continuous with the adjacent cross-arms, is not correctly interlaced.
(NMS cast, X.IB 220; PSAS 1933, 66, fig.4).
I Fisher 2001
