Ballinrobe Cross, #190
County Mayo, Ireland

Lilies, signifying purity of heart, grace the shaft of this lovely cross. Ballinrobe is near Lough Mask, a lake, which is wide enough to produce choppy waves in rough weather. Nearby are the ruins of Inishmaina Abbey, a 13th century Augustinian house, originally founded by St. Connan in the 6th century. Also nearby is Cong Abbey which was founded in about 1120 by Turlough O'Connor, High King of Ireland, on the site of a 6th century church associated with St. Feichin.

Berwick Cross, #177
Northumberland, England

Northumberland crosses frequently used vines and leaves as design elements. The images used to decorate crosses were selected for their relevant symbolic value. The leaf design on the Berwick Cross symbolizes the Tree of Life with its roots in the earth and its branches high in the air -- a connection between heaven and earth. The seasonal cycles of the tree links it with growth, death, and rebirth. Most of the designs carved on stone would have originally been painted. Further details of features would have been added in color.

Bewcastle Cross, #194
Cumberland, England

This Anglican cross, dating from around 710, can be found in the former Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, which included parts of southern Scotland and northern England. All that now remains of the Bewcastle Cross is the shaft , 14 feet, 6 inches high. The designs of the Bewcastle and the Ruthwell cross (in Scotland) are so similar that they are thought to be of the same school and period. The vine transforms the stone cross into a physical representation of the Tree of Life, symbolizing life’s unity, spiritual growth and rebirth-hope, health and happiness. The vine scroll design was used with great frequency on the stone monuments of Northumbria. The knotwork represents continuity and conveys the interconnectedness of all things.

Braddan Kirk Cross, #129 & #130
Maughold, Isle of Man

The Scandinavian chain-link shaft design changes into treelike branches where it enters the wheel; a reminder of link between the stone monument and the tree of life. The oldest symbol of the world-axis (pole or link between heaven and earth) is the sacred tree, best known as the Tree of Life. Pillar stones began to replace sacred trees when nomadic peoples settled and cleared the land for agriculture. When the British Isles became Christian, these pillars were replaced with carved stone crosses.

Cross of the Scriptures, #131
Clonmacnois, Ireland

Perhaps the most gracefully proportioned of all the Irish High Crosses, this 9th century stone cross stands 13 feet high. Monks used the interlinked panels of the scripture crosses like a picture book to teach about Christ. The scenes may be tentatively identified as follows, from the bottom upwards:

1. Joseph (left) interprets the dream of Pharaoh's Butler.
2. Chief Butler (left) hands the drinking horn to Pharaoh.
3. Christ handing the key to Peter (right) and the book of the New Testament to Paul (left).
Center: The Last Judgment - Christ carrying the cross-staff and scepter. Good souls on left coming to Christ or heaven - bad souls on right going away from Christ to the devil.
Top: Christ in Glory accompanied by two angels.

Fortingall Cross, #127
Fortingall, Scotland

This small cross design was found in the ancient village of Fortingall. It is very reminiscent of French design. Fortingall is shrouded in ancient history, stones, and great trees. It is probably most famous for its Yew tree, said to be the oldest tree in Europe. All around Fortingall are other ancient reminders of the past - standing stones, stone circles, a recumbent stone circle, a cup-marked stone, an earth mound, a long cairn - all from Neolithic times before 2000 BC. Spiritual beginnings cannot be doubted anywhere in these parts. Even the trees remember.

Kirk Ruthwell Cross, #172
Ruthwell, Scotland

The design for this cross comes from the side of the Ruthwell cross, the original standing almost 17 feet high, dating from the 7th century, and located inside the parish church of Ruthwell, Scotland. The vine running the length of the cross is the tree of life, symbolizing life in all its variety and providing a link between heaven and earth. Birds are symbols of freedom and transcendence: returning to earth, they bring messages of prophecy and guidance, aiding mortals on their spiritual and earthly journeys. The runic inscription on the sides of the shaft is part of an Old English poem known as "The Dream of the Rood". The rood (the cross) is the narrator:

Muthill Cross, #116
Muthill, Scotland

The Muthill Cross was found in the yard of an ancient and beautiful ruin of an old church in the small village of Muthill, Scotland. The interlacing which fills the panels of the cross is endless, and thus cannot be untied. It represents everlasting life - the Alpha and Omega - beginning and end in the eternal circle; the very essence of the Celtic never-ending knotwork designs. The outer circle represents heaven.

Nuremberg Cross, #207
Nuremberg, Germany

This cross design is adapted from a Bishop’s Cross found in the Germanisches Museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Nuremberg, located in the region of Bavaria, is situated on the Pegnitz River. The area was inhabited in early times by Celts and Romans. The German Baiovarii, which gave the territory its name, arrived here during the 5th and 6th centuries. The earliest records of the town date from 1050 when it was a trading settlement. From 1219, Nuremberg, a free town of the Holy Roman Empire, was an important center of craft and commerce. During the 15th and 16th centuries, it became one of the cultural centers of Europe with many artists, craftsmen and intellectuals.

South Cross at Castledermot, #179
County Kildare, Ireland

In Castledermot, among the ruins of two medieval friaries, a parish church gong back to the twelfth century, and a Round Tower, also was an ancient monastery, which was founded in 812. The two crosses found there were probably erected in the ninth century. The south cross is 12 feet tall. The east face is covered with interwoven bands and fields of continuous round and angled spirals. The spiral is a shape that is always in motion. It links that which is outside with the center, and it links a center with the universe outside. The spiral also represents the seasons, of life and death, of becoming and passing away. The maze pattern on the crosshead and shaft are called key patterns. These patterns represent the twists and turns of life's journey.

Tobermory Cross, #120
Isle of Mull, Scotland

Tobermory is an ancient medieval seaport at the top of the Isle of Mull. Across the channel is Lochaline, the site of a 14th - 15th century stone carving school that was associated with the nearby Holy Isle of Iona. This cross design is of our own invention, but incorporates all the Celtic symbols (the unending knotwork, the maze and the spirals) and was inspired by this ancient place.