Tomb

Situated to the E of Barry's Bridge at the end of St Mary's Avenue on a natural rise of ground in undulating countryside. A modern church located in a graveyard which may have been associated with the medieval church (TN041-042009). It is possible that this was not the site of the medieval church as it is located outside the medieval core of the town (Bradley 1985, 54). By the late thirteenth century St Mary's church had come under the control of Owney Abbey in Limerick (Johnstone 1989, 187). There is an impressive table-tomb dedicated to the Archer family dated 1520 in the graveyard. It has a double effigy on top of the tomb with a depiction of the knight and his lady with their feet resting on a dog. The sides of the tomb contain depictions of six apostles each one contained under a round-arched niche springing from moulded capitals and columns. On one end of the tomb there is a depiction of the Crucifixion, Our Lady and St John (Hunt 1974, vol. 1, 230). There is a wall memorial (TN041-042012) dated 1683 in the graveyard, N of the church, built up against a free-standing stone wall. The coat of arms is surmounted by a side view of a helmet on which is standing a lion rampant, with tail in the air. Under the coat of arms there is a scroll with the initials IG and EP. The wall memorial rests on a limestone altar. There is a sixteenth/seventeenth-century recumbent graveslab (TN041-042011) located on the S side of the church, S of the W door, consisting of an eight-armed floriated cross with a knop under which are the symbols of the Passion. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 07 December 2011

A possible medieval effigial tomb, likely 14th to 16th century; its significance lies in its potential association with the medieval church and as a rare surviving example of funerary sculpture in the region.