Tomb - effigial (present location)

The National Monuments Service's description

An effigial tomb found by Hunt (1974, vol. 1, 165; vol. 2, fig. 111) in the gable of an outhouse in Ballykeefe Bog townland. , Co. Kilkenny (see KK022-055----). 

Hunt (ibid.) describes the figure as being, 'two feet eight inches [0.82m] high and carved in very high relief. She has a nebuly head-dress, the sides descending to the shoulders and the edges engraved to represent gauffered linen. She has a round-necked gown to the feet, buttoned to the waist and falling in pleats below that to the feet. Her right hand holds a fold of the mantle which can be seen over the shoulders, and the left holds the mantle string which runs straight across her breast from side to side passing under her fore-finger but over her left thumb. She has tight cuffs. The overgrown has sleeves to the elbow with lappets of medium length. Tradition says that the stone came from Ballykeefe Castle [KK022-013001-] nearby and was probably placed in its present position about sixty or seventy years ago’.

It is unlikely that the tomb came from Ballykeefe Castle but it may have come from the church at Kilballykeefe (KK022-015001-) which lies c. 1.5km NE of the farmyard where it was recorded by Hunt and c. 850m ENE of Ballykeefe Castle. The next closest church (KK022-018005-) is in Killaloe which lies c. 2km SW of the farmyard and which has two 13th/14th-century graveslabs (KK022-018002-; KK022-018004-) in the graveyard. It is currently housed in the National Museum of Ireland.

 

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

References

Hunt, J. 1974 Irish medieval figure sculpture 1200-1600, 2 vols. Dublin. Irish University Press.