Ogham stone (present location)

The National Monuments Service's description

This is the present location in Cork Public Museum of the ogham stone from Geara South, Co. Kerry (KE092-049001-). A souterrain (KE092-049----), not marked on the OS maps, was discovered in 1953 during quarrying operations at a gravel ridge a short distance N of the confluence of the Blackwater and Derreendarragh rivers (O'Kelly and Kavanagh 1954a, 50-3). It consisted of a stone-built passage roofed with slabs, and was destroyed during the quarrying. An ogham-inscribed slab of shaly sandstone was discovered free-standing in the passage. It measures 1.45m in overall length and .3m x .12m in maximum width and thickness. Its lower end is roughly tapered while the upper end was broken off in antiquity. Its inscribed face and side are ground smooth and the angle features well-spaced, narrow, knife-cut scores. The inscription reads up the dexter angle:
BRANADDOVMA MAQI QOLI MUCOI DOVIV . . . The last character present could also be N or S. Indeed it was interpreted by McManus (1997, 70-1) as: BRANADDOV MA[QI] MAQIQOLI MUCOI DOVI[NIAS]. (O’Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, no. 881)

Compiled by: Nora White

Date of upload: 26 February 2017

References

O'Kelly, M.J. and Kavanagh, S. 1954 An ogham-inscribed cross-slab from County Kerry. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Socity 59, 101-110.

O'Sullivan, A. and Sheehan, J. 1996 The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry. Cork University press.

McManus, D. 1991 A guide to ogam. Maynooth: Monographs 4. Maynooth. An Sagart.