Tomb - effigial

The National Monuments Service's description

Fixed to the N wall of a 19th-century C of I church which was built on the former chancel of the 13th-century church of St Mary’s (KK020-060006-) in Gowran. A limestone effigy (L 2.17m; Wth 0.71m; T 0.19m) of a woman in raised relief, with straight sides (T 0.06m). The slab was broken horizontally across the waist of the woman, below her elbows, but has been repaired.
The effigy, whose head is resting on a pillow, is described by Hunt (1974, vol. 1, 168-9) as wearing, ‘a heart-shaped head-dress and pleated gown with V-neck falling in folds to the feet. Her poke sleeves show the tight buttoned cuffs of the kirtle beneath. The girdle is worn high up under the bosom and has a long pendant decorated with ‘S’ and flowers. The figure is closely related to that of Margaret Fitzgerald in St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny. The details of the elaborate reticulated head-dress with its central ornamented kerchief are almost identical. Slightly less can be seen of the laced cuffs of the kirtle, and the details of the belt vary’.
Hunt dates this effigy to the early 16th century (ibid. 169). He suggests that effigy may represent Sadhbh MacMurrough Kavanagh, wife of James MacEdmond MacRichard Butler (died. 1487), and that the ‘S’ pattern on the pendant portion of the girdle might be an indication of a royal English distinction (ibid.).

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 14 August 2019

References

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