A New Light on the Sheela-na-gig

A NEW LIGHT ON THE SHEELA-NA-GIG BARBARA FREITAG an apotropaic device, the vestige of a pre-Christian fertility cult, a representation of the Great Goddess Earth Mother, a Celtic goddess of creation and destruction, an obscene hag, a sexual stimulant, a medieval Schandbild aimed at castigating the sins of the flesh, a Christian sculpture representing Mater Ecclesia—these are some, but by no means all, of the divergent interpretations of the Sheela-na-gig.1 In spite of her physical nakedness, she remains clothed in a veil of mystery 160 years after antiquarians first brought her to scientific attention. Although eluding the grasp of the archaeologist, the art historian, and the linguist alike, the Sheela-na-gig has been a creative source of inspiration to writers, poets, musicians, and painters, and in recent times she has become the focus of feminist scholars. Sheela-na-gig is a collective name for carvings of naked females who appear in positions that emphasize their genitalia. The majority of these figures are embedded in the walls of Christian churches, but some are located in castles, town walls, on tombstones and pillar-stones, and some are sited as guardian figures overlooking wells or rivers. Church and castle Sheelas usually appear by entrances, above or beside doors, by windows or on quoins. However, on occasion the figure is out of sight, hidden inside doorways or set at such a great height that it is invisible from the ground. Although existing elsewhere, the greatest number of Sheela-na-gigs has been found in Ireland and England: Ireland, with over one hundred figures , possesses the largest concentration, and England has thirty.2 Some fifty are still in situ in Ireland; twenty are in museums, three are in private possession, and of the rest only a record survives. Because of evidence A NEW LIGHT ON THE SHEELA-NA-GIG 50 1 Herein also Sheela(s). 2 A new illustrated map gives a good overview of the distribution of Sheela-na-gigs in Ireland and Great Britain. See Jack Roberts and Joanne McMahon, The Sheela-na-Gigs of Britain and Ireland. An Illustrated Map/Guide (Bandia Publishing, 1997). that Sheela-na-gigs were hacked away from church walls, buried, or thrown into rivers, we know that many more once existed. Most of them are carved in stone, with heights ranging from 40 cm to 60 cm. The Sheela-na-gig is nude and represented in the frontal aspect. Her legs are usually diminutive, wide apart, and bent or crossed. Her hands call attention to the genitalia, which are exaggerated in size and position. Typically , she has deeply incised and lean ribs, whereas her breasts are barely indicated or omitted altogether. Some figures show striations or tattoo marks on the face or body. Her head is disproportionately large compared with the rest of the body, its shape triangular or formed like a skull. Usually she is bald. The expression of the face is forbidding, often hideous, with staring, owl-like eyes, gaping mouth—sometimes with ugly rows of teeth, a wedge nose, and prominent ears. The skeletal upper half of the figure, with its stylized skull and protruding ribs, contrasts sharply with the sexual lower half. Obviously, the creators of this figure disregarded traditional views of beauty of form or features (figure 1). DISCOVERY OF SHEELA-NA-GIGS Antiquarians began to note these figures during the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1840, the Irish antiquarian John O’Donovan, in his Ordnance Survey Letters on Tipperary,3 recorded the discovery of a Sheela-nagig at Cashel that he deemed to be of “truly Eastern character.” Uncertain as to whether he was dealing with a genuine article and more inclined to think it might be a hoax, O’Donovan anxiously asked George Petrie, the leading antiquary of the time, for an opinion. Yet Sheela-na-gigs neither were entirely unheard of, nor indeed was this the first such figure O’Donovan himself had encountered. He mentions Mr. Clibborn and Sir Gay Ollgohagh , both of whom were apparently talking “so much” about Sheela-nagigs . O’Donovan had already seen one in Ballyfinboy Castle and one on the old church of...