Evangelist Slab (Early Christian)

This sandstone slab of which the bottom half is missing, bears an elaborate ringed cross that is decorated with spirals and interlace. A unique feature is the depiction of the evangelists St. Mark and St. Luke on either side of the ring.

This slab is by far the most elaborate surviving commemorative stone of the Irish Early Christian period and clearly commemorated a person of considerable importance. This slab is inscribed OR DO. A further fragment, now in the collection of NMI, depicts St. Matthew and is inscribed MUIR which are clearly the opening letters of the deceased’s name, together with the letter M. Stylistically , the slab was the product of a school of accomplished stone carving, centred on the midlands in the late 9th and 10th centuries.