Boa Island

Boa Island (Irish "Inis Badhbha" meaning "Badb's or Badhbha's Island")cite book | last = Vance | first = Rob | title = Secret Sights: Unknown Celtic Ireland | publisher = Gill & Macmillan | date = 2003 | pages = 53-54 | isbn = 0717136647 ] is an island located near the north shore of Lower Lough Erne, in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.cite web|url=http://www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/local/fermanagh/Boa/ |title=Boa Island - Carved figures - Lower Lough Erne |accessdate=2007-11-24 |last=The Chrono Centre, Queen's University Belfast ] It is 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) from Enniskillen town.cite book | last = Halpin | first = Andy | coauthors = Conor Newman | title = Ireland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide to Sites from Earliest Times to AD 1600 | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 2006 | pages = 157 | isbn = 0192880578 ]

It is the largest island in Lough Erne,cite book | last = Bord Fáilte | title = Bord Fáilte Ireland Guide | publisher = Gill & Macmillan | date = 2000 | pages = 398 | isbn = 0717128873 ] approximately 8 km (5 mi) long, [cite web|url=http://www.fermanaghlakelands.com/Portals/3/downloads/Find%20Fermanagh.pdf |title=Find Fermanagh |last=FermanaghLakelands.com |accessdate=2007-11-24 ] and relatively narrow. The A47 road goes through the length of the island. This road joins each end of the island to the mainland by bridges leading west toward Castle Caldwell and east toward Kesh.cite web|url=http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/town_Home.aspx?co=5&to=109&ca=0&sca=0&navID=1 |title=Boa |accessdate=2007-11-24 |last=CultureNorthernIreland.org ]

The Boa Island carved stones, graveyard, and enclosure are "Scheduled Historic Monuments" sited in the townland of Dreenan, in Fermanagh District Council area, at grid ref: H0852 6197. [cite web | title=Dreenan (Boa Island) | work=Environment and Heritage Service NI - Scheduled Historic Monuments | url=http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/scheduled_monuments1to31mar07.pdf | accessdate=2007-12-03] The Lustymore stone figure was moved here in 1939 from the nearby island of that name.

Name of the island

Boa Island is named after Badhbha, sometimes spelled, Badb, the Celtic goddess of war. Badhbha sometimes took the form of a Carrion Crow, most notably on the shoulder of the warrior, Cúchulainn, after he died in battle. At other times she is depicted as a wolf.

She is one of a triad of Celtic war goddesses that included her sisters, Macha and Morrigan. They were born to a mother goddess, Ernmas, who is mentioned in "Lebor Gabála Érenn" and "Cath Maige Tuired" as one of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Badb is said to have caused confusion among the enemy in battles, providing victories to her side. Battlefields were named, "the land of the Badb", by the Celts in Ireland.

The oldest stone monument on the island is a denuded cairn at Inishkeeragh Bridge near the southern tip of the island.

Stone figures

Two unrelated anthropomorphic carved stone statues called the Boa Island figure and the Lustymore Island figure are now found together in Caldragh graveyard on Boa Island. Caldragh graveyard dates from the Irish early Christian period (400–800 AD). Both of the 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.cite book | last = O'Kelly | first = Michael J. | title = Early Ireland: An Introduction to Irish Prehistory | publisher = Cambridge University Press | date = 1989 | pages = 292 | isbn = 0521336872 ] A canopy has been placed over them to protect them from the weather. Both of the stone figures are generally accepted to be the likeness of pagan deities.The larger of the figures is the Boa Island bilateral figure. It is regarded as one of the most enigmatic and remarkable stone figures in Ireland. It is called a Janus-figure because it has two faces, reminding some of the Roman two-headed deity Janus, however, it is not a representation of Janus. 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 culture, heads were very important because they were thought to contain a person's spirit after their death. Severed heads were taken in triumph after battles.

The Boa Island bilateral figure is 73 centimetres (29 in) high, 45 cm (18 in) wide on its two broader surfaces, and 30 cm (12 in) wide on its two narrow surfaces. 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 pointed ovals in shape, with big eyes, straight noses, and half open mouths with protruding tongues above the pointed chins.

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. The figure ends just below its waist. 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.

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".cite news | first=Linda | last=McKee | title=Fury over plan to relocate historic statue | date=2007-04-17 | url =http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/article2456300.ece | work =Belfast Telegraph | accessdate = 2007-11-24 ] The Enniskillen-born poet Francis Harvey published a collection of poems called "The Boa Island Janus" in 1996. [cite web|url=http://www.irishwriters-online.com/francisharvey.html |title=Francis Harvey |accessdate=2007-11-24 |last=Irish Writers Online ]

The Lustymore Idol was discovered in an early Christian graveyard on Lustymore Island, located due south of Boa Island in Lower Lough Erne. It was brought to the Caldragh graveyard on Boa Island in 1939. It is placed with its back to the indigenous bilateral figure. Lacking details of the facial features, it is less impressive visually, and is approximately 70 cm (27.5 in) in height. It is, however, thought to be older than the bilateral 'Janus' figure - which is less worn than the Lustymore figure. Because of the positioning of its hands it may be a Sheela na Gig, a female figure with englarged genitals held open by the hands.Fact|date=August 2008

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. Boa Island's bilateral figure has been compared to another two-faced figure from Holzgerlingen, Germany and the Tandragee Idol, which is in a collection in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh.cite web|url=http://www.chrono.qub.ac.uk/local/armagh/Tanderagee/ |title=The Tanderagee Idol |accessdate=2007-11-24 |last=The Chrono Centre, Queen's University Belfast ]

These comparisons suggest that the figure dates from the British Iron Age. However, early Christian sites around Lough Erne are rich in these types of figures. An example is the White Island collection of figures found 5 km (3 mi) south east of Boa Island, which are primitive looking, but date from the early Christian period.cite book | last = Herity | first = Michael | coauthors = George Eogan | title = Ireland in Prehistory | publisher = Routledge | date = 1996 | pages = 253 | isbn = 0415048893 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.ireland.com/liveviews/historic/j-boa.htm Panorama of the Boa Island and Lustymore figures, "The Irish Times"]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/landscapes/explore.shtml Landscapes Unlocked] - Aerial footage from the BBC "Sky High" series explaining the physical, social, and economic geography of Northern Ireland