Portarlington Face

3D Model

Bearded face of Jesus incorporated into the boundary wall of a house on the Offaly side of Portarlington. The difficulty in dating this type of carving has been summarised by the National Museum of Ireland has; ‘Stone carvings prove a difficult artefact type to date with absolute certainty, and their identifications are usually gained from research and comparison of known confirmed examples of that era’. The face is depicted wearing a crown of thorns with ears protruding just below, the eyes are large almond-shaped features, the curving eyebrows continue across to form the ears, a flat nose with a moustache beneath curling over an open mouth, running straight across the cheeks in a similar fashion to the depiction of the moustache of Christ on the late-10th/11th century crucifixion plaque from Clonmacnoise, Co. Offaly. The carving of the eyes resembles a face from Kilmacduagh Abbey, Co. Galway, but can be also compared to an 18th-century face from the Sweeny headstone in Kilbarron graveyard, Co. Tipperary.