Graveslab in Callan South

A limestone slab (L 2.05m; Wth 0.83m; min. T 0.07m) lying prostrate towards the W end of the centre of the nave of St Mary’s church (KK026-010012-), Callan. It is decorated in false relief with an interlaced cross. The cross has been broken into several pieces, the upper sinister corner and some of the cross-head are missing. The upper dexter corner has broken away but is in position, as has the lower portion of the slab which is broken horizontally near the base of the cross-shaft. There is a three-bar knop beneath the cross-head and the cross-shaft terminates in a small stepped base. There is a raised inscription, in Black Letter script around the border and it continues in vertical lines along the dexter surface of the slab, between the border and cross-shaft. The inscription, which begins in the lower dexter corner, has been transcribed by Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 306) as, ‘Hic iacet eruditeϑ et egregious vir Edmundus filius Thebaldi Butler quōdā Secundariϑ Justiciarius Capitalis Place D. Reginae in Regno suo Hiberniae : obiit primo die meϑ Januarii A. Grae 1585. Et post illius decessum Rosa Archer ei ϑ uxor hanc capellam it hunc tumulum fieri fecit’ and translated by him as, ‘Here lies the learned and excellent man, Edmund Butler, formerly Second Justice of the Chief Place of our lady the Queen, in her Kingdom of Ireland. He died January 1st in the year of grace 1585, and after his death his wife Rose Archer had this chapel and tomb erected’. On either side of the top of the cross-head are the interlaced initials E and B, though the E is spalled and the B is missing, on either side of the bottom of the cross-head are the interlaced initials R and A. The sides of the slab have an ovolo moulding. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 2 October 2019

High cross fragment; early medieval period (9th–10th century). The interlaced cross indicates Christian monastic influence in the region during the early medieval era.