185 



ruined church of Rathmore, near Kells, in the county of 

 Meath. This inscription remains on a stone tablet inserted 

 in the southern wall of the interior of this church. The tablet 

 measures three feet and one inch in length, by one foot and 

 three inches in height ; and is said to have been originally 

 placed above the northern porch, a supposition which tlie 

 terms of the inscription appear to favour. The words are 

 much contracted, and are elegantly cut, in the black letter 

 character of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The in- 

 scription runs thus: 



©rate p ninfas CTstofori ^lukt He Hatftmore iHiiait» (| 

 Hatne ^fton uxis ei^ (j crute lapilica infra biHa (sta ante 

 timi'tertu cosstructerut 5 gorticu istu et oib° ante cvucc ptiicta 

 liicents pr nr 5 abe ma p aiab^ titoru OTstofoti 5 Itatne (| 

 parentu suoru cocessu est iJucent iJics intjulgecie p b epos i 

 coci° ^biciali totics qties ^etufs tcpt'bs Imraturis. a° trni 



Without the contractions, it reads as follows : 



ORATE PRO ANIMABUS CRISTOFORI PLUNKET DE RATHMORE 

 MILITIS ET KATERINi^ PRESTON UXORIS EJUS QUI CRUCEM 

 LAPIDEAM INFRA VILLAM ISTAM ANTE CIMITERIUM CONSTRUC- 

 TERUNT ET PORTICUM ISTUM ET OMNIBUS ANTE CRUCEM 

 PR.EDICTAM DICENTIBUS PATER NOSTER ET AVE MARIA PRO 

 ANIMABUS DICTORUM CRISTOFORI ET KATERIN^ ET PAREN- 

 TUM SUORUM CONCESSUM EST DUCENTI DIES INDULGENCI^ 

 PER QUINQUE EPISCOPOS IN CONCILIO PROVINCIALI TOTIES 

 QUOTIES PERPETUIS TEMPORIBUS DURATURIS ANNO DOMINI 

 M'.CCCCC'.XIX". 



This porch has long since fallen to the ground, and the 

 whole church is now a ruin of much picturesque beauty ; the 

 great eastern window, and a square tower of considerable 

 height, still presenting objects of no little interest to the lovers 

 of ecclesiastical architecture and antiquities. 



The Plunkets of Rathmore were a distinguished branch 

 of a family long settled in the county of Meath ; and Chris- 



