Boa Island
| Boa Island | ||
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| Waters | Lower Lough Erne | |
| Geographical location | 54 ° 31 ′ N , 7 ° 50 ′ W | |
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Boa Island ( Irish Inis Badhbha ; German "Insel der Badb ") is located in Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland . The elongated island is now connected to the mainland in the north of the lake by dams and several small islands on both sides a Druid sanctuary well into the Christian era and a Scheduled Monument .
Attractions
On the overgrown, old cemetery of Caldragh in the west of the island there are two approximately 70 cm high pre-Christian, probably Iron Age stone figures, the so-called "Caldragh idols" (not to be confused with plants on the Isle of Lewis ), which do not exist in Ireland Have parallels. Both were originally Janus heads . The simpler figure is more heavily damaged. She once stood on the neighboring island of Lusty More Island and although her gender is uncertain, she is mostly referred to as the "Lustry Man". The second, bearded figure sits there with crossed arms on one side, cross-legged on the other and ithyphallically . It is likely to be a Celtic Cernunnos-like god of vegetation and fertility.
The tanderagee idol is even more archaic . It was found in a swamp near Newry and now stands in the south aisle of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh .
literature
- Peter Harbison : Pre-Christian Ireland. From the first settlers to the early Celts . Thames & Hudson, London 1988, ISBN 0-500-02110-4 .
- Sylvia Botheroyd : Ireland - Mythology in the landscape: a travel and reading book . Häusser-Verlag, Darmstadt 1997, ISBN 3-89552-034-9 .
Web links
- http://www.beyond-the-pale.org.uk/zxCaldragh.htm (last accessed on December 5, 2012)
- http://www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/local/armagh/Tanderagee/ (last accessed December 5, 2012)