IN MEMORY OF ANNIE McCARTHY NOONAN, DUNMANWAY, DIED 8 - 9 - 1842 ERECTED BY HER SON JAMES, R.I.P.
| I spotted this headstone a while back at St. Bartholomew’s in Kinneigh – a cemetery that has already prompted more than one blog post. This headstone prompted an array of thoughts. It reminded of the name plaque on the Old Youghal Road – was the carver still in apprenticeship? I have enjoyed the tweets from @PoorFrankRaw where he notes some errors cast in stone – setting out and spelling. But I do not think this headstone is in the same category. My first though upon seeing the memorial was to be brought back to early school days with the red and blue lined paper to ensure that my pencil written letters were of reasonable consistent size – a skill that did not stay very long. Tom Spalding pointed out that the sign at Tuckey Street is similarly scored with marker lines – but no way as obvious as this. The romantic in me took over and convinced that James not only erected the headstone but, not for reasons of economics but for affection and pride, that James took lessons and decided to make his first carving in stone. The carving had the marker lines very prominent. The carving is not an example of how to set out text. It is, however, a carving that outlived him and still shows the depth of his affection for his mother. Maybe. Maybe not. I prefer the maybe. |    |
