What is recorded here

Graveslab in Rathduff stands as a tapering stone marker from Kells Priory, its beveled edges preserving a lozenge cross and fleur-de-lis terminals carved during the 13th or 14th century. The circular knops on the shaft suggest a craftsman who understood weight and light, shaping death into a visible rhythm rather than a forgotten void. Among the many slabs recovered from the Augustinian site, this one still points toward the priory’s lost confidence in memory, inviting us to imagine the canons who walked beside it before time stripped their names away.

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 (L 1.815m; Wth at top 0.66m; Wth at base 0.395m; T 0.17m) with beveled edges. It is decorated with an incised two-lined open lozenge-shaped cross-head with concave sides and fleur-de-lis terminals. There is a circular knop on the cross-shaft immediately below the cross-head. The cross-shaft terminates with a fleur-de-lis with a circular knop immediately above it. Stylistically the graveslab dates to the 13th/14th century. (Higgins 2007, cat. no. 14, 460, fig. 7.2:1). 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: KK027-029031-_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 the religious and funerary practices of the medieval period in Ireland.

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