Cantwell Fada

Effigy

The Cantwell Fada (also known as the Long Man) is an effigy of a knight on display in the ruins of a 14th-century church in Kilfane near Thomastown in County Kilkenny, Ireland.

The effigy is carved from a single slab of limestone. The knight wears a suit of chain mail. His legs are crossed, the right leg over the left, believed to show that he was a participant in the crusades.[1] In the left hand is carried a large shield bearing the arms of the Cantwell family.[2]

It is believed to represent Thomas de Cantwell (d. 1319), a Cambro-Norman adventurer who became Lord of Kilfane.[3] The stone effigy is thought to originally have been a sarcophagus slab which has since been set upright against an inner wall of the church.[4][5] The statue represents a example of the high standard achieved by Irish sculptural workshops in the Pale prior to a cultural and economic decline marked by the Bruce invasion and the arrival of Black Death.[6]

Hubert Butler recalled the local tale that children at the nearby Protestant school were sometimes punished by having to kiss the statue.[7]

Nearby is The Longman of Kilfane, a public house and restaurant named for the Cantwell Fada.

References

  1. ↑ http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=7884803&jid=ANT&volumeId=90&issueId=-1&aid=7884801
  2. ↑ http://homepage.eircom.net/~osrai/cantwellfada.htm
  3. ↑ DeAngelis, Camille (2007). Moon Ireland. Moon Handbooks Ireland. Avalon Travel. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-59880-048-7. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  4. ↑ Newby, Eric; Diana Petry (1970). Wonders of Ireland: a personal choice of 484. Stein and Day. pp. ix. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  5. ↑ Friel, Maeve (1997). Here lies: a guide to Irish graves. Poolbeg. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-85371-713-0. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  6. ↑ "Studies". Studies: an Irish quarterly review of letters, philosophy & science 64: 427. 1975. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  7. ↑ Somerville-Large, Peter (1995). The Irish country house: a social history. Mark Fiennes. Sinclair-Stevenson. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-85619-237-8. Retrieved 2011-04-03.

External links

Coordinates: 52°33′15″N 7°07′06″W / 52.554197°N 7.118217°W / 52.554197; -7.118217


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