Armorial plaque

The National Monuments Service's description

From Potterton (2005, App. 13, 401-02):
A number of medieval slabs and various pieces of masonry have been assembled into what resembles a decorative fire-place in north wall of the porch of St Patrick's church (ME036-048012-). Among the slabs is a rectangular sandstone plaque with three horizontal fish below a what seems to be a form of crown. This slab was for a time set into the north wall of the ruined chancel and Conwell records seven loaves were present on it (1872-3, 401). In 1906 the plaque was still in the chancel and in that year it was described (Anon. 1906) as ‘a small armorial stone bearing three pikes in pale, surmounted by a coronet on which were seven fleur-de-lis, and a little leac on which a wheel-cross is incised’. A number of families have three fish in their coats of arms (e.g. Keane, Hackett, O’Gahan, Roache), and it is likely that this is indeed a heraldic plaque. A similar carved stone plaque, depicting three salmon, is in the chancel of the church at Monknewtown (Stout 2002, 94). The Trim plaque is now decaying rapidly in the damp conditions of the porch and is almost entirely covered in a dark green fungus. The wheel-cross is no longer visible and the edges of the slab are beginning to flake. [Height: 63cm; Width: 54cm].

Date of upload: 16 February, 2015

References

Conwell, E. A. 1873 A ramble round Trim. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 12, 361-430.

Potterton, M. 2005 Medieval Trim: history and archaeology. Dublin, Four Courts Press

Anon. 1906 Excursion, Wednesday, October 3rd, 1906. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 36, 448-50.

Stout, G. 2002 Newgrange and the Bend of the Boyne. University Press, Cork