Wall monument

The National Monuments Service's description

In the N wall of the nave of Buttevant Franciscan friary (CO017-053004-). This 13th-century wall tomb consists of a slab with a plain chamfer inserted in a recess, under a cinquefoiled arch with a rounded hood-moulding, resting on clustered columns with moulded bases and capitals carved with a foliage motif. The hood moulding is decorated with a dogtooth ornament. Brash (1852a, 89; see also Plate 4) described how the hood-moulding terminated in ‘carved heads, very beautifully executed’, though one had been removed; now neither survive. A very small carved head does remain in the E-most foils of the arch, though it is unclear whether this is what Brash actually meant. The slab was either not original to the tomb or replaced in the 17th century, as an inscription in very low relief, now much worn and not visible to the naked eye, reads ‘Hic jacet Edmondus Maghery et Joana Ny Murughue et Heredes Eorum, Anno Dn. 1625’ (Here lie Edmund Magher and Joan Murphy, and their heirs, A.D. 1625. Ibid. and Fitzgerald 1904-6b, 445). According to Brash (ibid., 90) in the back of the tomb was ‘a rudely painted crucifixion’. It is not visible anymore, but traces of plaster remain in situ. 

 

This tomb can be clearly dated to the middle of the 13th century and is likely to be coeval with construction of the church; the friary was established by David de Barry, lord of Buttevant, and became the Barrys’ main burial place. There is another, almost identical wall tomb in the S wall of the nave, while another was located in the S chapel of the church (CO017-053015- and CO017-053019-), though the arch was removed from its original position and inserted in the E wall of the small E chapel abutting the S chapel, where it forms part of an 18th-century chest tomb.

 

Compiled by: Anne-Julie Lafaye

 

Date of upload: 25 November 2025

References

Brash, R.R. 1852a The local antiquities of Buttevant. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 2, 83-96. FitzGerald, Lord W. 1904-6b Buttevant - the Franciscan abbey. Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland 6, 443-8.