What is recorded here

One tail, one comb, one brush: the Shee mermaid refuses to multiply. J. Cusake and M. Shee joined their shields on fossil limestone, then signed the result with MELIORA SPERO, a hope for better things. The year Carrigan read has faded, but the wall still stands where church and graveyard meet, carrying that much smaller promise into the present.

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

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