Tomb - effigial, Dublin South City, Co. Dublin
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Tombs & Memorials
Tucked inside the tower of Dublin's oldest surviving medieval parish church is a carved tombstone that most visitors walk straight past.
It depicts a recumbent figure, that is, a figure lying flat as though at rest, carved in stone and dressed in full ecclesiastical vestments. The detail of the robes alone marks this out as the work of a craftsman who knew his subject well, and the figure has the quiet gravity that medieval tomb carvers reserved for men of significant religious standing.
The stone was not always where it now sits. According to research compiled by Geraldine Stout, it was originally positioned in the central arch between the chancel and the Portlester Chapel within St Audeon's Church on High Street. The Portlester Chapel takes its name from the Portlester family, powerful Anglo-Norman magnates with strong Dublin connections, and the chancel arch would have been a prominent, liturgically significant location, meaning the tomb once occupied a space at the very crossing point between the public and sacred areas of the church. At some point it was relocated to the tower, which is where it remains. St Audeon's itself is a remarkable survival in a city that has lost much of its medieval fabric, and the church retains fabric dating back to the early thirteenth century.
St Audeon's stands on High Street in the Liberties area of Dublin, close to the old city walls. The church is now maintained in a somewhat divided state, with part of the building in the care of the Office of Public Works as a heritage site and an adjoining section still serving as a Catholic parish church. The medieval section, which includes the tower, is accessible to the public during the heritage site's opening season, typically from late spring through to early autumn, though it is worth checking opening times before visiting. The tower interior is compact, and the tombstone is easy to overlook without pausing deliberately to look for it. The ecclesiastical vestments carved into the stone are the detail worth examining closely, layer by layer.