Kiltinan Church Sheela-na-gig

The Kiltinan Church sheela-na-gig is a carved depiction of a nude woman exposing her vulva which used to be part of Kiltinan Church ruin near Fethard, County Tipperary as a quoin stone in the Southwestern corner of the church.[4] However, it was stolen in 1990[5] and has not been located since. Fethard Historical Society issued a Wanted poster to help with the retrieval. The National Sites and Monuments no. is TS070-101003.[6]

Kiltinan Church Sheela-na-gig
Kiltinan Church sheela-na-gig
Kiltinan Church sheela-na-gig in 1975
ArtistUnknown
YearUnknown
CatalogueGuest[1] 59, Andersen[2] 89, McMahon/Roberts[3] 63, Freitag[4] 59
Subjectsheela-na-gig
Dimensions51 cm × 81 cm (20 in × 32 in)
LocationUnknown
OwnerUnknown (stolen)

Mentioned in Ordnance Survey Letters

The sheela-na-gig was first described by Celticist and Surveyor John O'Donovan on 18 October 1840 in one of his Ordnance Letters:

"The figure spoken of by Mr. Clibborn[7] is sculpted in a very rude style on a corner stone of in the west gable of the old church of Kiltinan near Feathard (!) which church is not five centuries old, and indeed it was very bad taste to exhibit such a figure on a christian chapel of so late a period! Tradition says that it was set up to annoy descendants of Sheela who was such a character here as Graine Mail (O'Mailey) was in Connaught."[8]

It is in the same letter, on the previous page, talking about a sheela-na-gig at Cashel, he uses the expression "Sheela Ny Gigg". Note his use of the word "ní" instead of the now used "na" which would possibly denote a family relation ("Sheila, daughter of Gigg").

Description

The sheela-na-gig stolen from Kiltinan Church has an earless triangular head (like the Liathmore Sheela-na-gig) with large eyes and an open smile on her face. Her left hand is touching the side of her head. She has pear shaped or droopy breasts with one having two nipples.[4] Her right hand is holding her vulva open. Both knees are bent, which has led some scholars to suggest that she is dancing a jig. Depending on whether she was originally upright or has always been lying on her side, she might also be pleasuring herself. Whatever the case, having the legs spread like that would anatomically support the exposure of the vulva. Both feet seem to be facing outward. The left leg is raised higher than the right.[4]

Theft
Wanted poster for the recovery of the Kiltinan Church sheela-na-gig

The theft of the Kiltinan sheela-na-gig in the early morning hours of January 9, 1990[5] was discovered by Joe Clarke.[9] Fethard Historical Society in co-operation with photographer Joe Kenny[10] created a Wanted poster,[5] which has unfortunately not led to the recovery of the stone carving as of March 2022. At the time of the theft, the press estimated its worth at £3 million.[9] One of the (since cleared) persons of interest was Jim O'Connor who was a member of Fethard Historical Society and who had grown up in the area of Kiltinan Church.[9] He made a replica of the stolen sheela-na-gig from photographs to replace the stolen one at the church. However, this was never concluded, so the replica is now kept on private land on the Beara Peninsula.[9]

See also

References
  1. Guest, Edith M. (1937). "Ballyvourney and Its Sheela-na-gig". Folklore. 48 (4): 374–384. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1937.9718712.
  2. Andersen, Jørgen (1977). The witch on the wall : medieval erotic sculpture in the British Isles. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger. ISBN 8742301823.
  3. McMahon, Joanne; Roberts, Jack (2001). The Sheela-na-gigs of Ireland & Britain: The Divine Hag of the Christian Celts : an Illustrated Guide. Mercier Press. ISBN 9781856352949.
  4. Barbara, Freitag (2005). Sheela-na-gig: Unravelling an Enigma. Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 9781134282487.
  5. "Fethard Sheela-na-gigs". fethard.ie. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  6. Personal correspondence with Jean Farrelly, Department of Housing, 28 March 2022.
  7. Possibly Edward Clibborn, Esq., Royal Irish Academy, cousin of William Prim Perry and curator of the museum of the Royal Irish Academy (jstor accessed 2022-03-26 Archived 2021-06-17 at the Wayback Machine).
  8. O'Donovan, John. "Ordnance Letters" (PDF). askaboutireland.ie. pp. 547–548. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  9. "Stealing a Sheela Na Gig". rte.ie. 14 September 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  10. Personal correspondence with Mary Hanrahan, Chairperson of Fethard Historical Society on March 26th 2022.
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