What is recorded here

Graveslab in Rathduff preserves the lower portion of a tapering stone marked by an incised cross-shaft ending in a fleur-de-lis above a barred-knop. It belongs to the 13th or 14th century and lies among many similar slabs from Kells Priory for Augustinian canons. The chamfered edges and delicate carving suggest a craftsman who understood death as much as devotion, shaping stone for someone whose name has not survived.

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 lower portion of a tapering slab (surviving L 0.46m; Wth at base 0.36m; T 0.2m) with pronounced chamfered edges. It is decorated with the lower portion of an incised cross-shaft which terminates with a fleur-de-lis which has a barred-knop immediately above it. Stylistically the graveslab dates to the 13th/14th century. (Higgins 2007, cat. no. 16, 461, fig. 7.2:3). 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: KK027-029033-_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 the Augustinian priory at Kells, significant as part of a large assemblage of ecclesiastical monuments reflecting monastic activity in the region.

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