Moone High Cross, High cross in Moone, County Kildare, Ireland

Moone High Cross is a granite high cross in Ireland standing 5.33 meters tall with carefully carved religious panels depicting biblical stories arranged in three sections. The stonework displays fine details throughout each section, showing different scenes and patterns from top to bottom.

Moone High Cross is reputedly from the 8th century and stood within the early monastic site of Moone Abbey, founded by St. Palladius in the 5th century and dedicated to St Colmcille in the 6th. It lay undiscovered until 1835, when two sections were unearthed during graveyard works; Charles FitzGerald, Duke of Leinster, had it re-erected. The middle section was found in 1893, revealing its full height.

The stone panels show biblical scenes from both testaments, including Daniel in the lions' den and the feeding of the five thousand. These religious carvings served as visual lessons for pilgrims and worshippers who could see stories they might not have read elsewhere.

The cross sits about one kilometer west of Moone village under a protective roof at the remains of an early monastery. Access is through a wooden door set into the stone wall, and the grounds around it preserve traces of the monastic settlement.

The cross is 17.5 feet (5.33 m) tall including its base, making it the second tallest high cross in Ireland. It was carved in three sections, and the middle one was only found in 1893, sixty years after the first two were unearthed in the graveyard in 1835.