Fassaroe Cross, also called St. Valery's Cross, is a

high cross A high cross or standing cross (, , ) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval tradition in Ireland and Britain of raising large sculpted stone crosses, usually outdoors. Th ...

and

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

located near

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Location

Fassaroe Cross is located to the west of

, just off the Berryfield Lane roundabout, northwest of the Bray River.

History

The cross originally stood at Ballyman (about NNW of the present site), and is believed to have been carved in the late 12th century. Other similar crosses in the Rathdown area are located at Rathmichael, Killegar and Shankill, and are collectively known as the "Fassaroe crosses"; they were probably carved by the same mason. According to the English writer

Anne Plumptre Anne Plumptre (22 February 1760 – 20 October 1818) was an English writer and translator sometimes collaborating with her sister Annabella Plumptre. She translated several German works into English. Life Anne was born in Norwich. She was the ...

(1760–1818), who stayed with the Walker family at St. Valery in 1814–15, the cross was brought from a glen to Fassaroe, and stood originally in the center of a little

paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description The most common design provides an area for exercise and is ofte ...

, round which runs the plantation. Pilgrims travelled from miles around and wore many paths down to the cross.

Description

The cross is made of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

with a band of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

and stands high and is wide. The west face bears a

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

, while the east face bears two very worn human heads, both bearded and one perhaps wearing a

mitre The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...

. There are two other heads on the cross: one protruding from the south edge of the ring and another is situated on the north eastern side of the base.

References

External links

{{High cross Buildings and structures in Bray, County Wicklow National monuments in County Wicklow High crosses in the Republic of Ireland