Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Armorial plaque
Gardens (kilkenny City By., St. Mary’s Par.), County Kilkenny, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Gardens (kilkenny City By., St. Mary’s Par.)
- County
- Kilkenny
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 52.65167, -7.25248
- SMR number
- KK019-026346-
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUniversity Library, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
At St Mary's parish church (KK019-026115-) in Kilkenny. A rectangular early 17th-century armorial plaque (L 1.28m; Wth 0.83m), built of fossiliferous limestone, commemorating J. Cusake and M. Shee, built into the cross wall constructed in 1804 connecting the SW side of the church with the graveyard wall (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 102; Crotty 1978, 311-12).
It bears a heraldic shield of Cusack impaling Shee, which incorporates a mermaid with one tail, comb and brush (Crotty 1978, 311-12). Carrigan mistakenly identified it as Crispe impaling Shee and noted that the year ‘1624’ was at the top of the panel (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 102). The latter is no longer legible. The motto MELIORA SPERO (I hope for better things) appears on a scroll beneath the shield. The initials J.C. and M.S. are in false relief above the scroll.
Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil
Date of upload: 9 January 2023
References
Carrigan, Rev. W. 1905 (Reprint 1981) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory, 4 vols. Kilkenny. Roberts Books and Wellbrook Press.
Nearby in the register
- Wall monumentunder 1 mi
- Tomb - chest tombunder 1 mi
- Tomb - chest tombunder 1 mi
- Wall monumentunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.