Graveslab, New Ross, Co. Wexford
Co. Wexford |
Tombs & Memorials
Set into the western wall of a chancel in New Ross, a medieval limestone graveslab survives in something close to its original form, despite three significant cracks running through the stone and further damage along its upper edge.
At roughly 1.9 metres tall and varying between 0.4 and 0.52 metres in width, it is a substantial piece of funerary carving, the kind that would once have marked the burial of someone of local consequence.
The slab is carved in relief with a floriate cross, meaning the cross arms terminate in or are decorated with leaf-like, flowering forms rather than plain geometric ends, a style common in Irish medieval stonework. The cross rises from a stepped base, a design element that echoes the form of an actual altar or standing cross, giving the whole composition a sense of architectural solidity. The wall it occupies is described as an inserted one, suggesting the western wall of the chancel was a later addition to the building's fabric, and the slab was incorporated into it at that point rather than laid flat as a floor stone.