Tomb

Centrally placed within a 19th-century C of I church which was built on the former chancel of the 13th-century church of St Mary’s (KK020-060006-) in Gowran. A double effigial limestone tomb (L 2.2m; Wth 1.24m; H 0.91m) with two figures of knights carved in high relief. Rae (1970, 11-12) suggests it was commissioned by Piers Butler (d. 1539) to commemorate his two brothers, Edmond and Theobald, who both died before 1491 or 1501, though other possibilities are also discussed. Piers Butler and his wife Margaret FitzGerald (d. 1542) may have been responsible for commissioning several early 16th-century Butler tombs, commemorating past members of the family, in an effort to bolster the prestige of the MacRichard Butlers in their contested claim to the Earldom of Ormond (Rae 1970, 10; Moss 2014, 502). Hunt (1974, vol. 1, 170) describes the armour in detail. The heads have been cut away. Hunt suggests that this is the result of ‘an ancient repair than of the lack of a sufficient thickness of stone’ (ibid.). A portion of the slab carved with the upper legs of the dexter knight is missing and the surface of the lower portion of this knight’s armour is also missing. The surface of the sinister knight’s lower legs is broken off as is portion of this knight’s dexter leg around the knee. The lower legs and the dogs on which they rest, appear to be carved from a separate slab of limestone. There is a crack across the upper slab running across the head of the dexter knight and the upper body of the sinister knight and another between the two knights. The S side panel (L 2.05m; H 0.74m; D 0.14m) on the sinister side consists of two slabs. The first slab on the left is carved with a coat of arm bearing a simple cross which Hunt (ibid.) suggests is the ‘the shield of St Michael, which treasure the Butlers claimed to hold as an heirloom of the house’. The larger slab is carved with four sequential coats of arms. The first bears the indented Butler coat, the next a cross flanked by a ladder and a whipping post with scourges in the field, the next with a seamless garment with three dice beneath and the last with a crown of thorns flanked by a pole with sponge and a lance. The panel at the foot of the tomb (Wth 1.03m; H 0.75m) is decorated with a crucifixion scene, with Our Lady to the right of the crucified Christ and St John to the left, carved in false relief within a raised border. The N side panel (L 2.16m; H 0.74m) on the dexter side consists of two slabs. The left slab is carved with four sequential coats of arms. The first consists of a plain shield in a circle on a lattice ground, the next a shield bearing a heart pierced by two swords, the next a shield with nails between pinchers and a hammer and then a shield with a lion rampant impaling Butler (Hunt 1974, vol. 1, 170). The rightmost slab is carved with a plain shield in a circle on a lattice ground. The base of this slab has been damaged, with a portion broken out. The panel at the head of the tomb (Wth 1.02m; H 0.74m; D 0.1m) is carved with two identical Butler coats with chiefs indented . The carving is largely on one slab, but it continues onto the edges of both side panels. See attached photographs: KK020-060009-_01 Tomb from above taken from N side KK020-060009-_02 E end panel at foot of tomb KK020-060009-_03 N side panel of tomb KK020-060009-_04 W end panel at head of tomb KK020-060009-_05 S side panel of tomb Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 6 August 2019

Medieval effigial tomb, 13th–14th century. Significantly re-used in the construction of a later church, reflecting continuity of sacred space and the preservation of aristocratic or ecclesiastical funerary monuments.