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Graveslab in Callan North

Graveslab

What is recorded here

Graveslab in Callan North stands in the chancel of the Augustinian friary, leaning against the east gable as a forgotten altar-tomb. Its seven-armed floriated cross reaches through the border like a living claim, while the empty shield waits for a name never carved. The damaged angles and fractured corner suggest violence or time, but the stone still holds its shape. It is not a grave for one known person; it is a chamber where several forgotten lives may have been buried beneath a single proud symbol.
In the chancel of the Augustinian friary (KK026-010016-) in Callan, leaning against the E gable. A limestone slab (L 1.82m; Wth 1.04m; T at top 0.15m; T at base 0.22m) which tapers in thickness. The straight sides are roughly dressed. It is decorated in false relief with a seven-armed floriated cross, the fleur-de-lys terminating the main arms of the cross encroach on the plain raised border (Wth 0.12m) of the slab. The upper fleur-de-lys in the dexter and sinister angle and the arm of the main upright are defaced. There is a heavy rectangular knop (H 0.12m; Wth 0.17m) beneath the cross-head and the cross-shaft rests on a small curving stepped base. There is a large heraldic shield (H 0.52m; Wth 0.34m) on the sinister side of the cross-shaft but there is no apparent decoration on it. The sinister side of the shield has some damage running vertically from the top to the base. There is no evidence of an inscription. The top dexter corner of the slab is fractured. It is described by Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 313) as, 'the ponderous table of an altar-tomb, with raised floriated cross and a shield left uncarved; there is no inscription; its date is about 1500'. See attached photograph: KK026-010020-_01 Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 21 October 2019
Medieval Christian gravestone; 13th to 15th century. It is significant as a funerary monument associated with the Augustinian friary, reflecting the religious and burial practices of the medieval monastic community in Callan.

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What survives
Recorded monument

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