Marshall’s Monument

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Three lancet windows close the chancel of St Mary’s, New Ross, County Wexford. Founded at the start of the 13th century by William Marshall and/or his wife Isabel de Clare, this was one of the first Perpendicular Gothic churches built in Ireland and most likely the largest at the time. Even in the present condition, it remains a monument to the couple’s ambitions. Having fallen into disrepair, a new Anglican place of worship was built on the site of the nave in 1813 with funds provided by the Board of First Fruits and remains in use for services to the present day (its chancel wall can be seen behind the empty windows). The interior of the ruins contain a substantial collection of mediaeval, and later, funerary monuments most of them within the two transepts (that to the south shown below).

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One comment on “Marshall’s Monument

  1. Patricia Cleveland-Peck says:

    It is of interest to see the depiction of the (easily recognised) St Mary’s in one of the embroidered panels of the glorious Ros Tapestry on show in New Ross. This, Ireland’s answer to the Bayeux, consists of 15 panels illustrating the history of the area with special reference to the coming of the Normans

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