Graveslab, Swords Glebe, Co. Dublin

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Tombs & Memorials

Graveslab, Swords Glebe, Co. Dublin

Laid into the centre aisle of a Church of Ireland building in Swords Glebe is a limestone graveslab that predates the church above it by more than two centuries.

The slab commemorates individuals named Blakeney and Taylor, who died in 1587, a date that places them firmly in the Elizabethan period, when the Reformation was reshaping religious life across Ireland and the old Gaelic order was giving way to new colonial arrangements. That such an early slab survives at all is quietly remarkable; that it ended up beneath the floor of a church built in 1818 speaks to the common Irish practice of reusing sacred ground across successive phases of building.

The slab itself is coffin-shaped, a form that follows a medieval tradition of tapering the stone to echo the outline of the body beneath. It measures 1.8 metres in length and 0.64 metres in width, and carries a marginal inscription executed in false relief Gothic lettering, meaning the letters appear raised but are achieved through cutting away the surrounding surface rather than carving the letters proud of an untouched face. The lettering style is characteristic of late sixteenth-century funerary craft in Ireland. The slab is recorded by Bradley and King in their 1988 survey of Irish medieval inscriptions, which gives some sense of its recognised scholarly interest, even if it rarely draws public attention.

Visitors hoping to see the slab in person should be aware that access to the church is not currently possible. The building suffered a roof collapse, and as of the information available, it remains closed. The slab sits in the centre aisle, so even a partial view through a window or open door, if such an opportunity arose, might offer a glimpse of the stone in situ. Anyone with a particular interest in early modern funerary monuments would do well to contact the relevant local heritage or church authorities before making a special journey, since the situation with the building may have changed since the closure was recorded.

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