Graveslab in Unknown Townland

15th-century graveslab with brass memorial of Richard Talbot (c. 1386-1449), Archbishop of Dublin, Lord Chancellor, Justiciar of Ireland and the founder of the Cathedral Choir School in 1449, located in the choir of St Patrick’s Cathedral (DU018-020269-).  The Talbot memorial was described in the Urban Survey of Dublin City (Bradley and King 1988, Vol. 1, 81) as a; ‘Rectangular slab with a brass indent. The bass was restored in 1919, when the inscription recorded by Ware in the seventeenth century was added’ (Memorials of the Dead Vol. VI, 547; Vol. X, 314-7; Loeber 1981, 283). The floor-slab of Archbishop Richard Talbot was described on the University of Galway website as a; ‘Sketch of bas relief and inscription on the floor slab dedicated to Archbishop Richard Talbot in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. The Archbishop stands within a gothic structure, with his robe, mitre and crozier. At his feet is a semi-crouching spaniel-like dog. Behind him, on each side, stands a group of people, with a blank scroll issuing from the group on the left. An inscription is placed below the dog. By the 1820s the original brass of this tablet had been destroyed. Its matrix was recovered in the early twentieth century, its identification being partly based on Dineley’s sketch’ (https://ttce.universityofgalway.ie/irelandillustrated/?ttce_function=5&object_type=image&id=ii_image_1372694031). In 1681 the tombstone and brass-memorial was described by Thomas Dineley as follows; 'The Inscription upon the Archbipps Tombstone remaines at his Feet thus upon a square brass plate in the same Character as on the other side RICHARD TALBOT Iacet Archi fuit Praesul hujus Sedis Reverendae Parvos Canonicos, qui fundavitque Choristas Anno Milleno C quater, quater X quoque nono Quindeno Augusti mensis mundo valedixit, Omipotens Dominus cui propicietur in aevum. He was founder of the Petty Cannons and Choristers of this Church. and died Aug: 15. 1449. (NLI Ms 392, pp. 15-16) The Dictionary of Irish Biography described Ricard Talbot as the; 'archbishop of Dublin, chancellor, and justiciar of Ireland, was third son of Richard, Lord Talbot, and Ankaret, daughter of John, Lord le Strange, and became one of the central figures in the politics of the Anglo-Irish lordship in the first half of the fifteenth century. He studied at Oxford and received a bachelorate in both laws by 1411, when he was appointed to a committee to administer an anti-Wycliffite oath to the university. He held several lesser offices in various dioceses in England, culminating with his appointment as dean of Chichester (a. 6 March 1414). Talbot was elected archbishop of Armagh in 1416 after the death of Nicholas Fleming but his acceptance was delayed by the lack of a pope, and he withdrew his assent to the election after he was elected to the archbishopric of Dublin (p. May 1417), which undoubtedly owed much to his brother JohnTalbot, then lieutenant of Ireland. He was provided to the see by the pope in December 1417 and came to Ireland with his brother in 1418.  In his conflict with Ormond and his supporters, Talbot seems to have preferred a more ‘English’ policy in Ireland, with no compromises with the Irish. He served as deputy lieutenant for his brother in 1419–20, but was effectively shut out of the administration during Ormond's lieutenancy (1420–22). Talbot served as chancellor from July 1423 till April 1426, when he was forced out by Ormond. He was reappointed by a patent from England (23 October 1426), taking office in January 1427, and served till October 1431. He opposed the practice of granting the rich prebend of Swords to absentees, and in 1431 divided this benefice and used part of it to endow minor canons and a group of choristers for St Patrick's, Dublin. He served as deputy lieutenant to his brother John, earl of Shrewsbury (April 1445–October 1446). Despite the formal ending of the Talbot–Ormond dispute, Talbot continued a factional policy in Ireland, but little came of his actions, even during the period (November 1447–late 1448) when he served as justiciar. He died in August 1449 and was buried in St Patrick's cathedral' (Beresford 2009).   Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien