What is recorded here

Thomas Comerford, Sovereign of Callan, died in 1627 and his wife Lettice turned that loss into stone. She commissioned a limestone slab carved with interlace and fleur-de-lys terminals, then laid it beneath the feet of the living. The church preserved only its upper portion, breaking the rest into fragments scattered across Callan. What remains is not a complete record but a sharp-edged invitation to imagine the woman who refused to let him vanish.

Lying prostrate at the W end of the S aisle of the nave of St Mary’s church (KK026-010012-), Callan. The upper portion of a limestone slab (L 0.8m; Wth 0.89m; min. T 0.16m), the dexter edge is straight and the upper and sinister edges are moulded. It is decorated in relief with a three-armed cross-head, with a combination of rectilinear and curvilinear interlace, with fleur-de-lys terminals. There is a knop below the cross-head and the slab is broken roughly horizontally beneath the knop. There is an inscription in the border in Latin, in raised Black Letter script. It begins in the upper dexter corner and continues across the top ‘Hic jacet egregius’, down the sinister side ‘Thomas C’ and along the dexter side ‘uxor eius’. The top sinister angle is broken off. Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 308) transcribed the inscription as, ‘Hic jacet egregious….omas Co….quondam superior qui obiit postridie ….arii 1627 et post….uxor eius Le….umentum fieri fecit’ and translated it as, ‘Here lies the excellent [man] Thomas Co[merford] formerly Sovereign [of the town of Callan], who died the day after…..of January (or February) 1627. And afterwards his wife Lettice….got this monument erected’. He describes the slab as, a ‘floor-slab broken into many pieces, of which only three are now to be found, viz. one marking a grave at the north side of the church, another at the south side, while the third, a small fragment bearing the date, lies somewhere around. At the right of the cross are the richly carved initials T.C., and at the left L.S. The latter are the initials of Mrs. Comerford’s maiden name, which was probably Lettice Shee’ (ibid.). The first letter of the inscription and the ‘T’ and ‘C’ of the name are carved in an elaborate interlace style, as are the initials on either side of the cross-head. The lower sinister corner, with portion of the inscription, 'quondam superior qui obiit postridie….umentum fieri fecit' is currently at the W tower and has a separate record number KK026-010064-. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 19 November 2019

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