What is recorded here

Cooltymurraghy holds a rare sheela-na-gig whose braided hair, teeth, fingers and toes are still visible after a 19th-century farm building collapsed in the late 1980s. She stands with splayed legs and curving arms, not hidden by mortar or modesty, as if carved to be seen before a doorway was made. The arched bottom suggests she once locked a threshold together, watching entry and exit with prominent eyes.

This sheela-na-gig was previously incorporated into a 19th-century farm building that collapsed in the in the late 1980s. The very well-preserved female figure, carved in raised relief on a rectangular block, displays a large head with prominent eyes, nose and mouth. Only the left ear is depicted. Arms curve around the torso and behind the splayed legs exhibiting the genital area. Small breasts are visible beneath the armpits. Rare features including braided hair extending from the head and running down each side of the block, teeth, fingers and toes are also depicted. The bottom of the block is arched suggesting that it may have formed the keystone of a doorway. A 3D digital record of the figure, using photogrammetry and laser scanning, has been undertaken as part of the Sheela3D project (Dempsey and Cunniffe 2018, 32 (2), 14). Compiled by: Olive Alcock Date of upload: 13 June 2018

This Sheela-na-gig is likely medieval in origin, though the exact date of carving remains uncertain. Such figures are often associated with fertility, protection, or ritual practices, though their specific meaning in this local context is not recorded.

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