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Graveslab in Townparks (ballyshannon Ed)

Graveslab

What is recorded here

Graveslab in Townparks (ballyshannon Ed) marks Bernard Con O'Neill, a sixteenth-century resident of Belleseens whose death occurred the day before the nones of June. The slab carried a ship, crescent moon, cornucopia and three right hands, symbols that still whisper of rank, desire and grasp. It is not certain whether he was a sailor, a dreamer or a man who held what he wanted; the carving leaves that question alive.
Described in the Urban Survey of Donegal as 'Bernard Con O'Neill. 16th century (Bradley & Dunne 1989, 22-3). This slab is known only from a nineteenth century account which describes it as decorated with a ship, crescent moon, cornucopia and three right hands. It bore the inscription : BERNARD CON ONEIL AB ORIS BELLESENIENSIS QUI OBIIT PRIDIE NON JUN ANNO DOMINI 15.. (Mems. Dead ii, 1892-4, 57).
A 16th-century Christian gravestone; significant as an early example of decorated funerary art in the region, featuring a ship and crescent motif.

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What survives
Recorded monument

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