The Spectacular Moone High Cross in County Kildare
I don't know about you, but when I think of Ireland beautiful high crosses come to mind. And the Moone High Cross in County Kildare is one of the most spectacular I have seen… We happened across it on our way to Dublin from Kells Priory.
Posted signs led us to the cross which sits back about a quarter mile from the road. An area is available for parking just to the side of the road. You enter through a cleft in a stone wall and follow a path; it feels almost surreal, as if you are stepping back through time.
At 17 1/2 feet tall, the Moone High Cross is the second tallest and one of the best preserved High Crosses in Ireland. It stands, protected, in the ruins of the abbey along with fragments of another cross as well as descriptions of the carvings and the significance of the High Cross. The Irish High Cross was not meant to mark a grave but was, instead, used as embellishments for monasteries or for religious instruction. If you study the carvings and descriptions of the Moone High Cross you see references to both the Old and New Testaments.
When we were visiting a very friendly horse was penned next to the path. He let me pet his nose; I wish I had known he would be there, I would have taken an apple for him.
Portions of this post were taken from a previous post at my Family Rambling website.
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