What is recorded here

Kilkenny Church: Altar excavation (12E0314) found a 16th-century tomb panel reused as altar bedding. Its passion instruments were worn by feet, not worship alone. The crown of thorns is broken at its middle, as if mercy itself had split the frame.

At St Mary's parish church (KK019-026115-) in Kilkenny. A fragment of a panel from a 16th-century chest tomb found reused as bedding for a 19th-century altar during the excavation (12E0314) of the chancel of the church (Ó Drisceoil 2019, unpublished). The panel (L 0.8m; Wth 0.45m; T 0.08m), of fossiliferous limestone, is carved with passion instruments in false relief within a frame moulding. From right to left these are the scourging pillar and ropes, the lance, the seamless gown, the dice, the cup, and the crown of thorns surrounding the sacred heart. The panel is broken at the mid-point of the crown of thorns. Possibly from the Kerin school of monumental sculpture. Wear patterns on the carved surface of the panel indicate it was exposed to foot traffic. Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil Date of upload: 9 January 2023

Chest tomb, 16th century. Reused in the 19th century, it reflects medieval funerary practices and later ecclesiastical modifications in Kilkenny.

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