What is recorded here

Graveslab in Rathduff is a small tapering fragment bearing an incised cross and a hint of a trefoil terminal, dating to the 13th or 14th century. It was reused in a cobbled pathway between the claustral range and the prior’s tower at Kells Priory, where Augustinian canons once lived. The slab may have marked a grave before becoming a stepping stone, carrying the weight of forgotten prayers into ordinary foot traffic.

One of a large number of graveslabs (KK027-029005-; KK027-029015-, KK027-029016-, KK027-029021- to KK027-029051-) found at Kells Priory for Augustinian canons (KK027-029004-) which have been described and catalogued by Higgins (2007, 453-67). A small fragment of a tapering slab with chamfered edges, decorated with an incised cross, with portion of a trefoil terminal visible. Stylistically the graveslab dates to the 13th/14th century. The slab was reused in a cobbled pathway, between the E claustral range and the prior’s tower which is associated with the mid- to late 16th/early 17th-century farmstead. (Higgins 2007, cat. no. 5, 466, fig. 7.1:4). Ref.: Higgins, J. 2007 The medieval funerary monuments. In M. Clyne, (ed.), Kells Priory, Co. Kilkenny: archaeological excavations by T. Fanning & M. Clyne, 453-67. Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Dublin. See attached: KK027-029022-_01 Illustration in Higgins, J. 2007 The medieval funerary monuments. In M. Clyne, (ed.), Kells Priory, Co. Kilkenny: archaeological excavations by T. Fanning & M. Clyne, 453-67. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 29 May 2023

Medieval Christian graveslab, 12th–14th century; associated with Kells Priory, an Augustinian foundation, indicating the site's role in monastic and ecclesiastical activity during the medieval period.

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