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Glendalouch Celtic Crosses

Joyful Heart Renewal Ministries uses Dr. Wilson's watercolor painting of a Celtic cross as a logo. The cross reminds him of his Scottish forbears, the Picts, who were won to Christ by missionaries in the sixth and seventh centuries. The origins of the Celtic cross are fascinating.

Origins as a Sun Cross

Scholars speculate that the Celtic Cross developed from the sun cross, solar cross, sun wheel, etc., a pre-Christian symbol found in northwest Europe and Scandinavia — a cross inside a circle, or a four-spoked wheel. When Christianity came to Ireland and Scotland, Christians extended the bottom spoke of this familiar symbol to remind them of the cross on which their new Savior was crucified.

A pre-Christian symbol, the solar cross or sun-cross is found in neolithic rock carvings in France, Scandinavia, etc.

An early sunwheel cross, the Sagranus stone, can be found at St. Dogmael's Abbey, Deyfed, west Wales.

Christ Pantocrator, dome mosaic (1090-1100 AD) from the Church of Daphne in Athens, shows Christ with sun-cross halo.

The Ruthwell Cross is early -- 650 to 850 AD. The Cross is seventeen feet four inches tall and must sit in a well four feet deep to serve as the high cross for the church. Cassidy remarks, "With the comparable cross at Bewcastle it is undoubtedly the most important sculptural survival from Anglo-Saxon Britain and arguably from early medieval Europe" (Cassidy 3). 

Halwyn wayside cross, Cornwall.

Cornwall Crosses

Wayside crosses are found at stopping places of missionaries, where they preached and prayed. Some of these were later marked as sacred places with crosses. Many ancient stone crosses are found in Cornwall, such as:

• Halwyn wayside cross, Cornwall
• St. Kew Cross, Cornwall. The cross was found in 1924 as part of a footbridge. It is now located in the churchyard at St. Kew church.
• St. Pillack's wheel-headed cross, 9th-10th century AD, in the churchyard. Crude figure on cross.
• St. Dennis churchyard cross, Cornwall.

Isle of Man Crosses

A number of ancient stone crosses and cross slabs have been found on the Isle of Man at Kirk Andreas, Kirk Ballaugh, Kirk Braddan, Kirk Lezayre, Kirk Lonan, Kirk Maughold, Kirk Michael, and Kirch Onchan. Note a couple of these:

• Gaut's Cross at Kirk Michael.
• Thorlief Hnakki's Cross Slab, a Norse cross, from old Kirk Braddan.

Wales

• St. Brynach's Cross, Nevern Dyfed, Wales

Scotland

Scotland has some beautiful stone crosses, such as:

• St. Martin's High Cross, Iona Abbey, on the Isle of Iona, is 16 ft 8 in (5 m.) tall.
• Kildalton Cross (800 AD), Kilmorie, Knapdale, Strathclyde,. is often considered the finest surviving Celtic cross in Scotland.
• Aberlemno sculptured stones, are Pictish standing stones near Aberlemno, Angus, Scotland, from the Early Medieval period.

Irish Stone Crosses

Muiredach's High Cross, Monasterboice, County Louth, Ireland, is made of sandstone.  At 19 ft (5.8 m.) high, it is the tallest high cross in Ireland. It is dated in the 9th or 10th century.

Ireland has many stone crosses. Here are just a few:

• Cross of the Scriptures, Clonmacnoise Monastery, County Offlay in central Ireland, was carved from Clare sandstone about 900 AD.
• Muiredach's High Cross, Monasterboice, County Louth, Ireland, is considered the finest high cross in Ireland. 9th or 10th century.
• Moone High Cross, County Kildare, Ireland, is the second tallest high cross in Ireland, and one of the best preserved.
• St. Kevin's Cross, Glendalough, Ireland, is carved from a single granite stone.
• Doorty Cross, in the graveyard of Kilfenora Cathedral, County Clare, 9th-10th century

England Stone Crosses

A number of examples of early stone crosses are found in England, several at St. Kentigern's Church, Aspatria, Cumbria, England. Other examples among many are:

Nigel Pennick, The Celtic Cross: An Illustrated History and Celebration (Sterling, 1998) is now out-of-print.

• Gosforth Cross, or so-called Viking Cross, in St. Mary's churchyard, Gosfortrh, Cumbria, England, contains a mixture of Christian and Nordic symbols.
• Bakewell Anglian Cross, in the churchyard of Church of All Saints, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England.
• Sandbach Crosses, Cheshire, England
• Highgate Cemetery, London, has some more modern Celtic Crosses.

USA

Peace Cross (1898) is an impressive cross at St. Albans Preparatory School, Washington DC.

References

Nigel Pennick, The Celtic Cross: An Illustrated History and Celebration (London: Blandford, 1997)

More on St. Patrick and Celtic Christianity

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