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Boa Island

Coordinates: 54°31′N 7°50′W / 54.517°N 7.833°W / 54.517; -7.833
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Boa Island, overlooking Lower Lough Erne
The Dreenan figure, Boa Island

Boa Island (from Irish Badhbha)[1][2] is an island near the north shore of Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.[3] It is 16 miles (26 km) from Enniskillen town.[4] It is the largest island in Lough Erne,[5] approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) long,[6] and relatively narrow. The A47 road goes through the length of the island and joins each end of the island to the mainland by bridges leading west toward Castle Caldwell and east toward Kesh.[7]

Boa Island features a counterscarp rath (grid ref: H0744 6250) as well as carved stones, graveyard and enclosure (grid ref: H0852 6197), all in Dreenan townland and all Scheduled Historic Monuments.[8] The Lustymore stone figure was moved here in 1939 from the nearby island of the same name. The oldest stone monument on the island is a denuded cairn at Inishkeeragh Bridge near the southern tip of the island.[4]

Stone figures

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The Janus Boa Island figure and, in the foreground, the similar "Lustymore figure" (which was moved to Boa in 1939)

The Caldragh graveyard on Boa Island contains two anthropomorphic carved stone statues known as the Boa Island figure and the Lustymore Island figure.[4] The graveyard dates from the Irish early Christian period (400–800 AD).[3] Both figures were badly damaged when they were first found. They have been placed beside each other on unrelated pillars in the graveyard, which is the original location of the Boa figure.[9] A canopy was placed over them to protect them from the weather, however this has since been removed. Both of the stone figures are generally accepted to be the likeness of pagan deities.[3]

The Janus (two headed) figure is the Boa largest of the Boa sculptures, and is regarded as one of Ireland's most enigmatic and remarkable stone figures.[4][10] It is thought to represent a Celtic deity and could represent a Celtic goddess as readily as a god, especially given the name of the island. In Celtic mythology, heads were given great importance as they were thought to contain a person's spirit, and severed heads were sometimes taken in triumph after battles.[3]

Photo of the broken bases of the statues with hands engraved
The former bases of the figures include further details, including their hands

The Boa Island bilateral figure is 73 cm (29 in) high, 45 cm (18 in) wide on its two broader surfaces, and 30 cm (12 in) wide on its two narrow surfaces.[9] Each side of the figure has a face and torso. On the sides of the stone where the two carved figures are joined, is an interlace design that may represent hair. The faces are large and ovals, with big eyes, straight noses, and half-open mouths with protruding tongues above pointed chins.[citation needed]

The figure has no neck, with its head resting directly on its torso. The torso is a square block with hunched shoulders, crossed arms, and a belt.[3][4] The figure ends just below its waist.[9] The lower section of the figure—two hands with elongated fingers carved in relief—was broken away from the top part at an unknown time in the past. This base was recently discovered half-buried in the ground close to the figure.[4]

A deep indentation of unknown purpose is carved at the top of the bilateral figure; tourists often place small mementoes in it for good luck. Fears of damage from freeze-thaw erosion have motivated authorities to provide a canopy over the statue.[citation needed]

The Nobel Prize winning poet Seamus Heaney celebrated the enigmatic Boa Island bilateral figure's similarity to the Roman deity Janus in his poem "January God".[7][11] The Enniskillen-born poet Francis Harvey published a collection of poems called The Boa Island Janus in 1996.[12] Similar statues appear outside the cave of Crom Cruach in The Secret of Kells.

The Lustymore Idol was discovered in an early Christian graveyard on Lustymore Island,[3][9] located due south of Boa Island in Lower Lough Erne. It was brought to the Caldragh graveyard on Boa Island in 1939.[7] It is placed with its back to the indigenous bilateral figure. Lacking details of the facial features, it is less impressive visually,[4] and is approximately 70 cm (28 in) in height.[9] It is, however, thought to be older than the bilateral 'Janus' figure – which is less worn than the Lustymore figure. Irish archaeologist Eileen Murphy states in Warrior Women (2002) that the Lustymore Idol is thought by some Irish scholars to be the precursor to Sheela na gigs: her arms lie across the torso and point toward the inverted V that represents the top of the vulva (page 204). A Sheela-na-gig is a female figure with enlarged genitals held open by her hands. Note the current offerings to the statue in the photograph above.

The reasons for creating these stone sculptures and the dates of their creation are not certain. They may have been part of pre-Christian religious sites, or they may have been made by early Christians who included older pagan beliefs in their grave sites.[3]

Boa Island's bilateral figure is often compared to another two-faced Holzgerlingen figure, Germany and the Tandragee Idol, which is in a collection in St. Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh.[9][13]

These comparisons suggest that the figure date to the Iron Age. However early Christian sites around Lough Erne are rich in these types of figures.[3] An example is the White Island collection of figures found 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Boa Island,[4] which are primitive looking, but date from the early Christian period.[14]

  • Photo of one side of the Janus figure
    One side of the Janus figure, created c.400–800 AD (a portion of a protective canopy is shown)
  • Photo of the opposite side of the Janus statue
    The other side of the Janus figure, with its protruding tongue
  • Photo of the top of the Janus statue, with an indentation filled with coins
    Indentation carved into the top of the bilateral figure, often used as a location for small mementos such as coins

Plane crash

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On 9 January 1944, a Royal Air Force Consolidated PBY Catalina (FP193) flying boat departed RAF Killadeas on a bombing exercise. The aircraft crashed into the lough near the island after the crew lost control during a turn. Seven of the ten crewmen died in the crash.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Placenames Database of Ireland
  2. ^ Vance, Rob (2003). Secret Sights: Unknown Celtic Ireland. Gill & Macmillan. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-7171-3664-7.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h The Chrono Centre, Queen's University Belfast. "Boa Island – Carved figures – Lower Lough Erne". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Halpin, Andy; Conor Newman (2006). Ireland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide to Sites from Earliest Times to AD 1600. Oxford University Press. p. 157. ISBN 0-19-288057-8.
  5. ^ Bord Fáilte (2000). Bord Fáilte Ireland Guide. Gill & Macmillan. p. 398. ISBN 0-7171-2887-3.
  6. ^ FermanaghLakelands.com. "Find Fermanagh" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  7. ^ a b c "Boa". Culture Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  8. ^ "Scheduled Historic Monuments (to 15 October 2012)" (PDF). NI Environment Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 October 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d e f O'Kelly, Michael J. (1989). Early Ireland: An Introduction to Irish Prehistory. Cambridge University Press. p. 292. ISBN 0-521-33687-2.
  10. ^ "Boa Island". Tuatha, 8 June 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2025
  11. ^ McKee, Linda (17 April 2007). "Fury over plan to relocate historic statue". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 April 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  12. ^ Irish Writers Online. "Francis Harvey". Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  13. ^ The Chrono Centre, Queen's University Belfast. "The Tanderagee Idol". Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  14. ^ Herity, Michael; George Eogan (1996). Ireland in Prehistory. Routledge. p. 253. ISBN 0-415-04889-3.
  15. ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Consolidated Catalina IB (PBY-5B) FP193 Boa Island, Lough Erne".

Sources

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54°31′N 7°50′W / 54.517°N 7.833°W / 54.517; -7.833

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