ME-KLBY-0105

Record Date: 
15 September 2017
Graveyard: 
Kilberry
Exact wording of epitaph: 

Here
lyeth the
body of Mary Clark
who departed this
life February the
4th 17323 aged 24
years Requiescat
in pace

Memorial Type: 
Headstone
Grave location
County: 
Meath
Latitude: 
53.707651944444
Longitude: 
-6.6809219444444
Number of people commemorated: 
1
People commemorated: 
Name: 
Mary
Surname: 
Clark
Date of death - day: 
4
Date of death - month: 
February
Date of death - year: 
1732
Age: 
24
Notes: 

On West face is a carving of the memento mori symbol (skull and cross bones) which means 'remember you must die' and was a common grave sculpture of this period.

During the Middle Ages in Britain and Ireland the Gregorian Calendar was used. During this time the new year began on the 25th of March and ran to the 24th March of the following year. In 1750 Britain and Ireland passed legislation adopting the Julien Calendar which was widely used on the continent at that time and was more accurate. This meant that 1751 was from 25th March to 31st December only. We can see from this grave that Mary Clarke died in February 1732 which would have been during the second last month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. When the new calendar started in 1751 and the start of the year changed from March to January, this meant that in effect Mary died in the next year 1733. Either someone amended her headstone and added the 3, 20 years after she died, once the new calendar came into affect or the headstone wasn't erected until after 1751 and the person wished to commerate both Mary's year of death as it was at the time and the new year.