A Sheela na Gig being held in a crate at a Duchas depot in Mallow should be returned to the community which is its rightful owner, a local development association has claimed.
The well-preserved carved-stone figure, dating from the 14th or 15th century, is typical of the 100 or so female figures in the State, which were used as ornamentation in castles and sometimes in churches.
Archaeologists differ over whether they were used to ward off evil spirits or represented fertility. The north Cork Sheela na Gig was found in a vaulted cell during excavation work at Glanworth Castle, near Fermoy, in the 1980s, but apart from two local public appearances it has remained in safe keeping and obscurity in the Duchas depot.
Mr Con Manning, a senior archaeologist with Duchas, who was supervising the excavation, found the object, apparently hidden away more than 200 years ago. Despite local pressure from the Glanworth Project, a local development organisation, he and Duchas, bound by the rules of the National Museum, have been unable to turn the figure over to the community.
This is only possible, according to Mr Manning, when a permanent curator is available to take charge of such a treasure. Some years ago, in a famous episode, a Sheela na Gig was removed from a church at Fethard, Co Tipperary, and was eventually located in Boston where attempts to sell it were foiled.
In this case, the Glanworth Project argues that, as part of its heritage centre, a specially designed room has been built to house the statue, which was found in the area and therefore belongs to it as part of its history.
"We have been campaigning for the return of the Sheela na Gig for the past two years. We built a state-of-the-art room to house it, complete with buzzers to get in and out, sensors and closed-circuit television cameras. It could hardly be more secure," said Mr Emelyn Heaps, publicity officer for the project.
"But instead, it's hidden away in a depot in Mallow where nobody can see it,"