Inscribed slab

The National Monuments Service's description

Listed by Okasha & Forsyth as Monaincha 5 who state that the slab of old red sandstone measuring 0.445m x 0.58m x 0.04m,`was first recorded in 1964 when it was in the NMI. A file record sheet, FILE IA/192/64 was then made by the museum, and the three fragments were photographed. The file record states that the fragments had been found `in various places in the early church site of ... Monaincha' and were mounted on the wall of the church (TN018-001001) at Monaincha. In October 1964 the fragments were removed from the Museum by the OPW and by 1983 were in the depot in Kilkenny where they remain' (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 209). The inscribed slab reads [--][.]C~S~ AE[.][-- which can be expanded to [--] SANCTUS AE[.][--] (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 209). According to Okasha & Forsyth `The letters CS are an abbreviation, or part of an abbreviation, perhaps [s]c~s~, the standard abbreviation of s(an)c(tu)s `saint', found in the genitive case s~c~i~ on a slab from Kilbrecan, Aran Mór [Macalister 1949, no. 531, KBRCN/1]' (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 210). This slab is now on display in the Black Mills Interpretative Centre at Roscrea (TN012-010016), but originally came from the vicinity of the Romanesque church at Monaincha.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien.

Date of upload: 22 September 2008