It is a sheela-na-gig, one of the enigmatic female carvings found on medieval and early modern buildings across Ireland and Britain, typically depicted with exaggerated or exposed genitalia in a pose that has generated centuries of debate about meaning, whether apotropaic, fertility-related, or something else entirely. What makes this particular example quietly peculiar is the layered anonymity surrounding it: its provenance involves not one but two locations, neither of which is definitively original.

The carving came to the museum's attention in the 1940s, when Father John Dunlea, a parish priest, noticed it on a gate post at Drynam House near Swords, County Dublin. Concerned that farm carts passing close by were putting it at risk of damage, he alerted H. G. Leask, Inspector of National Monuments, who in turn contacted the National Museum. With the permission of a Mr Wilson of Drynam House, the stone was carefully removed and transferred to Dublin for safekeeping, as Dunlea recorded in 1945. The gate post itself, however, was already a secondary location; researchers have not been able to identify where the figure originally stood. The stone measures 1.28 metres by 0.34 metres, and the carving is described in high relief on the pillar surface. By 2004, when Barbara Freitag examined it, the facial features had worn away, though the thick neck, round shoulders, splayed arms, and raised right leg remained legible. McMahon and Roberts noted that one leg is lifted in a way that gives the figure an almost dancing quality, with the hands gesturing towards the pudenda.

The carving is held in the National Museum of Ireland's collection, so any visit begins there rather than at a field site. It is worth contacting the museum in advance to confirm whether the piece is on public display or held in storage, as not all collection items are accessible at any given time. If you are travelling from Swords, Drynam House itself, the carving's last known outdoor home, lies nearby, though the gate post is long since empty.