Graveslab in Cashel

Lying in the gravel kerb immediately S of the S angle of St. John's C of I Cathedral which is on the site of a medieval church (TS061-025013-) and within its graveyard (TS061-025035-). A large badly eroded limestone rectangular slab (L 2.48m; Wth 1.1m; T 0.06m). It is decorated at its upper end with a centrally placed coat of arms. The shield appears to be charged with three fleur-de-lys. The mantling is quite elaborate and there is a scroll at its base which once possibly bore a motto. The bottom of the slab is decorated with a skull-and-crossbones within a swag. The upper dexter and sinister corners of the slab contain winged cherub heads, the best preserved of which is that on the dexter side. Some lettering is visible but not decipherable at the centre of the slab, however, there is no date visible. This slab appears be the same as described by FitzGerald (1902, vol. 5, 247) as being the first of the slabs 'placed as an edging to the gravel path on the south side of this Cathedral', with an inscription beneath a coat-of-arms. He transcribed the inscription as: HERE LYETH THE / BODY OF YE REVEREND MR IOHN HICKEY ARCH /DEACON OF EMLY WHO / DEPARTED THIS LIFE / SEPTERMBER YE 14TH 1726 / AGED 60 YEARS (ibid.). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 31 January 2012

A portal dolmen dating to the Neolithic period; its significance lies in its association with early megalithic funerary practices in the region.