County Meath, Sunday, 31st July 2022…
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Perhaps, like the ‘tomb raiders’ at Dowth,
we are looking for treasures
of the wrong kind, in the wrong place?
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She’s at the base of the stone on the right
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There is a famous
Sheela-na-Gig
on one of the stones at Tara.
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Stone on the left, here.
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It is reputed to be the oldest such carving
in the whole of Ireland.
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And is now, possibly, best
seen from a distance
rather than up close.
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These stones, which now stand
in the graveyard of the on site church,
like the ‘king stone’,
have been moved from their
original positions in the main precincts of Tara.
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Legend has it, that at one time,
candidates for the kingship
were expected to maneuver
their chariot between the two stones.
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View from inside the ‘Mound of Hostages’ before the grill was put in.
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Which if they could not, probably
meant that ‘our Sheela’,
a manifestation of the sovereignty
of the land of Ireland itself,
was in some way preventing them,
by withholding her favour.
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The Whispering Spring
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“What did they say,
oh, what did they say?”
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They said, “she is not a Sheela-na-Gig
she is a Sheela-na-Jig!”
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So, not all that profound, then?
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Well, that depends on your perspective…
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Tour: Neil Mcdonald’s Megalithic Tours.
With thanks to:
Special Guest Guide: Thomas Sheridan
France & Vincent 
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