What is recorded here
Rebuilt into the east wall of St Mary's chancel, a broken chest tomb from the sixteenth century waited centuries for discovery. Its fossiliferous limestone still bears an eight-arm cross with fleur-de-lis terminals, marking a forgotten person beneath Kilkenny soil. The church itself changed around it, yet the tomb remained embedded, holding its shape through later building and forgetting.
At St Mary's parish church (KK019-026115-) in Kilkenny, found rebuilt into mid-18th century E wall of the current chancel during the 2015 excavation (Ó Drisceoil 2019, unpublished). A fragment of a 16th-century chest tomb mensa or ledger, composed of fossiliferous limestone, decorated with an eight-arm cross-head with fleur-de-lis terminals.
Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil
Date of upload: 10 January 2023
Chest tomb, 16th century. Significance lies in its reuse in the 18th century and its survival as a fragment, offering insight into medieval funerary practices and later ecclesiastical modifications in Kilkenny.
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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