Cemeteries: Callan Memorials *********************************************** Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives Kilkenny Index Copyright ************************************************ File contributed by: by C.Hunt CEMETERIES: CALLAN MEMORIALS " HIC JACET GERALDUS COMERFORD ARMIGER QUONDAM REGIUS ATHORNAIUS CONACAE ET THOMONDAE SECUNDARIUS BARRO SCACCARI ET DEMUM CAPITALIS JUSTICIARIUS PREDICTO MOMONIA, EXCESSIT E VIVIS APUD COWLNAMUCKIE NOVENB., 1604, FELICE GUBERNIO ILLUS- TRESSIMI DOMINI REGIS JACOBI SECUNDO ET SCOTIA TRICESSIMO SEPTIMO." "Here lies the celebrated man, Gerald COMERFORD, Esquire. who was King's Attorney of Connaught and Thomond, Second Baron of the Exchequer, and finally was appointed Chief Justice of Munster. His life departed at Coolnamuck, in the County of Waterford, on the 4th November 1604 in the second year of the happy government of our illustrious Lord King James and the seven-and-thirtieth of his reign in Scotland. "The foregoing is an inscription on a table or altar monument against the wall in the northern aisle. The emblems of the Passion and Crucifixion of our Lord are displayed on the front panel. The flag supporting the head has a shield sculptured in high relief, viz.- Per pale: dexter, a bugle horn garnished, between three mullets; sinister, a chevron between the three arrow-heads. The end panel has been displaced, but lies on the ground [147] adjacent. The arms on this are - Quarterly - 1st and 4th a pile between two others reversed' 2nd, 3rd. a cross flore between three swans. 'Gerald or Garret Comerford. whose memory is here commemorated, seems to have been in high favor with the Crown. The Queen directed a pension of £20 a-year to be paid to Gerald Comerford, who had gone to study the Law for his help, he being a younger brother and destitute of maintenance, in consequence of infirmities grown upon him in his limbs. Her Majesty gave him permission to return to his own country for recovery of his health, A.D. 1558' --------- 'No. XIII.'- "Fortunate lapis dives qui fuere' Thomae ossa Sepulchrali condita mole tegis Callaniae flore' cocca complecteris urna' No tam hic berno flos nobat imbre decus Ma- jorem gen' huic clar' dedit Anglia nomen. Daud usquam clausae `posthuma fama dom vive polo cui bita solo est nece dededit omnis Pompa Soli Soli bibere disce Deo. 1629" O! fortunate stone, which enriched by the death of THOMAS do'st cover his bones in the sepuchral mound. Thou do'st hold the flower of Callan in thy gloomy urn, yet this flower does not renew its beauty by vernal shower' England, the country of his ancestors gave to him an illustrious name. The glory of a house that was never closed still survives. Live for Heaven where alone life is! At death all the glory of the world fades. Lear to live for God alone! 1629.' 'This once elegant, though now sadly damaged monument. is placed high on the wall of the gable on the southern side, between the window and the church door. Being the only mural monument outside the door, it is conspicuous and is generally the first which attracts the attention of visitors to the place. The inscription is in old English characters, runs along a framed oblong panel. leaving a space unlettered at each end, on which is cut a representation of a rose bush in flower. This panel supports [148] a handsome shield, bearing the following arms viz. - Per pale; dexter. first and fourth, a talbot passant; second and third, five mullets on a cross engrailed; sinister, three swords - two in saltier, pointed downwards; one in pale, pointed upwards. There are two crests: first, on an esquire's helmet, from a coronet a peacock's head issuant; the second, a swan over a helmet. Each crest has a separate motto on a scroll curving backward over each. The first is - "Vertus venusta"; the second - Vincit veritas." On a scroll beneath the shield is that of So. Hon. Hoo, Den. A deeply-cut mantling descends from the helmets at each side and terminates in large tassels. On a pinnacle surmounting the whole, the sacred monogram is cut in relief. Beneath the panel on which the inscription is cut, there was formerly another of which the frame alone now remains. 'The family to whom the three foregoing monuments beloned, traced descent for sir Fulco de COMERFORD, who brought twenty men-at-arms and four knights of his own kindred to aid William of Normandy in his invasion of England in the year 1066. In a MS. quoted by Blake FOSTER, he has been described as "Ane gudely Knyght and ancesture of ye COMERFORDS, Barons of DANGEANMORE" 'A tradition transmitted in Irish tells of three ladies of this family (who in the story are termed "The SHAUGHRAMS") who supplied to a certain bishop the funds which defrayed the cost of building the three aisles of the church as the nave and side aisles are here commonly called. It states the ladies gave equal shares of their fortunes for this purpose, stipulating that each should have a distinct portion erected on her behalf; and to this cause is attributed the form of the structure of this portion of the building which is peculiar to itself.' (To be continued) Journal of the Association for the Preservation of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland Microfilm of original published: Dublin: The Association, 1895-1917. 7 v.