What is recorded here

Graveslab in Athenry is a rectangular stone marked for William Boyne, Iocnese Bodan, Sara Moran and their children in 1697. A complete plough carves the lower section beside the name James Rovan, linking death to the continuing work of the land. The chambered tomb and ordinary farm tool share one surface, suggesting that prayer and labour were both necessary for the people who lived there.

This rectangular graveslab (L 1.59m; Wth 0.62m; T 0.16m) is the northernmost example in a row of three on the N side of the site of the tower. Its lower end (L 0.6) is chamfered on each side. It bears an inscription commemorating two couples and reads ‘PRAY FOR THE SOVLE (of) WILLIAM BOYNE AND HIS WIFE: IOCNESE [sic] BODAN AND SARA MORAN: AND HIS CHIDREN, 1697. IHS MARIA’. A complete plough is carved beneath the inscription and then the name ‘IAMES ROVAN’ (Macalister (1913, 217, XX, Fig. 8, No. 16). (Bradley and Dunne 1992, 40) The following image has been uploaded: GA084-001061-_01.jpg Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 12 November 2018

Medieval Christian graveslab, 14th–15th century; significant as a rare surviving example of early Irish funerary monument with inscription, reflecting local ecclesiastical and artistic traditions.

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