TS-EMOG-0674

Graveyard: 
Emly
Exact wording of epitaph: 

LOCUS  IN

QUEM  INTRAS

TERRA  SANCTA

EST  1641

R. JONES   PCENT

Memorial Type: 
Wall or mural tablet
Grave location
County: 
Tipperary
Latitude: 
52.463085
Longitude: 
-8.351027
Additional details
Inscription legible: 
Yes
Number of people commemorated: 
1
People commemorated: 
Title: 
Precentor
Name: 
R.
Surname: 
Jones
Date of death - year: 
1641
Notes: 

On the wall adjoining the left pier of the main entrance to Emly’s old graveyard is this inscription in Latin  which translates as ‘In 1641, within this place of sacred ground is R. Jones, Precentor’. We know from this that Emly is a very old graveyard.

Robert Jones became Precentor in Emly in 1628. A precentor was next in line to the dean of the cathedral and was responsible for directing the choral services etc.

Emly was an important ecclesiastical centre until the seventeenth century and at one time was a diocese on it's own. The founding of the monastery in Emly was attributed to St. Ailbe, who according to the Annals of Inis Fallen died in 528 AD.

No physical remains of the original monastery survive but it is presumed that the monastic enclosure coincided with the present day old graveyard. The presence of a cross (image 0160) and a well (image 0501), both traditionally associated with St. Ailbe tend to support this assumption.

The foundation stone for the present day St. Ailbe’s church was laid by Archbishop Croke on the 30th May 1880 and the church was opened for divine service on the 6th January 1883.