566 



the old church of Lavey (there is scarcely a trace of the 

 old church on the site it occupied); and I think probable, 

 that this figure was found amongst them, and laid in the 

 position in which I found it, by the masons employed at the 

 work. I was not aware of its real value, until apprised of it 

 by my brother, the Rev. N. J. Halpin. He immediately re- 

 cognized it as a ' Sheela-na-gig,' and the most perfect of 

 any he had seen. I thought it my duty to protect this pre- 

 cious relic from the hammer. 



" Lavey church lies about fifty miles north-west of Dub- 

 lin, on the mail-coach road. There is a neat new church 

 near the site of the old one." 



Mr. Petrie having expressed a desire that some further 

 information should be given about this figure, and others, 

 of the same kind, of which, he understood, there were two in 

 the museum of the Academy, which had belonged to the late 

 Dean Dawson : 



Mr. Clibborn explained that he had received notices or 

 outlines of ten other figures, of the same kind, which had 

 been found in old churches and castles, and from their posi- 

 tion in the walls, sometimes hid iu the course, and from the 

 diflPerence of the stone, it was probable they had been used 

 in older buildings, so that their actual antiquity could not be 

 determined by the age of the buildings in which they had 

 been found. From the form of the stones on which several 

 of these figures were carved, it was surmised that some 

 of them had been originally used as grave-stones, and proba- 

 bly intended to act as charms to avert the evil eye, or its 

 influence, from the place. These figures have a great simi- 

 litude to others used elsewhere for this purpose formerly, as 

 well as at present, by the natives of the east coast of Africa. 



He also explained that, about five years ago, when, in 

 company with several advocates of the O'Brien theory of the 

 Round Towers of Ireland, he was led to express an opinion 

 that, possibly, these buildings, though erected subsequently 



