What is recorded here

Graveslab in Rathduff (madden) preserves the upper portion of a Kells Priory funeral stone, cut down and squared for reuse after losing its sinister edge. Its lozenge cross still shows two incised lines, concave sides and surviving fleur-de-lis terminals, marking a 13th or 14th century Augustinian canon whose lower stone may lie elsewhere. What was made for one dead person became material for another purpose, yet the cross kept its shape inside the new block.

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). The upper portion of a graveslab (surviving L 0.395m; Wth 0.47m; T 0.19m), missing the sinister edge. It is decorated with an incised two-lined open lozenge-shaped cross-head with concave sides and fleur-de-lis terminals. The tip of the sinister fleur-de-lis is missing, as is the lower terminal of the cross-head. The slab is very worn and has been cut up and squared-off for reuse. Higgins (ibid., 460) suggests that this slab may be the upper portion of another slab (KK027-029027-) of which only the lower portion survives. Stylistically the graveslab dates to the 13th/14th century. (Higgins 2007, cat. no. 12, 460, fig. 7.1:10). 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: KK027-029029-_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: 31 May 2023

Medieval Christian graveslab; associated with an Augustinian priory and significant for its connection to a large group of catalogued funerary monuments in the Kells area.

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