What is recorded here

Kilfenora Cathedral in County Clare still holds a flat stone cleric, his arms folded rigidly across a book and his neck stretched long in schematic relief. The tomb lies recumbent near the west wall of the porch, not buried but displayed like a forgotten guest who refused to leave the house. His identity has thinned with age, yet the carving remains exact enough to suggest that someone once wanted him remembered without pride, without fear, and without ornament.

Lying recumbent close to the W wall of the porch of Kilfenora Church of Ireland church (CL016-015004-) which occupies the nave of Kilfenora cathedral (CL016-015002-). A rectangular slab with the effigy of a cleric, described by Hunt (1974, vol. 1, 128) as ‘carved in very flat relief technique. The commemorated man is tonsured and bareheaded. The outline of the lower part of the body is indicated by flat vertical folds, the arms parallel with the body and the forearms folded rigidly across the chest holding a book. The figure seems to be dressed either in a choir vestment with almuce or in a gown with scapular. The neck is disproportionately long and the treatment highly schematized and rectangular. The carving is debased and is perhaps early fifteenth century in date.’ (Hunt 1974, vol. 2, pl. 132) The following image has been uploaded: CL016-015015-_01.jpg View of effigy in its former location mounted upright in the chancel of Kilfenora cathedral. CL016-015015-_02.jpg Effigy in its current location in the porch of the cathedral. Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 5 September 2018

Effigial tomb, medieval period. Significance lies in its association with Kilfenora Cathedral and the depiction of a cleric, indicating ecclesiastical burial practices in the area.

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