Medieval, unignorable, unexplained
The sheela-na-gig
Sheela-na-gigs are stone carvings of female figures in an explicit squatting posture, found on medieval churches and castles across Ireland and Britain. The Kilnaboy example, positioned above the south doorway, is one of the better-preserved examples in Clare. The figure has visible ribs on the right side, hands meeting at the vulva. No consensus exists on what they meant: protective apotropaic figures, fertility symbols, a pre-Christian holdover absorbed into church architecture, a warning against lust. They're on churches. That's the part that still puzzles scholars.
A double-armed cross with no obvious explanation
The Cross of Lorraine
The western gable of the church carries a double-armed cross - two transverse bars, the lower longer than the upper. This is the Cross of Lorraine, associated with the French duchy, with crusading orders, and with heraldic tradition. It's uncommon in Irish ecclesiastical architecture. Why it's on a Burren church in County Clare is not recorded. The church was Augustinian from 1194 and the connection, if any, to those associations is unknown.
What was here before the stone church
The round tower stump
The stump of a round tower in the graveyard indicates that the monastery here was significant enough to build one - round towers were expensive and associated with major ecclesiastical sites. This was a place of some importance before the Normans reclassified it. The stone church that stands now dates to the 11th century in its earliest form. The tower predates it.