On Sunday the 16th of October we decided to take our camper Éalú on another day trip. As usual, I was hoping to visit some ancient site and decided to head north, purely because the weather forecast was dire and it appeared we’d have at lease till late afternoon before the impending heavy rain caught up with us.
So, on Saturday night, I looked at Google maps to see what megalithic monument or such I could find. Now, first I must say, that only two days before I had added Badhbh, one aspect of the tripe Goddess Morrigan, to my images of our pagan deities. She was said to have appeared as a carrion crow or raven and would confuse her enemies in battles. Her cry would send terror though your very soul and as she could foretell death, especially on a battlefield, she is often compared to a Bean-sidhe (Banshee).
I couldn’t really make up my mind which one to go to, but then noticed one of the places was in capital letters as forcing me to notice it. You have to remember we have quite a few ancient sites in the northern part of our island so this was just one of many. Anyhow, I clicked on it, Keenaghan megalithic site, and saw the address as Boa Island in Fermanagh. Immediately I remembered that this was where the ancient double headed figure was. So I looked it up in detail and although the above site was not the actual place where the figures were, they were a very short distance away in Caldragh cemetery, also on Boa Island.
I never knew where the name Boa Island came from and had always thought it so strange that a lake island in Ireland would have the name of a snake….except of course, in Irish the name is something completely different as it is Inish Badhbha, the island of Badhbh! Well, I couldn’t believe it, to be honest, as I had so recently painted her! It was as though I was meant to go.
We set off about lunch time on a dreary day and crossed the border into Fermanagh. On the way we took a scenic drive up through Lough Navar forest drive to Magho viewing point on the cliffs of Magho. Out of interest, Lough Navar comes from Loch na bhfear (the men’s lake) and Magho is from Machadh, meaning a milking field. Isn’t it so much better when you translate these ancient names back to their original meaning! The view up there is spectacular as you can see as far as the Atlantic ocean and the Donegal coast. We took a break there and had a sandwich, so nice to sit in our camper….the hard work of converting it has really paid off!
So we set off then for another 30 – 40 mins drive maybe, as the rain began to fall. Inis Badhbha is quite easy to access as it is now connected by road, so you don’t even realize you’re on an island on Lough Erne, which is a very large and scenic lake. Caldragh cemetery is down a small lane and beside a farm, really out of the way. As you walk up to the graveyard, you can see the famous figures as well as a multitude of rough cut stone grave markers, with a few more modern ones, scattered about. You would want to watch your step as the ground is very uneven with no properly marked out graves.
The famous Boa Island statue was not as high as I thought but I was impressed as It is quite well preserved. The idol is sometimes called the “Janus” figure as it can be compared to the Roman two-faced Janus but there is not actual connection. By all accounts the images were carved in the early Christian period but definitely pagan in nature and are thought to perhaps represent the male and female. Some think that indeed one of the faces could portray Badhbh, given the name of the island, though this is unclear. I have also heard of connections to Crom Cruach, a rather unsavoury God who appeared to require human sacrifice, but I honestly couldn’t find any link, other than the animation film, the Secret of Kells which incorporated a similar type idol in their portrayal of Crom Cruach. On a side note, it also is not clear that Crom Cruach was part of the Deity of ancient Ireland but more a cult, initiated by an early King, Tighernmas.
Anyhow, there’s more on Boa than just our Janus figure, as there is also a smaller, slightly more faded and perhaps older statue of who they call “Lustyman”. He is so called because his original home was on Lustymore island nearby but moved to Boa in the 1930s. Interestingly and not surprising, many offerings of money are left in a hollow between the heads of the main idol and this typical of many other ancient sites where rags or money or candles are left, even to this day.
I sat and did a quick sketch of the idols before making my way back in the near twilight (mostly caused by the dark foreboding sky) and we headed home as the rain fell steadily and heavier.