21. Fermanagh - The Boa Island Figures

Found together in Caldragh graveyard on Boa Island in Lough Erne, the Boa Island figures are two of the most enigmatic and remarkable stone figures in Ireland.

Even though it is thought to be a woman, the smaller and more-weather worn statue is often known as the Lustyman, a name that derives not from her night-time antics but from the fact that she was found on the nearby Lustymore Island.

The other figure is the more detailed and far more impressive-looking Boa Island idol. It is a two-sided statue, one-half male and one-half female, clearly identifiable to the amateur art historian by the large pointed mickey that the male half has.

With thick square torsos, pear-shaped heads, big tired-looking owl eyes, no necks, hunched shoulders and crossed arms, what makes the Boa Island figures so enigmatic is that we don’t really know what in the name of Jaysus they are doing.

So we asked 100 people what they thought and this is what we got:

·         42: Standing in a wall defending a free kick.

·         26: Embarrassed as they pose nude for a life-drawing.

·         19: Some sort of dance routine.

·         10: Trying to keep their hands warm as they wait for a bus.

·         2: Preparing for their final dive in the men’s/women’s 3-metre springboard.

·         1: Something to do with the god Janus.