Our Heritage in Stone - Stone Plaques in Dungarvan

Walking around Dungarvan and Abbeyside there are stone plaques, almost all of limestone, which record or commemorate an event, street, building or person. We pass by these without noticing them most of the time, but it is easy for such items to disappear during renovations to buildings and structures.

It is important that they are recorded visually and that they are given protection to ensure their preservation.  This week we show a selection of these plaques, a few of which are no longer visible and are probably destroyed or lost. 

Stone formerly on the facade of the Christian Brothers Monastery and

now fixed to a modern wall on the site.  It is inscribed:

This house was built in 1851

For the Christian Brothers

By the munificence of

Miss Anne Carbery

And by the bequests of her sisters

Miss Ellen and Miss Mary Carbery

May they rest in peace

This street name plaque inscribed 'B.G.M. Castle Street 1727' can now be seen in Barrack Lane in front of the WWI memorial.  The stone had been lost and was rediscovered in the 1970s at the lookout when improvement works were being undertaken.  We don't know what the initials G.B.M. stand for but it may refer to a member of Dungarvan Corporation or a landowner who owned property on the street.

A limestone street name plaque inscribed 'Galwey's Lane 1740'.  The

Galweys were a well-known merchant family in the town (later of

Duckspool and Colligan Lodge), who had property in the area.  The

stone was removed when Moloney's Store was demolished and re-

erected on the building which replaced it. 

This is one of the most decorative stone plaques to be seen in Dungarvan.  It can be seen at the base of No. 21 Church Street and is inscribed: 'Patricke Gough 1615', the P and G are carved as interlaced letters.  There are two other capital letters, A and part of another now damaged.  It also contains a hand holding a stamp or seal.  It commemorates Gough who was Attorney for Session in 1591 and Portreeve of Dungarvan in 1602.  The stone is either a commemorative foundation stone or part of a fireplace once incorporated into a stone house on this site.