References:
See No. 391 for references. 385 / LYNCH (Uninscribed "Flamboyant Tomb") Notes This fine flamboyant tomb is uninscribed but is associated, traditionally, with the Lynch family. The monument is a fine wall tomb with an elaborate canopy of a type typical of a group of "flamboyant-style" wall-tombs which are found mainly in the West and North West of Ireland. The fine Flamboyant tomb (Cat. No. 385) associated with the Lynch family (though sometimes mistitled the Joyce tomb), is located in the South (Lynch) Tratisept. Though wall tombs with traceried openings began to be produced by the end of the 14th century most of the elaborate and typical examples date from the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Not all of the "related" group of tombs even have tracery which could be described as Flamboyant in style, though some could be described as such. Though outside influences are frequently cited to explain the presence of these tombs in Ireland it is clear that their tracery is closely paralleled in Irish window tracery and in the decoration of pierced screens from Britain and Ireland. Drawing by Keith Kelly. Cat. No. 385. A detail of the Flamboyant tomb associated with the Lynch family in the South Transept. This panel has been deliberately defaced. It is one of a small group of Irish depictions of the theme "Christ Showing the Five Wounds". Drawing by Majella Brien. A detail of one of the panels on the side of the Flamboyant tomb in the South Transpet. (Cat. No. 385) Drawing by Majella Brien. Though the earliest examples are slightly earlier (late 14th century), the majority of these flamboyant wall-tombs date to the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The monument consists of a traceried canopy with crocketed finials, moulded and carved side-panels and an arcaded base with a heavily moulded surround. The arched top is pointed in form and heavily moulded. It surrounds an elaborately pierced screen decorated with flame-like mouchettes. Each of the twenty mouchettes is double-cusped. There is a central uncusped triangle at the middle of the screen. The bottom of the arch is decorated with a row of cusps. The outer order of the arch is ogee-shaped, has crocketed decoration, and a central finial. A pair of further decorative finials with architectural embellishments occur on each side of the arch. These finials are decorated with formalised vine leaves springing in each case from the top of a miniature ogee-shaped recess. The sides of the tomb are decorated by moulded strips ornamented with recessed arcading. The string-captitals and bases at the top and bottom of each side panel are heavily moulded. Each of the side panels is decorated with an arch carved in false relief. Each arched recess has a crocketed top and finial. The recess on the right contains a crowned figure with outstretched hands. This represents Christ showing his Five Wounds. The face of the figure has been deliberately destroyed and there is also some damage to the hands and one of the feet. Christ is shown wearing a cloak fastened by a simple, circular, annular brooch. The garment is also wrapped around the lower part of the body but the chest and stomach are shown bare. The wound in Christ's right side is clearly indicated. The wounds on one of the feet and on both hands are also clearly shown. It is absent however from the damaged foot. A small rectangle of stone has been inserted in the soffit of the right hand side just below the string-capital. The left hand panel has the same arcaded decoration as that on the right but there is no figure in this instance. Instead, the arch is cusped and each cusp has a foliate terminal. The spandrels of each cusp are also decorated with triangular foliate patterns. The base is surrounded on three sides by a heavy moulding. There is however no moulding at the bottom of the monument. The frontal of the tomb consists of one massive slab decorated with an arcade of seven ogee-headed recesses. Each arch-top has a foliate crocketing and each arch is divided one from the other by a long finial decorated with foliate ornaments. The first three arches have vine-leaf-type finials at their apexes. The rest are derivations of the finials found in a similar position on the side panels which support the tomb. Numerous traces of paint survive in the grooves of the carvings and in the backgrounds to some of the panels. The Lynch tomb in the corner of the South Transept. Traditionally it is associated with Mayor James Lynch FitzStephen. The tomb is however linked to the Athy and Lynch families by its heraldry and to another, as yet unidentified arms. Its merchants' or tradesmen's marks also link it to the so-called "Empty Frame" above it, and to heraldry elsewhere in the church. Drawing by Keith Kelly. (A) The merchant's mark and a pair of impaled coats of arms in a single shield on the pier at the junction of the South Aisle and the South Transept. This can be linked with both the Lynch tomb and the "Empty Frame “ which occurs in the wall above it (Cat. No. 386a). A similar combination of arms is rebuilt into the South facade of the church (along the parapet fH)). In both cases the Lynch and Athy arms are conjoined by an archaic method of impaling known as dimidation. All the charges of each arms are divided vertically, before then being joined together in a single shield. The same mark is associated with a Lynch arms and another mark on a reused window fragment built in O'Connor's facade in shop Street ((B), (C) and (D)). The same symbol also occurs on a gargoyle on the South facade of St. Nicholas' (E). The mark occurs too, in combination with another on the soffit of a window on the West facade of the church. A similar, but not identical, mark occurs beneath the stop of another window of the South Aisle. See Higgins (1992) "Irish Merchant's and Tradesmen's Marks". Drawing (A) by Majella Brien, (B)-(H) by Jennifer McKenna.
