What is recorded here

One knight and one lady still lie locked together in the southeast corner of the Hospital of Aney church, their stone bodies broken but never separated. He wears mail, a sword lies behind his leg, and his arm bends around her as if death had not yet taught him to let go. She rests beneath a shield, one hand above it on her breast, her veil flattened into a quiet ridge. They may be the earliest double tomb in Ireland, which means two ordinary people became a historical first before history learned their names.

Standing in the SE corner of the church (LI032-147002-) belonging to the Hospital of Aney or the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem is the double effigy of an Anglo-Norman knight and his lady, dating from the second half of the 13th century (Hunt 1974, 200-01). The effigial tomb was described by Hunt (1974, 199-200) as following : 'A very much damaged and broken double effigial tomb shows a knight lying upon the dexter, the lady covered by the shield. His left arm appears to encircle her shoulders, the elbow being visible at her side and the forearm descends and the hand grasps the left side of the shield. Her left hand appears above the shield lying upon her breast. He is shown armed in mail, the same convention of lines being used as on the single tomb (LI032-147008-). The head is defended by a mail coif. The same curious ring appears around the base of the neck. The surcoat and hauberk seem to have been similar to those on the single tomb. There is a belt at the waist. The muffer hangs from the right wrist and falls over the edge of the slab in a naturalistic manner, and the hand lies flat on the thigh. A sword is visible behind the leg on the slab and the legs appear to have been crossed. Because of damage, comparatively little of the lady's clothing can be made out, but she seems to have a head-dress with a veil, giving a flattened top to the head; perhaps it was of pill-box form. The folds of her gown can be seen on the sinister side of the slab. The pair lie upon two separate rectangular pillows. The effigy appears to be of approximately the same date as the single figure (LI032-147008-), but this is difficult to confirm because the damage caused to the slab has made identification of some of the details difficult. Attention seems never to have been drawn to the fact that this appears to be the earliest double effigial tomb in Ireland and perhaps is earlier than any in England also'. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 1 May 2018

Anglo-Norman effigial tomb, 12th–13th century. It is significant as a rare surviving example of medieval funerary sculpture associated with the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland.

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