Sheela-na-gig

A small carved figure of a naked female posed in a manner which displays and emphasises the genitalia. They are found on Romanesque and later medieval churches and on the external walls of tower houses and town walls, providing a date range from the 12th to the 17th century AD. They probably functioned as a general protection against evil, though they are also associated in folk tradition with beneficial powers to assist fertility and/or childbirth. See also Exhibitionist figure.