What is recorded here

Kilkenny’s oldest tomb chamber fell apart before human memory, but its marble heart survived. John Roth and his allied families still display their shields inside St Mary’s, locked behind a wall built in 1804. The chamber may have been lost to time or reuse, yet its identity refused to disappear.

At St Mary's parish church (KK019-026115-) in Kilkenny. A panel, probably from a chest tomb, commemorating John Roth, built into the cross wall constructed in 1804 connecting the SW side of the church with the graveyard wall. A rectangular panel (L 0.8m; Wth 0.6m) bearing a Rothe armorial shield with the Waring, Chamberlain and Archer coats-of-arms (Crotty 1978, 306-7). The motto VIRTUTE NON VI (by virtue, not force) is in Latin black letter false relief below the shield. An incised, probably secondary, inscription in English Roman lettering at the base reads: Here lies ye body of John Roth … . Compiled by: Cóilín Ó Drisceoil Date of upload: 4 January 2023

Chest tomb, 18th or early 19th century. The tomb is significant as a funerary monument associated with John Roth, incorporated into later ecclesiastical structures.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.