Boa Island

Boa Island, in Lower Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, is home to two enigmatic carved stone figures in the Caldragh graveyard, dating to the Iron Age. The larger bilateral (Janus) figure features two faces placed back-to-back with large oval eyes, protruding tongues, crossed arms, and a belt, carved from a single block. The island's name derives from Irish 'Inis Badhbha,' linking it to the Celtic war goddess Badhbh, and the figure likely represents this deity rather than the Roman Janus. The smaller Lustymore figure, brought from nearby Lustymore Island, shares similar stylistic features but is more weathered. Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney celebrated these carvings in his poem 'January God'.