The
Cross of Cong (, "the yellow
baculum") is an early 12th-century
Irish Christian ornamented cusped
processional cross, which was, as an inscription says, made for
Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (d. 1156),
King of Connacht and
High King of Ireland to donate to the Cathedral church of the period that was located at
Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. The cross was subsequently moved to
Cong Abbey at
Cong, County Mayo, from which it takes its name. It was designed to be placed on top of a staff and is also a
reliquary, designed to hold a piece of the purported
True Cross. This gave it additional importance as an object of reverence and was undoubtedly the reason for the object's elaborate beauty.