Tomb - chest tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

Against the S wall of the S aisle of the nave of St Mary’s parish church (KK026-010012-). A limestone chest tomb carved consisting of a mensa (L 2.2m; Wth 1.03m; D 0.17m) decorated in relief with a large IHS, with interlace on the ‘I’ and ‘S’. There is a cross pattée through the bar of the ‘H’. There is an inscription in Latin, in Black Letter script within the border (Wth 0.15m) around the edge of the mensa which continues in a vertical line on the dexter side within the border. The two dates, ‘AD 1596 and ‘In obiit 17 March 1640’ are carved in relief on either side of the cross. The inscription begins in the upper dexter corner and continues along the top, down the sinister side, along the bottom and up the dexter side. It has been transcribed by Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 305) as, ‘Hic jacet Jacobus Neales burgensis et superior Callaniae qui hoc monumentum parentibus sibi ac posteris fieri fecit x die Januarii A.D. 1624. Uxor ipsius prima Johanna Brinne obiit 2 februarii A.D. 1596 2dano uxor Aegidia Tobin obiit [ ] die [ ] J. N. obiit 17 Martii 1640‘ and translated by him as, ‘Here lies James Neales, burgess and sovereign of Callan, who got this tomb made for his parents, himself and his posterity, January 10th, 1624. His first wife, Johanna Brinne, died Feb. 2nd, 1596; his second wife, Aegidia Tobin, died the [ ] day of [ ]. J[ames] N[eales] died March 17th, 1640‘. There is a three-barred knop on the cross-shaft beneath the IHS and the shaft (Wth 0.07m) rests on a stepped cross-base. The edge of the mensa is straight sided (D 0.08m) and chamfered (Wth 0.125m) towards the base.  

The front panel (L 1.7m; H 0.66m) has a horizontal frieze across the top, which is very similar in style to the tomb of Richard Cantwell and his wife Grace (TS043-034023-), dated 1608 and the chest tomb (TS061-025064-) in St Dominic’s Abbey, Cashel, both of which are attributed to the O’Kerin school of monumental sculpture. The frieze is separated from the decorative scheme below by a band with two waving intersecting lines. The decorative scheme is divided into four flat-headed niches (Wth of each c. 0.36m), separated by fluted pillars decorated with interlace at the base of the pillars. The dexter or easternmost niche is decorated with a skeletal figure of death armed with a spear in his dexter arm and a spade in his bent sinister arm (Cockerham 2009, 270). Within the two central panels there are quite worn symbols of the Passion including a seamless garment, Peter’s sword, a ladder, a cup on a staff, a pincers with nails and either a lantern or 30 pieces of silver in the panel to the E. The symbols in the panel to the W are difficult to make out but appear to be a scourging pillar with twisted ropes and a scourge (Phelan 1996, 171). The westernmost niche contains a Crucifixion scene, also quite worn. Along the top of the front panel there is a horizontal band (H 0.14m) of strapwork with a narrow band (H 0.04m) of interlace below it. The E side panel (Wth 0.93m; H 0.6m; T 0.1m) is decorated with a shield with armorial bearings in raised relief. The shield is quartered, the first quarter shows a hand, the second appears to show two trees, the third a single tree and the fourth is not decipherable. The W panel (Wth 0.96m; H 0.62m; Wth 0.125) is decorated with an interlaced IHS formed by capitals with expanding terminals, except the central I which has interlace sprouting from its top and the second vertical of the H which terminates with an interlace scroll. The S is interlaced between the I and the H.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

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. 2009 My body to be buried in my owne monument: the social and religious context of Co. Kilkenny funeral monuments, 1600-1700. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 109C, 239-365. Phelan, M. 1996 The O'Kerin School of Monumental Sculpture in Ossory and Its Environs in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 126, 167-181.