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.
