The Portlester Cross Shaft
The Portlester Cross Shaft
The Portlester Cross shaft from Coghlanstown, outside Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare
Located on the grounds of the ruined medieval parish church of Coghlanstown, this monument represents a partial shaft of a 16th or early 17th century cross. The shaft in its present state is something of an enigma and has been altered in the modern era in an attempt to associate it with a person whose death predates its original creation by about one hundred years. The inscription, “Euftace Lord Portlester 1462”, refers to Roland FitzEustace (c.1430–1496) of Harristown and his baronial title and conferring year (see Portlester Effigy). However, this inscription is carved in an 18th century style and, therefore, not contemporary with the shaft’s creation. Roland died in 1496 and the shaft itself is anachronistic relative to his floruit. The lettering style of the original (now illegible) inscription on the projecting collar, the fluting on the shaft, and the overall form, all indicate a late 16th or early 17th century creation date for the original cross to which the shaft belongs.
The shaft has four shields, three of which contain possible heraldic carvings. The crowned south shield is more prominent and angular compared to the others and appears to be original to the creation of the shaft. This crowned shield contains a saltire (a diagonal cross), which is the heraldic family shield motif shared by the two most prominent Co. Kildare Anglo-Norman families, the FitzGeralds and the FitzEustaces. Given the location of this shaft, and the 18th century inscription on the north face, this is almost certainly the FitzEustace saltire.
The antiquarian Lord Walter FitzGerald, in the early 20th century, suggested the crown was a Baron’s coronet – and a reference to Baron Portlester. The Eustace family, of which Roland (the first Baron Portlester) was the most prominent member in the 15th Century, were powerful in medieval Leinster, particularly in County Kildare. This is evidenced by the name of the closest village to Coghlanstown, Ballymore Eustace, where a Eustace held a castle in the middle ages. There were many branches of the family in the county, particularly in the east, and it seems likely that a connection between this cross shaft and a Eustace family was known and that later generations set about to make that connection explicit by commissioning the inscription we see today. However, it is almost certain that they mistook the associated to be with Roland who died about one hundred years before the likely creation date of the cross.
Crowned Saltire Shield
The two side shields appear to have been created, or recut, at a later date by a subtle lowering of the shaft’s surface around the shape of the shields, leaving them appear proud of the lower shaft’s face when in fact they are on the same planar surface.
On the West face the shield has two fleur de lis, but it is not known what family this may represent. The shield on the East face depicts a snake motif almost identical to the crest of Naas Town. It has, therefore, been interpreted in the past as the coat of arms of Naas; a town which also has Eustace connections. It certainly bears a striking resemblance to the Naas shield, however, the head of the snake differs from that of the Naas snake and a large portion of the shield in the upper right is missing. The shield’s intended referent will never be known with one hundred percent certainity unless new documentary evidence comes to light. However, it seems unlikely that the shield represents a familial coat of arms, as none has been identified in the search for the origins of the Naas crest. The similarly of the shield with the Naas crest would appear to favour its interpretation as intending to denoting the Naas emblem, rather than an unknown family.
Portlester Cross Shaft – DEV-Low imaging of the original inscription on the projecting collar
The original inscription that runs around the collar of the shaft has been severely damaged on three faces and completely lost on the shaft face displaying the Portlester inscription. The image above was generated using the DEV-Low technique in order to increase the separation of the original text from the background. However, too much has been lost to make much sense of the inscription.
Portlester Cross Shaft – Photogrammetry model elevations
Below the shields, each face of the shaft has been fluted. Similar fluting can be seen on a memorial fragment (pictured below) in the grounds of St David’s Church in the nearby town of Naas. The memorial in question is dated to 1606 and also has a similar style of carved text where the lettering has been cut engaged with the surface above and below. This may help date the original shaft to about the turn of the 17th Century.
Peter Walsh, Made Me,
Year of Our Lord, 1606.
The stone in St David’s, Naas, with a Latin inscription.
Negative developments
At present the Portlester cross shaft (KD029-005006-) is inappropriately cemented into what appears to be a much earlier medieval baptismal font (KD029-005007-). For unspecified reasons, the entry on the Historic Environment Viewer indicates that the Portlester shaft, and a much older granite cross base (KD029-005005-) located in the graveyard (and possibly the base of the cross located close by on the road (KD029-006—-)), are not scheduled for inclusion in the next revision of the Record of Monuments and Places. This will effectively remove any protection they are presently afforded. In addition to this, and very regrettably, the access road to the medieval church and graveyard (a holy well is also situated to the west), has, in recent years, been closed off to public access by an electric security gate. On last inspection in 2019, heavy ivy growth had covered over almost every surface of the internal walls and was starting to encroach upon the outside walls of the church also.