Image: Kilnaruane Shaft NW Face Interlace Panel 2009 09 11

Description: Kilnaruane, close to Bantry, County Cork, Ireland Interlace panel at the top of the east face of the Kilnaruane shaft. According to Colum P. Hourihane and James J. Hourihane in their joint paper The Kilnaruane Pillar Stone, Bantry, Co. Cork, Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, July-December 1979, p. 67, this panel consisted of two individual pieces of single stranded ribbon interlace with four terminals, one at the top left hand corner, another at the bottom right hand corner, and two further terminals, ending in a spiral midway in the top and bottom sides of the panel. In their opinion the two distinct strands of the interlace panel [..] may be symbolic of the struggle between virtue and vice, one of the oldest themes in christian art. Michael J. Carroll in A History of Bantry & Bantry Bay, ISBN 978-0-955203-9-30, p. 100: The cross in the top panel represents both the symbol of the supreme sun-god of the ancient civilisation, and the sign of Christianity. The strands of interlacing would suggest the influence of the ancient sea-god Manannan, as he was usually portrayed by the sign of the sea serpent or snake. Thus we have the conflict of the old religion with Christianity – and good or evil.
Title: Kilnaruane Shaft NW Face Interlace Panel 2009 09 11
Credit: Self-photographed
Author: Andreas F. Borchert
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
Attribution Required?: Yes