Corleck Head information

The Corleck Head
Two of the head's three faces
Material	Limestone
Size	Height: 33 cm (13 in) Width (max): 22.5 cm (8.9 in)
Created	1st or 2nd century AD
Discovered	c. 1855 Corleck hill, County Cavan, Ireland 53°58′21″N 6°59′53″W / 53.9725°N 6.9981°W / 53.9725; -6.9981
Present location	National Museum of Ireland, Dublin
Identification	IA:1998:72[1]

The Corleck Head is an Irish three-faced stone idol usually dated to the 1st or 2nd century AD. It is 33 cm (13 in) high and carved from a single block of limestone. Each face has a similarly enigmatic expression, closely set eyes, a broad, flat nose, and a simply drawn mouth. Although its origin cannot be known for certain, it's dating to the Early Iron Age is based on similar iconography from contemporary northern European Celtic artifacts; similar three-faced stone carvings are known from Romano-British and Gallo-Roman culture. Archaeologists believe it represents a Celtic god and was part of a larger shrine associated with either a Celtic head cult or the pagan Lughnasadh harvest festival.

The sculpture was found c. 1855 in the nearby townland of Drumeague during the excavation of a large passage tomb dated to c. 2500 BC. The archaeological evidence indicates the head was used for ceremonial purposes at Corleck hill; a significant cult centre during the late Iron Age that for millennia was a major site of celebration during the Lughnasadh. As with any stone artifact, its dating and cultural significance are difficult to establish. The three faces may represent an all-knowing, all-seeing god representing the unity of the past, present and future or ancestral mother figures representing strength and fertility. The head was found alongside the Corraghy head; a two-headed sculpture with a ram's head at one side and a human head on the other. Today only the human head survives. The idols are collectively known as the "Corleck Gods". Historians assume that they were hidden during the Early Middle Ages due to their paganism and association with human sacrifice; traditions the early Christian church suppressed.

It came to national attention in 1937 after its prehistoric dating was realised by the historian Thomas J. Barron; when found it was a local curiosity placed on top of a farm gatepost. Today it is on permanent display at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. It is listed as number 11 in the 2011 Irish Times anthology A History of Ireland in 100 Objects.^[2]