Graveslab

The National Monuments Service's description

In the graveyard and, according to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 277), close the the SW angle of the C. of I. church, the latter being on the location of the medieval church (KK008-010001-). The graveslab is described by Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 277) as being, 'rectangular in shape, except at the top, which is curved. There is a raised cross down the centre, the arms being enclosed in a circle. The inscription is in raised Roman capitals, and begins at the base of the cross, under the left arm, and continues thence to the top, in two lines parallel to the shaft; it is then carried over to the upper corner of the opposite side, and is continued down the edge, to around the middle of the tomb, where it ends. the letters are much worn away towards the end, some of them being entirely obliterated. The full text of the inscription is as follows, the missing letters being supplied within brackets: "HERE VNDER LIETH THE CORPS OF IOHN MORRIS OF BANEBALLINLOGH WHO DECEASED IN ANNO. DO. 1538 [A]N[D] HIS WIFE KATH[ERINE]." This tomb is remarkable inasmuch as it is the oldest monument in Ossory bearing an inscription in the English language'. The slab is also mentioned in Cockerham and Harris (2001, 180). This graveslab is currently unlocated within the graveyard, although a smooth slab roughly in this location was noted during a field inspection in 1987.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of revised upload: 27 September 2017

References

Carrigan, Rev. W. 1905 (Reprint 1981) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory, 4 vols. Kilkenny. Roberts Books and Wellbrook Press.

Cockerham. P. and Harris, L. 2001 Kilkenny funeral monuments 1500-1600: a statistical and analytical account. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 101C, 135-88.