Ogham stone

The National Monuments Service's description

This ogham stone (one of two) is on display as part of the 'Book of Kells' exhibition in the Library, Trinity College, Dublin (see DU018-294----). The accompanying information panel records that it was found 'near St. Brendan's Oratory on Inishvickillane, Co. Kerry.' It is a rectangular stone measuring 1.05m in height and .15 to .18m in width across the sides. Each of the 4 faces is inscribed with a cross of different form and one of the angles is used as a stem-line for an ogham inscription. A plain Latin cross is carved on each of 2 opposed faces. A 3rd face bears a swastika motif, elongated to resemble a cross; the crossing of arms and shaft is enclosed by a square. The 4th face bears a Latin cross, the head and shaft of which bifurcate to form triangular terminals. The junction of shaft and arms is formed by a square and the arms by equilateral triangles attached to each side of this; each of these triangles is divided by a line into two right-angles. The ogham inscription is inverted with respect to the crosses, and the deep, but narrow incisions have suffered much damage and many are unclear. The inscription was read by Macalister (1945, 178-9) as: (CO?)BB(A?) AVI VLATIAMI MAQ.... The crosses appear to have been positioned so as not to interfere with the inscription, which suggests that they may have been added later. According to Cuppage (1986, 298-301, No. 845), 'when first discovered by Windele, the cross-inscribed ogham stone lay in front of the oratory (Brash 1879, 226) but by 1901 it had been placed as a lintel in that building (Macalister 1902, 44) and in 1902 it was removed to Trinity College, Dublin (Foley 1903, 91) where it remains today.' (see DU018-294----)

This stone has been studied as part of the ‘Ogham in 3D’ project undertaken by the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. To access details go to the following website: http://ogham.celt.dias.ie/search.php?ciic=185

Updated by: Paul Walsh

Revised date of upload: 6 January 2015

References

Cuppage, J. 1986 Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne.

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

Macalister, R.A.S. 1945 Corpus inscriptionum insularum celticarum. Dublin. Stationery Office.