What is recorded here

Graveslab in Athenry is a tapering stone marked for Owen Crawley and Catherin Monaghan in 1686, yet its broken base and defaced cross suggest it is far older. The slab carries a plough sock and coulter, linking death to the daily labour of feeding a town. It may have stood since the thirteenth century, waiting for human hands to give it a name and a purpose.

This tapering graveslab (L 1.74m; Wth at top 0.6m; Wth at base 0.29m; T 0.12m), is in the nave of the church (GA084-001014-), opposite the console on the S side, and was described by Macalister (1913, 215, XVII, Pl. VIII, No. 10) as a ‘slab with floriated cross much defaced, with the lower end broken away.’ He transcribed an inscription, in three lines, on the sinister side, as ‘FOR THE VSE OF OWEN CRAW(ley) AND CATHERIN MONAGHAN AND (their) POSTERITY 1686’. A plough sock and coulter are visible on the dexter side. It is most likely that this slab dates to the 13th/14th century and was reused in the 17th-century when the inscription and occupational symbols were added. (Bradley and Dunne 1992, 39; Mckeon 2009, 51; Fig. 21: Slab K) The following image has been uploaded: GA084-001057-_01.jpg Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 12 November 2018

Medieval Christian graveslab, 13th–14th century. It is significant as an example of early Irish funerary sculpture, reflecting the artistic and religious traditions of the medieval period in the region.

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