The Head-Stones of Boa Isle…

County Fermanagh, Wednesday, June 15th, 2022…

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Despite the plaited hair

this side of the ‘Janet and John’ stone

is now regarded as a masculine figure.

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Whilst this is the feminine.

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The hair of the two figures is entwined,

and it may be that the ‘belts’ of both figures

is actually a binding.

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In the oldest part of the Battle of Moytura,

the ‘Good-God’ of the Crafty Folk, who is also a giant,

takes the Morrigan on his back into battle…

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A cup very full,

full of honey…

mead in abundance,

summer in winter.

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Has time erased an eye or

was the stone originally sculpted in this way?

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Despite numerous rather elaborate hypotheses

the most obvious candidate for

the character of Balor in the tale is a holed-stone

and although we did not get to see one

there are a number of such stones in the vicinity.

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Had the hands been a little lower on this stone

it would be mighty tempting to regard it

as a weather-worn Sheela-na-Gig!

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There is an old photograph from the seventies

which shows the stone in a suggestive arrangement

with the two-faced stone, as if they bore a relationship

to each other, which at that time was fully understood?

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There is a third stone between them which now

appears to be behind the two-faced stone

and can still be seen in the second photograph, above.

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The stones have evidently been moved since then

so it is reassuring that the visiting folk

still see fit to leave offerings for them.

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Which just leaves these ‘fellas’…

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