Boa Island
|
County Fermanagh |
St Constans (777) may have lived here as a hermit. No one
quite knows what the two unusual carved stones may be or
why they are (still) here in a Christian graveyard. One is
a double-sided figure carved back to back, male and female.
The other figure, from neighbouring Lusty More Island, is
blind in one eye. The female figure and this last figure
both have protruding tongues. Are they pagan gods? Yet they
are generally dated to no earlier than the 8C. They could be
pre-Christian idols (like one now kept in the aisle of the
Church of Ireland Cathedral in Armagh.) which were never
destroyed. Or, we have to say, as with some unusual Christian
stone carvings on nearby White Island, all we can let them do
is to tease us.
OS 17 085 620 marked
see:
http://www.irishmegaliths.org.uk/zCaldragh.htm
also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boa_Island
see: Ancient Stones
|