For years Barry Vaughan, the director of Study Abroad Ireland has been telling me that there was a sheela-na-gig on the Nun’s Chapel at Clonmacnoise. So, this year, on our annual trip to the beautiful monastic site set at a crucial crossing of the north-south Shannon and the east-west
I thought Barry knew where she was, but he didn’t. He just knew she was supposed to be there somewhere. I found one little carved head with large round eyes and exaggerated eyebrows that the sheela’s sometimes have. It was my best guess.
When I got home, I googled it, found an image and discovered that I 
hadn’t identified it after all. Barry had a picture of her, and I remember noticing the face in the arch, but hadn’t recognized her for what she really was. The close-up provided by the camera didn’t show her hands holding open her “lady-bits," but very clearly showed her feet tucked behind her ears. Maybe this sheela was meant to indicate that yoga classes were available at the Nun's Chapel!
The pictures from the top are Barry pointing out a detail in the arch which just happens to be a bald guy, on the left the not-Sheela, and on the right the real McCoy.
Leave a Reply