Stone sculpture

The National Monuments Service's description

Church and graveyard survey commissioned by Kerry Co. Co. which was carried out in 2008 recorded that; 'A decorated sandstone has been incorporated into the fabric of the interior southern elevation, to the immediate east of the doorway' (Buckley and Dunne 2008, 10). In 1854 the carved stone was described as lying 'inside against the south wall of the church. It is a block of coarse red sand-stone, the same material of which the church is built, and which the adjacent mountain range furnishes; and measures, in length, eighteen inches [0.45m] at one side, and fifteen inches [0.38m] at the other; and the greatest thickness is about seven inches [0.17m]. The resemblance between this equestrian figure and that on the seal of Strongbow, may be worth mentioning here, although the latter is turned the opposite way' (Hitchcock 1854, 5-6).
Carved figure of an Anglo-Norman knight probably dating from the first half of the 14th century was described by Harbison (1973, 11-12) as follows; 'Built into the interior face of the south wall of the ruined medieval parish church [KE038-003001-] at Annagh, a few miles west of Tralee, is a small carving of a knight on horseback. He is clad in a surcoat loose coat worn over armour which is to be imagined as hiding a suit of armour and a sword scabbard beneath it. He stretches his right arm out behind him and brandishes a short sword with straight cross. What can only be taken to be his left arm (though its connection with the left shoulder is nowhere to be seen) is thrust forward, giving the impression that the order to attack is being given. The knight is astride a saddle with high front and back, like that on a small equestrian statue found in a rath [Castle Bernard] at Kinnitty Co. Offaly, and now in the National Museum of Ireland. His sole surviving leg rests in a stirrup – a sure sign hat he is a Norman knight, as native Irish horsemen did not use stirrups. The horse’s reins are attached to the lower of two bands around the animal’s head, but they disappear on the horse’s body; they certainly do not seem to be held by either of the knight’s hands. The anatomical proportions of both horse and man show that we are dealing here with a very provincial and poor-quality work. The knight’s head is as big as his torso, and his leg is more spindly than his arm. The front part of the horse’s body is so awkwardly executed that it looks like a pantomime figure, but it should be said that the horse’s head, even of shown longer than his front legs, must once have been carefully modelled. Unfortunately, the whole carving has flaked away in parts, so that we cannot say, for instance, what head-protection, if any, the knight wore. The surcoat would suggest a date for this carving not later than the middle of the fourteenth century.' There was a local tradition that 'according to the late Tim Scanlon, Tralee, the horseman was found at Galvin's Bridge, Annagh, about 1820 and later built into the church' (Harbison 1973, 11).

See attached photographs provided courtesy of Eachtra Archaeology.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided in Eachtra Archaeological Report

Date of upload: 27 January 2022

References

Buckley, K. and Dunne, L. 2008 Archaeological Survey, Annagh Graveyard, Blennerville, Co. Kerry. Unpublished report commissioned by Kerry County Council, Eachtra Archaeological Projects.

Harbison, P. 1973 Some medieval sculptures in Kerry. Journal of the Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society 6, 9-25.

Hitchcock, R. 1854 Kerry papers: notes on the round towers. Proceedings of the Kilkenny and Southeast of Ireland Archaeological Society, 1-4.