Art of the high cross

The Ormond Historical Society talk on Monday, December 8, next at the Abbey Court Hotel delves back in history to Early Christian Ireland (400-1200 AD).

Dr Rachel Moss will discuss the art and architecture of one the great surviving features from that era – the high cross. Several of these are found in Co Tipperary, most notably at Ahenny on the Tipperary-Kilkenny border. Nearer to home there is the high cross at Roscrea and two partial survivors at the old monastic site at Lorrha.

Dr Moss’s Talk – ‘History in Stone: Irish High Crosses’ – will explore the evolution of these monuments, the artwork displayed on them, and the meaning they held for contemporary viewers. She will also examine the long lives of those important stone monuments, and how over the generations their meaning to different cultural and religious groups has impacted on their survival, their alteration, and in some cases their destruction.

Dr Rachel Moss is Professor of the History of Art & Architecture at Trinity College Dublin. Her particular field of interest is the art and architecture of Early Christian and Medieval Ireland. She has written widely on the subject; among her most notable publications she has authored or co-authored: Art and Architecture of Ireland, Vol 1 (2014); The Book of Durrow (2018); A Modest and Civil People: Religion and Society in Medieval Galway (2022); Irish and Scottish Art, c 900-1900 (2024).

The talk at the Abbey Court Hotel on Monday next starts at the usual time of 8pm. Members are free, as usual, while there is a €10 charge for adult non-members. Art and other students – who should find the talk particularly interesting – are free of charge. All are welcome to join us for what will be a stimulating talk on an important part of our rich heritage from a lively and entertaining speaker.