Athcarne Cross

Designations
National Monument of Ireland
Official name	Athcarne (White Cross)
Reference no.	322

Athcarne Cross
	Cros Áth Carn
	Shown within Ireland
Alternative name	Gaulstown Cross; White Cross
Location	Gaulstown, Duleek,; County Meath, Ireland
Region	Nanny Valley
Coordinates	53°37′39″N6°26′58″W / 53.627492°N 6.449501°W Coordinates: 53°37′39″N6°26′58″W / 53.627492°N 6.449501°W
Type	Wayside cross
Height	3.11 m (10.2 ft)
History
Builder	Cecilia Bathe
Material	sandstone
Founded	c. 1675
Site notes
Public access	yes
Designations
National Monument of Ireland
Official name	Athcarne (White Cross)
Reference no.	322

Last updated November 14, 2019

Athcarne Cross, also called Gaulstown Cross or the White Cross, is a wayside cross and National Monument located in County Meath, Ireland.

Wayside cross cross by a footpath, track or road

A wayside cross is a cross by a footpath, track or road, at an intersection, along the edge of a field or in a forest. It can be made of wood, stone or metal. Most wayside crosses are designed as crucifixes. Stone crosses may also be conciliation crosses. Often they serve as waymarks for walkers and pilgrims or designate dangerous places. They are particularly common in Europe, for example in Germany, Galicia, Ireland and the Alps.

County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Mid-East Region. It is named after the historic Kingdom of Meath. Meath County Council is the local authority for the county. At the 2016 census, the population of the county was 195,044. The county town of Meath is Navan. Other towns in the county include Trim, Kells, Laytown, Ashbourne, Dunboyne, and Slane.

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Location

Athcarne Cross is located near the sources of the Nanny, 3.6 km (2.2 mi) southwest of Duleek.

The Nanny, also called the Nanny Water, is a river that flows from Kentstown into the Irish Sea at Laytown. The river is known for its trout fishing, and its estuary on the Irish sea provides a haven for wintering birds.

Duleek is a village in County Meath, Ireland.

History

The cross was erected in c. 1675 by Dame Cecilia Bathe (née Dowdall) as a memorial to herself and her husband Sir Luke Bathe. The cross had been incorporated into the wall of a cottage but it was conserved as a National Monument in 1935 and is known as Athcarne cross, after nearby Athcarne Castle. ^[1]

Athcarne Castle is a ruined Elizabethan castle outside the town of Duleek in County Meath, Ireland.

Description

On the east face of the cross is depicted the Crucifixion of Jesus with the arms of Jesus being held high above the head along the shaft of the cross, similar to a crux simplex. His feet rest on a skull and crossbones.^[2]

The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely between AD 30 and 33. Jesus' crucifixion is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and is established as a historical event confirmed by non-Christian sources, although there is no consensus among historians on the exact details.

The term crux simplex was invented by Justus Lipsius (1547–1606) to indicate a plain transom-less wooden stake used for executing either by affixing the victim to it or by impaling him with it. He thus distinguished two types of crux simplex: the crux simplex ad affixionem and the crux simplex ad infixionem.

On the west face is the Madonna and Child, with the arms of the Bathe and Dowdall families and the Arma Christi.^[3]^[4]

A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest, and motto. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to an individual person, family, state, organization or corporation.

Arma Christi, or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Christ used to achieve his conquest over Satan. There is a group, at a maximum of about 20 items, which are frequently used in Christian art, especially in the Late Middle Ages. Typically they surround either a cross or a figure of Christ of the Man of Sorrows type, either placed around the composition, or held by angels.

The head of the cross has carved angels, similar to other wayside-crosses, and a small Maltese cross.^[5]

Maltese cross cross symbol associated with the Knights Hospitaller (the Knights of Malta)

The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four "V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically.

Related Research Articles

Skyline Drive is a 105-mile (169 km) road that runs the entire length of the National Park Service's Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, generally along the ridge of the mountains. The drive's northern terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 340 (US 340) near Front Royal, and the southern terminus is at an interchange with US 250 near Interstate 64 (I-64) in Rockfish Gap, where the road continues south as the Blue Ridge Parkway. The road has intermediate interchanges with US 211 in Thornton Gap and US 33 in Swift Run Gap. Skyline Drive is part of Virginia State Route 48, which also includes the Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but this designation is not signed.

Hillesheim is the third largest town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was the seat of the former Verbandsgemeinde Hillesheim.

Drees is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kelberg, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

Dunsany Castle, Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland is a modernised Norman castle, started c. 1180 / 1181 by Hugh de Lacy, who also commissioned Killeen Castle, nearby, and the famous Trim Castle. It is possibly Ireland's oldest home in continuous occupation, having been held by the Cusack family and their descendants by marriage, the Plunketts, to the present day. The castle is surrounded by its demesne, the inner part of the formerly extensive Dunsany estate. The demesne holds an historic church, a working walled garden, a walled farm complex, an ice house, various dwellings and other features.

Üxheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Gerolstein, whose seat is in the like-named town. The outlying centre of Niederehe is a state-recognized recreational resort (Erholungsort).

Altenheim is a French commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. It should not be confused with the German town of the same name, Altenheim, Neuried, in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Aisey-sur-Seine is a French commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.

Augy is a commune in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France.

Attilly is a commune in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France.

Bassemberg is a French commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Alsace region of north-eastern France.

Alloue is a commune in the Charente department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.

The Vale of Glamorgan has 740 listed buildings of which 4% are Grade I listed, 10% Grade II* listed and remainder Grade II listed.

Sir William Bathe was an Irish judge and landowner. He is commemorated by the Wayside Cross in Duleek, County Meath, which was erected by his widow Janet Dowdall. He should not be confused with his much younger cousin William Bathe of Drumcondra Castle, who was a Jesuit and noted musicologist.

Balrath Cross is a wayside cross and National Monument located in County Meath, Ireland.

Dowdall Cross is a wayside cross and National Monument located in County Meath, Ireland.

Carrickdexter Cross is a wayside cross and National Monument located in County Meath, Ireland.

Athlumney Castle is a tower house and fortified house and a National Monument in Navan, Ireland.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "ME01542 - GAULSTOWN - Cross - MeathHeritage.com". 6 December 2012.

[2] "East Face "The White Cross" on road side Td. Of Gaulstown Co. Meath. Sheet 33/1. 12th May 1866. Wall of cottage".

[3] "Geograph:: The White Cross, Athcarne (C) Kieran Campbell".

[4] "West Face "The White Cross" on road side Td. Of Gaulstown Co. Meath. Sheet 33/1. 12th May 1866. Dowdall arms. Wall of cottage. and De Barthe arms. Scroll work [at base] late 17 cent".

[5] "Gaulstown Cross".