What is recorded here

No god or distant voice is needed when a dagger is already raised. The tomb belongs to Lieutenant William Blakeney of Thomastown, buried after dying in March 1664 near County Limerick. His shield carries lion heads, an ermine chevron, a crescent for a second son, and a helmet crowned by a hand wielding a knife. Oak leaves sweep around the arms like a man still defending what he took.

This tomb bears the coat of arms of the family with the motto ‘AUXILIUM MEUM AB. ALTO’. The shield is blazoned with two lion heads above an ermine chevron with one lion head below. The crescent between the two lions indicates a second son. Above the shield is a knight’s helmet with a closed visor and the crest has a hand brandishing a dagger. The mantling of oak leaves sweeps round from the top of the helmet and drapes each side of the shield. The tomb’s inscription reads; ‘Here lieth the body of Lieutenant William Blakeney of Thomastown, who deceased the last of March, An dom 1664’. William Blakeney received a grant of 450 plantation acres in the townlands of Thomastown and Gortnepequiney at the time of the Cromwellian plantations. The memory of the Blakeneys still survives in the district in the townland name Mountblakeney. Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien Date of upload: 3 December 2021

Chest tomb; 17th to 18th century. The tomb is significant for its heraldic carving, reflecting the presence and status of a local gentry family in the area during the early modern period.

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