Can You Turn an Irish Sheela-na-Gig Into a Multi-Million Dollar Business?

Learn more about Ireland in International Living Postcards-- your daily escape

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

I'm sometimes asked what's my most unusual collectible from around the world. That's hard to answer, but two "treasures" make some visitors blush.

They're small stone reproductions of grotesque carvings called Sheela-na-Gigs. Although one original is now in Cavan County Museum, the other still stands outside a ruined 12th-century church in Northern Ireland. The church is on White Island, an islet in County Fermanagh's Lough Erne.

I bought them five years ago at a crafts fair in Enniskillen, Fermanagh's main town. Then, they cost something like $20 apiece.

Although many Sheela-na-Gigs got destroyed over the centuries, Ireland still has around 100 or so. Mostly found in churches, castles, and monastic sites, they portray naked women with distorted faces, splayed legs, and hands exposing those parts normally hidden from public gaze.

(If you're the shy, retiring type, you may not want to look at these photos…but here's my reproduction of the Cavan Sheela-na-Gig; the January God and his smaller companion on Boa Island; and the White Island Statues.

Lascivious? No, there's nothing erotic about Sheelas. The women are usually ancient, skeletally thin, and often appear to be screaming.

One theory says they ward off evil. Another suggests the Normans introduced them in medieval times to provide visual warnings against the temptations of the flesh. However, I'd agree with commentators who say Sheelas belong to an older tradition.

Most of pre-Christian Europe honored various goddesses who transformed from maiden to mother to crone throughout the year's planting cycle. Pronounced "Sheela," the Irish word sile means "old woman."

Irish missionary monks often grafted old beliefs onto their new religion. Early Celtic churches replaced outdoor altars in sacred thickets. Springs, once doorways to the Otherworld, became holy wells. So why not also keep a reminder of the triple goddess?

Intriguingly, uncensored versions of the Irish saga Tain Bo Cuilgne (the Cattle Raid of Cooley) have the hero Cuchulainn waylaid by divine hags with lusty appetites. Originally scribed by monks from oral tales, ancient Irish literature sizzles with sex, violence and supernatural happenings.

Given the craze for Celtic crafts, it's strange that Sheela-na-Gigs rarely surface on U.S. websites. Maybe it's because few visitors to Ireland realize they exist. Although I saw one plaster-cast reproduction on ebay for $69.95, this was a tacky plaque of an English Sheela. (The U.K adopted Ireland's name for the carvings.)

There could be Celtic/New Age/Ancient Wisdom import-export opportunities here. Many Irish stone carvers take commissions. Alternatively, you could photograph Sheelas, then get figures made where labor is cheaper. They could also work as silver amulets or tapestries.

Ireland has numerous places where the remote past still resonates, but Lough Erne's islands are special. In Boa Island's overgrown graveyard, there's a two-faced stone figure: the January God. (I also bought a $20 carving of this Celtic Janus in Enniskillen.)

Accompanied by a smaller figure, Boa Island's deity has watched the rising and setting sun since Iron Age times. Its exaggerated eyes gaze forward into the mortal world and backwards to when magic stalked the land. Sadly, there's talk of moving the statues to a Belfast museum. To see them in situ, get to Lough Erne soon.

Useful websites for finding original Sheelas are http://www.irelands-sheelanagigs.org and http://www.sheelanagig.org which includes U.K locations.

Steenie Harvey
Trinket-finder, International Living

Editor's note: Steenie is the main contributor to How to Start Your Own Import-Export Business, the most comprehensive course we know about carving out your own successful niche in this $148 billion industry (and that's just in the U.S.). Plus, you get 10 weeks of online instruction showing you how to put it all into action. During IL's Summer Sizzler Sale, How to Start Your Own Import-Export Business is available for 27% off: click here.