What history got wrong about the 'female Saint Patrick'
CNN
For centuries, Ireland's St. Patrick's celebrations spilled over into St. Sheelah's festivities the following day. But who was Sheelah, why is she forgotten today, and what's her connection to explicit stone carvings found all over Ireland?
(CNN) — On forgotten walls of country churches or crumbling castles throughout Ireland, the tiny figures squat unseen. Lost in gray brickwork, obscured by ivy or moss, Sheela-na-gig stone carvings can be hard to spot in the wild -- but these medieval creations are in no way coy. Typically bald-headed naked females, with hanging breasts and legs spread wide to display exaggerated vulvas, Sheela-na-gigs at first seem peculiarly out of place in the prim surroundings of a Christian church.More Related News
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