Moone High Cross and Abbey
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It is located just off the N9 about 80km south of Dublin.
It has only a few hundred inhabitants, and is a quiet peaceful village that benefited from a by pass in 2006 that brought to an end the traffic congestion that bedeviled it for years.
The name Moone comes from the Irish “Maen Colmcille” which means “Colmcille’s property”.
Moone’s most famous attribute is its High Cross, dating from the 7th century.
It can be found about 1 kilometre from Moone along the road to Athy in the remains of an old Abbey believed to have been established by Saint Colmcille.
The cross itself, stands 17 feet high (this includes the base).
It is reputed to date from the eighth century.
Irish high crosses were not intended to mark out places of burial, but were constructed to act as embellishments or boundaries for monasteries, or indeed for didactic purposes of religious instruction.
This is conclusive as the iconography of the cross pertains to that of the popular form of prayer at that time, with references to both the old and new testaments.
The cross is an impressive monument and one of the best preserved of its kind in Ireland.
Marked by the ruins of a medieval church near the vicinity of Moone Abbey, is the site of an ancient monastery.
The church is believed to have been founded by St.
Palladius, who came to Ireland in 431.
It was later dedicated to St.