What is recorded here

Ladys Grave in County Clare preserves the memory of a woman St. Senan refused entry to his sacred isle, leaving her buried beneath a flag on the western point. The legend flows through Thomas Moore’s songs and local tradition, turning a rejected prayer into a landmark that still marks the boundary between the living and the dead.

Listed as 'Potential site - name' in the SMR (1992) and the RMP (1996) and named 'Lady's Grave' on the OS 1st ed. map (1841), this clearly owes its origin to the account by John O’Donovan who writing in 1839 of the ecclesiastical remains recorded that ‘On the west side of Rinn Eanaigh Point there is a flag said to cover the body of the lady who desired to obtain entrance to the island for sepulture, but who was repulsed by St. Senan.’ (O'Flanagan, vol. ii, 14). The source of this legend is to be found in a metrical life of St. Senan which records the repulse of the holy nun Cannara (Westropp 1897, 276, n. 4; 278). The story also has appealed to later generations and found its way into Thomas Moore’s, Irish Melodies (Vol. 2) as ‘Oh haste and leave this sacred isle’: a more fanciful version is recorded by Lynch (2005, 121). It has not proved possible to inspect this 'flag' and confirm the existence of a monument at this location. Revised by: Mary Tunney Date of revision: 19 September 2016 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 1/1971).

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