Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to check out the model of the monastery in its heyday, located at the back of the small mu-
seum next to the ticket desk.
Cost and Hours:
€3, mid-May-mid-Sept daily 10:00-17:00, last tour at 16:30, last
entry 45 minutes before closing, no tours mid-Sept-mid-May when site is free and you can
explore on your own, tel. 041/982-6459,
www.heritageireland.ie
.
Monasterboice
This ruined monastery is visit-worthy for its round tower and its ornately carved high
crosses—two of the best such crosses in Ireland. In the Dark Ages, these crosses, illus-
trated from top to bottom with Bible stories, gave monks a teaching tool as they preached
to the illiterate masses. Imagine the crosses in their prime, when they were brightly
painted (before years of wind and rain weathered the paint away). Today, Monasterboice
is basically an old graveyard.
Cost and Hours:
Free and always open.
Visiting the Site:
The 18-foottall
Cross of Murdock
(Muiredach's Cross, c. 923,
named after an abbot) is considered the best high cross in Ireland. The circle—which char-
acterizes the Irish high cross—could represent the perfection of God. Or, to help ease pa-
gans into Christianity, it may represent the sun, which was worshipped in pre-Christian
Celtic society. Whatever its symbolic purpose, its practical function was to support the
weight of the crossbeam.
Face the cross (with the round tower in the background) and study the carved sand-
stone. The center panel shows the Last Judgment, with Christ under a dove, symbolizing
the Holy Spirit. Those going to heaven are on Christ's right, and the damned are being
ushered away by a pitchfork-wielding devil on his left. Working down, you'll see the
Archangel Michael weighing souls, as the Devil tugs demonically at the scales; the ador-
ation of the three—or four—Magi; Moses striking the rock to bring forth water; scenes
from the life of David; and, finally, Adam, Eve, and the apple next to Cain slaying Abel.
Imagine these carvings with their original, colorful paint jobs. Check out the plaque at the
base of the nearby tree, which further explains the carvings on the cross.
