Kilnaruane Pillar Stone

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Kilnaruane Pillar Stone, also known as Bantry Pillar Stone or St. Brendan's Stone, is a tall carved stone in County Cork, Ireland. It sits about 1.6 km southwest of Bantry, in a field on a small hill and is part of a historic monastic site. The pillar is a thin schist column about 2.1 m (7 ft) tall and is a remaining piece of a high cross. It is a National Monument of Ireland (officially Kilnaruane/Bantry Pillar Stone, Ref. 436). The monastery at the site may have been founded by Saint Brendan in the 6th century, and the pillar was erected in the 8th or 9th century. The name may refer to a "Church of the Romans" and a community that accepted Roman Easter dating, a big issue in early medieval times. The monastic settlement may have been destroyed by Viking attacks. On the pillar's northeast and southwest faces are holes that probably held the arms of the cross. Nearby fragments may be parts of a bullaun stone or the cross arms.