St Peter's (C of I) Graveyard, Drogheda

16th Century Cadaver Tomb

A Cadaver tomb or Transi are a form of funerary monument designed as a Momento mori, to remind us of the inevitability of death. The earliest surviving examples of these sculpted decomposed cadavers, appeared in France around the 1390s. The earliest sculpted effigy of this type of monument in England is the cadaver tomb of Bishop Richard Fleming in Lincoln Cathedral, it is a two-tiered monument, the top layer depicts the deceased as they looked around the time of death in Bishops attire and the lower layer depicts the rotting cadaver wrapped in an open shroud with worms etc. There are no tiered examples in Ireland. The earliest datable monument of this type in Ireland is the James Rice cadaver tomb, 1482-85, at Christ Church (C of I) Cathedral in Waterford City. Helen M. Roe suggests the cadaver tombs at Beaulieu (Bewley) and Stamullen in Meath maybe stylistically from an earlier period, sometime around 1450. Roe dates the Goldyng tomb to the first quarter of the 16th century.

The large tomb chest and mensa at St Peter's has been disassembled and all five parts have been built into or lean against the east wall of the churchyard. The 2.6 metre long by 1.5 metre wide mensa is one of the most macabre monuments I have visited in Ireland. It bears the cadavers or decomposed bodies Sir Edmond Goldyng of Peristownlaundy and one of his three wives Elizabeth Flemyng, believed to be a daughter of the Baron of Slane, but there is a lot of confusion surrounding which Baron that may be. Two sides and one end of the chest bear the Goldyng coat of arms, each one impaling those of his wives, I have identified them in the images below. The other end piece bears the coat of arms of Sir Edmonds son, Walter and his wife Elizabeth Darcee, see bottom image. There are several more interesting graveslabs bearing heraldic symbols located in the graveyard and an early 16th century font can be found inside the church.

Situated: In the graveyard of St Peter's (Church of Ireland) Church in the centre of Drogheda town on Peter's Hill, at the corner of WliiamStreet and Magdalene Street.

Discovery Map 43: O 08989 75408. Last visit June 2026.

Longitude: 6° 20' 58.7" W

Latitude: 53° 43' 01.8" N

Google Map.

Photos: José Gutiérrez.