The Penal Cross at St Matthias’ Church in St Teresa’s Parish

In 2025 this Penal Cross (Crucifix) was donated to the parishioners of St Teresa’s parish by Christine Gordon; it belonged to her aunt Maureen Glackin who lived in Gransha. It is dated 1724 and has been in their family for many generations. Mrs Glackin was from the St Mary’s, Chapel Lane area of the city and her family surnames were Gillan and McMullan who had been living in that area since 1830. It was used by the family for blessings, from new born children to those who were sick or dying. It was damaged during an explosion at Oxford Street Bus Station but Mrs Glackin believed that it saved her life that day. It was her wish that it would continue to be used for veneration by the faithful.

Penal Crosses (Crucifixes) are generally thought to have originated in the northern part of Ireland. They are associated with St Patrick’s Purgatory, Lough Derg, Co. Donegal. It is believed that pilgrims to the island bought crosses as a souvenir of their visit and the crosses were dated as a reminder of the year the pilgrimage was made. They are simplistic in style but full of imagery and symbols; generally they were carved from oak and carried during the penal times by the faithful as personal objects of devotion.

The inscriptions on our cross are:

• INRI
  lesus Nazarenus Rex ludaeorum
  Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.

• IHS
  lesus Huios Sother,
  Jesus, Son, Saviour.

The inscribed symbols are:

• A Spear
  Which pierced Christ’s side on the cross.

• A Ladder
  Used to take down the body of Jesus.

• A Cockerel
  This symbol has its roots in the story of Judas from the Gospel of Nicodemus. Following his betrayal of Christ, Judas returns to his home with the intention of killing himself. His wife is roasting a cockerel over the fire. She tells a distressed Judas that Jesus is as likely to rise from the dead as the cock she is cooking is likely to come to life. With that the cock flew up and crowed.

You can see photographs of the presentation of the Penal Cross to the Parish by Mrs Gordon on Sunday 15th June 2025 by clicking on this link.