selected passages from "THE ANCIENT SUNDIALS OF IRELAND", by M.Arnaldi, edited by B.S.S., London, 1999

DESCRIPTIONS OF SUNDIALS AND SITES

The sundials of monastic Ireland differ from all others in particulars of construction and decoration, and cannot be confused with any other type. We note firstly their shapes. These are cut and carved from a single slab of stone, a stele erected in the vicinity of the church in the interior of the sacred area of the Cashel. The most ancient of these instruments have simply a design carved in the stone, more or less square, which hardly reach a thickness of 8-9 cm. The stele often attains a height of a man, more or less, with an average thickness of 12 cm, the average breadth being 30 cm, and almost always carrying an engraving of a Cross. Often the true and genuine dial is inscribed on the upper part, carved along the same stele in a shape of a horseshoe or round shield. From the gnomon hole radiate the hour lines, the number of these varies from 3 to 12. The hours of the canon are always indicated with a decorative element - a half moon, a fork, or with a point. At a later period another kind of sundial came into use, delineated on a horizontal slab of stone, with a circle averaging 20 cm diameter, divided into 24 equal segments, the times of prayer being marked with a little cross. It seems that this type of dial was also utilised as a tombstone.