Sheela Na Gig - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

Although the sheela na gig is a romanesque motif it has found some popularity in modern culture.

  • The Ballykissangel episode "Rock Bottom" was based around the discovery of a sheela na gig and peoples' reactions to it.
  • Seamus Heaney has written a poem entitled "Sheela na Gig."
  • UK alternative rock artist PJ Harvey's 1992 album, Dry, has a song titled Sheela Na Gig, which features the line: "He said, 'Sheela Na Gig... You exhibitionist.'"
  • New York artist Nancy Spero uses the sheela na gig as a motif in her work.
  • The town of Sheila na Gigh is featured in Robert Rankin's book The Book of Ultimate Truths.
  • The sheela na gig of St Brides Church, Bridelow in the English Peak District, features prominently as a plot device in Phil Rickman's novel The Man in the Moss.
  • Canadian poet Molly Peacock refers to the sheela na gig in her poem "Gargoyle" (The Second Blush, W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 2008).
  • The all-female governing body of England in the science-fiction work "Fremder" by UK author Russell Hoban are known as the "Sheela-na-Gig".
  • The Irish author and poet Tom Quinn has written a series of poems called "The Sheela Stations" which are illustrated with photos of Sheela Na Gigs.
  • Between 1780 and 1781, the Royal Navy employed the sloop HMS Shelanagig.

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