CLONAGAM CHURCH INTERIOR part 2

Underneath find images of twelve wall-mounted memorials,

relating mainly to members of the Medlycott and Beresford families.

Lord William de la Poer Beresford, V.C.,  of the 9^th Queen’s Royal Lancers in the British army, was the third son of Lord John Beresford, 4^th Marquis of Waterford and his wife, Christina Leslie.

While a captain at the age of 31 during the Zulu war, he was awarded the Victoria Cross . . . the most celebrated decoration which could be awarded for gallantry . . .  following the rescue of a Sergeant Fitzmaurice  from advancing Zulu warriors. He refused to accept the award from Queen Victoria unless a colleague, Sergeant O’Toole, who had rendered invaluable assistance during the incident,  received the same decoration, which wish was granted.  O’Toole was even more deserving of the award, Captain Beresford said.   

He later rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Lord William is buried at Clonagam cemetery.

The inscription on the above black and white marble memorial was extremely difficult to read, 

and runs as follows:

Sacred

to the memory

of Mary, wife of the

Rev. J. T.(?)  Medlycott of

Rocketts Castle, and daughter

of the late

AMBROSE CONGREVE

of Mount Congreve, Esq., who departed this

life on the xx (?) Oct. 1843. Aged 47 years. 

followed by words from Ecclesiastes, too illegible to transcribe!

The memorial was also inscribed:  Kennedy Waterford.

William Clayton Clayton, whose memorial is shown above, was killed on Christmas Day 1876 while playing Polo at Delhi, India. He was a Captain in the 9th Royal Lancers, aka The Delhi Spearmen,  a British Army regiment. He is mentioned in the book - 'The Evolution of Polo' - by Horace A Laffaye. 

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The image underneath, positioned directly over the inside of the front door, depicts

the Royal Coat of Arms of the U.K.

This coat of arms was first adopted by Kind Edward III of England, who lived from 1312 to 1377.

It is extremely large and in a very dark situation, necessitating the use of a torch once more,

with the kind assistance of my friend, Jack Kelly. 

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This concludes part II of the church interior.  Further text will be added, if and when available.
Part III in this series will follow later. 

Place cursor over image. One left click will show an enlarged copy on black!