Ballinderry Castle (Galway)
This unusually-decorative and slightly-damaged Sheela-na-gig has the usual
noticeable hair or head-dress:
in this case two long plaits or braids, each twisted into a different pattern.
A rose, a bird (heraldic martlet ?),
a very Irish marigold and two kinds of triskele surround her. Much discussion
has arisen over what looks like
a damaged phallus between her damaged legs, but which might be menstrual flux
- or even an afterbirth.
Compare Dunnaman Castle
and Indian carvings,
and the Winterbourne font in
Wiltshire, England.
The figure (carved on the keystone of the front door) in its architectural
context.
Compare with this sculpture on the right-hand side of the doorway at
Alós de Isil, Lleida (Catalonia)
click to see the
more enigmatic sculpture on the other side of the door,
possibly two miscreant women, Aride and Pilar.
