Sunday 22 May 2022

The oldest tomb surround in Ireland at Athassel Abbey in Tipperary

 

Young describes this (p98) as "the oldest surviving tomb surround in Ireland". It comes from Athassel Abbey and is now located in the Vicars Choral at the Rock of Cashel.

It is very interesting as it is made from Dundry oolite and is likely to have been brought from Bristol in England. (Probably in rough stone and carved in Ireland).

I'm not sure if it is the oldest surround but seemingly it can be dated by apparent fire damage to the stone which is recorded in ancient records as being either 1319 or 1329. So that is its minimum age.

It is suggested that it may have been designed as the tomb surround for Walter de Burgh (d. 1271) and been reused for the Red Earl of Ulster (d. 1326).

Additional fragments were found in the 1970s and are now housed in the OPW depot in Kilkenny and Manning wrote about them below. It also features a photo of the main panel in-situ at Athassel.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25503305

 

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