What is recorded here

James Kelly of Mecknie died in 1648 and his body still lies beneath a tall stone slab bracketed to the chancel wall of Clontuskert priory. Two centuries later William Mahon and Maryann Mahon, the last Kelly of Mecknie, added their names beside the raised cross, turning a private grave into a lineage marker. The stone has watched the priory doorway for nearly four hundred years, holding three lives and one disappearing name in its cold surface.

This 17th-C graveslab is bracketed to the W wall of the chancel of Clontuskert priory (GA088-001----) just S of the doorway accessing the nave. It is rectangular in shape (H 1.86m; Wth 0.91m; T 0.17m). A raised Latin cross decorates the lower portion of the slab. An inscription in raised lettering occupies the upper quarter and commemorates James Kelly who died in 1648. The inscription is as follows: HERE. LEES.THE BODY./ OF. JAMES .KE/LLY. OF MECKNIE / WHO DIED. THE XI / OF FEB. 1648. The following 19th-centuary inscription was added to the slab on either side of the cross: Left: PRAY FOR THE SOULOF WILLIAM MAHON WHO DIED NOVR 29 1866 AGED 78 YEARS Right: ALSO HIS WIFE MARYANN MAHONALIAS KELLY THE LASTMEMBER OF KELLY OF MECKNIE WHO DIED AUGT 19 1881 The following image has been uploaded: GA088-001003-_01.jpg Compiled by: Paul Walsh, Olive Alcock Date of upload: 25 July 2014 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 8/1970).

17th-century Christian graveslab; associated with Clontuskert priory, a medieval Augustinian site. Significance lies in its historical and ecclesiastical context, reflecting post-Reformation funerary practices in the region.

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