What is recorded here

Break the ground at Rathduff and the dead return through stone, not memory. A tapering graveslab from Kells Priory still bears an incised cross with four circles and a central lozenge, its base lost and its body split into three. It may have marked a canon, a child, or a stranger the priory accepted; later hands reused it as a grave liner, proving that even forgotten death can be made useful.

One of a large number of graveslabs (KK027-029005-; KK027-029015-, KK027-029016-, KK027-029021- to KK027-029051-) found at Kells Priory for Augustinian canons (KK027-029004-) which have been described and catalogued by Higgins (2007, 453-67). A tapering slab (surviving L 1.07m; Wth at top 0.455m; Wth towards base 0.345m; T 0.05-0.1m), broken into three pieces, decorated with an incised cross. The cross-head consists of four circles, with central open, lozenge-shaped space, the whole enclosed by a larger circle. There is a circular knop on the shaft beneath the cross-head. The base of the slab is missing. Stylistically the graveslab dates to the 13th/14th century. The slab was reused as a grave liner in the nave in the late medieval/post-medieval period. (Higgins 2007, cat. no. 2, 459, fig. 7.1:2). Ref.: Higgins, J. 2007 The medieval funerary monuments. In M. Clyne, (ed.), Kells Priory, Co. Kilkenny: archaeological excavations by T. Fanning & M. Clyne, 453-67. Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Dublin. See attached: KK027-029015-_01 Illustration in Higgins, J. 2007 The medieval funerary monuments. In M. Clyne, (ed.), Kells Priory, Co. Kilkenny: archaeological excavations by T. Fanning & M. Clyne, 453-67. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 29 May 2023

Medieval Christian graveslab; associated with Kells Priory, an Augustinian canon site. Significant as part of a large group of catalogued funerary monuments reflecting monastic burial practices in the region.

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