Inscribed slab

The National Monuments Service's description

Listed as Monaincha 2 by Okasha & Forsyth (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 201-02) who state that it was`first recorded by Petrie who drew it in 1837. Petrie recorded that stones nos. 1, 2, and 3 had been found `in the church' ... This may, however, merely indicate that they were found around the church site, as seems to have been the case with Monaincha 1 [MONAI/1]. Monaicha 2 [this stone] was broken before 1853 when the portion still in existence was exhibited at the Great Exhibition by the Royal Irish Academy ... It may by then have been presented to the Academy by a Mr Birch and certainly had been so by 1857 ... This portion of the stone was transferred with the rest of the Academy collection to the NMI in 1890. The portion of the stone now lost is known only from Petrie's account and drawing' (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 201-02). Earliest reference noted in Macalister is JRSAI 1852. The slab measures 0.59 x 1.56 x 0.07 (Okasha & Forsyth 2001). A fragment of the slab is stored in the National Museum of Ireland (Cat: reg. no. W 17) while the rest of the slab is lost. According to Okasha & Forsyth, 'The stone is complete except for the right-hand edge which is now broken, the break coming in the middle of the second letter D. Petrie's drawing shows the slab complete and his scale drawing indicates that the stone was then about 156 cm in width. This indicates that a sizeable piece of the stone is now lost' (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 202). The inscription on the slab reads 'O~R~DOBRAN [D][UB]' [ OROIT DO BRANDUB] which translates as 'A prayer for Bran the black' (Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 202).

References
Macalister 1949 102, Plate XLI drawing concise discussion
Okasha & Forsyth 2001, 201--203 photo,drawing substantial discussion
Petrie 1878 37, Plate XXIV, Fig. 50 drawing concise discussion

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien.

Date of upload: 22 September 2008