What is recorded here

Graveslab in Ennisnag stands upright at the head of a grave within the graveyard of the medieval church, deeply sunk in ground but still showing a coffin-shaped slab, a cross with fleur-de-lys terminals, and a human head resting on a pillow. Its incised name, JOHANNES FILIUS CALFRIDI, points to John Fitz Geoffry, perhaps an ecclesiastic honoured in the early 13th century. The stone may have watched funeral processions, feast days and quiet prayers for generations before becoming a buried relic of Ennisnag’s older life.

Within the graveyard (KK027-020002-) of the medieval church of Ennisnag (KK027-020001-), Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 374-5) noted, ‘a coffin-shaped slab with a curiously-shaped incised cross running down the centre, and ending above in a human head, in high relief, resting on a pillow. This monument now stands upright at the head of a grave, and is deeply sunk in the ground. It has an inscription, in incised Lombardic, along under the right arm of the cross – strong evidence that it was erected to commemorate an ecclesiastic. The inscription is quite legible, though probably dating from the beginning of the 13th century. What remains of the inscription over ground – and it seems to give the full text – is JOHANNES FILIUS CALFRIDI. That is, [Here lies] John Fitz Geoffry. The graveslab is illustrated by O’Carroll (1974, 58) which shows a tapering slab with a head in relief resting on a pillow at the top and beneath this a four-armed cross with fleur-de-lys terminals and a lozenge centre. There is a circular knop at the top of the cross-shaft and the shaft rests on a stepped cross-base (ibid.). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 27 March 2023

Early Christian gravestone, likely 8th to 11th century; significant for its incised cross, reflecting Insular Christian art traditions.

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