Graveslab

The National Monuments Service's description

Within the graveyard at Kilmore parish church (ME043-042----). The graveslab (L 1.73m; Wth 0.46-0.66m; T 0.1m), which has a raised Crucifixion (Harbison 2000, 55) and an inscription in false relief commemorating Rory Buí McMahon in Latin and Irish, is displayed just S of the church. It was found in the graveyard and has the the date 1575 (FitzGerald 1907-09; Hunt 1974, 210).

It is described by FitzGerlad as: This is a slab which, in my opinion, is unique; it is dated 1575; down the centre is the outline of a plain cross bearing a small figure of our Lord crucified at the upper end; the date in Arabic numerals, 1575, is carved under the left arm of the cross; an inscription in several lines covers the remainder of the slab; on the left side and lower end of the slab it is in Latin, and the rest is in Irish. The whole inscription is in relief, the Latin portion in broad capitals and the Irish portion in neatly cut Celtic letters with rounded limbs; it is in a very fair state of preservation, though covered with lichen. The Latin inscription reads: NEMINEM CONSTRISTARI MORTE D / EBERE CVM SIT IN VIVENDO LABOR / ET PERICVLUM IN MORIENDO PAX ET / RESVRGENDI SECVRITAS. ORTATE PRO ANIMA RVGER (I) MAC M / AHVNA QVI ME FE.
Translation: No one ought to be grieved at death, since in living there is labour and danger, while in dying there is peace and the assurance of resurrection. Pray for the soul of Rory MacMahon who made me.
The Irish inscription fortunately is legible; it has been deciphered and translated through the combined efforts of Father Patrick S. Dineen, and Mr. M. J. M’Enery, of the Dublin Record Office, to both of whom I return my best thanks for the time and trouble they took in adding this valuable information to the Journal. The inscription: As bhragh de o gach duinne leighfear so & [tuigfear] / o m guma girraide pianta purgadora & go / mo luathide trocaire in tighiarna guibhe na ge / ristaidhe paidear dheirce do ghabhail ar an anam do sgr / ibh & dar sgribhadh / adhon / Rughraidhe buid / he mhag mahthglamhna.
Translation: God expects from everyone who reads this, and understands that the pains of purgatory are the shorter and the mercy of God the more speedy for the prayers of Christians, to offer a prayer of charity for the Soul of him who wrote this, and for whom it is was written, namely Rory Buí Mac Mahon.
Of Rory Buí (or the tallow-haired) MacMahon nothing is now known; he was not a native of this southern part of the county Meath, as the territory of the MacMahons lay in the district of Farney in the County Monaghan.

Date of upload: 24 March, 2015

References

FitzGerald, Lord W. 1906-07 Kilmore Churchyard. Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead, Ireland, 7, 153-5

Harbison, P. 2000 The Crucifixion in Irish Art. Blackrock, Columba Press.

Hunt, J. 1974 Irish medieval figure sculpture 1200-1600, 2 vols. Dublin. Irish University Press.