What is recorded here

An open-legged woman in a cloak stands guard on a sandstone block recovered from the Cistercian abbey of Tracton, now kept in Cork Public Museum. She may have watched a doorway, a chamber, or a changing world, while her unusual pose and possible sword marker resisted easy belief. The stones remember that visibility, not victimhood, belonged to her.

Found at site of Cistercian abbey of Tracton (CO099-04303-) and now in Cork Public Museum. Sandstone block '141/2in in height, 12in in width and 8in in thickness' with curved section cut from lower left hand corner, which formed 'the side of a doorway or window, probably the latter' (O Ríordáin 1944, 56). Standing female figure, draped in cloak, carved on surface; triangular shaped face; hands hanging at sides of body; legs splayed exposing genital area described by Andersen (1977, 152) as 'very open and quaintly carved'. O Ríordáin (ibid, 57) noted 'the suggestion of a sword' on the figure and states that this (and the cloak) 'takes considerably from its hitherto accepted Sheela-na-Gig character'. No. 61 is Cherry (1992, 6) catalogue. Original location record CO099-088----. Compiled by: Archaeological Survey Unit, UCC. Date of upload: 20 January 2010

Dated to the medieval period, likely 12th to 14th century, the Sheela-na-gig is associated with fertility symbolism and may have had a ritual or instructional function. Similar figures appear in other parts of Ireland and Britain, often linked to themes of childbirth and female power, though their exact purpose remains debated.

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