Death, Burial and Commemoration in Ireland, 1550–1650

241 Pages·2002·1.567 MB·English

by  Clodagh Tait (auth.)

Early Modern History: Society and Culture
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ALCOHOL, SEX AND GENDER IN LATE MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN EUROPE
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Craig Muldrew
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PRINT AND POPULAR CULTURE IN IRELAND, 1750–1850
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Clodagh Tait
DEATH, BURIAL AND COMMEMORATION IN IRELAND, 1550–1650
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Death, Burial and
Commemoration in Ireland,
1550–1650
Clodagh Tait
© Clodagh Tait 2002
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
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or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this
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as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2002 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the new global academic imprint of the
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ISBN 978-1-349-43271-4 ISBN 978-1-4039-1395-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403913951
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from
fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tait, Clodagh, 1974–
Death, burial and commemoration in Ireland,
1550-1650/Clodagh Tait.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Funeral rites and ceremonies––Ireland––History––16th
century. 2. Funeral rites and ceremonies–– Ireland––
History––17th century. 3. Ireland––Social life and
customs––16th century. 4. Ireland––Social life and
customs––17th century. I. Title.
GT3247.5.A2 T35 2002
393'.9––dc21 2002066322
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
Contents
List of Maps and Figures vi
List of Abbreviations vii
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction 1
2 Dying Well: Experiences of Death 7
3 From Death to Burial 30
4 Burial Location and Society 59
5 The Politics of Disinterment 85
6 The Nature and Uses of Funerary Monuments 97
7 Funerary Monuments and Society: Family, Honour and Death 113
8 Afterlives 135
9 Conclusion 156
Notes 163
Select Bibliography 212
Index 219
v
List of Maps and Figures
Map 1 Map of Ireland c.1550–1650 x
Map 2 Irish dioceses xi
Figure 1 Transi slab, early sixteenth century, St Peter’s churchyard,
Drogheda. 32
Figure 2 White chapel, St Mary’s church, Clonmel. 89
Figure 3 Dillon tomb, Trim, Co. Meath – ‘The Jealous Man and
His Wife’. 111
Figure 4 St Leger monument, Christchurch cathedral,
Dublin (detail). 117
Figure 5 Jones Monument, St Patrick’s cathedral, Dublin
(Courtesy of Dúchas, the Heritage Service). 125
Figure 6 Wayside cross with crucifixion, Dunsany, Co. Meath. 141
Figure 7 Agard monument, Christchurch cathedral, Dublin. 157
vi
List of Abbreviations
AFM Annals of the Four Masters
Anal. Hib. Analecta Hibernica
Arch. Hib. Archivium Hibernicum
CE The Catholic Encyclopaedia (1907 edition)
Cal. Carew Mss Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts
Cal. S. P. Dom Calendar of State Papers Domestic
Cal. S. P. Ire Calendar of the State Papers Relating to Ireland
Funeral Entries W. Fitzgerald, Some Funeral Entries of Ireland from a
Manuscript Version in the British Museum(1909)
GO Genealogical Office, National Library of Ireland
IER Irish Ecclesiastical Record
IHS Irish Historical Studies
Ir. Econ. Soc. Hist Irish Economic and Social History
JCHAS Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society
JCLAHS Journal of the Co. Louth Archaeological and Historical
Society
JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History
JGAHS Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society
JKAHS Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society
JKAS Journal of the Kildare Archaeological Society
JRSAI Journals of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
JWSEAS Journal of the Waterford and South-East of Ireland
Archaeological Society
Lismore Papers A. B. Grosart (ed.), The Lismore Papers (1886–8)
Mems Dead Journals of the Association for the Preservation of the
Memorials of the Dead in Ireland
Ms. Manuscript
NAI National Archives of Ireland, Dublin
NAI, RC National Archives of Ireland, Dublin, Record
Commissioners transcripts
NLI National Library of Ireland, Dublin
NMAJ North Munster Antiquarian Journal
PRIA Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy
TCD Trinity College, Dublin
TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society
UCC University College, Cork
UCD University College, Dublin
UJA Ulster Journal of Archaeology
vii
viii List of Abbreviations
A note on quotations
Quotations are given in their original form and spelling, though in some
cases abbreviations have been eliminated and slight changes have been
necessary in the interest of clarity. Latin quotations, especially those from
funerary monuments, have been silently translated – most of these
translations are not my own.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to David Edwards of University College, Cork, for his
support, encouragement and assistance throughout the researching and
writing of this book. Thanks also to Rab Houston, Edward Muir and the
anonymous reader of the manuscript for their comments and assistance
during the publication process, and to Luciana O’Flaherty of Palgrave
Macmillan for her practical support.
I also wish to thank Colm Lennon, Nicholas Canny, Alan Ford and
Raymond Gillespie, who offered valuable suggestions on earlier drafts of the
manuscript, and other help and support. Thanks also to Éamon Lankford,
Bronagh Allison, Amy Harris, Stefanie Knoell, Sophie Oosterwijk, Paul
Cockerham, Salvador Ryan, Marie-Louise Coolahan, Brian MacCucuta,
Conleth Manning, Vincent Comerford, Alan Burke, Nigel Llewellyn, Jane
Ohlmeyer and Allan MacInnes. William Roulston kindly drew the maps.
Thanks to the National Library of Ireland for permission to cite material and
to use the jacket illustration and to the Board of Trinity College Dublin, also
for permission to cite manuscripts. Thanks also to Dúchas, the Heritage
Service, for photographs.
This book was researched and revised under the auspices of a
postgraduate studentship and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department
of History, University College, Cork, and a Government of Ireland
Fellowship in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. I wish to thank
my colleagues at both institutions. I also wish to thank my friends and
family for their support, especially John and Eunice Tait, Lilian Tait and Bill
Frazer. This book is dedicated to them.
ix