I just noticed when glancing through the recent published tombstone transcriptions from Old Shanakyle in Kilrush at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... s_east.htm that a lot of those buried there are described as "Enfant de Marie" or "E de M".
A little Googling reveals that these (mostly young) women were members of the Confraternity of the Child of Mary.
Was the habit of putting these initials on tombstone inscriptions peculiar to Kilrush or has it been seen elsewhere?
E de M
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Re: E de M
Depending on the death date, I think this designation will also often mean that the woman so designated was educated at a convent secondary school, possibly pre-1878 (Intermediate Education (Ireland) Act). Not that they didn't become sodalists after that date, of course, but I think that in the mid-19th century indicating that you had been educated to be a "lady" was an important sign that your family was becoming upwardly mobile. See Máire Kealey's book on Dominican education for interesting comments on the education of the daughters of strong farmers, and of merchants and professional men in rural towns.