Top Things to Do in Waterford, Republic of Ireland

The High Crosses at Ahenny in County Tipperary are among the earliest and most beautifully carved of the Irish high crosses, two eighth-century stone crosses of exceptional quality whose elaborate interlaced ornament and geometric carving represent the fully developed art of the Irish monastic tradition at its most refined. The crosses stand in the quiet graveyard of Kilclispeen, a remote rural site whose peacefulness and isolation add to the contemplative quality of an encounter with some of the finest sculpture produced in medieval Ireland. The Ahenny crosses are distinguished by their almost entirely abstract ornamental carving, covering every surface of the cross heads and shafts with interlaced knotwork, spiral and geometric patterns of extraordinary sophistication. This decorative style, closely related to the manuscript illumination tradition of the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels, represents the visual language of early medieval Irish Christianity expressed in monumental stone rather than vellum. The quality of the carving, which shows no sign of the tentative early experiments visible in simpler crosses, suggests that this tradition was already mature when the Ahenny crosses were carved. The bases of the crosses carry figural panels depicting biblical and other scenes whose iconographic interpretation remains a subject of scholarly debate, and the combination of the abstract ornamental carving with these narrative panels creates a sculptural programme of considerable intellectual complexity. The site is freely accessible and the rural character of the surrounding Tipperary countryside provides a setting of great charm.