These are not decorative stonework or later carvings added for effect. They are burial markers, the kind once laid flat over the dead, now set upright and load-bearing, holding the shape of a window arch in a ruined church wall.

The slab recorded here is one of eleven early granite grave slabs documented at the site by Swords in 2009. Early grave slabs of this type are among the most understated survivals of early Christian Ireland, typically plain or bearing simple incised crosses, and usually cut from local stone. This particular example measures 0.93 metres in length and tapers from 0.36 metres at its wider end to 0.15 metres at its narrowest, a shape that reflects the practical demands of marking an individual burial rather than any decorative intention. Granite, being both locally available in County Dublin and highly durable, was the material of choice here, which likely accounts for how many of these slabs have survived at all. That four of the eleven should have ended up mortared into a window arch, presumably during some phase of repair or rebuilding at the church, says something about how attitudes to such objects shifted over the centuries.

Tully church and graveyard sit in what is now a suburban stretch of south County Dublin, not far from Cherrywood. The graveyard remains in use and the church ruin is accessible, though the site rewards a slow look rather than a quick scan. The east window, where the slabs are incorporated into the arch, is the detail to seek out specifically. Knowing in advance that the stonework around the window is not simply dressed granite but includes repurposed grave markers changes how you read the whole structure.