What is recorded here

A naive man with a bowler hat and turned-up cuffs stares from a small stone porch at Donaghpatrick, moved from Randalstown castle around 1970. He may be Mathias or Christopher Everard, preserved in false relief after their house fell into obscurity. The church kept his shadow when the castle forgot his name.

Set upright inside the entrance porch to St Patrick’s Church of Ireland church at Donaghpatrick (ME017-034006-) on the E wall and to the right of the memorial slab (ME017-034008-). This stone (Wth 0.43m; H 0.36m) was moved here from the site of Randalstown castle (ME025-069----) c. 1970 (Everard 2000, 171). It has a naive sculpture in false relief of the upper body of a man with shoulder-length hair, a bowler hat and a sash or a sword-belt over the right shoulder. A belt at the waist is also indicated and the cuffs of the coat are turned up elaborately in the fashion of the early eighteenth century. It may be intended to represent one of the Everard brothers, Mathias or Christopher. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 15 April, 2019

Probably dates to the early medieval period, possibly Christian in origin given its location near a church. Its specific meaning or use is unclear, though it may have had a symbolic or commemorative function.

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