Stone sculpture (present location) in Thurles Townparks

Late medieval stone sculpture or effigy incorporated into SSE facing boundary wall of post medieval date to the W of Parnell Street at W end of Thurles Town (TN041-042----). Black Castle (TN041-042001-) 125m to SSE, W gateway of medieval town 180m to SSE, site of Carmelite Friary (TN041-042008-) 440m to E, St. Mary's Church (TN041-042009-) 840m to E, St. Brigid's Church and graveyard (TN041-042003-) 525m to SW. The statue was revealed when builders were stripping ivy from the face of this wall. The rubble wall with brick inclusions acts as a dividing wall between two property plots to the rear of the buildings facing onto the W side of Parnell Street. When the sculpture was inserted into this wall a small canopied structure like a small shrine was constructed over the statue. The outline of the shrine roof is visible above the head of the statue. The wall surface around the statue was finished with a smooth concrete render probably in the early 1900s when this structure was built around the statue. Possibly a 16th / 17th century statue (H 0.65m; Wth 0.28m) carved by the Ormond or Thurles school of sculptors working in this area in the late medieval period and closely associated with the MacRichard Butler family (Rae 1970, 1-2). This family resided in the nearby tower house known locally as ‘Black Castle’ which they built around the year 1453 (O’Donovan 1856, 1170-1). The limestone statue was probably broken into two sections when it was moved from its original location in 18th / 19th century. The carving consists of a robed male effigy carved in high relief with hands joined in prayer, the fingers touching the neck, the figure stands on a stepped semi-circular shaped base (dims. H 0.15m; Wth 0.32m). The face has a recessed hairline with prominent forehead, oval-shaped eyes, broad angular nose, rounded cheeks and smiling slit mouth with rounded chin. The figure is wearing a pleated garment and mantle. The hair has the appearance of a wig and may be similar to the type of hair described by Rae as ‘three-dimensional corkscrew curls’ which he identified as being typical of the Ormond school of sculptors (Rae 1970, 8). However the treatment of the eyes, nose, and mouth are similar in style to the stone heads carved on voussoirs at St. Mary’s Church. These carved heads probably date from the post-medieval date. The effigy may have stood on the circular-shaped base the underside of which is slightly concave and lipped around the edge suggesting that it may have rested on a column. The effigy and be may not be the one piece and may have been inserted as one piece in the post medieval period. The statue could have stood in a niche belonging to a tomb surround of the Butler family. However the back of the figure is hidden in the wall and it is not possible to be certain whether the figure was freestanding or incorporated into the fabric of a wall or some other structure. The figure could have stood in a wall niche in one the medieval parish churches (TN041-042009-/003-) or from a wall niche in the Carmelite Friary (TN041-042008-) which was pulled down in the early 19th century. The semi-circular shaped base was clearly set into the wall of another building as can be seen from the rough dressed sides of the base. It is a possibility but less likely that the figure and base came from the nearby tower house. In the Civil Survey of 1654-6, the nearby 'Black Castle' is described as 'a faire house wherein the Lady of Thurles liveth with a castle and severall Turrets upon the Bawne' (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 53). 'James Earle of Ormond' and 'Elyzabeth Lady Viscountess Dowager of Thurles' are listed as proprietors of the castle (ibid.). This tower house dating from the fifteenth/sixteenth-century was built beside another castle (TN041-042013-) and the site of the Anglo-Norman motte castle (TN041-042004-). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 8 August 2018