Graveslab, Kilcoolyabbey, Co. Tipperary

Co. Tipperary |

Tombs & Memorials

Graveslab, Kilcoolyabbey, Co. Tipperary

In the third vaulted chamber of the east range at Kilcooly Abbey, a large limestone graveslab lies flat on the ground, no longer where it once stood.

It was originally fixed upright against the south wall of the chancel, set into the westernmost recess, a position of some deliberate honour. Now it is recumbent, and it is falling apart in a quietly dramatic way: the entire decorated surface is separating from the body of the slab as a distinct horizontal layer, cracking and breaking away as though the stone itself is peeling like old paint.

The slab is a substantial piece of work, 1.88 metres long and tapering from 0.7 metres at the top to 0.58 metres at the base, with a thickness of 0.22 metres. What survives of the carving is carved in relief rather than incised, meaning the design was built up proud of the surface rather than cut into it, which makes the ongoing delamination all the more destructive. The central motif is a seven-armed floriated cross, its shaft resting on a curving Calvary mount, the raised mound traditionally associated with the site of the crucifixion. Below the cross head sits a three-bar knop, a decorative knob or boss, from which two rectangular interlocked bands descend vertically after running horizontally beneath it. The banding gives the cross a layered, almost textile quality. The margin running around the edge of the slab is plain and carries no inscription at all, which means whoever commissioned it either chose to remain anonymous or was commemorated in some other way that has not survived. The upper left corner of the slab has broken off entirely.

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Pete F
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