What is recorded here

A four-slab chest tomb lies broken inside the medieval church of Newtown Earley, its front panel still carrying the scourge, nails and silver coins that measured human failure against the body of Christ. The stones waited buried until a graveyard clean-up in the mid-1980s pulled them from the soil, suggesting that prayer and fear of sin once occupied the same dark room.

Associated with the medieval church of Newtown Earley (KK027-012001-). A large number of graveslabs were uncovered during a clean-up of graveyard (KK027-012009-) in 1985-7 (Harte 1987, 408-17). These are currently lying within the interior of the church. Four slabs, consisting of a mensa or table top (KK027-012005-), front panel (KK027-012006-) and two side panels (KK027-012011- and KK027-012012-) are possibly from the same chest-tomb. These are described and illustrated by Harte (ibid. 411-14, nos. 18, 19, 21 and 22). The front panel (max. surviving L 1.27m; H 0.73m) is decorated with the symbols of the Passion. These are described by Harte (ibid. 412) as follows: The mailed fist that smote Christs cheek below the ear - prayer against the sins of hearing; the reed, symbol of Kingship, used to strike Christ - prayer to be forgiven for wronging any man; scourge - prayer against sloth; cock - Peter's betrayal; pillar and rope - prayer against unkind deeds; could be a wheat-sheaf indicating the bread of life or birch twigs; spear - prayer against the sins of pride and disobedience; cup on stick - prayer against the sin of gluttony; 30 pieces of silver - prayer against treason and covetousness; pincers - prayer to be loosed from all sins; nails - payer for help against the sins done by hands and feet; cross - prayer of repentance; ladder - prayer for preservation; hammer - prayer "May the hammer be my succour if I have smitten any with staff or knife"; sword, generally taken as that which cut off Malchus ear. Early English version is the knife of Circumcision which destroyed Adams sin - prayer "Succour me from the sin of lechery". Reference: Harte, R. 1987 Tombstones at Newtown Earley. Old Kilkenny Review 39, 408-17. See attached: KK027-012005-_01 Illustration from Harte 1987, 413, no. 19 Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 April 2023

Chest tomb, medieval period. Significance lies in its association with the graveyard of the medieval church of Newtown Earley and the recovery of numerous graveslabs providing insights into local funerary practices.

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