This unusual squat carved stone crucifix is retained in the Parish of Tullylish. A local family once used it as a grave-marker. The figure of Christ crucified is deeply carved. Other carvings comprise two sets of Roman numerals, I-XII and intricate patterns of lightly carved parallel lines. On the faces of the cross’s arms, the motto of the sundial is carved around the perimeter of the blazing sun – ‘Intullis nisi coram solis’, which translated as ‘Useless unless in the presence of the sun’.

The origin and era of the stone crucifix are unknown. It has been suggested that the crucifix is of French origin, dating from the 14th or 15th century period. If this is correct, it might have been brought from Calais in 1546 by the Magennises at the conclusion of a grand military engagement against the French organised by Henry VII and fought at Montreiul and Boulogne. The carved crucifix would have been an unusual item of booty, perhaps destined for veneration in or around the Magennises’s Chapel at Clare.

The Tullylish Cross has been included in our website banner as it is representative of the entire Parish of Tullylish.

The stone now rests at the side of the Sacred Heart altar in Laurencetown.