The (; also known as the Long Man) is an effigy of a knight on display in the ruins of the 14th-century Kilfane Church in Kilfane near Thomastown in
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...
, southern
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.
The
effigy
An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...
is carved from a single slab of
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
. The knight wears a metal skull-cap covered by a
coif
A coif () is a close fitting cap worn by both men and women that covers the top, back, and sides of the head.
History
Coifs date from the tenth century, but fell out of popularity with men in the fourteenth century."A New Look for Women." Arts ...
, and a
chainmail
Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...
hauberk
A hauberk or byrnie is a mail shirt. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. A haubergeon ("little hauberk") refers to a smaller mail shirt, that was sometimes sleeveless, but the terms ar ...
protecting his torso as far as his knees. It is under a cloth surcoat with deep folds and a sword belt. He has prominent
spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...
s on his feet, showing that he fought on horseback. His legs are crossed, the right leg over the left. This was formerly believed to show that he was a participant in the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
, but is now considered a stylistic convention. In the left hand is carried a large shield bearing the
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
of the Cantwell family.
It is believed to represent Thomas de Cantwell (d. 1319), a
Cambro-Norman
Cambro-Normans (; "Wales", ; ) were Normans who settled in southern Wales and the Welsh Marches after the Norman invasion of Wales. Cambro-Norman knights were also the leading force in the Cambro-Norman invasion of Ireland, led by Richard de ...
adventurer who became Lord of Kilfane. The Cantwell family's main castle was Cantwell's Castle in Sandfordscourt.
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.
The statue represents an example of the high standard achieved by Irish sculptural workshops in the Pale prior to a cultural and economic decline marked by the Edward Bruce invasion and the arrival of the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
.
Hubert Butler, essayist, recalled the local tale that children at the nearby Protestant school were sometimes punished by having to kiss the statue.
Nearby is The Longman of Kilfane, a
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...