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Graveslab in Portumna Demesne

Graveslab

What is recorded here

Graveslab in Portumna Demesne is a fractured recumbent slab set in the chancel floor before the east window, decorated almost entirely in false relief with latticework circles, Greek crosses, interlace squares, an incised face, an animal form and a fish. It belongs to the 14th or 15th century and lies among three bevelled coffin-shaped slabs, suggesting a buried person honored beneath a busy church floor. The patterns crowd the stone like a prayer made visible, while the fractured edge reminds the viewer that even remembered life must break before it can be carried into story.
Within the chancel of the friary church (GA127-019----), this fractured recumbent graveslab (L 1.9m; max. Wth 0.64; base Wth 0.54; T 0.09m) is the eastern one in a row of three (see also GA127-019002-, GA127-019003-) set in the floor immediately in front of the E window. Described by Bradley and Dunne (1992, 163) as ‘bevelled coffin-shaped slabs’ of 14th/15th-century date. Almost the entire surface of the slab is decorated in false relief. The lower half bears a latticework panel composed of six rows of double-banded circles filled with central Greek crosses. The panel above this is divided into four/five squares with interlace and wheeled circle patterns. The upper section bears an incised human face within a circle, an animal form and a fish. Compiled by: Olive Alcock The following images have been uploaded: GA127-019001-_01.jpg GA127-019001-_03.jpg GA127-019001-_04.jpg GA127-019001-_05.jpg GA127-019001-_07.jpg Date of upload: 1 May 2019
Medieval Christian burial slab; 14th–15th century. Likely associated with the friary church, it reflects the funerary practices of the local aristocracy or religious community.

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Recorded monument

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