Short History on Celtic Crosses

Origins

 In Celtic regions of Ireland and Great Britain many free-standing upright crosses—or high crosses—were erected, beginning at least as early as the 7th Century. Some of these 'Celtic' crosses bear inscriptions in runes.

There are surviving free-standing crosses in Cornwall (famously St Piran's cross at Perranporth) and Wales, in the island of Iona and in the Hebrides, as well as the many in Ireland. Other stone crosses are found in Cumbria and the Scottish Borders, however some of these are of the similar Anglo-Saxon cross making tradition.

The most famous standing crosses are the Cross of Kells, County Meath, Ireland, Ardboe Auld Cross, Ardboe, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the crosses at Monasterboice, County Louth, Ireland, and the Cross of the Scriptures, Clonmacnoise, KarlThere are numerous representation of crosses combined with a circle, even before Christianity. Often called "sun cross", they can be found in Bronze Age Europe (Nordic Bronze Age, Urnfield culture).

The archaic English word for cross as an instrument of torture is rood (literally "pole", cognate with rod). The word cross in English derives only indirectly from Latin crux via Old Irish and possibly Old Norse, introduced in the 10th century.

 

Irish Myth

In Ireland, it is a popular myth that the Celtic cross was introduced to the island by Saint Patrick during his time converting the pagan Irish. It is believed that he combined the symbol of Christianity, a cross, with the symbol of the sun, to give pagan followers an idea of the importance of the cross by linking it with the idea of the life-giving properties of the sun.


Presbyterian Church

The Celtic Cross name is significant to the Presbyterian Church's Scottish-Irish heritage, and the symbol of the Celtic Cross is often viewed as a symbol of witness and evangelism among many presbyterians.