The Chloran Síle Flag
by Miriam de Búrca and Áine Phillips
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Festival Printworks Gallery, Market St.
Exhibition open from Thursday 17 – Sunday 27, September
Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 6pm, Sunday - Monday 12 noon - 5pm
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The Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Ln, (off Quay Street)
14:00-15:00 hr, Sunday 20th , September 2026
FREE entry - All are welcome, no booking required
The Chloran Síle Flag represents a Sheela-na-gig that has been held in the collection of the British Museum since the late 1800s, having been taken from a site in West Meath during British occupation.
Sheela na gigs are medieval stone carvings of female figures displaying their genitalia with exaggerated grotesque and humorous facial expressions. They are found predominantly in Ireland. Experts believe they were protective talismans connected to ancient folk ideas of birth, death and life giving power. Sheela na gigs are viewed by modern feminists as symbols of female empowerment, body autonomy, and resistance against patriarchal oppression.
The Chloran Sile Flag also confronts colonial legacies, her display highlights the expropriation of objects and treasures from Ireland that are still held in British institutions. This flag, as a symbol of identity, authority and solidarity to communicate shared values, proposes the restitution and repatriation of this ancient carving, echoing the artistic call to be found on the reverse of the flag: Síle come home.