What is recorded here

Graveslab in Gardens (kilkenny City By., St. Mary’s Par.) preserves the lower portion of a limestone slab bearing an incised cross-shaft above a skull and crossbones. Restorers refaced the east wall of St Francis' Abbey during 1868-71, embedding the fragment beneath the window where it still watches the choir. The dead man remains nameless, yet his marker survived demolition to become a hidden foundation for the living church.

In St Francis' Abbey (KK019-026101-). The lower portion of a limestone graveslab (L 0.51m; Wth 0.6m) inserted in the inner face of the E wall of the abbey, beneath the E window. The wall was refaced in the 19th-century, probably as part of the restoration work in 1868-71 (Bradley 1980, 14). It is decorated with an incised cross-shaft which springs from a stepped Calvary mount which incorporates a skull and cross bones. Bradley compares this base to a similar one on the ‘Doulloyhant’ or Delahunty graveslab, dated 1624, and thus suggests a 17th-century date for this graveslab (ibid., no. 49). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Medieval Christian graveslab, 13th–15th century. Its presence in St Francis' Abbey indicates monastic burial practices and provides insight into funerary customs of the period.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.