Memorial stone, Dublin South City, Co. Dublin
Co. Dublin |
Memorials
Most visitors to St Audeon's on High Street in Dublin pass through the nave without looking down, which means most visitors miss the large memorial stone set into the floor.
It is a substantial slab, measuring two and a half metres in length and over a metre wide, and what makes it quietly remarkable is the way its inscription was made. The text runs around three sides of the stone in what is known as false relief, a technique in which the lettering appears raised but is actually achieved by cutting away the background rather than carving the letters proud of the original surface. The effect can be easy to overlook in low light, which is fitting, perhaps, for a monument that has spent centuries underfoot.
The stone dates to the seventeenth century and lies within the nave of St Audeon's, the only surviving medieval parish church in Dublin's old city. The church itself has roots going back to at least the twelfth century, dedicated to St Ouen of Rouen, and the building retains fabric from several periods of that long history. The memorial stone, catalogued by archaeologist Geraldine Stout as part of the national monuments record, represents a common enough funerary tradition of the period, when families of means would commission floor slabs to mark burial positions within a church, often with inscriptions recording names and dates around the perimeter. The use of false relief rather than incised lettering suggests a certain ambition on the part of whoever commissioned it, even if the specific patron is not recorded in the surviving notes.
St Audeon's is accessed from High Street, close to the old city walls and the medieval arch of St Audeon's Gate. The church is managed by the Office of Public Works and is open to visitors during the summer season, though hours can vary, so it is worth checking before making a special journey. The nave is the main space where the stone lies, and because the floor is uneven and worn in places, it pays to walk slowly and let your eyes adjust to the interior light. The marginal inscription on three sides is easier to read when the light rakes across the surface at a low angle, which makes morning visits, when light enters from certain windows, more rewarding than arriving in the middle of the day.