Local traditions in early eighteenth-century commemoration: the headstone memorials from Balrothery, Co. Dublin, and their place in the evolution of Irish and British commemorative practice

H. Mytum

Local traditions in early eighteenth-century commemoration: the headstone memorials from Balrothery, Co. Dublin, and their place in the evolution of Irish and British commemorative practice

H. Mytum

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper describes and analyses the early eighteenth-century headstones from Balrothery and other nearby graveyards in northern County Dublin with regard to size, shape, decoration and textual content. A distinct local design repertoire is evident. The texts display age and gender biases in commemoration, with older adults and males dominating. The Balrothery headstones are compared with others from Ireland and Britain, and a phase of marking burial with small stones is identified that predates the gravestone boom occurring from the middle of the eighteenth century. These early burial markers are relatively small compared with later eighteenth-century memorials, but a trend towards erecting larger stones over time is discernible. Most commemorate the deceased, some others emphasise location of the body, and a few explicitly indicate plot ownership.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-35
Number of pages	34
Journal	Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C
Volume	104C
Issue number	1
Publication status	Published - 15 Mar 2004

Bibliographical note

A copy of this paper is freely available from the publisher web site.

Access to Document

http://www.ria.ie/cgi-bin/ria/papers/100423.pdf

Cite this

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title = "Local traditions in early eighteenth-century commemoration: the headstone memorials from Balrothery, Co. Dublin, and their place in the evolution of Irish and British commemorative practice",

abstract = "This paper describes and analyses the early eighteenth-century headstones from Balrothery and other nearby graveyards in northern County Dublin with regard to size, shape, decoration and textual content. A distinct local design repertoire is evident. The texts display age and gender biases in commemoration, with older adults and males dominating. The Balrothery headstones are compared with others from Ireland and Britain, and a phase of marking burial with small stones is identified that predates the gravestone boom occurring from the middle of the eighteenth century. These early burial markers are relatively small compared with later eighteenth-century memorials, but a trend towards erecting larger stones over time is discernible. Most commemorate the deceased, some others emphasise location of the body, and a few explicitly indicate plot ownership.",

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