Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Sheela-na-gig (present location)
Cloonlara, County Clare, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Cloonlara
- County
- Clare
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 52.72253, -8.55062
- SMR number
- CL053-038----
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
This stone is set into the parapet of a bridge across the Limerick to Killaloe Navigation Canal at Cloonlara. The figure is said to have come from Newtown Castle (CL053-043001-) and to have been defaced by the land-owner about three generations ago (local information) (Guest 1936, 117-18). It is described by Freitag (2004, 129) as a figure ‘carved on a rectangular slab; the figure was given a patent reveal surrounding it when it was inserted in the new parapet. There are signs of deliberate hammering below the waist. Thus the legs and genital area are only barely traceable. It has a bony head with a grim face; the arms flexed and both hands are indicating or touching the vulva. The legs are splayed’. (Andersen 1977, 147, No. 71)
Compiled by: Caimin O'Brein/Michael Moore
Date of upload: 6 June, 2012
References
Freitag, B. 2004 Sheela-na-gigs: unravelling an enigma. London. Routledge.
Andersen, J. 1977 The Witch on the wall: medieval erotic sculpture in the British Isles. London. Allen and Unwin Ltd.
Guest, E.M. 1936 Irish sheela na gigs in 1935. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 66, 107-29.
Nearby in the register
- Quarryunder 1 mi
- Castle - unclassifiedunder 1 mi
- Enclosureunder 1 mi
- Quarryunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.