BURGHof sarcophagi, carved out of a single stone, is confined
mainly to the Leinster region, the area most heavily
settled by the Anglo-Normans. Tomb inscriptions in
French in the thirteenth and early fourteenth century
are also found in this area, but Latin was the language
most commonly used for tomb inscriptions up to the
end of the sixteenth century. As a compromise between
the effigy and the floor-slab with floriated cross, a
figure or figures were sometimes incised on a flat slab
and in other cases, only the head was carved, with or
without the cross beneath it. It was only the wealthier
classes who would have been commemorated in this
way; the majority of the population continued to be
buried in simple pits aligned east-west, with the head
to the west, in cemeteries attached to the church.
Ecclesiastics of all sorts were buried with their heads
to the east, the theory being that they would face
their flock when rising on the last day. From about
the twelfth century, important ecclesiastics such as
bishops were sometimes buried with metalwork or
other items associated with their position, such as a
chalice, which was excavated in a grave at Mellifont;
a crozier at Cashel; and a ring and mitre at Ardfert.
Scallop shells found with burials at Tuam indicate
that these persons had made the pilgrimage to Com-
postella in Spain.
There is a lack of tomb sculpture, referred to by
Hunt as the “hiatus,” from 1350 to 1450, mainly due
to the Black Death, which had a catastrophic effect on
the colony, especially the towns, where many died as
a result of the plague. When the carving of slabs and
altar tombs became common again in the later fifteenth
century, saints, especially the apostles, were carved on
the side panels of the tombs and symbols of Christ’s
passion were carved on both tombs and floor slabs. A
preoccupation with man’s mortality led to the carving
of effigies as cadavers in some cases; a fine example
of this is the Rice monument in Waterford cathedral.
Contemporary with the fine altar tombs of the late
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially in the
regions around Dublin and Kilkenny, were slabs with
seven-pointed crosses and long inscriptions in Gothic
letters. These styles of memorials continued into the
seventeenth century in the case of Catholics of both
Gaelic and Old English origin, while new styles of
commemoration of the Protestant New English appear
from the mid sixteenth century.
CONLETH MANNING
References and Further Reading
Conway, Malachy. Director’s First Findings from Excavations
in Cabinteely. Glenageary: Margaret Gowen & County Ltd.,
1999.
Fry, Susan L. Burials in Medieval Ireland, 900–1500: A
Review of the Written Sources. Dublin: Four Courts Press,
1999.
Hunt, John. Irish Medieval Figure Sculpture, 1200–1600. 2 Vols.
Dublin and London: Irish University Press, Sotheby Parke
Bernet, 1974.
Hurley, Maurice F. and Sarah W.J. McCutcheon. “St. Peter’s
Church and Graveyard.” In Late Viking Age and Medieval
Waterford: Excavations, 1986–1992, edited by Maurice F.
Hurley, et al., 190–227. Waterford: Waterford Corporation,
1997.
Lionard, Pádraig. “Early Irish Grave Slabs.” Proceedings of the
Royal Irish Academy61C (1961): 95–169.
Macalister, R. A. S. Corpus inscriptionum insularum Celti-
carum. 2 Vols. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1945–1949.
Maher, Denise. Medieval Grave Slabs of County Tipperary,
1200–1600A.D. Oxford: BAR British Series 262, 1997.
Manning, Conleth. “Archaeological Excavation of a Succession
of Enclosures at Millockstown, County Louth.” Proceedings
of the Royal Irish Academy86C (1986): 135–181.
Marshall, Jenny White, and Grellan D. Rourke. High Island:
An Irish Monastery in the Atlantic. Dublin: Town House &
Country House, 2000.
O’Brien, Elizabeth. “Pagan and Christian Burial in Ireland Dur-
ing the First Millennium A.D.: Continuity and Change.” In
The Early Church in Wales and the West, edited by Nancy
Edwards and Alan Lane, 130–137. Oxford: Oxbow mono-
graph 16, 1992.
———. “A Reconsideration of the Location and Context of
Viking Burials at Kilmainham/Islandbridge, Dublin.” In
Dublin and Beyond the Pale: Studies in Honour of Patrick
Healy, edited by Conleth Manning, 35–44. Bray: Wordwell,
1998.See alsoAltar-Tombs; Clonmacnoise;
Ecclesiastical Sites; Ecclesiastical Settlements;
Inscriptions; Parish Churches, Cathedrals;
Reliquaries.BURGHLords of Connacht
The progenitor of the de Burghs (Burkes, Bourkes, de
Búrca) in Ireland was William de Burgh, who is often
given the epithet “the Conqueror.” He is not to be
(although he sometimes is) confused with one William
fitz Adelm (or Audelin), who filled the offices of sen-
eschal and deputy to Henry II. The origins of the de
Burgh family lie in Norfolk. William came to Ireland
with the Lord John in 1185 and obtained a grant of
land in Munster very soon after. De Burgh erected the
castle of Kilfeakle in 1192. He maintained friendly
relations with Domnall Mór Ua Briain, whose daugh-
ter he married around 1193. The marriage-alliance
strengthened his position in Munster substantially and
he soon started colonization. John made William a
speculative grant of Connacht in 1195. He also held