The names of all those involved in the work, aged from six years and upwards, have been sealed into the top of the cross, which is over seven feet in height and Celtic in form. The cross was blessed by Fr Tom Breen and unveiled by Ted Kavanagh’s wife, Joan, on the 14th of September 1975 – fifty years ago next September. Ted and Joan Kavanagh climbed Galtymore every year thereafter to paint the cross, until Ted passed away in 1998. With Joan’s blessing, I started painting the cross in 1999 and I have done so every year since then. Just before my first trip up, Joan asked me to paint “her” cross. Yes, there is one more, and it’s as precious as any of the rest. Joan told me that when Ted and she went to paint the cross she also painted a small cross on a stone to mark the spot where the Mass was said on the day of the unveiling of the latest cross back in 1975. Where was this one, I asked her? “You will have to do a bit of looking around, Jimmy, but you’re good at that,” she replied. So, armed with a photo taken during the Mass, I eventually found Joan’s cross, hidden under a small pile of stones. It was a pleasure to paint it for her, even more so when I was able to return with a photo of it for her. “Did you use good stuff on it?” she asked. “Yes, Joan,” I replied. “Only the best.” Pictured this page: Jimmy Barry and friends painting the cross in May 2025. Photo: Jimmy Barry 46
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