A second High Cross is coming
There’s good news for local lovers of their Irish heritage this Memorial Day weekend.
Sculptors in the northwest (of Ireland) have completed a 3.6m sandstone high cross, inspired by the 10th century Drumcliffe High Cross, that will be transported to George Fox University in Oregon. Renowned sculptor Brendan McGloin was commissioned to produce the high cross. RTE.ie reported on Sat. 23 May
The Drumcliffe High Cross, when it arrives in Newberg, will be the second master work of McGloin permanently located in Greater Portland. His first work to appear here is the Cross of the Scriptures at the Oregon Potato Famine Memorial.
Saturday, May 23, 2026 – Members of Portland’s oldest Irish social club, the All Ireland Cultural Society, gathered at Mt. Calvary, as they’ve done annually on Memorial Day weekend, to remember An Gorta Mor – The Great Famine.
The news from Ireland: The Drumcliffe High Cross is about to begin the journey from the northwest corner of Ireland to the northwest corner of America.
George Fox University President Robin Baker is in Kinlough, Co Leitrim, to view the sandstone high cross before it is shipped to the US. Dr. Baker’s comments are included in the RTE video embedded in this report.
The original Drumcliffe Cross can be seen near Sligo on the same site where William Butler Yeats is buried.
Séamus Dunbar, one of three sculptors who completed the Drumcliffe High Cross, told RTE that Brendan McGloin was a great representative abroad of the tradition of stone carving and "not as well-known as he ought to have been." Read here about the death of Brendan McGloin.
One of McGloin’s best known works is a replica of the Clonmacnoise Cross of the Scripture which was commissioned by the Ancient Order of Hibernians for a famine memorial in Portland, Oregon. RTE
While it's noteworthy that Portland is the only place you can see such an authentic recreation of the most famous High Cross at Clonmacnoise in Ireland, it's kind of mind-blowing that we'll soon also have the Drumcliffe High Cross just 25 miles away in Newberg.
WHY AM I RECEIVING THIS?
Most Sunday and Tuesday mornings I send out a blog post which will appear in the Thursday Edition of the PDX Hibernian Independent. You're receiving this because a. you asked to b. I owe you content for supportng my short-lived Substack swing of the bat or c. I thought you might like a preview of the PDX HI.