Corraghy Heads

Speculative drawing of the heads. The Corraghy heads are to the left and right; the Corleck Head is above and centre.[1]

The Corraghy Heads was the name given to two physically connected Iron Age stone idols uncovered c. 1855 in the townland of Drumeague, County Cavan, Ireland. The sculpture consisted of a two-headed or double idol janus structure of a human and ram's head linked by a long cross-piece. The ram's head was lost in the mid-19th century, but the human head survives and is now in the National Museum of Ireland, but is rarely displayed. This head is unusually naturalistic for the time, having ears, hair and a beard.[2]

The same excavation unearthed the contemporary Corleck stone idol; they are sometimes collectively referred to as "the Corleck Gods". Based on their iconography, two objects are usually dated to the late Iron Age, probably to the 1st or 2nd century AD. Archeologists believe that they once formed part of a larger shrine on Drumeague Hill that was associated with a Celtic head cult, and were later used during the Lughnasadh harvest festivals.

  1. ^ Barron (1976), p. 99
  2. ^ Waddell (2023), pp. 209–210