Heritage threat as ancient High Cross damaged by frost

One of Ireland’s most significant early Christian artefacts has been damaged by the unprecedented recent cold spell.

Muiredach's High Cross in Monasterboice, Co. Louth, is said to be in severe danger after suffering a crack in the frosty weather and experts fear the Cross is irretrievably damaged.

The hairline fracture, beside a crucifixion scene on the tenth century cross, was initially noticed by guides showing tourists around the historic monastic site.  The damage is understood to have been caused by water seeping into the sandstone and then expanding as it froze.

Only last year, a major plan, drawn up jointly by the Office of Public Works, the Department of the Environment and Louth County Council, was revealed which proposed a series of options for preserving the monuments at Monasterboice.  These included moving the crosses indoors and replacing them with replicas or covering them from the elements.

Some years ago, a similar High Cross at Kells, Co Meath, was moved from the centre of the town where it was being damaged by traffic noise and vibrations as well as the weather.

A local campaigner for the preservation of the Monasterboice monuments, Mr Barry McGahon, said he was shocked to hear Muiredach’s Cross had developed a crack.

“'It's definitely a new crack and this is now a serious situation - we need to do something within weeks or we could lose these crosses forever,' he warned.

He called for the erection of a railing around the three surviving High Crosses at Monasterboice to keep tourists from touching them.  'It's incredible that they are not fully protected - I came across somebody climbing on Muiredach's Cross and I had to tell them to get off it,” Mr McGahon revealed.

Louth County Council heritage officer Brendan McSherry, said he was keen to see the plan progressed and hopes it will go on public display very shortly.  “I want to see the public consultation begin and we want to get this out to the local people as soon as possible,' he stated.

Mr McSherry said the structures at Monasterboice were of “world significance” and had been recently proposed as UNESCO world heritage sites. 

“With Kells, Tara and  Newgrange, it's a remarkable critical mass of locations in this region.”

by Fintan Deere