Write a commentAn exact replica of the iconic 1100-year-old Downpatrick High Cross was set in place in front of Down Cathedral in Downpatrick this week, in time for the town’s Easter celebrations following the removal of the original cross to Down County Museum.
The original granite cross, carved as a ‘prayer in stone’ by local craftsmen around 900 AD, was moved late last year for preservation and display in the nearby Down County Museum where it will become the centrepiece of a major extension to house an internationally important collection marking the region’s Christian heritage.
The replica was made by Kilkeel stonemasons, S McConnell & Sons, using state of the art computer technology to shape granite blasted from Thomas Mountain in the Mournes. The unique commission resulted in a perfect copy of the original piece, faithful in every detail, and forged a unique link between craftsmen separated by many hundreds of years.
The pre-Easter timing is significant for an artefact which so beautifully depicts much of the Easter story, including the arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday of Jesus, riding on an ass, with his arm raised in blessing. The head of the cross shows the Crucifixion of Christ, flanked by the spear-bearer, sponge-bearer and the two thieves, who were given their own names in Irish in the 8th century. The interlace on the side is made up of intertwined snakes (symbols of resurrection as they slough their skin and are reborn), as a snake's head has been identified on the surviving carving on the south side - so perhaps St Patrick did not banish them all!
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency gave consent for the Cross to be moved and is funding its removal and conservation and the replication of the Cross. The Church of Ireland has given its permission for the long term loan and key funders are Down District Council, the East Border Region and the European Union’s INTERREG IVA Cross Border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
The cross was set up by the stone carvers, S McConnell and Sons of Kilkeel, who scanned the original and created an exact replica from granite quarried on Thomas Mountain, above Newcastle.
The original cross stood at the foot of English Street up until 1729, when it was dismantled and the pieces dispersed around the town. Francis Joseph Bigger rebuilt the Cross with the help of Hastings Stone carvers of Church Street in 1897. While the reconstructed cross was held together with slate dowels in 1897, the new replica has been constructed using internal steel rods.
The carvings on the cross have been recreated using scanning technology, in order to get as close to the original as possible. Work is still going on to study the carvings so that the biblical scenes can all be identified.
Although there is no carving of Noah’s Ark (unlike on the Donaghmore Cross 5 miles north of Newry), the cross does show the heads of Adam and Eve, and Cain about to slay Abel - stories that everyone will know, and that watchers of the current film ‘Noah’ will have been reminded of. Above these is a very topical scene in that it is believed to represent Christ entering Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday, an event that began Holy Week and led to Christ’s Crucifixion, clearly shown on the head of the Cross, with the spear-bearer, and sponge-bearer and two thieves on either side.
Speaking about the project, Down District Council Chairman, Cllr Maria McCarthy said, “The installation of the cross is the latest stage in the project to preserve the original cross (and many other Museum artefacts including the farming collection) within an Extension to the rear of the Museum, to be constructed from May 2014 to early 2015, while still enabling everyone to appreciate a replica in the position in which it stood for 116 years."
Cllr McCarthy continued, “Easter is a very appropriate time to install the Cross, with its carvings marking the history of salvation leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection. It is hoped that tourists will come to see the new cross and of course the many other buildings, monuments and artefacts relating to our unique Early Christian heritage in the coming months.”
The Downpatrick High Cross Extension project is a partnership project between Down District Council, the Church of Ireland, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the east Border Region, and is part-financed by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA Cross-Border programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.
