What is recorded here

Ardfert priory is a Franciscan tower in County Kerry where a sheela-na-gig was reportedly unseated from the western wall during conservation work in 1980. The carving measured two feet square and vanished without a trace. That absence is the striking part: a bold bodily image was removed, forgotten or lost, leaving the tower silent about the woman staring out of it.

National Monument No. 358. Notes from a letter written dated 03/01/1980 to the National Museum of Ireland in which it was claimed of a 'discovery made at Ardfert priory while [conservation] works were in progress of a sheela-na-gig carved in limestone 2 feet [0.6m] square. He claims that the workmen [OPW] unseated it fairly high up in the western wall of the tower' (SMR File). No trace of this carving has been identified on the tower of the Franciscan Friary (KE020-047----). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 5 May 2022

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