It is a sheela-na-gig, one of the strange exhibitionist female carvings found on churches, castles, and fortifications across Ireland and Britain, and this one is notable for how deliberately it was placed. The surrounding stones of the wall were arranged specifically to accommodate it, suggesting the figure was not simply recycled into the masonry but was given a considered, intentional position.

The detail in the carving is striking even by the standards of a form that tends toward the grotesque. Scholar Barbara Freitag, writing in 2004, described the figure closely: a large head with strong features, staring eyes, a triangular incised pattern radiating from beneath the left eye toward the wall, and a mouth set in a slightly open grimace that shows clenched teeth. The body is skeletal rather than fleshy, with an emaciated neck, no breasts, deeply incised ribs, and a protruding navel. The figure sits with short legs splayed wide, hands passing beneath the thighs, fingers meeting the vulva. Freitag noted that the carving appears to be worked in the round rather than simply in relief, which is unusual and gives the figure a sculptural presence beyond the flat surface of the wall. The precise age and origin of the figure are not firmly established, but sheela-na-gigs of this kind are generally associated with the medieval period, and the Fethard town walls themselves date from the medieval era, making this one of the better-preserved urban examples in the country.

The figure sits in the section of town wall above the Clashawley River, near Watergate Bridge, and a digital 3D model of it has been produced by Digital Heritage Age and made available on the Sketchfab platform, which allows for close examination of details that are difficult to read from ground level.