This Sheela is more commonly known as the Ardcath Sheela, but she is in fact in the townland of Balgeeth. She was discovered when a milk lorry destroyed a gatepost and exposed her. It was built into the pillar, facing in. I can only assume that at some point an over pious priest instructed the locals to destroy it and they hid her rather than risk any bad luck. However, there is no history of her, so we'll never know for sure.
The stone is now mounted in a wall of a farmyard.
There is some recent history though. The present farmer moved into the house when his father died. A year later the lady gave birth to triplets! This, naturally, got tongues wagging and the local press covered it quite extensively. Was it a pagan fertility goddess after all?
The figure is very well preserved, as you'd expect under the circumstances. She has both hands lowered and indicating the vulva, which is a very well defined slit. Her head is very rounded and there are no signs of facial 'scars' or her ribs.
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_A Random Selection of Nearby Monuments
 Fethard Abbey (Co. Tipperary) |  St. Munna's Church (Co. Westmeath) |  Abbeylara (Co. Longford) |
 Killinaboy (Co. Clare) |  Ballinderry (Co. Galway) |  Fethard Wall (Co. Tipperary) |
