CLONMACNOISE

Established since the 11th century as a centre of learning, the monastic complex of Clonmacnoise was a university before being destroyed several times in a row by various invaders (from the Normans to Cromwell's troops).

Amongst the many remains, the 10th century Scripture Cross - in front of one of the porches - is not unrelated to the one in Monasterboice. On the best preserved side, the panels of two guards, facing each other, guarding the sepulchre. Above, the arrest of Jesus and the betrayal of Judas, itself surmounted by the Crucifixion: the Christ on the cross is forced by the shape of the circle and the cross to fit into a frame that distorts the proportion of the limbs; the legs are singularly short compared to the arms, which themselves seem to embody here the idea of sacrifice, giving and suffering. The two soldiers (the sponge and the spear) resting on the arcs of the circle are of derisory size... Under the horizontal arm of the cross, one will notice, on one side, the open hand of God, with two faces entwined by two snake fish, and on the other the cat of Celtic mythology.

Another cross (9th century), quite eroded, hardly suggests a crucifixion. The third cross (of which only the pillar remains) allows one to imagine a vanished and distant beauty: spiral motifs, which unfold into animals or snakes and human figures. On the part facing the river, we find the spiral motifs which could have been those of a Neolithic art.