Celtic Cross At Kilmurry-Ibrickan Church, County Clare

Celtic Cross at Kilmurry-Ibrickan Church near Quilty in County Clare, Ireland.

This Celtic cross presides over a grave inside the ruins of the Kilmurry-Ibrickan Church near Quilty, County Clare.

The now roofless church of flagstone, built in the early 1800s, is part of the Kilmurry-Ibrickan Cemetery, with its field of flat cement slab gravestones, Celtic crosses and stone vaults.

Lightly weathered, no doubt due to its protection inside the church walls, this Celtic cross features shamrock and Celtic knot designs.

The intricate Celtic knot signifies the concept of eternity, with no beginning and no end, as well as the intertwining of humans with nature. The shamrock symbolizes the Holy Trinity.

Though Celtic crosses were introduced to Ireland during the time of Saint Patrick in the 6th Century, they did not become widely used as cemetery monuments until the Celtic Revival of the mid-19th century.