Graveslab in Smithstown, County Offaly

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

What is recorded here

Situated on flat low-lying land in undulating countryside. Known locally as the 'Friars Cross' this flat rectangular slab (L 1.2m; Wth 0.46m) has a simple ring headed cross decorated in relief with hollowed angles between the arms of the cross. No inscription visible on the graveslab. According to local tradition it marks the resting place of a Bishop Mac Coughlan who was killed in 1444. (Crawford 1916, 166; Cooke 1856-7, 380-5) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997).

From the National Monuments Service (Archaeological Survey of Ireland) record OF022-011

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Photo credits

Maker not stated on source page, www.pinterest.com
Maker not stated on source page, www.dreamstime.com
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Kieran Campbell, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Maker not stated on source page, commons.wikimedia.org
Maker not stated on source page, www.rte.ie
Eric Jones, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0

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