What is recorded here

Garristown graveyard holds a broken tomb chest side panel measuring 1.6m long, carved with a blank shield upheld by two kneeling figures and an angel. Mary McMahon found the slab in 1990 during a Dublin Archaeological Society survey, joining other effigy fragments the Wheeler pair had already identified as reused grave markers. The missing top and unknown owner transform the chest into an open question, forcing imagination to complete what chisels left unfinished.

The precise location of a fragment or side panel of a possible chest tomb in Garristown graveyard (DU003-011003-) has not been located. Side panel of a possible chest-tomb that was discovered in the graveyard of Garristown church (DU003-011001-) in 1990 by Mary McMahon while carrying out a survey on behalf of the Dublin Archaeological Society of medieval churches in North Dublin. Mary and Henry Wheeler discovered fragments of effigy tombs, reused as grave-markers. This fragment was described by Mary McMahon as Slab B which she recorded as follows; 'Slab B- side slab of a tomb chest - Slab B, which is broken at one end, measures 1.6m long by 0.64m wide. There is a circular reserve carved in the slab, within which a shield is upheld by two kneeling figures and an angel at the top. The shield is blank. The slab in its complete form would have been approximately 2m long' . McMahon, M. 1991 Garristown Church, Garristown. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 1990: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, No. 35, 26. Bray. Wordwell. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 14 February 2023

Chest tomb, likely medieval in date. Its significance lies in its potential association with early Christian burial practices in the region.

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