Graveslab in Rathduff (madden)

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 tapering slab (visible portion L 1.87m; Wth at top 0.54m; Wth at base 0.44m; T 0.13m), most of the head and the very base of which are not visible under later masonry. Decorated with a very worn incised cross. The slab is broken horizontally near the base. The cross-head is not visible, there is a double-lined circular knop on the cross-shaft immediately under the cross-head. The lower portion may be from another slab as the visible decoration consists of a three-armed (there could be a fourth arm) cross with trefoil terminals. Stylistically the graveslab dates to the 13th/14th century. The slab was reused as a sill in the doorway to the W room of the S claustral range, associated with the mid- to late 16th/early 17th-century farmstead. (Higgins 2007, cat. no. 6, 466, fig. 7.1:6). 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: KK027-029024-_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 to 16th century; associated with Kells Priory, an Augustinian foundation, indicating the site's role in monastic and burial practices of the period.