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Tynan Island Cross is a high cross of Early Christian date located near Armagh in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. High crosses of this type emerged as significant monuments within the Irish Christian Church during the early medieval period, often serving as focal points for monastic and ecclesiastical communities. The cross occupies a position grounded in bedrock of the Tyrone Group, a Visean formation comprising limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate that underlies this part of County Armagh.
The monument's location on an island site reflects a common Early Christian settlement pattern in Ulster, where monastic communities frequently occupied positions affording natural defence and separation from surrounding lands. The name Tynan Island itself preserves evidence of this historical geography. The cross stands as testimony to the Christian cultural landscape that developed across Armagh during the early medieval centuries, in a region that would become significant in the history of Irish ecclesiastical organisation.
The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division of Northern Ireland under the reference number 5553, ensuring its preservation as a record of Early Christian religious and artistic achievement in the province.
Tynan island cross. high cross is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 5553. View the official record →
Tynan Island Cross is a high cross of Early Christian date located near Armagh in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 5553.
Tynan island cross. high cross dates from the e.christ. period, and is classified as a cross. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Tynan island cross. high cross is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 5553.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Multivallate rath & souterrain (3.7 km), Doogary lough. possible crannog in doogary lough (3.9 km), Rath (4.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Tynan island cross. high cross's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Tynan island cross. high cross stands on Tyrone Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone, with subordinate chert, coal and conglomerate.