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Celtic Cross
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Celtic Cross.
The Celtic Cross is essentially a traditional Christian cross with a circle overlying the point where the lines meet. The earliest examples date from the seventh to the ninth centuries in Ireland.
Tenth century Irish crosses were sometimes capped with a pitched roof.
Celtic Crosses were often decorated with interlaced knot work, spirals, key patterns, animal figures, foliage designs, and Biblical themes. Some crosses were memorials, inscribed with the names of individuals; modern Celtic crosses are often used as tombstones in Irish churchyards.
The origins and evolution of the particular design are unknown. Some suggest the Celtic cross is derived from the Chi Rho symbol popularised by the Christian Roman emperor Constantine. “Chi” and “Rho” are the first two letters of “Christ” in Greek, and the overlapped letters are similar to the equal-limbed cross at the centre of the Celtic cross
But no one is certain where the distinctive circle of the celtic cross came from or what it means. Amongst some ancient peoples, a circle was used to represent the moon, and a circle with a cross symbolised the sun. Thus the circle in the Celtic cross could have been a pagan moon or sun that was appropriated by the early Christians to help convert the pagan population.
An Irish legend tells how St Patrick created the first Celtic cross by drawing a circle over a Latin cross to incorporate the pagan moon goddess “Luanasa”.