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THE OGAMIN SCRIBED MONUMENTS OF THE GAEDHIL
IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS, ETC.
. LONDON . -
PRINTED BY WILLIAMS AND STRAHAN,
LAWRENCE LANE, CHEAPSIDE, AND LAMBETH.
~
% º


THE
()(FAM INSCRIBED MONUMENT
(AEI)|H||
IN THE
BRITISH ISLANDS;
WITH A DISSERTATION ON THE 06AM CHARACTER, &c.
~~~~22**Cº-tº-
§llustratº with fifty photo-lithographic plates,
RICHARI ROLT BRASH, M.R.I.A., F.S.A.Scot,
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF
IRELAND ; AND AUTHOR OF “THE ECCLESIASTICAL
ARCHITECTURE of IRELAND.”
ED ITED BY G E O R. G. E. M. A T K INS ON.
-
LONDON
GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
-
1879.
[All Rights Iteserred.]

-4}.
{
|N
M E M O R | A M .
R. R. B.
Ób : 18 Jan. 1876,
#.
“The wish, that of the living whole
No life may fail beyond the grave.”
4-4-27
| ? 7-0
I, I S T OF P L A T E S.
Ogam Scales from the MS. Book
* * of Ballymote, p. 61
Plans and Sections of Rath Caves, page 103 ... --- --- ---
Ogam inscribed Monument Co. CoRK, from Barachaurin, p. 121, Burnfort, p. 118,
* *
Ballyhank, p. 140, Gloumaglough, p. 119
Delish, p. 122, and Gurranes, p. 156
St. Olan's Well, p. 125
Ballycrovane, p. 127 --- --- ---
Bweeng, p. 144, Tullig, p. 129, St. Olan's, No. 2, p. 131
St. Olan's Churchyard, p. 130 --- --- --- ---
Knockrour, p. 132, Coolineagh, No. 1, p. 131, Windele, Col. No. 1,
p. 155, Cooldorrihy, p. 159 --- --- --- ---
Ballynabartagh Knockboy, p. 135, Kilcaskan, p. 16
Greenhill, p, 137 --- --- - - - -
Roovesmore, Nos. 1, 2, 3, p. 14 --- --- ---
Shannacloon, p. 153, Aghaliskey, No. 3, p. 145, Knockourane, p. 152
Kilcullen, p. 163, Monataggart, p. 160 --- ---
Co. KERRY or Glenfais or Camp, p. 174, Trabeg, p. 170
Dunmore, p. 178, Bally nesteening, p. 176 --- --- ---
R. I. Academy, No. 8, Lougher, p. 186, R. I. A., No. 9, p. 189, R. I. A.,
No. 7, Martramane, p. 186 --- --- ---
Whitefield, R. I. A., No. 11, p. 190, R. I. A., No. 10, p. 190, R. I. A.,
No. 12, p. 192 --- -
Derrygurrane, p. 192, Droumatouk, p. 220 --- ---
Lomanagh, p. 196, Maumenorig Kilcoleman, p. 224 --- ---
Ballintarmon, p. 199, Fortwilliam, p. 218, Lislaghtin, or Kilnaghtin, p. 19
Ballintaggart, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, pp. 200-5 --- -
Aglish, p. 187, Ballinahunt, p. 206, Emlagh West, Dingle, p. 216,
Lugnagappal east side No. 1, 2, p. 197 --- ---
Ballymorereagh, p. 206, Kinnard, East, p. 217, Cahernagat, p. 219
PLATE
II.
III.
IV.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
viii LIST OF PLATES.
Ogam Inscribed Monuments—Ballinrannig, Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, pp. 208-12
Timnahally, p. 213, Brandon Mountain Arraglén, p. 195
Corkaboy, (front, back,) p. 227, Drumkoare, p. 215 -
,, Laharan, (Adare,) Nos. 1, 2, p. 222, Gortamaccaree, p. 198 ...
,, Kilfountain, Dingle, p. 226, Reisk, (front, back,) p. 873
,, Kilcolaght, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, pp. 228-31
,, Dunloe Cave, plan and pillar, p. 231
,, Killeen a Dreenagh, p. 241, Kilbonane, p. 234
,, Ballinrannig, No. 7, p. 212, Keel Ogram, p. 239 ---
,, Co. WATERFoRD, Windgap, p. 268, Island, p. 253, Tubber Kill-ele Bally-
vooney, p. 255 --- - - - --- -
,, Salter Bridge, p. 270, Kilgravane, No. 1, 2, p. 256, Plan and side Wall,
Drumloghan, pp. 272-8 --- -
,, Ballyquin, p. 265, Kiltera, ‘plan of Cistvaen, p. 259
,, From Seskinan Ch. figs. 1, 2, 3, p. 260 ... --- --- -
Co. KILKENNY, Tullaherin, p. 280, Dunbell, Nos. 1, 2, p. 282, Gowran,
p. 281 --- - - - --- --- --- - -
,, Killen Cormac, Nos. 1, 2, p. 306, Hook Point, p. 294, Corrody, p. 325,
Slieve-na-Cailligh, p. 326 --- --- --- ---
,, MS. Ogams, p. 323, Ballyspellan Fibula, p. 289, The Conyngham
Manilla, p. 319, Amber Amulet, p. 321, Kilmallock Wessel, p. 327,
Ogam on Ring, p. 321 ... --- --- ... ---
,, WALEs, Cilgeran, p. 332, Crick Howel, p. 330, Kenfig, p. 329.
,, St. Dogmael's, p. 833, Llanfechan, p. 842 ---
,, Clydai, p. 335, Trallong, p. 343, Clydai, No. 3, p. 337
Lougher, p. 345, ‘Wales,' Bridell, p. 389, Trefgarne, p. 346
ENGLAND, Fardel, p. 348, Buckland Monachorum, p. 350, Devonshire,
Llandwake, p. 347 - - --- - - - --
Scotland, Bressay (front, back), p. 354, Shetland ...
Scoonie, p. 353, Golspie, p. 363, Logie, p. 358 - - - --
Burrian, p. 362, St. Ninian's, p. 364, Newton Stone, p. 359, Aboyne,
p. 364, Lunnasting, p. 365 --- --- --
,, Alphabets, Ibn Wahshih's, Fig. 1, 2, p. 369, Fig. 3, Run-Lara, p. 369,
4, 5, Bricks, cuneiform, p. 370, 6, Slab Nimroud, 9, 18, Maes-
hewe, p. 373, Hackness St. Hild, p. 373
PLATE
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXI.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
XXXIV.
XXXV.
XXXVI.
XXXVII.
... XXXVIII.
XXXIX.
XL.
XLI.
XLII.
XLIII.
XLIV.
XLV.
XLVI.
XLVII.
XLVIII.
XLIX.
L.
Map, showing the districts of the British Islands in which Ogam monuments have been
found, p. 378.
C O N T E N T S.
PREFACE ...
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I.
II.
* *
* *
y:
5 *
2-
III.
IV.
VI.
WII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
Antiquity of Letters in Ireland.—Letters in Pre-Christian Ireland
Early Notices of the Ogam.—The Tuatha-de-Damand.--
Hercules Ogmious ... --- --- --- ---
Manuscript Evidences of the use of the Ogam.—Oisin Cecinit.—
The Ogam used for other Purposes and on other Materials.-
For Necromancy.—For Communicating Information.—As a
Talisman... --- --- --- --- ---
History of the Discovery of Ogam Monuments.-Lhyd.-Col.
Wallancey.—O'Flanagan.-Edward Burton. —Ledwich. —H.
Pelham.—Windele.— Lady Chatterton.— Dr. Graves.— R.
Hitchcock.-W. Williams.--Dr. Ferguson -- - - -
The Ogam Character described. – Ogam Bethluisnin.-Its
Arboretic Origin ... --- --- --- ---
The Sepulchral Usages of the Gaedhil. —Burial Customs.
—Sepulchrall]sages.—Tulachs or Sepulchrall’laces.—Crema-
tion.—Cluiche Caintech - --- - - - ---
The Cemeteries of the Gaedhil.-Aenach or Ancient Fair.—
Carman, the Provincial Cemetery for Leinster.—New Grange
and Knowth.--Tailtan, Cruachan, and Brugh.-Oenach-Culi.
—Oenach-Colmain.-The Keel, Clochan, Leabha, &c.
The Pillar Stones.—Dallans.—Size and Form of Ogam Monu-)
ments.-The Inscriptions.—Formation of Ogam Letters.
The Sites.—The Rath.-The Lios.-Duns.—Cahers.-Rath
Builders.--Stone Fortresses.—Crypts, &c.—Domestic uses of
the Rath.-The Ogam Character preceded the Building of the
Rath.-Pillar Stones found on Christian Sites.—Turned into
Christian Monuments.-Catalogue of such --- ---
Ogam Monuments, County of Cork.-Ancient History of
Munster.—Monuments at Coolowen.—Burnfort.—Glounagloch
—Barachaurin.-Deelish.-St. Olan's Well.—Carrignavar.
— Ballycrovane. — Tulligmore. — St. Olan's Church. —
Coolineagh. – Knockrour. — Glennawillen. — Knockboy. —
Green-hill. — Ballyhank.-Bweeng.—Aghaliskey.—Rooves-
more. — Knockourane. — Teampuleen Fachtna. – Shana-
cloon.—Gormlee.—Windele Collection.— Gurranes.-Coom-
liah. —Cooldorrihy.—Monataggart. – Kilcullen. —Kilcaskan.
–Keelvaugh-More... --- --- --- ---
Ogam Monuments, County Kerry.—Trabeg.—Glenfais.-Bally-
nasteenig. —Dunmore.—Ballyneanig.-Gortnagullanagh.-
PAGE
xiii
13
28
47
57
80
98
114
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
* *
* *
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
Martramane,—Lougher.—Aglish.-Royal Irish Academy.
Whitefield. – Kilnaughtin. — Derrygurrane. — Arraglen.—
Lomanagh. — Lugnagappul. — Gortamaccaree. — Ballintar-
mon. — Ballintaggart — Ballynahunt. — Ballymorereigh. —
Ballinrannig.—Ardowanig.—Rathduff-Brackloon. —Tinna-
hally.— Dromkeare.—Emlagh-West.—Kinnard-East.—Fort-
william. – Cahernagat. — Droumatouk. — Laharan. —Adare
Manor. — Maumenorig. — Aghadoe. — Brandon.—Innishvic-
killane. —Derreen. —Brakel. – Kilfountain.-Mangerton.-
Corkaboy. —Kilcolaght.—Dunloe.— Kilbonane. — Aghacar-
rible.—Kilgobinet.—Anascaul.-Killogrone.—Killeenadreena.
—Killmalkedar.—Derrynane.--Tyvoria
Ogam Monuments, County Waterford.-Ardmore.—Island.-
Ballyvooney.—Kilgravane.—Grange.—Kiltera.-Seskinan.--
Ballyquin. —Windgap. —Templeenoach.-Salter Bridge.—
Kilrush.-Drumloghan,-Dungarvon, Kilbeg
Ogam Monuments, County Kilkenny.—Tulloherin.-Gowran.-
Dunbell.—Ballyboodan.-Ballyspellan.-Clarah
Miscellaneous Ogam Monuments in Ireland.-Knockfierna.-
Hook Point. — Castletimon. — Callan Mountain. — Rath
Croghan.-Killeen Cormac.—Breastagh.-The Conyngham
Patera.-Ring.—Arrow Head.-Amber Amulet.—The Priscian
Glosses.— Clonmacnoise. — Donard. — Mullagh.-Hackets-
town.—Ross Hill.—Corrody.— Sleive na Calliagh. — Bally-
doolough.--Topped Mountain.-Cavancarragh. Kilmallock
Ogam Monuments in Wales and England. – Kenfig. —
Crickhowel. — Cilgerran. —St. Dogmael's. - Clydai. — Bri-
dell.—-Llanfechan,-Trallong.—Lougher.—Caldy Island.—
Trefgarne. — St. Florence. — Nevern. —Llandwke. —Llan-
winio.— Capel Maire. —Llanarth.- Ruthin. — The Fardel
Stone.—Buckland Monachorum.—The Bilingual Monument.
—Camelford.—Barming --- ---
Ogam Monuments in Scotland. – Scoonie. — Bressay. — The
Logie Stone.—The Newton Stone.—Burrian-Golspie.—
Aboyne.—Gigha.-St. Ninian's.-Lunnasting. – Kunnings-
burgh ...
Eastern Forms of Ogams, Egypt.—Conclusions arrived at -
Early Colonisation of the British Isles.—Extent of the Gaelic
Dominion.—The Monumental Evidence.—Bilingual Monu-
PAGE
169
245
279
293
328
352
367
ADDENDA
INDEx
ments.-Gaedhelic Inscriptions in Debased Roman Letters.-
Cornish Monuments. – Devonshire Monuments—The Period
of Occupation
375
413
415
LIST OF ABREVIATIONS AND AUTHORITIES QUOTED WHICH REQUIRE
EXPLANATION.
“Aengus, i.e. Festology of Aengus Céle-De, copies of which are preserved in the Leabhar
Breac, and in a few other ancient Irish Manuscripts.
“Annals of Inisf.,’ i.e. Annals of Inisfallen, MS. Bodl. Lib. Oxford.
“Ann. Tig., i.e. Annals of Tigernach.
“Ann. 4 Mas., i.e. Annals of Ireland by the Four Masters. Translated by John O'Donovan,
LL.D., M.R.I.A.
“Annals of Kilroman.’ MS. Library Trin. College, Dublin, now known as Annals of Loch Ce.
‘Arch. Camb," i.e. Archæologia Cambrensis. The Journal of the Cambrian Archaeological
Association. -
‘B. Armagh, i.e. Book of Armagh, MS. (A.D. 724) Trin. Coll. Lib., Dublin.
* B. B.,’ i.e. Book of Ballymote. A vellum MS. preserved in the Library of the Royal
Irish Academy, Dublin.
‘B. L., i.e. Book of Lecan, MS. (1476), in Trin. Coll. Lib., Dublin,
* B. L., i.e. Book of Lismore. ‘The Book of Mac Carthy Reagh. Avellum MS. preserved
in Lib. R. I. A.
‘Camb. Ever, i.e. Cambrensis Eversus, by Dr. John Lynch.
“Cel. Rom. Sax., i.e. Celt, Roman and Saxon, by Thos. Wright.
“Chron. Scot, i.e. Chronicon Scotorum. A chronicle of Irish affairs from the earliest
period to the year 1134.
‘Colgan's Acta SS.,’ i.e. Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiberniæ.
* Col. Antiq., i.e. Collectanæ Antiquae, by J. Roach Smith.
“Dinnsenchus, i.e. History of Noted Places, copies in Books of Leinster, Lecan, and Bally-
mote.
‘ Grut.” (Gruterus J.) Inscriptiones Antiquae.
“Kil. Arch. Soc. Jour.,’ i.e. Royal, Historical and Archæological Association of Ireland
Journal.
‘L. ma-g Ceart, i.e. Leabhar na g-Ceart, or Book of Rights.
‘Lib. Breac, i.e. Leabhar Breac, MS. in the R. I. Academy.
* Leabhar Gabhala," i.e. Book of Invasions.
xii LIST OF ABREWIATIONS AND AUTHORITIES.
* Leabhar na h’Uidhri, MS. preserved in the R. I. A.
‘Liber Hymnorum, i.e. A very ancient MS. containing Hymns of the Ancient Church of
Ireland. Lib. T. C. Dublin.
• Lib. Trin. Col. Dub., i.e. Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
‘Mart. Don.,’ i.e. Martyrology of Donegal. A calendar of the Saints of Ireland.
‘Man. and Cust., i.e. Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, by Dr. E. O'Curry.
‘MS. Mat. Ir. Hist., i.e. Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History. Dr. E. O'Curry.
‘MSS. Brit. Mus., i.e. Manuscripts in the British Museum. -
‘Nennius," i.e. Historia Britonum, Irish version of.
‘ O'Brien, Ir. Dict., i.e. O'Brien's Irish English Dictionary.
‘O’Reilly, Ir. Dict., i.e. O'Reilly's Irish English Dictionary.
* Ord. Sh. No.," i.e. Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland. Sheet No.
‘ Orelli, John Casper.' Inscriptionum Latinarum.
“Pro. R. I. A., i.e. Proceedings Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
“R. I. A., i.e. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. -
‘Lib. Roy. Ir. Aca., Library, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
“Mus. Roy. Ir. Aca.,' Museum, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.
‘Senchus Mor.” The great law compilation.
“Stein,” (Steinbrenner, W. L.,) Die Mythen der Griechen und Römer,
“Trans. Oss. Soc., i.e. Transactions of the Ossianic Society.
“Trans. Roy. Ir. Aca., i.e. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy.
‘Ul. Jour. Arch., i.e. Ulster Journal of Archæology.
‘Uraceipt," i.e. A treatise on Irish Grammar.
“Val, Col.," i.e. Wallancey's Collectange.
PRE FA C E .
MANY unavoidable delays have prevented the earlier publication of this work.
The request to edit it came upon me about two years ago, quite unexpectedly, and
in the rather brief intervals of much other occupation I have endeavoured to
fulfil my task. Unfortunately, I have not had opportunity in every instance to
consult or compare the authors quoted, and thus have sometimes failed to follow
the celebrated advice of the venerable Dr. Routh, “verify your references; ” but
the general accuracy of the inscriptions and interpretations will I trust speak for
themselves.
The design and objects of the work will be inferred from a perusal of the
following extract, taken from the prospectus prepared by Mr. Brash :-
“There is no country in Europe which presents so rich a field for the investiga-
tions of the antiquary as Ireland. Placed in the remote West of Europe, preserved
for ages from those influences, both of war and civilisation, which altered the
entire social relations of the Continent, Ireland became the last retreat of those
pre-historic races who in long past ages inhabited it. We have abundant evidence
that successive tribes, driven towards the Atlantic by more recent migrations
from the East, found a refuge in this remote isle; in attestation of which we
find, that every district teems with the military, religious, and sepulchral monu-
ments of pre-historic peoples, most of which are the subjects of weird traditions
still preserved by the peasantry, being even yet regarded with that jealous
veneration inherent in the Celtic race. Foremost in interest amongst these
megalithic remains stand her Ogam inscribed pillar-stones, bearing the sepulchral
legends of a race of her early colonists in such archaic characters as at once to
place them amongst the most ancient written records known.
“Having spent many years in examining these mysterious monuments, and in
xiv. PREFACE.
investigating the inscriptions engraven thereon, I have considered it my duty to
place the result of my labours before the public, having a strong faith in the value
of these venerable memorials in throwing light upon an obscure era in the early
history of these Islands.
“The antiquaries and philologists of Great Britain should feel as deeply interested
in this subject as those of Ireland, for it is to be remembered that twenty-three
Ogam inscriptions, identical with the Irish examples, have been discovered in
England and Wales, and twelve in Scotland.”
The work contains a record of all the known inscriptions found in the British
Islands, and is illustrated with fifty plates, containing the Ogam scales, from
the Book of Ballymote, and the most important of the Ogam inscribed monu-
ments, photo-lithographed from the Author's original drawings, with disserta-
tions on the following subjects:–“The Antiquity of Letters in and Pre-Christian
Civilisation of Ireland; Manuscript Notices of Ogam Writing; Sepulchral use of
the Ogam Character; History of the Discovery of Ogam Monuments; Description
of the Ogam Character and Alphabet; The Sepulchral Usages and the Megalithic
Memorials of the Celts, the Pillar Stone; The Keel, or Cemetery of the Pagan
Age: The Rath, and its Artificial Chambers; Descriptive Catalogue, Text, and
Translations of Ogam Inscriptions discovered in Ireland, in England and Wales,
and in Scotland; Ogamic forms discovered on Eastern Monuments; The bearing
of the question on the Early Colonisation of the British Isles.”
The death of the author deprived the work of that careful revision his hand
alone could bestow. It was his intention to give, for purposes of comparison, the
different Ogam readings of each stone that have heretofore been published; but
this he was not permitted to accomplish.
A brief notice of the life and labours of the author, whose portrait” appears
on the frontispiece, may be acceptable, and not without interest to the reader.
Mr. Brash was born at Cork, 1817, and brought up to his father's business of a
builder and architect, and under his supervision many of the buildings in the
County and City of Cork were erected. Of the study of architecture he was
passionately fond, and this gradually led him on to kindred pursuits. He early
acquired antiquarian tastes, through his association with the Members of the
South Munster Society of Antiquaries; the late Mr. John Windele, a zealous
archaeologist, and one of the most prominent members of that body, and
the late Rev. Matthew Horgan, P.P. of Blarney, were his particular friends.
On the study of archaeology Mr. Brash throughout all his labours brought to
bear his practical knowledge, which was of invaluable assistance in unravelling
* This portrait is enlarged, by the Woodbury Permanent Photographic process, from a carte de
visite taken a short time before his decease.
PREFACE. XV
some of the mysteries of the construction of old buildings. This is testified by
his work on the “Early and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland,” dedicated
to his dear wife, “the congenial companion of many a pleasant pilgrimage in
search of the materials from which it was compiled,” also many papers published
in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Royal Hist, and Arch. Association
of Ireland, the Cambrian Archaeological, and other Societies' journals. With
loving reverence he studied the antiquity of the Round Towers. In the Ulster
Journal of Archaeology he published “Notes on the Round Tower Controversy,”
and the “Belfry Theory Examined.” To the Proceedings of the Royal Hist.
and Arch. Association of Ireland, he contributed papers on Cloyne, and the
Round Tower and Church of Dysert, Co. Limerick ; and to the Proceedings
of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, papers on “The Round Tower of
Abernethy” and “Notes Historical and Architectural of the Round Tower of
Brechin.” His industry and devotion to the cause of archaeology during all
the difficulties of a professional career in which he realised an independence, is
attested by a list of some fifty papers:–On the early Architecture of Ireland ;
Sculptured Crosses; Inscribed Ogam Monuments; &c. contributed by him to
the different Societies with which he was connected. “We live in deeds, not years.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives who thinks most, acts the
best.”
Mr. Brash died at his residence, Sunday’s Well, Cork, on the 18th of January,
1876; he was interred in the New Cemetery of that City on the 22nd of the same
month. A short time before his decease he expressed a wish that the MS of the Ogam
Monuments should be offered for publication to one of the Archaeological Associations
he was connected with ; but, by the advice of many friends, Mrs. Brash has
undertaken and successfully accomplished the task, as the fittest monument she
could raise to his memory. She appeals to the sympathy of her subscribers to
make every allowance for errors which she fears may be unavoidable.
While entrusting to me the pleasing but onerous duty of seeing the work
through the press, it has been my anxiety to give every letter as the author
wrote it. I do not consider myself responsible for any of the opinions
expressed ; and the derivations will not in all cases commend themselves to the
present school of philologists. The last chapter was, at the time of his death,
undergoing correction. Moreover, every day adds to our knowledge, as new in-
scriptions are discovered. On many points I differed from the author's views,
but I have endeavoured to carry out what from a long friendship I knew to be
his ideas.
I have to express my grateful thanks and acknowledgments to the Ven. Canon
Smiddy, P.P. Aghada (whose recent death I most sincerely deplore), and to the
xvi. PREFACE.
Rev. Edmond Barry, C.C., Youghal, for their patient kindness in correcting the
Gaedhelic names and extracts in the proofs; to R. H. Soden Smith, Esq., the
Rev. D. H. Haigh, and A. G. "Geoghegan, Esq., for advice and corrections; to
J. G. Robertson, Esq., Architect, Honorary Curator of the Archaeological Museum,
Kilkenny, for corrections of the Kilkenny Ogam Monuments; and to the officers
at the Libraries at South Kensington and the British Museum for their obliging
assistance. The kind services of other friends are acknowledged in the text.
GEORGE M. ATKINSON.
50 The Grove, Walham Green,
London, 1879.


IN T R O DUCTION.
HE origin of the symbols which express or delineate language is a subject involved
in much obscurity, and has been a fruitful source of investigation and controversy
amongst the learned of all times. Thus the cuneiform characters of Assyria, the hiero-
glyphics of Egypt, the archaic letters of the Pelasgi, Phoenicians and Etrurians, and the
more modern runes of the Scandinavians, have received from the antiquary and the
philologist a considerable amount of attention, and still continue to attract the investi-
gations of the learned. Yet, strange to say, while such is the fact, a class of lapidary
inscriptions confessedly of a respectable antiquity, and sufficiently remarkable both in
character and numbers, have been allowed to exist almost unheeded in our midst.
Had the Ogam been found in any of the countries above named, it would doubtless
have attracted that eager attention which the learned are ever ready to accord to the most
trivial matters connected with the archaeology of those ancient nations; but an unac-
countable prejudice against the study of Irish antiquities seems to have hitherto most
unreasonably extended even to men of letters, and to have prevented a due examination
of these remarkable Monuments, and an investigation into the powers of the characters
which they bear, of the language which they represent, or of the age to which they should
be assigned. That many and important difficulties exist in arriving at safe and just conclu-
sions on those points, must at once be conceded; for though we have in our ancient MSS.
an approximate key to its alphabet, it helps us but a certain way on the road to success,
as in its application to some monuments its results are not satisfactory. The principal
difficulties, however, arise from the absence of divisional points, and the mutations of our
ancient language. We cannot expect that the Gaelic of to-day is the same as that of two
thousand years ago—-nay, of one thousand, or even five hundred; our ancient lexicographers
felt this, as is evident from the constantly recurring glosses in our MSS., many of which
are unintelligible to our best Gaedhelic scholars.
Colgan, speaking of the poetic compositions of Dallan Forghail, states that they were
written in so antique a style, that they were almost unintelligible in after times, even to
those who were skilled in the ancient language of the country: “A multis alioquin in veteri
patrio idiomate versatis nequent penetrari.” (O'Connor's Prolegomena, p. lxxiv.) Dr.
O'Connor states that in the library at Stowe was an Irish MS., containing a rhythmical
poem, ascribed to Oliol Olum, a King of Munster in the third century; though its author-
ship may be disputed, its extreme antiquity must be admitted. In the margin is a note
B
2 INTRODUCTION.
written by by the doctor's grandfather, the learned Charles O'Connor, of Belanagar, as
follows, “Ni maith thuigim an tsean duan so,” i.e. “I do not well understand this ancient
poem.” Many of our old MSS. are not only glossed, but re-glossed, the language of the
original glosses having become obsolete. What changes have taken place in the English
tongue since the days of Alfred—may, since those of Chaucer |
We must not, therefore, be surprised should difficulties arise in attempting to translate
many of these archaic inscriptions. Some sense of these difficulties seems to have deterred
our ablest Gaedhelic scholars from entering on their study; yet do I believe, that such men
as Drs. O'Curry, Donovan, Connellan, and others, formed exaggerated ideas of these diffi-
culties. I have not the slightest doubt that had such men really applied themselves to the
subject, they would have thoroughly made themselves masters of it. I rather believe, that
the devotion of all their time and thought to the great works on which these distinguished
scholars were engaged, was the real cause of their neglect of the Ogam. To this may be
added, the defective copies of inscriptions which were in circulation in their day, so full of
errors as to render their translation a work of impossibility.
The late Messrs. Windele and Hitchcock, enthusiastic searchers after these inscriptions, and
to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of the great majority of them, seldom adventured
to unravel their mysteries, and do not appear to have been successful in those they attempted.
The Right Reverend Dr. Graves was, in truth, the first who really put these inscriptions to
the test of modern criticism, and by an ingenious process applied independently to them,
demonstrated the applicability of the scale in the Book of Ballymote to their elucidation.
The task which I have proposed to myself in the following pages will of necessity lead
me into the consideration of the age of the Ogam, a subject beset with difficulty, and which
I have been unable to determine with any degree of certainty. The inscriptions, as far as we
are able to read them, do not disclose any events or facts that would help us to fix the date of
a single Irish example; being almost exclusively sepulchral, the legends are of that short,
simple, expressive type, usually found on the archaic monuments of the most ancient peoples.
The bilingual inscriptions discovered in Wales alone, give us some clue to the probability of
the Ogam having been in use in that district during, and immediately subsequent to the
Roman occupation; for how many centuries it was in use among the Gaedhil of Ireland,
before they carried it across the Channel into South Wales, on their invasion or colonisation
of that country, we have at present no means of ascertaining; the following pages will, I
hope, establish the fact that its introduction into Ireland occurred many centuries antecedent
to the advent of Christianity. It cannot be denied that the pretensions of Ireland to such an
early cultivation as the possession of letters, even of the simplest character, would imply,
previous to that event, has been jealously and unreasonably denied by many writers, both of
the last and present centuries. That such men as Innes, MacPherson, Pinkerton, and
Ledwich, imbued with anti-Irish prejudices, should decry our ancient civilisation, is not to be
wondered at; it will, however, appear strange that a school of Irish archaeologists started in
the early part of the present century, who threw doubt upon the pre-Christian civilisation of
Ireland, attributing the introduction of letters, arts, and science, to the great apostle of the
Celts, the era of whose advent is even still an unsettled question.

INTRODUCTION. 3
According to these gentlemen, the task accomplished by St. Patrick was indeed a
herculean one; during the period of his mission they represent him, not only as itinerating
over the whole island, preaching the Gospel, holding controversies with the native priests,
converting the native chiefs, instructing native bishops and priests, founding churches and
bishoprics; but also re-casting the entire code of native laws, showing the natives how to
build with lime and stone, instructing them in the crafts of the bell-founder, the jeweller, the
goldsmith, and all the other arts of civilised life; this of course is all very absurd, just as
much so as the dreams of the eighteenth century antiquaries of the Wallancey school. That
the untenable theories of these latter enthusiasts should cause a strong reaction is not to be
wondered at, and that the usual consequence of running into the opposite extreme should
follow, we are prepared to admit; truth, however, may be found somewhere midway between
both schools. The investigations of the late Drs. O'Donovan and Curry into ancient Irish
literature, the publications of the Celtic, Archæological, and Ossianic Societies, and an exami-
nation of the MS. treasures in the library of the Roy. Ir, Aca., as well as of the antiquarian
riches of its museum, will be sufficient to prove to the most sceptical that both letters and
arts must have existed in the country previous to A.D. 432.
In order to give my readers some idea of pre-Christian Ireland, and the state of civilisation
existing among the Gaedhil, before the Faith, I had prepared chapters on our Ancient Laws,
Poetry, Music, Chess, Chariot, and the Metallurgic Arts. The publication, however, of Dr.
O'Curry’s “Lectures on the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish,” and the very
learned and elaborate introductory volume by Dr. O'Sullivan, has rendered it unnecessary for
me to publish this portion of my labours, and more particularly as the subjects named have
been treated of, to an extent, and in a manner so complete and admirable, as to leave others
no excuse for going over the same ground, unless, indeed, fresh discoveries may throw addi-
tional light on these questions. And here I wish not to be misunderstood; I have no desire
to unduly exalt the social condition of Ireland in pagan times, or to claim for her a state of
society in anywise approaching that which existed in Egypt, Greece, or Rome: but in her we
have the picture of an agricultural people, rich in flocks and herds, addicted to the chase as
an amusement, possessed of horses and hounds of great strength and fleetness, governed by
an elaborate and minute code of laws, built up by the experience of ages; encouraging poets
and musicians; paying the highest honours to men of letters; possessing wheeled vehicles
and roads, and having artists in bronze, gold, silver, and ivory, whose productions have come
down to our own day, and are the marvel of our modern workers in the precious metals.
CHAPTE R. I.
THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND.
HE rapid and peaceful conversion of Ireland to the Gospel has frequently been a source
of surprise to those who have investigated the subject; and it can only be accounted
for by the fact that when the great apostle of the Gaedhil commenced his labours, he knew
he had to deal with a people enlightened and tolerant, governed by an elaborate code of laws
wisely formed to suit their social state, and which were so administered as to protect this
teacher of a strange creed, and to permit him and his companions to preach and teach his
doctrines among the people, not only unmolested, but actually under the protection of the
native toparchs, as we find that Laoghairé, the then reigning monarch, permitted the apostle
and his companions to pursue their missionary labours, though he, Laoghairé, continued a
pagan to the day of his death. Patrick had no doubt during the years of his captivity ample
opportunities of making himself acquainted with the language of the Gaedhil, as well as with
their laws, social state, and the national character of the people; and from these he reasonably
inferred his chances of success. Giraldus Cambrensis has noticed this remarkable fact in the
conversion of Ireland to the Christian faith. “Not one was found,” he remarks, “to purple
with his blood the foundations of the rising church.” (Camb. Ever, c. xxxi., Sec. 330.)
This sneer of the splenetic Welshman was no doubt intended in disparagement of the Irish
Church, and had John Lynch viewed it in its proper light, and had he studied the social
state of his country at the period alluded to, he would not have made so lame an answer as
he has done, endeavouring to rake up a few martyrs to contradict Giraldus; coming down to
the tenth and eleventh centuries for that purpose.
But the Welshman was right as to the fact; we have no evidence whatsoever that St.
Patrick and his companions suffered persecution or molestation in their missionary labours.
This tolerance did not proceed from an entire indifference to the subject of religion, for we
know that an elaborate system of paganism prevailed in the country, administered by a
powerful priesthood of the Druidic order, to whom constant reference is made in our MS.
literature. When the great apostle first visited the Irish monarch, he found him engaged in
celebrating the festival of the fire-god at Tara, surrounded by his Druids, and all the estates


CHAP. I.] THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. 5
of the realm. (Dr. Todd's St. Patrick, p. 420.) Stripping this and subsequent interviews of
their fabulous garniture, it would appear that the Saint and his learned companions made no
more commotion among the Brehons and learned Druids than did St. Paul among the
philosophic priesthood of Athens; he was received among them as a wise man and a scholar,
and in the peaceful course of his ministry numbers of them adopted the doctrines he pro-
mulgated, and became not only disciples, but apostles in spreading the truth among their
countrymen. How could we account in any other way for the rapidity with which churches
were organised, bishops appointed, and all the machinery of a religious establishment
brought into working order 2 Had our apostle a barbarous and illiterate people to deal with,
he could not have accomplished such results in so short a time. We are informed in the
“Life of St. Patrick,” that he consecrated over three hundred bishops or chorepiscopi, native
Scotts;–were these ignorant and unlettered men? The supposition is absurd, and contrary
to the nature of things.
The venerable Charles O'Connor, in a letter to Mr. Theophilus O'Flanagan, on this
subject, thus expresses himself:-‘‘Our first missionaries of the Gospel were saved the
slavish task of alphabet teachers, for they met with a lettered people, whose philosophy and
manners prepared them for a more rapid progress of the Gospel in this remote part of
Europe, than in any other that we read of.” (Trans. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. 1785. 6. 15.) The
learned Dr. Lanigan also combats the absurd notion that St. Patrick had to teach his converts
their A B C, as well as to instruct them in the rudiments of Christianity In his note on
Jocelin's account of the conversion of St. Mochoe, where he makes the apostle on the first
occasion teach the young convert the Roman alphabet, for the purpose of learning Latin, he
thus observes:—
“From the mention often made of St. Patrick's giving alphabets to his Irish disciples,
the Bollandists—who were totally ignorant of the Irish language, and nearly so of Irish
history—rashly concluded that alphabetic writing was unknown in Ireland until the arrival
of St. Patrick. These arguments have already been well answered (see, among others, Ware
and Harris, Antiq., chap. 8); and without entering into further discussions, it will suffice
here to observe that, besides the Ogham characters, the old Irish alphabet called Bethluisnion
\"." of a quite different construction from the Roman. It was, therefore, necessary for the
Irish who wished to learn Latin to make themselves previously acquainted with its alphabet,
in the same manner as whoever among us wishes to know Greek must first learn the Greek
letters. The Bollandists’ argument is like that of an Arab, who, on being told that the
Europeans cannot read Arabic books without being taught the letters, would thence conclude
that they have no letters of their own.” (Eccl. Hist. v. i. p. 220.)
Again, in his reference to the conversion of Fiech, the evidence is very powerful in favour of
the existence of a learned and literary class in Ireland previous to the apostle's mission. The
circumstances attending this event, asquoted by Lanigan, from the Tripartite life, are as follows:–
“The saint then proceeded to the house of his friend, the arch-poet Dubtach, who lived in Hy-
Kinsellagh, that is, as it seems, in the parts of that great territory which is now comprised within
the County Carlow. In one of their conversations on religious subjects St. Patrick asked him
did he know any one in that country whom he would think fit to be promoted to holy orders.

6 THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. I.
-
Dubtach answered that he had a disciple named Fiech, then absent, whom he thought well
disposed for that purpose. Before the conversation was ended Fiech returned from
Connaught, whither Dubtach had sent him to present some poems of his composition to the
princes of that province. Fiech was of an illustrious family, being son of Ere, of the house
of Hy-Bairrehe, in Leinster. At the time of his meeting St. Patrick he was already a
Christian, or, at least, a catechumen; some accounts add that he was then a widower, his
wife having died not long before, and left an only son named Fiachre. The saint finding him
properly qualified, gave him the clerical tonsure, and supplied him with the necessary means
for cultivating his ecclesiastical studies, in which he made great progress, as well as in piety:
after some time he became a bishop, being the first Leinster man that was raised to the
episcopacy, and at length the chief bishop of the whole province. His see was at Sletty;
and he is said to have governed also a monastery, which was called Domnach-Fiech.”
(Ibid. p. 273.) In the author's note on the above, he thus comments:– “Here we have a
proof that the art of writing was known and practised in Ireland before the arrival of St.
Patrick. It is very remarkable that although Fiech must, as a scholar of Dubtach, have
known how to write, yet in the same chapter of the Tripartite the saint is stated to have
given him an alphabet written with his own hand for the purpose of his learning it; that is,
the Roman alphabet to enable him to learn Latin.” (Ibid. p. 277.)
Roderic O'Flaherty, an eminent Irish scholar, in his Ogygia, expresses a very decided
opinion on the claims of pagan Ireland to letters; in his 30th chapter he takes up the state-
ment in the Tripartite life, and thus remarks:–“The Irish, as Bolland judiciously remarks,
not open to the invasions and incursions of the Romans, and paying no homage to any
earthly power until they enlisted themselves under the banners of Christianity hoisted by
St. Patrick, were unacquainted with Latin, which they stood in no need of; that language
was of infinite advantage to him (without which the sacred writings could not be defined)
in instructing them in the liturgies and church offices, whereby he exerted all his abilities and
strained every nerve to promote the cause of religion. It was therefore on that account that
this indefatigable planter of the Gospel taught the Latin alphabet to the Irish converts.
They, on the contrary, being very well versed in their native language, applied themselves
with the greater facility to learn the rudiments of another; and St. Fiech of Sletty, the
disciple of Dubthach, who was king and arch-poet, learned the alphabet at least in one day,
and in the space of fifteen (for so I find his progress of one or of fifteen days distinguished
in his Scholiastes in the Trias Thaumaturga) he attained a perfect knowledge in the Psalter
and Church discipline. Of which progress of St. Fiech, when the Rev. F. Ward makes
mention of it, he expressly declares the Latin to be that alphabet of the Tripartite life.”
(Ogygia, c. xxx.) -
In connection with the above statement we must also remember that Ireland produced
many learned men before the advent of St. Patrick. In the fourth century lived Mansuy or
Mansuetos, the first Bishop of Toul, in France; who is stated by his biographer to have been
also an Irishman. “Insula Christicolas gestabat Hibernia gentes unde genus traxit, et
satus inde fuit.”
By another writer he is said to be “Nobili Scotorum genere oriundus.” (Act. Tullensium
CHAP. I.] THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. 7
Episcopor., ap. Martene et Durand. Thes, Nov. iii. p. 991.) Some difference of opinion
exists as to the age in which Cathaldus, Bishop of Tarentum, flourished; he is admitted on all
hands to have been an Irishman. The traditions of the Church of Tarentum admit this, as
well as the testimony of his Italian biographer. Bartholomew Moronis is of opinion that he
came to Tarentum about A.D. 170. (Wit. Cataldi, edit. Rom. 1614.) Colgan has published
his life from an ancient MS. in the library of the Cathedral of Tarentum, in which it is
stated that he was born a short time previous to the demise of Trajan. Herman Hugo,
quoted by Dempster, asserts that he flourished A.D. 361. The noted Saintstealer, i.e.
Dempster, as usual, makes him an Albanian Scot.
Dr. Todd, in his life of St. Patrick, is of opinion that he flourished somewhere about the
latter end of the 7th century, founded on a statement made in his life by Colgan, that he
studied at Lismore; we know that this famous school was founded by St. Carthagh about
630 or 636, as has been variously stated. It is curious that this assertion is made by the
same writer who has given his nativity about the time of the death of Trajan, as already
stated. I think that this foreign writer was much more likely to make a mistake about
Lismore than about the age in which the Saint lived; in all probability he knew nothing of
Lismore beyond the fact of its great scholastic reputation, and knowing Cathaldus to have
been an Irishman, he gave him credit for having been educated there. Having very likely
but slight knowledge of the history of that place, or of the date of its foundation, it is much
more probable that he should have made such a mistake, than that he should have erred to
the extent of nearly 500 years respecting the era of this personage, being, as he was, an
ecclesiastical historian, with very probably the archives of the diocese before him while
writing. Baronius places him at A.D. 166. (Mart. Rom, add. 10 Maii.) I think, on the
whole, the balance of evidence is in favour of the early date. Sedulius certainly flourished
before St. Patrick's time. Ware designates him as a Bishop; of him he quotes the
following character from Trithemius:–
“Sedulius, a Scottish priest, was from his youth upwards a disciple of Hildebert,
Archbishop of the Scots. He was a man well versed in the knowledge of the scriptures, of
great accomplishments in human learning, and had an excellent taste both for prose and
verse. For the love of learning he left Scotia (Ireland), travelled into France, and from
thence into Italy and Asia; at length, departing from the borders of Achaia, he came to be
in high esteem in the City of Rome, on the account of his wonderful learning. He wrote
many works both in prose and verse, of which I have only met with the titles. He
dedicated a notable treatise to the Abbat Macedonius, composed according to the series of
the whole Gospel. He also published some other works which have escaped my observation.
He at last (as Sigebert writes) was consecrated bishop, but Sigebert does not mention of
what church or city. He flourished under Theodosius, A.D. 430. Thus far Trithemius.
But the most illustrious Archbishop of Armagh makes it evident that the grammatical pieces
here ascribed to our Sedulius are the works of another of the same name, who was later in
point of time.” (Ware's Irish Writers, p. 7.) Sedulius was eminent as a Christian poet, his
works were collected by Turcius Rufus Asterius, about A.D. 494; for additional evidence on
the country and age of Sedulius see Usher and Ware. Dr. Todd, a critic not easily satisfied


8 - THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. I
as to evidence, admits that this Saint did not owe his Christianity to the preaching of
St. Patrick. The Celtic form of the name is Siadhal: thus we have recorded in the annals
of the four masters the obits of Siadhal, Abbot of Dublin, A.D. 785; Siadhal, Abbot of
Kildare, A.D. 828.
Celestius, an Irishman, flourished in the latter part of the fourth century. St. Jerome, in
his philippic against this writer, designates him a Scott:-‘‘Nuper indoctus calumniator
erupit, qui Commentarios meos in epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios reprehendendos putat. Nec
intelligit, nimiä stertens vecordiá, leges Commentariorum, &c. . . . Nec recordatur
stolidissimus, et Scotorum pultibus prægravatus, nos in ipso dixisse opere: non damno
digamos, imo nec trigamos, et se fieri potest octogamos: plus aliquid inferam, etiam
scortatorem recipio poenitentem.” (Hieron. Prolog, in lib. i. in Hieremiam. Opp. ed.
Wallarsii, tom. iv.)
The above writer again refers to the country of Celestius, and in a more decisive manner,
in the proemium to his 3rd book on the prophecies of Jeremiah: –“ Hic tacet, alibi
criminatur; mittit in universum orbem epistolas biblicas, prius auriferas, nunc maledicas;
et patientiam nostram, de Christi humilitate venientem, malae conscientiae signum interpre-
tatur. Ipseque mutus latrat per Alpinum (al. Albinum) canem grandem et corpulentem, et
qui calcibus magis possit savire, quâm dentibus. Habet enim progeniem Scoticæ gentis, de
Britannorum viciniã: qui, juxta fabulas Poétarum, instar Cerberi spirituali percutiendus est
clavă, ut aeterno, cum suo magistro Plutone, silentio conticescat.” (Prolog. i. lib. iii. in
Hieremiam.)
It would appear that Celestius proceeded to the Continent at an early age, and studied in
the monastery of St. Martin, at Tours, about A.D. 369; he subsequently adopted the errors
of Pelagius, and became an advocate of the opinions of that heresiarch. According to
Gennadius, who flourished A.D. 495, while engaged at Tours, and holding orthodox opinions,
he wrote three epistles to his parents in the form of little books, being religious instructions for
the direction of all desirous of serving God; the passage is as follows:– “Celestius antequam
Pelagianum dogma incurret, imo adhuc adolescens, scripsit ad parentes suos de monasterio
Epistolas in modum libellorum tres, omnibus Deum desiderantibus necessarias. Moralis
siquidem in eis dictio nil vitii postmodum proditi, sed totam ad virtutis incita mentem
tenuit.” (Gennadius de Script. Eccl. c. 44.) We have here evidence of the existence of
alphabetic writing at the periods above alluded to, as the parents of Celestius must have
been able to read the loving epistles of their son, or must have had about them those who
could. Again, the brothers Eliphius and Eucharius are believed to have been martyrs in
France about the reign of Julian the Apostate; they are stated to have been the sons of a
Scotic king. (Usher's Primordia, p. 784.)
Whatever controversy may arise as to the evidences given above, they have this value, as
showing that amongst the early mediaeval writers of the Continent the belief prevailed that at
the early periods alluded to Ireland produced men of science and learning. Indeed, without
quoting the revered authorities of Usher and Ware, Dr. Todd, who has examined the
subject in that critical and cautious manner for which he is remarkable, thus sums up his
opinions:—

CHAP. I.] THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. 9
\
“From the foregoing examples, without entering into any discussion of some other
alleged instances, which are, to say the least, doubtful, it is evident that there were Irish
Christians on the Continent of Europe before the mission of St. Patrick, some of whom had
attained to considerable literary and ecclesiastical eminence.” (Todd's St. Patrick, p. 197.)
We have thus the fact established, that previous to the age of St. Patrick learned Scots
were found on the Continent of Europe occupying high positions in the church and world of
letters; the natural inference being, that the country which sent them forth cultivated
letters, and gave them, at least, the rudiments of that knowledge which enabled them to rise
to high positions in foreign lands. -
The existence of letters in the pagan era of Ireland has been maintained by our most
eminent Gaedhelic scholars. Roderic O'Flaherty, in his “Ogygia,” states that there were
written laws in the reign of Connor Mac Nessa, who flourished in the early part of the first
century, having died A.D. 48. (Ogygia, cap. 30.)
The same author states that in the reign of Feargus, king of Ulster, A.M. 3922, flourished
Sean, the son of Algy, who composed the Foun Seanchais Mhoir, i.e. the Institute of Great
Antiquity. -
That Morann, in the reign of Feradach, A.D. 90, was remarkable for his writings, and that
Conlavin, the distinguished Judge of Connaught, maintained a literary dispute with the
Druids.
LETTERS IN PRE-CHRISTIAN IRELAND FURTHER CONSIDERED.

Dr. O'Curry, in his published lectures “On the Manuscript Materials for Irish History,”
delivered at the Roman Catholic University, Dublin, has a short but invaluable treatise
headed “Of writing in Erinn before St. Patrick's time.” As a profound Irish scholar, and a
laborious investigator of our ancient Celtic literature, his opinion commands the utmost
consideration; he writes:—“Enough, however, in my mind, remains to show (at least, I
feel myself perfectly satisfied) that the pre-Christian Gaedhils possessed and practised a
system of writing and keeping records quite different from, and independent of, both the
Greek and Roman forms and characters which gained currency in the country after the
introduction of Christianity in the first part of the fifth century, if, indeed, they were not
* known here even a considerable time before that era.” (Appendix No. 11, p. 468.)
And again he writes:—“It is, at all events, quite certain that the Irish Druids and Poets
had written books before the coming of St. Patrick in 432; since we find the statement in
the ancient Gaedhelic Tripartite life of the Saint, as well as in the “Annotations of
Tirechan,” preserved in the Book of Armagh, which were taken by him from the lips and
books of his tutor, St. Mochta, who was the pupil and disciple of St. Patrick himself.”
(Ibid. p. 472.)
The claim of Ireland to an early literary distinction is fully borne out by the concurrent
testimony of many foreign authors. -
Spencer, who evidently had no design to exalt Ireland, admits her claim to a literary
antiquity in the following passage:–
10 THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. I.
“When you say the Irish have always been without letters, you are therein much
deceived, for it is certain that Ireland hath had the use of letters very anciently, and long
before England. . . . But whether they, at their first coming into the land, or
afterwards, by trading with other nations which had letters learned them of them, or devised
them amongst themselves, is very doubtful, but that they had letters anciently is nothing
doubtful; for the Saxons of England are said to have their letters and learning and learned
men from Ireland, and that also appeareth from the likeness of the character, for the Saxon
character is the same with the Irish.” (Spencer's View of Ireland: Dublin Edition, 1809,
p. 65.)
- The learned Camden admits that the Saxons borrowed their letters from the Irish.
(Hibernia Edition, 1607, p. 730.)
Ware takes up the statement of Bollandus, “that the Irish had no letters before
St. Patrick,” and in the third chapter of his “Antiquities" has an elaborate argument to
the contrary. After describing the nature of the Ogam as far as it was understood in his
day, he continues:– “This assertion of Bollandus I dare pronounce to be made without the
y slightest foundation. The structure of the Ogham Irish and the Bethluisnon elements, as before
set forth, will clearly evince this. For a language, and consequently the elements that compose
that language, must be either original or taken from some other language as a pattern. But,
upon the strictest inquiry, I never could find any alphabet, no, not the Runic itself,
in the structure or order like the Ogham or Bethluisnon elements. It follows, therefore, that
as there was no prototype to copy them from, that they must be originals.” (Ware's Antiq.
Ir, v. ii. p. 22.)
The late Professor Todd, the learned author of “St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,” enters
briefly but decisively into the subject of the early letters of the Irish in the above-named
work. I am not aware of any writer of modern times whose opinion on this subject is
entitled to greater consideration.
In referring to the Abgitoria stated to have been written by St. Patrick, and distributed
by him amongst his disciples, he concludes:—“We cannot give much weight to the
argument that St. Patrick was the first to bring alphabetic characters into the country, and
that the Irish before his time had no knowledge of any sort of writing, because he is said to
\ have written alphabets for his converts. If this had been so, it is scarcely possible to doubt
that the Irish would have boasted of having learned letters from St. Patrick. The vanity of
having known the alphabet before his time, would scarcely have been allowed to deprive him
of the glory of having made known to Ireland the foundation of all learning, along with the
still greater blessings of the Christian Faith. But there does not occur a single hint in
Irish tradition to show that the knowledge of the alphabet was believed to have been
communicated by St. Patrick.
“It has been suggested, indeed, by some writers, that as the Irish had a peculiar alphabet
of their own, the abgitorium or alphabet made known to them by St. Patrick was the Roman
alphabet. But this is founded on a mistake. The alphabet now called the Irish alphabet,
and supposed to be peculiar to the Irish language, is nothing more than the Roman
alphabet, which was used all over Europe in the fifth and some following centuries. The

CHAP. I.] THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. 11
probability, therefore, is, that the Roman alphabet, if not taught by St. Patrick, certainly
became known in Ireland about his time; but it does not follow that the Irish were ignorant
of written characters before that period. The older alphabet, perhaps, was known only to-
the bards or Druids, and communicated to the initiated alone. But it is certain that the
Gauls, or at least the Druids of Gaul, even in Caesar's time, had written characters; and
ancient Gaulish inscriptions, long anterior to the fifth century, are extant. There is nothing
unreasonable, therefore, in supposing that the Irish Druids, who from very early times had a
close connection with their brethren of Gaul, may have also had the art of writing. St.
Patrick is said to have burnt the idolatrous books of the Irish Druids preparatory to his
reformation of the pagan laws. The story is probably a fable; but it proves the
tradition or belief of the people that there was a written literature, and an alphabet in pagan
times. The truth may lie, as it often does, between two extremes. St. Patrick most
probably introduced what was then the alphabet of the rest of Europe, which has since, by a
strange reverse of fortune, become peculiar to Ireland; he taught it, without reserve, to
those whom he destined to holy orders, and encouraged them to make it known to others.
It was the alphabet in which he taught them to write copies of the Holy Scriptures, as well
as missals and other sacred books required for the service of the church. The art of
writing was no longer an occult piece of learning confined to a particular class. It became
known with the Roman alphabet to the Christian converts of St. Patrick, and the alphabet
which had been before that time peculiar to the Druids, and was probably of Greek origin,
became extinct.
“To pursue this subject, however, would be inconsistent with the purpose of the present
work. That a pagan literature existed in Ireland before the coming of St. Patrick, and that
some of that literature is still preserved, is highly probable. Several fragments of very high
antiquity, and having internal evidence of a pagan origin, are to be found among the
remains of the Brehon laws.” (St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, pp. 511, 12.) The venerable
Charles O'Connor, in his “Dissertations on the Origin and Antiquities of the Ancient Scots of
Ireland and Britain,” prefixed to O'Flaherty's Ogygia, thus alludes to the claims of the Gael
to an early literary culture:–
“This people, it is certain, know so little of Greek or Roman learning, that it was only in
the fifth century they have learned the use of the Roman alphabet from the Christian
missionaries. It was then, or soon after, that they laid aside their own uncouth and virgular
characters, their Beth-luis-nion and the Ogum ; the form heretofore used, and since preserved
by the antiquaries, either from vanity, or the more rational motive of preserving an ancient
fact worthy of being recorded. The old manner of writing was, indeed, useless to the
public, after a better and more elegant form was introduced; but yet the retention of the
Ogum has had its use in latter times, by convincing us that the pagan Irish had the means
of conveying their thoughts in ciphers, and consequently of recording memorable events for
the information and instruction of posterity. Their jurisprudence, partly still preserved, the
succession of their monarchs, their accurate chronology, and their genealogies transmitted
with great care from the first to the fifth century, are incontestable proofs of this truth. An
earlier or more creditable era of cultivation than that which began with the monarch
v

vº
12 THE ANTIQUITY OF LETTERS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. I.
Feredach the Just, (a hundred years after the birth of Christ) no nation in Europe can
boast.” (pp. 38, 39.)
Father Innes, who had so lustily contended against the claims of the Irish to an early
literary cultivation, was compelled to acknowledge that they had not only alphabetic
characters in the times of the Druids, but that they had the Roman letters before the
V coming of St. Patrick; he writes:—“The same thing may be said as to the notes for
writing secrets, called by the Irish Ogum; of which Waraeus says he had some copies; and one
Donald Forbis mentions others; for no body doubts but the Irish had their notes or ciphers
for writing short-hand and keeping their secrets, especially the Druids, for preserving from
the knowledge of the Christians the secret of their profane mysteries, made use no doubt of
secret characters or letters.” And again, in reference to the use of the Roman letters in
ante-Christian times, he observes:–“After all, I do not pretend that no private persons
among the Irish had the use of letters before the coming of St. Patrick, and the preaching of
the gospel to them ; for it may have very well happened that some of the Irish before that
time, passing over to Britain or other parts of the Roman empire where the use of letters
was common, might have learned to read and write.” (Crit. Ess. &c. Lond. 1729, v. ii.
pp. 444, 452.) Father Innes had no knowledge of the Ogam, or he would soon have found
that it was not a system of “ciphers” or “short-hand,” but a well-arranged alphabet of
sufficient powers to meet all the literary requirements of the race who used it.
A question here arises as to what form of letters were used by the Gaedhil of Ireland in
pre-Christian times. It has been maintained that, in addition to the Ogam, they were in
possession of the Roman characters, and that these last were not introduced by St. Patrick,
as has been asserted by Bolandus and others. We have no reliable evidence that the latter
was the case; on the contrary, I think that we have strong presumptive proof that the
Roman letters were used in Ireland before the date attributed to St. Patrick's mission. It
is absurd to fix their introduction to this solitary event, when we know that the evidence of
Irish history shows a constant communication between this country and Gaul and Britain,
and that, particularly between the province of Munster and South Wales, a very early
| intercourse was established, through which, in all probability, we received that Christianity
which existed before Patrick's time, and which Palladius came to inquire after—that
Christianity of which Declan, Ailbe, Kieran, and Ibhar were professors; from this source
also, in all likelihood, we received our Roman letters: my section on Welsh Ogams will
throw some light on this.
I do not by any means affirm that such had any general use in this country before the
fifth or sixth centuries; a knowledge of them must have been confined to the literati alone,
and, perhaps, to a section of them.
I have no doubt that individual Irishmen who travelled to the Continent before
St. Patrick's age may have cultivated letters there, and may have brought MSS. with them
into Ireland, which must have been the case with the early Irish authors and literati already
alluded to ; these, however, were only isolated instances, and we must conclude that
Continentalletters had no extended use in Ireland until after the introduction of Christianity,
and that the written character adopted by the Gaedhil previously, was that known as the Ogam. -



13
CHAPTER II.
EARLY NOTICEs of THE OGAM.
The earliest literary notice of the Ogam is to be found in the Book of Leinster, which
contains a short passage giving the ordinary scale. This MS. is at present in the
Lib. Trin. Col. Dub. Dr. O'Curry states that it was compiled by Finn MacGorman,
Bishop of Kildare, who died A.D. 1160. The next is to be found in the Book of Ballymote,
a folio vellum MS. now in the Lib. Roy. Ir. Aca., containing 502 pages, and which was
compiled at Ballymote, Co. Sligo, between A.D. 1870-90, in the house of Tomaltach Og
MacDonogh, Lord of Corann in that county, at the time that. Turlogh Óg, the son of
Hugh O'Connor, was King of Connaught; this fact is stated at folio 62 b. It was the com-
pilation of different persons, but principally of Solomon O'Droma and Manus O'Duigenann.
(O'Curry's Lectures, p. 188.) It is a collection of treatises on history, mythology,
genealogy, hagiology, and various other subjects compiled from more ancient sources;
among these tracts is to be found an ancient grammar and prosody, also a tract on the
Ogam writing of the Gaedhil; this tract contains the key now ordinarily used in the
translations of inscriptions, as well as a variety of ciphers founded on the original characters.
In the Book of Lecan, a small folio vellum MS. containing 600 pages, compiled in
A.D. 1416, by Gilla Isa Mor Mac Firbis, and which is now in the Library of the R.I.A., we
have a copy of the Uraceipt Na n-Eges or Primer of the Bards; a grammatical treatise
ascribed to Cennfaelad, the Learned, who died A.D. 677, and who, it is stated, compiled it
from treatises by Amhergin and Feir ceirtne, ancient poets and philosophers, who lived
before the Christian era. This tract contains several passages relating to the Ogam, in
which are also given the values of the letters, which are the same as in the key alphabet of
the Book of Ballymote.
Dr. O'Connor mentions a MS. of the 11th century which had once been in the possession
of Sir. James Ware, who mentions it as “Libellum membraneum antiquam ” (Antiq. Hib.
cap. ii. p. 11), from whose possession it passed into the Library of Henry, Earl of
Clarendon; then into the custody of Dr. Mills, Dean of Exeter, who presented it to the Brit.
Mus. The antiquity assigned to it by Dr. O'Connor cannot be sustained, as it has been
proved by the Right Rev. Dr. Graves to be a fragment of the tract contained in the Book of
Ballymote, and that in its present form it is not older than the 15th or 16th century.
The Book of Ballymote contains a tract on the Ogam Alphabets, in which the invention -
of this manner of writing is ascribed to one of the learned men of the Tuatha-De-Danand L-

14 EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. [CHAP. II.
Colony, namely, to Ogma, the son of Elathan; it commences thus:–“What is the place and
time and person and cause of [inventing the Ogum ? Not difficult. The place of it
Hibernia Insola (sic) quam nos Scoti habitamus; in the time of Bres, son of Elathan, King of
Ireland. Its person [inventor], Ogma, son of Elathan, son of Delbhaeth, brother of Bres;
for Bres, and Ogman, and Delbhaeth, were the three sons of Elathan.” (Fol. 167, b.b.) It
is not surprising that the invention of the Ogam letters should be ascribed to this mysterious
race, who occupy so prominent a place, not only in our bardic histories, but also in the
traditions and folk-lore of the people to the present day; the subject is one of sufficient
interest to claim somewhat more than a passing notice.
THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND.
Our notices of this mythic race are to be found in various ancient MSS., but principally
in the Leabhar Gabbala, or Book of Invasions, a very remarkable work compiled by Friar
Michael O'Clery A.D. 1627, assisted by four other Irish scholars, one of them, the hereditary
Brehon of Brian, Roe Maguire, chief of Fermanagh, and under his patronage, he being a
great lover of learning, and an encourager of learned men. O'Clery had collected a number
of Gaedhelic MSS. which in his day were of great antiquity; by the collation of these he
was enabled to compile his “Book of Invasions;” it is a vellum MS, at present in the safe
custody of Lord Ashburnham, but there is a good copy in the library of Trin. Col. Dub.
(H. 1, 12.) There is also a good paper copy in the Lib. Roy. Ir. Aca. In the preface to
the MS. O'Clery states its contents to be: “The taking of Ireland by Cesair. The taking
of Ireland by Partholanus. The taking of Ireland by Nemedius. The taking of Ireland by
the Fir-Bolgs. The taking of Ireland by the Tuatha-de-Damann. The taking of Ireland by
the Clanna Miledh,” and the succession of the kings of the latter race down to A.D. 1022.
This was the work that was principally used by Geoffrey Keating in his “General History.”
The origin and acts of this people as given in the above-named work may thus be briefly
stated. They were the posterity of the third son of Nemedius, who were driven out of
Ireland by the Fir-Bolgs, and who returned to the original home of their ancestors, Greece,
and sojourned in the vicinity of Thebes, where they studied the arts and sciences, and
became wonderful proficients in Divination and Necromancy. Being compelled to leave their
adopted country through the jealousy of neighbouring tribes, they wandered from place to
place, ultimately arriving in Scandinavia, where they were hospitably entertained by the
natives, who, respecting their great learning and accomplishments, assigned them four towns
to inhabit bearing the classic names of Falias, Gorias, Finias, and Murias. In each of these
cities the exiles established an academy each presided over by an accomplished master,
bearing the names of Moirfhias, Arias, Erus and Semius. After a long sojourn in
Scandinavia their restless destiny compelled them to change their residence to the north of
Scotland, where they remained for seven years inhabiting two cities named Dobhar and
Jiar-Dobhar.
Four remarkable objects were brought by them into Scotland; the first was the
Lia Fail, or stone of destiny, about which so much has been written, and which they

CHAP. II.] EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. 15
brought from the city Falias, the place having derived its name from having been the local
habitation of this monument of antiquity. The second, was the Magic Spear of Lughaid
Lamhſada, or the Long-handed. The third, was the Magic Sword of Nuada. The fourth, was
the Coirean-Daghda, i.e. the Cauldron of the Dagda. This reminds us of the Magic
Cauldrons of Ceridwen and Bran ap Lyr. After a short sojourn in the north of Scotland,
they determined on the invasion of Ireland, and accomplished a landing on the first Monday
in May: having burned their ships, they enveloped themselves in a magic mist, and
marching for three days and three nights arrived at a mountain called Sliabh-an-Jaruin, in
the present county of Westmeath, being under the command of their King Nuadhat, after-
wards named of the Silver-hand; having arrived so far without discovery they threw off
their disguise, and sent envoys to Eochaidh Mac Erc, the Fir-Bolg monarch, demanding his
surrender of the crown or to meet them in battle. Eochaidh accepted the combat, met
the invaders on the plain of Magh Tuireadh, now Moytura, near Coug, where a bloody
battle was fought, which the records state, lasted four days, and which resulted in the total
defeat of the Fir-Bolgs, and the death of their king with the flower of his warriors.
Nuadha, the leader of the invaders, had his hand cut off in this fight, and as a monarch
with a personal blemish was not permitted to reign, a silver hand was constructed in lieu of
the natural member, as is stated in B.B. fol. 17:—
“He had a silver hand which was perfect in all its movements as to fingers and joints;
Dianceacht, the surgeon, assisted by Creidne, the artificer, constructed it; Miach, the son of
Dianceacht, formed the sinews through the fingers and joints, and cohered them to
those of the natural arm so as perfectly to supply the place of the original member
(Dr. Connellian's MS.); hence he is known as Nuada Airgead-lamh, or the Silver-handed.
During the healing or restoration of his hand, a period stated at seven years, Bres occupied
the throne, which he resigned to Nuada on his restoration to health, who continued in power
for a space of twenty years longer. The dynasty of the Tuatha-de-Danand is thus given in
the Book of Invasions:—
Nuada Airgead-lamh reigned . . . . 30 years
Breas, son of Elathan , . . . . 7 ,
Lughaidh Lamfhada , . . . . 40 , ,
Dagda, the Great -> . . . . 70 , ,
Dealbaeth, son of Ogma , . . . . 10 ,
Fiachna 3- . . . . 10 ,
Mac Cuill
Mac Ceacht | reigned jointly . . . . 80 , ”
Mac Greine

This gives 197 years for the duration of their power, as it was in the thirtieth year of
the reign of the last-named triumvirate that the invasion of the Claenna Miledh took place.
I need scarcely remark that the entire of these relations are fabulous in the extreme, bearing
internal evidence of their own absurdity.
In the first place, the chronology of these transactions stamps them with improbability,
The Ann. 4, Mas, fix the date of the battle of Magh Tuiread at 1891 A.C. O'Flaherty, in his
16 EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. [CHAP. II.
Ogygia, at 1217 A.c.; the latest of these dates would give Ireland a race of kings before
Troy was raised or Carthage founded.
Secondly, the absurdity of their origin is quite manifest; their springing from the same
stock as the Fir-Bolgs, their journeying from Ireland to Greece, from thence to Scandinavia,
to the north of Scotland, and back again to Ireland. Greece was then hardly emerged
from barbarism, Scandinavia in all probability uninhabited, and the north of Scotland a
forest-grown and unknown region.
Thirdly, the introduction of Greece and Thebes, and the peculiar forms of the names
given to the cities, Falias, Gorias, Finnias, and Murias; and to the four presidents of the
schools, Morfias, Semius, Arias, and Erus, indicates that the tale in its present form was
concocted after the introduction of Christianity, when classical learning became prevalent
among the native churchmen and Ollamhs. The following passage from the B.B. fol. 17,
thus describes their origin: “The descendants of Beothach, son of Jarbonel Fatha, son of
Neimhedh, were in the northern isles of the world, where they learned necromancy, science,
letters, augury, and astronomy, and gained perfection in the liberal arts and in sorcery.
They came from Scythian Greece, and took possession of lands and territories in the north
of Alba, namely, at Dobar and Jiar-Dobar, where they resided, being governed by Nuada, the
son of Echtach, their king. The four cities in which they studied arts, sciences, and
diabolical spells were Falias, Gorias, Findias, and Murias.
“From Falias they brought the Lia Fail which was at Tara, and it never roared but under
the king of Ireland; it was from it Ireland derived the names of Innisfail and Maghfail
(Plain of Fail), as the poet has said:—
“This stone which lies beneath my feet,
From it is called the Isle of Fail;
Great ocean bounds on every side
The plain of Fail, the land of Eirin.
“From Gorias they brought the spear which Lughaidh, the Long-handed, fought with at
the battle of Moytura of the Fomorions; its name was Conailli Bidhad, and none could
conquer the person in whose hand it was. From Findias they brought the sword of Nuada,
from which no opposing person could escape in consequence of its venom, and when drawn
from its fiery sheath none could touch it. From Murias was brought the Caldron of the
Dagda, and the largest ox would not fill it. There were four Professors established in those
cities, namely, Morfheasa resided in Falias, Easrus in Gorias, Uisceas in Findias, and
Semius in Murias.” (Dr. Connellan's Trans.)
The Lia Fail appears to have proved false to its original proprietors, as it is stated to
have uttered its Memnonian sounds under the feet of Mouy, a Milesian monarch, in fact,
Scotch antiquaries maintain that it was brought into Ireland by the Milesians, and not by
the Mythic race. Dr. Petrie asserts that this stone still exists at Tara, and points out
an obeliscal pillar standing six feet above ground as the true Lia Fail. The learned
writer brings, however, no authority to support this appropriation beyond quotations from
the bards, Cuan O'Lochain and Cuieth O'Hartigan, that in their days, 10th and 11th
CHAP. II.] EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. 17
centuries, the Lia Fail was at Tara. The form of the stone, a cylindrical pillar with a
rounded top, would at once lead us to infer that it could not have been the regal oracle,
which from the description was evidently a flat flag that a person could stand upon; it would
require a skilful acrobat to balance himself on the stone fixed upon by Dr. Petrie. In the
accounts given by various Irish writers of the ceremonies used in the inauguration of Irish
monarchs, it is quite evident that the stones used on these occasions were such as I have
described, one of which is still in existence, and is a flag measuring over seven feet each way
bearing on its centre the forms of two feet deeply cut; this stone lies in a gentleman's
demesne near Derry, and it is supposed to have been used at the inaugurations of the kings
of Ailech. (Ord. Survey of Londonderry, &c., p. 233.) Spencer, in his “View of Ireland,”
Dub. edit. 1809, p. 10, thus describes the mode of inauguration in use among the native
Irish:-" They use to place him that shal be their Captaine upon a stone alwaise reserved
for that purpose, and placed commonly upon a hill, in some of which I have seen formed
and engraven a foot, which they say was the measure of their first Captaines foot, whereon
he standing receives an oath to preserve all the auncient former customes of the countrey
inviolable, and to deliver up the succession peaceably to his Tanist, and then had a wand
delivered unto him by some whose proper office that is; after which, descending from the
stone, he turneth himself round, thrice forward and thrice backward.” For a further
account of the Lia Fail and Stones of Inauguration, see Dr. Petrie on “Tara Hill,” Trans.
R.I.A., v. xviii., and R. R. Brash in Gents. Mag., v. 186. Again, they are represented as
bringing with them the spear with which Lughaidh Lamh Fada or the Long-handed fought
at the battle of Moytura; this is quite inconsistent with the fact stated elsewhere, that
this monarch was the third of his race who ruled Ireland, and that his reign lasted for forty
years; it is therefore impossible that he could have been an experienced warrior at the
period of the invasion. We have also an allusion to the Magic Sword of Nuada; in other
authorities both sword and spear are stated to have belonged to Lughaidh. Belief in the
potency of magic weapons appears to have been prevalent among the ancient Gaedhil.
Thus we have a legend of Concovar Mac Nessa procuring Cuilleau Ceard, the potent Smith
of Man, to forge for him a magic spear, sword, and shield (Kil. Arch. Soc. Jour. v. 1852,
p. 32). In “The Fate of the Sons of Tuirinn,” and various other ancient historical tracts,
we have many allusions to the mythic sword of Mananan Mac Lir. In an ancient MS.
entitled “An T'Octar Gael, or the Adventures of Seven Irish Champions in the East,”
Mananan is represented as instructing Cuchulliud in the use of the ga-bolg or sting, which
he extracted from a piast (serpent) that infested Loch-na-Nia, near the fort of Mananan in
Armenia; this myth would appear to have some bearing on the use of poisoned weapons in
Ireland. In a very curious and ancient tract entitled “The Dialogue of the Sages,” to be
found in the Book of Lismore, we have several passages referring to the use of such deadly
arms, of which the following is a specimen :-‘‘And valiant Caol-na-Neavon, with a lucky
poisoned spear that Finn had, and this was the venom that was on it, for it never made
an erring cast from the hand, and it never wounded a person when thrown from the hand
that would not be dead before the end of a moment.” (MS. Trans. by Mr. Joseph Long.)
The fourth wonder introduced by the Tuatha-de into Erinn was the Coire-an-Daghdae
- D
18 EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. [CHAP. II.
i.e. the Cauldron of the Daghda; the writer in the B.B. suppresses the true mystic
character of the Coire, and merely alludes to its capacity of receiving a whole ox. It is
evident, however, from the antiquities both of the Gaedhil and Cymry that the Cauldron was
symbolic of the religion and mysteries of Druidism. The Daghda is a remarkable personage
in our mythic history, he is sometimes represented as a king, sometimes as a deity. In the
L.L., fol. 279, he is thus described:—“Eochaidh Ollathair, namely, the Daghda-More, son
of Ealthan, son of Dealbaoth, reigned eighty years; he had three sons, whose names were
Aenghus, Aodh, and Cearmadh.” In the Genealogy of the Tuatha de Danand, L.L., fol. 280,
we find the following:—“The children of the Ealladan, the son of Dealbaoth, were Ogma,
the Sun-worshipper, Alloth the Beautiful, Breasal of the Victorious Wreath, and Daghda the
Great.” The pedigree of the latter stands thus in the same authority:—
“Dagda the Great, the son of Ealladan, the son of Dealbaoth, the son of Neid, the son of
Indai, the son of Allai, the son of Thait, the son of Tabairn.” Daghda More has been
variously rendered as the Great Good God and the Great Good Fire; he was brother to
Ogma the Sun-worshipper, his daughter was Brighit, the Goddess of Poetry, Fire, and
Medicine; Cormac, in his Glossary, intimates that he was the father of the three Brighids,
one of whom was worshipped as the Goddess of Poetry, another as the Goddess of Smiths,
and a third as the Goddess of Medicine; hence he says that a goddess was called Brighid
among the men of Hibernia (Cyclops Christianus, p. 141); he derives the name from breo
saighit, i.e. arrow of fire. We must, I think, therefore conclude that the Coire an Daghdae
was something more than a mere vessel; a reference to Cymric authorities will throw some
light on this subject. Ceridwen, from her attributes, has been classed as Ceres in Cymric
mythology; she is represented as being a famous sorceress, and as having a deformed son,
Avaggddu (Source or Aggregate of Darkness), whom she is anxious to endow with intellectual
and occult powers to atone for his physical defects; she accordingly prepares the cauldron
of inspiration and science. I give the passage from the bard Taliesin, as translated by Mr.
Edward Davis. (Brit. Druids, p. 213.)
“Thus she (Ceridwen) determined, agreeably to the mystery of the books of Pheryllt, to
prepare for her son a Cauldron of Awen a Gwybodeu, water of inspiration and sciences, that
he might be more readily admitted into honourable society upon account of his knowledge
and his skill in regard to futurity. . . . . The cauldron began to boil, and it was
requisite that the boiling should be continued, without interruption, for the period of a year
and a day, and till three blessed drops of the endowment of the spirit could be obtained.
She had stationed Gwion the Little, the son of Gwreang the Herald of Llanvair, the fame of
the lady, in Caer Einiawn, the city of the just in Powys, the land of rest, to superintend the
cauldron; and appointed a blind man, utormc, named Morda, ruler of the sea, to kindle the
fire, and not suffer the boiling to be interrupted before the completion of a year and a day.
The ingredients employed were select plants. . . . . On a certain day,
about the completion of the year, whilst she was botanizing and muttering to herself, three
drops of the efficacious water happened to fly out of the cauldron and alight upon the finger
of Gwion the Little. The heat of the water occasioned his putting his finger into
his mouth.

CHAP. II.] EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. 19
“As soon as these precious drops touched his lips, every event of futurity was opened to his
view; and he clearly perceived the danger of the stratagems of Ceridwen, and with extreme
terror he fled towards his native country.
“As for the cauldron, it divided into halves; the water it contained, excepting the three
efficacious drops, was poisonous; so that it poisoned the horses of Gwyddno Garanhir which
drank out of the channel into which the cauldron had emptied itself. Hence the channel
was afterwards called ‘The Poison of Gwyddno's Horses.’” . . . .
We have here, in another form, the Myth of Fionn Mac Cumhail and the Salmon of
Inspiration and Knowledge, as well as many others extant in Gaedhelic folklore of the same
tendency. Again, in a Mabinogi quoted by Herbert in Cyclops Christianus, pp. 126, 27, we
find that Bran ap Lyr is represented as bringing the Cauldron of Regeneration to Ireland
and presenting it to a king named Matholwch, and that it was subsequently taken back again
to Wales. The names Bran, Lyr, and others mentioned in the tale, are pure Gaedhelic.
Many other cauldrons of a similar nature and import are mentioned in the writings of the
Cymric bards; so that I think we may fairly conclude that the Coire an Daghdae represented
the religion, arts, and sciences of the Tuatha-de, which that people brought into Ireland.
The name by which this tribe is known has given rise to some speculation and controversy,
even amongst Gaedhelic historians and antiquaries of a remote age. Keating, in his History
of Ireland, gives us some of these speculations. (See O'Mahony's Translation.)
The Tuatha-de-Damand are invariably represented in our ancient historic tales, and also
in the traditions of the people, as a supernatural race, endowed with wonderful powers,
artificers in gold and silver, manufacturers of magical weapons, skilful physicians, poets,
musicians, Druids, versed in necromancy and divination. The characteristics of this race
are set forth in a poem by Eochaidh O'Flinn, who died A.D. 984, and which is to be found
in the B.B. fol. 18. (The following translation is by Dr. Connellan.)
“Eire of excellence and arms,
Whose ancient plains were held by contending hosts,
Whose armies extended westwards to the setting sun,
Whose heroes performed feats of valour at Tara.
Thirty years after Geaman
A magic race took possession of the land;
The Tuatha-de-Damand threatened destruction
On the Fir-Bolg with their venomous spells.
Great was the number (which God permitted for the destruction of nobles)
That landed to spread fear and dismay,
In dense dark clouds they moved along
To the mountain of Conmaicne in Connaught.

Though they came to learned Erinn
Without buoyant adventurous ships,
No man in creation knew
Whether they were of the earth or sky.
20
EARLY Notices of THE ogAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. [CHAP. II.
If they were of diabolical daemons,
They came of that woeful expulsion (from heaven);
If they were a race of tribes and nations,
If they were human, they were of the race of Beothach.
That social man from whom the free race sprung,
Afforded legal rights and protection to men;
Beothach the active, the founder of the Feine,
He was the son of Jarbanel, the son of Neimhed.
This race offered not peace or friendship to any
In Innisfail, placed at the setting sun;
They fought a fierce and desperate battle
In the end, at Moy Tuireadh.
The Tuatha-de took by force
The sovereignty from the tribe of Bolg :
In the battle with great lamentation,
A numberless host of them were slain.
Among them were the sons of Elathan of arts and sciences;
Alloth, the brave and fearless;
Breas, the most learned in Fodhla ;
Dagda, and Dealbaoth, and Ogma.
Eire, from whom the pleasant land took its name,
Banba, Fodla, and Fea;
Neman, skilled in many arts,
Danann, the Mother of the Dee.
Badbh and Macha of great wealth, -
Queens whose knowledge was great in magic spells;
White, clear, and shapely were the hands
Of these two daughters of Earnmas.
Goibhnen the skilful refiner of precious metals,
Creidne the artificer, who obtained his knowledge by sorcery,
Diancecht, healer of the most virulent diseases,
The heroic one, Lughaidh, the son of Eithne.
Creidinbell, whose heart was pure,
Bechmilli and Danann of symmetrical figure;
Casmael of severest satire,
Coirpre, son of Ethna and Ethan.
The grandsons of the Dagda who ruled Erinn
Divided Banba of noble kings,
They were princes of might in their days,
The three sons of Cearmna of Cualaun.

CHAP. II.] EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. 21
Erinn, wealth abounding,
They divided into three parts;
They ruled her with wondrous deeds,
Mac Cuil, Mac Ceacht, and Mac Greine.
Since the flood, it was decreed by the Son (of God)
To extirpate this regal race;
The result of their evil acts is
That none of their seed remains in Erinn.
Eochaidh O'Flynn, truthful in historic knowledge,
Composed these verses by the strictest rules;
Although I have treated of these deities in their order
Yet I have not adored them.
I adore the name of the King, creator of the heavens,
You learned men proclaim the truths I relate ;
It was he that made all the seasons,
It was he created the land of Erinn.”
We have here a fact stated by a writer who lived in the middle of the 10th century, that
in his day “None of their seed remained in Erinn.” It is incredible to believe that had this
people a real existence, had they sufficient power and numbers to conquer the whole island,
and to found a dynasty of 200 years' standing, it is, I say, incredible to believe that they
would have left after them no traces of their existence in the population. Though the great
majority of Irish genealogies trace back to Milesius or Milesian chiefs, many of them deduce
from the Fir-Bolgs, but none from the Mythic race. We have also some idea of the
estimation in which they were held in the 10th century, by the bard's anxiety to impress
upon his readers the fact that though he treated of these deities in order, he did not adore
them.
After the defeat of this people, we find that their name disappears from the page of Irish
history; the Fir-Bolgs who preceded them remained in the country, occupying the province
of Connaught and the islands of the west; and centuries after they re-appear and succeed
in placing a king on the throne of Ireland; but of the Tuatha-De we hear no more, except
in the kingdom of Faery; here they still maintain their rule over the imaginations of the
Gaedhil, they have taken possession of the rath, the stone circle, the holy well, the mountain
tarn; they dwell beneath lakes, and in the deep bosoms of the hills; they sometimes appear
among mortals, always in a human form, and exhibiting human sympathies, performing
friendly offices towards mankind, and appearing to have a longing for that eternal life they
are never fated to enjoy.
The great sepulchral mounds of New Grange, Dowth, and Knowth, are reputed to have
been erected by them. Aenghus Oge, or the Immortal, a son of the Dagda, a deified chief
of the weird race, is reputed to have had his Court at Brugh-na-Boyne, one of the great
mounds on the banks of that river; the peasantry still believe in his existence. In the
Ossianic Trans. v. vi. p. 133, is a translation of an ancient poem called the Chace of the

22 EARLY NOTICES OF THR OGAM.–THE TUATHA-D15-DANAND. [CHAP. II.
Enchanted Boars of Aenghus-an-Bhroga, in which is related the adventures of Finn Mac
Cumhal in the Brugin or fairy palace of Aenghus. In the Ossianic tale of the “Feis Tighe
Conan,” v. ii. of the same work, will be found many notices of this mysterious race.
From what glimpses we can get of pagan Erinn in our ancient literature, it would appear
that most of the deities of the Gaedhil were of the mythic tribe; thus we have Badb,
answering to the Latin Fatua. Morrigan or Ana, to the Bona Dea. Nemain, to Mars.
Mananan Mac Lir, to Neptune. Dagda, to Baal. Dianceacht, to Esculapius. Creidne, to
Vulcan. Brighid, the Goddess of Poetry, and Ogma, the introducer of letters, to Apollo.
It has been supposed by Pictet that Badb is the same as the Gaulish Bodua, but Mr.
Crowe (Jour. of Hist, and Arch. Soc. Ir. v. 1869, p. 317) is of opinion that she represents
the Latin Fatua. Mr. Whitley Stokes, in his “Three Irish Glossaries,” has equated the
Nemain of our mythology with “Nemetona,” in the “Marti et Nemetonae" of De Wal.
p. 237; it is probable that when the Gaulish and Irish mythologies come to be thoroughly
investigated they will be found identical.
Dr. O'Donovan, Ann. 4, Mas, A.M. 3471, n. states his opinion of the Gods of the pagan
Irish being deified mortals of the Tuatha-de-Damand; the passage is as follows:—“From the
many monuments ascribed to this Colony by tradition and in ancient Irish historical tales, it
is quite evident that they were a real people; and from their having been considered gods
and magicians by the Gaedhil or Scoti, who subdued them, it may be inferred that they
were skilled in arts which the latter did not understand. Among these was Danaan, the
Mother of the Gods, from whom Da-Chich-Danainne, are named” (the well-known mountains
in Kerry called the Paps); Buanann, the goddess that instructed the heroes in military
exercises, the Minerva of the ancient Irish; Abhortach, God of Music; Ned, the God of
War; Nemann, his wife; Mananan, the God of the Sea; Dianceacht, the God of Physic;
Brighit, the Goddess of Poets and Smiths, &c.” The learned translator of the Annals
rather hesitatingly adopts the Tuatha-De as a real people, for in the same note he remarks:
“It looks very strange that our genealogists trace the pedigree of no family living for the
last thousand years to any of the kings or chieftains of the Tuatha-de-Damanns, while
several families of Firbolgic descent are mentioned as in Hy-Many and other parts of
Connaught.”
It is, I fear, a hopeless task to attempt to trace out either the race or age of this
supposed colony; the story may resolve itself into this, that a small tribe of emigrants from
Gaul or Britain at some remote period landed on our shores with a civilisation far in
advance of the natives, obtaining an influence over them by superior arms, arts, and
organisation, establishing a system of religion which took a powerful hold of the national
mind, not even yet entirely effaced; or, that they were really the Druidic priesthood of the
Milesian colony, who, being a corporate body endowed with immense power and privileges,
were in after ages magnified by the bards of the Christian age into an independent people,
and made to play a part in one of those numerous “Takings of Ireland” they so delighted
to multiply and dwell on.
Subsequently to the penning of the above stated opinions, I met with “Cyclops
Christianus,” by the late Algernon Herbert; it contains a passage on this subject which
CHAP. II.] EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–THE TUATHA-DE-DANAND. 23
almost implicates me in the crime of plagiarism; it is as follows:—“The chief eminence of
the Danaan lay in their occult sciences and magic, of which Erin had not before seen the
like, and which got them their title of Tuatha-De, the Race of Gods. I cannot believe that
this emigration was any other than that above alluded to, when the main body of the Druids
of Britain went over to Erin with their sacred rites and treasures. The time very well
agrees, and the other circumstances fit exactly. That they did really prevail as gods, not as
men, and by excellence, not by numbers, may be inferred from this; that while the Fir-Bolgs
left to after ages an ample remnant of their population in several provinces, the more
durable dynasty of Dananns, when upset, left no territory or people. And the word druidh
is so thoroughly synonymous with magician and enchanter in Irish speech, that no other
professors of that art seem to have been anciently known to it. Besides which the story of
four cities being assigned to the Dananns in consideration of their learning, under four
professors or teachers, strongly indicates that viewed essentially they were a college or
faculty, not a people” (p. 140). The memories of the great Tuatha-De-Damann deities are to
this day associated with well-known localities; as Aenghus Oge, or the Immortal, with one
of the great mounds on the Boyne, supposed to be that at New Grange. Aine, with the hill
of Knockaney, in the county of Limerick (Cnoc Ainé). Midir with Bri Leith, a hill famed
in local folk-lore, and lying west of Ardagh, in the county of Longford. The Daghda with
one of the mounds on the Boyne. Dr. O'Curry quotes a stanza from a very ancient poem
by Mac Nia, son of Oenna, which is to be found in the B.B. fol. 190, b ; it gives a
description of the wonders of Brug na Boinne, and of the Hall of the Dagda Mor:—
Behold the Sidh before your eyes,
It is manifest to you that it is a king's mansion,
Which was built by the firm Daghda;
It was a wonder, a court, an admirable hill.
Man. Mat. Ir. Hist, p. 505.
Dan, or as he is commonly called Don, is associated with Knock-Firine, a remarkable
hill in the county of Limerick; he is locally known as Don Firine, i.e. Don of Truth, and
has been always looked upon as a benevolent fairy, whose palace is in the interior of the
hill. We find Dan or Dana to be the brother of Ogma, one of the sons of Ealladan; Dan
signifies poetry. -
Bodbh Derg, another Tuatha-de-Damann celebrity, has always been associated with
the great plain of Magh Femin in Tipperary. He was the son of the Daghda, and according
to a legend in the Book of Lismore, upon the dispersion of the Tuatha-de-Damann among the
lakes and mountains of Ireland after their defeat by the Milesians, he was appointed king of
the weird race. We find two remarkable mountains in the county of Kerry known as the
Paps, they are called in our most ancient MSS. Da-Chich-Danainne, the Two Paps of
Danaan, supposed to have been named after Danann, the reputed mother of the
Tuatha-De.

24 EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–HERCULES OGMIONS. [CHAP. II.
-
HERCULES OGMIONS.
The Irish bards of an early age attributed the invention of Ogam letters to Ogma; his
pedigree will be found in the B. of Lecain, fol. 280, p. b. c. 3, thus:– -
“Dagda the great, Dealbaoth, Breas, Dana, and Ogma the Sun worshipper, were the five
sons of
Ealadan, the son of
Dealbaoth, the son of
Neid, the son of
Indai, the son of
- Allai, the son of
Thait, the son of
Tabairn.”
We have here Breas, power, might; Dan, poetry; Dagda, the great good fire; Ogma,
letters, eloquence; Ogma is also called Ogma Grianeus, and Ogma Grian-Aineach, which Dr.
O'Curry renders, “ of the sun-like face.” (MS. Mat. Ir. Hist. p. 249.) This deity occupies
a similar place in the mythology of the Gaedhil to that of Apollo in the Greek Pantheon;
the latter was the god of poetry, eloquence, music, healing; all these have been attributed
to Ogma; Apollo has been identified with the sun, indeed, Wossius disputes the personality
of Apollo, and believes him to be a personification of the great luminary; the epithets
applied to Ogma, as sun-like, sun-worshipper, are derived from Grian, Gaedhelic for sun,
light, and which enters into the composition of many words, as grianmar, sunny, warm,
grianan, a sunny chamber, a summer house, griancloc, a sun dial, &c. A monument with the
following inscription has been found at Inveresk, in the South of Scotland, and is given in
Camden, v. iii. p. 310:— -
“APPOLLINI GRANNO Q LUSIUS SABINIANUs
PRoc AUG v. s.s., L.V.M.”
The Romanised Britons, as we know, grafted the names of their country deities on those
of their conquerors; thus we have Minerva Belasama, Mercurius Teutates, Jupiter Dolichenus,
Mars Braciaca. At Castle Hill, on the wall of Antoninus, has been found an inscription:
“To the field deities and the deities of Britain,” dedicated by a Romanised Gaul. (Cel.
Rom. Sax. p. 274.) The Inveresk inscription being found in close connection with the
country of the Briganti, a Celtic race, if not actually in it, adds interest and significance to
the discovery. We have yet another piece of evidence that the name Ogma was at a remote
period identified with learning and eloquence, among some of the tribes of Western Europe;
this is afforded to us by Lucian, in his description of the Gaulish deity Ogmius.
The passage was first noticed by John Toland as having a bearing upon the Ogam
question, and he identifies this Ogmius with the Irish Ogma. (Hist. Druids, pp. 72, 154.)
Toland's work was published in 1726. It has also been quoted and commented on in the
same connection by the late Dr. O'Donovan, in the Ul. Jour. Arch. v. vii. p. 81, and by
Betham, in his Gael and Cimbri, p. 88. It is here given from Franklin's Lucian, v. ii. pp.
340, 2.
CHAP. II.] EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.-HERCULES OGMIUS. 25
“The Gauls call Hercules in their tongue, Ogmius, and make a strange figure of him.
He is represented by them as an extreme old man, almost bald, with a few white hairs,
wrinkled, and of black swarthy colour, like men who have been all their lives at sea. One
would rather take him for a Charon or a Japetus from the infernal shades; for anything, in
short, but Hercules; and yet, unlike as he is, they give him all the useful attributes: he
has the lion's skin about him, and a quiver, with a club in his right hand, and a bow bent in
his left, and is in all other respects a perfect Hercules. I could not help suspecting that the
Gauls meant to cast a reflection on the Grecian deity by such a picture, as if they intended
to revenge themselves on him for invading their kingdom and ravaging it, when he rambled
about in search of Geryon's cattle. But I forgot to mention one most extraordinary circum-
stance; this old Hercules is represented as drawing a large number of people after him,
whom he seems to have bound by the ears with very slender chains made of amber and gold,
like beautiful necklaces. Held notwithstanding, as they are, by these weak little links, they
none of them endeavour to get away, as they might easily do, strive with their feet, or pull
against him, but press on with pleasure and alacrity, as if fond of their leader, and seem to
wish, be the chain ever so loose, not to be let free; and what is most wonderful of all is, that the
painter, not knowing what to fix the chain to, (for he has the club in his right hand and the
bow in his left,) bored a hole at the extremity of the tongue, tied it to that, and drew them
along, Hercules looking back and smiling at them. I stood and admired this figure, not
without some degree of indignation; nor could I comprehend the meaning of it, when a
Gaul standing by, a man well skilled in Grecian literature, who spoke our language correctly,
and seemed to be, as many of his nation are, a philosopher, thus addressed me:– You
seem,' said he, “stranger, to be puzzled about this picture, I will explain it to you; we do
not, like you, express eloquence by the figure of Mercury, but by that of Hercules, as
stronger and more powerful: do not be surprised, therefore, at our representing him as an
old man, for, in old age alone, eloquence arrives at its full strength and maturity, according
to your own poets:—
Youth is still an empty wavering state,
Cool age advances, venerably wise,
Turns on all hands its deep discerning eyes;
Sees what befel, and what may yet befal,
Concludes from both, and best provides for all.
And again—
Better far than youth,
Doth age direct us.
Your Nestor dropped honey from his tongue, and the old Trojan orators were celebrated
for their tender voice—that is, flowery—for so, if I remember right, it is interpreted; nor
can you wonder at Hercules, that is, eloquence, drawing them in the manner he does, when
you reflect on the natural relation between the cars and the tongue, which it is no disgrace
to him to have thus perforated: for one of your comic poets, I remember, says–
There is ever a slit in the tongue of a prattler.
26 EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–HERCULES OGMIUS. [CHAP. II.
Add to this, that we always consider Hercules as a wise man, who performed everything by
his eloquence, and his speeches were the sharp and swift arrows, which always hit the mark,
and wounded his enemy. You talk frequently of winged words, to which we allude.” Thus
spoke the Gaul.” -
Were it not for this passage, and the testimony of Caesar, the Gauls would probably have
been considered a barbarous and illiterate race. Lucian testifies that this chance informant
(not one selected) was “well skilled in Grecian literature, who spoke our language correctly,
and seemed to be, as many of his nation are, a philosopher,” while Caesar distinctly states
that the Gauls used the Greek letters.
The passage from Lucian is strong corroborative evidence that the Ogma of the Gaedhil
was not a forgery of the medieval bards, but an old and curious tradition, faithfully trans-
mitted to them by their Gaulish ancestors. For there can scarcely be a doubt that the race
who conquered Erinn were a branch of that ancient and remarkable people, many evidences
of which will be found in this work, in addition to which, we have many notices in our
Annals and other MSS. of the constant intercourse maintained between Ireland and Gaul in
remote ages. The Gauls were not singular in representing Hercules as the patron of letters
and eloquence; the Greeks represent him as the protector of science, “the god of eloquence,
with the Muses in his train.” (Bryant, v. ii. p. 847.) -
On the whole we may conclude, that the Ogma and Ogmius of these two branches of th
Celtic family are identical, and derived from one common source; whether from the actual
inventor of the letters so named, or some mythological divinity, embodying the attributes
of wisdom, eloquence, or intellectual activity, is not of much consequence in the present
inquiry; the passage being sufficient to establish the great antiquity of the word Ogam, and
its connection with learning and letters.
The worship of Hercules appears to have been the most widely diffused of ancient
cultie; the Scythians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Etrurians, Romans,
Iberians, Goths and Celts, claimed him as a deity under various names and attributes. It
has been surmised, that in the primitive age some renowned warlike king or hero led his
victorious army through a great portion of the then habitable regions of Western Asia,
Northern Africa, and Southern and Western Europe, subduing nations, founding new cities,
and planting colonies; and who after his death was deified by the various peoples who were
cognisant of his exploits; indeed, it has been supposed that the great Egyptian conqueror
Sesostris, whose career was somewhat of this kind, was the original Hercules, whose history
was corrupted by the Greeks, and overloaded with that mass of fable which we find in the
classic writers.
That the original history of Hercules was in some way connected with the migrations
of the peoples of Western Europe, will appear from various considerations. According to
classic authorities, he left his native country, Greece, at an early age, after performing many
remarkable actions; and proceeded to the country of the Scythians as far as Mount
Caucasus, where he freed Prometheus from his horrible captivity; he then encounters the
Amazons on the Thermodon. After his return to Greece, we find him undertaking his
expedition to Western Europe, and his course is a remarkable one; he first proceeds to


CHAP. II.] EARLY NOTICES OF THE OGAM.–HERCULES OGMIUS, 27
Crete, then lands on the coast of Africa, and from thence proceeds to Egypt, where, after
various actions, he builds the city of Hecatompulos. Leaving Egypt he travels westward
through Libya, until he reaches the Fretum Gaditanum ; erecting a memorial pillar, he
crosses into Iberia, where he erects another; from which action the strait became known
as the “Pillars of Hercules;” after defeating the sons of Chrusadr, and seizing upon the oxen
of Geryon, one of the principal objects of his expedition, he directs his course to the
nations of the Gauls and Celtae; he founds the city of Corunna in Spain, and Alesia in
Gaul; he then encounters the giants Albion and Bergion, and after other exploits crosses the
Alps into Italy. Now this is precisely the story of the migrations of the Gaedhil; from
Scythia to Egypt; through Libya into Spain, Gaul and the British Isles, identical in every
particular, including the episodes of the Amazons and the landing at Crete. -
The memory of Hercules (probably the Phoenician and not the Greek hero god) is
intimately connected with Corunna. At the mouth of the bay stands a very remarkable
Pharos, to which a fabulous antiquity has been assigned ; local tradition ascribes its erection
to Hercules, others attribute it to the Phoenicians. Laborde discovered an inscription near
its foundation, which stated that it was constructed by Caius Severus Lupus, architect of the
city of Aqua Flavia (Cheves), and that it was dedicated to Mars. -
This probably refers to a re-construction, as it can scarcely be doubted that the
Phoenician merchants did erect upon this prominent and important point such an aid to the
navigation of this coast, as the remains of such are found in various localities on the
southern and western shores. The original tower was enclosed in a lining of new masonry
in 1797. (Wilde's Narrative, Dublin, 1844, p. 9.) Corunna is the Tor Breogan of the
bardic writers, who aver that Breogan the son of Bratha, a leading chief of the Spanish
Gaedhil, erected here a city and a tower which he called after his name, and that from the
top of this tower his son, Ith, first saw the southern shores of Erin on a clear day. The
name of Breogan still exists in Braganza; his descendants were called the Clanna Breogan,
who peopled a large district in the central and eastern parts of Ireland, from whom the great
plain of Bregia was named, and who are the Briganti of Ptolemy and Tacitus.
Hercules, according to Diodorus Siculus (B. iv. c. i.) built the city of Alesia in Gaul, which
in his day had great privileges, and was much honoured by the Celtae on this account. The
Gauls do not appear to have ascribed to him the same attributes as the Greeks, if we are to
believe Lucian, who states the remarkable fact that he was called in their tongue Ogmius, and
was among them esteemed the patron of science and the god of eloquence; this at once
identifies him with the Ogma of the bardic writers. The archaic form of the name of this
deity has been preserved by the Gaedhil in that of Erc, Erca, Ercus, forms which can be
traced to her earliest annals, and which have also been found on her Ogam monuments.
(See Dunmore and Roovesmore.) See also the Greek and Etruscan forms, Ercles and
Arcles.
28
CHAPTER III.
MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE
OGAM.
Eochaidh O'Flinn, an historical bard of the tenth century, informs us that Ogma,
the brother of Dagda, the Tuath-de Danand king, was the inventor of the Ogam. The
passage is as follows:– “An Daghda Mac Elathain an Righ Oghma brathair an Righ ise
rainec litri na Scot, i.e. Daghda the son of Elathan was king; Ogma his brother was he
who invented the letters of the Scots.”
The above evidence is important, as showing that a well known Christian bard of the
N tenth century, one deeply versed in the literary antiquities of the Gaedhil, ascribed the intro-
duction of the Ogam to a remote pagan age.
Amongst the MSS. in the British Museum is a tract on Ogam, which ascribes its
invention to Breas, and states that the cairn of Breas, the son of Elathan, the son of Neigh,
was in the territory of the Clanna Deirghine in Carberry, Co. Cork. (MSS. Brit. Mus.
addit. 4783, class xv.)
The following passage is also found in this tract, the Anonyma Hiberni Tractatus:—
“Ogam ro mese Bres Bres. Mac Eladan T bages do dul sech gan a legad Tro lad iorum
in t-ogum sa inaucht ac techt a cath Muighe Tuired,”—i.e. “This Ogum was put together
by Breas son of Eladan, and it was forbidden him to go past without reading it, and,
afterwards, he put this Ogum on his breast when coming into the battle of Moytura.”
According to the corrected chronology of Roderic O'Flaherty, Ogma lived about A.M.
2764. He describes him as being exceedingly well versed in letters and magic. (Ogygia,
part iii. c. xxx.)
John Caspar Zeuss, in his “Grammatica Celtica,” states it as his opinion that before
| the introduction of the Romanesque letters into Ireland the Celts had a peculiar mode of __
| writing called Ogham, and he refers to his description of the St. Gall MS., written in the -
ninth century, for specimens of the Ogam; he also refers to the fact of the Gauls having a
deity called Ogmius, as some confirmation of the Celtic account of the origin of letters.
| (Introduction, pp. 28, 47.)
It is a significant fact, that all existing references to the use of the Ogam in our ancient
MSS. refer to pagan times, without an exception, at least so far as my inquiries have
V extended. These references are not numerous, but they are clear and decisive.
The first will be found in the ancient and popular tale of the Tain Bo Chuailgne, or the
Cattle Raid of Cooley. The earliest copy of this historical tale is to be found in the Book

CHAP. III.] MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCEs of THE USE of THE ogAM. 29
of Leinster, a vellum MS., compiled A.D. 1106, and now preserved in the library of Trin.
Coll. Dub. Professor O'Curry shows that it was copied from a more ancient work called the
“Cuilmen.” (Lectures, p. 29.) There is not in the whole range of our ancient Irish
literature a more popular piece than the “Tain;” at weddings, at christenings, at wakes,
and all other scenes of rustic festivity, this was the stock story of the professional Sean-a-
cuidhe, “it was,” as the late Dr. O'Curry wrote, “to the Irish what the Argonautic expedition,
or the Seven against Thebes, is to Grecian history.” (Lectures, p. 38.)
In the narrative it is related that Cuchullinn, or, as he is sometimes called, Mac Beag,
having made a tour of Ulster, arrived at the fortress of Dun Mac Neachtain, near the Boyme,
and having directed his gilla-carbait (chariot driver) to drive him to the Dun, the gilla
replied, “Alas! that you have said so, because we know it to be a rash act towards death
and destruction to ordain so; and whoever goes there,” added the gilla, “I will not.” “You
shall go there, either alive or dead,” said Mac Beag. “It is alive then I will go there,”
answered the gilla ; “but it is dead that I shall be left at the dun of Mac Neachtain.”
They proceeded to the dun (fort), and here a descriptive passage occurs as follows:–A
coirthe (pillar stone) was standing before the dum, and a ring of iron was firmly clasped
round the coirthe, namely, the ring of chivalry; and upon the iron ring was an Ogham
inscription intimating that whosoever entered the green on which the pillar stone stood, if
he claimed to be a knight, was bound under a geas, or solemn engagement, not to depart
until he had demanded single combat with one of the occupants of the dun.
“Mac Beag having read the Ogam grasped the stone and its mystic ring in his arms
and cast it into an adjoining pool.” (Ulster Journal of Archæology, Vol. III. p. 10.)
“On another occasion (as mentioned in the Tain Bo Chuailgne), while Cuchullain, or
Mac Beag, was passing through the territory of Machain Chonaill (the present county of
Louth), he is said to have entered a dense wood where he casually met with another coirthe,
or pillar stone; and having himself carved a verse in Ogam characters upon a gad, or
withe, placed it around the stone.” (Ibid. p. 11.)
In the well known tract called the “Battle of Gabhra,” published by the Ossianic Society,
is the following poem, which gives an account of the death of Cairbre Lefeachair in that
battle, which was fought A.D. 283:— --
OISIN CECINIT.
In the battle of Gabhra were slain Oscar and Cairpre Lifeachair.
An Ogham in a stone, a stone over a grave,
In the place where men were wont to pass;
The son of the King of Erie was there slain
By a mighty spear on a white horse's back.
Cairpre threw a sudden cast,
From the back of his horse good in battle;
Shortly before he met his own death,
Oscar was slain by his right arm.
30 MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. [CHAP. III.
Oscar threw a mighty throw,
Angrily, vehemently, like a lion;
And killed Cairpre the grandson of Conn,
Before they raised their battle cries.
That Ogham which is in the stone,
Around which fell the slain;
Were Finn the fighter of battles living,
Long would he remember the Ogham.
Ossianic Soc. Trans. Vol. I. p. 49.
Here we have the simple narrative of an event and the place where it occurred identified
by a pillar-stone erected over a grave, bearing an Ogam inscription, and standing by
the public highway, -
“In the place where men were wont to pass.”
In an ancient MS. called the Leabhar-na-h-Uidhre is a relation of the death of Fothaidh
Airgteach, monarch of Ireland, who was killed in the Battle of Ollarba, fought A.D. 285,
by Cailte, the foster son of Finn Mac Cumhail.
In the narrative, Cailte is represented as identifying the grave of the monarch as
follows:–
“We were with thee, O Finn,” said the youth. “Hush" said Mongan, “that is not
good (fair).
“We were with Finn once,” said he, “we went from Alba (recte Almain). We fought
against Fothadh Airgtech here with thee at Ollarba. We fought a battle here; I made a
shot at him, and I drove my spear through him, so that the spear entered the earth at the
other side of him, and its iron head was left buried in the earth. This is the very handle
that was in that spear. The round stone from which I made that shot will be found, and
east of it will be found the iron head of the spear buried in the earth; and the uluidh (cairn)
of Fothadh Airgtech will be found a short distance to the east of it. There is a chest of
stone about him in the earth. There are his two rings of silver and his two bunne doat
(bracelets 2), and his torque of silver on his chest; and there is a pillar stone at his cairn:
and an Ogum is (inscribed) on the end of the pillar stone which is in the earth. And what
is in it is—
* EOCHAID AIRG THECH HERE.”
It was Cailte that was here along with Finn. All these things were searched for by the
youth who had arrived, and were found.” (Petrie's Round Towers, p. 108.)
This is a most interesting and valuable passage to the antiquary. It most graphically
describes the scene and circumstances of the king's death; the vengeful force with which
Cailte drove the spear through his adversary's body, pinning him to the earth. Homer
could not better portray it; the manner of interment, the cistvain, the cairn, and the pillar-

CHAP. III.] MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. 31
stone with the monarch's name inscribed in Ogam. The two rings of silver, the armlets,
and the torque, scrupulously interred with the body, show the rude feelings of respect and
chivalry towards the remains of a slain enemy.
In the Book of Ballymote, fol. 145, is an ancient tract which gives an account of the
poisoning of Crimthan Mac Fideach, monarch of Ireland from A.D. 366 to 378, by his own
sister Monghfin, who was wife to Eochaidh Muighmeadon, who was the predecessor of Crim-
than ; her object in so doing was to make way for the succession of her son Brian ; but in
this she was disappointed, as her favourite son was slain in battle immediately after. The
portion of this tract bearing upon my subject is in reference to the death and interment of
another of her sons, Fiachra, who was engaged in an expedition into Munster, and was
severely wounded in a battle won by him A.D. 380, at Caonry, now Pallas Kenry, Co.
Limerick; of which wounds he subsequently died. The passage is as follows:–
“In Hy Mac Uais, in Meath, Fiachra died from the effects of his wounds. There was
raised his tomb, and he was laid in his sepulchre; there were celebrated his funeral games
(cluiché), and his name was written in Ogam, and the hostages brought from the south
were buried alive in the sepulchre with Fiachra.”
The advocates of the Scythian origin of the Gaedhil will, no doubt, look upon the
concluding incident as strong corroborative evidence of their descent from that ancient and
singular race.
The Book of Lismore, or, as it should be more properly called, “The Book of Mac-
Carthy Reagh,” is a vellum MS. now preserved in the Library of the R. I. A.; it contains a
most interesting tract called “Agallamh-na-Seanoiridhe,” i.e. “The Dialogue of the Ancient
Men,” which is a mine of information respecting the manners, customs, dress, and
superstitions of the pagan Gaedhil; in this tract we have several references to the Ogam
being used for monumental purposes; for instance, Cailte Mac Roman, in describing a
desperate encounter between the Fianna Erioun and the Clanna Morna under their renowned
leader Goll, in which four hundred of the former were slain, thus describes their
interment:—
“And the Fenii arose and buried these four hundred (men) of Finn's people under the
small stones of the earth; and it is how each man of Finn's people was found, and a man of
the tribe of Morna dead under him; and their names were written in Ogam over them, and
their funeral rites (games) performed.”
In another passage Cailte describes the sepulchre of Aine, wife of Finn-Mac-Cumhal, who
died in giving birth to her second son:—
“And she was here buried under the small stones of the earth,” said Cailte, “and her
stone was raised, and the funeral rites performed, and her name was written in Ogam.”
In those two passages no reference is made to the Tulach, or mound, usually raised to
the dead, but the reference “under the small stones of the earth,” I think, sufficiently implies
this, as most of the cairns or tumuli opened from time to time in this country are found to
be composed of small stones, and that frequently in places where stones are difficult of
procurement.
There is a curious reference to an Ogam inscribed stone in the same MS. After the
32 MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. [CHAP. III.
great hunt of Lock Ba, Caoilte is represented as arriving at a Dun, in the mountain :-" A
look that Caoilte gave to the left of the mountain, he saw a Dun and a noble mansion; ‘By
my unsullied word,” said Caoilte, “we did not know a Dun was there, and let us go to the
place,’ said he. They proceeded to the Dun, and it surprised them to see no host or army
there, but nine female servants and three men servants.
“And they came into a secret Grianan that was in the place, and there were two women
in the Grianan weeping and lamenting; and they were questioned and waited upon, and
their travelling dress was taken from them, and Caoilte asked them ‘what Dun was that 2'
‘This is the Dun of the two sons of the King of Fermoy,' said they, viz. “Locan and
Eoghan are their names.” “Why are you so melancholy and sorrowful ?” said Caoilte. “We
live with two brothers, and we are two sisters ourselves, and our husbands went to bring
other women to night, and we are not to remain in this Dun but until our husbands arrive,
and the new comers with them.’ And Caoilte looked aside and saw the kingly flag-stone
which a beloved friend of Fionn Mac Cumhaills had, that is, Seanach Mac Maolcro, of the
old people of Fionn Mac Cumhaills, and it is how that stone was, and the person to whom
Fionn gave good wages, i.e. 150 ounces of gold, and 150 ounces of silver, and 150 ounces of
Fiondruine on closing that stone around it. Then Caoilte said to the women, ‘What reward
would you give me if I would relieve and assist you, and if I would bring back your husbands
to you?” “If we had in the world any reward you would like, we would give it to you,' said
they. “You have,' said Caoilte, ‘that princely flag-stone in the middle of the mansion.” “It
is hard for you to såy that,' said they, ‘for the greater part of the people of the country
were arranging it there, to say that you alone should be able to make any thing of it.'
‘Myself that is deceived in that,' said Caoilte, “if I cannot.’ ‘You will get that from us and
our blessing,' said the women. Caoilte then came out of the place, and he brought the full
of his right hand of potent fairy herbs with him, such as he knew were used by the chief
women of the Fenians, and he gave them to the women and they made a bath thereof and
bathed therein, and this brought back the love of their husbands on them, and they sent
back the women that they had brought with them, and the stone was given to Caoilte, and
he said, “O Stone of Bealach Atha Hy, &c.’ And Caoilte was there that night, and he was
served and attended well; and he arose at an early hour next day, and Caoilte fetched the
stone out of the earth, and they came on to Fionn Tulach, which is called Ard-Patrick.”
The passage is a curious one, showing that the superstition of the “Magic Bath,” and
its power of restoring youth and beauty, existed among the ancient Gaedhil.
There is some obscurity in the description of the stone, but I think we may gather from
the passage that it was one of considerable value in the estimation of the aged Fenian chief;
perhaps a talismanic one, engraved with mysterious and potent charms, and for which a
large sum had been originally paid ; had Caoilte completed his adjuration, we would
probably have known more of this wonderful stone. We have, however, some additional
light thrown on it in another part of the same MS. Dubthach Mac Ua Lughair is represented
as putting a series of questions respecting incidents and persons long passed away; amongst
others he refers to the above incident in the house of Locan and Eoghen, and asks the
following question :-
CHAP. III.] MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. 33
“And the Lia (stone) of Bealach Atha Hi. What Ogam was inscribed on its
extremity?”
The answer is curious—
“The treasures of Seanagh, jewels of renown,
The repository for which was the Liath Bealaidhe
Oisin that coaxed it from the women,
One day in the house of Lochan.”
It is here evident that it was a stone inscribed with Ogam characters, the sentences engraven
on it being considered of such value and importance as to be compared to “treasures” and
“jewels.”
Another reference to the custom of inscribing Ogam memorials upon the Lia or pillar-
stone raised over the sepulchres of the mighty dead, will be found in the Tain Bo' Chuailgne.
In it we are informed that Feargus Etercomal, a Connaught warrior, having been slain
in single combat by Cuchulaind, his body was borne off by Fergus Mac Roigh, and received
the burial of a warrior; the MS. informs us that his companions in arms dug his Fert, i.e.
his grave, raised his Lia, i.e. his monumental stone, and wrote his name in Ogam ; they also
celebrated his funeral games. (Leabhar na h-Uidhri, p. 69, Col. 1.)
The ancient sepulchral usages and the cutting or inscribing of Ogams are introduced into
the celebrated triad of tales, called “The Three Tragical Stories of Erinn.” These are,
“The Fate of the Children of Lir:” “The Story of the Children of Uisneach;” and “The
Story of the Sons of Tuireann.” Dr. O'Curry, in reference to the antiquity of these tales,
believes they were committed to writing before the year A.D. 1000. The circumstances to
which they refer, however, are of far greater antiquity, being of a remote pagan age. The
tale of the fate of the sons of Tuireann is laid in the reign of Lughaid Lamhfada, or
the long-handed; who, according to the Ann. 4 Mas., ascended the throne of Ireland A.M.
3331. In the story the king is represented as raising a tumulus over the remains of the
warrior Cian, who was slain by the sons of Tuireann —“D'adhlaic Lugaid Cian I do
thog a lia T a leacht agus do scribh a ainim a n-ogham agus d'fhear a cluichthe caointe T do
bheart Lughaid Lamhfada an Laoidhe,” i.e. “Lugaid buried Cian, and raised his monumental
stone, and his sepulchral heap, and wrote his name in Ogam; he performed the funeral
games, and chanted the funeral song.” In the pathetic tale of “Deirdre,” the Daithula of
McPherson, nearly the same formula is repeated in describing the interment of Deirdre and
Naisi.
In the Ossianic tale of “Feis Tighe Chonain Chuin Slhleibhe,” i.e. “The Festivities at
the House of Conan of Cean Sleibhe,” Fionn is represented as relating to his host, Conan,
an account of the deaths of three of his companions accidentally slain at a hunt by his own
hands, as follows:–
“One day, as I had been hunting in the neighbourhood of Carn Cromghlinne, a hog was
started for me, from the unfavourable hunting ground in which I then was, and the hounds
and the heroes of the Fenians were hot in pursuit after it. I made a cast of my javelin at
it, but the weapon pierced the bowels of a worthy chief of my people, and he immediately
F
34 FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. ſcHAP. III.
expired. It is from this (incident) that Ath-Bolg or Dun-Bolg near Cork, in Munster, is so
called. I gave another cast which pierced Eadbho, son of Muinchin, and he was slain;
and I made a third cast, and killed Jomais, son of Bachar, so that it is after his name
Sliabh Jomais is named. I perceived that I had committed ruinous acts by means of these
three throws; so I caused fearts (graves) to be made for the three heroes, and their names
to be inscribed thereon.” (Trans. Oss, Soc. v. ii. p. 183.)
The nature of the characters in which their names were inscribed is not here mentioned,
probably through indifference as to any necessity for doing so; however, the late Mr. John
Windele was in possession of a copy of this ancient tale, in which the Ogam is mentioned as
the character inscribed.
Again, in the tale of “The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne,” when the three Fenian
warriors die of the “hard bands” which were laid on them by Diarmuid, Fionn causes them
to be interred:—“Then Fionn (caused to be) dug three wide sodded graves (Tri Fearta) for
them, and their flag was put over their gravestone, and their names were written in Ogam-
craobh, and their burial ceremonies (cluithche) were performed.” (Trans. Oss. Soc. v. iii.
p. 107.)
The word cluiche, so often used in describing the interments of the ancient Gaedhil,
particularly warriors, is rather remarkable, as it signifies battle, games, and alludes to the
mimic fights, feats of agility and strength, which were performed in honour of the interment
of a companion in arms.
THE OGAM USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES AND ON OTHER
MATERIALS.
It cannot be doubted that an alphabet so complete in itself, and so capable of further
development, must have been used for other purposes than that of sepulchral inscriptions;
unfortunately no MSS. in Ogam have come down to our times, which in truth is no
wonder, if we consider the remote age in which it was used, and the hostile feeling which
the early Christian converts displayed towards everything connected with the ancient beliefs,
more particularly MSS. and monumental inscriptions, which in every country have been *
objects of iconoclastic vengeance.
In truth the absence of such is evidence of the antiquity of the Ogam, for if it had,
indeed, been “tricks of the middle ages,” and the work of medieval scribes, as averred by some
writers, we would doubtless have had many evidences of it in the MS. remains of that period.
It has been stated in the Archaeologia, v. vii. p. 277, that Sir James Ware was possessed
of a thick MS. written in Ogam, and I have already alluded to the statement of O'Flaherty
in Ogygia, that Duald Mc Firbis had in his possession some ancient tablets inscribed in Ogam
characters, but as neither of these are now forthcoming, we must take the statements for what
º
they are worth. We have, however, a few notices from ancient MSS. relative to the use of -
the Ogam for other purposes than sepulchral memorials.
In the Tain-bo-Cuailgne already referred to, the scene of which is laid in pagan times, we
CHAP. III.] FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. - 35
have instances of its having been used as a means of communicating intelligence, as we are
there informed that Cuchullaind was accustomed to cut or inscribe on wands or staves
certain items of information that he desired to be conveyed to Meav, Queen of Connaught;
these he caused to be laid in her way, so that when found they were conveyed to her, and
given by her to Fergus Mac Roigh, who, being versed in that character, was able to read
them for her. Another early example of the use of the Ogam is given by Dr. O'Curry from
an ancient tale called “Loinges Mac-an-Duil Dermit,” or the Exile of the Sons of Duil
Dermait, an Ulster story of the time of Connor Mac Nessa, about the period of the
Incarnation. “In this tale we are told that three personages mentioned in it disappeared
mysteriously, and that Cuchulainn was enjoined to discover them; he accordingly went from
the palace of Emania to his own town of Dun Dealgain (Dundalk), and that while taking
council with himself there, he observed a boat coming to land in the harbour. This boat it
seems contained the son of the King of Albain (Scotland), and a party who came with
presents of purple and silk, and drinking cups for King Connor. Cuchulainn, however, was
in an angry mood, so that he entered the boat and slew all the crew till he came to the prince
himself. The tale thus proceeds: ‘Grant me life for life, O Cuchulainn you do not know
me," said he (the prince). “Do you know what carried the sons of Duil Dermait out of their
country 2' said Cuchulainn. “I do not know it,” said the youth; “but I have a sea charm,
and I will set it for you, and you shall have the boat, and you shall not act in ignorance by it.
Cuchulainn then handed him his little spear, and he (the prince) inscribed an Ogum in it.”
“Cuchulainn then, according to the story, went out upon the sea, and his talisman directed
him unerringly to the island in which the objects of his search were detained. This tale is
preserved in no less a MS. than H. 2. 16. T.C.D.” (O'Curry's Lec. p. 468.) Here we
have a simple straightforward narrative, a certain charm or talisman, or it may have been a
simple sailing direction given in Ogam, and inscribed on a spear handle; it is here evident
that the young noble was master of the art of Ogam writing, which is suggestive of the fact
that it was not confined to the bards and brehons; yet we must admit that not every king's
son was versed in Ogam, as Core, a son of Lughaidh, King of Munster, was near finding to
his cost.
The story of Corc is thus given by Professor O'Curry. “In the Book of Leinster
(fol. 206), we find another instance of the use of the Oghuim in the story of Core, the son of
Lughaidh, King of Munster, who was driven into exile by his father about A.D. 400. We
learn, that when forced to fly to the Court of Feredach, King of Scotland, not knowing what
reception he might meet with from that king, he hid himself and his few attendants in a
grove near the Court, to consider what course he should take ; that there he was soon
discovered and recognised by Gruibni, the king's poet, who had known him at his own
father's Court in Munster, where he had often visited previously. The poet, we are
informed, addressed the prince, and learned his history, and while examining his shield
detected an Oghuim inscription on it. “Who was it that befriended you with the Oghuim
which is on your shield 2 it was not good luck he designed you,' said the poet. “What does it
contain 2" said Core. ‘What it contains,’ said the poet, ‘is, that if it was by day you
arrived at the Court of Feredach, your head should be cut off before evening; and if it was


36 FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. [CHAP. III.
at night, your head should be cut off before morning.' Here, then, was a regular letter of a
very serious character written in Oghuim many years before St. Patrick's coming.”
(O'Curry's Lec. p. 469.) That Ogam letters were cut on wands, staves, or tablets of wood,
is plainly intimated in a passage in the Book of Ballymote, fol. 168. “The father of Ogam
was Ogma; the mother of Ogam was the hand or knife (scian) of Ogma. This, indeed, was
the first thing that was written through Ogam, &c.” In bringing forward these notices from
jur ancient MSS., I would wish it to be understood that I do not entirely rely on this class of
evidence as positively proving the use of this mode of writing in pagan times. I am aware
that the age of some may be disputed, that many were compiled, and that all have been
transcribed in Christian times, though from older documents; they certainly present strong
tollateral evidence in favour of my argument, disclosing this fact, that wherever the use of
the Ogam is mentioned, it is always in connection with events and incidents, the scenes of
which are laid in pre-Christian times, and in no case, as far as my inquiries have extended,
| do they allude to it as a means of record, memorial, or inter-communication in subsequent
times, though it is but reasonable to conjecture that at least its partial use was continued for
some time after the conversion of Ireland to the Faith.
The completeness of the Ogam alphabet in its ancient form of twenty letters, its division
into vowels and consonants, the division of the former into broad and slender, and the
arrangement of placing the broad vowels, A, O, U, first, and the slender, E., I, last, is sufficient
evidence that the people who arranged it thus must have made certain advances in civilization,
were in fact a lettered people.
- That an alphabet so complete should have been used merely for monumental purposes,
/ is, upon the face of it, an absurdity. There is no doubt that the Gaedhil used this character
for other purposes, and on other materials. O'Flaherty states that the Gaedhil, before the
invention of parchment, wrote on leaves of birch bark, as did the ancient Romans; he says
they were called Oraiun (that is, writing tables), and Taibhle Fileadh, i.e. Philosophical
Tables. (Ogygia, part ii. c. 30.)
He further mentions that Duald Mac Firbis, the celebrated Irish scholar and antiquary,
in a letter to him, mentioned that he was in the possession of several of their tablets. The
writing materials of the ancient Gaedhil are often alluded to in our MSS. under the names
of Tamlorga Filid, that is, Staves of the Poets; also Tabal Lorga, that is, Tablet Staves,
upon which they inscribed their poems and romances. Upon this subject Dr. O'Curry, in
his lectures, has the following curious and valuable passage:–
“Now with respect to the name Taibhli Fileadh (Tablets of the Poets], it appears
clearly enough to be a Hibernicism of the Latin ‘Tabellae, and the plural of the word
Tabhall, or Tabella. But this form of the Gaedhelic name, though ancient, is not the most
ancient or best description of the Gaedhelic Tablet of the poets. The ancient Gaedhelic
Tablet took, I believe, more the form of a fan than of a table, a fan which when closed
took the shape of a staff, and which, indeed, actually served as such to the poet and
historian. In a very ancient article in the Brehon Laws, which prescribes the sort of
weapon of defence which the different classes of society were allowed to carry on ordinary
occasions to defend themselves against dogs, &c. in their usual walks, a passage occurs

CHAP. III.] FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. 37
which throws some light on this subject. The article belongs to the Christian times, I
should tell you, in its present form, as it prescribes a slender lath or a graceful crook for a
priest, while it assigns to the poet a Tabhall-Lorg or Tablet-Staff, in accordance with the
privileges of his order, etc.”
The name of Tabhall-Lorg or Tablet-Staff appears to be, however, though ancient, yet
still a modernized or Latin-Gaedhelic form of a much older name for the same thing, as may
be seen in the following extract from the curious old tract known as the Agallamh na
Seanorach (i.e. Dialogue of the Ancient Men), preserved in an ancient vellum MS. in the
Bodleian Library, Oxford, and in the copy in the Book of Lismore in the Royal Irish
Academy. The passage occurs in one of those pretended conversations which are said to
have been held between Oisin (“Ossian,” as his name is misspelt in modern English), and
Caeilte, the two ancient Fenian warriors, and Saint Patrick. In the present story Caeilte
gives a list of the officers of the Fenian army to Diarmait Mac Fergusa Cerrbheoil in a
pretty long poem, after which : “‘May you have victory and blessing, O Caeilte, said
Diarmait Mac Fergusa Cerrbheoil; and where are the seniors and antiquarians of Erinn 2
Let this be written in Tamhlorgaibh Fileadh [Headless Staffs of Poets], and after the manner
of professors, and in the language of the Ollamh ; so that every one may take his copy
[or shareſ with him to his own territory and land, of all the knowledge, and all the history,
and all the topography, and all the deeds of bravery and valour that Caeilte and Osin have
related.’ And it was done accordingly.”
This word Tamhlorg, or “Headless Staff,” is beyond any doubt the more ancient, the
original name of the writing tablets, or rather the squared staves of the Gaedhils, on the
angles and lines of which they wrote or carved in the Beithé Luis Nin, that is, in the Birch-
Alder-Letter (Nin being the ancient name or word for any letter of the Oghuim, as well as for
the particular letter n itself). [see Uraicept, p. 19, of copy in my possession.] For this kind
of writing neither pen nor ink was required; and a person learned in the art need never be at
a loss for writing materials as long as he carried a square staff in his hand, and a knife in his
pocket.
It is not repugnant to my argument that the period to which the pretended dialogue
between Caeilte and Diarmait is referred comes within our Christian era; it only shows that
even within that period the old system of record was still in use, or believed to be so; and
this, for various reasons, may have continued to be the case for a long time afterwards.
But if there be any reason to doubt the authenticity of this account of the Tablets, or
“Headless Staffs” of the poets, there can scarcely be any reasonable ground for doubting
what is stated in the preface to the Brehon Law compilation, known as the “Book of
Acaill,” described in these lectures.
In that preface we are told that Cennfaeladh during his illness had listened to and
committed to memory the lectures or instructions which were delivered in the College of
Tuaim Drecain during the day, all of which he wrote in slates and in Tabhlibh at night, and
this again he put into a “charta-book.”
In what characters Cennfaeladh marked his notes in slates and tablets it is not in our
power to say; but it is pretty clear that they must have been characters capable of much
contraction and condensation. (O'Curry's Lectures, &c. pp. 471, 2.)

a
38 FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. [CHAP. III.
The Irish dictionaries of O'Brien and O'Reilly give Taible Fileadh as “planed tables
whereon the Irish wrote before they had parchment;” this term is evidently from “Tabal, a
plank, a board;” and we find the term used to designate the game of Draughts,
Taibhleis-beag.
The custom of inscribing items of information upon square wands of wood, in the pagan

age, is further confirmed by a passage in Cormac's Glossary, given in illustration of the
Teinm Laeghda. The following version is taken from Dr. O'Curry's Lectures:–
“Finn, at the time that we are speaking of, had to wife a lady of the tribe of Luighne
(now Lune, in Meath); and he had in his household a favourite wit or buffoon named Lomna.
Now Finn chanced to go on one occasion on a hunting excursion into Teaffia (in Westmeath),
accompanied by his wife, and attended by his domestics, and his buffoon, whom he left in a
temporary house or hut in that country, while he himself, and the chief part of his warriors,
followed the chase. One day, during Finn's absence, Lomna, the buffoon, discovered
Cairbre, one of Finn's warriors, holding a rather suspicious conversation with Finn's wife.
The lady prayed him earnestly to conceal her indiscretion, and Lomna reluctantly promised
her to do so. Finn returned after some time, and Lomna felt much troubled at being
obliged to conceal a secret of such importance; and at last, unable any longer to do so, he
shaped himself a quadrangular wand, and cut the following words in Ogham characters in it:
“An alder stake in a palisade of silver; a sprig of hellebore in a bunch of cresses; the
willing husband of an unfaithful wife among a select band of tried warriors; heath upon
the bare hill of Ualann in Luighne." Lomna then placed the wand in a place where Finn was
sure to find it. Finn soon did find it, and immediately understood its metaphorical contents,
which gave him no small uneasiness. Nor did his wife long remain ignorant of the discovery,
which she immediately attributed to Lomna; so she forthwith sent privately for her favourite
to come and kill the buffoon; and Cairbré came accordingly and cut off Lomna's head, and
carried it away with him. Afterwards Finn came in the evening to Lomna's hut, where he
found the headless body. “Here is a body without a head,” said Finn. ‘Discover for us,’
said the Fians, his warriors, ‘whose it is.’ ” And then, says the legend, Finn put his thumb
unto his mouth, and spoke through the power of the Teimn Laeghdha, and said:—
“He has not been killed by people;—
He has not been killed by the people of Luighne;—
He has not been killed by a wild boar;--
He has not been killed by a fall;-
He has not died on his bed,—Lomnal
“This is Lomna's body,” said Finn; “and enemies have carried away his head.”
(Manners and Customs, v. ii. pp. 209, 10.)
The circumstances detailed in the above narrative would lead us to infer that the
knowledge of the Ogam was not confined to one learned or privileged order, as, indeed, I
have already remarked: at the same time we must remember that the court jesters among
the ancient Irish were not mere ignorant Merry-Andrews, but were clear-headed, witty
CHAP. III.] FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. 39
knaves, retailers of court scandal, story-tellers, and reciters, who were expected on all
occasions to be ready with a quick witted answer to every question propounded to them.
Another instance of the carving of Ogam sentences upon wands of wood will be found
in Dr. O'Curry's valuable work; it also refers to the pagan age, but one anterior to the
times of Finn Mac Cumhail. That learned Gaedhelic philologist states that the antiquity of
the legend is “unquestionable;'' no complete copy of it is known to exist, the oldest and most
reliable is that contained in the Leabhar na-h-Uidhre, a MS. written before A.D. 1106,
in which it is stated that the tale in question was extracted from the Book of Dromsneachta,
a MS. not now known to exist, but stated by Dr. O'Curry to have been “undoubtedly written
before or about the year 430.”
“It was a century before the Incarnation that Eochaidh Airemh was monarch of Erinn ;
and his queen was the celebrated Edain, a lady remarkable not only for her beauty, but for
her learning and accomplishments. One day that Eochaidh was in his palace at Teamair,
according to this ancient story, a stranger of remarkable appearance presented himself
before him. “Who is this man who is not known to us, and what is his business 2" said the
king. ‘He is not a man of any distinction, but he has come to play a game at chess with
you,' said the stranger. “Are you a good chess player 2" said the king. ‘A trial will tell,'
said the stranger. ‘Our chess-board is in the queen's apartment, and we cannot disturb her
at present,” said the king. ‘It matters not, for I have a chess-board of no inferior kind
here with me,’ said the stranger. “What do we play for 2" said the king. “Whatever the
winner demands,’ said the stranger. They played then a game which was won by the
stranger. “What is your demand now 2° said the king. “Edain, your queen,” said the
stranger, “but I will not demand her till the end of a year.’ The king was astonished and
confounded; and the stranger, without more words, speedily disappeared. On that night
twelvemonth, the story goes on to tell us, the king held a great feast at Teamair, surrounding
himself and his queen with the great nobles and choicest warriors of his realm, and placing
around his palace on the outside a line of experienced and vigilant guards, with strict orders
to let no stranger pass them in. And thus secured, as he thought, he awaited with anxiety
the coming night, while revelry reigned around. As the middle of the night advanced,
however, the king was horrified to see the former stranger standing in the middle of the
floor, apparently unperceived by any one else. Soon he advanced to the queen, and
addressed her by the name of Bé Finn (Fair Woman), in a poem of seven stanzas, of which
the following is a literal translation:—
“O Befinnſ will you come with me
To a wonderful country which is mine,
Where the people's hair is of a golden hue,
And their bodies the colour of virgin snow 2
There no grief or care is known ;
White are their teeth, black their eye-lashes;
Delight of the eye is the rank of our hosts,
With the hue of the fox-glove on every cheek.
40 FURTHER EVIDENCES OF THE USE OF THE OGAM. [CHAP. III.
Crimson are the flowers of every mead,
Gracefully speckled as the blackbird's egg;
Though beautiful to see be the plains of Inisfail,
They are but common compared with our great plains.
Though intoxicating to you be the ale-drink of Inisfail,
More intoxicating the ales of the great country;
The only land to praise is the land of which I speak,
Where no one ever dies of decrepit age.
Soft sweet streams traverse the land,
The choicest of mead and of wine ;
Beautiful people without any blemish;
Love without sin, without wickedness.
We can see the people upon all sides,
But by no one can we be seen ;
The cloud of Adam's transgression it is
That prevents them from seeing us.
O woman, should you come to my brave land,
It is golden hair that will be on your head;
Fresh pork, beer, new milk, and ale,
You there with me shall have, O Befinn
“At the conclusion of this poem the stranger put his arm around the queen's body, raised
her from her royal chair, and walked out with her unobserved by any one but the king, who
felt so overcome by some supernatural influence, that he was unable to offer any opposition,
or even to apprise the company of what was going on. When the monarch recovered
himself he knew at once that it was some one of the invisible beings who inhabited the hills
and lakes of Erinn that played one of their accustomed tricks upon him. When daylight
came, accordingly, he ordered his chief Druid, Dallan, to his presence, and he commanded
him to go forth immediately, and never to return until he had discovered the fate of the
queen.
“The Druid set out and traversed the country for a whole year without any success, not-
withstanding that he had drawn upon all the ordinary resources of his art. Vexed and
disappointed, at the close of the year he reached the mountain (on the borders of the
present counties of Meath and Longford) subsequently named after him Sliabh Dallan.
Here he cut four wands of yew, and wrote or cut an Ogam in them; and it was revealed to
him, ‘through his keys of science and his Ogam,' that Edain was concealed in the palace
of the fairy chief Midir, in the hill of Bri Leith (a hill lying to the west of Ardagh, in the
present county of Longford). The Druid joyfully returned to Tara with the intelligence;
and the monarch Eochaidh mustered a large force, marched to the fairy mansion of Bri
Leith, and had the hill dug up until the diggers approached the sacred precincts of the
subterranean dwelling; whereupon the wily fairy sent out to hill-side fifty beautiful women
all the same age, same size, same appearance in form, face, and dress, and all of them so
closely resembling the abducted lady Edain, that the monarch Eochaidh himself, her husband,
failed to identify her among them, until at length she made herself known to him by

CHAP. III.] THE OGAM USED FOR PURPOSES OF NECROMANCY. 41
unmistakable tokens, upon which he returned with her to Tara.” (Man, and Cus. v. ii.
p. 192.)
The above is a very curious and singular tale, full of fairy-lore and Druidism; it again
refers the use of the Ogam to pagan times, and in connection with Druidic rites.
Dr. O'Curry remarks, in more places than one, that the yew appears to have been the sacred
tree among the Irish Druids, and not the oak, which classical and other authorities ascribe
to their Gaulish and British brethren, as being held in veneration by them. In this tale we

have the sacred yew-wand and the Ogam character used in combination for necromantic-
purposes by the Druid Dallan; and this fact will give us a clue to the reasons which
induced the early propagators of Christianity in Ireland to endeavour to obliterate and
destroy every remnant of the Ancient Ogam literature of the country, even to the mutilating
of sepulchral monuments, as at Kilnesaggart, and on many other examples which I have
Seen.
We have yet another instance of the custom of cutting legends in the Ogam character on
staves of wood, for the purposes of conveying information, as I have before alluded to at
pp. 36, 38. It is to be found in that curious old Gaedhelic Epic, the Tain Bó Chuailgne; the
passages have been translated by Dr. O'Sullivan, and are given in his elaborate introduction
to Dr. O'Curry's Lectures on the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, v. i., p. cccxliii.
The passage runs as follows:–
“Said Ailill: Let us leave off this for the present; they reached Magh Mucceda after
that Cuchulaind cut an oak before him there, and he wrote an Ogam on its side, and this is
what it contained when it was seen : ‘He who passes this shall meet with his fate from a
hero of one chariot.’ ” (Táin Bó Chuailgne in Lebor na h-Uidhri, p. 68, col. 2.)
They (i.e. Medb and the Connacians) then marched until they rested in Granairud (the
present Granard) of northern Taffia. After having made a muster-march of host over
Grellach and over Shruthru, Fergus made a friendly excursion unto Ulster. They were all
in their debility except Cuchulaind and his father, i.e. Sualtan. Cuchulaind and his father
went, on the arrival of the scouts from Fergus, until they settled in Irard, Cuilland waiting
on the watch for the (advancing) host. I have the courage of hosts to-night, said Cuchulaind
to his father, let us pounce upon them, and chase them off Ulad. I must go to meet Fedelm
Nuacruthach (i.e. to meet her landmaid, who was awaiting Cuchulaind in concealment to
entrap him into danger); she (i. e. the handmaid) had gone for her. He then made an Id
Ercomal before coming, and he wrote an Ogam on its side, and he twisted it around the
head of the pillar stone.” (p. 57, col. 1.)
º -: >k :: >k :k
“Having marched over several places, they came into the place where Cuchulaind was:
they saw the ground bare where Sualtan's horses had eaten off the grass, so that the ground
was white. Cuchulaind's two horses had licked (i.e. stripped) the ground down to the earth
after the grass (had been eaten off). They then sat down until the host came up, and the
strings of their musical performer were strung. The Id was put into the hand of Fergus
Mac Roich, and he read the Ogam which was in the Id. Said Medb, when she arrived,
‘Wherefore stay yo here 2' Said Fergus, ‘Because of that Id; there is an Ogam in its side,
ºn favº G.
_-
42 THE OGAM USED FOR COMMUNICATING INFORMATION. [CHAP. III.
and this is what is in it: Come not beyond until you ascertain who the man is who cut this
with one hand, and in one rod it is ; and let my friend Fergus be questioned (as to who he
is).' Said Fergus, “True it is Cuchulaind that did it, and it was his steeds that grazed this
plain.' He gave it into the hand of the Druid. And Fergus spoke this lay which follows:–
“‘An Id here, what does it reveal to us?
The Id, though long its secret,
What number has come here 2
Is it one, or is it many ?
Will it do evil to the host,
If they shall pass it by ?
Inquire, 0 Druid as to the cause of that,
Wherefore was the Id left 2
A consummate warlike champion,
Who is full of enmity to his heroes;
It is a royal hero, fierce in conflict,
It is one man with his one hand that wrought it.
Though the host of the kings are not under his sway,
I wonder if they will withstand the test
Until you send from yourselves alone
One man like the man who wrote it
I know not more than that
The Id does not belong to the stone.'
“Said Fergus to them : “If you face the Id, or if you pass it over, whether it be in the
hand of a person or locked up in a house, the man who wrote the Ogam in it will meet you,
and he will slay numbers of you before morning, unless one of you send an Id like it.’”
(p. 57, col. 2.) Cuchulaind then went around the host and continued to view them; he cut
a fork pole there with one blow of his sword, and he struck it down in the middle of the
stream, so that no chariot could pass it to the right or to the left, He killed Err and Inell,
Foich and Fochlainn, the two (recte four) charioteers. He cut the heads off the four of
them, and he placed them on the four points of the pronged pole. And hence the name
Ath n-Gabla (i.e. at Beloch Caelli), more by Cnogba on the north.
“The steeds of those four men came forward to the hosts with their coverings blood-red
upon them, so that you would think there was a battle awaiting them in the ford. A party
went from them to see the ford; they saw nothing there but the track of the one chariot, and
the pronged pole, with the four heads upon it, and a name in Ogam written in its side. The
whole host came there instantly. “Are those heads belonging to our people?" said Medb.
“They are of our people, and of our followers,’ said Ailill. ‘A man of them read the Ogam
which was in the side of the pronged pole, i.e. one man that cut the Gabal with his one
hand, and you shall not pass it until a man of your people (exclusive of Fergus) draw it
with his one hand.’” (Tain Bo Chuailgne, Lebor na h-Uidhri, p. 58, col. 1.)
From the above passages it would appear that the knowledge of the Ogam was not
confined to any privileged class, and that the Ogam cut in the oak, and that cut on the
CHAP. III.] THE OGAM GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD. 43
flexible rod or withe, and twisted round the head of the pillar-stone, were intended for the
information of the general passers-by. Again, in the case of the forked pole, upon which a
legend had been cut by Cuchulaind, we find it stated that “a man of them read the
Ogam,” &c., evidently showing that it was one of the ordinary soldiers of Medb's army. It
is true, that upon the Id Ercomal we have an Ogam inscribed, and we have it placed in the
hands of Fergus Mac Roich, not so much to decipher as to determine who it was that wrote
or cut it, for Cuchulaind had been a pupil of Fergus’s, who was therefore acquainted, as we
may say, with his hand-writing.
The following instance of the inscribing of characters on a sword hilt will be found
pertinent to the present inquiry:-
“Socht had a beautiful sword with a hilt of gold, pointed with silver, with a golden
suspension (or belt), and an ornamental scabbard; it had a sharp point which shone in the
night like a candle. If its point were bent back to its hilt it would become straight again
like a dart. It would cut a hair on the water; it would chop off a hair on one's head without
approaching the skin; it would cleave a man in two, and the one half of him would not miss
the other half for some time. (In this poetically exaggerated description it will be observed
that a vivid account is given of the temper and sharpness of the sword-blade, and this is
important.) He (Socht) said that this was ‘the Cruadin Caidid-cheann (or hard, hard-
headed); Cuchulainn's sword; and his family looked upon that sword as an heir-loom of their
race, handed down from their fathers before them.' Now there was a celebrated court steward
at Tara at this time whose name was Duibhreann, the son of Uirgreann. This steward
requested of Socht to sell the sword to him, and he told him that he should have the same
meals as himself every night, and that every one of his attendants should have four men's
food (every day) in compliment to the sword, and its full value at his own estimation besides
that, ‘Not so,” said Socht, ‘ I am not competent to sell my father's property as long as he
is alive.’
“Things remained so for some time, Duibhreann always talking of the sword; at last he
invited Socht on one occasion to partake of some pleasant drink with him ; and Duibhreann
instructed the cup-bearer to ply him well with wine and mead until he became drunk. This
was done accordingly, so that Socht did not know where he was, and so fell asleep. The
steward then took the sword from him, and went to the king's Cerd (or worker in precious
metals] Connu [was his name]. “Could you,' said he, ‘open the hilt of this sword 2’ ‘I
could, said the Cerd. So the Cerd then took the sword, as under, and inscribed the name
Duibhreann in the shank of it, and fixed the sword again in the same way that it had been
before.” (Manners and Customs, &c. v. ii. pp. 322, 3.)
The story goes on to relate that the steward claimed the sword as his own, which claim
was resisted by the possessor Socht, and was ultimately brought to a legal issue, when
Duibhreann stated that if the hilt of the sword were opened his name would be found
engraven on its interior; this was accordingly done, and his evidence being thus substantiated,
the weapon was awarded to him. The story goes on to show that it ultimately proved to
be a dear acquisition to Duibhreann.
The period of this tale is the reign of Cormac Mac Art, about the middle of the 3rd

44 THE OGAM USED IN ORDINARY AFFAIRS. [CHAP. III.
century; it is to be found in the B.B., having been, as is stated by Dr. O'Curry, transcribed
into that MS. from the very ancient one known to us as the Book of Navan, and of which no
copy is now known to exist, but which is quoted as an authority in many of our oldest MSS.
Now it does not state in the above extract that Duibhreann's name was cut in Ogam in
the sword hilt, though I contend that the probabilities are in favour of that being the
character used ; but the real value of the passage is this, that it refers the actual use of
letters, of some description, to a period two centuries before the introduction of Christianity -
into Ireland. -
I think, upon the whole, we may fairly conclude that the Gaedhil used the Ogam, not
only for monumental purposes, but also in the ordinary every-day affairs of life, and that
they wrote or inscribed them on a variety of materials; that previous to the introduction of
parchment they made use of birch-bark and planed tablets of wood, on which they wrote with
a pointed instrument or stylus, the simplicity and easy formation of the character affording
rare facilities of execution. It is very possible, as hinted by Dr. O'Curry, that they also
wrote on staves or wands of wood; a square rod could be inscribed or cut on the four
angles, and being tied up in bundles, could be preserved as records for a very long time,
particularly if cut on oak staves. This was no undignified mode of writing, being similar to
the Exchequer Tallies of our own times. Then, we have no reason for supposing that the
Gaedhil were unacquainted with some substitute for ink; a people so advanced in the art of
metallurgy, in the manufacture of textile fabrics, and in the use of various coloured dyes,
were not unlikely to produce a liquid capable of marking on prepared tablets of bark or wood.
The date of the introduction and use of parchment as a material into Ireland is unascertained.
The very first Ogam scale presented to us in the Book of Ballymote is in itself evidence
that it was prepared for being written on plane surfaces, and not engraved on angular ones.
The Gaedhil were also accustomed to engrave sentences in this character on ornaments of
personal use, and weapons, probably in many instances as charms or talismans, a custom
prevalent among the Scandinavians, who used their Runes for this purpose. Thus we have
|such sentences on the Ballyspellan Brooch, on the Conyngham Manilla, and on a vessel
found at Kilmallock. The Norse scribes appear to have used staves and wooden tablets for
inscribing their mysterious characters, such were termed Rün-stafas, i.e. mysterious staves
(Beàw. i. 3388), answering to the later Bôcstafas, or Latin characters; the modern German
Buchstaben. Mr. John M. Kemble thus refers to the materials used for this purpose:–
“In times when there was neither pen, ink, nor parchment, the bark of trees and smooth


surfaces of wood or soft stone were the usual depositaries of these symbols; hence the word
Writan, now to write, but whose primary signification was to cut or carve (Beöw. i. 5406).
As Brynolf Svenonius remarks, “Runas incidere lignis, pro effectus varietate, variis et aliis
generibus rerum, solens erat. Lignum porro hoc key apayuevov, breviculum et exiguum ferð,
Runakefile dicunt, quasi Claviculam Runicum dicas, et Rista Runer, incidere Runas, proprié,
vel ut Saxo, insculpere; non scribere, aut pingere, dixeris." (In Stephanius, Nota, Uberior.
in Saxon. Grammatic. p. 46.) Hence also Stafas, the smooth sticks on which they were
cut ; and hence even the word Böc, Book, which recalls the beechen tablets in which they º
were inscribed.” (Archæologia v. 28, pp. 829, 30.)
CHAP. III.] - THE ogAM PROBABLY USED As A TALISMAN. 45
That the Gaedhil made use of similar tablets we have undeniable evidence in a passage
in an ancient poem named “The Ancient Fair of Carman,” a tract contained in the B.B. and
also in the B.L. The original text, and a translation by Dr. O'Sullivan, will be found in the
Appendix to the third vol. of Dr. O'Curry's Lectures. In describing the various entertain-
ments and amusements customary at this great celebration the poet mentions:—
“Fenian tales of Find,-an untiring entertainment,
Destructions, cattle-preys, courtships,
Inscribed tablets, and books of trees,
Satires, and sharp-edged runes.” (p. 543.)
Dr. O'Curry states that this poem was written by a bard named Fulartach, a native of
Leinster, about A.D. 1000.
Dr. O'Curry, in the second vol. of his Lectures, has given a translation of the same
poem; his version of the above quatrain is as follows:–
“Fenian tales, Finn's career without limit;
Destructions of courts, cattle spoils, courtships;
Inscribed tablets, books of ‘trees’ (oghams);
Satires, and sharp-edged philippics.” (p. 45.)
There are some differences in the respective translations upon which I am not competent
to give an opinion; both, however, render the third line “Inscribed tablets, books of trees.”
Now at the time that Fulartach wrote, and for centuries previous, the use of parchment was
known in Ireland; but he was describing the origin of this Aonach or Fair, and the manner
in which it had been celebrated in ancient times, and he must therefore have been well
aware that thin tablets of wood had been in use for writing or engraving on, and were
probably preserved down to the period in which he wrote. Dr. O'Curry has very properly
rendered Duile Feda Books of Trees, “Oghams.” We have already shown that this mode of
writing was named Ogam Craoibh, either from the arboretic origin of the names of the letters,
or else from the tree-like branchy formation of the characters as shown in the first scale
in the illustrations given in the Book of Ballymote. [See Plate.] -
I would supplement the documentary evidence adduced in the preceding pages con-
firmatory of the origin and use of the Ogam character in the pagan era of our island's history,
by a positive statement given by Dr. O'Curry in the second vol. of his “Man. and Cus,” &c.
p. 7, as follows:– -
“About the year 3941 flourished Ceteuimnigh, king of Munster, of the line of Eber. He
was the first that inscribed Ogham memorials in Erinn.”
This passage is given amongst other notices of the early monarchs of Ireland collected
by our learned author; he has not, however, given his authorities, which was contrary to his
usual practice. Dr. O'Sullivan, in a foot-note to these historic memoranda, states that
“Professor O'Curry intended to have concluded the whole series of these lectures by a
critical examination of the authorities whose statements he followed in the course of his
work. Unfortunately, the whole series was not destined to be completed before he was taken
from amongst us.” (m. 2.)
46 EVIDENCE OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE OGAM. [CHAP. III.
I would, however, presume that from the well-known integrity of Dr. O'Curry as a
writer, from his known love of truth and accuracy in all he wrote, we would be warranted in
accepting the above statement as being given on authority.
Having shown that we have no evidence of the use of the Ogam by the Christian Gaedhil,
it may be asked, why should the introduction of the faith have had this effect 2 The reason
is obvious. It was decidedly the interest of St. Patrick and his fellow labourers to dis-
countenance and discourage the use of letters associated with the pagan rites and literature
of the country. - -
O'Flaherty, in his Ogygia, states on the authority of Duald Mac Firbis, that the Irish
apostle committed 180 vols. of Druidic writings to the flames. “Postremo Dualdus
Firbissius patriae antiquitatum professor hereditarius ex majorum monumentis literis datis
refert 180 Druidum, seu Magorum disciplinae tractatus S. Patricii tempore igni damnatos.”
(Ogyg. Part iii, c. 30.) Whether the authority for this statement is trustworthy or not, the
circumstance is more than probable, as it was the usual practice. It is quite evident that
magical virtues were attributed to the Ogam, and that charms and talismans were written in
them, as at a later period in the Runic, and up to the present time in Arabic characters.
What was written by the late John Mitchell Kemble on this head in reference to the
proscription of Runes amongst the Scandinavians and Germans, will well apply to the Ogam:
“We can now understand why the Runes, which were the invention of Wöden, the secret
character of the priests and prophetesses, the means of pagan augury, and the necessary
adjuncts to the Carmina diabolica of the heathen, were proscribed by the Christian priesthood
in every part of Europe; and why these laboured, with an energy apparently dispro-
portioned to the necessity of the case, to introduce the Greek or Latin characters together
with, and almost as a part of Christianity.” (Archæologia, v. xxviii. pp. 386, 7.) If any
confirmation of the above statement be required, we have it on the authority of the learned
Bishop Brynolf Svenonius:–“Widelicet maximè a Christianis est laboratum, ut scripta et
monumenta vetustatis gentilis penitus obruerentur, aeterna oblivionis humo sepulta. Quia
videlicet persuasum erat, quamdiu vestigium cultus et characterum antiquiorum, hominum
animis obversaret, negotium conversionis non satis procedere, hominibus ad pristinas
prestigias promis et facilibus. Ideoque, ne obstrueret veritatis luminibus potestas tenebrarum,
mec tamen ferret rude vulgus subtiliorum, quâm pro suo captu, usus ab abusu distinctionem,
et accederet Zelus verbi ministrorum pontificiis consuetus, et cupido Romanam ecclesiam
omnibus modis propagandi, literas Romanas, ut sanctiones, Normannicis, tanquam gentili
superstitione pollutis, commutare consultum visum est. De quo facto meum judicium non
requiri ut certö scio, ita libentur contineo.” (In Stephanius, Notæ Uberior, in Saxon.
Grammatic., p. 46.)
Numerous ecclesiastical denunciations of the use of Runes could be adduced, yet in spite
of them they continued in use among the Danes and Anglo-Saxons after their reception of
Christianity.
47
CHAPTER IV.
HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF OGAM
MONUMENTS.
It is scarcely more than half a century since public attention has been directed to the
Ogam inscribed pillar-stones of these islands. Previous to that period, the majority of our
historians and antiquaries are silent respecting them. Colgan, Lynch, Keating, Usher, and
Lanigan, have not even alluded to them, and O'Flaherty, O'Connor, and Ware, scarcely more
than notice the character as found in our ancient MSS., but make no reference to the actual
monuments.
It is a curious fact that the first person who noticed an Ogam inscribed stone in Ireland
was the celebrated Lhyd; that eminent antiquary, being on a botanical tour through Ireland
in 1707, noticed the Trabeg monument near Dingle; he was, however, unacquainted with
the nature of the characters, yet had sufficient penetration to observe that the order and
carefulness manifested in the cutting of the inscription entitled it to more than a passing
notice, he therefore made a copy of it. (See article Trabeg.)
On June 24th, 1784, a communication from Col. Chas. Wallancey was read before the
Soc. of Antiq., respecting the discovery of an inscribed stone on Mount Callan, Co. Clare,
Ireland. That gentleman states that in an ancient Irish MS. he had found mention of
an inscription in Ogam on the tomb of an Irish chieftain named Conan Colgac; that further
researches resulted in his finding a circumstantial account of the death of Conan, and of his
interment on Mount Callan: “His grave was dug on the north-west side of the bleak
mountain of Callan, and his name is inscribed in Ogam on a hewn stone.” (Archæologia,
v. vii. p. 278.)
Being anxious to ascertain whether this reference was founded in fact, he communicated
with Mr. Theophilus O'Flanagan, a young man of letters, in the Co. Clare, in which district
Mount Callan stands. That gentleman's account of the discovery is contained in a letter to
the Colonel, from which I take the following passage:–
“I went in search of the monument of antiquity so particularly pointed out by you
in company with a young man who had been my school-fellow. We proceeded to Mountain
Callan (or Altoir-na-Greine), about eight miles westward of the town of Ennis, and soon found
a large altar, about twelve feet by four, extending from east to west; it lies on the south side
of the mountain, about half a mile distant from the high road leading from Ennis to Ibrican
48 HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF OGAM MONUMENTS. [CHAP. Iv.
on the right hand. It is constructed in the form of an oblong square of large gritty stones
covered with another stone laid horizontally, twelve feet long by four feet broad and six
inches thick. After searching for the inscription, I was much disappointed, no traces of any
characters whatever appearing thereon, wherefore I returned to a peasant's cottage, about a
mile eastward of the mountain, in a valley between it and the opposite hill, and was informed
by the peasant that he had observed another monument on the other side of the mountain,
about a mile north-west of the altar, which resembled a tomb-stone, and that it had strokes
engraved on it very unlike letters. -
“Fully confident that this must be the monument we sought for, he guided us to the spot;
and there we found a large hewn stone of the same kind with those in the altar above-
mentioned ; the length of the stone is between seven and eight feet, and from three to four
in breadth, placed upon a kind of tumulus, with an inscription of which the following is a
fac-simile representation.” (Ibid. pp. 279, 80.) The fac-simile is a rude inaccurate outline
not worth reproducing here. -
Subsequently, Mr. O'Flanagan communicated an account of his discovery to the
Roy. Ir, Aca., in a paper read December 19th, 1875, and published in the 1st vol. of their
Trans., in which he does not appear to give Colonel Vallancey the credit of having directed
his attention to the search after the tomb of Conan ; on the contrary, he states that he had
discovered the monument five or six years before the date of his communication to that
gentleman, and that he was induced to make the search in consequence of meeting with the
passage already alluded to in a copy of the well-known Ossianic tale called “The Battle of
Gabhra" (Gara), which was fought A.D. 283, according to Dr. O'Connor; A.D. 296
according to O'Flaherty. As this passage is not to be found in any known copy of this
MS., I give it as quoted by O'Flanagan, with a more correct translation than he has
appended, by Mr. Nicholas O'Kearney, Editor of “The Battle of Gabhra.” (Pub. Oss. Soc.
v. i. p. 99.)
“The ferocious warrior Conan,
Was not at Gabhra in the mighty strife;
For on the May-day of the preceding year,
At an assembly convened to adore the Sun,
The hero, who was not timid, was slain,
Treacherously by the Fenians of Fionn.;
His grave was formed on the north-west side,
Sadly plaintive was his dirge;
And his name in Ogham is on a smooth stone
On the black mountain of Callan.”
O'Flanagan, on the occasion of his second visit, as described in his communication, was
accompanied by Mr. Edward Burton, a gentleman of considerable artistic taste, who took a
drawing of the monument for the Roy. Ir. Ac. The copy then made, and the reading given
by Mr. O'Flanagan, differed from that in his letter to Wallancey. In the present reading he
accepts the formula, “Beneath this stone is laid Conan, the fierce and nimble-footed.”
However, neither of his copies or readings are correct, neither are those published in the
CHAP. Iv.] DISCOVERY OF OGAM MONUMENTS.—REV. M. HORGAN.—MR. A. ABELL. 49
Archaeologia, the Trans. Roy. Ir. Aca., or by Wallancey, in his Collectanae. In 1839 this
locality was visited by the Rev. Matthew Horgan and Mr. Abraham Abell, of Cork, both
well acquainted with the Ogam character, the former being one of the best Irish scholars of
his day, the latter a discoverer of many inscriptions. The copy unitedly made on that
occasion by those gentlemen will be found in its proper place in this work; from which it
will be seen that it differs from all former ones.
O'Flanagan's discovery was received with very general incredulity. Dr. O'Connor
appears to have been suspicious of its genuineness; some of his criticisms are perfectly just,
and refer to positive errors in O'Flanagan's copy and rendering, such as the alleged
commutability of the letters F and N, the absurd pretension to read it five different ways,
each referring to the one person, and his death; the introduction of the word obmdas; but
the Doctor's principal objection to the antiquity of the monument lay in certain points
having been found in the inscription, apparently divisional; were they, in truth, such, the
objection would not hold good, as numerous modern discoveries disclose the fact of
divisional points having been found in the oldest inscriptions known.
Ledwich, in his Antiquities of Ireland, devotes a chapter to the Ogam, and in it ridicules
the authenticity of the Callan example; his objection, however, is a weak one; he writes:–
“Can it be imagined that the Callan inscription has stood almost fifteen hundred years in a
naked and wild situation, uninjured by the tooth of time, and all the vicissitudes of a variable
climate 2" (p. 341.) The objection is scarcely worth replying to; the learned are aware of
legible inscriptions nearly double that age; even in the variable and wearing climate of
Britain: Roman Monuments have been found of older date, bearing inscriptions in good
preservation.
The late Dr. O'Donovan, in the introduction to his Irish Grammar, states that some
“had asserted with confidence that the inscription was forged by Mr. John Lloyd, a
‘Munster Irish’ Poet of the last century, who was the first to notice it himself in his ‘Short
Description of the County of Clare,’ as the Monument of Conan, one of Finn Mac
Cumhaill's followers O'Flanagan, without acknowledging that it ever had been deciphered
before, actually forges an Irish quatrain, which he cites as part of a poem called the Battle
of Gabhra, to prove that Conan was buried on the Callan Mountain.” (O’Don. Ir. Gram.,
p. xlvii.) O'Flanagan has also been charged with the forgery of the inscription. As to
these charges, I think they will be disposed of by the following fact. In the communication
made by Mr. O'Flanagan to the R. I. A., he actually charges the above named Mr. Lloyd
with plagiary, in the following words:–
“There was indeed another gentleman in the Co. Clare, a Mr. Lloyd, who published
an account of that county, in which he made mention of Conan's Monument on Mount
Callan; but as his explication of the inscription is exactly in the words of my first effort
to that purpose, I am apt to believe it was from hearing what account I had given of it,
rather than from any search or discovery of his own, for his publication appeared just about
the time of my first visit to the monument.” (Trans. R. I. A., v. i. Antiq. p. 8.) It is quite
evident from this statement that Lloyd was not the forger of the inscription. It is equally
evident that O'Flanagan was guiltless of it; for had he attempted to perpetrate this
H
50 DISCOVERY OF OGAM MONUMENTS.–MR. M. COMYN.—GEN. WALLANCEY. [CHAP. Iv.
deception, he would have taken good care to have made it complete; for the actual fact is,
that his copies did not agree with the original, neither that published in the Archaeologia,
or the Trans. R. I. A., and both his translations are incorrect, as the name of its favourite
Conan is not to be found on the stone; it is, therefore, quite evident that he was entirely
astray about this inscription, and palpably unable to give a proper translation of it. But
the strongest fact to O'Flanagan's credit is, that in the same communication he gives up
his claim to be the first discoverer in favour of a Mr. Comyn; he writes: “As I imagined
myself the first person led by curiosity to visit this monument, I congratulated myself
much on the good fortune of the discovery; but Mr. Burton has informed me that a Mr.
Barclay, who lived some time ago in that county, visited it from the same motive, being
directed thereto by the papers of the late Michael Comyn, Esq., who lived in the neigh-
bourhood of Mount Callan, and had made the discovery a good while before. I make no
doubt but this is fact, for Mr. Comyn was celebrated for his knowledge of Irish
Antiquities.” (Trans. R. I. A., Vol. I. p. 7.)
It is here quite evident that there was no dishonest desire on the part of O'Flanagan to
appropriate to himself the merit of the discovery; and the readiness with which he yields
up his cherished claims to those of another when he finds them better founded, is evidence
of the honesty and ingenuousness of his character.
Now with respect to the transcript from the Battle of Gabhra, which O'Flanagan alleges
to have seen, and upon which doubt has also been thrown, the late Dr. O'Donovan states
that such is not to be found in the MS.; on the other hand, Dr. O'Connor writes that it is.
Such a difference of opinion is not to be wondered at, as copies of Irish MSS. differ so
widely, owing to the license assumed by many transcribers of these documents; so that it
is not at all surprising that one copy should contain a passage omitted by another.
That the discovery at Callan should have been looked upon with some suspicion is not
to be wondered at when we remember that it stood alone, and that it demanded from the
literati of that day an acknowledgment that Ireland possessed letters in her pagan age, a
concession not likely to be made by such men as Ledwich, Pinkerton, and their school, and
which their followers in the present day seem as little disposed to concede.
However, the subsequent discovery of similar inscriptions in considerable numbers in
the Counties of Kerry and Cork relieved Mr. O'Flanagan from the unmerited imputation of
forgery, and convinced the doubtful that the Ogam was a literary character, however
opinions might differ as to its antiquity.
GENERAL WALLANCEY. -
About this period the subject was taken up by Colonel, afterwards General Wallancey,
and with all the zeal of his enthusiastic nature. Much unmerited obloquy has been heaped
on the memory of this gentleman, who, though an Englishman by birth and education, was
“Hibernicis ipsis Hibernior;” he devoted himself to the study of Irish Archaeology with
intense earnestness; he was the friend of the poor Irish scholar, a collector of MSS., one
of the founders of the R. I. A., and one of the most painstaking investigators into the
cHAP. Iv.] Discovery of ogAM MonumENTs.-GEN. v.ALLANCEy.—MR. H. PELHAM. 51
pre-historic antiquities of the Gaedhil which this or any other country has produced; and
all this at a time when every thing Irish was almost held in contempt. In pursuit of these
objects he spent many years of mental labour and vast sums of money. It must be
admitted that his ardent nature led him to propound many unsound theories, which he
laboured to maintain by erroneous and distorted etymologies; but it must be remembered,
also, that his mistakes were, in most instances, those of the age in which he lived, the
romance age of archaeology, the days of Stukeley and Borlase, Bryant and Faber; and
while it is our duty to avoid the errors into which he has fallen, we Irishmen should
gratefully remember his unselfish labours in the cause of our ancient land, and be the last
to cast contempt upon his memory.
In his “Vindication of the History of Ireland,” published in 1786, he notices the
Ogam characters, and mentions the Callan inscription, of which he gives an engraving.
In the fifth vol. of the Collectanae de Rebus Hibernicis, published in 1796, he has an
essay “On the Ogham writing of the Ancient Irish,” in which he gives several extracts from
the Ogam treatise in the “Primer of the Bards,” and many of the Ogam alphabets from
the B.B.
In his sixth vol., published in 1804, he again introduces the subject, with the
discoveries made by Pelham.
MR. H. PELEIAM.
Mr. Henry Pelham was agent for the estates of the Marquis of Lansdowne in the
County of Kerry, and usually resided near Kenmare; he was a gentleman of considerable
literary talent and of refined tastes; he projected a history of Kerry, towards which he had
made numerous collections; his premature decease prevented its completion; his remains
occupy an undistinguished grave in the churchyard of Kenmare. Mr. Pelham appears to
have commenced his labours in Ogam literature by the discovery in 1790 of the stone at
Ballynesteening, and subsequently of those at Ballintarmon, Lugnagappul, three of those
at Ballintaggart, and five of those at Ballinrannig and the examples at Kilmalkedar and
Aghadoe. Drawings of the above were published by him in the sixth vol. of Wal. Col., as
already stated. The monuments are badly represented, and the inscriptions are invariably
incorrect. Neither Pelham nor Wallancey made any attempt at translations, or even to
group the scores into letters; in truth, the copies they had to work on were so full of errors
as to render such a proceeding useless.
It would be supposed that the publication of such discoveries as those made by Mr.
Pelham would have excited antiquarian curiosity, and have awakened interest respecting
those monuments, yet such was not the case; the announcement of new discoveries was
received with apparent indifference, and for several years the subject was allowed to rest in
entire oblivion; or if at all alluded to, it was in terms of doubt and hesitating scepticism. Thus
we have Mr. Dalton, the author of a laboured and learned essay on “Ancient Ireland,” in the
16th vol. of the Trans. of the R.I.A., in reference to these discoveries, remarking:—“There
are some of these, however, of which we do not admit ourselves implicit believers.” (p. 97.)
52 DISCOVERY OF OG-AM MONUMENTS.—MR. JOHN WINDELE. [CHAP. Iv.
The late Dr. Petrie, an eminent authority on all branches of Irish Archaeology, declared
the Mount Callan Ogam to be an “impudent forgery.”
There was, however, one who did not share in this general incredulity and indifference,
who believed in the authenticity of the Ogam, and recognised in it a pre-historic mode of
writing in use among the Gaedhil; that man was the late Mr. John Windele, of Cork; he
was impressed with the idea that the discoveries of Pelham but indicated the richness of
the mine, which required only zealous explorers to bring to light its concealed treasures.
Mr. Windele was a practical worker as well as a theorist, and he determined to take up the
wide field of research that lay before him in the extensive district of Cork and Kerry.
Assisted by a few kindred spirits, he commenced a series of explorations in those
counties, from about the year 1830 down to a short period before his death. He devoted
all his spare time to examining the remotest districts of these counties, not only in search
of Ogam inscriptions, but for the purpose of noting and sketching all objects of antiquity
within his reach; his industry and success in this particular is attested by his collection of
MSS. now in the library of R. I. A. -
In 1839 Mr. Windele published his “Historical and Descriptive Notices of Cork and
the South of Ireland,” in which will be found an interesting paper on Ogams; one on
the same subject in “Hall's Ireland” was also contributed by him. He kept the subject
constantly alive by contributions to the press, by Papers in the Dublin Penny Journal,
and subsequently in the Trans. Kil. Arch. Soc. and in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology.
Through the exertions of Mr. Windele, and the little band of zealous spirits who
composed the South Munster Society of Antiquaries, eight inscriptions were deposited in
the Museum of the Royal Cork Inst., including the celebrated Burnfort example, and the long
inscription from Deelish, two also were forwarded to the Mus. R. I. A.
In 1839 Lady Chatterton published her pleasing and suggestive volume, “Rambles in
the South of Ireland;” she dwells on the subject of Ogam inscriptions which then
occupied public attention in the south, and gave seven examples, which, though all more
or less incorrect, did good service in stimulating inquiry and awakening more general
public attention to the subject.
The first Ogaminscription discovered by Mr. Windele was on the townland of Coolowen,
about 3% miles north of Cork; it stood in the entrance gap of a Rath, and was a square
block about 2 feet on the face and 1 foot in thickness; the Rath was more properly a
killeen, or cemetery for unbaptised children.
In 1834 Mr. Windele, having been informed by the late Mr. T. Crofton Croker and
Mr. A. Abell that they had seen some inscribed stones in a district N.W. of Cork, called
Aghabulloge, determined to explore that locality, which he did in July of that year,
accompanied by Mr. Abell. On that visit he copied the Ogam known as the “Cappeen
Olan,” or Olan's Cap, an inscribed pillar with a phallic cap, then and still in the churchyard
of St. Olan's, at Aghabulloge; also the Dallaheena stone, then doing duty as a foot-bridge
across the Dallaheena stream, and the Glounagloch stone, now in the Royal Cork Inst.
In 1838 a party consisting of Mr. J. Windele, Abraham Abell, Rev. Matthew Horgan,
P.P. of Blarney, and Mr. William Willes, an accomplished artist and antiquary, visited and
CHAP. Iv.] DISCOVERY OF OGAM MONUMENTS.—RIGHT REV. D.R. GRAVES. 53
explored the barony of Corcaguiney and other districts in the Co. Kerry. Mr. Windele
states that on this visit he added twenty new inscriptions to his list, and received infor-
mation respecting the existence of others, the inspection of which he was obliged to
postpone. In 1848 Mr. Windle and the same party repeated their visit to Kerry, extending
their inquiries over a large extent of the country, and adding to the previous list several
inscriptions from the district about Kenmare and Killorglin, and also some fresh discoveries
from Dingle.
RIGHT REV. D.R. GRAVES.
On the 14th February, 1848, Professor Graves read a paper before the Roy. Ir.
Academy “On a General Method of Deciphering Secret Alphabetic Writings.” In that
paper he states “that he had been led to discuss the general question of deciphering, in
consequence of his having undertaken, some time ago, an examination of the singular
inscriptions in the Ogham character which are to be found in the country: Irish scholars
and antiquaries, to whose opinions great deference is due, having pronounced that no
satisfactory readings of these inscriptions had been obtained by means of the key given in
the Book of Ballymote and other Irish MSS., professing to treat of the Ogham character,”
Mr. Graves abandoned the attempt to draw from these sources the means of deciphering it,
and applied himself to the task of constructing a key from the monuments themselves.”
His method he states to have been based upon the following principle:—“That in any given
language, or group of cognate languages, there is a preference for particular sounds and
particular sequences of sounds.” (Pro. R. I. A., v. iv. pp. 70, 1.)
Taking this principle as a basis, he constructed a series of tables from known and
translated passages in MSS. by which he tested their applicability to the object he had in
view; being satisfied with the results, he applied it to the rendering of Ogam inscriptions
from the actual monuments. His success in this pursuit he communicated in a paper read
before the same distinguished body on May 22nd of the same year, in which he states that
the method adopted by him produced the same results as the application of the key alphabet
from the Book of Ballymote to the same inscriptions, and that, therefore, the ordinary key
given in our MSS. was applicable for the purposes of deciphering Ogam legends.
On that occasion he announced his discovery of the combination of characters forming
the word Maqi, Maqqi; the genitive case of Mac, a Son, and which determines the
sepulchral nature of every inscription where it occurs, as well as the sequence in which
it is to be read, and also intimates that a proper name will be found both before and after
it, thereby simplifying to a great extent the translation of the majority.
I have no desire to deprive the R. R. Dr. Graves of the merit of an independent
discovery as regards this word; yet, in justice to my late friend, the Rev. Matthew
Horgan, P.P. of Blarney, I feel it my duty to place on record the fact that in the year
1845 he placed before the Cork Cuiverian and Archaeological Soc. a translation of the
Lomanagh inscription, in which he gives their true values to the characters forming this
word (see Article Lomanagh). On June 11th, 1849, Professor Graves read a continuation
54 DISCOVERY OF OGAM MONUMENTS.–MR. RICHARD HITCHCOCK. [CHAP. Iv.
of his former papers before the Academy, in which he enters into a description of the
character and alphabet, giving, also, his opinion respecting the origin of the Ogam:—“The
conclusion to which Mr. Graves has arrived, as regards the origin of the Ogham character,
is shortly this, that it was framed by persons acquainted with the later and developed
Runic alphabets, such as were used by the Anglo-Saxons. If this conclusion be well
founded, the existence of Ogham monuments in Ireland does not prove, as is commonly
supposed, that the Irish had the use of letters before the introduction of Christianity into
this country.” (Ibid. p. 368.) To these opinions I have given some consideration in
another place; for their complete refutation I must refer my readers to the various facts
and statements contained in this work.
MR. RICHARD HITCHCOCK.
Mr. Richard Hitchcock was born near Tralee, in the County of Kerry, in the year
1824; he appears to have been born an antiquary, as his taste for such researches
developed itself very early in life. When a mere boy he travelled the country in his
neighbourhood, sketching ruins of churches and castles, copying inscriptions, and noting
every object of antiquity within his reach; as a draughtsman he was self-taught, and though
not an artist, he was a most faithful and accurate copyist; in fact, his conscientiousness in
this respect was sometimes painful. About 1845 he was introduced to Professor Graves,
T.C.D., through his friend the late Archdeacon Rowan, who at once recognised in the
youthful enthusiast a valuable assistant in his Ogamic researches. He soon engaged the
services of Mr. Hitchcock for a tour of discovery in the South of Ireland; the employment
was one congenial to his tastes; he traversed the wild mountain districts of Corkaguiney,
Iveragh and Dunkerron, in Kerry, the equally wild districts of Berehaven, Bantry, and
Carberry, in Cork, continuing his researches through the entire of that county, as, also,
Waterford and Kilkenny; on this journey he not only copied the previous discoveries of
Pelham and Windele, but also added about thirty additional inscriptions to their lists. I
have seen but few copies of Ogam legends made by him (the results of his labours passed
into the hands of the R. R. Dr. Graves, and have not yet been given to the public), but I
can testify to their extreme faithfulness to the originals. In the Lib. R. I. A. there is a
valuable MS. by him, giving an accurate account of the site of every known monument,
of the circumstances of its discovery, and any legends or other interesting memoranda
connected with the locality. It does not, however, contain a single copy of an inscription:
his relations towards his patron were honourably and scrupulously respected, and he reaped
no fame from his labours by any publication of their results. Through the kindness of
that gentleman he obtained an introduction to that eminent scholar, the late Dr. Todd,
Librarian of Trinity College, Dublin, which secured him his friendship and regard, and
through his influence, the office of Library Clerk in the University Library, and also that
of Assistant to the Geological Society of Ireland. He was one of the original members of the
Kil. Arch. Soc., and a constant contributor to its Transactions; he revised the numbers of
the Journal passing through the press, and, by his persevering canvass, was the proposer of
CHAP. IV.] DISCOVERY OF OGAM MONUMENTS.–REW. D. H. HAIGH.-MR. W. WILLIAMS. 55
near one hundred members of that body. His correspondence with literary men, parti-
cularly antiquaries, was extensive, and there was scarcely an Archaeological Society in
Great Britain that he did not communicate with. But, alas, his career was short; a rapid
decline carried him off on December 3rd, 1856, at the early age of 31. Such was the
respect in which his memory was held, that the Provost and Senior Fellows of the College
charged themselves with the erection of a monument over his remains in Mount Jerome
Cemetery, Dublin. The writer of this work feels it his duty to make this brief record of
the little known, but invaluable services rendered by Richard Hitchcock to the cause of
Irish Archæology.
In the Trans. Kil. Arch. Soc., v. 1852-3, will be found an interesting and valuable
discussion between Professor Graves and the late Mr. John Windele on the rendering of the
Burnfort inscription.
In the vol. for 1858-9 of the same Journal is contained a lengthened communication from
Mr. Daniel H. Haigh, an English gentleman who had been in correspondence with Mr.
Windele on the Ogam question, and who I believe received from him the material information
contained in his paper. The reasoning and conclusions are, however, Mr. Haigh's,
whose paper contains much sound theorising and many valuable suggestions on a subject
then involved in difficulty.
Mr. William Williams, of Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, has done good service in this
pursuit; he has industriously explored his native county, and has been the means of
bringing before the antiquarian world several new Ogam inscriptions, as that at Kilrush
Island and Ballyvooney, and the more important finds at Kilgarvane and Drumloghan, with,
I am informed, others which he has not yet made public. Mr. Williams contributed an
interesting paper on the Ogam question to the Jour. of the Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1856-7,
containing a considerable number of inscriptions with translations. These translations
unfortunately cannot be sustained, and yet Mr. Williams's texts are generally correct; in
truth, that gentleman is a most accurate and conscientious copyist, as I have had several
opportunities of testing, and I have reason to believe he will himself yet correct his inter-
pretations. The author of this work has reason to be ashamed of some of his own early
renderings, too daringly made while possessed of but limited information on the subject.
DR. SAMUEL FERGUSON.
On Monday, November 14, 1864, a paper was read before the Roy. Ir. Aca. by Dr. Samuel
Ferguson, Q.C., being an “Account of Ogham Inscriptions in the Cave at Rathcroghan,
County of Roscommon.” The author gives an interesting description of this remarkable
souterrain, with some historical and MS. notices of it, and personages associated with the
locality. His paper is carefully illustrated with plans and views of the interior of the Cave
and drawings of the inscribed stones, two in number. One of these, the Fraice Monument,
had been previously seen and copied by Mr. John Windele and myself; the other escaped
our notice, and was discovered by Dr. Ferguson. On November 14, December 12, 1870,
January 9, 23, and February 13, 1871, a series of papers were read before the same
56 DISCOVERY OF OGAM. MOMUMENTS-DR. S. FERGUSON. [CHAP. IV.
learned body by Dr. Ferguson, “On the Difficulties attendant on the Transcription of Ogham
Legends and the means of removing them.” After describing those difficulties which he
and other students of this class of inscriptions had met with in their attempts to get reliable
copies of the legends from the original monuments, he details a method of taking casts
from them adopted by himself, and which he believes to be eminently successful; these
were taken in moistened blotting paper. Dr. Ferguson describes thirty-one monuments,
casts from which were taken by himself and presented to Mus. Roy. Ir. Aca.
This collection I consider of great value, particularly to those who have no opportunities
of examining the originals; and Dr. Ferguson has done good service towards inducing the
study of this class of Gaedhelic Monuments. I would, however, remark, that implicit
reliance cannot be placed on these casts, nor should they ever supersede a personal
examination of the original monuments; as collateral evidence they are undoubtedly
valuable.

57
CHAPTE R. W.
THE O GAM CHARACTER DESCRIBED.
This archaic character is usually called Ogam Craobh, or the Branch Ogam, from
Craobh, a Branch or Tree, as also from the fact, that every letter of its alphabet is named
from a shrub or tree. It is composed of certain combinations of a short line or score,
made with reference to a central or stem line, either real or imaginary; and it is thus
represented in what appears to be its original form in the Ogam tract contained in the Book
of Ballymote. -
H = H = H – H = H = } } } + 4 + + + ##
tº 1 + 1 m h o c c 4 m 5 ns ji jº 4 c u e v
An inspection of the above will at once satisfy us why this is styled the Tree or Branch
Alphabet. It will also suggest that when this character was used for literary purposes it
must have been in this form, where each letter has its independent stem line. The
second example given in the treatise above mentioned is written in the following form:—

T-I-III-IIIſm-111111111111111/////+++++
B L F S N H D T C Q M G NG ST R A O U E I
Here the letters are written on one continuous stem line, and in this form all the known
º monumental inscriptions are engraved. It will be observed that in the above scales the
alphabet consists of thirteen single and two double consonants and five vowels, to which
has been added five characters quite foreign to the original ones, denoting diphthongs, as
follows:– -

x 6 s = H
EA OI UI IA. AE
It would appear from a passage in the Uraceipt that the first two diphthongs shown
above were earliest in use; certainly the first symbol has been found on several monuments,
but always in such a combination with other vowels as would neutralise the value given to
it in the above scale. The second, oi, has been noticed only on one inscribed stone, that
found at Bressay in Shetland, the inscription upon which has marked differences from those
found on Irish pillar stones, and is evidently of later date. I have before referred to the
arboretic origin of this archaic alphabet, which I here subjoin, with the primitive names of
the letters.
I
58 THE OGAM LETTERS DESCRIBED. [CHAP. V.
B Beith Birch M Muin Wine
L. Luis Quicken G. Gort Ivy
F. Fearn Alder NG Ngedal Broom or Reed
S Sail Sallow ST or Z Straif Blackthorn
N Nin Ash R Ruis Elder
H. Huath Hawthorn A Ailm Fir
D Duir Oak O Onn Furze
T Tinne Holly U Ur Heath
C Coll Hazle E Eadad Aspen
Q or Cu Queirt Apple I Idad Yew
EA Eabad Aspen
OI Oir Spindletree
UI Uillean Woodbine
IA Ifin Gooseberry
AE.—This character is styled Amhancoll, i.e. the double Coll, as it is formed of two
C’s, namely, four scores crossing each other. The letters of this alphabet are called
Feadha, i.e. Trees, but this term is more specially applied to the vowels. The consonants
are named Taobomna, i.e. side trees, and the diphthongs, forfeada, i.e. over trees.
The stem line in reference to which the letters are arranged is designated the Druim,
i.e. Ridge, while each score vertical or oblique to it is termed a Fleasy, i.e. Twig. From
the examples given in the following pages it will be seen that the characters generally used
in actual inscriptions were the thirteen consonants and five vowels; that the character ||
denoting NG has been found on seven monuments only, and ST on four, that the diphthongs
were not used, unless we admit that the x mark found on fourteen pillar stones represented
EA. It is also worthy of note that in all the Irish examples, except one, the vowels are a
represented by small round or oval dots on the angle of the stone, or by very º
scores; and not by long strokes vertical to the stem line, as in the MSS.
The same remark holds good as respects the Welsh inscriptions. The letter H is found
in the above scale, though not used in modern Irish. O'Brien remarks, that “H is not
admitted as a letter into the Irish alphabet, nor otherwise employed in the Irish language
than as a mere aspirate, in the same manner as in the Greek.” (O'Brien's Ir. Dict.) We
know, however, that the Greeks in archaic times used H as a letter, it having been
found in many of their early inscriptions; it is also found in the alphabets of the Hebrews,
Phoenicians, Pelasgi, and Etrurians. P is not found in our Ogam scale, though used as a
letter in modern Irish. O'Brien says it is called Peith-bhog, i.e. Beith-bhog, or B soft,
and that it was not used in our language before the Irish received their knowledge of Latin,
| about the age of St. Patrick. The letter Q is not found in the modern Irish alphabet, but
is a leading letter in the Ogam, being constantly used in the inscriptions, not only in the
continually recurring word, maqi maqqi, but also in the formation of proper names; it is º
also frequently used for C, which letter in Irish is always sounded as K. Referring to this
letter, Mr. Whitley Stokes writes: “Furthermore, as I have shown elsewhere, the presence of Q
(KV) and Y in the Ogam alphabet, and the absence therefrom of aspirated letters, tend to




CHAP. v.] OGAM BETHLUISNIN. 59

prove that it must have been invented or introduced long before the eighth century, when
the oldest existing Irish MSS. were written; for the language of these abounds in aspirated
tenues, but affords no instance of the employment of the compound letter or semi-vowel in
question ; it is with sincere pleasure I put these notes together, as justifying the idea thrown
out by Zeuss, in his preface, where, referring to the Ogams in the St. Gall codex of Priscian,
he writes: “Figurae ergo vel potius lineae ogamicae non diversae ab is quae notantur a
grammaticis hibernicis . . . in usu jam in hoc vetusto codice quidni etiam inde a
longinquis temporibus.’” (Stokes, 3 Glossaries.) -
The letters of the Ogam alphabet are divided into groups, i.e. four groups of five letterseach,
if we include the double consonants; one group above the line, one below, and two across.
The characters BLFSN form the B group, called aicme B; H D T C Q the H group, aicme
H; the M, and A, groups; and the diphthongs, forfeda, compose a group named the formaicme.
Respecting the diphthongs, it is very doubtful if they belonged to the original scale at
| all, as we find but one of their symbols used on stone monuments; I allude to the mark for
EA, which we find on fifteen examples, but under circumstances which renders it very
difficult to determine its actual value, as in the majority of instances it occurs between
vowels of similar sounds with itself; thus on one of the Roovesmore stones it stands
between E and A ; on that from Aglish, between 0 and I; on Roy. Ir. Aca. No. 10 between
A and I, as also on one from Dunlo; on stones from Ballintaggart, between A and E, and
I, I; on one at Kiltera, between A, A.; it is quite evident that the symbol in these cases
could not represent the sound EA, which would be completely lost between the other vowels.
In one of the inscriptions from Tinnehally, and in that from Glenfais, it would certainly
come in as a diphthong, but these are the only cases. In the Cooldorrihy legend it appears
to have no power, as it comes between two words. I have sometimes thought it was a
variation in expressing G (which letter is two scores across the line or angle), being made
intersecting instead of parallel, it appears to me to work in fairly with the rest of the letters
where it occurs.
On the other hand, we have some evidence that it was intended to represent P; this is
given in the Crickhowel inscription (PI. xiv.) which presents us with the name TuRPILL1, in
\ debased Roman letters, and with the same name in Ogam, the x mark occupying the place
of P; there can, I think, be no doubt that in this instance the latter letter is represented by
the mark in question, and it may naturally be inferred, as the Irish and Welsh Ogams
are identical in form and power, that we should give this mark the same value wherever we
meet it. Some writers have asserted that P was represented by the same symbol as IA,
and others by a short score below and parallel to the line, but the monuments give us no
evidence in support of these statements; according to the Uraceipt, P is an aspirated B,
and the proper mode of writing it was BH; in several of the legends where this x mark
occurs, however, the letter P will not work in, so that the matter is still beset with difficulty;
probably the discovery of additional monuments may enable us at some future time to
determine the value of this symbol. It may be remarked that this letter has been found in
the most ancient alphabets, as the Chaldean, Egyptian, Etruscan, Phoenician, and Pelasgian.
It is to be noticed that the x mark on the Crickhowel stone is below the angle and not

60 OG AM BETHILUISNIN. [CHAP. v.
across it, as in other cases. I have sometimes thought that this mark was occasionally used
as a divisional point. The four oblique scores across the line, having the power of ST, are
found but on a few monuments. In old Irish the letter Z was expressed by ST, or SD, and
2-examples of this substitution will be found in ancient MSS. On the whole we must, I think,
conclude that the original scale consisted of twenty letters, if, indeed, they were so many.
The fact of finding the two double characters upon a mere fractional number of our inscribed
monuments, is certainly in favour of the idea that the original alphabet consisted but of
– eighteen letters. The learned antiquary, Roderic O'Flaherty, was of this opinion, thus
assimilating it in number with the ancient Greek letters, according to Pliny, from Aristotle.
(Plin. Nat. Hist. b. vii. c. 57, see also Ogygia, part iii. c. 30.) Of the same mind was
Charles O'Connor (Dissert. Hist. Ir, edit. 1776, p. 36). Dr. O'Connor, who gave close
attention to this subject, was of opinion that the ancient alphabet consisted of but sixteen
letters. Now, while with the above-named writers there may have existed a lurking desire,
or sentiment, to assimilate our early letters in point of numbers with those of the ancient
Greek and Cadmean alphabets, it cannot be denied, that an examination of the lapidary
inscriptions remaining to us, and which after all are our only reliable guides, will lead us to
take their view of the subject. From the circumstances under which the majority of these
inscriptions have been found, we must conclude that they are of an exceedingly remote
antiquity; and as we know that the early letters of every country have been few in number,
receiving additions as necessity and the progress of civilization demanded, so must we
gonclude that the compound letters found in the manuscript alphabets have been the
/additions of a later, though still remote age. The Ogam scale is also called Beth, Luis, Nin,
from the letters of the first group; this form has given rise to the idea that the original
sequence of the letters was B L N, and not B L F, as at present. The fact of the
alphabet being so designated from a remote period is some evidence in its favour; while, on
the other hand, the testimony of the arrangement of the letters in the books of Ballymote
and Leacan are against it; but beyond this, I have myself proved by an examination of all
the known inscriptions, that the five scores below the stem line could not have had any
other value attached to them but that of N, at least on our megalithic monuments. That
the pre-historic Gaedhil used an alphabetic character different from the Lombardic form of
letters which afterwards prevailed, is maintained by various writers. Ware, in his Anti-
quities, c. ii., states, “Besides the common characters, the ancient Irish used various occult
or artificial methods of writing, called Ogam, in which they wrote their secret and mysterious
affairs. I have an old book filled with them. The letters themselves were anciently called
Feadha, i.e. woods.”
- Hugh Mac Curtin, who published his “English-Irish Dictionary” in Paris, in 1732,
concludes his work with a chapter on the Ogam, which he thus describes: “Before letters
were invented, there was formerly in use an occult manner of writing called Ogam by the
Irish; they gave the several characters thus invented names, as the reader may see in the
beginning of the first chapter, viz. Ailm, Coll, Duir, &c. And of these occult ways or
methods there are three sorts, as Ogam Craob, so called from the similitude or likeness
which the several characters of the same have to branches of trees; for it consists in lines
CHAP. v.] WARIOUS OGAM CHARACTERS. 61
and signs, partly homogeneal, partly heterogeneal, and in their position and situation in
regard to one principal line, over, under or through which they are drawn. The said
principal line serves only for a rule, and not for any letter; whose upper part or side is
called the left, and the under part the right. About, over, under and through which line
the aforesaid signs or characters are drawn and framed, which do serve instead of consonants,
vowels, diphthongs and triphthongs. You shall observe that besides the line drawn from the
left to the right, which is the rule of all the rest, there are several other lines, some straight
under the main line, some above it, others drawn through the main line, of which some are
drawn crooked, others straight; as also some certain small notes or signs, all of which do
import the alphabetical letters, as you see them marked.” (pp. 713, 14.) McCurtin further
goes into a minute description of the characters, and gives a scale identical with that shown
p. 57, and evidently from the same source; he further observes, “the Irish antiquaries
have preserved this Ogam in particular, as a piece of the greatest value, in all their
antiquity. And it was penal for any but those that were sworn antiquaries, either to study or
use the same. For in these characters, those sworn antiquaries wrote all the evil actions and
other vicious practices of their monarchs and great personages, both male and female, that
it should not be known to any but themselves and their successors, being sworn antiquaries
as aforesaid.” (p. 714.)
The scribes of the middle ages amused themselves with inventing a variety of Cyphers, all
founded upon the principle of the ancient Ogam scale; thus, in a MS. in the Brit. Mus.,
Clarendon, No. 15, various of these systems are described ; as, the En-Ogam, in which
the names of the letters are borrowed from birds; Dath-Ogam, from colours; Dinn-Ogam,
from hills; Cell-Ogam, from churches, &c. O'Molloy alludes to a secret language used
among the literati, and which he thus describes: “Obscurum loquendi modum, vulgo
Ogham, Antiquariis Hiberniae satis notum, quo nimirum loquebantur syllabizando voculis
appellationibus litterarum, dipthongorum, et tripthongorum ipsis duntaxit notis.”
(Grammatica Latina-Hibernica, p. 133.) It would appear as if the ancient dialect in which
the original Ogam was written had been preserved among the learned, and that a knowledge
of it was considered an accomplishment. We have some evidence of this in the following
curious passage, taken from McGeohegan's translation of the Annals of Clononae Noise:
“A.D. 1328. Morishe O'Gibelan, Master of Art, one exceeding well learned in the old
and new laws, civille and canon, a cunning and skillful philosopher, an excellent poet in
Irish, an eloquent and exact speaker of the speech which in Irish is called Ogham, and one
that was well seen in many other good sciences; he was a canon and singer at Twayme,
Olfyn, Aghaconry, Killalye, Enaghe Downe, and Clonfert; he was official and common judge
of these dioceses; ended his life this yeare.”
The various examples of these alphabetic cyphers, from the collection in the Book
of Ballymote, are given on plates No. 1 and 2.*
The antiquity of the Ogam is evidenced by the peculiar nature of the character itself,
*These plates were left incomplete; but Mr. Brash, in a letter to me, Feb. 23, 1875, explains his
intention. In the journal of the Royal Historical and Archæological Association of Ireland, for July,
1874, translations by the Very Rev. Canon Smiddy, and Rev. E. Barry, Aghada, are given of all these
different forms.-G.M.A.
62 ARBORETIC ORIGIN OF THE OGAM CHARACTER. [CHAP. v.

which in its extreme simplicity, bordering on rudeness, exhibits all the characteristics of a
remote and primeval age; the letters, produced by the numerical combinations of a single
line or stroke, are perhaps the very first mode that would present itself to an untutored mind
/emerging from a low scale of civilization, and moved by a desire to perpetuate its ideas or
V wishes by enduring signs or symbols. Surrounded by natural objects, he seizes on the tree
or plant, with its upright trunk or stalk and springing branches or side shoots, and from
this symbol constructs his alphabet. If we look at the first Ogam scale, already given from
the Book of Ballymote, this arboretic origin is quite apparent, pictorially. Then the names
by which its various parts are called—the Flease, signifying a rod; the letters, generally,
Feadha, that is, woods, trees; and finally each letter called after a plant or tree, the whole
being designated by the significant term of Ogam Craobh or branch Ogam. A question may
arise here, and indeed has been already broached, were the letters really called after the
vº trees, or the trees after the letters. The latter alternative is put with much force by Mr.
Daniel H. Haigh, in the paper already quoted from. (Trans. Kil. Society, 1858, p. 172.)
“Now this mode of writing is perfectly unique, and so also is the alphabet. Other ancient
alphabets have their letters called by the names of objects, but none has been found in which,
as in this, all the letters are systematically named after a peculiar class of objects, all called by
the names of trees. Do not this nomenclature, and the mode of writing in the form of a tree
springing from a root, and putting forth branches on either side; as well as the designations
by which the several classes of letters were known (the consonants “taobomna’ or side trees;
the vowels “feadha’ or trees; each stroke “fleasg’ a twig), concur to show that the origin of
the whole system is attributable to a race or order, with whom trees were objects of special
veneration ? Such were the Phoenicians and primitive Greeks; such in the west were the
Druids.
“But this alphabet and this mode of writing tell us more than this about their origin.
Where the names of the letters of an alphabet are words of the language to which the
alphabet belongs, it may be regarded as a presumptive proof that the alphabet owes its
origin to people who spoke that language. Thus the name of nearly every letter in the
Hebrew and Phoenician alphabets has its meaning in the ancient Hebrew language, with
which the Phoenician is now known to have been identical; whilst the names of the letters in
the Greek alphabet confirm the tradition of their Phoenician origin, and those of all the
letters in the Norse, Anglo-Saxon and Gothic alphabets are evidently Teutonic (the one
exception which has been quoted, “Queorth,’ being really ‘Queorn,' as the analogy with
‘Cwairuns' of the Gothic and “Quirun' of an old German alphabet shows). Now all the
names of the Ogam scale are Irish, and, therefore, they owe their origin to the Celtic race;
but they reveal to us, moreover, the important fact that they were brought to Ireland by
colonists, who came from a distant land and from a very different climate. For the names
are those of Irish trees, and the alphabet is nearly a complete list of the trees that are
indigenous to Ireland. From this it is clear that the trees were called after the letters, and
not the letters after the trees; for it would be impossible to find in any country its catalogue
of forest trees undesignedly furnished with names, the initials of which would give sounds
enough to make an alphabet; and equally impossible would it be to induce an unlettered
CHAP. v.] CORSESPONDENCE BETWEEN SANSCRIT AND CELTIC. 63
people to give up the names to which they had been accustomed, and adopt a new nomen-
clature, at the bidding of a learned few, supposing these alphabetic characters to be of later
origin. It is plain that the Irish names still in use must be those by which the early
colonists of Ireland first designated the native trees of the country. Had they who
introduced these letters been a small colony among a people who had already given names
to their trees, they could not have forced upon them the adoption of other names. They
must have been either the original colonists or a powerful nation who subdued an earlier
race, as the Saxons did the Britons. Whence then did these come 2 Not certainly from
any Northern clime, such as Britain, Gaul, or Scandinavia, where the trees are the same as
in Ireland, else they would have called them after the names in use there, instead of after
elementary characters, but from some more southern country. The internal evidence of the
alphabet then goes to prove that it must be referred to a race sufficiently numerous to have
colonised Ireland, or sufficiently powerful to have taken possession of, and established their
own literature in the country; who came from a southern land, and holding trees in special
veneration, named those of Ireland after the letters of their own alphabet. Such a race
were they to whom the invention of the Ogam has been generally ascribed, the Tuatha-de-
Danann. This ingenious argument, the force of which seems irresistible, is borrowed from a
paper by Mr. O'Daly, in the ‘Ulster Journal of Archæology.' Modern philological research
has thrown much light upon the origin of the Celtic languages, and their affinity with the
Sanscrit is now acknowledged. A very able writer, Mr. Crowe, in the same journal has
instituted a comparison between the classification of the consonants by the Celtic bards, and
the arrangement of the Sanscrit alphabet; he has pointed out a very striking correspon-
dence between them, and shown that the only difference is in favour of the early antiquity
of the bardic system; the more systematic arrangement of the Sanscrit, which is not earlier
than the seventh century, being, most probably, an improvement on an earlier system and
one closely resembling that of the bards, which for this reason, he argues, may have been
introduced into Ireland at a very early period from the East. Hence he draws the conclusion
that there is nothing improbable in the story which ascribes the compilation of the ‘Uraicept-
na n-Eigeas' or “Primer of the Bards' to Feirceirtne, who lived in the reign of Conchobhar
mac Neasa, in the first century of our era.” (Trans. Kil. Arch, Soc. V. 1858, 9, pp. 172, 5.)
64
CHAPTER WI.
THE SEPULCHRAL USAGES OF THE GAEDHIL.
The sepulchral usages of the pagan Irish have been but slightly noticed by writers on
antiquities. It is true the materials for such a subject are scattered, and not easy of access;
a little industry, however, will enable the persevering student to collect valuable and interest-
ing matter on this subject. The sources of information available for this purpose are our
ancient MS. collections, and such as have been made available to the general public by the
translations of O'Donovan, O'Curry, and others, as well as the numerous discoveries of
interments made in this island during the last century. The entire subject is too extensive
to be fully treated of in this work, but inasmuch as it has a certain bearing on the question
before us, I deem it necessary to give it some consideration. Like most other races, the
Gaedhil at different periods had various modes of disposing of their dead, and probably at
the transition period from paganism to Christianity practised more than one form. Hugh
Mac Curtin distinctly states, that the first inhabitants of Ireland followed the Scythic
practice of raising great mounds of stone or clay over the bodies of their deceased friends,
but that this custom was disused in the reign of Eochaidh Aireamh, A.M. 3952, who
introduced the custom of interring in graves dug beneath the surface.
“Eochadh, surnamed Aireamh (i.e. of the grave), of the posterity of Heremon, succeeded,
and ruled twelve years. He made or digged the first grave in Ireland. The Scythian used
to cast a great heap of stones or clay over the dead, and also to bury his nearest friend along
with him alive. They used this custom for a long time, and the Milesians for some time
after they came into Ireland did use the same custom of burying the dead, with no more
difference but raising a long stone on an end standing on the same place where they buried
the corpse, and declining that inhuman custom of burying their friends along with them.
They also used to write the name of the dead in characters on that long stone. This
monarch ordered and enacted, that a grave should be digged for the dead seven feet long and
three feet deep, and lay the corpse on its back stretched, laying a long broad stone over,
with the name of the person written thereon.” (McCurtin's Wind. Hist. Ir. pp. 84-5.)
The historian Keating refers to the modes of interment in use among the Gaedhil in one
of his unpublished MSS., known as the “Three Pointed Shafts of Death ; " the passage is
as follows:– *
CHAP. vi.] - SEPULCHRAL USAGES OF THE GAEDHIL. 65
“It was customary among the Irish at the period in which the heroes and Fenians
flourished, and before the light of faith dawned among them, to inter the dead in the earth;
there were, however, many modes of interment in use.
“The first mode of interment:
“A grave corresponding with the dimensions of the corpse was dug in the earth, and a
small rath was raised around it. The feet were placed facing the east and the head the west;
a cairn of stones called a leacht was piled over it like the grave of Moathgan in Uibh Fathaidh.
“The second mode of interment:
“To deposit the dead in the earth, and to erect small raths around them. No stone or
monument was raised over them. There were three classes of persons usually interred in
this manner in those small raths, namely, men of science, women and children. There
were besides these two other modes of interment practised in Ireland, as is manifestly seen
by the following poem:
“A grave of one door for a man of science,
A grave of two doors for a woman,
A grave without even one door
Around boys as well as maidens;
Mounds around foreigners of distinction,
And enclosures around those who died of deadly plague.
“From the above verse it is plain that only one door (passage) opened to a man of science,
two doors were peculiar to a woman's grave, no doors belonged to the graves of children.
While mounds were raised over the remains of noble foreigners, and enclosures were
constructed around those who died of loathsome plague.
“There was another mode of interring the dead, namely, with a grave stone and a tomb
(and those grave stones are numerous throughout Ireland of the pagan time).
“The dead were placed in a standing position, and circular cairns (heaps) of earth and
stones were raised over them, and their arms were buried with them. It was in this fashion
that very many of the Irish nobles were interred in the olden time; the interment of Mogha
Neid by Dearg Damhsa the Druid, may be instanced; as we read in the “Battle of Magh
Tualaing.’”—(Ossianic Soc. v. i. p. 64.)
Mogha Neid was king of Munster, he fought against Conn of the Hundred Battles, on
the field of Magh Tulaing, where he was slain by Goll Mac Moirne; a funeral dirge was
composed and chanted over his grave by his favourite Druid, Dearg Damhsa, which describes
the burial of the king :
“Mogha Neid's sepulchre is on Magh Tualaing,
With his javelin by his shoulder,
With his club which was strong in conflict,
With his helmet, with his sword.” -
- Ossianic Soc. v. i. p. 55.
This passage does not bear out Keating's statement, it makes no mention of the
monarch's being buried in an erect posture; we have, however, a recorded instance of this
custom in the interment of Eoghan Bel, a king of Connaught, who was slain at the battle of
K
66 MODE OF INTERMENT. [CHAP. VI.
Sligeach, A.D. 537. A translation of this curious passage is given by Dr. O'Donovan in
“Hy Fiachrach,” pp. 47.2-8.
“Eoghan also told them to bury himself with his red javelin in his hand in the grave.
“Place my face toward the north, on the side of the hill by which the northerners pass
when flying before the army of Connaught; let my grave face them, and place myself in it
after this manner.' And this order was strictly complied with ; and in every place where
the Clanna Neill and the Connacians met in conflict, the Clanna Neill and the northerns were
routed, being panic-stricken by the countenances of their foes; so that the Clanna Neill and
the people of the north of Ireland therefore resolved to come with a numerous host to Raith
O'bh Fiachrach and raise the body of Eoghan from the grave, and carry his remains north-
wards across the Sligo. This was done, and the body was buried at the other side of the
river, at Aenach Locha Gile, with the mouth down, that it might not be the means of causing
them to fly before the Connacians.”
The same method of interment is also recorded of Laoghaire, king of Ireland, who lost
his life A.D. 458, on an expedition against the men of Leinster, as is recorded by Dr.
O'Donovan, in a note at the above date (Ann. 4, Mas.): “It is further stated that the body
of Laoghaire was afterwards carried to Tara, and interred with his weapons upon him in the
south-east of the external rampart of Rath Laeghaire at Tara, with his face towards the
Lagenians, as if in the attitude of fighting with them.”
These cases, however, we must consider as exceptional, being the only ones on record as
far as I can ascertain. That burial in graves dug beneath the natural surface of the earth
was usual in pagan Ireland, we have some evidence. In the Ossianic tale of the battle of
Gabhra (Gaura), fought A.D. 283, we have a graphic account of the interment of the hero
Oscur, the son of Oisin, and his gallant companions who fell with him. The bard thus
sings:—
“We buried Oscur of the red weapons
On the north side of the great Gabhra,
Together with Oscur, son of Garraidh, of renowned feats,
And Oscur, son of the king of Lochlann.
And he who was not niggardly of gold,
Mac Lughaidh the tall warrior,
We dug the cave of his sepulchre
Very wide, as became a king.
The graves of the Oscurs, narrow dwellings of clay,
The graves of the sons of Garraidh and Oisin,
And the whole extent of the great Rath,
Was the grave of the great Oscur of Baoisgne.”
Ossianic Soc. v. i. p. 133.
The phrases “we dug the cave of his sepulchre” and “narrow dwellings of clay,”
clearly indicate that the warriors were buried beneath the natural surface of the ground,
probably in cistvaens, with their armour and weapons, and that the spot was encircled by an
earthen rampart, forming “the great Rath; " other formalities no doubt were observed,
CHAP. VI.] SEPULCHRAL, USAGES OF THE GAEDHIL. 67
though not recorded; the Cluiche or funeral games were doubtless performed, and memorial
pillar stones raised to mark each grave.
The custom of raising such monuments is frequently mentioned in Irish MSS. The
Agallamh-na-Seanoraidhe, or “the Dialogue of the Ancient Men,” is a valuable tract,
contained in the book of Lismore, a vellum MS, now in the library of the Royal Irish Academy,
it contains a vast amount of information upon manners, customs, dress, weapons, topography,
and other kindred subjects; and as the references are almost exclusively to Ireland under
paganism, they are of exceeding interest to the antiquary. In this tract we find several
passages bearing on this subject, thus, Caoilte Mac Romain is relating the event of the battle
of Fiontragh, and the drowning of the warrior Caol, and the death through grief of his young
wife Creide, “and the lady lay down by the side of Caol and died of grief, and they were
both buried in one grave, and it was I, myself, that raised the flag that is over their grave,
for which reason it is called Feart Chaeil and Creide (the grave of Caol and Creide).”
(O'Longan's MS. Trans.) Again we have a relation of the death and burial of Ainé, the wife
of Fionn, the son of Cumhal, as also given by Caoilte: “and she was buried in it (Rath
Aine), under the sods of the earth,” said Caoilte, “and her monumental stone was raised
over her grave, and her funeral rites were performed, and her name was written in Ogham.”
(Ibid. p. 120.) Again, we have a most interesting relation of the deaths of Art and Eoghen,
sons of Fionntuine, king of Connaught, who were slain at Tragh Rughraoi (Rury's Strand in
the north), opposing a hostile landing of foreigners; the warriors are represented as being
mortally wounded, and as expressing their wishes respecting their burial. “And let our
graves and Ligha (stones) be made henceforth, and let the arms with which we did good, and
which you gave us as stipends, be buried along with us. And thereupon their souls parted
from their bodies, and the two brothers were buried under great stones there, and that is the
reason why their fame and their games were after them.” (Ibid. p. 123.) Here we have
references again to the interment of arms and to the celebration of the funeral games, which
from the above passage would appear to have been continued in memory of the warriors long
after their decease. In the above passages we don't find any mention of Cairns or Tumuli
being erected over the dead; Keating confines this distinction to “noble foreigners,” this
however is very doubtful, as we have plenty of evidence that such were raised over natives.
Other passages from the MS. already quoted give us some information on this subject. In
one of these the warrior Conall addresses Caoilte and makes the inquiry, “there are three
Tulachs (mounds) here, and we do not know the reason of the names that are on them; ” the
answer is, “Leacht-na-Laochruidhe (the grave of the heroes) is the name of one of the
Tulachs, and Tula-an-Bhauchuire on another, and Leacht-na-Machruidhe (the grave of the
youths) is the name of the third Tulach.” (Ibid. p. 106.) In ancther passage Caoilte is relating
the deaths of some of his old companions in arms, and thus alludes to their burial-place :
“There are in old Gabhar of the ranks,
Flann and Fionn, noble Fenians,
Aedh and Congal Clidhna,
They are together under one mound.” (p. 185.)
68 BURIAL CUSTOMS. [CHAP. VI.
In the “Leabhar na G-Ceart,” at p. 5, we have mention made of “the sepulchral
mounds of the wife of Main,” and in the genealogy of the Hy Fiachrach of the Moy, we
have a notice of Ruadh, the wife of the Monarch Dathi, and mother of Fiachra Ealgach ;
it states that “from her is named Mullach Ruadha, in Tir Fiachrach of the Moy, from her
being buried in the top of that hill, and over her is the cairn of stones which is on the top
of the hill.” (Hy Fiachrach, p. 97.) The son of Fiachra was a well-known Connaught
chief, Amhalgaidh (Awley), from him the barony of Tirawley, in Sligo, is named ; he caused
a great cairn called after his own name to be erected in his lifetime. “It was Amhalgaidh,
the son of Fiachra Ealgach, that raised Carn Amhalgaidh, to serve as a place of fairs and
great meetings, and it was in it Amhalgaidh himself was interred.” (Ibid. p. 101.) This
monument is supposed to be that on the hill of Mullaghcarn, about half a mile from Killala.
The historical tale of the first battle of Magh Tuireadh has preserved to us a few
instances of burial customs; this engagement was fought between the Firbolgs and the
invading Tuath de Danand, and decided the sovereignty of Ireland in favour of the latter.
In this tale we are informed that Eochaid Mac Erc, the Firbolg king, having noticed in the
first day's battle a warrior who had distinguished himself in a very remarkable manner, and
who had fallen covered with wounds, caused the men of his army to bring each a stone to
raise a cairn over the remains of the hero, which cairn was named “Cairn an aen fir, i.e.
the Cairn of the One Man to this day.” Dr. Wilde states that this cairn can still be identified.
(Wilde's Lough Corrib. &c. p. 223.)
The battle of Magh Tuireadh lasted four days; on the third, the Firbolgs appear to have
had the worst of it, and to have retreated to their lines towards evening, having lost one of
their most famous warriors, Cirb, who was slain by the Dagda; they, however, managed to
secure the head of Cirb, which they buried and raised over it a cairn, which was called
“Cairn Cinn Cirb,” i.e. “the Cairn of Cirb's Head.” A third instance of the erection of
a cairn over the remains of the illustrious dead is recorded in connection with this battle;
at the close of the fourth day's engagement the monarch, Eochaidh, was slain by the three
sons of Neime Mac Badraidi, and a cairn was raised over his remains, as is thus stated in
the Book of Lecan:—“Eohee, son of Erc, feeling himself thirsty in the battle of Moy Tuire,
withdrew from his army to seek for water, but was unable to meet with any until he came to
the strand of Eothieile, the artificer; the three sons of Neime, having espied him, they
followed and slew him. A monumental cairn was erected to his memory on the spot, and is
still seen in the middle of the strand.” I give the above passage as quoted in the Trans.
Oss. Soc. v. v. p. 250. The account further states that the three sons of Neime or Nemedh
were also killed, and that their Leaca or grave-stones are to be seen on the western end of the
strand. All cairns, however, must not be considered sepulchral, as many were erected to
commemorate a battle, the fall of a famous warrior or chief, or as look-out stations. The
term enters largely into the composition of topographical names in Ireland.
Dr. Sullivan, in his introduction to O'Curry's Manners and Customs, discusses seven kinds
of sepulchral monuments as being used by the pagan Irish, namely, “the Derc, the Fert, the
Liac or Lic, and the Leacht, the Dum, the Cnoc, and the Carn.” (v. i. p. cccxxix.) Dr.
CHAP. VI.] SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. 69
Sullivan describes the Derc as “a hollow, a pit, or hole, dug in the ground, in fact, a
simple grave. The word is cognate with Dergud, frequently used in Irish manuscripts in the
sense of a bed. When the Dere was shallow, it was frequently faced inside with dry
masonry, and covered with small flags like a sewer, upon which the earth was then laid.”
(Ibid.) He considers that “there is some doubt about the true meaning of the second term
in the above list—the Fert. A rectangular chamber, composed of a number of upright
stones, on the top of which were laid horizontally other flags erected over a Derc, is usually
called a Fert.” (Ibid.) Further on he shows that the word Fert was used also to designate
“a ridge or embankment, a mound or artificial eminence at a fair or other place of assembly,
and a wall or earthen rampart around a camp, house or church.” (Ibid p. cccxxx.) If this
be the case, it would have the same signification as Lios. It appears to me that there is
some confusion in the use of terms of this class; there can be no doubt that Fert and
Leacht are used to designate graves in very many references in our ancient MSS.; but I
doubt much whether they distinguish distinct modes of burial. Fert, I conceive to have
been a general term for graves; it enters on this account into the names of many ancient
places, as Ardfert, Clonfert, Fertagh ; an ancient name of Slane was Fearta-fear-Feig, i.e.
the graves of the Men of Feig ; the Ann. 4, Mas, gives us at A.M. 2242, Feart Fiontain;
at A.D. 499, Feart-Cearbain; at A.D. 793, Feart Aodha, &c. The Liac or Lic, i.e. the
pillar stone, has already been sufficiently noticed. Leacht, though often used in a
general sense to express graves, I believe to have had a particular reference
to sepulchres constructed of stone, comprehending structures of the Cromlech class,
chambered Tumuli, Cistvaens; this appears to me to be also the opinion of Dr. Sullivan.
I cannot agree with that gentleman in treating of the Dum, the Cnoe, and the Carm, as
expressing distinct monuments or modes of burial, as in fact they all mean mound-like
elevations, and the two former are commonly applied to natural hills and eminences.
Under the same head we must include the term Tulach, so frequently used to designate
the sepulchral mound. In our dictionaries we find “Tula, s. a heap,” and “Tulach, s. m.
and f. a hill, hillock; Heb. tel.” The dictionary of the Manks Soc. gives us “Tullagh, s.
a hillock, a height.” It is probable that the word originally indicated a little sloping hill or
elevation, and hence was applied to tumuli. In our old MSS. we find frequent reference to
the Tulach as applied to places of sepulture, thus in the Agallamh-na-Seanoiridhe, Patrick
is represented as asking Caoilte to give him the history of the Tulach upon which they were
then standing. “I will relate it,” said Caoilte: “the cause of this sepulchre is this, that a
chief of the Fianns of Eire died here, namely, Airnealech, son of the king of Leinster, which
happened in the following manner:—
“On a day that he had been on this Tulach, a poet came to him with poems, and
Airnealech said to him, Great is thy name, O man of song excuse me at present, and
allow me a respite from rewarding thee, until I shall have my jewels and wealth at hand.”
“By my word,” said the poet, “I shall grant you no such indulgence, but on the contrary,
I will satirize, persecute, and defame you this very day.” When Airnealech had heard
these threats, he became downcast in his face and countenance, and never raised his head
70 SEPULCHRAL, USAGES. [CHAP. vi.
till he died of shame. This Tulach was erected over him; his sepulchral stone was raised,
and against it is your back, O Patrick'" Again, he inquires of Caoilte the history of another
mound in the same locality. “Whose feart (grave) is that in yonder Tulach, to the south?’”
“Another young chief of the Fianns,” replied Caoilte, “who died there; namely, Salbuidhe,
son of Feileachair, son of the King of Munster.” “What was the cause of his death 2 ''
said Patrick. “He was killed by elfin shots or arrows, and his thirty hounds and thirty
followers, who attended him, were also killed there by fairies; and that vegetating verdant
Tulach was raised over them.” (Trans. Kil. Arch. Society, v. iii. pp. 88-9.)
The same MS. gives us the following reference to the same class of monument: “It is
then Comall said, “ there are three Tulachs here, and we do not know the reason of the
names that are on them." Caoilte then makes answer, ‘Leacht na Laochruidhe (the grave
of the heroes) is the name of one of the Tulachs, and Tula-an-Bhanchuire on another, and
Leacht na Machruidhe (or the graves of the youths) is the name of the third Tulach.’”
(Agal. Sean. p. 106.) In another place, Caoilte, speaking of the deaths of two famous
warriors, Cathal and Crimhthan Cas, represents them as being “under the Tulach of the
green sod.” (Ibid. p. 111.) In the interesting incident of the elopement of Niamh, daughter
of Aengus Tireach, King of Munster, with Oisin, the son of Fionn, as related in the same
MS., we are informed that Aengus marched an army against the Fenian chief to avenge
the insult; the incidents which follow are so characteristic of the customs of that age, that
I have thought it right to give the passage in eatenso –“It is then Colman asked Caoilte,
‘Why is Tibra-an-Bhanntrachta called on this well, at the head of the lake 2'
“Caoilte answers this. “Niamh, the daughter of Aengus Tireach, King of Munster, that
eloped with Oisin, the son of Fionn, from the borders of Dun-na-mbarc (Dunamark, near
Bantry), in the province of Munster, and came to this well; and Oisin was with her here
six weeks, hunting and chasing over Uladh; and the lady used to come with thirty female
attendants every morning to wash their hands and faces in the transparent water. It greatly
grieved the King of Munster that his daughter should have eloped with Oisin, and he
assembled the men of the two provinces of Munster to the number of five equal battalions,
and they came in pursuit of the Fenians to this place. Niamh and her ladies were washing
themselves at this time at the well, and they saw the five warlike battalions on the hill above
them. ‘Alas ! that ever I was begotten,” said the lady, “I will die, before I should behold
my instructor and father, and my three brothers, and the nobles of Munster thus;" and she
put her face to the earth and died, and also the thirty women that were with her, and they
put their hearts in a stream of black blood out of their mouths, so that Cnoc-an-air is the
name of that hillock ever since; and the men of the two provinces of Munster saw the death
of the lady before them.
“The King of Munster said, ‘Bad is the abduction of the maiden by Oisin, and the
Fenians; and he commanded his Baineachla (female courier), namely, Muiriun, the daughter
of Muirise, to go in quest of Fionn, and challenge him to battle.
“The woman proceeded to Rath-Cin-Con, in Dalmaraidhe, where the Fenians were. Fionn
asked stories of her, and the heroine told him her errand. ‘It was seldom until this day,”
said Fionn, “to challenge me to battle, and go Garbh Cronan, and tell the Fenians to prepare
CHAP. VI.] TULACHS, OR SEPULCHRAL PLACES. 71
for battle. He came for this purpose out of the camp of the Fenians, and he gave three
soft, loud, melodious calls in the middle of the camp; and the Fenians answered, for they
well knew that he had some great reason for it; and they arose and formed themselves into
a warlike battalion, and they inquired of Fionn what was the cause of the battle 2 and he
informed them. It is then Feargus Finnbheil, the poet of the Fenians, said to Fionn, “You
have not a proper army to give battle to the King of Munster, in return for the blood of his
daughter, therefore ye will die in the battle.’ -
“It is then an advice was given by Fionn to Smiorgad, the daughter of Adhbhartagh,
“Say to Aengus Tireach, and the Princes of the Momonians, that I will give them the just
award of Cormac Ua Cuinn, and of Eithne Ollardha, the daughter of Cathaoin Mor, and of
Cithruadh the son of Fir-Lir.’ The messenger went and told her message. “It will be
accepted," said Aengus, ‘if sureties and pledges will be given with it.” “What sureties do you
require?' said Smiorgad. “The son of the man that injured me, namely, Oscar mac Oisin,
Fear Domhuin, the son of Boghdearg, son of the Daghda, and Diarmuid, son of Doun, son of
Douchadha." Fionn agreed to this, and both parties went to Tara; it is what was awarded
for them, namely, to take the lady out of the Tulach in which she was buried, and to put her
into a balance and to give her weight in gold, and her weight in silver, in eric of her, to
the King of Munster; and an eric of half that for every king and chieftain's daughter that
died there. ‘How will we pay that eric Fianna-Eirioun,’ said Fion ? ‘A third of it from
the Clanna Baoiscne,' said they, and the two-thirds of it from us, the Fenians.” “And
that is the story you asked of me, Colman,’ said Caoilte.” (Ibid. pp. 115-17.)
My last quotation on this subject will be found in Mr. John O'Daly's interesting paper in
the Trans. Kil. Arch. Soc. v. iii. on “Tulachs as places of Sepulture.” It is taken from a
MS. stated to have been then in the possession of the Rev. James Goodman, of Skibbereen
in the Co. Cork; it is a Fenian poem ascribed to Oisin, named “Fearta no Uamha Taoiseaca
na Feinme” (the Graves of the Chiefs of the Fenii), and is as follows:–
“The grave of each chieftain hath pierced my heart,
As I behold them, O chaste cleric ;
I shall relate all that I know
Of each man's grave, and where it stands.
There lies under this Tulach on which I stand,
A man who was always in danger ;
Conan, the revealer of men's minds,
Lies under this Tulach on which I stand.
There lies under this Tulach to the south,
O’Duibhne of the skin like blossom fair;
A man who never withheld his hand,
If he had but wealth to spare.
There lies under this Tulach to the west,
A man who was the delight of the fair,
Mac Romain, of the many shields,
Under this Tulach to the west is laid.
72 SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS. [CIIAP. VI.
There lies under this Tulach beneath,
He who brought tributes across the waves;
Mac Lughaidh, the subduer of heroes brave,
Under this Tulach low is laid.
There lies under this Tulach to the east,
Oscar of the chivalrous arms;
The conqueror of each hero in battle,
Under this Tulach to the east is laid.
There lies under this Tulach to the north,
Mac Cumhaill who was valiant in battle ;
The grandson of Teige of the pearl-white teeth,
Who in his anger never uttered a coarse expression.
Their race is gone, let us trace their graves,
The heroic sons of the firm skiffs ;
I shall now wither away,
And shall at once dig my own grave.”—pp. 91-2.
This interesting poem is undoubtedly ancient, but its ascription to Oisin is of very
doubtful authority; it is, however, of value to my present purpose, as showing that the
ancient bards used the word Tulach to designate a sepulchral mound raised over the remains
of the illustrious dead. This word enters rather largely into the composition of topographical
names in Ireland, as, Tullycummon, Tullyfin, Tullymongan, Tully O'Dea, Tulloghphelim;
these are all founded on personal names, and were, without doubt, designated from the grave-
mounds of the individuals indicated. Again, we have such localities as Tullyhoge (Tullach
Og), which signifies the mound of the youths, and Tulach-an-trir (the grave-mound of the
three), the ancient name of a monument at Tara, and also of a locality in Munster (Ir, Top.
Poems, p. 106 n. (593). Tullanavert (Tulach-na-bhfeart, i.e. the mound of the graves) is
situated near Clogher, in the Co. Tyrone.
The MS. and topographical evidence on this head could be adduced to a much greater
extent, but enough, I conceive, has been given to establish the proposition with which I set
out, namely, that the term Tulach was in ancient times applied to designate mound-burial.
Before I conclude this chapter I would refer to a curious passage in the Dinsenchus, which
has been quoted by Dr. Petrie in his Round Towers, and which refers to a variety of
sepulchral monuments which would appear to have existed at the great cemetery of the
Brugh-na-Boiune when this ancient and curious poem was written. His version is as
follows:—“Of the monuments of Brugh here, viz. the bed of the daughter Forann, the
Monument of the Dagda, the Mound of Morrigan, the Monument of (the monster) Mata; it
is from its Colpa or thigh Inbher Colptha is called ; the Barc of Crimthann Niamar, in which
he was interred; the grave of Fedelmidh, the Lawgiver, the Carnail (stone carn) of Conn of
the hundred battles, the Cumot (commensurate grave) of Cairbre Lifeachair, the Fulacht of
Fiacha Sraiphtine.” (p. 102.) I will here recapitulate the monuments, and give in brackets
the term for each in the original text.
The bed of the daughter of Forann (Long). The monument of the Dagda (Mur); this
term signifies “a wall, a bulwark, a house”; probably the grave was surrounded by a lofty
CHAP. VI.] SEPULCHRAL USAGES OF THE GAEDHIL. 73
rampart or Mur. The mound of the Morrigan (Mur). The monument of the monster Mata
(Lect). The Barc of Crimthann Nianar. Barc signifies a boat, and may here be used to
signify a tumulus of a peculiar shape, as that of a boat or ship, keel uppermost. The
Carn-ail (stone-carn) of Conn of the Hundred Battles; we have here certainly the Carn
distinguished as a stone monument. The Cumot (commensurate grave) of Cairbre Lifechair.
This is a curious rendering of Cumot. I presume Dr. Petrie had authority for it, but he
has not stated it. We find in our Dictionaries, Cumha, s., sorrow, grief, lamentation. Cumhach,
adj., narrow, strait, &c. Cumhacail, s., a couch; these are probably from the same root
as Cumot, and have a reference to a sepulchre or sepulchral usages. The “Fulacht of
Fiacha Sraiphtine;” the word Folach signifies concealed, hid, secret.
The second passage continues the subject, but enters more into details. “Aliter, the bed
of the Dagda, first; the two Paps of the Morrigan, at the place where Cermud Milbhel the
son of the Dagda was born, the grave of Boinn the wife of Nechtan; it was she took with
her the small hound called Dabilla, from which Cnoc Dabilla is called ; the Mound of Tresc,
the grave of Esclam, the Dagda's Brehon, which is Fert Patric at this day; (the monuments
of) Cirr and Cuirrell, wives of the Dagda; these are two hillocks; the grave of Aedh
Luirgnech, son of the Dagda; the cave of Buail.cc Bec ; the monument of Cellach, son of
Maelcobha; the monument of the steed of Cinaedh, son of Irgalach; the prison of Liath-
Macha; the Glen of the Mata, i.e. the monster, as some assert; the pillar stone of Buidi the
son of Muiredh, where his head is interred ; the stone of Benn, i.e. the monument on which
the monster Mata was killed; it had one hundred and forty legs and four heads; the Mound
of the bones; the Caisel (stone enclosure) of Aengus, son of Crunnmael; Rout sula Midir,
etc.” (p. 103.)
The original text is given with the above. Dr. Petrie's object was to show the classes o
monuments in use among the Gaedhil in pagan times, and that Round Tower burial was not
mentioned in the list here given. “The Bed of the Dagda ; ” the term here used is Imdal.
“The two Paps of the Morrigan ” (Da Cic); the reference here is evidently to a pair of
Tulachs or Cairns, in close proximity to each other. “The grave of Boinn” (Fert). “The
mound of Tresc" (Duma); here we have certainly the word Duma applied to a sepulchral
mound, but no evidence that it was so applied because of any marked difference between it
and the Tulach or Cairn. The grave of Esclam (Fert). “ (The monuments of) Cir and
Cuirrell, wives of the Dagda; these are two hillocks” (Da Cnoc); we have here the term
Cnoc applied to two sepulchral monuments, rendered “hillocks” by Dr. Petrie. “The
grave of Aedh Luirgnech " (Ferta). “The cave of Buailce Bec " (Dere); Dr. Petrie
renders this word Cave; Dr. Sullivan, as I have already shown at p. 69, describes the
Derc as a grave excavated out of the earth, lined with masonry and covered by a flag.
“The monument of Cellach, son of Maelcobha" (Lect). “The monument of the Steed of
Cinaedh son of Irgalach” (Lect), “The prison of Liath Macha” (Carcar). “The glen of
the Mata” (Glenn); it is difficult to ascertain the meaning of this term as applied to a
sepulchral monument, if it is so applied at all; may it not have been a natural glen in the
locality identified with some legend of the monster Mata? “The pillar stone of Buidi
L
74 SEPULCHRAL USAGES-CREMATION. [CHAP. VI.
the son of Muiredh" (Liag). “The stone of Benn " (Lecc). “The mound of the Bones”
(Duma). “The Caisel of Aengus son of Crunnmael.” It is quite certain that the passages
here quoted do not refer to various modes of interment, or to different forms of monuments;
they simply give the names by which the graves of certain remarkable personages were
known. It is quite evident that such terms as Cairn, Tulach, Duma, Mur, Cnoc, all signify
a mound or tumulus; and that Feart, Dearc, Lect, Carcar, Fulacht, and Cumot, are different
names for an interment beneath the surface in a Cistvaen or in a Cromlech above the surface.
Liag being the pillar-stone invariably placed to mark the interments of persons of note.
C. R. E M A TI O N.
It is a singular fact that the ancient Irish had one mode of disposing of the dead, to
which, I believe, I am safe in saying no reference has hitherto been found in our MSS., I
allude to cremation ; authorities both pagan and Christian are silent respecting it; we have
nevertheless abundant evidence that it was extensively practised in Ireland, most certainly
in pre-christian times. The numerous finds of fictile vessels of various forms and modes of
manufacture, containing cremated remains of the human body, establishes the fact beyond
the power of denial, even though our ancient annalists are silent on the subject. The various
discoveries of human interments made during the last century are in harmony with the
statements above made, but disclose some additional particulars of great interest to the
antiquarian student.
Mr. James Carruthers has recorded the finding of three cinerary urns in a sand-hill near
Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, in 1849; two of them were of large size, equal to holding two
gallons each; they contained calcined bones, and were richly ornamented; they were simply
buried in the sand-hill without being enclosed in any artificial chamber. (Uls. Jour. Arch.
v. iii. p. 127.) Mr. William Millen has recorded the finding of a cinerary urn with ashes,
under a curiously constructed stone arch or dome, at Ballyhammage, Co. Antrim, in 1825;
with the urn was found a stone celt and arrow head. (Ibid. v. iv. p. 270.)
Mr. George A. Carruthers records the finding of ten cinerary urns of unbaked clay, on
the lands of Keel, near Dundrum, Co. Down, in 1858; they were discovered by workmen
cutting away a bank; they all contained charcoal and burnt bones, and were bottom upwards,
each resting on a flag. Three only of them were preserved, and are now in the possession of
Lady Downshire, Hillsborough Castle. (Ibid. v. vi. p. 164.)
A curious discovery was made in removing a tumulus in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. The
mound was known as Cnoc-Maraide, and was 120-ft. in diameter and 15-ft. in height; in
it were found four small urns of baked clay, containing ashes and fragments of burnt bones;
they were enclosed in small stone cists. In the same tumulus a rude stone chamber was
uncovered, having a cap-stone 6-ft. 6-in. long and 3-ft. 3-in. broad; in it were found two
male skeletons in a doubled-up posture, and the thigh bone of a third. (Trans. Kil. Arch.
Soc. v. 1852-3, p. 43.)
In a mound called Tullydruid, near Dungannon, the following discovery was made. Some
workmen being employed in removing the material of the tumulus for the repair of a road,
CHAP. VI.] CREMATION.—SEPULCHRAL UFNS, 75
came upon a cistvaen covered by a large slab of stone, this being removed, a perfect
chamber was exposed, 4-ft. 6-in, by 2-ft. 6-in., containing a human skeleton in a sitting
posture, and at the knees a sepulchral urn of a very graceful form and proportions; it was
quite empty, and there were no indications of cremation of any part of the body. The
cistvaen was most carefully constructed. (Ibid. p. 44.)
At Ballon Hill, between Fenagh and Tullow, in the Co. Carlow, a most remarkable
discovery was made in the year 1858 of sepulchral remains, the details of which are given
in the above-named journal, in a paper contributed by the Rev. James Graves, who visited
the locality while Mr. J. Richardson Smith was engaged in his explorations; from which
paper I extract the following:—
“At present the great part of the hill is the property and demesne of John Lecky, Esq.,
of Ballykealy. As far back as the memory of the present generation reaches, discovery had
been made, every where over the surface of the hill, of what the peasantry called “pans' or
“crocks,' which, containing nothing but calcined bones, were invariably broken, when the
usual incantations did not change the bones into gold. Large numbers of fictile vessels had
been destroyed in planting trees, with which the hill is now partially covered. One man
said he had smashed four perfect urns in a day, another (a quarry-man) reported that he had
broken eleven found close together in the quarry opened on the top of the hill.
“In consequence of these reports Mr. Smith (then staying with his brother-in-law, Mr.
Lecky, at Ballykealy) commenced a systematic exploration of the hill on June 14th, 1853;
his labours have been resumed, at intervals, down to January, 1854, and the result has been
the most wonderful collection of ancient fictile vessels to be found in Ireland. The ‘diggings'
commenced at a large block of granite resting on the hill side, immediately over Ballykealy
House. This boulder measures nineteen feet by twelve in its largest dimensions; it is of a
pyramidal shape, rising eight feet above the surface, and extending three feet beneath it.
This stone has been known from time immemorial amongst the peasantry by the name of
Cloghan-na-Marabhan, i.e. the Stone of the Dead. Mr. Smith states that it proved to be
supported by granite blocks at each end; and on clearing away the soil, three human
skeletons were found beneath it, huddled together in a small space not above two feet in
length. The skeletons presented no trace of cremation. On further excavation, to such a
depth that one could sit upright beneath the great covering stone, four large blocks of granite
were turned over ; and, at a considerable depth, a bed of charcoal was discovered, with
broken urns of four distinct patterns. At another spot also a fine urn was found embedded
in sand, but it could not be preserved. At a subsequent period, when I myself was present,
similar fragile remains of fictile vessels were turned up, at the end of this boulder stone,
externally.” (Trans. Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1852-3, pp. 296-7.)
Mr. Smith continued his excavations over various parts of the hill, turning up immense
quantities of burned bones and charcoal, pieces of broken urns, and in several instances
whole ones; some of these urns were found in stone cists, others without being enclosed in
any way; a dagger blade of bronze was also found. The explorations, which had been
suspended for a short time, were resumed on July 19th, when Mr. Smith writes:– “This
morning, with a friend, I recommenced digging by the rath, and have never discovered more
76 CREMATION.—SEPULCHRAL URNS. [CHAP. VI.
extraordinary remains. Early in the day we found two large cists, in one of which was an
urn, above thirteen inches in height, quite hard and in great preservation, with the mouth
turned down, and almost full of bones. Late in the day we came upon the largest walled-up
place that I have yet found, three feet two inches long by two feet four inches wide and
about a foot and a half deep, covered by an enormous flag which (I am told) weighs sixteen
hundred-weight. It took five men with crows to turn it; when the flag was turned there was
a large hollow space, the bottom being filled with burned bones—from the large size I
conceive mostly of animals.” Mr. Smith was obliged to discontinue his researches,
but subsequently resumed them December 20th ; from his journal I take the following
extracts:—
“23rd December.—Tried the west, or upper side of the rath, and soon found traces of
great fires, and two very deep pits. The charcoal lay in deep beds; we found an urn seven
inches high, of a curious pattern, and ornamented by six raised hoops. . . .”
“2nd January, 1854.—Resumed diggings, charcoal still abundant; in the afternoon
found the rim of an urn of a very handsome pattern. . . . .”
“3rd January.—Still found traces of great fires, with deep pits, which may have served
either for burning human bodies or sacrifices, or perhaps both.”
“4th January.—Charcoal and pits—no urns.”
“9th January.—Commenced digging again at the upper side of the rath, found a large
cist most carefully built, and covered with a flag. The cist contained only large bones and
charcoal; replaced the covering flag.”
“11th January.—Fires and pits, but no urns. I have formed the idea (judging from the
quantity of charcoal found, together with pits and cists full of the bones of animals and
birds, with no human remains distinguishable) that a large number of the cists contained
only the bones of sacrifices, the remains of some great pagan solemnities, for it is difficult
to suppose that the bones of animalsmerely used for food would be thus carefully buried. . . .”
“16th January.—Having been prevented yesterday from going to the hill, the men
worked by themselves, and at night brought me down by far the most perfect and beautiful
urn yet found. It is impossible to give an idea of the rich beauty of the patterns which
adorn this splendid work of art. In shape it differs from all the others, resembling two urns,
one placed on the top of the other. The men having been left to themselves, went back to
the rath, and in a little strip between the trees they found a cist of an irregular form, four
feet wide and covered with large flags; in the west corner, filled in and embedded in sand, an
urn was found reversed. Three small fragments of bone were found in the cist, none in the
urn.” (Ibid. pp. 300-1.)
The above are but extracts from the Rev. James Graves's valuable and most interesting
paper, which is illustrated by three plates, bearing engravings of thirteen of the urns, which
exhibit a great variety of beautiful ornamentation as well as of graceful outline. A paper in
illustration of this remarkable find, by the Rev. William Turney, vicar of Boxgrove, was read
before the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Feb. 3rd, 1854, in which
the author remarks:—“The workmanship of these examples of ancient pottery is far more
elaborate than that of the Celtic urns with which we are most familiar in England.
CHAP. VI.] SEPULCHRAL, USAGES OF THE GAEDHIL. 77
The ornaments are not simple scorings, zig-zag or other patterns, but tooled or chiselled,
so as to present portions in high relief; amongst the forms frequently occurring on Irish urns
are lozenges and escalloped patterns, with strongly projecting ribs, much decorated, the
inside of the mouth of these vessels is usually ornamented with much care.” (Ibid. p. 302.)
Mr. Smith resumed his excavations on July 21st of the same year, but was not so
successful as on the previous occasions in the discovery of perfect urns; he opened up
several fire pits and considerable quantities of burnt bones and charcoal, with remains of
ornamental pottery. In one spot he uncovered a decapitated skeleton; describing this find he
writes:—“The body was laid on the rock and covered with granite sand, with small stones
near the surface; it had been interred without the head, the shoulder joints coming close to
an upright quarry stone; the collar bones were in their places and unbroken ; the body was
stretched out; found a cut upwards on the left thigh bone.” (Ibid. v. 1854-5.)
It is to be deplored that this collection of sepulchral urns, so illustrative, not only of the
burial customs of the Gaedhil, but also of their advance in the arts in a remote pagan age,
should have been transported to England; the unity of the collection probably broken up,
and the urns ultimately scattered about in private museums. It would certainly have been
a graceful act in Mr. Smith to have presented the result of his labours intact to our National
Museum in Dublin; such a course would have been held in grateful remembrance by all Irish
archaeologists.
Ballon Hill has not been identified in any of our ancient records; its name is suggestive,
most undoubtedly, of fire solemnities of some character; for I cannot agree with those
antiquaries who entirely discard the idea of a Baal cultus in Ireland, merely because it does
not appear in our old MSS. If we were confined to such evidence, we would be led to infer
that the pagan Gaedhil had no religious beliefs whatever. The topographical nomenclature
of Ireland reveals far more on these recondite subjects than do her ancient MSS., which
were all compiled in Christian times, and mostly by Christian ecclesiastics, whose strong
prejudices inclined them to expunge from such every trace of the ancient beliefs; there are
Balls and Baals in Ireland that cannot be rendered by Beal, Beul or Balla. I cannot enter on
the subject here, but I think it is one still open to investigation.
On September 12th, 1860, at a meeting of the Kil. Arch. Soc., a presentation was made
to their museum by Lady Elizabeth and Capt. Wemyss of three very fine sepulchral urns,
found at Dunfert, Co. Kilkenny; two of these were found in one stone cist, very carefully
constructed, with the usual accompaniment of calcined bones. The other was also found in
a small stone cist, under similar circumstances. In the same cemetery, for it certainly was
such (Dunfeart), was found, near the larger cist, two skeletons, lying at full length; when
exposed to the air they crumbled to pieces. (Trans. Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1860-1, pp. 168-9.)
On October 2nd, 1872, Mr. George H. Kinahan communicated to a meeting of the above
society an account of the finding of several fictile sepulchral vessels on the lands of
Longhrey, Co. of Tyrone. Two of these urns were taken from the interior of one of those
monuments named giants' graves. Mr. Kinahan described the megalithic structure as being
25-ft. in length and 7-ft. in breadth; of the side and end stones eleven remain; of the
covering stones two; one of these urns was very chaste in its ornamentation, and very beautiful
78 SEPULCHRAL USAGES.–CLUICHE CAINTECH. [CHAP. vi.
in its outline, and has been illustrated in the journal. The writer further mentions the
finding of two other urns in the same locality, one of which was taken from a stone cist.
(Jour. Hist. Arch. Assoc. v. 1872, pp. 202-3.)
It is unnecessary for me to pursue this part of mysubject any further; Ihave given sufficient
evidence of the extent of the practice of urn burial in Ireland; the indices of the authorities
I have quoted from, as well as those of the Transactions and Proceedings of the Roy. Ir, Aca.,
will afford the student in this branch of our native antiquities more copious information.
I have already stated, that I am unaware of the existence of any reference to cremation
in our ancient MSS. A very diligent investigator, Dr. Sullivan, has, however, produced a
passage from the B. B., which he conceives has reference to such a custom; it is as follows:—
“Fiachra then brought fifty hostages with him from Munster, and he brought a great Cain
(i.e. a booty levied as legal fine), and he went forth then on his way to Temar. When,
however, he reached Forud in Ui Mac Uais, in Meath, Fiachra died of his wounds there.
His Leacht was made, and his Fert was raised, and his Cluiche Caintech was ignited, and his
Ogam name was written, and the (fifty) hostages which he brought from the south were
buried alive around the Fert of Fiachra, that it might be a reproach to the Momonians for
ever, and that it might be a trophy over them.” (Manners and Customs, v. i. pp. cccxx.-i.)
I fear that this passage gives us no information on the point at issue. The word Cluiche
signifies games, and refers to the hurling, wrestling, and mock military combats that were
performed at the Aenachs or annual assemblies, and also at the obsequies of great chiefs or
warriors. Cainteach signifies fluency of speech, loquacity; we have also Canitie, a song, a
canticle; Caointe, lamented, bewailed; and Caointeach, sad, sorrowful, mournful, plaintive.
The reference here is certainly to the funeral games, and to the dirges and laudatory requiems
(Caoine) which were recited or sung on such occasions. The word “ignited,” in the original
“hadnad,” is very correctly rendered by Dr. Sullivan; but it also signifies fervour, zeal,
heat, excitement. I conceive that the reference here is to the warmth of feeling and fervour with
which the exciting portions of the funeral ceremony were carried out; the term here appears
used in a similar sense as when we say of an orator “that he fired the enthusiasm of his
audience.”
Dr. Sullivan's remarks on the above passage are of considerable interest, and worthy of
our attention:—“The Cluiche Caentech of Fiachra, which we are told in the passage above
quoted was ignited, was not a funeral pyre, though evidently used here in that sense.
Cluiche Caentech was the whole funeral rite, and included, when cremation was practised,
the burning of the body, the enclosing of the ashes in the urn, but especially the recitation
of dirges, and the performance of games. The dirges constituted the Guba, and the games
the Cuitech Fuait. As the ignition of the funeral pyre would be the signal for the
commencement of the dirges and other rites, the term used for the whole of the operations
was applied, as we have seen, to the first. One reason suggests itself for this being done.
Many of the funeral rites necessarily survived the substitution of the burial of the body for
cremation, and among them, no doubt, the lighting of torches with which the pyre was
kindled, and which in aftertimes were replaced by the candles placed around the dead body.
Hence the kindling of the torches, or the lighting of the candles, took the place of the
CHAP. VI.] SEPULCHRAL USAGES OF THE GAEDHIL. 79
lighting of the funeral pyre as the commencement of the Cluiche Caente or singing of the
dirges and other rites, and thus preserved a tradition of the connection between the funeral
pyre and the name by which the whole of the funeral rites were called.” (Manners and Customs,
v. i. pp. cccKxiii. iv.) There is nothing to object to in the above passage as a statement of
probability. I am however inclined to hold my already expressed opinion, that the term
Cluiche Caentech was not a name for the whole ceremony, but simply expressed the
mourning games. That Cluiche signifies games, play, is evident from Dr. O'Donovan's
supplement to O'Reilly, in which we find “Col cluice, foul play, cheating at a game,” Col
signifying falsehood, deceit, treachery. Guba certainly has the same meaning as Caoine,
but it also signifies “battle, conflict,” and when used in a funeral sense may refer to the
mimic warfare practised on such occasions. As to the words Cuitech and Fuait, I have
failed to identify them as having any reference to sepulchral rites; however, Dr. Sullivan's
philological labours entitle his opinions to the highest consideration, and I am sure he
would not use them in the sense he has done without sufficient authority.
The reference in the passage from the B. B. to the slaying of the Munster hostages and
burying their remains around the grave of Fiachra, has led some to believe that the Gaedhil
practised this Scythian habit; but this single case is not sufficient to establish the custom ;
it would appear that this was a mere instance of revenge for the loss of their king, who had
received his death-wound from the Momonians. Dr. Sullivan's view of the transaction is
very probably the correct one :-" The reproach which this act was intended to cast on the
men of Munster consisted, no doubt, in treating the Munster hostages, who were all of the
highest birth, as if they were the dependents and slaves of Fiachra. It may be also, that
putting them to death in the way here described, and burying them around him, as they
would have sat infetters along the wall of his banqueting hall, consecrated them, as it were,
to perpetual hostageship even among the dead.” (Ibid. pp. cccxx.-xxi.)
80
CHAPTE R W II.
THE CEMETERIES OF THE GAEDHIL.
I have already given some idea of the mortuary customs of the Gaedhil of Erinn in
individual cases, and in pagan times. It would appear, however, from documentary evidence
as well as from existing remains, that they possessed not only public cemeteries set apart for
the dead of their ordinary populations, but also great provincial burial-grounds in which stood
the sepulchral monuments of their kings and great provincial chiefs, the sites of several of
which are still known and recognizable by their mortuary remains. In fact, a document of
great antiquity, and having all the characteristics of a faithful and reliable witness, has come
down to our times, which treats of those regal burial grounds. I allude to a tract well-
known to Irish antiquaries as the Senchus-na-Relig, i.e. the History of the Cemeteries;
contained in the Leabhar-na-h Uidhre, a vellum MS. compiled by Maelmuiri, a scribe of
Clomnacoines in the 12th century, from more ancient sources.
The original of this tract with a translation has been published by Dr. Petrie in his
Round Towers, from which I take the following extracts:—
“These were the chief cemeteries of Erin before the faith (that is before the introduction
of Christianity, viz.) Cruachu, Brugh, Tailtin, Luachair Ailbe, Oenach Ailbe, Oenach Culi,
Oenach Colmain, Teamhar Erann.
“Oenach Cruachain, in the first place, it was there the race of Heremon, i.e. the kings
of Tara, were used to bury until the times of Cremhthann, the son of Lughaidh Riabh-n-
derg (who was the first king of them that was interred at Brugh), viz. Cobhthach Coelbregh,
and Labhraidh Loingsech, and Eocho Fedhlech, with his three sons (i.e. the three
Fidhemhna, i.e. Bres, Nar, and Lothor), and Eocho Airemh, Lughaidh Riabh-n-derg, the
six daughters of Eocho Fedhlech (i.e. Medhbh, and Clothru, Muresc, and Drebriu, Mugain,
and Ele), and Ailill Mac Mada with his seven brothers (i.e. Cet, Anlon, Doche, et cetera),
and all the kings down to Cremhthann (these were all buried at Cruchan). Why was it not
at Brugh that the kings (of the race of Cobhthach down to Crimhthann) were interred 2
Not difficult, because the two provinces which the race of Heremon possessed were the
province Gailian (i.e. the province of Leinster) and the province of Olnecmacht (i.e. the
province of Connaught).
“In the first place the province of Gailian was occupied by the race of Labhraidh
Loingsech, and the province of Connaught was the peculiar inheritance of the race of
CHAP. VII.] THE CEMETERIES OF THE GAEDHIL. 81
Cobhthach Coelbregh; wherefore it (i. e. the province of Connaught) was given to Medhbh
befor every other province. (The reason that the government of this land was given to
Medhbh is because there was none of the race of Eochaidh fit to receive it but herself, for
Lughaidh was not fit for action at that time.) And whenever, therefore, the monarchy of
Erin was enjoyed by any of the descendants of Cobhthach Coelbregh, the province of
Connaught was his ruidles (i.e. his native principality). And for this reason they were
interred at Oenach-na-Cruachna. But they were interred at Brugh from the time of
Crimhthann (Niadh-mar) to the time of Leoghaire, the son of Niall, except three persons,
namely, Art, the son of Conn, and Cormac, the son of Art, and Niall of the nine hostages.
“We have already mentioned the cause for which Cormac was not interred there. The
reason why Art was not interred there is, because he ‘believed' the day before the battle of
Muccramma was fought, and he predicted the faith (i.e. that Christianity would prevail in
Erin), and he said that his own grave would be at Dumha Dergluachra, where Treoit Trevet
is at this day, as he mentioned in a poem which he composed, viz. Cain do denda den (i.e.
a poem which Art composed, the beginning of which is Cain do denda den, etc.). When
his (Art's) body was afterwards carried eastwards to Dumha Dergluachra, if all the men of
Erin were drawing it thence, they could not, so that he was interred in that place, because
there was a Catholic church to be afterwards at the place where he was interred (i.e. Treoit
hodiè), because the truth and the faith was revealed to him through his regal righteousness.
“Where Niall was interred was at Ochain, whence the hill was called Ochain, i.e. Och
Caine, i.e. from the sighing and lamentation which the men of Erin made in lamenting Niall.
“Conaire More was interred at Magh Feci in Bregia (i.e. at Fert Conaire); however,
some say that it was Conaire Carpraige was interred there, and not Conaire Mor; and that
Conaire Mor was the third king who was interred at Tara, viz. Conaire, Loeghaire, and. . .
“At Tailltin the kings of Ulster were used to bury, viz. Ollamh Fodhla, with his
descendants down to Conchobhar, who wished that he should be carried to a place between
Slea and the sea, with his face to the east, on account of the Faith which he had embraced.
“The nobles of the Tuatha De Danann were used to bury at Brugh (i.e. the Dagda with
his three sons; also Lughaidh, and Oe, and Ollam, and Ogma, and Etan, the poetess, and
Corpre, the son of Etan), and Cremhthann followed them because his wife Nar was of the
Tuatha Dea, and it was she solicited him that he should adopt Brugh as a burial-place for
himself and his descendants, and this was the cause that they did not bury at Cruachan.
“The Lagenians (i.e. Cathair with his race and the kings who were before them) were
buried at Oenach Ailbhe. The Clann Dedad (i.e. the race of Conaire and Erna) at Temhair
Erann; the men of Munster, i.e. the (Dergthene), at Oenach Culi and Oenach Colmain;
and the Connacians at Cruachan.”
In the list of cemeteries above quoted, we find several having the prefix Aenach, a word
frequently met with as a topographical designation. From the evidence afforded by our
ancient MSS., it would appear that an Aenach was a periodical assembly of the people of a
province or a district at a particular spot remarkable for some past event, or associated with
the memory of some great personage. The Aenach has been usually represented as a fair,
the modern idea of which is the assemblage of the people of a district for the purposes of
M

82 CEMETERIES-AENACH OR ANCIENT FAIR. [CHAP. VII.
traffic ; the buying and selling of cattle, and certain articles of ordinary merchandise. In
ancient times, however, an Aenach was a far more important affair; if a provincial one, it
was attended not only by the king, the chiefs, and nobles, but also by those of the
neighbouring provinces, if at amity; athletic games were practised, military spectacles were
displayed, mimic combats performed, horse and chariot races decided, cattle and merchandise
of every description vended; it was attended by acrobats, jugglers, story-tellers,
musicians, itinerant bards, and the professors of the various arts which amuse the populace;
and not only so, but the graver exigencies of the state were on these occasions attended to,
weighty litigations were decided, new laws were enacted and promulgated. Many passages
from our ancient bards give us some idea of the nature of an Aenach, but the most detailed,
and probably accurate description of one of these assemblies has come down to us in an
ancient poem, copies of which are to be found in the MS. Book of Ballymote and Book of
Lecan entitled, “The Ancient Fair of Carman.” This Aenach was celebrated in the
neighbourhood of the town of Wexford, whose harbour was anciently called Lough Garman,
or Carman; it was a triennial festival of the province of Leinster, and according to the
poem was instituted in the year 580 B.C. A translation of this curious tract by Dr.
Sullivan, is given in the appendix to the third vol. of O'Curry's Manners and Customs, p.
523, from which I take the following extracts:–
“Thus it is they used to hold this fair, by their tribes and families and households, to the
time of Cathair Mor; and Cathair, however, bequeathed not Carman to any but to his own
descendants, and the precedence he bequeathed to the race of Ros Failge, their followers,
and their exiles, to continue the fair ut the Seven Laigsechs and the Fotharts; and to them
belongs (the right) to celebrate it and to secure it from every disaster (while) going thither
and returning thence. There were seven races there every day, and seven days for
celebrating it, and for considering the laws and rights of the province for three years. It
was on the last day of it the Ossorians held their fair, and they coursed it every day before
closing; and hence it was called the steed contest of the Ossorians. The Forud of their
king was on the right hand of the king of Leinster, and the Forud of the king of Ua Failge
was on his left hand; and in the same manner their women.
“On the Kalends of August they assembled there, and on the sixth of August they left
it. Every third year they were wont to hold it, and (it took) two years for the preparations.
It was five hundred and eighty years from the holding of the first fair in Carman, to the
forty-second year of (the reign of) Octavius Augustus, in which year Christ was born.
“Three markets there, viz. a market of food and clothes; a market of live stock,
cows and horses, etc.; a market of foreigners and exiles selling gold and silver, etc. The
professors of every art, both the noble arts and the base arts, and non-professionals were
there selling and exhibiting their compositions and their professional works to kings; and
rewards were given for every (work of) art that was just or lawful to be sold, or exhibited, or
listened to.” (Note, No. 585.)
The metrical account of the Aenach is more particular and diffuse in description; it gives
the legends extant in the author's day of the origin of the fair, from which it is evident that,
like most others of which we have information, it arose from the commemorative rites
CHAP. VII.] CARMAN–PROVINCIAL CEMETERY. 83
celebrated at the sepulchre of some remarkable personage. One of those legends is given
as follows:–
“Another version is that old Garman had followed the seven cows of Eochaidh, which
cows had been carried off by Lena, the son of Mesroed; and Uca, the daughter of Oeca,
king of Cert, was his mother, and she was the wife of Mesceagra, son of Datho, king of
Leinster.
“There were also along with Lena, driving these cows away, Sen, the son of Durb; and
Locar the swift, son of Smirach; and Gunnat, the son of Succat ; and Altach, son of
Dulbh ; and Motur, the son of Largach. Old Garman discovered them at Rath Beg, on
the south side of Datho's Dun. He killed Uca then, with her women, and the men who
took away the cows, and old Garman drove away his cows to the plain of Mesc, the daughter
of Bodb, whom he had carried away from Sidh Finnchaidh in Sliab Monad, in Alba; and
Mesc died of shame in this place, and her grave was made there, namely, the grave of Mese,
the daughter of Bodb, and the four sons of Mac Datho, namely, Mes Sed, and Mes Roed,
and Mes Ded, and Mes Delmon, overtook old Garman at this place, and old Garman fell by
them there; and they made his grave there, and so he begged of them to institute a fair of
mourning for him there; and that the fair and the place should bear his name for ever; and
hence Carman and old Carmund have their names.” (Ibid. pp. 527-8.) The other legend
attributes its origin to a famous witch and enchantress named Carman, whose sepulchre was
in this place. That this was one of the provincial cemeteries, there can, I think, be no
doubt. Dr. Sullivan quotes a passage from one of the versions of this poem, which
distinctly states so, as follows:–
“The seven principal cemeteries of Erin, ut dicit:-
These are the seven sepulchral cemeteries:
The cemetery of Tailté to be chosen,
The cemetery of Cruachan of sadness,
And the cemetery of the Brugh,
The cemetery of Carman of heroes,
Oenach Cuile with its appropriations,
The mortuary of the people of Parthalon,
And Teamar of Dun Firtan.” (Ibid. p. 530)
A further confirmation of the probability that Carman was the provincial cemetery for
Leinster will be found in another portion of this poem; at stanzas 73 and 74 we find the
following:—
“Twenty-one raths of enduring fame,
In which hosts are under earth confined :
A conspicuous cemetery of high renown,
By the side of delightful noble Carman.
“Seven mounds without touching each other,
Where the dead have often been lamented ;
Seven plains, sacred, without a house,
For the funeral games of Carman.” (Ibid. p. 547.)
84 CEMETERIES-NEW GRANGE AND KNOWTH. ſcHAP. VII.
This is a very interesting passage; the seven mounds (dumai) were probably the
sepulchres of the monarch and his great chiefs, similar to New Grange and Knowth; the
twenty-one raths were Keels, enclosed by a Les, or earthen rampart, and were probably the
burial places of the inferior chiefs and their families.
The Dind Senchus, already quoted at p.72, has preserved to us the names of the great
provincial cemeteries of Erinn; the greater number of these can, Ithink, beidentified. Cruachu;
this locality is at present known as Croghan, in the barony of Ballintobber, Co. Roscommon,
a description of which will be found elsewhere. Brugh; the remains of this regal cemetery,
situated in the County of Meath, are thus accurately defined by Sir William Wilde in his
“Boyne and Blackwater.” “About a mile and a half below Slane, and extending along the
northern bank of the river, we meet the great Irish cemetery to which we have just alluded.
This consists chiefly of a number of sepulchral mounds or barrows, varying in magnitude
and occupying a space of about a mile in breadth northwards of the river's bank, and
stretching from Knowth to the confines of Netterville demesne, over a distance of nearly
three miles. In this space we find the remains of no less than seventeen sepulchral barrows,
some of these—the smaller ones—situated in the green pasture lands which form the
immediate valley of the Boyne, while the three of greatest magnitude are placed on the
summit of the ridge which bounds this valley upon the left bank, and a few others are to be
found at Monk Newtown, beyond the brow of the hill, towards Louth; making upwards of
twenty in all, including the remains at Cloghalea, and the great moat on which the fortress
of Drogheda now stands, and known in the annals as the mound of the grave of the wife of
Gobhan. This latter is however on the right or southern bank.” (p. 188.) For a faithful
and characteristic description of those curious and remarkable remains, I would refer my
readers to the work from which I have taken the above extract.
Tailltiu.-This locality, remarkable in our native annals, has been generally identified with
the modern Teltown, situated between Kells and Navan, on the northern bank of the Boyne.
I am, however, of opinion that the remains at present there existing are too insignificant to
be considered the sole remains of one of the most celebrated cemeteries and regal palaces in
Ireland ; for like Cruachan, it was the locality of both. Mr. Eugene A. Conwell, in a paper
read before the R. I. A. February 12th, 1872, has given a most interesting account of the
remarkable sepulchral remains on the Loughcrew hills, near Oldcastle, Co. Meath, and in
close proximity to Teltown. Mr. Conwell subsequently published his paper in an enlarged
form, entitled “Discovery of the Tomb of Ollamh Fodhla ; ” in this little volume he puts
forth his reasons for asserting that the Longhcrew remains formed a portion of the great
provincial cemetery of Taillten. I think he is successful in his reasoning; there can be no
question that the ancient denomination extended over a much larger district than is
represented by the modern Teltown, and with great probability embraced the site of the
sepulchral remains alluded to, which comprise cairns, tumuli, sepulchral chambers, stone
chairs, cromlechs, giant's graves, pillar stones; including considerable numbers of slabs and
pillars inscribed with various ornamental devices, as scrolls, spirals, concentric rings, and
other forms probably hieroglyphic.
CHAP. VII.] CEMETERIES OF TAILTAN, CRUACHAN, AND BRUGH. 85
The origin of this Aenach is set forth in a tract called the Dindsencus, which is contained
in the book of Leinster, fol. 258, A.A. A translation of that portion of it relating to
Taillten, by Mr. Brian O'Looney, M.R.I.A., is given in Mr. Conwell's work, p. 15; from
which I take the following extract:-
“Taillten, why so called 2 Answer: Tailtiu, daughter of Magh Mor, the wife of
Eochaidh Garbh, son of Duach Temin ; it was by him Duma na n-Giall, at Temair, was
made, and she was the nurse (foster-mother) of Lugaidh, son of Scal Balbh, and it was she
that requested her husband to cut down Caill Cuain, that it should be an Oenach (fair or
assembly place) around her Leacht (or grave), and she died on the Kalend of August after that,
and her guba (lamentations) and her nosad (games, funeral rites) were celebrated by Lugud,
unde Lug Nosad dicitur. Five hundred years, moreover, and three thousand before the
birth of Christ this occurred, and this fair was made celebrated by every king who occupied
Erinn till Patrick came. And four hundred years it continued to be celebrated in Taillten,
from Patrick to the Black Fair of Donchadh, son of Fland, son of Maelseachland.”
Without attaching much importance to the chronology of the above passage, we can
safely infer that the institution of Taillten as a place of provincial assemblage was of a very
remote period. This is further confirmed by a passage in the Leabhar na h-Uidhre; it will
be found in a poem on the death and burial of Dathi, at Rathcroghan, and is as follows : —
“The three cemeteries of the Idolaters are
The cemetery of Tailtan the select,
The ever-clean cemetery of Cruachan,
And the cemetery of Brugh.”—Round Towers, p. 104.
In a prose commentary which follows the poem from which the above extract is taken,
and which Dr. Petrie conjectures is from the pen of Maelmiré, the compiler of the Leabhar-
na-huidhre, we find further information about Taillten, and an account of the races who
used it as a place of sepulture –
“The chiefs of Ulster before Conchobhar were buried at Talten, viz. Ollamh Fodhla and
seven of his sons and grandsons, with others of the chiefs of Ulster. The nobles of the
Tuath de Danaan (with the exception of seven of them who were interred at Talten)
were buried at Brugh.” (Ibid. p. 106.)
At A.M. 3370, according to the Ann. 4. Mas., the fair of Tailltean was instituted by Lugh
Lamhfada, “in commemoration and remembrance of his foster-mother Taillte; ” from that
period down to A.D. 1168 it appears to have been regularly celebrated, with an occasional
exception, arising from civil discords; in that year appears the last notice of it in the Ann.
4. Mas., as follows:—
“On this occasion the fair of Tailltin was celebrated by the king of Ireland and the
people of Leath-Chuinn, and their horses and cavalry were spread out on the space
extending from Mullach-Aiti to Mullach-Taiten.”
That the few remains on the north bank of the Boyne, consisting of a rath, and portions
of two others, as described by Sir William Wilde, should be considered as indicating the
site of the ancient regal seat and cemetery of Tailltean, is, I think, a mistake. The poem
already quoted from states, that there were fifty Cnocs or sepulchral mounds at Tailltean ;
86 CEMETERIES-OENACH-CULI AND OENACH-COLMAIN. ſchAP. VII.
this may be a poetic, or round number, but Mr. Conwell, in his work, states that the
cemetery on the Loughcrew hills exhibits at present the ruins or sites of more than half the
above number. (Tomb of Ollamh Fodhla, &c. p. 19.)
Oenach Ailbhe.—The passage already quoted from the Senchus na Relic informs us,
that this was the cemetery of the Lagenians. I have before hinted my opinion, that
Carman and Oenach Ailbhe are identical, and I think there can scarcely be a doubt of it.
I am not aware whether the neighbourhood of Wexford has been examined by any
competent antiquary, to ascertain the probable site of the ancient Carman, or whether any
remains still exist that would indicate it. The above authority states that “The Lagenians
(i.e. Cathair with his race and the kings who were before them were buried at Oenach
Ailbhe.” (Round Towers, p. 101.) The italics are mine.
The writer of the prose account of the fair of Carman distinctly states that “The
people of Leinster celebrated this fair by their tribes and by their families down to the time
of Cathair Mor. Caithair, however, bequeathed Carman to his sons and their families”
(Manners and Customs v. iii. p. 529); and in a poem already quoted at p. 83 from the
same authority, and which enumerates “the seven principal cemeteries of Erin,” we find
Carman named as one of them, and Oenach Ailbhe omitted. These facts will, I think,
warrant me in concluding that Oenach Ailbhe was another and perhaps a more modern Ilame
for Carman. -
Temhair Erann.—It has already been stated at p. 81 that “The Clann Dedad (i.e. the
race of Conaire and Erna)” were buried “at Temhair Erann.” The Clann Dedad, or more
properly Deagaid, were supposed to be the descendants of Deag, the son of Sen, the son of
Olill.
We find the Clann Deagaid, in the first century of our era, inhabiting west Munster;
they were a powerful tribe occupying the western districts of the county Limerick, and
probably the most of Kerry; from this tribe descended Conaire Mor, and Eterscel, both
monarchs of Ireland, and also the celebrated champion and king of west Munster, Curoi Mac
Daire, who flourished in the first century of our era. This tribe were also called Ernai,
probably from the Erna above named. As to the locality of Temhair Erann, the cemetery
of the chiefs of this race, it has not as yet been satisfactorily identified.
It is believed that the kings of west Munster had a royal seat at Teamhair Luachra,
which Dr. O'Curry locates near Abbeyfeale, on the borders of the counties of Limerick and
Kerry. (Manners and Customs, v. iii. p. 132.) Dr. O'Donovan, in a note (c.) under A.D.
1580, (Ann. 4. Mas.) states, that the name Teamhair Luachra is now obsolete, but that
“its situation is still pointed out by Beal-Atha-na-Teamhrach, a ford in the parish of Dysert,
near the little town of Castle-Island, in the county of Kerry’; he further states that the
“whole district was originally called Sliabh Luachra, and Luachair Deaghaidh.” Now if
we could identify this regal seat of west Munster, it is probable that we would find Teamhair
Erann in the same locality.
Oenach-Culi and Oenach-Colmain.-These are stated to have been the burial places of
“the men of Munster (i.e. the Dergthene).” Dr. Petrie quotes a poem attributed to the
bard Dorbun, taken from a tract in the Leabhar-nr-huidhre, on the death and burial of

CHAP. VII.] CEMETERIES OF THE GAEDHIL–THE KEEL 87
Dathi, the last pagan monarch of Ireland. The poem is followed by a prose commentary, in
which it is stated that the kings of Munster were buried “at Oenach Culi in Oenach Colman.”
(Round Towers, p. 106.) The word in I have italicised. If this reading be a true one, it
will simplify our search for the site of Oenach Culi.
Oenach Colman I am disposed to locate at, or in the neighbourhood of the present
town of Cloyne, formerly a bishop's see, founded by the celebrated St. Colman, about A.D.
560. Cloyne was anciently known as Cluain Uamha, i.e. of the cave or caves. In the
Book of Rights, p. 89, it is named as one of the regal seats of the kings of Cashel, in
Munster:-" And to it belongs the noble (fort of) Cluain Uamha.”
At Cloyne, we have the mutilated remains of a cathedral, commenced in the 13th
century, on the site of a more ancient building; here also we have a fine example of the
Round Tower, in good preservation, and the foundations of a building, in the grave yard,
known from old times as “the fire house.”
There hangs about Cloyne certainly an odour of antiquity, and we are, therefore, quite
prepared to find, that in remote times it had a provincial cemetery and regal raths, with its
periodical Aenach, for I think there can be doubt that it was the Oenach Colman above
alluded to. Now it is highly probable that Oenach Culi was the actual name of the cemetery,
which was in the district of Oenach Colman; for the compiler of the Senchus na Relic
wrote at a time when the zeal, piety, and learning of St. Colman had given his name to the
scene of his past labours, for here he also founded one of the most remarkable schools of
learning in Munster. This place is situated in the barony of Imokilly, the modern form of
Ui Mac Caille (Mart. Don. p. 129), a name evidently derived from some noted person; as we
have already seen, most of the regal cemeteries were named from the individuals first
interred in them; presuming that Oenach Culi was one of these, I would hazard the
conjecture that this Culi may have been identical with the person who gave his name to the
barony of Imokilly. Again, the name Cluain Uamha, rendered by Dr. O'Donovan “the
laron or meadow of the caves,” is suggestive of a cemetery; the term is frequently used in
ancient MSS. to signify a grave; it stands in O'Reilly's Dictionary thus, “ Uaimh, s. a dem,
cave, grave, grotto, hollow.”
T H E K E E L.
In what has been advanced in the last chapter, we have ample evidence of the remarkable
care and reverence manifested by the pagan Gaedhil in the disposal of the remains of the
illustrious dead, as well as in the means adopted to preserve their memories, not only by the
erection of pillar stones inscribed with their names in the archaic character then in use, but
also by the institution of periodical festivals in their honour, marked by such peculiarly
national features as could not fail of perpetuating their names and great actions to posterity.
But while this was the case in respect of the remains of the great and the illustrious, we
are also assured by existing facts, that those of the humbler classes of society, in proportion
to rank and means, met with equal care and reverence.
In truth, we have ample evidence of this, in the extraordinary number of burial grounds
and sites of burial grounds to be identified all over our island; they are generally

88 cEMETERIEs—THE KILLEEN OR CEALURAGH. [CHAP. VII.
denominated Keels (Ceals) by the peasantry; a word that is common in Irish topography, by
itself and in combination. Killeen (Cilleen), the diminutive of Keel, is also frequently used,
as also Killeena and Kealuragh (Cealuragh). These cemeteries are to be distinguished from
the ordinary burial grounds of the country at present in use, and which are invariably
connected with ancient churches or remains of a known Christian character. The Keel is
unconnected with Christian churches or associations of any kind, and where still made use of,
it is solely for the interment of unbaptised children and suicides, thus stamping their
unconsecrated character; in truth, the Keel is the pagan graveyard, abandoned on the
reception of Christianity, but still held in dread reverence by the people as sacred to the
mysterious dead : to this feeling we must attribute the preservation of such vast numbers of
them as are found over the face of the country. They are usually circular areas of varying
diameters, slightly raised above the surrounding ground line, and enclosed by an earthon
rampart, one of earth and stones, or else of uncemented masonry; they are distinguished
from the ordinary rath by having but one rampart, without any ditch; the entrance is a cut
through the fence, flanked on either side by one or more tall pillar stones. In some instances
the Keel is enclosed by a circle of upright stones, as at Killacloyme, Kilcaskan, and
Mitchelstown, County Cork; Droumatouk and Derrygurrane, County Kerry.
In some examples they are low circular or oval cairns, without any enclosing fence, as at
Lugnagappul, Ballintaggart and Ballinrannig, County Kerry. In many cases the mound and
fence has been entirely erased, but strange to say, the site has been left to nature, and while
the field around it has been a hundred times broken up and cultivated, nothing will induce
the peasant to put a spade in, or drive a plough through the Keel. In some instances, in
valuable tillage land, the Keel has been from time to time encroached on; the cupidity of the
farmer, getting the better of his superstitious fears, leads him to push his tillage yard by yard
on the outer rim of the weird circle. This operation is quite evident at Kilcolaght in Kerry,
and Kilgravane in Waterford; both bare, circular, unenclosed and untilled spots in rich fields;
the ogam-inscribed stones being huddled together in the centres, and evidently the guardian
angels of the Keel. In looking over the townland maps of the Ordnance survey, the
observer will remark numbers of erased Keels marked “Site of Keel burial ground.” The
modes of interment found in these cemeteries appear to be confined to two ; the enclosure of
the unburnt body in a rude stone cist, and of the cremated relics inurned in a similar
receptacle. Pillar stones inscribed or uninscribed marked the spot of interment. More
plentiful in the south and west, the Keel is to be found all over our island; in the barony of
Corcaguiney in Kerry, Mr. Hitchcock found forty-six, a remarkable number for the extent of
the habitable portions of the district.
I have gone through the Ordnance sheets of the Co. Kerry, and find the following
number of ancient burial places marked thereon — -
Under the denominations of Kill and Kyle --- --- 22
Killeens --- --- --- --- --- ... 27
Cealluraghs --- --- --- --- --- 41
Children's burial grounds --- --- --- ... 23
Old burial grounds ... --- --- --- --- 104
CHAP. VII.] CEMETERIES OF THE GAEDHIL. - 89
This enumeration is exclusive of the great number of cemeteries attached to the churches of
the various religious denominations; the majority of the “Old Burial Grounds" are of the
Keel type, several are connected with ancient churches lying in ruins.
The majority of these pre-historic cemeteries are to be found in the mountain and sea-
coast districts of Corcaguiney and Dunkerron; in the former, the term Kealluragh is that
used by the peasantry to designate them ; in the latter, Killeen and children's burial grounds:
numbers exist that are not marked on the Ordnance Sheet, and greater numbers have been
swept away. In the Co. of Limerick, we find 182 cemeteries, denominated Keel, Killeen,
Children's Burial Ground or Old Burial Ground; many of the latter are connected with the ruins
of ancient churches. In the counties of Cork, Clare, and Waterford, they are equally
Inunner'OUls.
The opinion hitherto held by many with respect to the Keel or Killeen, is that the latter
term is the diminutive of Kill, a church, and that small churches at some period or the
other stood in those burial-grounds; this opinion is however, I conceive, an untenable one,
if we consider the objections against it. In the first place, on account of the vast numbers
of them that after the lapse of ages still exist in the country, independent of cemeteries
connected with known Christian churches. Thus on sheet No. 2, Ordnance Survey of Kerry,
we find no less than five Keels in a space of three miles by two miles. On sheet No. 43,
within a space of one mile and a half by half a mile, there are four Kealuraghs marked. On
sheet 98, included in a space of four miles by three, and in a rugged district, there are
marked no less than three Killeens, four Kealluraghs, and one children's burial ground,
independent of which, there are two ruined churches and the site of another within the same
area. Examples equally remarkable are to be found in other localities.
Dr. Reeves, the learned author of the “Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down and
Connor,” has noticed them in that valuable work; writing of the parish of Culfeightrim,
County of Down, he states, “it is remarkable for its number of small burying-grounds.
These are called by the country people Keels (from Cill, a church), and are principally
employed for the interment of stillborn children.” (p. 282.) In the parish of Culfeightrim
alone, Dr. Reeves has identified nine of those Keels, independent of the graveyards still in
use. We cannot for a moment imagine that Christian churches and graveyards were so
inordinately multiplied in small areas.
Again, the tradition and feeling of the peasantry indicates that the Keel was undoubtedly
a pagan cemetery; no power will induce them to bury within their precincts; suicides and
unbaptised children alone occupy their unhallowed soils. The preservation of such
numbers of them through our island, is owing to an undefined feeling of dread in the minds
of the peasantry of some fearful calamity befalling them should they interfere with, or
injure them in any way. That the term Ceal must have been used by our pagan ancestors
to designate a cemetery is evident from the following facts:–In the barony of Barretts and
County of Cork, there is an ancient cemetery named Ceal-na-Druath, i.e. the grave of the
Druid. In the parish of Mogeely, in the same county, is a townland named Killamucky;
surely this does not mean the Swines' Church, but rather the burial place of some wonderful
Boar like that which slew Diarmidh O'Duine in the hunt of Ben Bulbain; or he famed of
N
90 BURIAL GROUNDS –KEELS. ſchAP. VII.
Erymanthus, Killmacat, in the County of Limerick, a townland name, would not certainly
be rendered the Cat's Church; neither would Killcro, a frequent name, be rendered Bloody
Church. Temple-na-Killa, in the County Kerry Ordnance Sheet 98, and Kill-Templan,
County Limerick, Ordnance Sheet 12, do not certainly mean the church of the church, but
the church of the cemetery. Keal-Kill, in the parish of Kilmoccomogue, County Cork, and
Kilkilleen, parish of Aghadown, same county, are of a similar type; we have here the terms
Keal and Killeen applied to the cemetery, and Kill to the church. Again, we find Tinne-
Killa, a townland in the County Limerick, Ordnance Sheet 12 ; here we have the term Tinne,
i.e. fire, applied to the ancient Keel, evidently indicative of cremation having been practised
there; on this townland is a “Kyle Burial Ground,” near which stand two great pillar
stones named Cloch Leagan, and also a Lis, named Rathalacka, i.e. the Rath of the Flag-
stones, and a Cromlech. Then we have such names as Killgullane, barony of Fermoy, and
Kealagowlane, barony of Bere, both in the County Cork, and Gullaun-na-Killeen, County
Kerry, Ordnance Sheet 89, indicating the cemetery of the pillar stones. That the form Keal
is very frequently used, even with the natural tendency of the peasantry to shorten the
sound, is evident from the examples given above, as well as from the following:—Farrow-
keal, Keal, Kealmanagh, Carrowkeal, Currakeal, Dromkeal, Furkeal, Kealanine, Kealfadda,
Glenkeal, Laharonkeal, Kealvaugh. These are all townland names in the County Cork.
The modes of interment discovered in several of these cemeteries evidence their pagan
character; in that already described, at Ballon hill, on the townland of Ballykealy, i.e. the
Town of the Graves, we find that cremation had been practised to a very considerable extent,
the same also exhibiting examples of the burial of the unburned body in stone cists.
The late Messrs. John Windele and Abraham Abell opened a pagan cemetery on the
townland of Ballymacus, County Cork; the field in which it was situated is named Parc-na-
Killa, i.e. the Field of the Graves, and the former gentleman states that there was no trace
of a church there either in memory or tradition. The explorers opened five of the stone
cists, which were from 5 to 5 ft. in length, 2ft. in width, and from 12 to 18in. deep; they
lay from N.W. to S.E.; in them were found “fragments of skulls and jaw-bones, with teeth
quite sound, and portions of the bones of the lower extremities, so brittle, as to be easily
reduced almost to powder where only a slight pressure was applied.” (Trans. Kil. Arch.
Society, v. 1852-3, p. 231.) The pagan character of this class of cemeteries has been
noticed by Dr. Reeves, in his Ecc. Ant. Down and Connor. Describing one on the little hillock
of Limashemmer, in the parish of Ballykinlen, he writes:—“Within the enclosed space a
discovery was made some years ago of several small graves about three feet in length and
ten inches in breadth and depth. The cavities were lined and covered with stones, and
contained human remains which from the charcoal found in them appeared to have undergone
partial cremation. Molar teeth and fragments of full grown bones which were interspersed
proved that these graves were not, as might at first appear, intended for unbaptised infants.
They may reasonably be supposed to date their formation from a period anterior to the
introduction of Christianity.” (p. 212.)
The late Mr. Windele opened some stone cists in a Keel named Keelboultragh, on the
lands of Knockrone, County Cork; of this Keel, its pillar stones and tombs, I have given
CHAP. VII.] THE CEMETERIES OF THE GAEDHIL. 91
some account. He also opened similar chambers at Killaogh and Kilberehert in the same
district.
That the term Kill (Cill), signifying now, as it generally does, a church, is derived from
the Latin Cella, has been received by many of our most learned antiquaries, but I fear with-
out much reflection. It cannot be doubted but that those foreign missionaries who pro-
pagated the faith in Ireland brought with them many ecclesiastical terms, which ultimately
became incorporated in the Gaedhelic language; thus, in our Teampuil, Regles, Baslic, and
Damhliag, we readily recognise the Latin Templum, Ecclesia, Basilica, and Domus, the terms
in use among the Latin Christians to designate the sacred edifice. But the latter did not, as
far as I am aware, use the term Cella to designate a church; how then could it have been
introduced into Ireland by Latin-speaking monks so as to become so widely spread a
designation of the sacred edifice? In the Latin Dictionary of Ainsworth, we find “Cella, a
cellar or store-house, a buttery, a pantry, a monk's cell, a chamber for servants, a private
place in a bath, a chapel in a temple, as Cella Jovis, Concordiae, &c.” We have also “Celo,
to hide, to muffle up. Celor, to be concealed. Celatus, concealed, kept secret, hidden,
hid, kept close.” (Ibid.) Now if we examine the Celtic root, we have “Ceal, concealing.
Ceal, death. Ceal-airm, a hiding-place, a place of refuge. Ceall, a church, and in its
inflexions cill, plur, cealla, Latin Cella; for the word Ceall doth not properly signify a cell or
hermit's cave, though now commonly used to signify a church.” (O'Brien, Irish Dictionary.)
It is here quite evident that the Latin Cella, Celo, and other words having a similar form and
signification, are cognate with the Celtic Ceal; and that this word, embodying the ideas of
death, concealment, &c., was applied to their ancient sepulchres. The early mode of Celtic
burial, the inhumation of the entire body, or of an urn containing its ashes, in a rude stone
cell or vault, in which were also concealed the arms, personal ornaments, or utensils of the
deceased, and sometimes covered with a heaped-up mound or tumulus of earth and stones,
could not be designated more perfectly than by the native word. Hence these graves and
cemeteries were named Keels (Ceals); subsequently, when Christianity was introduced and
Christian churches erected, and the ground about them consecrated, the converts forsook the
cemeteries of their pagan ancestors, affecting to make their last resting-place within the
precincts sanctified by the rites of the new faith. We can now easily understand how the old
name became transferred to the Christian cemetery, how the oratory or church became
identified with it, until the one term embraced both. O'Brien distinctly states that the word
“Ceal does not properly signify a cell or oratory, though now commonly used to signify a
church.”
Dr. Ledwich, whose anti-Irish prejudices were very strong, admits that the word Kill was
a native term and signified a grave; he writes:—“At first it was in Irish a grave, but when
relics were introduced, then it expressed the tomb of the particular saint, and in this our
missionaries adapted themselves to the Druidic custom, and this Kill or tomb succeeded the
secretum illud, that holy spot, the object of veneration; hence Kildare, Kilabhan, &c."
(Antiquities of Ireland, p. 71.)
The word Cella was no doubt in use among mediaeval churchmen, to designate a monk's
cell, or the habitation of an anchorite, and may have been used by Irish ecclesiastics in the
92 CEMETERIES-KEEL, CLOCHAN, LEABHA, &c. [CHAP. VII
same manner, but that it ever could have taken the form of Keel, or have been used so
universally all over the country as is that word and its compounds, I am not disposed to
admit. Many existing structures known to have been the habitations of early saints and
anchorites, are known as Clochans, the only name applied to them; the term Leabha, i.e. a
bed, is applied to many others, as Leabha Deglain at Ardmore, and Leabha Mollaga near
Killdorrery, Co. Cork; both small primitive structures of the earliest type. That this term
was used in the sense of a grave I have no doubt, for the two last named are so diminutive
that they could not be used for any purpose but that of sepulchres; in confirmation, we find
it applied to numbers of monuments of the Cromlech class well known, as Leabha Diarmidh
agus Grainé, a large elongated Cromlech at Glanworth, Co. Cork, is named Leabbacallee,
i.e. the Hag's Bed. In conversing with the peasantry of the South and West of Ireland I
have never yet heard them use the word Kil, to designate a church; the word Teampuil is
that invariably used by them, while the word Keel is always applied to the burial grounds.
We have abundant evidence to show that the custom of erecting memorial stones inscribed
and uninscribed over the remains of the dead, was general in this country in remote times.
The number of these standing stones or Dallans, as they are called by the peasantry, is very
great. No inscriptions but those in Ogam have been found in Killeens, as far as I have
been able to ascertain; the number so found amounts to about sixty, while many more have
been discovered in rath caves, close to these cemeteries. I have heard of churches having
been erected within these places, as at Temple Michael and Coolowen, Co. Cork, and Kilkerin,
Co. Clare; and though the ground around them had been consecrated, yet nothing could
induce the peasantry to bury their dead near them. Many small ancient churches will be
found through the country where there are no signs of interments, and near which the people
will not inter; the only reason that can be assigned for this reluctance is, that these churches
were built in Killeens. That such a practice prevailed in the early days of Christianity in
Ireland there can be little doubt. To wean the people from the great reverence paid to the
graves of their ancestors, and the pagan rites there performed, they erected churches and
oratories in many of them, and following the astute example of their Apostle, St. Patrick,
they had crosses cut on the memorial pillar stones so plentifully found in them.
93
CHAPTER VIII.
THE PILLAR STONES.
There is one sentiment which appears to have been common to human nature in all ages,
and among all conditions of mankind, namely, a desire to leave after him something to per-
petuate his memory, something more durable than his own frail humanity. This sentiment
doubtless led him in his earliest and rudest state, to set on end in the earth the rough and
unhewn pillar stone, which he found lying prostrate on its surface. In evidence of this, we
find that these hoar memorials exist in almost every country that has been made known to
us by the perseverance of travellers; and the oldest book, of the oldest record extant,
mentions their erection. They were set up for various reasons: to mark the spot of some
remarkable action or event, as Jacob setting up his pillar stone at Bethel (Genesis, c. xxxv.
v. 14), where he had his memorable revelation from the Deity; to mark the grave of a
deceased friend, relative, or public personage; thus we find Jacob also setting up a pillar
stone over the grave of Rachel, “And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave, that is the pillar
of Rachel's grave unto this day.” (Genesis, c. xxxv. v. 20.) -
Of a similar character was the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben, (Joshua, c. xv. v. 6,)
which was afterwards used as a landmark or boundary by the Israelites. They were also
used as memorials of covenants, as we find Joshua setting up “a great stone'' under an
oak, close by the sanctuary of God, as a memorial of the covenant which the people made at
Shechem to serve God: “It shall therefore be a witness unto you, lest you deny God’’
(Joshua, c. xxiv. v. 26-27).
In illustration of the sentiment already alluded to, we find Absalom in his own life-time
setting up a pillar to record his memory:—“Now Absalom in his life-time had taken and
reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the King's dale: for he said, ‘I have no son to keep
my name in remembrance,’ and he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called unto
this day, Absalom's place” (II. Samuel, c. xviii. v. 18). Other remarkable stone monuments
are mentioned in the Old Testament; thus, in the First Book of Kings, c. i. v. 9, we have
mention made of “the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-Rogel.” At Second Samuel, c. xx.
v. 8, an occurrence is recorded as having taken place “at the great stone which is in
Gibeon,” and in the First Book of Samuel we have a record of what was in all probability
the first pillar stone ever erected, to the first man who tasted of death, Abel. The passage is
to be found in the sixth chap., v. 14 to 18. The passage is a very remarkable one, as before
calling it by the name of Abel it twice mentions it as “the great stone,” which stone the
writer recorded as being in existence in his day.
94 CEMETERIES-PILLAR STONE MONUMENTS, ſcBAP, VIII.
Whether this was an ante-diluvian monument, which had survived the deluge, or whether
it had been erected by the post-diluvian fathers immediately after that event, to record and
perpetuate the memory of Abel to all posterity, it is now impossible to determine. In either
case, however, it is remarkable, as showing at what an early age in the world's history the
custom originated.
Pillar stones were also set up among the Jews as boundary stones, land-marks, &c., as
we find in Deuteronomy and other places. The veneration attached to pillar stones as
memorials of the dead, soon degenerated into idolatry and hero-worship; and it happened
then, as in more modern times, that the symbol received the reverence originally intended for
the object symbolized. Thus we find the Jews in many parts of the Pentateuch solemnly
warned against setting up “pillars” and “images of stone" to worship, as such a practice
had become general in the Gentile world. The rude pillar stone ultimately grew into the
finished statue, and taking another direction into the obelisk, or the memorial pillar, fluted and
carved. We know from Pausanias, that the Greeks before the time of Dædalus, reverenced
unwrought pillar stones or Baituloi. In the fragments of Sanchoniathan we are informed,
that “Usuous consecrated two pillars to fire and wind, and worshipped them, and poured out
to them the blood of the wild beasts he took in hunting.” (Corys. Anc. Frag. p. 6.) In
another passage we are informed that “Moreover the God Ouranus devised Baeutúlia, con-
triving stones that moved, as having life.” (Ibid., p. 11.) We can trace this name in a pillar
stone yet further, in the Bethel of Jacob ; for it was not until he erected the megalithic monu-
ment, that he called the place by that name. We can also trace this term among the
primitive races of Hindostan, whose megalithic memorials are kindred to those of the ancient
races of Europe, and whose descendants in certain districts of India still reverence the stone
circle, cromlech, and rocking stone, worshipping a Deity called Betal or Vetal, under the form
of a rude upright pillar stone. We also find the root of this word in the eastern Boodh, as
also in the Gaedhelic Budh, which signifies life, being, existence, symbolized by the male
organ of generation. The pillar stone was anciently a phallic emblem; Lucian, in describing
the temple of Surya at Hierapolis, has the following passage in relation to phallic worship –
“Moreover we see in the vestibule two enormous phalli, thirty fathoms high, with this
inscription, ‘These Phalli have been raised by me Bacchus, in honour of Juno my mother-
in-law.’” This stone phallic worship has prevailed in India from time immemorial. Professor
Wilson admits that “the Linga is perhaps the most ancient object of homage adopted in
India.” (Wilson on Hindoo Sects. As. Res. v. xvii.) Mr. Edward Sellon states that “the
worship of Siva under the type of the Linga is almost the only form in which that deity is
reverenced.” (Annotations on the Sacred Writings of the Hindoos, p. 9.) Dr. Wise, of
Rostellan, Co. Cork, many years a resident in India, showed me a drawing of a primeval
Buddhist temple, being a large circle of pillar stones, each stone in itself being not only a
phallus, but containing a niche cut in one face, in the form of a miniature shrine, with an
altar and phallus. This cultus was prevalent among the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, and
still lingers in Southern Italy, (see Payne Knight's Worship of Priapus,) evidences of which
may be seen in the charms or amulets still worn by the peasantry of both sexes in
Calabria.
CHAP. VIII.] DALLAN SEPULCHRAL AND RELIGIOUS PILLAR STONE. 95
That the Gaedhil, a people of directly eastern descent, should have retained some vestiges
of this cultus is not to be wondered at. Many of the existing Dallans are phalli. The
upright circular stone standing on its peculiar shaped altar, and enclosed within the square
Casiol, on the Island of Innismurry, off the West Coast of Ireland, is an unmistakeable
phallus, identical in form and arrangement with the Indian Linga. A similar one stood
formerly on Clear Island, Co. Cork. The Bod Fergus, Penis Fergusi at Tara is one both in
form and name. I have seen others myself in various parts of the country to which virtues
of a peculiar nature were attributed by the peasantry. Some of these pillar stones united the
reciprocal principles, the male and female powers, in the one monument. I allude to the
“Holed Stones” so frequently found in the country, and so superstitiously regarded, and
which I have described at some length in the Gentleman's Magazine, v. 1864.
The religious character of the pillar stone in Ireland is preserved in the term Ailithri,
which signifies a pilgrimage, or a ceremony performed in penance, from Ail, a great upright
rock or pillar, and Itrillaim, correctly Triallaim, to go round; this is the Deiseal or sacred
turn observed in the religious rites paid to stone idols and sacred wells in pagan times, and
still observed in pilgrimages to sacred places in Ireland. -
That the pagan Irish reverenced pillar stones we have evidence in that well known
incident in the life of St. Patrick, who is represented as overthrowing the symbols of Crom-
Cruach and his twelve subordinate deities, which in the form of pillar stones stood on the
plain of Magh Sleacht, in the present County of Cavan.
In other instances he appears to have allowed these monuments to remain, directing that
they should be inscribed with the sacred name, as we have it recorded in the Tripartite Life
(ii. c. 52), that on his journey into Connaught he arrived at a plain near the present Lough
Hacket, in the Co. of Galway, where he found three pagan pillar stones, “quae gentilitas ibi
in memoriam aliquorum jacinorum vel gentilitum rituum posuit;" on these stones he caused
to be inscribed the names of the Redeemer, Jesus, Salvator, Soter.
That his example was extensively followed we have ample evidence in the huge rough
monoliths so often met with, upon which rude crosses are inscribed; monuments of that
type never erected by Christian hands, but evidently sanctified at a remote period by the
imposition of the sacred symbol. Among the Gaedhil the pillar stone was called by various
names, the most general in the south and west was Dallan, which is thus explained by
O'Brien in his Dict: “Dalla'-Cloiche, any great or large stone, whereof many were erected
by the old Irish throughout all Ireland, as monuments of some remarkable achievements,
with inscriptions on the same to explain the facts; all written mostly in their Oghams, or
occult manner of writing.”
They are also frequently termed Gollan, which some have thought to be a corruption of
Dallan, but withoutreason, as the termis derived from “Gall, a rock or stone.” (O'Brien, Ir. D.)
The term Cairthe is also applied to them, but the word is not in general use, though often
found in MSS. We have also the term Leac, which O'Brien gives as “a great stone, a flat
stone,” he also gives us Lia, “any great stone,’’ and Liag, a great stone; as the c and G.
are commutable in Gaedhelic, I look on these three as one term. That the Dallan was used
as a sepulchral stele or pillar amongst our pagan ancestors, there can be no doubt. Our
96 MATERIAL, SIZE AND FORM OF OGAM MONUMENTS. ſchAP. VIII.
ancient MSS. are full of instances which describe the erection of the “Coirthe ’’ or Dallan
over the graves of the warrior and the poet, some of which I have already given. We are
informed in the Dinseanchus, as quoted in Dr. Petrie's account of Tara Hill, p. 115, that
three stones were placed over the deceased Druids, Mael, Blocc, and Bluicui, at Tara—Mael
to the east, Blocc to the south, and Bluicui to the north.
Duald Mac Firbis states, that the red coirthe or pillar stone of Dathi, who became
monarch of Ireland in A.D. 405, was in his day to be seen at the Relig-na-Righ, or burial
place of the Kings, at Rath Croghan, in Connaught.
I have myself visited this place, and a remarkable looking monolith of red stone was
pointed out to me as the traditionary memorial of Dathi.
In a poem introductory to the Leabhar-na-G'ceart, as found in the Book of Lismore, fol.
138, which is an address by the Bard Dubh da Tuath, to Aodh O'Neill, he wishes that the
King may live for ever, like a pillar stone (Cairrte Cloc).
From the foregoing evidence, we have ample reason for admitting the sepulchral and
religious character of the pillar stone or Dallan, and we are therefore quite prepared to
accept the fact that memorials of the dead were inscribed on many of them in a primitive
and strange character, the use of which passed away at a remote period, and died out of all
memory until the prying eyes of the antiquary detected in these quaint scores the writing
and language of a pre-historic people.
The material of the great majority of our Ogam-inscribed pillars is of the dull yellow
coloured clay-slate so universally abundant in the Counties of Kerry, Cork, and Waterford;
a few are found of the red sandstone which also prevails in the same districts. The
inscription at Castletimon is on granite, those at Killeen Cormac on green-stone. As a rule,
it would appear that the hardest stones have been selected for the purpose, as will be evident
from an examination of their geological character, as well as from the condition in which we
find their inscriptions, which on the whole are in a remarkable state of preservation,
particular note being taken of the examples at Trabeg, Glenfais, Ballinrannig, Lugnagappul,
and others, which appear to have been always exposed to atmospheric influences, and yet are
all quite legible. Those on the clay-slate are uniformly the best preserved, those on the
sandstone the worst. It has been remarked by geologists, that the striae of glacination are
sharper and better preserved on clay-slate boulders than on those of any other formation.
This geological fact is an answer to those who object to the antiquity I would assign to Ogam
inscriptions; for if the accidental scores on these boulders are to be identified after a period
of perhaps from 6 to 10,000 years, surely we may claim for carefully cut inscriptions on the
same material a very respectable antiquity.
SIZE AND F O RM OF OG AM MONUMENTS.
These monuments vary in form and dimensions; in general the Gaedhil chose for their
sepulchral memorials tall, tapering stones, as pyramidal in form as they could procure;
some, however, are broad massive flags, some shapeless many-sided monoliths; and a
| certain class found in a certain district are cylindrical pillars, oval, or circular in section,
and also rounded at the ends. I allude to those found at Ballintaggart, Lugnagappul, and
CHAP. v1.11.] SIZE AND FORM OF INSCRIPTIONS ON OGAM MONUMENTS. 97
Ballysteenig, near Dingle. These are perfectly smooth and polished, as if by art, and
having no angles, the characters are cut lengthways on the rounded surface, the stem line
being understood. The supposition is, that these stones were brought from the sea-beach or
from the foot of the cliffs, where they had been rolled into shape by the mighty billows of
the Atlantic, and that they presented to the Gaedhil who first landed on these shores,
suitable pillars of memorial to inscribe and erect over their deceased chiefs, bards, and
warriors; the close proximity of the above-named localities to the sea favours this conjecture,
as indeed similar stones are still to be found strewed along the bases of the cliffs. We must
also admit that these stones were not artificially formed, from the fact, that not one of the
other monuments hitherto discovered presents positive proof of artificial preparation. One
fragment of a pillar found at Hook Point, County Wexford, is of a similar type to those
above described, and which also having been found right over the sea, must have been formed
in the same manner.
- In dimensions, the Ogam-inscribed stone varies in height, above ground, from 3 to 18ft.;
the stone at Bweeng is 2ft. 6in. ; that at Ballycrovane 17ft. 6in. ; the Ballybodan stone is
9ft. in length, 5ft. Sin. in breadth, and 1.ft. 2in, in thickness. That at Ballintarman is 12ft.
above ground, and the Glenfais example is 11ſt. in length; several others approach these
dimensions. As many Ogam-inscribed stones have been used up as building materials in
constructing rath-chambers, and also in churches, I have found several of them shortened,
either for the convenience of carriage, or to make them fit their respective positions. Many
uninscribed Dallans are found in various parts of Ireland of great size; that near
Mullaghmact 11ſt. 6in. in length; one at Ballingeary, County Cork, 19ſt. above ground;
one at Temple Brien, County Cork, 13ft. above ground; at Knuckane, near Ovens, County
Cork, 18ft. high and 6ft. wide; one near Dungiven, County Antrim, 10ft. high. I measured
a prostrate Dallan on the townland of Roovesmore, County Cork, and found it 16ft. 6in. in
length, and 4ft. 6in. by 3ft. at the base; one standing close to it was 10ft. 6in. above
ground. One of a group of five, standing on the townland of Barachaurin, County Cork, is
13ft. above ground, 6ft. wide, and 2ft. thick.

THE IN SC RIPTION S.
The characters as a rule are inscribed on one or more angles of the stone, with a few
exceptions hereafter to be noted. The inscription commences invariably at some distance
from one end, and this fact obviously shows, that not only those now in situ, but also those
found in raths and other artificial constructions, as well as lying prostrate on the ground, were
all intended to have been placed erect; and accordingly, one end of the monument was left
uninscribed to fasten in the ground. The stone then being placed erect, the inscription
usually commences at the left-hand angle of the principal face, a little above the ground, or
ſº according to the height of the stone and the length of the inscription, and reads
from the bottom upwards; this is a rule to which I have met but two exceptions. If the
inscription is too long for one angle, it is sometimes continued round the head, should it be
suitable for the purpose; if too rough or irregular, it is continued down the opposite angle of

the same face. A stone at Ardmore has three angles inscribed, and one at Kilcolaght has
O
98 SITES OF THE OGAM MONUMENTS, [CHAP. VIII.
its four angles engraved. It frequently happens that one stone is used to commemorate two
individuals, in such cases the inscriptions are usually on the same face, and both read from
X: the bottom upwards; as in the example from Gortnagullionach, now in the Royal Irish
Academy Museum, as also No. 11 of the same collection, and others that will be described in
their proper places. In a few instances, the inscription is not on an angle, as in the rounded,
stones alluded to above, and in others where it is on the face of the stone. Thus the Callan
Mountain example has it on the face, cut on an incised stem line, as also that at Lomanagh;
that at Maumanorig, Co. Kerry, is of the same character; a monument at Kilbolane, in the º º
same county, has an inscription on two angles, and two lines on the face; in some instances, º -
a natural ridge on the surface of the stone supplies the stem line, as at Dunmore, Glenfais, 0.
and Aghaliskey. In a few instances, as those from Deelish and Salterbridge, the inscription
commences close to the bottom; this, however, results from the ascertained fact that these
stones were broken for the convenience of transit.
FO R MATION OF O G. A. M. L E TT E R S.
The characters are inscribed on the angle of the stone; the depth and breadth of the
scores as we now find them are of course the result of weather wear, acting upon a material
of varying degrees of hardness and durability.
There is, however, sufficient evidence before us to conclude that the same care was not
Jºken with all the inscriptions which have come down to us. Some of them are broadly and
deeply cut, and the scores equally formed, and equally spaced, as that remarkable one at
Trabeg, near Dingle, and a few of those from Ballinrannig, which appear as if cut or
punched out with a metal tool; others on the contrary are shallow and narrow as if the
scores had been rubbed in. The consonants are formed by incised lines from three to five
inches in length, when above and below the stem line, and from four to seven inches when
| across the same ; these last are sometimes vertical to the stem line, sometimes oblique.
The vowels are formed by strong, oval, and sometimes round dots, on the angle or stem, º
and occasionally by short cuts or notches, seldom exceeding an inch in length, the only
exception I am at present aware of being the Callan example, in which the vowels are long
strokes across and vertical to the stem line, and distinguished from the consonants by the
latter being oblique; and the slab at Bweeng-na-Leacht, which shows letters of somewhat a
similar character. All the Ogam inscriptions in Scotland are also of this class, the vowels
being vertical scores of equal length with the consonants—being in fact similar to the scale in
the MS. Book of Ballymote. -
On the contrary, the Welsh and English examples are identical with the Irish; the vowels
being uniformly expressed by dots or short notches. These points are worthy of remem-
brance, and shall be alluded to in their proper places more particularly.
As a rule, the groups of scores are usually well separated; a few instances, however,
occur, where groups of six and seven scores exist, forming evidently two characters, but not
separated, as in the examples from Fortwilliam and Ballybodan.

-
\\ º º
CHAP. VIII.] THE RATH-THE LIOS. 99
T H E S IT E S OF T H E M O N U M E N T S.
The localities and circumstances in which Ogam inscribed monuments have been found
are various, and must of necessity have a bearing on the age in which this mode of writing
was used; it will be therefore prudent to give them some consideration.
From the evidence to be adduced in these pages it will be seen that the original sites of
such memorials have been those ancient burial grounds so numerous in all parts of our
island, and variously denominated Keels, Killeens, and Kealuraghs, all from the same root-
word Ceal, signifying death, concealment; it is true that numbers of them have been found
in the crypts of Raths, and some few in Christian graveyards, built into Christian churches, -
used up in construction of the cottages and out-offices of the peasant, and standing lone and
solitary on the bleak hill-side, the wild moorland, the solitary glen, but the majority, as I
have already stated, can be traced to the pre-historic Keel. I think it would be desirable to
give some consideration to the nature of those constructions, which have preserved to us so
large a number of those interesting monuments. Of these the Keel and the Rath claim our
first attention, associated as they certainly are with the earliest tribes who peopled Ireland,
and from their great numbers spread over the face of the country, demanding investigation.
The origin and uses of the Keel have already been considered in connection with the
subject of our ancient cemeteries and modes of burial, the Rath we will now consider,
T H E R AT H.
The term Rath embraces a class of constructions peculiar to the Gaedhelic races. They
are generally circular areas varying from twenty to four hundred feet or more in diameter,
enclosed by one, two, or three ramparts of earth, or earth and stones, having an equal
number of ditches. Though usually circular, they are occasionally found square and rect-
angular, and sometimes of irregular forms where peculiarities of site required it.
Where original entrances exist, they are usually facing the south, and are built of un-
cemented masonry and lintelled with large slabs of stone; they are of moderate dimensions,
seldom exceeding five feet in width, and this in the larger examples; in all cases they have
sloping jambs similar to the entrances of our Round Towers and Primitive Churches.
The Rath is found all over our island, and in every possible situation; on the plains, in
the valleys and glens, on the hill-slopes, and hill-tops, are to be seen these camps and
fortresses of the ancient tribes: groups of them are very frequently found within limited
areas; thus, one townland in the parish of Aghabullog, Co. Cork, contains six, and the
number of three or four are often to be counted within a space of half-a-mile square.
The Co. of Limerick is remarkable for the number of its Raths. When the Ordnance
Survey was made it contained the extraordinary number of 2,191, some of these of immense
size. A sheet represents a space of six miles by four ; on No. 20, I counted 94 of these
camps; on No. 28, as many as 105; Sheet 36 numbers 142; and Sheet 19, no less
than 183.
In some parts of the country where stone is plentiful and lying near the surface, the
ramparts are often constructed of solid mason work, uncemented; sometimes the external
100 THE RATH, DUN, AND CAHER. [CHAP. VIII.
masonry facing is backed by earth and stones. In some cases this facing is of large stones well
fitted together; boulder shaped material is also used, the interstices being filled with spawls
(small stones); some of this ancient rubble masonry is admirable. I have seen the gateway
of a Caher near Iniskean, Co. Cork, the side walls of which were sixteen feet thick on the
face, built of dressed stones of polygonal forms, accurately fitted without spawls, and lintelled
with massive slabs. The names by which those constructions are known are various; as a
general rule when formed of earthen ramparts they are denominated Rath and Lios, usually
pronounced Ra and Les; when the external fences are of masonry the terms Cathair and
Casiol (pronounced in the south Cauhir and Cashel) are applied to them, while by ancient
native writers the term Dún (pronounced Doon) is applied to defensive structures of every
description, and specially to regal fortresses. O'Brien, in his Irish Dictionary, thus defines
Rath, “a fortress, a garrison, also a village : also an artificial mount or barrow : Riogh-Rath,
a princess seat.” O'Reilly gives the same definition. Some writers have identified this
word with the Teutonic Rath, as in Reichsrath, Rathhaus; but the similarity does not go
beyond sound, as the latter signifies an assembly or convocation. “Lios, a house or
habitation; also a court or palace; also a fortified place; genit. lis and leasa.” (O'Brien
and O'Reilly, Irish Dictionaries.) Cathair is thus defined by O'Brien –
“Cathair, pronounced Caer and Cauhir, a town or city; plural Catraca, and in its
inflections Catraig; Brit, Kaer ; Schythice, Car; antiq. Saxon, Caerten; Goth, Gards;
Cantabr. Caria; Breton, Kar; Hebr. Hariah or Kiriah and Karth; Phaenice and Punice,
Kartha; Chaldaice, Kartha; and Syriacé, Karitita; Graece, Karak.” It is quite evident
that this term is a primitive one of great antiquity, brought from the east by the early
colonists of this island, and applied to their towns, fortresses, &c. We have this prefix
applied to the most ancient cities of the old world, as “Car-chemish, Carthage, Carteia,
Carmona, Carula, Carduba, Cariati, Carina, Kars; an ancient name of the Tyrian Hercules
was Malek-Karthus, or Mel-Karthus, the king of the city.” Caisiol is given by O'Brien as
“the foundation of a wall or building, also any stone building;' and “Caiseol, vid. Caisiol,
a bulwark or wall, any great rock;" he also gives “Casiol, Ciosail, i.e. ail an chiosa, a toll
stone, or stone whereon tribute was paid.” Ebel informs us this term is derived from the
Latin Castellum, but there is no affinity in the structure of the words. May it not be more
probably derived from Cas or Casadh, wreathed, twisted, bending, winding; and Ail a stone
or flag, denoting a circular building erected of stone 2
The number of those constructions must have been very great in remote times. Dr.
Joyce states that the term Rath enters into the composition of the names of 700 townlands,
while the syllables ra, rah, ray, &c. as representatives of Rath, commence the names of
400 townlands. Of the term Lios he states, that it begins the name of 1,400 townlands
and villages, and that this number can be considered only a small fraction of all the lisses
in Ireland. Alluding to the Cahers he writes:—“These ancient buildings are still very
common throughout the country, especially in the south and west, where the term was in
most general use. . . . In modern nomenclature the word usually takes one of two
forms, Caher and Cahir ; and there are more than 300 townlands and towns whose names
CHAP. VIII.] THE RATH BUILDERS. 101
begin with one or the other of these two words, all in Munster and Connaught, except three or
four in Leinster—none in Ulster. Cahir itself is the name of more than thirty townlands, in
several of which the original structures are still standing.” (Irish Names of Places, p. 273.)
Of the term Caisiol, in its modern form, Cashel, it is the name of about fifty townlands,
and begins the names of about fifty others. Dán.-On this word O'Brien writes:—“Dún, a
strong or fortified house, a fortress or fastness, a habitation built on a hill or mound; . . .
but the true meaning of this word in Irish, is a strong and well barricaded habitation, as
appears from our having no other verb, at least in common use, to signify the act of shutting
or making fast, but Dùnaim, which in its second person singular of the imperative mood
makes Dún.” (Irish Dict.) Dr. Joyce states that this term gives name to twenty-seven
localities, and that it is used as a prefix to 600 townlands, towns, and parishes.
The sea-coast fortifications, so general on the southern and western shores of our island,
are almost invariably termed Dúns; they are generally constructed upon headlands and
rocky eminences jutting into the sea, being defended upon the land-side by one or more
ramparts of earth or stone, with corresponding ditches; they are exceedingly numerous
along the coasts of Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare, and Galway, and some of them are
constructed on a scale of barbaric strength and grandeur; of this class are Dun Aengus,
Dun Connor, and Dun Eochail, in the Arran Isles; numbers of these headlands retain the
original names, though the fortifications have been destroyed, or but small traces of them
left; as Dunmore, Dumbeg, Dunworly, Duncathair, Knockadoon, Donour, Dunmanus,
Dunbratton, all on the southern coasts. The Old Head of Kinsale was anciently called
Dun-Cearmna, from a great fortress erected by one of the early pagan kings. A very
prevalent fallacy has existed among some early writers on Irish Antiquities respecting the
Rath; they ascribing its introduction to the Danes. Thus Hanmer, Molyneux, Ledwich,
and others of their school have advocated this appropriation, grounding their theory on the
general tradition of the natives; but this would appear to have been an error, arising from
their ignorance of the native language, in which the name Dane is not to be found; these
northern rovers being known to the Gaedhil by the generic term of Lochlannoc, and more
particularly distinguished into Finn-Gall and Dubh-Gall, meaning black and fair foreigners.
It is certain that all our great sepulchral Mounds, Duns, and Brughs, were ascribed to that
weird race the Tuath-de-Damans, both by our native analysts and the traditions of the
people; and thus the name Danan was mistaken by those writers for Dane. That they
were not the work of the Danes is evident from a few considerations. First :-That in the
native country of that people no such constructions are known. Secondly :-That though
they had a more general occupation both of Normandy and England, neither country
presents us with examples of such. Thirdly —That they never had such an occupation of
Ireland as would have enabled them to erect so many thousands of camps and fortresses
over the face of the country : this will be apparent from the fact, that at the time of the
Ordnance Survey of Ireland there were over 10,000 Raths in the province of Munster alone,
as was stated by Colonel Fox, F.S.A., at the International Congress of Pre-historic
Archæology in 1869, and this we may fairly infer was not one-fourth of the original
102 RATHs, ston E FoRTRESSEs, CRYPTs, &c. [CHAP. VIII.
number, the reclamation of land and the progress of agriculture having swept away the
majority of them. But we are not left either to conjecture or inference on this subject, as
our most ancient writers make frequent reference to these structures and their builders.
Thus the Book of Ballymote, fol. 23, informs us that in the reign of Eremon the following
fortresses were raised:—“Dun-Sobairce (Dunseverick); Dun Cearmna (Old Head of
Kinsale); Dun-mRinde; Carrig-Blaraidhe (Carrickfergus) in Murbolg, by Mantan son of
Caichear; Toctar-Invir-Moir, in the district of Hy-Neineachlas of Cualan, was erected by
Amhergin son of Milidh ; Raith-Aird-Saileach, in Fanaid, by Fulman; Raith-Righbaird, in
Muirisc, by Eatan son of Uige; and Rath-Croich in Ard-Etigh, by Un son of Uige.” (Dr.
Connellan's Translations.) The Ann. 4 Mas, at A.M. 3520 records the erection of the
following raths in the reign of Irial the son of Eremon —“Rath-Croich, in Magh-inis;
Rath-Cuinceadha, in Seimhue; Rath-Bacain, in Latharna ; Rath-Lochaidh, at Glascharn;
Rath-Glascuilig, which is called Rath-Cimbaoth, at Eamhain; Rath-Mothaigh; Rath-
Buirg.” Dr. O'Curry in his lectures gives a quotation from the Book of Armagh, relative
to the founding of Emania. When the Queen Macha had taken prisoners the five sons of
Dithorba, who had contested the sovereignty with her, she was strongly urged by her
advisers to put them to death : “Not so I said she, because it would be the defilement of
the righteousness of a sovereign to me, but they shall be condemned to slavery, and shall
raise a rath around me, and it shall be the chief city of Ulster for ever.” (p. 528.)
The great rath of Moylinney (Rath-mor-Muighe-Line) of the Annals, is now known as
Rathmore, near the town of Antrim ; according to the historian Tighermac, it received its
name in A.D. 161: “Bresal, the son of Brian, reigns in Emania nineteen years: cujus
conjux (his spouse) Mor died of grief for his death; from her Rath-mor in Moylinny is
named.” The Ann. of Inn, record its being visited by Brian Boroimhe in A.D. 987;
and of its being taken and burnt by Edward the Bruce, in his Irish expedition in 1815, we
have a notice in the Annals of Connaught. The erection of a kingly residence is described
in the banquet of Dun na-n-gedh (Irish Archæological Society), the scene of which is laid in
the early part of the seventh century, in the following passage:– “When Domhnall, son of
Aed, assumed the sovereignty, he first selected Dun na-n-gedh, on the banks of the Boinn
(the river Boyne), to be his habitation beyond all the situations in Erin. And he drew
(formed) seven very great ramparts around this fort after the model of regal Tara, and he
also laid out the houses of that fort after the model of the houses of Tara.” (p. 7.)
We find that the names of some of the actual artificers of these fortresses have been
preserved to us; thus Duald Mac Firbis, in his remarkable book of Genealogies from the most
ancient sources accessible in his day, refers to the constructors of the most remarkable of
these monuments, who are divided into rath-builders (Rathbuide), and stone builders (Caisleoir);
he mentions Troighleathan, the rath-builder of Tara; Bainche or Bainchin, the rath-
builder of Emania; Balur, the son of Buanlamh, the builder of Rath-Breisi; Cricil, the son
of Dubheruit, the builder of the rath of Ailinn: Ringin and Gabhlan, the stone builders of
Ailech; Casruba, the stone builder of Ailinn: Bolc, the son of Blar, the stone builder of
Cruachain, and Goll of Clochar is stated to have been the stone builder of Nadfraich, king
of Munster, at the close of the fourth century. (O'Curry's Lectures, p. 222.)
CHAP. VIII. RATH CHAMBERS. 103
The most remarkable peculiarity, however, of these remains has to be noticed, that is, the
underground chambers so usually found connected with them. These crypts are excavated
within the area enclosed by the interior rampart, and consist of one or more chambers,
sometimes circular or oval on plan, sometimes square or rectangular, connected together by
low galleries.
These crypts are usually lined with dry rubble masonry, the passages being covered with
slabs of stone, while the chambers are domed over with courses of the same material, each
overlaying the preceding one, until a single stone at the apex closes the vault; the mode of
construction being identical with that adopted by the builders of the so-called treasuries of
Atreus, at Mycenae, and Minyas at Orchomenus, though of a ruder workmanship. In some
cases the chambers are covered also by large slabs of stone.
Many of those crypts are excavated out of the hard earth, stone only being used for the
entrance. The walls of passages and chambers are also occasionally of upright stone pillars,
filled between with dry rubble masonry. In the planning of these underground construc-
tions there is no uniformity, but the greatest possible variety; the prevailing idea seeming
to be concealment, and obstruction to access; in the means provided to attain these objects
I have found a remarkable identity between the Irish and Etruscan souterrain; as to their
use many theories have been propounded, such as being Sepulchral vaults; Troglodite
habitations; Granaries or Treasuries. I cannot here enter at length into the arguments
advanced in reference to each of the above appropriations, suffice it to say that human
interments have as yet been found but in one or two examples.
That the great majority of them are so narrow and contracted as to be entirely unfit for
human habitation, independent of the important matter of ventilation, for which there is no
provision. -
The third contingency has appeared to many the most probable, that they were store-
houses for the food, utensils and valuables of the families or tribes who inhabited these
fortified residences. Yet even to this theory many objections may be advanced, founded
upon the extraordinary varieties of their construction. Plate III, gives some idea of the
arrangements of a class of these souterrains; they are from the illustrations of a paper by
the late Mr. T. L. Cooke, of Parsonstown, published in the Transactions of the Kilkenny
Archaeological Society, v. i. p. 295.
The rath is assigned to pagan times in our legendary and historical relations, and the
traditions of the peasantry have sanctified them by a thousand weird tales; they are said to be
the abodes of the Sidhe, the “Good people; ” they dread to pass them after nightfall, lest
they should disturb the occupants in their occult orgies; the scenes of all ghost tales are
usually laid in the neighbourhood of these structures, and the existence of such numbers of
them in the country is entirely owing to the peasantry, whose superstitious fears prevent
them from aiding or assisting in their destruction.
As a rule every Rath has such chambers as I have already described ; in the larger ones,
these are of considerable extent and constructed with great care. In the Dublin Penny Journal,
in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, of the
Kilkenny Archæological Society, and in Wilde's Lough Corrib, will be found plans, sections,
104 RATHS AND DUNS, HABITATIONS. [CHAP. VIII.
and descriptions of those subterraneous buildings. * Duald MacFirbis appears to have been
well acquainted with this class of structures, and with the antiquity of stone building in
Ireland. Dr. O'Curry in his lectures gives the following quotation from a genealogical work
of that eminent Gaedhelic scholar and antiquary, in reference to them :—“Such is the stability
of the old buildings, that there are immense royal raths (or palaces) and forts (Lois)
throughout Erinn, in which there are numerous hewn and polished stones, and cellars, and
apartments underground within their walls; such as there are at Rath-Maolcatha in Castle
Connor; and in Bally-O'Dowda, in Tirreragh, on the banks of the Moy. There are nine
smooth stone cellars under the walls of this Rath; I have been inside it, and I think it is
one of the oldest Raths in Erinn.” (O'Curry's Lectures, p. 223.)
At what period the construction of Raths ceased in Ireland, we have no means of ascer-
taining. Dr. Petrie has quoted certain passages relating to the construction of the Rath
around some ecclesiastical buildings in the early Christian age; these, however, only refer to
the erection of the fences of stone or earth, usually formed around all religious establish-
ments at that period.
Many of the old pagan Raths were given up to the Church on the conversion of the native
chiefs. Thus we find the church of Cill Benan, now Kilbannon, was erected within the
precincts of such a fortress, and which was called Dun Lughaidh, from one of the native
chiefs who had embraced Christianity under the ministry of Saints Patrick and Benan, and
who consecrated by gift this structure to the uses of religion. (Trias. Tharim, p. 204.)
In the Island of Arranmore, at the entrance of the Bay of Galway, is a great stone-built
Rath named Miribheach Mil, erected by the Fir-Bolgs who inhabited this island in the first
century of our era. On the conversion of the islanders, the monks of St. Colman, Mac
Duach got possession of the fortress, remains of which still exist, showing the ruins of two
small churches and several clochans within its precincts. A remarkable instance of bestowing
a pagan Rath upon a Christian community is given by Dr. Petrie. A similarly striking
example of the resignation of a pagan fort for the use of a Christian community occurs in
the life of St. Caillin, in the Book of Fenagh, of which there is a copy on parchment in the
collection of Irish manuscripts in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, made from a copy
of the original still preserved at Fenagh, and which was transcribed for the Abbot O'Rody,
in the year 1517, from the original book now preserved in the British Museum. It is there
stated that an ancient poem attributed to Flaun, the son of Flann, concerning the history of
Fenagh, that the chief of the county of Breifny, Aodh Finn, the son of Feargna, on his
conversion to Christianity by St. Caillin, gave up to him his Cathair or stone fortress in
order that he might erect his monastic buildings within it, and of this Cathair, which was
one of great extent, there are vestiges still remaining.
It further appears from this poem, that this Cathair had been of great antiquity as well as
importance, as its erection is attributed to Conaing Begeglach, or the Fearless, the sixty-fifth
monarch in Ireland in the Irish regal list, and who flourished, according to the corrected
* In the work on “the Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland,” by Mr Brash, pp. 143, 150, will be
found several plates further illustrative of the Rath chambers.- G.M.A.
CHAP. VIII.] DOMESTIC USES OF THE RATH. 105
chronology of O'Flaherty, nearly four hundred years before the Christian era. This fact is
stated in the following stanzas —
“Dun Baile a royal town for all,
A fort to which the chiefs of Faill were wont to come,
When the vigorous Conaing Begeglach
Was brave and plundering king.
Conaing the son of Conall, the brave,
Who mightily consolidated Banba,
And built a beautiful Casiul of stone
On Magh Rein at Loch Saloch.
Dun Baili was the name of the Cathair,
And not for a short time,
From the time of Conaing of great valour
To Feargna son of Fergus.
Aedh came out to the rock
In the chief door of the Cathair,
So that he gave land
To Caillin his spiritual adviser.”—Petrie's Enquiry, &c. pp. 444-5.
While the great raths and duns were the seats of the provincial chiefs and kings, and the
territorial fortresses of the various divisions of the island, the lesser structures were the
common residences of the people. The various independent authorities established in the
island created a constant state of warfare, and consequently a sense of insecurity; hence,
every man's house was emphatically his castle. The head of the family with a centre pin
and cord marked out the external circumference of the proposed habitation; his children
and dependents set to work and dug a circular trench, throwing up the excavated material all
round and carefully trimming the slopes into a seemly rampart; this process was repeated
until the requisite number of fences and ditches were formed, in accordance with the intentions
of the builder.
In the interior area an excavation was made, and certain underground chambers were
constructed, the walls built of stone and lintelled with the same material, as already
described ; the passages to these chambers were intricately designed and made difficult of
access, the whole being covered over with earth and the top surface levelled. Within the
area were erected the residences of the family and of their dependents, probably constructed
of wood and thatched, also the houses for their cattle; round on the external rampart was
fixed pallisading of branches interwoven, as a protection against wolves, then plentiful in the
island, as well as against the kerns and wood thieves. At night the cattle, the principal
wealth of the Gaedhil, were collected and driven within the les, the gate was closed, the
watch set, and all made secure. In time of war and on the approach of an invading enemy
the able bodied men joined the standard of their chief, the cattle were driven into the
mountains and wild fastnesses, while the women, children and aged, with their movables, took
P
106 THE ogAM CHARACTER PRECEDED THE BUILDING OF THE RATH. [CHAP. VIII.
refuge in the hill fortresses, one or more of which were possessed by every tribe. This
would appear to have been the state of things existing in our island in remote ages, and will
account for the vast number of raths of all sizes found in all parts of the country. In
evidence of the domestic uses of these structures, we have many passages in our annals and
tales. In the historic tale of the battle of Magh-Rath, the hero Congal addresses the king
Domhnall, his foster-father, in these words:–“Thou didst place a woman of thine own tribe
to nurse me in the garden of the fort (gort in lis) in which thou dwelledst.” (Magh-Rath,
p. 35.) Again, on the arrival of two strangers at the fort of Dun-na-ngedh, we are informed,
“that they were conducted into the dun, and a dinner sufficient for a hundred was given to
them.” (Ibid. p. 22.)
In the siege of Drom-damhghaire, an historical tract to be found in the Book of Lismore,
we are informed that the men of Munster refused tribute to Cormac-mac-Art, but in consider-
ation of his subjects suffering under a great scarcity, they offered to the king a free gift of a
“Cow out of each lios in Munster.” We are also informed in the Book of Leinster, that the
tribute paid to Enna Cennselach by the men of Munster was “An uinge of gold from
every lios.”
In the Dialogue of the Sages, contained in the Book of Lismore, is a poem descriptive of
the mansion of Creide, a daughter of Cairbre Cneasban, king of Kerry; this mansion is
stated to have been situated at Lough Cuire in the west of Ireland, probably Lough Currane
in Iveragh; in this poem her mansion is termed a dun —
“A visit I paid on Friday,
To the house of Creide, it is no fiction,
Near the north-eastern side of a mountain :
It is destined for me to go there,
To Creide on the noble road.
I was there under difficulties,
Four days and half a week;
Delightsome is the house in which she dwells,
Both men and youths and women.
Both druids and musicians,
Attendants and door-keepers,
Both pages, no wild fellows,
And Ronnaire to distribute.
The service of all these
Has fair Creide of the yellow hair ;
It was pleasant to me in her dun,
Between coverlets and soft feathers.
If Creide be pleased to listen,
Delightful to me would be my visit;
Her vessels were distilling sweet liquors,
Out of which was made black Ablai.
CHAP. VIII.] THE OGAMI CHARACTERS FOUND ON CHRISTIAN SITES. 107
Clean vats of malt juice,
Cups and fair drinking vessels.”--(O'Longan's Translation.)
A better translation perhaps is given by Dr. O'Curry at pp. 308-11 of his Lectures.
Ronnaire signifies a distributor, and was an important officer in the houses of the chiefs,
his duty being that each was served in proper order, according to his rank, and that there
was no lack of provisions or drink. Ablai is, I believe, an obsolete word, and was evidently
some intoxicating liquor. The poet goes on to describe the house of Creide in glowing terms
as also its furniture, he states its dimensions as “a hundred feet in the house of Creide from
one corner to another, and twentyfeet measured in the breadth of her noble mansion.” (Ibid.)
I have been thus particular in describing those curious constructions, as they have an
important bearing upon the antiquity of Ogam inscriptions, as in the Rath caves have been
discovered a large proportion of our existing examples, and those the best preserved ; they
are invariably found upon stones used as building material in the construction of the
chamber, either as supporting pillars, or as lintels sustaining the roof; thus, at Glounawillen
two have been found; Aghaliskey, three; Burnfort, one; Cooldorrihy, one; Ballyhank, five;
Drumloghan, nine; Windgap, one; Dunbell, two; Dunloe, six; Aghacarrible, three ;
Tinahally, two, and many others. In the entrance of a remarkable cave at Rath-Croghan,
Co.Roscommon, two have been discovered. That the rath, lios, dun, or caher, as these construc-
tions are variously called, are the oldest works in the country, there can be no doubt; the
hardest oak decays, stone will yield to the influences of wet and frost, the strongest built
walls will succumb when the mortar which unites them loses its cohering quality, but the earth-
mound that encircles the rath, with its sodded surface, will last as long as the dewy clouds
and the summer sun that fertilizes and warms into life its grassy slopes.
From what has been advanced, it is quite evident that the use of the Ogam preceded the
building of the raths in which they were found, and that certainly by a long period; we are
all aware of the extraordinary reverence paid by the Gaedhil to the remains of the dead, to
their graves and monuments, and it is incredible to believe that they would knowingly
remove the inscribed memorials of their own kith and kin from their consecrated graves, and
use them up as mere building materials in the construction of their chambered raths, except
under very peculiar and remarkable circumstances. The dread which even in this civilized
age hangs over the peasantry respecting raths, pillar stones, cromlechs and all objects of the
past, and which prevents them from injuring or removing such, even under great temptations;
the tales and traditions handed down from father to son, of judgments falling upon individuals
who had interfered with the remains of the dead, or the monuments of the good people; are
powerful evidences that they could not have done so. How then are we to account for the
fact 2 by adopting one of two alternatives. First, that these inscribed stones were the
monuments of a different race from those who erected the raths, probably a conquered and a
hated race, and that, therefore, the rath builders had no scruple in spoiling their cemeteries
and using their monuments for their own purposes. Second, that they may have been the
memorials of the ancestors of the rath builders, but of so great an antiquity that they had
lost their interest by reason of their great age, or as being the monuments of a religious
108 OGAM MONUMENTS FOUND IN CHRISTIAN BURIAL GROUNDS. [CHAP. VIII.
system detested in a subsequent age. In whatever light we view it, the venerable antiquity
of the use of the Ogam is forced upon us. In confirmation of what has been stated we have
the remarkable and suggestive fact, that in almost every case where inscriptions have been
thus discovered, a Keel, or the site of one, has been found in close proximity; as at Aghacar-
rible, Aghaliskey, Roovesmore, Drumlohan, Seskinan, Gurranes, Cooldorrihy, Corkaboy,
Croghan, &c. It was this proximity no doubt that prompted the rath builders to lay violent
and sacrilegious hands upon their contents. Another noteworthy fact having a decided
bearing on the antiquity of the Ogam is, that not one of the inscribed stones found in raths
bears the sacred symbol; plain evidence that they had been constructed in pre-christian
times, or at least before the custom obtained of imposing Christian emblems upon pagan
monuments.
C H R IS TIAN SITE S.

That stones inscribed with Ogam characters should have been found on sites hallowed by
Christianity is only reasonable to expect, as it is well known that many of our early churches
were erected on sites professedly pagan; and that those inscribed memorials found on the
spot should have been used as headstones to the graves of Christians, sanctified by the
addition of the cross, is consistent with probability and the practice of primitive Christianity.
The late Dr. Pettigrew, in alluding to the appropriation of pagan tombs and cemeteries at
Cuma by the Christians, thus alludes to it as a very general custom –“ Fiorelli and others
have cited many instances in which Christians have availed themselves of buildings and
other various appliances which had belonged to pagans, and been employed by them in
purposes connected with their religion. Mabillon makes mention of the Christians having
made use of the sarcophagus of P. Elio Sabino, of Livia Primativa; of another of metallic
porphyry, destined to contain the body of S. Helena, mother of Constantine; of the urn of
the young Tiberius Julius Valerianus, in which the remains of S. Andreola the martyr were
placed; and of others mentioned by Raoul Rochette, besides which the Christians took also
the sepulchral inscriptions of the idolaters to ornament the tombs of the martyrs.” (Journal
of the Archæological Association, v. 1858, p. 300.)
I shall not here pause to give additional examples in confirmation of this fact, which is
quite familiar to all archaeologists, but I shall merely content myself with referring again to
the example of our patron saint, already quoted, as having Christianized three pillar stones,
by causing to be inscribed thereon the name of the Saviour in three languages.
That so potent an example was largely followed by his disciples we have abundant
evidence, though as respects the conversion of Ogam inscribed monuments to Christian
purposes, the examples are very few. Those who have advocated the mediaeval and Christian
origin of the Ogam, have relied on these few instances in support of their views; yet so far
from yielding such support, they appear to me to prove the contrary. If it was customary
to use this character for Christian memorials, how is it that we have no trace of it on any of
the monumental crosses of our island, or on any of those ancient sepulchral slabs so
frequently found in our ancient graveyards, as at Lismore, Clonmacnoice, Clonfert, Iniscaltra,
Kells, Clonard, Monasterboice, and other similar localities? How is it that we miss from
CHAP. VIII.] THE CROSS INSCRIBED OGAM MONUMENTS. 109
the Ogam the well-known Christian formula of Oroit, Bendacht, etc., that in fact we cannot
find in any known inscription of this class, a single reference to anything Christian 2
Again, why should the Christian Gaedhil use an occult and secret character for the
memorials of their deceased friends? Such a strange proceeding would be contrary to the
usages of all people; the natural sentiment in the human mind is to perpetuate the memory
of departed worth in letters and a language that could be read and understood not only in
present but future times.
The number of these monuments found in Christian burial-grounds or churches is few,
and of these the number bearing the sacred emblem is fewer still; and from the manner
and position in which it is placed on the majority of them, it is quite evident that the Ogam
pillar was changed from its original purpose and turned into a Christian monument by the
imposition of the cross. I shall now proceed to give a catalogue of such.
AGHABULLOGE.
In the churchyard stands an Ogam inscribed pillar, known from time immemorial as the
Cappeen Olan; more properly the name was applied to a moveable stone or cap, of a semi-
globular shape, invested by the peasantry for ages past with wondrous curative powers,
particularly in certain female ailments. The fate of this Phallic amulet is given in the
article Aghabulloge. There is no cross carved on the pillar, if we except some rude scratches
made by the peasantry in recent times. St. Olan does not appear in any of our calendars,
his name is not on the stone.
IKNOCKOURANE.
At Knockourane, otherwise Mount Music, near Macroom, Co. Cork, has been found a
rude pillar stone having a long Ogam inscription on one angle, and on the end of the stone
that originally was fixed in the ground is incised a shapely cross, of the Maltese or Greek type.
AGLISH.
In the churchyard of Aglish, Co. Kerry, two Ogam inscribed stones have been found.
One of these has been deposited in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy; it bears a cross in
a circle of an antique type, and also on the bottom of the stone. The other bears no cross.
KINNARD.
Two Ogam inscribed stones exist in the graveyard of Kinnard East, Co. Kerry; one of
these bears the well-known “Mariani” inscription. The curious diagram incised on this
stone has been named a cross by the R. R. Dr. Graves; I have shown in my article
“Kinnard” that it is no such thing; below the diagram a small rude cross has been scratched,
evidence that the former was not considered a sacred emblem. The other stone bears no
Cl’OSS. -
- BALLYNAHUNT.
This monument was found by Mr. Windele, lying near a field fence in the parish of
Ballinwoher, Co. Kerry. Two of its angles are inscribed with Ogams, and on the original
base of the stone and reverse to the inscriptions is incised a fine type of the sacred emblem.
This stone had been brought from a holy well up in the mountain adjacent.
110 THE CROSS INSCRIBED OGAM MONUMENTS, [CHAP. VIII.
DRUMCAOR.
This monument stands in a Killeen on the shores of Lough Currane, Co. Kerry; it bears
a long Ogam inscription, a portion of which is at present buried in the earth. Some zealous
Christian convert inscribed a well-formed cross on the head of the stone, where a clear space
was to be had. There is no memory or tradition of a church here, and none but unbaptised
children and suicides are interred in it.
BALLYMOREREAGH.
This is a burial ground of the Killeen type, in which stands a pillar stone bearing a long
inscription on one angle; there are rude crosses inscribed on both faces, as if more effectually
to exorcise the paganism out of it. In this instance the crosses are on the original head, as
from the breadth of the stone there was room enough. Dr. Petrie has named this St.
Monachan's stone, but the name of Monaghan or any other saint is not to be found in the
inscription.
AGHADOE.
This monument was found in the ruined church of Aghadoe, near Killarney, it bears an
imperfect inscription, but no cross.
KILBONANE.
This fine monument covers at present a vault in the east end of the church; it bears
four distinct lines of inscription, but no cross. Surely if the individual to whom this
elaborate memorial was dedicated had been a Christian, and if inscribed by Christian hands,
they would have arranged the sacred emblem as a portion of the design, or would have
included some word of faith or hope in the inscription, whereas there is none such.
INNISHVICKILLANE.
This is one of the outermost of the Blasquet Islands, off Dunmore Head, County Kerry,
the most westerly point of Europe. On it stands a rude cell or oratory, and in front of it a
small Ogam pillar, on which is incised a plain rude cross.
BALLINWOHER.
In this churchyard stands a rude pillar with an Ogam legend on one angle. On the front
face is incised a long vertical line, with three cross ones at equal distances, the centre one
being circumscribed by an oval line, all rudely done.
KILMALKEDAR.
This graveyard contains among other interesting relics a pillar stone, having two lines of
Ogams on its front angles. It bears no cross, and is evidently one of the class of holed
stones from the perforation still remaining at the top. The stone at Ballymorereagh appears
also to have been of the same type, as the remains of a similar perforation are to be seen on
one of its angles.
KILNAGHTIN.
In this graveyard Mr. Windele found an inscribed stone, it bears no cross.
CHAP. VIII.] OG AM MONUMENTS IN ANCIENT CHURCHES. 111
KILLEENADREENA,
This stone stands nearly in the centre of a Keel, on the Island of Valentia, County Kerry.
A plain cross 1ſt. 9in, by 8in. is cut on the original head of the monument, because there
was sufficient space for it. The names recorded are pagan.
ARDOVENAGH.
In a Killeen on the townland of Ardovenagh, two miles east of Castlemaine, County
Kerry, Mr. Windele found an inscribed pillar stone upon which was incised a cross within a
circle formed by a single line.
TRABEG.
This remarkable monument lies on the strand at Trabeg, it bears a rude cross deep cut
on the face towards the top; its being posterior to the Ogam is quite evident from the manner
in which it interferes with some of the letters of the legend. -
GORTNAGULLANAGH.
This stone was found forming a lintel over the door of a primitive stone-roofed building,
in the parish of Minard, County Kerry; it bears a remarkable inscription which occupies two
of its angles, and has a rude cross cut on one side.
MAURNANORIG.
This is a rough unshapely rock fragment, having an Ogam inscription cut on its face, and
also two rude crosses of the Greek type, one within a circle; it stands in a Killeen called
Kilcolman, parish of Marhin.
ARRAGLIN.
This stone stands on Brandon Mountain, in the parish of Cloghane, County Kerry; it has
two of its angles inscribed with Ogams, and bears a rude cross on each of its faces. The
parish must have derived its name originally from some remarkable stone monument.
BALLINTARMON.
This is an enormous pillar stone twelve feet in height above ground, and of great breadth
and thickness, standing in a field called Parcagullane, i.e. the field of the Standing Stone;
it has a mutilated inscription, as usual, on the left angle, and on one edge a small rude cross;
a glance at this ponderous pillar stone will convince the most sceptical that no Christian
hands ever reared it, merely to inscribe on its angle “a trick of the middle ages.”
ARDMORE.
Three inscribed stones have been found in connection with this ancient locality, one of
them, the most important, having been used as building material in the construction of an
arehaic edifice, known as the Leabha Deglainn, i.e. the Bed of Deglann, the patron saint of
the County of Waterford, and stated to have been one of the precursors of St. Patrick.
It was found in the upper part of the eastern gable, a few only of its scores being visible,
112 OG AM MONUMENTS CONNECTED WITH CHRISTIAN SITES. [CHAP. VIII.
and which first attracted the attention of its discoverer; this stone has three of its angles
inscribed, but bears no cross. Two fragmentary inscriptions have also been found in the
graveyard of this place, one of them, the Sacred, has a small rude cross scratched on its
face. The Leabha is believed to be the oldest Christian building in Ireland.
KILRUSH.
The ancient church of Kilrush, near Dungarvon, is one of those primitive structures
found in the South and West of Ireland; built into its northern wall, Mr. Wm. Williams,
of Dungarvan, found an inscribed stone, it bears no cross.
SESKINAN.
Seskinan church, County Waterford, is a mediaeval building of a rude type. Five
inscribed stones are to be seen used up as building materials over its doors and windows;
none of them bear the sacred symbol. The church was built close to what appears to be
the remains of a Killeen (see article).
GOWRAN.
In the graveyard of the ancient church of Gowran, County Kilkenny, is to be seen a
slab bearing Ogam characters on two of its angles, and on the same face a finely cut cross
of an antique type; in this, as in the great majority of similar instances, the cross is
engraved on the original base of the stone, as is evident by the reading of the inscription,
which ran round the head of the monument. -
CLARAH.
The ruined church of Clarah is within a short distance of Gowran. The chancel is a
venerable little building of the 11th or 12th century. Built into the eastern gable, beneath
the sill of its round-headed window, is a shapely stone having characters on both of its
angles. It has not yet been moved from its singular position, and its legend has not
therefore been read, only a few letters on each angle being exposed.
TULLOHERIN.
In the graveyard and adjoining the Round Tower a stone of small size has been found,
bearing a short inscription, there is no cross on it.
TRALLONG.
The Ogam inscribed pillar stones of Wales exhibit exactly the same phenomena as those
of Ireland. In their form, the cutting of the characters, and formulae of the legends, they
are perfectly alike; nay more, they have passed through the same vicissitudes, having been
used as lintels and gate-posts, and as building materials in the walling of ancient churches.
The handy-work of the christianizers has also been found on them in the form of crosses
of an antique type, inscribed as usual on the bases of the monuments, when they were
appropriated to Christian uses. The church of Trallong, in Brecknockshire, contains a fine
example of the Ogam inscribed pillar, it bears a bilingual inscription, and has a plain cross
in a circle inscribed on its original base.
CHAP. VIII.] OG AM MONUMENTS CONNECTED WITH CHRISTIAN SITES. 113
TYCOED.
This stone lies in the farmyard of Tycoed, within a mile of the old church of Clydai, in
Pembrokeshire. It bears an inscription in Roman, and one also in Ogam letters, and has a
cross of a very ancient type cut on its base.
LAN ARTH AND CALDY.
The slabs at both these places have evidently been Ogam monuments appropriated to
Christian uses, the ancient inscriptions being nearly defaced in the process.
BRESSAY AND GOLDSPIE. -
These monuments with their inscriptions being evidently of a late type, I have not taken
into consideration in this section.
I have here given a brief descriptive list of the Ogam inscribed stones connected
with Christian sites, or which bear Christian symbols; perhaps it will here be well to analyze
it more particularly: and first, I would premise, that unless the symbol of the cross be
of a marked character, and of a type showing a certain remote age, it stands of no value
in relation to the era of these monuments; two lines intersecting one another at right
angles, and cut or scratched in a rude, plain manner, cannot be looked upon as
affording the slightest clue to the age of the monument. We find, then, that the
number of Ogam inscribed stones found in Christian graveyards which bear the symbol of
the cross amounts to only four. These are Aglish and Gowran in Ireland, and Trallong and
Tycoed in Wales; in every one of these instances the cross is cut on the original base of
the stone. Again, nine stones have been found either in Killeens or in open fields which
bear the sacred symbol; three of these have it also inscribed on the bases of the monuments.
Again, twenty stones have been found in or connected with Christian burial-grounds or
churches which bear no sacred symbol, and of the above, eleven have been found used up
as building material in the walls of the sacred edifice. Of the entire number, ten only bear
crosses of a representative character, the dates of which crosses may be approximately
guessed ; of these, as I before stated, seven are cut on the original bases of the stones.
These facts dispose of the Christian uses of the Ogam ; in truth, I have been much
surprised that in the early days of Christianity in Ireland it does not appear to have been
made use of; I have always been prepared for meeting with some Christian memorial
inscribed in that character, but none such has hitherto turned up ; were we to meet one,
two, or ten such, it would be no argument against the pre-christian origin of the Ogam, it
would merely show that its use had been partially continued into the Christian age.
114
CHAPTER IX.
OG AM MONUMENTS, COUNTY OF CORK.
Cork county from its great size has been denominated the Yorkshire of Ireland, it is a
sea-board district, occupying almost the entire extent of its southern shores. From the
mouth of the Blackwater to the bay of Kenmare, the coast is indented with numerous sea-
inlets, amongst which are some of the finest harbours in the empire, as Cork, Kinsale,
Glandore, Crookhaven, Dunmanus, Bantry. The coast scenery is uncommonly grand, and it
is remarkable that most of the headlands exhibit traces of ancient fortifications; in truth,
it would appear as if every prominent headland in the south and south-west had been a
fortified look-out station; hence the majority of them have the prefix Dun (a fortress) to
their names. This fact would lead us to suppose that descents on these coasts were frequent
in remote times, and lend some colouring to the statement of a militia, called Feini, having
been set apart for the special duty of protecting them from hostile invasions.
The county derives its name from its chief city, Cork, which was originally built on a
marshy island, enclosed between two branches of the river Lee; wet, low lying, marshy land
being denominated in Gaedhelic Corcach. Some writers have supposed that the city was
named from Corc, a king of Munster in the fourth century, but the former derivation is the
more probable, as we know that the great majority of places in Ireland are named from their
physical features. Smith in his history states that Cork Harbour was anciently named
“Bealach Conglac; ” I suspect he means Bealach Conglais, a territorial boundary somewhere
in the neighbourhood of Cork very frequently mentioned by ancient Irish writers, and not
improbably Cork Harbour.
The Bardic historians record that the children of Neimhed or Nemedius, a Scythian
colony, occupied the southern district of Ireland, and especially about Cork; they preceded the
Firbolgs, but are stated to have been destroyed by a plague, of which their leader Neimhed and
3000 of his people died, at Oilean-ard-Neimhed—now, the Great Island in Cork Harbour.
When the Firbolgs took possession of Ireland, it is recorded by the annalists that they
divided it into five cantreds, between the five leaders of the expedition. The warrior Gann
was allotted the district lying between Cumar-na-dtri-uisge, i.e. the Confluence of the Three
Waters, now Waterford Harbour; and Bealach Conglais, supposed to be Cork Harbour.
To Seangann was given the district of country lying west of a line drawn from Bealach
CHAP. IX.] ANCIENT HISTORY OF MUNSTER. 115
Conglais to Limerick. On the descent of the Danaan invaders the Firbolg power fell, and
the former became the dominant race; they do not appear to have made any territorial
division of the island, but to have governed it as one kingdom, the seat of their power being
at Tara. In their turn the Danaan dominion, which was of short duration, fell before the
military genius of the Iberian colonists, under the three sons of Miledh, Eibher, Eremon,
and Amergin, who landed in the west of the County of Kerry, and by degrees spread them-
selves along the fertile sea-coast districts of the south and east, until they ultimately became
the ruling race. The Bardic historians record that the newcomers made a division of the
island between them. To Eibher was allotted the province of Munster, and a portion of
Leinster; his posterity were known as the Siol Eibher, the seed or descendants of Eibher.
Ptolemy found this tribe occupying the precise districts assigned to them by the ancient
writers; he divides them into two peoples, calling them Iberni and Velibori; this is a
distinction without a difference, as, dropping the termination of the one and the prefix of the
other, we have the same identical name.
Of the early tribes who settled and ruled in Munster, there is a clear and concise account
in Dr. Connellan's edition of the Annals of the Four Masters, from which I take the following
passage:–
“The Heberians were the chief Munster Milesians, as already explained in the note on
Thomond, and were divided into three great branches, namely, the Dalcassians, Eugenians
and Clan Kian. Eogan Mor, the celebrated king of Munster in the second century, had by
his wife Bera, the Spanish princess, a son named Olioll Olum, who became king of Munster;
and Olioll had three sons, Eoghan, Cormac Cas, and Cian. From Eogan were descended the
Eoganachts or Eugenians; from Cormac Cas the Dal Cais, or the Dalcassians; and from
Cian the Clan Kian. . . . . Cormac Cas or Cais, signifying Cormac the Beloved, the
progenitor of the Dalcassians, was king of Munster, and a celebrated warrior. O'Hallaran,
quoting the Psalter of Cashel, and the Book of Munster, says, that his first queen was
Samhair, daughter to Fion-mac-Cumhal, the celebrated hero, who was general of the Fenian
forces, and his second queen Oriund, daughter of a king of Lochlin, by whom he had a son
called Mogha Corb, who became king of Munster in the third century, and a celebrated
warrior.” (Note, p. 172.)
Inhabiting the patrimony of the Siol Eibher, or Heberians, were another tribe, the
Ithians; they were the descendants of Ith, the son of Breogan, who was the uncle of Miledh
or Milesius; they were also known as the Clanna Breogan. This tribe is mentioned by various
classic writers, under the name of Brigantes. The Clanna Breogan, which seems to have been
their original tribe name, appears to have been first located north and west of Dublin,
occupying an extensive tract anciently named from them the plain of Bregia. Their
territory appears to have extended southward, including Kildare, Carlow and Kilkenny. In
the lapse of time they appear to have been forced into Munster, as previous to the Anglo-
Norman invasion we find them in the County of Waterford, between the Suir and Blackwater,
an extensive district then named from its possessors Ibh Breogain. This occupation must
have been long before the intrusion of the Desii.
A tribe of the Clanna Breogain, under the name of Lughadii or Lugadians, from their

116 ANCIENT HISTORY OF MUNSTER. [CHAP. IX.
ancestor Lughaid, the son of Ith, the son of Breogan, occupied an extensive district named
from them Corca-Luighde, i.e. the race of Lughaid, and which appears to have comprised
the present baronies of Carbery, Bearra and Bantry. It was a mountainous and forest
grown district, with a long line of sea coast, indented with numerous creeks and fine harbours;
here the tribe became numerous and powerful as a seafaring people.
Their descendants, the O'Eidirsceols or O'Driscolls, down to a late mediaeval period,
retained this love of sea adventure, and became merchants or pirates, as it suited them.
The galleys of the O'Driscolls were found in every creek and harbour, from Clonakilty to
Kenmare; they kept the southern, western and eastern coasts in fear, and their castles and
strongholds crowned all the important headlands along their coasts. We find, however,
that the descendants of Breogan were fated never to have rest in any place; on the conquest
of Cork by the Anglo-Normans, who pushed their successes towards the west, the dispossessed
clans of the O'Sullivans, O'Donovans, O'Mahonys, and Mac Carthys in their turn encroached
upon the O'Driscolls, and wrested from them a considerable part of their ancient patrimony.
(See Miscellany, Celtic Soc. pp. 48-57, and 148.)
O'Heerin, in his topographical poem on Munster, thus alludes to the O'Driscolls:–
“To the race of Lughaidh near the sea,
Here I pass over the boundary :
It behoves me not to pass these people by,
But to record the renown of the heroes.
O'h-Eidirsceoil, chief king of the land,
Of Corca-Laighdhe I speak,
He assumed possession over the harbour of Clear,
The most tranquil pillar of the kings.
O'h-Eidirsceoil of Bearra, the good,
Over Bearra of the salmon-full border ;
The harbour of Baoi, at which the branching sea is green,
Is under his extensive fleet of wine.
After treating of the race of Lughaidh,
And the proper land of Desmond,
Let us leave entirely the land of Ith,
Territories of yellow hazel nuts.”
(Topographical Poems of O’Dugan and O'Heerin.)
O'Heerin's topographical work, from which the above passage is translated (by Dr.
O'Donovan), was written before the year A.D. 1420, as his death in that year is recorded by
the Four Masters, who state that he was a learned historian; his work, compiled from more
ancient sources, is exceedingly interesting and valuable as a record of the various tribes
who at different periods occupied the province of Munster. Ortelius places the Brigantes in
the County of Kilkenny; Richard of Cirencester locates them in the County of Waterford;
both are right, as I have already shown. It is highly probable that the Clanna Breogan
crossed into Britain in a remote age, and subsequently formed the kingdom of the Brigantes
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. CoRK. 117
in York and Durham; they were certainly a distinct race from the Britons. English writers
have not been able to determine from whence they came, and assert, on the other hand,
that they crossed from Britain to Ireland. The Irish Seanachuidhe denies this, and traces
them from Spain into Ireland, and thence into Britain. There is nothing improbable in the
statement; for we know that a people of that name were to be found in Spain, Ireland and
Britain. Ptolemy places a tribe called by him Vodii, or Uedii, in the County of Cork,
between the Daurona (Blackwater) and the old head of Kinsale, called in Irish Dun
Cearmna. This tribe name corresponds with the Ua Deagha, or posterity of Deagha, who
inhabited this territory and the north-west of the Counties of Cork and Kerry. I have
before remarked that tribes named by Ptolemy Iberni and Velibori were placed by him in
the Counties of Cork and Kerry, and that these names correspond with the original great
tribe, the Siol Eibher. The name still lingers in the extensive barony of Iveragh in Kerry,
in Irish Ibheara, and that of Beare, or Bearra, County of Cork.
The pre-historic remains of this county are very numerous, although it is probable that
not one-twentieth of their original number are now in existence. Raths, Cashels, Pillar
Stones, Stone Circles, Cromlechs, Cairns, Tumuli, and Cilleens, are plentiful, and in some
districts in great numbers. The megalithic remains are more conspicuously found, in a
certain belt of country, running from east to west through the county; commencing on the
sea coasts of Bantry Bay, running through the baronies of Beare, Bantry, Carbery,
Muskerry, and Barrets, and partially through Barrymore, to the banks of the Blackwater.
That district of country west and north of Macroom, and running north of the Lee river,
comprising the parishes of Ballyvourney, Macroom, Clondrohid, Aghabullog, Grenagh, and
Dunbullog, is thickly studded with these ancient monuments. In the last-named districts
also by far the greatest number of Ogam inscriptions have been found, and they generally
run in the direction I have already indicated. Starting from the most western point where
they are found, we have almost in the extremity of the barony of Beare, in the parish of
Kilcatharine, and close to the sea-shore at Ballycrovane, on the eastern coast of the bay of
Kenmare, the finest Ogam monument yet discovered, at Adrigoole; and at Coomliah, close to
Bantry Bay, we have two others; between Clonakilty and Bandon we have a group of
three, in a Rath cave; north of Bandon, another ; while the parishes of Aghabullog and
Magourney have supplied a considerable number. It is probable that a diligent search
would result in the discovery of very many more of these interesting monuments.
COOLOWEN.
The first Ogam inscribed stone noticed in this country, was that discovered by the late
Mr. John Windele, in the year 1820, on the townland of Coolowen, three and a half miles
north of Cork.
He describes it as a smooth square pillar, standing in the entrance gap of a Cilleen,
used for the interment of unbaptised children, having at that time twenty-five Ogam scores
on its angles. Mr. Windele being at that period a novice in the study of archaeology, did
not then copy the inscription.
Revisiting the locality in the year 1835, for the purpose of a more careful examination,

118 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. [CHAP. IX.
to his intense disappointment he found that it had been broken up by the farmer who
rented the grounds, and who used it up as building material in the erection of a house about
a year previously. -
The farmer, whose name was Molony, died in three months after, the peasantry
attributing his death to the malign influence of the good people (fairies), in consequence of
his having desecrated a stone considered sacred.
BURNEORT.
This inscribed stone was taken out of the crypt of Rath-an-Totain, or Burnt Fort.
The Rath is situated on a townland of the same name, six miles from Mallow, and fourteen
from Cork; the locality will be found on Sheet No. 42 of the Ordnance Survey. It was
deposited in the Museum of the Royal Cork Institution by Mr. John D. Croker, May 18th,
1835. Strange to say, this stone has disappeared from the collection in the above named
Museum; Dr. Caulfield, the present curator, informs me that since he took office, fourteen
years ago, it had not been in the collection. It is singular that a stone of its size and
weight should have disappeared in so unaccountable a manner. I have made every inquiry
after it without success; I am, therefore, unable to verify the inscription from my own actual
observation; * fortunately, it has been preserved by various hands, all of whom agree as to
the number and values of the characters on the stone.
On May 1st, 1849, the late Mr. John Windele, of Cork, read a paper before the
Kilkenny Archæological Society on this inscription, exhibiting at the same time a drawing of
the stone and a rubbing of the characters, which are but nine in number, on an angle of
the same, as follows:–
m-iº/hi-11-11-4-ſ/+
S. A. G. I. T. T. A. R. I -
The monument is represented on Pl. IV. fig. 1, from Mr. Windele's drawing; it was of the
hard, compact, clay slate of the district, a material on which the great majority of these
memorials are engraved.
The first attempt at rendering this inscription was made by the late Rev. Mathew
Horgan, and I consider successfully; he read it sAGI DARI, i.e. THE PRIEST DAIRE, Mr.
Windele published an account of this monument in the Trans. Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1849,
p. 143, in which he gives the above rendering, and remarks on it:-" The word Sagi is the
root of Sagart, a priest; perhaps, also, of the Latin Sagax, and cognate with the Hebrew
Sagad, to adore, and the Scandinavian Saga; while the name Dari, or Dairé, is common in
Irish history and literature.” The present Lord Bishop of Limerick, then Professor
Graves, objected to Mr. Horgan's reading, and contended that it exhibited a proper name,
“Sagittari;” and that a French bishop of that name lived in the sixth century. A most
* I well recollect, when inquiring with my late friend about this stone, Mr. Brash expressed his
opinion, that, when the Athenæum was being built by the side of the Royal Cork Institution in 1853,
some of the workmen had appropriated this stone, and in all probability it was then used up in the
foundation of that building.—G.M.A.
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 119
interesting controversy between Mr. Windele and Dr. Graves was the result, in a series of
papers read before the above-named Society, and which are to be found in the first vol. of
their Journal, to which I would refer my readers, who cannot fail to observe that Mr.
Windele has successfully established the soundness of Mr. Horgan's reading. In his papers
Mr. Windele has shown by the strongest evidence, what indeed is well known to Irish
scholars, namely, that two Ts have the force of D. Dairé, or as it is pronounced Darry,
is a name which frequently occurs in Irish history and legend, from the celebrated Curoi
Mac Dairé, King of West Munster in the commencement of the first century, downwards.
This name has also been found on a sepulchral stele at St. Nicholas, Pembrokeshire,
South Wales, a district once under the dominion of the Gaedhil, the legend on which read:–
Tune Cetace Uxsor Daari Hic Jacit (Archaeologia Cambrensis, v. 1856, p. 49, Gaulish form
Dorus, Orel. 3211).
A corroborative proof of the correctness of the above rendering subsequently came to
light in Mr. Goodman's discovery of the remarkable and valuable inscription at Cahernagat,
County Kerry, and which runs as follows:–
TO GIT TAC C M A QE SAG ARE TT O S.
This legend is commented on in its proper place.
Other forms of the prefix, as Safi, Safei, Sah, will be found in the legends from Bally-
crovane, Dunbel, and Killeen Cormac. The Burnfort example, in common with all those
hitherto found in Rath-caves, was in fine condition, and bore no sacred emblem. A drawing
of this stone, with a notice by Mr. Oldham, will be found in the Proceedings of the Royal
Irish Academy, v. ii. p. 516. The neighbourhood of Burnfort abounds in Raths, some of
them of great size, and on the adjoining townland of Greenhill is a noble Ogam inscribed
pillar stone, near 9-ft. above ground. (See Pl. XII.)
GLOUNAGLOCH, No. 1 (Pl. IV. Fig. 2).
This inscribed stone was found in the townland of Glounagloch, at the foot of Mushera
Mountain, in the parish of Aghabulloge, Ord. Sh. No. 60. It originally formed one of a
circle of pillar stones which were removed by the peasantry from time to time for building
purposes, as was ascertained by Mr. Windele, who visited the precise spot, and saw the site
of the circle.
The person who removed this particular one devoted it to the ignoble office of a lintel
over the door of a pigstye, in which capacity it was first observed by the late Messrs.
Thomas Crofton Croker and Abraham Abell, who communicated the discovery to Mr.
Windele, through whose exertions it was procured for the Museum of the Royal Cork
Institution, being presented July 18th, 1835, in the names of John Windele and Abraham
Abell, where it now remains.
It is an undressed slab of hard, compact, clay slate, 5-ft. 11-in. in length, 12-in, in
breadth at one end, and 9-in. at the other, average thickness 34-in. The inscription is on
one angle, commencing at 4-ft. from the smaller end, and finishing at the extreme top. The
inscription is in good preservation; the first five letters have a sharper look than the rest;
this I have reason to believe was caused by the misdirected zeal of some person who was

120 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
anxious to make the scores more indelible. This appearance induced the late Mr. Richard
Hitchcock to state that it had been tampered with. If he intended to convey the idea of
an intentional falsification by persons connected with the Royal Cork Institution he was
certainly in error, as there is not the slightest trace of alteration, addition, or erasure; and
what makes it more certain that no such tampering ever took place is the fact that since
that period another inscription has been discovered which presents us with the identical
name found on this stone in its present state. I allude to one of the roofing stones of the
Rath-cave at Aghaliskey, County of Cork. -
Mr. Windele published an account of this monument in the Transactions of the Kil-
kenny Archaeological Society, vol. 1849-51, p. 142, in which he gives the inscription as
follows:–
! Hill+IIll-hiſ/+ Illll-H-Im.
A M C O C U G A Q U S
The above named gentleman distributed several copies of the above, and various
readings were given; but it unfortunately happened that he had copied it the reverse way,
or from the top downwards; he appears to have been under the impression that the slight
end was the top, in which case the inscription would have been buried in the earth;
therefore the various translations given were erroneous, being based upon defective copies.
The actual letters are as follows:–
C U º/ S S O S U M A.
This I propose to read as-
THE GRAVE OF CUNAGUSS.
The name is Cunaguss, with the old Gaulish genitive termination os. The prefix Cu,
genitive Con, signifies “a hound or dog of chase;” and from the amazing strength and
boldness of the ancient Irish wolf dog and bloodhound, the term was applied to the soldier and
hero, and as such we find it in the Irish Dictionaries of O'Brien and O'Reilly. Names
with this prefix are common in our early annals, as Cu-chullin, Cu-dulig, Cu-sinna, Cu-
bretan, &c.; it is also to be found on the following Ogam memorials:–Greenhill, Bally-
meanig, Martramane, Lougher, Tinnahally. The term “uma.” I propose to read as “Umha,
s, a cave, den, grave.” (O'Reilly.)
There is, therefore, no difficulty about the rendering of this inscription, which naturally
divides itself into the above simple terms. An engraving of this stone from a drawing by
the late Mr. Oldham will be found in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, v. ii.
p. 517. He omits one letter, the third last, U. The name, as I have before stated, will
also be found on one of the lintel stones over the Rath-cave at Aghaliskey, in this county;
and, stranger still, it is to be seen with the prefix Tre or Tren, on a monument in the
churchyard of Cilgerran, near Cardigan, Wales. The inscription is in Romano-British
letters:—
T R E N E G U S S I FIL I
M A CUT RE NI H I C J A CIT
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 121
These names are Gaelic, not Cymric. There are the remains of an Ogam inscription
also on the angle of this monument, which is described in its proper place. Gus, according
to O'Brien's Irish Dictionary, signifies weight, force, strength; it enters into the composition
of many proper names, as Feargus, Aengus, Miodgus, Baethgus; the name in the form of
Cugussa is to be found in the “Tribes and Customs of Hy Mainé,” and as Cu-augus in
the “Tripartite Life.”
GLOUNAGLOCH (No. 2).
In the Transactions of the Kilkenny Archæological Society, v. 1856-7, p. 335, appears
a copy of an inscription furnished by Mr. Windele to Mr. William Williams, of Dungarvan.
It is there named Glounagloch Stone, No. 2. I have made every inquiry after it without
success; it is not in the Royal Cork Institution collection, neither in the private one left by
Mr. Windele. I must, therefore, deal with the copy which illustrates Mr. Williams's paper,
and which, from the care with which Mr. Windele usually copied those legends, as well as
from the internal evidence afforded by the inscription itself, I would presume to be nearly
correct.
Ill-hºm hºmillil-Hºſ//+lllll-Hi /#II
T U L U L C O NG MA Q E ST I I,
TUL UL CONG MA QE STIL
G R A V E MOUND OF U L C O N G T H E S ON OF STIL
Tul I consider to be the Ogamic abbreviation of the term Tulach, which signifies a
tumulus, a grave mound, as has already been shown at pp. 69-71. It is a very suitable word
to be found on such a monument.
Ulcong appears to be a form of Uallachan, and is of the same type as Ulcagan (see
Ballyhank). Maqe a form of maqi, the genitive case of Mac, or the inscription may have
lost a vowel score. The form of the genitive case will sometimes be found to vary from
the usual maqi.
Stil.-This name will appear strange to many; probably if we had the original monu-
ment to refer to we would find that some of the letters were absent, as in our indices names
with the prefix Stil are frequently to be met with; thus, in the Martyrology of Donegal
we find Stellan at pp. 139, 143, and Stiallan at p. 287.
BARACHAURIN (Pl. IV. fig. 3).
This inscribed stone was found in a Rath-cave in the townland of Barachaurin, parish of
Aghabulloge, Ordnance Sheet, Nos. 50-51, on the grounds of a widow Looney.
In process of cultivating the land the crypt was discovered in 1845; the stones
composing it were removed, and several of them were placed on the earthen fence. The
inscription was first noticed by a small farmer named Haly, whom Mr. Windele had
employed to hunt up antiquities; happening to pass by the locality, he saw the stones lying
on the fence, and noticed the scores on this particular one. The discovery was com-
municated to Mr. Windele, through whose exertions jointly with Mr. Abraham Abell the
stone was secured, and deposited in the Royal Cork Institution, where it is now to be seen;
R

122 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK, [CHAP. IX.
it is a fine, hard, close grained slab of clay slate, 4-ft. 10-in. in length, 1-ft. 2-in. wide at
bottom, 10-in, at top, and 4-in. average thickness. The inscription which is upon one
angle is much worn, and yet, by a careful examination, all the characters can be determined
excepting one, which is doubtful. It commences at 16-in. from the bottom, and finishes
close to the top; and is as follows:–
Ill-tſ//Ill III+IIll/+lllll-Hätz+1+llll://
C. A. R. R T T A C G A Q I MO H.A. C. A. G. G.
The above properly divided gives us—
CARRT TAC G A QI MO HACA G. G.
In the first instance we have the proper name Carrttac, evidently an archaic form of the
well-known one of “Carthagh,” spelled with that redundancy of consonants so often met
with on those monuments. In cutting the word “Maqi” the artist evidently gave a score
too much in forming the letter M ; consequently, it reads at present G. Any person,
however, conversant with these legends will admit from the position of the word between
two proper names, as well as from the remaining letters, that I am fully justified in
restoring it to its proper value.
The patronymic Mo-Hacagg is eminently Gaedhelic, the prefix “Mo" being a very
usual one; thus we have Mochumna, Mocholmog, Moshacra, Mothiolog, &c. (Mar. Don.).
The name Carthach will be found in the Ann. 4, Mas. at A.D. 631, 851, 885.
Carrtacc is the same as Caradoc. St. Caradoc Garbh was reverenced on Arranmore
Island, off the mouth of Galway Bay, to whom the primitive church of Kil-na-manach is
dedicated; his name is preserved in Porth Caradoc (O'Flaherty's West Connaught, p. 84).
“Carrthach the beautiful fair branch” (Tribes, &c., of Hy Many, p. 35). Gaulish form
Caractacus, Stein, 1894: This is the Caractacus of history, the great Silurian chief who in
Western Britain withstood the Roman arms. The name is identical with that on the
monument, minus the Latin termination. Caractacus was certainly a Gaedhil of the Sile
Ebher.
The rendering of this inscription offers no difficulty; it will be observed that there was
originally a spawl off the top of the stone, and the line of the Ogam shifts as shown.
Barachaurin is a wild upland district, the northern part of which rises to a mountain having
an elevation of 1,248 feet, generally having a poor, moory soil; there are no less than
fourteen Raths, or the remains of Raths, on this townland, which evidences a large popula-
tion in remote times; close to its southern boundary is a group of three pillar stones, and
a short distance outside of it another group of six, some of them 13ft. in height; on the
next townland is a stone circle.
DEELISH (Pl. W., Figs. 1 & 2).
This remarkable monument was found in a Cilleen at Leades, on the townland of Deelish,
and parish of Aghabulloge, by Mr. Paul Horgan, of Carrigagully, in the year 1826. The
finder was unaware of the nature of the markings on it, but being struck with its peculiar
coffin shape, it was preserved from injury until seen by Mr. Windele, who first ascertained it
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 123
to bear an Ogam inscription, Mr. Horgan had a peculiar taste for oddly-shaped stones, of
which he had a remarkable collection. On Mr. Windele's representation he presented it to
the Museum of the Royal Cork Institution in 1835. The actual place where the stone was
found is known as Killberehert, and the whole district round it abounds with cromleacs, stone
circles, pillar stones, raths and holy wells.
In the course of removal, a flake was unfortunately knocked off one of the angles: this
was preserved by the late Mr. Abraham Abell, who was then librarian, with the intention
of having it cemented on, but this having never been done, the piece which bore a portion
of the inscription has disappeared. The stone is at present 3-ft. 24-in. in height, 11-in. by
9-in. at bottom, and 13-in, by 84-in. at the widest part, and 4-in, by 74-in, at the top; it is
of a hard, fine-grained clay slate, of a buff colour.
The first inscription commences on the left angle, close to the bottom, and runs round
the head, finishing at the right hand angle of the top. Another, and a different inscription,
is to be found on the right hand angle, commencing within 4-in. of the bottom, running to
the top, and there being not room enough at the side to complete it, three vowel dots of the
last letter are cut on the lateral angle of the top, at the same side. With a few exceptions,
the inscription is in fair preservation, the letters being broadly cut, as if with a rather blunt
punching instrument. It is quite evident that this stone was longer; invariably a portion of
the lower end is left uninscribed, in order to admit of being fixed in the earth; in the present
instance we have the inscription at one angle commencing within an inch of the bottom.
The inference is, that a portion of this end was knocked off for the convenience of carriage.
Whether this was done by Mr. Horgan when he removed the stone from where it was found
to his own residence, a distance of three miles, or whether to prepare it for an easy transit
to Cork, I cannot now determine; more probably the former, as Mr. Windele, after once
having seen the monument, would doubtless have prevented any injury to it. The inscription
on the left angle reads as follows:–

+Ill/4-114th/+lllll-ºut/#!!! *
O T M A Q I MA Q I R. I T
This reading plainly gives,
O T M A QI MA Q I RITE, i. e. OT THE SON OF MAC RIT.
The name of the individual commemorated is a very singular one—“Ot,” being of a
type found in our Bardic histories as “Ir,” “Un,” “Ni"—all names of but two letters;
the frequent occurrence of names of this type on Ogam monuments is a strong evidence of
their antiquity. That the above letters form the proper name “Ot,” we have corroborative
evidence in the Tullig inscription, now in the Royal Cork Institution, in which we have the
same name spelled with a double T; we have it also entering into the composition of another
proper name, “Ottin,” on a stone at Lomanach, county of Kerry. Between the T and M
there is a space of 4% inches without any trace of a letter, or any appearance of injury to
the stone; we have then the letters M A Q 1, forming the well-known word “Maqi,” the
genitive case of “Mac,” a son. Now, the scores forming the M and A, and the first score of the
124 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
Q, have a remarkably recent appearance, as if rubbed deeply in with a sharp instrument, and
not having the rough, shallow, punched aspect of all the other letters. It has been suggested
that some person has tampered with this inscription; if by this is meant, that these scores were
additions to it, or alterations of it, I must say that I think there are no grounds for such an
insinuation. In the first place it would have been made by some person having a direct
interest in doing so, the object being to produce a certain reading of it; now, I am not aware
of any person ever having published any reading of this inscription. I have looked through
Mr.Windele's papers, and he has not doneso. I can say the same of the Rev. Matthew Horgan;
and as to Mr. Abell, though an enthusiastic Ogam hunter, he never attempted to read one in
his life. I know of no other person having access to this monument who would have the
knowledge requisite to make these additions, if such they are ; for these fresh looking scores
make the inscription to read consistently, which it would not do without them. My own
opinion is, that the scores in question were much worn and obliterated—more so than the
rest—and that some zealous individual, fearing they might be entirely lost, sharpened them
up. Now, there is internal evidence in the inscription that these letters must have originally
existed in that precise spot; for, between the second and fifth letters there is a space of 74-
in. ; and, looking at the crowded state of the stone, with the letters quite thick and close, it
is quite evident that such a space was not left bare, or without letters; again, the inscription,
as it now stands, is a consistent one, and the word which the recut letters assist in forming
is to be found on other monuments, and used in exactly the same formula as in the present
instance. Thus, on the Dunmore stone, county of Kerry, we have “Ere maqi maqi Erci
as ; " and again, on No. 11, in the Royal Irish Academy Collection, we have “Nocati maqi
maqi Ret,” and which last is, in fact, the very same inscription, the first proper name in
each only excepted.
The patronymic “Rite ” is a very usual one on these monuments; we have it in various
forms, as “Rité,” and “Ret,” in the above examples; we have it also as “Rett " on the
Cahernagat stone, and as “Ritti” on stones at Ballinrannig, and Greenhill. We must
therefore conclude that the place of these fresh-rubbed scores must have been originally
occupied by their equivalents, which had been partially obliterated, and which were thus
restored by some injudicious person.
It may be considered that this inscription should have been read round the top, and
down the opposite angle; and I confess it was the first impression made upon my mind by
the aspect of the stone; a careful examination, however, obliged me to change my mind from
difficulties arising. On the top front angle are four vowel dots forming the letter E, the
concluding letter of “Rité; " following down the right angle there are two vowel dots,
equidistant with the four on the top ; if read continuously these six vowel dots could not be
divided, and the sense of the inscription would be lost, added to which, on a lateral angle on
the top of the stone there are three distinct well-formed vowel dots. What would become
of these if the whole be read as one inscription continuously? These vowel marks would
not work in, and in such a case why should they be put on this lateral angle?
Again, my attempts to read it continuously were very unsatisfactory; I was, therefore,
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 125
compelled to read the opposite angle from the bottom upwards, the last letter, the vowel 1,
being rendered complete by taking in the three vowel dots on the lateral top angle, as
follows:–
IIIl-H+IIIl-H%+++/##.
C O I C O R I B I R. I
Which I read as follows:—
C O I [R T H E COR IB I R I, i. e. PIL L A R S T O N E O F C O RIB I R.
The letters “coi” I take to be the Ogamic initials of “coirthe" or “cairthe,” used to
designate a sepulchral “dallan’’ or pillar. Thus Duald Mac Firbis designates the monu-
mental stone of Dathi, A.D. 405, the “Cairthe Dearg,” or “red pillar stone.” In a poem
introductory to the Leabhar na-g-Ceart, as found in the Book of Lismore, fol. 138, and
which is an address by the bard Dubh-da-Tuath, to Aodh O'Neill, he wishes that the king
may live for ever like a pillar stone (cairthe cloch).
The form “Coribir.” is strange to our Gaedhelic nomenclature; it is not improbable
that it may be an archaic form of Cairbre, often written Coirpre and Coirbre, Gaulish form
Corbeus (Caes. v. iii. 6).
ST. OLAN'S WELL (PI. VI.).
This noble monument was found in the crypt of a rath named Mullenroe, townland of
Coolineagh and parish of Aghabulloge. Mr. Windele records that the earthwork was erased
some years since, and the stone was removed and placed as a foot bridge across the Dalla-
heena river, not far from St. Olan's Well, where it was first seen by him, and found to bear
an Ogam inscription. On his representation it was removed from its perilous position by the
then county surveyor, Mr. Leahy, who substituted a masonry gullet in place of it. For
safety it was removed to the farmyard of Mr. Whiting, at Mount Rivers, where it lay for
some time; ultimately it was set up adjoining St. Olan's Well, on the townland of Cooli-
neagh; the locality will be found on sheet No. 61 of the Ordnance Survey. It was erected
at the expense of Mr. John Murphy of Rocklodge, under the direction of Mr. Windele.
St. Olan's is a holy well of great repute in all the surrounding country, and much resorted
to for its supposed curative powers and for giving of rounds. It is situated close to the
public road, and is enclosed by a bee-hive shaped dome of masonry, and shaded by an
ancient ash tree whose branches are, as usual, laden with the votive offerings of the devotees,
in the shape of rags and ribbons of all colours and material.
The stone now stands four yards from the well, and is an imposing monolith, 12-ft. 6-in.
in length, 9-ft. of which stands above ground; it is 2-ft. 9-in. average breadth and 9-in.
average thickness. It is a hard, compact, buff-coloured clay slate. The inscription is short,
on an angle, commencing at 3-ft. 3-in. from the ground and occupying 3-ft. 6-in. in length.
The principal part is quite legible, the scores being broadly and deeply cut, as if by
punching, the vowels being the broadest and deepest indented I have seen, the exceptions
being the first four letters, which are not so strongly marked as the rest, but are still quite
legible, the third excepted, which requires close examination; it is the character which
stands for M.; there is, however, no doubt about its value, as the following letters complete

126 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
the usual formula Maqi, which is here in its proper place, with a proper name before and
after it.
Illll-uus II
Tim #/+lllll-Hill+/+
N O M A Q I D E G O
N O M A QI DE GO, i.e. N 0 THE SON OF DEA G.
It commences with one of those strange, abrupt names to which I have already alluded,
and which indicate the great antiquity of these inscriptions. The name under the form of
Noe is to be found in the Ann. 4. Mas., at A.D. 785, as that of an abbot of “Ceann
Garadh,” and also in the Mar. Don., pp. 29-319; and in the form of Gno, in the pedigree
of one of our early saints, in the Mart. Don., p. 273. Becc, son of De, son of Gnoe,
Gaulish form Neia; Stein. 338. The patronymic is also a very remarkable one, Deag; that
it was a diffused and a general one we have evidence in the fact of the name being found on
a lintel stone in the cave at Dunlo, in Kerry, and also in that at Drumlohan, County of
Waterford, on an upright supporting the roof. In the latter case we have it as Deago, in
the two former as Dego. This name will be recognised as a renowned historic one, intimately
connected with this province. Deag was the ancestor of the Munster Ernaans, so famous
in annals and traditions. A name similar to it is that of Dichu, the first-fruits of St.
Patrick's mission, and the donor of “Sabhal Phadraig,” the first church founded by our
patron saint. It is a curious fact that the name Dago is found as a potter's mark on Samian
ware (Wright's Celt, Roman and Saxon, p. 470). Now we know that Samian ware was of
foreign manufacture, and the name must have been an usual one in the locality where it
was manufactured; could we ascertain that locality, it might give us a clue to the ancestry
of tribes who colonised South Munster, for the name is a distinctive and a remarkable one.
On the Spanish peninsula the name is as common as Patrick is with us, under the form of
Diego; and in a list of potter's marks, found on Romano-Gaulish Fictilia, given in the
“Collectanae Antiqua,” v. vi. p. 69, will be found three names having a prefix similar to
the one under our notice, namely, Dagomarus, Dagodubnus, and Dagoinnas. This identity of
Irish and Gaulish names will become more apparent as we proceed. Lan Degai in Carnarvon-
shire was evidently dedicated to a saint of this name. We have also Degha, a bishop
(Mart. Don., p. 221); at what period he lived does not appear. Gaulish forms Dacuo;
Stein. 1987; Dagwus; Grut. 868-9; Dagusa. Mem. de L'Acad. de Besancon, I. 145.
CARRIGNAWAR.
In the demesne of Mr. Justin McCarthy at Carrignavar, eight miles from Cork,
Ordnance Sheet, No. 52, Mr. Windele found a large Dallan, 9-ft. in height, upon one
angle of which was an obliterated Ogam inscription, there being only three letters legible,
weather, wear and the rubbing of cattle having defaced the rest. I visited this locality
October 2nd, 1869. The stone stands close inside the road fence, and a dozen perches
east of the lodge gate: it is a huge monolith of hard green stone, 8-ft. 6-in, high, 6-ft.
wide at the base, and from 8-in, to 12-in. thick; it is a very remarkable looking stone,
"ving an aspect of hoar antiquity; on one of its angles I found traces of letters, as
CHAP. IX.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 127
described by Mr. Windele, but so much worn that nothing could be made of them, the
angles of the stone being quite rounded and polished from the cattle. I have no doubt this
great pillar stone was erected as a memorial to some fallen chief, and that it gave the
townland its name, Carrig-na-bhfear, the rock of the men. The field is also called Pairc-an-
Dhallain, i.e. the Field of the Standing Stone.
BALLYCROVANE (PI.VII.).
This remarkable monument is situated on the shore of Ballycrovane Bay, an inlet at the
entrance of the great estuary of the Kenmare River, on the townland of Faunkil and the
Woods, barony of Bere, Ordnance Sheet, 101.
I visited this pillar stone place under the guidance of the Rev. John Halahan, Rector of
Castletown; starting from the latter place, our road lay through the mountains for a distance
of six miles, which brought us to a high elevation overlooking the Bay of Kenmare; here
the scenery was exceedingly grand and impressive: to the left towered the lofty range of
Slieve Miskish, stretching along the bay and appearing to rise almost from the water's edge;
to the right the Caha Mountains, stretching away towards Ardgroom; beneath us the
sheltered and almost land-locked Bay of Ballycrovane, its wavelets sparkling in the sun-
beams, and its encircling shores looking grim and rocky with patches of bright green
between its stony ridges; not a tree and scarce a shrub to be seen in the entire of the
extensive landscape spread out before us, giving the whole an appearance of loneliness and
seclusion peculiarly oppressive.
Descending the mountain road we came to a stone-built fort or cashel on the left hand;
it is about 50ft. in diameter, and was enclosed by a rampart of dry-stone masonry, now
much dilapidated, but in some portions showing work of a good character; about the centre
of the internal area we found an entrance to underground chambers, but having no lights we
were unable to examine them. This cashel is situated on the townland of Bofickill.
Turning off the Kenmare-road about half-a-mile below the fort, we took a narrow rugged
trackway, scarcely passable for cars, leading down to the coast-guard station, which stands at
the extremity of the bay; as we descended we had our first view of the great monument.
It stands on a flat-topped, rocky knoll, about a furlong from the shore, and which has an
elevation of about 35ft. It is in height 17ft. 6in. above ground, breadth near bottom,
3ft. 6in., thickness 1ſt. 6in., tapering to 1ſt, 10in. by 6in. at top ; it is a rough unhewn
monolith of hard compact clay-slate; one of the coast-guards who procured us ladders and
assisted me in measuring, assured me that he had dug to the bottom of the stone and found
that it was eight feet under ground, and resting on the natural rock; around its base are
several loose stones. At present it leans considerably out of the perpendicular; its inscribed
face looks towards the bay, the point of the compass being S.S.W., and the legend is cut on
the left hand angle of the same face. It commences at 3ft. from the ground level, and
occupies a length of 8ft. Bin. ; the characters are with two exceptions quite legible, though
much weather-worn; they appear to have been originally deeply cut.
ŽHill+1+1+1+1-1+III+III+III+%+m ###mr
M A Q I D E C C E D D A S A F I T 0 R A N I A S
128 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
The four first characters are perfectly distinct, the second score of the D is faint, but
legible, the 6th, 7th and 8th are also distinctly marked, two of the vowel digits of the 9th are
much weather-worn and scarcely discernible, but as the space exists for them, and as that
space could be occupied by no other letter than an E, which also is necessary in the proper
orthography of a name which we at once recognise, I am fully justified in restoring it to its
original value. Letters 10, 11, 12, 18, 14, and 15, are perfectly legible; between 15 and
17 is a space of eight inches, at present occupied by two vowel digits, five inches of the
angle next 15 is rounded and weather worn, this space would exactly contain the three
missing digits of the vowel I; that this was the value of the letter there can be no doubt, the
vacant space could not have been occupied by a consonant, as the angle is so slightly worn
that such could not have been obliterated; as also, where we find I repeated on other parts
of the angle it occupies exactly the same space; also that the value I have here given it is
consistent with the other letters forming the word or prefix; the rest of the letters of the
legend are perfectly legible; the entire reads:—
M A Q I DE C C E D D A SAFIT OR AN I A S.
We have here names and forms familiar to us; Deccedd has been found on several of our
Ogam inscribed pillar stones, and invariably preceded by the word Maqi, thus, at
Ballintaggart, Dingle, we have “Maqi Decceda, &c.”; on a stone found at Gortnagullanch, in
the Dingle district, “Maqi Decceda,” &c.; on a stone found at Gortnagullanah, in the
Dingle district, “Maqqi Decedda; ” on one found at Cilleen Cormac, on the borders of
Wicklow, “Maqi Ddecceda’’; and more interesting still, the identical form of this name
to a letter, on one of the Dunbell stones in the Museum at Kilkenny, “Maqi Deccedda.”
(See article “Dunbell.”) The name of the individual commemorated appears to have been
Torani, with the prefix Safi. Tor signifies in Irish “a prince or sovereign chief"; it
enters into the composition of many ancient names, as, Torbenn, Torbach, Torpttra,
Tordelvac. I may say the identical name is to be found in the Martyrology of Donegall,
namely that of Toranan, abbot of Banchor, Co. Down, who died A.D. 634, and whose
festival is the 12th of June; the “AS” in this, as in several other Ogamic names, appears to be
an old genitive formation. We find the same in Cassittas (see Gurranes), in Ercias
(Dunmore), and Brannittas (Dunbel). The prefix Safi I have identified on one of the
Dunbel stones, it has suggested itself to me that it is a form of Saci, a wise man, a sage, a
brehon, which has been found on one of the Cilleen Cormac group, in the form of Safei,
and on stones from Burnfort, Co. Cork, and Cahernagat, Co. Kerry, in the form of Sagi.
Gaulish form, Safveia, Orel. 3031. It may have been used either to express the profession of
the deceased, or as a prefix to the proper name, Torani. Gaulish form, Turrani. Orel. 6699.
There can be no question as to this monument having been erected to the memory of
some very important and remarkable personage; the feelings of respect and veneration must
have been very strong indeed, that induced the men of that archaic age to hunt out and
select a pillar stone over 25ft, in length, to drag it to the top of this rocky hillock, and
above all, to place it in an erect position; none but a professional man can estimate the
expenditure of force and power requisite to accomplish such an undertaking in the absence
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 129
of machinery. This is the loftiest inscribed-stone in the British Isles, or perhaps in
Europe; I am aware, that in Brittany monoliths exist of much greater height, but none of
them are inscribed. The tallest pillar stone in Ireland is that at Barna-thoumple, near
Inchageelagh, Co. Cork, which stands 18ft. 9in, above ground, but it is uninscribed.
Several copies of this legend, some of which have been published, are in my hands.
The original discoverer of the monument was the late Mr. John Windele, in Sept. 1849; a
drawing of it illustrates a paper contributed by him to the first vol. of the Ulster Journal of
Archæology, the drawing is not very correct and the inscription less so.
In Mr. G. W. Dunoyer’s “Collection of Drawings,” Library Royal Irish Academy, v. i.
No. 38, will be found a representation of this monument from a sketch by the Lord Bishop
of Limerick, the inscription on which is as follows:–
A-li-thrill-Hill-ill H-11 114-m-i-III-III+%+m Hit-Fm.
This is substantially the same as my own copy, the only differences being, that I have
given the vowel value E to the ninth character, and the value of I to the sixteenth, the
reasons for which I have already stated. The difference of the reading given by the bishop
is scarcely of any moment, he gives DEccopDA for my DECCEDDA, and SAFA for my SAFI.
The Bay of Kenmare, upon the shores of which this great monument stands, is stated by
many authorities to be the Inbher-Sgene of the bardic legends, famous for the landing of
the Milesians or Gaedhil; whether this estuary or that of Dingle was the scene of this
transaction, there can be no doubt that the former was the theatre of remarkable events
connected with the early occupation of the south of Ireland. On the western side, and near
the mouth of the Bay on Derrynane Strand, stands an Ogam inscribed pillar stone; higher
up, at the same side, and nearly opposite Ballycrovane, is the great pre-historic stone-built
fortress of Staigue; higher up still, and about three miles from the shore, stands the stone
circle of Derrygurrane, with its great overthrown Ogam inscribed monolith ; numerous other
remarkable megalithic remains are to be found along both shores of the bay, nearly up to
the town of Kenmare. -
TULLIGMORE (Pl. VIII. Fig. 2).
This inscribed stone was first noticed by the late Mr. Edward Hawkesworth, while
shooting on the lands of Tulligmore, parish of Magourney; the locality will be found on
Ord. Sh. No. 61.
He mentioned to Mr. Windele that he had seen some scorings on it, which looked like
an inscription. The latter gentleman having visited the locality Oct. 3rd, 1841, ascertained
it to be an Ogam; through his and Mr. Abell's exertions, it was deposited in the Roy. Cork
Inst., where it now remains. It is a rough, undressed pillar of old red sandstone, of a
polygonal shape, much fractured, and injured by weather-wear, being in length 5ft. Bin. and
in girth 4ft., and bearing two distinct inscriptions on separate angles of the same face.
LEFT ANGLE:— 7+ *# II*-m-Hitſ/
M A Q, I L A S E G.
130 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO CORK. [CHAP. IX.
It commences some distance from the bottom, and finishes close to the top, which is
apparently fractured ; it simply reads
- THE SON OF L AS E. G.
There are some indications of a name before the Maqi, but so indistinct, that nothing
could be made of it. The name “Laseg'' is of a sufficiently Gaedhelic type ; as instance,
Laissi, Lassar (Mart. Don.).
Riga.T ANGLE:— +1/+lllll-l-HH-
O TM A Q (I) H E
This reads—
OT T H E SON OF HE.
The I is deficient in Maqi, as the place where it would naturally be is much damaged,
and the exact space for that letter is to be found; these, conjoined with the existence of the
other letters which form the word, warrant me in restoring the missing one. The proper
name OT we have already on the Deelish stone. Whether the patronymic HE is a complete
name in itself, or whether the fracture of the top has deprived it of some letter, or letters,
we cannot now determine. An engraving of this stone from a drawing by Mr. Oldham
will be found in the Pro. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. ii. p. 576. The inscriptions are not correctly
given.
ST. OLAN'S CHURCH (No. 1, Pl. IX.).
This inscribed stone stands in the churchyard of St. Olan's, at Aghabulloge. The locality
will be found on the townland of Coolineagh, Ord. Sh. No. 61. The present position of
this monument is a few paces from the S.E. corner of the church; it is in a leaning position,
being 5ft. in height above ground, and 12in, by 9in, at base, slightly tapering towards the
top; its material is a hard compact clay-slate, and the inscription occupies nearly the entire
of one angle; some of the letters being below the ground level, the entire length is 6ft. 9in.
The characters are much injured, and from the absence of some and the doubtful values of
others, this inscription cannot in my opinion be made available for the purposes of
translation :-
+m/ll-ºff/#X+/-ll/-/H++1111/XIII'll
A N M C O R. R M A Q G U U D. D. G. T T
We have here the initial letters A N M found at the commencement of many Ogam
inscriptions, and which indicates the word Anaim, which signifies “to dwell, rest, remain.”
(O'Reilly's Dict.)
We have also positive evidence of the word Maqi, the I being apparently defaced, as
there is space for the letter. We have here also the curious X mark, which is supposed to
stand for the diphthong EA, twice repeated. There are two rude crosses scratched on the
back of this memorial, not executed in any formal manner, or with a tool, but as if scratched
with a flint, a common custom among the Irish peasantry. This stone was formerly held
in great veneration, and was called St. Olan's stone; it had a moveable cap of a semi-
globular shape, known as the “Coppeen Olan,” that was supposed to be endued with
miraculous powers, having the gift of locomotion, so that if removed to any distance it
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MonumENTS, Co. CoRK. 131
would find its way back again to its old quarters. To place it on the head, and walk three
times round the church, repeating each turn three Pater Nosters, was a specific for head-
ache. It was believed to be efficaceous in certain female complaints, and was frequently
borrowed as a talisman for lying-in ladies. The Coppeen became an object of such
superstitious practices, that the original was made away with by the clergyman of the
parish ; another, however, soon made its appearance, but much inferior to its predecessor in
form and reputation. The present representative of the coppeen is a coarse unshapely
lump. The original was certainly a phallic emblem. I need not add that the inscription as
far as it is legible has no reference to St. Olan.
ST. OLAN'S CHURCH (No. 2, Pl. VIII. Fig. 3).
This inscribed stone was discovered in the process of taking down the old church of St.
Olan's, parish of Aghabulloge, already alluded to. It was presented to the Roy. Cork
Inst. in 1838, by Mr. William Hill, of Cork, the builder of the present church. I have not
been able to ascertain any particulars of its discovery, or in what part of the ancient church
it lay; it must have been imbedded in the body of the wall, from the mortar stains all over
its surface. The stone is a pillar of hard close-grained clay-slate, 5ft. 9in, in length and
10in. by 8in, in the centre, being irregular in shape, rough, and undressed; the inscription
is on one angle, commencing at 2ft. 2in, from the bottom, and running to the extreme top,
where there is an appearance of fracture, as follows:–
+m/+mºmm Hitſ+T Hill hºll||1|–TIII
U S M A. N. N S I L E E I D U T T
This inscription is much damaged and defaced, the second letter is imperfect; between
the fifth and sixth group there is a space of 9in., with a spawl off the angle; some of the
vowel dots in the 8th group are indistinct, but the space exists for them ; the same remark
also applies to the 10th group, as also to the last two groups of letters.
On the whole, from the damaged state of this inscription, it would be useless to attempt
a translation.
COOLINEAGH (No. 1, Pl. X.).
This is a fragment of an inscription now in the possession of Col. A. L. Fox, F.S.A.,
who procured it from Mr. Windele ; the latter gentleman stated that it was taken out of a
Cilleen near the church of St. Olan's, townland of Coolineagh, parish of Aghabulloge, Ord.
Sh. No. 61.
It is in length 11 in., in breadth 6in., and in thickness 13 in., being evidently a portion of
a larger stone. I am indebted to Col. Fox for the drawing of this fragment, which bears the
following inscription :-
4|+m-##IIIX.
D I N I S EA
The first character commences close on the fractured end, and may not have been
complete. The stone is also fractured close to the last character, which is usually supposed
to stand for EA, so that in all probability we have neither the beginning nor the ending of
132 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. [CHAP. IX.
this inscription. It is probable that the inscribed stone now in St. Olan's churchyard, and
that taken out of the wall of St. Olan's church, came originally from the same Keel.
COOLINEAGH (No. 2).
This inscribed stone lies at present in the yard of the Roy. Cork Inst., and is broken
across; a note left by Mr. Windele states, that he believed it to have been found in the
same Rath as the St. Olan's stone in St. Olan's churchyard. It was discovered by Michael
Lyons, a stonemason, residing near Glounagloch, in 1848, who removed it to his own house
from whom it was purchased for the Roy. Cork Inst. -
This is the stone mentioned by the late Mr. Richard Hitchcock in his MS. Notes, Lib.
Roy. Ir. Acy., as the Mount Rivers stone, and which he believed to be a forgery.
Mr. Hitchcock is however mistaken in this opinion, as the monument presents us with
a genuine Ogam inscription, though much mutilated, and which mutilation is indeed strong
evidence of its authenticity; it occupies a portion of two angles of the stone, as follows:–
+++14+ T-47-##II
+n+–Trill—#||
In the first line we have evidence of the word Maqi. The pieces when joined measure
5ft. 6in. long and 10 in, by 8in. at the centre.
COOLINEAGH (No. 8).
A note by Mr. Windele refers to the following inscription, which he names “from
Clonmoyle.” I have every reason to believe that it was one of the group discovered on the
townland of Coolineagh.
/+lllll-ºut Illilº Ill.
M A Q I Q I T
THE SON OF C UIT.
This name is to be found on the stone at Ballyvooney, Co. Waterford; and on one of the
Ballinrannig group, in the form of Cuettia.
KNOCKROUR (Pl. X.).
The townland of Knockrour is an upland district in the parish of Aghabulloge, Ordnance
Sheet No. 61. On the northern boundary, in a field close to the public road, are the remains
of a keel which appears to have occupied a considerable extent, as it crossed the present
road and included in its area a piece of the opposite field, giving it a diameter of about 100
feet, as is evident by the raised circular formation of the ground. The earthen rampart
which surrounded it has been removed, with the exception of a piece of about 15 feet in
length and 5 feet in height. Two fine looking tapering monoliths, standing each 6 feet
above ground, mark the original entrance, one of which, that at the left hand, bears upon the
upper part of an angle a few vowel scores, much worn. A considerable number of pillar
stones stood in this cilleen, which were removed, as my informant stated, “by big Tom
Coppinger, who signs on, had neither luck nor grace afterwards.”
The keel which is named Keelboultragh was used within the memory of my informant
for the burial of unbaptised children and suicides, a use to which most of the ancient pagan
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 133
cemeteries of the country were devoted. The road was subsequently cut through it, when a
great number of cist-formed graves were discovered, constructed of flags set on edge in the
usual manner. The locality was visited by Mr. Windele in 1851, who then saw some remains
of those graves; the tenant of the lands informed him that he had opened several of them,
but found nothing except human remains, skulls, bones, &c.
The first Ogam inscribed stone discovered in this keel was that by Mr. Coakley, the tenant
in occupation; it was of a triangular form, 2ft. Sin, in length, 11in. in breadth at base,
and Bin. at top, being only 2in, thick.
It was presented to Mr. Windele by the landlord, Mr. Cross Fitzgibbon; on the sale of
the former gentleman's collection it was purchased with others by Col. A. L. Fox, F.S.A., to
whom I am indebted for a drawing of the stone.
The legend is well cut and perfectly legible, as follows:–
A-Hi-ullti-m-tº-lulull-t-t-ill
M U D D 0 S S A M (A) Q Q A A T
The reading is obvious, MUDDoss son of AT. This name I have not been able to identify,
names of a similar type are to be found in our indices, as Muadhan, Muadhnat (Mart. Don.).
The form Maqqa appears in place of the usual Maqi, the “a” of which is worn off the angle, but
the space exists for it. It is a matter for conjecture whether in Att we have a perfect name;
the last score is close to the top, and it may have taken the form of Attini, Attos, &c.; we
find the latter on one of the Cilleen Cormac group. Gaulish forms, Attinati, Attianus (Orel.
1896, 6496). Etruscan, Att, (Lanzi, v. ii. p. 34.)
On removing the fence of the Keel one of the principal workmen “was struck in the
arm,” of which he lost the use; this, and big Tom Coppinger's ill-luck for meddling with the
Dallans, so operated on the minds of the peasantry, that nothing would induce them to
meddle with the remaining portion.
In the year 1856 a stone was found in this Keel bearing a mutilated inscription; it was
5ft. in length, and triangular in section, the sides being respectively 13, 12, and 10 in. ; the
legend was on the centre of one of the angles, but much worn and defaced. Mr. Windele
gives the following as legible:–
T-ul-L--|--|TF
Mr. Coakley was the finder.
Other objects of antiquarian interest are to be found in close proximity. In an adjoining
field to the west is a fine massive pillar; a couple of fields to the west again, is an old farm
road, lying close to the fence of which is a large rude block of stone, known to the entire
country as the “Cloch-Beannachadh,” i.e. the Stone of Blessing or Benediction. This
object lay formerly near a holy well in an adjoining field; this well, though of an insignificant
appearance, and dedicated to no saint, was yet the resort of people from all quarters, but
principally on account of the stone. The upper surface of this monument is indented with
four deep bason-shaped hollows; two of them, the smallest, are quite close to each other at
one edge, the other two, of larger size, are at the opposite edge; the devotee placed his or
her knees in the smaller hollows, and repeating a certain number of prayers, dropped an
134 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. [CHAP. IX.
offering of some minute article into the larger ; this operation, and certain rounds and
washings at the well, were deemed a specific for rheumatic pains and other ailments. These
superstitions had become so notorious that the Roman Catholic clergyman of the parish
determined to put a stop to them; he accordingly removed the stone from the well, and had
it built into the fence of the road, where it was seen by Mr. Windele in 1851. On my visit
in 1871, I found it pulled out of the fence, and lying by the road side, still the object of
reverence, as was evident by the presence of pins and other small offerings in the large cups.
In truth, a comfortable farmer who stood by when I was examining it informed me, that he
was not above saying a prayer at the “Blessed Stone” when he came that way. This, and
similar instances, show the extraordinary tenacity with which the Celts hold to ancient
usages and superstitions; here is a pagan cultus two thousand years old, which all the power
of Christianity, the personal influence of the Cleric, and the influence of even National
education, has not been able to obliterate.
A few fields north-west of the Keel is a small circle of five stones, its internal diameter
is 9ſt. 6in. ; it stands on a slightly elevated mound, and appears to have originally consisted of
seven pillars, as there are two vacant spaces, each of which would be filled by one; none of
them exceed 3 feet above ground.
In the same field with the Keel, near the southern fence, lies a block of red close-grained
sandstone, with several deep cuts and scores on its surface, while another part is hollowed
slightly and polished as smooth as glass. This was evidently a Cloch-na-n'arm, or stone for
whetting arms upon, of which I have met with several. In an ancient tract, to be found in
the Book of Lismore, called the Agallamh-na-Senoraidhe, there is a curious reference to
this custom. Caoilte Mac Ronan in his old age revisits a spot familiar to him in his youth,
and finds the stone upon which the Fenians were accustomed to sharpen their arms. “As
to Caoilte, he proceeded to Cloch-na-n’arm at the eastern side of the Dun, where the
Fenians used to repair (edge) their arms every year with a royal flagstone; and he wept
tears of sorrow in abundance over the stone, on thinking of the great and noble heroes that
were often with him over that stone.”
GLENNAWILLEN.
On the townland of Glennawillen (Glen-na-muillen, i.e. the Glen of the Mill), in the
parish of Temple-ma-carriga, Ord. Sh. No. 65, and about 2% miles north of Midleton, a
souterrain was discovered by the Rev. J. Cotter, who remarking some scorings on one of the
lintel stones, communicated the fact to Mr. Windele, who visited the locality on Sept.
22nd, 1848. That gentleman found it to belong to a Rath, then nearly erased, excavated
out of the hard earth and covered with slabs of stone; it had two chambers, one 13ft. in
length, 4ft. 6in. in width, and 3ft. 10in. in height. One of the covering stones of this
passage was inscribed on two angles, as follows:–
LEFT ANGLE – III+II+/-/ſſſſſ-th-T-11-##
C O L O M A. G. N I D U U
T+m H+/–H++TI-T-HTIT
B A N S C M D O F A L O S
CHAP. IX.] oGAYI MONUMENTS, Co. CORK. 135
From the imperfect state of these inscriptions it is impossible to give any reliable
translations; in the first line we find a combination of characters which appear to disclose a
very common name in Irish history and hagiology, Colman, in the genitive form of
“Colomagni.” This is a common surname in the south of Ireland, usually written
Coleman, and pronounced always by the peasantry as a word of three syllables,
“Colomaun,” exactly as it is given in this inscription; the rest of this line is so mutilated
that it is impossible to make anything of it. The right angle is also much worn and
mutilated; there is some evidence of the word Maqi in the M, and one score of an I, with
sufficient space between to hold the absent letters; we have then a combination forming
Dofalos, the same formation as the Sufalos of one of the Ballintaggart group, with a couple
of characters following.
No. 2.-The second passage was in length 10ft. 6in., in breadth 3ft. 1 in., and in height
3ft. 9in. It was constructed in the same manner as the former, being lintelled with large
slabs of stone, upon an angle of one of which was found the following inscription :-
+Trºlllllll/–m–l4. Illill
A L A D Q M N C. A T T
This inscription is also much mutilated: we have the principal letters of a name to be
found in the Ann. 4 Masters, Aladchu; the form here appears to have been Aladcu; we have
then indication of the keyword, Maqi, in the letter M, and quite sufficient space to contain
the rest of the letters of this word, followed by the principal letters of another name,
familiar to us, and to be found on a stone from Whitefield, Co. Kerry, in the form of
Nocati, and on one from Drumlohan, Co. Waterford, as Nogati: a restoration would read:—
ALA D C U M (AQI) NO CATT (I).
I do not aver that this was the actual inscription on the stone, but merely suggest it as
being the most consonant with the remaining letters.
KNOCKBOY. (Pl. XI.)
This remarkable place is situated about seven miles north of Cork, on the townland of
Knockboy, Cnoc Buidhe, i.e. the Yellow Hill, and parish of Dunbulloge. The locality will
be found on Ord. Sh. No. 52. The spot is locally known as Bealamhire, Beal-atha-Midhr.
Mr. Windele was of opinion that it had its name from the ford of an adjacent stream, the
“Midhr, the mouth of the ford of Midhr,” and that this singular locality, with its great Rath,
was associated with the name and memory of the Tuatha-de-Daman chief or demi-god
Midhr. This mythic personage is represented as being the son of the Daghda; many
remarkable legends are current of him, and his name is associated with many raths and
localities, as, Liosmire, Altamire, Rossmire, and Arda-Miodhar, mentioned in the “Annals of
the 4 Mas.” at A.D. 1199, 1202, 1252.
The entire of this locality is associated with the name—first the great Rath, the stream,
the ford, a holy well called Tobereen Midhr, and the beautiful picturesque glen so well
known to visitors of Cork, Glanmire; and which takes its name from the stream which,
136 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK, [CHAP. IX.
winding through its romantic scenery, joins the Lee at Dun-Cathal. I did not visit this
locality until July 2nd, 1868, and was dismayed to find that this great monument had been
almost entirely obliterated by the tenant, named Laurance Collins; the great double vallum
which enclosed the Rath had been removed, excepting a few fragments at the north side.
He informed me that he had broken up the four great stones of the “Druids' Altar,” as
he styled it, and several other large stones, some of which were inscribed.
In consequence of this act of vandalism, I am entirely dependent on some notes left by
Mr.Windele for a description of this place as it was when he first visited it; he writes, “The
remains consist of a holy well, a great square rath containing several great pillar stones, a
cairn, and two souterrains. The well, called Tobar Mire, lies close to the rivulet and ford,
shaded by two old whitethorn trees well hung with votive rags; near it are the remains of
a small cairn of white quartz stones. Within a field of the well is the great square rath,
which is of large dimensions; its vallum and foss are best preserved at the south and west
sides; within this stood, in different positions, and apart, four Dallans, two of these are
inscribed with Ogams, the principal or northern one is 8ft. in height above ground, 5ft. in
breadth, and varies from 6in. to 18in. in thickness; there is a double inscription on two
angles of the southern face of the stone, these are much injured by time or accident, and it
is possible that some of the scores have been lost altogether. At the eastern side of the
rath stand two Dallans, about two feet apart, they are of low size and one of them is
inscribed with Ogams; on one angle they are nine in number, separating, as should be done,
a group of six vowels. I have given a drawing of this stone in Hall's Ireland, v. i. p. 397,
the inscription is much damaged and the top fractured.
“About 120 feet south of the rath is a quadrangular shaped cairn, now reduced and
altered by excavations, and having four pillar stones at the angles but none inscribed; it has
a strong resemblance to the cairn at Lugnagappul, Co. Kerry.
“It was opened on the 7th May, 1839, by Capt. Price, Mr. Geo. Martin, and myself; we
excavated to the depth of five feet, but found nothing. A little to the N.W. of this is a
Poul-thalav, or souterrain, excavated out of the hard earth, and ending in two bee-hive shaped
chambers, one inside the other. A second small gallery, 12ft, in length, occurs a short
distance from the former, in an adjoining field, the sides formed of uncemented mason work,
and lintelled with heavy flags.
“At Ballindhoor, the next townland, is a fine Dallan 6ft. in length by 2ft. 6in. in breadth,
now prostrate on its face, and inscribed with two circles, one above the other; curious to
state, one is incised (the lower), while the other is in relief; the tradition is that they
represent the sun and moon, Baal and Tamhain.”
Of the monuments thus described by Mr. Windele, there remains now only one pillar
stone, fortunately of such a size and weight as rendered its removal or destruction a work
of difficulty. It is a huge slab of hard clay-slate, weather worn, and lichen-covered,
conveying the impression of great age; it stands nearly east and west, being 8ft. in height
above ground, 5ft. 4 in. in width at the centre, and from 7in. to 14in. in thickness; it had
two lines of inscriptions on the angles of the southern edge.
cHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 137
That on the S.E. angle is nearly perfect, and the letters form a proper name of an
archaic type; it commences at 3ft. 8in, from the ground, and occupies a space of 1ſt. 9in,
as follows:–
+ill-11-H+III+
A R T A. G. N. I
There is a fracture or spawl off the angle at the commencement, and the two upper
halves of the scores in the letter R are wanting; but as the lower halves are perfect, and
equidistant with the three perfect scores following, there cannot be the slightest doubt of
the value of the letter. A careful examination convinced me that there were no other
letters on this angle. On the S.W. angle are the remnants of an inscription, which appears
to have occupied a considerable portion of it, but which is so defaced that nothing reliable
can be made of it: the most distinct scores are towards the top. A copy of this inscription,
made by Mr. Windele thirty years previously, was in my possession at the time of my visit,
but I could not verify it from the monument, probably the fading scores which that gentleman
appears to have copied with some difficulty have since then gone beyond the decipherer's
skill, indeed in the passage already quoted he alludes to the damaged state of the letters.
The inscription reads Artagni, i.e. (Stone of) Artagan. Names with the prefix Art, which
according to Dr. O'Donovan signifies “noble stone or rock,” are very plentiful, as Art
Imleach, Artgal, Artan, Arttran, Art.corb, Artbar. The inscription gives us the genitive form
of a well-known Irish name, Artagan, now written Hartagan and O’Hartagan. Thus in the
Chron. Scot. at A.D. 973 we have the following entry:-‘‘Cinaedh Ua Artagan, chief poet
of Leth-Chuinn, moritur.” Built into the wall of the tower of the church of Merthyr
Tydfil, in Wales, is a fragment of a monument which bears the name Artgen, in Irish
letters of an early type (Arch. Camb. v. 1858 p. 161). Gaulish forms, Artus, Stein. 1995,
Artinus, 1980. I visited this place in Sept. 1871, and again examined the defaced
inscription on the great stone under favourable circumstances; I was, however, unable to
determine more than the following letters —
III+++III
These appear to terminate the inscription on that angle, the last character being close to the
top.
GREEN-HILL (Pl. XII.).
This inscribed stone stands on an eminence in an open field on the townland of Green-
hill, and parish of Mourne Abbey. The locality will be found on Ord. Sh. No. 42. It was
originally made known to the public by Mr. Windele, who heard of its existence through a
poor man named McDonald, one of his “Ogam scouts.” That gentleman made a copy
of it in June 1852, and which is in my possession; it is not exactly correct; in truth, it
requires a very close and careful examination, as the inscription is injured by weather-wear.
I visited it on many occasions, and found it to be a fine pyramidal monolith 8ft. 6in. in
height above ground, 2ft. 4in. wide at the base, tapering nearly to a point, and of variable
thickness; the material being as usual the hard clay-slate of the district, covered with
various coloured lichen, and having an aspect of venerable antiquity. The inscription is on
T
138 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
one angle of the stone, commencing at 18in. from the ground and running close to the top.
The characters must have originally been broadly and deeply cut, as with all the weather-
wear of ages, rubbing of cattle, &c. they are still quite legible with a few exceptions.
T T G E N UM A Q I M U C O I Q R I T T I
This legend I would propose to render as follows:–
D G E NU MAQI MU COI Q RITT I
GE NU T H E S ON OF THE SW IN E H E R D C URIT T.
The double T, which at the commencement of many words has the power of D, appears to
have been placed here in order to give a certain force to the pronunciation. This name,
though an uncommon one, is to be found in our early annals; thus at A.D. 578 we find :
“The assassination of Aedh, son of Geno.” (Ann. Ult.) Again from the same, at A.D.
587, we have : “The death of the grandsons of Geno.” Gaulish forms, Ginia.. Grut. 839,5.
Gnaea, Orel. 960. Etruscan, Genicia, Lanzi, v. ii. p. 427. It has also been found as
a potter's mark on red Samian ware, in the form of Geniu (Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 468).
It has been suggested to me that the word Mucoi following Maqi might read, “the son
of, the son of, &c.," but if we examine the inscriptions in which this word appears, we will
find a marked distinction in its use: when such a formula is intended, it reads, Maqi, Maqi,
as in the Deelish, Ballintaggart, and Whitefield legends; the orthography of Mucoi is
carefully preserved in every case of its use, which appears to be twofold: first, as a proper
name, as in the inscriptions from Roovesmore, Aghaliskey, Ballinrannig, Laharan,
Kilgravane; and secondly, as a profession, as in those from Gurranes, Aghacarrible,
Drumlohan, Windgap, and the present example. O'B. Dict, gives us “Muicidhe, a swine-
herd.” O’R. Dict. “Mucaidhe, s. m. a swine-herd.” Names derived from animals were
usual among the Gaedhil, as Mac Turc, Mac Sionach, Mac Tire, Mac Cue, and Mac Con;
here we have Son of the Boar, Fox, Wolf and Dog, which are no more terms of reproach
than are such names as Hogg, Bull, Steer, Ram, and Lamb, in English. Neither should
the term swine-herd be considered a term of reproach or opprobrium ; in truth, it was
probably quite the contrary among the old Gaedhil, as a considerable source of their wealth
was derived from that domestic animal, of which they appear to have had enormous herds.
This will be evident on an examination of the tributes paid by the provincial chiefs to their
kings, as set forth in the Book of Rights. Thus the king of Cashel was entitled to the
following from his tributaries:–
“Ten hundred cows and ten hundred hogs from the Muscraidhe.
“Ten hundred cows and ten hundred hogs from the Ciarraidhe Luachra.
“Two thousand hogs and a thousand cows from the Deise.”—(Book of Rights, p. 43.)
It is curious that the heaviest boar tributes were payable from the above districts, which
are in the counties of Kerry, Cork and Waterford, and in the very localities where this name
occurs so frequently on monuments. We have every reason to believe, that in these remote
times Mucaidhe was a term of equal distinction with Bo-aireach, which is thus defined by
O'Reilly: “Aireac, aireach, (i.e. gradh flatha,) a degree of nobility, is often put in old law books
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 13)
for oirdheare, noble, illustrious, privileged or wealthy. Thus the man rich in cattle was
called Bo-aireach, from Bo and aireach.” (O'R. Dict.) If, then, Bo-aireach was a term of
social distinction denoting a man wealthy in cows, there is no reason to doubt that Mucaidhe
was equally used to denote one wealthy in hogs. This term was also applied to the king's
officers who had charge of the herds of these animals; thus the B. of R. p. 29 m, records
that Durdru was Mucaidh to the king of Ele; and Cularan, Mucaidh to the king of
Muscraidhe. We must remember that the care of cattle in primitive times was an honourable
employment, and names derived from such occupations are not considered derogotary; thus
we have our Shepherds, Herdmans, Horsemans, Bullmans, &c. That I am correct in
taking this view is evident from the following extracts: the first is taken from the well-known
Ossianic tale of the Imtheacht-na-Tromdhaimhe, i.e. the Proceedings of the Great Bardic
Institution, as translated and edited by the late Professor Connellan, for the Ossianic
Society:-" Marvan, the swine-herd, said one day in Glen-a-Scail, ‘It is long since I
proposed going to be avenged of the great Bardic Association for the (loss) of the white
boar.' Now Marvan's position was this—He was a saint, a prophet, and a poet; and he
was a man who kept a prime house for general hospitality in Glen-a-Scail. He was brother
to Guaire, and it was he that relieved Guaire from all his difficulties; it was he that originally
aided him in obtaining the sovereignty of Connaught; also, every wrong deed that Guaire
committed, it was Marvan that redressed or atoned it; he was moreover a zealous servant to
God” (Transactions Ossianic Society, v. v. p. 89). His name is given in the original MS.
as Marbhan Mucaidhe.
Again, we find a similar name, Mac-an-Bhainbh, i.e. The Son of the Young Boar, as a
family or tribe name. In the Tribes and Customs of Hy. Fiachrach, the lands and
possessions of each tribe and family are set forth; among them we find—“The tuath
(territory) of Magh na bethighe extends from Callainn to Uluidh Caolainn, that is the
seven ballys (townlands) of Lughortan, the estate of Mac-an-Bhainbh.” (p. 153.)
This statement is repeated in the metrical version as follows:–
“Mac an Bhainbh of scarlet hazels,
Obtained the terrestrial fairy palace,
The sweet district of Magh na beithighe,
The most vigorous chief I mention”—(Ibid. p. 191.)
Mucoi constantly occurs as a proper name in our indices; one of St. Patrick's earliest
converts, and most favoured disciple, was Mochui, Mochoi, or Mochoe, as the name is
variously given, and who was subsequently bishop of Nendrum. No less than nineteen
persons of this name are recorded in the Mart. Don. Gaulish forms, Mocanus, Stein. 2057,
Mocão 1810, Moco-onis, Orel. 4901.
That the boar was held in great estimation in Ireland, if not actually reverenced, we have
strong indications in traditions, and in the folk-lore of the peasantry, and yet stronger
evidence in the fact that it enters largely into the topographical nomenclature of our island.
Thus an ancient name of Ireland was Muc-inis, or Boar Island; there is a Muc-inis in Lough
Derg, on the Shannon, also a Muc-inis on the coast of Clare, and Inish Muck off the shore
140 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
of Island Magee, county of Antrim, as well as a district on the banks of the River Brick, in
Kerry, of the same name. And as for Rath-na-mucs, Cool-na-mucs, Bally-na-mucs, Kil-na-
mucs, and other topographical designations into which this word enters, they are exceedingly
numerous. I would also remark that those into which the words Torc, Liath, Chollan, Cro,
and Banbh enter, all refer to this animal. One of our early kings is called “Olmucadha,”
or “of the great Swine.” An ancient Scottish family held for generations the title of
Lairds of Muc, from a well-known island of that name, Mucinis, on the west coast of
Scotland, forming a portion of their patrimony. -
The prominence thus given to this animal in our topographical nomenclature and
legendary tales suggests the idea, that the boar may have been identified with that system
of animal worship which we have some reason for believing once existed in this country.
The Hindoos reverenced the “Varaha,” or Boar, as one of the incarnations of Vishnu;
and in the geography of that people Europe is set forth as “Varaha Dwipa,” or “Boar
Island,” equivalent to our own “Muc-inis.” Vishnu is represented as residing there in the
form of a boar; and he is described as the chief of a numerous offspring of followers in
that shape (“Asiatic Researches,” vol. viii. pp. 302-361). With such facts before us we
cannot, therefore, be surprised at finding the name of this animal used as indicating a
profession, a tribe, or a proper name, or, indeed, all three.
The name Curitti is an interesting one, being found also on the stones from Ballyneanig,
Ballinrannig, and Ballyvooney; without the prefix we have it on very many others, in the
forms of Ritti, Ritte, Rettos. Gaulish forms, Rita, Revue Arch. viii. 433. Rittius, Stein.
354. Reti, Orel. 427. -
Dionysius Halicarnassensis speaks of the Curetes as a tribe who drove the Pelasgi out
of the plains of Thessaly (B. 1. 17). The Curatii were a tribe of southern Italy in the
infancy of the Roman republic, and are famous in the classic legend for their combat with
the Horatii. Curiatus became a family name among the Romans, as we find by many ancient
inscriptions. Curiatus, Orel. 4995. The townland and Rath of Burnfort, where the Sagittari
inscription was discovered, adjoins Greenhill. I could find no tradition among the peasantry
respecting this stone.
BALLYHANK (Pl. IV. Fig. 4).
The townland of Ballyhank is situated in the parish of Kilnaglory, about six miles from
Cork (See Ord. Sh. No. 85). Mr. Windele having received information of the discovery of
some underground chambers in this locality, visited it on April 11th, 1846, accompanied by
the late Mr. Zachariah Hawkes, an enthusiastic southern antiquary. The chambers were
the crypt of a nearly erased rath, consisting of a series of rectangular chambers connected
by the usual narrow passages and extending for a length of 52ft. The walls were as usual
built of dry rubble masonry, lintelled over with huge stone slabs; upon examination six of
them were found to be inscribed with Ogam characters. The chambers were dismantled,
and five of the lettered stones were removed by Mr. Windele to his residence, Blairs Castle,
Cork; the sixth was deposited in the Museum Royal Irish Academy, by Mr. Francis
Jennings, M.R.I.A. This stone was much reduced from its original form and dimensions
CHAP. IX.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 141
for the convenience of carriage; it is marked No. 2 in the Academy's collection, and as it is
the most perfect and important of the find, I shall proceed to describe it as
No. 1.
In its present state this stone is 1.ft. 9in, in length, 10in. in breadth, and 6in. in
thickness; the legend commences as usual on the left angle, runs round the head and a short
way down the opposite angle, as follows:–
+Tri-II++*T*/+/11-#/+%m-
A LA L. M. O. Q I F O R A R T I G U R N
The characters are small, but cleanly cut and legible, particularly the vowels, excepting
the 16th and 18th groups, and are much worn, but traceable by careful examination; the
above copy is from a drawing made by myself in March, 1869. I had an opportunity of
again studying it in March, 1872, and found after a close scrutiny that my previous copy
was correct. I propose to read it :—
A LAL MO C UI FOR A R T L G UR N.
Dr. Ferguson gives a singular reading of this very simple inscription, the following are his
words:– “The paper mould has, I believe, rendered the inscription, as far as it is conceived
in the usual way, legible for the first time, yielding the words Moco forrtigurn, a legend in
itself sufficiently interesting as pointing to South British and Welsh connections. But what
was the name of the son of Vortigern so commemorated it refuses, unless under the
application of a further key, to disclose. The name begins with a. Then follows a group of
five sub-linear digits, the centre one of which is very delicately incised as compared with the
pairs flanking it. The first and last of these pairs taken alone would sound 1; the middle
digit b : and the whole group n ; but the reading is obviously neither albl nor an. Let us
try the effect of recognising the central digit as a cardo, reading up to it, and recommencing
from the left, as was done in the Tyvoria example. The first step yields alb, the second an=
Alban, a name which will not seem strange in association with the son of Vortigern.” (Pro.
R.I.A., v. i. 2nd Ser. p. 59.) In the first place, as I have before stated, I copied this
inscription from the original in 1869 without the assistance of Dr. Ferguson's paper cast, and
identified Tigurn. That gentleman reads the first name Alban ; I have no hesitation in stating
that there is no such name, nor another epigraphist in the world that would have brought so
fair a name out of so unpromising materials; I have certainly never met or heard of such a
mode of deciphering ancient inscriptions as has been here adopted by the Doctor. He first
creates a letter that does not exist; the third character in the legend is the vowel a beyond
any doubt, fully and fairly marked and separated by distinct spaces from those on either
side; it is true that below the vowel is a slight scratch, which he seizes on as countenancing
the existence of his b, but it has no connection with the vowel, is not a tool mark nor formed
in any way like the other digits, being, as the Doctor states, delicately incised; but even were
it a b mark, the tortuous course by which he finds Alban is most remarkable; he reads the
first three letters as alb, he then goes back to the first letter and reads an, that is, the third,
fourth and fifth, which he before treated as three letters lbl, he now combines into one n.
When I read this piece of criticism I could scarcely believe it to be serious, but rather
142 OGAM MONUMENTS, GO, CORK. [CHAP. IX.
intended to throw ridicule upon the whole pursuit; such a mode of interpreting ancient
inscriptions must be condemned by all conscientious investigators, and cannot for a moment
be admitted.
It is incredible, and an insult to the character and genius of the old Celtic race, to imagine
that they would rear stone monuments to commemorate their deceased friends, and engrave
their names on them in a manner perfectly unintelligible, unless under such a crucial process as
that discovered by Dr. Ferguson. The idea that inspired this rendering is however quite
evident, as the learned investigator had found, as he conceived, Vortigern, the name of a
British king, on this stone; the initials al were doubtless a temptation to find another so well-
known as that of Alban.
We need not, however, take such a circuitous mode of establishing the name of the person
to whom the stone was inscribed; it is Alal, one frequently met with in our indices under the
form of Ailil, Alill; a name that appears forty times in the Ann. 4, Mas, beginning with
Ailill son of Dunlaing, A.D. 489; names with the prefix Al and Ael are also frequent. And
here I would again assert that Ogam inscriptions are not cryptic, they are the most simple
and straightforward in their formulae of all known monumental legends, and they are only so
far cryptic as the misplaced ingenuity of some investigators endeavour to render them in
order to support pre-conceived theories.
We have here the word Mocui for Macui. Whether the letters following form Forrtigurn
or Forartigurn, is not of much consequence; the A between the two R's is not as well marked
as the other vowels, but nevertheless it exists; if Forar, it is of the same type as Foran,
Foras, Forcron, Forbasa, &c., with tigurn, i.e. lord or chief, as a term of distinction. If
Forrtigurn, we need not seek “South British or Welsh connections” for illustrations of a
name that is a purely Gaedhelic one, and forms of which we find on three Ogam monuments;
thus on one of the Seskinan memorials we have Sartigurn, the suffix spelled exactly as above;
on one of the Kilcolaght group we have it in the same sequence, where it is used as a term
of distinction, “Anm Firfanni Tigirn; ” after this example Forar Tigurn is a corroborative
reading. In our indices we find Mochtighearn, Luchtighearn, Caeltighern, and Tigernac,
Tigernan, and Tigernmas. Thus we find that the inscription reads very simply and without
a shadow of difficulty.
No. 2.
This stone I first saw in the possession of the late Mr. Windele, at Blairs Castle, Cork;
it is now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy.
It is a rough unshapely slab of clay-slate, 4ft. 4}in, in length and 15in. by 9in.
at the centre. It bears the remnants of three lines of characters, much injured, the angles
being broken and damaged. On the left angle of one face is the following, scarcely legible:—
+lllll-Hºſ/+III ++TIP
We have not here the commencement of the legend, as the bottom of the stone is much
damaged.
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. CORK. 143
On the extreme top of the opposite angle of the same face we have the letters MO. But
what invests this monument with a deep interest is a line of characters on a back angle as follows:
Hill+%++/mºtºr
C O R B A G N I
The second character, o, I regret to state, is all but obliterated; it was perfect when I copied
it first at Blairs Castle, it must have been damaged in the carriage, as there is a fresh spawl
off in that spot. We find this name on a stone from Laharan, now at Adare Manor (see
Laharan No. 4).
No. 3.
A rough pillar of clay-slate, 5ft. 2in. in length, and 18in. by 11in. at the centre; it has
a legend on the left angle commencing at 3ft. 7in. from the bottom and running round the
head :-
TI-Hill+1-1+m ##.
S A C A T T I N I
The seventh character, 1, is rather faint, but legible, the rest are distinctly cut; the form
Sacattini, I propose to read as Sa Cattini, i.e. “(stone of) the Sage Cattin.” This name we
find on one of the Ballinrannig group, No. 6, and Ballintaggart No. 3, which see; for the
title Sa, Sagi, Sah, see Burnfort, Caher Nagat, and Killeen Cormac.
No. 4.
This is also a slab of clay-slate, 5ft. 5in. in length, 1.ft. 10in. in breadth, and Sin.
thick at the centre; it has a short inscription on one angle commencing at 3ft. 4in. from
the bottom, as follows:–
U. L. C. C. A. G. N. I
We have here a proper name, Ulcagan, a name which we recognise in our indices in the
more modern forms of Ulcan, Olcan and Olchan. Many names of this class have been
altered from their archaic forms by the elision of a consonant to soften the sound; thus
Madigan becomes Madden; Hannagan, Hannan; Corbagan, Corban; and Costigan, Costin.
The name before us has a very close resemblance to the Ulcong of Glounagloch stone No. 2.
The identical form has been found on an inscribed stone at Padstow, Cornwall. It was
found doing duty as a gate-post at a farm house a few miles from the former place.
The inscription is on the face of the stone, written from the top downwards, as is usual on
all these monuments, and reads on the front face, ULCAGNIFILI, and on the back SEVER-.
This inscription is not a Roman one, for two reasons: the letters are not Roman, but of that
debased type which prevailed among the Celtic populations of Wales, Cornwall, and Devon;
also that the inscription is not inscribed across the face of the stone, as was the custom of
the Latins, but lengthways as in all Ogam memorials, though in a contrary direction. The
finding of so remarkable a name on two sepulchral monuments, in districts so widely apart,
could not by any possibility be a mere coincidence, but is an additional link in the chain of
evidence which connects the Gaedhil of Ireland with Western Britain.
144 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. ſcHAP. IX.
It is certain that Cornwall had at one time a Gaedhelic population; her topography is
intensely Gaedhelic, her shores were visited in the fifth century by missionaries from Ireland.
St. Kieran, an early Munster bishop, was recognised as their patron saint under the name of
Piran, and his ancient church, perhaps the first erected in Cornwall, was not many years ago
exhumed from its sandy sepulchre on the sea-shore at Peranzabuloe near the Land's End.
The number and variety of megalithic monuments found in Cornwall, are only paralleled in
Ireland, and in those districts colonized by the Gaedhil; while this monument near Padstow
is powerful evidence that the descendants of this “Ulcagnus,” whose sepulchral monument
was found used up as building material in the souterrain at Ballyhank, crossed with their
countrymen into Wales, and from thence made their way into Cornwall, where they settled
down, their descendants ultimately becoming to a certain extent Romanised, but preserving
their family names as we find in this instance. This name Ulcagnus has also been found on
a monument discovered at Llanfihangel, in Carnarvonshire. (Arch. Camb. 1871, p. 258.)
No. 5.
This stone was 5ft. 4 in. in length; it bore a defaced inscription on one angle, of which
a few odd letters only were visible, and also a few on a natural crack on the face, which crack
formed the stem line.
No. 6.
What became of this one I have been unable to ascertain. On this townland were three
raths, one of them of a quadrangular figure. The rath cave at Ballyhank evidently had its
Ogam-inscribed lintel stones from a keel, as I have frequently before remarked ; the next
townland to it is named Ravakeel, showing that one of those ancient cemeteries once existed
there. -
BWEENG (Pl. VIII.).
This monument stands in the centre of a small field on the townland of Bweeng, in the
parish of Kilshaunig. The locality will be found on Ordnance Sheet No. 42, it is close to
the Roman Catholic chapel of Bweeng. My attention was first directed to it by the Rev.
David Coleman, C.C., who informed me that a stone bearing some curious scores was to be
seen there. I accordingly visited the spot, December 11th, 1855, and ascertained that the
scores were genuine Ogams.
I found it to be a small slab of clay-slate, of an irregular form, 2ft. 3in, in height
above ground, 2ft. 4 in. in breadth at the widest part, and from 5 to 7in, thick.
The inscription is on a sloping shoulder of the stone, the characters are well defined and
distinct, and only six in number, as follows:–
7+mſ/+mſ
M O N G U S
The vowels are the same length as the consonants which cross the line, being distinguished
from them by being slightly oblique; this and the Callan mountain inscription being the only
instances where such occurs in this country. The consonants below the angle are also
very short in the stroke. I make the name to be “Mongus,” a proper name of a sufficiently
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 145
Gaedhelic type; names ending in “gus” have been already alluded to (see Glounagloch).
One of the names of Fin Mac Cumhal was Mongan. This memorial stands in a locality
teeming with megalithic remains; on the same townland, locally known as “Bweeng-na-
Leacht,” or “of the monuments” or “graves,” is one of those stone erections called “Leabha
Diarmid-as-Graine,” i.e. “the bed of Diarmid and Graine,” also a range of six lofty pillar
stones in a straight line called “Shehir," i.e. “the six.” Numbers of Dallans or pillar
stones, several souterrains, Folloch Fiadh, i.e. cooking places, or kitchen middens, are also
to be found in the neighbourhood. Also a curious rock named Carrig Cliodhna. A Boher
Bo Ruadh, i.e. “Road of the Red Cow,” can be traced for several miles through this district
from Drimmineen on the Blackwater to Castle Inch on the Lee ; the bovine traditions
connected with which are of an interesting character, and are alluded to in a paper by Mr.
Hackett, Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1852, p. 316.
There are no Christian remains or traditions connected with this locality; all the
monuments and folk-lore are of a pagan character; the people are a primitive race occupying
a high table-land of a wild moory description.
AGHALISKEY, No. 3 (P. XIV.).
Two inscribed stones were discovered in the year 1841, by Messrs. Zachary Hawkes and
John Windele, forming the lintel stones of a rath-cave, on the townland of Aghaliskey, and
parish of Kilmalooda. The locality is about seven miles S.W. of the town of Bandon, and
will be found on Sheet No. 122, Ord. Sur. On January 18th, 1842, Mr. Windele published
an account of this discovery in the Cork Eraminer, and a rendering of the principal
inscription by the late Rev. Mathew Horgan, of Blarney, June 25th, 1849. On the 16th
April, 1868, I examined the locality, accompanied by Mr. Robt. Day, of Cork, and Mr. Z.
Hawkes.
The townland of Aghaliskey is remarkable as possessing five fine raths, in good
preservation, and of considerable size. That containing the inscriptions is in a green field
close to the public road, and about one furlong from Curravallaheen Cross-roads.
It is an irregular circle, about 120 feet internal diameter, standing on a gently rising
slope, and appears to have had originally three ramparts with a corresponding number of
fosses; one of these ramparts, composed of earth and stones, is nearly perfect, traces of the
other two only remain. Towards the northern side of the internal area are several
chambers and passages, excavated out of the hard earth, and having no masonry lining
or roofing except at the entrance, which for a length of 12ft. is walled with dry rubble-
masonry, and covered by large slabs of stone; this passage is 13ft. in length, 4ft. in breadth,
and from 3ft. to 3ft. 6in. in height, the plan being irregular; it lies nearly due N. and S.,
the present entrance facing the S.; it is covered by seven flags, all on the flat, excepting one
on edge.
INSCRIPTION (No. 1).
This is found on the fourth roofing lintel from the entrance, a rough unshapely slab of
old red sandstone, much worn and disintegrated from the water dripping through; it is 6ft.
- U
146 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. [CHAP. IX.
in length, 1ſt. 4in. in breadth, and 9in. in thickness; the inscription is a short one, on an
angle, as follows:–
###/##m."
G I R O G. N. Q
The characters though much injured are all legible, excepting the vowel 0, which is rather
doubtful, as expressed by dots; it occupies 1ſt. 6in. in length towards the end of the stone.
I am of opinion that the inscription was much longer, but the remainder of the angle being
much worn and damaged, exhibits at present no other characters.
I am disposed to consider that we have here a proper name, Girogan, probably a
primitive form of Cerrigan, Carrigan, or Corrigan, all well-known names in present use, the
C and G being used interchangeably in old Irish, and the vowels equally so.
INscRIPTION (No. 2).
This is the seventh lintel from the entrance; it is also a rough undressed slab of old red
sandstone, 7ft. in length, 2ft. in breadth, and 10in. in thickness.
The inscription is not on an angle, but upon two natural ridges on the under-side as it
at present lies; one of these proving insufficient, the artist completed his legend on another
ridge, as follows:–
7-i-Ill-hit ##Hill++III
Ill-hºm-ºff #TTThºm M A Q I M U C O I F
Q U N AG U S O S
The above characters are perfect, the last two are on the bearing end of the slab where it
rests on the side wall; their values were ascertained by the touch, there may be one or two
additional letters out of reach.
The vowel marks are short sharp strokes, not dots, as in many other examples. I read
the inscription thus:
C UN AG US O S MAQI M UC O I F
(STONE OF). CUNAGUS THE SON OF THE SWINEHERD F***
The name Cunagus has already been discussed (See Glounagloch); Mucoi occurs here as a
profession or title, the following F being the first letter of the patronymic ; the top of the
stone has been injured or broken and the rest of the name lost.
In copying this inscription, care must be taken to reverse the copy, as in its present
position it is reverse to its original one. Mr. Windele did not observe this, hence his copy
produced uncertain readings and puzzled all to whom it was submitted. This is additional
evidence that these stones were merely used as building material in constructing the cave,
as in their present position they could not be read.
INSCRIPTION No. 3 (P. XIV.).
On passing out of the cave after completing my examination, I observed a small square
pillar supporting one end of a lintel that was too short to rest on the wall; it had no marks
on the external angles, but remembering a similar case at Dunloe and Cooldorrihy, I
requested Mr. Day, who held the light, to examine the angles turned against the wall for
Ogamic scores; he did so, and announced that the inside angles were scored; having
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 147
examined them, I found that the stone bore an inscription, but from its position I was unable
to copy it, and dared not meddle with it unless I had the proprietor's permission, as the
upright should be moved from its berth, which in all probability would bring down the
lintel. I therefore communicated the facts to Mr. William Bence Jones, J.P., of Lisnalee,
the proprietor of the land, suggesting to him the desirability of uncovering the Rath-cave so
as to give an opportunity of thoroughly examining the upright in question, as well as the
upper surfaces of the lintels, in order to ascertain if they exhibited any inscriptions, as in
the case of the Drumlohan souterrain. Mr. Jones entered warmly into my recommendations,
and had the cave entirely uncovered previous to my succeeding visit on August 9th, 1869,
which enabled me to make a drawing of the inscribed pillar, and to make a perfect
examination of the roofing-stones, which, however, did not produce any additional results.
The upright pillar is 4ft. Bin. in length, and 12in. by 6in. at the centre, and of somewhat
lesser dimensions at the top and bottom; to my extreme delight I found it to bear a perfect
inscription, cut with the greatest accuracy and care, and looking as fresh as if engraved
yesterday. The letter scores are the smallest I have yet seen, being short, and finely but
deeply cut; they appear not to have been punched, but formed by rubbing with a sharp tool
and water; this mode of forming the letters, with the extreme hardness of the stone, a clay-
slate of a compact fine grain, will account for the sharpness of the letters, while its position
in the cave with the inscribed angle turned to the wall, preserved it from injury through the
long round of centuries it must have lain here concealed. The inscription is as follows:–
11-###1-##m-hit #4 lllll hit. A hill Hºt
C O I B A G N I M A Q I M U C O I
It commences at 2ft. Bin. from the bottom, and occupies but 1.ft. 9in. of the angle, which
evidences the fineness and closeness of the scores. I propose to read it as follows:–
COI BA GNI M A QI M UCO I
We have here the Ogamic contraction for Cairthe, a pillar stone, as in the legend on the
Deelish monument, followed by a name which is either Bagan or Ban; I incline to the latter
form. The name appears in the Ann. 4 Mas. at A.D. 772, recording the death of Ban, who
is styled Eagnaid, i.e. a Wise Man.
There is a curious passage in the dialogue of the Ancient Men, a valuable tract contained
in the Book of Lismore relating to a game of chess, one of the players being Finn Ban
MacBreasal, son of the King of Leinster, and Guaire Goll, one of Fionn MacCumhail's
chess bearers; the wager was three ounces of gold, and the players quarrelled as usual. I
give the passage as a record of the prevalence of this game at a remote period: “And these
two played for three days, and Guaire did not win one game during that time, and he threw
down his wager and insulted and abused the other man, and he said “he was not a servant
in service, nor a vassal in vassalage, nor a hero in heroism '; and Finn Ban raised his fist,
and gave Goll a blow that brought three front teeth out of his upper jaw, and they fell
together on the back of the chess-board.” Other forms of this name appear in our indices,
as Beinne, Bainne, &c. Gaulish forms, Banana. Gruter, 5201. Banna. Orel. 3057.
It will be remarked that the name Mucoi appears for the second time on the stones in
this cave, evidencing that the monuments were taken from the cemetery of a family or tribe.
148 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
The name of this townland is open to two interpretations. Agha-Lusca, the Cave-Field,
from the number of raths on it, each of which has its corresponding chambers; this
derivation suggested itself to me, but my friend Mr. Hawkes proposed another equally
probable, namely, Agha-Loscadh, i.e. the Field of the Fires.
Adjoining two of the raths are the remains of ancient grain kilns, used for parching
corn; at present they are merely circular mounds of earth and stones, about 12ft. diameter
externally and 5ft. internally; they seem to have been appendages to the raths, being within
thirty or forty yards of these earthworks. The traditions of the people would make them
coeval with them, being used at a period when the grain was not threshed, but parched, and
then shaken out of the ear; corn so treated was called Lusgraun (Loisgrešn), and the kilns
had the same name. In one of the fields adjoining the Ogam cave is a fine pillar stone,
and on the next townland of Curravallaheen is the site of a Keel or pagan burial-ground,
where unbaptized children are still interred; the tradition of the country states, that here
the ancient kings of Carbery were buried; certainly no church or Christian edifice has ever
been known here, either in memory or tradition; the Keel is circular, low, and mound like,
having the remains of a fence of earth and stones. The presence of this grave mound will
account at once for the finding of the Ogam monuments which are in the rath next
adjoining. The old pagan cemetery was plundered of its monuments by the rath-builders,
to construct their underground chambers. What an antiquity this fact suggests for the Ogam
The celebrated stone circle of Temple Brien is but a short distance from Aghaliskey. A
hill close by is called “Suidhe Finn,” or “Finn's Seat"; and about two miles to the north,
in a field near the Curraghvallaheen road, is a large Dallan, known as Finn Mac Cumhal's
“finger stone,” having been cast by that hero from “Suidhe Finn.”
ROOVESMORE (Pl. XIII., Figs, 1, 2, 3).
Three inscribed stones were discovered in the crypt of a rath, on the townland of
Roovesmore and parish of Aglish, by Colonel A. L. Fox, F.S.A.
The locality is a short distance from the southern bank of the Lee, and about two and a
half miles north of the Kilcreastation of the Cork and Macroom Railway; it will be found on
Ord. Sh. No. 72. An accurate description of the rath, cave, and monuments has been
contributed by Colonel Fox to the Arch. Journal, from which I take the following extract:
“The rath is of the form most usual in that part of Ireland, an irregular circle of about
130ft. in diameter, measured from the crest of the innermost rampart ; beyond this there is
a ditch of about 17ft. in breadth, and beyond the ditch another parapet of 10ft. base and
3ft. high, the ditch being, as is frequently the case thereabouts, between the two parapets.
The inner parapet is now nearly obliterated, but it must have originally commanded the
outer one, which is better preserved. There are two entrances, one to the S.E., the other to
the S.W. The fort, if such it is, is well situated for defence on the top of a gentle rise,
and it is nowhere commanded from the outside. The entrance to the crypt, of which nearly
every rath in this neighbourhood possesses one or more, is nearly in the centre of the
interior space. It is a small gallery cut in the natural soil, 4ft. in width and 1.ft. 9in. in
height at the entrance, increasing to 2ft. 2in, near the chamber. The descent to the gallery
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 149
is by a little ramp from the surface, but there is no proof that this was the original entrance,
it may be a continuation of the gallery that has fallen in. For about 5ft. the gallery runs
northwards, and then makes a bend to the right, continuing in that direction for about 10ft.
further, where the opening into the chamber is partly closed by an upright slab; passing
over this slab, the chamber is entered on its south-west side near the west corner. It
appears to have been originally of a quadrangular form, about 15ft. in length by 8ft. in
width, but its south-eastern end had fallen in and could not be accurately measured. Six
upright slabs had been placed longitudinally, as jambs, in two lines, at about 2ſt. from the
sides of the chamber. Upon the tops of these, heavy slabs of unhewn stone were laid
transversely, as intels, and upon these again rested other longitudinal slabs of the same
kind, placed side by side, the edges nearly touching and forming the roof.
“Upon examining these last with a candle from beneath, I found that the two stones
(marked XY, figs. 3 and 4, on plate) which lay contiguous to one another, had their edges
scored with Oghams. But the marks were only first perceptible, by the light of the candle,
in the interstices between the stones; only the ends of the strokes were visible, and although
they were clear enough for me to recognise them at once as Oghams, they might very probably
have escaped the notice of any one who had not been prepared by seeing the crypt in the
cave of Dunloe, near Killarney, to meet with an inscription of this kind on the roof of the
chamber. But it was quite out of the question to attempt to read them in the position in
which they were placed. The two stones touched in some places, and even when they did not
touch the further ends of the strokes were continued round the upper edges of the slabs,
where they were lost to the eye or buried in the superincumbent soil. It was evident that
the builders had never intended they should be deciphered by any one from the interior of
the chamber. The smallest of the stones (marked Z, fig. 3, plate) could not be seen from
below, and was only discovered while excavating the other two.” (Archæological Journal, v.
xxiv., p. 123.)
The three inscribed stones were removed from the souterrain by Col. Fox, who presented
them to the British Museum, where I saw them.
No. 1. (PL. XIII. FIG. I.)
This stone is 7ft. in height, 12in, in breadth, and 8in, in thickness; it is of a hard
compact clay-slate, and has a line of characters cut on both angles of the same face.
+m HIT-17 Hºll-H-IIT/411/4++
A N A F L A M A T T I A S M U C O I
The letters commence at 2ft. Bin. from the bottom and end close to the top, all are well cut and
legible excepting two of the vowel marks of the last letter, which are faint; there cannot,
however, be any doubt as to its value. The absence of the key word Maqui creates some
difficulty. I would suggest the following reading:—
A N A F L A M A TT I A S M U C O I
B E S T S F L A M A TT A N D M UC 0 I
150 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. [CHAP. IX.
An, Ana, Amm, I have already alluded to as representing Anaim, “to dwell, rest, remain;"
Flamatt and Mucoi, proper names, the former being of the same type as Flannan, Flathmia,
as an Ogamic abbreviation for Agus. -
The inscription on the right angle commences at the same distance from the bottom, and
continues also to the top, as follows:–
11.4% #X++114 hi-hſ/ ºli-hit #
C. A. R. E. A. I. T. A U O R U E O
The angle here is much damaged and the letters much injured, some of them apparently
wanting; the fifth is the mark usually given for the diphthong EA ; we have here such a
combination of vowels, both before and after, as renders it of no power.
The damaged state of this legend, and the absence of any word or combination of
characters familiar to us, prevents any reasonable attempt at a rendering; at least, I cannot
see my way to it; in all probability it bears some reference to the persons named in the
inscription on the opposite angle.
- STONE No. 2. (PL. XIII. Fig. 2.)
This is a rude undressed slab of the old red sandstone, 8ft. in length, 2ft. 6in. in breadth,
and 8in. in thickness, much worn and disintegrated, from which cause the characters have
been much injured, though still legible. It bears two inscriptions on angles of the same
face, both commencing at 2ft. 11in, from the bottom, and ending within 15in. of the top ;
they are therefore complete and independent, and record the names of two individuals in a
manner frequently found on those monuments, as follows:–
* LEFT ANGLE :-- ++-Ill-hºt TTT +T++III+
Thi d M A Q I F A L A M N I
11S rea,01S— (Stone of) THE SON OF FALAMAN.
We find this name in the Ann. 4. Mas., at A.D. 760: “The battle of Carn-Fiachach [was
fought], * * * wherein Fallomhan, son of Cucongelt, was slain by Donnebradh.” The vowel,
as usual, is to be understood between the M and N.
* RIGHT ANGLE :— ++lllllith, +Hill-hºt-4 m.
M A Q I E R C I A S
(Stone of) THE SON OF ERCA.
The name of Erc is a remarkable one, it occurs on the Dunmore stone and is one of the
earliest appearing in our mythic history. According to Keating, he was the son of Riondal,
the sixth king of the Firbolg dynasty, and the father of Eochaidh, the eighth monarch of
the same line. At A.D. 474 of the Ann. 4. Mas. we have recorded the death of Eirc., who
was the ancestor of the Dalriadic race of kings in Scotland. In the Annals of Ulster,
Murkertach, the son of this Eirc., is frequently mentioned under the designation “Mac
Erca.” At A.D. 512, Ann, 4. Mas., we have the obit of Erc, bishop of Slane, who was
Brehon to St. Patrick.
* Mr. Brash has accidentally reversed these angles. The Inscriptions, Fig. 2, Pl, xiii., are also
changed.—G.M.A.
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CoRk. 151
We find Erco as a Gaulish proper name. (Mionnet, Médailles gauloises, i. p. 85.) In
Gaedhelic the word Earc has different meanings, as, the sun, heaven, water, a salmon. It is
probable the Gauls derived this name from Hercules, which among the Etrurians and other
ancient nations was written Arkles, Erkles and Erkol.
Stone No. 3. (PL. XIII. Fig. 3.)
This is also inscribed on both angles, material clay-slate, length 7ft., breadth 2ft. 1n.,
thickness 7in. The principal legend is on the left angle, commencing at 1.ft. 9in. from the
bottom, and terminating within a few inches of the top ; it is indifferently cut, and some of
the characters look like scratches:–
LEFT ANGLE:— ill-i-rº-H+++ll H+TH+++
T A B I. R A. M. O. C. O I S O G.
The letters towards the end are weakly cut, but are all determinable as to their values;
the dotted scores are much injured. I think, however, that I have assigned to them the
values originally intended.
This inscription probably reads—
- T A B I R or T. A. B. A. I. R. M. O. C. O I S. O. G. * * *
It appears imperfect. The second is on the centre of the opposite angle, and gives us
what appears to be a proper name:—
+III+TH-Ill.
U S A. L. E. T
The name Usalet is of the same type as Uasal, Usaille; a bishop Usaille is recorded
in the Ann. 4. Mas., at A.D. 454.
Being convinced that the stones above described were originally removed from a Keel or
pagan cemetery, and that such must have been in the neighbourhood, I made inquiries,
and found that such had existed a short distance to the south of the Rath of Roovesmore.
Near cross-roads, on the townland of Ballynichane, is to be found a burial ground for
unbaptized children; it is so marked on the Ordnance Map, and the cross roads are
designated “Cross na Lanuv,” i.e. the “Cross of the children; " the ancient pagan
cemeteries of the country having been preserved, and, as I have already shown, in subsequent
times devoted to the interment of children who had died without having received the
initiatory rite, and suicides.
There are many other evidences of the importance of this locality in pre-historic times.
About 300 yards to the west of Roovesmore rath stood five Dallans in a line, four of which
are now prostrate; about 100 yards to the SW are two others, also overthrown; and to the
S of these, about the same distance, are four Dallans, the tallest of which I found to be
16ft. 6in. in length and 4ft. by 3ft. 6in. at the centre; it is lying prostrate; alongside, and
touching it, is another, erect, being 10ft. above ground, and 2ft. 9in. by 2ft. 6in. at centre;
close by is the third, an enormous cubical block. A fourth was destroyed some time since
by blasting; the peasantry aver that the man who drilled the hole immediately lost the use
of his hands, since which no person would touch the remaining stones. The next townland,
152 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
Rooves-beg, has also a small Rath, which I suspect may have been a Cilleen, as it has but
one rampart and no foss. About 100 yards from this is a pillar stone standing in a field,
5ft, 6in. in height and 3ft. 9in. by 2ft. at the centre; on one of the angles are five distinct
Ogam marks, and an appearance of obliterated scores downwards, the angle being polished
quite smooth from the rubbing of cattle; on the opposite side are seven cup markings; a
few paces distant is a flat stone of irregular shape, 4ft. 10in, by 4ft., and 10in. thick, the
upper face of which is covered with cup markings.
KNOCKOURAN.E. (Pl. XIV.)
This inscribed stone was discovered by Mr. John Windele, standing in a small rocky field
on the townland of Knockourane, or Mount Music (Cnoc-oran, the Hill of Song), and parish
of Kilmichael, about 5 miles SW of Macroom, Ordnance Sheet No. 82. Mr. Windele
received his first information of this stone from the Rev. M. O'Driscoll, in the year 1845,
when he visited it in company with Mr. Abell, and again in 1848. It was subsequently
purchased by Mr. Windele from the farmer on whose ground it stood, who added it to his
collection at Blairs Castle, where I saw and copied it.
It is a square monolith of hard clay-slate, and having its angles rather rounded, 5ft. 2in.
in length, and 9in, by 8in. in the centre; the inscription is on one angle, commencing at
8in. from the bottom of the stone, and running to the extreme top, as follows:–
+mm +!!!!"--mm tº 4+++TIt #1 *m.
A N N A C C A N N I M A Q | A I L L U A T T A N
A N N A C C A N N I M A Q I AIL I, U A TT AN
(Stone of) A N N A C C A N N S O N O F A I L L UA TT A N
We find this name in the Ann. 4. Mas. at A.D. 878, 893, 898, as Aenagan. It has come
down to our own day in the form of Hannagan. In Cymric bardism it appears in the form of
Einigan Gawr. Ailluattan: this name appears to equate with a well-known one in the Tuath-
de-Daman pedigrees, Ealladan or Fallattan; he is described in the Book of Leinster, fol.
280, as “Ealladan, the son of Dealbaoth, the son of Neid, the son of Indai, the son of Allal,
the son of Thait, the son of Tabairn,” and he is stated to have been the father of the five great
chiefs of that race, namely, “Ogma, the sun worshipper; Alloth, the charming; Breasol,
of the victorious wreath; Delbaoth, the undaunted; and Dagda, the great.” (Ibid.) The
inscription is perfectly legible, the second last character A being the only one doubtful.
This monument is remarkable for having a Maltese cross cut on what was originally the
base of the stone, where a clear space was left below where the inscription commenced ;
this space was selected by the zealous artist who turned this pagan memorial into a Christian
monument for engraving the sacred emblem on, which is deeply cut; the stone when thus
used was reversed, the base which originally stood in the ground was now made the head,
and the original head with its Ogams was sunk in the ground. It is therefore quite evident
that the inscription is not only older than the cross, but that at the time the latter was
inscribed, the former was either not understood, or was not regarded with any respect or
reverence. Similar appropriations of these monuments to Christian uses will be noticed
hereafter. I would here remark the redundancy of consonants in the name Annaccann, as
worthy of the attention of our philologists.
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 153
TEAMPULEEN FACHTNA.
This is a small graveyard situated at Ross-Carbery, in the west of the County of Cork;
it contains the ruins of a diminutive primitive church or oratory, dedicated to St. Fachnan,
the patron saint of Ross, which was an ancient diocese. Its name signifies “the little
church of Fachnan "; it was formerly resorted to as a place of meritorious pilgrimage, and
until very lately, in the autumn season, persons came from great distances “to give
rounds,” and perform certain mysterious ceremonies. The sacred earth was taken home by
the devotees, under the belief that in whatever house it was preserved it gave protection
from fire. Mr. Windele visited this place in 1840, and having caused some excavations
to be made, he turned up a fragment of an Ogam inscribed stone, upon which the letter Q
was boldly cut; the rest were obliterated.
SHANACLOON (P. XIV.).
At the southern side of the river Sullane, and nearly opposite the Roman Catholic
Church of Ballyvourney, Ordnance Sheet, No. 58, is the little wood of Shanacloon, Sean-na-
cluain, i.e. the “Ancient Retreat,” in the centre of which is a cleared space where stands a
low cairn of earth and stones, being an irregular oval of 50ft. in circumference; around this
mound there appears to have been originally a circle of Dallans, three of which are still
standing, two of them being inscribed with Ogam letters. The inscriptions are imperfect.
The principal one is of hard compact clay slate, being in height 3ft. 11 in., in breadth 9in.,
and in thickness 7in.
The inscription is on an angle, and is much mutilated and worn from the fervent kisses
of the devotees, who finish their rounds at this spot, and who regard these stones as sacred.
T+–F#/+/+**
B I R I M A Q I
There are traces of letters before and after what I have here given, but so worn as not to be
reliable; in the above we have the principal part of a name found on the Deelish stone, in
the form of Coribiri; Bir has also been recognised on one of the Drumloghan find, and Tabir
on one of those from Roovesmore; Ber is a Gaedhelic name (see Martyr. Don. p. 345).
The word Maqi is not perfect, three of the Q scores are scarcely discernible, and one dot
of the vowel group is lost. There are traces of scores on the opposite angle, but so worn
and defaced as to be unreadable. There is no cross on this stone, not even the common
symbol usually scratched by the peasantry upon stones connected with Christian sites. This
spot has an air of sombre loneliness and seclusion, and looks what it really is, a remarkable
locality.
On the top of the mound is a large stone with a circular cavity or basin, 11 in. in
diameter, similar to that found in the Keel of Drumloghan ; it is of that class called by the
peasantry “Bullauns,” and which are very often found in connection with similar localities.
It is also overgrown with bushes, &c., to which are attached rags and ribbons of various
hues and textures, the votive offerings of the numerous pilgrims who from time immemorial
have resorted to Ballyvourney. -
X
154 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
A part of the elaborate ceremonial prescribed to the devotees on these occasions, was
performed at this Keel, for such it is. The pilgrim circled it round on his knees sun-wise
(the pagan Deisiol) a certain number of times, repeating at each round certain prayers; a
part of the ceremony was also performed at a holy well a few yards' distance. Persons
afflicted with various bodily ailments resorted to this sacred spot, esteeming the earth of the
cairn, and the rain-water lodging in the rock bason, a specific for various complaints.
In connection with this locality, we have also some of those curious bovine myths, so
prevalent in the south and west of Ireland, and which are strongly corroborative of that
sojourn in the land of the Pharaohs, the land of Isis worship, claimed for the progenitors
of the Gaedhil by their bards and historians; thus we find a “Boher Bo finne,” i.e. a
“Road of the White Cow,” running from this place, westwards through the country, a
considerable distance; the tradition being, that a white cow endued with human reason, and
possessed of supernatural powers, came from westward along this ancient track, having a
halting place at Bardinoha, and stopping at Shanacloon.
Here also is the annual meeting place of the Baccach, or professional beggars of
Munster, a most mysterious fraternity, akin only to the Fakeers of the East, whom they
strongly resemble, and through whose instrumentality so much of the ancient paganism of
the country has been preserved, strangely mixed up with Christian rites; a race now nearly
extinct, but who as late as forty years since had more real power and influence over the
minds of the peasantry in certain districts than the clergy (See the Irish Bacach viewed
archaeologically by Mr. Hackett, in Ulster Journal of Archaeology, v. ix. p. 256). This
cairn is sometimes called Cill Abhan, for what reason I cannot divine, as there is neither
memory, tradition, nor relics of any ecclesiastical edifice here, neither cross nor any symbol of
Christianity. The patron saint of Ballyvourney is St. Gobnate, and St. Abhan is said to
have been her brother; this relationship is disputed by Lanigan, who states he was a native
of Leinster, while she was of Muskerry in Munster (Eccl. Hist. v. iii. p. 21). From the
monuments, associations, and traditions of this locality, we may safely infer that it was
originally a remarkable seat of paganism; that on the introduction of Christianity a struggle
took place between the rival systems, which is evidenced by the fact, that the Christian
establishment was not on the pagan site, but at some distance from it, and that ultimately,
when the Cross triumphed, some compromise was effected; the pagan monuments at
Shanacloon were dedicated to a Christian saint, while the ancient pagan ceremonial con-
tinued, being mixed up with Christian rites, as at Skellig, Lough Derg, Ball, Shruell Wells,
Crough Patrick, &c.
Cairns no doubt were religious as well as sepulchral, and a grave error has been com-
mitted by archaeologists in separating these facts. The pagan name for priest in Irish is
Cairnech, from Cairn.
As certain as our churches and cathedrals are, or were, used for sepulchral purposes, and
as sure as much of their sanctity and reputation depended upon the relics of holy per-
sonages deposited therein, so certain were the stone-encircled cairns and tumuli of the
primeval races sanctified by the ashes of the illustrious dead enshrined within their pon-
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 155
derous stone cists. It would appear as if cripples were the principal resorters of this
place, as a regular armoury of stout cudgels and crutches were lying on the tumulus, left
by the Bacachs (professional beggars) who pretend to have been cured, in order to keep up
the reputation of the place, which upon patron days brings considerable profit to their
fraternity. A few of the characters on the second stone can barely be traced, but their
values cannot be ascertained.*
GORMLEE.
On the townland of Gormlee, parish of Dunbulloge, are two pillar stones, bearing
traces of Ogam inscriptions. The locality is about one mile and-a-half north of Carnavar,
Ord. Sh. No. 52. The first is in the centre of a large field adjoining the public road; it is
3ft. 6in. in height, 3ft. 4in, in width at base, and 9in. thick. Traces of an inscription
are on the left angle, but so worn by the rubbing of cattle as to be indiscernible, except to
a practised ogamist. The second is in the adjoining field to the west, and close to the
fence which divides it from the farm road; it is a very remarkable looking pillar stone,
pyramidal in shape, and looking much weather worn, being 9ft. Bin. in height above
ground, 3ft. Bin. wide at bottom, and 1.ft. Sin, thick, diminishing nearly to a point.
There are traces of Ogam letters on two angles, but so worn as to be useless for any
philological purpose; some of the scores on the left angle appear to have been tampered
with by some of the neighbouring Senacuidhe in their anxiety to restore the ancient letters;
the angles being much rounded and polished by the rubbing of cattle, and the scores
consequently worn down.
The townland probably takes it name from this monument, Gorm-Lia, from Lia, a great
stone, and Gorm, blue or azure, as it is of a bluish grey colour.
WINDELE COLLECTION, No. 1 (P. X. No. 2).
This fragment was purchased by Colonel Lane Fox, from the collection of the late
Mr. Windele. I have failed in my endeavours to ascertain from whence it was originally
procured. It is in length 2ft. 6in. and is 6in. by 4in. at its centre. The inscription
occupies the entire length of one angle, and is as follows:–
+: llll:#r Hill+
M A Q I B R O C I
(Stone of) T H E S ON OF B R O C
Aglance at the plate shows that a large spawl has been knocked off the lower end, by which
the first four letters have been mutilated; the lower half of the M, the entire of the A, the
lower part of the scores of the Q, and three dots of the vowel I; these I have restored by
the dotted marks. No person, however, accustomed to the study of those inscriptions will
* The last of the many pleasant journeys I made with my late friend, on the 22nd September, 1873.
We visited Ballyvourney; after examining the ruins near the church, failing health did not permit
Mr. Brash to proceed to the Cill Abhan, but he requested me to go. On that occasion I had the benefit
of a bright sunshine, and was enabled to make out some other characters on the stone, which, on
showing to Mr. Brash, then at the house of the hospitable parish priest, he expressed himself much
pleased. I have added them to the plate, also a mark the people make there with a stone at each
station for prayer, each round, on the termination of their devotional exercise.—G.M.A.
156 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. [CHAP. IX.
for one moment hesitate to confirm the values I have given to the damaged letters, or my
reading of it, “The Son of Broc.”
Whether there was a proper name before the Maqi it is now impossible to say; we have
plenty of other examples to show that it may be complete in itself; the name is a Gaedhelic
one of the same family as Broc, Brocan, Brogan, Broen (Index Ann. 4 Mas.). One line of
the Ogam inscription on the stone at Kilmalkedar reads MAQI BROCAN. Broc in
Gaedhelic signifies a badger. The name Bric is a prevalent one in the South of Ireland; a
tribe of that name, Ua Bric, had large possessions in Waterford. We also find it as a
proper name among the Gauls, as Brice . . Momms. . 252, 36. Aug. Raur . . and Bricca.
Duchalais, Méd. Gaul, p. 271. We have, also, Broccus, Orel. 3983.
WINDELE COLLECTION (No. 2).
This inscribed stone is in the possession of Mrs. Windele, Cork (widow of the late
John Windele); it is a rough, ungainly pillar of old red sandstone, having a long but
mutilated inscription on one angle, running round the head and partially down the opposite
side as follows:– -
M A Q I R A S I A Q OM A LA L E Q I
From the mutilated state of this inscription it would be useless to attempt a translation
of it; we have the word Maqi perfect, and the whole, or a portion of a proper name following.
On another angle of the same stone the Ogam letters for Maqi are distinctly cut, but
no others; evidently another inscription is commenced, but not completed. I have not
been able to ascertain from whence this example was procured.
GURRANES (P. V. Fig. 3).
This inscribed stone lies in the gripe of a ditch on the townland of Gurranes, parish
of Temple Martin; being about six miles north of Bandon, and four miles south of the
Kilcrea Station of the Cork and Macroom Railway, Ord. Sh. No. 84. My first information
respecting it was received from the Rev. John Lyons, R.C.C., then residing at Newcestown,
who informed me by letter that a stone bearing marks which he suspected to be Ogams was
seen by him in the above locality. Being convinced by Mr. Lyons's description that it was
a veritable Ogam, I lost no time in visiting the spot, which I did on the 16th December,
1868, and found it to be a rough, irregularly shaped slab of clay slate, being in length
5ft. 10in., in breadth 15in., and in thickness 8in. at the centre, but of somewhat lesser
dimensions at the ends.
The inscription commences as usual at the left angle, 2ft. 6in. from the bottom, runs
to the top, across the head, and down the opposite side; it is much injured, owing to spawls
being knocked off the angles, but the perfect letters are broadly and deeply cut.
Ill; m:Hellllll: mHull #7+IIllirºº-lill-i-m-m-tº-li-tº-
C (A) S S I T T(A) S M A Q I M. U C O I C A L L I T I
The first letter, C, is quite distinct; then there is a spawl off the angle, which carried
away the vowel and the upper portions of the scores for S; the vowel could only have been
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 157
an A or 0—in fact, there is only space for an A, and such I desire to consider it. The
first dot of the following I is worn and faint. It is not of much consequence whether it be
an I or E: the balance of evidence is, however, in favour of the former.
At the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th character there is another spawl off. Between the
T and S there was certainly a vowel, which has been lost by the injury to the angle; from
the space left it could only be a vowel, and that an A or 0; from the analogy of the rest of
the letters the Ogam student will justify me in the value I have given it. The following
letter S, though injured, is perfectly legible; the determination of this letter also assists us
in fixing the value of the missing vowel, for we find the letters “A S'' in exactly the same
position on many other monuments. In the word “Maqi,” which follows, we find the
lower half of the M defaced; the remaining letters of this word are quite perfect, as are all
the other characters, excepting one of the dots of 0 in “Mucoi,” which has suffered injury;
but the facts of the space for the dot existing, the abraded angle, and the presence of all the
other letters of this well-known word, are convincing proofs of the value I have assigned to
this vowel. The entire reads thus:–
CAS SIT TAS M A QI M UC O I CALL IT I.
(Stone of) CASSITT SON OF THE SWIN E HERD CALL IT.
We have here the form Cassitt, a name seldom met with. Cassidus was the founder of
a monastery situated in the Co. Clare, somewhere in the Barony of Moyarta. Lanigan
states that he was a native of the territory Kierraghe Chuirke (probably a part of Kerry),
(Ecc. Hist. v. i. pp. 444-6). Names of a similar type are also met with, as Cormac Cas,
A.D. 170; Caisin, A.D. 695, Ann. 4 Mas.; Gaulish form, Casia; Grut. 488, 3; Casonia,
Orel. 4734; Casato, Orel. 4189. Mucoi appears here as the title of Callit, a name which
I have not been able to identify, unless we should consider it a form of Cailte, a name well
known in our mythic history as well as in early historic times. We have also “Cailti, son
of Erc, Abbot of Fidhduin, died A.D. 828” (Ann. 4 Mas.); Caletin (Ann. of Tigernac).
We find this also a Gaulish proper name as Calitiae... De Lagoy, Monogr. 22, 1; Aquitan.
Callidius, Orel. 474; and Caletinus figul, Stein. 1484, Leyden. The Caleti were a tribe
of Ancient Gaul (Lelewel, pp. 270, 327).
The Rev. J. Lyons informed me that this stone was found on the site of a Rath called
Lisheen-na-Greine, i.e. the Little Rath of the Sun, by a farmer named Crowley, about
seventeen years since. While earthing potatoes his spade struck the flag, then lying about
a foot below the surface; he dug round it, and removed it to the side of the adjoining fence,
where it fortunately lay without being broken up, as hundreds of these remarkable monu-
ments have been from time to time.
It appears that the Rath had been levelled some few years previously by a tenant named
Doyle, and the people aver “that neither father nor son had either luck or grace after-
wards.” Being convinced that this flag had been used as a lintel over a Rath-Cave,
I suggested to Mr. Lyons the propriety of excavating the site in order to ascertain if such
a chamber existed, as, if such was the case, other inscriptions might be concealed in it;
158 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
that gentleman was kind enough to comply with my request, and he communicated to me
the results as follows:– “I commenced excavations adjoining the stone. We first came
upon a passage 8ft. in length, which was half closed with earth; we did not clear it out
at the south end, but finding a narrow passage or channel at the north end, I crept into it
and found a chamber 16ft. long, 5ft. wide, and 4ft. high, quite empty; it was excavated
like a gravel pit, without any masonry except at the narrow end, which ran in an eastern
direction, but was built of stone and roofed over with large flags; but found no traces of
Ogams on the under side of them: we did not clear the surface on the top.
“We cleared the passage inside to within 6ft. or 8ft. of where the stone (Ogam) was
found, as it ran in that direction, so that the inscribed stone must have been connected with
the cave. We suspended our operations about 5 o'clock, and propose to renew them on
Monday or Tuesday.”
In a subsequent communication Mr. Lyons informed me that he continued his exca-
vations, removing the earth from the upper surface of the roofing stones, but made no
further discovery of inscriptions. I have already stated that in the majority of instances
where Ogams have been found in Rath Caves a Cilleen, or the site of one, will be found in
the neighbourhood. Lisheen-na-Greine is no exception to this rule. Close to it is the site
of one, which is even yet known by the name of “Cross-na-Lanuv,” i.e. “The Cross of
the Children.” About a mile to the south-east are the pillar stones of Castle-na-Leacht,
and about half a mile to the north, on the same townland, an immense “Cathair,” with
extensive subterraneous passages, and about two miles east the fortified hill of Cashel. In
fact, the whole of the district lying between the Bandon and Lee rivers is full of earthworks
and megalithic monuments.
COOMLIAH.
Coomliah, the Grey Valley, is a lonely and sequestered glen lying north of Bantry, and
running from Dunamark up into the mountains north-east of that town, where rises the
Miallagha stream, which waters the valley its entire length, and empties itself into Bantry
Bay. The inscribed stone will be found on the townland of Coomliah East, parish of
Kilmocamoge, Ord. Sh. No. 106. -
The traveller takes the Glengarrif road from Bantry as far as Dunamark Mills, where
he turns to the right, keeping the old mountain road to Dunmanway for about seven miles,
until he arrives at Coomliah National School on the left; about one mile beyond this, on his
right-hand side, he will see the group of stones below him, in the centre of a field, about
half a furlong from the road; they are very conspicuous, and cannot fail of being observed.
The group consists of three stones, which appear to have stood in a line nearly east and
west.
The inscribed one stands in the centre, and is a fine massive monolith, 6ft. 6in. high
above ground, 3ft. 7in. broad, and 1.ft. 7in, thick; it is an intensely hard stone, of a
greenish grey colour, almost impossible to work; on the right-hand angle of the southern
face is an inscription, now sadly mutilated, the following only are legible:—
m* T-II/+14+
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 159
A person resident in the neighbourhood informed me that the mutilation of the
inscription took place only a week before my visit, by a man resident in the neighbourhood,
who with the back of an axe knocked flakes off the angle; the fractures were quite fresh.
The inscription, as I have stated, is on the right-hand angle of the southern face; the
cause of this departure from the general rule is quite apparent, as the other angles are
rough and unsuitable for the purpose; the characters were very finely cut, and small; this is
owing to the intense hardness of the stone, which is like steel. The artist recognised the
qualities of the stone on which he was working, and saw no necessity for cutting large scores
on a material so hard and durable.
The western stone is uninscribed, and is a rude block only 3ft. in height; the eastern
stone is now prostrate; it measures 7ft. in length, 3ft. 6in. in breadth, and 1.ft. 2in, in
thickness, it has no marks on it. These stones are found on the extreme southern boundary
of the townland of Coomliah East, and next adjoining is that of Barnagullane, the Gap or
Pass of the Standing-stones; about 14 miles east, on the side of the mountain, is a large
Cromlech locally called Darby and Grainnes bed; and at about a quarter of a mile to the
north-west of the inscribed stone, on the lands of Timothy Shea, will be seen a range of
five tall pillar stones.
The Cromlech monument was first discovered by Mr. Roger Downing, of Bantry, who
communicated its existence to Mr. Windele, by whom it was visited in September, 1849.
Mr. Windele's copy runs as follows:–
+m-t-t-illllllim millil-º-º/-Hill
This is by no means a readable inscription, and I rather think that some of the scores
had been missing in Mr. Windele's time, as the angle has been much defaced by the rubbing
of cattle for ages; those scores that are too high up to be so injured are much sharper.
INSCRIBED STONE AT COOLDORRIHY (P. X.).
The townland of Cooldorrihy is situated in the parish of Kilmichael, seven miles from
Macroom, on the main road to Dunmanway, Ord. Sh. No. 82. The old Roman Catholic
Chapel of the parish is situated on a conspicuous elevation in this townland, and in a field
adjoining it on the south is a souterrain, of that class so frequently found in the interior of
Raths. My esteemed and learned friend the late Mr. John Windele was made aware of its
existence many years since, as I find by a memorandum of his in my possession that he
visited it on Sept. 28th, 1845, accompanied by Messrs. James and John Harding, and the
late Mr. Abraham Abell. The discovery of the Ogam inscribed stone, still to be found in
this crypt, is due to the Father of Ogam discovery in the south of Ireland, Mr. Windele,
who on that occasion recognised those mysterious characters on the stone. Being desirous
of a personal examination of the crypt and its venerable relic, I communicated with the
Rev. James O'Driscoll, the respected parish priest of Kilmichael, who at once responded to
my wishes, and arranged to have a search made for the entrance to the souterrain, which
had been closed up for many years; having been successful in his search, I visited the
locality by his appointment on Sept. 6th, 1870.

160 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. CoRK. [CHAP. IX.
I found that the entrance to the crypt was about four feet below the surface of the field,
and facing the south; at four feet from the entrance the chamber turned westwards, with a
semicircular bend extending sixteen feet in that direction, when it terminated in a semi-
circular end; it is from 3ft. 6in. to 3ft. 8in, in width, and varies in height from 3ft. 2in.
to 3ft. 6in.
The walls are built of rude rubble masonry, without mortar or any other cement, as is
usual in all these rath-chambers; the covering consists of nine massive flags laid
horizontally on the walls; the second of these flags from the entrance is short at one end,
and has no bearing on the side wall, it is therefore supported by a square pillar of stone,
upon an angle of which is inscribed a line of Ogam characters.
It is of hard close-grained clay-slate, 3ft. in height, 9in, by 6in. at the bottom, and 7%in.
by 4in. at the top. The inscription is on a left-hand angle of one of the broader faces, and
commences at 7 in, from the ground, continuing to the top, which is damaged by a spawl
being knocked off; it is as follows:– -
m H-Illilti-i-m-i-Hitſ/+14+}{lllll all
F E Q O A N A I M A Q I EA Q O D
(Stone of) FE CO A N A T H E S ON OF C U O D.
The characters are very finely cut, and from long concealment in this cave are in perfect
preservation; the scores are short and sharp, resembling those of the inscription on the
pillar in the cave at Aghaliskey. The name of the individual commemorated is a well-known
one, and frequently met with in our annals and MSS., Cuan or Cuana in the genitive case,
with the prefix Fec, one frequently found before proper names, as Fecthach, Fechtnach.
Gaulish forms, Veccati, Orel. 4901; Wecetinus, Momms. 24; Vectius, Grut. 925, 16. The
× character or mark has here evidently no use in the inscription, Q is the first letter of the
patronymic which has been cut short by the injury to the top of the stone; therefore the x
mark appears to me to be in this case, as in some others, a divisional point. The
patronymic was one of a numerous class of names having the prefix Cu, and to which I have
already alluded; it is difficult to say what the exact name was, but it appears to have been of
a type found in our annals, as Cuodba, Cuodran.
The old chapel of Cooldorrihy was built in a Rath, a portion of the rampart of which
still remains. Suspecting from the presence of the Ogam inscription that a Keel must
have been in the neighbourhood, I made inquiries, and found that one formerly existed a few
fields off, near cross roads called Cros-na-marbh, i.e. of the dead. In the neighbourhood is
also a sacred well called Tobar Colum.
MONATAGGART. (Pl. XV.)
In the year 1872, Mr. Patrick Coyan, a tenant farmer on a portion of the lands of
Monataggart, parish of Donoughmore, being engaged in ploughing a field, came in contact
with a stone deep bedded in the earth, and which being an obstacle he determined to remove;
having dug round the spot he ascertained it to be of large size, and proceeding further,
found several others lying in range and forming the covering of a chamber which was nearly
filled with fine mould mixed with charcoal. Having thoroughly ransacked the chamber, and
CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. 161
finding nothing to reward his search, he removed one of the stones to his farm yard, where
being in want of a gate-post, he set it up and fixed irons in it to make it suitable for his
purpose. In the spring of 1873, having occasion to visit the farm of Mr. Joseph Twohig,
on the same townland, I made my usual inquiries about stones with Ogam marks, when he
informed me that a gate-post at his cousin's, Patrick Cogan, had such marks as I described:
having proceeded thither, I found to my great delight and surprise a remarkably fine
monolith standing in the above capacity at the left side of the farm-yard gate, and bearing a
long and apparently legible inscription; having taken a copy of it, I was anxious to see the
site whence it was procured, and accordingly proceeded thither accompanied by Mr. Cogan;
I found it to have been a cistvaen, or stone chamber, formed on the slope of a rising ground,
a couple of fields from his house. The chamber was rectangular, about 5ft. long, 3ft. 6in.
broad, and 3ft. deep; it had been formed of two flags at each side and two at each end, and
was covered by three others; two of them broad flags, the third the Ogam inscribed pillar.
Two of the slabs were in situ, two beside the pillar had been removed by the farmer for
building purposes, the rest lay in the rifled chamber which at my visit was half filled with
water. -
Mr. Cogan informed me he was present at the opening, and that when the flags were lifted off
the chamber was half filled with fine loamy earth, and that when this was removed by the
workmen, who expected to have found a treasure, they came on some black earth and char-
coal and, as they stated, some pieces of an old crock. The finding of the black earth and
charcoal was confirmed by an intelligent young man who accompanied me, and who was
present at the first discovery. The ground around the chamber is slightly raised in a circular
form, and has the appearance of the base of a tumulus. There can be no question as to the
sepulchral nature of this chambér, on this head I thoroughly satisfied myself.
On April 14th, 1873, I had the honour of reading a paper descriptive of this monument
before the Royal Irish Academy, and placed before them a copy of the legend taken in the
usual manner from left to right and from the bottom of the stone upwards, as follows:–
Ill-hºm Hitºm-7+m #####11 #111111 ######-m:
F E N R E N M O N O I G D U Q D E G G E F
In my communication I regretted my inability to give a proper rendering of the legend,
and commended it to the attention of Celtic scholars. However, in October, 1874, Ireceived
a letter from Dr. Samuel Ferguson, who suggested reading it from the opposite side of the
angle and from right to left, by which mode he eliminated the following legend:—
F EQ R. E. Q M O Q O I G L UN L E G G E T
There can be no question that Dr. Ferguson's is the proper mode of reading this legend,
of which more hereafter. It would appear that some time subsequent to my visit to this
locality, Dr. Quarry, the rector of the parish, examined the chamber, and having turned over
the rest of the stones he found two others inscribed with Ogam characters; this fact he
communicated to Dr. Ferguson, who, armed with the purse of the Royal Irish Academy, came
to Monataggart, and having purchased them of the tenant, Cogan, caused all three to be
conveyed to the Museum, Royal Irish Academy, where they are now to be seen. Subsequently
- Y
162 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
another Ogam inscribed stone was found, negotiations for the removal of which were also in
progress when the landlord, Mr. George Washington Creagh, having been informed of this
wholesale deportation of antiquities off his estate, laid an embargo on the remaining one and
would not allow its removal. I shall now proceed to describe the monuments.
No. 1 (See Pl. XV.).
This was the first stone identified by me as bearing an Ogam inscription. It is a tall
tapering monolith of hard clay-slate, rough and irregular in shape, being 8ft. 7in. in length,
19in. by 10in, at bottom, and 10in, by 7in, near the top, which tapers to a point. The
inscription is cut on the left angle of one of the broader faces, commencing at 3ft. from the
bottom, and occupying 5ft. 1jn, of the angle, finishing within a few inches of the top ; sure
evidence that the stone had originally been in a standing position. The true sequence of the
legend, as read by Dr. Samuel Ferguson, runs as follows:–
Ill-hhºff/hh:mmiſſ Hºm/++11-#/*####|lllll-Häm.
T E G G E L N U L G I O Q OM Q E R Q E F
Reading the above from right to left, it gives us—
FE Q R E Q M O Q ) I G L UN L E G G E T
being the usual formula of these inscriptions, and rendered Fiachra, the son of Glunlegget.
Feqreq is evidently an old genitive form of Fiachra, and which is sometimes found in our
old MSS. as Fiachrach, an ‘ach’ genitive alluded to by Dr. O'Donovan in his Irish grammar.
Fiachra is a name of frequent occurrence in our indices, and mostly at early dates; thus it
appears in the Ann. 4. Mas. at A.D. 478, its earliest, and A.D. 1135, its latest.
The Mart. Don, supplies us with three examples of the form of Fiachrach, namely at
September 4th, 28th, and October 12th; this form is identical with that in the legend, CH
standing in the place of Q the older form. Fiachra frequently occurs in the Chron.
Scot, and always at early dates. Moqois this form is unusual as the genitive of Mac
instead of the usual Maqi; the sequence of the legend, however, determines its meaning.
Glunlegget: this is a type of name not frequently met with in our annals, it does occur,
however, sufficiently often to enable us to decide that it is the patronymic and of the same
family as Gluntradna, slain A.D. 981; Gluniarn, 890; Niall Glundubh, or of the Black
Knee, son of Aedh Finnliath, monarch of Ireland, A.D. 900 (Ann. 4. Mas.). We also find
Glunsalach as an ecclesiastic in the service of St. Caoirnghin (Mart. Don. p. 145); with such
examples, therefore, we can have no hesitation in recognising it as a proper Gaedhelic name.
It has been suggested to me that the name Legget is an archaic form of Lugad or Luggad;
no doubt the habit of commuting the vowels and writing tº for d has oftentimes varied the
forms of names, and such a surmise may be correct; it is, however, satisfactory to know that
the name is still an existing one in the south of Ireland, as well as in Scotland, in the exact
form of the legend; there are still families named Legget in the County Kerry, the land of
Ogam inscriptions.
No. 2.
This is the smallest of the stones discovered at Monataggart.

CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. - 163
It is in length 3ft. 2in, and 13] in, by 4in, at the centre; it has been much injured,
being broken across nearly at the centre; fortunately, however, the entire legend has been
preserved, even the vowel mark through which the fracture went can be recognised. The
legend commences at 5in. from the present lower end, which appears to have been broken
across, and occupies the entire of the left angle of one of the broad faces, running close to
the top. The inscription is well cut and perfectly legible, not a letter doubtful, and is as
follows:–
114-mi-ſ/IT4th A-IIIll-hºll-º-m-tº-
D. A. L. A. G. N. I M A Q I D A L I
I read it (Stone of) Dalagan son of Dal. This is a most interesting legend, as it supplies
us with two names already found on similar monuments. The name of the individual is
Dalagan, or as it would be pronounced in modern Irish Dalan, the G being eclipsed in this as
in several other instances, the penultimate A being omitted. This name has been found at
Kinard West, close to Dingle (see article Kinard), in the genitive form of Talagni, the T
and D being commutable. The patronymic Dal has been found on one of the Dunloe group,
also in a souterrain as Maqi Dali.
No. 3.
This is a coarse irregular monolith of clay-slate, 7ft. 7in. in height, and 12in, by 9in. at
the centre; on account of the roughness and irregularity of the left angle the legend has
been cut on the right; it commences 3ft. 2in. from the bottom, and occupies the rest of
the angle, running partially round the top. The scores were originally broadly and deeply
cut, but are now much worn down, though all are perfectly legible; the top scores are
smaller and closer in consequence of the engraver wanting room. The consonant scores to
the right of the angle as well as those crossing it are oblique to it, while those to the left are
vertical: -
r|++ mºth HH-m-i-m-X++III +III+4+1/+mi-m-iº/*m.
B. R O I N I E N A S () I N E T A T D R E N A L U G O S
We have here a name that will also be found on one of the Ballinrannig stones, which
for some time lay outside the hall-door of Lough House near Dingle; in the form of
Broinionas unaccompanied by any other words (see Ballinrannig). The absence of the usual
key-word Maqi, and the presence of the X character, followed as it usually is by vowels,
creates great difficulty in the rendering of the remaining portion, which, however, appears to
conclude with a proper name, Drenalugos; names beginning with the prefix Tren, the T and
D being commutable, are frequent, as Treinfber (Ann. 4. Mas.), Trenog (Mart. Don.). The
form of Trenagussos will be found in Roman letters on the Ogam inscribed stone at
Cilgerran, Wales (see article).
KILCULLEN. (Pl. XV.)
The townland of Kilcullen adjoins that of Monataggart, to the north-west, in the parish
164 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
of Donoughmore, Ordnance Sheet No. 61; on it stands a Keel or ancient burial ground,
which gives the townland its name, for in the locality there never has been a church either in
memory or tradition. I found it situated in a field to the left-hand side of the new road
leading from the Bogra line to Sheskinny, and nearly sixteen miles north-west of Cork. The
present remains are on the level top of a field that slopes abruptly upwards from the road.
Here I found the Keel, of a rectangular shape, and of large dimensions, lying nearly north
and south ; the form is irregular, the angles being rounded; it is enclosed by an earthen
fence from three to four feet high on the outside, lined on the external face with field stones;
the internal area is higher than the external ground. Mr. Lynch, who is over ninety years
of age and in the possession of all his faculties, states, that there was no change in its
appearance since his boyhood; the place was always called Keel, in his time there was no
interment there, and the trees standing in its area were planted by him. About twenty yards
west of the Keel and in the same field is a Leacht or grave, it is a nearly erased flat mound
of earth and stones, at present about one-and-a-half feet above the level of field, and of a
square outline, its dimensions being 12ft. from east to west, and 11ſt, from north to south;
it appears to have originally had a pillar stone standing at each corner, two of these still
remain perfect at the N.E. and N.W. angles, and the stump of a third at the S.W. Mr.
Charles Lynch informed me that it was of the same height as the rest, and was broken some
years before by one of his workmen with a sledge in a fit of bravado; the shivered stump
has the exact appearance of having been broken in this manner. That at the N.E. corner
is 7ft. high above ground, and 15in. by 10in. at base, tapering nearly to a point. That at
the N.W., which is inscribed, is 6ft. 6in. high above ground, 16in. by 10in. at base, and 12in,
by 7in. at top; both are of the old red sandstone and are much weather worn, covered with
many coloured lichen, and have a truly venerable appearance. The inscription is on the left
angle of the northern face; the angle is much rounded and disintegrated from the action of
weather, and the legend has consequently suffered much, but owing to their originally having
been broadly and deeply cut, and the day being uncommonly favourable for the purpose, I
was enabled to make a copy which entirely satisfied me. The legend is 5ft. 10in. long, and
finishes within 3in. of the top; as it consists but of seventeen characters, it shows how
boldly cut and broadly spaced they were to occupy that length of the angle:–
Trith Zhi-il-Hill/+lllll HH-44-1"++ll-
L U G U D U C M A Q I M A Q I O C
LU GUDU C M A QI M A QI O C
We have here a familiar name which we find in our annals and indices in the forms of
Lughaidh, Lugud, Lugdech, Lugdeach. On an Ogam inscribed stone at Ardmore, we find
Lugudeccas; on one from Kilgravane, Lugudeca; this is evidently the form found in the
Annals of Ulster, at A.D. 506 and 533, namely, Lugdach (See article Ardmore). The
patronymic is “Mac Oc,” this is a proper name and also expresses a profession; Oc,
signifies a bard, a poet, and the name is equivalent to one frequently met with in our
“Annals,” as Mac-an-Bhaird, i.e. The Son of the Bard. In the Martyr. of Don. we find
Octide, and on one of the Kilcolaght group we have the identical name Occ (See article
Kilcolaght). Gaulish forms, Oecus, Stein. 2054. Occanus, Gruter, 889.

CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 165
This inscription is in exactly the same formula as that on the stone from Deelish or
Leades:—
0 T M A QI M A QI RETT
The day I copied this legend I remarked, that by standing about three yards from the
stone, in a certain position, I could read the inscription more perfectly than when standing
close to it. I would remark that the last three characters of the legend are much injured,
the three last digits of the I are lost, and there is a weather-fissure through the C, which
leaves a part of each score at one side, and a part at the other. A second visit made to this
place enabled me to verify my former copy, and to glean further information respecting this
locality. Mr. Charles Lynch informs me that the tradition of the country is, that the Leacht
is the burial place of a great chieftain who met his death in the following manner: He ruled
over a large district of the country, this locality forming a part of his dominions, the
inhabitants of which refusing to pay him tribute or obedience, he marched against and
overcame them, taking a large number of prisoners, whom he ordered to be put to death; they
begged of him a respite, which he contemptuously granted until his horse was done feeding,
but during that operation, having incautiously placed his hand on the animal's hind-quarter,
it gave him a fearful kick, which killed him on the spot, and he was here interred. It is
probable that there is some glimmering of original truth in the above tradition. There can,
however, be scarcely a doubt that this was a private burial place or tomb; its small size, the
pillar stone at each angle, and the inscription upon one only, would lead us to infer this.
I have in several of my papers on this subject shown, that the burial places of our pagan
ancestors were robbed by the rath builders of their monuments for the purpose of assisting
in the construction of the chambers found beneath them, and that in almost every instance
where Ogam inscribed stones have been so found, a Keel or the site of one is sure to be
detected in the immediate neighbourhood. Now though the Cistvaen at Monataggart and the
Keel of Kilcullen are on different townlands, they are on the boundaries of both, and within
a couple of hundred yards of each other; the natural inference being, that the materials
which mainly if not entirely constructed the Cist, were taken from this Keel.
The district in which Kilcullen is situated is a very remarkable one for the variety of its
pre-historic remains. In the adjoining field, at the opposite side of the road, is a solitary
pillar stone; two fields north of the pillar stone is a large Rath, with underground passages
and chambers built of stone. On the verge of the adjoining townland, to the NE, is a small
circle of seven stones, and one pillar stone a short distance from it; in the next field but one
to the east, is a large Rath with a double rampart and a ditch near 20ft. deep, it also has
stone built underground chambers. To the NE. again, in the next townland of Barachaurin,
are the remains of an immense circle, consisting of three erect and two prostrate stones ; one
of those standing is 13ft. high above ground, 6ft. wide and 2ft. thick; it carries the same
dimensions nearly to the top, and is a huge looking monolith; on this townland there are
fifteen Raths. On the townland of Rylane, east of Kilcullen, is a small stone circle, and
two pillar stones a few yards from it.
Since writing the above, O'Curry's Lectures on the “Manners and Customs of the ancient
Irish” have come into my hands; in note 874 of the very learned and valuable introductory
166 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. [CHAP. IX.
volume by Dr. Sullivan, I find the very name borne by the Kilcullen stone, contained in an
extract from a tract known as the flight of Etain, taken from the well-known MS. Leb, na-
h-Uidhri, p. 129, col. 2, as follows:– “The Mac Oce went forth on the track of Fuaman,
and overtook her on Oenach Bodbgnai at the house of Breasal, between the arms of the
druid. The Mac Oce struck her and beheaded her, and he brought away her head and placed
it on the Bru of the Brog.” We also find the name at note 567 of the same volume, in a
passage taken from the same MS., as follows:– “The nobles of the Tuatha de Danand, with
the exception of seven (who were buried at Tailte), were buried at Brugh, namely: Lug Oc,
the son of Olloman, 0gma, Cairpre, the son of Etain, &c.” Oc-Aire was a grade of nobility
among the ancient Irish, and we find that the Sic-Oc was a judicial functionary. -
KILCASKAN. (Pl. XI.)
The old church of Kilcaskan stands in the townland and parish of Kilcaskan, barony of
Bere, Co. Cork, and will be found on Ordnance Sheet, No. 103.
Some years since the Rev. Thomas Olden, visiting this place, noticed a stone in the grave-
yard which appeared to him to bear an inscription in Ogam; this information he com-
municated to Mr. Windele, who does not seem to have examined the stone, as he left no
record respecting it that I could ascertain of excepting Mr. Olden's notice of it. Being
anxious to ascertain if such was the fact, I wrote in May, 1873, to the Rev. Richard Wright,
rector of that parish, to ascertain if such a stone existed. Mr. Wright courteously replied
to my queries, stating that such a stone did stand in the place indicated, but that he doubted
if it bore any inscription; but that the locality would well repay a visit, as there were many
ancient monuments of considerable interest in the parish.
I visited the place in the same month by the way of Bantry and Glengariff, taking the
road to Castletown, from the latter place through mountain scenery of the wildest and
grandest character; about thirteen miles from Glengariff I came to a descent in the road,
above the beautiful bay of Adrigole, lying almost land-locked among the mighty mountains,
its green plantations and sparkling waters contrasting pleasingly with the bare wild scenery
through which I had passed. Having reached the Rectory at Adrigole, I found that Mr.
Wright was absent from home, but was hospitably received by his niece, Miss Long, who
kindly became my guide to the site of the stone. Passing the bridge of Adrigole, we took
the first road to the right, locally known as the new Kerry road, for about a mile, to a small
bridge called Inchinataglin; from this spot the old church of Kilcaskan is seen to the right
about a quarter-of-a-mile from the high road, beyond a cluster of cottages that form a small
hamlet, it is approached by a field-path and a narrow bridge over the Adrigole river. The
church is a small, rudely built mediaeval structure, in a state of great ruin, the west and
most of the side walls being down; the east gable and a portion of the flank walls showing
rubble masonry of a poor character; the east window being a narrow slit with an Ogee head.
The cemetery is small and the graves of a humble description, there being no monuments
either ancient or modern ; it is a wild and weird spot, lying under the shadow and at the
foot of the Caha mountains.
On entering the graveyard I at once saw the object of my search standing four yards

CHAP. IX.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. CORK. 167
from the south-east quoin of the church, and doing duty as a head-stone to a modern grave.
It is a pillar of hard red sandstone, standing 4ft. above ground, and 9in. by 6in. at the centre;
it was inscribed on both angles, and I am of opinion that the legend also crossed the head,
which is at present fractured, a large thick flake having been knocked off it. The inscrip-
tion as usual appears to have commenced on the left angle of one of the broader faces, at
8in. from the present ground level, and reads as follows:–
L U G U Q R I T
The legend on this angle, though originally broadly and deeply cut, is much worn down,
and a little patience is requisite to trace some of the scores; I have no hesitation, however,
in giving the first line as LUGUQRIT. The first three characters are quite legible, between
the third and fourth there is a wider space than usual; I could, however, trace only three
vowel scores occupying it, the rest of the characters are quite determinable, the last score of
the T is close to the fracture.
On the opposite angle are traces of characters from the broken part downwards; it is,
however, so worn and disintegrated from the action of the weather, that I could not make a
satisfactory copy of this part of the legend; it appears to commence with the vowel I on the
top, as if the last letter of MAQI, and to have been followed by the patronymic ; the formula
appears to have been LUGUQRIT(TI MAQ).I . . . . We have here a compound name
formed of two elements that will be very familiar to us as we proceed, Lugud and Curitt; the
former we find in Luguduc, on a stone at Kilcullen, Co. Cork; in Lugudeccas, at Ardmore; and
in Lugudeca, at Kilgravance, both in the county of Waterford. Curitt we find in Ogam
legends from Greenhill, Co. Cork, and Ballinrannig, Co. Kerry. The identical name will be
found on a stone in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, marked No. 5, which reads–
LU G. U C U R IT M A Q I C U R ITT I. -
It was very gratifying to me to be enabled to identify this name, and to find how these
curious monuments illustrate each other.
This small cemetery is bounded on the east by a narrow farm road, close to the opposite
fence of which is an irregular oval space, 32 paces by 17 in the clear, and surrounded by
a double ring of large stones of various shapes and sizes, and which nearly touch each
other; I at once recognised it as a Keel.
At the western extremity of the Keel, but outside and close to its boundary, is a large
earth-fast boulder, about 8ft. by 6ft., with a slightly rounded surface, about the centre of
which is an oval hollow or basin, 18in. by 14in., and Sin. deep; when I saw it, half full of
stagnant water; an old white-thorn tree grows at one end of the stone, a large branch of
which hangs over the basin, and was festooned with coloured rags, pieces of worsted, &c.
Respecting this curious relic of antiquity, Mr. Wright gives me the following information: that
the basin is called “the Well,” and is esteemed a holy one, and efficacious in the cure of
diseased eyes; the patient makes a certain number of circuits round the stone, reciting
certain prayers, and at each round drops a small cross, formed of two pieces of rushes, into
the basin; he states, that he has sometimes seen it nearly full of these offerings. When the
168 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, CORK. [CIIAP. IX.
devotions are completed the devotee ties a shred of cloth or any other material, red, blue
or grey, to the overhanging branch, which concludes the ceremony; when the water dries up
it is replenished from the stream close by, the stone supplying to it the necessary virtue.
On the Ordnance map the artificial well is named Tubber-a-Temple, and the enclosed Keel is
marked “Burial Ground.”
KEELWAUGH-MORE.
This stone stands in a heathy field on the top of very high ground, on the townland of
Keelvaugh-More, parish of Inchageela, Ordnance Sheet No. 81, about one-and-a-half miles
south of Ballingeary. It is of the slate-rock of the district, much worn and disintegrated:
it stands 4ft. 4 in. above ground, and is of irregular breadth and thickness, averaging about
13in, by 7in. The inscription is imperfect, owing to age and weather-wear; but a few of
the characters remain legible:– -
+IIIT------------- +- * m
The characters were finely formed and close, the last was within 6in. of the top. The
last three groups give us a name like Cuin.
169
CHAPTE R X.
OG AM MONUMENTS, COUNTY KERRY.
Kerry derives its name from Ciar, the eldest son of Fergus-mac-Roigh, by Meidbh (Mave),
queen of Connaught, whose reign terminated a short time before our era.
Fergus was uncle to Concovar Mac Nessa, king of Ulster, and was of the race of Ir.
Ciar obtained possession of a large territory in Deas Mumhain, i.e. South Munster; named
from him Ciar-Rioghacht, i.e. Ciar's kingdom, from which we have the modern Kerry, which
is close to the original in pronunciation.
A portion of this county, comprehending the low-lying district bordering on the counties
of Cork and Limerick, and stretching from thence to the bay of Tralee, and northward to
the Shannon, was also called Ciarraighe Luachra, i.e. Kerry of Rushes, from the marshy and
boggy nature of the soil; this name is still retained in the low mountain district of Slieve
Logher, i.e. Sliabh Luachra; there are some reasons for believing that the barony of
Corcaguiney formed a part of Ciarraighe Luachra. This remote portion of our island
occupies a prominent position in its early history. I have before remarked, that the bardic
historians assign to its shore the distinction of having received that band of colonists who
ultimately became the dominant race in Erinn, the Clanna Miledh; not only so, but previous
colonists are stated to have selected the same locality as their place of landing. The bay of
Kenmare, anciently Inver Sceine, is stated by them to have been the locality where Partholan
first, and the Clanna Miledh subsequently, debarked. In my article on the Glenfais inscrip-
tion, I have alluded to this latter statement, and have endeavoured to show that if the bardic
accounts are true, the bay of Kenmare could not have been the Inbher Sceine alluded to by
them. Ptolemy appears to have had some knowledge of this south-west coast of Munster,
and of the native tribes who inhabited it.
Between Cork Harbour and the Shannon he places two peoples, the Iberni and Velibori.
The former he locates between Dun Cearmna, the Old Head of Kinsale, and Iernus, the bay
of Kenmare, and the latter between Iernus and the Senus, the Shannon. Now the whole of
this district was a portion of the patrimony of the Siol-Eibher, i.e. the Seed of Eibher, to whom
this country was awarded on the division by the sons of Miledh, and from these Siol-Eibher
(pronounced Eevar) their patrimony was named, and is still preserved in the extensive sea-
coast barony of Iveragh. Ptolemy has evidently made two tribes out of one, and yet has
Z
170 ANCIENT HISTORY OF CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
given them the same name, Vel-ibori and Iberni, i.e. Ibor and Iber. It is certainly a
remarkable confirmation of the bardic historians to know, that a Roman geographer in the
second century finds in this district the estuary of a river named Iernus, and a people
inhabiting all the surrounding country called Iberni. Smith on this subject has the following
remark: “Several ancient authors place the landing of the same colonies of the Milesians in
this river of Kenmare, or the Iernus of Ptolemy, and with no great improbability, for we
find that towards the western coast of Spain there is a promontory named Ierne by Strabo;
and that an adjoining river is called by Pomponius Mela, another ancient geographer, by
the same name.” (Smith's History of Kerry, p. 24.) To find the geographical momen-
clature of north-western Spain reproduced on the south-west coast of Ireland, is only what
may be expected from the accounts handed down to us of her early colonization.
It will appear quite consistent with the statements already made, to find that this county
is rich in pre-historic remains, in fact by far the richest of any county in Ireland. In one
barony alone, that of Corcaguiney, the number is almost incredible, and is enumerated in
the article Glenfais; Raths (earthern forts), Cathair (stone forts), Clochans (circular stone
built dwellings), Souterrain, Pillar Stones, Stone Circles, Cromlechs, Cairns, and Tumuli, are
scattered in great numbers through the county.
In this county also are to be found some remains of those remarkable stone built
fortresses, of which Staigue-fort, on the bay of Kenmare, is a fine example; similar remains,
but in a more ruinous condition, are to be found, as Cathair-Gal, Cathair Daniel, and other
places in the same district; they are of a similar type to the Burghs of Mousa and
Dornadilla in Scotland. Kerry, however, is particularly remarkable for the number and fine
preservation of its Ogam inscriptions; as far as investigation has gone, their presence is
confined to certain districts of the county; they are most numerous in the barony of
Corcaguiney, particularly about Dingle, Ventry and Smerwick, and thence along the shore of
the bay of Dingle to Castlemaine; there are several about Castlemaine, and towards
Killorglin, and in the rich lowlands between the latter place and the Killarney lakes. The
extensive baronies of Iveragh and Dunkerron present us with but a few specimens, and these
are found along the shores of the estuary of the Kenmare. In fact, all the inscriptions
discovered hitherto in this county have been found along the accessible shores of her sea
inlets. The great district of country stretching from Tralee bay, northwards to the Shannon,
and eastwards to the borders of Cork and Limerick, presents us but with one example, that
found in the old church of Kilnaghten, near Tarbert, and which is also within two miles of
the sea.
TRABEG (Pl. XVI.).
This remarkable monument lies on the shore at Traith-beg, i.e. the Short-Strand, a small
inlet of the bay of Dingle; the townland is Emlagh East in the parish of Dingle, Ordnance
Sheet No. 53. It will be found on the western side of the strand, lying with its inscribed
face turned upwards; at high water springs the waves wash over the stone. It is a fine
monolith of hard quartoze reddish sandstone, measuring 7ft. 9in, long, 1ſt. 9in, by 1ſt. 2in,
at bottom, and 1.ft. 2in, by 12in, at top. The inscription commences at 2ft. Sin, from the
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 171
lower end, occupying 5ft. 2in, of the left angle, finishing close to the top. It is the most
carefully and regularly cut of all the Ogam inscriptions I have hitherto seen; the scores
being broad and deep, of equal lengths and regularly spaced, and the steel-like hardness of
the material will account for the perfect state in which we find this inscription, which is as
follows:–
1/+millllllll-tim #4 Illilull #1114-m-hi Hill+iii.
B R U S C C O S M A Q Q I C A L U O C 0 C
The person to whom this monument was inscribed was named Brusce. The old Gaulish
genitive OS, shows the extreme antiquity of the monument. I have not met this name in
any of our indices; those of a kindred type, however, are to be met with, as Breas, the son
of Eladan, one of the Tuatha-de-Danand line of kings, Breasal, a son of Art Imleach,
monarch of Ireland in A.M. 3292, and Breasal Bealach, grandson of Cathair-Mor, A.D. 435.
R. R. Dr. Graves has ascertained the existence of a Bruscos, a contemporary of St. Patrick's
(Pro. Royal Irish Academy, v. i. ser, ii., p. 55), probably one of his Gaulish missionaries. It
is a curious fact that this name is to be found on a stone built into the west side of the tower
of St. Mary, Wigford, Lincolnshire, and which bears the following inscription:-
DIS MANIBUS NOMINI SACRI BRUSCI FILI CIWIS SENONI ET CARSSO VNAE
CONIUGIS EIWS ET QUINTI F
The coincidence is a very interesting one, the names being identical and of a remarkable
and unusual type; it is doubly interesting as the nationality of the person is stated; the
Senones were a well-known Gaulish tribe whose chief city was Sens. We find also, that
Brusc appears on ancient pottery found near Duntochar, on the line of Agricola's wall.
The patronymic form Calu is the dative singular of Cal, a name well known in early
Munster genealogies; in that of the Corca-Laidhe we find Lughaidh Cal, one of the six sons
of Daire Sirchreachtach, who being driven out of Munster emigrated to Connaught and
became the founder of the seven septs of the Calraighe. The relation is given at length
(Miscellany of the Celtic Society, p. 25). We find another personage of this name who was
the sixth in descent from Tadhg, the son of Cian, the son of Olioll Olum (Ibid. m. p. 26);
from whom is descended the sept of the Calraighe who were located near Cashel in Munster.
In the same authority we find the form Cael, he was a son of Lughaidh Cal, and was the
progenitor of the sept of the Calraighe of Morrisk in Tirawly (Ibid. p. 29). This name also
appears as a prefix, as in Calbadh, Callitin, Calgach. Gaulish forms, Galica, Gruter, 741 2.
Calenus, Gruter, 935, 3. The form Calunofig will be found on one of the Drumlohan stones.
The exclamatory form Oc, Oc, at the conclusion, is the same as the Ac, Ac, on the Mucotuc
stone, in the Mus. Roy. Ir. Aca., signifying, alas! alas !
There is a plain cross of two deeply incised lines on the upper part of the same face;
it has a fresher and sharper look than the Ogam scores, and one arm cuts into one of the
letters of the legend, evidently showing that it was engraved antecedent to it. There is no
Christian church or graveyard in the locality. Mr. Nagle, a local Irish scholar, informs me
that the land where this stone lies is called Doonshane, and also Leacht. Amongst the
local peasantry this memorial is called Leacht-Shivaun-na-Geelagh, i.e. The flag-stone of
172 - OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
Shivaun-na-Geelagh. Tradition states, she was the sister of Donal-na-Geelagh, who is in
enchantment under one of the Killarney lakes, and that she was drowned while bathing
on the “Trabeg,” near the Dallan, from which circumstance it takes its name. This
name also appears to be identified with Inchageelach. From this it appears, that at
whatever remote period this tradition originated, the pillar stone had a previous existence,
and was a certain landmark, receiving from the above catastrophe a new name. It is
therefore quite evident that the real origin of this monument was lost in the night of time,
and was unknown at whatever period the above circumstance occurred. The name Sivaun
or Shivaun occurs in Cahirsiveen and in other localities in Kerry. Dr. Ferguson visited the
stone at Trabeg and took a paper cast of the angle; he seems to throw some doubt upon my
copy and rendering of the concluding words, Calu Oc Oc, and to consider all the letters as
forming one word or name, Caliacus. R. R. Dr. Graves concludes it also to be Caliaci, a
genitive form of Ceallach. I should be very glad to identify this name on the stone, but am
unable to do so. I have two copies of the inscription made at different periods by Mr.
Windele, they are identical with mine as far as the scorings go. I took my copy very
carefully and verified every score several times, and am confident of its correctness; there
is as wide a space between the U and 0 as between any other two words of the inscription,
and there is no final I; there are a few worn weather marks on the top of the stone which
are not Ogam marks. I have seen Dr. Ferguson's cast, and found the U and 0 divided as
in my copy, there is no appearance on it of a final I. The characters on this stone are so
broadly and deeply cut, and so carefully divided, that there should be really no controversy
on a single letter. At the time I saw Dr. Ferguson's interesting paper in v. ii. Pro. Roy.
Ir. Aca. Ser. ii. p. 30, a friend of mine, Mr. James Brenan, Head Master of the Cork School of
Art, happened to be on a sketching tour in Dingle; knowing him to be well up in the matter,
I wrote to him, requesting he would examine the stone in reference to the question in dispute,
more from a desire to have his independent testimony than from any doubt on the subject.
Mr. Brenan's letter of July 19th, 1871, is before me, in which he writes:—“I went to
Trabeg yesterday and saw the stone—took the rubbing, measured on a strip of paper the
spaces between each letter, made a sketch of the stone and examined it as carefully as I
could; I am certain your copy is correct—there is a space between groups 17 and 18, you
will see it distinctly on the rubbing. As regards the five vowels at the top, there are three
marks above the two you show, but they are evidently weather marks; they are on the part
of the angle that rounds into the top, are jagged, and of quite a different form from the
Ogam marks; the first of them is a part of a crack that is continued some way into the
stone. I had the morning sun shining in such a position as to throw one side of the stone
into shade, while the other was lit up, so it was particularly favourable for judging of the
vowels.” This additional testimony disposes Ithink of the Trabeginscription. The rubbing
and the actual measurements of the relative distances of the groups are in my possession,
and both show that the U and 0 are as distinctly separated as any two groups on the stone.
I have before stated that this was the first Ogam inscription discovered in Ireland,
though the finder was not aware of the nature of the characters, he being no less a personage
than the celebrated Welsh philologist Llhyd. It appears that indefatigable antiquary made a
CHAP. x.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 173
tour through Ireland somewhere between the years 1702-7, and among other places visited
the remote district of Dingle, upon which occasion he observed the remarkable stone at
Trabeg. -
There is some notice of this tour in the 27th vol. of the Philosophical Transactions, but
I have failed in finding any reference to the monument in question in that article; the fact is,
however, placed beyond all doubt by the following: Being lately looking through General
Wallancey's copy of his ‘Collectanea,” in Roy. Ir. Aca. Library, I found pasted into the 6th
vol., facing p. 224, a letter from a Mr. Peter Roberts to General Wallancey, referring to
Llhyd's discovery of the Trabeg Ogam; the letter runs as follows:–
- “Wrexham, Denbighshire, Feb. 1808.
Dear Sir,
You will hardly expect Irish news from this part of the world, and yet it so
happens, that I have obtained some intelligence respecting a relic of antiquity which appears
to me so likely to interest you, that I cannot deprive myself of the pleasure of sending.
The occasion is this : Sir W. W. Wynn having a little while ago purchased a considerable,
and, I believe, the best part of the MSS. of Mr. Llhyd (author of the Archaeologias) from
the Seabright collection, he was so good as to permit me to look over, and I found among
them Llhyd's notes of his tour in Ireland, which though but the short notes of a diary, are
full of much interesting matter. * * * * The most important circumstance is I think that
which induces me thus to trespass on you, viz. a copy of an Ogham inscription taken by
Llhyd himself, and which by Sir Watkin's permission I send you a correct transcript of. As
the precise year in which he copied it is not set down, I can only conjecture it was in A.D.
1702, certainly before 1707, which it is of consequence to note, as also that the MS. is in
Llhyd's own handwriting. The following is the outline of the stone and the inscription, with
the note as to the place where it was found. * * * *
Your much obliged and obedient servant,
PETER Roberts.
General Wallancey, Dublin.”
The sketch alluded to is a rude outline of the stone very incorrectly drawn, and showing
the inscription equally incorrect, but still sufficiently true to identify the monument, and is as
+mſ ill-ill-trim lllll lill-h Ill-Fir-Hill
S C C O S Q Q E C A L C
It is only reasonable to expect that a person seeing this character for the first time, and
not having the slightest knowledge of its nature and object, should be led into mistakes in
copying. On the sketch is the following note:–
“The stone is 4ft. high, ºyd, wide, 1.ft. thick. It stands in a field near the short strand
within a mile of Dingle in Kerry.”
The dimensions appear to have been loosely taken; the difference in the height will be
accounted for by the important fact above noted, that it then stood in a field near the short
strand, consequently a portion of it must have been in the ground; this also will account for
the absence of certain letters in Llhyd's copy, as the actual inscription, being 5ft. 2in, in
follows:–
174 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
length, a portion of it must have been then underground if, as stated above, he found only
4ft. 6in. over the surface.
It is therefore beyond dispute, that Llhyd was the original discoverer of the Trabeg
stone, the first Ogam inscription noticed in this country; and though he was ignorant of the
nature of the Ogam, his sagacious mind recognised in these scores a literary inscription.
From that period until the year 1838, this monument does not appear to have attracted the
attention of any antiquary. Mr. Pelham, who seems to have taken a lively interest in the
monuments of this district, does not appear to have been aware of its existence; his
discoveries are to be found in the 6th vol. of Wallancey Collectanea, this is not among them.
Its re-discovery is therefore due to Mr. Windele, who in 1838 made a tour of the Dingle
district, expressly in search of monuments of this class. (See his work, “Notices of Cork
and its vicinity, &c.” p. 400.) A copy of the inscription by him is in my possession, and is
correct. It was subsequently visited and copied by Mr. Hitchcock, also by Lady Chatterton
(“Rambles in the South of Ireland,” v. i. p. 205). It is also noticed in O'Connor's
“Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptoris Vet., v. i. p. xxxiii. A notice from the pen of Mr. Windele
also appears in “Hall's "Ireland, v. i. p. 205.
This stone was, I am informed, removed by Mr. Richard Chute to his residence, Chute
Hall, near Tralee, in 1848, but was sent back again, and deposited on the strand where I
saw it.
GLENFAIS (Pl. XVI.).
This stone lies prostrate in a field on the townland of Camp, parish of Annagh, Ordnance
Sheet No. 37. It will be found about twenty yards inside the road fence, to the left as
you walk up the glen, and less than a quarter-of-a-mile from Camp post-office, which is nine
miles from Tralee. The glen is a very remarkable one in Bardic tradition and folk-lore,
known as Glen-Fais, deriving its name from a lady Fais, the wife of one of the Milesian or
Scotic chiefs, who, according to tradition, fell in a battle fought in this locality between the
invaders and the Tuatha-de-Danand, then in possession of the country.
The locality is certainly a remarkable one, the glen is the only available pass through the
great mountain range of Corcaguiney from the sea-shore of Dingle Bay to the more inland
districts, especially to an invading force not acquainted with the country. It runs between
the mountains of Sliabh-Mis and Baurtregaum, and under the abrupt western face of the
former, more especially known as Caher-Coconree, so named from a cyclopean-built acropolis,
reared on the crest of the mountain, and attributed to Curoi Mac Daire, a warlike king of
West Munster, who reigned about the period of the Incarnation; he was the great champion
of the Munster Ernaans, and was a contemporary of the renowned Cuchullin, Conall,
Cearnach, and Ferdiad. The exploits and adventures of Curoi have been for ages the theme
of Munster bardism and folklore; he must have been a remarkable personage, as a Welsh
poem, so old as to have been at one time attributed to Taliesin, is a celebration of his
exploits both by sea and land.
On my visit, in July, 1868, this stone lay with its inscribed face turned upwards; its
dimensions are, length 11 ft. 5in. ; extreme breadth 5ft. 9in, ; in thickness it varies from 10
to 18in. ; the material is a dark red sandstone, of hard texture; the inscription is not cut
CHAP. x.] oGAM MonumENTs, Co. KERRY. 175
on a regular angle, as in the great majority of instances, but on a swelling on the face of the
stone, towards the left side, and which forms an obtuse angle upon which the legend is cut,
occupying a length of 3ft. Sin. The characters though smaller than usual are very clearly
and distinctly formed, and in good preservation; in truth, it is a matter of surprise that they
should be so, considering the nature of the material, exposure to weather, and the fineness
of the scores compared with those of other inscriptions. The vowels are small oval marks on
the angle, with one exception, the first O, which is represented by two short scores.
I had the honour of reading a paper descriptive of this monument and its surroundings
before the Royal Irish Academy. The copy of the inscription then placed before them was
as follows:–
Im-H"-H4%mm/+m #mrt-ul-Hºſ/+
S O Q U Q EA F FM O N T S O Q U R I
This copy was taken with great care, and agreed in every score with copies previously
taken by the Rev. Dr. Rowan, and Messrs. John Windele and Richard Hitchcock; my
proposed reading then was:–
S O C U C U E A F M O N I S. O C U R I
Rendered “This is the warrior Cuaef, my grief! thisis the warrior king.” I also suggested that
the concluding words CU RI might form the proper name Curi, and have some reference to
the Curoi Mac Daire already alluded to. I must state, however, that this rendering did not
satisfy my own mind from the fact of its being so different from the usual formulae of these
inscriptions, as well as from other points of difficulty. The Bishop of Limerick, in a letter
to Dr. Samuel Ferguson, dated January 23rd, 1871, states that this inscription must be
read from right to left, he therefore renders it:-
C O N U N E A T T M O C U I C O N U R I.
I think that there can be no doubt of the correctness of his lordship's rendering, and it
certainly is a remarkable discovery; reversing the inscription it appears thus:—
+++++ % # m +IIll-hit Hill Hºllllll)&m # III+|1||
I R U N O C I Q OM T TAE N U N O C
Reading from right to left it produces the formula given above, and ends with the same
name as does the reading in the usual manner, from left to right; for Curi and Curoi are
frequently changed to Conri and Conrui, being the genitive forms. Here the x character
appears to represent the diphthong EA whichever way the inscription is read. The
individual commemorated appears to be Conuneatt, the prefix being the same as in the
patronymic.
This name we find on a monument at Island, Co. Waterford, in the form of Cunanetan :
we find Connait in the Mart. Don., p. 311, Gaulish form Conatius, Stein. 2022, Baden.
Cuni has been found as a potter's mark on Mortaria (see Collect. Ant., Roach Smith, v. i. p.
149). Archdeacon Rowan appears to have noticed the alphabetical characters subsequently
found by Dr. Ferguson. In his paper he remarks, “I should here mention that on the flat
surface of the stone, under the line of Ogam, are some cuttings which look like defaced or
imperfectly formed characters, but it seems quite impossible to determine for what they were
intended.” (Pro, Royal Irish Academy, v. vii. p. 106.) I had once hoped that this great
176 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
pillar flag might be identified as the monument of Curoi Mac Daire, its great size and the
care bestowed on its inscription would lead us to infer that it must have been erected for
some powerful chief, brehon or druid; from the names cut on it the person commemorated
was probably a son or near descendant of the great chief of West Munster. Much has been
made of a cross mark on this stone; it is a rude scratched mark of two lines, a few inches in
length, and is scarcely discernible except you look for it, and has no character whatsoever.
Archdeacon Rowan thus remarks on this cross:–“On the flat surface of the stone is cut a
small rude cross, as in the drawing I offer; but it seems to me impossible to look on this
mark without feeling convinced that it is not of the same age, nor cut with the same care as
the Ogham characters. It seems of ruder, later and hastier workmanship altogether.” (Pro.
Royal Irish Academy, v. vii. p. 105.)
Dr. Ferguson, in 1869, made a discovery in connection with this stone; on the same face
that bears the Ogam he found a line of characters engraved, but in a contrary direction to
it, and which had escaped the attention of previous visitors. The characters are much worn,
and difficult of identification. They appear to be of the oldest class of Irish lapidary letters,
showing mixed Roman and Minuscular forms. Dr. Ferguson conjectures that it is bilingual,
and that it reads—
FE C I (or FE CIT). CON UNI
(or Conuni), or Cununit, (or Conunit), and that it refers to the Conuneatt of the Ogam
legend; the opportunity for establishing this as a bilingual inscription is no doubt very
tempting to the antiquarian, but the interests of genuine research compel me to forego this
gratification, and to declare my belief that it is not so, and that the Hiberno-Roman
inscription bears no reference to the Ogam one. The only reliable letters are FECT N I.
The first four are the ordinary letters used on the Clonmacnoise memorials, the N alone is
Roman ; between the T and N there was probably a letter, and there are slight marks of
such; its value can only be conjectural; there are also traces of a letter or letters before the
final I, but also conjectural; if even the values which the Dr. gives these defaced letters were
the true ones, the legend would read—
F E C T UN UN I.
I am quite at a loss to understand how he could read the fourth letter a C, when it is as
palpable a T of the Hiberno-Romanesque form as ever was engraved. It is probable that
the original expressed the proper name FECTUNE in the genitive case; names with the
prefix Fec are common in our indices, as Fechtmach, Fechtach, Fechin. A similar form to
Fectune has been found on the remarkably sculptured gravestone of St. Berichtir, at
Tullilease, Co. Cork, where the name is given Berechtuine.
It is useless to inquire whether these legends were engraved at the same period, inasmuch
as they bear no reference one to the other. I am indebted to Dr. Ferguson for a paper cast
of his discovery which he kindly forwarded to me, and I regret being obliged to differ with
his views respecting it. -
BALLYNEESTEENIG (Pl. XVII.).
This inscribed stone was discovered by Mr. Henry Pelham, in the year 1790; he
subsequently contributed an account of it to Val. Col. v. vi. p. 185. The engraving and
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 177
inscription are both incorrect. The writer states that when first seen by him it stood “whole
in the middle of the village; and through want of time I omitted taking a drawing of it. It has
since been broken by a fire made againstit.” Mr. Pelham states it was at that time 8ft. in length.
In the year 1838, it was examined and copied by Mr. Windele; he described it as then in two
pieces, the larger one sunk in the earth against the quoin of the Widow McDonnell's house,
on the townland of Ballysteenig; he had to break away a portion of the masonry to copy
some of the characters. I examined this monument in July, 1868, it is on the above named
townland, in the parish of Garfinny, Ordnance Sheet No. 43. Both pieces lie in the farm-
yard of John Griffin, a few yards from the mail-coach road between Dingle and Aunascal,
and about two miles from the former. The upper portion was performing the ignoble duty
of propping up a turf rick; the lower was built into an external angle of the fence of a small
field, to the rear of his cottage; joined together they originally formed a fine cylindrical
pillar of 7ft. 5in. in length, and 1ſt. Bin. in diameter, both ends being semi-globular; it is
perfectly smooth, has all the appearance of having been artificially formed, and is of a hard,
compact, fine grained reddish grit. The inscription, like several others in this locality, is
cut lengthways on the rounded surface of the stone; there is no incised stem line, and yet
there is no difficulty in determining the values of the characters, which are cut boldly and
distinctly.
Žh-HHHIm Hi-m-F# Illilº-Hit-Hill+III
M O I N E N A M.A. Q. I O Lº A C O N
Some doubt may exist as to whether the fifth letter was an O, U, E or I, as the fracture
of the stone occurred across the line of this letter; from the length of the space between
this and the following letter, I am of opinion that it was an U or E, in any case the vowel
would make very little change in the name, I read it—
M O IN E N A, T H E S ON OF O L A C O N.
The Right Rev. Dr. Graves suggests that this may be the monument of “Moinuna, a
distinguished disciple of St Brendan's.” If there were but one individual of that name,
there would be some grounds for the supposition, but it is probable that the name was a
very usual one. We have a Monenna, a sister of St. Patrick's, and a Moenan, son of
Cormac, A.D. 774. In the Mart. Don. p. 147, we have Moninne, a virgin, commemorated on
June 6th, and at p. 186, Moninne, a virgin, on July 6th; she is stated to have been of Sliabh
Cuillin in Ulster, and to have been of the race of Irial, the son of Conall Cearmach. The
name here is masculine. Gaulish forms, Menimana. . Stein, 544; Monimianus (Manius?). .
Gruter. . 694, 13. Moenius, Grut. 918, 19 Patav.
Again, it is unlikely that “a distinguished disciple of St. Brendan's '' would have been
interred in unconsecrated ground, as in this locality there is no Christian Church or burial-
place; and no reverence whatsoever is attached to the stone. Again, it is unsanctified by
the symbol of redemption, or the usual formula of Oroit, or Bendacht, so generally found on
Christian gravestones of an acknowledged Christian character; here we have nothing beyond
the simple pagan form of inscription; mere coincidence of names is no ground for the
identifying an individual with a monument, we might as well assert that the stone taken out
* The plate has M, but Mr. Brash's note-book gives L. G.M.A.
A. A
178 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. [CHAP. x.
of the rath-cave at Tinnehally, and which bears the name Deglan, should be referred to the
saint of that name who flourished at Ardmore. R. R. Dr. Graves, in Pro. Roy. Ir. Aca.,
v. iv. p. 56, thus remarks on the name Olacon: “Olchu was grandfather of St. Brendan ;
and Maoineann was the Bishop attached to St. Brendan's monastery at Clonfert. He died in
the year 571 (Tigh.). Olacon is plainly the genitive of Olchu.” I must here differ with his
lordship; Olacon is a well-known name in its nominative case, and a different formation from
Olchu. In the Book of Lecain, folio 281, is a poem by Flann-Mainistreach, who died
A.D. 1056, in which he gives an account of the deaths of several of the Tuatha-de-Damann
chiefs, amongst whom he mentions:—
“Allican the son of Bicealmas,
The poet of Logha of perfect sway,
Was slain by Aengus, without reproach,
At Ar Midir of great sorrow.”—(Translated by Dr. Connellan.)
In the Book of Ballymote, folio 21, is to be found a curious and ancient poem ascribed
to Fintan, a poet and historian, who appears to have lived at the commencement of the fifth
century, and who is fabled to have communicated to St. Patrick much information on the
early history of Ireland. In the poem he is questioned as to what tribe or circumstance
gave Tara its name; the answer contains the following passage:–
“Once it was a delightful hazlewood,
In the time of the noble son of Ollehan,
Until this thick wood was cleared away
By the strong and youthful Liath the son of Laighne.”
These quotations take us back to pre-historic times, and give us the same form as that on
the Ogam monument. In later ages the name appears to have been a very usual one.
Thus we have Allacan A.D. 912, Ullachan 932, O'Leochain 992, 1012, 1017, 1038, and as
O'Lachan 1050,
The finding of Olchu in the genealogy of St. Brendan was no doubt a great temptation
to identify him with a monument found in the district of his grandson's labours. The
tendency to identify local historic or traditionary names with those found on Ogam
monuments has been a serious impediment to their study, and has led to a large amount of
elaborate and useless philological criticism. Oreli's collection, No. 288, gives us the Gaulish
form, Olkano. This stone could not have been rolled into its present shape by the action of
the waves on the sea-shore, as we have supposed the Ballintaggart stones to have been
formed ; its length and perfect shape is against such a supposition; it appears artificially
formed. Here we have no church or Christian burial-ground. There is a Keel on the next
townland of Lisdorgan; to the north of which, Mr. Hitchcock states, is a holy well, at
which stations are performed.
DUNMORE (Pl. XVII.),
This interesting monument stands on the wild headland of Dunmore, townland of
Coumeenoole North, and parish of Dunquin, the most western point of the mainland of
Ireland. Ordnance Sheet No. 52. It was discovered by Messrs. John Windele, Abraham
CHAP. x.] CGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 179
Abell, and the Rev. Mat, Horgan, in 1838, lying prostrate on the ground, Mr. Windele
gives 7ft. Sin, as its extreme length; his copy of the inscription is as follows:–
+/-ll/-lllll-ºut/+lllll-hit #7%ll-Hºm
E R C M A Q I M A Q I E R C I A S
The above is quite perfect and legible, every score of the legend being determinable. It
agrees with a copy made by Mr. Hitchcock, and with a cast in paper by Dr. Samuel
Ferguson. It renders very simply:—
E R C T H E SON OF M A C E R C
We have here one of the oldest names in our mythic histories, ERC. The son's name
in the nominative, the father's a genitive in AS, and distinguished as MAC ERC, the most
archaic form in which the name is found. Thus we have Eochaidh Mac Erc, the last king
of the Fir-Bolg dynasty, and who was slain at the battle of Moytura, some fourteen hundred
years before the Christian era.
The Chronicon Scotorum, under A.D. 499, states that “Fergus Mor Mac Erca, with the
tribe of Dál Riáda, held a part of Britain and died there.” Again, under A.D. 508, it
records the accession to the throne of Ireland of Muircertach Mac Earca, and at 511, the
death of Erc, bishop of Slane, a friend of St. Patrick's. More curious still, the name in
the above identical form is to be found on one of the Roovesmore stones, MAQI ERCIAS,
The form Erici has been found as a potter's mark on Red Samian Ware (Celte, Roman, and
Saxon, p. 468); and in Mionnet, Médailles Gauloises, i. p. 85, we find Erco. On the
opposite angle of this stone was also an inscription, much defaced, of which Mr. Windele
copied the following:—
+++++-m-hit #
I D O L I N I A
Mr. Windele states that the characters are much injured, and he is doubtful as to the
values he has assigned to some of the groups. Dr. Samuel Ferguson, who has taken paper
casts of these inscriptions, gives for the second — -
+14+III+mſ-Hºº-º-
D O F I N I. A
I have no doubt that the latter is correct as far as it goes, agreeing with Mr. Windele's with
the exception of one letter; it bears internal evidence of a true reading, as it gives us a
proper name which is also to be seen on one of the Ballintaggart group, in the form of
DOFINLAS. It is more than probable that the final S has been worn off the Dunmore
stone.
Col. A. Lane Fox has kindly sent me a copy of this inscription, made by himself; it
agrees with that by Mr. Windele, with the exception of the 14th letter, which Col. Fox
makes a T. The late Mr. G. W. Du Noyer gives a drawing of this stone in vol. 1 of his
collection of drawings, now in the library, Royal Irish Academy; his copy of the inscription
agrees with Mr. Windele's. From this agreement, as well as from the internal evidence
afforded by the inscription, I am convinced that the 14th letter is a C and not a T. This
monument was re-erected by the Rev. John Casey. The ancient name of the district in
which this stone stands is continued in the present name of the parish, Dunquin. In a
180 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
poem by Mac Liag, who died in 1015, and which is to be found in the Book of Ballymote,
it is narrated, that the sons of Umor, from the land of the Picts, obtained territory in Meath
about the period of the Incarnation from Cairbre the then reigning monarch, and under the
guarantee among others of “Ros, the son of Deagaidh of pleasant Dun-caoin.” Col. A.
L. Fox informs me, that the stone stands at present 6ft. 5in. above ground, and that the
inscription commences at 1ſt. 2in, from the surface; the stone is rhomboidal in section, the
sides being respectively 1ſt., 11 in., 1ſt. 1in., and 1.ft. 2in. Col. Fox remarks this to be one
of the fortified headlands so numerous on the south and west coats, as it is cut off from the
mainland by an earthern rampart and foss.
BALLYNEANIG.
This inscribed stone was found in a turf-bog 6ft. beneath the surface, on the townland of
Bally meanig, parish of Marhin, barony of Corcaguiny. Ord. Sh. No. 42. In the year
1847 it was placed as a lintel over a door, in the cottage of Patrick McDonnell in the same
locality, where it was first recognised as an Ogam by Mr. Hitchcock, through whose
exertions it was removed and presented to the Mus. Roy. Ir. Aca., June 8th, 1849, where it
now is, being marked No. 5 in their collection. (Pro. R. I. A. v. iv. p. 272.) It is a rough
undressed pillar of clay-slate, 3ft. 10in. in length, 9in. in width, and Bin. thick in the centre,
narrowing to a point at one end. It bears two lines of characters, one on each angle of the
same face ; that on the left is the longest:—
trº-H+uluſ/#ll/+1
L U G U Q R I T M A.
It was with some difficulty I copied the above, as the angle is much rounded and worn ; two
of the vowel dots in the seventh character are defaced, but the space exists for them; it is
quite evident that the usual Maqi was present here, as we have the first two letters, and the
first score of the Q; the top of the stone shows an evident fracture, probably a piece
knocked off by the mason to make it fit as a lintel. On the opposite angle we have the
following:—
Illulº-Illult
Q R I, T T
The scores here are broader and deeper cut, consequently are quite legible; in the second
character there is more space between the first and second score than those following; there
can, however, be no doubt from the structure of the whole that the five scores form one
group, and that this was an inadvertence in the engraver. The last vowel score is close to
the fractured head of the stone, and consequently the usual genitive termination of the name
is lost. The inscription evidently began on the left-hand angle of the monument 1ſt. 5in.
from the bottom, and was completed on the right, both reading upwards; restoring the
missing letters, the whole reads as follows:–
T+++lllll/+Ill?--Illi-Hill++IIllll-Hilt
L U G U Q R T T M A Q I Q R I, T T I
LU GUC URIT MAQI CURITTI
CHAP. X.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 181
The individual here commemorated bears the father's name with the prefix Lugu. The form
Curitti has been found on inscriptions at Greenhill and Ballinrannig. The name in its
integrity is also to be found on the stone at Kilcaskan, near Adrigole, Co. Cork; it is of the
same formation as Lugudeccas on the Ardmore and Kilgravane stones.
GORTNAGULLANAGH.
This inscribed stone was found by Mr. Hitchcock forming a lintel over the doorway of a
curious Clochan, which was built within an almost erased rath on the townland of
Gortnagullanagh, parish of Minard, barony of Corcaguiny. Ord. Sh. 44.
The Clochan was of a horse-shoe form on plan, built and roofed with uncemented
masonry, and of a type usual in that district. The stone was removed by Mr. Hitchcock,
who presented it to the Roy. Ir. Aca., in whose museum it now is, marked No. 6. (Pro.
R. I. A. v. v. p. 401.) It is of a purplish red sandstone, 4ft. 6in. in length, 11 in. in
breadth, and 4in. in thickness at the centre; it bears two separate inscriptions on angles of
the same face :—
/* Illil lullāh; 11+ll-Hill-ll-º-
M A Q Q I D E C E D D A
This is well and cleanly cut, and simply reads:–
THE SON OF DE C E D D
On the right angle we have :—
At lullulahitill-i-Ill-hºm hilliºttii.
M A Q Q I C A T U F U (C U C)
T H E SON OF CAT U F
The names on this monument are of great interest, particularly that of Decedd; like many
other Ogam names, it has been found on various pillar stones in this country, and not only so,
but we find the identical name upon two reputed British inscribed stones, with trifling
variation in orthography. On an Ogam inscribed stone at Killeen Cormac, Co. Kildare, we
find this name in the form of MAQI DDECCEDA, spelled with that duplication of
consonants so often remarked in these inscriptions.
Thus, at the Killeen of Ballintaggart, in the far west of the barony of Corcaguiny, Co. Kerry,
wefind one which givesus MAQI DECCEDA. This at Gortnagullanagh, MAQQI DECEDDA.
On the great monolith overhanging the Bay of Kenmare, at Ballycrovane, in the extreme west
of the Co. Cork, we find MAQI DECCEDDA. In the Rath of Dunbel, Co. Kilkenny, two
inscribed pillars were discovered by the Messrs. Graves and Prim, as detailed (see Dunbel).
On one of these we find the name DECCEDDA, still used as the patronymic; in this latter
instance a Q is substituted for one of the usual C's, a course sometimes adopted in these
legends; and lastly, the familiar formula meets us at Killeen-Cormac; but though it is the
last instance of this name being found in Ogam characters, strange to say, it occurs again on
a tombstone in the ancient cemetery of Penrhos Lygwy, in the Isle of Anglesea, as I have
182 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP, x.
alluded to upon several former occasions. This most interesting inscription curiously
illustrates all those I have given above, and is as follows:–
H I C I A C IT M A C C U D E C E TI.
Here we have identically the same form, the T in the name being substituted for D, a
usual practice among Gaedhelic scribes. Again, we recognise this familiar name in an
inscription found near Buckland Monachorum, Tavistock, Devonshire, and which reads in
debased Roman letters—
S A R IN–F I L – M A C C O DE C H E TI,
The duplication of the consonants in the above examples is worthy of note, as it represents
a certain intensified mode of pronunciation, and evidences the great antiquity of the
inscriptions. We have traced this tribe name, for such I believe Mac Decced to be, from
the remote western seashores of Kerry and Cork, the most western land in Europe, into the
midland counties of Kilkenny, and across the Irish Sea into Anglesea, a district which for a
lengthened period was occupied by the Gaedhil, until driven out or subjugated by Caswallon
Law Hir, as is stated in Welsh authorities; also into the remote wilds of Devonshire, a
district the topography of which is intensely Gaedhelic.
The question now arises, who were the tribe or clan whose name became so widely
diffused and has been preserved upon these archaic monuments, perhaps amongst the oldest
in Europe 2 In our archaic records, we have mention made of the existence of an ancient
race in West Munster, named the Clanna Degaidh or Degadi, whose presence there has been
variously accounted for.
O'Flaherty, in his “Ogygia,” under the reign of Duach, monarch of Ireland, states
that Fiach, the son of Aengus Turmeach, of the line of Heremon, had a son Olill Aronn,
who obtained a patrimony in Ulster; his descendants were named from him Ernaans; his
son Senn was the father of Deag, in whose time these Ulster Ernaans were expelled by the
Clanna Rury from their lands. Now it appears that Duach had been fostered by Deag, hence
he is historically known as Duach Dalta Deaghaid, and having a strong affection for his foster-
father, he gave him and his family lands in West Munster; this, according to the “Ogygia,”
occurred in or about A.M. 3892. The descendants of Deag became all powerful in Munster,
and under the name of the Clanna Degaid and Ernaans, as a body of military knights, they
are said to have played an important part in Munster affairs. In the course of time they
obtained all the district extending from Abbeyfeale, County of Limerick, westward to the
extreme point of Corcaguiny, County Kerry, and also including a portion of West Cork.
Deag was the grandfather of Curoi, the son of Daire, a celebrated champion and king of
West Munster, whose acropolis is stated to exist on Cathair Con Righ mountain near Tralee,
and whose prowess and glory have been the themes of Munster bardism and tradition for
ages back; this is the bardic tale of the Clan Degaid. Mac Curtin, in his “Vindication,”
&c., fixed the commencement of the reign of Duach at A.M. 3912. The “Annals of the Four
Masters,” at A.M. 5041, state, that he was ten years in the sovereignty of Ireland, and was
slain by Fachtna Fathach. The Clanna Degaid gave two monarchs to Ireland; Ederscel,
who, according to O'Flaherty, ascended the throne in A.M. 3944; the Four Masters state
that he reigned five years and was slain by Nuadha Neacht: and Conaire Mor, i.e. the Great,
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 183
the son of Ederscel, A.D. 3949; he is stated by O'Flaherty to have reigned sixty years, which
appears to have been a sort of millennium, as is thus recorded by the Four Masters:—“It was
in the reign of Conaire that the sea annually cast its produce ashore at Inbhear-Colptha.
Great abundance of nuts were (annually) found upon the Boinn (Boyne) and the Buais
during his time. The cattle were without keepers in Ireland in his reign, on account of the
greatness of the peace and concord. His reign was not thunder-producing or stormy, for the
wind did not take a hair off the cattle from the middle of autumn to the middle of spring,
Little, but the trees, bent from the greatness of their fruit during his time.” From what
has been advanced, it is quite evident that the Clanna Degaid were a powerful and warlike
tribe inhabiting West Munster, but I doubt much the account of their migration from Ulster,
and the interesting episode of Duach and his foster-father Deag. Keating, in his “History
of Ireland,” gives us quite a different reason for the monarch Duach being surnamed
Degaidh; he states that Duach was the son of Cairbre Loisgleathan, of the race of Eibher,
that he had an only brother named Deaghadh, that the brothers were princes of great valour
and military conduct, and equally worthy of the Irish throne, but the right of succession
was invested in Duach, who was the elder brother, and who took possession of the dignity.
Deaghadh was determined to dispute his claim, and took measures for raising an army to try
conclusions in the field. The monarch having been informed of his design, pretended not to
be aware of his treason, and invited him in a friendly manner to court, where he had no
sooner arrived than he was incarcerated, his eyes put out, and he thus rendered incapable of
pursuing his ambitious design. Excepting this act of cruelty, Duach behaved well to his
brother, allowing him a princely revenue and an establishment suited to his rank. From this
transaction, Keating states that he received the additional names of Dalta Deaghad, Dalta
signifying a foster-father, which this prince was to his brother by the care he took of him as
long as he lived. Indeed, O'Flaherty, in “Ogygia,” Part i, c. 42, states that the Ulster
Ernaans, the descendants of Olioll Aron, were quite different from the more ancient Ernaans
of the Firbolg race, “afterwards distinguished into the Deagads of Munster and Dalfiata-
chians of Ulster.” In cap. 44 he also speaks of Ederscel as “sometimes patronymically
called of the Heremonian Deagads,” plainly indicating the existence of another tribe of the
same name. A statement in the Book of Lecain, fol. 285, plainly intimates that the
“Ernans of Munster, i.e. the ancient Ernans, were the descendants of Er, the son of
Eibher.” I, however, doubt, as I have already hinted, the entire story of the migration
from Ulster and the establishment of the Ernai in West Munster. No one who has studied
our annals can fail to have observed the bitter hostility that from the earliest period down
almost to our own day has existed between the North and South.
For centuries before the Christian era, the descendants of Eibher, and those of Heremon
and Ir, were at blood-feud, which in fact is represented as having commenced during the life-
time of those chieftains. The contentions between Leath Mogha and Leath Cuin for the
throne of Tara fill our published and unpublished histories; and it is therefore incredible to
believe, that the tribes of Eibher would have received into their own lands, and cherished, a
race who had been their bitterest enemies, and that in the space of a little more than half a
century they could have multiplied to such an extent, and succeeded to such influence as
184 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. [CHAP. x.
actually to set aside the race of Eihher, and to so establish their power over Munster as to be
able to place two kings of their race successively on the throne. There is no appearance of
probability in the story that Duach, of the royal house of Eibher, should have been sent into
Ulster to be fostered by a chief of the house of Ir, rather than by one of the many proud
chieftains of his own line. Such a course was contrary to the policy of the age, which made
the system of fosterage a source of strength and alliance in tribes and families. I rather
think that this tale of the Ulster migration must have been originally concocted by some bard or
historian of the race of Ir, to magnify his own tribe, and to deprive the house of Eibher of
the glory of producing such monarchs as Conairé and Ederscel. That the Clanna Deagaid
were an original race in Munster will appear in an eminent degree from the following facts.
That the monuments bearing the archaic form Decced are memorials of remarkable men of
that race known to us as the Clanna Degaid, there can be no manner of doubt. The
positions in which they have been found indicate that they came by sea to the south-west
shores of our island. Thus, Ballintaggart is within one mile of Dingle, and half a mile of the
strand at Dingle Bay. Gortnagullanagh is in the parish of Minard, which lies along the
shore of the same bay. The great monolith at Ballycrovane most certainly was erected by a
people who came by sea, as it stands on a rocky knoll overlooking the Bay of Kenmare, a
few hundred yards from the shore, and can be seen a great distance from seaward. In fact,
the great majority of the Ogam-inscribed monuments discovered in the counties of Cork,
Kerry, and Waterford, are in close proximity to the sea-coast, many of them actually on the
strands.
This name occurs in another form on monuments of this class. Decced has not up to
the present been identified in either the counties of Cork or Waterford; but forms analogous
to it have been found in both districts as well as in Kerry. In that remarkable collection of
inscriptions existing in the rath-cave at Dunloe, near Killarney, upon a lintel stone nine feet
in length, we find DEGo MAQI Mucor, &c. Upon a stone now standing near St. Olan's Well,
County of Cork, we find No MAQI DEco. This stone is twelve feet in length, was taken out
of a rath-cave in the townland of Coolineagh, and was for many years used as a foot-bridge
across the Dallaheena river. Again, the great find in the crypt at Drumlohan presents us
with a stone bearing the same name, but in a slightly different form, DEAGO ST MAQI MUco(I).
In these three examples we find the exact orthography of Deag, in genitive forms, and more
particularly the last. We can thus trace the Degadi, from their landing in the extreme south-
west of Kerry and Cork, through both counties into Waterford, up the valley of the Suir
into Kilkenny, and thence into the extreme eastern boundary of Kildare. But we can trace
them still further, as we find that two families of this name, the Ui Deagha Mor, and the
Ua Deagha Beg, obtained lands in the east of Wicklow ; this is fully established by Mr.
Shearman, on unquestionable authorities, in a valuable note to his paper on “The Palladian
Churches.” (“Jour. Kil. Arch. Soc.” for July, 1873, p. 487.) He further states, on the
authority of Keating, that the estuary of the Wartry river was anciently known as Inbher
Degaid, and on the authority of Colgan, that it was so-called from a dynast named Degaid,
who was drowned there.
We now understand the reason why the churchyard of Penrhos Lygwy, in Anglesea,
cHAP. X.] oGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 185
contains a memorial stone of a son of this race; the Wicklow tribes of the Degadi crossed,
as many of their countrymen had done before them, into that island, for so many ages
debatable land between the Gaedhil and the Cymru, and that stone is an abiding witness of
their occupation.
In the poem of Carn Conall, by Mac-Liag, a bard who died A.D. 1015, he describes the
return of the sons of Umor to Ireland from the land of the Picts, and of their receiving from
the Monarch Cairbrielands in the kingdom of Meath, under tribute, the payment of which
was guaranteed by four powerful chieftains, one of whom was “Ros the son of Deagad
of pleasant Dun Caoin.” This transaction took place about the period of the Incarnation.
Dun-Caoin was a territory in the barony of Corcaguiny, in Kerry, now represented by the
extensive parish of Dunquin; we therefore find the name on the monument under considera-
tion historically connected with the very locality in which it was found; for though the name
Dunquin is now confined to one parish, it formerly embraced a large portion of the barony,
if not the entire, as Ros the son of Deagad was a powerful chief, and would not have been
accepted as a guarantee by the Monarch of Ireland unless he was of sufficient power and
importance.
The second line of inscription commences at 1.ft. 9in, from the bottom, and occupies
the entire angle close to the top, where there is evident appearance of a fracture close to the
last vowel dot. There is strong evidence that the inscription was longer than at present, as
I have before me a copy made by the late Mr. Windele, when the stone was in situ, and in
which the characters (which I have shown in dotted lines) are given as then existing. Mr.
Windele's copy was taken before the removal of the stone from the Clochan. He was a most
cautious and conscientious copyist, indeed so scrupulous, that he often omitted characters if
any doubt existed in his mind respecting them; but I never knew him in any instance to add
a character that did not exist. Taking therefore this view of the inscription, it would
read :-
(Stone of) T H E S ON OF CAT U F. A. L. A S : A L A S
It will be remembered that the same formula is to be found on the Trabeg stone; UC
signifies ALAs woº Is ME
On two sides of this stone are scratched rather than graven two rude crosses, that is, if
two coarse lines intersecting may be dignified with the name. On the presentation of the
stone to the Roy. Ir. Aca, the Right Rev. Dr. Graves made some remarks in reference to the
inscriptions, seeming disposed to refer them to a Christian period, adducing as his reasons
the cross symbols, and the name Catuf, or Catufu, which he seemed to identify with that of
Cathub, or Cathubius, a Christian ecclesiastic. Unless the crosses could be proved to be of
the same age as the Ogam letters they prove nothing, as they are of such a type and execu-
tion as marks no distinctive era, and may have been scored any day during the past century;
and from the common custom of the peasantry scoring crosses on the lintels, posts, and doors
of their cottages and out-offices as symbols of protecting power, it is more than probable that
these were cut by the occupants of the Clochan with the same intention.
The reference to St. Cathub will be found in the Ann. 4 Mas, thus: “The Age of Christ,
554. The sixteenth year of Diarmuid. St. Cathub, son of Fearghus, Abbot of Achaidh-
B B
186 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. [CHAP. X.
Cinn, died on the sixth of April; one hundred and fifty years was the length of his life.”
In a note to the above, Dr. O'Donovan states that Achaidh-Cinn was in Ulster.
I presume that the Right Rev. Dr. does not intend to convey that this stone, found in the
remotest wilds of Kerry, commemorates the son of this Ulster Bishop, who lived to the
fabulous term of one hundred and fifty years. Any attempt to fix the age of a monument by
a name found on it is exceedingly hazardous, as there may have been hundreds of persons
named Catuf, and it may have existed as a common name in our island from the remotest
ages of its colonization. Mr. Windele states that the site of the Clochan was a Cilleen. This
name Catuff will also be found on a monument discovered in a rath cave at Corkaboy, in the
same county, and which will be described hereafter.
MARTRAMANE. R.I.A., No. 7. (Pl. XVIII.)
This stone was discovered by Mr. Hitchcock, forming the lintel of a doorway to an unin-
habited house or cottage on the townland of Martramane, and parish of Killiney. Ord. Sh.
No. 36. The mason who built the cabin informed Mr. H. that the stone was brought from
one of the Magharee islands. It was presented by the discoverer to the Roy, Ir. Aca., in
whose museum it now is, being marked No. 7. (Pro, R.I.A. v. iv. p. 272.) It is a slab
of hard clay slate, 4ft. 2in, in length, and 12in, by 6 in. at the base. The inscription is on
an angle, commencing at 4%in. from the bottom, and terminating close to the top, as
follows:–
Illll-tº-mºm Hill/m H++111114th-11
Q U N I L O C G* N I M A Q 1 D
The first score in the third letter is much defaced. I have marked it as doubtful by dotted
lines. I am, however, quite certain that the letter is an N, as it thus forms an intelligible
Gaedhelic name, which the letter S would fail in ; added to which, the space for the addi-
tional score is there; the ninth letter N is also much injured, but still is determinable.
There is a fracture at the head of the stone where the letters terminate. D is certainly the
first letter of the patronymic. I propose to read it :
(Stone of) C UN ILO C G M A Q I D.
We have first the proper name NILOCG, with the very usual prefix CU. Niloc is of the
same family as Niallan, Nialgus, Nialbron. It is to be regretted that we have lost the
terminal name beginning with D. The stone was certainly broken, either for the con-
venience of transit, or, what is perhaps more probable, to make it fit over the doorway of the
cottage.
This name will be found on one of the Drumloghan group, in the form of Cunalegea, or
Cunaleg, and on that at Ballymorereagh we have Cueneloci or Cueneloc.
LOUGHER. R.I.A., No. 8. (Pl. XVIII.)
This stone was also discovered by Mr. Hitchcock, forming the lintel over a doorway to
the cottage of Eugene McCarthy, on the townland of Lougher and parish of Ballinwoher.
Ord. Sh. No. 45. It was ascertained by Mr. Hitchcock, that it originally formed a lintel
stone over the entrance of a rath cave on the adjoining townland of Rath Malode, from
whence it was taken in 1837.
* This G is omitted on the plate.
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. KERRY. 187
Through the exertions of that gentleman it was procured for the Roy. Ir. Aca., in whose
museum it now is, being marked No. 8 in their collection of Ogams. (Pro, R.I.A. v. v.
p. 402.) The stone is 4ft. Sin, in length, and 11 in. by 4in. in the centre. It has an
inscription on one angle as follows:–
Ill-hºſ/ ill-hiſ- "Hitſ/+IIll H-Hºm-º:
C U R C I M A Q I M U C O I F A
C U R C T H E S O N OF M U C O I F A--
We have here a well-known Munster name, CORC. We find Corc King of Munster,
A.D. 488. Corc an abbot of Lorha, who died A.D. 946. Also Corc, son of Aedh, slain
A.D. 1003 (Ann. 4 Mas.). The forms Corc and Cureach appear in several instances in the
Mart. Don. We also find Curcitti on one of the Ballintaggart group. The A in Maqi is
indistinct; the presence of the other three letters, however, identifies the well-known formula.
The last three letters are much injured, and some of the scores in the letter I are abraded, as
shown by the dotted marks. We have here again the name MUCOI.
I am disposed to think this inscription to be imperfect, as the top is fractured, and the
letter F is close to the fracture; the letter was in all probability the commencement of
another word, or perhaps name, as the term Mucoi may have been used to designate the
occupation of the deceased, as in the case of the Gurrane inscription. The stone is a
rough slab of clay-slate. It is a curious coincidence, that there is a locality in South Wales,
named Lougher, where an Ogam inscription is also to be seen.
AGLISH. (Pl. XXIV.)
The churchyard of Aglish is on a townland of the same name, and parish of Minard.
Ord. Sh. No. 54. It is a lonely, deserted spot, having the foundations of a small church
within its precincts; here Mr. Hitchcock discovered two stones inscribed with Ogams. I
visited this place on July 25th, 1868, and succeeded in finding one of these, a pillar of clay
slate, 3ft. 6in. in height, and 12in. by 9in. at the centre. It had an inscription on one
angle, but so worn and mutilated that I could make nothing of it. Mr. Windele made a copy
in 1848, and having it with me, I endeavoured to verify it, but did not succeed. Mr.
Windele's copy is as follows:–
T-## Illhºll-Hill+r
No. 2.
The second stone was procured for the Museum of the Roy. Ir, Aca, by Mr. R. Hitchcock;
it is marked No. 1 in their collection. It is a slab of hard compact green slate; its dimen-
sions, 3ft. 1in. in length, and 9in. by 2%in. at the centre. The legend occupies two angles of
the same face, the characters being broadly and deeply cut; that on the left angle is as
follows:–
+X#m-Hill+
A T L O G D 0.
We have here the x, supposed by some to represent EA, by others P; the last two letters
are on that part of the angle where there is a natural flake off the stone, of which more here-
after. I would here remark that the space between G and D is 2%in., while the spaces
188 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
between the two scores of both G and D are but 13 in. ; this is noteworthy, as it has been
asserted that these two groups formed one character. On the right angle we have the
following:—
Ž4-lillºth A-lillº-
M A Q I M A. Q. A
The above is quite legible, and the end of the stone is fractured close to the last score; I
am of opinion that the inscription is imperfect on this angle.
The legend on the left gives us certainly a proper name, which the Bishop of Limerick
reads APILOGDO, and which appears to be the true reading. Dr. Ferguson, however, by
a very peculiar process, endeavours to extract out of it the term APOSTOLI; his “modus
operandi" is as follows:–
“To return to the Aglish stone, it appears, on moulding it, that the penultimate and
ante-penultimate groups have originally constituted one. Three of the digits certainly cross,
and a fracture accounts for the non-appearance of a portion of the fourth. These digits,
therefore, instead of GD, would sound ST. This rectification, however, would only lead us
from APILOGDO to APILOSTO. But in investigating a curious branch of the inquiry,
touching the employment of monograms in those legends, the introduction of a cardinal digit,
dividing the course of the reading, appears to have been one of the artifices of the engraver.
In such cases the digit serving this purpose may be observed to be marked as exceptional by
some peculiarity of indication. Now the iphin is exceptionally only the equivalent of P, and
if it be here taken as the turning point, and if the reading resiling from that point be con-
ducted back again from the other end, we arrive at the expression of the word APOSTOLI.”
(Pro, R.I.A. v. 1870, 1, Antiq. pp. 57-8.) In considering the above, I would remark, that
the scores on this stone are unusually well marked, broadly and deeply cut, and none of
them doubtful; the Dr.'s statement, that the sixth and seventh groups of scores form one
group, is not borne out by the actual legend; the fracture on the top of the stone is an
original one, existing before the characters were engraved, as the vowel dots at the end are
perfect; had the fracture, which is in. deep, occurred after the inscription had been cut, the
vowel would have gone with the spawl, and have left no trace; this fact disposes of the con-
tinuation of the fourth score across the angle: but, as I have stated, these four scores form
two distinct groups, widely apart from each other, as already shown by actual measurement,
indeed, more widely than any two groups in the legend, so that if the scores of the seventh
group ever did cross the angle, the reading would have been APILOGGO. Having thus
erroneously imagined that these groups formed one, the very seldom met with character ST,
Dr. Ferguson makes out his legend thus—he reads the first two letters in the usual course,
from left to right, and then goes to the end of the inscription and reads it backward, from
right to left. I need not say that any inscription can be made to read almost any thing, if
submitted to such a crucial test. And it is not to be credited, that the men who inscribed
these memorials to their dead friends, should have so trifled with what was to them a solemn
subject, and have cut their mortuary legends as riddles to amuse the learned of after
generations,
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 189
Reading the inscription then as it actually appears on the stone, and in the usual sequence,
we have, APILOGDO MAQI MAQA; as I have before stated, I believe the legend to be
imperfect; and I am certain, that if perfect, it would show the same formula as the Dunmore
stone, ERC MAQI MAQI ERCLAS, or as the Gortnagullanagh example, NOCATI MAQI
MAQI RETT, see also the Deelish stone; surely such an inscription as the above, fortified
by existing examples, needs no tortuous mode of rendering. Right Rev. Dr. Graves reads
it, MAQI MAQA APILOGD0; he commences the reading on the right angle, and then
continues on the left, which is contrary to the almost universal sequence of these legends.
The X character in this case, as in that of the Crickhowel legend, appears to read P, while in
the Glenfais example it seems to express EA ; this, no doubt, is very puzzling. We can
only await new discoveries ere we can come to a conclusion respecting its actual value. P,
as I have elsewhere stated, is B soft, and unpromising as this name appears, it has its
correlatives in our native annals: thus, in Dr. O'Connor's “Annals of Ulster” (96), we have
Abeil; in his “Ann, of Innisfallen,” Abilogus (4). Gaulish forms, Abilus ... Stein. 1449 . .
Utrecht, and Ablagus. . Gruter, 1130. 3. . Patavi. -
The cross on this stone is of the Maltese type, within a circle, and is deeply incised on
the original base of the stone, as it is the only clear space available for the purpose, being
also the broader end, left uninscribed for being fixed in the ground. Here we have positive
evidence that the inscription preceded the cross. R. R. Dr. Graves acknowledges this by his
reading of the inscriptions from that end. The story of this stone is exactly that of the
Mount Music one, Knockourane (PL. xlv.).
In a remote Christian age (for the cross is of an ancient type), it was removed from its
original site and uses, and was transformed into the headstone of some ecclesiastic, or more
probably was set up as a wayside cross, the sacred symbol having been inscribed on the only
clear space, namely, the unlettered part which was originally fixed in the earth.
Under the cross and on the face of the stone is a long perpendicular score, with a
triangular or arrow-shaped head. Could it have been a symbol of the profession of the
deceased, an archer? At each side of the arrow symbol we have one of those curious marks
known to antiquaries as the Filfot, the Hammer of Thor, the Boodhist Cross, &c. This remark-
able symbol is to be found cut on rocks in India, on Indo-Bactrian coins, on several coins in
the museum of Copenhagen, supposed to be Byzantine, in four Boodh inscriptions from the
Lainahdree Caves, North of Joonur, in the Poonah district, India. Col. Franklin, in his
work on the religion of “The Jeyrees and Boodhists,” p. 49, states that it is an emblem
used in the worship of these sects. Masson in his travels in “Balochistan, &c.,” v. iv. p. 8,
found this symbol on a large rock, near Karáchi; he states it is “undoubtedly the Swastica,
or Sanctified Cross,” and that it is to be found on “Indo-Scythic coins, so numerously
discovered in Afghanistan and the Punjaub.” That the only examples discovered in these
islands should be on the Ogam-inscribed pillar stones at Newtown, Bressay, and Aglish, is
indeed singular; and more curious still, that in each instance they are independent of the
Ogam.
ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY, No. 9. (Pl. XVIII.)
This inscribed stone, with the three following, were exhibited by the MacGillicuddy, in
190 OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
the collection of antiquities formed in the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, and were subsequently
presented by that gentleman to the Roy. Ir. Aca.
No. 9 is a hard, close-grained slab of clay-slate, 4ft. 4in. long, and 12in. by 5in. at the
centre; it bears an inscription which commences on the left angle at 18in, from the bottom,
runs round the head, and partly down the right-hand angle, as follows:–
+m-i-ul-ul-Hill+m #-H-Illilºt/ill the
A LA T T O C E L I M A Q I G Q I
All the above characters are legible, but there appears to be one missing between G and
Q. On the turn of the angle, on the top of the stone, at the right side, is an abraded space,
which must have once shown a vowel, probably either A, O, or U. I propose to read it as
follows:—
A L A T TO C E L T H E S O N OF C U C U I.
The name of the person here commemorated I have not been able to identify; we how-
ever find names of a similar type, as Aladchu, Aigheanan, Aildebhair. The Mount Music
stone, Knockourane (PL. xiv.) gives us a similar one, Ailluattan.
The patronymic appears to have lost a letter; from the existing space, it must have been
either A, O, or U. The name would then read either Gacua, Gocua, or Gucua. On an
inscribed stone at Island, county of Waterford, we find Guc ; this corroboration may warrant
me to some extent in reading this Gucui, probably the genitive form of Guc. On the
principal stone at Ardmore, we find Cacua; this is identical with Gacua, the C and G being
commutable.
ROYAL. IRISH ACADEMY, No. 10. (Pl. XIX.)
This stone is 5ft. 5%in, in length, and 11%in. by 6in. at the centre; it bears a long
inscription on one angle commencing at 1.ft. Bin. from the bottom, and occupying 3ft. 7in. in
length of the angle, as follows:–
G O S U C T I A S M O S A. C. M. A E I N I
The angle of this stone is much worn, yet the above characters are quite legible. The
inscription is one I cannot pretend to translate, the absence of the word Maqi makes
a difficulty, and the presence of the diphthong EA, with a vowel before and after it, increases
that difficulty. The characters on one of the Lugnagappulstones are exactly identical with
the first eight letters on this, with the omission of an A, which in the ahove appears to have
been obliterated, owing to a defect in the angle, the space existing for it. The Lugnagappul
inscription is as follows:–
#+m-H-1111111111++m
G O S U C T T I A S
This is evidently a proper name in a genitive form, frequently found in these legends.
We find it in the Mart. Don. “ Guasacht, the son of Maelchu; ” we also have Gostean
and Gusan, Ann. 4 Mas. Gaulish form, Gosinus . . Gruter, 416, 9.
WHITEFIELD. R.I.A. No. 11. (Pl. XIX.)
This stone was noticed by Mr. Windele, in the kitchen of a house belonging to the
MacGillicuddy, on the townland of Whitefield, parish of Knockane and barony of
CHAP. X.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 191
Dunkerron; the tenant could give no information as to where it came from ; it was then used
as a hearth-stone. Mr. Windele's information as to its existence was derived from the land-
lord, who subsequently presented it to the Roy. Ir, Academy, in whose collection it now is,
being numbered 11.
This interesting monument is a pillar of hard clay-slate, measuring 4ft. 9in, in length,
and 9in, by 8in, at the centre. It has two inscriptions on the angles of the front face; on the
back is inscribed a rude inartistic cross, of two coarse lines. The left angle inscription com-
mences within 12}in. of the bottom and runs to the top, the last letter being on the angle of
the top, as follows:–
mirº-ulla-ul-Hitſ/a-lillº ill-hºtſ/hº-ill
N O C A T I M A Q I M A Q I R E T
N O C A TI M A Q I M A Q I R. E. T.
(Stone of) NO C A T, T H E S ON OF M A C R. E. T.
This inscription was copied by Mr. Windele many years before its removal, and he read
the first proper name as “Dunocati.” That the scores forming these two letters may have
been abraded and defaced in the long transit to Dublin from the wilds of Kerry, is very
probable. Until I was aware of this, the name was strange to me; but with the prefix DU it
does not appear so, as it is a very usual prefix to Gaedhelic names, as Dunan, Dunadach,
Dunchadh, Duineachaidh; this last being identical with our Dunocat. We also find in our
indices frequently repeated the form Nuagat. (Ann. 4 Mas.) It is also very remarkable and
suggestive, that this name has been found on an Ogam monument at, or near, Crickhowel,
Brecknockshire, Wales. This stone, which bears on one angle remnants of a long Ogam
inscription, now sadly defaced, bears also one in Romano-British characters, in which we
have the above name spelled letter for letter. (See Crickhowel Ogam.) In this inscription
we have a repetition of the formula Maqi, as on the Dunmore stone, and one from Ballin-
taggart. This name has been found on one of the Drumloghan stones, in the form of Nogati;
Nuaghat, and Nuadhat, have been found in our annals. The name Ret I have before
alluded to ; in the form of Mac Ret, we have it in the Ann, 4 Masters, at A.D. 448,
“Mac-raith the Wise; ” and in several obits from the same work the same name
appears. We find it also in the “Tain bo Cuailgne,” in the form of “Mac-Roth,” the
courier of Queen Meav. Roth-mac-Cathan, Ann. Tiger., B.C. 204.
The second inscription commences at 12in, from the base, and occupies 3ft. of the angle,
as follows:–
Alllll-ºut; +++++11114++
M A Q I M U G O I U D DAM I
(Stone of) T H E S ON OF M UC O I UD D.A. M.
The angle which bears this inscription is much rounded and worn, the characters are
however distinct. It presents us with another example of the name of the deceased coming
after the patronymic, also with the oft-recurring Mucoi, as a proper name. Uddam, I have
failed to recognize in any of our indices of ancient names; it has, however, a family likeness
to such as Uchadan, A.M. 3656. Uidren, A.D. 691. Oddach, Ann. Ult, 600.
192 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. [CHAP. x.
ROYAL. IRISH ACADEMY, No. 12. (Pl. XIX.)
This is a rough irregular pillar of clay-slate, 4ft. 2in, in height, and 11 in. by Sin, at the
centre; on one angle is an inscription commencing at 1.ft. Bin, from the base, and occupying
a space of 2ft. 5in., as follows:–
## llll-tºll-Hill+IIlli llll
M U G O T U C A C A C
There is a spawl off the angle before the first letter, and two deeply incised lines vertically
on the face of the stone; on the opposite angle are a few scores which have some resemblance
to Ogam letters, but are unreadable; differences of opinion may arise as to the proper
reading of the above, I would adventure the following:—
M U C O TU C A C A C i. e.
M UC O TU C A L A S ( A L A S
It is the same formula found on the Trabeg stone, but here we have AC ! AC ! for the Oc
Oc on the latter; from the commutable nature of vowels in the Irish, this is not a matter of
any difficulty. We have here a proper name, to be found in our records in the form of
Muchatocc, an ecclesiastic who lived in the fifth century; a notice of this worthy will be
found in “Tirechan's Annotations on the Life of St. Patrick,” written in the seventh
century, and preserved in the Book of Armagh; the passage is as follows: “And Patrick
gave Fiacca case containing a bell, a menstir, a crozier, and a poolire; and he left seven of
his people with him, i.e. Muchatocc of Inis Fail, Augustin of Inisbec, Tecan, Diarmit,
Naindith, Pool, Fedelmed.” (O’Donovan's Irish Grammar, pp. 437-8.) My object in
quoting this passage is not for the purpose of identifying this converted pagan with the
Mucotuc of the inscription ; there were very many, probably scores, of the same name; but
to show that my reading of it is borne out by an authentic record of a similar name.
KILNAUGHTIN (Pl. XXII).
Kilnaughtin is an old church and burial ground, 13 miles from Tarbert, on the road to
Ballylongford, Parish of Kilnaughtin, townland of Cockhill. Ord. Sh. No. 3. Mr. Windele
discovered in the cemetery, May 27th, 1836, a stone inscribed with Ogams, it lay on the
ground six feet from the S.E. angle of the church; the engraving is from a sketch by that
gentleman, it is a fragment of brown sandstone with a large flake off the front, which has-
much injured the inscription; the following is by Mr. Windele –
+11–H++|||||—#411–4–4–4.
Nothing, of course, can be made of the above, from the mutilated state of the angle.
This is the only Ogam inscribed stone hitherto discovered in this district; its remote situa-
tion and want of natural attractions has placed it out of the track of visitors and tourists; it
is, however, very probable that many others exist in the neighbourhood of this one. South
of the old church is a sacred well, named Tobarnaughtin. The next townland on the west
is Carhoonakilla. -
DERRYGURRANE.
Derrygurrane, north and south, are two townlands in the parish of Templenoe, barony
of Dunkerron. Ord. Sh, No. 92. On the latter was discovered in the year 1847, by the
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 193
Rev. M. Casey, P.P. of Ventry, a stone circle, within the precincts of which lay prostrate
two huge pillar stones, one of them inscribed with Ogam; it was visited in the same year by
Mr. Hitchcock, and in the following by Mr. Windele, who published an engraving of it in
illustration of his paper on “Ancient Irish Ogam Inscriptions,” in the Ulster Journal of
Archæology, v. i. p. 43. That gentleman, however, makes no allusion to this monument in
the text, and he places it at Derreenderagh, an adjoining townland.
The following is his copy of the legend —
+m}||11/+III+m/+!!!!! TH+*#III++
A N M C R U N A N M A Q L U Q I S M A
In the second vol. of the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, p. 64, are some remarks by Mr. D.
W. Nash, F.L.S., on this inscription, which he translates “An Mac Ruman Mac Luc is Ma;"
he remarks, “Here we have, without any doubt, names abundantly common in Ireland in all
periods.” The “h-i Romando Juair aiream,” “the O'Romains who received respect,” of
O'Donovan’s “Hy Fiachrach,” Caoilte, the warrior Mac Romain, and the saint of the same
name, are classical instances. Lugh, or Luc, extends from the Tuath de Danan to the
present day. Whatever may be the meaning of the entire inscription, no one can doubt
that Mac Romain Mhic Lugh is the person for or concerning whom the inscription was
engraved. The legend may perhaps be read, “Of Mac Ronain, the son of Lugh, this is
(the field),” the last word Ma representing Magh or Macha, from which its pronunciation
will not be very different. In this case we must look upon this pillar stone, not as sepulchral,
but as a landmark or boundary stone, such as are mentioned in the Brehon laws, and its
inscription as recording the right of property in this locality to belong to Mac Romain. I
would remark, however, that we may not in this instance be in possession of the com-
mencement of this inscription, as the stone is evidently broken at the base, in which case
there is a strong resemblance to well-known Christian inscriptions in Roman letters,
... and we may compare (or Do) AN MAC RUNAN with of Do AN MARTAN, a reading
which would at once decide the relative date of the inscription.”
I would remark, that the final criticism is founded on false premises; the bottom of the
stone is not broken, the first letter being 1ſt. 10in. from the base, the inscription is therefore
perfect, and there were no letters preceding the A. -
Mr. Nash's appropriation of it as a boundary stone is open to objection, it being found
in the centre of a stone circle, an arrangement confessedly of a sepulchral nature; while the
legend will not bear his interpretation without some straining and difficulty I am rather
inclined to look upon this as a monumental stele, and of decidedly pagan character, from the
megalithic sepulchral arrangement around it. -
Ivisited this locality August 27th, 1872. I drove from Kenmare, by Dromore, to Black-
water, turning to the right by Blackwater Bridge ; the road, after an ascent of about two
miles, brought me to an elevated plateau of land, encircled by the lofty mountains of Glencar.
The road led upwards towards the base of the mountains, past the National School-house of
Derreendarragh, about a furlong beyond which a turn to the right brought me quickly to the
lands of a small farmer named Doyle, where the inscribed stone is to be found, about fifty
C C
194 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
yards to the right of the public road. Mr. Windele, in his MS. notes, describes this monu-
ment as a Cilleen of 83ft. in diameter, having round it a circle of thirteen stones; on my
visit I found half the low mound cut away, and seven of the stones removed, six of them
remaining in situ; this had evidently been quite recently done. To my intense regret, I
found also that a large flat flake had been knocked off the angle of the inscribed stone,
taking with it several important letters.
The stones lay one across the other, and then, not in the position shown in Mr. Windele's
engraving; the uppermost bears the legend; it is 10ft. in length, 3ft. 6in. in extreme breadth,
and 2ft. 10in, in thickness; it is a hard, compact block of clay-slate, of a reddish buff colour;
the inscription is on the left angle, and commences at 1ſt. 9in, from the bottom, occupying
4ft. in length. The present state of the inscription is as follows. See Pl. XX. —
iii.; Him: mH-Illum-H"+TIT/4
A N M C R U N A N M A Q L U Q I S M A
The dotted lines show the letters and portions of letters that have been lost by the
injury; fortunately we have a perfect copy of the legend made before it was thus wantonly
injured; what remains of it is in perfect condition, as the scores of the inscription were
originally cut deep and broad.
I would suggest the following reading:—
A N M C R U N A N M A C U L U C U I S M A.
We have in this legend a formula found on many other monuments, Amm, and which I
have frequently explained. The name of the individual to whom the stone was erected is
Crunan, the same as Cronan, a name plentifully found in our indices from the earliest
periods; the above shows a similar form to Crunmael, also a common early name. The
patronymic Luc is of the same type as Luacra, Lucairen and Lucraid. (Ann. 4 Mas.) In the
Mart. Don. we find Conaing the son of Lucunan, p. 255; also such names as Lucan, Luchta,
Luchair, &c. Gaulish forms, Luconia, Lucci... Orel. 311, 4,233. The particle IS signifies
under, and MA, a field or plain. If this be the true rendering, its English form would be :—
“Under this turf rests Crunan, the son of Lucu.”
That this is a sepulchral pillar, and of the pagan age, there can be no doubt, the low mound,
the stone circle, the two huge pillar stones in a line, the inscribed one at the head, the other
uninscribed at the feet of the great chief, sage, or warrior, buried beneath, point unmistake-
ably to pre-Christian times; here we have no sacred symbol, no word of Christian hope or
trust, no legend or tradition of any sacred personage. I found that the uninscribed stone
measured 9ft. in length, 4ft. in breadth, and 1.ft. 6in. in thickness; it lay in a slanting
position, the end covered by the other lying across it; being anxious to get some information
respecting this interesting monument, I sent for the farmer, Doyle. From him I got the
following particulars:–That he remembered the two stones standing erect in a line, a short
distance from each other; that about thirty years previously, two men dreamed that a
treasure was hidden beneath them; that, accompanied by others, they came at night and
undermined the stones, so that they fell in the position in which I saw them. On my
calling his attention to the fresh mark of the flake knocked off the inscription, he said it was
done by an Englishman, some fourteen years previously. I found out also that it was
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY, 195
himself that had been digging up the mound and removing the circle of stones. He also
informed me that the neighbours disliked passing near the spot after nightfall, as the place
was haunted by a headless man.
These are doubtless glimmerings of some old traditions connected with the locality;
probably the death and decapitation of some great warrior, and his interment here with his
weapons and ornaments, the dim recollections of which existed among the peasantry, and
incited the dreams of the treasure-seekers. Grieved to see the injury sustained by this
venerable monument, I wrote to the proprietor, Richard Mahony, Esq., of Dromore Castle,
calling his attention to its present state, and recommending the steps to be taken for its
restoration and future preservation.
ARRAGLEN, BRANDON MOUNTAIN. (Pl. XXVII.)
The locality of this monument is the townland of Arraglen, on the N.E. extremity of
Brandon Mountain, in the parish of Cloghane. Ord. Sh. No. 25. It stands near the peni-
tential bed of St. Brendan, on the right-hand side of the road leading from Ballinahoro to
Cloghane, and is generally known to the peasantry as the Gollane Licke.
It was discovered by the Rev. John Casey, of Dingle, was examined by Mr. Hitchcock, in
January, 1848, and by Messrs. Windele and Galway, in September of the same year. Mr.
Windele describes it as a rough undressed flag, 4ft. 5in. high above ground, 13in. wide, and
Bin. thick, having two angles of the same face inscribed, the characters being rather defaced,
and in some instances quite lost, particularly on the right-hand angle. Mr. Windele's copy
is as follows:–
lull/#/ ## 1114th %+ III'llllll-III m*##/Illllllll
Q R I M I T I R R O N
The ten first letters are on the left angle, the N being on the top of the stone, which is
fractured, and a portion of the upper part of the scores are lost; the rest of the inscription
is on the right angle; and Mr. Windele states that though he gives his copy of this portion, it
is not reliable from its defaced state.
The following is from a copy by the Bishop of Limerick:-
LEFT ANGLE – Illil/#####1-#//+m.
Q R I M I T I R R O N
RIGHT ANGLE:— m H/+/+*-*f; m mſ
N N A G O M O C Q A M.A. N. N.
The Bishop of Limerick conceives he has found on the left angle the word Cruimther; I
don't know whether we are justified in accepting this, on account of the very remote
resemblance of the forms, I fear it would be rather a hazardous precedent. I might suggest,
perhaps, a more likely rendering, and read it :—
C U R I M I (C) I R R O N.
I might suggest that Curi and Irr are well-known historic names, and that T was an error
of the engraver, who omitted the one score, which would have made it a C, and I might
reason that MIC and MIG are found not only in these inscriptions, but in our MSS.; I have
no objection to find the word Cruimther in this legend, it would rather gratify me, as it was
the pagan name for a priest, and would be an additional argument in favour of the pre-
196 OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. |CHAP. x.
Christian character of the monument. The word Cruimther is not found on any ancient
monument known to be Christian in this country. Has it been found on any of the inscribed
grave stones of Clonmacnoise, Lismore, Iniscealtra, Monasterboice, &c., the oldest Christian
memorials of our island?
Again, the Bishop conceives he has found the formula, “Maq Comogann' upon the
opposite angle, by reading it downwards, and from right to left. If we were certain of the
values of the characters on this angle we might be able to reason on the subject, but it does
not appear, from Mr. Windele's statement, that it can be relied on. I have seen Dr.
Ferguson's paper mould of this inscription, and I can say that it would be impossible to give
reliable values to the scores on this angle. Why one portion should read in the usual
manner from left to right, and another portion of the same inscription in the unusual manner
of from right to left, is a question I cannot solve. The Bishop finds three saints, named
Comgan, and I presume this is the key to the mystery. Supposing that the right-hand
inscription is legible, and that the copy published in Bishop Graves's letter (Pro, R.I.A. v.
1871, p. 54) be reliable, he can extract from it in the usual course, namely by reading from
bottom to top, and from left to right, an equally consistent version: NNAGO MOCCU
AM(A)N. Many proper names in these inscriptions commence with double consonants, as
TT on the Greenhill stone, and CC on one of the Ballinrannig group. I do not pretend to
give a rendering of this inscription; the absence of the usual formula, and the defaced and
uncertain condition of a large portion of it, are obstacles that I could not see my way to
overcoming in such a facile manner as has been done by Dr. Graves. Dr. Ferguson
cautiously reads only the left-hand angle; on the front of the stone is incised a Maltese cross,
and on the back a similar cross within a circle. This solicitude to mark a number of crosses
upon these monuments is evidence of an anxiety to consecrate these pagan memorials in the
most effectual manner.”
*
LOMANAGH. (Pl. XXI.) -
Lomanagh is a townland in the parish of Kilgarvane, Ord, Sh. No. 94. An inscribed
pillar stone was here discovered by Mr. Windele, on April 27th, 1845, who describes it as a
grey lichen-covered monolith, standing 7ft. high above ground, 3ft. 7in, wide, and 1.ft. 2in.
thick, being remarkable for having an Ogam inscription cut on its eastern face, the stem-line
unmarked, and the vowels formed by oval dots.
This is in the main a truthful description of the monument, which I visited on August
28th, 1872. I took the road from Kenmare to Kilgarvan; before entering the latter village
I turned to the right over Cahirgal bridge, a road to the left led me up the hill for two miles,
until I reached Lomanagh; the road is good, but has a sharp ascent; on the brow of the
hill there is a cluster of cottages to the right, behind which will be seen the pillar stone,
standing close to a fence, two fields from the road, on the land of a farmer named Flynn.
It is a hugh flag of hard, compact, clay-slate, standing 6ft. 9in, above ground, 4ft. wide at
bottom, 3ft. at top, and 12in, average thickness. This monument is remarkable for having
its inscription cut on a face and not on an angle. It commences at 1.ft. 9in. from the ground,
and occupies a length of 3ft. 10in. ; the letters are broadly and deeply cut, the vowels being
* Mr. Windele, in 1848, saw another Ogam inscribed stone on the extreme verge of Brandon cliff,
Littoragh side, 10 miles from Dingle. During the winter of 1849, the bank on which it stood gave way
and fell into the sea.— Mr. Brash's note book.
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTs, Co. KERRY. 197
deep circular holes, as if drilled. I found distinct traces of the stem-line, which Mr. Windele
did not detect. It is not exactly in the centre of the flag but more towards its southern
edge, and is as follows:–
+Ill-lil-Him mºlllll-Hät T+1/
O T T I N N M A Q I F. E. C. M.
The stem-line is not straight but rather serpentine; the inscription is perfectly distinct and
legible, owing to the hardness of the stone and the size of the scores. Mr. Windele's copy
of it is quite correct, it reads:—
O TT IN N T H E S O N OF F. E. C. M.
In the patronymic, the vowel is omitted before the final letter, probably through accident, or
that it was not thought necessary; instances of such omissions in ancient inscriptions are
very common. The names in this legend are peculiar. At A.D. 432, Ota, an ancestor of
St. Patrick, is mentioned ; we find the name Ott on the Tullig stone, and also on that from
Deelish, while the Droumatouk pillar within three miles of Lomanagh gives us Otun.
Fecam is of the same type as Feethach, Fechin, &c. I believe that this inscription was the
first of its kind correctly rendered. Mr. Windele, the same year of its discovery, sent a
copy of it to the late Rev. Mathew Horgan, P.P. of Blarney, who returned him the following
translation –
O D IN T H E S O N OF SE. C. H. I. M.
This is substantially correct, the error in the patronymic being probably owing to some
defect in the copy. We have here the word Maqi identified and translated, and the formula
of these inscriptions recognised and settled, four years before the R.R. Dr. Graves
announced his identification of the same word in a paper read before the Royal Irish
Academy, May 22nd, 1849. Gaulish forms, Attinati. Orel. 6496. Ottacilloe. . Orel. 373.
Etruscan, Attinii. . Lanzi, v. ii. p. 56.
LUGNAGAPPUL (Pl. XXIV.).
On the townland of Lugnagappul, parish of Minard, Ord. Sh. No. 54, is an eminence
named Knocknafulla, or the Hill of Blood; on this stands a dilapidated keel of a rectangular
form and of inconsiderable elevation, composed of earth and small stones; it appears to
have been surrounded by Dallans, four of which still remain in situ. Mr. Henry Pelham
was the first discoverer of these inscriptions, of which he published an account in the
Collectange, v. vi. p. 232, with drawings of the stones, which are nearly correct; he calls the
place Ounagappul. -
Mr. Windele, and a party of friends, visited this place in 1832, and identified the
inscription No. 1, but failed in finding No. 2. Mr. Hitchcock, at a subsequent period,
examined this Cairn, and identified both monuments. Mr. Windele made an after visit,
Sept. 5th, 1848, and copied both inscriptions.
I examined this interesting place July 26th, 1868, and found a low Cairn 30ft. by 20ft.,
of an irregular rectangular shape, composed of earth and stones, and from 2ft. to 3ft. above
the general level of the field. The two inscribed stones are on the eastern side of the Cairn.
No. 1 is a beautifully formed pillar, oval in section and perfectly smooth, with a rounded top
slightly conical as that at Ballinsteening; it is in length 4ft. 2in, its diameters being 1ſt, 5in.
198 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
and 1.ft. 2in. The inscription runs lengthways on the centre of the stone, without any
stem-line, nevertheless, from the regularity and distinctness of the characters, it is quite easy
to recognise their values; it commences at 1ſt. 9in, from the bottom, and runs round the
head :— -
## mmHH-44-Ill!!!-Hit-Fm-
G O S S U C T T I A S
That these characters form a proper name we have corroborative evidence in the inscription
on the monument, Roy. Ir. Aca, No. 10 (Pl. XIX.), to which I refer for further information.
No. 2 Inscription. This stone stands at the same side of the Cairn; it is a flatter and
more irregularly-shaped pillar than No. 1, being 4ft. in length, 1ſt, 3in, in breadth, and 9in.
in thickness. The inscription is on the rounded face near the centre, running lengthways
upwards, and occupying 1ſt, 10in, in length, as follows:–
%+|1|1-#mr HIſr
ST I C U N A S
The characters are well cut and clearly defined; the first four scores form one letter, being
equidistant and of equal lengths; the only doubt is whether they were intended to be across
or below the imaginary stem-line; if the latter, it would read Sicunas, and there is some
probability of it as we find Siconas on Ballintaggart No. 5. In an adjoining field to the
north are the remains of a stone circle, twelve of the Dallans of which were in situ on the
occasion of Mr. Windele's visit. The local tradition is, that in ages remote, a battle was
fought here between the people of this and an adjacent district, hence the name “Parc-na-
fulla,” or “the Field of Blood.” There are no crosses on these stones, no Christian
associations or traditions are connected with this spot, all the monuments and surroundings
of which are of an unmistakeably pagan type,
GORTAMACCAREE (Pl, XXIX.).
This inscribed stone was first noticed by a working mason named Owen McCarthy, who
was employed by Mr. Windele to look up the antiquities of the district in which he resided.
In July, 1849, he informed that gentleman of the existence of a stone having certain marks
on the angle. On August 26th of the same year the locality was visited by Mr. Windele,
who found the site of the monument to be south of Lomanach by half a mile, a little above
the Slaheny river, and on the ascent of Knocknagappul mountain. Here he found a Cilleen
of about 35ft. in diameter, formed of three concentric circles of stones, and having a low
and half demolished Cairn in the centre, the inscribed stone being at the north side of the
Cairn. The dimensions given by Mr. Windele are incorrect, which may be accounted for by
the fact that it was then nearly covered up; he states its length to have been 2ft, 8in., which
was perhaps all that then appeared above ground. I was much puzzled also by his copy of
the inscription, which appeared to me very unusual and extraordinary. In 1851 this stone
was removed by Lord Dunraven to his seat, Adare Manor, where I saw and copied it on
Sept. 30th, 1868.
I found it to be a rough undressed pillar of clay-slate, 4ft. 1n, above ground, and 10in.
by 9in, at the centre. The inscription is on a left angle commencing at 7in, from the
-
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 199
ground line, and finishing close to the top; the characters are deeply cut and in good
preservation, as follows:–
m**/H+lllll-thirtſ-HHHHHH-Fm
N O A R* M A* Q I F A R U D R A N
N O A R T H E S O N OF F A R U D R A N
It may be doubted whether the second and third letters may not form one, an U, in which
case the name would be Nur; there is, however, a palpable space between the second and
third vowel dots. Mr. Windele's copy makes them. O A, either alternative would not make
much change in the name, which is of an archaic type. We find Nar in the Ann. of
Innisfallen. Nargal, Annals of Ulster. Gaulish forms are Naritus (Revue Arch. v. viii.
433), Nar-enus (Orel. 4973).
The patronymic Farudran is a name of much interest, I have been able to identify it on
a stone found at Tinnehally, Co. Kerry, in the form of “Furuddrann.” On examining the
Ann, 4 Mas., I find the following references to persons of this name at A.D. 642: “Furadran
son of Bec, son of Cuanach, chief of Ui-Mic-Uais, died '' A.D., 962: “Furadhran son of
Bece, lord of Dearlas, was slain by the Cinel-Eoghain” A.D. 901 : “Furadhran son of
Garbhan Prior, of Cill-Achaidh, died.” The death of “Furadran son of Bec, son of
Cuana,” is noted in the “Chronicon Scotorum ” at A.D. 643. This individual was descended
from Colla-Uais, A.D. 336, according to a genealogy quoted by Dr. Reeves in his “Eccl.
Antiq. of Down and Connor,” p. 297. In a topographical poem of John O'Dugan, published
in the collection of the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society, we find the name of
O'Furadhran mentioned as chief over “Fionuros,” and in a note, No. 213, the editor states,
“Fionn-Ross. This was the original name of the district now called The Rosses, situated
in the barony of Boylagh and county of Donegal; O'Furadhran is now made Farran or
Forren.” The above is a remarkable instance of the succession of the same names in a
family, as we find Furadhran and Bec at the dates 642 and 962. I will not presume to
identify the name on this monument with any historic Farudhran; such an attempt would be
futile, seeing that the name was diffused from the remote wilds of Kerry to the northern
highlands of Donegal.
There can be no question as to the pagan character of this monument; the lonely Ceal,
the three concentric circles of pillar stones, the absence of Christian emblems, traditions, or
associations, stamp its pre-Christian and pre-historic character. Ages must have elapsed
ere the tribe who held this family name made their way from the extreme south to the
extreme north, and curious speculations will present themselves to the reflective mind as to
why, and when, they gave up recording the names of their deceased friends in Ogam, as in
Ulster no trace of such a character has been found.
BALLINTARMON. (Pl. XXII.) -
Ballintarmon is a townland in the parish of Ballynacourty, Ord, Sh. No. 45. Mr. Henry
Pelham discovered a fine pillar stone standing in a field called Parcagullane (the field of the
standing stone). He communicated an account of it to General Wallancey, which was pub-
* Two R's are on the plate, the A is not marked.
200 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
lished in the “Collectanae,” v. vi. p. 224; the plate illustrating it is inaccurate, and the
account contains nothing of any moment. It was subsequently seen and copied by Mr.
Hitchcock, and also by Mr. Windele. To the latter I am indebted for the following parti-
culars. The stone stands 12ft. 1in. above ground, is 3ft. 4in. in breadth, and 2ft. 4in. in
thickness at the base. It bears an inscription on the left angle, which is at present much
defaced, and was probably much longer, as there is a large flake knocked off the stone that
may have borne characters; it commences at 9 inches from the ground line, as follows:–
++-millil HH-
It is evident, from the number of missing letters and the damaged state of the angle, that
nothing can be made of it. There is a rude cross on the base of the stone a few feet from
the ground. It is not put in any prominent position, and is quite insignificant compared to
the great size of this huge monolith, which certainly was never erected for the purpose of
exhibiting so mean a representation of the sacred symbol. Ballintarmon is derived from
Tarmon, sanctuary or protection; in pagan times the residence of the Druid, Filea, or chief
Brehon, was a sanctuary, having the same privileges as the cities of refuge among the Jews.
On the establishment of Christianity this privilege was allowed to certain churches and
religious establishments.
Mr. Windele states that on his visit to this place in Sept. 1848, he found a portion of an
inscription, consisting of a few letters on the end of a stone, then serving as a lintel over the
kitchen hearth, in the cottage of Thomas Lyne, on this townland. He was informed that
the inscription had been much longer, but that the former tenant, Robert McMahon, who
put it up, had knocked a piece off the inscribed end to make it fit. To such vicissitudes have
these interesting memorials been subjected. -
BALLINTAGGART. (Pl. XXIII.)
The Cilleen of Ballintaggart is situated on a townland of the same name, in the parish
of Garfinny, about one mile S.E. of Dingle. Ord. Sh. No. 53. It occupies the summit of
a low eminence called Knockeen, and is an irregular oval, covered with half-obliterated,
stony grave-mounds, overgrown with grass and weeds, amongst which were discovered
nine inscribed stones, two of which were found in an adjoining ditch.
The first person who noticed the inscriptions at Ballintaggart was Mr. Henry Pelham,
whose account was published in Val. Col., v. vi. p. 219. He describes it as “the remains
of a large tumulus, and having several small graves round it. The tradition of the country
is, that in very remote times a great battle was fought here between the Irish and some of
their invaders, and that the slain were buried in this tumulus.” There is also a tradition of
a bloody encounter in this locality, in which threescore men bearing the Christian name of
Daniel were slain, all of whom were buried here. None of the monuments, however, bear
such a name. The spot is also called Lisheen-na-Corig, or the little fort of the battle. And
the farmer of the ground states, that in tilling the land he has constantly come upon ancient
graves. Mr. Pelham mentions his having seen six inscribed stones here, and he gives
drawings of three, which are not correct. In truth, all the copies I have seen of these
inscriptions vary more or less; this is not to be wondered at, when we consider that some of
--
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 201
them are in bad condition, and as all are cut on rounded stones, there is some difficulty in
determining the stem line, therefore the closest scrutiny of an experienced Ogamist is
requisite, in order to determine the values of the characters.
Mr. Windele visited this spot in 1838 and 1848. He made copies of the inscriptions on
each occasion. Mr. Hitchcock also made several copies of the inscriptions, none of which
I have seen. Mr. Windele's copies are in my possession. I visited Ballintaggart on Sept.
25th, 1868, and having with me the copies alluded to, I was enabled to compare them on
the spot, and to rectify errors where such existed. The following are from my own drawings:–
No. 1. This is an irregularly-shaped stone, a flat oval in section, having rounded ends;
it is 3ft. 2in, in length, and 1ſt. 2in, by 8in. in the centre. The inscription is in good
order, and quite legible.
+X+m/+14+
A EA E E R I T T I
We have here the proper name Ritti, so often found on these monuments; it is difficult
to determine the word or words formed by the preceding letters.
The cross letter usually supposed to represent EA is here very embarrassing, as it is
preceded and followed by a vowel similar in sound. I am oftentimes dubious about the
value assigned to this character in the Book of Ballymote. Dr. Ferguson evolves from this
inscription —
+X+"####TTm ºr
A × E. T. R. I E E I
and states, that no matter which way it is read, it “presents no probable expression of
sound.” (Pro. R.I.A., v. 1871, p. 61.) This no doubt is true of the form in which he
presents it to us, which is defective. The original inscription is perfectly legible, and any
person accustomed to copying them, with ordinary care, need not err in this case. I have
before me the legend as taken by Col. A. Lane Fox, one of the most accurate transcribers I
have met with, and every score of his copy agrees with mine. I have examined also a
metallic cast in the Mus, R.I.A., and found it in perfect agreement with mine. The cast was,
I believe, made under Dr. Ferguson's directions.
No. 2. (Pl. XXIII.) This is a finely-formed stone, oval in section, rounded at the ends,
and smoothly finished, being 3ft. 4 in. in length, and 13in. by 10in. at the centre. The
inscription is of considerable length, commencing at the left side on the rounded surface, and
running across the head and down the opposite side; the stem line is not marked ; it is
quite legible, and every letter can be satisfactorily determined, but requires careful examina-
tion. My copy, independently made, agrees with Mr. Windele's, as follows:–
Ž-ºllllllllll-º-º-º/+X-#/+llllllllll-Hi ++llllllll-tº-Hº-
M A Q Q I I - A R I I M A Q Q I M O C C O E
D O F F I N I A S
About the correctness of this inscription there can be no doubt; and as it is the longest
single one we have, a faithful rendering would be very desirable.
D D
202 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
In Cornwall, at Worthyvale, near Camelford, we find an inscription in debased Roman
letters, which gives us the name Magari.
No. 3. (Pl. XXIII.) This is also a smooth stone, oval in section, with rounded ends,
3ft. Bin. in length, and 1.ft. 3in, by 9in. at the centre. It has an inscription commencing at
1ſt. Bin. from the end, running round the head and down the opposite side; the characters
are boldly cut, and quite distinct. My copy agrees with that of Mr. Windele, as follows:–
114 m-thill thºſ-ºllllllllll-Hºllll-llllllihirºm-Hit
D O F E T I M A Q Q I C A T T I N I
D OF ETI M A. Q. Q I C A TTIN I.
(Stone of) “D OF ET T H E S ON OF CATT IN.”
This name, without the prefix D0, will be found in the Mart. Don., p. 213, in the form
of Fethi. We also find Feti as a potter's mark upon red Samian ware. Cel. Rom. Sax.,
p. 456. Dofat appears on one of the Clydai group, Wales. Cattin is a familiar form. We
find it as Catan, Mart. Don. pp. 37, 335, 71, as Cathan, Ann, 4 Mas. A.D. 1086. The
name is also to be seen on one of the Ballinrannig find, not many miles distant. Gaulish
forms, Catonius . . Gruter, 14. 3... pr. Rhenum. Catino ... Orel. 1964. Catuso. . Momms.
62. . Genev. In Wright's Celt. Roman and Saxon, p. 456, I find a copy of an inscription
discovered at Worthyvale, near Camelford, in Cornwall, on a pillar stone 9ft. 9in, high and
2ft. Bin. wide, which had formerly (like the St. Olan's Well stone, p. 125) been used
as a foot-bridge across a small stream. The legend reads as follows, in debased Roman
letters:—
C. A TI N H I C I A C IT FIL I W S M A. G. A. R. I.
We have here the CATTIN of our Ogam legend, as well as the MACCLARI of the
previous one. In a list of names found on Romano-Gaulish Fictilia I find the names Catto
and Cattiana. (Col. Antiq. v. vi. p. 69.) The Catti were an ancient tribe, who gave their
name to Caithness, North Britain.
No. 4. (Pl. XXIII.) This is also a smooth stone, in section a flat oval, and rounded at
both ends. Its length is 2ft. 10in., and it is 1.ft. 10in, by 9in, at the centre. The inscription
is remarkably well cut and distinct, and commences at the left side, 12in. from the bottom
of the stone, runs round the head, and down the opposite side.
There is a flake off the top, which has injured some of the letters of the word Maqqi.
TI-HTIT-THI #m-A-Hºlllll-tº-il-Hill+m-#/+mſ
S U F A L L O S M A Q Q I D U C 0 F A R O S
SU F A L O S M A Q Q I D UC OF A R O S.
(Stone of) S UF A L T H E S ON OF D UC 0 F A R.
We have here the old Gaulish genitive, OS, to both names.
Mr. Windele's copy of this inscription agrees with mine, the nineteenth letter excepted,
which he has omitted. Mr. Pelham's copy, in Vallancey's Collectane, v. vi. p. 219, is incor-
rect, as is also Mr. G. W. Du Noyer's, in his Collection of Sketches, Lib. Roy. Ir. Aca.
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 203
Col. Lane Fox has also sent me a copy taken by himself, which agrees with mine. Dr.
Ferguson's cast in paper, which I have examined, is also in agreement. Sufalos is a form
strange to our nomenclature, though its components are familiar; SU is a frequent prefix, as,
Su-airlech, Su-buleus, Suibhne, &c. So also is Fal and Fael, as Fallon, Fallomhan, Faelchu,
Faelghus, Ann. 4 Mas. Ducofar is also a strange form, though names with the prefix DU
are common; Cofar has a strong likeness to Cobuir, Mart. Don. p. 205.
No. 5. This is also a smooth, rounded boulder, ovalin section, but flatter than the preceding
ones; it has rounded ends, and is 4ft. Bin. long, and 1.ft. Bin, by 11in, at the centre. The
inscription commences on the left side, but at present is not continuous, though it appears
to finish on the right side. I am, however, strongly of opinion that it is to be read
continuously, that is, round the head and down the opposite angle. Mr. Windele made a
very careful copy of this legend; he was not, however, satisfied with the result. His copy
agrees in every letter with mine as far as he goes, for he has omitted the MA in Maqi.
Being much interested in getting an accurate copy of the legend, I spent some time at it, yet
was dissatisfied with my work. My copy is as follows:–
++*#11 #14 Hill+++11–m-##-ulltim-i-m-
MA Q I D E C C E D A MA S I C O N A S
The first fourteen characters are on the left angle, the last close to the rounded top, a
portion of which at present bears no trace of characters; the last seven are on the right-
hand angle, reading from the top downwards. Mr. Windele reads the name DECCEDA. I
could not identify the fourth vowel score of the second E, and have marked it doubtful; he
may, however, have examined it in a more favourable light. Decceda is more in accordance
with the general orthography of this name, so often met with, than Deceuda. The characters
following appear to me to be a part of the word Maqi, the rest having been cut on the head
of the stone, but now obliterated; the exact space exists for the missing letters, and there
are some slight traces of scores, but nothing reliable. I would propose to read it as
follows:–
M A Q I DE C C E D A M A Q I S I C 0 N A S. -
With the name Decceda we are already familiar. The formula here is identical with that
on the Gortnagullanagh stone (p. 181), which reads: “Maqqi Decedda Maqi Catufu.” The
from SICUNAS is probably the true reading of one of the legends at Lugnagappul, and
not STICUNAS.
I have examined the paper mould made by Dr. Ferguson; it was in a very damaged
state, and I could not satisfactorily make use of it. It however gave me the name as
DECCUDA. He reads the left-hand angle as Maqideccod(a), and the right as Caqosi-
ceccudo (ros), reading from the bottom upwards (Pro. R.I.A. v. 1871, p. 62); he appears to
have added a portion of the left-hand inscription to the right, thereby depriving the name
of its genitive termination, which has been identified by Col. Fox as well as by Windele and
myself. -
No. 6. (Pl. XXIII.) This stone is similar in form to the last, oval in section, with
rounded ends. It is in length 3ft. 6in., and is 1ſt. Bin. by Sin, at the centre. The
204 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. ſchAP. x.
inscription commences on the left-hand angle, and is completed on the right. That portion
on the left is as follows:–
Ill hiſ/IIIlah-Illill-ºut
C U R C I T T I
On the right we find —
Ill/#####!!!"--/++++//mſ hit
T. R. I A M A Q A M E O L A G N I
Copies of this inscription were made by Mr. Windele, in 1838 and 1848; that made in
the latter year agrees with the above excepting the 8th and 9th of the second line, out of
which he forms one letter, C; this, though apparently a trifling error, upsets the entire reading
of the line. Dr. Ferguson reads the second line “Tria Maqa Mailagni.” His paper cast,
No. 15, Mus. Roy. Ir. Aca., which I have examined, gives Meol, and not Mail; the vowel dif-
ference is of little consequence. The inscription is much weather-worn, and parts of it very
difficult to decipher. There can be no question as to the name on the left angle being
Curcitti, the genitive of Curcitt. The same form has been found on one of the stones at
Kinard, only a couple of miles distant. On one found at Lougher, also in the same district,
we have “Curci" (see article Lougher, p. 187).
See the Lanfechan example for the form Maglagni. Maelogan or Maelon, is a frequent
name in our indices. Gaulish forms, Mallonius . . Grut. 803-13 . . Patav. Maleius . . Grut.
878,8 . . in agr. Graez.
There is a small curious cross on this stone; the upright has trifurcated ends, the cross
arm terminates in tridents. R. R. Dr. Graves proposes to read this inscription : “The
three sons of Maoilan.” He states:—“If I am right, perhaps we have here ancient plural
forms. But the philologists must be on their guard against being misled by the pedantry or
affectation of the Ogham writer. This interpretation is confirmed by the appearance on the
monument of a cross, each member of which is trifid.” Pro. R.I.A. v. T., Ser. II., Sec. Ant. p.
55. This last fact is probably the inspiration of the reading, but loses its force when we know
that crosses with trifurcated and bifurcated ends are frequently met with. In fact, the forms
of the terminations of the shafts and arms of Irish sepulchral crosses are very numerous, but
no meaning has ever been attached to them. The inscription evidently reads:
T RIA M A C U A M E O L A G NI
T R. I. A T H E S O N OF ME O L A. G. A. N.
The suppression of the consonant in all this class of name is comparatively modern.
Meolagan I have already illustrated. Tria is evidently a proper name. In the Mart. Don. we
find Trea, in three instances, as a female name ; as masculine names, Trian, Trichem,
Trimeach ; in the Ann. 4 Mas. A.D. 783, Trian, son of a Leinster Chief.
No. 7. (Pl. XXIII.) This stone is also of similar form and dimensions to those already
described. Mr. Windele found it lying in the ditch of an adjoining field. It measures
3ft. 2in, in length, and girths in the centre 3ft. 4in. The inscription, which is in good
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 205
order, commences at 1.ft. 3in, from the bottom, and runs partially round the head, as
follows:–
+III+Tm TITT Hºt H-IIIT-FTIII
I N I S S I O N A S
I cannot give a reading of this inscription; it looks very unlike a proper name, and more
like that of a locality, having the prefix Inis, i.e. an island, or land lying along the bank of
a river, lake, or any water. May it not have been a boundary stone 2 Dr. Ferguson reads
this legend “Inissianon(os),” but gives no rendering. I examined a paper cast made by
that gentleman, one of the collection deposited by him in the Museum Roy. Ir. Aca., but
found it so injured that it was of no assistance for comparison. If his reading is taken from
this cast, it could scarcely be correct. Mr. Windele's copies agree in every score with
mine. There is a rude plain cross of two lines scored on the face of the stone.
No. 8. This stone is of similar form to those already described; the inscription is as
Jill Hitſ+llllllllll hitſ/+ll hit
C U I M A Q Q I R I, T T I
I presume that this is the inscription marked No. 23 in the collection of paper casts,
Mus, R.I.A.; if so, Dr. Ferguson has given a defective version of it in his “ tabulated
precis" (ibid. p. 60), where he has “Culumbaqqificia (s?) or ficus.” There is no such
reading either on the stone or the cast, both of which simply read Cui Maqqi Ritti, and show
the very names we would expect to meet on these pillar stones. CU, as a prefix, has been
found on a number of monuments; it is here used as a proper name. And as such I have
met with it in my own time in the South of Ireland, as the surname Cue and Mac Cue.
Ritti, as my readers are already aware, has been identified on many Ogam pillars.
No. 9. This stone is also of similar form and dimensions to those already described ; it
bears an inscription commencing on the right side, running round the head and partially
down the opposite side. The characters are much defaced, and very difficult to transcribe;
I could only identify the following:—
T###III+!!!"Ill-X+H: llllllllll-Hi-Hit
LM I N A Q C A I Q Q I M U
The inscription is defective at the end, and probably one or more characters have been
lost at the beginning; there are only slight traces of the MA of MAQI. The terminal
letters form the commencement of the oft met with Mucoi, which in this instance was very
probably the patronymic. The preceding part of the legend I cannot give a satisfactory
reading of; we would expect it to be a proper name, but the combination of characters here
looks very confused and unpromising. Dr. Ferguson reads “Nettalaminaqc(aode) Maqqi”
Mucoid (oros); the letters in brackets are conjectural. I examined his paper cast, but could
not identify on it the first five letters, “Netta,” or the last three of “Mucoid.” He gives
no translation. Col. Lane Fox has sent me his copy; with a trifling exception, it is identical
with that given above.
There is another fine stone on the Keel, of a full oval section, beautifully rounded, and
follows:–
206 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP, x.
smooth as if turned in a lathe. It is 3ft. in length, and 1ſt. 2in, by 11 in, at the centre, with
semi-globular ends. It bears no inscription. There is a rude cross of two plain lines
scratched on one face.
BALLYNAHUNT (P. XXIV.).
This inscribed stone was discovered by Mr. Hitchcock on the townland of Ballynahunt,
parish of Ballinwoher, Ord. Sh. No. 45. It was also visited by Mr. Windele in Sept. 1848.
He found it standing close to a fence near the cottage of a farmer named John Landers,
who informed him that it had been brought from a holy well a great way up the mountain,
east of Ballynahunt. The stone then lay on the flat, measuring 4ft. 10in, in length, 1.ft. Bin.
in width at one end, and 9in. at the other, and 5%in. thick. There is a cross boldly incised
on the inscribed face of the stone, and from its position giving positive evidence of its being
cut posterior to the Ogams. The cross is of a simple and early type, and is cut on the
original base of the monument reverse to the inscription, and consequently with its head
downwards. The bottom of the stone originally fixed in the earth being the widest, and free
from the Ogam scores, was found to be the most suitable for the cross, which is of good size.
Mr. Windele found two of the angles on the same face inscribed as follows:–
ON THE LEFT ANGLE:— Al-º-H+III'm H+ -
D U G E N N G G E
On the right angle, reading from the top downwards, as I consider it should be read:—
+*—||--—ll-l-m-
M Q R D D S
We find in the first line a name also recognised on a stone at Kilgobinet, but in a
slightly different form, Gonnggu ; in the present instance it is Gennge, with the prefix DU,
a very usual one to Irish names, as Duvan, Dunadach, &c.; for a recognition of Gonnggu
see “Kilgobinet.” The right angle is much injured, and several of the characters are
mutilated or defaced; in the presence of the letters MQ and the void spaces, we have
evidence of Maqi, and in the remainder of a familiar name, Reddos or Rettos; the entire
would thus read:—
DU G E N G G E M A Q I RED DOS.
BALLYMOREREIGH. (Pl. XXV.)
This monument stands in a Keel, or, as it is usually called in this locality, a Cealuragh,
on the townland of Ballymorereigh, and parish of Dingle. Ord. Sh. No. 43. It was
discovered by the late Dr. Petrie, and an engraving of it was given in his well-known work,
“The Round Towers, &c." p. 133. The engraving is a correct representation of the stone,
but the inscription is not so. Within the precincts of the Cealuragh stand the ruins of a
primitive cell of the same type as that at Gallerus, as far as its present remains will allow us
to judge, as the roof is gone, and the N.E. and S.E. walls have fallen; its dimensions were
24ft. 4in, by 18ft. Sin.
The entrance was a low rectangular ope, with converging jambs, and one massive
thorough stone as a lintel. The inscribed pillar stands seven yards south of the cell; it is
rough and undressed, 5ft. 3in, in height above ground, and 1.ft. 9in. by 11 in, at bottom,
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 207
having a long inscription in fair preservation, with the exception of that part bearing the
4th to the 7th letters, which are partially injured, and require close examination to arrive at
their original values. I have had six copies of this inscription in my possession, three made
by Mr. Windele, one by Col. A. L. Fox, and one by a local Seanacuidhe, Mr. J. D. Nagle, of
Dingle, as also Dr. Petrie's All these copies differ more or less, the differences always
occurring on those letters which occupy the damaged angle near the bottom, as already
alluded to.
The following copy will, I think, be found to be correct, it substantially agrees with a
copy made by Mr. Nagle; it differs in two letters from one made by Mr. Windele, and in one
letter only from Col. Fox's copy –
Allll-tºm-tºm-tº-tº-ill hºſt-ill-hºt-Hah-m-hit ###!!!
Q E N I L O C I M A Q E M A Q I A I N I AM UT
Q E N ILO C I M A Q E M A Q I A IN I A M U T.
We have here the proper name Niloc, with the prefix Cue, so common to Irish names;
Niloc I have not been able to identify, names of a similar type, however, are frequent, as
Niallan, Nialbran, Nialgus.
We have the same name on the Martramane stone in the form of Qunilocgni, and on
one of the Drumloghan group as Cunalegea ; the variations in the genitive terminations are
here noticeable. Dr. Ferguson's reading gives Quenilocimaqimaqiainiamu. That gentleman
gives an I for E in the twelfth letter. Mr. Windele's two copies, Mr. Nagle's and Col.
Fox's, give E: I copied E from Dr. Ferguson's paper mould ; he also omits a final T, which
all the above copies give, and which is also to be found on his mould.
We have in the patronymic a new name, Aini or Ainia; in the form of Aine or Ana, it
is a female name; Ana in Irish mythology held the place of Cybele. The Gaulish forms
are, Ana (Texier, Inscr. du Lim. 89). Ananus (Stein. 2053). It is an open question
whether the patronymic is to be read Ainiamut, or Aini; the Mut being descriptive. Dr.
Petrie states that this stone marks the grave of St. Monachan; this I presume was a con-
jecture, there is no evidence of any Saint having been interred here; an aged inhabitant
informed Mr. Windele that this place was a Cealuragh, and had never been consecrated, its
pagan character having been maintained by the custom of interring in it unbaptized children
and suicides up to that period. It is quite evident that had St. Monachan been buried
there, it would have been consecrated ground, and would have been a place of pilgrimage
and resorted to for interments by the surrounding populations, but such is not the case.
The strongest evidence, however, against this appropriation is, that St. Monachan's name is
not on the stone, neither any Christian sentence or allusion. On the inscribed face is a rude
cross of two lines, deeply cut, and on the back a smaller one, as if more effectually to drive
the paganism out of it. The Cealuragh was described by the old peasant as “a fine
enchanted Ould place intirely, and that music and dancing are often heard there at night; it
was an airy place intirely.” A short distance off is “Tobar Monachan” (the well of
Monachan), which down to a late period was much resorted to every Sunday in the year.
The old Seanacuidhe states, “that there is not a better well in Munster to give rounds at,
sure, there is a salmon and an eel in it, and whoever has the luck to get a look at them may
208 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. [CHAP. x.
be sure that they have the benefit of their rounds.” Fairy strokes are supposed to be cured
by the water. This idea of sacred fish in the waters of lakes and holy wells is very general
throughout Ireland, and numberless legends are related in connection with them. We find
the same cultus in Persia, India, and China, where sacred fish are actually kept in wells and
tanks attached to the temples, and are carefully fed by the priests.
BALLINRANNIG (Pl. XXVI).
The bay of Smerwick is a deep indentation of the coast, between Dunurlin and
Ballydavid heads, at the north-west corner of the barony of Corcaguiney, and at the mouth
of Tralee bay; the shore is mainly composed of low sand-hills. In the year 1782, a violent
storm swept over this locality, and dislodging the accumulation of sand, uncovered what
turned out to be an ancient cemetery. It was shortly after visited by Mr. Henry Pelham,
who describes the place in Val. Col. v. vi. p. 228, under the name of Ballyneanigh; he
appears to have discovered five of the inscribed stones, and represents it as a low Cairn flat
on the top, the stones being in a circle; he states, that on digging round their bases he
found human bones. Mr. Hitchcock, in the Uls. Jour. Arch. v. i. p. 104, remarks: “The
tumulus at Ballinrannig is strewed with bones which every shifting of the sand continues to
expose. . . . . I picked up some pieces of the bones and teeth.” Mr. Pelham has
illustrated three of these stones in the “Collectanae,” which are incorrectly represented.
Mr. Windele visited this place in 1838, and found on the Cairn seven inscribed stones; he
repeated his visit again in 1848 and found but two remaining, three having been removed by
Lord Ventry, to his seat, Burnham House, near Dingle, and two finding their way to Chute
Hall, near Tralee. The Cairn is locally known as Cill-wickillane, i.e. The Graves of the
Youths. It is situated on the townland of Ballinrannig, parish of Marhin. Ord. Sh. No.
42. It lies close to the strand, and is occasionally washed by the high spring tides; it is a
low, irregular, oval-shaped mound, composed of earth and small stones, and has been shorn
of all its interest by the removal of its monuments, one of which only remains. In July,
1868, I visited the Dingle district, and had an opportunity of personally examining these
inscriptions at Burnham House; I found the following, standing on the lawn opposite the
Hall door.
No. 1. (Pl. XXVI.) A hard, compact, buff-coloured clay-slate pillar, 3ft. 10in. above
ground, and 13in, by Sin. at the centre, having two lines of characters on the opposite
angles of the same face; the scores are broadly and deeply cut, the vowel marks being deep
oval dots:–
LEFT ANGLE – *HHHHHHH.IIll-hit-m
C. A. R. R. I C E S
RIGHT ANGLE:— ++llllllllll-Håll-Häm Hill
M A Q Q I T E N A C
There is a flake off the left angle, by which portions of the first two scores of the C have
been removed ; the first two scores of the last letter, S, are much worn, I have so marked
them, but as there are palpable indications of them, and the space for them exists, there can
be no doubt as to their forming with the other two strokes, the letter S. The inscription is
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 209
completed on the second angle, the letters on which are boldly cut, and in perfect preservation,
C A R RIC E S T H E S ON - O F T E N A. C.
We find that a Caricis, alias Careticus, was king of Wales and Cornwall for 25 years, A.D.
586. (Borlase's Cornwall, p. 371.)
There is some evidence of the existence of the terminal I after Tenac. Dr. Ferguson
gives a strange reading of the left angle; he appears to have identified only three letters of
it, L. RRA, which he proposes to fill up as follows: [Gil] lamurra, his object evidently
being to produce Gillamuire (Servant of Mary). I have examined that gentleman's cast,
and find that it produces Arrices; it so far agrees with mine, and I am therefore at a loss to
know how he arrives at a reading so different to his own copy. Mr. James Brenan, of
Cork, when in Dingle, examined this stone, his copy reads Arricis; Mr. Windele's copy in 1848
reads Arrices.
No. 2. (Pl. XXVI.) This is a coarse, irregularly-shaped pillar of the same material,
4ft. 6in. in height, and 1ſt. Bin. by 8in. at the centre. It is inscribed on both angles of the
same face, and appears to commemorate two individuals, a usual practice at the period these
monuments were erected, as we find by various inscriptions. The angles are naturally
irregular, and are much worn; the characters are, however, deeply and broadly cut, and with
few exceptions well defined, but all are legible. That on the left angle occupies 2ft. 9in. in
length, and finishes within Sin. of the top; that on the right angle, 3ft. 2in, in length,
finishing close to the top:—
LEFT ANGLE – ++llllllllll +lllll-Hill ill-tº-3-
M A Q Q I Q E T T I A
RIGHT ANGLE:— ++lllll Hill+IIll-h- +llllll-hit
M A Q Q I C U | º T T I
In the second line the angle changes, owing to a natural inequality in the stone, and the
inscription shifts from its direct line; the R would consequently appear an N unless care-
fully examined, the whole reads:—
T H E S O N OF C U-E TT I.
T H E S ON OF C U-R ITT.
Dr. Ferguson omits the terminal A in the first line; it is, however, present not only on
the original monument, but also on his cast. In the second line he reads Cunitti, instead of
Curitti. If he read only from the cast, the error was likely to occur.
As I have before stated, owing to a fracture of the stone, the angle shifts, and the inscrip-
tion follows the angle; the cast does not show this divergence, hence the error. I studied
this portion very closely on the original stone, and found the third letter of the name to cross
the angle and to form the letter R, not N. I have examined Dr. Ferguson's cast, and found
that it did not correctly express this portion of the original legend. It bears also internal
evidence of the truthfulness of my rendering. The names Ritt and Curitt and Rettos have
been found on several monuments, not only in various parts of the south of Ireland, but par-
ticularly in this identical locality. The first name probably reads Cetti, as Q is frequently
used for C; we find Ceat Mac Magach in the pre-historic period, as Cat, “Tribes and Customs
IE E
210 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
of Hy. Maine,” p. 33. Caette and Caetti in Mart. Don. pp. 284, 375. The Catti were a
tribe of North Britain, as before remarked. See Ballintaggart, No. 3, p. 202. -
No. 3. This is a rough irregular pillar of the old red sandstone, much worn, except on
the angle which contains the inscription. It stands 4ft. Bin. above ground; the letters are
in good preservation, commencing at 7in, from the base, and continuing to the extreme
top, as follows:–
mi-m-hit 4+m}+lllll-H+llll-tº-thir
N A F I C A S M A. Q. I M U C O I
(Stone of) N A F I C T H E S O N 0 F M UC 0 I.
The proper name Nafic is of the same family as Nathi, A.D. 430, Nainid, A.D. 557. We
have here again the name Mucoi, so frequently adverted to before. Two of the vowel dots of
the last letter are much worn; there can, however, be no question as to the value of the
vowel of which they form part.
There is some evidence of an inscription on the opposite angle of the same face in the
appearance of a C towards the top, but nothing further. Dr. Ferguson reads: “ (g 2)
Raficas Maqi Mucoi.” How he committed this error I cannot divine. Mr. Windele's copy,
taken in 1848, reads Naficas. My own, taken carefully from the original, reads the same;
and more, the cast taken by the Dr. reads the same in every letter. The temptation to
deduce Graficas seems to have led that gentleman astray. At my request, Mr. Brenam
examined this stone at Burnham, in 1871. His copy reads: Naficas Maqi Mucoi.
No. 4. At Lough House, within a quarter of a mile of Dingle, the residence of the Rev.
Richard Chute, I found one of the inscribed stones which had been removed from Ballinrannig.
I recognized it from a copy of the inscription made by Mr. Windele, in 1838, when the stone
was in situ. It is a hard, compact, light-brown clay-slate, 3ft. 2in, in length, and 10in, by
9in, at the centre. The letters are boldly cut and quite legible, being inscribed on an angle
towards the top of the stone; the last two letters being, in fact, on the top —
T+++mrº-it-mºm.
B. R O I N I O N A S
The name appears to be Broinion, in a genitive form. Names of this type are common;
thus we have Brian, one of the triumvirate sons of the Tuatha-de-Danaan Dealbaoth, or, as
he is sometimes named, Tuireann Bierind, of whom the MS. Book of Lecain states:—“These
were the three Dee Danaann from whom Sliabh-na-tri-n'dee (or the Mountain of the Three
Gods) is named" (fol. 281). Bron, the son of Alloit, and brother of Mananann Mac Lir,
from whom Moy Bron in Tyrawly derives its name (ibid.). We also find Bronn, a bishop,
A.D. 511, Bronach, son of Bolar, A.D. 521. Dr. Ferguson hints Brendan, but this is too
foreign.
No. 5. (Pl. XXVI.) This stone was in situ when Mr. Windele visited this place in
1848; since then it has been removed to Chute Hall, near Tralee, where I examined it in
July, 1868. At present it stands 3ft. 5in. above ground; dimensions at ground line, 1ſt.
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 211
5in. by Sin. ; at top, 10in. by 7in. It is a rough, unshapely monolith; and the inscription,
which is on a left angle, is much worn and injured. At present it is as follows:–
###T....m H-1'-ll-tº-1 #mm.
G. E. L. S M A Q Q I D N. N.
Between the L and S there is a space where a flake has been knocked off the angle;
the letter which filled it must have been a vowel, as a consonant would have left some
traces of the scores; the vowel was most probably an I, as the existing space would contain
it. One score of the D is injured, about half being lost. There is also a slight flake off
the top angle, between the D and N. For the reasons above stated it must also have been
a vowel, and from the extent of the space, either an O or U; the last N is much injured
and barely legible. All the other letters are quite distinct. I propose to read it:-
G E L (I) S T H E S ON OF D (O)N N.
In the “Index Nom. Mart. Don.” we find “Gallus of Lough Techet;" also, such forms
as Gillus and Gelgeis.
Mr. Windele's copies, made in 1838 and 1848, show the I after the L quite perfect: it
is therefore probable that it was defaced in the removal and long land-carriage. He also
gives the N as then quite perfect. Donn is a pre-historic name; he was the eldest son of
Miledh or Milesius, and the principal leader of the Scotic invasion. A poem by Flann-na-
Manistreach, who lived in the 10th century, contained in the Book of Lecain gives an account
of the chiefs of that expedition and their deaths. The fate of Donn is given in the following
quatrain : —
“Donn and Bille, and Buan his wife,
“Dil, and Aireach the son of Miledh,
“Buas, Breas and Buaidne of great beauty,
“Were drowned at the Dumachs.”
The shipwreck of Donn is thus narrated in the Book of Ballymote, fol. 21 : “After
this a violent storm came on, and separated the ship in which Donn the son of Milidh was
from the rest; and he, with his whole crew to the number of twenty-four men, four slaves,
and twelve women, were drowned on the western coasts, at the Dumachs, which are called
Donn's Mansion.” (Teach Duinn.)
The Historia Britonum of Nennius (Ir, Version) thus mentions his death —“Rex
autem eorum mersus est, i.e. the king, viz. Donn, was drowned at Tigh-Duinn.” O'Flaherty,
in Ogygia, states that Heber Donn, one of the eight commanders of the Milesians, was ship-
wrecked at Teach Duinn, i.e. the house of Donn, in Kerry. (Ogygia, iii, cap. xvi. p. 182.)
Keating's statement is as follows:– “The place where they were drowned was at the sand-
banks (dumacaib), which is called Donn's House, in the west of Munster; and it is from
Donn, son of Milesius, who was drowned there, that they are called Donn's House. (Teach
Duinn.)” There can be no doubt that the scene of Donn's catastrophe was somewhere
about the western extremity of the present barony of Corkaguiny in Kerry, more properly
Corcaduibne, so named in memory of this personage. Mr. Richard Hitchcock, in Trans.
Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1852, p. 134, states on the authority of the Rev. John Casey, an eminent
212 OGAM MONUMENTs, Co. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
Irish scholar, that Tigh Duinn is at present called Ballyduin, on Brandon Bay, at the western
point of the barony. Tradition certainly points to this locality as the scene of this disaster.
I have already described Smerwick Bay; with its sand hills and its sepulchral mound,
crowned with pillar stones, and buried in the sands, it has strong claims to be considered the
locality of Donn's shipwreck, while the Cilleen may have been the resting-place of some of
his children. The Gaulish form is Donnus.. Orel. 626, 627, also Donnia . . Gruter, 658, 6.
Donatus. . Grut. 96, 1. -
No. 6. (Pl. XXVI.) This is a rough unshapely flag of the same material. Its entire
length is 4ft. 5in. The angle upon which the inscription is cut is rough and irregular; the
characters are, however, well defined, being inscribed deep and broad. It commences
on a left angle, running upwards, then across the top and down the back angle.
C C I C A M I N I M A Q Q I C A T T I N I
The CCI at the commencement of this legend is somewhat embarrassing. I have been
disposed to consider these letters as indicating Coirthe, a pillar stone or monument, as does
COI on the Deelish example, p. 125. I have also been disposed to view them as a prefix
to the proper name CAMIN which follows; thus we have Ci-ar, Ci-aran, Ci-anan, &c. If
the former, the legend would read as follows:–
(Pillar stone of) C A MIN T H E S ON OF CATT IN.
We have here names familiar to us. We find Camin the patron saint of Inniscaltra.
CATTIN: for illustrations of this name see Ballintaggart, No. 3, p. 202.
No. 7. (Pl. XXXIV.) This is at present the only Ogam-inscribed stone remaining at
Ballinrannig, its great size and weight having prevented its removal.
It was first seen by Mr. Windele in 1838, and subsequently in 1848. His copy made
on the last occasion differed slightly from that of 1838, and reads:—
C O N A M A Q I C OR B B U.
My friend Mr. James Brenan, master of the Cork School of Art, visited this place in
the summer of 1871, and made a careful examination and drawing of the stone. Mr.
Brenan found it completely buried in the sand, lying on the flat. He ascertained it to
measure 8ft. in length, and 1.ft. 10in. by 6in. at the centre. The inscription commences at
3ft. Bin. from the bottom of the stone, and continues close to the top, and is in fair preser-
vation, the scores being broadly and deeply cut. His copy is as follows:–
C O N A M A Q Q I C 0 R B B I M A Q Q I
(Stone of) C O N T H E S ON OF CO R B B T H E S ON OF
The inscription was continued on the opposite angle, where Mr. Brenan detected the
letters CU, or CO. He states that there is a large flake off the upper part of the right
angle, which reduced it to a thin edge, and thus injured the inscription. It will be seen that
Mr. Windele's copy is substantially the same as the above. He appears however to have
CHAP. x.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 213
missed the second Maqqi, the last letter of which is imperfect. Con is a recognized name, as,
Con-Cead-Cathach. Gaulish form, Connius . . Grut. 776, 1. Conatius ... Stein. 2022.
For illustrations of Corb. see Laharan, No. 2, p. 223.
ARDOWANIG.
This inscribed stone stands in a Cealluragh at Ardowanig, within about two miles
of Castlemaine, parish of Kilnanare, Ord. Sh. 47, and two miles S. of Miltown. It is used
for the burial of unbaptized children, and was visited by Mr. Windele in 1850, who on that
occasion discovered the inscription. The stone is 4ft. in height, 2ft. 6in. in breadth, and
1ft. 6in. in thickness. It bears the following inscription, and on the same face a rude cross
in a circle:–
Ill Him Illhºll
C O F. T. E. T.
Like many monuments, this exhibits but the name of the deceased, one which I have
not been able to identify, unless it be an archaic form of the well-known name Cobhtach
(Coffey).
RATHDUFF.
Discovered by Mr. Hitchcock, on the townland of Rathduff, parish and graveyard of
Ballinwoher. Ord. Sh. 45. Length 3ft. 8in., breadth 11in., thickness 4}in. Inscription
on one angle much defaced, a few letters only being legible. Visited by Mr. Windele, Sept.
1848. On the same face as the inscription is a rude triple cross, incised.
BRACKLOON.
Discovered by Mr. Hitchcock in the position of a mantle-tree over the kitchen hearth of
Robert McMahon, Cottier, who had removed it from the crypt of a rath in a field called
Parkalassa (the Field of the Lios), on the townland of Brackloon, parish of Ballynacourty.
Ord. Sh. 45. The rath was levelled.
TINNAHALLY. (Pl. XXVII.)
In 1848 Mr. J. Windele, being on an antiquarian tour in Kerry, stopped at Mr. Foley's
inn, Kilorglin, where he was shown by the proprietor an Ogam-inscribed stone, which
he stated had been found in a rath on his farm at Timnahally, parish of Kilorglin, Ord. Sh.
No. 57. Subsequently another was found in the same spot, and both were removed by Mr.
Windele to his residence near Cork, where I first saw and copied them. The rath was
named Lisnareabh.
No. 1. This is a fine monolith of a hard compact clay-slate. It measures 7ft 6in. in
length, 15in. by 6%in, at bottom, and 13in. by 9in, at top. The inscription commences on
the left angle, continues round the head and down the opposite angle of the same face;
the characters are all well cut and legible with a few exceptions, as follows:–
1.1 ſ , , , ///// , , , || 11 ///// , J . 11111 ..... - * .
4-mº/mº/#lluſ/+mm/4 Illiii.4+m ###~#mrmſ
A N C M F U R U D D R A N N M A Q I C U L I G. E N N
The first score of the I in Maqi is on the left angle, close to the top; the other four
214 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
were on the head of the stone, and are obliterated; the C, which follows, is also on the head
of the stone, very much worn, and now scarcely traceable, at least in the light afforded by
their present location, in the crypt of the Royal Irish Academy Museum. When I copied it
in the open air, at Mr. Windele's residence, this letter was quite legible; between the C and
E is a space of 5%in., now void, and showing a spawl knocked off. This may have been an
original fracture, and may have been passed over by the engraver. The entire reads as
follows:— -
A N C M F U R U D D R A N N T H E S O N OF C U L I G E N N .
The first four characters are a crux ; the formula AN and ANM have been found
on several monuments, and have been supposed to be the initials of ANAIM, “to rest,
dwell, remain.” This ANCM, however, is a solitary instance, and I cannot offer any conjec-
ture as to its meaning. The name Furuddrann, here spelled with a redundancy of
consonants, is a very interesting one, as we can identify it, not only on another monument
from the same locality, but also in our annals and hagiology. (See art. Gortamaccaree, p. 199.)
The patronymic is most certainly Culigenn. The characters forming this name are quite
distinct, and, as I have before remarked, between the fifth and sixth there is a blank
space of 5%in., that does not appear to show any trace of a letter. As I have already
conjectured, it may be that the workmen in cutting this memorial found this original
damage on the angle, and passing it over, completed the name on the sound portion.
The name is evidently an archaic form of Coligan, one still plentiful in some districts
of the south, and often shortened into Colgan. In the Co. of Waterford we have a small
river called the Colligan. In our Annals we find the form Colcenn. This name is of the
same formation as Conacan, Cormacan, Anagan, Artagan, &c.
No. 2. A pillar of clay-slate, rough and irregular in form; 7ft. 4in. in length, 18in. by
9in. at bottom, and 15in. by 14in. at top. The inscription commences on the left angle,
2ft. 6in. from the lower end, and is completed on the front angle of the head, as follows:–
+TIP/1.1%/+mſmſ/+**###m-mm-
A N M T. G. A N N M A G D E G L A N N
The principal part of this inscription is perfect, boldly and deeply cut; the first four
characters alone being partially damaged; the A is perfect; only one score of the N remains,
the rest being carried away by a fracture; the M is perfect, and also the T. A copy made by
Mr. Windele, previous to its removal, shows the formula ANM as then perfect. It is probable
that seventy miles of land carriage, from Kilorglin to Cork, on a common cart, over hilly
roads, and rough handling with crowbars, may have damaged the inscriptions on these
venerable monuments. We have next the X character, fulfilling no function that I can
discern excepting that of dividing the inscription, as after it we have the name of the
individual commemorated, GANN, a name of the mythic period. He was a king of the
Fir-Bolg dynasty, and one of the five chiefs of that people when they invaded Ireland. They
were brethren, and their names are given as Slainge, Ruraidhe, Gann, Geamann, and
Seangann. They were sons of Dela, the son of Loich; and their pedigree is given in the
CHAP. X.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 215
Book of Lecain, up to Neimhid. A passage from the Book of Ballymote, as translated
by the late Professor Connellan, states that Gann and Seangann landed at Inbher Dubhglaise,
in the Co. Kerry, with 2,000 men, and that in the division of Ireland among the five chiefs
the province of Munster fell to the lot of Gann and Seangann; the former possessing the
land from Comar-na-dtri-n-uisge, the enfluence of the Three Waters, now Waterford
Harbour, to Bealach Conglais, now Cork Harbour; and the latter having his dominion from
thence to Limerick. (B.B. fol. 16, L.L. fol. 277.) The bardic traditions thus connect the
name of Gann with the southern districts of Munster; and as it probably became a usual
one, we find it on those archaic memorials. I may also remark, that in a paper read before
the Roy. Ir. Academy on January 23rd, 1871, “On an Ogam-inscribed stone at Kilbonane,
County of Kerry,” I gave some evidence, of the existence of the name Gann in one of the
inscriptions to be found on that remarkable monument. (Pro. v. i. Series 11, p. 27.) The
name is also preserved in several land denominations, as Scartagannon, near Doneraile, Co.
Cork. In the Index Nom. of the Annals of the Four Masters we meet the name but once in
the above form, but in that of Mac Cann it occurs frequently. As McCann and McGann,
it is still a living one often met with. We can recognise this name in the Gaulish forms of
Ganna . . Gruter, 853, 9, and Gannica, Momsen. . 200. We have here Mac, the nominative
case, in place of the usual genitive, Maqi. The patronymic is Deglann, a well-recognised
name connected with the province of Munster. Declan or Deglan was the patron saint of
the Decies, and flourished at Ardmore in the fifth century. It is curious that there is no
notice of this remarkable personage either in the Annals of the Four Masters, or in the
Chronicon Scotorum.
DROMKEARE. (Pl. XXVIII.)
The Keel of Drumkeare is on the townland of Dromkeare, parish of Dromod. Ord. Sh.
No. 98. -
It is situated on a low inch, on the western bank of the stream which runs into Lough
Currane, near Waterville. The name has been interpreted “the Sheep Ridge;” a local
Seanacuidhe, Mr. O'Donoghue, says, not so, that it is Drom-Caer, the Ridge of the Fort,
from an eminence immediately over it, upon which stands a stone-ramparted fort. The Keel
is circular, or nearly so, the dimensions being 83ft. by 76ft.; it appears to have been originally
enclosed by an uncemented stone wall, which has almost disappeared under reparations made
with earth and smaller stones. It is curious that this Keel is devoted to the burial of
unbaptized and baptized children to the ages of six or eight months. No grown-up children
or adults are ever interred here. The graves are small, with a stone at each end.
In the centre is a depression in the ground, where there are two large stones, one of
them on edge, and looking very much like the remnants of a cromlech or cistvaen.
The Ogam-inscribed stone stands 5ft. 6in. above ground, its entire length being 6ft. 9in.,
dimensions at bottom 1ſt. Bin. by 4%in., and close to the top 12in, by 4in. The material is
a reddish gray sandstone, of a fine hard grain; the inscription is on the left angle of one of
the broader faces, occupying a length of 3ft 7in. ; it commences near 12in, under the present
ground line; the consonants generally are well preserved, particularly those below the ground
level, but the vowels have nearly all been effaced; this is not to be wondered at, considering
216 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. [CHAP. x.
the nature of the material and its exposure near the coast to the Atlantic storms of ages.
The following copy has been made by my friend, Mr. James Brenan:-
*: Ilm-m-H+, ++...Irr...mmf
T D N N M A. M N L N N
It is obviously difficult to give a correct rendering of this legend, owing to the absence of
the vowels. A copy by Mr. Windele is substantially the same, but he omits the first three
characters, which are deep below the ground ; indeed, when visited by that gentleman, the
letters NN were covered. We have some evidence of the word Maqi, the M is perfect; there
are indications of one vowel score, and the space for four scores of the Q are legible, and
traces of a fifth ; also one score of the I, and sufficient space for the remainder. We have,
then, the skeleton of the patronymic. The following restoration is of course conjectural, but
to a certain extent warranted by the existing remains:-
111 H----mſm-H-IIIllihi Hi-m-Tº-TTTTTT
T U D A N N M A Q I M E N L E N N
The vowels only are required to complete the inscription, and those I have inserted are
suitable to the existing spaces, as well as to the orthography of the names. Tudann or
Todann and Menlenn have a decidedly Gaedhelic aspect.
Upon the top of the pillar is inscribed a cross of an antique type, similar in form to that
on the Gowran example; it is 2ft. Bin, long in the shaft, and 1ſt. 1 in, broad in the cross-
arm, the extremities of each finishing with rectangular cross-ends.
EMLAGH WEST. (Pl. XXIV.)
This inscription I copied July 28th, 1868. I found the stone standing against a field
fence on the townland of Emlagh West, within half a mile of the town of Dingle. There is a
narrow bohereen a few perches in length leading from the main road to the field in which it
stands, and it is close to the end of this passage, at the left-hand side. It is a rough,
irregular-shaped monolith, 4ft. 6in. high above ground, 1.ft. Bin. wide, and 9in, thick at the
centre; it is of hard compact clay-slate. The inscription is broadly and deeply cut, occupying
the upper part of an angle of the stone; the characters are quite legible, the vowels marked
by short cuts:–
mºm-ºffm HiFA*-*
T A Lº A. G. N. I. M A C
The inscription is incomplete, the last letter being close to the head; the stone appears
to have been broken at the last score, as it looks fractured. It reads: TALAGNI MAC.
The name is strange, but of a purely Gaedhelic type. Thus we have Talamnach, Talorgan.
Gaulish forms, Talori . . Orel. 162. There is no cross on the monument, which formed one of
the jamb stones at the entrance of a Rath-eave which once existed in the same field; the
Rath was erased, and the stone placed in its present position, by Mr. Maurice Collis, of Dingle.
Mr. Hitchcock, in his MS. notes, states that the Rath Cave had an angular roof, many of
the stones showing evidence of dressing. Mr. F. Dunlevy, of Dingle, informed Mr. Windele
that he was the first discoverer of the stone; that it formed one of the lintels, and not a jamb
* This is given as M on the plate. I find M also in Mr. Brash's sketch book.-G.M.A.
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 217
stone, and that he first pointed it out to Mr. Hitchcock. Mr. Windele exhibited a rubbing
of this stone at the Cork Cuiverian Soc. Jan. 3rd, 1849.
KINNARD EAST (P. XXV.)
Two inscribed stones are to be seen in the lone churchyard of Kinnard, townland of
Kinnard east, and parish of Kinnard, about 3% miles east of Dingle. I visited this place
July 25th, 1868, and found it a lonely deserted spot, lying at the left-hand side of a hilly
road above the second hamlet, on the face of the hill “Ceann Ard’’ (the Head of the
Height), Ord. Sh. No. 53. These monuments were discovered by Mr. Hitchcock.
No.1 is a flattish oval stone in section, somewhatsimilar in shape to those of the Ballintaggart
group, being also rounded at the ends; its entire length is 4ft. 6in., it is 1.ft. 9in, wide at its
broadest end, and diminishes to 1ſt. Bin., the narrowest end being in the earth; it is a hard,
close-grained, dark greyish stone, of a material not found in the locality. -
The inscription is short, well cut, and perfectly legible, being incised on the broad end of
the monument; there is no defined stem-line, the rounded surface of the stone performing
that function, as in the Ballintaggart examples:-
7+%++m ##
M. A. R. I A N I
At the right-hand side of the inscription, as shown in the plate, there is a curious diagram
that has given rise to some speculations. It is a square figure subdivided into four squares,
the upper two of which are again subdivided into four smaller squares, all formed by incised
lines; below the inscription is a rude diminutive cross-mark of two lines, and about 3in. in
length. The Right Rev. Dr. Graves, in a paper read before the R. I. A. June 11th, 1849,
thus refers to the Kinnard stone: “This monument is inscribed with a cross, and the name
MARLANT written in the Ogham character; and there are no grounds for pretending that it
is less ancient than any other Ogham monument in existence. Now, not only does this name,
MARLANUS, which is equivalent to the Irish Maolmario, belong to Christian times, but we
have reason to suspect it to be as late as the tenth century.” (Pro. Roy. Ir. Ac. v. iv. p. 357.)
Now it is quite true that here we have a combination of letters that form the name Mariani,
but I contend that in this instance it is quite an accident, and that the seven letters forming
this inscription could be transposed with equal facility into several other names and words.
We have already had before us the Burnfort inscription, p. 118, where I have proved beyond
doubt that the characters read by Dr. Graves as the name of a French Bishop, “Sagittari,”
was a pure Gaedhelic inscription, and read “The Sage” or “Priest Dari.” Latin, Greek,
or Sanscrit names could be manufactured out of Ogam inscriptions. I read this inscription
“Ma Riani,” “The field plain " or “land of Rian.” Magh signifies a plain, a field, Rian,
a proper name. This is decidedly a terminior boundary stone, set up to mark the bounds of
the property or territory of some landed proprietor or chieftain named Rian. This is a
common Gaedhelic name still plentifully found in Ireland in the same form, Rian and Ryan.
Its ancient forms appear to have been Rian, Ruan, and Rini. It is a curious corroboration of
this appropriation of the monument, that a district not far from Kinnard is called Tir-Ruan,
FF
218 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
literally “Land of Ruan " or “Rian,” from “Tir, land, country, border.” The same name
is found in Cornwall, a country once colonized by the Gaedhil, as we find three parishes in
that district called Ruan Major, Ruan Minor, and Ruan Langihorne, while in the neighbouring
county of Devon, an Ogam inscribed monument has been found, which also bears an
inscription in Roman British characters, but in the Gaedhelic formula, “Maqi Rini.” I
have already given instances of the use of this character in inscriptions on boundary stones,
and I think we have not the slightest reason to doubt that this is a similar case. The
diagram marked on the stone is another evidence in favour of this view; it evidently
represents a regular map or ground plot, showing the subdivisions of some tract of land.
Dr. Graves speaks of “this monument” being “inscribed with a cross.” I shall only refer
the reader to the plate, where he will find depicted the “cross” that is supposed to stamp
this stone with its Christian character, being two short scratches which might have been
made any time within the last 50 years. It is probable that this stone was found either on
the spot or in the immediate neighbourhood, when the church was built, and that it had been
set up as a headstone over some grave and the little cross marked on it.
No. 2. This is an irregular-shaped monolith lying prostrate on a grave; it is of the same
quality of material as the preceding; it measures 5ft. 10in. in length, and varies in breadth from
1ft. 9in, to 1ſt. 1 in., and is from 7in. to 10in, in thickness; it bears an inscription on one
angle, commencing at 1.ft. 9in. from the bottom, running round the head and down the
opposite angle, as follows:–
+++/-ul-HHHHHirm him #141+III++*
A C U R C I T I E' U F O D D U
The last four letters are faint and doubtful. My copy agrees with one made by Mr. Windele,
with the exception of three letters omitted by him; to all the characters copied by him he
has given the same values that I have, even to the doubtful ones. I can make nothing of
this beyond the proper name Curci or Core, found also on a stone at Lougher, p. 187, and
also at Ballintaggart, p. 204, and to the historic character of which I have already referred.
Dr. Ferguson reads this “(o) cuRCITIFINDD (1) L [o] R[A] c,” there is no such combination
as FIN on the stone, and the starting letter A is quite plain and distinct. The absence of
the word Maqi in this and other inscriptions is indicative of the fact that all are not
sepulchral, or that the formula is not the same in all cases.
FORTWILLIAM. (Pl. XXII.)
This fine monument is at present in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. In a paper
read before the Roy. Ir. Aca., on June 26th, 1842, the late Rev. Dr. Todd, W.P., described
this memorial, stating that it was found, with several others, in a cave at Fortwilliam, in the
Co. of Kerry. The paper is illustrated by a good engraving, which accurately represents the
stone. I made a careful examination of it on March 9th, 1869, and again in August, 1873,
and copied the inscription with all the care I could, as follows:–
+m} m hit." Tm {Hitſ/+++++++++1-1++TIF4HF
A N M E E D L I, O I ST O I M A C U I E D D, O I N I
It is a tapering monolith, of a hard, close-grained clay-slate, its surface perfectly smooth,
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. KERRY. 219
almost polished; it is 4ft 6in. in height, 1.ft. 7in, wide at bottom, and Sin. at top, and of
irregular thickness. The angle which bears the inscription is much rounded and worn,
requiring great care in determining the position of the scores as respects the stem-line; this
is especially the case towards the top. The consonants are very short, except where they
cross the angle; the vowels are short strokes, but longer than is usual, very nearly as long as
the consonants. The third letter is not as well cut as the rest, and looks as if an after-
thought, being squeezed in between the N and F. The 9th group of seven vowel scores is
difficult to deal with, as they are equidistant; the same occurs in the 11th group; between
the 17th and 18th letters there is a small flake off the angle, which probably took away a
score of the letter which I have marked I. In the tenth we have a character that very
seldom appears on these monuments, that which is supposed to stand for ST, and which is
to be found on Glounagloch No. 2, p. 121, and Lugnagappul No. 2, p. 198. The reading
of this inscription is attended with some difficulty, owing to the nature of the angle, and the
three groups of seven vowels each ; I adventure the following:—
A N M F E D L I, O I S T O I M A C U I E D D, O IN IT.
R E S T S FE D L L O I (ST O 1) T H E S ON OF EDD 0 IN.
The initials Anm I have already alluded to. Fedlloi, a proper name, having an affinity to
such as Fedlimb, Fedlimidh, Fidhairle, &c. The group of seven vowels in this name I read as
or; they certainly compose two letters, and must read one of the following: or, Io, UE, or Uo.
I incline to consider them as representing or, being more consonant with the orthography of
the names in which they occur than either of the others, though in truth, from the well-
known commutability of the vowels in Gaedhelic, in this instance it would make very little
difference. The letters stor, I confess my inability to deal with in any satisfactory manner.
My copy taken from the original agrees with Dr. Ferguson's mould (Mus. R. I. A.).
Gaulish forms of this name (Fedloi) Fadilla (Orel. 4870), Fadius (Gruter, 939,4). The
patronymic is an archaic form of Aedon, in the genitive case. Gaulish form, Aedoni
(Grut. 764,1).
CAHERNAGAT. (Pl. XXV.)
This inscribed stone stands within an ancient Fort or Dun called Cahernagat (Cathair-
na-g-cat, i.e. Catfort), on the townland of Ballywiheen and parish of Marhin, about two miles
N.W. of Ventry. Ord. Sh. No. 42. It was discovered by the Rev. James Goodman, in
October, 1855, lying prostrate in the Caher, covered with rubbish, and by whom it was
placed erect. It was visited by Mr. Hitchcock, in September, 1856, who communicated an
account of it to the R. I. A., which was read before that body on December 8th, 1856, from
which I take the following extract:-
“September 2nd, 1856, I visited the Ogham monument discovered in Cahernagat, one of
the ancient circular stone enclosures on the townland of Ballywiheen, about two miles to the
north of Ventry. It was discovered by the Rev. James Goodman, in October, 1855, whose
short account it may be well to give: “I discovered also at the “Cathair-na-gat” on the same
farm a large Ogham stone with the most perfect inscription I have ever seen. It was covered
with rubbish, and probably never came under your notice. I got half a dozen of men, and
220 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. ſcHAP. x.
with their assistance had it placed standing on the top of the Cathair.' I found the stone
standing as placed by Mr. Goodman. It is one of, if not the most beautiful Ogham stone
monument now on our list, being longitudinally streaked on both sides, which are flat, in a
rather artistic manner, with purplish coloured lines, such being the nature of the stone.
Numerous similarly streaked stones may be seen in the fences in the immediate vicinity of
the Caher, and of these I have brought a few specimens, which may give some better idea
than description of the beautiful nature of this fine Ogham monument. The following are the
dimensions of the stone: Height from ground 4ft. Sin., breadth at ground 1.ft. 10}in.,
breadth near top 1ſt. 5in., at top about 10in., thickness of stone at ground 9in., at top
about 3}in. or 4 in. The inscription, of which I made a rubbing, is singularly perfect, there
being none covered in the ground and none lost on the top, although it occurs on a rough
corner of the stone. I have examined the top several times during my stay, and I may say,
that I am certain the inscription never extended farther than the four strokes at the right-
hand side. I have made a rough but accurate diagram copy of the inscription, which may
serve as a copy to the rubbing. . . . . The stones forming the Caher in which this
Ogham monument stands are laid horizontally, but the whole work has a rude and ancient
appearance. . . . . Two or three fields north of Cahernagat is another but much larger
enclosure of a different class, a Calluragh, in which may be seen the ruins of an ancient
oratory, together with numerous monumental stones and graves; and in the drywall outside
the enclosure, sunk in the ground, is the rudest and perhaps one of the largest stone crosses
I have seen.” (Pro. R. I. A. v. vi. p. 439.)
The inscription on this stone is as follows:–
**/#llllll-luhluk/+ll-Hamri-ſa/#ll ill-irm
T O G. I. T. T A C C M A Q E S A G A R E T T (). S
This inscription is an exceedingly valuable and interesting one. In the first place, it is
perfectly legible, and affords no ground for cavil, even as to the value of a single letter. In
the second place, as giving us archaic forms of names of much interest to the philologist;
and finally, as corroborating the disputed reading of the Burnfort example. The name of
the person commemorated is given as Togittacc. In this form we recognise one frequently
met with in our indices, as Toictheach, A.D. 808; Toicthuich, A.D. 895 (Ann. 4 Mas.). See
also Mart. Don. at pp. 5, 279. We also find the forms Tocco and Tocha in the same autho-
rities. Gaulish forms, Tocco. . Mom. 130, and Toccae, Togirix, Orel. 162, 326.
Instead of the usual Maqi we have in this instance Maqe, followed by the patronymic
łettos with the prefix Saga. This form is exceedingly interesting, as sustaining the reading
of the Burnfort inscription given by the Rev. Mathew Horgan, “Sagi Dari” (see Burnfort,
p. 118). In common with all other Ogam monuments found in raths, this bears no sacred
emblem. It will be well here to bear in mind the statement of Mr. Hitchcock, that within a
few fields is to be seen a Calluragh, with remains of interments and many rude headstones.
DROUMATOUK. (Pl. XX.)
This remarkable spot is situated on the lands of Cappagh (Ceapach), townland of Drou-
matouk, parish of Kenmare. Ord, Sh. No. 93. An Ogam inscribed stone was discovered
CHAP. x.] oGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 221
here by a stonemason named Owen McCarthy, who had been for some time employed by
Mr. Windele in the capacity of an Ogam detective. On this information the latter visited the
locality, which he thus describes —“I found the Cilleen on a verdant elevation, on a farm
held by a man named Cross, who accompanied us to the place, It is a remarkable site; the
field in which it is placed is called Parc-a-Dallan (the field of the standing stones), and the
little burial place is marked by an irregular circle of low stones, enclosing an area in which
stand, in a line from east to west, three large Dallans. The centre one is 10ft. in height, 5ft.
in breadth, and 1.ft. 3in. in thickness; the other stones are about 5ft. in height each. On
the S.E. angle of the great Dallan is an inscription consisting of 23 letters, commencing
near the ground, and occupying the whole angle to near the summit. The scores are well
defined, although considerably corroded and coated with lichen ; the lower scores are not all
in equally good condition; there are some cracks also in the lower extremity.” (MS. notes.)
I visited this place from Kenmare; taking the Kilgarvon road for a mile and a half, I
crossed the Roughty river at Beechmount, went up the hill-road by Green-lane about a mile,
until I came to Lehane's farm, whose house is one of a cluster at the left-hand side of the
road. Leaving the car I faced up the hill, and after a stiff walk of about half a mile came
to a moory plateau, where, in a small field, I found the object of my search. The monument
consisted of a low flat elevation of the Cilleen type, originally about forty feet in diameter,
and was surrounded by a circle of low stones, four of which are in situ, and form a segment
showing the original curve. A portion of the Cilleen has been removed owing to the field
fence having passed through it; on the remaining part stand three pillar stones, in a line
nearly E. and W. The eastern stone is 4ft. above ground, and is 2ft. 6in. by 2ft. at the
centre. The western one is 4ft. 6in. high, and 5ft. by 2ft. 6in. at the centre; there are no
artificial marks on these. The centre stone stands 8.ft. 6in. above ground, is 5ft. Bin. in its
extreme width, and 14in. in thickness; it is irregular in its form, much weather-worn, and has
an aspect of extreme age, being covered with a hard thick lichen; this is the inscribed stone.
The legend is on the south-east angle, commencing within 9in. of the ground, and
occupying a length of 4ft. 4 in. The angle upon which it is cut is much weather-worn and
seamed by natural cracks. Considerable caution is requisite in tracing the scores to
distinguish between the natural and artificial; Mr. Windele evidently felt this. My visit was
paid at 6 o'clock in the morning, the grey light being favourable to my examination. My
copy from the stone is as follows:–
#mr/+14+mphiºtr Hºllah II/+14+hit+Trºll-ill
A N M 0 T U N I L O C I D M A Q I A L O T T
I traced the scores with the greatest care, going over and over the dubious ones, which I
have shown by dotted lines. It would appear to show a formula already familiar to us,
commencing with Anm ; the letters of which are much damaged, and the values I have given
them open to doubt, though probability is in my favour. One vowel mark in the fourth letter
is very faint, but the space is there and traces of it; the last score of the seventh is also
faint ; all the other letters are perfectly legible. Mr. Windele, in his copy, shows a con-
cluding 0 to the patronymic ; I could not, however, detect the slightest trace of the vowel.
The final T finishes close to the shoulder of the stone, which is quite rough and uileven.
222 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
I would suggest the following reading:—
A N M OT UN II, O C ID M A Q I A L OTT or A L O D.
Whether the ten letters preceding the word Maqi form a proper name, or are divisible
into words, I am not able to determine. On a stone at Lomanagh, p. 197, within three
miles of Droumatouk, we find Ottin, on the Deelish stone Ott, p. 123. Lochd, in Irish,
signifies slumber. Gaulish form, Ottacillae. . Orel 373. The patronymic I read Allod, two
Ts in Irish having the power of D. -
Allod is a pre-historic name; in a genealogy in the B.B. we find the four sons of
Ealladan, a Tuath-de-Daman chief, namely, “Ogma, the sun-worshipper, Allod, the charming,
Delbaoth, the undaunted, and Dagda, the great.” In a poem by Eochy O'Flynn, found in
the same authority, and also in the L.L., he is also named as one of the sons of Ealadan. I
have also found the name as Allott in the Maghlena Pedigrees (Maghlena, p. 170). Drou-
matouk is a wild spot, here are no associations or traditions of a Christian age; the low
pagan Keel, the circle of stones, and the three great monumental pillars, unmistakeably mark
its pre-Christian character.
LAHARAN. (Pl. XXIX.)
These interesting monuments were found in the cave of a Rath on the townland of
Laharan and parish of Kilbonane, Ord. Sh. No. 57.
They were removed from thence and built into the cottage of Patrick Quirk, on the same
townland; one having been used as the lintel of a door, the other as that of a window. The
name of the exact spot where the Rath stood was Rockfield. The first discovered was that
over the door, by Mr. Windele, who exhibited a rubbing of it at a meeting of the Cork
Cuiverian Soc. Jan. 3rd, 1849. It was subsequently copied by Mr. Hitchcock, and after-
wards visited by the Lord Bishop of Limerick and Lord Dunraven, who, I believe, discovered
the second inscription over the window. They were subsequently removed by the latter
nobleman to his demesne, Adare Manor, where I saw them in Sept. 1868.
No. 1. This is a pillar of a pale red sandstone, standing 4ft. 11 in. above ground, 9in, square
at bottom, and 8in. by 4in. at top, of an irregular shape, and having two angles on the same
face inscribed. The characters on the left angle are quite perfect and legible, being boldly
and deeply cut, commencing at 7in. from the ground, and finishing within 2in, of the top.
++1+|Hihtill tº H-111 #ll hºm-ºr-tº-ill
M A Q I R L T T E M A Q I C O L A B O T
M. A. Q. I R ITT E M A. Q. I C O L A B O T.
T H E S ON OF R ITT T H E S O N 0 F C O L A B O T.
On the right-hand angle is also a long inscription, commencing at 13in. from the ground;
it is, however, so damaged that only four letters can be identified, and these scattered along
the angle; it is therefore unreadable. The form of the perfect inscription is not an unusual
one: we find it in the examples at Gortnagullagh, p. 181, Ballinrannig No. 2, p. 209, and
Cilleen Cormack. We have here the well-recognised form Ritte, with a new and strange one,
Colabot.
No. 2. This is a tall, tapering monolith, standing 6ft. 10in, high above ground, and 11 in.
by 10%in, at bottom. It is a hard compact clay-slate, and bears inscriptions on two angles of
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 223
the same face; the letters are broadly and deeply cut, and quite legible, excepting those
marked by dots, which are doubtful, owing to abrasion of the angle. - -
LEFT ANGLE :-41. Hit Tim H-I-it Ill Hºm Hill+*##|T +++++
C O I I, L A B B O T A S M A Q I C 0 R B I
The inscription commences at 1.ft. 10in, from the bottom, and finishes within Sin, of the
top ; all the letters are perfect.
C O I L L A B B O T A S M A Q I C OR B I.
C O I L L A B B O T T H E S O N OF CO R B .
It may be suggested that all the letters preceding the word Maqi may form one proper
name, or again that these may read “Coirthe of Llabbot.” When, however, we examine
the inscription on the companion stone, we find the identical name, though spelled in a
slightly different manner, dropping the double consonant and the I, which, however, makes
no change in the sound. It is therefore quite evident that the name in both cases is Colabot.
Names with the prefix Col or Colla are of frequent occurrence in our early annals; thus
we have Colla Uais, king in A.D. 315, Colla Mean, slain in A.D. 331, also Colla-da-Chrioch,
Colla, an abbot of Scattery, and Colla Mac Baith, Lord of Limerick; while such names as
Colcenn, Colbrenn, Colen, Colman, are abundant. Corb or Corbi is also a well-known
name in our early annals, as, for instance, Corb Olum, one of the three nobles who escaped
the massacre planned and executed by the Attacots (Aitheach Tuatha), A.D. 10, and who was
the ancestor of the Eoghanachts of Munster. We have also Cu-Corb, Mogha-Corb, &c.
The Maghlena pedigrees give us Corbs and Corba, pp. 170, 173. All such names as Corpri,
Cairbre, &c., are derived from the same root of Corb, a chariot. (See O'Connellan, Annals
4 Mas. p. 41.) Gaulish form, Corbuloni... Orel. 414. Corbeus. . Caes. viii. 6. Bellowax-
Collabot is to be found on the Kiltera stone, Co. Waterford.
RIGHT ANGLE – ++11 hit-Hit-4 ++++++||++ -
M A Q I M U C O I Q E R O I
T H E S O N OF M U C O I C U E R O I.
The letters commence at 2ft. 6in. from the bottom of the stone, and end within 6in. of
the top. The A in the first word is not quite distinct, but from the space between the letters
and the presence of all the other letters of this well-known word, there can be no doubt of its
value; the centre dot of the sixth character is also doubtful, as shown, but for the reasons
above stated we are justified in restoring it, as I have done. This form of inscription,
where the patronymic comes before the name of the person commemorated, is by no means
unusual, as already noticed.
In this instance we have also the well-known name Mucoi, while that of Cueroi will be
recognised as being a well-known regal Munster name, found in our ancient MSS. in the
form of Curi and Curoi.
I have thus endeavoured to describe these interesting memorials, which from the fact of
their being found in the same place, of their bearing the same name, and of the exact
similarity of the style of forming the letters, must certainly be of the same age, and have
originally stood in the cemetery of a family or tribe, which must have been despoiled to provide
building materials for the Rath, out of which they were subsequently taken to build the cabin
224 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
of Paddy Quirk. Such have been the vicissitudes to which these wondrous memorials of a
mysterious pre-historic race have been subjected. As usual with all Ogams found in Raths,
there is no Christian emblem on these.
It is worthy of remark that the vowels are strong oval dots, and the cross consonants
are perpendicular to the angle, as in a few other examples.
No. 3. Mr. Windele states that he found a fragment of an Ogam inscribed stone built
into the gable wall of the above-named house. It was contained on a piece 12in. in length,
and consisted of the following letters:—
TT/+II+%
ADARE MANOR.
At Adare Manor is an Ogaminscribed stone, standing 4ft. above ground, and 18in. by 12in,
at the centre. It is rough and weather-worn, and of irregular shape, bearing an inscription on
one angle, commencing at 9in. from the ground, and occupying 2ft. 7in. in length of the angle.
*+HT HImr Hit
C O R B A G N 1
The above is perfectly legible, the characters are broadly and deeply cut, the vowels oval,
strongly marked. On one of the Lanaran stones we find Corbi. Corban, or Corbagan; the
latter is the same formation as Cormacan; thus, Conlach is sometimes written Counalach,
and Concan, Connagan and Connican. This identical name will also be noticed on one of the
Ballyhank find, No. 2, p. 143. The supporting pillar at Aghaliskey gives us Coibagni, p. 147.
In the memorials of Adare, Lord Dunraven gives this inscription as CORBAGNI MACUI BIFITI.
It was used as a covering-stone of a gullet close by the cabin. On Pl. XXIV. is a drawing, incomplete,
containing the latter part of the above inscription. – G.M.A.
MAUMENORIG. (Pl. XXI.)
. This is a rough, unshapely rock fragment, averaging 3ft. Bin. in height, and 5ft, in
width, but deeply buried in the ground, and standing in a Keel on the townland of Maumanorig
and parish of Marhin. Ord. Sh. No. 42.
The inscription, though rough and coarse, is quite legible, being cut on a fleasg, incised
on the face of the stone or rock; they are broadly and deeply cut. The following is from a
copy by Mr. Windele –
+TIPAll H-T-HTH-Irm-i-Tº-Hitſ/
A N M C O L O L O L N A L I H I R
He states that the only doubtful portion of the inscription is the tenth group, consisting of
Seven scores below the line, that they are nearly all equidistant, but as the two first scores
are higher up on the line he makes them a distinct letter L. This inscription requires
a careful examination; it occupies a length of 5ft. Bin., and is as follows:–
+1}+4++THºm HITIrº-m-tºm-ul-Hºſ/
A N M C O L O L O L N A L I L T I R.
The groups 8, 9, and 10 occur where the inscription turns on the stone, forming nearly a
right angle; hence they are rather confused, but are determinable as I have shown them.
Over the 15th group a T has evidently been inserted, as if it had been forgotten and then
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 225
inserted; this is quite palpable. I confess my inability to give any thing like a proper
rendering of this legend. Dr. Ferguson, however, appears to find no difficulty in doing so;
he looks upon it as “one of the class of intentional obscurations,” as “seemingly an
inversion and phonetic puzzle,” and he reads it “Colman Ailiter, i.e. Colman the Pilgrim.”
(Pro, R.I.A. v. 1871, p. 60.) I am not sure which way he makes out this phonetic puzzle,
as there are two modes of doing it; by taking Col and then going back and adding the 3rd,
1st, and 2nd, this would certainly make Colman; or does he take Col, and then add the 3rd,
12th, and 11th; this would also make Colman; what then becomes of the six residuary letters
in the fore part of the legend ? But it is quite evident that the formula Anm is composed
of the three first letters of the legend, and must therefore be separated from the rest. What
becomes then of the Colman reading, even by the process adopted 2 Whichever way
Colman is produced, independent of the word Alitir, these six letters will be redundant.
But the final word is Aliltir, a proper name which we find in the Ann, of Tigernach, at
A.D. 599, in the form of Ailliltir. This is a very remarkable identification, as the name
occurs but once in our indices, as far as I have been able to ascertain; of course I am not
going to connect this individual with the inscription at Kilcoleman. The form Aillitir also
occurs in our indices, and numerous names with the prefix Ail; originally it signified a
pilgrim, and it has come down to us from pagan times from Ail, a great upright stone
or pillar, and Itrillaim, correctly Triallaim, a march, journey, walk; referring to the
pilgrimages made in ancient times to the consecrated pillar stones, holy wells, and other
objects of pagan veneration, as well as to the Deiseal or Sacred Walk observed in the
religious rites paid to the Ail or stone pillar, and retained to this day in circumambulating
holy wells, sunwise (Deiseal).
The Cealuragh or Keel is one mile north of Ventry, at some distance east of the road
which leads by the Castle of Rathinane to Smerwick; it is a wild, uncultivated spot. There
are at present no marks of interment there, as it has for many years been disused as a burial-
ground, and there are no remains of any building. The locality is named Kilcoleman. The
inscribed rock has two Maltese crosses within circles incised on the same face that bears the
Ogam legend.
The name Colman has but once been met with on this class of monuments; on one of
the Glenamuillin stones now in the Mus, R.I.A. we find Colomagni, written in an intelligible
and straightforward manner, and not as “an inversion and phonetic puzzle.” This is rather
to be wondered at, as it is one of the commonest names in our indices. That of the Four
Masters has a list of sixty, and that in the Mart. Don, one hundred and fifteen. The name
of the Keel was evidently Dr. Ferguson's inspiration for endeavouring to evolve Colman from
this inscription.
AGHADOE.
This inscribed stone was discovered by Mr. Pelham, in the N.W. corner of the old
Cathedral of Aghadoe, near Killarney; he communicated a short account of it, illustrated by
an engraving, to Wal. Col. v. vi. p. 193. He described it as being then 7ft. in length; if
such was then the fact, the present stone must be but a fragment of the original, as it is but
4ft. 2in, in length, and 9%in, by 7in, at centre. Mr. Windele states that “the inscription
G. G.
226 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
contains only six letters, all consonants and duplicates of each other; the absence of vowels
is remarkable. The characters read GG FF SS, forming quite a sufficient riddle to those
desirous of penetrating its mystery" (Windele's Cork and Killarney, p. 337). Lady
Chatterton also visited this stone, of which she gives a drawing in her “Rambles in the
South of Ireland,” v. i. p. 231. It is at present to be seen in the garden of Lord Headley's
residence near Killarney.
BRANDON.
On one of his Dingle tours Mr. Windele discovered an inscribed stone on the edge of a
cliff on Brandon Mountain, at the Littoragh side. He states that it was accessible until the
winter of 1849, when a portion of the bank on which it stood gave way and fell into the
waves beneath, leaving the monument standing on the extreme verge of the cliff, but too
dangerous to approach sufficiently near for examination. From this cause he was unable to
copy the inscription, though he could see beyond doubt that its angles were scored with
Ogams. See note p. 196.
INNISHWICKILLANE.
This stone was discovered by Mr. Windele on the island of Innishvickillane, one of the
Blasket group, which lies S.W. of Dunmore Head. It lay in front of a rude Clochan, locally
called St. Brandon's Cell. A rubbing of the inscription was exhibited by the discoverer at a
meeting of the Cork Cuiv. Soc., Jan. 3rd, 1849. The locality is shown on Ord. Sh, No. 61.
The stone is in length 3ft. 6in., and 7in, by 6in. at the centre.
III-IIIſ Il tº H I-Hit- +—ll
This inscription is imperfect.
DERREEN.
In the year 1843, a communication was made to Mr. Windele by a Mr. Gahan, then
tutor in the family of Mr. McSweeny, of Derreen, in the parish of Tuosist, in which he
stated his having examined a Cilleen in that neighbourhood in which unbaptized children
only were interred. In the centre was a large flag-stone, which, on being removed, was
found to cover an entrance to a cave, outside of which, he writes, “I found a stone marked
with Ogams, particularly on the angles.” I have never seen any further reference to this
find.
BRAKEL.
Mr. Windele found a defaced inscription on the angle of a lintel stone over the entrance
to a Rath Cave, on the lands of Brakel, parish of Kilcoleman. Ord. Sh. 47. He describes
the stone as being 4ft. in length, 2ft. in breadth, and 12in, in thickness. He gives the
following characters as still legible —
KILFOUNTAIN. (Pl. XXX.)
This curious monument stands in an ancient but now disused burial ground, on the
townland of Kilfountain, parish of Kildrum (Ord. Sh. No. 43), and about one mile E. of
Bally reigh. In this place are to be found the ruins of one of those cells of uncemented
masonry so frequent in this part of Kerry; a couple of feet in height of the walls only
CHAP. X.] oGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 227
remain, which evidences it to have been a rectangular building, 21ft. by 16ft. Mr. Windele
visited this place in Sept. 1848, and found standing in the grave-yard a slender pillar stone,
4ft. in height, and 9in. by 4in. On the face is inscribed a curious cross, and under it certain
letters of a very ancient type. On the narrow edge of the stone are inscribed two letters,
or at least portions of them; as the scores, respectively five and four in number, do not at
present reach the angle, it is evidently an Ogam inscribed pillar converted into a Christian
memorial, these few scores having escaped the total defacement which befel the rest.
MANGERTON.
In the year 1849, Mr. Windele was informed by Mr. Richard T. Orpen of the existence
of an Ogam inscribed stone on the side of Mangerton Mountain, near Killarney; and on the
23rd of June of the same year he proceeded to that locality in search of it. He found the
stone lying beside a rude trackway about half way up the mountain ; it was broken in two
pieces; the inscription was short, consisting of five letters only.
It was known to the peasantry by the name of Dallan Diarmada (the pillar stone of
Diarmid). “He was a main-strong-man who lived in the ould times, ages ago. He brought
this Dallan up the mountain on his shoulder, and throwing it off here on a sudden, it broke
in two pieces.” This was all that Mr. Windele could learn from the peasantry of this stone.
In 1852 it was examined by the Bishop of Limerick and the Earl of Dunraven. I believe it
is at present in Adare Manor.
CORKABOY. (Pl. XXVIII.)
This inscribed stone was found as a roofing slab, in the souterrain of a Rath, on the
townland of Coreaboy (Corcach-buidhe, i.e. the Yellow Marsh), a short distance from Keel
House, the residence of Mr. Edward Rae, in the parish of Killgarry-lander, and barony of
Trughanackmy, Ord. Sh. No. 46.
It was discovered by Mr. Hitchcock, who copied it as far as he then could, as from its
position several of the letters were concealed. That gentleman writes: “From the fact of
some of the Ogham inscription being hidden by the adjacent stones in this cave, it appears
that this stone was not placed there for the purpose of being viewed, or the inscription
read. My opinion is, that those who built the cave found the Ogham stone somewhere in
the neighbourhood, already inscribed, and used it in their building.” (MS. Notes, Lib.
R.I.A. p. 171.) I visited Keel House, the residence of Mr. Edward Rae, on August 27th,
1869, and found that the inscribed stone had been removed from the Rath-Cave, and was
standing at the right-hand side of the avenue close to the dwelling. It is a fine monolith of
undressed sandstone, of a light red colour, standing 4ft. 10in. above ground, its entire length
being 6ft. ; it is 13in. by 6%in. at the centre, and has two angles inscribed, but not on the
same face, which is unusual, and both are on the right-hand angles of their respective faces,
which is equally unusual. This may be owing to the fact that the remaining angles are
rough and uneven, and unfit for the reception of inscriptions. That on the front face is as
follows:–
Ill-t-ill-ul-Hi-miſſ +llllllllll/4-ill-ºut/+ IIL Ill-hh-
C A T T U F F I Q Q M A Q I R I, T T E
The above are in good preservation excepting the lower half of the M in Maqi, which is
228 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. [CHAP. X.
defaced ; the last three letters are on the head of the stone. We have on this monument
two familiar names, Catuff, and the well-known Ritt. The former name, it will be remem-
bered, is to be found on one angle of the stone from Gortnagullanagh, now in the Museum
of the R.I.A., in the form of Catuf or Catufu, p. 181. The presence of the two Qs is rather
puzzling, unless we read the name Catufiqq. The inscription on the Gortnagullanagh stone
is evidently not complete, the head of the stone showing evidence of fracture, and a copy by
Mr. Windele, taken before its removal, showing two additional Cs, so that it may be that the
name is Catuffice, the genitive case being sometimes formed by suffixing eac or each (see
O'Donovan's Ir. Gram.); in this instance idºl or ice appears to form the genitive, q fre-
quently standing for c in the Ogam. -
No. 2 inscription is on the right-hand angle of the back; the arris of the stone is much
worn and rounded, the letters not being so distinct as the former. Those given below
are, however, legible:—
+III+ Illi- - - - - - - +++++ . . . +TIſ/ - - *+m #mrºr
O F A D D A I O S M C A S O N I
Between the 6th and 7th letters there is a smooth space of 4 inches without a trace of a
character; the 7th is rather indistinct; the last three letters are on the top of the stone, and
require careful examination; the M and C are quite distinct; there is no vowel between
them. The inscription stands Ofaddaios Mc Asoni. The name appears to be Ofaddai, one
of a Gaedhelic type, as, Feadhach, Fedhelm. Ann. 4 Mas. Gaulish forms, Fadia . .
Grut. 1002, 7, Fadius. . 939, 4, Fadianus. 426, 4. Ason ; See Assan, Mart. Don. On
this face of the stone are a number of deep broad scores, as if made by the rubbing of
a sharp instrument. The stone now stands on the townland of Keel, which adjoins that of
Corkaboy, and within a few perches of the ancient church and grave-yard of Kilgarrylanders;
from the name of the townland it is probable that a Cilleen once stood here, which would
at once account for the finding of the Ogam in an adjoining Rath Cave. The deep, broad,
sharp scores on one face of this stone are evidently produced by the whetting of sharp
instruments.
KILCOLAGHT. (Pl. XXXI.)
These inscribed stones were discovered by Mr. Hitchcock, in a half-erased Cilleen on the
townland of Kilcolaght, and parish of Kilorglin. Ord. Sh. No. 65. It was visited by
Mr. Windele on several occasions. I made a careful examination of this place on
Aug. 26th, 1869, from Kilorglin. When I came to Manus bridge, which I passed, I took
the first turn to the right, keeping the straight road for a mile, until I came to a limekiln on
the right-hand side, behind which, in a field, I found the Cilleen. It is a small, circular area,
slightly raised above the level of the field, and about fifteen feet in diameter; it had evidently
been much larger, but has been encroached on from time to time by the tillers of the soil,
who yet never had the hardihood to entirely obliterate it. The Cilleen is an irregular circle
without any fence, and stuck full of Dallans, from 12in. to 4ft. in height, several of which
are inscribed. Here are no traces of interments, nor have there been any within the memories
of the oldest residents; nevertheless the spot retains its funereal character, and the pillar
stones still stand as memorials of those whose very bones have, ages since, mingled with the
CHAP. x.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 229
dust. A few yards from the Cilleen is a rectangular area of untilled ground, which no
working man will touch. An aged resident stated to me that a church formerly existed there,
but it was long before his time that it had been taken down and the stones used up in the
building of a farm house; “but the man who built it could not live in it, no, nor any one
else; so the house had to be taken down, and the stones were built into the field fences.”
There is not, however, a single stone on the site the size of a pebble, neither a trace of
foundation walls. It is incredible to believe, that every vestige of the building should have
disappeared, while the site is held so sacred. “A man was putting in potatoes in the field,
and he encroached the breadth of one ridge upon the forbidden ground; but he was tormented
out of his life by a flock of crows, and had to give it up.” Such were the stories related to
me on the spot. There is no cross or Christian symbol on any of the stones.
Two intelligent peasants belonging to the locality gave me great assistance, clearing about
the bases of the stones, as in most instances the inscriptions went to the extreme lower ends,
and I was obliged entirely to take up some in order to make accurate drawings of them; also
cleansing the weeds and lichen from the scores.
No. 1. This is the most important of the monuments, though of moderate dimensions,
standing 3ft. above ground, and 9in. by 7in, at the centre; it has the unusual number of
four angles inscribed ; though the top has a fractured appearance, it must have been previous
to the cutting of the scores, as in one instance a letter, is there inscribed. The first angle
is as follows:– -
114-##########4 Illilahi:
D ANG NGO R. R. M. A Q I
We have here the word Maqi preceded by a proper name, which is remarkable for having
a character seldom found on these monuments, NG, and stranger still, having it duplicated.
It is quite evident that this legend is completed on the opposite angle of the same face, as
follows:–
+TI-Hit-1/++III
E L I D M E S
The characters are perfect, excepting the sixth group, which has lost one vowel mark. The
line reads Elidmes, or rather Elidames.
D A N G O R R S ON OF E L I D A M .
This I conceive is its legitimate reading, the first name has a family likeness to Donncoirche.
Ann. 4 Mas. A.D. 787. The patronymic to Elim, A.D. 56, 76, and Eledach, A.D. 733.
The third and fourth angles read as follows:—
A N M F I R F A N N I T L G - I R. N
The first seven characters are on the third angle of the stone reading from the bottom
upwards, the last letter being on the top ; the rest are on the fourth angle reading from the
top downwards; the entire reads:—
R E S T S T H E C H L E E F I R F A N N .
230 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
This name I have not been able to identify in our indices, though names with the prefix Fir
are usual. TIGIRN, an archaic form of Tigearma, Tighearma, a lord or chief. This title
appears on one of the Seskinan stones as Tigurn, while our indices present us such forms as
Mochtigearn, Luchtigearn, Caeltighearn, Faeltigearn. Pseudo-British forms, Vortigern,
Kentigern.
No. 2. (Pl. XXXI.) This is a fragment 2ft. 6in. in length and 6in. by 5in. at the
centre; it is broken at the bottom, and has two lines of inscriptions which fully occupy
their respective angles, and appear to have continued round the top, which is very narrow,
as follows:–
O C C M A Q I L L R R I T
The above are quite perfect, but I suspect there were some letters on the top, or at least a
vowel, but now worn.
This name OCC, as a termination, has been found on a stone at Kilcullen, Co. of Cork
(See p. 164). Gaulish forms, Oecus... Stein. 2054. Occanus. . Gruter .. 889. 4.
The word Maqi, which is perfectly legible, dictates the sequence in which it should be
read; we have here also the name Rit spelled with a double R; it would appear to have had
a prefix of which the LL formed a part; as this name has been found with the prefix Cu on
several stones, the terminating vowel, which is usually E and sometimes I, is absent owing to
the top of the stone being damaged. The letters are very broadly and deeply cut, and the
scores farther apart than any others I have seen. -
No. 3. This is a mere fragment 12in, in length and 4in. by 3in., apparently the top
of a slender pillar stone; the few characters that are on it are boldly and deeply cut, as
follows:–
+%|
This piece would not fit with any of the other fragments.
No. 4. (Pl. XXXI.) This stone is 4ft. 4in. in extreme length, and 9in, by 8in, at the
centre; it has a well cut inscription on one angle, the scores deep, broad, and far apart,
occupying the entire length, as follows:–
++++/+14++++Triſ
A G G O M A Q I AG I D D
This inscription gives us two new names, first, Aggo or Acco. I have not been able to
identify this form in our indices; as a prefix we find it in Accobran and Agatan, Mart. Don.
Gaulish forms, Aca.. Grut. 718.7, and Acco-nius. Stein, 732. The patronymic Agidd,
though of a similar type, I have not been able to identify in this form. In the Ann, 4 Mas.
at 972, we have Aghda. Gaulish forms, Acid-inus. Grut. 488.8.
No. 5. This is a fragment of hard green stone 1ſt, 8in, long, and 5in. by Bin, ; it is
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 231
inscribed on two angles, and appears to have been the top of a slender pillar stone; the
following scores are on the centre of one angle:–
--TTTT
The other angle is entirely occupied by the following:—
No. 6. (Pl. XXXI.) This stone is 3ft. Sin, in entire length, 11in by 5in. at bottom,
and 7in. by 4in, at top. It bears a fine inscription, which commences at 12in. from the
bottom, on the left angle, runs round the head and down the opposite angle:–
%+Ill”. Hºllllllll-A-lill-im-Hill++m-#mr
R. I. T. T. E. C C M A Q F O D D O N O S
The letters at the commencement are coarse in execution, but get finer towards the top. We
have here again the name Ritte, after which there is a space of 6in. without any scores, the
angle much rounded and worn; whatever letter existed in that space must have been a vowel,
a consonant could not have been so entirely obliterated ; it may have been an U or an E,
the word may have been ucc or ecc, either of which would be appropriate to a sepulchral
inscription; certainly the double C could have no connection with the name Ritte, which is
perfect in itself. The I in Maqi was on the top of the stone, where a fracture exists which
obliterated it; the rest of the legend is perfect:-
R ITT E (E) C C M A Q (I) F O DD ON 0 S.
Names of a type similar to the patronymic are to be found in our Annals, as, Fotaide,
A.D. 432, Fothad Airgteach, A.D. 285, Fothadh Cairpteach, slain A.D. 285 (Ann. 4. Mas.).
Gaulish form, Fotidius . . Grut. 872.1. The names Foddon and Fadden have come down to
our own day; in some districts the MacFaddens are very numerous. The genitive termina-
tion OS is here again noteworthy.
DUNLOE. (Pl. XXXII.)
In the year 1838, some workmen employed in the construction of a sunk fence in the
demesne of Dunloe, the residence of Daniel Mahony, Esq., broke into a subterraneous
chamber of a circular form, which proved to be the termination of a gallery; shortly after
its discovery, it was visited by Mr. Abell, of Cork, on information conveyed to him that
Ogam inscriptions were to be seen on the angles of some of the stones used in its con-
struction. Mr. Abell on that occasion took copies of such of the inscriptions as were then
accessible. The cave was subsequently visited by Mr. Windele, and a party of antiquaries
from Cork; the result of this visit is given in Windele's “ Notices of Cork and Kil-
larney,” pp. 346-7. I made an examination of this interesting spot in the autumn of
1869. I found the souterrain to be a part of the underground construction usually found
beneath the floors of Raths, the circumvallations of which in this instance have been erased.
It is situated in the demesne of Dunloe, on the townland of Coolnagort, and parish of
Knockane, Ord. Sh. No. 65, and in the upper end of a field next to the public road, running
232 OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
from Beaufort Bridge to the Gap of Dunloe. The entrance to the cave is close to the field
fence, and is approached by some modern steps formed by direction of the proprietor for the
convenience of visitors; at this spot it is 7ft. wide in clear of side walls, and 3ft. Sin. in
height from present floor to bottom of lintels; these dimensions diminish to 3ft. 5in. in
width, and 2ft. 11in. in height, at its extremity. A plan with dimensions will be found on
Plate No. 32. It is built as usual of rude rubble masonry, without mortar, the stones being
well fitted together, though apparently field stones and small boulders; the gallery is roofed
over with a number of stone slabs placed horizontally, several of these are inscribed with
Ogams. The front slab or lintel immediately over the entrance is a fine monolith, 9.ft. in
length, and 1.ft. 7in, by 8%in. at the centre; the external upper angle bears a fine
inscription, occupying a space of 4ft. 10in., the last character being within 6in. of the end
of the stone which runs in on the side wall:—
+++++++++/+|1144*m tº #44+X+
D E G O M A Q I M U C O I T O I C A EA I
The characters owing to exposure are not so sharp as those on the interior stones; they are,
however, quite legible. The material is a hard close-grained clay-slate, and was a noble
pillar stone when erect.
The inscription is of considerable interest, as it presents us with two names familiar to
us, Dego, found also on the pillar at St. Olan's well, and also on one of the upright pillars
in the Rath cave at Drumloghan; we have here also the designation or title Mucoi, with
what appears to be a proper name following, in the form of Toic or Toica; the occurrence of
the cross character in this inscription, as in most others where it occurs, is very puzzling,
as if it represents the diphthong EA, its use here with a vowel before and after it is very
problematical. Toica is evidently a proper name, we have it in Ann. 4 Mas., at A.D. 472,
“Toca son of Aedh, son of Senach, . . . died ; '' we have also Toicteach, A.D. 808. The
Mart. Don. gives us Tocha, p. 222, and Tocha son of Cuan, p. 321. Gaulish forms,
Tocca . . Momms. 130 . . . Stein. 12. Toccae . . Orel. 326.
No. 2. This is the second lintel from the entrance; it is 7ft. 9in, in length, and 1.ft. 5in.
by 6in. at the centre, where it is broken across and supported by an upright pillar, which is
also inscribed. The lintel has two lines of characters on the upper angles, which are con-
sequently most difficult to copy, as many of the letters are concealed by the superincumbent
earth. With some trouble I was able to arrive at the following:—
#-tºll-Hitſ/+ll hit ###Illilihººlllll-Hill+/++++
M A Q I R I, T I MA Q I M A Q I C U M I B I. A
M A Q I R ITI M A Q I M A QI C U M IB IA.
This inscription is remarkably well cut, quite sharp and legible; the only difficulty is in
copying the upper scores, which cannot be seen and must be ascertained by the touch;
where the first letter occurs there is a stone close on the upper part of the score, so that I
could not feel to identify the letter; the presence, however, of the half, and also of the other
letters completing the word, leaves no doubt as to its value. We have in this legend the
name Rite or Riti; the fifth score of the last vowel in the name is slightly separated from the
CHAP. x.] - OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 233
rest, but scarcely sufficient to warrant me in giving it a distinct value; there are indications
of two vowel scores following, but very indistinct, I have marked them doubtful. I have
been somewhat uncertain as to the values to be assigned to the 18th and 19th groups of
scores, whether to look on them as a double D or a C ; between the second and third scores
there is certainly a space, yet on the whole I am disposed to consider them as forming one.
The name is either Cumibia or DDumibia; this doubling of consonants is very usual in
Ogam names, and perhaps the uncovering of the Rath cave, and exposure of the inscription,
would enable us to form a more certain opinion. The second inscription was so covered by
the earth and stones overhead that I found it impossible to take a copy of it.
No. 3. (Pl. XXXII.)
This is a smooth regularly formed pillar, rectangular in section, having some appearance
of having been wrought by art; it supports the broken lintel described above, 18in. of its
length is buried in the soil, and I had to dig at its base to get at some of the hidden letters;
it is in length 5ft. 1 in., width at bottom 9in., at top 11%in., and average thickness 5in. ; it
has a short inscription on an angle, commencing at 9in, from the bottom, and occupying 1ſt.
7in. in length, as follows:—
Ill-hºm--!!!! #m. +-
C U N A C E N A
In its present position the stone is turned bottom upwards; the inscription is remarkably well
cut, sharp, and distinct. At my first view of this stone I was disposed to consider that it
was placed in its natural position, and that the three first letters formed the principal part of
the word Maqe, a form of the genitive case of Mac often found on these inscriptions; on
examining it most carefully, I found that there was no letter M on the stone, neither any
trace of it, and as all the other characters were deeply cut and quite sharp, I came to
the conclusion that there had been no M. My attempts at a rational rendering of it in the
reverse position to what I have shown it above failed, and I was therefore compelled to read
it from the narrow end upwards, when to my astonishment and delight it gave a familiar
name, Cunacena, and which, strange to say, is also to be found on the bilingual stone at
Trallong, in Brecknockshire, Wales, to which I refer for further information.
No. 4. This is the fourth lintel stone from the entrance, and it is inscribed on two
angles. One shows the following:—
++lullahitilllll-TA Hull hºmº/##mr/+lull
M A Q I T T A LM A Q I F O R G O S M A Q
The above legend is finely cut, and perfectly legible; the last letter is close to the top and is
partially on the head of the stone, but partly concealed by the masonry:
M A Q I TTA I, M A QI F O R G O S M A Q I.
The first rame we have is Dal, according to the rule that two Ts at the commencement of a
word have the power of D. Dal appears constantly as a prefix; thus we have Dallan
Forgail, A.D. 592; Dallan, son of Mor, A.D. 903; Dalach, A.D. 818 (Ann. 4 Mas.). But
nearly the exact form above given will be found in the Maghlena pedigrees, namely, TAL
(Battle of Maghlena, p. 175). Forgus is evidently an archaic form of Fergus. Daire
H. H.
234 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
McForgo appears in the Ann. Tig. B.c. 164 (O'Connor's Rerum Hib. Scrip. Wet. v. ii.).
On a stone at St. Vigeans, Forfarshire, we have it in Hiberno-Romanesque characters as
Forcus. -
On the opposite angle are a number of characters which appear to be a continuation of
the legend, and are as follows:–
++III. HHitlill-i-Ill.
O I T O I C A C
I have a strong suspicion that the entire read:—
M A Q I T TAL M A QI F O R G O S M A Q (I M U C) 0 I TOIC A. C.
The individual commemorated is Toica, and his pedigree is given up to his great-grandfather.
The name is the same as that on No. 1 stone. The Dego, whose name appears on that stone,
is most probably the son of the Toica whose name appears on the one before us. This is
curious and interesting, showing evidently that these monuments were taken from a family or
tribal cemetery. In both of these instances Mucoi would appear to be a title of Toica.
Nos. 5 and 6. These are two lintel stones both inscribed on the upper angles, but so
concealed by the stones and earth resting on them, that I found it impossible to make
reliable copies.
No. 7. This is a fragment resting across the 4th and 5th lintels; it shows one angle
inscribed, but for the reasons above stated it could not be copied.
KILBONANE. (Pl. XXXIII.)
The ancient church of Kilbonane stands on the townland and in the parish of the same
name, about one hundred yards off the right hand side of the road leading from Killarney
to Kilorglin, and seven miles from the former; the site is marked on Ord. Sh. No. 57. The
church was a plain structure consisting of a simple nave, built of rude rubble work, the only
noticeable feature being a couplet window at the east end of red sandstone, and which would
indicate its erection to have taken place in the 13th century. The walls are all standing,
and the cemetery which surrounds it, as well as its internal area, is choked with interments.
Mr. Hitchcock discovered in this church a very remarkable and unique Ogaminscribed stone,
he found it lying on a vault near the east end. That gentleman, however, published no
description of it, neither did Mr. Windele, who also visited it. I had been for some time
aware by report of the importance of this monument, but had no opportunity of a personal
examination until August, 1869, when I found the slab lying flat as the covering of a vault
close to the east gable of the church. It is in length 6ft. Bin., and of variable breadth and
thickness, being in the centre 1.ft. 4in, by 7in. The material is the usual hard close-grained
clay-slate; it is unfortunately broken across, in an irregular fracture, at 2ft. 6in. from the
bottom. It bears a line of inscription on each angle, and two lines on the face, a portion of
one of which appears to have been cut on an incised stem-line. The inscriptions on the
angles are much injured, and it is probable that several of the letters are missing from the
vacant spaces. The legend on the left-hand angle commences at 1ſt, 4in, from the bottom ;
it is true there is one score 6in. from the bottom, but there is no appearance of scores for
CHAP. x.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 235
the next 10in. I am, therefore, disposed to believe that this was an accidental or trial
SCOre :-
{}...m...++...+++++TI-#m-º:
G. N M. A. I A D D I L O N A
Between the G and N there is a space which I am inclined to think was occupied by a vowel.
Between the N and M there is a clear space of 7in., the angle being much worn, with traces
of scores, but not definite; the upper half of the M is also much defaced. Between the A
and the score following there is a clear space of 6in., with marks of scores on the worn
angle; all the rest are clearly defined. Filling up the skeleton of the foregoing part of the
inscription, I propose the following restoration :-
++mm?--Lill-Hit-i-Illº-It-m--
G. A N N M A Q I A D D I L O N A
About six miles from Kilbonane an inscription was discovered in a Rath Cave at Tinnehally
which bears the name Gann. We have here certainly the initials of the name, and spaces
which would just contain the missing letters, only one of which, the vowel, is essential to
the completion of the name. The same reasoning applies to the word Maqi. The proper
name which follows, Addilon, is also very unusual and curious, yet not without precedent;
thus we have Adamair, son of Fearcorb, A.M. 4783. Adamnan, A.D. 684. Adhlan, son of
Eighneach, died A.D. 950. This last is identical with Addilon. Gann is a pre-historic
name. (See Tinnehally, p.213.) -
No. 2 Inscription. This is cut on the centre of the face, and has some slight indications
of a stem-line. Inscriptions on the flat surfaces of pillar stones are unusual; the other
examples as yet known are, Callan Mountain, Kilcoleman, and Lomanagh. It commences
at 10in. from the bottom and runs to the top, as follows:—
N I R. M N A. G. N. I E S S I C O N I D D A L A
The fourth and fifth groups are of unusual form, being somewhat similar to the Ogam .
Consoine alphabet, as given in the book of Ballymote, PL. II., this being the only instance in
which this character appears on an actual monument; the stone at this spot is worn, and
there may be some doubt as to these characters being original, and not the work of some
later scholar acquainted with the Ogam of the MSS., as indeed most of the Irish scholars
of the south and west of Ireland were. The seventh group is slightly damaged, owing to a
crack across the stone, but the letter is determinable. The dotted characters are worn and
doubtful, the stone being damaged in these parts, all the rest of the letters are quite distinct
and legible. I do not doubt that an incised stem line originally existed, it is now scarcely
discernible; it was not straight, but rather serpentine, as seen in the engraving.
No. 3. This inscription is also on the face of the stone to the right of the former one,
236 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
of which it is probably a continuation; it occupies a space of but 2ft. in length, and finishes
within 10in. of the top, as follows:
T+++ll-tº-14%mºtºr
L. A. M. I. T. A. I. D. A. G. N. I
The characters are well cut and perfectly legible.*
No. 4. The following characters are on the right-hand angle of the stone, commencing
at 7in from the bottom. I had no facility for raising it, to ascertain beyond doubt whether
there were characters additional to what I copied, as the inscription looks incomplete; my
closest scrutiny could not detect any :*
AGHACARRIBLE.
There are three inscribed stones in the crypt of a Rath on the townland of Aghacarrible,
parish of Kinard, Ord. Sh. No. 54. I visited this place Sept. 27th, 1868. I found the
Rath lying at the south side of a rough, narrow, mountain road, leading from the lower
hamlet of Kinard to Doonties; it is 50ft. in internal diameter, having one high earthen
parapet and a corresponding ditch. Within its area are two chambers connected one with
the other, and at right angles, the present entrance being at the south side. The first is
9ft. in length, 3ft. 8in. in breadth, and from 3ft. 6in. to 4ft. in height. It is formed of
upright pillars filled between with dry rubble masonry and covered with slabs of stone, some
of which are of great size. In fact, this chamber is constructed in exactly the same manner
as that at Drumloghan, Co. Waterford (See Pl. XXXVI.); it contains two inscribed stones.
No. 1. This is an upright pillar supporting the end of one of the lintels or covering
stones of the cave; it is 4ft. 5in. high, and the inscription, which is on the left angle, occupies
a space of 3ft. 10in, in length, as follows:
T+1-1+/m-#/+4+Jill hit ###|Illulti-hit-Him-i-
LA DD I G N I M A Q Q I M U C C O I A N A
All the above characters are easily determinable with the exception of the final A, which is
faint; Dr. Ferguson reads it A, and I have adopted it as such. I read it :
L. A. D. D. I. G. A N T H E S ON OF M U C C O I A N A.
The name here is certainly Laddigan, though the connecting vowel is suppressed, as is very
usual in ancient inscriptions; it is the same formation as Madigan, Gatigan, Hartagan, &c.
We recognise this name under the forms Laighdiagan, Laidhgeann, and Laidgin, in our
Annals. Laighdiagan was the family name of a tribe located in the barony of Kiltartan,
Co. of Galway (Tribes and Customs of Hy Fiachrach, p. 65). “Laidginn, son of
Barceadh,” was chief poet of Leinster in the reign of Euna Ceansealach (Book of
Ballymote). St. Laidhgeann, son of Baeth, died A.D. 660 (Ann. 4 Mas.). The name also
occurs in the pedigree of the Clann Amlaibh (Hy Many, p. 33). Gaulish form, Ladanus. .
* Space was left in the MS, for a translation and reading of these inscriptions, I am sorry to say,
I failed to find any amongst Mr. Brash's notes.—G.M.A.
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 237
Texier, Insc. du Lim. p. 89. We have here Muccoi instead of the usual Mucoi; I am
disposed to consider it in this case as in many others to be a designation, and that Ana is
the patronymic. It is not quite certain that the inscription is complete, and Ana, though
a proper name in itself, may be a portion of such a name as Anaile, Anarudh, or Anafen, &c.
I was much surprised to find that Dr. Ferguson (Pro. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. ii. Ser. ii. p. 62)
reads Dalligni instead of Laddigni; I have examined his paper cast, and it most certainly
reads the latter form ; I suspect that in reading from it he must have reversed the letters.
No. 2. This is also an upright pillar on the opposite side; supporting the end of a
lintel on one angle is the following:—
++mſhi-Fr"+mſ
M A Q I B A C O 8
This inscription is in a form frequently found on these monuments. Bac is probably the
Bec or Becc of our “Annals;” Becc, the Four Masters, A.D. 478, 766, 889, 934, &c. Gaulish
form, Becco–onis. Orel. 4901, Pallanza. In this chamber there is also an upright pillar,
upon the outer face of which are incised two crosses of an ancient type, but simple in form
and rude in execution. No inference can be drawn from them as to the age of this Rath,
or the period when these chambers were constructed; from the presence of the sacred
symbol we can only infer that these crypts were used in remote Christian times as hiding
places of the natives, or for the concealment of their goods; and what more natural than
that they should inscribe on one of its pillars the sacred symbol, as an amulet to avert
evil, a custom still common among the peasantry, who carve the cross not only on the doors
of their cottages, but also on those of their stables and cow houses. Were these two
crosses cut on a concealed part of the stone, or in any position out of immediate sight (as
many of the Ogams found in Rath caves are), then indeed would we have some grounds for
supposing that the crosses were anterior to the Rath caves, and that the stone on which
they are inscribed was merely used as building material. A superstitiously Christian people
like the Irish would not be likely to remove a stone with the sacred symbols carved on it
from a consecrated site to use it up in the construction of a merely secular erection. We
must, therefore, admit the alternative above stated.
The inner chamber is approached by a narrow doorway or passage, now much damaged.
It is in length 11ft., in breadth 4ft., and the same in height. It is constructed in a similar
manner to the outward chamber. One of the lintels is inscribed; it is 6ft. 6in. in length,
a coarse, irregular slab; the characters are on an angle, mnch worn and defaced, and
difficult to copy: from the closeness of the place, the want of light, and the position of the
stone.
A farmer residing close by informed me that in tilling an adjoining field a few years
since, they came on a number of Cist formed graves, with pieces of human bones in them.
The people also retain a tradition of a great battle having been fought here, in which a
King of Ulster was slain and buried in the locality. A few perches to the south is a rock,
upon which there are some curious concentric rings and other markings, illustrated by
the Right Rev. Dr. Graves in Trans, R.I.A., v. xxiv. p. 421.
238 OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
KILGOBINET.
On August 26th, 1869, I visited this locality in search of an inscribed stone, mentioned
by Mr. Windele as standing in a field at Kilgobinet, seven miles west of Castlemaine; as I
could not find any locality so named and circumstanced, I turned my attention to this place,
which is situated about the same distance south of Castlemaine, being under the impression
that he had misstated the direction.
Leaving Killarney by the Kilorglin road, I turned off at Beaufort Bridge, taking the
road to the Gap of Dunloe for about half a mile; then, taking the first road to the right, I
passed the police station and continued right on, until I came to the old church of
Kilgobinet, which is in the townland and parish of the same name. Ord. Sh. 65. When
near the little hamlet which adjoins the ruined church, I met an aged peasant, of whom I
inquired if there was a large Dallan standing on any part of the townland; he said “he
knew of none such.” I informed him that I had heard of a large standing stone in that
locality having certain scorings on its angles. “Oh,” said the peasant, his countenance
brightening, “if it's a stone with the Ogam Craobh on it, I can show you one convenient
here.” Accompanying him to the little village, he brought me to the gable wall of a cabin,
lying against which I found a slab of clay-slate inscribed with Ogams. The stone is
3ft. 4in. in length, 1.ft. Bin. wide at top, 1ſt. 1in, at bottom, and 4in, thick, having the
following letters on the left angle:–
+TITTTTTTT-##mr
A N N E E N
This name is to be found in the form of Anafen, and has come down to our own day as
Harrafen. The letters are much worn; the above are, however, legible; between some of
them there are spaces which may have contained vowels. On the back angle of the head of
the stone are the following:—
Ill Hitſ/
I cannot say whether they form part of that given above; if so, it is singular that they
should be so circumstanced. From the damaged state of the entire nothing can be made of
it. The church is a small rude building in complete ruin, of no great age, and presenting
no architectural feature worth noting. A patron is held here on the 14th February, which
was formerly attended by immense concourses of people; but the reputation of St. Gubby,
as he is called by the peasantry, appears to have declined. Lying on the low, rude wall
of a penitential station, outside the east end of the church, I found a small loose fragment o
stone, marked with the following characters:—
++1114-
My informant, John McSweeny, stated to me that the larger stone was taken out of the
cave of an adjoining Rath, and that it had been used as a lintel over the door of a cabin
for some time. He showed me the site of the Rath and cave.
KILGOBINET.
This is a solitary Dallan standing in a field on the townland of Kilgobinet, parish of
Kilgobinet, Ord. Sh. No. 65. The stone was discovered by Mr. Windele, who took a
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 239
rubbing of the inscription on May 7th, 1850. In a paper published by that gentleman on
“Ancient Irish Ogam Inscriptions,” he gives a list of monuments with their localities and
discoverers, in which he sets down Mr. R. Hitchcock as the finder of this stone; that
gentleman, however, with his usual candour and good taste, disclaimed the honour, which
must rest with my old friend. Here is no trace of interments or any associations of a
sepulchral or religious character. The stone stands 5ft. above ground, is 3ft. in width, and
2ft. 6in. in thickness; it is, therefore, of great size and weight. The following is by Mr.
Windele:–
*###mrmr/##mrmſ
D U G O N N G G U N S
We have here a name familiar to us, as being found on the Ballinahunt stone in the form of
Dugeungge, the vowels alone differing. We find this name, in the form of Gionga, in a
genealogy of Mal, the son of Rughraide, given by Keating; he is represented as the son of
Rughruidh Mor, of the posterity of Ir, from whom the Clanna Rughraidh are descended,
and who, according to Keating, became Monarch of Ireland A.M. 3850. Gonnggu is
represented by Concu or Conchu, found as a prefix to many names, as Conchubair,
Concubran; we also find it as Congus, A.D. 732, 749, Ann, 4 Mas. I would again remark
the commutability of C and G. I cannot divine what relation the terminal letters NS bear
to the rest of the inscription.
ANASCAUL.
Forming a lintel over the doorway of a dairy on the farm of Mrs. Florence McCarthy,
residing about two miles east of Anascaul, on the Dingle road, is an Ogam inscribed stone.
The following is all that can be seen of the inscription:-
+Hill, m-hittilllllli-H-Illilahtill
E R C A F I C C A M A Q I C
We have here a name already found on two inscribed monuments, Erca, with what appears
to be an unusual genitive termination. Ercias has been found on one of the Roovesmore
find, p. 150, and also on the Dunmore pillar, p. 179. The termination here is similar to
the Cattuffig of the Coreaboy stone, p. 227. We have only the first letter of the patronymic.
KILLOGRONE. (Pl. XXXIV.)
This monument is at present in the garden of the convent of the Christian Brothers, at
Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry. Its original location was in an ancient Keel situated about four
miles SE of the above named town, on the lower slope of a mountain on the townland of
Killogrone, parish of Caher, Ord. Sh. No. 80. It is a wild and weird spot. The original
fence of the enclosure is much injured; the area appears to have been originally an irregular
circle, which has been much altered; its dimensions at present are 160ft. by 125ft.; the
enclosing wall was built of large, undressed stones, set without cement; from the portions
existing it appears to have been about 4ft. high and 3ft. 6in. thick. Scattered about the
area are many small graves of children, with rude stones of small size marking the head
and foot of each; the place is at present, and has during the memories of the living
peasantry, been used only for the interment of unbaptised children, one having been interred
240 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
there early in the year 1873. It is marked on the Ord. Sh. “Burial ground for children.”
About 27ft. from the fence, on the outside, is a curious structure somewhat of the Clochan
type; its internal dimensions are: length, 11ft. 2in.; breadth, 5ft.; height of existing walls,
5ft. 4 in. ; the side walls are built of large sized rubble masonry, without cement; one end is
closed by a large slab of stone 7ft. long and 5ft. 6in. wide, through it is drilled a hole of 33 in.
in diameter; the other end is open; the walls converge towards the top, and probably
finished like the oratory of Gallerus, but of a much ruder type. The holed slab at the end
seems quite incongruous with the rest of the structure; it has, also, the appearance of one
of those hole-pierced Cromlech slabs found in Circassia, India and Brittany, and not foreign
to our own country. On the celebrated plain of Moytura, Co. Sligo, amongst other
megalithic remains, stands one of those remarkable monuments known as Leaba-Diarmada
Agus Grainne, it is fully 40ft. in length, and 7ft. in width; the sides are formed of large
slabs of stone partly sunk in the ground and covered by other slabs; the chamber is divided
into three compartments in its length; it lies north and south, one stone closes the south
end, it is perforated in the centre by a circular orifice; the north end has two stones, one of
which is perforated in the same manner; the holes are about 5in. in diameter. In the
Archaeologia, v. viii. p. 209, we find an article by Mr. Rooke on the Brimham Rocks, in
which he describes a cromlech, one of the side slabs of which is perforated by a circular
orifice; an illustration is given.
The peasantry of the locality state the name of this ancient cemetery to be Keel-o-
grohane; the Irish speaking elders call it Keel-o-brohane (the terms are given phonetically),
and assert that a great battle was fought in the neighbourhood, and that some great chief
was buried in the Keel; the Gaedhelic word bron signifies “sorrow, grief, mourning,” while
grothan has a similar meaning, as it is used to express a “moaning, complaining.” We find
this name given to a remarkable rock about four miles from the City of Cork, and which
overhangs the Lee river, bearing a lofty castle on its summit; it is named Carrigrohane.
The Ogam inscribed pillar stood as a headstone to a grave, the cross end upwards; a
short distance from it was another stone about 3ft. high, having a very curious shaped cross
inscribed on it. The legend stone is 7ft. Sin, long, 10in. by 43 in. at the base or broader
end, where the cross is inscribed, and 5in. by 4in. at the top; it is of the common bluish
slate rock of the locality. The inscription commences at 3ft. 5%in, from the bottom, and
occupies 4ft. 24ins, of the right-hand angle of the broader face, the left being unfit for the
purpose. As might be expected from the nature of the material and its exposure to the
weather-wear of ages in this wild and exposed place, the legend is much defaced, and
though several of the characters can be determined, a satisfactory reading is impossible,
except under the influence of a lively imagination. The following copy is by Mr. James
Brenan, A.R.H.A., an accurate transcriber:-
Tim/++m}{#. - +++... 1-H+ll... millil. XIIII
N M M O I, EAG M. I. R. D M C F C EA S
Mr. Brenan states that there is no vowel before N; the sixth character is much injured,
and barely traceable as an EA; between G and M are some faint traces of characters
which zealous visitors have been rubbing into a rude diamond shape, somewhat like the OI
CHAP. x.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. 241
diphthong in the Ballymote alphabet. Mr. Brenan, after a careful scrutiny, could not
satisfy himself that such a character was to be found on the stone.
The characters between R and D are defaced; between M and C are faint appearances of
an A; between C and F is a worn space of the angle showing at present no characters.
Here we have indications of the word Maqi, and it very probably was present; the score
following F has some indications of having been prolonged above the angle; EA is imperfect
and doubtful. The truth is, the legend is useless for any philological purpose.
KILLEENADREENA. (Pl. XXXIII.)
The site of this monument is an ancient burial-place for unbaptised children, so named
on Ord. Sh. No. 73, townland of Coole East, and island of Valentia, Co. Kerry. The Keel
appears to have been originally circular, but has lost much of its original outline by
reparations of the rampart, which was of earth; in its section it is of the mound form,
being raised above the level of the surrounding land, with many diminutive graves, having
a small stone at head and feet; it is at present, and has been in memory and tradition, used
only for the burial of unbaptised children and suicides, the only adult interment recorded
is that of an old woman, about 70 years ago.
The Ogam inscribed stone stands nearly in the centre of the Keel; it is a monolith of
the purplish slate-rock of the island, and is 6ft. 2in, in height above ground, 1.ft. 73 in. by
5in. at bottom, and 1ſt. 4in. by 5in. at top; the legend occupies 4ft. 1 in. of the angle,
commencing below the present level of the ground, which has been raised about it by the
interments of ages; on the top is incised a plain cross, the vertical arm 1ſt. 9in, long, and
the cross-arm Sin, ; here, evidently, the cross was cut on the original head of the monument,
because there was room for it, and not upon the base, as in the examples from Keelogrohan,
Mount Music, p. 152, Pl. XIV., Trallong, &c. The following copy of the inscription is from
a drawing of Mr. Du Noyers, in his Collection of Drawings, in the Lib. Roy. Ir. Aca. :—
Triº/+4++++*####/. Hºm--mſ
L O G O Q I M A Q I E R E N A N
The following is by Mr. James Brenan, A.R.H.A.:—
*####11 ####7%x+m Himſ
Q I M A Q I E R E N A N
Mr. Brenan states, that the letter Q is at the ground level, that he opened the ground below
it but could not detect the letters LOGO, and that the angle was broken away. I am,
however, disposed to consider Mr. Du Noyers' copy correct; I think his was taken from a
sketch by the Bishop of Limerick, always an accurate transcriber; the legend reads:—
L O G 0 Q I MA Q I ER E N A N.
This inscription is a remarkable one, taken in connection with the locality in which it has
been found; the name of the individual commemorated is of the same type as Luguduc,
Lugucurit, names found on these monuments in the counties of Cork and Waterford.
Erenan is a name that at once awakens the romantic traditions of the Clanna Miledh.
Erenan was the youngest of the sons of the great Gaedhelic chieftain, who, with his brethren
Eibher, Eremon, Ir, Don, Colpa, and Amhergin, sailed from Gallicia for the conquest of
Ireland. His death is recorded as having occurred on these shores. The bardic traditions
I I
242 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
state that the Gaedhelic expedition, being off the south-west coast of Kerry, encountered a
fearful storm, supposed by the adventurers to have been raised by the incantations of the
Tuath-de-Damans, a magic race then in possession of the island. Amhergin, the bard and
druid of the expedition, said that if the gale blew above the topmasts of the vessels it
was a natural one, if below, that it was a druidic wind. Eranan having ascended the mast
of his vessel, to ascertain how matters were, was blown off by a violent gust, and falling on
the rocks close to which the vessel was driven, was dashed to pieces. It is certainly a most
curious and interesting circumstance to find, on the identical shores where these events are
fabled to have occurred, a monument of the most primeval character, bearing a name
identical with that of the Gaedhelic chieftain. It is a still further corroboration of the truth
of at least the leading facts in these bardic traditions, that the very island upon which this
monument stands, bears the name of another of the Gaedhelic chieftains, Ir. The island
at present known as Valentia was anciently called Dariri, i.e. the Oak Island of Ir.* Keating
states that “The valiant Ir, the son of Milesius, with his ship met with the same fate; for
he was divided from the fleet and was driven upon the western coast of Desmond, in the
kingdom of Ireland, where he split upon the rocks, and every man perished; the body of
this unfortunate prince was cast upon the shore, and was buried in a small island called
Sceilg Mithil.” The Scelligs are two rocky islets off the south-west coast of Kerry or
Desmond, and are within sight of Valentia. The fate of another of the brothers is
associated with a headland on the opposite coast of the Bay of Dingle, which I believe to
be the true Inver Sgeine of these bardic traditions; I allude to Donn, who is stated to have
been cast away on the extreme point of Corcaduibne, at a place still known as Teach Duin,
i.e. the House or Grave of Donn (see Ballinrannig, No. 5, p. 211). As to these shipwrecks
and castings away, so frequently narrated in the Books of Lecan and Ballymote, I give no
credence to them, but am satisfied with the fact that the names of certain leaders of the
Gaedhelic invaders are identified with certain localities in that district of country where
they first landed, and which they first occupied.
I am not going to assert that the inscription under consideration bears the name of a
son of that Erenan who was the son of Milidh; doubtless it was a name which, in remote
ages, became plentiful in the south-west, and subsequently through the country; thus we
find an Ernaine, son of Fiachna or Fiachra, at A.D. 626, 631, and Arannan, a bishop of
Bangor, at A.D. 847 (Ann. 4 Mas.). In the Mart. Don. we have an Erannan, at A.D. 674,
the father of a St. Fionan. It is probable that the celebrated tribe called the Ernains of
Munster had their descent and name from Erenan, the son of Milidh, and not from Rugh-
raidhe, the son of Ir, who was a northern chieftain, and founded a northern tribe.
In this legend we find the x mark; it is cut below the stem-line, and does not appear to
have any power as a diphthong, the letter E coming immediately after it.
The name of this Keel is probably modern; it signifies the Keel of the Blackthorn, or
* In the Leabhar na g-Ceart and the Book of Lismore, the forms given of the ancient name of the
Island of Valentia are Dairbhre and Dairbre. The proper name Irforms no part of this word, which
means, according to Joyce, a place abounding in oaks. Mr. Brash was deceived by the modern Irish
form of the word Daraire.—G.M.A.
CHAP. x.] - OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KERRY. 243
Sloe Bushes, from Draeighean, pro Dreean, given to both, or it may have been an original
name, as Dreann signifies “a battle, a contention,” and may refer to an engagement fought
here, the victims of which were interred, and the Keel formed round and enclosed, their
names written in Ogam on their pillar stones, one of which still remains, the Christians
having inscribed the emblem of their faith on it in subsequent ages.
KILMALKEDAR.
This is an interesting church of the 11th or 12th century, standing in its ancient
cemetery in the parish of the same name, barony of Corcaguiney, Ord. Sh. No. 42, and
about four miles north of Dingle.
The cemetery is remarkable for its sepulchral slabs and crosses of a quaint type, and of
a remote age; here also stands an Ogam inscribed pillar stone, first noticed by Mr. Henry
Pelham, as far back as 1796, that gentleman having published an account of it with a drawing
in Val. Col. v. vi. p. 182. It was subsequently copied by Mr. Windele, Mr. Hitchcock, and
G. W. Du Noyer. Lady Chatterton, in her “South of Ireland,” v. i. p. 156, gives a
rude sketch of this stone; all the above copies appear to be incorrect; in truth, the stone
is so weather-worn that the inscription is much damaged, particularly on the right angle,
and there is, therefore, a difficulty in arriving at the original values of the characters.
The stone stands 3ft. 10in, above ground, and is 11 in, wide by 4in, thick at the bottom;
through one of the angles, near the head of the stone, a hole has been artificially perforated,
about 2in, in diameter; some persons have stated that this was a Holed Stone, and had been
used for superstitious purposes; of this, however, we have no positive evidence. The
inscription appears to have commenced on the right angle of the principal face, reading
upwards, as follows:–
+ #TT–1+mſrtiht:H
M (A) E L (C) I N B I R
The first character is 9in, from the bottom of the stone; between the first and second is a
worn space of 3%in. ; between the third and fourth a similar space of near 4in.; other
portions of the inscription are much worn. It evidently gave the name of the person to
whom the monument was inscribed; the name is now almost impossible to determine; it
appears to have been somewhat of the formation of Meul or Maelcinbir, and occupies a
length of 2ft. 10in. of the angle.
The inscription is continued on the left angle of the same face, reading from the top
downwards, and from left to right, as follows:–
++111th HH-H 1114-mºm.
M A C I B. R O C A N N
The characters on this angle commence at 7in. from the top, and occupy the space of
2ft. Bin.; they are rudely but distinctly cut, and are quite legible, reading MACI BROCANN.
This name will be readily recognised, as one frequently occurring in our early history and
hagiology, in the forms of Brogan, Brocan. Brogan has been handed down to us as a
celebrated scribe attached to the household of St. Patrick. The name Broc has been found
on a stone now in the possession of Col. Lane Fox (see p. 155).
244 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KERRY. [CHAP. x.
In this inscription we have the form MACI instead of the usual MAQI. On the top is
a cross of two rude scratches. -
Dr. Ferguson, Pro. Roy. Ir. Aca., 1871, p. 62, gives INBIRIC as the first line, and (?) the pre-
ceding scores; I failed in finding IC, it does not appear on the paper cast taken by the Dr. ;
it was in bad condition when I saw it. He also gives Maqi; both the stone and the cast show
Maci, Finally, he gives a terminal I to Brocann, which does not appear to exist; none of the
many copies I have seen show it, neither does the paper cast.
DERRYNANE.
On the strand at Derrynane, the seat of that distinguished Irishman, the late Daniel
O'Connell, Esq., stands an Ogam inscribed stone. It was first noticed by Rt. Rev. Dr.
Graves, and the late Lord Dunraven, and was subsequently examined by my friend Mr.
James Brenan, A.R.I.A., when on an artist's tour in the barony of Dunkerron, to whom I
am indebted for a copy of the inscription and other memoranda. The stone stands on the
shore, and is only approachable at low water, or at least when the tide has considerably
fallen. At present its height is 4ft. 7in, above the strand; dimensions at bottom 1ſt. 6in.
by 12in., at top 10in. by 9in. The inscription is on a left angle of the principal face, and
appears to have occupied a length of 2ft. 10in. It is much worn and defaced, several of the
characters being fretted away from the action of the tide on the slaty stone, the material of
the monument, Mr. Brenan could only detect the following:—
Ill Hi-lº- Alllll—#1
T I D Q
It is much to be regretted that we have not this legend complete; every name identified upon
Ogam monuments in this pre-historic locality is of the highest interest; the above scattered
scores, however, give us no clue to a proper name; we have some evidence in the damaged
M, the Q, and an imperfect I, that the word Maqi formed a portion of the original legend.
This locality is a very remarkable one ; the strand is called by the peasantry Tra
Haramon (Traigh Heremoin), i.e. the Strand of Heremon. He was one of the sons of
Miledh, and one of the three surviving brothers of the expedition. Opposite this place, nine
miles out at sea, are those remarkable islands the Scelligs, upon one of which the bardic
annalists state that Ir, the eldest brother, was interred.
TYWORLA.
On the townland of Vicarstown and parish of Dunquin, Ord. Sh. No. 52, stands a rude
pillar stone at the head of a small mound or cairn ; it is 3ft. 8in. in height and 12in. in
width; upon the eastern side is incised a plain cross, on the western two groups of scores,
one having some resemblance to Ogam, being five straight lines at right angles to another;
beneath it is the other, a combination of long and short lines, but without any apparent
meaning.
245
CHAPTER XI.
OGAM MONUMENTS, COUNTY OF WATERFORD.
This is also a maritime county, lying along St. George's Channel, which forms its
southern boundary; having Tipperary and Kilkenny to the north, Wexford to the east, and
Cork to the west. According to the Ordnance Survey, its acreage is 461,598, which includes
118,034 acres of unimproved land, bog, and mountain. The long line of coast stretching
from the mouth of the Blackwater to Waterford harbour is grand and picturesque, with
numerous bold headlands, as those of Dunmore, Brownstown, Newtown, Helvick, Minehead,
Ardmore, all of which are land-marks to navigators. In the whole of this line of coast,
there is but one harbour, that of Dungarvan. Almost every headland has traces of ancient
fortifications, consisting of one or two earthen ramparts, running from cliff to cliff, with
corresponding fosses, thus completely isolating the fortified area.
A remarkable range of mountains runs nearly through the centre of this country, from
west to east; they are known as the Cummeraghs. The principal elevations are Seefin,
Monavullagh, and Knock-an-afrin, the latter being 2,470 feet in height; this range is
remarkable for the wild grandeur of its cliffs and precipices, which are of amazing height;
on these mountains are four lakes remarkable for their echoes; numerous Cairns, some of
them of great size, are also found dispersed among them. The people are of a more
primitive class than are usually met with, retaining in general their ancient language, and
many of the ancient customs and traditions of their race. This I have found to be usually
the case in mountain and sea-coast districts.
Waterford was a portion of the patrimony of Eibher; its early history is very obscure.
It was occupied, as I have before noticed (in treating of “the county of Cork”), at a remote
period by the Clanna Breogan, who appear to have been forced from their original territory
in Kilkenny, Carlow, Kildare and Meath. Even up to the period of the Anglo-Norman
invasion a part of it was called Sliochd Breogan. In the latter part of the third, or
commencement of the fourth century, the warlike tribe of the Desii, from the county of
Meath, appear to have got possessions in Waterford, having been expelled from their original
country by Cormac Art, Monarch of Ireland. It is stated that Ollioll Olum, then King of
Munster, granted them the territory from the river Suir southwards, and from Lismore to
Cean Credain head; they gave their name to this district, which was called Non-desii, and
246 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
which is still preserved in the baronies of Decies-within, and Decies-without, Drum, a range
of lofty hills that separate the two baronies. In the fifth century, Aongus, king of Munster,
extended the territory of the Desii, having granted to them a large and fertile district north
of the river Suir, extending to Cashel, and called Magh Feimin, represented by the present
baronies of Middlethird and Offa in Tipperary. This district was named Desi Juaisceart, or
North Desii, while the original grant was called Desi Deisceart, or South Desii. The prin-
cipal septs of this tribe were the O'Felans and O'Brics. It was doubtless a matter of sound
policy on the part of the kings of Munster to secure the services of the warlike Desii, and
we accordingly find that in all the important wars in which they were engaged, the clans of
this tribe occupied a prominent position in the army of Munster. It is worthy of remark,
in connection with the occupation of this county at an early period by the Clanna Breogan,
that a favourite tribe name of theirs has been found on two Ogam monuments, one at
Ardmore, and one near Stradbally; the name is Lugud. The student of Irish history will
remember that Lugud, or Lughaid, was the son of Ith, and grandson of Breogan; subse-
quently a tribe descended from him, according to Charles O'Connor, took the name of
Lughadii, or Lugadians, and held a large territory in the west of the County of Cork,
called Corca-Luighe. I have failed to identify any of the family names of the Desii in the
Ogam inscriptions of this county, and this I account for on the supposition that this
character was disused in the south of Ireland before the settlement of that tribe in these
parts. Waterford is rich in all classes of megalithic remains, so plentiful in the south and
west of Munster.
It has been but a few years since any attention has been given to Ogam inscriptions in
Co. Waterford, the first discovery having been made at Ardmore by Mr. Windele, in the year
1841. In 1844 Mr. Fitzgerald, of Youghal, discovered a fine example, having three lines
of inscription, built into the east gable of St. Declan's oratory at the same place. These
discoveries were followed up by Mr. Williams, of Dungarvan, who, making diligent search
in his own locality, succeeded in bringing to light many valuable examples at Island,
Kilgravane, Kilrush, Drumlohan, and other places. The examples at Seskinan and Windgap
were discovered by the late Mr. G. Du Noyer. The district richest in these monuments is
that about Dungarvan and Stradbally. This county forms no exception as to the geo-
graphical distribution of these monuments, as most of the Ogams are found in close
proximity to the seashore, and the balance on the banks of the Blackwater and Suir, as I
have remarked in another place.
ARDMORE.
This is a seacoast village, frequented in the summer for sea bathing, and about four miles
from Youghal; the locality will be found on Ord. Sh. No. 40. It was an earlybishopric, supposed
to have been founded by St. Declan in the fifth century, who, it is stated on good authority, pre-
ceded St. Patrick; he is held in the utmost veneration by the peasantry of the surrounding
country, both in Cork and Waterford; innumerable legends are related of him, and his patron,
down to a late period, was the best attended in the south of Ireland, and even still attracts a
large concourse of devotees on his feast-day, which falls on the 24th of July. Many objects
of interest are to be found at Ardmore; it boasts the best preserved and best built round
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 247
tower in the country, which still retains its original cap, a cathedral church of considerable
antiquity, an oratory, believed to be the original one of St. Declan, the ruins of another ancient
church on the cliff, a holy well of great repute, the base of what must have been an im-
mense cross, and the holed stone, a remnant of paganism still lying on the strand, and still
superstitiously used as a curative agent, the patient passing through or under it. Three
stones bearing inscriptions in the Ogam character have been found at Ardmore, and in
intimate connection with the ecclesiastical remains still existing there. The most important
one is that discovered by Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, of Youghal, an account of which was
published by that gentleman in the Journal of the Kil. Arch, Soc. v. iii. p. 223. It was
found by him built into the eastern gable of the Leabha Deglan, the bed, cell, or oratory of
St. Declan, the most ancient building at Ardmore, and probably the most ancient Christian
edifice in Ireland. The archaic features of this curious oratory, its traditional connection
with the name of Declan, the patron saint of the Decies, and one of the alleged precursors of
St. Patrick; the superstitious reverence attached to the very earth contained within its walls,
which is scooped out and carried away as a curative agent, identify it with the actual
historic Declan who flourished in the fifth century. The oratory is carefully described by
Mr. Fitzgerald, in the interesting paper already alluded to, also the circumstances attending
the discovery of the Ogam, and its removal from its position in the gable to the position it
now occupies in a niche, or rather a built-up doorway in the chancel of the Romanesque
church adjoining the oratory. I made a careful copy of the inscription on this stone in the
autumn of 1867, accompanied by Mr. George M. Atkinson. It is a rough, irregular, four-
sided pillar, 4ft. 6in. in length, and averaging 10in. by 9in. ; the inscription, which is in
fair preservation, is cut on three angles, as follows:–
On the left-hand angle, front face, commencing at 1ſt. 9in, from the bottom, we have the
following, which finishes close to top:—
No. 1. II +}+1+1+114m – lllll-hiſt
L U G U D E C C A S M A Q I
On the right-hand angle, commencing at 1ſt. 1in, from base, and finishing at top:—
No. 2. 1114-IIIlti-H+++++m Hi-i-.. Ill-hºt-tºm-
C A Q O M A G E C A F U M A Q I O F
The third line of inscription is on a back angle of the stone, and on the same side with
No. 1. It commences at 1ſt, 8in. from the bottom, and runs close to top.
No. 3, Il-ti-m-i-Ill-HiFrºhit #4++m/Ill
D O L A T I B I. G. A. O U S G. T
The above inscription I copied with great care. Mr. Atkinson verified each score. It
differs materially from the copy given by Mr. Fitzgerald in the Jour. Kil. Arch. Soc. vol.
iii. first series, p. 227, but slightly from the corrected copy published by that gentleman in
the same vol. i., second series, p. 45. He omits I, the last letter in my first line; this I do
not wonder at, as the letter is on the top of the stone, in a place where it is much injured,
and close scrutiny is requisite to detect it, but there is no doubt of its existence. He also
omits a partially defaced M, being the thirteenth letter on my second line; the angle under
248 OGAM MONUMENTs, co, WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
this part of the inscription is very irregular, and shifts three times from the direction in
which it commences: great care is requisite in copying to follow the fleasg or stem line; the
letters are, however, well defined and legible, except a portion of the one alluded to, which
is faint, as shown by the dotted portion of the line. The A is wanting to complete the word
“maqi;” the space is for it between the M and Q, and being but one small dot, it may have
worn away; this and the presence of the other letters of the word “maqi” warrant me in
restoring it to its place.
In the third line, also, there is what appears to be a slight difference in the copies, but
what is in reality an important one as regards the rendering of the inscription. I allude to
the vowel marks which follow the ninth letter G. Mr. Fitzgerald's copy gives two com-
binations of three vowel strokes, that is, the letter U twice repeated; my copy shows the
same number of scores, but divided into three letters, A, O, U; the first score is most
certainly divided from the two following, and stands alone as the vowel A.
That in copying this inscription I was not influenced by any preconceived ideas about
it, or what it might-read, I must here premise, as at the time I had not the slightest idea
what it would yield, having no wish or predilection one way or the other, my sole anxiety
being to procure an accurate copy; neither did I attempt a rendering of it for many months
after. Mr. Fitzgerald submitted several copies of this Ogam to well-known Irish scholars;
none, however, responded, except an “Anonymous,” who makes a creditable attempt at
rendering, as follows:–
“Dolati Bigu Usgoh,” i.e.
“Contracted in sickness, in water.”
“Lugud eccas Maarcaar O'Mage Carfuar.”
“Lugud died (he) was a horseman of the field of battle.”
The translator here commences with what I believe to be the third line of the inscrip-
tion; his rendering of it differs but slightly from mine, as we shall presently see.
With the second line, which comprises my second and third, I find serious fault, as that
the 11th, 12th, and 18th letters of the first line, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of the second
line, are combined into the word “maarcaar; ” this is done by adding two As that are
not in the inscription; and by changing two Qs into Rs, a proceeding which cannot for
a moment be admitted. Again, the word “Cafuar ’’ is produced by the same process of
changing the Q into an R. The letters F I 0, the “Anonymous” writes, “may form a
termination for the last word, or may be a distinguishing term for the locality.” (Ibid. p. 46.)
With respect to this inscription, Dr. Ferguson writes: “Assuming the pedigree preserved
in this legend to be correct, that of Declan's great-grandfather, Lugdech, it would show the
existence of Christian orders in the south of Ireland four generations before Declan's
period, whatever that may have been. There can be little doubt, if any, of the verbation
of the two first lines, Lugudeccas Maqi Dolati Bigoesgobi. Dolatus may be a play upon
the Anac and Miach of the pedigree, which again appears corroborated, though not with
entire certainty, owing to a fracture of the stone, in the Anaci legend from the adjoining
Cathedral (Mus. Lap. R.I.A., No. 4); and bigoesgobi can hardly be taken for anything but
chore-bishop, in its latinised form, vico-episcopus. Whether Caquomage.ca in the third line
CHAP. XI.] oGAM MonumENTs, Co. WATERFORD. 249
be a name of humiliation for Declan himself (daeglan per antithesin, in Williori Jeusa),
is worthy of enquiry.” How far the simple inscription on this monument is entitled
to this elaborate and far-fetched criticism my readers have an opportunity of deciding for
themselves. Dr. Ferguson commences to read on the left angle, as usual, and then goes to
the back. Any one who looks at the stone will at once see that the two main and
consecutive lines are on the front and broad face; but even assuming this to be the sequence
of the legend, there is no such form on it as bigoesgobi; the vowels A o U are distinctly
marked, and divided as before stated, and there is no such combination as gobi, the terminal
letters are s G. T. No Christian scribe, with a knowledge of Latin, as Dr. Ferguson's
rendering pre-supposes, would write vico-episcopus, bigo-esgobi. We have no grounds for
assuming that the Lugudeccas of the legend is the Lugdech of Declan's pedigree, because
this stone was found in the neighbourhood of Ardmore; if it was, I am sure that the saint
would have had more respect for the memorial stone of his great-grandfather, than to remove
it from his grave and bury it in mortar in the top of the gable of his little oratory.
Doubtless Lugud, or Lugdech, was a common name in those times, as common as Murphy,
Connor, or Brien is at present; in fact, we have another Lugudec at Kilgravane, near
Dungarvan, in the same district. This fashion of endeavouring to identify local names with
these monuments is a fruitful source of error; and has not been successful in a single
instance. How Caqomage.ca could be a name of humiliation of St. Declan, and inscribed
upon a tombstone of three generations before his birth, I must leave the learned to explain.
But this rendering falls to the ground when we refer to the article following this,
descriptive of an Ogam inscribed stone found at Island, and which bears on one angle a
mutilated legend, of which the following remains:–
(CA) Q O M A G E C A FE Q.
Here we have the identical combination of letters of this name of humiliation, excepting
CA (see article Island). It is quite evident that the names Cacuo and Caf were family
names in this district. The latter, in the present instance, is in the dative case; in the
Island example, it is a genitive in E C.
In the following rendering I have taken the inscription in the order in which the
invariable example of all existing ones exhibits to us, and I commence with the left hand-
angle of the front face, reading upwards:—
Left angle-“Lugudeccas maqi.”
Right angle—“Caqo mage Cafu maqi Of.”
Back angle—“Dola tibigao usg. t.”
In the first line we have the keyword “maqi,” therefore a proper name goes before and
after it; that before is “Lugud,” in the archaic-genitive form of Lugudeccas; the proper
name after is “Caqo; ” the second line contains the pedigree of Lugud to the fourth
generation; and the third line an expression of sorrow, and a statement of the manner
of his death, literally reading thus:—
“Lugud the son of
Cacuo the son of Cafu the son of Of
[my] Grief he was wounded in water.”
250 OGAM MonumENTS, CO. WATERFORD, [CHAP. XI.
This is the longest Ogam inscription I have seen upon any monument; it is a
monumental stone raised to commemorate Lugud in the genitive form of Lugudece.
Dr. O'Donovan states that such names as Fiacra and Lugaid sometimes form their genitives
by suffixing A C or E A c, as Fiachrach, Luighdheach (O’Don. Ir. Gram., p. 95); one of our
most ancient historic as well as mythic names commencing with Lughaid Lamhfhada, or the
long-handed, the second of the Tuatha de Danann monarchs of Ireland, A.M. 3331. We have
also Lughaid, son of Ith, who accompanied his father on an exploring expedition to Erinn
previous to the invasion of the Clanna Miledh, A.M. 3500. Lughaidh, son of Olioll Olum,
King of Munster, A.D. 195; Lughaid, son of Mac Niadh, monarch of Erinn, A.D. 196;
the celebrated Lughaidh Lagha, A.D. 226, and Lughaidh, son of Laeghaire, monarch of
Erinn, A.D. 478-9. (“Annals of the Four Masters.”) In truth, the name is so frequent
in our historic annals and mythic tales that the idea of connecting this monument with any
particular Lughadh is perfectly hopeless, inasmuch as the name may have been as common
at the remote date of this stone as John and Patrick are at present. This name appears in
the form of Lugetus in a Gaulish inscription (Steiner Insc., 1484, Leyden). It has also
been found in the following forms on Mortaria, “Lugudi, F. Lugudus, Factus Lugudu”
(Celt. Rom. and Sax. p. 474). The second proper name, Caqo or Cacuo, may appear
strange to us, but not more so than numbers to be found in our ancient MSS. with which it
may class as follows:–Caicher, A.M. 3500, and A.D. 742; Cailcen, A.D. 650; Caechscuill,
A.D. 720; Caelti, A.D. 283, &c. (“Annals of the Four Masters.”) Names of a similar
type are to be seen as potters' marks on red Samian ware found in Britain, Cacas, M.
Cacasi. M. (Celt Rom, and Sax. p. 469). In the second line we have the form “Mage”
instead of the usual genitive form “Magi; ” it is also found thus on an Ogam monument from
a Rath cave, townland of Tinnahally, County Kerry; while the forms “Mag,” and “Mig,”
are frequently found in ancient MSS. We have then the proper name “CAFU,” again the
usual form “Maqi,” and terminating the line the proper name “ of.” This may also strike
the uninitiated as an unlikely one, yet nevertheless such short names are very usual in our
early annals, as, for instance, we have Ir, the son of Miledh; Ir, the son of Heber; En, and
Un, two other Milesian leaders; also Un Mac Uighe (Keating’s “History”). In the “Annals
of the Four Masters” we have such names as Nia, Noe, Ith, Cas, Cir, &c. Such short names
are also frequent in these inscriptions: I have already shown Ne on two ; I have found No on
one at St. Olan's well, County of Cork, p. 126; Ott and He on one from Tullig, p. 130, County
of Cork. This may not accord exactly with the grammatic forms of modern Irish, but we must
remember that even our 12th cent. MSS. have had many passages glossed and re-glossed.
In the above rendering I have taken the inscriptions in the invariable order in which
they are read; I have not altered or divided or substituted a single character, not even
a single score; the letters are arranged into words which express the meanings I have given
them, as any person may ascertain for himself by consulting the proper authorities.
The name Cafu, in this inscription, I have not been able to identify from Irish sources;
we find, however, the identical name, as Caivi, a potter's mark on red Samian ware. (Celt.
Rom. and Sax. p. 469.)
In my rendering there is nothing far-fetched or visionary; it is quite in keeping with
CHAP. XI.] oGAM MonumENTs, Co. WATERFORD. 251
the inscriptions found on similar monuments elsewhere, expressing the name of the deceased
and his patronymic ; but it goes further in giving his pedigree to the fourth generation.
This is the only instance of the kind I am aware of: the name of the father and
grandfather are found on one or two stones, but this example stands alone. The third
line distinctly states he lost his life on the water, or was wounded on the water, perhaps
in a sea-fight on the coast, and was interred on shore; this is quite consistent with the
finding of this memorial within a few perches of the sea : indeed, it is a remarkable
fact that the great majority of our Ogam inscriptions have been found not only in close
proximity to the sea, but very many actually on the strands and sea cliffs.
That the individual commemorated was of some note in his day is evident from the
care with which his pedigree is noted, and the cause of his death set forth, a course unusual
with respect to these memorials. That this is a pre-Christian pillar stone there can be no
manner of doubt. The finding of it built as common material into a fifth century church;
the name ; no cross or other Christian symbol; no word of Christian hope or resignation,
as Oroit, Bendacht, &c., so usual on our early Christian gravestones; are all convincing
proofs that the stone taken out of the “Leabha Deglan” was a memorial of pagan times.
I have been well disposed to consider this stone as the monument of Declan's ancestor,
as it would at once stamp the pre-Christian character of the Ogam; the evidence, however,
is too weak to satisfy me, for the reasons before stated. Dr. Ferguson seems inclined
to accept it as such, and supports his reading by the supposition of the existence of
Christian orders in the south of Ireland four generations before Declan's period.*
Two other inscribed stones have been found at Ardmore : one of these, a fragment
of some interest, is now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy; it was discovered
by the late Mr. John Windele, built into a low wall in the interior of the nave of the large
church adjoining the Round Tower, in 1841. This church consists of a nave and chancel,
and has some curious and interesting features about it, such as the series of sculptures
on the exterior of the west gable, illustrated in Ryland's “History of Waterford,” and
Crofton Croker’s “Researches in the South of Ireland ; ” the interior of the west window,
the north doorway, the chancel piers with sculptured capitals, and the panelling on the
interior of the north wall. The building is mainly of the eleventh or twelfth centuries, but
a portion of the chancel is of far more ancient date, as is observable by an examination of
the north wall, the principal part of the masonry of which is quite distinct in character and
material from the rest of the structure, being built of large blocks of a polygonal form.
Mr. Windele published an account of his discovery, which was received by many
with incredulity, among the rest the late Dr. Petrie, who even went so far as to publish
the following statement in his well-known work on the “Round Towers,” &c. “I utterly
deny that the lines on the stone at Ardmore are a literary inscription of any kind, and
I challenge Mr. Windele to support his assertions by proof. So much then for the
discoveries at Ardmore.” (“Round Towers,” &c., p. 84.)
Mr. Windele's answer was, to publish an engraving of the stone with its inscription; and
as the monument itself was shortly after lodged in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,
Mr. Windele's judgment was vindicated.
* Mr. Brash published an illustration of this monument in the Journal of the Roy. Hist, and
Arch. Ass. of Ireland for Oct., 1868,-G.M.A. -
252 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
Dr. Petrie's reply to Mr. Windele's communication on the subject is so characteristic of
that eminent scholar and archaeologist, that I make no apology for inserting it here :—
“21 Great Charles Street, Dublin, 21st October, 1845.
“My dear Sir, I beg to thank you most warmly for your kind letter, and to request
your pardon for the trouble which I, thoughtlessly, put you to in the matter of the Ogham
inscription at Ardmore. I assure you, with sincerity, that I am very sorry for it, as taking
it as certain that the marks in the stone are faithfully copied; and have no hesitation in
acknowledging that it is a true Ogham, and I shall state this, and make the amende in the
second volume of my work. I had thought myself sufficiently cautious in receiving
evidence at second hand, but I find I was mistaken. More than one person, who are as
competent as men could be to pronounce upon an Irish inscription, assured me that they
have examined the Ardmore Stone, and that they were satisfied, perfectly, that it was not an
inscription, and these persons had asked expressly for, and been shown as such, the inscrip-
tion discovered by you. I must conclude that they were shown another stone, and did not
see the real Simon Pure. You will, of course, pardon me, if I confess that I do not
consider it as a fact of any consequence to the Round Tower question, whether there was
an Ogham inscription or twenty of them at Ardmore, or none. Indeed, I would not think
it important if such inscriptions were found on the tower itself, unless they could be satis-
factorily proved to be of pagan times; for whether the character was used by the pagans
or not, there is nothing, in my mind, more certain than the fact that it was used by the
Christians. I have, however, no desire to pull down the antiquity of such inscriptions; on
the contrary, it would give me the greatest pleasure to see this assumed antiquity proved,
and I have been long struggling to get evidence in support of it, not wholly without success,
as you state, but yet not sufficient for the purpose; nor do I believe that the question can
be settled till a collection of these inscriptions, faithfully copied, be submitted to the anti-
quarian world.
“I have also to express my own deep regret, that you and your fellow antiquaries of the
south should have found anything in my work that gave you pain, for I can assure you that
nothing could be farther from my intentions than to do so, and I had hoped that this feeling
would have been apparent throughout the controversial portions of the work. I confess,
however, that I am not a practised or skilful controversialist, and may, therefore, have used
my opinions with less delicacy than a nicer hand would have been proud of; but I cannot
plead guilty to more than that, for assuredly, I had no wish to wound unnecessarily.
Besides, may it not plead in excuse that I was parrying blows, not making the onslaught,
which is, I believe, the more difficult position for a combatant, that which requires the
greatest skill and command of temper. But I shall be more guarded and better practised in
future, and you may depend upon it, I shall not again run any risk of giving the slightest
pain.
“Before I conclude, allow me also to express my regret that you should have found me
such an irregular correspondent. In truth, I have so many letters on business to write, and
which must be written, that I am often left without a moment to write on matters that
would be agreeable to me. However, I trust I shall be less oppressed in this way in future,
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 253
or, at all events, have more time at command, and I assure you it will always give me
pleasure to hear from you, and that I shall take care not to leave your letters unanswered.
“Pardon this too hasty scrawl, and believe me, my dear Sir,
“Most faithfully yours,
“J. WINDELE, Esq.” “GEORGE PETRIE.
No. 2. This is but a fragment; it measures 2ft. 6in. in length, 9in, in breadth, and
about 2in, in thickness; the fragmentary inscription is on one angle, occupying its entire
length, and is remarkably well cut and preserved, as follows:–
+TIſr till Hitſ+illº
A N A C I M A Q I
A N A C , T H E S O N OF .
The stone is broken close to the last letter. We have, therefore, lost the patronymic.
The name Anac will be found on a grave slab at Clonmacnoise, as Aunoci (Chris. Ins. Pl.
XXX.); the Knockourane stone bears one of a similar type, Annaccan, being in fact
identical excepting the termination of the latter. Gaulish form, Anicetus. . Orel. 27.
Anicius.. Orel. 1151, 72, 85.
No. 3. This is a coarse unshapely pillar of conglomerate, 4ft. 6in. in length, and 12in,
by 10in. at the centre; it is of a boulder shape; the inscription is about the centre of the
stone, on a rough, irregular angle:–
+/+++
A M A D U
The characters are broadly and deeply cut, but without care. In reference to this legend,
Bishop Graves states that a bishop named Amadeus lived in the sixth century. I presume
he refers to “Orthinis, Bishop” (Mart. Don. p. 13). By a reference to the foot-note at the
above we have the following:—“The Mart. Tamlacht omits Orthinis, and substitutes
* Cartinisa episcopi,’ adding in a more modern Italian hand, “Amadeus, seu Ama-Jesus,’
which is a translation of the name Carthiniosa.” (Note 2.) If this is the Amadeus
referred to by Bishop Graves, it throws no light on the name above given, being merely a
translation of Carthin-Tosa. Amadu, however, is a Gaedhelic name from Amad, i.e. a fool
or half-witted person; perhaps this rude looking stone was placed over such a one; persons
so afflicted were held in great veneration in Ireland, and looked upon by the peasantry with
a certain feeling of awe and respect; the same custom exists among the Arabs. Amadu is
also a Gaulish form; we find it as a potter's mark on red Samian ware, Amiiedu (Cel. Rom.
Sax. p. 468). This stone was discovered by Mr. Chearnly, of Salter Bridge.
ISLAND. (Pl. XXXV.)
There are two townlands called Island, adjoining one another, on the sea-coast between
Ballyvoylehead and Stradbally, in the parish of Stradbally, Ord. Sh. No. 32. The western
is called Island Hubbuck, the eastern, the Old Island; why they are so called I cannot
divine, as they are on the mainland, with bold, precipitous cliffs to the sea.
About the centre of the Old Island is a large circular area enclosed by a high earthen
rampart, and denominated in the locality a Cilleen. Not a fort or Rath, it has no external

254 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
ditch, as is usual in Raths; if it were of the latter class, it certainly would not have been
trusting to its solitary rampart for defence, as we generally find Raths of far less size with
one, two, or three circumvallations, having corresponding ditches. I am, therefore, con-
vinced, from the traditions of the peasantry, as well as from the construction of this
monument, that it is the site of an ancient pagan cemetery. It is about 150ft. in internal
diameter, the area is perfectly level, and there is at present no appearance of graves; one
solitary pillar stone, broken across, alone lies in the centre of the Cilleen. It is a slab of hard
clay-slate, in its original state measuring 5ft. 10in, in length, 1.ft. 7in. in breadth, and 6in.
in thickness at the centre. It has an Ogam inscription commencing on the left angle, 2ft.
6in. from the base, and running round the head, where it finishes; and another on the right
angle of the same face, finishing at present within 1ſt. 4in. of the top.
LEFT ANGLE – Illi-HImm-H-III+mſ/+*#/+lli
C U N N E T A N M A. Q. I G U C
Some of these letters are clearly and boldly cut, and in good preservation. Between the
third and fourth there is a space of 2%in. A copy by Mr. Windele shows a doubtful vowel,
A, there, but I could not see any trace of it; the angle is abraded, and it is not unlikely
that a vowel may have existed there; its absence, however, does not affect the sense of the
inscription; between the sixth and seventh characters there is a doubtful vowel, A, the space
exists for it, and there are indications of the letter. The angle is much worn and damaged,
consequently the word Maqi, which is partly incised on it, is much mutilated; the MA and
a portion of the I are legible, but the scores of the Q are very much damaged, and I have
so marked them, as does also Mr. Windele in his copy. The last score of the last letter is
doubtful. The whole inscription might read as follows:—
C UN A N E T A N M A Q I G U.C.
This Cunanetan appears to be identical with the Conuneatt of the Glenfais legend. We
find Conait in the Annals of Ulster and Conet, in the Liber. Landavensis. Gaulish forms,
Conatius ... Stein. 2022. Concennetus. . Murat. 1251, 8.
The right-hand angle bears the following:—
Ill H+/+IIlli-m-hillill
Q OM A G E C A F E Q
The above is much worn, but legible; the last letter finishes within 16in. of the top. Mr.
Windele's copy agrees with mine. The angle of the stone is much damaged. I don't
assert that the above is complete, a portion of the inscription may have been lost; it is
probable, however, that we have the terminal letters, and that the entire may be one
inscription, reading:—
CUN (A) N E T A N M A Q I G U C C U M A G E CAF E Q.
This is a similar formula to a portion of the principal Ardmore inscription, where Mage is
used in the second step of the pedigree; in adjacent localities the form of language and
proper names would be similar. Cafeq has a strong likeness to the Cafu of the same legend,
but having the genitive in Ec, or, as here, EQ.
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD, 255
- BALLYWOONEY. (Pl. XXXV.)
Tubber-Cill-Eilhe, translated by Mr.Windele the Well of the Graves, or Sepulture, is on the
townland of Ballyvooney, about one mile east of Stradbally, Ord. Sh. No. 32. I visited this
place June 1st, 1869, and after some difficulty found the locality. It is a lonely glen
running down to the sea-shore, through which winds a stream; it is bare and unwooded; at
the west side, about one quarter of a mile from the sea beach, is a steep field, rising
abruptly from the margin of the stream, in an upper angle of which, close to the fence of
the adjoining field, is the well, which springs from the surface of the ground, and not as
out of a rock; it is not covered by any building, neither is it shaded by the usual thorn or
ash tree; here are no votive offerings or pilgrims' relics, no ruined church or graveyard, it is
not dedicated to any saint, no patron is held, and no rounds are given here. Yet is it
esteemed sacred among the peasantry of the surrounding country, afflicted persons come
to wash their diseased limbs in its waters; it is looked upon as a specific for warts and all
sorts of tumours. The farmer on whose ground it is had it stopped up some years ago,
when lo, the usual judgment befel him; he contracted at once a running sore, which could
not be cured, and was not cured, until he had the obstruction removed and the well
re-opened. All these circumstances point to the pagan origin of this well, and show the
extraordinary tenacity with which the Gaedhil clung to the traditions of their pre-Christian
observances. -
Lying on the ground and around the orifice of the well are some loose stones, one of
these is a flat flag, having a lengthened inscription, two of the others are fragments
covered with Ogam letters.
No. 1. This is a slab of clay-slate, of irregular form and dimensions, 3ft. 10in, in
length, and 2ft. by 6in. in the centre. The inscription commences on the left angle, runs
round the head and down the opposite angle of the same face, as follows:–
m #4-Illinſ/+IIIl-HHA-1114th-lillºtill
N U A T A F R O Q I M A Q I Q I T
The above characters are well cut and quite legible. I would propose to read it as
follows:–
N U A T A F R O C U I M A Q I C UIT.
N U A T A F, A G B E A T W A R RIO R., T H E S ON OF C UIT.
The inscription commences with the proper name Nuataf, a form of the well-known one
Nuada, Nuadhath, the D and T being very frequently commutable letters in Gaedhelic; thus
we have Nuadhat Airgettamh, A.M. 3303; Nuadha Neacht, A.M. 3519; Nuadhat Finfail,
A.M. 4199. These are taken from the “Ann, 4 Mas.” Ro, according to O'Reilly, signifies
great, and is also an intensitive particle, as e.g. Ro-fhonn, great desire; Ro-mhor, very great;
Cu signifies a hero, champion, &c. The above rendering is not inconsistent with what we
might reasonably expect to find on such an archaic monument, yet I offer it only as a
suggestive reading.
Nos. 2 and 3. There were two fragments with inscribed angles lying in the well under
water; the day of my visit was a wet one, all around was a marshy pool. I was, therefore,
unable to copy the inscriptions on them. A note by Mr. Windele informs me that these

256 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
stones were discovered by Mr. Williams, of Dungarvan, who found a third fragment in the
fence of an adjoining field; this I searched for, but failed to find, I am therefore obliged to
rely upon copies supplied by Mr. Windele, and which I believe he received from Mr.
Williams, who placed the three fragments together and found they exhibited three lines of
inscriptions, as follows:–
+III+mſ-Hº-17//+!!!! Hiſtºrm #4
A F E N E A G R A C O L I N E A
TIT-F 1+1+m ##.
F. A. H. O. D. I N A M U
III+//mſ
F I R. N
Not knowing the position of the characters on the stones, I am unable to offer any rendering
of the above; it appears to me, however, that the two last lines belong to one inscription,
and that as given above they are reverse to the original intention; if we therefore place
them in their proper position, they give us a satisfactory reading, which is not the case in
the order already given :—
Illuſ/+*#/+lllll-thirtſ HT--Ill.
Q R I T E M A Q I L O B A T
Read in this sequence, we have at once a consistent inscription, because of the order of its
formula, and the identification of a well-known name, Curit, as well as of the key word Maqi,
(Stone of) C U R IT T H E S ON OF LO B A T.
Lobhar and Lobran, Mart. Don., are names of a similar type. This name has also been
found on a stone from Laharan, Co. Kerry, and on one at Kiltera, Co. Waterford, in the
form of Labot, with the prefix Col. There can be no question that the second and third
lines form an independent legend, and have no connection with the first line, of which I can
give no satisfactory reading.
KILGRAVANE. (Pl. XXXVI.)
On the townland of Kilgravane, parish of Clonea, Ord. Sh. No. 31, Mr. William
Williams, of Dungarvan, discovered a group of five Ogam inscribed stones. I visited the
locality June 1st, 1869, and after some difficulty discovered the site of these monuments,
which was then a grass field on the farm of Mr. Qealy, within about twenty perches of the
sea-beach, and three miles east of Dungarvan. A Cilleen existed in this field, a segment of
the circular fence of which remains; according to the curve of the existing portion, it must
have been of considerable extent, and must have embraced within it the present site of the
stones, which are huddled close together in one spot, leaning one against the other. We
have here, as well as at Ballintaggart, and Kilcolaght, and many similar sites, evidence of
the struggle between the improving spirit of the farmer and his innate superstitious
reverence for these weird places; the area of the sacred spot has been gradually circum-
scribed, and the mysteriously marked head-stones have been huddled together in the present
confined space.
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MonumENTS, Co. WATERFORD. 257
No. 1. This is a thin slab of clay-slate, having a great flake from end to end off one
side, which leaves a ridge in the centre, and has carried away most of the inscription on the
left angle, which has been left as sharp as a knife. The stone is 4ft. in length, 1ſt. 2in. by
2in, at the bottom, and 8in. by 2in, at the top ; it had both angles of one face inscribed:
that on the left is almost obliterated, but that on the right is quite perfect and legible, the
characters being deeply cut. The inscription commences close to the bottom, which, coupled
with the appearance of the end, leads us to conjecture that it was originally longer, and that
probably a portion of the first name may be wanting, though such short names are, as I
have already shown, common both on these monuments and in Irish history:—
m A+IIIllhättſ HHHH-Il-H4+++++++++
N A M A Q I L U G U D E C A M U C 0 I
As it will be seen, the inscription runs on the head of the stone, which has been much
injured, consequently the letters on the top, the concluding vowels, are somewhat defaced,
as shown by the dotted marks. I propose to read it :—
N A., T H E S O N OF L U G UD E C, T H E S W IN E-H E R D .
This inscription is remarkable for the patronymic, which is the same as the individual to
whom the principal monument at Ardmore was erected under the form of Lugudeccas, and
to which I have already referred, p. 249. Na is the same type as Ne, found on one of the
Drumloghan stones, and as Ni, Nia, Noe, in the index, Ann. 4 Mas. Gaulish form, Neia. .
Stein. 338. The following characters are all that remain of the left angle inscription —
TIT
No. 2. (Pl. XXXVI.) This is also a slab of clay-slate 4ft. 10in. in length, and 1.ft.
5in. by 4%in. This stone has been much damaged, the top has been broken and a large
broad flake has been knocked off the right angle, where there are evidences of an inscription;
that on the left angle commences at 11 in. from the bottom and runs close to the top, and
apparently was completed on the head of the stone, or perhaps ran down the opposite angle,
where there is still one letter remaining near the top.
m #TT-Hit-4 m #7/+lllll-H+*
N I S I G. N. I. M. A Q I
The above is remarkably well cut, distinct and deep; on the opposite angle is one vowel, an I.
(Stone of) NIS IG (A) N T H E S O N OF-
I here restore the vowel evidently left out in the inscription. The name I have not been
able to identify in the above form, it is of the same type as Nessan, Naisi, Nissi.
No. 3. This is a pillar of the old red sandstone, much weather-worn and disintegrated;
it is in length 5ft. 7in., and 1.ft. 6in. by 6in. at base, and 6in. by Bin. at top. It has an
inscription on one angle, commencing at 1.ft. 7in, from the bottom and running close to the
top. It is, however, so worn by time and the elements, that but a few of the letters can be
recognised :—
+/-H+++ll
I R E U O C
The letters were broadly and deeply cut, unusually so, but are worn down by atmospheric
L. L.
258 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
influences. I have found that wherever this material has been used, the characters engraved
on it are much obliterated.
No. 4. This is a fine pillar of hard, close-grained clay-slate, 5ft. 5in. in length, and 12in.
by 4}in, at the centre; it bears an inscription on one angle, which is well cut and perfectly
legible; the first letter is damaged, as it is close to the bottom where the stone is fractured:
N I M U C O I C U N E U
Finding the inscription imperfect, I examined some smaller fragments, and among them
found a piece of the same material and scantling, bearing the following characters —
++111114th-th-r
M A Q I U
Here I at once saw the missing fragment which completed the entire legend in a most
satisfactory manner; the whole restored reads thus:–
/*-*###mrm the Aºtulº hit "hºm-º:
- M A Q I U N N I M U C O I C U N E U
This formula is one we are familiar with, where the patronymic precedes the name of the
person commemorated.
M A C U I U N N I M UC O I C U N E U .
The individual here indicated is the Conn of our annals, of which Cun is the dative
singular. This name has been found on an early tombstone at Clonmacnoise, or Do CHUNN,
accompanied by a richly carved cross. Christian Inscriptions, v. i. p. 65. Gaulish form,
Connius . . Grut. 776, 1. Cuni has been found as a potter's mark on Mortaria (Col.
Antiq. v. i. p. 149), and also on red Samian ware (Celt. Rom. Sax. p. 468). The patronymic
is Unn, a pre-historic name. “Un, son of Uige, a Milesian chief.” Ann. 4 Mas, A.M.
3501, 10. Such names as En, Un, Enna, and Indaei, are frequent as pre-historic names
(See Keating's History of Ireland). Mucoi seems here used as a term of distinction or of a
profession.
GRANGE.
On the townland of Grange, and in the parish of Lisgenan or Grange, is the ruined
church of the same name standing in a neglected cemetery; it is about five miles from
Youghal, on the high road between that town and Dungarvan, Ord. Sh. No. 38.
The church has nearly disappeared, only a couple of feet of the walls standing. At the
west side of the cemetery, within a few yards of its fence, is a low pillar stone inscribed on
one angle; it stands 2ft. Sin, above ground, and is 1.ft. 2in, by 8in. in the centre; it is a slab
of clay-slate, and is much worn on the angle, there being traces of letters from top to bottom.
The stone is about 8in, below the ground, and the first letter of the following inscription
is within Bin. from the bottom. I am of opinion that this stone is the upper part of a larger
monument.
+++ill+
A MO Q I
The dotted scores are faint, I have therefore so distinguished them; being restored, they
show the word “Moqi,” a form of “Magi" sometimes found on these monuments.

CHAP. XI.] oGAM MoRUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD, 259
KILTERA. (Pl. XXXVII.)
This inscribed stone stands on the townland of Dromore, Drom-mor, i.e. the Great
Ridge, in the parish of Aglish, and about a mile south of the village of Williars town, Ord.
Sh. 29. A farm road leads southwards from the bridge of Aughaclaren, until it meets the
Gooish stream, a tributary of the Blackwater, which the visitor crosses by stepping-stones;
about forty yards down the opposite bank of the river is a stile over the fence, leading into
a field on the farm of Mr. John Keating; in this field are the remains of a Cilleen,
consisting of a portion of the circular fence and a raised circular area, which shows the
extent and space it originally occupied. Close to the existing portion of the ancient fence
are three stones, two of them standing nearly parallel on edge and deeply sunk in the
ground; the third, which is inscribed on both corners, stands at right angles to the others,
as shown on the ground plan (pl. xxxvii., fig. 2). The parallel stones look as if they
formed part of a Cistvaen, one of them is a slab of the old red sandstone, about 7in. thick,
the other of clay-slate, about 6in. The group of stones are overshadowed by an aged thorn
tree.
I visited this place June 17th, 1869, and found the inscribed stone to be a slab of hard
close-grained clay-slate, standing 2ft. 8in, above the ground. The Ogam characters were
on two angles of the same face; upon close examination it appeared to me that the
characters went below the present surface of the ground. I, therefore, procured the
assistance of a man with a spade, and commenced clearing away the earth from its base;
this I found a work of some difficulty, as the ground was firmly compacted and all around
the stone wedged with thin spawls on edge, firmly rammed down; it took us a full hour of
hard work to get at the lower end of the monument, a son of the owner of the farm assisting
us; we were, however, encouraged to persevere by finding the scores go deeper and deeper
as we progressed. I think they must have taken me for a wizard, as when we had gotten
a few inches under the surface I found we had uncovered four letters that in their com-
bination appeared to me to be the termination of a name I had seen on another monument;
I at once conjectured that I had the same on this. I therefore informed them of the
numbers and positions of each group of scores they would uncover as they went down,
which, to their utter amazement and my intense satisfaction, proved correct, disclosing on
the left angle the proper name “Collabot,” found also on a stone from Laharan, Co. Kerry,
and now in the possession of Lord Dunraven at Adare Manor. When uncovered, I found
its entire length 4ft. 10in., its breadth at the centre 1.ft. 9in., and thickness 5in.
The inscription on the left angle commenced at 8in. from the bottom, and terminated
close to the top; the angle is much worn and disintegrated, and care is requisite in
tracing it.
I went carefully over and over the letters, and perfectly satisfied myself as to the
correctness of my copy. -
*#m-Ir-i-Hill++11-###TH+ - - - - - - -fºr-
C O L L A B O T M U C O I L
The above presents us with a name found on two different monuments, as before stated, and
which have been described in their proper places. On one of them the name is “Colabot,”

260 oGAM MONUMENTS, Co. WATERFORD. - [CHAP. XI.
on the other “Coillabbot.” This name appears to be formed of the prefix Coll or Colla
so often found to Irish names, and Labot, or, as we have it on one of the Ballyvooney
examples, Lobat. We meet with also the well-known term Mucoi, which seems here to
express the occupation of the deceased. The letter I in the latter word is injured, owing to
a flake off the angle of the stone which has defaced two of the centre vowel dots; after the
15th letter there is a space with traces of injured letters, but nothing definite; on the corner
of the top angle is a half-defaced G. -
The inscription on the right-hand angle is much more injured, and illegible; it commenced
12in, from the bottom, with the word Maqi, and extended to the top and apparently round
the head :-
M A Q A. A C C Q
The first, second and third letters are quite distinct, with the exception of one score of the
Q, which is faint; only two scores of the I exist, as the angle is broken and worn; we have
the X character between two vowels, another instance of the improbability of this character
representing the diphthong EA. The Q is on the top shoulder of the stone, the rest of the
letters are illegible. This monument was evidently refixed, and that by some persons who
were not aware of the value of the inscriptions, otherwise they would not have buried so
large a portion of them under the surface; it was also refixed with great care and labour, very
probably as a memorial to some person long subsequent to its original appropriation.
Here there is no trace of a church either in memory or tradition. Young Mr. Keating
informed me that he remembered the fence round the Cilleen complete, and that there were
a number of long stones standing about it which were broken up and built into the fences
and otherwise disposed of; the fence was levelled by his father. He informed me that it
was always called Cilltera, Ceal-teora, the “Burial Ground of the Boundary,” from “Teor,
s.m. a landmark, a boundary.” “Teora, s. m. a border, limit, boundary, &c.” It is
probable that in remote times the river Gooish formed a boundary to some ancient territorial
division, and the cemetery being close to its banks caused it to be so named. Mr. Keating's
farm is also named from the Cilleen. He informed me that the stones I have been describing
were always there; an old man aged 80 years informed his father that he remembered them
since he was a boy. The monuments were first noticed by Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, of
Youghal, in May, 1861. It was subsequently visited by Mr. Windele, from whom I received
my information; the copy made by the latter gentleman was defective, as he gave but three
letters of one angle and two of another. This was owing principally, I believe, to his not
having excavated at the base of the stone, and therefore he was not cognisant of the con-
cealed letters. I am therefore of opinion that mine was the first complete copy taken of
these inscriptions, as I am convinced both from the information I received from Mr. Keating,
as well as from the difficulty I experienced in opening the ground, it had never been disturbed.
SESKINAN. (Pl. XXXVIII.)
Seskinan is a ruined church in the parish of the same name, barony of Decies without
Drum, and county of Waterford. It stands on the townland of Knockboy, and is marked
“Seskinan's Church,” on sheet No. 13 of the Ordnance Survey of the county. The parish
CHAP. XI.] oGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 261
of Seskinan occupies a fertile upland plain, lying between the Knock-Maol-Dun mountains
on the west, and the Monavulla range, a spur of the Comeraghs, on the east. It is about
twelve miles from Clonmel, seven from Cappoquin, and nine from Dungarvan ; standing on
the farm of Mr. Gleeson, about three-quarters of a mile north-east of Beary's Cross, which
is on the high road from Clonmel to Dungarvan. I am thus minute in describing the
locality, as I have been frequently at great loss of time and trouble in finding the where-
abouts of similar monuments, owing to the defective and careless descriptions of even
professed archaeologists. -
The old church stands in the north-east corner of the graveyard, which is of a quad-
rangular form, and enclosed by a thick fence of earth and stones, and of modern construction.
The building, as will appear by the accompanying ground plan, is a simple quadrangle,
standing east and west, being 72ft. 10in. in length, and 24ft. 9in, in breadth in clear of walls,
which are 3ft. in thickness; the walls are all standing, and are built of coarse rubble work,
the material being apparently field stones and small boulders; the quoins, door, and window
jambs being of dressed stone. On the apex of the west gable is a rude double bell-cote.
The entrances are in the south and north walls towards the west end, and have pointed
arches externally, the jambs being simply chamfered without labels. The windows are five
in number. The east window is a long narrow ope, having a chamfered dressing and a
trefoiled arch without a label; there is one window-ope in the north wall, one in the south,
and two in the west gable, one over the other, and all of the same character. These opes,
as well as the entrance, are lintelled internally with long stone slabs, over which are rude
discharging arches; on certain of these lintels are to be found inscriptions in Ogam
characters.
These inscriptions were discovered by Mr. George W. Du Noyer, M.R.I.A., “Geological
Survey of Ireland,” and a set of admirably executed sketches and a ground plan of this
edifice will be found in the series of “Illustrations of Irish Architecture and Antiquities,”
presented by him to the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. Being anxious to make a
personal examination of these inscriptions, I visited Seskinan Church on Saturday, May 30th,
1868, accompanied by Dr. Caulfield, F.S.A. We started from Youghal at an early hour in
the morning, crossed the Blackwater by the great timber bridge, went through the pretty
village of Clashmore, by Aglish and Whitechurch, to Cappagh, leaving Dromana and Affame
to the left; from Cappagh, we struck across the country by the new Board of Works road,
and came out on the high road from Dungarvan to Clonmel at Curragh-na-Modderee, two
miles south of Beary's Cross. Having procured a ladder, we proceeded to the church, of
which we made a careful examination, taking accurate copies of the inscriptions.
No. 1. This is the internal lintel of the north window, next to the east gable; it is
5ft. 9in. in length, 12in, in breadth, and 6%in. in thickness at the centre; it has a muti-
lated inscription on an external angle commencing 2ft. Bin. from the end, and running to the
top, one of the characters being turned round on the top, which is fractured. The letters
are much defaced, and several are missing, owing to spawls having been knocked off the
edge of the stone, apparently by the mason, to form a straight arris over the ope,
262 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
+%+ll-º-, ... .A.41+...+....Thi-Hºº-º-m
E R U T O M Q S E. T. A. S
The vertical and sloping dotted strokes are open to doubt, not being so clearly marked
as the rest; there are, however, very strong indications of the values I have ascribed to them.
I have no doubt that the sixth, seventh, and eighth characters form portions of the usual word
“Maqi,” the genitive case of Mac, as usually found on these monuments, and forming the
key-word of the inscription; the injured angle spaces marked above by horizontal dots in
continuation of the fleasg line, allow for the completion of the word Eruto. Names of this
type are usual, as Er, Ernaine, Erenan (Ann. 4 Mas). We find it also in Gaulish, in the
form of Erriatius . . (Gruter, 89, 1 . . pr. Colon. Agrip.). Setas: a similar name, Saetad,
is to be seen on one of the Drumloghan stones. Sedna, Seanan, and Seanach, are of a
similar type. -
No. 2. This forms the internal lintel of the south window, next the east gable; it is 4ft.
4.in. in length, 11in. in breadth, and 8in. in thickness at the centre; it is a dark red clay-slate.
Like the former, it has been hammered and dressed to make it fit its present position, con-
sequently the inscription is incomplete, and several of the existing letters are much defaced.
Owing to the present position of the stone, the inscription, when copied, must be reversed,
and read from left to right; it commences at 1.ft. 10in, from the bottom, and is as follows:–
+T ...T...... T/*#Imr
E R C U N
Owing to the damaged state of this stone, nothing can be made of the inscription beyond
the concluding letters, which form a proper name, Barcun, same as Berchan of the Annals,
and Barcun, a name found on the Menvendanus stone.
No. 3. Over the lintel bearing the above inscription is a discharging arch of rough
rubble work; one of the arch stones is a fragment of an inscribed Ogam monument; it is
14in. in length, and 2%in, in thickness; the inscription is on one of the front angles,
and is quite legible, as follows:–
lill
C O R. B
It has been suggested that this is a portion of the lintel inscription under it : upon com-
parison, however, I could not connect them, neither could I do so with any of the other
inscriptions. I rather think it is a fragment of an independent monument; indeed, it is
probable that many other fragments are built into the walls of this church.
No. 4. This is the internal lintel over the south doorway (Pl. XXXVIII., Fig. 3), and
measures 6ft. 2in, in length, 10}in. in breadth, and 8%in, in thickness at the centre; it
is much damaged and spawled, on the inscribed angle particularly; this dressing was done
probably to bring the soffet angle of the stone to a regular line; its effect has been to
obliterate the inscription except a few scores, as follows:—
+TITTTTTT
U N S B
No. 5. This forms the internal lintel of the upper window in the west gable (Pl.
CHAP. XI.] oGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 263
XXXVIII. Fig. 1); it is 4ft. 9in, in length, 1ſt. Bin. in breadth, and 7in in thickness at the
centre. The inscription is on the front angle, and in its present position cannot be read, as
it is upside down; therefore, when copied, the copy must be reversed in order to read it
correctly—an evidence either that the builders of this church knew nothing of the Ogam,
or if otherwise, they did not wish it to be read.
The inscription on this lintel is the best preserved of any, as all the characters are quite
legible; this in all probability is owing to the fact of the stone being placed at such a height
from observation, that the builders did not think it necessary to deface the markings. Mr.
Du Noyer's copy of this inscription is correct, with the exception of one letter, the seventh,
which in his copy is an E.; it is actually an I, which I took particular care to verify, as on my
visit I had copies of the inscriptions taken from that gentleman's sketches with me, therefore
any differences I was careful to note; it therefore stands thus:—
Ill-hitſ/#Hill+/-tº-ill
C I R M A Q I M U C
Fortunately there can be no controversy about this inscription, which reads
CIR, T H E S ON OF M U C.
The name of Cir, or Ciar, is one of considerable antiquity in Gaedhelic history.
Keating relates, from the “Book of Invasions,” that the Clanna Miledh brought with them into
Ireland a celebrated poet named Cir, the son of Cis. Ciar is a celebrated Munster name;
he was an illegitimate son of Fergus, King of Ulster, by Meav, Queen of Connaught; being
expelled from the court of Cruachan, he sought refuge in Munster, and obtained a large
extent of territory, from him called Ciarraidhe Luachra, or Kerry the Rushy, and extending
from Tralee bay to the mouth of the Shannon, and from Sliabh Luachra to Tarbert, and
from which territory the present county of Kerry is named. Dr. O'Donovan (“Book of
Rights,” n., pp. 48, 100) states, that the descendants of Ciar removed back to Connaught
“in the reign of Aedh, son of Eochaidh Tirmcharna, the eighth Christian king of Connaught,
under the conduct of Cairbre, son of Conaire.” The principal family of their race took
the surname of O'Conchobhair (O'Conor). Keating states that Ciar was the son of Feargus,
the son of Roigh, by Meav, Queen of Connaught, that he gave his name to Ciarhuidhe, that
is Kerry, in the province of Munster, and that from him the family of “O'Conor Kerry” is
descended.
I have not been able to identify this name at any later period; it is not to be found in
O'Donovan's Index to his “Annals of the Four Masters,” neither in the Indexes to the
various works published by the “Archaeological" and “Celtic Societies,” so that we must
admit it to be a name of a very remote antiquity, and a very suitable one to be found
inscribed in this archaic character.
Muc; the name intended is probably Mucoi, the vowels being either erased or omitted.
Names of a similar type are found in Gaulish, as, Mocanus, Stein. 2057 . . Basil. Mocdo
figul... Stein. 1810. . Trev.
No. 6. This forms the internal lintel of the lower window in the west gable (Pl.
XXXVIII., Fig. 2); it is 3ft. 11in. in length, 8in. in breadth, and 7in. in depth.
The inscription is short, but in fair preservation, and the values of the characters can be

264 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD, [CHAP. XI.
accurately ascertained; it finishes close to the top of the stone, and is in its proper position
for being read, and shows no visible trace of any other characters having been on the
monument. Mr. Du Noyer's copy of the inscription differs from mine; his is as follows:–
Trrº/All HitF/#mrm
F. B A R T I G U N N
Having had the use of a ladder, I was enabled to examine this inscription very closely,
and having had the assistance of Dr. Caulfield in the examination and appropriation of every
mark, I have no hesitation in giving the following as a true copy:-
m-tºſſ/-ul-Hitſ/+%m.
S A R T I G U R N
The fourth stroke of the first group belongs unmistakeably to it, as there is scarcely a
shade of difference in the relative spaces between them. I am not surprised that Mr. Du
Noyer should copy the second last character as an N, instead of an R; I was nigh com-
mitting the same error myself at the first glance, as the upper half of the five scores was
covered by a patch of grey lichen, and required a close examination. An independent copy
by Mr. Williams, of Dungarvan, agrees with mine in both these letters.
Mr. Williams read this “Sar Tigearn.” “Sar" is a sign of the superlative degree;
also means exceeding, excessive, great. “Tigearn " would be “Tighearna,” a Lord,
ogamically written. Here, however, we have not a sufficient number of vowel marks to
form the letters EA. This would not be a great objection, as the word “Tigurn" would be
sufficiently near to meet the modern grammatical form of the term. In this view it would
read “Sar Tighearna," i.e. “The Great Lord.”
This would, however, be a very unusual form for an Ogam inscription, which invariably
contains a proper name, or names. It is true, the proper name of “the great lord’’ may
be upon one of the concealed angles of the stone, in which case the rendering would be a
very suitable and probable one. My own impression is that the whole forms a proper name,
“Sartigurn.” This is a type of name frequently found in our indices, as Caeltighearn,
Luchtigearn (Mart. Don.), and also among the Gaedhil of western Britain, as Centighearn,
Vortigern.
Having thus described the church and its inscriptions, I would offer a few remarks on
the peculiar circumstances under which they have been preserved. The age of the church
cannot be accurately determined beyond this, that it cannot be earlier than the fourteenth,
and may be as late as the sixteenth century. The architecture is not of that distinctive type,
nor the details of such a character, as would enable us to fix its date with certainty; and it
is an established fact, that early types of architecture continued in use in remote districts of
our island long after they had been superseded by other styles in the sister kingdom, and in
towns and more advanced centres of population in our own.
That the stones upon which these inscriptions are found were merely used as building
material, is quite evident from the statements already made, some of them being placed in
such positions as prevent their inscriptions being read; and, as already stated, there is ample
evidence that the stones have been hammer-dressed on the angles, and portions of the
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 265
inscriptions knocked off, in order to produce a straight internal angle, and so render it
suitable for the purpose to which it was devoted.
The question naturally arises, From whence were these inscribed monuments procured,
and what was their original locality ? This, I conceive, can be answered by an examination
of the site. As I before stated, the present graveyard is a quadrangular area enclosed by a
thick modern fence of earth and stones.
Outside of this fence, at the south side, and close to it, will be found a segment of a
circular fence, evidently that of an ancient enclosure. Examining the graves inside the
quadrangular fence, traces of this circular rampart may be traced. From this it is evident
that an ancient Rath existed here, partly upon which, and partly outside of which, the
present church and graveyard were founded; and it is another curious fact, that the church
stands outside of the northern rim of the traces of the ancient rampart. Now it is evident
that this enclosure was that of a Killeen. The fence in this instance is that of a Killeen;
the distinction between this and the Rath being, that each rampart of the latter has always
an accompanying ditch, while the former has never more than one simple fence without a
ditch. It is also noteworthy, that the church is built outside the Killeen, though close to
it; the inference being, that at its erection the prejudice against the Pagan cemetery strongly
existed, though it gave way subsequently to such an extent as to allow the incorporation of
a portion of it in the Christian graveyard, after, of course, the proper consecration. Now,
if this was a Killeen—as I have not the smallest doubt it was—the mystery of the Ogams is
solved. They have always been the most prolific mines of these monuments; wherever
they are discovered, the site of one is sure to be seen in the neighbourhood. This is the
case at Drumloghan, county of Waterford; at Keelboultragh, p. 132, Roovesmore, Aghaliskey,
and Leades, p. 122, county of Cork; at Lugnagappul, Gortamaccaree, Ballintaggart, Bally-
moreagh, Ballinrannig, Ardovenagh, Corkaboy, Drumkeare, and many others, in the county
of Kerry; in fact, so frequently is this the case, that wherever I find an Ogam, I always
inquire for a Killeen, and seldom fail in finding one in the immediate neighbourhood.
The facts are probably these, that the church was erected adjoining this Pagan cemetery;
that the inscribed pillar stones standing in it were found so convenient for lintels, that the
builders, having no reverence for them, used them up in the construction of the building.
It may be that all the lintels are inscribed, the lettered angles being turned upwards, and
concealed in the wall.
BALLYQUIN. (Pl. XXXVII.)
This remarkable monument stands on the townland of Ballyquin, Bally-Cuin, i.e. Quins-
Town, parish of Fenoagh; the locality will be found on Sheet No. 3 of the Ord. Sur., but
the monument is not marked on the map ; the site of the stone is about three-and-a-half
miles from Carrick-on-Suir, on the high road from that place to Curraghmore, and about
200 yards from the cross-roads that branch to the latter place, Portlaw, and Carrick. It
forms the left-hand post or pier of a field gate on the left-hand side of the road, and cannot
fail of being observed on account of its remarkable size and appearance.
It is a rude unshapely pillar of conglomerate, much weather-worn and disintegrated,
full of various coloured pebbles, and standing at present 8ft. above the ground, and measur-
M. M.
266 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, WATERFORD, [CHAP. XI.
ing at the bottom 3ft. 7in, by 1.ft. 7in, tapering irregularly to about 1.ft. 5in. by 10in.
at the top; the field fence abuts against it on one side. The inscription cannot be seen
from the road, it is on one of the inner angles, that next the fence.
It is quite evident that the hardest angle of the stone has been selected for the inscrip-
tion; and also that the characters were formed in accordance with the nature of the material
and in anticipation of the action of the weather upon it, as they are cut both broad and deep,
and though much worn, in consequence of this precaution, they are quite legible to the
Ogamist.
The inscription commences at 1ſt, 6in. from the bottom, and occupies the entire angle
to the top, upon which there are some letters now nearly obliterated.
Previous to my visit to Ballyquin, I had seen several copies of this legend, from
Mr. Windele, Mr. John O'Mahony, now of New York, Mr. Hitchcock, Mr. G. W. Du Noyer,
Mr. Thomas Oldham, and Mr. William Williams of Dungarvan ; of these no two perfectly
agreed. Mr. Oldham was the first who recognised this stone as bearing an Ogam inscrip-
tion; his account with a drawing was published in the Pro. R.I.A., v. ii. p. 514. The
drawing is not correct, it represents the stone as of too regular a form, while the inscrip-
tion is full of errors. Mr. Oldham writes: “There is no combination of more than four
letters or grooves in it.” This is, however, a mistake, as by reference to the accompanying
copy it will be seen that in this respect it is similar to other monuments, and that both
in vowels and consonants it exhibits combinations of five scores.
1114-III+++//+ll-tim #7/#llulºſ/+
C. A. T A B A R M O C O F I R. I Q ONG O
When copying this inscription, I had the various copies already alluded to in my possession;
I took my own independently first, and then comparing with the others, I found that mine
corresponded in every particular with that made by Mr. William Williams. The name
of the individual commemorated on this stone is “Catabar,” an ancient form of “Cathbar,”
an expressive Gaedhelic name, which signifies the “Head of Battle,” and #lso a helmet.
This name is found in the pedigree of the O'Donnells and others of a similar type are numerous
in our indices of ancient names, as Cathbad the Druid, and father of Concovar Mac Nessa,
Cathbran, Cathmogha, &c. We have here also a variation from the usual formula, Maqi, for
which we have Moco, a substitution found also on other monuments. The patronymic I
propose to read as Firicul; proper names with the prefix Fir, i.e. a man, genitive Fear, are
exceedingly numerous in our historic and legendary collections. Icu is the same name as
the Igu of one of the Drumloghan examples. This identical name has been found as a potter's
mark on red Samian ware, as Vereai (Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 468), Verec. , Orel, 190. We
have in this inscription a character not often found on these monuments, but which is given
in the Ogam alphabet in the Book of Ballymote as the double consonant NG; taking it
as such, I propose the following:—
C AT A B A R T H E S ON OF FIRICU (MY) S 0 R R O W, A L A S
Ong, according to O'Brien, is: “ sorrow, grief, a sigh, or groan; '' 0, an interjection, alas.
In this rendering of the inscription there is nothing far-fetched or visionary, it is consistent
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 267
with the purposes of the monument, and with the modes of expression usual among the
Gaedhil.
Mr. W. R. Blackett of Ballyne, in a communication descriptive “ of some antiquities
situate in the Co. of Waterford,” made to the Kil. Arch. Soc. (Journal, 1849-51, p. 497),
gives the following legend connected with this monument:—“Aengus, King of Munster,
came to invade Leinster with a great army, the king of Leinster (whose name is not remem-
bered) crossed the Suir at a place called Tinhollo to resist him; the two armies met at
Ballyquin, where this stone stands, and there were about to join battle. A druid, who was
in the army of the king of Munster, said it was a pity that so many should be killed for
the quarrel of two men, so the king of Munster challenged the king of Leinster to single
combat. They fought, Aengus was slain at this place, and this stone was errected to com-
memorate his death; the inscription is said to signify: ‘Aengus is interred here.’” I need
not say that such a name is not to be found in the inscription. Mr. Ryland, in his History
of Waterford, has some particulars respecting this locality, and the stone at Ballyquin:-
“About half-a-mile distant from the last gate, on an eminence which commands a splendid
view of the Earl of Besborough's improvements in the County of Kilkenny, and on the left-
hand side of the road, stands a stone of considerable magnitude, raised at least 8ft. above
the level of the ground. There are various traditions among the country people with regard
to the causes of elevation of this stone, and the agents who were employed in the work, but
all of them too absurd to deserve notice here. Certain marks on one side of it have by
some been imagined to make part of an inscription, now almost entirely defaced ; by
others, they are said to be the marks left by the fingers of those gigantic beings who amused
themselves in the removal and erection of this stone. At the distance of about forty yards,
within the hedge, on the side of the road, there was discovered in the year 1810 the
entrance to a subterranean chamber 8ft. square, and at the further extremity of this, a
passage between 2ft. and 3ft. square, which led into a second apartment of the same dimensions
as the former, and from thence into a third. The first discoverers, not being gifted with
much taste for subterranean research, preferred the more expeditious way of prosecuting
their enquiries by digging in the field above; and having thus loosened the stone arch which
formed the ceiling, the entire of the roof of the third apartment fell in, and thus put a
stop to further discovery,” pp. 285-6. The neighbourhood is rich in primeval remains;
about a quarter-of-a-mile off is a holy well, Tubber-Cuan; nearer still, and quite close to each
other, two cromlechs of great size, and another on the side of the road between Ballyquin
and Carrick; for a description of these, see Kil. Arch. Soc., 1849-51, p. 496. It is
surmised that a great Celtic cemetery existed here formerly, through which the present road
to Curraghmore was made, as for nearly a mile the fences are formed of great slabs and
blocks of stone. The inscribed pillar coming in the line of the fence was allowed to remain
in situ, the scattered cromlechs being the outskirts of this collection were also not disturbed;
in the immediate neighbourhood two other Ogam-inscribed stones were found. Dr. Ferguson
conceives that the patronymic is Firiqorb. Fearcorb is a well-known Irish name, and
signifies the “man of the chariot.” In the present state of the stone, the final letters are
as given by me. I examined the top with all the care I could, not being satisfied with

268 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD, [CHAP. XI.
the terminal characters; though well disposed to meet with Firiqorb, I could not find the
final letters RB ; neither are they to be found in the copies made by Messrs. Windele,
Hitchcock, and Williams. The head of the stone is no doubt frayed and weather-worn,
and there is therefore a little scope for speculation, yet when we find four persons well
accustomed to copying this class of inscriptions agreeing perfectly in the values they
attach to these final letters, and when we can identify the name without the prefix on
a monument in the same locality, and the entire name as a Gaulish one, Verecu, we are
justified in assuming it to be the true patronymic. The name is formed of FIR and CU,
words which enter into the formation of a great many proper names.
WINDGAP. (Pl. XXXV.)
On the townland of Windgap, parish of Dysert, Ord. Sh. No. 3, is a circular Rath encom-
passed by one earthen rampart and a half-erased foss; it is locally named Rath-Coolnamuck
(Cuil-na-Muc, i.e. the Boar Recess). An extensive forest once covered this district, which
is still represented by the wood of Coolnamuck, and gives its name to the old family
residence of the Walls. Within this Rath the late Mr. George W. Du Noyer discovered an
Ogam-inscribed pillar, the circumstances attending which he thus describes:–
“In the month of March, 1851, I was fortunate enough to discover this Ogham in
the centre of an ancient Rath in the townland of Windgap, near Carrick-on-Suir, in the County
of Waterford. A cave, known to be here, induced me to visit this spot, and while having
its entrance opened in order to explore it, I was obliged to dig around a rough block of stone
which was close to it. This stone proved to be the Ogham pillar, a drawing of which
is now before the Academy, and, strange to say, it was buried with the small end downwards,
leaving the rough end projecting above ground. The inscribed face of the stone was turned
away from the mouth of the cave.” (Pro. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. vii. p. 251.) The drawing referred
to will be found in that gentleman’s “Collection of Sketches,” Lib. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. i. Sheet
13. The sketch is a fair representation of the stone, but the inscription is incorrect. I visited
this place on June 30th, 1869, and again on October 23rd of the same year. I found the
site of the Rath about a quarter-of-a-mile from the new Roman Catholic Church of Windgap,
and a few yards to the right-hand side of a narrow farm-road that divides the townlands
of Windgap and Ballindysert. The inscribed stone lay in a slanting position in an excava-
tion, that probably made by Mr. Du Noyer in effecting an entrance into the Rath chamber.
It was nearly concealed in grass and weeds, and at first sight looked most unpromising; but
when by patient labour my wife and myself had removed the mosses and lichens which
encrusted the stone, concealing the letters, and had removed the weeds and brambles, the
inscription became thoroughly revealed to us. The monument is 5ft. Bin. in length, 1ſt. Sin.
wide at the bottom, and 12in, at the top, and of variable thickness, from 9in. to 13in. The
characters are broadly and deeply cut, and with a few exceptions are in fair preservation,
commencing at 1.ft. 2in, from the bottom on the left angle, and running round the head of
the stone and down the opposite angle, finishing within 1ſt. 5in. of the bottom, as follows:–
/+1-1+//m3+++Illilihr/+Illihhºffm #/+llll-tº-hit Trºſſ H-Irihit
M O D D A G N I M A Q I G A T L G N T M U C O I L U G O N I
In copying the above inscription, care must be taken in tracing the vowels; the sixteenth
CHAP. XI.] oGAMI MONUMENTS, CO, WATERFORD. 269
group of vowel dots on the angle are much injured, and one doubtful as marked. The
eighteenth, a consonant, is also much damaged, owing to a fracture on the head of the stone.
I have given it the value of N ; three of the scores are perfect, two are defaced, but the
exact space for them is there, and taking it as a name terminating in NI, I conceive I
am justified in so doing.
The nineteenth group is also much injured, four of the scores are perfect, the fifth
is scarcely discernible, but the exact space for it is there. The rest of the letters are
quite legible. This inscription contains the unusual number of thirty letters; it is of
considerable interest, as it presents us with two new names, and also the word Mucoi.
M 0 D D A G N I M A Q I G AT I GN I M UC 0 I L U G O N I.
Moddagan : names of this type are Madadhan, Maedog (Ann. 4 Mas.). It has come down to
our own times in the form of Madigan, a name common in the south of Ireland. Gatigan:
this name is to be found in the Ann. 4 Mas, in the forms of Magettigan, Mac-Etigen, and
Mac-Edigen, and is still common in Ireland as Gatigan and Gettygan ; in both cases the
vowel is omitted in the inscription, as is very usual. The very common names of Cadogan
and Keadigan are also forms of the same, the C and G, and the T and D, being, as I
have already shown, commutable.
TEMPLEENOACH,
On the townland of Curraghnagarraha, parish of Fenoagh, Ord. Sh. No. 3, and about
three miles from Carrick-on-Suir, on the high road to Curraghmore, stand the remains of
an ancient building, consisting of earthen walls enclosing a rectangular area, probably an
ancient church, as it lies nearly east and west, the existing walls being from 1ſt. 6in. to
2ft. 6in. in height; it stands in the centre of an ancient cemetery, now very seldom used,
and which appears to me to have been originally a Cilleen, as it is circular, with one earthen
rampart and no foss. In September 1860 Mr. W. R. Blackett, a member of the Kil. Arch.
Soc., visited this place, and found outside the entrance into this cemetery, at the east side, a
pillar stone, lying prostrate, which he thus describes:—
“The stone is now lying just outside the before mentioned eastern entrance of the
graveyard, but from its shape it must have originally stood upright, like the monumental
pillar stones so common in the country. Its length is about 43 ft., its thickness 1.ft., and its
breadth about 1.ft. 8in. It is of sandstone, not so rough as that at Ballyquin, but still far
too rough to allow of a rubbing being taken of the inscription. This, as usual, extends
along one angle, and goes over a part of what was originally the top of the stone. About
2ft. of the other end is unmarked, and probably was once plunged in the ground.
“The marks, which seem never to have been very deep, are unfortunately very much
worn, and in some places almost obliterated. They are of various lengths and of divers
depths; on the whole they give the impression that the inscriber used very imperfect tools.
In two places two of the lines run together, which I believe is not usual in these monuments.”
(Kil. Arch. Soc. Jour. v. 1860, i. p. 8.)
From the above description I have not the slightest doubt that this was a veritable
270 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
Ogam inscription. I am, however, of opinion that Mr. Blackett's copy was not correctly
taken; it bears internal evidence of this; all the scores are of equal length, there is no
distinction between the consonants and vowels, and the arrangement of the characters is so
confused and so contrary to what we generally find on these monuments, that I have no
hesitation in expressing my belief that this was a genuine Ogam inscription, incorrectly
rendered. I was, therefore, anxious to have a personal examination of the stone, and for
that purpose visited the locality June 30, 1869, but, to my great disappointment, could not
find it. I searched the graveyard and walked round its external fence, but failed to find it.
I met an elderly, intelligent man, ploughing the adjoining field, and inquired about the stone,
but he professed his entire ignorance of its existence at any time.
SALTER BRIDGE. (Pl. XXXVI.)
Salter Bridge is a delightful demesne on the banks of the Blackwater, the seat of the
Chearnly family; it is one mile from Capoquin, on the road to Lismore. I visited this
locality on August 6th, 1869, and found the stone lying on a low wall in the pleasure
ground at the west side of the house; it is a small slab of old red sandstone, hard and
compact, measuring in length 2ft. 2in., and 11in, by 4}in, at the centre. The inscription
commences on a left angle, runs round the head and down the opposite side; it is remarkably
well cut and distinct; the vowels are short strokes, deep and broad:—
+/+/#114th-m/++++++++ill hiſ
OM ONG E D I A S M A Q I M U I B I T I
The inscription commences close to the bottom of the left-hand angle, the first vowel dot
being at the extremity; the angle here is irregular and crooked, and the letters follow it.
The word Maqi is on the head, being perfect, with the exception of the A, which is lost,
owing to an angular flake having been knocked off the stone; the rest of the letters are
quite distinct, running quite down to the extreme end of the right-angle. It is evident that
the stone has been broken; whether any of the characters are wanting it is difficult to say.
We have in the above the scarce character NG; the presence of the word Maqi determines
the fact of a proper name before and after, but they are very unpromising ones for identi-
fication. The name appears to be Mongedi, with the genitive termination As, so often found
on these monuments; it is of a similar type with Mongan, Mongfhin, &c. (Ann. 4 Mas.)
Names with the prefix Mu and Mui are frequently met with, as Muimhne, Muineamhon,
Muiregan, Muirgeas (Ann 4 Mas.).
RILRUSH.
The ancient church of Kilrush is within a mile of the seaport town of Dungarvan,
standing in a much used burial ground. It is of small dimensions, like most of the
primitive churches of our island, being in length 23ft. 6in., and in breadth 17ft. 6in. The
walls are nearly perfect, with the exception of the south side, which is somewhat damaged.
The doorway appears to have been of the peculiar type usually called cyclopean, with
slightly sloping jambs and square head; one of the jambs alone remains, the other, with its
massive lintel, has been removed.
CHAP. XI.] oGAM MONUMENTS, CO, WATERFORD. 271
Built into the north wall of this little edifice, Mr. William Williams, of Dungarvan,
discovered a stone inscribed with Ogams. A description of the monument was com-
municated by him to the Kil. Arch. Soc., and will be found in their Journal for 1856-7,
pp. 324-6, from which I take the following extract:—“I commenced a vigorous examination
of the walls and the stones scattered among the graves; and was just turning away
disappointed, when a leac blait (such as I thought an ancient Druid would have loved to
trace his hieroglyphics on) attracted my notice in the outside of the north wall, about a yard
from the western angle, and half-a-yard from the ground. Having removed some of the
moss, I thought I observed traces of two or three scores, but could not be certain for the
moment that it bore any inscription; and, after spending a full hour over it, came to the
conclusion that it was quite useless trying to decipher it where it lay, and that it was better
to have it removed to my house, where I could examine it at leisure, with the determination,
however, of having it carefully restored to its place again; for I look upon the practice of
removing those venerable monuments from the places—their proper places—where they
have lain for centuries as decidedly wrong. We ought not to forget that others, too, may
have a desire to see them. The Kilrush Stone is now in Kilrush, where I trust it will be
allowed to remain.
“This monument is a block of compact siliceous sandstone (the only one, I think, of the
sort in the building, 30in, long, 15in. broad, and varying in thickness from 11 in. to 15in. ; the
back of a broken, irregular figure. One of the upper corners is naturally rounded off, and
a few “spalls’ were broken off along the same side by the builders: the other side and
both ends remain in their original state. The inscription here was not on the angles of
the stone, but formed in two lines on the face, or flat surface, in connection with two incised
“fleasgs,” or medial lines. One of the “fleasgs' is worn out by the action of the weather,
but portions of the other are visible in three places: the first line of the inscription was
continued over the rounded corner, and a little down the back of the stone. This, I believe,
is the third instance hitherto discovered where the medial line was incised.
“After having carefully removed the moss and washed the stone, I proceeded to take
‘rubbings, but as the better part of the scores were nearly obliterated, and the stone
very much scratched in every direction, I obtained no satisfactory result from that process
after a sixth repetition, and had some idea of giving it up in despair, when I hit on a very
simple expedient that completely succeeded—namely, after having well moistened the stone
with a brush and water, and brought the flame of a lighted candle (at night) on a level with
it, I was enabled, by placing my eye at the opposite side, to trace the lines distinctly
throughout.” Mr. Williams's description is very clear and accurate; his copy is as follows:–
LEFT :— m （7/###/+
RIGHT :— %+llll-Hi. ++11 H ++III--
The proper reading commences to the left of the first line with the proper name of the
272 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
person to whom the monument is dedicated, and continues on the right, reading from the top
downwards, the two final letters of the first name being on the right:—
m*/###7%++1111/+/TH 7-#mritſ/
F O R G E H E A C M A G L U M U S O R
F O R G E R E A C M A G L U M U S O R.
(Stone of) F O R G E R E., T H E S ON OF L U M US O R.
We have here a well recognised name, Forgere, with the genitive termination Ac. We find
Fearchair at A.D. 848 and 878 (Ann. 4 Mas.); and Fergair in the Tripartite Life.
Instead of Maqi, we have the formula Mag, so often found on those monuments, as
already adverted to. The patronymic I have not been able to identify. This rendering is
simple and in accordance with the usual formula found on such monuments, and does not
require the alteration of a single score or letter. It is worthy of notice, as having been
found built into a church of very early date (as is evident from its small size, and very
primitive architecture), being used as mere building material, as also that the inscription
is ºn the face and not on the angles. Mr. Williams remarks, that the letters on the back
and head of the stone, though covered up and hidden in the wall, had all the appearance of
age and weather wear, “showing plainly that the inscription was made a considerable time
before the stone was built into the wall.” (Ib. p. 326.)
DRUMLOGHAN. (Pl. XXXVI.)
The Souterrain of Drumloghan is situated on the townland of the same name, in the
parish of Stradbally, barony of Decies without Drum, and Co. Waterford. The site is
a gently rising ground to the north of the bog of Drumloghan, an extensive peat basin, sur-
rounded on all sides by hills, the most remarkable of which, a bold and singular looking
ridge, rising east of the bog, gives name to the locality—Drumloghan, the “ridge of the
lough.” The scenery is wild and lonely, being destitute of trees or plantations, and sur-
rounded by hills that seem to shut out the busy world from this weird-looking spot. Here
are some relics of a remote age—an irregular piece of ground, approaching a circular form,
enclosed by a rude fence of earth and stones, and grown over with clumps of ancient white-
thorns, interspersed with rough unhewn stones, marks the site of one of those ancient burial
places known as Killeens, or Cealluraghs, which many well-informed antiquaries believe
to have been originally places of pagan sepulture. This one is termed by the neighbouring
peasantry Killeena, which appellation is usually applied to them in this county as well as in
Cork; while in that of Kerry the name of Cealluragh is generally used. Here, however, at
present there is no appearance of interments, nor has there been within the memory of
“the oldest inhabitant ’’; yet such is the traditional sanctity of the spot, though entirely
devoid of all Christian relics or associations, that it is carefully preserved, and regarded with
superstitious veneration. The enclosed space may be designated an irregular ellipsis, whose
longest diameter is 136ft., and shortest, 120ft.
Immediately under the fence, at the northern side, is a flat stone, buried in the ground,
its upper surface level with the green sward; in this stone is an artificial cavity 5 in. in
diameter and 6in deep, usually filled with water, and containing also a quantity of votive
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 273
offerings in the shape of buttons, marbles, pins, needles, berries, &c., deposited there by
persons using the water as a cure for various skin diseases, and especially for warts, polypi,
&c., for which purpose persons come from a considerable distance. I saw a man there with
a polypus in his nose, who, after trying various surgeons, had come to test the efficacy of
“the well,” as it is here called. The peasantry affirm that this cavity is never without water
in the driest summer, and that it never freezes during the hardest winter. -
About twenty yards to the south-east of the Killeena is a rude block of stone, upon the
upper surface of which is a basin-shaped cavity, perfectly circular, and 10in. in diameter,
and certainly of artificial formation. It is of that class of monuments usually denominated
rock-basins; and though no tradition attaches to it, the peasantry look upon it as a sacred
stone. -
The Killeena appears to have been originally enclosed, or rather contained within the
area of a very extensive rath, a segment of the enclosing fence of which still exists to the
north, and a further portion of it being traceable, though overgrown with grass, yet still
elevated above the general ground level. It was in the process of removing this fence that
the tenant farmer, Mr. William Quealy, discovered the Souterrain; and, being a person of
considerable intelligence, he immediately stopped the workmen, and communicated the fact
to Mr. William Williams, of Dungarvan, a gentleman well known for his antiquarian tastes,
who lost no time in proceeding to the spot; under his direction, the chamber was carefully
opened, the earth removed from the interior, and also from the exterior, when, to that gentle-
man's great delight, he discovered a number of Ogam inscriptions on the side pillars and
roofing stones.
Mr. Williams immediately communicated his discovery to me, and, on Thursday, Sept.
19th, 1867, I visited the locality with Mr. George M. Atkinson, of the Department of Science
and Art, South Kensington, Mr. Williams kindly accompanying us.
The monument resembles that class of our megalithic structures known in this country
as Leaba Diarmada agus Ghrainme, or “Diarmid and Grainne's Bed; '' it lies north and
south, and was completely covered up in the fence already alluded to, being about half below
and half above the natural surface level of the ground.
The chamber is an irregular parallelogram, slightly curved in its length, which is 9.ft. 10in. :
width in the centre, 4ft. 10in. ; average height, 4ft. 4 in. (See Plan, Pl. xxxvi.) It consists
of two side walls, formed principally of rough undressed upright pillars, the irregular spaces
between being filled with coarse uncemented rubble masonry, the east end being built across
in the same manner. The roof is formed of slabs of undressed stone, laid across lintel-wise,
and resting on the side walls. The original entrance appears to me to have been at the east
end, where there is a portion of a covered passage, 5ft. in length, 2ft. Bin. in width, and
2ft. 2in. in height, the east end of this passage being stopped by the clay bank. These
narrow passages, or, as they are usually designated by the peasantry, “creeps," are very
general in rath chambers; they are sometimes of a very considerable length when leading to
a single chamber, and usually connect a number of chambers: in many instances they are
so low and narrow as to oblige the explorer to creep on his face and hands; hence the very
appropriate name given to them by the country people.
N. N.
274 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
All the stones composing the chamber are perfectly rude and undressed, showing no tool-
mark whatsoever except the Ogam scores. These are found on a certain number of the side
pillars and roofing-stones, and under such circumstances as plainly indicate that they were
used as mere building materials by the constructors of the rath chamber, as many of the
inscriptions were so placed that they could not have been seen but for the removal of the
superincumbent earth, as they were on the top angles of the roofing stones.
ROOFING SLAB No. 1. (Plan Pl. XXXVI.)
This is the front lintel of the chamber; it is a rough irregular slab of clay-slate, with a
fracture across, near the centre; it measures 5ft. in length, and is 9in, by Sin, at the middle;
it has two lines of characters on the under angles, that on the front commences at 2ft. from
the bottom, and runs to the top, three strokes of the lastletter being on the top, as follows:–
++m H++m HH-Ill-hh H++*
M A N U M A G U N O G. A. T I M O C
It is taken up and completed on the opposite angle.
+++11-H+r
E M A C A R B
The entire I propose to read as follows:—
M A N U M A G U N O G. A. T.I. M. O C E M A C A R B .
M A N U T H E S O N OF N O G. A. T. M. O C S O N OF A R B .
I have already alluded to the custom of inscribing more than one memorial on these monu-
ments, and have given several examples of the same. The inscription is quite legible; we
have Magu in place of the usual form Maqi, and connecting the last two names, we have the
common form Mac. Manu is of the same type as Maine, son of Niall, slain A.D. 440 (Chron.
Scot.), Maneus a bishop (Lanigan, v. i. p. 256), Munnu of Teach-Munnu (Ibid. v. ii. p.
406). Maenu (Ann. Tighearnac). Gaulish forms, Maina . . Grut. 718, 5. . Vienn. Allob.
Manius . . Momms. 352, 123. It has also been found as a potter's mark in the forms Manna
and Manies (Celt. Rom. Sax. p. 471). Maenus ... Orel. 6459.
Nogati. On the Whitefield stone we find the genitive form Nocati. Moce may have
been intended for Mocoior Mocoe; on one of the Seskinan stones, we find Mucused as a proper
name. The final name, Arb, looks unpromising for identification; yet we can recognise it
as a historic one at a very early age; thus we find Airbh, a son of Ugaine Mor, from whom
Magh Airbh is named ; Magh Arbh was an ancient well-known territory in the present Co.
Kilkenny (Jour. Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1864-5, p. 207). In the Ann. 4 Mas. we find the
following:—“A.D. 751, the battle of Bealach-cro (was gained) by Crimthan over the
Dealbhna of Ui-Maine, in which was slain Finn, son of Arbh, Lord of Dealbhna, at Tibra-
Finn, and the Dealbhna were slaughtered about him.” Dr. O'Donovan, in a note to this
passage, states that Airbh was descended from Lughaid Dealbh-Aed, third son of Cas, the
ancestor of the Dal Cais of Thomond in Munster.
No. 2. This is the fourth roofing-slab from the entrance. It is a stone of a very irregular
shape, and is 5ft. Bin, long, and 1.ft. 5in. by 10in, at the centre, and much narrower at the
ends; it has a line of characters on each angle of its upper face, these were consequently
hidden by the superincumbent earth before the uncovering of the chamber. The inscription
CHAP. XI.] OGAM MONUMENTs, Co. WATERFORD. 275
commences on a left angle at 2ft. 10in. from the bottom, and continues close to the top —
*+Tſhim tº m-the-Hi!.
C A L U N O F I Q
It is then taken up on the opposite angle, commencing at 2ft. from the bottom, finishing
close to the top, as follows:– -
++11111+++111 ###m-Hºº-º-mº
M A Q I M U C O I L I T 0 F
The above characters are distinct and legible; there is a fracture at the top of the stone,
between 0 and F, and it is probable we have not the patronymic complete, as there are traces of
some scores beyond the F, but nothing reliable. It is of the same formula as the legends on
the stones at Gurranes and Greenhill. My rendering of this inscription in the Pro. Roy. Ir.
Aca., v. x. p. 107, is not correct. The name in this instance is of the same type as Cattufiqq
on the Corkaboy stone, p. 227; the prefix Calu is to be found on the Trabeg stone, p. 171.
No. 3. This is the roofing-slab, No. 6, from the entrance. It is 5ft. 4 in. long and
12in, by 7in. at the centre; a fair regularly shaped pillar of hard clay-slate. It bears two
lines of characters on the under angles; that on the left is as follows:–
LEFT :— m*-H+|14-1- RIGHT :- 7+1+m-Hit
S A E T A D M A Q I N I
The above legend is well cut and distinct.
S A E T A D T H E S O N O F I N.
We find a name on one of the Seskinan stones of the same type as the above, Setas.
Gaulish forms from red Samian ware, Sedeti and Sedetus (Celt. Rom. Sax. p. 478). Ini, the
genitive of In, In, En, Un, and Ni are pre-historic names. Gaulish forms, Enna . . Grut.
780, 5 . . Iggi, Carniol.
No. 4. This is the roofing slab No. 7, an irregularly shaped stone measuring 4ft 6in.
in length, and 12in, by 8in, at the centre; it bears three lines of characters, two on the
upper angles, and one on an under angle. The legend commences on the left angle at 2ft.
from the bottom, as follows:—
all him -m-H++++llulahitill
C U N A L E G E A M A Q I C
It is continued on the right-hand angle, commencing at 2ft. 4 in. from the bottom:—
+ll-t-Hill+m}+-II-IIll
E T A I D E S R A D C
It is completed on the angle under the last, at 2ft. 4 in. from the bottom:—
The above characters are well cut, and perfectly distinct and legible.
No. 5. This is roofing slab, No. 8; a coarse irregularly shaped stone, 3ft. 9in, long.
It bears one line of characters on an under angle, the arris of which is very rough and
uneven. The scores are quite legible:–
276 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. [CHAP. XI.
+++++Illilahti Il-H
I G U M A Q I D A G
Igu is of the same type as Aggo, on one of the stones at Kilcolaght, with the prefix Fir; we
have it at Ballyquin, Firicu.
Dag, is of a very archaic type ; far back in the mythic period we have the Daghda,
a deified chief of the Tuatha-de-Danand ; we also find the form in Dag-Airne, son of Goll,
son of Gollon, slain, according to the chronology of the Four Masters, a M. 8656. We have
also a St. Dageus, who died A.D. 586-7 (AA. S.S. p. 732), and a St. Dagan, A.D. 640 (Lan.
Ecc. Hist. v. ii. p. 45). Gaulish forms, Dago ... on red Samian ware (Col. Ant. v. i.
p. 149). Dagvus . . Grut. 868, 9 . . Luxemb., Dagania. . . Stein. 1601 . . Colon. Mus.
No. 6. Eastern side, No. 1.-This stone stands at the entrance of the chamber, being
the first pillar at the left-hand side; it is rough and irregular in shape, being 3ft. 6in.
in height and 12in, by 9in. at the centre. The inscription, which is well cut and legible,
commences close to the ground, runs up the left angle across the head, and partially
down the right angle, as follows:—
rthitſ//+llll-HHHHH-IIll-Härſ/#llllll-Hitºm
B I R M A Q I M U C O I R O T T A I S
This reads—
B I R T H E S O N OF M UC O I R O T TA I S.
In this inscription we have Mucoi as a profession or title. Bir : this name is not frequent
in our indices; we find Bir, Birin, and Beran in Mart. Don. We have Biri in Ogam,
on a stone at Shanacloon, Co. Cork, p. 158. On Gaulish Fictilia occur the names Birr and
Birantin (Col. Antiq. v. vi. p. 69); and on red Samian ware Bir, and Birani (Celt. Rom.
Sax. p. 468). Rottais : this is evidently a form of Ritti; see also Rette and Rettos.
No. 7. Eastern side, No. 3.- This stone is the third pillar from the entrance; it
is rough and of a triangular shape, being 3ft. 8in. in height, 13in, by 7in. at the bottom,
and 4 in. by 3in. at the top ; at present the broad end is turned upwards, and the narrow or
top-end downwards, consequently in its present position the inscription is reversed ; it
commences at 2ft. from the broader end, and occupies 1.ft. Sin. of the angle, as follows:–
++111H+m-hit
M A Q I N E
The characters are boldly and distinctly cut and perfectly legible, simply recording the fact
of its being the pillar stone of
T H E S O N OF N E .
Such a formula we have had already frequently before us. The name Ne is one of those
archaic ones we find in Keating, and in our bardic histories, and to which I have already
adverted. Ne, Naoi, Nia, frequently appear in our Annals. Naoi was a skilful harper,
who came into Ireland with the Clanna Milidh; according to Keating, the rival tribes of
Eibher and Eremon disputed about the retaining him in their respective services, the
decision by lot was in favour of the former, hence the palm for music and poetry was always
awarded to Munster. It enters into the composition of many names, as Nia-Mor, or, The
Great, a king of Connaught; Enna-Nia, a king of Leinster. It is stated in the “Book of
CHAP. XI.] - OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. WATERFORD. 277
Invasions” that the plain of Magh Tuireadh, the reputed scene of the great battle between
the Fir-bolgs and Tuatha-de-Damanns, was anciently called Magh-Nia. The term Nia signifies
a champion, a warrior. We find this name Ne on one of the Kilgravane stones, and a
Gaulish form, Neia, nom. Wiri... Stein. 338 . . Mogunt. A potter's mark, Ni, has been
found on red Samian ware (Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 472).
No. 8. Eastern side, No. 5. This is a rude coarse-grained flag of an irregular oval
shape, the fifth from the entrance; it is 3ft. Bin. in length, and 1.ft. 6in. in width at the
centre, it has a line of characters on each angle of the front face; contrary to the almost
universal rule, the inscription appears to commence on the right angle, and is completed on
the left.
RIGHT ANGLE :— +1+III++++ull-Hi
O D A F E M A Q I
LEFT ANGLE :— *#HIII+m #.
D E N A F E
There is a fracture on the top of the right angle which has damaged the inscription, the
dotted vowel scores are missing, and the lower part of the scores of the Q. Odaff: this
name I have failed to identify; a very similar one, Oddach, is to be found in the Ann. Ult.
at A.D. 600. The Welsh Triads give us an example of this name in Eudaf, a son of
Caractacus; the Cymric record has preserved the Gaedhelic form very accurately. We also
find this name in a pedigree given in the Iolo MSS. p. 545 : “Meyrig, king of Dyfed, the
son of Gwrthelin, the son of Eudaf, &c.” It is a curious fact in connection with the above,
that the name of Caractacus, without its Latin termination, has been most carefully pre-
served on an Ogam monument found at Barachaurin, Co. Cork, in the form of Carrttac,
p. 122. The name Denaffe I have not met with, though names with the prefix Den, Din,
and Dun, are frequent.
No. 9. Western side, No. 1. This is a rude unshapely pillar of conglomerate, very
coarse and weather-worn ; it is 3ft. 6in. high, and 10in. by 8in. at the centre; it bears only
three characters on its left angle, which are broadly and rudely cut, but quite distinct and
legible :-
II/###
The upper part of this stone has been broken to make it fit its present position; this, and
the disintegrated state of the angle, may account for the disappearance of the rest of the
inscription.
No. 10. Western side, No. 4. This is the fourth pillar from the entrance, and also an
irregularly shaped stone, much broader at top than at bottom; it is in height 3ft. Tin., in
width at bottom, 5in. by 5in. thick, and 1ſt, 8in, by 8in. at the top. The inscription com-
mences at 1.ft. 2in, from the lower end, and runs across the head:—
Ilºit-i-Aºſ/A-lullahit ##||114
D E A G O ST M A Q I M U C 0 (I)
D E A G O S T M A Q I M UC 0 (I).
We have here a name found on other monuments, as at Dunlo and St. Olan's Well. The
278 OGAM MONUMENTS, Co. waterFORD. [CHAP. XI.
four scores across the line, usually supposed to represent the double consonant ST, is here
inexplicable; it is probably the initial of some word or term suitable to the memorial.” We
have here again the name Mucoi with the I wanting.
On the opposite angle are a few scores much worn, of which I could make nothing.
I have thus described this singular find of inscribed stones; it is impossible to form any
conjecture as to the age of this chamber, as nothing was found in the process of excavation
that could assist us in that particular; it does not appear to have been a sepulchral
souterrain, as no human remains, charcoal, or pottery were discovered in it. At whatever
period it was constructed, the inscribed memorials must have been very plentiful, when we
find ten used in this small chamber. It is also quite evident that the generation who made
this practical use of them must have held them in no respect or veneration, and probably,
even at the remote period of this erection, had lost all memory or tradition of their uses.
DUNGARWAN.
A remarkable discovery in connection with Ogams was made by Mr. William Williams of
Dungarvan, in the neighbourhood of that town ; the only information in connection with
which I received from that gentleman, in a letter bearing date, Aug. 16th, 1867, from which
I make the following extract:—“In a field, about two miles north of this town, the plough
laid bare a large flag, 6ft. by 3ft., which formed the lid of a rude coffin or grave, formed of
six smaller flags set on edge, and measuring 6ft. by 18in. The bottom was covered with
a layer of dark mould or ashes, containing minute particles of charcoal; no fragments of
bones were found, but laid on the ashes were three fragments of stone scored with Ogam
letters, each stone about a foot in length; two of them were parts of one monument, and
the third, on which the Ogam scores were very neatly cut, was a portion of a different one.
Now, as the grave did not bear the marks of having been previously disturbed, I see no
reason to doubt that the Ogam fragments were deposited at the same time as the ashes.”
In the same letter Mr. Williams announced another remarkable discovery, which I give
in his own words:–“ One of my latest discoveries is a stone chest (now serving the ignoble
purposes of a pig trough), which has, or had, a long inscription. I have not yet set about
deciphering it.”
The same gentleman also informed me by letter of Aug. 26th, 1867, that he discovered
on the lands of Crihanagh, about half-a-mile, or less, from the site of the Ballyquin Stone, a
pillar with an Ogam inscription much defaced.
KILBEG.
In the Journal of the R. Hist, and Arch. Association of Ireland for July, 1875, “Dr.
Martin, Portlaw, reported the discovery of an Ogam-inscribed stone at a place called Kilbeg,
in the parish of Kilbarry-Meaden, Co. Waterford, the owner of the farm on which it was
dug up having kindly given it to him. In Oct. Dr. Martin presented it to the Museum at
Kilkenny, and sent an accurate copy of the letters to Mr. Brash, whose reading of it is
BIFoDON MUco ATAR, the name being similar to that found on another stone in Cork, i.e.
Biſator.” (Ibid. p. 479.)
* The Rev. E. Barry, C.C., in a letter to me remarks: “Mr. Brash need not have hesitated to make
one word of Deagost, which is only a primitive form of what would now be written Deaghus. Proper
names that in Irish end in gus, retain a final T in Welsh and Pictish ; and the Irish word ARIs, meaning
again, often has a final T in the Gaelic of Scotland, and in the spoken dialect of the County of Cork.”—
G.M.A.
279
CHAPTE R XII.
OGAM MONUMENTS, COUNTY KILKENNY.
This is an inland county in the province of Leinster; it is bounded on the north by the
Queen's County, on the south by the County of Waterford, on the east by the Counties
of Wexford and Carlow, and on the west by Tipperary; it has an area of 536,686 statute
acres. It is a rich agricultural district, with very little waste, if we except the high hills and
mountain ranges, which are of a moory character. Kilkenny derives its present name from
its chief county-town, where, at a remote period, St. Canice or Kenny founded a Kil or
Church, hence the name Kilkenny. At a remote period it formed the principal portion of
the ancient territory of Osraighe or Ossory. This district, as I have before remarked, was a
portion of the allotment of Eibher or Heber, the son of Gollamh, surnamed Milidh ; and as
it was the custom of these adventurers to subdivide the conquered territory among their
relatives and chief captains, it would appear that this county, or a portion of it, with a
considerable district to the north, was given to the Clanna Breogan, which was represented
by Lughaidh his grandson. Camden, on the authority of Ptolemy, states that the Briganti
inhabited Kilkenny, Ossory, and Catherlow; he quotes Florianus del Campo, an old Spanish
writer, as asserting that the Irish Briganti were from that country, being a colony of a
people of the same name inhabiting the north-west of the peninsula, where they had a
city called after their name. It is true that the bardic writers make frequent allusions to
this city or fortress, under the name of the “Tor-Breogan.” Thus Gilla Caemhan, a writer
of the eleventh century, distinctly asserts that Breogan built the town and city called after
his name, and the Leabhar Gabbhala, or Book of Invasions, represents Lughaidh, on his
return from the first voyage made to Ireland, as bringing the dead body of his father, Ith,
to the “Tuir Breoghan,” to inflame the resentment of his kinsmen, the children of Breogan,
against the murderers of his father. The same authority also represents the expedition
of the Clanna Miledh as starting from the “Tuir Breoghain in Gallicia.” This subject
is worthy a more minute and careful examination than I can give it here; I would recommend
a consideration of this view of it:-That the Clanna Breogan formed an important element
in the Spanish Invasion; that they occupied an extensive territory from the Suir to the
Boyne, or nearly so; that of this they were dispossessed at a very early period; that those
inhabiting the northern portion, or the Plain of Magh Breagha, migrated across the Irish
280 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. [CHAP. XII.
Sea, and were found in the north of England by the Romans under the name of Brigantiae; and
that a remnant of them were found by Ptolemy, or his informants, occupying Kilkenny in the
second century; and who were subsequently forced southward into Waterford, as I have
already mentioned in my notice of the latter county. For its subsequent history, and
the tribes which inhabited it, see Dr. Owen Connellan's edit. Ann. 4 Mas. pp. 245-52.
That Ogam inscriptions should be found in this county is not at all surprising; that
the race who brought this character into the country, and who evidently first occupied along
the sea-shores, should have penetrated inland along the rich banks of the great navigable
rivers, is consistent with the obvious course of colonisation. We therefore find Ogam
monuments along the shores of deep-sea estuaries, and on the banks of the Bandon, Lee,
Blackwater, and Suir. The Nore, which joins the Suir at Waterford Harbour, and which
runs inland through Kilkenny, afforded equal facilities for the progress of occupation, and
therefore along its course, at either side, we find these mysterious monuments. Up to the
present, I am only aware of the existence of five inscriptions in this county; many more, I
have not the slightest doubt, will yet be brought to light. They in no respect differ from
those already described as existing in the other southern counties; in the formation of
the characters, and in the formulae of the inscriptions, they are identical, as well as in
the position in which they appear on the stones. Three have been found in Raths, one
in the open field, one built into the gable of an ancient Church, and two lying in burial
grounds.
TULLOHERIN. (Pl. XXXIX.)
This inscribed stone was discovered by Mr. Geo. Prim, one of the Hon. Secs, of the
Kil. Arch. Soc., in the ancient grave-yard of Tulloherin, in the barony of Gowran and Co.
of Kilkenny (Ord. Sh. No. 24), and which he announced at the meeting of the Society, held in
March, 1852. In May, 1854, a further communication was made to the same Society by Mr.
Prim, accompanied by a drawing of the monument from the pencil of the Rev. Jas. Graves,
Hon. Sec., from which I take the following extract —“The present height of the stone is about
2ft. 4in., but a considerable portion had evidently been broken off the top, and the inscrip-
tion was thus defective; the width averaged 1ſt. 6in., and the thickness of the slab was 9in.
The material was a hard grit, which is not to be found nearer than four or five miles from
Tulloherin. The neighbouring round tower is largely composed of that kind of stone, whilst
there is no appearance of it in the ruins of the old Church, about 3ft. of the lower part
of the walls of which exhibit masonry of a very early date, much anterior to the upper
portions of the structure, but all composed of limestone. The Ogham stone stood at the
distance of 1ſt, from the south wall of the Church, and nine paces from the round tower, and
had the appearance of a rude head-stone to a grave. The inscription was on the south-
eastern edge, and consisted of eleven scores.” (Jour. Kil. Arch. Soc., v. 1854-5, p. 86.)
The engraving is taken from that in the Journal, the inscription is as follows:–
m-t-H+1}
F A U A HIG
The consonants are short scores, and as it is evidently imperfect, no rendering can be
given.
CHAP. XII.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. 281
GOWRAN. (Pl. XXXIX.)
Gowran is a post-town and parish in the barony of the same name, Ord. Sh. No. 20.
It has an ancient parish church, the existing remains of which evidence that originally it
was a structure of considerable pretensions to architectural beauty; it stands in the centre
of an ancient cemetery which contains very many sepulchral slabs of mediaeval date, some
of them richly carved. But the object of most interest in the graveyard of Gowran is the
Ogam-inscribed stone I am about to describe, and which lies prostrate in the grass at the
north side of the church. Mr. John G. A. Prim has stated that this stone was discovered
in the foundation of the chancel of the ancient church, which was taken down in the early
part of the present century, and upon the site of which the present one was erected. The
building so removed appears to have been a work of the 13th century (Jour. Hist. Arch.
Assoc. Oct. 1872).
The Ogam-inscribed stone is a block of hard compact clay-slate, of irregular form,
rough and undressed, and having portions of it knocked off, evidently by violence; it
measures 4ft. 10}in. in length, 16in. wide at centre, and from 9in. to 11 in, thick; it bears
on two angles of the same face the remains of one or more inscriptions.
The line of characters on the left angle at present commences 2ft. 3in. from the original
bottom of the stone, continues to the top, and across the head; the inscription is much
injured by spawls knocked off the angle, but the following characters are legible:—
I E R A C O S Q G
The angle, for some space before the first letter, has several flakes knocked off; there is,
however, no appearance of any characters, neither do I think that the angle was occupied
by any letter before the I. Between the sixth and seventh the angle is also damaged, yet
there is some doubt as to the space being occupied by a letter, as these seven characters
seem to form a proper name. We have evidence of the presence of the word MAQI on the
head of the stone; the M is absent, we have the next two letters perfect, and one digit of
the I, the rest lost by injury; the G is on the right-hand corner of the head, and is perfect;
it appears to have been the first letter of the patronymic, the rest of which has been lost, as
the angle is spawled away.
The inscription on the right angle appears to have been a distinct one, and not a con-
tinuation of that on the left; it commences at 201n, from the bottom of the stone, and the
last existing character is 18in. from the top:—
Il—11-###Hill+......
D Q OM U C O
It commences with the letter D, there is then a considerable space, the angle much worn and
injured; we have next evidence of the presence of the keyword MAQo, a form found on
several monuments; the MA has been lost, the letters Qo are perfect, after which we have
certainly the word MUcoſ, the last letter only being deficient. The first inscription appears
to me to have read IERAcos MAQI G. The name I have not been able to identify in our
indices, but it is of the same type as Iarnon, Irereo, Iarulea, Ann. 4 Mas. The Gaulish
- O O
282 OGAM MONUMENTs, Co. KILKENNY. [CHAP. XII.
form is Iricus. . Gruter. 842, 8... Aug. Taur. ; we also find this name on Samian red
ware, in the form of Irici. (Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 470.)
The legend on the right angle probably read:—
D E G O M A Q O M UC O I.
This of course is partially conjectural; the name began with a D, and must have been a short
one; the space between that and the Q is just sufficient to bear the missing letters. The
name Dego has been found in legends from Dunlo, p. 232, and St. Olan's Well, p. 126, and
one of the Drumlohan find in the next county gives us—“Deago Maqi Mucoi,” see p. 277.
We now come to consider a very interesting feature in this example: upon the original
base of this stone has been cut a cross of an ancient type, as shown on the plate; it is formed
of a broad band enclosed by a double incised line, the ends of the arms have rectangular cross-
heads; the same type is to be found on the Dromkeare stone, Co. Kerry (Pl. XXVIII.), the
cross arms have been mutilated, a large piece having been knocked off the bottom of the
stone. It is quite evident that the appropriation of this monument to Christian uses must
have been long posterior to its adoption as the sepulchral memorial of a race who used the
Ogam character. At a period when the knowledge of the Ogam had been lost, or when this
memorial had ceased to command the veneration of succeeding generations, this pillar stone
had been appropriated by a Christian people, a cross had been carved on the original bottom,
or uninscribed end of the stone, it was then turned upside down, the original top with its
Ogams was buried in the ground, being placed probably as a monument over some deceased
Christian. This is the story of this stone, as plain and palpable as if we were looking at the
whole process. Subsequently, we find, that when the mediaeval church was building by the
Anglo-Norman settlers in Ormond, they found this block convenient for building purposes,
and not having much respect for the monuments of the mere Irish, they worked it into the
foundation of their church, mutilating it in the process.
This stone was first noticed by Mr. Du Noyer, in the summer of 1849 (Pro, Roy.
Ir. Aca. v. vii. p. 252), A drawing of it will be seen in that gentleman's collection of
sketches, Lib. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. i. No. 22; the inscription there given is incorrect.
DUNBELL. (Pl. XXXIX.)
The townland of Dunbell is situated in the parish of Clara, Ordnance Sheet No. 20.
Here were a remarkable group of circular Raths, four in number, one of them of considerable
size; three of these were trenched and completely obliterated by the tenant, Mr. White.
During the process, many articles of antiquarian interest were discovered, which have
been described at length by Mr. John G. Prim, one of the Hon. Secs., in the journal
of Kil. Arch. Soc., v. 1852-3, p. 119, and v. 1854-5, p. 133. But the most remarkable
discovery was that made by Messrs. Graves and Prim, in June, 1855, when two Ogam-
inscribed stones were found in one of the Raths; the circumstances attending which are
of so curious a character, that I shall here reproduce them from the pages of the journal:—
“I have now to report the most important, if not the most interesting, discovery in connection
with the Dunbell Raths. In the spring of the present year, Mr. White having caused his
labourers to try back on the Rath first trenched, for the purpose of raising earth from the
north-eastern portion of the inner fosse and embankment, which had not been previously
CHAP. XII.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. 283
disturbed, the workmen were instructed by the Hon. Secs. of this Society to report to
them from time to time any indication which they might observe worthy of particular
attention; and they were in the habit of bringing in weekly such objects of antiquity as
they had turned up since their previous visit. One of these men was possessed of more
than ordinary intelligence, and was capable of making the most shrewd and pertinent
observations with respect to everything which was met with in the course of the ‘diggings."
On the evening of the 1st of June last, this man came into town to report that they had
lighted on the entrance to an artificial cave in the inner fosse of the Rath. This, of course, was
a matter requiring our personal inspection; and accordingly, on Saturday, the 2nd of June
last, the Rev. James Graves and I proceeded to the Rath, accompanied by the Rev. H. B.
Farmer, when we found that there were certainly some grounds for the report made by our
delving antiquary, although his conclusions were not fully borne out. On the north-east side
there was an aperture in the inner face of the outward embankment, opening on the fosse
which surrounds the central mound of the Rath. This was formed by three flagstones, two
serving as sides, with one at the top, the height being 2ft, 4in by 1ſt. Sin, in width, and at first
sight it had all the appearance of a ‘creep,' forming the entrance to a cave; it was, however,
obvious that it narrowed inwardly so quickly and to so great a degree that the human body
could not be forced forward more than 3ft. or 4ft., for the passage soon assumed the dimen-
sions of a small sewer. By excavating about it, we quickly found that its entire length was
about 13ft. 6in., and that it terminated abruptly without leading into any chamber, or leaving
any indication of the purpose for which it was constructed. Its course was parallel with the
embankment, so that, independent of its having no vent, it could not have been intended as
a sewer to carry off the water from the fosse. Under these circumstances there could be no
suggestion offered by those who were present as to its probable use, except by adopting the
view put forward by Mr. W. Hackett at the May meeting of last year (see page 85 ante), and
arriving at the conclusion that it was designed as a place to deposit secret boundary marks.
The labourers stoutly declared that nothing whatever but the common clay used in the
construction of the Rath had been found in this ‘drain,” as they called it; but we observed
some very slight indications of charcoal, having picked up two extremely small lumps inside
the aperture, and these, small as they were, must be taken as tending to sustain Mr. Hackett's
opinion.
“Whilst cross-examining the labourers on the subject of the appearances in connection
with the opening of this passage, before the removal of the earth which had closed it up,
we ascertained that near it had been found what they called a ‘wall of dry stones' rudely
built across the middle of the fosse; and that between this wall and the entrance to the
‘drain,' bearing about N.N.E., they found two very large stones standing nearly upright,
but both inclining inwards from the mouth of the rath; but for this inclination, the men said,
these stones would look like piers of a gate, and their distance apart was between 3ft. and
4ft. We immediately inquired what had become of these stones, as we wished to examine
them. The workmen said the stones were so large that they were in their way, and there-
fore they had borrowed a sledge-hammer and smashed them to pieces. My colleague at
once proceeded to lecture the most intelligent of the labourers on the impropriety of acting
284 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. [CHAP. XII.
with such precipitancy, remarking, that they little knew what mischief they might have done,
as it was more than probable that the stones they had broken were inscribed with Oghams.
He had scarcely spoken when the justice of his anticipations was fully proved. A small
stone, about Bin. square, lay at my feet, and as it showed evidence of having been recently
broken from a larger mass, I stooped to pick it up, and was at once struck by the appearance
of two unmistakeable Ogham scores on its edge. We now saw clearly that the men had
done great mischief indeed. But what was to be done to remedy this misfortune? That
portion of the fosse was now one immense heap of stones, all those which had been found in
other parts of the excavation having been recently conveyed to this spot, and piled together.
To look for the fragments of the Ogham stones in such a chaos, at first sight appeared to be
like the proverbial absurdity of searching for a needle in a bundle of hay. But upon
attentively observing the fragment which I had picked up, we found a clue, which, followed
out with persevering industry, soon overcame the difficulty. The small stone containing the
Ogham scores was of the old red sandstone. All the stone of the locality was blue lime-
stone. We soon had the labourers hard at work, turning over the huge cairn which they had
so recently piled up on the spot, and carefully laying to one side every particle of sand-
stone which they could detect. We had little hope that the monuments, which evidently had
been broken into minute particles, could ever be put together again, or anything like a
restoration such as would lead to the reading of one letter of the inscription be effected ; but
our persevering industry was rewarded vastly beyond any result which we could have looked
for, and after three or four hours' patient labour in turning over the heap of stones, we were first
enabled to put together the entire fragments of one Ogham stone; and subsequently to obtain
nearly all those of the other. The accompanying engravings, drawn to a scale of one inch
to a foot, will sufficiently explain the difficulty which we encountered, and the success
with which our exertions were crowned. No. 2 was first put together, as it had been broken
into a less number of fragments, and the consequent difficulty of matching the pieces was less
felt. Its original dimensions, as represented in the cut, were length 54 ft., width in the
middle 2ft., tapering at either end to 11%in. It was broken into six pieces, and as the
inscription only ran along the verge of three of these, we deemed it unnecessary to preserve
more than those three fragments, making the present dimensions, as it appears in the
Society's museum, 5}ft. in length, and 11%in. square throughout. The inscription, of which
there are only a very few scores defaced, runs from one end to the other; and if the stone
were originally placed in a standing position, some portion of the inscription must have been
of necessity covered by the earth. No. 1. had suffered far greater injury than the other. Some
of the fragments were minute in the extreme, and portions had been literally pulverised, so that
it was impossible to recover them. We, however, obtained no fewer than forty-four pieces,
which have been put together in the museum, as they appear in the engraving; a labour which
none but those who witnessed it in the course of being carried out could possibly appreciate the
difficulty of, as the matching and fitting of the fragments required an amount of ingenuity
far exceeding that required for arranging a Chinese puzzle. The stone thus re-constructed
measures in length 6ft. 3.}in. in width, 1.ft. 1in. at one end, narrowing to 11in., to where
there is a step within 8%in, of the top, at which point the width decreases to 7%in, again
CHAP. XII.] OGAMI MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. 285
enlarging on the top to 9in. The depth is 11in. at one end, gradually diminishing to 8in.
at the other. . . . . I have already observed that the material of these monuments is
sandstone. It is of purplish-grey colour, the bed from which it was obtained not being
found nearer to Dunbell than Thomastown, distant seven miles. The inscriptions in each
case were picked roughly with a sharp-pointed tool. The scores of No. 2 are smaller and
not as deeply sunk as those of No. 1, so that they may not have been cut at the same time
or by the same person. . . . . The labourers say that the tops of the two inscribed stones
at Dunbell were visible above the surface, at the bottom of the fosse, before they commenced
to clear away the earth from around them.” Too much praise cannot be awarded to Messrs.
Graves and Prim for the zeal, discrimination, and perseverance evinced in the discovery and
preservation of those interesting monuments, which now form so valuable a feature in their
museum ; and for the clear and distinct manner in which they have placed it on record.
The circumstances of this find, though new to the Kilkenny antiquaries, as referring to their
county, are but the old story over again ; the pillar stones at Dunbell were used in the
construction of one of those chambers so frequently described in these pages, having been
evidently placed at one of the entrances as upright side-posts, an arrangement frequently
found in those crypts. The “huge cairn" of stones alluded to by the writers, which they
found piled up on their arrival at the scene of action, was evidently composed of the materials
used in the construction of the chamber. I have examined these interesting monuments, and
have copied the inscriptions with all the care I could, for the condition in which they are
requires it. The characters were originally cut with boldness and freedom, the scores being
strongly defined ; and the deficiencies at present existing are due to the injuries they have
sustained at the hands of the heedless workmen.
No. 1. This monolith is at present 6ft. 2in, in length, and 13in, by 11in. at the centre;
it is of hard compact grit, consequently the characters are in good preservation, excepting those
injured by violence. The legend commences at 1.ft. 9in. from the bottom of the stone, and
ends within 4in. of the top; the characters were boldly cut, the scores broad and deep; the
angle is much damaged, pieces being knocked off in several places, taking with them many
of the scores, yet leaving sufficient to determine the words and letters of which they formed
portions, thereby enabling the investigator to substantially restore the entire inscription,
which at present stands as follows:—
T//+mſ ...Illulº-m Hºlllll:H-1-H+ Hillllll-1111–
B R A N (I) TT O S M A Q I D E C Q (E) D D (A)
The first four characters are quite legible, we have then a piece broken off the angle,
4}in, long; the character contained on this portion of the stone must have been a vowel, as
the consonants, being long scores, would have left some traces either above or below the
damaged part; the vowel must have been then either an E or an I, more probably the latter,
as the space is abundantly sufficient, and it would be more in accordance with the orthography
of the name than an E ; we have then TT, the lower parts of the scores being slightly shortened
by the injury above alluded to ; we have then one vowel score, with ample space for
another where the angle is abraded; this and the following letter S forms the genitive termina-
tion of the name, and which may be As or os; both have been found in several Ogam
286 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO, KILKENNY. [CHAP. XII.
inscriptions. I incline to the latter form in this instance, from the appearance of the stone
where it occurs; characters nine and ten are legible; number eleven is faint, but traceable;
number twelve, a Q, has a crack across its five scores, which are, however, perfect above and
below it.
We have then a piece knocked off the angle, which piece certainly bore three scores of
the vowel I, which completed the word MAQI; the two last short scores remain, which places
the matter beyond doubt. The four characters following are perfect; at number eighteen
there is another piece off the angle, which certainly bore a vowel, which I presume to have
been an E, the space was sufficient to contain the letter, and as we shall see hereafter, would
be necessary to complete the final name. We find at the nineteenth and twentieth letters
that the angle shifts, there being a natural corner off the head of the stone, the legend
having been transferred to the alternative angle; these two last characters are perfect; here
the present inscription ends, the angle again being injured; but I presume that the letter A
was present for the reasons I shall presently state. The restoration I propose is very simple,
and cannot I think be gainsaid; it is as follows:–
r/+m Hi-lilillºm Hºllº 11+Illllllll-Hill+
B R A N I T T O S MA Q I D E C Q E DDA
B R A NIT TO S M A Q I DE C Q E D D.A.
(Stone of) B R A N ID T H E S ON OF DE C C E D D.
This is evidently a monumental stone, and commemorates Branid; for two Ts in a
word have the power of D. The name is of a sufficiently Irish type, the word Bran being
common as a proper name, and as a prefix to proper common names. Thus we find in the
pre-historic age Bran, the son of Lyr, fabled to have been the founder of the Cornish
kingdom. Bran, son of Conall, died A.D. 687; Bran, son of Muiredach, A.D. 777; Bran,
son of Scanlan, A.D. 855; Brandubh, son of Eochaidh, A.D. 586. Branbeg, Branfin,
Branlan, Branchu, Branan, Branagan, all early historic names (see “Annals Four Masters”).
OS is a genitive termination, found on several of these monuments, and indicates their
extreme antiquity and original source, as it is an old Gaulish form, and has been found in
many existing inscriptions of that ancient people, in such forms as, Biracos, Bolgios, Doiros,
Genos, Tatinos, Ulatos, &c. The patronymic Deccedd will be immediately recognised by
Ogam students; the name is perfect, with the exception of one E, which has been lost by
injury, as before remarked; instead of a double C, we have C and Q; the latter letter is
constantly used for the former in these inscriptions, as their sounds are nearly identical.
No. 2. This stone is in length 5ft, 3}in., and at present 12in, by 6%in. at the centre;
it is broken across nearly in the middle, and the entire much injured; it is of the same
material as the former; the legend appears to have been boldly cut, and is as follows -—
mi-m-m-Hit-1" H/#/+14+Illi-Illll-lill
S A F F I Q E G I M (A) Q I D D A T T A C
The first six letters are quite legible, one of the vowel dots of number seven is abraded ;
eight, nine, and ten are perfect; number eleven—this vowel has been lost, as the stone is
here cracked across; twelve is perfect; thirteen has but one vowel dot remaining, the rest
lost by a piece knocked off the angle, the space, 5in., leaving ample room for the usual I.
CHAP. XII.] oGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. 287
The rest of the characters are perfect, excepting the centre score of seventeen, which has
been nearly defaced by a crack across the entire stone; all the uninjured characters are
broadly and deeply cut. Restoring the damaged scores, the legend will stand as follows:–
Imri-III'm Hilllll-H/+/-Hill+11114-4*111+IIll
S A F F I Q F. G. I. M. A Q I D D A T T A C
S A F F I C U E G T H E S O N OF D D A TT A. C.
The name of the individual commemorated appears to be Cueg, with the prefix Saffi. On
one of the Cilleen Cormac stones we find Sah, which the Rev. J. Shearman, in his com-
munication to the “Ecclesiastical Record" for June, 1868, renders “Saei,” a wise man, a
brehon, a sage; on the stone from Burnfort, county Cork, we find the form “Sagi,” which
the late Mr. John Windele rendered priest. The name Cueg is of a purely Gaedhelic
type; names with the prefix Cu are common from the earliest age, as Cuchullin, Cuan,
Cucaill, Cubretan, Cudullig. This name is still preserved in the forms of Mac Quig, Mac
Keag, and Quigly. -
The patronymic reads Ddattac; the doubling of consonants in the names found on Ogam
monuments is a curious feature, which I would commend to the attention of Celtic philologists:
thus, on one Ddecceda; on a stone in the Royal Cork Institution, Cearrthc, p. 122; on a
stone at Kilgobinet, Gonnggu, p. 239; on one from Tinnahally, Furuddrann, p. 213. This
name is of the same type as Dathi, A.D. 438; Dalaise, 638; Dalach, 860; Dachu, 650:
Dariet, 948 (“Ann. Four Masters”). My first impression respecting the patronymic was,
that it read Cattac, certainly a more likely form than Ddattac; the four scores are how-
ever palpably divided into two groups, and I am therefore compelled to read the latter.
(The drawings on Pl. XXXIX. are taken from the Kil. Arch. Soc. Journal.-G.M.A.)
BALLYBOODAN.
This inscribed stone lies on the townland of Ballyboodan, parish of Knocktopher, Ord.
Sh. No. 31. It will be found in a field on the right-hand side of the road leading from
Ballyboodan to Hugginstown, and about half-a-mile south-east from Knocktopher. It
appears to have been discovered by Mr. Hitchcock, who visited it on the 18th July, 1849;
it then lay in a wheat field, face downwards, the Ogam scores only being partially seen
on the angle. Finding it impossible then to have the stone raised, he relinquished his
intention, which, however, he was enabled to accomplish on the 20th of the following
December, when by the aid of twenty men he raised this immense Lia, which measured
in length 9ft., in breadth 5ft. Sin., and in thickness 1ſt. 2in. A drawing of the monument
and a copy of the inscription was then made by Mr. Hitchcock, the latter is as follows:–
Jill H^++++++lllll-hºmºſ/##1
C O R M A I O I M A Q I L A R I
This copy was always a source of perplexity to me; having great confidence in Mr.
Hitchcock's proverbial accuracy, nevertheless I was doubtful of his correctness in this
instance, as his copy bore internal evidence of errors. It would appear that after he had
made his transcript he had the Lia placed in the position in which he found it, with
the inscription downwards, so that no person could examine it without again incurring the
great labour and expense of raising it. This task was, however, subsequently accomplished,
288 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. ſcHAP. XII.
as we find by a communication made to the Royal Hist, and Arch. Assoc. Ir., and read at a
meeting held at Kilkenny, July 3rd, 1873, by the Rev. James Graves, Hon. Sec., as
follows:—“Mr. Graves laid before the meeting a paper cast made by Mr. R. Langrishe,
Sion Willa, of the inscribed portion of the Ballyboodan stone. This was one of the two
Ogam inscriptions known to have existed in the Co. Kilkenny before their Association had
been formed, since which time several others had been discovered; but the inscription on
the stone at Ballyboodan had been long concealed in the ground, and perhaps the first copy
obtained of it was now before the meeting. It was on the property of Sir James Langrishe,
who, at the instance of Mr. R. Langrishe, had lately arranged to have the large block turned
over, so that the inscription might be brought to light again; and he (Mr. Graves) had
attended by invitation from Sir James on the occasion. It was a work of considerable
difficulty, the stone being 9ft. long by 5ft. 9in., and averaging 18in. in thickness. Sir
James organised a strong party of labourers, and under his personal direction and example
the great stone was turned over, and the inscription made fully apparent. A paper cast,
similar to that now before the meeting, had been sent to Samuel Ferguson, Esq., LL.D., so well
known for Ogam research. Mr. Graves now read a letter from that gentleman, expressing
his gratification at having an opportunity of investigating the matter of the inscription.
He read the inscription, subject to any difference which may arise when he should be enabled
to examine the monument, as Corbidoi Maqi Labridda (Corbid the son of Labridd), and
he observed Labridd was a well-known old name.”
I had previously visited Kilkenny, with the expectation of being able to copy this
interesting inscription, but was disappointed, not having time or facilities for encountering
the task of raising this great monolith. I had also pressed upon the Committee of the
above Association the importance of taking steps for raising the stone and procuring a
correct copy or cast of the legend; happily this has been accomplished. Dr. Ferguson,
with his usual kindness, forwarded me the paper mould for examination, when I ascertained
that my surmise was well founded as to the incorrectness of Mr. Hitchcock's copy. The
inscription, reading from the mould, is as follows:–
*#/r4th-11th-hºº-Hill+n+1%+Illi
C O R B E D O I M A Q I LAB R I D D
Dr. Ferguson, in a letter accompanying the mould, expressed some doubt as to his
rendering of Corbidoi; Ihave, however, the pleasure of confirming his reading of the legend,
with the exception of one letter, the name being Corbedoi and not Corbidoi.
Corbed: names of this type are familiar to us, as Coirbre, Corbolan; Corb-olum,
A.D. 10; on a tombstone, figured on plate 27 of Miss Stokes's “Ancient Christian Inscrip-
tions,” we find Corbriu; in Dr. O'Donovan's Tribes and Customs of Hy Mainé we have
Coirbin; the Ann. 4 Mas, gives us the identical name with a slight difference in the
orthography, Corrbuidhe, A.D. 891-918. We must remember that the eclipsing of consonants
was a comparatively modern innovation in the Gaedhelic language. This ancient name
exists to the present day in the form of Corbet, a very usual one in the south; it is identi-
cally the name on the monument, the T and D being commutable in Irish.
CHAP. XII.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. 289
We find this type of name also in Ogam legends; on a stone from Deelish we have
Coribir, p. 125, and on one from Laharan, Corbi, p. 223; on a Romano-British monument
we have Corbalengus.
The patronymic Labridd will be familiar to the student of early Irish history; the
legend of Labraidh Loingseach, in Keating, is curious, as being cognate with that of Midas
in the Grecian myth. He was monarch of Ireland about A.M. 3648; we also find Labraidh,
son of Ailell, an abbot of Slaine, in A.D. 843. The name is by no means frequent in our
indices. [Left unfinished.—G.M.A.]
BALLYSPELLAN. (Pl. XLI.)
This inscription was found on a brooch or fibula of silver, which was dug up by a
peasant on the hill of Ballyspellan, barony of Galmoy, in Sept. 1806; it was purchased by
the Dublin Soc. for the sum of five guineas. It has four lines of Ogam characters engraved
on the back, as shown on the plate, and is a fine example of ancient Celtic personal ornament.
The face is richly ornamented, in the very peculiar style of Irish art. General Wallancey's
account of this rare antique is as follows:—“This brooch was discovered by a peasant turning
up the ground on the hill of Ballyspellan, on the farm of Charles Byrne, Esq., the estate of
Lord Ashbrook, in the barony of Galmoy, in the County of Kilkenny, in the month of
September, 1806.
“It was brought to the Dublin Soc., to be sold for the benefit of the peasant, by a
gentleman, who received five guineas for it. It had been offered to the silversmiths of
Dublin, who estimated it at three pounds, the value of the silver by weight. It is now
deposited in the museum of the Society, where fragments of others of the same form but
of much smaller size may be seen. [This collection has since been transferred to the Museum
of the Royal Irish Academy.—G.M.A.) There is one in the Trinity College Museum of about
the same size and of silver, but without plates or any place to receive an inscription. An
engraving of that brooch will be found in the second volume of the Collectanea. . . . .
Two Irish scholars have attempted a translation of the inscription, as will appear from the
following letter:-
“‘Sir, The instrument is one of those mentioned in our laws by the name of Aicide
Airgiot, and Airgiot eo, that is, a silver brooch or bodkin, and valued at five cows. I have
examined the inscription by the rule in your grammar, and think it is as follows:–
Cnaimseach Ceallach Maelmaire,
Minodor Muadh Maeludhaigh-Maelmaire.
In English thus:—
Maelmaire, a church singer;
Maelmaire, a famous psalmist of Maeludaigh.
“But my learned friend, Mr. O'Flanagan, thinks, without much torturing of the sense,
we may read it in verse thus:–
Maelmaire Minodor Muadh,
Cnaimseach Ceallach Maeludaigh.
Maelmaire.
* There is here a word redundant, but the old Irish poets always finished their poems
P P
290 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. [CHAP. XII.
with the same word they began with, or after the poem wrote the initial word, to show that
the composition was complete.
“‘I remain, &c.,
“ 20th Feb., 1807, “‘ WILLIAM HALIDAY.
“‘To General Wallancey.
“Convinced that we know not the power of the Irish Ogham characters, any more than
we do of the Agam characters of Persepolis or of Babylon, I can neither approve of or
disprove the above interpretation.” (Essay on the Prim. Inhab. of Ir. Dublin, 1807, pp.
149-151.)
The General's doubt was influenced by his favourite theory, that the Ogam was identical
with the cuneiform inscriptions of Assyria, about which very little was known at that period.
To admit the powers of the Ogam letters as set forth in the Book of Ballymote, and to admit
that any inscription in them was translatable into the vernacular Irish, was subversive of
his theory; therefore he was indisposed to admit the possibility of such results. There are
four lines of inscription on this fibula, three on one side of the pin, and one on the other ;
the characters are on engraved stem-lines, three of which are curved, to meet the outline
of the ornament, and one straight, and parallel with the pin.
The characters are in accordance with the alphabets found in the Books of Ballymote
and Leinster, being that generally used in deciphering inscriptions; the vowels are not of
the same character as those found on our megalithic monuments, the former being long
strokes perpendicular to the stem-line, while on the latter they are invariably round or
oval dots, or very short scores. Each line of inscription commences with a distinctive mark
thus- and in two instances it marks the termination of a word and the commencement
of another. On the left side of the pin are three lines of inscription, which radiate from a
point, one of the circular rivets which are in the plate; they appear to read from the top
downwards, and from left to right, excepting the third line, which appears to read from the
bottom upwards. I give them in the order in which they occur on the plate:—
FIRST LINE :- >—/*m tº 114/>–/++11.
M I N O D O R. M U A D
SEcond LINE :— >-ill-m-hit-Amrxill-12-111Xirm--"4
C N A E M S E A C H C EA L L A C H
The third line reads, as I have stated, upwards, but as it and the second meet at the
extremities it would appear to be a continued line:—
THIRD LINE – > /+XTrž--thirſ/ X
A EA LM A I R EA
>—#--XII+++++//+XTA Hºrſ/X
M. A. EA L U A D A I G. M. A. EA LMA I R EA
This last line reads from the bottom upwards; the entire inscription is perfect and legible.
There is some reason for doubting the correctness of Mr. Haliday's translation; each
line appears to contain a proper name; Maelmuire and Ceallach are common in our indices;
CHAP. XII.] OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. 291
Cnaemseoch, according to Dr. O'Curry, has been found in a genealogy in the Book of Lecan
(fol. 108, b. col. 2); Chaimhseach literally signifies a midwife. Maeludaig I have not been
able to identify, but a name similar to it, Maeluidhar, will be found in Tribes and Customs
of Hy. Many, p. 83. Minodor, I have not been able to identify. As a proper name,
Minodoir literally signifies “a mealman.” Muadh signifies noble, good, also great. On the
whole the probability I think is, that the names on this fibula are those of its owners, who
possessed it at various times. Silver fibulae are not very common, and silver ring-money is
exceedingly rare. In truth, very little ancient silver has been found in this country com-
pared with our gold-finds; this fact has led many antiquaries to conjecture that silver was
comparatively a rare metal in ancient Ireland. In Wal. Col. v. i. p. 660, is a translation of
a sumptuary law of the Gaedhil, by which we find that the size and value of this ornament
was fixed according to the rank of the wearer. “The price of a silver bodkin for a king or
an Ollamh was 30 heifers, to be made of refined silver. For an Airech-forgil, 15 heifers.
For an Airech, 10 heifers. For a Bo-airech, 5 heifers. For an Oc-airech, 8 heifers. Or
an equal value in Or, no airgit, no humha, no iarum, i.e. in gold, silver, copper, or iron.”
The drawing on Pl. XLI. is from a sketch I sent to Mr. Brash. This brooch is perhaps
of twelfth century workmanship, the inscribed names (if of successive owners) appear as if
executed by the same hand.—G.M.A.
CLARAH.
The old church of Clarah is about four miles east of Kilkenny on the way to Gowran ; it
is situated on the townland of Church Clara and parish of Clarah, and close to the public
road. It stands in the centre of a well-used cemetery, and consists of a ruined nave and
chancel. The nave has its side walls nearly gone, the west gable patched with modern
work, the chancel arch down, and neither door nor window to help us to fix its date; the
Budeness of its rubble masonry and a piece of the splayed door-jamb would indicate a late
period, certainly not earlier than the 15th century. The chancel is however a feature of
considerable interest; it is 20ft. Bin. from W. to E. and 13ft. 5in. from N. to S. in clear of
walls, which are 3ft. thick. The masonry is of a very superior character, as is the case in
all our oldest churches; the interior is lined with large blocks, nearly squared, and closely
jointed; the external work is of large material, closely fitted but not squared, excepting on
the quoins and windows. At the east gable are the projecting antae usually found in our
primitive churches; they are 2ft. 6in. wide on the face, and 10in. projection, being built of
neatly squared stone closely jointed.
The east window is a semicircular headed ope, 9in. in clear of jambs, and 3ft. 10in.
high to springing of arched head, which is cut out of one stone; it has an external chamber,
and is widely splayed on the inside to a breadth of 5ft. 10in. The masonry around this
window ope is separated from the main body of the work, and has every appearance to the
practical eye of having been inserted. That it is not the original window is to me quite
apparent, as the jambs are vertical; now the doors and light opes of this class of church
have invariably sloping jambs, a feature continued in churches of a much later date than the
one under consideration; from the small dimensions, the thickness of the walls, and the end
292 OGAM MONUMENTS, CO. KILKENNY. [CHAP. XII.
buttresses, I am disposed to consider this of the class of primitive, stone-roofed churches,
the diminutive east window of which had been removed, and a larger one inserted in more
advanced times.
The old church of Clarah was evidently converted into a chancel and a nave added to
it, and very probably the present east window inserted at the same time; this has been the
fate of a great many of our primitive churches.
The Ogam-inscribed stone is to be found built into the east gable, immediately under the
sill of the chancel window; it is a fine clean block of a hard close-grained sandstone, 5ft.
2in, in length, and 9in, in breadth on its exposed face; it has both of its external angles
inscribed with Ogam characters; on my visit I found that I could make nothing of the
legends, as half the characters on both angles were hidden in the masonry.
Dr. Ferguson spent much time and labour trying to get a paper mould of this inscription.
In the Jour. of the R. H. and Arch. Ass. of Ireland for 1872, p. 237, he states:— -
“Reverting to the word “Mucoi,’ it is rarely found unaccompanied by a preceding
‘Magi. One example of its exceptional use, so far as the position of the stone bearing the
inscription enables one to judge, is in that legend at the old church of Claragh,”
T A S E G A G NI M UC 0 I M A Q R [E T TE : ].
“It is much to be desired that this stone should be taken out of the gable of the church,
in which it is now imbedded too deeply to admit of its characters being further traced, or
reproduced in paper-cast. . . .”—G.M.A.
293
CHA PTE R XIII.
MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELANI).
KNOCKFIERNA.
Knockfierna is a remarkable hill, situated in the parish of Ballingarry, barony of Upper
Connillo, and County of Limerick; it has an elevation of 951ft., according to the Ordnance
Survey. There is not a hillin Munster whose legends and associations are of so marvellous
a character as this; it is known among the Irish speaking peasantry as “Knock-Dhoin-
Firinne,” i.e. the “Hill of Donn of Truth.”
Donn is fabled to have been a chief of the Tuath-de-Danand, who on the subjugation
of that colony by the Clanna-Miledh retired with his followers to the hill, in the caverned
recesses of which he keeps his court, ruling the Fairy-dom of South Munster.
Adjoining a holy well at the foot of this mountain an Ogam-inscribed stone was dis-
covered in 1887, by a Mr. Hall, of Rathkeale, the fact of which was communicated to Mr.
Windele by Mr. John O'Keefe, an artist, then residing in Rathkeale. Mr. Windele, and
Mr. Abell, visited that town in 1840, and saw the stone in Mr. Hall's barn, whither he had
removed it from its original site. Mr. Windele on that occasion took a drawing of the
monument, and a rubbing of the inscription. Mr. Hall retained it in his possession for a
long time, and ultimately presented it to Mr. John Browne, of Mount Browne, near
Rathkeale, who handed it over to a “Philosophical Society" which was established in
Limerick; that association after a few years broke up, and its collection became scattered,
the Ogam pillar disappeared, and all the efforts I have made to trace it have been unavailing;
it has either been broken up, or else has fallen into the hands of some selfish collector who
will not reveal its existence.
It is much to be deplored that this, the only example hitherto discovered in the Co. of
Limerick, should have so mysteriously disappeared, after being so long in the possession of
a public body.
Fortunately Mr. Windele's copy came into my hands, and I have been therefore enabled
to preserve it. That gentleman's notes were unaccompanied by any dimensions; it will be
seen that the inscription is in all respects identical with those of the counties of Cork,
294 MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
Kerry, &c., both in the formation of the letters and the formula of the inscription; it com-
mences on the left angle, runs round the head and down the opposite angle of the same
face, as follows:—
11–11111/+/+llillºr #####mrm #11111111
D Q M AM A Q I B O G. A. G. A. F. F. E. C. C
There was apparently a space between the first and second letters, which was probably filled
by a vowel, in all likelihood an E.; if such were the case, it would read:
D E C U M A M A Q I B O G. A. G. A. F. E. C. C.
Decuma. The forms Decmi, and Decumini, are to be found in a list of potters'-marks from
red Samian ware (Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 470). Decumini has also been found on Mortaria
(Col. Ant. v. i. p. 149). Gaulish form, Decumin. Orel. 245, 841. I think there can be
no doubt that the patronymic is Boga, and that the rest of the letters form an independent
word or words. My reason for this is, that the name can be identified. “Bogha the
ruddy,” a chief of the Tuatha-de-Danand, is introduced in the ancient tale of the “Children
of Lir,” translated by Mr. Ed. O'Reilly (MSS. Lib. Roy. Ir, Aca.). Among the Irish,
male names were often borne by females. In the “Annotations to the Felire Angus"
Dublin MS.), we find the names of three virgins, disciples of St. Comhgal, of Bangor;
Blaise, Corna, and Boga. Dr. Reeves, in his Ecc. Ant. of Down and Connor, p. 237,
quotes the following passages from the calendar of the O'Clerys at Jan. 22nd, in reference
to the above-named saints:—“Colman, Bogha et Lassera, three sisters, and three virgins,
and they were foster children to Comhghall of Bangor, and they are (interred) at Lettir in
Dalaradia; or (according to others) it is at Camus Comhgall they are (resting).”
I have been disposed to consider the terminal words as expressing the manner of his,
Decuma's death, namely, by a gaff or spear; the Irish form for a short spear or javelin is
Gai; we have also “Gaf, a hooked instrument,” and “Gafal, a hero,” probably derived
from Gaf, which originally expressed a spear or javelin. We have it recorded in the Ann.
4 Mas, under A.D. 283, that the celebrated Finn Mac Cumhail was slain on the banks of
the river Boyne, by Aichleach. Dr. O'Donovan, in a foot-note, gives the following quotation
from the “Ann. Innis.”:—“Finn Mac Cumhail, the celebrated general of the Irish militia,
fell by the hands of Athlach, son of Duibhdrenn, a treacherous fisherman, who (fired with
the love of everlasting notoriety) slew him with his gaff at Rath-Breagha, near the Boyne,
whither he had retired in his old age to pass the remainder of his life in tranquillity.”
Ecc, we know, signifies death.
HOOK POINT. (Pl. XL.)
This fragment was discovered by Mr. Hugh Nevins, at Hook Point, at the Co. Wexford
side of the entrance to Waterford harbour. A notice of its discovery with a rubbing of the
inscription was laid before the Roy, Ir. Aca. on Nov. 10th, 1845, which were not published.
On Sept. 20th, 1854, Mr. Nevins attended a meeting of the Kil. Arch. Soc., and presented
the fragment to its museum; he accompanied his donation with the following remarks:—
“In the course of some geological researches on the promontory of Hook, he had
accidentally lighted on the monument beneath the clay cliff under the ruins of St. Bricane's
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 295
church, an ancient ecclesiastical remain of very small size, at present standing within 3ft.
of the edge of the cliff. The stone might have been thrown over; but it was more probable
that it had been washed down with the greater part of the burial-ground, which was every
year yielding to the violence of the waves. He had made diligent search both on the beach
and in the neighbouring farmyards for the remainder of the stone, without success, and he
removed that portion which he now had the pleasure of presenting to the Society, because
if left in the position in which he had found it on the beaeh, it might have been washed
away in the next storm. He had exhibited the stone shortly after its discovery to the Royal
Irish Academy, where it had attracted the attention of Dr. Graves, and that learned gentleman
had got it engraved for his forthcoming work on Oghams. Dr. Graves had deciphered the
portion of the inscription remaining, and had suggested from its rounded oblong form that
it originally served as the pillow of the ascetic, or anchorite of the neighbouring church,
and had been inscribed as his monument after death.” (Jour. Kil. Arch. Soc., v. 1854-5,
p. 179.)
This fragment was deposited in the Museum of the above Society, where I had the
pleasure of seeing and copying it. It is in length 2ft. Bin., in breadth at bottom 1ſt. 1in.,
at top 11 in. ; it is a flattish oval in section, being a portion of a rolled sea-beach stone
similar to those at Ballintaggart and Lugnagappul, and like them rounded at the end; it was
the lower part of a much longer pillar, and has the fragments of inscriptions on both sides,
as, like the above examples, there is neither angle or incised stem-line, the letters being
simply cut on the rounded edge. That on the left angle commences at 16%in, from the
bottom, and is as follows:– - -
LEFT ANGLE:— m #11+TIT RIGHT ANGLE:— m #1-##TTT
S E D A N S O C A M S
The letters are short but cleanly and deeply cut, and are perfectly legible. In its present
state we cannot say whether the legends should be read upwards or downwards, but the fact
of so considerable a space being left uninscribed, and the taper form of the fragment, would
lead us to infer that the inscriptions read in the sequence above shown. Sedan appears to
be a proper name, of the same type as Sechan, Sedna, Sedrach, Socams. This name com-
mences at 15in. from the bottom, the S is slightly injured ; it may have read Socamsan; it
is of the same type as Soichel, Sochla, Sodalach (Mart. Don.).
CASTLETIMON. -
This inscribed stone was discovered by Mr. J. C. Tuomey, on the townland of Castle-
timon, parish of Dauganstown, and barony of Arklow, Ord. Sh. No. 36, five miles from
Wicklow, and one from the sea-coast at Brittas Mill; its locale is about fifteen perches
distant from the north fence of the old church at Castletimon, and on the left-hand side of
the road leading to the coast-guard station at Ballinacanig.
Mr. Tuomey communicated an account of his discovery to the Kil. Arch. Soc., from
which I take the following extract:—“The stone is of the same heavy, compact description
as the covering stone of the Cromlech, both being of the common stone of the neighbourhood.
It has a whiteish appearance from the action of the weather, and from the moss with which
296 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
the front of it is more or less covered, but when chipped or broken it presents a blueish
tint. It measures 5ft. in length, and 1ſt, in depth. At the top or rounded end, its chord
measures 13in., and at 1ſt, from the top its breadth is 16in. At 2ſt. from the top, its
breadth is 18in., and at 3ft. from the top, 17in. The underneath and back faces I have not
seen, but I removed some clay which had fallen from the ditch on the upper face, so as to
see the back edge of it; and I found that there were no scores marked on it. The back
edge is of very irregular shape. The scores extend 3ft. along the front edge from the top
towards the base, and in the centre of the base is a hole 6in. by 3in., and 2in, deep. This
hollow is of circular form, and this end of the stone appears to have been broken.” (Jour.
Kil. Arch. Soc., v. 1854-5, p. 191.) Mr. Tuomey goes on to describe in a very accurate
manner each group of scores, their lengths and distances asunder, and gives a very correct
copy of the inscription, with the exception that he copied from the head of the stone down-
wards, instead of from the bottom upwards. This is an error into which more experienced
Ogamists than Mr. Tuomey have fallen ; in the present instance, by reversing his copy, we
have the inscription as follows:—
m*1114-IIIl-H/#mrºll-ºlulº-ſ/+
N E T A C A R I N E T A C A G I
The above is not in accordance with the usual formula; the absence of the keyword
Maqi renders a translation difficult.
CALLAN MOUNTAIN.
Sliabh Cullane, as it is called by the Irish speaking people of the district, is a remarkable
looking mountain in the barony of Ibrickin and county of Clare, between Ennis and Miltown
Malbey, and about five miles from the latter. It rises to a height of 1,282ft. above the sea-
level, being in form a truncated cone; it is a wild and lonely spot, its aspect and sur-
roundings being quite in keeping with the traditions extant concerning it and its monuments.
Somewhere about the middle of the last century, a large flag-stone inscribed with Ogams
appears to have been discovered by a Mr. Michael Comyn, a gentleman of small fortune
then residing in the neighbourhood; he was a good Irish scholar, and much attached to
antiquarian pursuits, at a period when such were held in low estimation. Mr. Comyn wrote
a history of the Co. Clare, which was never published, owing to his premature death; he
also translated the well-known romance of the “Triur Mac " (the Three Sons), in which he
minutely describes the scenery and traditions of Sliabh Cullane. It was subsequently visited
by Mr. Barclay, whose knowledge of its existence was derived from Mr. Comyn's papers.
In 1780 Mr. Theophilus O'Flanagan, having heard of this inscribed stone, made a
pilgrimage to the spot, the results of which he communicated to General Wallancey at a
subsequent period, namely, in a letter dated April 20th, 1784, and which was published by
him in the Archæologia, v. vii. p. 279, with a rude drawing of the monument. In the autumn
of 1785, it appears to have been again visited by O'Flanagan, accompanied by Mr. Edward
W. Burton, a gentleman residing at Cliffden, in that county, and an excellent artist. An ac-
count of the results of their examination, accompanied by an excellent drawing by Mr. Burton,
was read before the Roy. Ir. Ac., Dec. 19th, 1785, and which was published in their Trans.
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 297
v. i. Sec. of Antiq., p. 3. Ledwich, who published his “Antiquities of Ireland" in 1792,
gives a plate of this monument at p. 829, accompanied by some disparaging criticisms upon
the discovery, and upon the antiquity of the Ogam character. We have after this period
no record of this monument having been examined by any professed archaeologist until the
year 1839, when the zeal of the South Munster Soc. of Antiq. having been stimulated by
the discoveries in the counties of Cork and Kerry, they were anxious to test the genuineness
of the inscription at Mount Callan. Two members of that body accordingly proceeded in
the above year to the locality; they were the late Rev. Mathew Horgan, P.P., of Blarney,
and Mr. Abraham Abell, both well acquainted with the Ogam, and well accustomed to the
copying of those inscriptions.
On arriving at the spot, they found that O'Flanagan's description of the locality was
correct, but that his copy of the legend was decidedly incorrect: they had the previous copies
made with them, and they carefully studied every score on the stone; the result of their visit
was a firm belief in the great age of the monument, and a correct fac-simile of the inscrip-
tion engraven thereon. The exact locality of the stone is on the townland of Knockallasa,
Ord. Sh. No. 31. It lies one furlong north of the shore of a small mountain tarn, known
as Lough Bhuaile-na-Greine, and is a large flag, in Irish Liag, measuring in length 11ft. 6in.,
greatest breadth 3ft., and from 9in. to 11 in. in thickness; it is irregular in form, being
narrower towards the top, and having a large spawl out of one side. The stone does not
appear ever to have stood erect. The inscription is engraved on the face of the flag, on an
incised stem-line, this being one of a few instances already recited where such a practice
was followed, and is also enclosed by lines forming a long panel. I shall now give two of
the published copies of this inscription, with that taken by Messrs. Horgan and Abell:—
No. 1. From the Archaeologia, v. vii. p. 279,
F A N L I C C I C B C O N A N Q. IF O I C Q T T F C B
No. 2. From Trans. Roy. Ir. Ac., v. i. p. 3,
- - -
F. A. N. L. I D A E I C A C O N A N C O L G A C C O S O B MDA
It will be remembered that the above copies were made by O'Flanagan; an inspection of
them will show how widely they differ; the only consistency observed in them is the name
of Conan, whom he appears determined to immortalize at all hazards: not only do these
two copies differ, but neither of them is correct with the original. It is therefore quite
evident, that the charge of forgery made against O'Flanagan is unfounded as regards the
inscription, though there is some ground for the suspicion that the passage from the reputed
MS. was forged, to meet what he (O'Flanagan) supposed was the inscription on the monu-
ment. Taking his own copy, No. 2, with his own letters attached to them, upon which he
has founded his translation, it will be observed that he has not given the proper value to one
letter in the name of Conan. I allude to the 16th group, three scores below the line, to
Q Q

298 MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. ſchAP. XIII.
which he gives the value of N, whereas it is an F, and it makes the name Conaf, and not
Conan. Strange to say, he has given the value of F to the same group of scores twice in
the same inscription, and has given the value of N to five scores below the line twice. The
truth of it is, that the name Conan is not on the stone. As to Ledwich's copy, I believe it
to be an altered one from O'Flanagan's ; he does not assert that he ever visited Callan
mountain, or that he had his copy from any person who did; he gives it without any
reference to the source from whence it was procured, and it bears internal evidence of never
having been taken from the original, but of having been altered, as I before stated, from
O'Flanagan's.
Copy made by Messrs. Horgan and Abell:—
|||||||I|| |||||-|-|| || | llllll \\ 1 llll-llllll-ll, llll
TTFIITIFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTITITILIN ITIII || || ||

E. A. N. L. I. T A F I C. A. C. O S A F C O L G A C C O S OR AD A
It will be here seen how widely the above differs from the preceding copies. Mr. Horgan
gives the following reading of this inscription —
F. A. N. L. I. T A F I C A C O S A F C O L G A C C O S O B A D A.
“Beneath this flag is placed Cosaf, the fiery and fleet-footed.”
I have not seen Mr. Horgan's reasons for this rendering, yet upon examination I find it a
consistent one ; by reference to our dictionaries we find Fa'n to signify “under the,” Liag,
and Lia, a stone or flag. Ta is a verb, and signifies “am' and ‘is.’ Fica appears to be from
Feachaid, a verb which signifies to put, place, set, &c. Cosaf is the proper name of the
individual to whom this stone was inscribed. It is of a Gaedhelic type, though I have not
been able to identify it in this form ; it is of the same family as Cosgrach, Cosnamha,
Costello. Colgach is an adjective, and signifies fierce, smart, lively, active, martial, &c.
Cos, the leg, the foot; Obada, from Obann, quick, nimble, sudden, &c., or from “Obain-
neacht, swiftness, abruptness, hastiness, fierceness.” (See O'Reilly's and O'Brien's Ir.
Dicts.) From a consideration of the above, it will be seen that the translation given by the
Rev. Mathew Horgan is simple and unconstrained; that the formula is a likely and con-
sistent one to be found as a memorial over a brave, active, and enterprising warrior, and is
of a similar type in this respect to other examples contained in this volume. In this
inscription there are some peculiarities. Its being cut on the face of the stone, and on an
incised stem-line; the peculiarity of the vowels, which are long strokes vertical to the stem-
line, and not short strokes or dots, as found on all other megalithic Ogam memorials in this
country. The letters are exactly similar to those found in the tract in the Books of Bally-
mote and Leinster: also its cartouche, or enclosing frame. These may militate against the
antiquity of the Callan example, and it is not improbable that it may be of a later age than
those already described. It is worthy of remark, that in the Scotch specimens the vowels are
all long scores vertical to the stem-line; these examples are most certainly of an age long
posterior to the Irish. Another peculiarity in the Callan inscription is, the presence of what
are stated to be divisional points; they do not however appear to divide the words or sentences;
similar points occur in the inscription on the Bressay stone, but not on any other Irish example.
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 299
The most convenient mode of visiting this place is from Ennis; taking the road to
Miltown Malbey, passing the police station, you come to Hands Cross-roads; about half-a-
mile from which, on the right-hand side of the road, and within a few perches of the road
fence, will be found a large Cromlech, locally known as “Altoir-na-Greine,” and “ Leabha-
Diarmidh agus Graine.” One quarter of a mile from this, up the side of the mountain to
the north, will be found a mountain lough, known as “Lough Bhuaile-na-Greine; " it is
nearly circular in form, and covers about ten acres; one furlong still north of the lake will
be found the inscribed flag-stone; it is marked on the ordnance map “Conan's Monument;"
beyond this, the mountain rises abruptly, to the height already given. While it is perfectly
evident that the inscribed stone is simply a sepulchral memorial, and has nothing whatsoever
to do with sun-worship, we cannot overlook the fact, that tradition, topography, and existing
monuments, give evidence that this prominent and remarkable mountain was one of those
sacred high-places of which we have many examples in this island; the names of the
lake, of the Cromlech, the latter having two designations, both of which refer to Grian, the
sun, while the whole mountain, according to Mr. Michael Comyn, was formerly known as
“Altoir-na-Greine.”
The name of this mountain is somewhat remarkable, amongst the Irish speaking people
it is called “Sliabh Cullane; " no satisfactory explanation of this name can be given, and we
can only look upon it as one somewhat corrupted. I believe that the name of this
mountain is identical with the Sliabh Guillen, or more properly the Sliabh Cuillin, in the
county of Armagh, about five miles from Dundalk, and which has also on it a lake, nearly
circular, on the shore of which is a large Cairn ; another large Cairn stands on the summit,
which is locally known as the house of the “Cailleac Biorair” or Water Witch. Here is the
locality of the well-known Ossianic tale of “The Chase of Sliabh Gullion,” in which Finn-
Mac-Cumhal is represented as bathing in the enchanted lake, under the magic spells of the
“Cailleac,” when he was transformed into a withered, decrepit old man. This mountain is
called after Cuillin Ceard, or the artificer, the Irish Vulcan ; he was of the Tuath-de-Daman
race, and is represented in Irish mythology as a forger of magic weapons; innumerable
legends are extant respecting him. I am strongly of opinion, that this Sliabh Callan in
Clare has been called after him also ; we find many mountains in various parts of our
island bearing the same name, thus, we have a score of “Sidhe Finns.” Another derivation
may suggest itself, that of Calainn, a couch, a bed-place, having reference to the Leabha
Diarmidh agus Graine, i.e. the Bed of Diarmidh and Graine, already referred to.”
RATH CBOGHAN. -
This remarkable locality is situated in the parish of Kilcorkey, barony of Ballintobber, -
and county of Roscommon. The ancient remains consist of numerous raths, tumuli, caves,
* Prof. O'Looney, M.R.I.A., records the destruction of this monument—the result of a
widow's dreams of gold and treasures hid in the bed of Conan. Such dreamers, next to church
restorers, are the greatest pests to antiquities. The fragments have fortunately been collected, and the
monument re-erected in 1859, through the praiseworthy exertions of Prof. O'Looney. His description
of the operation, and reading of the inscription, will be found in the Proceedings Roy. Irish Acad, for
1872-4, p. 171. He renders it as:—
F A N LIA D O L I C A CON A F [N] C O L G A C C O S O B A D A [C].
This differs from the copy of Messrs. Abeland Horgan at the sixth, seventh, and eighth characters.-G.M.A.
300 MISCELLANEous ogAM Monum ENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
pillar-stones, &c., which cluster round the great central mound, called Rath Croghan,
covering several townlands, and which will be found on sheets Nos. 21 and 22 of the Ord.
Sur. of that county. This was the metropolis or residence of the ancient kings of Con-
naught in pagan times, and according to the bardic historians was founded in the first
century of our era, by Eochaidh Feidhleach, monarch of Ireland, and who was father of the
celebrated Amazonian, Meave, Queen of Connaught. I visited this place on the 20th of
August, 1852, accompanied by Mr. Windele, and made an examination of the principal
remains there; these 1 shall endeavour to describe, assisted by the admirable account of this
locality given by Dr. O'Donovan, in his Annals 4 Mas. at A.D. 1223. The great rath is a flat-
topped mound, of oval shape, measuring, as well as I could ascertain by its irregular outline,
on the top 225ft. by 170ft; its outward circumference at presentis 995ft., but must have been
much greater; there are at present no outer circumvallations; Dr. O'Donovan states that
such formerly existed, and that they were destroyed, but on our visit we could see no trace
of them. I should not be surprised if this mound were sepulchral; the hollowness of the
upper surface favours the conjecture, while the tradition of the country is to the same effect.
Its present height is about 35ft. About 106 yds. to the north of the great rath, lies prostrate
a fine pillar-stone, which measures 9ft. in length, 2ft. 4 in. in breadth, and 2ft. 2in, in thick-
ness at the centre; it is locally known as the Misgaun Meave; 90yds, west of the last
named is a large square block, which I did not measure, known as the “Milleen.” The
local “Seanchuidhe' informed us that it was brought from Elphin, by Osheen (Ossian),
“a main strong man, he would draw any man from the road by the breath of his nostrils.”
The Relig-na-Riogh, or cemetery of the kings, lies 800yds, to the south of the great rath; it
is mentioned in the Seanchus-na-Relec, or History of the Cemeteries, as one of “the chief
cemeteries of Erinn before the faith.” It is circular in form, being surrounded by a stone
fence, now much defaced. I measured its diameter as 336ft. ; contained within it, and
touching its circumference at the north, is another circular enclosure, also surrounded by a
low stone wall, and measuring 100ft. in diameter; from the centre point of the Relig to its
circumference at the north-west runs a low wall now much ruined. A cave is within the
precincts.
At 280yds, south-east of the Relig is a low hillock, called Knockan-na-g'corp, or the
Little Hill of the Corpses, whereon, it is stated, the bodies of the ancient kings were laid
while their graves were preparing. The Cairthe Dearg, or Red Pillar-stone, supposed to be
the monument of Dathi, the last pagan monarch of Ireland, stands about 180yds, north of
the Relig. It is a remarkably aged, weather-worn flag, of a dull red colour, and measures
6ft. in height above ground, 5ft. in breadth at the ground line, and 2ft, 8in, near the top.
These measurements are somewhat different from those given in Dr. O'Donovan's notice. I
am, however, certain of the correctness of mine, as I made a careful drawing of the monu-
ment, and took the dimensions with precision. When I saw this stone, it stood on a low
mound having in the centre a hollow, and there was a pool of water around it. Dr.
O'Donovan states, in a note to his edition of “Hy. Fiachrach,” that he saw it in 1837,
“when it was standing on the small mound already mentioned (Cnocan-na-g corp); but it
had since been thrown down by cattle, and is now lying prostrate” (p. 25). It has since
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 301
been erected, but apparently not on its original site, as at present it does not stand on
Cnocan-na-g corp. The only authority for this stone being the monument of Dathi, is a
passage from the Genealogical MS. of Duald Mac Firbis, and which is rendered by Dr.
O'Donovan as follows: [The body of Dathi was brought to Cruachan, where the kings of
the race of Heremon were for the most part interred, where, to this day, 1666, the Cairrthe-
dhearg, red pillar-stone, remains as a monument over his grave, near Rath Cruachan.]
(Hy. Fiachrach, p. 25.) Dr. O'Donovan does not consider this sufficient evidence as to the
authenticity of its appropriation. There are no marks, symbols, or characters whatsoever
on this stone. The other monuments at Cruachan are thus described by the above-named
writer:-
“Rath Screig, to the north, in the townland of Toberory; Cuirt Mhaol, near Rath
Sereig, in the same townland; Rath Carrain, a fort containing a cave, in the same townland;
Rathbeg, in the townland of Rathcroghan, lying to the north-west of the great central rath;
Rathmore, lying about five hundred paces to the north-west of Rathbeg : Knockaun-Stanley,
i.e. Stanley's Hillock, a fort lying a quarter of a mile to the north-west of Rathcroghan ;
Rath-na-dtarbh, i.e. Fort of the Bulls, due west of Rathcroghan ; Rath-na-n'dealgs, i.e.
Fort of the Thorns, which gives name to a townland, lies a short distance to the west of
Rath-na-d'tarbh; Rathfuadach lies to the south-west of Rathcroghan, in the parish of
Baslick, and gives name to the townland in which it is situated; Casiol Mhanannain, i.e.
Manannan's stone fort, lies to the south-west, about a quarter of a mile from Rathcroghan,
in the townland of Glenballythomas. This Casiolor circular cyclopean fort of stone is now
level with the ground, but its outline can yet be traced. . . . Cathair-na-Babhaloide,
the Caher or Stone Fort of the Feasting Party, lies about three-quarters of a mile to the
east of Rathcroghan ; it is a tumulus raised over the celebrated Ceat Mac Magach, a
Connacian champion who flourished in the first century, and was contemporary with the
heroes of the Red Branch in Ulster.” -
That Cruachan owed its importance to its great regal cemetery there can be no doubt,
its principal remains are decidedly of a sepulchral character; the great mound of Rath-
croghan has never been excavated, neither has the Relig-na-Riogh or the other mounds and
caves been explored. There is no doubt that the pre-historic remains of this locality have
been sadly destroyed and defaced, enough however remains to reward the judicious and
persevering investigator. The sepulchral character of this locality is attested in the following
extract from an ancient Irish poem, to be found in the Leabhar-na-h'Uidre, and quoted by
Dr. Petrie, in his well-known work, pp. 104-5 :—
“Fifty mounds, I certify,
Are at Oenach-na-Cruachna,”
On our visit to this remarkable locality, we ascertained from our guide the existence of a
cave of some reputation among the peasantry; on signifying our desire to examine it, we
were led to a spot about 300yds, north-west of the Relig-na-Riogh, where, on the site of a
nearly erased tumulus, we saw what appeared to us the entrance of one of those rath
chambers so plentiful in the south and west of Ireland. The mound appeared to have been
302 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. ſchAP. XIII.
between 50ft. and 60ft. in diameter; several stones were lying about, near the outward
circumference, I have no doubt, the remains of ruined Cists, one nearly perfect being still
standing at the western rim of the tumulus. Having procured lights, of a very indifferent
character, we entered the cave from the southern portal, which we found to be 5ft. 7in. in
length, 4ft. in width, its height from 3ft. Bin. to 3ft. 6in., the floor having been evidently
raised from the accumulation of earth falling in.
This passage or gallery is walled on each side with dry rubble masonry, and lintelled
across with slabs of stone forming the roof; running at right angles to this passage is a
transeptal gallery, constructed in a similar manner, and lying east and west.
On the right-hand side it is only 4ft. 9in. in length, as far as the mason work extends,
and 4ft. in width. To the left-hand side the gallery extends for a considerable distance, and
of the same construction, until we came to a stone stile placed right across the passage, and
leaving a small open of 1ſt. 9in. high between it and the roof; having got over this
impediment, we found the rest of the souterrain a natural cavern in the limestone rock;
on attempting to penetrate farther, our lights (only rush-lights) went out, owing to the
dampness of the air, and we were compelled to grope our way back in utter darkness. We
made another attempt to examine the interior cave, but failed from the same cause; I am
therefore indebted to Dr. Ferguson, Q.C., for a description of this portion of the souterrain.
“It consists of a natural fissure in the limestone rock, which appears to have been
artificially widened, so as to give an average breadth of 5ft. throughout a distance of about
40yds. This cavern, the floor of which is from 15ft. to 25ft, under the surface, is con-
nected with the upper chambers, in which the inscriptions exist, by a passage excavated in
the rock, and roofed over, as are the external chambers, by long stones.” (Pro. Roy. Ir.
Aca. v. ix. p. 162.) The short gallery facing the east I believe to have been the original
entrance to this souterrain, as it leads towards the eastern rim of the tumulus, and is not
far from it, while the passage facing the south, I am of opinion, must have been an inde-
pendent gallery, and not an entrance, as it faces towards the centre of the mound. I took
a careful ground-plan of the two entrances, and portion of the gallery, making measurements
of same.
Having completed our examination, we were leaving the cave, when happening to raise
my light, to take another look at the roofing stones, to my great astonishment and delight I
saw some Ogam scores on an angle of one of them; calling to my friend Mr. Windele, who
was already outside, he returned, and having satisfied himself that they were indeed,
veritable Ogams, his delight knew no bounds, and he immediately commenced an examination
of the stone, which was found to be inscribed on two of the lower angles. Mr. Windele
took as accurate a copy as he could under the circumstances of the inscription, but it was
necessarily an imperfect one, owing to the adjoining stones preventing a view of the scores
inscribed on the sides; these could only be copied by passing the fingers up the interstices
and ascertaining their values by touch, as also, the portions of the inscription that were con-
cealed, where the ends of the roofing-stone rested on the side walls; we were therefore
compelled to rest satisfied with an imperfect copy, but convinced ourselves thoroughly that
in this pre-historic spot we had discovered an unmistakeable Ogam inscription.
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 303
To Dr. Ferguson's interesting monograph I am therefore indebted for the copies of
inscriptions which illustrate this article. The learned Dr. visited Rathcroghan in Sept.,
1864, and made a careful examination of this cave; he was not aware of our discovery of
the inscription in 1852, so that he is entitled to the merit of a separate one, and also to
the distinction of having brought to light another Ogam-inscribed stone, which had escaped
our scrutiny. The souterrain and its inscriptions were made the subject of a carefully
compiled paper, read by him before the Roy. Ir. Ac., Nov. 4th, 1864, and published in their
proceedings.
No. 1. This formed the inside roofing-stone of the southern passage, where it joined
the transept; it is in length 4ft. Sin., in breadth at the centre 1.ft. 4 in., and from 4in. to 8in.
thick; at the eastern end it rests upon the rubble walling; at the western, upon an upright
pillar or impost, 1ſt. 7in. wide by 6in. thick. The following is the copy of the inscription
by Dr. Ferguson:—
LEFT :— III/4-#1111111 #
F. R. A. I C C I
RIGHT:- ++ll #####. h TIT-Hitt.
M A Q I M E DF F I
Dr. Ferguson's criticism upon the inscription is as follows:– “The presence of this well-
known combination of strokes and notches, reading Maqi, at the western end of the legend
on the inner edge of the Rathcroghan stone, taken in connection with the other indications
of that being the lower end of the stone, and with the generally observed rule that these
inscriptions read from bottom to top, and from left to right, leaves no reasonable doubt that
the remainder of that line contains the patronymic, and the line on the opposite side the
name of the person commemorated. Reverting to the opposite side, and reading it from
bottom to top, and from left to right, and according to the ordinary key, it presents a
combination of characters, of which R-CCI are free from doubt, and of which it is not
impossible that the three strokes occupying the place of the first blank represent F, and the
six notches occupying the place of the second blank stand for AI; in which case this part
of the legend would read Fraicci. The difficulty in respect to the first set of characters
arises from a fracture of the stone, which leaves it in doubt whether the third stroke crossed
the line of the edge. In that case, the reading would be OMR-CCI. The six notches
represented by the second blank may either be a double U, or may read E0, or OE, or in
any of the combinations of AU0. The name, whatever it be, seems to be in the genitive
form, and to imply some such expression as ‘the stone of before it.
“Leaving this portion of the inscription, and coming to the patronymic, it is certainly
startling to find it read, as it does in this collocation and sequence, without doubt or
difficulty,
M E D F F I,
that is, collating the several parts of the legend,
(The stone of) [Fraic] son of Medf.” Ibid. p. 168.
The above remarks of Dr. Ferguson on this inscription are on the whole well founded.
304 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
The name must certainly be looked for on the left-hand angle, as is usual on many examples
already cited in this work. That name is no doubt Fraice, in the genitive case. The three
short scores below the angle are remnants of an F, the upper portions of which have been
carried off by a spawl knocked off the angle, indeed a portion of the R following is also
injured. The third group of six vowel scores is most probably AI; inadvertence of the
engraver in separating the letters has given rise to some little difficulty, which, however,
disappears when we take into consideration the other letters of the name; indeed any com-
bination of the vowels would not make much alteration in the name, which owes its
character to the consonants mainly. On the opposite angle we have the well-known formula
Maqi, followed of course by the patronymic ; Dr Ferguson makes it to be Medfi, and
believes it to be an archaic form of Meave, the well-known Amazonian Queen of Connaught.
Meadhbh was the daughter of Eochaidh Feidhlioch, who ascended the throne of Ireland,
according to Keating, in A.M. 3940. She was a clever and accomplished princess; her first
husband was a territorial chief named Tinne, the son of Courach, who on his marriage was
advanced to the sovereignty of Connaught, over which he reigned for some years, but was
slain by Mac Ceacht at Tara. His queen remained a widow for ten years, ruling her
kingdom with great wisdom and vigour, when she married Oilioll More, the son of Rossa
Ruadh, a Leinster chief, by whom she had seven sons. Rossa was slain by Conal Cearmach,
the well-known champion and free-lance, who paid the penalty of this deed, having been
pursued and slain by the subjects of the murdered prince.
Meadhbh a second time became a widow, and a ruler over her kingdom ; during her
second widowhood occurred the famous war between Ulster and Connaught, occasioned by
the murder of the children of Uisneach by Connor Mac Nessa, and the defection of Feargus
Mac Roigh from that monarch through disgust at his perfidy. Though Meadhbh continued
a widow until her death, she took into her favour the above-named Feargus, by whom she
had three sons, Ciar, Corc, and Conmac, who were the progenitors of three leading families
in Ireland. As to the individual commemorated, we have no evidence of any person of that
name being a son of the Connaught Queen. Dr. Ferguson states that “some one intimately
connected with her family was called Fraech,” this he gives on the authority of an “ancient
historical tract, called the ‘Tain-bo-Flidisi, one of the introductory stories which constitute
the preface to the Tain-bo-Cuailgne.” Again, it is contrary to all ancient usage to name a
son after the mother; we have no example for it on any inscription, pre-historic or mediaeval,
that I am acquainted with, neither do I remember meeting with any case of it in our
historic or legendary literature; indeed, I greatly doubt that the name on the inner angle is
at all Meadhbh or Medf. We have no doubt the letters ME, we have then a group of
characters which Dr. Ferguson divides into two letters, D and F : now this group as will be
seen consists of two scores above the angle, and immediately under these, two scores below
the angle; neither those above or below touch the angle, and I have had some doubt as to
their being distinct characters... I have been disposed to consider them one group of scores
which originally crossed the line or angle, but was injured or defaced where it so crossed
the angle. To place one letter under another is contrary to Ogam usage, and of which we
have only one example, Maumonorig, Pl. XXI., and in the present instance unmeaning and
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 305
and unnecessary, as there was abundant room for placing the letter, whatever it might be,
in its proper sequence. I am therefore disposed to read this group as a damaged NG, a
letter found on several other monuments, and given in the Book of Ballymote Ogam tract
as represented by three scores across the line; this would make the patronymic “Mengſi,”
whether this may be a form of Medbh or not I am not competent to decide; it very probably
is. Had I met this stone in any other locality, and uninfluenced by any previous translation
of it, I should unhesitatingly read it,
“F R A I C C I M A Q I M E N G F I,” i.e.
(Stone of) F. R A I C C, T H E S ON OF M E N G F.
No. 2. Upon one of the roofing-stones of the eastern passage or entrance, Dr. Ferguson
discovered a few Ogam characters; they are cut in a very loose and scratchy manner, and are
much worn and defaced, being perfectly useless for any philological purpose:– -
Jill......+…+… Imr.../...Iſr
The above gives us no clue to the original intention of the engraver. Dr. Ferguson, how-
ever, has an elaborate criticism on it; he had adopted some loose scratches below the line,
and considers that with their assistance he can identify QRAGUISMU; I confess my inability
to identify any such combination of letters.
The early history of Rath Croghan is involved in the mists of fable and tradition;
numerous references to it, and its remains, are to be found in our ancient legendary literature.
Keating states that Eochaidh Feidhlioch, A.M. 3940, erected a royal palace at a place called
“Druim-na-ndruagh, now called Cruachain,” and that he presented it to his daughter
Meadhbh (Meave), and that it was also called Rath Eochaidh from its founder. From this it
would appear that it was a place of some importance before it became the seat of the
Connaught kings. Its more ancient name points significantly to a connection with archaic
religious rites; this fact, and its fame as the regal cemetery of the race of Heremon, may
have been the inducements to Eochaidh to choose it as a royal residence for his daughter.
Keating further states that Meave made a present of Rath Eochaidh to her mother, whose name
was Cruachan Crodhearg, from whom it took its present name of Rathcroghan, and quotes a
stanza from one of the ancient bards to that effect, in which its ancient name is given as Druim
Druagh, i.e. The Ridge or Eminence of a Druid. Cruachan is, however, mentioned in
connection with preceding events thus: “The Age of the World, 3519. At the end of these
three years Muimhne died at Cruachain.” (Ann. 4 Mas.) The same authority informs us
at A.M. 3842, “After Roitheachtaigh had been twenty-five years in the sovereignty of
Ireland, he fell by Sedna, son of Airtri, at Cruachain.” A.M. 3847, “After Sedna had been
five years in the sovereignty, he fell by Fiacha Finscothach and Muineamhon, son of Cas
Clothach, at Cruachain.” As to the subject of the principal inscription, Dr. Ferguson has
shown by a reference to the historical tale of the Tain-bo-Flidisi that Meadhbh had a son-in-
law named Fraech; we have, however, no evidence, that I am aware of, of her having a
son of that name, it is certainly a frequent one in our early annals, those of the Four
Masters supply us with the following:—Fraechan the prophet, slain A.M. 3790; Fraech, son
of Garchu, a king of Leinster, slain A.D. 476; also Fraechan, son of Teninsan, A.D. 555.
R. R.
306 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
If Dr. Ferguson be correct in ascribing this monument to a son of the great Connaught
Queen, and the evidence is strongly in his favour, it at once fixes the age of the Ogam as
many centuries antecedent to Christianity. He thus sums up his views: “But as regards the
lintel first described, the legend of The Son of Medf appears to stand plainly legible,
according to the ordinary key, and in the ordinary course of collocation; and taken in con-
nection with the place and its traditions, may afford a confirmation of the testimony of our
old books to the use of alphabetic writing in the Ogham character at a period before the
introduction of Christianity.” (Ibid. p. 169.) Whether this appropriation be correct or
not, there can be no question as to the pagan character of the monument.
The cave of Cruachan, where they are to be found, is celebrated in our most ancient
writings; one of the introductory tales to the Tain-bo-Cuailgne, and known as the Tain-bo-
Aingin, mentions it as being the treasure-house of Meadhbh and Ailill. Dr. O'Connor
mentions Cruachain under its ancient name of Drum Druid, famous, as he states, for its
“great cave and druidic rites.” (Diss. Hist. Ir. p. 178.) Dr. Ferguson quotes the following
passages from notes by Mr. W. M. Hennessy on this subject:-"In the list of celebrated
places preserved in a stave of the ‘Book of Leinster,' which is really a portion of the “Book
of Lecan,' the cave of Cruachan is described as one of the three caves of Ireland—the
other two being the cave of Howth, and the Derg Farna, now known as the cave of Dunmore,
near Kilkenny. This tract, from its language, appears to be of very high antiquity.” (Pro.
Roy. Ir. Aca. v. ix. p. 162.)
All the references we have respecting this place are of the pagan age, down to the
introduction of Christianity, when it is stated to have been abandoned as a residence by the
Kings of Connaught, yet used up as common building materials; in the construction of the
artificial entrances to this cave we find Ogam-inscribed stones, evidence, as Dr. Ferguson
himself admits, “that Ogham writing was certainly in use prior to the construction of the
Cave of Cruachan.” (Ibid. p. 169.)
KILLEEN CORMAC. (Pl. XL.)
This is an ancient cemetery, situated on the townland of Colbinstown, parish of Davids-
town, barony of East Narragh and Reban, and county of Kildare; the locality will be found
on Ord. Sh. No. 32, lying about three miles south-west of Dunlavin, between that and
Balitore, and close to the borders of Wicklow county.
In the month of Oct., 1860, the Rev. John Shearman, visiting this place, discovered two
Ogam inscribed pillar stones; these had been previously noticed standing in the cemetery,
but to this gentleman must be ascribed the credit of first identifying the Ogam inscriptions,
and of having introduced them to the notice of the learned. A paper descriptive of the .
locality and of the inscribed stones was read by Mr. Shearman before the Roy. Ir. Aca.,
May 22nd, 1864, and was subsequently published in “The Irish Ecclesiastical Journal” of
June, 1868; from the latter I take the following extracts:—
“This very interesting and very ancient cemetery lies in a valley of the most picturesque
character, traversed by the river Greise, separating in this spot Wicklow from Kildare. Its
surface is covered with many insulated mounds or eskars, still retaining their ancient names,
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 307
which, as they are connected with the history of the locality, will be here described. On the
left bank of the Greise is a long eskar, called Bullock-hill. On the opposite bank is
another of oval form, called, perhaps by contrast, Cnoc Bunnion. Beyond this is another
elevation, the highest of the group, on the top of which is a well preserved moat or rath of
large proportions; by its base runs a rivulet called the Scrughan, i.e. streamlet, which joins
the Greise in the vicinity. This rath is called Rathounbeg. Between this mound and Cnoc
Bunnion is an eskar of oval shape, measuring 230 paces in circumference, its major axis
lying nearly east and west; the summit of its western end, and where its elevation is
greatest, is fashioned into a rath or mound, the sides of which show the remains of three
terraces. The first on the ground line seems to have enclosed the whole eskar. The remains
of the second and third terraces are still to be traced around the moat on its western side.
The whole hill is now occupied by graves, and on the top of the moat there is a square
depression which was most probably the site of the ancient church. A great quantity of
large stones lie about, and plainly indicate the former existence of some structure of
primitive design and architecture. The terraces are now in a very ruinous state, but
sufficient indications remain to disclose their original design and mode of construction. On
the south-east the middle terrace is well preserved : it is supported by large flat stones set
against the bank they sustain, so that before these terraces were dilapidated, the entire
structure, crowned by a massive building, must have had an imposing appearance, which
may be realized from the immense stones, fragments of very rude and ancient crosses of
coarse granite, pillar stones of ponderous appearance and size, which were placed at intervals
around the lowest terrace, together with the remains of their Cyclopean walls—all give to
Killeen Cormac an appearance of antiquity which it is extremely difficult to describe.
It has been suggested that Killeen Cormac was in the pre-Christian period used as a
place of pagan sepulchre. Its very peculiar construction and the indications of a sepulchral
chamber within the moat, with passages to the terraces such as are to be found in similar
structures at New Grange on the Boyne, and in other localities, give an air of certainty to
the suggestion, which is well sustained by the appearance of a stone on the south side of
the mound about 3ft. high, fixed in the wall of the middle terrace. It seems to be one of the
jambs of a door to the entrance leading from the central cave. The side of this stone is
grooved, the opposite jamb was likely hollowed in the same manner to receive a thinner flag
to close the exterior entrance. Killeen Cormac has the reputation of being full of rats, as
well as of being the oldest cemetery in the whole country. These animals are up to this
time the only explorers of the subterranean galleries under the mound, since they were closed
up to preserve the remains of some pagan hero of the earliest dawn of history. The most
recent fact connected with this cemetery is, that about the year 1830 a stone wall was built
around its area, some trees were then planted which add a phase of beauty peculiarly their
own, while their shadows give a dim religious light in harmony with the venerable relics of
antiquity of which they are the guardians.
At the side of the mound, some paces from the entrance, is one pillar stone, now about
3ft. above the surface, on the top of which is an indentation resembling the trace of a hound's
paw, as if impressed on a soft surface. Excavations made around it did not reveal any
308 MISCELLANEOUS ogAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
features worth describing. A very curious legend, founded indeed on historical facts, is told
concerning this stone, with a view, perhaps, to account for the name Cormac being affixed to
the locality. The tradition of the neighbourhood says that the pillar stone marks the grave
of a Cormac, king of Munster. It states that he was carried to this cemetery for sepulture
by a team of bullocks, which were allowed to follow their own instincts, a mode of settling
disputes regarding sepulture not uncommon among the ancient Irish. Such was employed
in selecting the final resting-place of St. Patrick. We find it also in the life of St. Abban
Mac Ua Cormaie, which may have been suggested by the Scriptural precedent of sending
home the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines to Judae. This tradition, though unable
to state the period or circumstances of King Cormac's death, avers that he was carried from
a long distance through Ballynure, from Timolin, in the county Kildare, and when the team
reached that part of Ballymore now known as “the Doon,” the exhausted bullocks, in the
eagerness of their thirst, pawed the earth, and that a stream of water issued forth. Another
version states that the teamster stuck his goad into the ground, whereupon gushed up a
bubbling fountain, which is still to be found near the roadside, and is used as a watering-
place for the kine pasturing on the fertile heights at the Doon of Ballynure. The bullocks
having satisfied their thirst, journeyed on till they came to the elevation now called Bullock
Hill, beside the Griese, opposite to Killeen Cormac. Here they halted, and refused to pro-
ceed farther, from which it appeared that Killeen was to be the last resting place of the king.
The bullocks having done their part, returned homewards across the marsh, and were
engulphed in the waters of the Griese. In this instance also this legend agrees with the
account related by Colgan in the Life of St. Abban.” Another version of this legend, but
more confused, places a hound on the team, which, when it stopped at Bullock Hill, jumped
over to the cemetery, and left the impression of its paw on the pillar stone, thus marking the
grave of Cormac ; while another story represents this hound as jumping from the summit of
Knockadhow, still more remote from the cemetery.”
I visited Killeen Cormac November 2nd, 1870. Leaving Dublin by the nine o'clock
morning train, I stopped at Kildare, and taking a car from thence, drove to Killeen Cormac ;
passing through the village of Narraghmore, I turned to the left, taking the road to Dunlavin,
which I followed for a mile and a half, when I came within sight of the object of my journey,
occupying the centre of a field on the right-hand side of the road; the entire distance from
Kildare being ten miles. An iron gate gives entrance to the field, from which the Killeen is
distant about 150yds. It is surrounded by a low wall and a belt of young trees; another
iron gate gives ingress to the precincts. I found this monument to be a true Killeen, or
Keel, of the Ballintaggart and Ballinrannig type; it is a low, irregularly-shaped oval mound,
about 70ft. by 55ft., the longer axis lying east and west; its greatest height above the level
of the surrounding field is about 18ft.
There are considerable remains of a cyclopean wall, which appears at one period to have
surrounded the base of the mound, or at least a circumvallation of huge stones of irregular
shapes rudely piled ; these great blocks and flags crop up out of the surface all round; there
are no appearances of tool marks on them, and they are not of such a class as could have
been used in the construction of any regular building. In truth, though Mr. Shearman
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. - 309
seems to think otherwise, there is at present no evidence of there ever having been a church
on this site; the confined and irregular space on the top would be singularly unfavourable
for that purpose—there are no squared stones, no trace of a wall or foundation, no pieces of
mouldings, mullions, or carvings, neither any of those certain indications which we so con-
stantly find when all traces of the original walls have disappeared. An artificial mound
would be a very unsafe site for a church: the old Gaedhelic builders were very careful about
their foundations. If Mr. Shearman's surmise be correct, that there are chambers in the
tumulus as at New Grange and other places, the mound would be a still more unsafe site. I
have seen a great number of ancient churches of all dates through Ireland, but never met
with one built on an artificial tumulus like that at Killeen Cormac. If ever there was a
church in this locality, and it is quite possible that such may have been the case, it must
have been erected somewhere at the foot of the Keel, which at the same time was consecrated,
and probably a cross set up to encourage its use as a Christian cemetery. It is quite evident
that it has been so used, as traces of many modern interments, and grave-stones, are to be
found there.
This monument has a very venerable aspect; the great rough stones at its base, amongst
which are the prostrate Ogam-inscribed pillars, numerous uninscribed dallans cropping out
frem the surface all over the mound, and other objects of the past, invest this ancient
cemetery with deep interest for the antiquary.
The most remarkable remains in the Killeen are two inscribed monoliths, one of them
bearing, in addition to the Ogam, a remarkable legend in Roman capitals; the other
presenting us with a name already familiar to the students of Ogam literature. They lie
contiguous to each other, just inside the entrance gate.
No. 1. This is a rough, undressed pillar of hard compact greenstone, 6ft. 4in. in length,
12in, by 11 in. at bottom, and 11 in. by 10in. at top. The inscription is, as usual, on the
left-hand angle of one of the broader faces, commencing at 2ft. Ain. from the lower end,
running across the front angle of the head and down the opposite angle of the same face.
The arris upon which the characters are cut is very rough and irregular, particularly towards
the top, where there is a large flake off; this, however, must have been an original injury, as
the inscription follows the present course of the angle. The characters were originally broadly
and deeply cut, the scores being of unusual length; they have an appearance of long
weather-wear, but, with a few exceptions, are quite legible.
In the woodcut of this monument published by Mr. Shearman, in the “Proceedings of
the Royal Irish Academy,” vol. ix. p. 255, he omits an important letter, F, but in
reproducing the cut, to illustrate the second part of his paper in the October Number of
Jour. Kil. Arch. Assoc. for 1873, he makes a verbal correction of the omission. It is
accompanied by a very elaborate criticism on the inscription, which he reads as follows:–
D U FT A N O S A. F. E. I. S. A. H. A. T TO S
He then proceeds to identify DuFTAN, and conceives that he is the celebrated Dubtach Mac
Ua Lugair. He then endeavours to show that Dubtach was identified with this locality,
and that this stone was the monument of himself and his three sons. Now, I am obliged to
310 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
assert that there is no such name on the stone, or one having the remotest resemblance to
it; this inscription is indeed a remarkable instance of how our judgments are influenced by
foregone conclusions or cherished theories. Before I explain the manner in which Mr.
Shearman finds DUFTANo on this stone, I would place before my readers an exact copy of the
inscription, (Pl. XL.) taken from the original, compared on the spot with copies made by Mr.
Shearman, and with one taken from the cast, and, at leisure, compared with an accurate
rubbing. -
+ m + m1 +TIT-Trºtt
U E A N O S A. F. E. I
Tim H+1+!!!...+III
S A HA. T T O S
The above corresponds with the legend on Mr. Shearman's woodcut, with the exception
of the F before alluded to, and a couple of other points I shall presently advert to. On the
left of the actually first letter of the inscription, U, will be seen a slanting score, in length
4%in. ; it is cut very deep, sharp, and clean-looking, the section of the cut being an acute
angle; at the distance of 2%in. from it, over the middle notch of the U, is also a slight mark,
2}in. long; this mark is so slight and almost imperceptible on the stone, that nine out of
ten would never notice it, looking, as it does, a mere natural vein or fray in the stone. I
would notice that this mark is shown on Mr. Shearman's woodcut more strongly defined
than it shows on the original stone. Now, these are the marks which that gentleman reads
D. This letter is expressed by two scores at the left of the angle, or above the line, and
vertical to it, as will be seen by reference to his woodcut of the Decceda stone (vol. ii. 4th
series, p. 545), where the scores are carefully formed and closely and accurately spaced.
Can it be credited that the first letter of the name of the renowned and revered Dubtach,
the first convert of St. Patrick, the brehon and bard, would have been formed in such a
straggling, careless manner 2 If these marks were cut at the same time, would they not
present the same appearance and condition, whereas one is sharp and clean as if executed
yesterday, and the other is a worn, scarcely discernible fray ? Again, why should the
engraver of this inscription cut a letter-mark over another, when he had plenty of space on
the angle to place it in its proper position ? And why should he space them near 24 in.
asunder, when he spaced all his other consonant scores from 3 to 1 inch 2. As I before
stated, all the characters are weather-worn, some of them having but a shallow trace of the
original indentation, yet retaining the broad tool-mark, and showing either a curved or
square section. The first score of the supposed D, on the contrary, is suspiciously fresh and
angular, and must be of recent formation. No experienced Ogamist would for a moment
look upon these scores as forming any letter, or as having any relation whatever to the
inscription.
I now come to deal with a very singular feature in this investigation. The letter T
being requisite to bring out the form DUFTANo, supposed by Mr. Shearman to express
Dubtach, he has adopted three minute scores or cuts, above one of the scores of the letter
F, as an original letter of the legend.
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IBELAND. 311
That it is not such is apparent from the following considerations. First, as I have
already stated, all the characters of this inscription are broadly and boldly expressed, some
of the consonants are in length 5 in, and in breadth near half an inch ; even these, as well
as the broad, deep-sunk vowels, are much defaced and weather-worn, requiring in some
instances careful examination; can it therefore be credited that these three minute cuts
which occupy a space of but seven-eighths of an inch in breadth, each of which is barely
three-fourths of an inch in length, and not an eighth of an inch broad, could have survived
the weather-wear of at least fourteen centuries. In the second place, these minute cuts have
a most suspicious appearance, looking quite sharp and fresh, as if rubbed in with the back of
a penknife or some such instrument. In the third place, why should this pretended letter
have been placed over another when there was ample room on the stone to place it in its
proper proportion and position ? It may be said that the letter was forgotten by the artist;
if so, and that he chose to express it, he would have placed it in its proper place after F, and
would have made the scores of a size suitable to the rest of the legend; want of space could
not plead an excuse, as there is full three inches between the angle and the bottom of the
Roman letters.
In order to show the exact proportions and positions of the pretended D and T, I give
(see Pl. XL.) an exact drawing of that portion of the legend read by Mr. Shearman as
DUFTANo, with the size and position of four of the Roman letters. This drawing has been
most conscientiously reduced from a careful rubbing of the original. A and B are the marks
supposed to form D. The first, A, is the sharp fresh-looking cut already alluded to ; B is the
faint mark, and which I really could not properly express in a drawing. I have shown it
more defined than it actually is. C marks the three minute cuts supposed to represent T.
There can be no question but that A must have been recently formed, probably by some of the
peasantry whetting some steel or iron instrument on the stone—a common practice. I have
met numbers of these whet-marks on stones in various localities. As to C, it was certainly
placed there with design, and that at some period comparatively recent, probably by some
local “Seanchuidhe.” I have met four or five instances of such tampering with Ogam
legends. Formerly an intelligent class of the peasantry were well acquainted with the Ogam
alphabet. Not long since a farmer in the County of Cork was summoned for having his
name on his cart in an unknown language, he had cut his name and residence in Ogam on
the shaft. Some such Seanchuidhe must have been amusing himself with the Druid's stone,
thereby giving the Rev. J. F. Shearman a vast amount of unnecessary labour and research,
yet not useless, as his papers are of very great value and interest.
I shall now proceed to describe this inscription. As I have before remarked, the angle
of the stone is very irregular, there is a large flake off the top and bottom, not properly
shown in the woodcut. The characters appear to have been broadly and deeply cut, and of
unusual length, on the left angle; they are now much weather-worn. The first dot of the
U is faint but determinable, the second, F group, is strongly defined, as also the Afollowing; the
last two scores of the N are much worn but still legible; the fifth is determinable; the sixth
and seventh, though much worn, are also determinable; the F is barely traceable, as the
angle from this to the top is much injured and weather-worn, and the vowels faint and
312 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. ſcHAP. XIII.
widely separated. Letters 11, 12, 13, and 14, on the front top angle are much weather-
worn, but legible; 15, 16, 17, and 18, which complete the inscription on the right-hand
angle, are quite distinct.
Dr. Whitley Stokes has contributed an elaborate criticism on this inscription to a German
archaeological publication, the “Beiträge,” in 1865; but unfortunately it was founded upon
a defective copy; exclusive of the spurious D and T, the F was omitted in SAFEI, and an N
was substituted in the Roman legend for the R in VERE. It would not, therefore, be doing
that gentleman justice to quote his criticism in extenso. Yet, even with the assistance of the
spurious letters, he does not positively assert that Duftanos and Dubhtach are identieal, but
that “Duftano is a genitive singular, nominative Duftanos, which in its root may be con-
nected with Dubhtach” (“Jour. of the Roy. Hist, and Arch. Assoc. of Ireland,” v. ii. 4th
series, p. 550); the italics are mine. Dr. Stokes's interpretation of the Ogam inscription
[Lapis sepulcralis] Dubotanis Sophi Sapientis–is but partially adopted by Mr. Shearman,
as we find by the following passage:—“Dr. Ferguson suggests that the H H of the sah ATTos
may be an antithetical B B, equivalent to Sabattos-Sabattum, which would make Sapattos or
Sabattos a nominative singular dependent on Duftano Safei; in this case the inscription
should be read, ‘the repose or resting-place of Duftan the sage.’ This is apparently a
more reasonable interpretation, and is also more descriptive of the purpose for which the
memorial stone was erected.” (Ibid. p. 551.)
I would here again repeat what I have stated elsewhere, namely, that these inscriptions are
not cryptic, they are the simple memorials of a people who engraved them on eternal stone,
in the common language of the country; intended to be read and understood by all who
looked on them. Our failure up to the present to translate a class of them, few in number,
not more than a dozen, results from our ignorance of the archaic forms in which they are
written, the absence of the usual key-word maqi, and the obliteration of characters.
The legend under consideration is one which has exercised the ingenuity of the epigraph-
ist; yet, when we reject the spurious marks, and consider the inscription as originally
engraved, and in connexion with the Roman legend, I think we have some solid ground to
work on. Several interpretations of the Ivvº.RE DRUIDEs have been suggested to me, many
of them being constrained and far-fetched; one, by my friend Dr. Caulfield, F.S.A.,
QUATUoR VERE DRUIDEs—has such an apparent agreement with the Ogam legend, and is in
itself so plain and natural, that I have been led to consider them in connection with each
other. I think we may fairly assume that the copy of the Ogam inscription I have given
above contains all the legitimate characters of the original legend, which I propose to read
as follows:–
U F A N O S A. F. E. I. S. A. H. A. T TO S.
I apprehend that we have here the “Four True Druids” of the Roman legend. Ufan I
equate with the Upan or Uppan of our martyrologies (see “Mart. Don.”). There being no
P in the old Gaedhelic, B soft and sometimes F were used to represent that sound. Dr.
Sullivan, President of the Queen's College, Cork, and an eminent Gaedhelic linguist, in some
notes on this legend, kindly communicated to me, remarks —“I am unable to agree with
your idea of equating this with Uppan. The latter is, however, very interesting in connection
cHA2. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 313
with the numerous Gaulish and British inscriptions in which the root opp occurs, e.g.
Oppianicnos, i.e. the tribe Oppiani (“Steineo, 1024); Oppalo (‘Gruter, 780-5); Aponus
(‘ Orelli,' 1643, 1644, 2620, &c.). There is an adjective form found on several Gaulish and
other inscriptions which certainly suggests a relationship with your Ufano, namely, Aufanis;
it is usually employed as a term applied to the mother gods. De Wal gives matrones
aufanis (cxxviii.-cxxx. cxxxii. cxcix.) Aufanis is here the adjectival form of the name of
some place, probably in Belgic Gaul.”
I would here remark that Dr. Stokes considers the terminal syllable of the first name in
this legend to be os, the s being lost before the following s in Safei.
Whether I am right in equating Ufan with Uppan or otherwise, Dr. Sullivan's illustrations
of both forms are valuable and suggestive.
Safei. This is an old form of Saoi, a sage, a man of letters; Greek, Sophos, Latin,
Sapiens. It is here used as a proper name, a custom usual among the Gaedhil; thus we
have Mac-an-Bhaird, Mac-an-Brehon, Mac-an-t Sair, Mac-àn-Ghobhann, &c. (“Annals Four
Masters"). These professional names have all come down to our day in the forms of Baird
and Ward, Brehon, Sears and Sayers. In the English language, names of a similar type
have become common names, as King, Noble, Judge, Chancellor, Sage, Wiseman, &c.
Its use as a personal name in this legend is corroborated by an identical Gaulish form
given in Orelli's “Inscriptionum Latinarum Selectarum,” Nos. 30, 31, namely, Safveia.
Sah. This name is of a similar type to the above; it must stand alone as a proper name,
for the letters which precede it and those which follow form combinations perfect in them-
selves. We must be prepared to meet with unusual and curious types in archaic ages, thus
we have such forms as Cu, Un, Ir, Ni, De (see “Annals of the Four Masters,” and Keating's
“History of Ireland"). A name identical with Sah we find in Sigh, one of the Dalcassian
race of Thomond, and who was the father of Nos, from whom Clonmacnoise has been
named (O'Curry’s “Lectures,” v. ii. p. 221).
Attos. A genitive singular of Att. This identical name has been found in an Ogam
inscription discovered in a Keel in the townland of Knockrour, Co. Cork, p. 133. The
legend reads as follows:–
M UD D O S S A M A Q Q A A T.
We find the same name also on an Ogam-inscribed stone discovered on the lands of Tullig,
Co. Cork, p. 130. It bears a legend on each angle of the same face, one of which is very
curious from the type of the names, as follows:–0T MAQI HE. This legend is quite perfect.
A similar form is also to be found in an inscription on a stone discovered in the townland of
Deelish, Co. Cork, p. 122, and which also is inscribed on two angles, one of which bears the
following:—oT MAQI MAQI RITE. It is quite evident that these two last examples are
identical with the Att on the Killeen Cormac example, as the old Gaedhil constantly
commuted the vowels.
The form Att has been found on several British coins (Poste’s “Celtic Inscriptions,” &c.
p. 45). Gaulish forms Attinati and Attinius (Orelli, 6496, 1986). In “Lanzi” (edit.
Roma, 1789), we find far older illustrations of this archaic name; the following are taken
from his collection of Etruscan inscriptions: Att, v. ii. p. 434, Atti, ib. p. 352, Attius, ib.
S S
814 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
p. 412. Dr. Sullivan considers the identification of this form on the Killeen-Cormac
stone as of considerable interest; in a letter to me he remarks : —“Atto frequently occurs,
and also the form Attonius. Attos would be a true genitive of Atto of the Gaulish inscrip-
tions. This certainly looks as if you had here some solid ground.” We find this name in the
“Annals of the Four Masters” at A.D. 889-891, in the form of Ateidh, pronounced Atei;
he was the son of Laighne, and appears to have been a very warlike personage.
The inscription in Roman capitals is in fair preservation; the letters are from 4% to 5
inches high, and appear to have been originally well cut, both broad and deep ; but the weather-
wear of ages has worn down the surface of the stone, though we can still trace the letters;
one only is injured, the R in vFRE. I think that there are no grounds for asserting that the
legends were cut at different periods; certainly there is nothing in their present appearance
that would justify it. The mode of forming the characters appears to be the same, and they
have the same appearance of age and weather-wear. This monument was evidently erected
in the pagan age; the absence of any sacred emblem or of any word of Christian hope or
trust—no Oroit, Bendacht—no pious formula such as we find on the earliest of our Christian
memorials—all evidence to its pagan character.
It is a monument to four members of the Druidic order, probably priests, whose names
are given in the Ogam legend, whose profession, that of “True” or “Just Druids” is
given in the Roman letters. The rendering I have offered is plain, simple, and unconstrained ;
taking the characters in their natural sequence, I have not altered, transposed, added, or
deducted a single score; neither have I imagined or supposed the existence of characters in
order to help out a reading. The custom of inscribing a number of names on one monument
is not peculiar to Ireland. On the pillar-stone of Eliseg, we find the following names
inscribed :-Concenn, Cattel, Brochmael, Conmarch, Eliseg, Guoillauc, all names of a
purely Gaedhelic type (“Archaeol. Cambren,” vol. i., p. 32). Dr. Sullivan reminds me of
a monument in Forfarshire, Scotland, inscribed, Drosten, Ipe, Uoret, Elt, Forcus.
The Rev. J. Shearman's opinion respecting this stone is, that it was erected as a
memorial to Dubhtach Mac Ua Lugair and his three sons, who are the “Four True Druids.”
of the Latin legend, for so Mr. Shearman also reads it. He gives the names of the three sons
as “Moninde and Lonan and Molaisi; " taken from a tract called the Neamhshencus, which
is to be found in Duald Mac Firbis's great genealogical work. I have, however, shown, I
think clearly, that the name of Dubhtach is not to be found on the stone in any form, and
certainly neither that of any of his sons. Mr. Shearman quotes a passage from the above-
named authority to show that Dubhtach and his three sons were buried at the “Dinlatha of
Cenoil Lugair,” which he renders the Marshes of Cinel Lugair, and which he assumes to be
Killeen-Cormac, but without a shadow of evidence (“Journal, &c.," Vol. II., pp. 552-4).
The history of Dubhtach Mac Ua Lugair is very obscure. He is presented to us as the
chief druid and poet of Laoghaire, the monarch of Ireland, and as having shown an act of
courtesy to St. Patrick when he visited the court of the pagan king. It appears that he
became a convert to Christianity, and it is stated, but on doubtful authority, that he was one
of the committee of nine appointed to revise the Brehon Laws. A sacred poem, preserved
CHAP. XIII | MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 315
in the Felire Aenguis, is ascribed to him; also three poems recording the battles and
victories of Enna Censelach and his son Crimthan, which are preserved in the Book of
Leinster (see O'Reilly’s “Irish Writers,” and O’Curry’s “Lectures on the Man. Mat. of Ir.
Hist.”). Dubhtach does not appear to have ever taken orders; his name is not to be found
in any of our hagiologies, which is very singular, as that distinction was extensively bestowed
in the early Irish Church. As shown by Mr. Shearman, he transferred his services to
Crimthan, king of Hy Censelach, on the death of Laoghaire, who gave him a patrimony in
the Co. Wexford, on the sea coast, near the present town of Gorey, where he is supposed to
have ended his days. I doubt the story of his four sons, as quoted by Mr. Shearman from
the Neamhsheneus; it smacks of a mediaeval invention. That gentleman states that three
of them—Moninde, Lonan, and Molaisi, were ecclesiastics and saints, and that the fourth,
Treni or Trian, was a layman. Dubhtach, and the three first named, Mr. Shearman believes
to be the “Four True Druids’’ of the monument. I wonder it did not strike him that the
term druid was a very unlikely one to place on the memorial stone of Christian converts,
without any allusion whatsoever to the faith they had embraced, taught, and died in; without
any symbol of that faith carved on their gravestones, without any word of sacred hope or
trust, nothing but the dry, hopeless formula of the pagan inscriptions around them ; it is
impossible that it could have been so, and incredible to believe, that at so early an age of
Christian life in Ireland, when paganism was powerful around them, that Christian converts
would neglect to mark the gravestones of their deceased brethren by some distinguishing
symbol of their faith. Above all they would not have named them by a term with which
was associated all that was anti-Christian, occult, unholy, satanic. Dr. O'Curry, in his
work on the “Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish,” has a chapter on Druids and
Druidism, in which he shows that they were a very important body in Erin; that they were
magicians, diviners, and deeply versed in the occult arts. This is quite evident in all the
accounts we have of St. Patrick's mission; we find that they were his bitterest opponents,
plotting his death on several occasions; in his celebrated invocation he prays to be delivered
from the enchantments of “Smiths and Druids.” So determined was our saint against
them that he destroyed numbers of their books, as we have it stated by Roderic O'Flaherty
in his “Ogygia.” It is therefore by no means likely, as I have before stated, that such a
term should have been used to record the memories of four remarkable converts to the faith
of Christ. In dealing with the inscription under consideration I would wish to remark, that
I have no theory to advance in connexion with it. Mr. Shearman and I agree as to the
pagan origin of the Killeen and its subsequent appropriation as a Christian cemetery. I
should be glad to identify the locality as the site of the lost Palladian church of Cill-Fine,
but I cannot do so on the evidence brought forward in the “Loca Patriciana.” It would
afford me very great pleasure indeed to be able to identify in the bilingual pillar stone at
Killeen-Cormac the veritable monument of Dubhtach Mac Ua Lugair, as it would establish
beyond doubt the pagan origin and use of the Ogam character. I cannot, however, find his
name, or any combination of letters approaching his name, in the legend. The Latin
inscription has evidently a reference to the Ogam, and it is but natural that we should look
for the names of the “Four True Druids” in it. I submit that I have shown, and that
316 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
without any interference with the integrity of the legend, that those four names are easily
and clearly to be read in it.
No. 2. The second inscribed stone is scarcely of less interest; it also lay on the
ground at the base of the Killeen, a few yards from the last described. Its length is 4ft.
9in., dimensions towards the bottom 15in. by 9in., at the top 13in. by 6in. The inscription
commences at 2ft. 13 in. from the lower end as usual, on the left-hand angle, runs across the
head and down the right-hand angle of the same face; it is boldly cut, the consonantal
scores are long, and, with one or two exceptions, the characters are quite distinct and legible
as follows:–
#lllllahitill Hºllllllll-HH-14-ft-lillºrſ/+m
M A Q I DD E C - C E D A MA Q I M A R I N
The twelfth character, A, is scarcely traceable, the two last dots of the sixteenth are missing,
owing to an injury to the angle; all the rest are in good condition, and the reading is
obvious :—
(Stone of) T H E S ON OF D DE C C E D S ON OF M A R IN.
In this inscription, we have a name of considerable interest to the Ogam student, as
well as to the historian–Dáecced, which appears in several other inscriptions, exhibiting
the same or nearly similar forms, which peculiarity distinguishes it from the great majority
of names found on Ogam-inscribed stones. In this legend we have again a name found in
inscriptions at Gortnagullanagh, p. 181, Ballintaggart, p. 203, Ballycrovane, p. 128, and
Dunbel, p. 285; and always in the same form, Maqi being prefixed. I have shown at p. 182,
that it is an archaic form of an ancient name which became a tribe-name in Munster, that of
Degad or Degaid, the ancestor of the celebrated Degadi or Clanna-Degaidh. The progress
of this tribe from the remote shores of Dingle, where the first of the name probably landed,
through the county of Cork into Kilkenny, and from thence to the western borders of
Wicklow, has already been traced by their Ogam-inscribed monuments. They must have
been a remarkable race, for the pillar stone of the Mac Deccedd, at Ballycrovane, Pl. VII.,
is no less than 17ft. 6in. high above ground; but more than that, we find the name on what
is reputed to be a Romano-British monument, in the island of Anglesea, as I have already
shown at p. 182; while their presence on the coast of Wicklow is indicated by its ancient
topography, as we find that the estuary of the Wartry river was anciently called Inbher Dea
or Deghaid, properly Degaid. This is shown by the Rev. John F. Shearman, in a note to
one of his valuable papers on the “Palladian Churches,” published in the Jour. Roy. Hist.
and Arch. Assoc. Ir., v. 1872-3, p. 487, as follows:– -
“Inbher Dea. The estuary of the river Wartry at Wicklow was so called. Keating
writes Inbher Degaid, which is the more correct form of the name. Colgan, “Trias
Thaumaturg,” p. 109, note 28, says that it derives from a dynast called Degaid, who was
drowned there. He had this fact from some ancient authority. A tribe descended of Cormac
Caech, called the Ui Deagha Beg, were located about Rathdrum, in the Co. Wicklow (Mc
Firbis, p. 213, Drogheda copy). These Hy Deagha descend from Daig beg”, son of
Labraid”, son of Iomcadh”, son of Brolach”, &c., of the Dal Cormac. There is a tradition
that St. Patrick landed at Arklow, another makes him land at Glas Gorman, south of
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 317
Arklow. A tribe, called also the Ui Deagha (Uor), was located south of Glas Gorman river,
which separated them from the Ui Eneglais. This tribe belonged to the Fotharts of
Leinster (Book of Lecan and Book of Rights, p. 196); and they are to be distinguished from
the Ui Deagha Beg, situated between Rathdrum and Wicklow. The Ui Deagha (Uor)
occupied the north-east corner of the diocese of Ferns. The deanery of Odea in that
locality has its name from this tribe; to the similarity of the names may perhaps be traced
the Arklow legend of St. Patricklanding there.” The shores of Wicklow, and about Inbher
Degaid, probably witnessed the departure of many a band of hardy Milesian warriors for the
opposite shores of Anglesea, where they for a lengthened period maintained their dominion,
according to Welsh authorities; and doubtless in the desperate final battle, fought near
Holyhead, between Caswallon the Cambrian chief and Serigi Gwyddel, and which appears to
have ended the Gaedhelic dominion in North Wales, there fell many of the warlike tribe of
the Degadi; one at all events of the name left his bones on the soil of Anglesea, as his
rude memorial stone still lies in the quaint old cemetery at Penrhos Lugwy.
Marin: this name is of the same type as Martan, Marcan, Marvan, &c. (Ann. 4 Mas.)
We find the form Marini in Orelli, No. 5064, and also as a potter's mark on red Samian
ware. (Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 458.)
No. 3. At the southern side of the tumulus stands a fine pillar stone, with a few
irregular scores on one of its angles; they could never have belonged to any regular inscrip-
tion, yet Mr. Shearman thinks they may render “Duſtos, by reading the digits representing
D once, the others twice, and commuting the F to T by inversion.” (Ibid. pp. 544-5.)
By this process he arrives at Doſtos. He further remarks:–“ This reading is an arbitrary
one, and is only noticed, as it gives a form of the name Dubhtach.” (Ibid. p. 545.) I can
only say that I do not agree with this process.
No. 4. Inside the entrance, to the right, is another monument having the outline of a
bust incised on one of its faces, near the top ; it is of so exceedingly rude a type as to give
no grounds for determining its age; it may be of a very early or of a very late date (see the
illustration to Mr. Shearman's Paper, Ibid. p. 546). There is a flake off the lower end. Mr.
Shearman states that, on the inner edge of this laminated surface, Dr. Ferguson discovered
an Ogam inscription in minuscules, which reads:—
++++/
- M A G. I. ST
(Ibid. p. 546). I have never met with minuscule Ogam letters, and did not detect any such
on this stone when I examined it. There are a few marks on the lower end of the stone,
but they are not Ogam characters.
Ogam legends are almost without an exception boldly and broadly cut, and on the most
conspicuous angle of the stone; yet we find numbers of them worn down so as to be nearly
defaced ; how, then, could these minute cuts, named by Dr. Ferguson minuscule Ogams,
have escaped the weathering of centuries.
The inscribed monuments at Killeen Cormac are of exceeding interest. Firstly, as
having been found in a part of our island hitherto supposed to have been destitute of this
318 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
class of our national antiquities; outside of the counties of Kerry, Cork, Waterford, and
Kilkenny, there are only seven localities in all the rest of Ireland where the Ogam has been
found. Secondly, as having been found in situ in what was evidently a pagan cemetery
of the pre-historic period; no person accustomed to examining the grave-mounds so
plentiful in Cork, Kerry, and Waterford, but would at once pronounce this to be of a similar
type; its adoption at some remote period as a Christian burial-place led to its preservation,
and that of the valuable memorials it contains. It is probable, from the form and dimensions
of the mound, that it covers one or more sepulchral chambers; its examination would be
very desirable could it be accomplished without disturbing the remains of the modern inter-
ments; from the ends of stones protruding in many places, it is also probable that other
inscribed memorials might be discovered. Thirdly, as presenting us with the only Irish
example of an Ogam-inscribed stone bearing also an inscription in Roman letters, probably
of the same date. And here I would remark, that the Druids were a proscribed and a
hated race, first by the Roman conquerors of Britain, and subsequently by the Christian
converts; it is therefore exceedingly unlikely that their detested name should have been
connected in any way with a true believer. On our most ancient Christian monuments we
find eps and presb, but never druid.
BREASTAGH.
This stone was discovered by Dr. Samuel Ferguson, on the townland of Breastagh, parish
of Templemurry, barony of Tyrawly, Co. Mayo, Ord. Sh. No. 15. It is a fine monolith,
standing 12ft. above ground, and 2ft. 4 in. by 2ft. Bin. in thickness. The material is a
silicious limestone. The inscription runs on two angles of the eastern face, as the stone
originally stood. That on the north occupies a length of 11ft., and is fairly legible with the
exception of a space towards the end, where the characters are worn and some missing. Dr.
Ferguson's copy is as follows:–
++1144.4%iſ/#/+lllll-Z/mm H-. Ill
M A Q C O B R B R 1 M A Q A G L L U N T R A D
That on the other arris occupies at present a space of 6ft. 6in. in length; the characters
are much worn and difficult to make out, some of them probably lost both at the end and at
the beginning. Dr. Ferguson gives the following as at present determinable:—
m* . . . -H+ T +/+millill
S D (I) L E NG U S C
Left unfinished attached to the page was the following note:–
Corca Laidhe -“Daire Sorchreaentach was the 19th in descent from Lughaidh son of Ith.
Daire had six sons, one of whom, Lughaidh Cal, was the progenitor of the races of the
Calraighe (pp. 25 and 57). Lughaidh had also six sons, one of whom was Aenghus ; he had
two sons, Eochaidh and Amalghaidh; from the latter the chiefs of the Calraighe are descended”
(p. 29). The above will account for the Breastagh Ogam being found in
Tirawley. The letters in small type in the inscription were marked in lead pencil. As the
greater number of the Ogam monuments are found in the counties Cork and Kerry, where
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 319
the race of Lughaidh son of Ith was very powerful in the 1st century, Mr. Brash evidently
attributes the presence of this Ogam in N. Connaught to a branch of that family.—G.M.A.
THE CONYNGHAM PATERA (Pl. XLI.).
In the 5th Vol. of Val. Col. pp. 90, 91, is a description of an interesting antique, a gold
double-cupped patera of which there are some fine examples in the Mus. Roy. Ir. Ac.
According to Wallancey it had been found in the Co. Mayo, and was then in the possession
of Mr. Burton Conyngham, and was about the weight of six guineas. On the outside of one
cup is an inscription in Ogam, of five letters; on the outside of the other are four characters
of a curious type, which Wallancey believed to be “Phoenician, or Estrangelo,” and gives
examples from Chaldean and Phoenician alphabets that certainly correspond with those on
the patera; to these I shall not further advert, my present business being with the Ogam.
The characters (see Pl. XLI.) are not on a continuous stem line, as in the case of the
inscription on the Ballyspellan Brooch, but each has its own stem, being written like the
first scale in the Book of Ballymote (Pl. II.).
Wallancey writes:–“The Ogham characters are UosFR, Uoser, or Usar, the Sun, the
principal deity of the pagan Irish. The names Aesar, Aosar, frequently occur in ancient
Irish MSS., and are always translated God.” This ornament was exhibited by the present
Lord Bishop of Limerick, at a meeting of the Roy. Ir. Ac., May 10th, 1847, upon which
occasion he made some remarks in reference to it, pronouncing the inscribed characters “to
be a forgery of comparatively recent date.” This judgment he stated to be founded upon
the following reasons, that, “Faint tracings of all the characters scratched upon the surface,
as if to serve as a pattern to be copied by the engraver, are still quite visible. - -
The inscribed characters have a sharpness which is not to been seen in ancient work, even
though executed in gold. All the original devices which appear on ancient gold articles
possess a peculiar mellowness, from the action of the causes just alluded to. These
characters, moreover, have plainly been cut with a graver, such as is employed in the present
day. But no traces appear, on genuine antique Irish ornaments, of the use of such instru-
ments. Thé lines and patterns on them seem to have been laboriously scratched with a
point rather than cut. The conclusiveness of these reasons is maintained by the judgment
of Mr. West, the eminent jeweller, to whom Dr. Graves applied for his opinion on the
subject” (Pro. Roy. Ir. Ac. v. iii. pp. 460-1). The faint traces alluded to above, if indeed
such exist, are far more likely to be a rude attempt to copy the original characters, by some
person into whose hands this article fell; it is unlikely that a copy would have been given in
such a manner to the original engraver, who was in all probability the originator of the
inscription as well as the artist, and, therefore, did not require a copy; if such was not the
case, the copy would certainly have been given on other material, and not by disfiguring the
article itself. As to the sharpness of the lines, that objection will fade before a careful
examination of engraved antique ornaments, which exhibit work as clean and sharp as if
executed within the last fifty years. The graver objection will also be disposed of in the
same manner. Any intelligent collector would be, in my opinion, a far more reliable
authority in the examination of such articles than any jeweller, however eminent. There
320 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
-
are some reasons why Bishop Graves's judgment on this inscription might be questioned;
he had previously pronounced the Ogam to be “Tricks of the Middle Ages,” and it was,
therefore, a matter of the last importance to throw discredit on the genuineness of this
inscription; the article itself was evidently of the pre-historic times, and if the characters
on it were coeval with its manufacture, the Bishop's theory was scattered to the winds.
Opinions pronounced, therefore, under such circumstances should be accepted with great
caution. I am far from asserting that he would willingly or knowingly pervert a fact, even
in support of a cherished theory; but we all know how fallible is human judgment, and how
liable to accept the weakest evidence, and give to it the force of actual fact, if it supports our
own preconceived views. Now there is no evidence of forgery in this Ogam. Who forged it?
It could not be Wallancey, for it was in the possession of Mr. Conyngham, a gentleman of
fortune, who knew nothing in the world about the Ogam. In fact, until Wallancey wrote on
the subject, the Ogam was unknown, uncared for, there was no controversy on the matter,
and consequently, no object in a forgery. Again, if it were an intended forgery, why is it
that the forger did not engrave the word correctly 2 According as we have it, “Easar,”
this word is found in Irish dictionaries, as Dr. Graves admits, and is the name of an
Etruscan deity; whereas on the patera it is “Uosar,” probably an archaic form of the word.
I am far from subscribing to Wallancey's absurd theories, and fanciful etymologies; he may
be right in this instance for aught I know, but I will not pause to investigate whether this
word “Uosar'' was intended to commemorate “Aesar,” or whether the said “Easar’’ was
the Irish sun-god ; all I at present contend for is, that the inscription on this patera is a
genuine one, of coeval antiquity, or nearly so, with the article upon which it is engraved,
and that Dr. Graves had no substantial grounds for pronouncing it a forgery. There is
strong evidence that Esar was also a Phoenician divinity. A base of a marble candelabrum
was exhumed some time since in Malta, and is now deposited in the Museum at Paris: it
bears a bilingual inscription in Greek and Punic, a translation of which is given in Kenrick's
Phoenicia, p. 172, as follows:–
“To our Lord, to Melkarth, Lord of Tyre. The man offering is
Thy servant Obedasir and my brother,
Both a son of Asirshamar, the son of Obedasir ; when he hears
Their voice, may he bless them ' "
According to Kenrick, Obed is a very usual prefix to Phoenician names, and signifies a slave,
servant, being identical with the same word in the Hebrew, as “Obadiah, the servant of
Jah (Jehovah).” This term is also cognate with the Gaelic prefix Gilla, as Gilla-da, servant
of God, Gilla-iosa, servant of Jesus, Gilla-Muire, servant of Mary, &c. The name, therefore,
reads “Servant of Asir,” who according to Kenrick is Osiris. There is nothing improbable
in this, the leading Egyptian deities were received and adopted by other ancient nations, and
we may therefore presume that Easar, Asar, Uoser, are but forms of Osiris, which Hellanicus
said was pronounced Usiris by the Egyptian priests. We need not, however, go to Phoenicia
or Egypt for the identification of this name, which appears to be a proper Gaedhelic one, as
we find by a reference to the Annals of Tighernach, as quoted by Dr. O'Donovan in the
Dublin Penny Journal, v. i. p. 109: “A.D. 651. The two sons of Blathmac, son of Hugh
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAMI MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 321
Slaine, viz. Donnchad and Conale, were mortally wounded by the Lagenians in Maelodrans
Mill. Oisir, the son of Oiserge, was mortally wounded by Maelodran.” It was usual in
ancient times for tribes and individuals to take the names of their favourite deities; it is not
very improbable that the ancestors of the Gaedhelic may have brought this name with them
from Egypt.
OGAM ON RING. (Pl. XLI.)
In the year 1859 Mr. Tate, jeweller and goldsmith, of Patrick-street, Cork, purchased
an antique ring of gold; it was a hoop ring, and had engraved on the inside of it, what
appears to have been a species of Ogam (see Pl. XLI.). The age or intention of the
inscription cannot be determined.
ARROWHEAD.
In the antiquarian collection exhibited at Belfast, on the occasion of the Meeting of the
Brit. Assoc. in Sept., 1852, was a flint arrow head or celt, having an inscription in the
Ogam character; it was in the private museum of M. J. Anketel, Esq., of Anketel Grove,
Co. Monaghan. I have not seen this article, and can offer no opinion as to the value of the
inscription stated to be on it.
AMBER AMULET. (Pl. XLI.)
This curious relic, an amber bead, of the size and form of a blackbird's egg, had been
for generations in a family of the O'Connors, residing near Ennis, Co. of Clare. The last
representative of the family presented it to a Mr. Finnerty, a civil engineer under the
Board of Works, who sold it to a Mr. Graves, a jeweller and dealer in antiques residing in
Cork, by whom it was disposed of to the late Lord Londesborough. Round the lesser
circumference of the head, and below the centre, was cut a stem-line, on which eight Ogam
letters were incised, of a rude and irregular type, the intent of which I believe it impossible
to make out. That the bead is a relic of the pagan age there can, I think, be no doubt;
whether the Ogam is coeval with its original manufacture is another question. I have been
informed that its removal from the locality where it had been for ages was greatly deplored
by the peasantry, particularly the women, as it was esteemed infallible in promoting a safe
delivery, and also in the cure of diseased eyes.”
THE PRISCLAN GLOSSES.
In the Grammatica Celtica of John Caspar Zeuss will be found an account of a MS.
copy of Priscian, written in the Irish character, and copiously glossed in the same language
and character; such glosses being both marginal and interlineal. In addition, there are
several of the marginal glosses written in Ogam. It has been largely made use of by Zeuss,
in his famous work, and he has given readings of some of the Ogam sentences. This
curious and valuable MS. has been preserved in the monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland.
Zeuss believed that it was written in the eighth century. Dr. John O'Donovan states, at
what place it was written, or at what time, or how it found its way into the monastery of
St. Gall, no sufficient evidences have as yet turned up to prove. (Ulst. Jour. Arch. v. vii.
p. 21.) The Right Rev. Dr. Graves believes that it contains internal evidence of having
* The drawing on Pl. XLI. is taken from the journal of the Kil. Arch. Soc. for 1857, p. 339.
T. T.
322 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
been written in Ireland, and in the latter part of the ninth century, and refers to its
similarity in point of calligraphy with the Book of Armagh, written in the commencement
of the same century. (Pro. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. vi. p. 213.) A paper on those Ogam glosses
was read by the R. R. Dr. before the Academy, on May 9th, 1855, in which he thus
describes them – -
“1. Page 50, marg. inf.-FERIA CAI HopTE—This marked the 4th of October, which, as
we learn from the Martyrology of Marianus Gormanus, was kept in the Irish as well as in
other churches as the anniversary of Caius or Gaius, and Crispus, mentioned 1 Cor. i. 14.
“2. Page 70, marg. sup—rel inaſuvajº-i.e. the Festival of St. Martin of Tours,
kept on the 11th of November. St. Martin, as the supposed uncle of St. Patrick, was
specially honoured in Ireland. Churches were dedicated to him, and the name is preserved
in those of parishes and townlands to this day.
3. Page 170, marg. sup.–11/11ſcharc-i.e. Pascha Minor, or Low Sunday. This word
is still in vernacular use. This Ogham has been slightly mutilated in the binding of the
MS., but enough remains to make the reading certain.
“4, 5, 6. Pages 193, 194, 195, marg, sup.–cojanc-i.e. Corrige. The word is
not to be found in the dictionaries, but there can be no doubt as to its meaning. We have
at p. 90, ol arco:54ſucy as a gloss on the Latin, quod sit emendandum.
“7. Page 195, marg. sup.–4 reo:341c ſtro—i.e. Hoc est corrigendum. Compare the
gloss just referred to, also ty aeocpaluch) juro (gl. minime hoc est adhibendum); also a
gloss in the Wurtzburgh MS. of St. Paul's Epistles, cro arcéſcſ ºuſ r,t) clua (g', quid
ergo fratres 2 i.e. quid faciendum in hoc ergo). The scribe has used the character called
eamhancoll to stand for the letters re in arco:34tv.c. According to the Uraceipt it is
properly used to denote x, which is equivalent to cs; but Irish scribes sometimes put sc for
the Latin x, e.g. aseella for axilla; Mascimin for Maximin. The present mode of writing is
thus easily explained.
“8. Page 204, marg. Sup.–14the ſuc-The same word occurs in the ordinary character
at p. 189. I cannot pronounce any positive opinion as to its signification. Professor Zeuss
understands it to mean at the third hour, and refers to a gloss celucja hoſta at the bottom
of p. 212. In Cormac's glossary we find a word 14thojput, so little differing in orthography
that it may be equivalent to the one before us: laſthojúc . 1. 14ſch on c. 1. laſch Ivo
J-out . J. ol colutilac.
“Laithiort, i.e. from Laith, champion, and Ort, it overeomes, i.e. drinking ale.
“It seems unlikely that this is the true interpretation of the Ogham word, though it
might possibly be a gloss on some such word as Ebrietas or Crapula. -
“At the commencement of each of these Ogham notes, the following mark occurs:–
It is used in the books of Leinster, Lecan, and Ballymote; and generally in Irish MSS.,
where specimens of Ogham writing are introduced. On a large silver brooch in the museum
of the Royal Dublin Society (now in R. Irish Aca. Museum, see Pl. XLI.) it is used both to
mark the beginning of each line of Ogham writing, and to separate names from one
another.”
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 323
R. R. Dr. Graves considers that these Ogam glosses “furnish an unanswerable proof
that the Ogham character was in use among Irish ecclesiastics in the middle ages.” We
certainly should require a great many more examples of its use at the period referred to,
before we could come to the Dr.'s conclusion; the finding of a few words in the margin of a
MS., or of half a dozen MSS., would not justify such an assumption.
If he could produce us a moderate number of veritable MSS. entirely written in this
character, then indeed we might be disposed to entertain the idea “that the Ogham
character was in use among Irish ecclesiastics in the middle ages.”
That the memory of this ancient alphabet should have been reverently preserved by the
Gaelic scribes and bards, is only what might be reasonably expected ; and that they should
use it occasionally in a note, gloss, or inscription, is what we are quite prepared to find; the
wonder is, that we have such very few instances of its use in the periods referred to by the
R. R. Dr. Graves.
The utmost inference that can be drawn from such examples is, that the knowledge of
this archaic alphabet, once in general use in the country, had been preserved by the Gaelic
writers long after the introduction of its Romanesque rival.
[Pl. XLI. is from a collection of drawings I found amongst Mr. Brash's notes and manuscripts. The
subject of the Ogams found in the various MSS. he left unfinished. It was part of an elaborate
treatise, containing translations of the different forms given in the book of Ballymote (Pls. II. and III.),
and he had drawn the Ogams given by Dr. Chas. O'Conor in Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores. I also
found some tracings I had given him of the same; and as they differ from those given by Dr. O'Conor,
I have inserted them. - -
No. I. is given at vol. i. p. ix. It is taken from the top of p. iv. of the MSS. known by the name of
Senchus Mór (Digest of Laws), the great Sanction, a work of very great interest, preserved in the Brit.
Mus. Library. Harleian 432, Plut. XLVIII. E. No. 2 is to be found at the top of p. xiv. of the same
MS, No. 3 is from the MS. Annals of Inisfallen, preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, marked,
Rawlinson, No. 503. The two lines occur on the fortieth leaf, and may be read: Nemo honoratur sine
nummo nullus amatur. A very mercenary observation. I am indebted to Mr. H. T. Lilley for
verification of this Ogam.
Dr. O'Conor, in the Bibliotheca MS. Stowensis, Appendix No. 1, p. 40, gives a signature
TIII+m Hill
S O N I D
written at the end of p. 21 of the Stowe MS. gospel. The reverse of the leaf is adorned with a figure of
St. John. Dr. Graves considers this should be read backwards, and hazards the conjecture that Dinos is
the Ogam name of Dimma, the scribe of the MS. gospels known as the “Book of Dimma,” mainly
guided by the similarity of the handwriting.
On a memorandum—To be examined in Dublin. MS. book of Fermoy, fol. 43, col. 2, contains four
lines of consonant and coll, Ogams. Also in fol. 5.-G.M.A..]
CLONMACNOISE.
It would be expected, that if the Christian Gaedhil has used the Ogam for sepulchral
purposes, examples of such use would be found at Clonmacnoise; founded A.D. 544, by
Ciaran, son of the artificer, it became one of the most famous schools of learning and
religion in the country, and its cemetery one of the most sacred and popular; numerous
fragments of sculptured gravestones still exist, bearing the quaint and pious legends then in
use, inscribed in the most ancient types of our letters; these have been copied from time to
324 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
time, by many an archaeological pilgrim to this interesting spot. I spent a long summer's
day there with the late Mr. Windele, no Ogam inscription however rewarded our search;
even the Colman stone, which had been previously copied by Dr. Petrie, had disappeared.
Many persons had been induced to make a search at this place for inscriptions in this
character, stimulated by a statement in an ancient Irish poem, now in the Bodleian Library
at Oxford; it is contained in a MS. marked Rawlinson, 406. At fol. 7 is a short poem on
the tribes who used the cemetery at Clonmacnoise; the commencement has the following
allusion to the Ogam:— -
“Clonmacnoise is the city of Ciaran,
A place of bright dews and red roses.
Of the race of kings of lasting fame
There is a host beneath the peaceful sacred place.
The nobles of the Clan Cuinn lie
Beneath the flagged, brown, sloping cemetery.
A knot or branch (craobh) over each body,
And a correct Ogham name.”
Pro. Roy. Ir. Ac. v. vi. p. 215.
It is, however, quite evident that the allusion here is to letters and writing generally; the
word Ogam was frequently used by mediaeval scribes to signify the proprieties of speech,
and certain forms of language and modes of expression peculiar to themselves. Thus,
O'Donnell, subsequently Archbishop of Tuam, in his preface to the translation of the New
Testament into Irish, dedicated to James I., A.D. 1602, speaking of one of his helpers in
that work, states, that he enjoined him to write the other part according to the “Ogum and
propriety of the Irish tongue.” (Toland. p. 75.) Only one word in Ogam has been found
at Clonmacnoise, the stone on which it was written is no longer in existance; what became
of it no one knows. Miss Stokes has published an engraving of it in the first number of
her interesting and valuable work, taken from a sketch of Dr. Petrie's. It is a fragment
about 18in. by 9in., having the name “Colman’’ inscribed on the upper side, a small cross
of Greek type preceding the name; beneath the latter is an incised line bearing the word
Bocht, i.e. poor, in Ogam, spelt backwards
>–llllllll-H+
It is written after the manner of the MSS. Ogam, the vowels being long scores vertical to the
stem-line; it was evidently intended by the inscriber of the monument as a crux, and it
certainly bears testimony to the antiquity of the character, when we find it used as a literary
curiosity at so remote a period. -
The following Ogam monuments in Ireland were not completed by Mr. Brash:-
DONARD.
This stone was discovered by Dr. S. Ferguson in 1872, at Donard, Co. Wicklow. The
legend, if read retroversely, yields “INIQUI. Another (incomplete) memorial, from the same
locality, with some twenty-five other Ogam inscriptions, is deposited in the Museum of the
Royal I. Academy, Dublin.
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 325
MULLAGH.
In the Pro. R. I. A. Vol. I. Ser. II. p. 303, Dr. S. Ferguson records the existence of
an inscription at Mullagh, about seven miles north-west of Kells, in the extreme south-
eastern angle of the Barony of Castleraghan, Co. of Cavan, Ord. Sh, No. 40. He received his
information from Dr. Norman Moore, of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. The
monument served the purpose of a headstone to a modern grave in the old burial-ground of
Temple Kelly, and according to local report, it, together with other inscribed stones, was
brought from the adjoining lands of Rantavan. It is a small stone standing little more than
3ft. from the surface, about 15in. in breadth by 4in. at its greatest thickness. The cha-
racters are on the eastern or right-hand arris, and read from left to right, downwards:=–
OSBBAR (R2). The remains of the second R are faint. What further characters may have
existed cannot now be determined. Dr. Ferguson believes this to be the first instance of
a genuine Ogam inscription being found in the east of Ireland, north of the county of
Wicklow.
HACKETSTOWN.
Mr. R. Langrishe exhibited, at a meeting of the R. H. and Arch. Assoc., Oct. 1875, a
sketch of a fragment of a fine Ogam stone; it is unfortunately broken. He found it built
into the angle of a stable at Hacketstown Glebe, Co. Carlow.
Subsequently Mr. Langrishe had the stone removed; portions at each end had been broken
off, and the inscription that remained (the scores are of unusual size, some of them being
fully 10in. in length) so injured as to be unreadable. It is deposited in the Museum
of the R. H. and Arch. Assoc., Kilkenny.
At a meeting of the R. H. and Arch. Assoc., held April 12, 1876, Mr. J. Brown,
manager, National Bank, Roscrea, exhibited an interesting collection of bone pins, and two
stone amulets, some of which bore inscriptions undoubtedly Ogamic. They were found in
the Crannoge of Ballinderry, near Moate, Co. Westmeath. Jour, for 1876, p. 11. The
promised description has not yet appeared.
ROSS HILL.
Dr. J. A. Purefoy Colles sent a notice, published in the Jour. R. H. and Arch. Assoc.
for 1870, p. 268, of an imperfect Ogam inscription on a stone standing about fifty yards in
front of the west doorway of the ruined church of Ross Hill, south shore of Loch Mask, Co.
Galway. It is about 3ft. high, square in plan, and about 8in. wide on each face; on the
eastern and western face is a simple cross, formed by two incised lines of nearly equal
length. On the upper part of the south-western angle are obscure traces of an inscription
reading HABAM; the upper part of the stone appears to have been broken off. It requires
investigation.
CORRODY. (Pl. XL.)
Mr. A. G. Geoghegan published a drawing, taken from a rubbing, of an Ogam inscrip-
tion which he found on a granite boulder in the townland of Corrody, parish of Glendermot,
Co. of Londonderry. (Jour. Kil. Arch. Soc. 1864, p. 122.) The boulder is a broken one.
Mr. Geoghegan informs me that it was a sepulchral dallaun, and had been removed from
its original site in the middle of a field and placed in the adjacent clay bank which forms the
326 MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. [CHAP. XIII.
fence. The characters and fleasg are distinct. I have placed the inscription on Pl. XL.,
as it appears peculiar.—G.M.A.
SLEIVE NA CALLIAGH.
I have placed on Plate XL. a sketch I found amongst Mr. Brash's notes. Under it he
wrote:–“Lintel over chamber S. side of Chair Cairn.” He drew a line and put the letters
LMBMFMASSRD over the characters; across the paper at the end he wrote, “Get a copy of
chair, Sleive na Calliagh, near Old Castle, Co. Meath.” Ifailed to find anything further, nor
can I identify the inscription by any illustration of the remarkable remains on the Loughcrew
hills yet published. From the way the R and D are drawn, it cannot be Mr. Brash's sketch;
perhaps it was given to him by the late Mr. Eugene A. Conwell, when he resided in Cork.
BALLYDOOLOUGH.
Amongst the many interesting objects of antiquity discovered by Mr. W. F. Wakeman,
June, 1870, on the crannog at Ballydoolough lake, near Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, and
described by him in the Jour. of the R. H. and Arch. Assoc. of Ireland for 1871, pp. 360 to
370, is an Ogam inscription, found on a block of hard reddish sandstone, measuring in length
2ft. 1in., in breadth 43 in., depth 6in. This monument is inscribed with well-marked Ogam
characters. The illustration reads BA...L.H.U. It is evidently incomplete.
In 1875, p. 472, Mr. Wakeman records the existence of marks closely resembling Ogams
as occurring on the natural surface of a rock at Aughaglack, near Boho, townland of Ryfad,
Co. Fermanagh. These have a strong likeness to the Lennon Cromleac inscription, Co.
Monaghan. A circle with three lines extending from the circumference is perhaps a distant -
relative of the Logie Ogam.
TOPPED MOUNTAIN.
In the Jour. of the R. H. and Arch. Assoc. of Ireland for 1875, p. 529, Mr. W. F. Wakeman,
Hon. Local Sec. for Enniskillen, published an illustration of an Ogam monument found by
him built into a fence; the stones forming it were taken from the carn on Topped mountain,
one of the wild uncultivated hills of Fermanagh.
The material is hard red or yellowish sandstone; extreme length 1.ft. 6in., breadth 83 in.,
thickness 33 in. to 2%in. The inscription occupies the entire length of the stone, reading
m Hºllllll-t-ill H.
N E T T A C U
The ends are worn and smooth surfaces, leading to the supposition that the inscription is
complete, as a word or nameNETTACU. On the Bridell inscription, Pembrokeshire, we find
Necua as a prefix, p. 340; and on the Castletimon stone we have Netacarinetacagi, p. 296.
This stone, also that from Ballydoolough, was presented to the Museum of the Association
at Kilkenny, April 1876, by the indefatigable Hon. Local Secretary.
CAWANCARRAGH.
In a letter dated Feb. 19th, 1878, Mr. Wakeman kindly informs me of the existence
of an Ogam inscription at a place called Cavancarragh, within a short mile of Topped
mountain; he has since favoured me with a tracing of the stone. It is red sandstone, 2ft.
in length, 18in, wide, 6in. thick, of a triangular shape; near the top are five scores, but it
CHAP. XIII.] MISCELLANEOUS OGAM MONUMENTS IN IRELAND. 327
is difficult to say what letters they represent. There are little triangular markings on the
flat face of the leac, similar are found at Sleive na Calliagh and other places. This stone,
like the Topped example, was found in a sepulchral carn. He also favoured me with
rubbings of the rock carvings in the interesting caves at Knockmore near Derrygounelly, Co.
Fermanagh. These markings, and there are a large number of a similar character to be
found in different parts of Ireland, must have a distinct signification; many Ogam forms,
perhaps of a different class, are amongst them. As yet they have not been deciphered.
—G.M.A.
KILMALLOCK. (Pl. XLI.)
In answer to inquiries relative to a MS. note of Mr. Brash's on the Kilmallock leaden
vessel, I received from Mr. W. F. Wakeman the following letter:-
“Enniskillen, Feb. 19th, 1878.
Dear Sir, -
With reference to the little leaden vessel bearing an Ogham inscription now in the
Museum of the R. I. Academy, I beg to say, it was discovered by me under the following
circumstances: In 1843 I was at Kilmallock on the business of the Ordnance Survey, and
while engaged in sketching the abbey there, I casually asked a peasant who was at hand,
digging a ditch, whether any antiquities had ever been found in the neighbourhood of the old
building. The reply was that ‘sorra a haporth had ever, as far as he knew, been so found,
barrin a small ink bottle which he himself had dug up from the margin of a river immediately
adjoining.' He further informed me that the article in question was then in the possession
of a very old and retired Catholic clergyman, living in Kilmallock. Of course I made it my
business to find out the old priest, who produced the vessel at once. You may imagine my
astonishment on finding that it bore on one of its sides, in relief, a very well marked Ogham
inscription. I failed to obtain possession of this remarkable antique, but was permitted to
make a drawing, same size as the object, which I enclose. In 1846 I showed my drawing
to Dean Graves, now Bishop of Limerick. Inquiries were at once instituted, and the little
leaden bottle passed into the collections of the Royal Irish Academy. It affords me much
pleasure to be of any assistance to you in your present work.
Believe me, Dear Sir,
Yours most truly,
W. F. WAKEMAN.
G. M. Atkinson, Esq.” -
The illustration on Pl. XLI. is taken from the admirable drawing so kindly offered by
Mr. Wakeman. It tells its own tale. The two lines of Ogam characters, if read from the
bottom upwards, are NIG LASMEICH, and CILI, Mocholyſog. The inscription being in relief
is remarkable, and goes to prove its authenticity. It must be considered as a very late
example of the use of the Ogam character.
328
CHAPTER XIV.
OG AM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND.
That Ogam inscriptions should be found in Wales and the western parts of Britain, will
not appear surprising to those who have studied the ancient relations existing between
Ireland and that portion of the sister-isle. Twenty monuments inscribed with those
mysterious characters have been up to the present found in the land of the Cymry, and
two in Devonshire on the coast of the Irish sea, in the territory of the ancient Damnonii.
The characters found on the monuments alluded to are perfectly identical with those found
on the Irish examples in every particular; the grouping of the scores, the number of the
letters, the sequence of the vowels, the mode of forming the vowels and consonants,
particularly the former, which in the Scotch examples are long scores vertical to the stem
line, as in the Ogam scales in the Book of Ballymote, see Pl. I. and II. ; the Welsh and
Irish showing round, or oval punched dots, or minute scores on the angle of the stone.
In addition, the mode of reading the inscriptions from bottom to top, the identity of the
formula, and the use of the keyword Maqi, as well as other minor coincidences, stamp them
as being the work of the same race, and very probably of the same age. Such being the
case, the question will naturally arise how came such to be found in a country that for at
least thirteen or fourteen centuries had no Gaedhelic population ?
The discovery of the number of monuments above stated, indicates the original existence
of many more, of which they are but the chance relics, saved from the destruction that
civilisation, agriculture, and reclamation, has brought upon most primeval monuments.
Now it is evident that the race who erected these inscribed pillar stones to their deceased
friends, must have been in occupation of the land, and in permanent occupation also. The
warrior tribes of those times of fierce and unrelenting warfare, while prosecuting a temporary
raid upon a hostile territory, would not dream of leaving after them any indications of the
sepulchres of their comrades in arms, who had fallen upon their enemies' lands; mutilation
of the remains of a fallen antagonist being the almost universal rule in those remote ages,
as will be seen by reference to early British and Irish history. We must therefore, I
CHAP. XIV.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 329
presume, admit a permanent, or at least some prolonged occupation of the localities where
these inscriptions are found by a Gaedhelic population, cognate with that which inhabited
the south of Ireland, where such are found in the greatest numbers.
KENFIG. (Pl. XLII.)
This monument is situated in the parish of Kenfig, and stands on the right-hand side of
the road leading from Margam to the village of Kenfig, and about half a mile from the
smith's forge, near where the above road crosses the high road from Port Talbot to Pyle.
It is an undressed pillar of light-brown sandstone, hard and close grained ; being in height
4ft. 4in. at front, and 4ft. Bin. at the back, and 1ſt. Sin, by 1ſt. 3.}in. at the centre,
tapering slightly from bottom to top. The principal Ogam inscription is on the left-hand
angle of one of the broader faces:—
O C D D N M Q I D R O
The angle is much rounded and worn, and several flakes have been knocked off, seriously
damaging the inscription, which commences at 5in. from the ground level; the first two
letters, 0 and C, are quite distinct, we have then a damaged space of 4in, which must have
been occupied by a vowel, as a consonant would have left some mark; we have then two
Ds, well defined; then a damaged space of 5in., probably also occupied by a vowel, for
the above reasons; we have then the letter N quite legible, a couple of the scores being
shortened from injury; next follows M and Q with a mutilated I; there can be no doubt that
we have here the word “Maqi”, the A does not exist, and the I is damaged in some of its
scores, as shown by the dotted marks; we have then a space of 5%in. without any trace of
a character, the stone being fractured, the letter D is quite legible; the five scores following,
despite of some irregularity in the spacing, appear to form the letter R ; the second and
third, and the fourth and fifth scores, seem farther apart than the others, but this is
probably more from accident than design; the vowel O seems to terminate the inscription on
this angle, as there is no trace of a character above it. The entire occupies a length of
3ft. 5in. On the opposite angle of the narrow face of the stone, on the upper part of the
angle, which shows an original fracture, we find three characters, two of them formed of three
radiating scores like the broad arrow of the Ordnance; they are carefully cut, and probably
were intended to represent double F, these are followed by the vowel I. -
This monument has been described by Mr. J. O. Westwood, in the Arch. Camb. v. i.
p. 182; his reading of the Latin inscription is PUNPEIUs car.ANToRIUs. His copy of the
Ogam is not correctly given. -
It is quite evident that this monument is not bilingual, the inscription in Roman letters
is in no way represented in the Ogam ; the longer legend of which I propose to read as:—
+*-#-Il-11-H+m-H4++114/+
O C U D D, E N M A Q I E D A R 0
O CUD D E N T H E S ON OF E D A R.
This is of course to some extent conjectural, but must be close to the truth. The blank
U U
330 OGAMI MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIV.
spaces could only have contained vowels, and those of the values I have introduced are just
suited for them.
Ocudden : Names of this type are familiar to us, as Uchadan, stated in the Ann, 4 Mas.
to be the first artificer who smelted gold in Ireland, A.M. 3656.
Edar : We find this name connected with the hill of Howth, known in our annals as
Ben Edar (the Edron Heremos of Ptolemy); so called from a Tuatha-de-Damann chief
named Edar, the son of Edgaeth, whose sepulchre was on this bold headland. Mr. Cliffe,
in his book of South Wales, p. 119, states, that “he was informed by a farmer that his
father had this stone removed from an adjacent ditch, where it formerly stood, to its present
position about thirty years before,” this would be about 1817. The site of the Via Julia
Maritima is supposed to have been in this immediate locality. In 1839, a stone was found
at Port Talbot with the following inscription :-
IM PC F L A V (MCL) M A X IMIN O IN VICTO A U G V S.
Port Talbot is on the Via Julia Maritima, about three miles distant. About half a mile from
the Ogam pillar, towards Kenfig, is a huge monolith, standing in a field, which however bears
no inscription. The interesting remains of the ancient Cistercian Abbey of Margam are also
within half a mile ; within its precincts are preserved several gravestones of a very remote
age, bearing crosses enriched with interlaced ornamentation; two of these bear inscriptions
in the old Irish character. Here is also preserved the cross which formerly stood in the
green of Margam village, it is of great size, and is socketted into its massive pedestal; both
the cross and pedestal are highly enriched with the same type of ornamentation. Here is
also a Roman monument with the following legend:—“SENATUS PopULUSQUE ROMANUS DIvo
TITo DIVI VespasiaNI F. VESPASIANo AUGUSTo.” On the mountain behind Margam are some
remains of a Roman camp, and a Romano-British inscription of some interest:-
BODVOC – HIC IACIT FILIVS CATOTIGIRNI PRONEPWS ETERNALI WEDOMAV-.
CRICKHOWEL. (Pl. XLII.) -
I visited Crickhowel, Oct, 13th, 1870, and found that the stone had been removed from
its original site; after some difficulty I ascertained that it had been transferred by Sir
Joseph Bailey, Bart., M.P., to his seat Glen Usk, about two miles from Crickhowel, where
I saw it standing under a clump of trees at the right-hand side of the avenue, about half-
way between the lodge and mansion-house. It is a rude undressed monolith of hard
conglomerate, much weather-worn, standing 6ft. above ground, 1ſt. 7in. by 11in. at the bottom,
1ft. 43 in. by 4in, at the top; there is a large flake off the back. Its front face bears the
so-called Romano-British inscription, written from the top downward in two lines, well cut,
and quite legible, as follows:—
T U R P I L L I IC I A C IT
- P W W E R I, T R L L V N I D UN O C A TI.
The last, name in the above inscription is to be found, without the prefix Du, on an Ogam-
inscribed stone now in the Mus. Roy. Ir, Aca, originally discovered at Whitefield, Co.
Kerry. (See Whitefield, p. 191.)
The Ogam inscription is on the left-hand angle of the same face, commencing at 1.ft. 3in.
-
CHAP. XIV.] ogAM Monuments IN waſ Es AND ENGLAND. 331
from the ground level, and occupying a length of 2ft. 4in. ; the characters appear to have
been broadly and deeply cut, as if the engraver apprehended the obliteration of the
memorial, from the nature of the material on which he worked ; they are of the exact type
of the Irish Ogam letters, and are as follows:–
*-H+%x...+Trºit
I
T U R L
The inscription is much worn and damaged, the first four characters are legible, though some
of the scores are faint; the cross character, stated in the Book of Ballymote to represent
EA, and usually placed on the angle, is here below the line, or at the right-hand side of the
angle; the next character appears to have been the vowel I, two dots of which only are
traceable, the space exists for the rest of the scores, which appear to have been lost by an
injury to the angle; the L is distinct, the following I is also discernible, though some of the
dots are faint. It can scarcely be doubted but that this inscription is bilingual, and that the
Ogam characters were intended to read TURPILI or TURBILI, presuming, as I think wenust
do, that the cross character was here used to represent the letter P. This is the only
instance as yet discovered of the use of this character in the Ogam inscriptions of Wales,
and the question naturally suggests itself, Have we not here strong evidence that this was
intended to represent the letter P 2 I have been long in doubt of the value assigned to this
character in the Book of Ballymote, from the internal evidence afforded by those inscriptions
in which it occurs; in almost every case (as I have before remarked) it occurs between vowels
of similar sounds. If a character at all, it must represent a consonant, and not a diphthong.
I have not been able to identify the name Turpill or Turbill; names of a similar type are,
however, common in the Gaedhelic annals, as Torbach, Turlogh, Turcan, Torpad, Ann. 4
Mas. ; Torptha, Mart. Don. -
An account of this stone was published by Mr. J. O. Westwood, in the Arch. Camb. v.
1847, p. 25. The illustration, however, accompanying that article is not correctly drawn.
In Jones's ‘Brecknockshire,' it is described as lying “prostrate, close to a field-hedge on the
farm of Ty yn wad, on the northern road from Crickhowell to Lanbedr, about a mile and a
half from the former. The first notice of this monument will be found in Gough’s “Camden’
(vol. ii. p. 476, with a plate at 478). The plate is incorrect as regards the Ogam scores,
which are marked, but of which no notice is taken in the text. In a paper by Mr. Strange,
entitled a “Further Account of Antiquities in or near Brecknock, contributed to the
Archaeologia' (iv. p. 19), he mentions this stone, which he states he visited, and found it
lying neglected in a ploughed field. He describes it as “about 6ft. long and 2ft. broad.
He gives also an engraving of this stone, which is a facsimile of that in Camden, showing
the same errors in the Ogam ; of which, strange to say, he also took no notice. Jones
describes it as being ‘9ft. long by 13ft. broad, and 6in, thick.’ He also gives a plate, and
is equally incorrect in his representation of the monument. In the ‘Gentleman's Magazine'
for June 1786 (plate i.f.g. 7, p. 473) is a notice of this stone, with also an incorrect
engraving. I should remark that Jones notices the scores on the angles, but ridicules the
idea of their being alphabetical characters.”
332 OGAMI MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. . [CHAP. XIV.
CILGERRAN. (Pl. XLII.)
This remarkable monument is to be found in the churchyard of Cilgerran, near Cardigan,
Pembrokeshire; a considerable portion of it was formerly buried in the earth, it now stands
erect, and discloses the inscriptions which it bears; it is in height above ground 4ft. Sin.,
dimensions at bottom 16in. by 15in., at top 13in, by 12in.
Like many of the Welsh Ogams it also bears an inscription in debased Roman letters,
which is thus described by that eminent palaeographer, Mr. J. O. Westwood, in the Arch.
Camb. v. 1855, p. 9. “It is to be read:— -
T R E N E G U S S I FI L I.
M A C U T R E N I H I C I A C IT.
(The body of) Trenagussus, the son of Macutrenus, lies here. The letters of the inscription
are very irregular in size, some being 2in., and others as much as 4}in, in height. They
are of a mixed character, the first T being semi-uncial, with the bottom of the vertical
stroke bent towards the right. Every E has the middle cross-bar greatly elongated. The
sixth letter of the upper line is very faint in the rubbings, but sufficient is shown to prove, I
think satisfactorily, that it is intended for a debased miniscule g. The two Ss are also of
the miniscule character, as is the F in the word FILI. The fourth letter in the second line I
prefer reading U rather than LI united, the whole letter being united without a break in the
strokes. The H in HIC is of an unusual shape, and the T at the end of the inscription is
quite miniscule, with a dash for the top cross-stroke. The terminal letters in the second
line are much crowded together, but are all distinct, and not enclavées, as is often the case
where there is a want of space.” Mr. Westwood's description of this legend is perfectly
correct, it is another remarkable evidence of the permanent occupancy of this part of Wales
by a Gaedhelic tribe.
The names on this sepulchral memorial, as above described, are pure Gaedhelic ones, as
I shall now prove. The individual here commemorated is Trenegussos; by referring to the
Ogam monuments at Glounagloch, p. 120, and Aghaliskey, p. 146, both in the county of
Cork, it will be seen that the former bears the name Cunagussos, and the latter Cunagusos.
The name is Nagus with the prefix Cu; in the present instance it is the same name with
the prefix Tre, or Tren, in fact, it is the son prefixing the father's name, or a portion of it,
to his own.
Tren, or Trein, is a well-known prefix to Gaedhelic names; according to O'Reilly's Dict.
Trein signifies might, power, strength; as, for example, in the Annals of the Four Masters we
have the name Treinfher, at A.D. 985, and 1001, and which literally signifies a strong man,
and is used to designate a champion. We also find Trian at A.D. 783, and in the Ulster
Annals, the form Trena. The Gaulish form is Tranius. See Gruter, 1135, b . . Brix. The
name is of the same type as Aengusa, Gusan, Nialgus (Ann. 4 Mas.). In the pedigree of
the Cinel Aedha we have as follows: “Cubagu son of Cellach, son of Dungal, son of Cougal,
son of Cugusa, son of Ronan, &c.” (Tribes and Customs of Hy. Many, p. 39.)
Macutreni, the son of Udreni: the Gaedhelic form of this name is admirably preserved
in this inscription; we find this identical name, Uidreni, in the Ann, 4 Mas, at A.D. 691 (see
Index Nom.). In the Irish language the T and D are commutable.
CHAP. XIV.] OGAMI MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. - 333
In Mr. Westwood's paper are given two views of this monument, one of which shows a
few Ogam marks on the north-east angle of the stone; his remarks are as follows: “On
the north side of this stone, that is, on its north-east edge (for the inscription faces the east),
there appears to be an Ogam inscription all down the edge. The rubbing which I have
received does not exhibit these incisions very distinctly; but there are two groups of five
oblique dashes of equal length near one end, and towards the other end are two similar
dashes, preceded by a single one ; there are traces of another pair still lower, and the edge
of the stone seems to be notched all the way down.” (Arch. Camb. v. 1855, pp. 9-10.)
From the above it is evident that Mr. Westwood had not himself seen this stone, and that
the few scores shown on the angle give evidence of the presence of a much longer inscrip-
tion. I visited this place in Oct. 1870, and found it standing at the south side of the parish
church and in the graveyard. The Ogam is cut as usual on the left-hand angle of the
broader face. I found the stone covered with a hard lichen, and the Ogam scores much
defaced and filled up with this lithic vegetation; after much trouble I was able to get the
following copy:-
iii.47+lllllihºm.... TTT
I M A Q I N N
The inscription commences at 14in. from the present surface; the T is much defaced, the 1
following perfect, as also the word Maqi excepting the upper part of the M, which is worn ;
there is a space of 4in between the Ns. Below the defaced T there are some traces of
scores, but nothing reliable. It is quite evident that this was not a bilingual inscription, as
we cannot trace either of the names in the Ogam. It is scarcely probable that the rude
scratches on the face were intended to represent a cross. Cilgerran stands over the river
Teivy, and about three miles from its mouth; the name is suggestive, and indicates an ancient
cemetery having existed here in remote ages.
ST, DOGMAEL’S. (Pl. XLIII.)
The inscribed stone at the Abbey of St. Dogmael's, near Cardigan, was known to Edward
Lhwyd, as a sketch of it by that antiquary was seen at Oxford in 1859, by Rev. H.
Longueville Jones, who states that he (Lhwyd) “had also remarked some of the notches on
its edge, and had recorded a few in his drawing, but had not said any thing about them in
any of his notes.” Its introduction to the notice of the learned as an Ogam monument is,
however, due to the gentleman above named in a communication to the “Archaeologia
Cambrensis,” third series, vi. p. 128. Rev. H. Longueville Jones thus describes the
monument:—
“Within the precincts of the abbey of St. Dogmael's, near Cardigan, is preserved a
long narrow slab of porphyritic greenstone, such as is found on the ridge of the Preseleu
hills, semi-columnar in form, and rhomboidal in section. It is about 7ft. in length, tapering
upwards from rather more than 12in, to 9in. in breadth, with an average thickness of about
7in. The surfaces are all smooth without any lichen adhering to them, and did not, like
other stones of this kind from the same hills, offer the same appearance. It might be
supposed to have been once artificially polished. Such, however, is not the case. This
334 OG AM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIV.
peculiar kind of igneous rock does not decompose readily, its greenish base, and the dull
white squarish crystals with which it is filled, resisting the effects of the weather and of
vegetation with remarkable pertinacity. The stone in question is probably in as sound
condition with certain exceptions as when it was first brought down from its native hills.
“Stones of this kind are prized all over Pembrokeshire, from the circumstances of their
peculiar form and hardness making them useful as gate-posts; every farmer is glad to get
them from Preseleu, and the very stone of which we are now treating shows, by two holes
drilled into its surface, that it has been made to do this piece of agricultural duty in worse
times, archæologically speaking, than the present.
“Not only as a gate-post, however, but also as a bridge has it been made serviceable to
the daily wants of generations now dead and gone; for it was so used over a brook not far
from its present locality, and had acquired a sort of preternatural reputation from the belief
of the neighbourhood that a white lady glided over it constantly at the witching hour of
midnight. It was fortunate, perhaps, that this should have been the case; for the super-
stitious feeling of the neighbours not only tended to preserve it from injury—no man nor
woman touched it willingly after dark; but this very tradition, added to its peculiar form,
probably led to its ultimate rescue.
“A gentleman who was lately the owner of the property on which St. Dogmael's Abbey
stands, the Rev. H. J. Vincent, vicar of that parish, found the stone covered with a thick
coat of whitewash in a wall adjoining his house, where it was perhaps placed after its
removal from the brook. When the wall was taken down with the view of effecting some
improvements, the stone fell, and was unfortunately broken in two; it was then carefully
conveyed to the spot where it now rests. Before it fell its inscribed face and edge were
uninjured. Luckily, they had been turned downwards by whoever placed it in ignorance of
its value across the brook.”
This pillar stone exhibits on one of its broader faces an inscription in fine Roman
characters of a pure and early type, as follows:–
S A G R A N I FI L I C V N OT A M I.
In reference to this inscription Mr. J. O. Westwood writes as follows:–
“The Latin portion of the Sagranus inscription offers but few peculiarities. It is
entirely composed of Roman ketters of a rather narrow form, varying in height, some on the
upper line being nearly six inches high ; those forming the word FILI, in their much narrower
form, in the bars of the F appearing on the left side of the upright stroke, in the upper bar
being rather oblique with the end elevated, and in the upper stroke of the L elevated a little
above the adjoining letters, approach the rustic form. The first letter s is ill-formed, with
the lower half larger than the upper, agreeing in this respect with the initials in the Paulinus
inscription, published in this Journal, ii. third series, p. 249. The third letter, g, formed of
a semi-circle, with a short oblique tail, scarcely extending below the line; and the M in the
second line, with the first and last strokes splaying outwards, are the only ones which offer
any peculiarity, and in these respects they agree with many of the oldest Roman monuments.
“Hence, were we not guided by the formula, the comparative rudeness of the letters, and
the fact of the inscription being carved lengthwise along the stone, we might refer this
CHAP. XIV.] OGAMI MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 335
inscription to the Roman period, so complete is the absence of those minuscule forms of
letters which occur in most of the Welsh inscriptions, and of which an instance may be
seen in the Euolenus stone, ante, p. 56, and which indicate a later period, when, as in most
of the Glamorganshire stones, scarcely any of the letters retained the capital Roman form.
Under these circumstances I think we are warranted in assigning a date to the present inscrip-
tion not long after the departure of the Romans, whilst the writings still remained unmodified
by a communion with the Irish or Anglo-Saxon scribes.” (“Archaeologia Cambrensis,”
third series, vol. vi. pp. 128, 186.)
The Ogam inscription occupies, as usual, the left angle on the same face as the Roman,
commencing about 14 inches from the bottom and thicker end, occupying the entire angle to
within three or four inches of the top. -
m--//+/m3+/+llillºlill Him Hll-Häät
S A G R A M N I M A Q I C U N A T AM I
The consonantal scores are long and well cut, the vowel marks rounded dots punched on
the angle as in many Irish examples, the whole reads:— - -
(Stone of) S A G R A M T H E S ON OF C UN AT A M.
We find this name in Roman letters on the Fardel stone, and in Ogam on the great
pillar stone at Bridel. The prefix Sag, and also Seg, are frequent in Irish names. We find
the complete name as a potter's mark in the form of Sacrem (Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 473).
Cunatam. Cu, as I have already shown, is a very common prefix to Irish names. It
also enters into the formation of several reputed Cymric ones, as Cuneda, Cunobeline, &c.
This patronymic has been thought by some to be the former name thus derived, Cunatam,
Cunadaf, Cunedha. There can be no question that the latter is pure Gaedhelic, being formed
of Cu and Aedha. In truth, the identical name will be found in the Annals of Ulster, as follows:
“A.D. 497. The rest of Cuinedha, son of Cathmogha, that is Mac Cuillinn, Bishop of
Lusk.” The Annals of Tighernach, under the date 496, which Dr Reeves states is the true
date, mentions it thus:—“The death of Cuinnedha, son of Cathbadh, i.e. Mac Cuilinn,
Bishop of Lusk.” Dr. Reeves, who published a translation of a portion of the Annals of
Ulster for the Uls. Jour. Arch., 1853, accompanied by most valuable notes, at foot of A.D.
496 thus remarks on the above-named individual :-‘‘He was the son of Cathmogha, son
of Cathbadh, and tenth in descent from Tadhg, son of Cian, son of Ailill Olum; and his name,
Mac Cuilinn, was not a patronymic, but a species of sobriquet, usual at the time, as Mac
Tail, ‘son of the adze,” Mac Caille, son of the veil.’ His acts are preserved in the Codex
Salmanticensis, at Brussels, fol. 190.” The above notices are taken from Dr. Reeves,
“Annals of Ulster.”
CLYDAI. (Pl. XLIV.)
The parish church of Clydai, or, as it is called by the peasantry, Cleddy, is situated in
the County of Pembroke, eight miles by road from Newcastle Emlyn. I had some difficulty
in finding this place, which is in a lonely glen or hollow among the Prescelly Hills, south of
Newcastle. I first took the road to Cardigan, as far as Cenarth, turned off to the left
to Pont-ar-Selli, and from thence by a picturesque road as far as Lanceith; leaving the main
road I turned to the right by a narrow, rugged, hilly by-way for about two miles, and which
336 OGAMI MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIV.
ended in a lonely glen, at the bottom of which stood the church I was in search of; the
grave-yard is surrounded by a low wall, and entered by a lych-gate of some antiquity.
The church appears to be a structure of the 14th century, consisting of a nave, with
western tower, a south aisle, and a chancel; it is of the rudest type, built of common rubble
masonry, with a modern deal roof, no ceiling, and having no feature of any interest.
No. 1. This monument is built into the quoin of the left-hand pier of the lych-gate; it
is a stone 5ft. 6in. in length and of irregular shape and thickness, and has been illustrated in the
Arch. Camb. v. 1860, p. 223. The inscription there given is correct, but the drawing of the
stone is not so. The legend is in Roman capitals of a debased type, with a tendency to the
miniscule form :
S O L IN I FI L I W S W E N D ON I.
There is no Ogam inscription on this stone, so far as it can be examined, but I would
remark that the names here given are interesting; we find that Solinus was one of the com-
panions of Palladius, who left him in Ireland when he had departed from his unsuccessful
mission. See Ann. 4 Mas. A.D. 432. The name is frequent in Irish history and hagiology,
under the forms Sillan and Siollan. See Ann. 4 Mas. and Mart. Don. In the patronymic
we recognise the Gaedelhic form, Fintan, Findan. See Ann. 4 Mas. A.M. 2242, A.D. 612,
634, 685, &c. Gaulish form, Windona. Orel. 2019. Carinth.
No. 2. (Pl. XLIV.) The second stone stands close to the north wall of the church-
yard, and is in length 4ft. 2in., in breadth 18in., and in thickness 11in, at the centre.
This monument is thus described by Mr. Westwood:—“Like the former it contains an
inscription in debased Roman capitals, but the formula is still more irregular, the reading
evidently being,
E T E R N I FI I, I W I C T O R.
The first letter is reversed, the R's ill-formed, and the word FILI formed of compound letters;
the F distinct, the first I forming the upright stroke of the L, and the second I united at its
base with the horizontal stroke of the L; the oblique mark represented is most probably a
flaw in the stone. On the two edges of this stone are Ogham strokes and marks, which are
here given from a sketch by Mr. H. Longueville Jones, as the day when I visited the
locality was not at all favourable for their examination. The two names on this stone merit a
passing remark. The first, Eternus, is here so distinctly written that it leaves no room for
doubt as to its employment as a name. Hence we obtain a true reading of the Lannor
inscription (Arch. Camb. first series, ii. p. 203),
I C W E N A L I FI L I E T E R N I H IC I A C IT.
And hence I think we have a further proof of the correctness of my surmise that the terminal
words of the Bodvoc inscription (Arch. Camb, third series, iv. p. 289), are to be read as
nameS,
- E T E R N A L I W E D O M A. W. I.”
(Arch. Camb. v. 1860, pp. 225-26).
CHAP. XIV.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 337
The Ogam inscription occupies a portion of two angles, it commences as usual on the
left and reads as follows:–
LEFT :— +++1/+%m. RIGHT :— Illitº/
E T T E R N T O R
It commences at 18in, from the ground, occupies 2ft. 6in. in length, and finishes close to
the top; on the opposite angle, close to the top, and reading downwards, we have the letters
TOR, the concluding syllable of Victor; we are, therefore, justified in considering this as a
bilingual legend. The Ogam is evidently imperfect in consequence of the head of the stone
having been broken off; at some time this pillar had been converted into the stand of a sun-
dial, the head of the stone had been carefully squared and levelled; the four holes by which
the dial-plate was secured are still perfect, with remains of the iron pins; it is probable that
the legend went round the front angle of the head, as in other Welsh and Irish examples, and
that the original formula was as follows:—
+-Illill-hitſ/m-Hitſ+*#m-HHHill+%
E T T E R N I M A Q I F I C T O R
E T T E R N (or E D E R N) T H E S ON OF FIC T OR (or FE C T OR).
Ettern, or Edern, from the commutability of the letters, is of the same family as Edair
or Etair, Etain, Ethain, Ethur, and Eterscel, &c. We find the identical name in the
Mart. Don., p. 139, “Ethern, Bishop of Domhnach-Mor-Mic-Laithbhe in Mughdorna.”
The patronymic was more probably Fector; the v is represented by MH or F in Gaed-
helic ; names having the same prefix are common, as, Fechin, Fectach, Fiacna, Fiacra.
The inscription is fairly legible, and the characters are formed in the same manner as the
Irish examples.*
No. 3. (Pl. XLIV.) The third monument is not now at Clydai, having been removed
from thence to a farm called Tygoed, about a mile north from the church, and is now built
into the steps leading to the granary. Mr. Westwood thus describes this stone: “The
upper part is ornamented with a cross, with dilated ends to the arms, inscribed within a
circle, the curved lines separating the arms interlacing in the middle of the cross. Two
deeply incised longitudinal lines extend two-thirds down the face of the stone, where they
meet a transverse line. There are some other shorter, horizontal, and perpendicular strokes
(exclusive of several Ogham marks on the left edge of the stone), which appear to be destitute
of any meaning. The lower end of the stone is buried in the ground, so that I am unable
to conjecture what may be the true name of the person to whose memory the stone was
originally carved. The letters Dob with (F) ILIvs in a second line are all that I could
determine, the latter being followed in the middle portion of the face of the stone by three
short strokes (which I scarcely think can be intended for the letter E) and the letters
volenc -, a name which certainly recalls to mind the Penhryn stone inscription con. BALENGI.”
(Arch. Camb., v. 1860, p. 226.)
I found this interesting monument standing against a pier of masonry, at the right-hand
side of a flight of steps leading up to the floor of a granary in the farm-yard of Tycoed,
* Mr. Haigh thinks that the monogram after ETERNI, is certainly FLA, not FILI. He reads
(Titulus) ETERNI. FLA (vius) VICTOR (posuit). Flavius Victor was son of the Emperor Maximus,
proclaimed Emperor A.D. 383, executed 388. According to old Welsh traditions, Helena and Julia,
daughters of Coel, and cousins of Maximus, married respectively Constantine and Etern.
X X
338 OG AM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIV.
about three-quarters of a mile north of Clydai. The stone was entirely above ground when
I saw it, and as the farmer's wife, Mrs. Bowen, kindly washed and cleaned the face of it, I
was enabled to make an accurate drawing from dimensions. The entire length is 4ft. Bin.,
breadth at bottom 113 in., at top 14 in., and from Bin. to 4 in. in thickness. On the
broader end is incised a Greek cross within a circle; under it, reading from the present
bottom upwards, is an inscription in Roman capitals of an early type, and on one angle a
number of Ogam characters.
Mr. Westwood has truly described the inscription and marks on its face, and there are
none others but what he has shown. The long upright lines and the transverse ones are a
complete puzzle, perhaps it may have been an attempt to engrave a rude shaft to the cross.
The marks following DOB are, in my opinion, letters partially dependent on the two long
lines, they are much defaced and cannot be fairly represented in a drawing; taken with the
foregoing letters they appeared to me to read Dobu NI, a name found in the Ann. 4 Mas. A.D.
900, in the form of Dubhuan; names with the prefixes Dob and Dub are plentiful in our
indices. The patronymic I conceive to be EvoleNGI; I think that there can be scarcely a
doubt that the transverse line was cut through the back of the E, as it certainly was through
one of the scores of the Ogam legend. Mr. Westwood suggests that it may have some family
likeness to Cor. Balengi; the latter, however, is a name of a different type, and should not
be divided, being dependent on the well-known prefix Corb, and being in fact the Gaedhelic
Corbolan. The Ogam legend commences at 2ft, from the original bottom end of the stone,
which is the broad end upon which the cross is incised, and occupies a space of 1ſt. 9in. in
length, finishing within 5in. of the top ; it is much injured, and some of the letters are lost;
in its present state it is certainly imperfect. I make it as follows:–
D O F O T M A Q I S
The first, second, and third letters are quite legible, the fourth may be an A and not an 0, I
have shown the second score as doubtful; the fifth group is perfect; between the fifth and
sixth the angle is much worn, there is one vowel score; the group following is much damaged,
the first two scores are short, the third has been lost in the long transverse score, the other
two of the group are perfect; there can be no doubt that it was one of five scores, and
represented the letter Q; the last two characters are quite perfect, so far the legend appears
to me to read “DOFAT (or DOFOT) the son of S . . . .” A name almost identical has
been found in Ogam on one of the Ballintaggart group, p. 202, DOFET. I think it can
scarcely be doubted that the letters following formed the usual Maqi, we have all the letters,
the M alone excepted ; and taking into account the present imperfect state of the inscription,
and the mutations the entire stone has undergone, we may fairly conclude that its absence is
owing to weather-wear or injury; what the patronymic was we have no means of deciding,
the original top having been made the bottom will account for the disappearance of the
second name, which appears to have commenced with the letter s.
It is quite evident from an examination of this stone that it does not bear a bilingual
inscription, the Ogam Dofat and the Roman Dobunus have no likeness whatsoever, Dr.
Ferguson appears to think otherwise, and classes this among the bilinguals. I submit,
however, that there are no grounds for doing so beyond the mere accident of the letters Do;
CHAP. XIV.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 339
the rest of the names are quite unconformable. I might as well aver that Daniel and David
were identical for the same reason.
The long upright lines with the transverse ones are a puzzle, they cut through the Latin
inscription as well as the Ogam. I am surprised that Mr. Westwood could have had any
hesitancy as to the reading of the legend, which is plainly :-
D O B UN -(F) IL IU S E V 0 L E N C –.
The letters DoE are quite perfect; UN remain on the stone, but are confused by the lines
before alluded to ; the forms of the letters are quite apparent, more so than any drawing
could represent; the last letter is horizontal, as we find it in many legends of this class.
This name has been found on another monument in Devonshire, namely the stone now near
Tavistock, which bears two inscriptions, one in Roman letters the other in Ogam.
The name is intensely Irish; we find it in the Ann. 4 Mas, in the form of Dubhuan, a
bishop of Kildare, A.D. 900. In the forms of Dobhan and Dubhan it is frequent in our
indices. The F in FILIvs has been defaced There can be no question that the patronymic
was EvoleNo - . One of the transverse lines has been cut through the upright bar of the
E, but the three horizontal bars of the letter remain, which show that it was exactly of the
same form and size as the other E in the same name; this is quite palpable. The Irish form
of this name as we find it in the Ann. 4 Mas, is Eibhlinn, pro Evlinn, from whom Sliabh
Ebhlinn is named. We have the same type in Aoibhal, pro Eeval, one of the female deities
of the Tuatha-de-Danand. In the Mart. Don, we find an Aengus-ua-Ebhlinn. (See index
of names.)
BRIDELL. (Pl. XLV.)
The church of Bridell is situated in northern Pembrokeshire, near the town of
Cardigan; it is not a very ancient building, its architectural features being of the fifteenth
century. It is under the invocation of St. David, and is a chapel belonging to Manor Deifi,
beyond Cilgerran.
In the churchyard is a fine monumental pillar stone, having on its left angle a long
inscription in Ogam characters.
An account of this monument was published in the Arch. Camb. v. 1860, p. 314, by the
Rev. H. Longueville Jones, accompanied by an illustration. Mr. Jones thus describes it:-
“It is from the porphyritic greenstone formation of the Preseleu Hills, such as those at
St. Dogmael's, Cilgerran, and elsewhere used for similar purposes; but it is somewhat more
elegant in shape, tapering uniformly to the top, nearly covered with a thin grey lichen, and
hardly if at all injured by the weathering of many centuries.
On its northern face is incised an equal-armed cross within a circle, early in its character,
as much so perhaps as any cross to be met with in this district. There are no other
sculptures nor letters upon the stone; but all along the north-eastern edge, and down part
of the eastern side, occurs a series of Oghams, which may be considered almost uninjured.
This state of good preservation may be inferred first of all from the very precise manner in
which the incisions have been made, and next, from the circumstances of their following the
original indentations and irregularities of the edge, thus showing that the stone was in form
just as we now see it when these occult characters were first cut on it. An illustration
340 OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. xiv.
reduced from several accurate drawings and rubbings from sketches, from repeated handlings,
and from minute examinations made during several successive years, is here annexed.
Whether all the Oghamic marks on this stone are to be considered as forming
only one line, or whether they are to be divided into two or three, difficulties seem to present
themselves. The two opening and the two closing Oghams on the edge are very decided in
their character, so are the longer cuttings which extend across the east side of the stone;
but though we think we can approximate to a reading of some satisfactory nature for our-
selves, we prefer not bringing it forward until after further conference with antiquaries
experienced in such matters.” (Ibid. pp. 315-16-17.) -
Mr. Jones gives with his illustration a scheme of what he believed the characters on the
stone to be in relation to its angular formations, but if we refer to his pictorial engraving,
which has all the appearance of truthfulness, it will not bear out this scheme, and which
also renders the inscription confused and unintelligible.
That there are difficulties connected with the inscription is undeniable, arising from two
causes, the prolongation of some of the upper and crossing consonants to an angular pro-
jection on the eastern face of the stone, giving some countenance to Mr. Jones's idea of a
second line of inscription, and the wearing and partial obliteration of some of the characters
on the main angle. Regarding the first, I should say there was no second angle, and no
second line of inscription intended; the characters are generally boldly cut, perhaps
unusually long, the prolongation of the consonants being a mere freak of the engraver;
several Irish inscriptions present us with examples of very long scores, done in the dashing
style of those on the Bridell stone.
The whole of the inscription was evidently intended to refer to the front angle, which
runs pretty evenly from the bottom to the top ; if additional space had been required, the
right-hand angle, according to the universal usage, would have been selected for its con-
tinuance; in truth, a portion of the former is left uninscribed at the top, showing that the
inscription is complete, with room to spare on the one angle. I visited this locality in Oct.,
1870. The church of Bridell stands at the right-hand side of the road leading from
Cardigan to Haverfordwest, about three miles from the former, and one mile from Cilgerran.
The graveyard is small and overgrown with trees, amongst which are some yews of great
age and size; under one of these stands the fine Ogam pillar stone shown in the illustration,
at the south side of the church. It is a rough undressed flag, standing 7ft. 6in. above
ground, 2ft. 1 in. by 10in, at the base, and 5in. by 4%in. at the top. The Ogam inscription
is on the left angle of one of the faces, commencing at 12in. from the present ground level,
occupying 5ft. Bin. of the angle, and finishing within 1ſt. Bin. of the top. It requires close
and careful examination, as the characters are injured in many places, and the angle
generally much worn. I examined it very carefully, and under favourable circumstances as
to light; I found that the illustration published in the Arch. Camb. was a good representa-
tion of the monument, and the inscription with a few exceptions faithfully copied:—
m Hit41.14 m--//+//+ull #####11 ###mrº-HHH
N E Q A S A G R O M M A Q I M U C O I N E C I
The first score of the first letter is faint; in the third character there is some trace of a
CHAP. XIV.] OG AM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 341
sixth score, which I believe to be but a fray in the stone; my copy agrees with Mr. Jones's
in the first nine letters, to the tenth he gives the value of H; it is true that the part of the
score below the line is worn and almost indiscernable, but taking the five previous letters into
combination, it is quite evident that the whole formed the proper name Sagrom ; the eleventh,
to which he also gives the value of H, is undeniably an M, the score crossing the line or
angle; this, with the three following letters, form the word Maqi; the fifteenth character is
an M, the lower half of which is defaced ; that such is its value there can be no doubt, as
the following four letters with it form a word so remarkable and so often found in these
inscriptions, the word Mucoi. The last four letters are quite perfect and legible, the whole
reads as follows:–
N E Q A S A G R O M M A Q I M UC O I N E C I, i.e.
N E C U A S A G R O M T H E S O N OF M UC O I N E C I.
The name of the individual commemorated is Sagrom, with the prefix Nec or Necua ; what
confirms the identification of this name is the fact that we have it on another Ogam-inscribed
stone in the same district. The bilingual monument at Lanfechan gives us Sagrammi, i.e.
the genitive form of Sagram ; the Gaedhelic scribes were not particular in the use of vowels.
Again, we find this name on the back of the Fardel stone in debased Roman letters,
sAGRANVI. The name must have been a representative one, and must have been borne by
eminent chiefs or warriors; to such only could such remarkable monuments have been
erected, and it is certainly curious and suggestive to find this name in districts so remote as
the sea-board of Cardigan and the shores of Devon. The prefix Nec, Neach, is very
frequent in Gaedhelic names, as Nectan, Neachtain. Sagram is of the same type as Segan,
Segda, Seghene, Seghonan. The name or designation Mucoi I have already alluded to; the
concluding name or patronymic is Neci, which indeed is the prefix of the first name. A
similar instance is to be found in the inscription at Llandawke near Langharne, Carmarthen-
shire, where we have the formula “Barrivendi Filius Wendybari.” I have thus endeavoured
to give a reasonable rendering of this inscription; it is consistent with the formula generally
found on monuments of this class, and it takes no liberties with the original beyond what it
discloses in the obvious combinations of its letters. I do not consider that the ornament
incised on the face of the stone was intended to represent a cross, neither is it of any remote
antiquity; it is palpably a mediaeval quatrefoil, and cannot be older than the 13th century.
I cannot, therefore, look upon this memorial as commemorating “some Christian man probably
interred beneath it,” as surmised by Mr. Jones. We have not a scintilla of evidence that
this archaic character was ever thus used for Christian sepulchral purposes, or in Christian
times. The inscription is in a character peculiar to the Gaedhal, it is in the language of
that people, and its formula in exact accordance with that found on the great majority of
their monuments; it bears no sacred name, no word of Christian hope or benediction;
it stands grim, rugged, and solitary, a silent but palpable witness of the existence on Welsh
soil of that mysterious, restless, and ubiquitous race, the Gaedhil. Mr. Jones states that
“in a field adjoining the churchyard to the west there were discovered some years ago a
considerable number of interments, each in a kind of cistvaen, and this would indicate that
the precincts of the yard extended much farther than is now the case.” (Ibid. p. 317.) It
342 OG AM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIv.
is here evident that the present graveyard occupies a portion of the site of an ancient pagan
cemetery, and will account for the presence of the Ogam pillar. -
Dr. Ferguson (Pro. R. I. A. v. xi. p. 48) reads this inscription NETTAsAGROHocoupo-
coBFFECI ; this, to my mind, is not a correct reading; as I have already shown, the third
character is a Q and not a double T ; there is a weather fray in the stone, which he has
mistaken for a score. The Rev. H. L. Jones agrees with me in this character; there is no
such combination of letters as Hoc, neither oupoc nor EFFEC1, these errors I fear have been
caused by Dr. Ferguson reading from his paper mould, and not from the stone, as well as
by his imagining the inscription to be in Latin forms; his inspiration is quite evident from
the following passage:—“If so, the verbation of the Bridell stone would seemingly run,
NETTA SAGRo Hoc (or sAGROM oc) oudoco EFFECI. There was an Oudoc, Bishop of Llandaff
in the 7th century. If MOC, the reading might be MocI Doco, &c., and Docus, a more
eminent personage, be the one intended.” (Ibid.) The letter D does not appear in the
entire legend, and therefore oudoc and Doco fall to the ground; the last five letters are
1 N F C 1, in the most legible and palpable forms. Finding a few letters of a legend which
bear some resemblance to a local historic name is often a source of much confusion.
LLANFECHAN STONE. (Pl. XLIII.)
This is a kindred monument to the last described, being one of the very few existing in
dressed stones. According to Sir Samuel Meyrick, who describes it in his “Cardiganshire,”
it is 9ft. Bin. in height above ground, and 1ſt. Sin. in breadth, it bears a bilingual inscription
in Ogam and Roman characters, in a remarkable state of preservation, owing no doubt to
the fact stated by Sir Samuel that it was found in the eastern wall of the ruins of a building
(Capel Whyl) a few feet below the surface of the earth. The chapel was a building of great
antiquity; and the stone being looked upon no doubt as a pagan monument, it was used up
in its foundation. The author of “Cardiganshire,” though minutely describing this stone,
takes no notice of the Ogam; indeed, I am not aware of their having been noticed by any
antiquary until the appearance of the Rev. H. Longueville Jones's engraving and paper in
the “Archaeologia Cambrensis,” third series, vol. vii. p. 42.
The Roman inscription is as follows:—
T R E N A C A T U S I C J A C E T F I L I U S M A. G. L. A. G. N. I.
Of the Roman inscription the Rev. H. Longueville Jones writes:—
“The letters indicate a very early period; the same, in fact, whatever that period may
really be, as that of the Sagramnus stone so well known to our members. The absence of
the H in the second line; the uncertainty, or the mistake, in the cutting of the T and the F;
the peculiar forms of the g—are all points of interest, and may help to the determining of
its palaeographical date. It will be observed, too, that the letters do not touch each other,
nor inosculate, as is often the case in inscriptions of the kind. The letters were correctly
read by Sir Samuel Meyrick; and there is no obscurity about them. The name in the third
line would seem to show an Erse connection, as in other instances in Wales; and another
peculiarity of the inscription is that the terminations of the nominative cases are here pre-
served. The words end in vs not in I. On the whole, the inscription testifies to knowledge
and care.” (Ibid. pp. 44, 45.)
CHAP. XIV.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 343
The Ogam inscription is as usual on the left angle of the stone, same face as the Roman,
and occupies the upper part running across the head; it consists but of one name –
Ill/+TIII+IIllllll-i-Illm-#
T R E N A C C A T L O
The appearance of a single name on this stone without the usual patronymic is quite
consistent with the custom of the Gaedhal, as many such examples exist in Ireland. Thus
on a stone from Ballinrannig, p. 210, we have Broinion ; on one in the Roy. Ir, Aca.,
Ulcgni, p. 143; on one from Been, p. 144, Mongus.
Rev. H. Longueville Jones seems to think that the double c indicates the accent on the
penultimate, “therefore testifying to the Cymric origin of the name itself.” The Gaedhelic
Ogamists delighted in double letters, thus on a stone from Barachaurin, county Cork, we
have the name Carrttac, p. 122; one from Kilboultragh, in the possession of Col. A. L. Fox,
Muddossa, p. 138; on one at Kilgobinet, Kerry, Gonnggu, p. 239.
Trenacatlo would appear to be a genitive form of the compound name Tren-nacat; the
prefix Tren, or Trein, is frequent before Gaedhelic names. We find it also used on the
Cilgerran stone as a prefix in Trenegussos and as a suffix in Maccutremi. The proper name
Nocat has been found in Ogam on the Whitefield stone, p. 191, and in debased Roman
letters on that at Crickhowel, where it has the prefix Du. In Gaedhelic proper names the
vowels were constantly interchangeable. The patronymic of the Roman inscription,
Maglagni, is also a purely Gaedhelic name; it is of the same type as Macleighin, Maclendai,
Macloughlin, Maclachtna, which last it is identical with, Mag being the same as Mac, both
letters being sounded hard are commutable in Irish. In old MSS. Mag and Mig are as
frequently used as Mac and Mic. This is the case in the most antique specimens of our
language. Michael O'Clery, a lay brother of the Franciscan order, who published a vocabulary
of difficult or obsolete Irish words at Louvain, in 1643, states in his preface —“That they
(ancient Irish writers) often put consonants of the same class for each other, such as c for
G, T for D.” And again, “that the ancients wrote E for A, as DIE for DIA, CIE for CIA, &c.,
and that they also wrote indifferently A, o, and U, one for the other, at the end of a word.”
The final letters Lo would form a very unlikely genitive termination; may it not stand for
the ic jacet of the Roman inscription; Lo is also used in Irish to signify Decay, Mouldiness.
TRALLONG. (Pl. XLIV.)
The church of Trallong is in Brecknockshire, and is nearly half-way between Devynock
and Aberbrau stations of the Neath and Brecon Railway; it may be seen embosomed in
trees at the left-hand side of the line going to Brecon.
The old church was taken down I am informed in 1852, and was rebuilt on the original
foundations, being in fact a restoration of the older building; it is a simple nave exhibiting
no architectural feature of any moment, and in the style of the 14th century, so far as I
could judge from the opes. The west-end of the nave is partitioned off as a sort of sacristy,
and here I saw the stone I was in search of. It was found on the taking down of the old
edifice, having been used as a jamb-stone in the lower course of one of the windows, and
had evidently been cut to fit its position; fortunately, the bilingual inscription has escaped
344 ogAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIV.
injury, and appears quite perfect. Its length is 5ft. 9in., its width variable, from 1ſt. 2in,
at the bottom to 24in, at the top, its thickness from 5in. to 6in. The Rev. H. L. Jones, in
describing this monumentin Arch. Camb, v. 1862, p. 52, thus refers to the Latin inscription:-
“The characters are carefully formed, evenly spaced, of nearly equal size, not much
debased. Their palaeographical character is closely similar to that of the Sagranus stone at
St. Dogmael's, and it may be assigned to a period between the fifth and seventh centuries;
one peculiarity immediately strikes the antiquary, we have here the word FILIvs in the
nominative case, put in apposition with the word CUNOCENNI apparently in the genitive, and
immediately followed by the same word in the same case. Either, therefore, some false and
debased Latinity is to be found here as patently as in the last word of the inscription IACIT,
or else, here we have a proof that the first word though ending in I is in reality a nominative
case—the name of a person in its original orthoepy and indeclinable, and if so, then this
stone solves difficulties which have so often been met with in similar inscriptions.”
Examples of similar forms have been found in Irish inscriptions, but which have not
met with the same rational criticism ; some of our antiquaries disposing of such in an off-
hand manner by naming them latinised genitives. I have already shown that many
Gaedhelic names end in I and NI, and that many names in Ogam legends are in the
nominative case in apposition to Maqi, the genitive case of Mac, a son. The Ogam
inscription is as usual on the left angle and appears to be perfect, it commences at 16%in.
from the bottom, and occupies 3ft. Sin. of the angle, finishing within 8in. of the top ; the
scores are cleanly cut and regularly spaced, and of even lengths, they are much worn down
but are quite determinable; the consonants are short scores, the vowels oval notches on the
angle, all the characters being exactly formed on the Irish type :—
*#m-H"-H+mm-m-hih-tº-m-m-m-H4+
C U N A C E N N A F I I IL F. F. E. T. O
This inscription affords powerful evidence of the presence of the southern Gaedhil on
British soil. By reference to the article Dunlo, we find this identical name on the pillar
supporting the broken lintel in the artificial souterrain at that place, in the form of CUNACENA,
p. 233. The absence of the key-word Maqi creates a difficulty in the transliteration of
this legend.
That the Ogam portion is in the old Gaedhelic is quite evident; the orthography of the
name is identical with that in the Dunlo cave, as also the genitive forms. It has been con-
tended that though the characters are Ogam the legend is Latin, mainly relying on the
combination of letters FIL, as having some resemblance to FILI; if this were the case, the
patronymic would be FFETo, whereas the Latin legend shows cunoCENI. I am of opinion
that the Ogam legend does not express the patronymic, and that the characters which follow
the name have a reference to the profession of the deceased, as frequently found on these
monuments; see the articles Cahernagat, Burnfort, and Killeen-Cormack.
In our Gaedhelic dictionaries we have File, sim. a bard, a poet, and Fithil, s.rm. a poet;
the latter is pronounced Fihil. We also have Feth, s. m. science, knowledge; I would
therefore suggest that FIIL FFETo expresses the profession of the person commemorated, as
CHAP. XIV.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 345
a skilled or accomplished bard. It is also a curious coincidence that the name in the Dunlo
inscription is unaccompanied by the patronymic.
From the material differences between the Ogam and Latin inscription, it is quite evident
that they never were executed by the same hand. It is probable that the Cunocenni of the
Latin legend was a descendant of the Cunacenna of the Ogam, or that the former inscrip-
tion was cut on the stone by a descendant of the person commemorated, to preserve his
memory in the newly adopted letters and language; and fearing that the obsolete Ogam
would in the course of time become unintelligible. There could be no stronger evidence
against the “intentional obscurations,” “inversions,” and “phonetic puzzles,” of some of
my friends than is afforded by these bilingual inscriptions.
LOUGHER. (Pl. XLV.)
The old town of Lougher lies on the bay of Carmarthen, in the western extremity of
Glamorgan; in mediaeval times it was called Castell Llychwr, and in Roman Leucarum;
from time to time various indications of the presence of the latter have been found in this
locality, as coins, pottery, &c., but the most interesting relic is an altar inscribed with Ogam
characters. The first intimation of the existence of this stone is to be found in Lewis's
Top. Dict., where it states, “And near the entrance to the rectory-house, and now forming
a step to the stile leading up to it, is a Roman Miliary, which is supposed to have been
originally erected on that road;" the road here referred to is the “Julia Strata,” traces of
which are stated to be seen in the neighbourhood.
The stone in question, however, is no miliary, as has been ascertained by the Rev. H.
L. Jones, but a Roman altar. A description of this remarkable monument, accompanied by
an illustration from the pen of the above-named gentleman, will be found in the Arch.
Camb. v. 1869, p. 258, from which I extract the following:—“It now stands on the lawn
in front of the rectory in the upper part of Lougher, on the slope of the hill; it is rather
plain, but its shape, as will be perceived by the accompanying engraving, plainly betokens
its origin and purpose. The material is a fine-grained white sandstone of the carboniferous
series, so close in texture and so light in colour that at first sight it appears to be marble.
“It is entirely devoid of any sculptured ornaments or inscription; but on examining it
closely and under a favourable light in 1857, the author found on the south-west angle of
the lower portion certain Oghams, which are here carefully represented. The edge which
serves for the “fleasg'' on which these Oghams are cut, is chipped in two places, and the
Oghamic inscription is in so far imperfect. Owing to the very light colour of the stone and
the almost total absence of shadow cast by their cuttings, the Oghams were extremely
difficult to be made out.”
The inscription as given by Mr. Jones is as follows:–
- - - - - - Tſ......+III thº-
I visited the place Oct. 11th, 1870, and found the monument standing on the grass plot
in front of the rectory house, on the right-hand side of the road from Swansea, descending
the hill towards the village.
The stone is 3ft. 1%in, in height, and has an abacus of a square and Scotia underneath;
- Y Y .
346 OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. ſchAP. XIv.
under the abacus its dimensions are 1.ft. 5in. by 1ſt. 2in, ; its material is a light brown sand-
stone, hard and close-grained, but much worn and injured, particularly on the angles; as
usual, the Ogam characters are on the left-hand angle of one of the broader faces; they are
few in number, and are much defaced, requiring careful examination:—
The values of the last two letters IC alone can be determined, as the other scores may be
but portions of letters, the remainders of which have been on the flakes knocked off the
angle. It is quite evident that the characters have been placed on this stone subsequent to
its formation into a Roman altar, as the last letter is partially cut on the angle of the Scotia.
The following description of the Welsh Ogam Monuments has been completed from the
notes, letters, and drawings, left by Mr. Brash :-
CALDY ISLAND, PEMBROKESHIRE.
This stone has been lately removed from the wall of the chapel into which it was built
by Rev. D. H. Haigh, who has kindly favoured me with a rubbing of the inscription:-
RIGHT ANGLE :-####m-thill H-T-7% LEFT ANGLE :—”-Hitm#
M A G (U) L (I) T E B A R C E N (E)
The second and third vowels U and I are doubtful. The restorations just fill the spaces,
which could only be occupied by vowels. The top of the stone is broken off at the letters
R and E, which may have been an I. On the face of the stone there is a cross, and on its
shaft there are sundry notches or marks which resemble in some degree those on the Dugoed
stone, near Clydai. Under the cross is given : Et singmo crucis in illam fingsi; rogo omnibus
ammulantibus ibi ea orent pro anima catuoconi. The monument probably consisted of two
stones, one at each end of the grave, and the inscription on this must be regarded as a
continuation of what was written on the other. On the other faces of the stone there are
crosses. The arm of one, at the right side, cuts into the T of the Ogam inscription.
TREFGARNE. (Pl. XLV.)
In the Arch. Cambrensis for 1876, p. 54, Mr. J. Romelly Allen records the existence of
an inscribed stone used as a gatepost on the road leading to Little Trefgarne farm-house,
on the east bank of the western Cleddau, about a mile and a half from Trefgarne Bridge, on
the Fishguard and Haverfordwest Road.
The stone is a fine monolith of greenstone, 6ft. high above the ground, and contains two
inscriptions cut on the front face; one in debased Latin characters reads: NOGTIVIS
FILI DEMETI. The other in Ogams cut on an angular projection of the face of the
stone, which is used for a fleasg, reads:—
Tim H-ſ/*#TTT Hºt
N O G T E N E
The first character N is very faint, and is given on the authority of Prof. J. Rhys. The
last on the plate is S, but Dr. Haigh thinks it is intended for E, and he reads it NOGTENE,
a woman's name. The back of the stone is inaccessible, being built into the wall. The
drawing on Pl. XLV. is adapted from that given in the Jour. of the Arch. Cambrensis.
CHAP. XIV.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN WALES AND ENGLAND. 347
ST, FLORENCE.
On the base of a cross in the churchyard of St. Florence, written on the face of the
stone, not, as is usual, on the angle, Rev. D. H. Haigh, of Erdington, discovered an Ogam
inscription which he reads MAQUERAGI. This name has also been found in Roman capital
letters on one of the stones now at Dolau Cothy.
NEVERN.
On a stone used as a gatepost on the farm of Cwm Gloyn, near Nevern, Pembrokeshire,
there are two inscriptions; one in Roman capitals gives the legend VITALIANIEMERETO,
and the other in Ogam characters reads:—
m ##"4 II*-*TIrihih
preceded by some uncertain marks.
LLANDWKE. (Pl. XLVI.)
This stone until lately was used as a threshold in the entrance of the church at Llandawke,
near Laugharne, Carmarthenshire. It contained two inscriptions. The Latin legend is:–
B. A. R. R. I W E N D I FI L I W S W E N D V B A R I.
H IC I A C IT.
The Ogam is imperfect, owing to the damaged state of the stone:–
LEFT EDGE:- .../+14++++. - RIGHT:— ++++TH+1+m HIT
M A Q I M A H U M E L E D O N A S
The drawing on Pl. XLVI. is taken from a rubbing kindly sent to me by Mr.
Haigh. He writes, “Observe how the right score of H in HIC is shortened on one side
on account of the Ogham character M, and how the W is arranged in order not to interfere
with the Ogham H. The Ogham was certainly cut before the Latin. Before the MAQI are
traces of scores, but I could make nothing of them on the stone. It is followed by another
word beginning with M. The stone is unfortunately broken off at the top. It was split
to fit the position, as the back was free from weathering. The HIC IACIT is part of an
inscription quite distinct from that on the face.”
On a stone known as y Garreg Lwyd and Correg Fyrddin in Abergwill, near Carmarthen,
Mr. Roberts, vicar of Newchurch, detected traces of Ogam characters. Nothing intelligible
can be made out of it.
LLAN WINIO.
The stone from Llanwinio was found in 1846, while enlarging the foundations for a new
church there; it is now at Middleton Hall, near Llanarthney. This also contains two
inscriptions. That in Roman letters seems to make the legend:—
B I A D I A F I B O G. I. B. E. W. E.
The Ogam inscription is on two angles of the stone, but is incomplete, the top of the
monument being cut off and lost –
LEFT EDGE:- +TITH++++++++ RIGHT :- T+TTTTH
A F F I B O C I B . . B E F. F. . .
Mr. Haigh considers this a very precious inscription on account of the occurrence of the
word AFI (which has been found on one or two Irish monuments), equivalent to MAQI
848 OG AM MONUMENTS IN ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIV.
MAQI. Supplying words understood, he would complete it (Titulus) BLADI AFI BOGI
BEVE (posuit). The Ogam inverts the Latin order, AFFIBOCI BIADI BEFFE.
CAPEL MAIRE.
Mr. Brash received a drawing of an inscribed stone on the 21st March, 1872, from the
Rev. E. L. Barnwell, who states it was found near St. Mary's Chapel, in the parish of
Llangeler, Carmarthenshire, in 1828, when the Rev. David Morgan, of Knightsford, was
vicar. Mr. Barnwell obtained the sketch from Mr. George Spurrell, Carmarthen, May 4,
1871. - -
The stone is 5ft. 6in. long, 2ft. wide, and is inscribed with Roman and Ogam characters.
The Latin reading:— -
D E C A B A R B A L O M FIL IV. S. B. R O C A G N –.
The Ogam, on the usual angle of the stone, evidently imperfect, gives:—
++...+1-1++r-i-m-m-t-...T.T...Ilhřimſ
D E T C A I B A S F (I) L D E S
Llangeler is a parish five miles S by E from Newcastle, on the high road from Carmarthen
to Cardigan. The present church is dedicated to St. Celert. The stone was found near the
ruined church of Capel Maire, in this parish. It is mentioned in Lewis's Top. Dict, as
then existing. See also Arch. Camb. Jan. 1872.
LLAN ARTH.
On a stone inscribed with a cross at Llanarth, near Aberayron, Cardiganshire, the
Ogam character for C is engraved on the left arm, and down the shaft is written the name
GWRHIR(E2)T. (The Ogam is perhaps the signature of the maker.)
RUTHIN.
This stone is now at Pool Park, near Ruthin, Denbighshire, and is said to have been
removed from a barrow on Bryn y Beddau. It contains two inscriptions. That in Roman
capitals (excepting the first three characters) is perfectly legible, and reads AIMILINI
TOVISACI. The Ogaminscription is on two angles of the stone, but imperfect, as the stone
is damaged near the ground:—
TIT-HFrth-T H-III+ TIT #mrt-lillºt
S B L I N O F I - S A C I
Mr. Haigh remarks:—“The Latin legend is undoubtedly, as Prof. Westwood says,
AIMILINI, and the barrow in which it was found is called Bedd-Emlyn; it is also possible
the stone may commemorate two successive TOFISACI.”
THE FARDEL STONE. (Pl. XLVI.) ENGLAND.
This inscribed stone was discovered by Mr. Pearse, of Cadleigh, occupying the position
of a foot-stone across a brook, at Fardel, near Ivybridge, Devonshire, a district once
inhabited by a Celtic tribe, the Danmonii, and whose topographical nomenclature has a
strong Celtic tinge. This is the third Ogam-inscribed pillar found in a similar position. It
has been described by Mr. Edward Smirke, at a meeting of the Roy. Inst. of Cornwall
CHAP. XIV.] OG AM MONUMENTS IN ENGLAND. 349
(spring of 1861); by the Rev. H. Longueville Jones, in the Arch. Camb. 3rd series, v. viii.
p. 134; as also by Mr. Smirke, in the 70th number of the Jour. of the Arch Inst. This
monument is of coarse granite, full of large felspathic crystals, and is 6ft. Bin. in length,
2ft. 9in, in breadth, and from 7in, to 9in, in thickness. It was, as I have stated, formerly
used as a foot-bridge across a rivulet; subsequently it was removed and set up as a ring-
post of a shed in the yard of Fardel Manor-house, from whence it was removed by Capt.
Spode, the proprietor, and presented to the British Museum, where I saw it in 1867. It
bears an Ogam inscription cut on two angles of the same face, and inscriptions in debased
Roman letters on the front and back faces. The Ogam inscription is boldly cut and quite
legible, as follows:–
Thrºmº-lill-ill-Hºlläht
S A F A Q Q U C I
++llulºthillillºtill hit
M A Q I Q I C I
We have here the usual formula, while the characters are of the exact type of those found
in Ireland and Wales. A drawing of this stone given in the Trans. of the Roy. Soc. of
Cornwall, and republished in the appendix to the 8th vol. of the Arch. Camb., shows an A
between the first two letters of the inscription; a copy in my possession by the late Mr.
Pettigrew, and one by Mr. Geo. M. Atkinson, does not show it; I have therefore marked
it doubtful, though I am strongly of opinion that such a letter did occupy that position
from the structure of the name which the first line discloses, a name that has already
been identified on one of the stones found at Dunbel, Co Kilkenny. I read it —
SA FAQ Q U C T H E S ON OF C UIC.
In this instance, as in many others, the son adds a prefix to the father's name. On one of
the Dunbell inscriptions, p. 286, we find this identical name, in the form of Safficueg; that
Cueg or Cuic (the C and G being commutable) is a recognisable proper name, I have already
shown; it is common in many districts of Ireland to the present day in the forms of Mac
Quig, Mac Keag, and Quigly. The prefix Safi is to be seen on the Ballycrovane monument,
and Safei, on one of the Killeen Cormac stones. (See articles pp. 127 and 309.)
This is a curious and interesting identification; like the footprint in the sand of our
boyhood's romance, this inscription startles us with the presence of the Gaedhil in South
Devon, where we scarce could have hoped to have met them; and following up this indication
by an examination into the ancient topography of this shire, we find abundant evidence of
an extensive occupation by that remarkable race.
This interesting and remarkable monument bears on its face an inscription in Romano-
British letters, as they are called:—
F A N O N I
M A QUIR IN I.
This is to all intents a Gaedhelic inscription; we have here the formula Maqi, while the
350 OG AM MONUMENTS IN ENGLAND. [CHAP. XIV.
names Fanon and Rini are of a purely Irish type; Fanon is the same as Finan, the vowels
being commutable; it is a very common name. See Mart. Don. and Ann. 4 Mas.
F A N O N T H E S O N OF RIA N.
The vowel is here omitted, as often occurs. At A.D. 895, Ann. 4 Mas., it occurs as Rian ;
in the Mart. Don., p. 315, as Roinn; in the “Tripartite Life" as Ruan ; and as Roan in
the Ann, 4 Mas. at A.M. 4170. We also find this name on an Ogam monument at Kinard.
(See article p. 217.) We find the exact form as a potter's mark on Samian ware, Macriani.
(Cel. Rom. Sax. p. 468.) Gaulish forms, Macrino . . Orel. 4024, Macrini. . . Ibid. 21.
On the back of this stone we find a familiar name in debased Roman letters, SAGRAMNI.
On the monument at St. Dogmael's we have the form SAGRAMNI; see p. 335, on the
Bridell example, SAGROM, with the prefix NECI. (See article p. 341.)
BUCKLAND MONACHORUM.
Buckland Monachorum is situated in Devonshire, about four miles south of Tavistock,
and on the confines of Dartmoor. Here have been discovered two very remarkable inscribed
pillar stones. One of these, though not bearing an Ogam inscription, I shall here describe,
as it has preserved to us a very well-known Ogam name in Roman letters. It was first
noticed by Mr. Polwhele, in his well-known “History of Devon,” and was subsequently
visited by the Rev. E. A. Bray, vicar of Tavistock, in 1804, who found it performing the
duty of a coign in the wall of a blacksmith's shop. The locality was revisited by the same
gentleman in 1831, who found that the blacksmith's shop had been taken down, the inscribed
stone lying exposed on the site. Fortunately he was permitted by the Lord of the Manor
to remove it to the garden of the vicarage house at Tavistock, where it still remains.
The dimensions of this stone, according to Mr. Bray, are as follows:–length 7ft. 23 in.,
breadth at bottom 17in., at the top 14in. The inscription reads from the top downward, as
usual, and commences at 2ft. 14 in. from the top, as follows:–
S A R IN I F I L II M A C C O DE C H E TI.
The above is from a copy by Dr. Samuel Ferguson. Mr. Bray in his copy gives SABINI.
The individual to whom this monument has been inscribed is Sarinus; Gaedhelic, Saran;
in the latter form the name appears in the Ann. 4 Mas. at A.D. 601, 661, 742. Gaulish
form, Seranus. Orel. . . 205. The patronymic MACCODECHETI will at once be recognised
by the reader of these pages as having been found on five pillar stones in Ireland (see pp.
128, 181, 203, 285, 316); and one in Anglesey (see p. 181).
THE BILINGUAL MONUMENT. (Pl. XLVI.)
This stone was originally discovered by the Rev. E. A. Bray, also near Buckland, forming
a gatepost to a field; it was subsequently removed to the vicarage garden at Tavistock,
where it was examined by Dr. Samuel Ferguson in 1873, to whom I am indebted for a copy
of its inscriptions. The principal legend is cut on the face of the stone in three lines in
Roman capitals of an early type, as follows:–
D O B V N I
F. A. B. R. I. F. I L I
E N A B A R R.I.
CHAP. XIV.] OGAMI MONUMENTS IN ENGLAND. 351
The Ogam legend, first observed by Mrs. Ferguson, is cut as usual on the left-hand angle of
the stone, reading from the bottom upward and from left to right:—
m*-T-7//
N A. B. A. R. R
Dr. Ferguson informs me that the above is much worn and defaced, owing to long exposure
and the uses to which the stone has been applied, consequently the principal part of the
legend is defaced, a portion of the patronymic only remaining, but enough to show that this
monument bore a bilingual inscription. Dobunus we have already recognised on one of
the Clydai group, p. 888, as being the Gaedhelic Dobhuan, Dubhan, &c. Enabarrus is one
no less so in its formation, Gaedhelic form Ennabarr. Enna appears as a prefix in the
Ann. 4 Mas. as Enna Aighneach, Monarch of Ireland, A.M. 4888, 4907, Emma Airgtheach,
A.M. 3791, 3817; we also find Enna Cinsealach, Enna Nia. Enna appears also as a proper
name, as Emma son of Conal Derg, Enna son of Niall, Enna of Cill-na-Manach (Mart. Don.).
Barr frequently appears in our annals and hagiologies as a proper name, and also as a
prefix and suffix; thus we have St. Barr, first bishop of Cork, Barran, Barfhin, Barrindens,
&c.; Batbarr, Cathbarr, Artbarr, &c.; hence by a similar formation Ennabarr.
CAMELFORD.
At Worthyvale farm, about a mile and half from Camelford, Cornwall, in a wild spot by
a brook under a ledge of rock above the mill, is a stone which shows traces of the termina-
tion of an Ogam inscription ending in I, preceded by a doubtful R. It is also inscribed in
debased Roman capitals—LATINI IC IACIT FILIWS MA(G)ARI–.
BARMING.
In the Yorkshire Arch. and Topographical Journal for 1874, p. 387, Mr. Haigh records
the existence of fragments, supposed to be the lid of a coffin, found at Barming, in Kent,
presenting remains of an inscription in the Ogam character. It differs from the ordinary
Ogam writing, and seems as if the words were written on separate stems, instead of on one
continuous stem or fleasg. The scores are from one to five.
A stone was formerly on the road from Leeds to Burley, known as the grey-stone, on
which was said to be deeply impressed the marks of a giant's fingers; these marks Mr.
Haigh suspects (should the monument be sought for and disinterred) will be found to be an
Ogam inscription. (Ibid. p. 388.)
352
CHAPTER XV.
OG AM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND.
The number of Ogam inscriptions discovered in Scotland up to the present are ten,
namely those of Newtown, Bressay, Logie, Goldspie, Burrian, Scoonie, &c.; these are all
described in their proper places. We know that the Picts were the earliest inhabitants of
Scotland of whom we have historical notices. We also are informed that the Irish Gaedhal
invaded Alba in the third and fifth centuries, planting colonies in Argyleshire and the
western isles; these colonists, constantly reinforced from the overgrown population of
Ulster, ultimately became the dominant race, overwhelming or absorbing the Picts, until
Scotland became a thoroughly Gaedhelic country; so completely was this the case,
that we find its present topography not only north of the Forth and Clyde, but also in
Galloway and the districts adjacent, almost entirely Gaedhelic. The Picts, who, as I have
stated, appear to have been the first inhabitants of Scotland, were in all probability the early
inhabitants also of Britain, driven northwards by succeeding waves of population from the
Continent. Now a Pictish people, called by early Gaedhelic writers Cruithne, were found in
the north of Ireland at a very remote period. Cormac, in the Psalter of Cashel, states that
they came to the latter country in the reign of Heremon, the first Scotic king of the
northern half of Ireland.
The Book of Leccan has a legend about the Cruithne, under Gud, and his son Cathluan,
landing in the county of Wexford, and assisting Crimthann Sciathbel, king of Leinster,
against an army of foreigners who had invaded his dominions.
O'Flaherty, in his Ogygia, places a Cruithnean people in the north-east of Ireland, and
states that Adamnan, in his life of St. Columba, calls them Cruithne, to distinguish them
from the Picts of Britain; and that St. Columba, writing to St. Comgall, speaks of “the
Gruithnian people who are related to you.” (Ogygia, part iii. c. 18.) There is nothing
unreasonable in supposing that at a remote period the British Picts may have crossed into
the north of Ireland, from Cantire and Galloway, and may have held a portion of the
country up to the period of the Gaedhelic settlement, and until the power of the latter
spread northwards, absorbing the tribes that preceded them, and driving the Cruithni back
CHAP. xv.] OG AM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 353
again to their original country, or else subjugating them as they did the Tuatha De and
Fir-Bolgs.
The Cruithni may have existed in Down and Antrim as a subjugated tribe for many
centuries after the Gaedhelic conquest, and there is strong evidence of the fact, as that
district is mentioned by many Irish writers as the country of the Cruithni down to the
sixth century. We have some evidence that the Gaedhal at a very early age made incursions
into Alba, and founded settlements there. The Book of Leacan, as quoted by O'Flaherty,
states that the Firbolgs after their defeat at Moytura fled into Ara, Ilea, Reacrain, and the
islands of the Hebrides. Aenghus Ollmucadh, A.M. 3150, is stated to have vanquished the
Picts and Firbolgs, and to have carried his arms as far as the Orkney Isles. Reachtaid
Righ-dhearg, A.M. 3610, invaded Alba and subdued its inhabitants under his chiefs Ferc and
Iboth, so that he was styled King of Ireland and Alba. (Ogygia, part iii. c. 37.) It is
stated of Cuchulainn that he was trained to arms in the Isle of Skie. Crimthan Niamair,
A.D. 74, was married to Nairia a daughter of Loich, a Pict of North Britain. (Ibid. c. 52.)
Tuathal Teachmar took refuge in North Britain from the assassins of his father, and
returning with an army of natives and foreigners, avenged his death, and ascended the
throne of Ireland, A.D. 130. (Ibid. c. 56.) His queen was Ethnea, a daughter of Imgheal
king of the Picts. Numerous other instances could be cited from Irish authorities referring
to intercourses of both a hostile and friendly nature between Ireland and Alba, centuries
before the expedition of Fergus, the son of Erc, A.D. 503. After that period the super-
abundant population of the north and east poured into that country, until Alba became in
fact what she was subsequently called, the land of the Scots.
That Ogam inscriptions should be discovered in a country which had thus become the
home of the Gaedhal, is only what we should expect, and accordingly we find that in ten
instances Ogam characters have been found inscribed on stone monuments in Scotland. It
is, however, evident upon examination that they are not of the same type as those we have
been describing in Ireland and Wales, and are cut in such a confused and careless manner
as to be unintelligible, except in one instance. It is also evident from the circumstances
under which they are individually found, that they are of a much later date than those
above mentioned; except on the Bressay example, the letters are not clearly defined, the
groups of scores not being separated by such intervals as would enable us to give them their
values; the vowels being long scores (not rounded or oval notches) and not sufficiently dis-
tinguished from the consonants. In no instance have we a Scotch Ogam on an angle of the
stone, they being invariably on the flat surface either of the face or edge, and in some
instances the want of a defined stem-line adds to the difficulty of the decipherer. A
consideration of each individual monument will more clearly demonstrate the truth of what
I have advanced.
SCOONIE. (Pl. XLVIII.)
This monument was found in the churchyard of Scoonie, in the eastern part of Fifeshire,
and is now preserved in the church of Leven.
The old church of Scoonie was of considerable antiquity, being dedicated to St.
Monenna, a reputed sister of St. Patrick; to her six other churches in Scotland were ascribed.
Z Z
354 OG AM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. [CHAP. xv.
It is a broad slab the upper part of which is broken, bearing on the front face, cut in
low relief, a plain cross with a circle at the intersection of the arms and shaft, forming
panels filled with an interlacing ornament very usual on Irish crosses. On the back is a
representation of a deer hunt, with three mounted huntsmen, two hounds, and a stag;
above which, covering the head of the stone, is a representation of that nondescript animal,
having some resemblance to an elephant, so frequently found on the sculptured stones of
Scotland; with this exception, none of the usual symbols found on those monuments are
present, while the form of the cross, and the ornamentation, indicate Irish work or design.
The Ogam inscription is on the back face of the stone towards the left-hand angle, but not
on it, as in Irish and Welsh examples, the letters being cut on an incised stem-line, and in
such a position as would indicate their being coeval with the sculptures:—
TH++++m}m Imr
D O C E I O S O S N
I have shown the characters as reading from bottom to top ; it is difficult to distinguish the
vowels from the consonants which cross the stem-line, as the distinction of vertical and
oblique is not observed, and the scores appear of equal length; neither is the spacing
of the characters such as would enable us to distinguish between the letters.
The values I have attached to the groups of scores are in some cases conjectural, as I
am compelled to give vowel values to all the scores crossing the stem-line, as they appear
vertical to it. There can, I think, be no doubt of its being an Ogam inscription, of a rude
character indeed, and quite distinct from the Welsh and Irish examples in the formation of
letters.
BRESSAY. (Pl. XLVII.)
This curious monument was found at Bressay, in Shetland, by a labourer residing at
Culbinsrath, on the east side of that island, while digging a piece of waste land near the old
churchyard of Culbinsrath. It was taken by Captain Cameron Mouat, of Garth, to his
residence at Gairdie, and was from thence removed to the churchyard of Bressay by the
Rev. Mr. Hamilton. On the 19th of Feb. 1864, it was deposited in the Museum of the
Soc. Antiq. Scot., Edinburgh. It is a thin slab 3ft. 9in, in length, 1.ft. 4in. in breadth, and
2+in, in thickness, bearing on both faces rude representations of wheel crosses, with figures
of men and animals, of the usual type found on the sculptured stones of Scotland. The
longitudinal edges of the flag bear Ogam characters, not on the angles of the stone as in the
Irish and Welsh examples, but on incised stem-lines, cut in the centres of the edges; this
fact is some evidence that the Ogam inscription is contemporaneous with the sculptures.
The characters also bear internal evidence of a later date than the Irish ones, as they are
formed more after the fashion of the scales in the Book of Ballymote. Notices and
illustrations of this stone will be found in plates 94 and 95 of the “Sculptured Stones of
Scotland,” and in the 5th vol. of the Pro. Soc. Antiq. Scot., plates 11 and 12.
On the 28th of May, 1855, the Rev. Professor Graves, D.D., now Bishop of Limerick,
CHAP. xv.] OGAMI MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 355
read a paper on this monument before the Roy. Ir. Aca. ; his reading of the inscriptions
was as follows:–
No. 1.-C R U X : N A TD O D D S : D A TT R : A N N.
That is, “The Cross of Natdodd's Daughter here.”
The final word Ann being in Irish, the rest in Icelandic.
No. 2.-B E N R. E S : M E C C U D R O I : A N N .
That is “Benres, of the sons of the Druid, here.”
Naddodd, according to the Landnámabók, was a Viking or pirate, who in general resided in
the Faroe islands; in the course of a voyage between them and Norway, being carried out far
to sea westwards by a storm, he accidentally discovered Iceland, in the year 861. So far as
Dr. Graves has been able to ascertain, after a careful search, no other individual of the same
name is mentioned in the Scandinavian Annals or Sagas. This Naddodd had a grandson
Benir, whose name appears in the second inscription in the latinised form of Benres.
In illustration of the use of the tribe named Meccudroi (filiorum Druidis), Dr. Graves
observes that Benir had a daughter named Hildegunna, who was reputed to be a witch, and
to whose supposed powers of witchcraft allusions occur in a story preserved in the
Landnámabók.
Adamnanus, in his “Life of St. Columba,” mentions a robber named Erc Moccudruidis,
who lived in the island of Colonsay. There are some peculiarities in the Ogam writing
which deserve notice. It contains the diphthongal character for OI which is given in the
alphabets, but does not appear on any monument that Dr. Graves has examined. The
Ogam strokes are all drawn with reference to a medial or stem-line. Instances of this in
monuments are rare, the edge of the stone being almost always used for the same purpose.
The words are separated by pairs of points (:), one at each side of the stem-line. The same
interpunctuation is common in Runic inscriptions. (Pro. Roy. Ir. Aca. v. vi. pp. 248-9.)
Having thus given Dr. Graves's description and rendering of this monument, I proceed to
examine same and compare it with the original. The inscriptions on the edges of the stone
are as follows, taken from the Pro. Soc. Antiq. Scot., v. v., pp. 11 and 12:—
Illuſ//++IIIlu-l-m-H+ Hiſ mill-jacem Hill-ll//rmmr
R. R. S C C N AHH T E E D D A S A T T R R B N
T+m mºkº-Hºm/##"4"|1|1}}}#mrmſ
B E N F R. E. F. G E Q Q D D R OIA N N
Finding considerable discrepancies between Dr. Graves's rendering and the above copy of
the inscription, I was led to believe that either the rendering or the copy was astray, and
being anxious to ascertain which, I wrote to John Stuart, F.S.A., Scot., the learned editor
of the “Sculptured Stones,” for an accurate copy, pointing out to him the particular points
I was anxious to have clear information on. That gentleman readily responded to my request,
and by permission of the Society he had an accurate cast of the inscriptions taken, which
he presented to me for my personal study and examination.
The inscriptions, as I before stated, are on the flat edges of the slab, a strong and deeply
defined stem-line being incised down the centre. The scores which form the characters are
356 - OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. [CHAP. xv.
sharp and clearly defined, with trifling exceptions; none of the consonantal scores exceed
an inch and a half in length, many of them are but three-fourths, the vowels being of
similar lengths but vertical to the stem-line:—
No. 1 Inscription.
Illſ//1.4 millllllll: mº-'-111 mill Harm; Il-Hillſ/
C R R O S C C N A. H. H. T. F. F D D A D D S D A T T. R.
R B N
The first score of the first character is faint and worn, and somewhat wider spaced than the
rest; the next two are boldly and deeply cut ; the fourth has before it a well-defined score
below the line, as shown, it may have been an error in the engraver and may stand for
nothing; before the fifth character there is a similar score also well defined, and certainly to
all appearance coeval with the rest, this may also be an error; the sixth and seventh are
also well cut, we have then two distinct dots apparently divisional points; the tenth and
eleventh are wide apart; the thirteenth is shortened in the scores by a spawl off the angle;
the eighteenth and nineteenth are of curious formation, the ends being curved outwardly as
shown, I have given them the values of D D, which I believe they represent; all the rest
are quite distinct with the exception of the last. The divisional points are in pairs. I
accept Dr. Graves's reading of this inscription with the exception of the word Ann, which is
not to be found on the stone; the twenty-seventh letter is a distinct B, and could not by any
process be deemed an A; it is an oblique cut below the stem-line, and does not rise above
it, if it did it would be an M and not an A : there is no second N in the inscription,
immediately after the first N is a pair of divisional points, and some faint but certain traces
of a consonant crossing the line. I admit that if this inscription was in Gaedhelic, the
word Ann would be a very suitable termination to a sepulchral formula, but then it is not,
and the word Ann is certainly not on the stone, and would not be consonant with the fore-
going part of this inscription. Ann are the Ogamic initials of “Anaim, to rest, dwell,
remain,” and are equivalent when used in sepulchral inscriptions to “here rests’’ or “here
lies”; it is frequently used on Irish monuments, as I have already shown. The language of
this inscription is, as Dr. Graves states, Icelandic or Scandinavian, simply stating that this
sculptured monument is the cross of the daughter of Natdod; if this was the Viking
alluded to in the Landnámabók, the daughter must certainly have been a Christian.
No. 2 Inscription.
++mir V-Hämmi./**}^+mrmſ
B E N N R E S M E Q Q D D R R OIA N N
The first, second, and third characters are quite legible; between the third and fifth is a
space showing at present but two scºres below the line, these are certainly portions of the
second N, the rest being defaced, as is evident from examination, and which I have restored
by dotted lines. The letter R which follows is of a curious form, being curved at both
extremities of the scores in a manner not found on any other inscriptions; between this
CHAP. xv.] OGAMI MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 357
and the letter E is a space equal fully to that occupied by the R, but without any distinct
letters; there are traces of four or five scores below the line, three of which are palpable
enough, but no trace of their having been continued above it, certainly the letter, whatever
it was, could not have been formed in the same manner as the preceding R. It is probable
that it was an R also, though of a different formation, and the scores inscribed in a different
direction, being straight instead of curved; the E and S which follow are in good preserva-
tion, after which are two divisional points. The letters forming the word Meqq which
follow are also well preserved, as are also those expressing the word DDRROI. The double
R is very singularly formed, and is unique. (The Burrian stone may perhaps give a similar
character.) We have here also the diphthongal character for OI as found in the scale in the
Book of Ballymote, and which has never been found on any other monument.
Dr. Graves shows two divisional points after OI, but I could not detect them on the cast,
some traces may exist on the stone; the last three letters are quite perfect, and are followed
by divisional points as before. The entire reads:—
B E N N RR E S : M E Q Q D D R R O I A N N :
Which Dr. Graves renders “Benres of the sons of the Druid here,” and which I believe to
be the true intent of the inscription.
It is quite evident from an examination of both of these legends that they are of a type
quite different from those we have been hitherto describing. It is also evident that they
exhibit characters found on no other stone monument known to exist, though quite familiar
to us in various scales to be found in the MS. already alluded to. Thus in the first inscrip-
tion, the characters eighteen and nineteen will be found in an alphabet No. 3, plate vi. of Wall.
Coll. v. v. In No. 2 inscription, the fifth letter R will be found in plate i.fig. ii., and the
fourteenth in a scale on plate iv. All the alphabets in Wallancey's work are copied from the
B. B. (See Plates I. and II.)
It is also evident, that at whatever period the faces of the stone were sculptured, the
Ogams were cut either at the same time or subsequently; as it s quite certain, that the
artist would not have cut his inscriptions on the rough irregular narrow edges of the slab
were not the faces occupied by other subjects. The second inscription is in pure Gaelic, and
the form Meqq or Meccu approaches the usual formula on the Irish examples. The double
consonants are also characteristic of the Irish examples, as in the names Gonnggu,
Carrtacc, &c.
It may be inferred by some that this inscription should be looked upon as pagan because
of the patronymic Droi being found in it, but such may not be well-founded, as though the
father may have been a druid and a heathen, the son may have been a Christian. We have
here then a monument of Christian times, bearing inscriptions commemorative of two
individuals of different sexes, one inscribed in Scandinavian, the other in Gaelic, and both
in a peculiar form of the Ogam; taking these matters into account, with the character of
the sculptures, we may safely conclude that the whole was the work of one of those
missionaries who from an early age swarmed from the prolific hive of Iona through the
358 OGAMI MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND, [CHAP. xv.
highlands and western isles of Scotland, and who must have been acquainted with the
literary Ogam writing of the Irish.*
THE LOGIE STONE. (Pl. XLVIII.)
This monument formed one of a group of pillar stones which are stated to have formed
a circle on the moor of Carden, in the Garioch, Aberdeenshire; it was removed from thence
at some period unascertained, and with two others was built into a fence wall at Logie-
Elphinstone, the seat of Sir James Elphinstone, Bart. It is a rough, irregularly formed
boulder, of an exceeding hard and compact gneiss, broad at the base, broader in the centre,
and tapering from thence to a point; its length is 4ft. Bin., greatest breadth 2ft. Bin. On
the exposed face are incised several of the symbols usually found on the “sculptured stones”
of this district; on the lower part is the spectacle ornament, or two disks connected by
curved lines in somewhat that form, and intersected by the 2 figure with ornamented
ends; above this is the crescent, enriched with scrolls, and intersected by the W ornament
inverted ; there is also mingled in the group a disk of one, and a disk of two concentric
rings, there is neither a cross nor any Christian symbol on the stone. Surmounting all, on
the head of the monument, there is an incised disk upon the circumference of which are cut
certain Ogam characters, and arranged in such a manner as to be a complete puzzle to the
antiquary. As usual with Scottish Ogams, the scores are all of equal length, or nearly so,
and there are apparently no vowels; there are two scores which cross the line, but as they are
oblique, we must presume it to be a consonant; another difficulty is, that from the continuity
of the stem-line we have no clue to the beginning or ending of the legend, while the confused
position of the scores in relation to each other renders the satisfactory reading of it
exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. Dr. Moore, in his “Ancient Pillar Stones of
Scotland,” has given an elaborate and learned disquisition on this legend; he pronounces it
to be in Hebrew, and to read “Obhen Pethech,” i.e. “Stone of Entrance’’; he concludes,
that as this stone was one of a circle, it indicated the entrance to the mystic area.
Unhappily the Dr's. philological labour has been lost, having been expended upon an
inaccurate copy of the inscription, which is correctly given on the engraving illustrating this
article, and which has been carefully copied from a cast taken from the original stone.t.
This inscription does not appear to me to be of any remote antiquity, and was probably
cut by some person acquainted with the Ogam scales found in Irish MSS., three of which
are founded on circles. (See Pls. I. and II.)
* I fear the cast Mr. Brash used was not perfect. A cast of this monument preserved in the Museum
of the Soc. of Antiquaries at Newcastle-on-Tyne, showed in No 1 inscription a second N at the end.
While examining the cast, I observed that it shows what appeared to me to be a Filfot or Swastika
as occurring on the front face of the stone just over the crook held by the figure on the left side.—G.M.A.
# The engraving referred to unfortunately was not found amongst Mr. Brash's drawings. Mrs.
Brash is indebted to Samuel Ferguson, Esq., LL.D., Keeper of the Records, Dublin, for a paper mould,
from which I made the drawing given on Pl. XLVIII. As I had the pleasure of communicating this
method of obtaining impressions to Dr. Ferguson, his success in its application is to me very gratifying.
—G.M.A.
CHAP. xv.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 859
THE NEWTON STONE. (Pl. XLIX.)
It appears from a letter addressed to John Stuart, Esq., by Lord Aberdeen, and dated
Sept. 10th, 1855, that his Lordship first saw this stone in 1804, and that it had been dis-
covered by some shepherd boys in the year preceding; it then stood in a plantation of fir,
a few paces from the high road, and near to the Pitmachie turnpike, in that district known
as the Garioch, Aberdeenshire; the stone was subsequently removed to Newtown house,
where it at present stands. It is an irregular monolith of boulder formation, being 6ft. in
height and 2ft. in its greatest breadth; its material is of hard close-grained quartzose gneiss,
many specimens of which are to be found in the vicinity. On the upper part of one of its
faces it bears an inscription boldly and deeply incised, occupying six lines, and consisting of
forty-four characters; these are of so remarkable a type as to have puzzled every philologist
and palaeographer who has taken it in hand. The late Alexander Thomson, Esq., of
Banchory, circulated a description of this monument, accompanied by photograms, among
all antiquaries of repute, many of whom have responded by submitting their renderings of
the principal legend, yet none appear to have hit the truth. Readings of the inscription
have been given in Hebrew, Phoenician, Greek, Latin, Arian, Irish, and Anglo-Saxon.
Though unable to decipher this inscription, I am of opinion that it is inscribed in debased
Roman letters of a type frequently found in ancient inscriptions, its peculiarities being much
influenced by the hardness of the stone at the time of cutting, and the subsequent weather-
wear of ages.
The inscription alluded to contains one remarkable character, known as the Filfot, Thor's
Hammer, Swastika, and the Buddhist Cross. It has been found in the Cave Temples of
India, on Bactrian coins, on Byzantine coins, on Gnostic gems, and on an Ogam-
inscribed stone found at Aglish, now in the Mus. Roy. Ir. Aca. (see Pl. XXIV.); in the light
of this latter fact, its appearance on another Ogam monument in Scotland will not create
any surprise.
The Ogam inscription occupies nearly the entire of the left-hand angle of the stone; the
artist, finding the upper part broken and irregular, did not complete it by continuing it round
the head, as is usual, but appears to have commenced again at the bottom, on a natural
ridge, and a little to the right of and parallel with the principal line of characters. The
angles upon which the inscription appears are exceedingly rough and irregular, and in many
parts so ill-defined that it is exceedingly difficult to ascertain the relations of the groups of
scores to them, which greatly embarrasses the reading of the legend.
Another difficulty is, that as in all Scotch examples the vowels are long scores, similar to
the consonants, and not being sufficiently distinguished from them in the cutting, creates
much uncertainty as to which are vowels and which are consonants. Dr. Moore's description
of the legend is as follows:—“It will be immediately seen, that to represent the inscription
on the stone by merely drawing the strokes which form the letters on a straight line or stem,
as in the alphabet, would be really to misrepresent it. The line is in fact very irregular, and
as nearly as possible like the drawing, which is from a tracing of the line formed by the
edge of the stone, as it appeared to the writer when examining the stone with a view to
360 OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. [CHAP. xv.
determine for himself the places of the letters previous to any attempt to decipher them.
Probably, as in other instances, there was originally a shallow line cut on the stone as the
stem-line of the letters; but time and exposure have so far obliterated it that it cannot now
be distinctly traced in any part of the inscription. It is evident, therefore, that the inscrip-
tion cannot be truly represented on paper by mere straight lines. Of course the apparent
uprightness or the obliquity of the letters in respect to the stem-line must depend on the
bend of this line in relation to the irregularities and unevenness of the stone itself. With
the aid of a magnifying lens, however, the photographs pretty faithfully represent the
inscription as it appears in situ. By this means it will be seen that some of the letter-lines
are not in reality so oblique as they seem. Though there is no stem-line, it is not difficult
to determine the relative position of the letters in relation to its supposed place, since the
letters in general are unmistakably situated as respects their relation to the mesial-line.
There are longer spaces between the words than between the letters. . . . Of course
the reading of Oghams must depend on the side on which the reader is supposed to stand.
The Ogham before us is inscribed on the left-hand angle of the stone; therefore, the lines
on the left of the stem-line could not be seen while standing to the right of that line.
Hence, it is evidently intended that the inscription is, in both its lines, to be read as if seen
from the left. It follows that the letters on the right of the stem-line must be regarded as
above the line, supposing it placed horizontally.” (Ancient Pillar-stones of Scotland, p. 60.)
Dr. Moore having established to his satisfaction that the main inscription is in Arian
characters, expressing Hebrew words, gives the following rendering:—
In the tomb
With the dead (is) Aittie–
The light of the darkness of a perverted people.
Who shall be consecrated pure priest
To God 2 Like the vessel
Of Prayer my glory covered me.—(Ibid. p. 48.)
Dr. Moore goes into an elaborate argument to establish the correctness of his reading,
and detects in the phraseology Buddhistic allusions.
The Ogam he subjects to a similar process, and in his particular mode of reading
endeavours to connect it with the main inscription, as follows:—“Ioddie ueai n'nggedd'ka
kadun Baal neka Iaddi. When Baal ruled Jutland and the coast before thee, Tatti was
smitten.” (Ibid. p. 67.) I find a difficulty in reconciling to my mind the probability of
Buddhist priests coming from the far east to the far west, to the cold and then almost
uninhabited wastes of the north of Scotland, and inscribing Hebrew words in the Ogam
character of the Gaedhil of Erinn. Dr. Moore's copy of the inscription is not correct, and
I fear that a foregone conclusion has influenced the position of the scores in the legend.
Dr. Skene, in an interesting paper contributed to the Pro. Soc. Antiq. Scot. v. v., has
given a rendering of the Ogam legend; his view of the mode of reading it is, that on
account of the return line of characters at foot of the stone, it should be read from the top
downwards, and then follow the second upwards; if his view be correct, it would be the only
CHAP. xv.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 361
instance of its kind, as all other known Ogam inscriptions read from the bottom upwards,
without an exception; nevertheless, I must admit that it has a more readable aspect when
taken in this sequence, and as I have no doubt that this inscription is many centuries later
than the Irish and Welsh examples, it may be that the scribe who carved it knew nothing
of the ancient rule, or may have thought fit to depart from it. Dr. Skene considers the
inscription to be bilingual, the main one being in debased Roman letters, and both expressing
Gaelic and Roman forms; he however states his inability to translate it. He gives the following
copy of the Ogam legend:— I GI W S O I

- *I jº
#1-111+/#11 m +TIP/#///++m HH-4)(+
TJ D D D A R O T N U N NG O R. R. M. A. O N N E A G. E.
These letters he places in the following form:—
TJ D D D A R O T N U N N G O R. R. M. A. O N N E A G E J O S A. E. I.
The main inscription he conceives to be to a great extent identical with the Ogam, but
declines the responsibility of a translation; he however appears to think that GORRMAON
is a proper name, and may have a reference to a certain Gormund mentioned by Geoffrey
of Monmouth as living in the sixth century, or to a Guthrun, a Danish chief, mentioned by
Lappenberg and other writers as having lived in the ninth century, and who is variously
named Gudrun, Gormont, Gurmund. These ingenious speculations, however, must fall to
the ground from the fact, that there is no such combination of letters as would form
GORMAON upon the stone, and that Dr. Skene's rendering of the Ogam inscription is
founded upon an unfaithful copy of the legend; for this I do not blame the learned Dr.,
the inscription is of such a complex and difficult character, that the most experienced
Ogamist may fail in even making a correct copy, or rather in ascribing to the existing
characters the values originally intended.
The following copy of the Ogam has been arrived at by me after several examinations of
the plaster and type-metal casts in the Mus. Roy. Ir. Aca., and after repeated studies of a
cast presented to me by Dr. Ferguson, of Dublin, as well as of several photographs and
drawings; I however rely entirely on the casts for the accuracy of my copy. The irregular
surface of that part of the stone which bears the Ogam is the main source of difficulty, as
it is in ridges and hollows, the scores not following any defined ridge or angle; a careful
scrutiny, however, by the experienced Ogamist, and a study of the characters one by one,
comparing their relative positions, will enable him to arrive at the original values of most if
not all of the characters.
The copy which I have made is entirely independent of any theory respecting the stone,
in fact I have none, neither do I pretend to give a rendering of either of the inscriptions;
my sole anxiety has been to arrive at accurate values of the letters. In the following I
show the inscription reading from the top downwards:– W S S O I
Żºłº
+++ll-º/*m II-X-rm{}//#mrmº)(#mr
A I D D A R Q N F EA N F O R R E N N I EA
The scores towards the top are short, being from 14in. to 2in, in length; towards the bottom
A A. A
362 OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. [CHAP. xv.
these dimensions increase to 2in, and Bin. The first and second characters are well defined
and distinctly grouped, we have then a distinct dot on the low ridge here used as a stem-
line; the third and fourth are distinctly marked, and above the ridge; the fifth, sixth, and
seventh, are also well defined, under them the ridge runs into a rounded surface, but their
relative positions to the medial line is well preserved and beyond dispute; again the surface
runs into a small ridge, under which are placed the eighth and ninth, also well marked; then
we have strong indications of the cross character which stands for the diphthong EA in the
scale (B. B. Pl. I. and II.); the character is not well defined, it is true, but an examination of
the cast in certain lights reveals it; we have then a point upon the angle: letters eleven
and twelve are below the ridge, and are distinctly marked and grouped; after this the ridge
is lost in a hollow; the thirteenth and fourteenth are well defined and drawn across the hollow,
which rises again into an irregular ridge, running nearly to the end of the inscription; the
groups following, to the twentieth, are all well marked and grouped, the two following are
faint and difficult to determine; there are some indications of scores below these, but nothing
reliable. The return line of letters stands on a rude stem line, they are coarsely and
carelessly formed, but distinctly grouped; the last four characters are faint, being much
worn, one score of the last letter is doubtful. I have been uncertain as to the value of the
twenty-first group, whether an I or R, as the scores are slightly oblique, and it may be a
consonant. I have thus endeavoured to give an accurate copy of this inscription to my
readers; as I before stated, I have no translation to give of it, I will leave that to others:—
A ID D A R C UN FE AN FOR RE N NIE AI or R (S) I O S S A. R.
I would, however, make one suggestion; there is a combination of letters, FORRENNI,
identical with a recognised Gaedhelic name, Fereni, mentioned in the Ann. 4 Mas. A.D. 432,
as being an ancestor of St. Patrick's. Names of a similar type, as Fearon, Foran, and
Forannan, are common in our Annals and Hagiologies. -
The concluding name bears a startling resemblance to the Uosar of the Conyngham
Manilla, already treated of p. 319.
BURRLAN. (Pl. XLIX.)
The description of this stone is taken from a letter addressed by Mr. Brash to Sir Henry
Dryden, Bart., dated 1871, in answer to his queries respecting the Ogam inscription found
in the Broch of Burrian, in the island of North Ronaldsay, in Orkney.
After detailing his ideas on the subject of the Scottish Ogams, already given in the
commencement of this chapter, he observes:—
The above remarks hold good with respect to the minute line of Ogams cut on the face
of the grave slab found in Burrian Brough, North Ronaldsay; they are the smallest I have
seen on any stone monument, and are evidently of the same age as the other sculpture (a
cross and perhaps a fish) on the same face. An examination of the legend shows that it
must read from the bottom upwards; I have however failed in a satisfactory rendering of it,
and can only at present attempt to identify the letters which I have numbered in the enclosed
tracing, and have attached the values of the groups as far as I can at present see my way.
There can, I think, be no difficulty about the first twelve groups, which I take to have the
following values:—IALELRARBANN; the small score before No. 2 I make no account of;
CHAP. xv.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 363
No. 7 appears slightly oblique in my copy, I am however inclined to give it a vowel value;
the enclosing of Nos. 6, 8, 11, and 12, by line drawn at the ends of the scores is a freak of
the engraver, and does not affect the value of the characters. The 13th character is difficult
to deal with, if a consonant, its value would be NG, if a vowel, U, I would be inclined to
give it the latter value; we have then a doubtful character, marked by dotted lines, three
scores slightly oblique, this would read NG; Nos. 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, read RRACT;
No. 20 is a character found on many Irish monuments, its value in the MSS. is given as
EA, on the Crickhowel example (p. 831) it reads P, by the aid of the accompanying Roman
legend; Nos. 21, 22, 23, and 24, easily read EFFC ; Nos. 25 and 26 create a difficulty, they
either represent two consonants MM, or two vowels AA; Nos. 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31, read
ROCCS; taking this view of the value of the characters in this curious inscription we have
the following: IALELRARBANN (U or NG) NG RRACT (EA or P) EFFC (MM or AA)
ROCCS. I look upon the cross scores on No. 27 to be an attempt to form a certain
character found in the MSS. and also on the Bressay Stone, or else marks of obliteration.
I do not attempt to form these letters into words, I should wish to be more certain of the
correctness of my copy ere I should do so. The inscription being so small, could be easily
taken in plaster and casts made from the mould in fine plaster; where the characters are so
minutely expressed, the small deviation in the position of the scores might make a serious
difference in the reading, hence the value of the cast. If you could procure me a cast I
might be able to give you a more satisfactory account of it, but I doubt the possibility of a
perfect rendering being made.
The drawing and inscription given on Pl. XLIX, are taken from a tracing found with this
letter. This slab, of clay-slate, 27in. by 15in. and 2in, thick, was presented by Dr. W. Traill,
of Woodwick, to the Museum of the Soc. of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1871, where
it has been verified for me by Mr. Jas. S. Craigie.—G.M.A.
GOLSPIE. (Pl. XLVIII.)
This stone is now in the museum of the Duke of Sutherland, at Dunrobin Castle,
Sutherlandshire. It is said to have been brought from the old churchyard of Craigton,
which lies about three miles westward of Dunrobin Castle. It had lain flat on the ground,
and was used as a tombstone; one side is decorated with a large cross, filled with and
enclosed in interlacing and fretwork of exactly the same character as that found in the
numerous crosses in Ireland.
The figures on the side represented on the plate are remarkable, consisting of a device
highly suggestive of a mythological allegory: the walrus, fish, dog's head, crescent,
double circle, two serpents interlacing, and a man combating a wolf; and on the right hand
edge, upon a bead moulding, is an Ogam inscription. Mr. Brash did not finish or give a
reading of this monument. The letters are H L L D M L L D QT (EA or P) DD D M C
(A 2) C N Q. L. F Q (0 R S + N N ?) showing a lamentable want of vowels. I doubt the cor-
rectness of the rendering; Mr. Brash may have felt this, and perhaps it was the cause of his
not completing the article.
The drawing on Pl. XLVIII. is taken from “Sculptured Stones of Scotland,” by J. Stuart,
Pl. xxxiv.–G.M.A.
364 OGAMI MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. [CHAP. xv.
ABOYNE. (Pl. XLIX.)
This monument is in the churchyard of Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. It is a small flag
sculptured with a complicated plaited pattern, and a mirror, intended to have some symbolic
meaning. It measures 29}in, long, 13%in. broad at top, and 16%in. at foot, and 2in, thick.
Near the right side, on the face of the stone, are two lines of an inscription in the Ogam
character; on the left-hand line, reading upwards, we have the well-recognised formula
M A Q Q, followed by a character which may stand for the diphthong OI. It is a circle, with
a score tangent-like touching it. The formula MAQQOI appears in many Irish Ogam
inscriptions. TALLUORRH following will contain the patronymic. On the right-hand
line we might look for the name of the individual, who on the left-hand line is called Maqqoi
Talluorrh, that is, (of the) son of Talluorrh ; reading from the bottom the inscription is
continued thus: NXHHTFROBBATCXNNEFF. The second and fourteenth characters X
so formed (See Pl. XLIX.) is only met with as yet on the Burrian and Lunnasting monument.
It has been commented on by Mr. Brash with reference to the Burrian monument, Nos. 25
and 26 of that inscription. Here the inscription makes sense only when we take this character
to mean E or EA, which gives us NEAHHTFR OBBAT CEANNEFF. Some of the Ogam
characters are faint, and very difficult to determine, the right-hand line being on a kind of
rounded edge; I am indebted to Mr. James S. Craigie for the drawing given on Pl. XLIX.
He and Mr. Gilbert Goudie, F.S.A. Scot., have kindly verified the inscription. In the Pro-
ceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. x. p. 602, Dr. W. F. Skene gives a
reading of this inscription: “Maqqoi or Maqi, Tallaorrh. In a list of the names of Pictish
kings given in the Pictish Chronicle, we find Talore, Talorg, Talloreen, and Talorgen. . . .”
The other line he reads: “Neahhtlarobbaitceanneff Neahhtla, a local form of Neachtan.
Robbait, Robaid, immolavit, in Book of Deer. Ceanneff is Kenneff, a church in the
Mearns; between castle and church is St. Arnty's Kill (Stat. Acc.), said to be St. Arnold's
cell; Dr. Reeves shows that Arnty and Arnold are corruptions of Adomnan, and Aboyne was
dedicated to Adomnan.” The above reading differs from mine,—G.M.A.
GIGHA.
In the Pro. Soc. of Ant. of Scotland, vol. x. pt. ii. p. 888, Capt. J. P. White, R.E.,
mentions, when describing the ecclesiastical antiquities of the Island of Gigha and Cara:
“Among an interesting group of sepulchral mediaeval monuments at Kilchattan, Gigha, the
principal is one with the appearance of having Ogham characters engraved on it. With
one other exception, the only Ogham stone yet discovered in the West Highlands.” It is to
be regretted, the information regarding this monument is so slight.—G.M.A.
ST. N.INIAN’S. (Pl. XLIX.)
On the west side of the southern promontory of the Shetland mainland, in the parish of
Dunrossness, is the small island of St. Ninian's, (locally termed St. Ringan's,) on it formerly
stood a chapel, the traditional shrine of St. Ninian; not a vestige of it remains, owing to
the barbarous cupidity of a former owner of the island. The site retains a traditional
sacredness, and was for many ages the burial place of the neighbouring mainland district,
interments being discontinued only within the memory of the present generation. In July,
1876, Mr. Gilbert Goudie, F.S.A. Scot., visited the island, and in searching carefully,
CHAP. xv.] OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. 365
he was fortunate in finding this Ogam inscription in this burying ground, imbedded
in the sand. I have to express my obligations to him for the careful drawing given
on Pl. XLIX., which he kindly sent me, and the following particulars of the monu-
ment: “It is an oblong slab of sandstone, almost rectangular in section, carefully
prepared, 2ft. 6%in, long, 10%in. broad, 2in, thick. The inscription is cut on a fleasg in the
middle of the edge, resembling in this the method used on the Bressay stone. It appears
to befractured at the bottom; where the inscription commences it is unfortunately imperfect,
we have part of a character, and ES the last letters of the name. Then the formula
MEQQ for the MAQQI of the Irish inscriptions, and NANAG OFFEST. The scores
forming G are wider apart than the rest, so it may read MM.” Two fragments with Ogam
inscriptions were also found by Mr. Goudie in this place at the same time.
This and the Lunnasting stone form the subject of an interesting communication by Mr.
Goudie to the Soc. of Antiquaries of Scotland, on the occasion of his presenting them to
their museum, published in the twelfth vol. of their proceedings.
LUNNASTING. (Pl. XLIX.)
I am indebted to the Rev. J. C. Roger for a rubbing of this inscription. It was
discovered by him in a cottage in the parish of Lunnasting, north-east mainland of
Shetland.
Mr. Roger by letter, dated from the Baptist Manse, Lerwick, 13th Nov. 1876, informed
me “the stone was found 5ft. below the surface last April, in the parish of Lunnasting, in a
moss at a distance of some miles from any known ruins. It has been presented by me to
the National Museum of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh. Enclosed you will find a
true copy of the Ogam. . . . You are at liberty to use the copy as you think
best. . . .”
This monument is a flat stone shaped somewhat like a coffin lid, 3ft. 84 in. long,
13in. wide, 1%in, thick. The characters, in an admirable state of preservation, are inscribed
on the face or flat surface, nearly in the middle. The scores are short, averaging about in.
in length. The groups are of the tied or bound class, and very peculiar, reading upwards;
before the commencement we find a small X cross mark, this is not on the stem-line, the
end of which is well-defined by a pit-like mark, X TT(OI). CHUH(0)|TTS : AHGOH. HTTM
NNN: HCCF: FSTFF : NEHHT. ONN. The last N is partly obliterated, Mr. Roger
marked it faintly, I requested my friend Mr. Craigie to examine and verify the inscription,
he kindly informs me the last score of the N is obliterated: still, N is frequently the
terminal letter. The third mark, a portion of a circle with a faint concentric mark inside,
may perhaps in that position represent the diphthong OI. The fifth group is joined or
compounded HUH. The next is a mark only found on the Scotch inscriptions. It may be
intended for the X diphthong EA, to be read as P in the Crickhowel Ogam, p. 331, or AA,
O, MM, or G, affording a choice. The same character occurs again in this inscription,
it is on the Burrian stone, and twice on the Aboyne stone. The interpunctuation by pairs
of points (:), one on each side of the stem-line, separating the words, common in Runic
inscriptions, is only found on this and the Bressay stone. The drawing on Pl. XLIX. is
366 OGAM MONUMENTS IN SCOTLAND. [CHAP. xv.
carefully reduced from the rubbing. The cross or dagger mark on the upper part of the
stone deserves attention.
IKUNNINGSBURGH.
A fragment, with two letters I and R in the enclosed Ogam character, was found in the
neighbourhood of an ancient church, Mails Air, Aith's Woe, parish of Kunningsburgh, situated
in the middle of the southern promontory of the mainland of Shetland, by Mr. Robert Cogle,
who deposited it in the museum of the Soc. of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Mr. Gilbert Goudie kindly informs me two other fragments with Ogam inscriptions have
quite recently been discovered by the Rev. George Clark, minister of the Free Church of
Scotland, in the same locality.
367
CHAPTE R XVI.
EASTERN FORMS OF OGAMS.
If the Gaedhal were, as their ancient writers assert, a people of an Eastern descent, and
if we must attribute to them the introduction of the Ogam character, it is reasonable that
we should endeavour to ascertain the probability of the existence of similar characters
amongst an Eastern people.
I think that we have some evidence, that letters bearing a marked resemblance to them
were used at some remote period in the East. In 1806, a curious work was published in
London, by Mr. Joseph Hammer, secretary to the Imperial Legation at Constantinople,
being a translation from the Arabic of a treatise on “Ancient Alphabets and Hieroglyphic
Characters,” stated to have been written by Ahmad Bin Abubekr Bin Wahshih. Among
the alphabets given in this work are two, bearing a strong resemblance to Ogams.
The authority of this book has been impugned by Dr. Graves; in referring to the
Ogamic scales given in it, he remarks:—“It ought also to be mentioned that an Arabic
collection of alphabets by Ibn Wahshih, translated by Von Hammer, contains two tree-
shaped alphabets, of which one is constructed on precisely the same principle as the Ogham.
This work, which for a time imposed upon the half learned, is now proved to be of no
authority. The greater number of the alphabets which it contains are fictitious, and its
pretended explanations of Egyptian hieroglyphics are all found to be incorrect.” (Pro.
Roy. Ir. Aca. v. iv. p. 362.)
This sweeping condemnation is unaccompanied by the slightest proof, and we must
therefore accept it as the mere opinion of Dr. Graves. An examination, however, of the
book in question will, I think, establish its claims to the favourable consideration of the
learned. Mr. Joseph Hammer's share of the work is simply that of a translator, and he
appears to have performed this duty with singular honesty; his preface is written with great
candour and modesty, and he gives a simple straightforward account of the writer whose
work he translates; he informs us that “The author lived a thousand years ago, in the
time of the Calif Abdul Malik Bin Marwān. His surnames would be sufficient to prove that
368 EASTERN FORMS OF OGAMS. ſcHAP. XVI.
he was a Chaldean, Nabathean, or perhaps a Syrian, by birth, if he did not tell us himself
that he translated a work treating on the hieroglyphics and secrets of Hermes from his
mother-tongue, the Nabathean, into Arabic. . . . He deposited the original of his work
(as he informs us) in the library of the Calif above-mentioned. This Prince (one of the
most enlightened of his dynasty) rivalled his great predecessors Hárún Arrashid and
Māmūn in the encouragement given to the progress of the sciences, and to the translation
of mathematical and philosophical works from the Greek and Syriac into Arabic.” (p. ii.)
Mr. Hammer, anxious to verify the credit of Ibn Wahshih, has collected the following
notices of him and his works. “Chalabizaade Hadshi Khalfa, the great Oriental encyclo-
pedist and bibliographer, gives us in his Bibliographical Dictionary an account of the works
of our author, and mentions him as one of the most celebrated translators that ever enlarged
the empire of Arabic literature by precious translations from foreign languages.” (p. iii.)
“In another encyclopedial work, the title of which is ‘The well-arranged pearls of scientific
instruction,’ we become acquainted with the titles of some other curious works translated by
our author.” Under the article is the following passage:—“And among the oldest books
upon this science is the Sidrat ul Muntahi (The Tree of Paradise), translated by Ibn
Wahshih, from the Nabathean.”
In the same work, under the head Natural Magic (which they distinguish from Super-
natural Magic), we are told that natural magic is divided into two branches, the first treating
of the knowledge of the particular properties of plants, metals, animals, &c.; and the
second, of the composition and construction of artificial machines; after which the author
says:– “Among the books written on the first branch is that entitled Taafinát, that is
Putrifactions, translated from the Nabathean by Ibn Wahshih.” (pp. xv. and xvi.)
Again at p. xvii. he remarks:–“Since writing the above, I have discovered that this
rare book was not unknown to Kircher, who in his work on the Hieroglyphics, under the
first paragraph, “Occasio hujus operis,’ says:—‘Quatuor lustra jam prope eguntur—quo-
Romam ut in obeliscis Romanis specimen quoddam exhiberem hieroglyphicae interpretationis,
e Gallia vocor, cujus literaturae hucusque incognitae ex pervetusto Arabico codice instaura-
tionem me moliri fama ferebatur.” And further below in the same ‘epistola paraenetica,’
talking of his means, and naming different authors, he concludes the enumeration by saying:
‘quos inter principem sané locum obtinet Aben Waschia.’ Then again, page 109, in the text,
naming his Arabic authors—“Gelaledden, Aben Regel, et Aben Waschia de culturăAEgyptiorum,
et libro de antiquitate vitae, moribus, litteris veterum AEgyptiorum, quos penes me habeo,
ex quibus haud exiguum ad Hieroglyphicum institutionem subsidium allatum est.' And
then :—‘Nam Aben Wahschia—primus AEgyptios libros in linguam Arabicam transtulit,
quem nos Melitae inter spolia Turcorum repostum singulari Dei providentiá arabicum
reperimus.' Now though these quotations show that the MS. was not, as I supposed,
unknown, yet they enhance the value of it by the worth attached to it by a manlike Kircher.”
(pp. 17, 19.) Ibn Wahshih lived in the golden age of Arab literature, when all that was
known in arts and sciences flourished among them ; when the empire of the Caliphs pro-
duced poets, historians, philologists, geographers, mathematicians, chemists, and astronomers;
when Bagdat, and Damascus, and Cairo, were the resort of the learned of all nations. It
cHAP. xvi.] EASTERN FORMS OF OGAMS. - 369
is not therefore a matter of the slightest surprise that he should have endeavoured to collect
and save from oblivion the alphabets of those nations, who from time to time peopled the
great table-land from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian. Ibu Wahshih's work contains eighty
alphabetic scales, and several tables of hieroglyphics, the explanations of which latter are
worthless. Very many of the alphabets are known to antiquaries and philologists, and are
to be found in other collections. Sir William Gell, writing to Dr. Young from Rome,
July 9, 1822, remarks:—“I forgot to mention that Tommaso A. Cushi has got several
MSS., in which I detect many of the strange characters of the Ebu Wahshih collection by
Hammer.” (Dr. Young's Works, v. iii. p. 214.)
Our eastern author in his work states that he deposited the original in the treasury of
Abdolmelie, in the year of the Hejira, 214; Mr. Hammer, remarking on this passage, states
that this Caliph reigned in the middle of the first century of that epoch, and that the writer
must be understood to refer to a public library, founded by that monarch, and still bearing
his name. Having thus given some idea of the work in question, I shall now give the two
alphabets already alluded to. The first will be found on Pl. L. fig. 1.
We have here an alphabet of twenty-eight characters, formed by combinations of simple
strokes on a stem-line, so far resembling the Gaedhelic Ogam, but differing from it in these
particulars, that the strokes run up to eight in number, and that each character is formed
by one or more strokes at each side of the stem-line, and all in an upward direction, and
forming an acute angle with it; so far it is essentially an Ogam Craob, or Tree Ogam. Ibu
Wahshih calls this “the alphabet of Dioscorides the philosopher, commonly called the Tree
Alphabet.” (Ibid. p. 8.) Many of the scales in this work are attributed to philosophers
and learned men, as being invented by them for their own special uses; but this appears to
have been done without authority, and merely to give them some designation, their original
introduction and use being unknown to the Arab writers. The second scale will be found
on Pl. L. fig. 2.
This alphabet consists of thirty characters, formed on the same principle as the last,
with this exception, that the scores do not exceed five in each group, thus assimilating it
closely in this respect to the Irish Ogam ; it is also evident that the last ten are duplicates
of certain of the first twenty, though expressed in a different form. Ibu Wahshih entitles
this “the alphabet of Plato the Greek philosopher.” It is quite evident that this
attribution is fanciful, it is probable that the literati of that age, finding these archaic letters
handed down to them without any information as to their origin, fathered them upon the
ancient Greeks. This fact alone is some evidence of their antiquity. It is curious, that
while Dr. Graves impugns the authority of the Arabic philologist, he gives us an alphabet
identical with it in construction, which he states is taken from Liljegren's Run-Lara. (See
Pl, L. fig. 3.)
Now it is very probable that if the Scandinavians did not bring this alphabet, or one
similar to it, from Ireland, their ancestors may have imported it from the East.
It is a remarkable fact, that in the most archaic forms of eastern writing accessible to
us, Ogamic types are to be found. Thus we have Professor Rawlinson stating it as his
B. B. B.
370 EASTERN FORMS OF OGAMS. [CHAP. xvi.
opinion, that the cuneiform characters of the Chaldeans superseded a linear form of writing,
the wedge being substituted for a simple line. “Among the earliest of the monuments
hitherto discovered are a set of bricks (found at Warka, the ancient Huruk or Erech),
bearing the following cuneiform inscription :-See Pl. L. figs. 4 and 5. This inscription is
explained to mean:—‘Beltis, his lady, has caused Urukh (Orchamus), the pious chief, King
of Hur, and King of the land (?) of the Akkad, to build a temple to her.” In the same
locality where it occurs, bricks are also found bearing evidently the same inscription, but
written in a different manner. Instead of the wedge and arrowhead being the elements of
the writing, the whole is formed by straight lines of almost uniform thickness, and the
impression seems to have been made by a single stamp.” (Five Great Monarchies, v.i.
p. 80.) In the former, forms analogous to the Tree-Ogam will be found. This is also the
opinion of Dr. Layard: “Admitting,” he writes, “that the Assyrian is the most ancient
known form of arrow-headed writing, it would be interesting to ascertain its origin. The
epithets of cuneiform, cuneatic, wedge-shaped, and arrow-headed, Tete-a-clou (nail-headed)
in French, and Keilforming in German, have been variously assigned to it, because its com-
ponent parts resemble either a wedge, the barb of an arrow, or a nail, according to the fancy
of the describer. It is not improbable, however, that the original or primitive elements of the
letters were simple lines, the wedge or arrow-head being a subsequent improvement or
embellishment.” In evidence of the truth of this reasonable conjecture, Dr. Layard brings
the corroborative illustration of an actual linear inscription. “On a slab at Nimroud,
forming a part of a wall in the south-west palace, but brought from the most ancient edifice,
I found one line of writing in which the characters were thus formed. It occurred beneath
the usual inscription, and was but slightly cut.” (Pl. L. fig. 6.) “It is evident that by
substituting the wedge or arrow-head for the lines in the above inscription, the characters
would resemble such as are found on the earliest Assyrian monuments.” (Nineveh and its
Remains, v. ii. p. 179.)
EGYPT.
The Irish bards have invariably maintained that the ancestors of the Gaedhil sojourned
in the land of the Pharoahs; the tradition has been magnified by their Christian successors,
who have mixed up with it Moses, the Israelites, and the Exodus, and a number of fabulous
particulars not worthy of narration here.
What we can gather from the mythic relation is this, that the Gaedhil were a Scythic
people who found their way into Egypt, and after a sojourn of some time passed through a
country called Gethluighe, and from thence to Spain and Ireland. It is true that they
represent these migrations as having been by sea—this was natural to an island people, who
were themselves accustomed to sea adventure; but however true as regarded their later
change of localities, was not as regarded their earlier. That there may be some truth in
the bardic tradition will appear in the light of ancient history and geography.
Early records inform us that the Scythians having defeated a cognate tribe named
Cimmerians, and driving them before them, entered Media. Cyaxares, King of the Medes, was
then engaged in attacking Babylon, the siege of which he raised, and turning back, engaged
the invaders in a pitched battle, in which he was defeated. The victorious Nomades overran
CHAP, XVI.] EASTERN FORMS OF OGAMS. 371
all Asia Minor and Palestine, pushing their conquests south of Ascalon to the immediate
confines of Egypt, of which country Psammeticus was then monarch; it is related that the
persuasions and presents of this king induced them to desist from entering that country.
This last incident I don't think is altogether likely; the hardy warriors who had conquered
such a vast extent of country, and at whose feet lay the riches of Asia, were not likely to
be turned aside from their projects of conquest by the gifts of the Egyptian monarch.
That this people had a military occupation of lower Egypt at some period is certain. The
defeat of the Median king took place B. c. 634, and for twenty-eight years subsequent they
ruled Asia; it is therefore improbable that through this period they should have spared
Egypt, then in the decadence of its power. So firmly established was their dominion at
this period, that the ancient City of Bethshan in Palestine became one of their seats of
government, and from them was named Scythopolis. We must also remember that a
district in the north-west of Egypt, and bordering on Libya, was anciently called Scythica
Regis, geographical evidence that it was inhabited by a Scythic people; at what time this
element entered into the population of Egypt it is now impossible to determine, whether
on the occasion above referred to or at an earlier date. The Gethluighe of the Bards may
have been the Getulia of Northern Africa, which would lie in the course of emigrants going
towards the Pillars of Hercules.
Nennius, a writer of the early part of the ninth century, gives a short but curious
account of the migrations of the Gaedhil in Africa, which he states he had from the learned
of that people. “Sic mihi peritissimi Scottorum nunciaverunt.” After bringing the
Scythians into Egypt, he goes on to relate:—“Afterwards the Scythians went with their
children into Africa, to the altars of the Philistines, to the wells of Salmara, and between the
Ruiseagdae and Mount Tasdaire, and across the river Mbalb, through the Mediterranean Sea
to the Pillars of Hercules, beyond the sea of Gadidon to Spain; and they dwelt in Spain
afterwards, until the sons of Miledh (Milesius) of Spain came to Eri with thirty boats, and
thirty men in each boat, at the end of a thousand and two years after Forann was drowned
in the Red Sea.” (Irish Version of Nennius, p. 55.)
The knowledge displayed in the above passage of the geography of Northern Africa is
very remarkable, and gives a tone of truth and reality to the main features of the relation.
The Altars of the Philistines are those of the Philaeni, between Leptis Magna and Barce,
and were erected in memory of two brothers, whose love of country and self-sacrifice are
recorded by Sallust in his Jugurthine War. The “Wells of Salmara,” in the Latin edit.
“Lacum Salinarum,” certainly refer to the salt lakes or marshes marked on D'Anville's
map “Salinae Immensæ," near the Syrtes Major. Ruiseagdae, i.e. Rusicada, was a city to
the west of Bona, and near the modern Stora. “Mount Tasdaire,” or as it is in the original
“Sliabh Iasdaire,” will be the Mons Aurasius south-west of Russicada. The “Mbalb,” or
“Malva,” is now a small river called the Euza, and which partly forms a boundary between
the states of Algiers and Morocco. Strabo, b. xvii. e. iii. will throw some light on the
topography of this district. The late Algernon Herbert, one of the editors of the work
from which I have quoted, in a note at foot remarks:—“It is worthy of observation, that
872 EASTERN FORMS OF OGAMS. [CHAP, XVI.
learning neither inaccurate nor very common has found its way into this geography of the
Historia Britonum. It has been copied in an ignorant manner by the Archdeacon of
Monmouth, or by the original author whom he rendered.” (Ibid. p. 53 n.) If the story
of the migrations of the Gaedhil from Egypt was invented, it must have been at a very
early period. Nennius, as above stated, found it to be a received matter of history among
the learned of the Gaedhil, who communicated it to him.
Dr. Young, F.R.S., was of opinion that an Egyptian element existed in the population
of Spain :- “Dr. Young has remarked, in the “Philosophical Transactions’ for 1819, that
at least six of the words contained in Humboldt's vocabulary coincide very accurately with
the Coptic or ancient Egyptian, though they are not found in any of the languages of the
neighbouring countries, and he infers that the chances are “more than a thousand to one
that, at some very remote period, an Egyptian colony established itself in Spain.’” (Misc.
Works of the late Dr. Young, v. iii. p. 539.) These, and other considerations too numerous
for me to notice at present, have led me to scrutinise all inscriptions from that ancient land
which were accessible; my opportunities in this respect have been limited, yet I have been
able to identify several Ogamic characters on various monuments. I do not now allude to
Egyptian numerals, which up to a certain stage are formed of simple scores, but to a class
of characters that have all the aspect of Ogams.
The following I have taken from fac-similes of a collection of Papyrus rolls brought
from Thebes, and deposited, I believe, by the late Dr. Young in the library of the Roy.
Cork Institution :-
-— f ##7%–-ul-7%--- +----Lill- A-
Several of the above are several times repeated on these rolls, particularly those which stand
in the Gaelic Ogam for R, O, D, and C. Again, on a sculptured tomb now in the British
Museum, and which is described in Archaeologia, v. xxix. p. 112, we have the following:—
—###!--###–and from p. 126 :-e-Ho #–H– o-º-o: I am not aware of what
the above were intended to convey, whether they were used as letters or as symbols, and
have not seen them noticed by Egyptiologists. It will be remarked that the groups of
strokes do not exceed five, and that those which cross the line are both vertical and oblique,
and that we have them represented with the stem-line both vertical and horizontal. Could
it be that these characters are the remains of a primitive alphabet, preserved and occasionally
used by that remarkable people in combination with their more advanced symbolical writing?
It is probable that many other similar characters exist on the monuments or papyri of
Egypt. It would be strange indeed if all the letters of the primitive Ogam should be found
on them. My search has been a very limited one; I must therefore leave this curious
subject in the hands of those competent to deal with it, which I am not. -
In almost all the primitive alphabets, such as the Pelasgian, Early Greek, Punic, and
Etruscan, Ogamic or linear forms are to be found; and it is only reasonable to suppose, that
all or most of the primitive letters of ancient races should have taken the simple form of
the Gaedhelic Ogam.
CHAP. xvi.] CONCLUSIONS ARRIVED A.T. 373
Perhaps it was Mr. Brash's intention to support the idea of an eastern origin for the
Ogam by the characters inscribed on the monument given on Pl. XXX. from Reisk, a town-
land in the western portion of the Dingle promontory in Kerry. I find no description has
been given of this monument; but the Rev. D. H. Haigh, in the Jour. Kil. Arch. Soc. for
1858, p. 188, considers the characters upon it to belong to none of the known Christian
alphabets, and that they resemble the Phoenician. This stone was removed to Adare Manor
House, Co. Limerick, by the late Lord Dunraven, about 1845. The ornament on the
Kilfountain stone, same plate, was perhaps also intended to support the same idea. The
inscription on it has been read FINTEN, the name of the saint from whom the place derives
its appellation. Egyptologists attach very different significations to the characters given in
the text. During the remarkable researches of Dr. Schliemann on the supposed site of
Troy, 1876, it may be worth recording that many objects were found inscribed with characters
having a similarity to Ogam forms.-G.M.A.
On Plate L. are placed some of the sketches Mr. Brash had of the many kindred forms
of the Ogam. I regret he has not given any descriptions, also that I had not room to
insert a sketch of the inscribed bone, from a station (Rock Shelter) in the Gorge d'Enfer,
on the right bank of the Wezère, Dordogne, figured in the Reliquiae Aquitanicae, part viii.
Pl. xiii. B. Figs. 9 and 18, Pl. L., are from that remarkable monument at Maes-howe, in
Orkney. Prof. Geo. Stephens has successfully read these inscriptions, which are in a variety
of the Hahal-runa, and read ARLICR, Fig.9, DISARRUNAR, Fig. 18. The inscriptions found
at St. Hild, No. 2, Hackness, No. 1, belong to the same class, and consist of unconnected
letters. They are commented on by the Rev. D. H. Haigh, in the Yorkshire Arch, and
Topographical Association Journal, pt. xii., 1874.—G.M.A.
CONCLUSIONS ARRIVED AT.
Having thus brought the subject of our Ogam inscribed monuments before my readers
as fully as the present state of the question will admit, I may now recapitulate the conclusions
that have been, I submit, established, by the various facts and evidences already adduced.
I. That the inscriptions are invariably found on stone pillars and flags.
II. That, with a few exceptions, they are all of a sepulchral nature.
III. That they are engraved in a character peculiar to the Gaedhelic race, and in an
ancient dialect of the Gaedhelic language.
IV. That they are found only in districts where the Gaedhelic race are known to have
settled, either by colonisation or conquest.
W. That the mode of forming the characters, and the formula of the inscriptions, are
identical on the monuments found in Ireland, Wales, and England.
WI. That most of the names found on them have been identified in the MS. annals
and writings of the Gaedhil and on Gaulish coins and inscriptions, and are generally of an
archaic type.
VII. That in some instances the same names have been found on Irish and Welsh
monuments.
374 CONCLUSIONS ARRIVED A.T. ſcHAP. xvi.
VIII. That many of those on the Irish examples are of a purely Gaulish type, and
some of them identical with known Gaulish names.
IX. That the great majority of examples have been found in the underground
chambers of those ancient constructions known by the names of Rath, Lis, and Caher;
not deposited as hidden memorials, but used up as ordinary building materials in the con-
struction of the souterrain. That those so preserved are by far the most perfect and legible,
owing to their long inhumation and consequent protection from atmospheric and other
injuries, and that those so found in no instance exhibit any Christian emblem.
X. That no Ogam monument hitherto discovered bears any Christian formula, sacred
name, or word of Christian hope or resignation. That the Oroit and Bendacht so constantly
found on the very earliest Christian gravestones at Clonmacnoise, Lismore, and other places,
have never been seen in an Ogam inscription. -
XI. That the sacred emblem of redemption which appears on a limited number of
them, is proved to have been inscribed at a different period from the Ogam by the positive
evidence of the monuments themselves.
XII. That all allusions to the Ogam in our ancient MSS., refer its use to pagan times,
and in connection with individuals and circumstances of a known pre-christian age.
XIII. That the monuments are almost exclusively found in the southern counties of
Ireland, as Kerry, Cork, Waterford, and Kilkenny; and in the western and southern counties
of Wales, as Cardigan, Pembroke, Glamorgan, and Brecknock; and that the route of their
introduction was from west to east.
XIV. That we have every reason to believe that the Ogam mode of writing was not
invented in this island, but was brought by one of her bands of colonists who landed on her
south-west shores. -
XV. And that we have some grounds for surmising that the character was originally
brought from the East; not only from the archaic nature of its alphabet, but also from the
fact that similar characters have been found in ancient eastern MSS., upon Egyptian monu-
ments and papyri, and that the most ancient written letters now existing exhibit Ogamic
forms.
These inferences, I submit, are fairly deducible from the facts and other evidences
already laid before the reader, and I feel a strong confidence that further investigations will
confirm the main conclusions I have arrived at.
375
C H A P T E R XVII.
THE BEARING OF THE QUESTION ON THE
EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES.”
The heading of this chapter may be considered too comprehensive, in connection with
the present inquiry—perhaps it is so. We certainly cannot pretend through the agency of
the Ogam, to discriminate the various tribes who in remote ages peopled these islands,
much less the periods at which such took place. We can, however, through its revelations,
glean some evidences of the advent into Ireland of an ancient people, who subjugated its
previous inhabitants, and who became the dominant race, imposing their language and laws
upon the vanquished; a people whom I believe to have carried their arms across the narrow
channels of the Irish Sea, into Wales and western Britain, forming permanent settlements,
and leaving enduring evidences of a lengthened occupation stamped on the topography of
the districts they inhabited. This race was the Gaedhil.
The bardic annalists of Ireland have handed down to us some details respecting the
ancient races who colonised Erinn; these details must be received with caution; some of
them are unworthy of credit, the rest must be submitted to the tests of probability, con-
temporary history, existing monuments, and the discoveries of late years.
Their great error has been the carrying back of the first peopling of our island to a very
remote period, and then endeavouring to fill up the wide gap of centuries by other immigra-
tions, the product of their own imaginations; when the whole has been critically sifted by
the cautious and judicious antiquary, some gleanings of truth and fact may be elicited from
the mass of fable. It is worthy of remark that the south-west of Ireland has been fixed on
by these writers as the favourite locality for the disembarkation of the various races of
invaders or immigrants. Thus, in the mythic voyage of Cesara, she and her followers are
represented as landing at Dun-n-m Barc, i.e. The Fort of Ships, now Dunamark, in the
* This portion was not amongst the MS. first forwarded to me. It forms the last paragraph in the
prospectus prepared by Mr. Brash, and was the subject of his last labour and corrections, -G.M.A.,
376 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xv.11.
bay of Bantry. (Book of Ballymote, fol. 12.) The legend is recited by Eochaidh O'Flinn,
one of the royal bards, who died A.D. 984, in a poem contained in the above MS., the myth
is therefore of a remote age. Partholon and his companions are fabled to have landed at
Inver Scene, supposed to be the bay of Kenmare, Co. Kerry :-
“They landed from their safe barks,
In the clear blue port of the fair land,
In the bay of bright shields of Scene.”—Dr. Connellan's Trans., fol. 12.
The landing-place of the Nemedians is not stated ; we are however informed in the B. B.
that Neimhid and seven thousand of his followers died of a plague at Arda Neimhed in Ibh
Liathan, now the Great Island in Cork harbour upon which Queenstown is built. This
would lead us to infer that the chief seat of the Nemedian power was believed to have been
in the south. These legends all pointing to the south of the island, afford presumptive
evidence that tradition had strongly impressed the minds of the people with the idea that the
districts above referred to were intimately associated with remarkable events connected with
the early colonisation of Ireland.
The Gaedhil, or Spanish colonists, certainly appear to have landed either in the bay of
Kenmare, or that of Dingle, in the south-west. The compiler of the B. B. states, that the
Milesians landed at Inver Scene, so called from Scene the wife of Amergin, one of the chiefs
of the expedition; she was drowned in the bay, and was interred at one side, and Erannan,
another of the sons of Milidh, was interred on the opposite shore (B. B. fol. 21).
This event is given in the Ann. 4 Mas, as follows:– “The Age of the World, 3500.
The fleet of the son of Milidh came to Ireland at the end of this year, to take it from the
Tuatha-de-Damanns; and they fought the battle of Sliabh Mis with them on the third day
after landing.” Sliabh Mis is a mountain range near Tralee, Co. Kerry.
The Chronicon Scotorum, after relating the travels of the Milesians, describes their
landing at “Inbher Sgene,” the death and interment of Scene and Eranan as above
mentioned, and the battle of Sliabh Mis. In fact, all the native authorities refer the landing
of the Clanna Milidh to the south-west of Ireland.
As to the pedigree of the Gaedhil, the bardic annalists make out a remarkable case,
which, divested of its mythic garniture, resolves itself into a probable relation in its main
facts, which are as follows:—That the ancestors of this people were a Scythic or Cuthite
race, who passed from their original homes through Egypt and Northern Africa into
Spain, and from thence into Ireland. Modern writers admit two streams of Celtic migration
into Europe: one, through Asia Minor, across the Hellespont into Greece, Italy, Southern
Germany, and France: another, through Asia Minor into Egypt, and across Northern Africa
into Spain and Southern France. Mayer believes the latter to have been the earlier (Mayer
on the Cel. Lang., Brit. Assoc. 1847). Traces of a Celtic people are to be found along the
entire of the indicated route, both in existing monuments and local names. Dr. Young, the
great Egyptian scholar, has stated his belief, that the chances are “more than a thousand to
one, that at some very remote period an Egyptian colony established itself in Spain.” (Life
and Works of Dr. Young, v. i. p. 540.)
These eastern tribes, thus strangely reunited in the south of Europe, formed the great
CHAP. xv.11.] EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 377
Celtic family so often alluded to by classic writers; and it is a curious fact, that the
Gaedhelic traditions, as handed down by the bards, are confirmatory of this view of Celtic
migration into Europe: they represent the Tuatha-de-Damann and Firbolgs as speaking the
same language as the Gaedhil, and as having sojourned in Greece on their way to Ireland,
while the latter race are invariably brought through Egypt, Africa, and Spain.
It cannot be denied, that Britain must have been first peopled from the Continent; it is
equally probable that Ireland had her first colonists from Britain; but we have no reason
to doubt the statements of her annalists, that in subsequent ages independent tribes landed
on her shores who came direct from the Continent, and not through the sister isle.
Rejecting the bardic myths of Cesara, Partholan, Nemedh, and the Fomoraigh, we may
admit the probability of a tribe named by native writers Fir-bolgs having crossed over from
western Britain, and extensively occupied Ireland. From similarity of sound, some writers
have imagined them to be Belgae; but while such may have been the case, it does not
necessarily follow from the name, which is an expressive Gaedhelic one, from Fear, a man,
genitive Fir, and Bolg, a ship or boat; it also signifies a cow, a bag, and as the vessels of
the British Celts were made of ox hides, we can understand how a people crossing the Irish
Sea in such boats would be named Fir-Bolgs.
In the accounts given of this people there is something tangible; they were not expelled
either by the mythic Tuatha-de-Damanns or the Gaedhil, neither were they annihilated: they
reappear several times in subsequent history, and certain families trace their descent from
them. The Tuatha-de, on the contrary, are a weird race; their origin, their acts, their dis-
appearance, are full of the wonderful and mysterious. (See pp. 14 to 23.)
According to the bardic writers, the Gaedhil have been so called from an ancestor named
Gadelus; they were also known as the Clanna Milidh, from a chief of that name, the father
of Eibher, Eremon, Eranan, Amergin, Ir, Aireach, Don, and Colpa, the eight leaders of the
expedition to Ireland. They were also named Scoti, from Scota, a daughter of an Egyptian
king, who married an ancestor of the race. This last name has been a puzzle to antiquaries:
I believe its more probable derivation to be from Scuit, or Scythian, as Cuthin is a form of
the same word, borne by a cognate race who peopled Babylonia, Arabia, and Egypt.
The term Gaedhil I believe to be the native form of the Classic Gaul, and consequently,
that the Irish are an Iberian Gaulish race. The conquest of Erinn by the Gaedhil has been
compiled by Geoffry Keating, from the Book of Invasions and other authorities; this account
I am by no means disposed to accept as history.
One incident, the death of Donn, related in the Book of Invasions, adds additional
evidence to the bay of Dingle being the landing place of the Gaedhil. The narrative is
given at p. 211. (See article Ballinrannig.)
The memory of this shipwrecked son of Milidh is perpetuated in that of the barony
Corcaguiny, i.e. Corca ni Dhuibhne; every peasant in the barony can relate the landing
of the Milesians and the shipwreck of Donn.
It is also remarkable, that on the opposite coast of Iveragh, on the island of Valentia,
0 0 C.
378 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xvii.
has been found a fine pillar stone inscribed in Ogam, to the memory of a son of Ereanan,
the name of one of the sons of Milidh, who also lost his life on this coast, as before stated.
(See article Killeenadreena, p. 241.) I have not been able to ascertain how this island got
the name of a Spanish province, Valentia; it is certain, however, that an Iberian odour has
been hanging about these shores from time immemorial. The west coasts of the counties
of Cork and Kerry were much frequented by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the middle
ages; Kinsale, Baltimore, Crookhaven, Bantry, and Dingle, were resorted to by their trading
vessels as far back as authentic history, which also informs us of two hostile landings of
Spanish troops on this identical coast; the last under Sebastian St. Joseph in the year
1579, in the bay of Smerwick, when their troops took possession of Fort-del-Or, which was
captured by the Lord Deputy Grey, upon which occasion the garrison of seven hundred men
were put to the sword. -
The fact of Ogam monuments being almost exclusively confined to the counties of Kerry,
Cork, Waterford, and Kilkenny, and being more particularly abundant in the first named,
has led me to the conclusion that this mode of writing was brought into the island by a
people who landed on her south-western shores, and who spoke a language identical with
that found in our most ancient MSS. The entire number of Ogam-inscribed stones found
in Ireland amounts to one hundred and ninety-three, of these, one hundred and eighty-two
have been found in the counties named, of which number Kerry lays claim to ninety-two;
and still further, the one barony of Corcaguiny, the district I have named as the first
landing place of the Gaedhil, has yielded us forty-six; the majority of these are found in
close proximity to the sea-coasts, located about the small harbours, and along the shores of
the Dingle estuary.
The progress of the Gaedhelic occupation eastwards can be traced by their monuments,
both inscribed and uninscribed ; the three counties already named abound in military and
civil erections, thousands of earth-ramparted Raths, hundreds of stone-walled Cashels,
numerous Cromlechs, Stone-circles, Pillar-stones, Clochans, Giants' Graves, Tumuli, and
Cairns; and it is a fact worthy of note, that where Ogam inscriptions are found other
megalithic remains usually abound.
In order to show more clearly the distribution of these monuments I have prepared the
accompanying map,” upon which the Ogam districts are marked: it will be observed that they
are clustered round the harbours of Wentry, Dingle, and Smerwick; one on the outermost isle
of the Blasquets, one on Dunmore Head ; they are found along the southern shores of the
barony—one in Glen Fais; they reappear about Castlemaine, and Kilorglin, in the
neighbourhood of the Killarney lakes, about Kenmare; there is then a considerable hiatus,
when we find one at Ballycrovane, near Castletown Berehaven, county of Cork; one at
Bantry; another hiatus, and we find them about Macroom, and Bandon, and in considerable
numbers at the north side of the Lee river as far as Middleton; here again we have another
gap, until they reappear on the other side of the Blackwater at Grange, Ardmore, and near
Dungarvan, in the county of Waterford, and as far as Stradbally, where we again lose them,
to reappear in one solitary monument found at Hook Point, and again in another at
* This map was not found amongst Mr. Brash's MS., but I have endeavoured to supply the
deficiency.—G.M.A.
CHAP. xvii.] EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 379
Castletimon, not far from Carnsore; while up the valley of the Suir we find them at
Ballyquin, Coolnamuck, in the Co. Kilkenny, at Ballybodan, Dunbel, Gowran, &c., and on
the borders of Kildare, at Killeen Cormack, and Douard. Now it is also a singular fact,
that while we have not hitherto found any of those inscriptions north of “the Sacred
Promontory,” we find them exactly on the opposite shores of Wales, in the sea-coast
counties of Cardigan, Pembroke, and Glamorgan, and one near Brecknock; in the very
districts seized on and held for a considerable period by the Gaedhil, ere they were driven
out by the Cymry.
The inferences from these facts are obvious; first, that the Ogam was not invented in
our island, as if it had, in the nature of things, it would have originated at the centres of
power or government, or where the greatest amount of culture existed, as Tara, Tailton,
Emania, Bruree, &c., and from thence spread over the whole island, while the fact is, that
in none of those places so remarkable in legend and history do we find a single monument:
neither had the character a general use in the country, but was practically confined to
one district. Second, that it was introduced by a maritime people who landed on our south-
western coasts, spreading themselves along the sea-board of the counties already named,
and who ultimately became masters of the entire island.
But the question naturally arises here, if such a people landed on our southern shores,
and, making themselves masters of the island, imposed their language and customs upon the
whole, why are their engraved monuments not found all over the country 2 An answer to
this may be found in the supposition that they came as colonists—perhaps the first colonists,
and very probably few in number; that it took a considerable lapse of time before they fully
occupied the southern parts of the island, and much more before the entire was peopled.
In these early times population increased but slowly, internal feuds and other causes checking
its growth. Before this people grew beyond the limits of the southern district they may
have abandoned the use of the Ogam, and adopted a more advanced character, suited to a
more advanced stage of civilisation, and derived most probably from foreign intercourse.
For it is certain that the Gaedhil had letters independent of the Ogam prior to the introduc-
tion of the Roman alphabet by St. Patrick, in the fifth century.
Yet the other alternative may also be considered—namely, that the people who used this
character may have been invaders; that being invaders, they were probably weak in numbers,
though of a superior civilisation to the aborigines, whom they found, perhaps, thinly populating
the country. Those invaders having formed a settlement in the immediate district where
they landed, and increasing in numbers by the course of nature, spread themselves along the
seaboard, and around those commodious harbours and sea inlets so plentiful on the south and
south-western coasts; being themselves a maritime people, they affected the shores, both
from a natural desire for the sea, the convenience of fishing, and for politic reasons, inasmuch
as by the sea they could hold communication with their native land, receive reinforcements
from thence, and by it also make their escape if unexpectedly hard pressed by the aborigines.
Such has ever been the policy of colonists under similar circumstances. In this immense
district, comprising the counties of Cork, Kerry, and Waterford, such a colony may have
existed for centuries, growing into the power and numbers of a considerable state, ere they
380 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xvii.
were able to extend their dominion over the whole island. Such a state of things as, in
fact, existed in England at the time of the Roman invasion, when the island was divided
into a number of states totally independent of each other, and often engaged in fierce
wars. In this alternative we might also suppose that the Ogam fell into disuse among them
ere their power was extended over the whole island. That such a state of things is not only
possible, but probable, we may infer from the fact, that the descendants of the Norman
invaders were near five centuries settled in Ireland before they were able to subdue the
country; and that for the same period their language and letters were unknown outside
their limited dominion, the “Pale.”
The bardic writers have many allusions to invasions of Britain, as well as to friendly
intercourse existing between both sides of the Channel, which could only be accounted for
on the supposition that they were of the same race.
The Isle of Man was, we know, a purely Irish possession, having been colonised by the
Gaedhil at a remote pre-historic period. Both Manx and Irish traditions state that this
colonisation took place under a mythic chieftain, Mananan Mac Lir, i.e. Mananan, Son of
the Sea; and the Firbolgs and Cruithni, who were expelled by Cormac Ulfada in A.D. 254,
took refuge in Man and other islands. The Ann, 4 Mas., at A.D. 10, informs us that Corb
Olum, who was afterwards King of Munster, and ancestor of the Eoghanachts of that
province, was the son of Cruife, a daughter of a king of Britain; who (on the massacre of
the Milesian nobility by the Attacotti, i.e. the Firbolg and other tribes who had been reduced
to slavery) fled into Britain, where she was delivered of Corb; the term ‘Britain, when found
in ancient Irish MSS., always refers to Wales and Cornwall, though sometimes the latter
district is distinguished by a special name. A.D. 192. Lugaid Mac Con, i.e. The Greyhound's
son, was step-son to Oliol Olum, King of Munster; he stirred up the Ernai inhabiting
West Munster, and other tribes, against the latter, with whom he fought a desperate battle
at a place called Ceannfebrat, on the confines of Cork and Limerick, in which he was defeated
and forced to fly into Wales, from whence he returned accompanied by a Gaedhelic chieftain
of that country named Beinne, and a body of troops collected both in Britain and Alba;
being joined by his own adherents, he laid claim to the kingly power, defeating and killing
Art Aenfhear, i.e. the Solitary, at the battle of Magh Mucruive, and assuming the crown of
Ireland, A.D. 195 (Ann. 4 Mas.). Cormac Cas, second son of Oliol Olum, ascended the
throne of Munster, according to O'Flaherty, in Ogygia, A.D. 257; of him MacCurtin writes:
“The second son of Olioll that had issue, was that renowned King of Munster, Cormac Cas;
he was a valiant, wise, liberal prince, and when he came to inherit his father's kingdom,
and grew in years and perfections, he was counted one of the three most famous champions
of that age; he was the first that regulated the rents and tributes of Munster in such
manner as neither subjects could be oppressed or king defrauded of his rights and privileges.
He forced hostages from the Isle of Britain thirty several times.” (Vind. Antiq. of Ir.
pp. 104-5.) The same authority states that Criomthan (Criffan), a Munster prince, of the
line of Eibher, became monarch of Ireland A.D. 366, and ruled seventeen years. “This
Criomthan had hostages from Albain, Britain, and France; he kept all the kingdom
employed during his reign, either in wars abroad or in forwarding all manner of learning at
CHAP. XVII.] EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 381
home, and gave large gifts to such as were counted the most learned.” (Ibid. p. 117.) The
Ann. 4 Mas, states that Niall, of the Nine Hostages, became King of Ireland A.D. 377; at
A.D. 405, it states that he was assassinated “by Eochaidh, son of Enna Cinselleach, at Muir-n-
Icht, i.e. the sea between France and England.” The Muir n’Icht is frequently mentioned
by Irish writers. Dr. O'Donovan, in a note to the above passage, writes:—“Muir n’Icht.
This sea is supposed to have taken its name from the Portus Iccius of Caesar, situated not
far from the site of the present Boulogne.” MacCurtin informs us that this monarch had
his surname of the Nine Hostages, “because he had five hostages from the five provinces of
Ireland, and four from Scotland and the Isles of Britain.” (p. 121.) He further states:
“This Monarch, Niall, entered Albain with a strong army; he passed thence into Britain,
which he then made tributary to him, and with a powerful army of Irish, Picts, and Britons,
he crossed the seas to France, landed in the country then called Armorica, and conquered
all before him as far as the river Loyre, where being encamped, he was unluckily slain; the
army returned with great booty, brought the king's body with them, and buried it in Cruachan
in Connacht.” (Ibid. p. 122.) All the Irish annalists concur in the warlike character
ascribed to this monarch, and refer to his expeditions to the coasts of Britain and Gaul.
Dr. O'Donovan states that it was in one of his descents on the coast of Armorica, that St.
Patrick with others were carried off for slaves. (Ann. 4 Mas., A.D. 405, note Z.)
Referring back to Criomthan, O'Flaherty in his Ogygia writes “that this monarch made
expeditions into Gaul and Britain.” On this passage the erudite Dr. O'Donovan has the
following remarks:—“There can be no doubt that O'Flaherty is perfectly correct in making
Crimthan Mor Mac Fidaigh monarch of all Ireland, as his name is found in all the ancient
lists of the Irish monarchs, and as it is stated in Cormac's Glossary, under the word ‘Mog
Eime,' that he also extended his dominion over North Britain and Wales, where he
established colonies, and where many places received names from his people. The passage,
which is one of the most curious and important in Irish history, runs as follows:– At the
time that the sway of the Gaels was great over the Britons, they divided Albion between
them in holdings, and each knew the habitations of his friends; and the Gaels did not carry
on less agriculture on the east of the sea (channel) than at home in Scotica, and they erected
habitations and regal forts there; inde dicitur Dinn Tradui, i.e. the tripled-fossed fort of
Crimthan Mor Mac Fidhaigh, King of Erin, Alba, and as far as the Iccian Sea; et inde est
Glastimber na n-Gaedhal (Glastonbury of the Gaels), a large church, which is on the brink
of the Iccian Sea, &c. And it was at the time of this division also that Dinn Map Lethain,
in British Cornwall, received its name, i.e. Dun Mic Liathain ; for Map, in the British, is
the same as Mac. And they continued in this power for a long time after the arrival of St.
Patrick. It was at this time Cairpre Musc was dwelling in the east with his family and
friends,’” &c. (Battle of Magh Rath, pp. 339-40.) Cormac Mac Cuileannain, King and
Bishop of Cashel, was killed in A.D. 903, his Glossary must therefore have been compiled in
the latter part of the ninth century. The portions of his works which have come down to
us evidence that he was a poet, historian, and a philologist. The great work of this
remarkable man, the ‘Saltair of Cashel,’ has been lost to us, with the exception of a few
fragments; of this work Dr. O'Curry writes: “If, as there is every reason to believe,
382 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xv.11.
the ancient compilation, so well known as Cormac's Glossary, was compiled from the
interlined gloss to the Saltair, we may well feel that its loss is the greatest we have
suffered, so numerous are the references and citations of history, law, romance,
druidism, mythology, and other subjects in which the Glossary abounds. It is besides
invaluable in the study of Gaedhelic comparative philology, as the author traces a great
many of the words either by derivation from, or comparison with, the Hebrew, the
Greek, the Latin, the British, and, as he terms it, the Northmantic language; and it
contains at least one Pictish word (Cartait), almost the only word of the Pictish language
that we possess.” (O'Curry's Lectures, &c., pp. 19-20.) An author of this class is not to
be placed in the same category with the poets and romancists of the same age; a sober and
accurate writer, we are bound to accept the above statement as true history, more particularly
when we have it borne out by the testimony of writers of a different nationality, who had
an interest in suppressing the fact of a Gaedhelic occupation of Wales. I here allude to
the statements of various Welsh writers of a remote age, who admit the occupation of that
country by the “Gwyddel” and their expulsion by Cymry under their chief Caswallon Law
Hir. I think we must accept the Triads as being the earliest authority on Cymric or British
history. The first reference is contained in the Triad which commemorates those tribes who
invaded Britain, in which is included “the hosts of Ganfael Wyddel, and were there twenty-
nine years, until driven out by Caswallon, the son of Beli, the son of Manogan.” (Myvyrian
Arch. v. ii. p. 58.) Again, we are informed that “the tribe of Caswallon Law Hir put
the fetters of their horses on their feet, by two and two, in fighting with Serigi Wyddel at
Cerrig y Gwyddel in Mon.” (Ibid. p. 62.) Some confirmation of the above will be found
in another, recording the three pestilences of the isle of Britain : “The pestilence from the
carcases of the Gwyddel who were slain in Manuba, after they had oppressed the country of
Gwynedd for twenty-nine years.” (Ibid. p. 29.) There cannot be the slightest doubt that
these notices refer to a lengthened occupation of North Wales and Anglesey by the Gaedhil,
and their final expulsion by the Cymry; yet, strange to say, the names are not Cymric but
Gaedhelic. Caswallon is a type of name found in ancient Irish annals, as Cas-rubha,Cas-
midhe, Cas-corach, Cormac Cas; and Beli and Manogan are also Gaedhelic names; Law Hir
is pure Irish, from “Lamh, the hand,” pronounced Law, and “Shir, long,” pronounced Hir.
In fact, the Irish scholar will find that almost the entire list of pre-historic names recorded by
the early Welsh bards are pure Gaedhelic. But we have also reference in Welsh authorities
to an Irish occupation of South Wales, and an expulsion also ; these references will be
found in the Iola MSS. as follows:– “After the departure of the Romans from Britain, three
Irish invasions took place in Cambria; and one family, that of Cuneddaf Wledig, delivered
the country from the three. The first occurred in Gower, in Glamorgan, where Caian
Wyddel and his sons landed, subjugated the country, and ruled it for eight years; but Cuneddaf
Wledig and Urien the son of Cynfarch subdued and slew them to nine, whom they drove
into the sea; and the government of the country was conferred on Urien, the son of
Cynfarch, having been constituted a kingdom for that purpose, and called Rheged, because
it was bestowed unanimously by its ancient British inhabitants on Urien, in free gift, whence
he was called Urien Rheged.”
CHAP. xv.11.] EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 383
“The second invasion was that of Aflech Goronog, who seized upon Garth Mathrin by
irruption; but having married Marchell, the daughter of Tewdrig, king of that district, he
acquired the goodwill of its inhabitants, and obtained the country in marriage settlement
with his wife; and there his descendants still remain intermixed with the natives.”
“The third invasion was that of Don (others say Daronwy) king of Lochlyn (Scandinavia),
who came to Ireland and conquered it, after which he led sixty thousand Irish and Lochlynians
to North Wales, where they ruled for one hundred and twenty-nine years; when Caswallawn
Law Hir, the son of Einion Yrth, the son of Cunedda Wledig, entered Mona, wrested the
country from them, and slew Serigi Wyddel, their ruler, at a placed called Llan-y-Gwyddy!,
in Mona. Other sons of Cuneddaf Wledig slew them also in North Wales, the Cantred, and
Powis, and became princes of those countries. Don had a son called Gwydon, King of
Mona and Arvon, who first taught literature from books to the Irish of Mona and Ireland;
whereupon both these countries became pre-eminently famed for knowledge and saints.”
“A.D. 267-Don, King of Lochlyn and Dublin, led the Irish to Gwynedd, where they
remained one hundred and twenty-nine years; Gwydion, the son of Don, was highly
celebrated for knowledge and science. He was the first who taught the Cambro-Britons to
perform the plays of illusion and phantasm, and introduced the knowledge of letters to
Ireland and Lochlyn; but after the Irish and Lochlynians had inhabited North Wales for
one hundred and twenty-nine years, the sons of Cuneddaf Wledig came there from the north,
overcame the Irish and their confederates, and drove them in flight to the Isle of Man.
They were slaughtered at the battle of Cerrig y Gwyddy!; and Caswallawn Law Hir, with
his own sword, killed Serigi Wyddel, the son of Mwrchan, the son of Eurnach the Aged, the
son of Eilo, the sou of Rhechgyr, the son of Cathbalig, the son of Cathal, the son of Machno,
the son of Einion, the son of Celert, the son of Math, the son of Mathonwy, the son of
Gwydion, the son of Don, King of Mona and Arvon, the Cantred, and of Dublin and Lochlyn,
who came to the Isle of Mona one hundred and twenty-nine years before the Incarnation of
Christ.” “Eurnach the Aged fought sword to sword with Owen Firiddu, the son of Maxen
Wledig, in the city of Ffaraon, and he slew Owen, who also slew him.”
“After the departure of the Romans from Britain, Serigi took upon him the supreme
government of Mona, Gwynedd, and the Cantred; but so excessive was the oppression of
the Irish there, that messengers were sent to Cuneddaf Wledig, who despatched his sons to
Gwynedd, and they put them to flight; except in Mona, where they had become a distinct
nation, with Serigi for their king, who came with a strong force to Gwyrfai, in Arfon, to
fight against Caswallawn, who drove them back to Mona, where they were slain at a place
called Cerrig y Gwyddy!; whereupon Caswallawn, and the family of Cuneddaf, placed saints
on that island, to teach the Christian faith there, and bestowed lands on the Cambro-British
who were brought there from Dyfed, Gower, and Gwent, so that Mona became celebrated for
its saints, wise men, and pious persons.”
“Gwydion Wyddel, the son of Don, the son of Dar, the son of Daronwy, the son of
Urnach Wyddel, was slain by Owen Finddu, the son of Maxen Wledig; this Urnach led
twenty thousand Irish from Ireland to Gwynedd, where they landed and where they and
their descendants remained one hundred and twenty-nine years.”
384 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xvii.
“The son of Urnach was Sirigi Wyddel, who was slain at Cerrig y Gwyddyl in Mona,
by Caswallawn Law Hir, the son of Einion Yrth, the son of Cuneddaf Wledig, in the time
of Owen, the son of Maxen Wledig, and upon the greensward they found a male infant, who
was Daronwy, the son of Urnach Wyddell, Sirigi's brother, of the city of Ffaraon. An
illustrious chieftain who resided by, commiserated his beauty and destitution, and reared
him up as one of his own children; but he became eventually one of the three native
oppressors; for he confederated with the Irish, and seized the dominion from the rightful
Cambro British owner,” namely:— -
“Saint Gynyr, of Caer Gawch, the son of Gwyndeg, the son of Saithenyn, King of Maes
Gwyddno, whose land was overflowed by the sea, the son of Saithenyn Hen, the son of
Plaws Hen, King of Dyfed, the son of Gwrtherin, a prince of Rome, who expelled the
Gwydelians from Dyfed and Gower.”
“Meyrig, King of Dyfed, the son of Gwrthelin, the son of Eudaf, the son of Plaws
Hen, King of Dyfed, the son of Gwrtherin, a nobleman of Rome, who expelled the
Gwyddelians from Gower and Dyfed.” (Iola MSS.)
In examining the above statements, it will be quite evident, that though totally irrecon-
cilable as to their chronology, and contradictory in many instances in their statements of
facts, they all unite in describing an occupation of Gwyned, or North Wales, by a Gaedhelic
population for a long period, vaguely stated at one hundred and twenty-nine years; that
they ruled as a distinct nation in Mona or Anglesea, that their king at the period of their
conquest or expulsion was Serigi, and that the conqueror's name was Caswallon Law Hir.
Also they assert an occupation of South Wales by the same warlike race, which seems to
have extended to the sea-coast counties of Cardigan, Pembroke, Carmarthen, and Glamorgan,
as well as to the inland ones of Brecknock and Radnor; and their subjugation, or expulsion,
by a Northumbrian prince, Cunedda, and his sons. The above authorities are quoted by
the Rev. Wm. Basil Jones (now the Bishop of St. David's), in his “Vestiges of the Gael in
Gwynedd,” and are learnedly commented on by that erudite writer. The fifth chapter of
this admirable work is so pertinent to the present argument that I shall give it in eatenso.
EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION.
“We have been occupied with the limits of duration assigned to the Gaelic domination,
let us now consider its extent in point of space. I do not now speak of the minor settle-
ments in South Wales, but of that great principality in Gwynedd, of which we may regard
Gwydion, the son of Don, as the mythic representative, and of which Serigi, the son of
Urnach, was the last ruler. The authorities, which we have already had occasion to consult,
are rather vague in their information as to the limits of their territory. They speak in
general terms of an invasion and of an occupation of Gwynedd, or in more precise language,
of Mona, Arvon, and the Cantred, which appears to be identical with Merioneth; others
speak of Mona, Gwynedd (used as it would seem in a limited sense) and the Cantred or
Commot; and one document, which we have already quoted, speaks of their being overcome
by the sons of Cunedda in Mona, Gwynedd, the Cantred, and Powys. We also find the Isle
of Man annexed to their dominions, and spoken of in such a way as to leave no doubt that
CHAP. xvii.] ExTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. 385
it formed at one time a part of the great principality of Gwynedd. It is to be observed,
however, that Mona is spoken of as their principal seat, as it was certainly the district in
which they maintained their power to the last period, and hence in the ordinary histories of
Wales their empire is generally spoken of as a temporary occupation of Mona, or at most
of Mona and Arvon. We shall be able, however, to ascertain the limits of their territory
with greater accuracy if we examine the accounts handed down to us of their overthrows
and expulsion; the most minute record is contained in the following extract from one of the
genealogies termed “Achau Saint ’’:—“Cunedda Wledig sent sons to Gwynedd against the
Gwyddelians, which came with Serigi, the Gwyddelian, to Anglesey and other places, and
had taken the greatest portion of that country from the inhabitants, when there were no
princes over them; and the sons of Cunedda led the Cymry and expelled the Gwyddelians
from the country, and slew them, making prisoners of such as had their lives spared;
then the men of Gwynedd gave those princes possession of the lands they had won, namely:-
“Tybiawn, the son of Cunedda Wledig, won the Cantref, routing the Gwyddelians, and
in that battle he was slain, and the nobles of the country conferred the sovereignty on
Meirion his son, and he was called Meirion of Meirionydd.
“Arwystl, the son of Cunedda Wledig, won a district which was given him, which he
called after his own name, and he himself is called Arwystl, of Arwystli.
“Ceredig, the son of Cunedda Wledig, expelled the foreigners from the Cantref of Tyno
Coch, and received it as an inheritance, and called it Ceredigion after his own name, and he
himself is called Ceredig of Ceredigion.
“Dunawd, the son of Cunedda Wledig, delivered the Commot of Ardudwy, in Eifionydd,
and received it as a possession, and called it Dinodyng after his own name, and he is called
Dunawd of Dinodyng.
“Edeyrn, the son of Cunedda Wledig, delivered the country, which he called Edeyrnion
from his own name, of which he received possession, and he is called Edeyrn of Edeyrnion.
“Mael, the son of Cunedda Wledig, had Maelienydd, which he named after his own name,
and he is called Mael of Maelienydd, in remembrance of his act of delivering the country.
“Dogvael, the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the country called after him Dogveilyng, and
he is called Dogvael of Dogveilyng.
“Rhufawn, the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the Cantref, which after him was called
Rhyfoniog, and he is called Rhufawn of Rhyfoniog, and also Rhun Hael of Rhufoniog,
because he was the most generous man in Wales in his times.”
“Oswal, the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the country called after him Osweilyng, and
he is called Oswal of Osweiliawn, and that country is the town of Oswestry and its
precincts. -
“Clwyd, the son of Cunedda Wledig, had the vale of Clwyd.
“Cynir, Meilin, and Meigir, the sons of Gwron, the son of Cunedda Wledig, went with
Caswallawn Law Hir, their cousin, to expel the Gwyddelian Picts from the island of
Anglesey, where they had fled from the sons of Cunedda, and had established themselves in
that island; and after furious fighting they drove the Gwyddelians out of Anglesey, and
Caswallawn Law Hir slew Serigi Wyddel there with his own hand. That Serigi was the
D D D
386 EARLY colonisation of THE BRITISH Isles. [CHAP. xvii.
prince of the Gwyddelian Picts, which had governed Gwynedd from the time of the Emperor
Maximus. And after expelling the foreigners from Anglesey, the Cymry took courage and
drove them out of every part of Gwynedd, and none of them remained in the country
except such as were made captives for ever. And thus did Cunedda Wledig obtain the
sovereignty of Wales, and his sons the lands before mentioned.
“And Caswallawn Law Hir, the son of Einion Yrth, the son of Cunedda Wledig,
founded a church to God in the place where he obtained a victory over his enemies, and
called it Llan-y-Gwyddy!, which is in Anglesey, and now called Cerrig-y-Gwyddyl.
“Einion, the king, the son of Einion Yrth, the son of Cunedda Wledig. His church is
in Lleyn, of which country he was king.” (Iolo MSS., p. 521.)
A somewhat different account is given in the description of Wales prefixed to Lhoyd's
history :-
“The sons of Cunetha being arriued in North Wales (as well I think being driuen by
the Saxons as for their inheritance), diuided the countrie betwixt them. And first, Meireadn,
the sonne of Tibiaon, the sonne of Cunetha, had Cantref Meireadn to his part. Arustel ap
Cunetha had Cantref Arustly; Caredic ap Cunetha had Caerdigion, now Caerdigan-Shire;
Dunod had Cantref Dunodie; Edeyrn had Edeyrnion; Mael had Dynmael; Coel had
Coeleyon; Doguael had Dogueilyn; Ryvaon had Ryuonioc, now Denbighland; Eineon Yrth
had Caereneon, in Powys; Vssa had Maesyswalht, now Oswestree. . . Maelor, the sonne
of Gwron, sonne to Cunedha, had Maeloron.” I shall presently have occasion to criticise
these passages in detail, and to compare them with other accounts of the same events. My
only object in citing them at present is, to show the extent of country over which the
Gaelic sway may have extended at various times. It is obvious that the various districts
which it enumerates were regarded as the possessions of, and deriving their appellation
from, the legendary heroes of the Cuneddian race, whose names stand at the head of many
Welsh genealogies. We may also assume that all the regions connected by tradition with
that family were supposed, as they are here asserted to have been, won from the strangers.
Now these districts would appear to include the whole of Anglesey, Carnarvon, Merioneth,
and Cardiganshire, with a portion at least of Denbighshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnor-
shire. It would include the entire coast from the Clwyd to the Teifi, and would be bounded
on the east by the Clwydian and Berwyn mountains, and the wild hills of Montgomery and
Radnorshire. It would also appear from this document, and others, that their power was
more complete, or lasted longer, in some parts than in others, and most of all in Mona,
although they continued to exist elsewhere in isolated positions even after the overthrow of
Serigi.
This tradition receives a remarkable confirmation from modern topography, a source of
historical information to which too little attention has been paid in general, and particularly
in the present instance. Rowland, the author of the “Mona Antiqua Restaurata,” records
the expulsion of the Irish from Anglesey, of which he seems to consider them at one time
the sole occupants. He tells us also that the circular foundations of houses like those in
what we are accustomed to call British towns, were ordinarily known as Cytian y Gwyddelod,
the cabins of the Gael, Yet he does not seem to connect these facts in any way; on the
cHAP. xvii.] ExTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. 387
contrary, he has recourse to a very unsatisfactory argument to explain away the apparent
connection. I believe that name is in common use in various parts of North Wales to this
day; and one instance certainly exists in Anglesey. We find in various parts of Wales
the word Gwyddel, entering into composition in the local names, frequently in very remarkable
positions. I give a list of those which I have been able to discover, and it is probable that
more are to be found.
Mr. Jones then goes on to give a list of localities into the composition of the names of
which the word Gwyddel enters; the instances are twenty-five in number, extending over
eight Welsh counties; the forms of the names run as follows:–
Porth y Gwyddel, Cytiau'r Gwydd’lod, Capel y Gwyddel, Cefn Gwyddel, Muriau Gwyddel,
Bwlch y Gwyddel, &c. He then goes on to remark:
“It can hardly be conceived that a score of places should exist in eight small counties,
bearing so significant a name, by a mere accident; especially when we know that the names
coincide so remarkably with ascertained facts in the early history of this country. It is
quite true that one, two, or three, or four of them might be the result of events of later
occurrence; but it is impossible to believe that one word should occur so frequently, unless
there had been very numerous collisions, and at very various points, between the Gael and
Cymry; and we are unable to assign any later period for these events than that of the great
Gaelic occupation we are now dealing with. The argument, however, is much strengthened
by the geographical distribution, the several positions, and in some cases, by the particular
meaning of these local names. As regards their distribution, we have four in Anglesey, four
in Carnarvonshire, four in Merioneth, one in Montgomeryshire, one in Radnorshire, six in
Cardiganshire, three in Pembrokeshire, one in Glamorganshire, and one in Monmouthshire.
Thus out of the twenty-five instances, twenty fall within the limits which we have just
assigned to the Gaelic territory. Of the remaining five, one is at no great distance from
the Irish colony at Brecknockshire, and is actually within the territory of Rheged, and the
Pembrokeshire instances may be accounted for by their proximity to the territory of
Ceredigion, unless they are rather due to the settlement on the coast of Dyfed, whose
existence is implied in the account of Rhyddmarch, and in other passages to which we have
alluded. The Anglesey instances are among the low grounds, intersected and partially
isolated by creeks and quicksands, which characterise the western extremity of that county.
In Carnarvonshire, two are at the utmost point of the wild promontory of Lleyn, to which
we can well imagine the Gwyddelod to have been beaten back, step by step: a third is at
the entrance of the terrific pass of Llanberis. In Merionethshire, we find two at the foot of
the great mountain range which extends from Traeth-Bychan to the Mawddach, protected
on the north by the former estuary, and on the west by marshes and the sea; another is
among marshes, at the mouth of a valley leading to Cader Idris. The Montgomeryshire
instance, and two in Cardiganshire, are on the skirts of the Plinlimmon group. The
instance in Radnorshire, and two of those in Cardiganshire, stand at the entrance of gorges
leading into that savage region of mountain and moorland, then and long afterwards clothed
with impenetrable forests, which lies between the Wye, the Tywy, and the Teifi, and com-
prises portions of Cardiganshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, and
388 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xvii.
Carmarthenshire. The remaining cases in Cardiganshire, and one in Pembrokeshire, are
close upon the western coast. Twll y Gwyddel, in Glamorganshire, lies in a mountain pass
on the borders of the Gaelic district of Rheged, and the instance which occurs near
Abergavenny, is not far from the mouth of that wonderful valley which opens into Brecknock-
shire between the Sugarloaf and Blorengo. The names of three are highly significant.
Cytiau'r Gwyddelod, near Holyhead, I have already had occasion to notice. The two
localities on the shore of Traeth Bychan bear the names of Muriau'r Gwyddel and Muriau'r
Gwyddelod respectively. The name signifies “the Gwyddelians' Walls,” and one of them
at least contains the remains of ancient fortifications. This is especially important, because
such fortresses are less likely to have been raised by temporary invaders during a mere
foray, than by the actual possessors of the country as a means of defence against aggressors.
They seem therefore to imply that the Gael were, for some time at least, in possession of the
district in which they are found. In general I may remark, that the localities we are con-
sidering are to be found principally in the western portion of the region which we have
assigned to the Gaelic occupants, which we should be inclined to expect, on the supposition
that they derived their appellations from having been the scene of final conflicts with the
conquerors.” (Westiges of the Gael in Gwynedd, p. 40.) In addition to the above list, the
game writer, in a supplemental paper on the same subject, published in the Arch. Camb.
vol. 1854, has added nineteen other localities, into the composition of the names of which
the term Gwyddel enters. An analysis of the topographical nomenclature of Wales,
would show even more decidedly, that if the Gaedhil were not the first inhabitants,
they had such a complete and lengthened occupation of it as enabled them to stamp
that occupation on the physical features of the country to a remarkable extent, as I shall
presently prove.
From the evidence already adduced, we may fairly infer that both North and South
Wales were occupied by the Gaedhil, which occupation commenced at a remote pre-historic
period, and terminated somewhere about the middle of the sixth century. The statement
already quoted from Cormac's Glossary, that they, the Gaedhil, “continued in this power
for a long time after the arrival of St. Patrick,” is undoubtedly near the truth, being in fact
confirmed by the Triad, which ascribes their expulsion to Caswallon Law Hir. From the
glimpses that we get in the Irish Annals of those remote ages, and from political and
geographical reasons, I am inclined to believe that the invasion and occupation of South
Wales was accomplished by the Gaedhil inhabiting the province of Munster, the Siol Eibher,
i.e. Seed of Eibher (Eevar), whose dominion included not only that entire province, but also
a considerable portion of Leinster, with the counties of Kilkenny and Wexford. They
appear to have been a race of an advanced civilisation, being remarkable for their love of
music and poetry from remote times. They were also a warlike race, and much addicted
to the sea and sea adventure. The immense coast-line which bounded their dominion from
Black-head, Co. Clare, to Carnsore Point in Wexford, indented with numerous fine harbours
and sea-inlets, predisposed them to this; whether their invasion of South Wales proceeded
from a thirst of dominion, or as an outlet for a superabundant population, we cannot now
say, certain it is, that the Siol Eibher crossed from their ports on the south-east of the
CHAP. xvii.) EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. 889
island to Wales; where this passage took place we may strongly surmise; if we look at the
map we shall find that the shortest sea passage is between St. David's Head and Carnsore
Point, the distance in a direct line from coast to coast being but fifty-four miles, while the
harbours of Waterford, Bannow, and Wexford, would afford the necessary accommodation
for collecting an expeditionary force, while on the opposite coast, St. Bride's, Fishguard, and
Cardigan, would be favourable landing places. Now, it is a remarkable fact, that these are
the very localities where most of the Welsh Ogam inscriptions have been found, and all in
close proximity to the sea; Cardigan, Pembroke, and Glamorgan, supply us with twelve
inscriptions, six of which are clustered about the bay of Cardigan, namely St. Dogmael's,
Clydai, Bridell, Cilgerran, and Lanfechan; up the shores of the Bristol Channel the
Gaedhil appear to have sailed, as we find their monuments on Caldy Island, at Loughor,
and at Kenfegge, while inland at Crickhowel, and Trallong, near Brecon, we have two others.
These Ogam inscriptions indicate another fact, namely, that North and South Wales were
occupied either by distinct Gaedhelic tribes, or by the same race at distinct periods of their
history. This will appear, when we consider that the distribution of these monuments in
Wales corresponds exactly with their distribution in Ireland. I have already shown, in my
passage on the distribution of the Ogam, that Leith Mogha, or the ancient kingdom of
Munster, contains nearly all the Irish examples, with one or two exceptions in Roscommon
and in Connaught; and, moreover, that only five are found north of Hookpoint at the
entrance of Waterford Harbour. The same distribution appears in Wales; Anglesea and
the northern counties have, up to the present, produced no example of the Ogam except
that at Pool Park, Ruthin, see p. 848, although occupied by the Irish up to a much
later period than the southern districts. Now this fact indicates, as I have before stated,
an occupation by distinct tribes, or by the same race at distinct eras of their history. I
have already on this subject advanced reasons for believing that the northern parts of Ireland
were not subdued, or inhabited, by the southern Gaedhil, until the Ogam became disused
among them. The occupation of South Wales by the Siol Eibher (Sile-Eevar), most
probably the Silures of history, was at a time when that people used the Ogam character,
while the settlement in North Wales was made by their descendants when they had subdued
or settled the midland and northern portion of Ireland, and who crossed from the coasts of
Dublin, Louth, and Down, into the Isles of Man, Anglesea, and North Wales. On the other
hand it may be advanced, and with some appearance of truth, that the settlements above-
named were made by the Cruithnior Irish Picts, the Gwyddel Fichti of the Cymric chroniclers.
Tighernach and other authorities indicate the existence of a Cruithnean dominion in Down
and Antrim, which at a remoter period was probably more extended southwards, but became
circumscribed by the power of the Gaedhil pressing northwards, and forcing them into the
north-west corner of Ulster, where they appear to have remained for some time, or until
A.D. 236, when assisted by the enslaved Firbolgs they attempted to throw off the yoke of
Gaedhil, and rosein rebellion against Cormac Mac Airt; being again subdued by that warlike
and politic monarch, he determined upon getting rid of such troublesome subjects, and
compelled them to emigrate; the fugitives in large numbers crossed over into the islands of
Scotland and Britain, occupying the Isle of Man, which in all probability was the stepping-
390 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. XVII.
stone to Anglesey and North Wales. This will appear the more probable when we consider
that Man is but thirty miles from the coasts of Down, and forty-eight from the shores of
Anglesea; when they were subsequently driven out of Mona they took refuge in Man, as is
stated in the Triad already quoted. I do not maintain that this was the first occasion of an
occupation of Man and North Wales from the east coasts of Ireland, migrations of a similar
nature may have occurred long before A.D. 254. My object is to show that such were
probable and possible, both from political causes and geographical reasons. That the authors
of the ancient Welsh chronicles should have some reasons for distinguishing the invaders of
North Wales or Gwynedd by the term Fichti, is manifest, and the reason was, that tribes of
Picts were at that time dwelling both in Ireland and Scotland. Whether the settlers in that
district were Irish Cruithni, or Gaedhil, is not a matter of much moment in the present inquiry.
That the Gaedhil at a remote period occupied a considerable part of Western Britain has
been maintained by many eminent antiquaries; that clear-headed and acute philologist,
Llhyd, ascertained the fact, that the topography of a great part of Wales was Gaedhelic ;
Camden and others, from the evidence afforded by the topographical nomenclature of Britain,
maintained that the Gaedhil once occupied that country, and from thence passed into Ireland;
the conjecture was a probable and reasonable one in the then state of antiquarian knowledge;
new lights have however been thrown on this subject, and with their assistance we may be
allowed to reconsider the question and to suggest the probability of an opposite hypothesis,
namely that this enterprising race came directly from Gaul or Spain into the south of
Ireland, and from thence passed into western Britain. One branch of the argument has
already been discussed ; the oldest Cymric authorities have been quoted to show an invasion
of Wales by the Gwyddel, and an occupation variously stated to have lasted from twenty-
nine to one hundred and twenty-nine years; no dependence can of course be placed on these
figures, which resolve themselves into a settled occupation of the country. The presence of
that people in every part of the principality, by their appellation of Gwyddel entering largely
into local names, has also been shown by quotations from the Rev. Wm. Basil Jones's work,
“Vestiges of the Gael, &c.” - -
The topography of a country generally indicates the people who first inhabited it; the
names of mountains, rivers, lakes, valleys, streams, wells, and other prominent natural
features are generally given by the earliest races, if they are numerous and powerful, and
have sufficient length of occupation to stamp their presence on the natural features and
territorial divisions of the land; hence the presence of the Gaedhil must have been at a
very remote period indeed, if we adopt this test. A complete analisation of the topography
of Wales is beyond the scope of this chapter; I would, however, put forward the following
list of generic Gaedhelic terms, still largely used in the names of places and natural objects
in Wales:–
GAEDHELIC. CYMRIC. ENGLISH.
Aran Aran From Ara, a tract of country; Aran is applied to several hills
in Wales and Ireland.
Amhuin Avon Avon A river; this term enters into the name of most rivers and
streams in Ireland.
CHAP. xvii.] EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. 391
GAEDHELIC. CYMRIC.
Bar Bar
Bran Bran
Beinn Pen
Ban Ban
Both Bod
Bally Baile Bal
Carn Carn
Comar Cymer
Cathair pro Caer Caer
Cum and Coom Cwm
Carrick Cerig
Cill and Kil Cill and Kil
Ceann Cen Cefn
Cladach, Clydach Clydach
and Clyda
Dun and Doon Din & Dinas
Daire Derry Deri
Disert Dysert Dyserth
Duir Dur Dwr
Drom Trom
Eiscir Esgair
Glas Glas
Inis Ynys
Lann Llan
Letir Leitir Llether
Leac Lec Llech
Lis Llys
Maoil Moel
Magh Maes Mach
Poll Pwll
Ros Rhos
Tulach Talach
Tir Tir
Traigh Traeth
Uisge Usk
ENGLISH.
The head or summit.
The Raven, also black, and is used topographically, as
Brandon-hill, in Kerry, also in Herefordshire.
The summit of a hill or mountain. -
Waste, uncultivated.
A hut, tent, cabin, house.
Baile & Ball, a place ; Balla, a wall, a rampart, or enclosure.
A sepulchral mound of stones.
A valley, also a confluence.
A fortress, a stone rampart, a city.
A valley, a deep glen or hollow.
A rock.
A church, cell, graveyard.
The top, head, upper part.
A name applied to many streams in Wales and Ireland, as
the Clyda near Mallow, Co. Cork.
A fortress, a rampart; also applied to hills upon which
fortresses had been erected.
An oak wood, a place of oaks.
Desertum.
Water; this word enters into the composition of river-
names all over Europe.
A ridge or back; as Dromore, the great ridge.
A low hill, a ridge.
A small stream ; also, green.
An island, low lands lying along a river.
An enclosure; in Welsh it signifies an enclosure, also a
church, same as Cill in the Gaedhelic.
A hill slope, wet slopes lying towards the foot of hills.
A flag-stone, a rock. -
A fort, a fortified dwelling.
A hill, a hillock, a cape, a headland.
A field, a plain ; as Magh-mor.
A pool, a hole; a small deep lough.
A point, a promontory; also, green.
A tumulus, a mound, a hillock.
Land, border.
A strand, a sea, or river beach.
Water; it enters into the composition of many river names,
in Europe as well as in these islands.
Here are no fanciful resemblances, no strained etymologies, but exactly similar terms
392 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xvii.
applied to designate similar objects in both countries. Welsh philologists account for this
extraordinary coincidence of root-words by stating that they are common to both peoples;
it is however incredible that languages so essentially distinct should contain such a number
of names of natural features so exactly alike in every particular. I would here remark, that
amongst the peasant population of South Wales, the Gaedhelic pronunciation of local names
is still preserved, as I personally found to be the case; thus when travelling through
Pembrokeshire, I inquired for Clydai, naming it as written on Welsh maps, I could not make
myself understood, until an intelligent peasant apprehending the nature of my inquiry said:
“Perhaps it is Clydough you are looking for.” I was also corrected in my rendering of
another local name in the same district, which in deference to its written form I pronounced
Cilgeran, but which a native informed me was Cilgarron, giving it the true broad Irish
accent. -
The names of places in Cornwall and Devon give us similar evidence of the presence of
a Gaedhelic people previous to the Britons. The following imperfect list of root-words, with
examples of their use, I have taken from Carew's Survey of Cornwall, and Bannister's
Cornish Glossary —
GAEDHELIC Root-words. ExAMPLEs of USE IN CoRNwall.
Ard, Ar, a height. Ardwothel, Argallus, Bry-ard, Lis-ard,
Ath, a ford. Athil, Athowyn, Atleys.
Bally Bal Ballyack, Ballyard, Balleswiden.
Beinn Ben Benbole, Bennalua, Benduy.
Cill Kill Killigint, Killigath, Killigoreck.
Carn Carnedon, Carnmoan, Carnon.
Ceann Cen Cengar, Cenmenoc, Kenewyn.
Cathair Caer Cargoul, Cardinan, Cargrean.
Carrick Careg Carrick Starn, Carrick-on, Carick.
Dun Douneny, Doney, Donchenif.
Dur Durgan, Durlo, Durra, Durlan.
Grian Greine Grancin, Car-grean, Grannick.
Glas Glaseney, Glaston, Glascot.
Lis Lys Lis-ard, Liskeard, Lesnawith.
Mag Magh Maresk, Magmain, Magarus.
Rath Rathwil.
Ros Roscarrick, Roswick.
Uisge Esk Escall, Escott, Essery.
Ynis Inis Ennis-varth, Ennys-morva, Enis-donan.
I have in the above list selected those generic terms most commonly used in Irish local
names; I could have considerably extended it did I see any occasion, as, in truth, the
topography of Cornwall is even more Gaedhelic than that of Wales, and in many instances
the root-words are better preserved in the modern forms.
That the adjoining district Devonshire should exhibit traces of a Gaedhelic occupation
will not surprise the Celtic scholar; a cursory examination of its topography will at once
CHAP. xvii.] ExTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. 393
-
decide the question. Its rivers have names derived from that language, as the Aune, Auney,
Axe, Esk, Exe; the Tors, Pens, and Brandons, are reproduced in the names of its mountains
and hills; while such local names as Dart-more, Ex-more, Dun-keswell, Pol-shoe, Pol-ti-
more, Cyn-vit, Kinuith, Comb-martin, Dunsland and Kilworthy, at once determines who the
people were by whom these names were imposed. I think that the presence of the Gaedhil
in Western Britain as a settled people cannot be disputed after the evidence I have adduced;
but it may, and has been averred, that they were the original inhabitants of that country,
who at a remote period passed into Ireland, as I have already stated. The answer to this
is obvious and conclusive, namely that abundant evidences of the presence of this race
are to be found from Caithness to Cornwall, and most plentiful on the coasts, while no
such traces are to be found on the southern and eastern sides of the island. If, then, we
find Ireland occupied entirely by a Gaedhelic race; if on the coasts of Britain opposite
Ireland, and particularly where the short sea-passages exist, we find traces of a similar
race, and no where else, the inference must be drawn that such a people passed from
the latter to the former. This people must then have entered Britain from the South of
Ireland, their first landing-place was probably some of the small harbours on the coasts of
Pembroke or Cardigan; from Hook Point at the mouth of Waterford harbour, to St. David's
Head, is no more than fifty-six miles; north-east of that landmark are safe landing-places,
Fishguard, Newport, and Cardigan; southwards, St. Bride's and Milford Haven; here
doubtless they came ashore and spread themselves along the sea-coasts and around the
harbours as was their custom, as the sea supplied them with food, and enabled them to
communicate with their own land and receive reinforcements from thence. Here the
monuments of a pre-historic people are remarkably numerous; perhaps there is no district
in Great Britain that presents such a collection of megalithic memorials as the vicinity of
St. David's Head, and the coast from thence to Cardigan; all the varieties of monuments
found so plentifully in the South of Ireland are here reproduced, including the raths, hill-
forts, and the sea-coast duns.
Again, the topography of the above-named counties is intensely Gaedhelic: all the root-
words I have given are to be found entering into the composition of the names of localities;
the very name Cardigan is to be found in that of a district in the County of Cork, in the
form of Caerdugan, Degan or Dugan's fort. This locality was most probably the landing-
place of the Gaedhil; here we presume they erected a Cathair, Caer, or stone-fort, calling
it probably after one of their tribes, the Clanna Deaga, the most warlike of the southern
Gaedhil (See the articles Drumlohan, p. 272, Dunlo 232) Caer-Deaga, hence Cardigan.
In the immediate locality we therefore find a collection of Ogam inscribed monuments,
one at St. Dogmael's (p. 833), one at Bridel (p. 339), one at Cilgeran (p. 332), two at Clydai
(p. 335), all in Pembrokeshire, but close to Cardigan. In the latter county we have one at
Lanfechan (p. 342), and one at Lanarth; sailing up the Bristol Channel we find their
monuments at Caldy Island, off Tenby (p. 346), at Lougher (p. 345), and Kenfig in
Glamorgan (p. 329), all on the sea coasts; but their dominion extended also into Monmouth
and Brecknock, as has been shown in the introductory article to the Welsh section, and
accordingly we find the Ogam at Crickhowel (p. 381), and near Brecon. This distribution
E. E. E.
394 EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. [CHAP. XVII.
of the Ogam in Wales is identical with its distribution in Ireland. A line drawn eastward
from Limerick to Arklow has the Ogam district to the south ; continue that line still east-
ward across Wales, and you have the same phenomenon; none of the counties north
of Brecknock or Cardigan have as yet produced a single inscription. (We must except
that at Ruthin, p. 848.) North Wales, particularly Anglesea and Carnarvon, was for
centuries subject to the inroads of the Irish, and for a long period was in their occupation,
as has been already shown ; how is it then that it has not given us monuments of a similar
character 2 for this reason, that the power of the southern Gaedhil was extended into South
Wales at a time when the Ogam was in general use among them ; that the dominion of that
people did not prevail over the northern half of Ireland until a period when that
character had ceased to be monumentally used by them, and therefore, as the Isles of Man,
Anglesea, and North Wales, had their Gaedhelic population from thence, we find no
inscriptions of this class in those districts.
THE MONUMENTAL EVIDENCE.
In the inscribed stones of Wales and Cornwall we have overwhelming evidence of the
presence of a Gaedhelic people. These monuments have been a constant puzzle to English
antiquaries, who have given them the title of Romano-British, and have ascribed them to the
ancestors of the present races inhabiting these districts. A critical examination of them will,
however, dispel this illusion.
The monuments may be divided into three classes:–
| First.—Those with inscriptions in the Ogam character, and Gaedhelic language.
Second.-Those having inscriptions in Ogam, and in Roman, or debased Roman letters.
| Third-Those having inscriptions in Roman, or debased Roman letters only.
From the descriptions given already of Irish and Welsh memorials, it will be at once
observed, that there is a perfect agreement in the form and style of the pillar stones, and in
the manner of the inscriptions; both are rude undressed monoliths of various sizes; both
have their Ogam legends inscribed on the left angles, and from the bottom upwards; the
formula of both are identical, as is also the mode of forming the characters.
It is also worthy of remark, that the inscriptions in Roman letters are engraved length-
ways, as is the Ogam, but on the face of the stone, and from the top downwards. The true
Roman monuments are invariably inscribed across the face of the stone horizontally,
which is usually dressed for that purpose. We have here some evidence that the Gaedhelic
custom of writing their Ogam legends vertically, was continued when the use of that
character was superseded by the adoption of Roman letters.
First.—Those monuments bearing Ogam inscriptions only have been already described
in their proper places; I shall, however, recapitulate the facts they disclose.
BRIDELL, Pl. XLV. p. 339.-This is a tall, tapering, undressed pillar stone, its Ogam
inscription on a left-hand angle, its formula and characters identical with the Irish
examples; the name Sagrom of a purely Gaedhelic type, while the word Mucoi, so con-
stantly found on the Irish monuments, marks this memorial as the work of the same race.
LoughER, Pl. XLV. p. 345.-This monument is stated to have been a Roman altar;
whether it is, or is not, is difficult to determine; there is a resemblance to a type of that
-
CHAP. XVII.] MONUMENTAL EVIDENCE, 395
class, but there are no marks, sculpture, or letters, that would identify it with that people:
the few Ogam characters on one of its angles alone connect it with any lettered race;
these supply us with no information beyond this, that the stone was reduced to its present
form before they were inscribed. It is a curious fact that an Ogam inscribed stone has
been found at Lougher, Co. Kerry (p. 186).
BILINGUAL MONUMENTS.
KENFIG, Pl. XLII. p. 329,-This pillar stone had two angles inscribed with Ogams, and
on the same face a legend in debased Roman letters; this has been classed among the
Bilingual Monuments, but it is not. The Ogams are of the usual type, as is also the formula
of one of the inscriptions which bears the word Magi; both are much injured, but sufficient
remains to determine the fact I have stated.
CRICKHowel, Pl. XLII. p. 330.-This fine pillar stone bears on its face an inscription in
Roman letters: “Turpilli ic jacit pueri Triluni Dunocati.” I have shown that the names
Turpil and Dunocat are of a Gaedhelic type; that the latter, without the prefix Du, is to be
found in Ogam on a stone at the Roy. Ir. Aca., in the form of Nocat, and on one of the
Drumlohan find in the form of Nogat. The Ogam inscription as usual is on the left angle,
and gives us one of the names in the Roman, “Turpili.”
CILGERRAN, Pl. XLII. p. 332,-This has also been deemed to bear abilingual inscription,
but such is not the case. The Roman legend is partly uncial in the formation of its letters,
and gives us two names of an unmistakeably Irish type: “Trenegussi fili Macutremi hic
jacit.” The first name is found on the Glounagloch stone in the form of “Cunagussos,”
and on that in the rath cave of Aghaliskey, as “Cunagusos,” while such names as Aenghusa,
Cuangus, Nialgusa, are common in early Irish history. The second name has carefully
preserved its Gaedhelic type, Mac-Utreni, or as we have it in the Ann. 4 Mas. at A.D. 691,
“ Uidreni,” the T and D being commutable; the names Mac-Uidhrin and Mac-Uidhir will
also be found in the index of the same annals. The Ogam inscription is on an angle, and
has no connection with the former; the word “Maqi” and a few letters before and after
it can be traced, the rest of the characters are defaced.
ST. DoGMAELs", Pl. XLIII. p. 333.-This monument bears a bilingual inscription;
both the Ogam and Roman are well preserved, and give us two Gaedhelic names, Sagram
and Cunatam : the prefixes Sag, or Seg, and Cu, or Con, I have already shown to be common
to Irish names. Sagrom is also found in Ogam on the Bridell stone, and we shall find it by-
and-by in Devonshire.
CLYDAI, No. 2, Pl. XLIV. p. 337.-This was a bilingual inscription; on the face,
inscribed lengthways, we have ETERNIFIL (or FLA) VICTOR in debased Roman letters, on
the left angle in Ogam ETTERN, and on the right TOR, the rest of the archaic legend
having been lost by the fracture of the top of the stone.
No. 3, Pl. XLIV.-This monument is to be found at Tycoed, about one mile from
Clydai, from whence it had been removed. It bears on its face an inscription in Roman
capitals which appears to read DOBUNI (F).ILIWS EVOLENCI. The Gaedhelic form of
the first would be Dobhan and Dubhan, names found in our ancient indices. The Ogam
legend is on an angle of the stone, and is much injured. What is legible appears to read
396 EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. ſchAP, XVII.
DOFAT. (M)AQI. S. This name in the form of DOFET has been found on one of the
Ballintaggart stones.
LANFECHAN, Pl. XLIII. p. 342.-The inscription on this stone is partly bilingual: the
Roman inscription reads—“Trenacatus ic jacet filius Maglagni.” Both of these names are
Gaedhelic, as I have shown in my account of this stone. The first I have identified
as Nocat, on the Crickhowel and Whitefield monuments, and Nogat on the Drumlohan.
Maglagni I have identified as the Maclachtna of Irish history. Trenacat is cut in Ogam on
an angle of the stone, in a genitive form. - -
TRALLONG, Pl. XLIV. p. 343.−This inscription is partly bilingual, as, though the
Roman and Ogam inscriptions are different, the same name occurs in both, which
is Cu-Nacen, same as Neachtain, Nochtan, Nectan, of Irish and Pictish history. The
Ogam inscription is of great interest, showing old forms of the Gaedhelic language.
FARDEL, Pl. XLVI. p. 348,-This stone, discovered in Devonshire, is a most perfect
example of the Gaedhelic Ogam, in the form of its letters, and in the formula of its
inscription; it is not bilingual, the Roman inscriptions on the back and front faces having
no connection with the Ogam, though both are in the Gaedhelic language and bear
Gaedhelic names. On the front face we have: “Fanoni Maqui Rini;” on the back,
“Sagrammi,” as on the Bridell and St. Dogmael's stones; and in the Ogam on the
two angles, “Faccuci Maqi Cuci.” The Gaedhelic character of these names I have
identified in the article “Fardel.”
INSCRIPTIONS IN DEBASED ROMAN LETTERS.
There are to be found, scattered through Wales and the district of Cornwall, rude stone
memorial pillars, with inscriptions in Roman and debased Roman letters, usually in the Latin
language, and occasionally in the Gaedhelic. These are engraved lengthways on the stone
rom the top downwards. A large amount of attention has been directed towards these monu-
ments, and many attempts have been made to identify the names found on them, but generally
unsuccessfully, as the investigators worked on the assumption that the monuments were
Cymric, or Ancient British : as, for instance, the inscribed pillar stone at Llanfihangel, in
Merionethshire, to WLEDERMATIS ODELEV, whom Welsh antiquaries have been labouring
to identifyin their civil or ecclesiastical history. But we find names resembling it, as Dermot
O'Deley, or Daly, very commonin Irish history, and perhaps the founder of the churchinquestion
may have been anaturalised Gaedhil, possibly a descendant of one of the Gwyddelians conquered
by Caswallon Law Hir. It is therefore no wonder that, acting on such an assumption, their
efforts to elucidate these monuments have been so unsatisfactory: that they are memorials
of a Gaedhelic race, I shall now proceed to show by the names recorded on them.
* The monuments at TREFGARNE, Pl, XLV., NEVERN, LLANDAWKE, LLANWINIO, CAPEL
MAIRE, CALDY ISLAND, and RUTHYN, pp. 346-8, afford other illustrations.--G M.A.
+ A similar allusion to this monument, published by Mr. Brash in the Arch. Camb. Jour, for 1874,
p. 335, is made a subject for ridicule, on the ground that it does not altogether apply to Wleder Matris
Odelev, the reading assumed by Prof. Rhys, who does not vouchsafe an interpretation of the inscrip-
tion, nor inform his readers, that the remarks which are so unsatisfactory when referred to Wleder
Matris Odelev were made by Mr. Brash with reference to WLEDERMATIS ODELEV, the only reading
with which he was acquainted.—G.M.A.
CHAP. xvii.] INSCRIPTIONS IN ROMAN LETTERS. 397
THE PILLAR of ELISEG.—The inscription on this stone is given at length in the Arch.
Camb. v. 1846, p. 32. It contains the following Gaedhelic proper names–Concenn,
Cattel, Brochmael, Conmarch, Eliseg, Guoillaue, Concenn. This name is found under
the form of Connican at A.D. 910, Ann, 4 Mas.
CATTEL.-This name is found in the Chronicon Scotorum, in the form of Catel, at A.D.
181. In the form of Cathal it is one of the most plentiful names in Irish history. See the
Indices to Chron. Scot, and Ann. 4 Mas.
BROCHMAEL.—This is an essentially Gaedhelic name; it is a compound formed of two
prefixes, Broc or Broch and Mael, very frequently used before Irish proper names. Broc
signifies a badger; examples of its use are, Brocan, Brochan, Brogan; see “Martyrology of
Donegal,” Brogarbhan, Ann. 4 Mas., and in the same authority at A.D. 617 and 800 we
have the obits of two persons having the identical name, the syllables being reversed,
“Maelbrach.”
CoNMARCH.-This name is sufficiently expressive ; it is compounded of “Con,” a
warrior, a champion, and “Marc,” a horse : names of a similar type are plentiful, as Con-
mach, Conmael, Commal, Conodar, Ann. 4 Mas., Conmach, Ann, Inis. A.D. 854.
ELISE.g.—
Guollſ,AUC.—The orthography of this name is much changed, but Irish scholars will at
once recognise in it the well-known name Ceallach, of which sixty-two examples will be found
in the Ann. 4 Mas. The Irish ach becomes aca in Gaulish, and auc or ac in old Welsh ; the
modern Welsh form is awg. The letters G and c being pronounced hard, were used inter-
changeably in Irish.
LANNor.—This stone was discovered at Lannor, Carnarvonshire, forming the cover of a
cistvaen, of which forty were opened in the same spot: it is figured and described in the
Arch. Camb. v. 1847, p. 30, the inscription is as follows:–
B. R O H E M A G L I
I A M IC I A C I T
E T W X O R E I W S C A V N E
This monument is several centuries older than the previous one, and we have on it the identical
same name, in a more archaic form ; Brochmail and Brohemagli are but slightly differing
forms of one name. I would also remark, in addition, that in the former inscription the name
is repeated twice, the second time in the form of Brohmail, which confirms the identification.
The name of his widow Caune is of the same type as the Irish ones of Cana, Cathnia, Cian,
Cuan (Ann. 4 Mas.).
LLANGLAN.—In the churchyard of Llangian, Carnarvonshire, stands a stone with the
following inscription (Arch. Camb. v. 1848, p. 105):-
- M E L I ME DIC I
FIL I M A R T IN I
I A C IT
It is as usual inscribed lengthways in Roman capitals, which indicates a very early date. We
find a bishop Mel in the See of Ard-Achad, who died A.D. 487, and a Melghe, son of
Cobthach Cael Breagh, monarch of Ireland, at a remoter period (Ann. 4 Mas.). Martin is
also an Irish name, seven bishops and abbots of it are recorded from A.D. 768 to 957 (Ann.
4 Mas.). It is found in the form of Marthan on an early tombstone at Clonmacnois.
398 EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. [CHAP. xvii.
CHERITON.—In the Arch. Camb. v. 1852, p. 70, is described a stone found in Cheriton
Church, Pembrokeshire, and which bears the following inscription:-
C A N T 0 RIS – F I L I F A N N W C – .
Cantoris.-Ceam, Cen, Cin, is a usual prefix to Gaedhelic names, and signifies the
head, upper part, chief. Tor, according to O'Reilly's Dic., is “a sovereign lord, a noble.”
Fannuci. – This name is in the same form as those on the Fardel stone, Fanoniand Faccuci.
Cwm DU.-This stone is at present built into the wall of the church of Cwmdu, Brecon ;
it bears the following inscription (Arch. Camb. v. 1853, p. 311):—
C. A. T A C U S H I C I A C E T F I L I U S T E G E R N A C U S.
Catacus.-This name is derived from Cath, a battle ; it is of the same type as Cathasac,
Cathac, Catan, Cathina, Cathalan. We have the name Cattin on one of the Ballinrannig
Ogam stones, p. 212.
Tegernacus.-There cannot be the slightest doubt of the nationality of this name, so
often met with in Irish history in various forms, as Tighernac, Tighearnach, Tigernach.
BRECON.—Mention is made of a stone forming the lintel of a door over a cow-house, on
the road between Brecon and Merthyr, with a mutilated inscription, as follows:–
C W ER I I N H O C T W M W L ().
This name in the form of Curi, Curoi, is a well-known Munster one: Curi Mac Daire was
king of West Munster about the time of the Incarnation; the Ogam inscribed stone in
Glenfais bears this name, and is supposed to be his monument (p. 175). The name will also
be found in the Ann. 4 Mas, at A.D. 709, 792 and 869 (Arch. Camb. v. 1853, p. 332).
MERTHYR.—There is a small stone built into the tower of the church of Merthyr Tydfil,
which bears the name “ARTGEN '' in Miniscule letters; this will at once be recognised as the
name on the great Ogam monument at Bealamhire, near Cork (Artagn, p. 137), the second
vowel being omitted, as was frequently the custom; this name is to be found in the forms of
Artagan and Hartagan in the Ann, 4 Mas, and Chron. Scot. (see Arch. Camb. v. 1853,
p. 833).
ST. NICHOLAS.–At St. Nicholas, in Pembrokeshire, a stone was used as a stile leading to
a field; it is engraved and described, Arch. Camb. 1856, p. 49; it bears the following
inscription as given by Mr. Westwood :—
T U N C C E T A C E U X-
S OR D A A R I, HIC I A
C I. T. -
This name Daari is the well-known Munster name of Dairé, who was the father of Curoi (see
Ann. 4 Mas, A.D. 438,457, also Martyr. Don.).
DoDAU Cothy. — At Dolau Cothy House, in Carmarthenshire, is a fragment of an inscribed
stone, the legend on which is imperfect; the entire however is preserved in Gough's Camden,
v. ii. p. 505, and is as follows :-
TAL O RI
A D W E N T I
M A Q W E R A G. I.
Talor.—This name is of a Gaedhelic type, the prefix Dal or Tal is common in Irish
proper names, as Dalach, Dal-aise, Dail-fin, Talamna, Talorgan or Dalorgan, as the T and
D are commutable (Ann. 4 Mas.).
CHAP. xvii.] INSCRIPTIONS IN ROMAN LETTERS. 399
Maqueragi.-This name is so unmistakably Irish that I need not further dwell upon it.
DEVyNock,--This stone has been inserted in the south-west angle of the tower of the
church of Devynock, Brecknockshire; at one end it bears an incised cross of rich design,
and lengthways on the same face an inscription in Roman capitals, a portion of which is
defaced ; the name Livendoni can however be distinctly traced, the prefix is the same as the
Gaedhelic Libhan, pronounced Livan, with the suffix Don or Dun, so constantly used as a
prefix to Irish names; we have also Libar, Libren, B, BH and F, being used in the Gaedhelic
for v, as the latter letter is not in that alphabet.
Gwyth ERIN.—This monument stands in the churchyard of Gwytherin, in Denbighshire.
The inscription is in Roman capitals, some of them slightly debased, and is engraved as
usual lengthways on the stone:–
W IN N E M A G L I FI L I
S E N E M A. G. L. I.
The Gaedhelic character of these names is unmistakable. In the Lannor and Eliseg
legends, pp. 396-7, I have already shown that the terminations Mael and Magli are the same,
and premising that v will be written BH and F in Gaedhelic, we find this name in a reversed
form as Maelfinnia, A.D. 892, 897, 898, 894, Ann, 4 Mas, also as Maelfinnen and Mael-
fechine; there are over three hundred names with the prefix Mael in the above Annals.
But we also have it in its identical form; at A.D. 694, we have recorded the obit of Fianam-
hail son of Maenach ; also A. D. 678, the slaying of Fianamhail son of Maeltuile a king of
Leinster; several others of that name are also recorded.
Senemagli...—The prefix to this name is the Gaedhelic Seanach, A.D. 587, 620, also
Sedna, the D quiescent, A.M. 4271, 4290, Ann. 4 Mas. See also Senan, Seahan.
MAEN MADoc.—This is a huge rude pillar stone 11 feet high, 24 feet wide, and
1} in thickness; it stands in a wide and lonely district about eight miles from Devynock,
Brecknockshire, and is admirably described and illustrated by Mr. J. O. Westwood, in Arch.
Camb. v. 1858, p. 407. The legend is in large rude Roman capitals:—
D E R W A C I F I L I V S
I W L I I IC I A C IT. -
Dervac.—Dear and Der, these are common prefixes to Gaedhelic names, as Dearbhail,
Derval, Dearmaid, Dermot.
PENRHos LLUgwy.—This monument is described and illustrated by Lord Boston in
Arch. Camb. v. 1864, p. 105; it is a rude stone lying in the churchyard of Penrhos
Llugwy, Anglesey; the inscription is in Roman letters, engraved lengthways, as usual:—
H I C I A C IT
M A C C W I D E C C E T I.
Rowlands (Mona Antiqua, p. 156) gives a rude and incorrect sketch of this monument,
which he states to be the grave-stone of St. Machutus, a bishop of St. Maloes, and patron of
Llanfechell Church. The author of “Lives of the Cambro-British Saints' follows
Rowlands: the name of Machutus is not, however, on the stone, the Gaedhelic word
Maccui, or Maqi, the genitive case of Mac, a son, has been turned into the name of
the saint in question; it simply records the resting-place of the “Son of Deceet” or
“Deccettus," and is a compound inscription of Latin and Gaedhelic forms. I have
400 EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. [CHAP, XVII.
remarked on this name in my articles on the Ogam inscribed stones at Gortnagullanagh
(p. 181), and Killeen-Cormac (p. 316), where we find it in the forms of Maqqi Decedda, Maqi
Ddecceda; as I have already stated, the D and T are commutable in Gaedhelic. It is the
tribe name of a great Munster Sept, the Clanna Deagaid. The name is also found in
Roman letters on a stone at Buckland in Devonshire (p. 849).
SPITTAL-This is a tall rude pillar stone, standing in the churchyard of Spittal, Pem-
brokeshire. The inscription is in large Roman characters of an early date, engraved
lengthways on the face of the stone:— -
E. W. A. L I F I L I D E N O
C W N I O W, E N D E
M. A. T E R E I W S.
Eval.-This appears to be the same name as Avibhal, pro Eeval.
Denocun.-This name is found in the Ann. 4 Mas, as Doncuan, Donnagan ; and in
the Chron. Scot, as Doncuan, and Donnacan, modern Duncan.
Ovend.—This name I have been unable to identify.
PENBRYN.—This stone stands on the farm of Dyffren Beren, near Penbryn, Cardigan-
shire, and within a mile of the sea-shore. The inscription is lengthways on the stone
in large rude Roman letters as follows:–
C O R. B. A. L E N G. I. I. A CIT
O R D 0 W. S.
This monument is described and illustrated in Arch. Camb. v. 1861, p. 306, by
Mr. J. O. Westwood.
CoRBALENG.-Names with the prefix Cor and Corb are frequent in Irish history,
as Corb-Olum, Corbmac, Corbuidhe, Corcran, Cormacan, Ann, 4 Mas. Of the same type
are Cearbal, Cearval. The identical name we find at a very remote period in Corbolonn,
one of the seven sons of Fergus Mac Roigh, a family intimately connected with Munster,
Kerry being named from his son Ciar, and Cork from another son Corc. (Ogygia, p. iii.
c. 46.) We have already noticed a similar type of name on Irish Ogam pillars, as Corbi,
Corribir, Corbidoi.
CAPEL BRITHDIR.—This is a rude pillar of sandstone 6ft. Sin. high, 3ft. Bin. wide, and
3in, thick; it stands in a desolate spot near the church of Brithdir, not far from Gelligaer,
Glamorganshire, and is described in Arch. Camb. v. 1862, p. 130. The inscription is in
Roman capitals as follows:–
T E G E H N A C U S FIL I U S M A R II H I C I A C IT.
Tegernacus.-This name is also found on a stone at Cwmdu, already noticed; it is
identical with the well-known Gaedhelic name Tigernac, Tighearnach, and is derived from
“Tiarna, s. m. a lord, prince, ruler.” The writer of the article in Arch. Camb. is of
opinion that this is the monument of a Teyrnog, a native of Gwent or Wenta Siluram; he
also mentions two Welsh saints of this name; it is, however, so essentially Irish, and the
examples of its use so general in Irish history, civil and ecclesiastical, that we must rather
consider these Welsh saints either as descendants of the Gaedhelic settlers, or as mis-
sionaries from Ireland. The name with the prefix Sar is to be found in one of the
Seskinan Ogam inscriptions, “Sartigurn" (p. 264). “Tigernach, Bishop of Cluain-eois,
CHAP. xvii.] INSCRIPTIONS IN ROMAN LETTERS. 401
quievit, A.D. 545.” “A.D. 848, A victory gained by Tigernach, King of Loch Gabhair.”
Chron. Scot. See also Ann. 4 Mas., and “Martyr. Don.” “Antiq. Down and Connor.”
Mar—This is the well-known Irish name of Maher or Meagher, pro. Mar (Index Ann. 4
Mas.); the name is still common in the south of Ireland, and is always written Maher and
Meagher, and pronounced Mar or Maer.
LLANLEAR.—At Llanlear, Cardiganshire, is an inscribed stone, described and illustrated
by Mr. J. O. Westwood in Arch. Camb. v. 1863, p. 258. It bears a portion of a plain
wheel cross incised, and four lines of an inscription in the Irish character, engraved
as usual lengthways on the stone. Mr. Westwood was unable to give a reading of it, but
identified the name MAC LONIN in the second line, and FILIWS in the third. The
inscription is certainly a crux, not only from the imperfect state of some of the letters, but
also from the want of uniformity in their formation ; the above name, however, can be
easily read.
Mac Lonin.-We find in the Ann. 4 Mas, at A.D. 1011, “Mac Lonain Abbot of Ros-
Credied.” The name is common in Ireland in the forms of Lenan, Leenane, and Mac Lennan.
GNoLL CASTLE.-At Gnoll Castle, near Neath, is preserved a fragment of an inscribed
pillar stone, which originally stood at Panwen Brydden, in the parish of Langadoc,
six miles from Neath. The piece preserved bears the following inscription in rude Roman
letters, cut lengthways on the face (Arch. Camb. v. 1865, p. 59): -
M A C A R IT IN I FI L I B E RI (CI).
Maca-Riti. This name is found in many Ogam inscriptions in the forms of Maqi-Ritti,
Maqi-Rett, Maqi-Rettos. (See Green-hill, p. 137, Ballinranig, p. 209, Cahernagat, p. 220,
Liads, p. 123, Adare, p. 222, Dunloe, p. 232.) It is found in Irish history as Mac-Rait,
Mac-Raith, and Mac-Roith, and is still a well-known surname, Macraeth, Macarthen.
Beric.—The latter part of this name is mutilated ; Gough gives BERICII, the last two
letters, however, are gone, the name B.ERIC is perfect; we find it in the Ann. 4 Masters as
BEARACH, at A.D. 663, 666, 1009, 1128; Bir has been found on one of the Drumlohan
stones. The obit of “Berichtir of Tulach-leis” is recorded at A.D. 839. His monument
still exists at Tulalease, Co. Cork; it bears an incised cross of most elaborate design, with
the following inscription in Irish letters:–
QUI C U M Q UAE H U N C T IT U L E M L E G E R IT OR AT PRO
B E. R. E. C. H. T. U IN E. -
LLANDAwkE, Pl. XLVI. p. 347.-This interesting monument once stood in the church-
yard of Llandawke, near Laugharne, Carmarthenshire; it was subsequently placed as a sill
stone to the door of the church, in which position it was seen by Mr. J. O. Westwood, who
has described and illustrated it in Arch. Camb. v. 1867, p. 343. The inscription is in
large Roman capitals lengthways on the stone :-
B. A. R. R. I W E N D –
FIL IV S W E N D. W. B.A. R.I.
This is the exact formula of the Dunmore Ogam legend, p. 179:—
E R C M A QI M A Q I E R CIA S.
These are compound names formed of the same elements, the prefix of one being the suffix
of the other, as found in many Gaedhelic inscriptions; the elements are Bar and Wend.
F. F. F.
402 EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. ſcHAP. xvii.
Bar is a well-known Munster name, as St. Barr or Fin-Barr, first Bishop of Cork; it enters
into the composition of many names, as Bat-barr, Bearach, Bearaidh (Ann. 4 Mas.), and
Berach, Bernosga, Barrind, the latter a companion of St. Brendan.
Wend.—This name is identical with the Gaedhelic Find, the letter F in that language
being an equivalent for V, which is absent. Names with the prefix Fin or Find are common,
as Finan, Finntan, Findbel, Finchar, Findabar “Tain Bo Cuailgne, Findbar; in fact this
last is identical with Wendubar. The formula of this inscription is identical with that on the
Gwytheran stone. -
LLANFIHANGEL.-A brief notice of this stone is given in the Arch. Camb. v. 1869,
p. 414, which states that it is in the churchyard of Llanfihangel, Ar Arth, Cardiganshire;
inscription as follows:—
HIC I A C IT VI. C. A. G. N. U S FIL IV S S E N O M A G L I.
Ulcagnus.-This name will be found in Ogam on No. 4 of the Ballyhank find (p. 148); a
name nearly identical, “Ulcong,” is also in Ogam on No. 2 of the Glounagloch stones
(p. 121). One of the Cornish monuments presents us with the same name in the genitive
case, “Ulcagni.' The Gaedhelic form is Ulcong or Ulcagan; names of a similar type are
Ulchaderg, Ualachan, Ultach (Ann. 4 Mas.).
Senomagli-This name we have on the Gwytherin monument and has already been
discussed, it differs only in the fourth letter, which is an E in the Gwytherin inscription.
PARCAU.-This fine monument stands near the house of Parkie (Parcau), Carmarthenshire,
and within one and a half mile of the Whitland Junction Station; it formerly stood in a
field called Parc-y-Maen (the field of the stone). It has been described by Camden, and
more perfectly by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson in Arch. Camb. v. 1871, p. 140, and by J. O.
Westwood, same vol. p. 256. The stone stands 5ft. in height, and bears the following
inscription in debased Roman letters, cut lengthways, from the top downwards:–
Q V E N V E N D A N I FI L II B A R C U N I.
The first name is Wendan, with a prefix. It is the Gaedhelic Finntan (Ann. 4 Mas.
A.M. 2242, A.D. 612, 626, 1069). Barcun is a purely Irish name, from Bar, s. m., a chief,
and Cun, recte Con, the genitive case of “Cu, s. m., a champion, a hero, a warrior.”
The Chron. Scot. at A.D. 541 records the death of Bercan (see also Martyr. Don.). It
is a curious fact, that the patronymic is most undoubtedly preserved in the name of lands
adjoining where this stone was found, Cefn Warchen, and more curious still, that Wendan
is preserved to the present day in Fenton, a purer form of the original Gaedhelic.
Fintan, Gaulish form, Windonius . . Stein. 200. Windonia . . Orellius, 2019. O'Brien,
in his Irish Dict, published at Paris, 1768, has the following remarks on the letter F —
“It is the same with the Hebrew Wau, because the figure and sound of both letters are very
nearly alike; this letter agrees in many words with the Latin V, consonant, as, fear, a
man; hence in the obliques and plurals, fir, Latin vir; fior, true, Latin verus; fion, wine,
Latin vinum ; focal, a word, Latin vocalis.” He goes on to show that both the Greeks
and Latins “have also observed a close affinity between the letters f, b and v,” and gives
many examples of the practice (p. 225)
CORNISH MONUMENTS.
GULVAL-This stone stands at one end of Blew Bridge, in the village of Gulvol near
CHAP. xvii.] INSCRIPTIONS IN ROMAN LETTERS. 403
Penzance; it is illustrated and described by Mr. Westwood, in Arch. Camb. v. 1863, p. 288.
The inscription is in debased Roman letters:—
Q V E N A T A VI. . . IC
D IN VI E' I L I W. S.
Quenatav.–This is a compound name, having the well-known prefix Cu, in the form in
which it is found on several Ogam monuments. The suffix Natav is found in Ogam on the
Ballyvoony stone, in the form of Nuataf, an archaic form of a very oft recurring name in
Irish history, Nuada, Nuadhat. The name divested of its Latinised form is certainly
Cunedaf or Cunetami.
Ic Dinu.-Not described.—G.M.A.
ST. CUBERT's.-This inscription is on a stone imbedded in the tower of St. Cubert's
church, and is as follows:–
C O N E TO C I FIT, I. T E G E R N O M A. L. I.
Cometoc.—We find this name in the form of Counachtach, Ann. 4 Mas. A.D. 701, 797;
names of a similar type are plentiful, as Conacan, Conodor, Concen.
Tegern.-This name I have already alluded to. It appears in the inscriptions at Cwmdu
and Capel Brythir.
THE LONG-ston E.-This monument is described by Borlase as lying in a ditch by the
road leading from Fowey to Castledor; it is 8ft. in height, hence its popular name. The
inscription is in Roman capitals, cut lengthways on the stone, as follows:–
C I R W S I W S H I C I A C IT
C V N E M O R. I E' I L IV. S.
Cirusius.-Ciar is a well-known Munster name; it is also used as a prefix to many
others, as Ciaran, Ciarmacan, Ciarodar (Ann. 4 Mas.).
Cunemor-This is a compound name, having the well-known prefix Con, or Cune, the
genitive case of Cu, a hound, and also used to signify a warrior, a hero (O'Brien's Dict.),
and Mor, great.
LANYon.-Borlase describes this monument as standing at Lanyon in the parish of
Madern, being 9ft. 10in. in height, 1.ft. 8in. wide, and 1.ft. 10in. in thickness.
RIA LO B R A N
C. W. N. O. W. A. L. F I L.
Rialobran.-This is also a compound; the suffix Bran frequently occurs in Irish names,
as Albran, A.D. 769, Ann. 4 Mas. ; this name only requires the prefix Ri (a king or sovereign
prince) to complete its identity with that in this inscription. Art-bran, A.D. 753, Bran-
dubh, 586, 626, Bran, 687, 735, 837, Branchu, 728, Bran-breac, 733, Ann. 4 Mas.
Cunoval.—I have so often referred to names of this type that I shall not dwell on this.
WoRTHYVALE, p. 351.-Borlase describes this monument as standing in his time
at Worthyvale, near Camelford, being in height 9ft. 9in., and in breadth 2ft. Bin. The
inscription in Roman capitals is as follows:–
C A T IN HIC I A C IT
F I L I W S M A. G. A. R. I.
It has also a portion of an Ogam inscription.
Catin. This identical name has been found in Ogam characters on stones from
404 EXTENT OF THE GAELIC DOMINION. [CHAP. xvii.
Ballinrannig (p. 209), and Ballintaggart (p. 202); of a similar type are Catan, Cathnia,
Cathalan, Ann. 4 Mas.
Magari.-This appears to be the Gaedhelic name Mac-an-Ri, i.e. the Son of the King;
we so have it in Ogam on one of the Ballintaggart stones (p. 201). It may also be a form of
Mac Garaidh, pron. Mac Garry, a name frequent in the south of Ireland at the present day,
and written in the latter form. Gara was a very plentiful name in the north of Ireland;
there is a list of twenty-seven O'Garas in the Ann. 4 Mas, in which will also be found
such as Magauran, Magauly, Magenis, Magrath.
Michael.-Borlase mentions having seen this stone “four miles east of Michel;" he
gives the inscription —
R U A N I H I C I A C I T.
Ruani.--This name in the form of Riani is to be found on an Ogam monument at
Kinnard. St. Ruadhan, pron. Ruan, was the patron saint of Lorha, Co. Tipperary. The
name is still common in Ireland in the forms of Rian and Ryan. (See Ogam article
“Kinnard,” p. 217.)
MAwgoN.—Borlase describes this monument as standing near the parish church
of Mawgon; it is a rude undressed pillar stone. The inscription in Roman letters,
partially debased, is as follows:–
C NE G W M L E II,
– E N A N S.
Cunegum.—Having so frequently alluded to names of this class, I shall merely remark
the omission of the vowel U, apparently accidental.
Enans.—In the Chron. Scot. at A.D. 633 we find “Enan of Drum-Raithe Quievit.”
The Ann. 4 Mas, gives us En, Enna, Enda.
From what has been adduced it will appear that the inscribed stones of Cornwall are of
a remote period, the letters being generally tall rude Roman capitals, seldom debased,
always cut lengthways on the face of the monuments, which are usually of great size, and
undressed. That the names are all of a Gaedhelic type, the majority of them being
identical with names in ancient Irish history, and some of them found in Ogam characters
in pillar stones in the extreme south-west of Ireland. These are facts that speak for them-
selves, and which cannot be got rid of by any amount of mere reasoning. These inscrip-
tions appear to be all of the pagan age; the stones are not inscribed with sacred emblems,
and the name of the deity or that of any sacred personage are not to be found on them;
no word of Christian hope or trust. -
DEVONSHIRE.
As might be expected, Devonshire presents us with monuments of a similar type to those
I have been describing. I have already called attention to that at Fardel (p. 848), and would
now describe one equally remarkable and of profound interest to the Gaedhelic antiquary.
BUCKLAND.—At Buckland Monachorum is a pillar stone (described at p. 350) bearing the
following inscription (Kil. Arch. Soc. v. 1858, p. 184):—
S A R IN – F I L – M A C C O DE C H E T –
Both of these names are Gaedhelic ; thus in the Ann. 4 Mas. at A.D. 601 we have recorded
CHAP. xvii. INSCRIPTIONS IN ROMAN LETTERS. 405
the obit of Saran Airchinneach of Seanbothsine; at A.D. 661, that of Saran Ua Critain, and
at A.D. 742, Saran, Abbot of Beannchair. Names with the prefix Sar, Sear, or Sir, are
very usual in our indices. The Gaulish form is Seranus . . Orel. 205. The patronymic is
one frequently noted in this work, and has been found inscribed in Ogam at Gort-
nagullanagh (p. 181), and Ballintaggart (p. 203) in the extreme west of Kerry, and
at Killeen Cormac in Kildare (p. 285); and in Roman characters at Penhros Llugwy
in Anglesea; in every instance the formula is the same, with the occasional variation of a
letter, as Decedd, Deceed, Ddecced, Deccet, Dechet. It is certainly remarkable that this
well-known Munster tribe, the Clanna Dagaid, or Degadi, can be traced from the far south-
west of Ireland into the counties of Cork and Waterford, up the valley of the Suir into
Kildare, across the Menai Straits into Anglesea, and to the remote Celtic district of Devonshire.
The orthographical forms of the name in the various localities evidence that the Gaedhil
came into Britain from Ireland, and not vice versá, as some writers have stated, as the more
archaic forms of the name are to be found on the Ogam monuments of Kerry, Cork, and
Waterford, the Roman legends of Anglesea and Devonshire showing a more recent type.
TAvistock.-A monument of a similar class has been found at Tavistock in this shire,
it is inscribed:–
N E P R A N I F I L I C () N D F W I.
The Gaedhelic form of the person commemorated is Nebran; names with the prefix Ne
and Ni are very usual, see Ann. 4 Mas. We find Nialbran, ibid. A.D. 873. Condevus is
evidently a form of Cunedaf; Gaedhelic form Condubh, pron. Conduv. We find a Gaulish
form in Condaius (Rev. Archéol. iv. 41). Names of a similar type are plentiful, as Condal,
Condath, Condon, Condalach (Ann. 4 Mas.). -
BUCKLAND MonACHoRUM. Pl. XLVI, p. 350.-In the vicarage grounds at Tavistock is
to be seen a stone removed thither from Buckland, and which bears an inscription in Roman
letters of an early type, and the remains of one in the Ogam characters as already alluded
to ; the Roman legend being:—
D O B U N I. F. A. B. R T E II, I E N A. B. A. R. R. I.
In the article devoted to this monument in my Ogam section (p. 350), I have shown that
the names in Roman letters are purely Gaedhelic names, Dobanus being also found on one
of the Clydai stones, and the patronymic in the form of Vendubari at Landawke (p. 347).
I have thus endeavoured to bring before my readers a concise but faithful description of
the inscribed stones of Western Britain, hitherto known as Romano-British, upon what
grounds I am at a loss to discover, as not one of them affords us a single word in the
language of the Cymry, nay more, though I have made every inquiry, I have not been able
to ascertain the existence of any monumental inscription in Welsh anterior to the eleventh
century, if indeed there be any of so early a date. A vast amount has been said and
published concerning the ancient literature and culture of that people, and yet we have not
the slightest evidence that they ever had written characters of their own.
If every MS. of the Gaedhil were destroyed, we could still prove from existing monu-
ments their claims to the early use of letters, and a certain amount of literary culture;
undeniable evidence is to be found in the numerous sepulchral memorials scattered over the
face of the whole island in the cemeteries of her ancient seats of learning and religion,
406 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xv.11.
bearing inscriptions in their own ancient language and characters, while the more archaic
Ogam carries back those claims to a still remoter age. We are conversant with the inscribed
monuments of many ancient peoples; we can recognise the characters of the Assyrians,
Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Etrurians; of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Gaedhil, and
Northmen; but where are those of the Cymry 2
THE PERIOD OF OCCUPATION.
Having already established the occupation of a considerable part of Western Britain by
a Gaedhelic race from the South of Ireland, it is a legitimate subject for inquiry, at what
period did this occupation take place? a question, I confess, easier mooted than resolved.
Irish records mention expeditions of the native princes to Britain, Alba, and Gaul, as far
back as the reign of Crimthan Nianair, A.D. 9, but they give us no date for the first occupa-
tion. In the passage already quoted at p. 387 we have some evidence of the extent of the
Gaedhelic colonisation, which included Cornwall, and though we have no dates given, we
can approximate towards such by the names mentioned in the passage. After describing the
sway of the Gaedhils and the forts erected by them, it concludes:—
“It was at this time Coirpre Musc was dwelling in the east, with his family and friends.”
Now Cairbre Musc was the son of Conary, King of Ireland, who was slain A.D. 165 (Ann.
4 Mas.); he was the ancestor of all the tribes called Muscraighe, and from him the barony
of Muskery, Co. Cork, is named. Again, we have the reference to Crimthan Mor-Mac-
Fidaigh, who ascended the throne of Ireland A.D. 366, so that at both these periods the
Gaedhelic dominion existed in Wales; and further the annalist states, “And they con-
tinued in this power a long time after the arrival of St. Patrick.” This last statement is
quite consistent with the Cymric records, which ascribe the overthrow of the Gaedhelic
power to the sons of Cunedda, and which is variously stated to have occurred in the sixth
or seventh centuries. Both Crimthan and Cairbre were of the race of Eibher. The Welsh
records are very contradictory on this subject, as I have already adverted to; they state the
duration of the Irish power from 29 to 129 years, and record their subjugation in the north
by Caswallon, and in the south by the sons of Cunedda.
The Roman writers on the conquest of Britain afford us some evidence that the Gaedhil
were in possession of the west of the island at that period. From the accounts of Caesar's
two expeditions very little information can be gathered, beyond the fact, that the southern
part of the island, which only came under his observation, was thickly populated by numerous
independent tribes, whose manners and customs were similar in many respects to those of
the Gauls. Dion Cassius and Tacitus had however more varied sources of information, and
from them we derive some knowledge of its inhabitants; of whom the latter writer states:—
“In their looks and persons they vary; from whence arguments and inferences are formed.
For the red hair of the Caledonians and their large limbs testify their descent to be from
Germany. The swarthy complexions of the Silures, and their hair, which is generally curled,
with their situation opposite to the coast of Spain, furnish ground to believe that the ancient
Iberians had arrived from thence here, and taken possession of the territory. They who
live next to Gaul are also like the Gauls; whether it be that the spirit of the original stock
from whence they sprang still remains, or whether in countries near adjoining the genius of
CHAP. xv.11.] THE PERIOD OF OCCUPATION. 407
the climate confers the same form and dispositions upon the bodies of men’’ (Vita Agricola).
We have here three distinct races indicated—First, the Gaulish tribes who established them-
selves in Britain under the same names they bore in Gaul, as the Hedui, the Senones,
Attrebates, Parisii, Morini, Belgae, &c. Secondly, the Gaedhelic races of the Damnonii of
Cornwall and Devon, the Silures and cognate tribes of North and South Wales, and probably
of the central counties. Thirdly, the Caledonii of Scotland and the North of England.
We find that the resistance of the southern and eastern tribes to the arms of Caesar and his
successors was not of a very protracted or determined character; while on the contrary,
the Celtic races made a most implacable and persevering defence, and their subjugation was
not effected without great losses to the Romans; this is particularly true of the Silures, who
first appear on the page of history about A.D. 43, when Aulus Plautius arrived in Britain.
The obstinate and protracted resistance made by this people is thus referred to by Tacitus:
“But no rigour nor mercy could reclaim the Silures, who were bent upon war and could only
be reduced by the force of legions. To facilitate this design a colony powerful in the
number of veterans was conveyed to Camalodunum, situate in the conquered lands, as a
bulwark against the rebels, and for inuring our allies to the laws and jurisdiction of the
Romans. Thence we marched against the Silures, a people resolute and fierce by nature, and
moreover confiding in the assistance and valour of Caractacus, one renowned for many
victories and many disasters, so that in credit he surpassed all the other British commanders.”
(Annals, xii.) For nine years this heroic chieftain defied the power of the Roman legions
backed by their tributary allies in Britain, until he was defeated by Ostorius, in a sanguinary
battle, fought it is supposed at Caer Caradoc, in Shropshire, or, as others assert, at Coxal
Knoll in the same county. The Silures, however, continued an obstinate resistance, nor
were they finally subdued until about A.D. 75, by Julius Frontinus. The district inhabited
by them appears to have comprised the present counties of Pembroke, Cardigan, Carmarthen,
Glamorgan, Brecknock, and Radnor, in Wales; with Monmouth, Hereford, and Shropshire,
in England; they have been at all times a mystery to archaeologists, their peculiar physical
characteristics, and their Spanish descent, as alluded to by Tacitus, being quite at variance
with the generally received opinion, that all the British races had crossed from Northern
Gaul and Germany into Southern Britain. The traditions and annals of the Gaedhil seem
to me to offer a consistent and satisfactory solution of the question, and to account for any
difficulties that may present themselves in considering it, and more particularly when taken
in connection with the statements of the Roman historian. These traditions persistently
aver that their ancestors came from the East into Spain, and from thence to Ireland, which
they conquered and settled, and from thence sent colonies into Western Britain. Now this
Spanish race who occupied the South of Ireland were an exceedingly warlike and adventurous
people; the fierce fighting clans of the Ernai inhabited West Munster, the Dalcassi North
Munster, and Clanna Breogan the Eastern districts. The Bardic Annals state that on a
division of the island between the sons of Miledh the southern half fell to the share of
Eibher, hence its tribes have always been known as the Siol Eibher, pron. Sile Eevar, i.e. the
seed or children of Eibher.
Here at once we have the Silures of Tacitus, the fierce indomitable Iberian race with
408 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. XVII.
all the physical and moral characteristics of the Spanish Celts, their very name most
accurately preserved by the Roman writer. Again, we find that the only Silurian proper
name which has been preserved to us, is a well-recognised Gaedhelic one–Caractacus:
here again the native orthography is strictly preserved; without its Latin termination the
name is Caractac, or Cartace: we find it on an Ogam inscribed stone from Baurachaurin,
Co. Cork, in the form of Carrttac (see article, p. 122); in “Tribes and Customs of
Hy Mainé,” p. 35, as Carrthach; in Ann. of Ulst, at A.D. 631, 635, 851, and other dates, as
Carthach; in process of time, owing to changes of language, it became softened into
Carthaigh, perhaps the modern Carthy, one of the most general names in the south of Ireland.
Upon a careful and candid review of all that has been adduced on this subject, I think
it must be admitted that the Gaedhil had an early occupation of Wales; that they brought
with them the Ogam character, which they used on the sepulchral pillar stones erected over
their deceased friends; that being subjected by the Romans, they adopted the letters and
language of that people, as did the rest of Britain, but continued occasionally to use their
more ancient characters in conjunction with them on the same monument.
The SUILEIBHER (SILUREs) and CERETIC, both of which are agreeable to Gaedhelic forms.
—Whatever credibility may be attached to the detailed accounts given by the Gaedhelic
writers of the Spanish colonisation of Ireland, there can be no doubt of the fact of a people
of that descent having occupied the south of Ireland at a remote pre-historic period, and
who were known by the native name of Siol-Eibher. The name Eibher or Heber, as
it is variously written, evidently points to a people, not an individual, and at once connects
them with Iberia and the Iberians; the coincidence is too striking and too well supported
by external evidences to be a mere etymological likeness. -
Let us examine the Gaedhelic tradition. It states that the ancestors of the Scoti came
from Scythia to Egypt, and from Egypt to Spain, which they inhabited for a period; that
owing to contentions with the native and hostile intruding tribes they were compelled to
emigrate; at this period they dwelt in the north-west of the peninsula, Gallicia; that one
of their principal maritime towns was Tor-Breogan (Brigantia), so named from its builder,
Breogan, and from which their expedition started for Ireland.
Now, the ancient name of Spain was Iberia, and its inhabitants were Iberians; its
principal river was the Iberus (Ebro). The Scythians, a generic term given to the
primitive tribes dwelling in the early seats of the human race, between the Black and
Caspian seas, migrated southwards into Chaldea, Palestine, and Egypt, and along the
northern shores of the Mediterranean; as also westward into Europe through Greece.
(See Bryant's Analysis of Heathen My. v. iii. pp. 183, 184, 505.) At a subsequent period
an irruption of the Scythic races overran Babylonia and Palestine, penetrating as far
as Egypt, when they were bought off by Psammetichus, as is stated by Herodotus; they
established their seat of government at Bethshan, which they occupied for twenty-eight
years under the name of Scythopolis. A district in north-western Egypt was named
Scythica Regis. (D'Anville's map.) Traces of a Celtic population are to be found along
the northern coasts of Africa; Cromlechs, Stone-circles, Rocking-stones, Cairns, Tumuli,
are numerous, particularly in the province of Algeria. The topography of the country and
CHAP. XVII.] THE IBERIAN TRADITION. 409
the manners and customs of the Berbers and other mountain tribes are intensely Celtic.
Now the original Iberia formed a part of ancient Scythia, as did also Albania, and it is
instructive how these names travelled westwards with the migratory Scuits; we find an
Albania in Greece, a mountain district inhabited by a fearless and indomitable race of liberty
loving Celts; a similar people must have dwelt about the Alps, and so named these mighty
ridges and peaks; in Spain we have reproduced the Scythic Iberia, and in Ireland and North
Britain, both Iberia and Albania; through every change the Gaedhelic form Eibher is
preserved. The name Alba was given to Scotland by the same race on account of its
mountainous character; in the most ancient Irish MSS it is so named, Alba or Albain.
Again, the Romans found a fierce and warlike race occupying the North of England from
the Irish Sea to the German Ocean; they were named Brigantii; they were as distinct from
their northern neighbours, the Caledonii, as they were from their southern ones, the Belgii;
they waged a bloody warfare with the Romans, and disappear in a mysterious manner from
the page of history. They appear to have been a cognate race with the Silures, as we find
that on the defeat of Caractacus he fled for succour to them, though he found his confidence
misplaced. The name and origin of this people has been a crux to antiquaries; most of
the great tribes of Britain had their co-relatives on the Continent, the Damnonii, Silures, and
Brigantii being exceptions. To find the origin of these tribes we must not depend on classic
writers alone: Tacitus surmises the Silures to be Iberian; Ptolemy informs us that a people
named Briganti occupied some of the central counties of Ireland; English writers have
surmised that they were a colony of the British Briganti; the Irish annalists would lead us
to a different conclusion; they state that Breogan, the son of Bratha, was a Gadelian chief,
that he erected Tor Breogan, near Cruine (Corunna), i.e. Breogan's tower or fortress,
supposed to be Brigantia in Gallicia, that ten of his sons accompanied the expedition to
Ireland, and had an extensive district assigned to them in the province of Leinster, including
the celebrated plains of Bregia and Muirtheimne, named after two of them. The Clanna
Breogan formed an important part of the expedition, hence they had an extensive and
valuable territory assigned to them, as I have already referred to. However doubtful the
founding of Braganza in Gallicia by the Gaedhelic chief Breogan may be, there is every
probability that a tribe or family of that name came with the Iberian emigrants into Ireland;
that a portion of them, under their Gaedhelic name Clanna Breogan, existed in Kildare and
Kilkenny in Ptolemy's time; that a long period previously they had crossed from Louth or
Down into the Isle of Man, and from thence to the shores of Cumberland, becoming the
Briganti of Tacitus.
If we examine the early history of Spain we will find that the story of the Milesian
occupation of Hibernia is a very probable one. Iberia occupied a very early place in the
world's annals, and an earlier still in classic traditions; here on the sacred promontory
stood the mythic temple of Hercules and the mysterious pillars: the region Tartessus, the
Tarshish of Sqripture, corresponded with the Turdetania and Turduli of Strabo, the present
province of Andalusia; the Tyrians founded Gadeira (Cadiz) 1100 B.C., the same people
are supposed to have also built Carteia, Malaca, and Abdera (Kenrick's Phoenicia, p. 128).
When the Phoenician power declined and Tyre became unable to protect her distant
G. G. G.
410 EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. [CHAP. xv.11.
colonies, Carthage, her vigorous daughter, stepped in and took possession of her Iberian
cities. Spain must have been inhabited long before the Phoenician mariners sought its
shores; they were traders and chapmen, and sought not desolate and uninhabited countries,
but populated districts, where they could exchange their wares for such natural products as
the natives would barter in. Strabo, speaking of the Turdetani and Turduli, states that
they had metrical laws 6,000 years old (by their own account), and an alphabet different
from the rest of the Iberians; the latter appear to have formed the general population of
the Peninsula before the arrival of the Phoenicians, as is intimated by Pliny, “In universam
Hispaniam M. Varro pervenisse Iberos et Persas, (2) Phoenices Celtasque et Poenos tradit.”
(iii. 3.) The Carthaginians soon discovered the mineral wealth of Spain; the tin mines of
Gallicia supplied them with that useful metal before the discovery of the Cassiterides,
a necessity forced on them by the exhaustion of their Spanish supply. It is incredible to
believe that any portion of the coasts of Gaul were unknown to this people; it is equally so
that they were not well acquainted with the British isles; salubrious in climate, and rich in
their natural productions, they could not have escaped the notice of an enterprising com-
mercial people, eight centuries in occupation of Spain, who could not fail to have explored
every creek and harbour of western Europe. Through such constant trading for centuries
the tribes of the Spanish coasts became acquainted with the western isles, and when
domestic troubles, the oppression of conquering races, or the increase of population,
compelled them to change their abode, is it at all unlikely that bands of these sea-coast
tribes, leaving their homes and coasting along the shores of Gaul, may have dropped on the
south-west coast of Ireland 2 We have no reason to believe that the Phoenicians had any
important colonies either in Britain or Hibernia, much less that they were an important
part of the population of the latter island, as has been rashly asserted by some ; the utmost we
can safely entertain is, that they had trading depôts on the coasts, and maintained an inter-
course with the people by barter. And yet it is not unlikely that the decay of the Punic
power in Spain, and the conquest of that country by the arms of vindictive Rome, may have
compelled some of these maritime colonies to flee before the face of their hereditary enemies
into these western isles as a remote refuge.
It is not necessary for the purposes of my argument that the Gaedhil came directly
from Gallicia to Ireland; such may have been the case, the south-west of Ireland is the
natural landfall from Cape Finisterre. Strabo states, “Formerly the name of Iberia was
given to the whole country between the Rhone and the isthmus formed by the two Galatic
Gulfs" (b. iii. c. iv.). Aquitania was peopled by an Iberian race, this denomination ex-
tended from the Pyrenees to the Garonne; in this district and Gallia Narbonensis the long
divided races of the Scuits may have met; Diodorus Siculus states that the Celts and
Iberians having been engaged in fierce feuds about their respective boundaries, at length
agreed to unite their tribes, and to inhabit promiscuously, and intermarrying, their
posterity were called Celtiberians. The accounts given by the above-named writers of the
manners and customs of these races are exceedingly interesting, and at once identify them
with the Gaedhil. The Celteberians consisted of numerous tribes, their country was wealthy
and densely populous; Strabo states, on the authority of Posidonius, that Marcus Marcellus
CHAP. xv.11.] IBERIA, CELTIBERIA, GAEL, AND GALLICIA. 411
extracted from them a tribute of 600 talents, and on that of Polybius, that Tiberius
Gracchus destroyed 300 of their cities (b. iii. c. iv.). A study of the classic writers
will show us that Italy, Spain and Gaul were densely populated in these times, that the two
latter countries had numerous independent nations. Strabo speaks of the fourteen nations
pertaining to the Aquitani, and cites the fact, that the Celts were defeated in the Cevennes
by the Romans under Fabius Maximus with the loss of 200,000 men; that the Arverni on
several occasions brought the same number of men into the field, and on one occasion double
that number, when Wercingetorix fought against Julius Cæsar : these are probably exaggera-
tions, Caesar himself gives the number of his opponents as 248,000 (b. vii. c. 76). The
history of the Roman and Gallic wars evidences the power and populousness of that country,
which the Romans never could have subdued were it not for the conflicting interests and
jealousies of the numerous tribes who inhabited it. It could scarcely be expected that the
present topography of the Peninsula should exhibit many traces of its pre-historic races;
the Carthaginians, Romans, Goths, and Arabs, having each had a lengthened occupation,
must of necessity have given new names to its physical features, thereby obliterating the old :
this process, however, does not appear to have been universally successful, in truth it never
is in a conquered country where the old races survive in any numbers.
In the old tribe names of Spain we find a remarkable confirmation of the truth of the
Gaedhelic traditions. The ancient Irish called themselves Gael, and state that their ancestors
came from north-western Spain; by reference to ancient authorities we find a district there
called Gallicia, and a people called Gallaici; we find also a prominent headland named
Ortugal, and the same word in the name of the modern kingdom of Portugal. We find
that the Gael were divided into tribes, as the Clanna Eibher, Clanna Breogan, Clanna
Heremon. The former appear to have played an important part in the history of Ireland,
they were a numerous and warlike race of an advanced civilisation, and occupied an immense
district of country having over three hundred miles of a sea-board, from Kerry Head on
the Shannon to Carnsore Point on the Leinster coast, indented with numerous safe harbours
and sea-inlets: they were essentially a maritime race; at a subsequent period they carried
their arms into Western Britain, and infested the southern coasts of that country and of
Gaul. The root of their tribe name is not only found in the ancient name of Spain, but
also in that of the Artabri, a people of Gallicia (it is curious that Artbar is a proper
Gaedhelic name); we have it also in that of the Cantabri, the Celtiberi, the Berones, and
the Bargussi, all tribes of Northern Spain.
The Clanna Breogan are represented by the Briganti of Gallicia, one of whose cities is
occupied by the modern Braganza. We find in the south of the county of Clare a tribe
anciently known as the Ua'Bhaiscinn, whose territory was named after them Corca
Bhaiscinn; their correlatives appear in the Wascones, a tribe of Northern Spain, probably
represented by the modern Basques. The Clanna Heremon or Eremon are represented by
the Hermini, a tribe of Western Spain, who according to Dion Cassius were subdued by
Julius Caesar and nearly exterminated; they were a maritime people dwelling on the sea-
coasts. (Dion. Cas. Stephand, b. 37.)
Many of the ancient topographical names of Iberia can be fairly rendered in the
412 THE BEARING OF THE QUESTION ON THE [CHAP. XVII.
Gaedhelic. The original name of the rocky headland of Gibraltar was Calpe, in that
language a head, and bold-headed, expressive of the bold bare mountain that guards the left
entrance to the Mediterreanean. The large and fertile province of Andalusia was anciently
known as Baetica, from the river Baetis, the two great arms of which, with their tributaries,
fertilised the entire district. In Strabo's time it was divided into two denominations,
Turdetania and Turduli; the inhabitants of both he describes as an ancient race, having
metrical laws 6,000 years old; both these terms are pure Gaedhelic, and expressive of the
natures of the districts to which they are applied. Turdetania from “Tir, s.f. a land,
country, region,” and “Tana, s. a herd, drove,” literally, the Land of Herds. Strabo states
“ that Turdetania bred a superabundance of cattle" (b. iii. e. ii.). Turduile, from Tir as
before and “Duile, s.rm. a pleasant country’’ (O'R. Dict.); a term expressive of that
delightful region known as the “Garden of Spain.” The antiquities and topography of
this interesting country are but little known to us, the names of places and natural objects
given upon maps are few and bearing comparatively recent names; it is to the natural
features in the country districts, such as mountains, hills, rivers, streams, wells and lakes,
that we must look for traces of the early peoples who first named them, and of these we
have but slender information. It has been remarked that rivers and streams have generally
preserved the original names imposed on them by the first settlers of a country, though
many succeeding races may have inhabited it. This I think will generally be found a fact,
and it is particularly true of Spain; many Gaedhelic root words are to be found enwoven
in their river names, there are Dur, Abhainn, Uisge, and Bior. Dur signifies water, and is
found in the names of the following rivers and streams—Duera, Duerna, Dorio, Toreon,
Teron, Tera; the T and D are commutable in Gaedhelic.
Abhainn, pronounced Avon and Owen, is the principal name for a river or stream in
Irish; it enters into the composition of many hundreds of names of such in the forms of
Oun, Owen, An, and On, used both as prefixes and suffixes, as, Ounabui, Oumageeragh,
Owenmore, Owenbeg, Shannon, Sullane, Funcheon, Dalligan, &c. In Spanish river names
it generally appears as a suffix, as the Nalon, Jabolon, Aragon, Ason, Piron, Carron, Nerian,
Sedana, Taiana, Guadiana; this last was anciently named the Anas, i.e. the River. We
find this word as a prefix in Andaro and Uuna; in a more perfect form in Abona,
Abhain; in Llanes we have the Irish Laune, a river of Kerry; and in Baetis, the ancient name
of the Guadalquiver, an expressive Gaedhelic term, Beit, signifying twain, both ; this river
having two great branches. Uisge is another name for water in the Gaedhelic, and enters
into the composition of numbers of names wherever that race inhabited ; its other forms are
Usk, Esk, and Isca, and sometimes Ess; as the Easkey, Eascaheen, Esk; it also enters
into the formation of names of places situated near water, as Killisky, i.e. the Church near
the Water, Knockanisky, Balliniska, &c. Ess and Eas are applied to waterfalls and cascades,
as Assaroe, Easdara, Doonas, Caherass. In Iberic names it is used both as a suffix and
prefix, as Bernesga, Tagus, Esgueva, Essera, Coldelus, Esterio, Ason.
Bior is another Gaedhelic name for water, the Hebrew Beer; it enters into the com-
position of the most usual word for Well in Ireland, that is, Tobar, Tubber, and Tipper, as
it is variously written; it appears in Iberic river names, as the Iberus, Bernesga, Sabor,
Tambre, Piron.
CHAP. XVII.], EARLY COLONISATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 413
Again, in the names of ancient Iberian towns we detect a strong Gaedhelic element.
I shall at present confine myself to two root-words, Brug, or Brugh, which signifies a town,
a fortified place; also found as Brog, a habitation, and Brughean, a palace, a kingly resi-
dence; this term is found in the names of many Spanish towns, particularly in the north-
west, as Burgidum, Brigaecuno, Lacobriga, Arcobriga, Netobriga, Mirabriga, Cetobriga,
Dessobriga, &c. The other is Caer, which enters into the composition of a vast number of
names of places in Ireland, and which signifies a fortified enclosure, a city, and which is also
applied to the great stone forts so numerous in the south and west of that country; we find
this root in the following Spanish towns:—Carinicum, Carae, Cortona, Cara, Carracan,
Carcuvium, Carmona, Carica, Corduba, Carula, Carteia, Carthago, Brocara, and three
Cartejas.
Upon an unbiassed consideration of the whole subject, we have reasonable grounds for
accepting the statement of the Irish annalists, that an Iberian race came into the south of
Ireland from Spain or Southern Gaul, that they conquered the Fir-bolgi or Damnoni who
preceded them, and that they became the dominant power in the island, imposing their
language and laws on those they subjugated. I would further add, that they very probably
were the Siol Eibher and Clanna Breogan of the Gaedhelic annals, and the Silures and
Briganti of the Roman writers. -
A D D, E N D A.
While these sheets were going through the press, Mr. Edward Fitzgerald, architect, the
discoverer of the Ogam monument in the Leabha Deglan, Ardmore (p. 247), kindly informs
me that he has been again fortunate in finding a portion of an inscribed Ogam monument
in an ancient mud-mortared wall, which was taken down in March, 1878. This wall
adjoined the still standing remains of a monastic building, said to have been the Priory of
St. John, in the town of Youghal, Co. Cork.
The fragment was used at some remote period as a common building stone; it measures
27in. long, 11+in. wide at bottom, 74 in. at top, and about 6in. thick. The side to the right
of the Ogam angle line has scaled (or possibly was dressed by the builder when he used
it), nearly effacing the characters on that side, and rendering what remains on the front
undecipherable # Illu, H-IIlllll---- The long scores forming the T and Q are 2.Éin.
long; the middle sized scores, some of which evidently were cross scores, are 13in. long,
being as near as possible the same size as the markings on the Ardmore monument. It
adds another to the long list of these interesting inscriptions, so plentiful in the South of
Ireland.
On the Ogam-inscribed fragment of stone found at Kunningsburgh by the Rev.
G. Clarke, mentioned at p. 366, coming into the possession of Mr. Gilbert Goudie, F.S.A.
414 ADDEND.A.
Scot, he kindly sent me a tracing. It is now a small stone about 13in, long, 7in, wide,
and 2in, thick, containing portions of two lines of inscriptions; one on the usual angle of
the stone showing portions of the scores of an STCRL and G. perhaps, the angle here
being damaged for some distance; then T and parts of D and L. The other line, inscribed
on the face reading upwards, gives us ROMQOSEF B or M, for the stone has scaled off
here, and E. The letters M Q O may represent the well-recognised formula MAQ0. But
from its very imperfect and fragmentary state, I fear little will be made out of this inscription.
The locality of the find is the site of an ancient church which through Pictish and Scandi-
navian times preserved its sacredness, and is still the burying ground of the parish.-G.M.A.
The conjecture expressed by Mr. Brash with regard to the Ogam inscribed monument at
Grange (see p. 258) was lately confirmed, when Dr. C. Ronayne, in company with the Rev.
E. Barry, Youghal, visited Lisgenan, and on getting the stone uprooted they found, to their
great delight, it was inscribed on two angles. Mr. Barry kindly sends me the following
particulars:– “We found the stone inscribed on two angles— -
Left-Hand Angle --mſm--Titº +H.H. Right All HA-Hill+/-Hill++
A N S A. L. O. T I D = ** M A Q I M U C O I
It is 4ft. 1%in. long, 1.ft. Bin. broad, and 1.ft. thick. It seems to have suffered a fracture
at its base. The >– mark is 1%in. from the present base. The stone is very rough
at the top, and the three top scores of the final I of Mucoi are crowded together as if the
sculptor shrank from having anything to do with the still rougher part of the stone further up.
In this inscription the M of Maqi commences 11 in. from the base. In the left inscription
the vowel notches are 1 in. long, the side scores 2}in. ; on the right the length of the vowel
notches is 1}in., of the side scores 25 in., and of the Ms, which cut the angle line at an angle
of 45°, the length is 4%in. The distance between contiguous scores of the same letter 1 in.,
of different letters 1%in.
“Before Maqi, there are seeming traces of scores, and I rather think there was a name
there. We found two scores to the left, then a notch, a second notch, and a trace of
another score to the left, with no space between it and M for a vowel. ANSALOTI is
preceded by a score that puzzled me. It stretched away to the right as if it were B, and
equally to the left, as if it were H. It seems not an M, as the two portions, taken
together, made with one another an angle instead of a straight line: perhaps it is a sort of
hyphen, to signify that the word following it is a continuation of the inscription on the right-
hand angle line. Still there are two Ms similarly formed on the stone preserved at Salter
Bridge, near Capoquin, p. 270.” This interesting find will, I trust, stimulate further
research.-G. M. A.
It may be necessary to remark that the titles of the following gentlemen mentioned in
the work have changed:—Dr. Samuel Ferguson has received the honour of knighthood;
Col. A. Lane Fox is now Major-General; and Mr. James Brenan is elected a Royal
Hibernian Academician.
I N D E X.
Abban (St) 308
Abell, Mr. Abraham, copies Callan stone, 49, 52.
Abell, Mr. A., Pagan Cemetery opened by, 90, 119,
123, 129, 159, 179, 231, 293, 297.
Abgitoria, said to have been written by St. Patrick, 10.
Acaill, Book of, 37
Adamnan, Biographer of St. Columba, 352, 355.
Aenach, Periodical Assemblies in Ancient Times, 82.
Aengus, son of Daghda, 18.
Agallamh-na-Seanoiridhe, a tract in the Book of
Lismore, 31, 37, 67, 134.
Aghabulloge, Inscribed Pillar at, 52, 109, 130.
Aghadoe, Ogam Stone at, 51, 110, 225.
Ailbe, Early Professor of Christianity, 12.
Ailech, Kings of, Stoneused at their Inaugurations, 17.
Aime, the Deity associated with the hill of
Knockaney, 23.
Alba, Albain, Gaedhelic names for Scotland, 409.
Allai, progenitor of Dagda the Great, 18, 24.
Allen, Mr. J. Romelly, 346.
Alloth, the beautiful, 18.
Alphabet Characters from Ibn Wahshih (Pl. L.), 368.
Alphabet Characters from Run-Lara (Pl. L.), 369.
Alphabets in use in Ireland before St. Patrick, 5.
Roman, when introduced, 11. -
Amhergin, Ancient Poet and Philosopher, 13.
Amulet of Amber–Ogam Inscription on (Pl. XLI.),
321.
“An T"Octar Gael,” Seven Irish Champions in the
East, an ancient MS., 17.
Amm, Ana, Anaim, formula on Ogam Stones, 130,
150, 194, 214, 219, 221.
Annals of the Four Masters, 15, 33, 115, 142, 151,
152, 162, 182, 183, 185, 199, 215, 225, 274, 280,
286, 287, 313, 314, 336,376, 380.
Annals of Inisfallen in Bodleian Library, Ogam
from (Pl. XLI.), 323.
Annals of Ulster, Irish names in, 164, 335.
Anonyma Hiberni Tractatus, 28.
Antiquaries, ‘Sworn, the value they attached to the
Ogam, 61.
Antiquity of Letters in Ireland, 4.
Aodh, son of Daghda, 18.
Aonoch, Ancient fair of Carman, 45.
Archaic Inscriptions, difficulties in translating, 2.
Archaeologia, Mr. J. M. Kemble quoted from, 44.
Archaeological, Celtic and Ossianic Societies, 3.
Ardmore, numerous objects of interest at, 246; only
stone giving pedigree for four generations, 249.
Armagh, Book of, 9, 192, 322.
Arrowhead, Ogam Inscription on, 321.
Ashburnham, Lord, his copy of the Leabhar
Gabhala, 14.
Assyria, cuneiform characters of, 1.
Atkinson, Mr. G. M., Notes by, 61, 247sq., 273, 319.
323, 349, 358, 373, 375, 378, 414.
Avaggdau, the deformed son of Ceridwen, 18.

Baal cultus in Ireland, Evidences of, 77.
Baccach, Professional Beggars of Munster, 154.
Badb, Gaedhil Deity, 22.
Ballintaggart, Ogam Stones at (Pl. XXIII.), 51, 59,
200-205.
Ballintarmon, Ogam Stone at (Pl. XXII.), 51, 199.
Ballinrannig, Ogam Stones at (Pl. XXVI.), 51, 208,
212.
Ballon Hill, Remarkable discovery at, 75.
Ballycrovane, the loftiest inscribed stone in Britain
(Pl. VII.), 129.
Ballyhank, Underground Chambers at, 140.
Ballymote, Book of, 2, 13, 19, 31, 36, 44, 53, 57, 60,
78, 82, 98, 102, 178, 180, 211, 215, 376
Ballynesteening, stone at, discovered by Mr. Pelham
(Pl. XVII.), 51, 176.
Bardic Historians, record of colonisation of Southern
Ireland, 114, 375.
Bardic Tradition of Clanna Miledh confirmed in a
remarkable manner by an Ogam Inscription, 241.
Baronius, 7.
Barry, Rev. E. (note), 61 and on Ogam inscription at
Youghal, 278, and on Ogaminscription at Grange,414.
Bartholomew Moronis, 7.
Bealach Conglas, ancient territorial boundary, 114.
Beothach, son of Jarbonel Fatha, 16.
Betham, Gael and Cymbri, quoted, 24.
Bethluisnion, old Irish alphabet, 5, 10.
Bilingual Monuments, 395.
Bilingual Inscription, instance of 319, 336, 344, 350.
Blackett, Mr. W. R., quoted, on antiquities at
Ballyquin, 267, 269.
Bran ap Lyr in Cyclops Christianus, 19.
Boar, evidences of the estimation in which it was
held in Ireland, 139.
Böcstafas, or Latin characters, 44.
416
INDEX.
Bodhbh The Ruddy, chief of Tuatha-de-Danand, 294.
Bollandists, The, 5, 10.
Book of Rights quoted, 87, 138.
Book of Invasions quoted, Leabhar Gabhala, 14,
277,279.
Bray, Rev. E. A., 350.
Breasal of the Victorious Wreath, 18.
Brehon of Brian (Roe Maguire), 14.
Brenan, Mr. James, quoted, on the Trabeg stone,
172, 209. 212, 240, 244.
Brendan, St., Penitential Bed of, 195.
Bres, son of Elathan, 14, 15.
Bressay, Ogam stone at, 57, (Pl. XLVII), 113, 354.
Brigantiae, descendants of the Clanna Breogan, 27,
115, 116, 245, 279, 409, 411.
Brighit, Goddess of Poetry, Fire and Medicine, 18.
Brimham Rocks, Mr. Rooke's article on, 240.
British Islands, Early Colonisation of, 375.
British Museum, Ogam stones at, 149.
Brugh-na-Boinne, poetical description of, by Macnia,
23.
Brugh-na-Boinne, Court of Aenghus at, 21.
Brynolf Svenonius quoted, 44, 46.
Bullocks, instinct of, decided places of sepulture
amongst the Gaedhil, 308.
Burial Customs, 68, 79.
Burnfort, Ogam stone at (Pl. IV.), 52, 118.
Burton, Mr. Edward, 48.
Cahernagat, Stone at, 119, 219.
Caillin, Saint, Life of, quoted, 104.
Cairns, great number of in Waterford, 245.
Cairn Cinn Cirb, 68.
Cairthe, a Gaelic name for Pillar Stones, 95.
Camden on the Antiquity of Letters in Ireland, 10,
279.
Cael-Ua Neamnainn, 17.
Cappeen Olan, Aghabulloge, a Phallic emblem, 52,
109, 130, 131 (Pl. IX.).
Caractacus, 407, 408, 409.
Carman, ancient fair at, a Poem, 45, 82.
Carn, name for Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Carn Conall, Poem by MacLiag, 185.
Carruthers, Mr. G. A., record of discovery of
Cinerary Urns, 74.
Casey, Rev. John, 195.
Casiol (Cashel), see Rath, 100.
Caswallon Law Hir, 382, 385.
Cathair (Cahir), see Rath, 100.
Cathaldus, Bishop of Tarentum, an Irishman, 7.
Cauldrons, mentioned by Cymric Bards, 19.
Caulfield, Dr., 118, 312.
Ceal, Pagan burial place, see Keel.
Cearmada, son of Daghda, 18.
Celestius, an Irishman, St. Jerome's
against, 8.
Celtic Superstitions, tenacity of, 134.
Celtic, Archaeological and Ossianic Societies, 3.
Cemeteries of the Gaedhil, History of, translated by
Dr. Petrie, 80 sq.
Cennfaelad the learned, 13.
Ceridwen, the Ceres of Cymric Mythology, 18.
Philippic
Cesair, taking of Ireland by, 14.
Cetcumnigh, King of Munster, first inscriber of
Ogam Memorials, 45.
“Chace of the Enchanted Boars of Aenghus,” 22.
Chatterton, Lady, excites inquiry by her “Rambles
in South of Ireland,” 52. -
Chatterton, Lady, 226, 243.
Chess, Game of, early record of, 147.
Cilleen (see Keel), 194, 198, 265; prolific in Ogam
Stones, 265.
Cinerary Urns, discovery of, 74.
Cir, Ciar, antiquity of name, 263.
Clochans, early name applied to the abodes of
Anchorites, 92, 181.
Cloch-Beannachadh, Stone of Blessing, 133.
Cloch-na-nº-arm (Whetting Stone), 134.
Clonomae Noise, Annals of, mention of Ogam, 61.
Clonmacnoise, remarks on Stones at, 323.
Cloyne, Cemetery and Round Tower at, 87.
Cnoc, name for Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Coirean-Daghda, Cauldron of the Dagda, 15 sq.;
symbolical of mysteries of Druidism, 18.
Col or Colla, names with the prefix, 223.
Coleman, Rev. David, 145.
Colgan, criticism of poems of Dallan Forghail, 1,47;
his life of Cathaldus, 7.
Comyn, Mr. Michael, 50; discovers stone at Callan
Mountain, 296.
Conan’s Monument, Mount Callan, 49, 299.
Conan Colgac, Ogam Stone of, 47, 296 sq.
Conailli, Bidhad, the magic spear, 15, 16.
Conclusions arrived at from study of Ogam Monu-
ments, 373.
Concovar MacNessa, legend of, 17.
Conlavin, Judge of Connaught, 9.
Connellam, Dr., 2; translation of Poem by Eochaidh
O'Flinn, 15, 19.
Connor MacNessa, early Irish Monarch, 9, 35, 266,
304.
Conwell, Mr. Eugene, quoted, 84, 85.
Cooke, T. L., Paper on Rath Chambers, 103.
Cooldorrihy, Ogam Stones at (Pl. X.), 59, 159.
Coolowen, Ogam Stone at, 52, 117.
Cork, origin of name of, 114.
Corb or Corbi, and kindred names, 223, 234.
Core, story of, from Book of Leinster, 35.
Cormac's Glossary quoted, 18, 38, 381.
Cork County, Ogam Monuments in, 114.
Cork County, early history of, according to the
Bardic Historians, 114 sq.
Cormac, Psalter of Cashel, 352.
Cornwall, evidences of Celtic population, 143-4.
Correg Fyrddin, Ogam Stone near Carmarthen 347.
Corunna, remarkable Pharos at, ascribed to Her-
cules, 27,409. -
Cotter, Rev. J., souterrain discovered by, 134.
Crickhowel, Bilingual Monument at, with X Iphin
mark for letter P (Pl. XLII.), 59, 189, 191, 330, 395.
Cremation used in Ireland, 74, 78, 90.
Crickhowel, Cooldorihy and Monataggart contain
Iphin X in Inscriptions, 59, 130, 159-60, 168.
Croker, Mr. John D., 118.
Croker, Mr. T. Crofton, 52, 119.



INDEX.
417
Cross on Ogam inscribed Stones, 109 sq., 152, 171,
189, 204, 205, 207, 213, 214, 217.
Cruoghan Rath, 299 sq.
Cruithne, Gaedhelic name for Picts, 352.
Cuchulaind, 17.
Cunedda Wledig, account of, 385, 406.
Cuneiform Characters of Assyria, 1.
Cuillean Ceard, the potent Smith of Man, 17.
Cuilmen, an ancient work, the original of Tain Bo
Chuailgne, 29.
“Cyclops Christianus,” 18, 19, 22.
Dan, Deity, associated with Knock Firine, 23.
Danaan Invaders, 14, 115.
Dagda the Great, his 70 years' reign, 15; remarkable
personage of mythic history, 18; his pedigree, 18.
Daithula of Macpherson, 33.
Dalfiatachians, 183.
Dallaheena, Stone at, 52.
Dallan, Gaelic name for Pillar Stones, 95; unin-
scribed Dallans, 97, 126, 227, 228, 238, 309.
Dallan Forghail, his poems criticised by Colgan, 1.
Dalton, Mr , his scepticism respecting Ogams, 51.
Dathi, death and burial of, a poem by Dorbun the
Bard, 85, 86.
Dealbaeth, son of Ogma, his 10 years' reign, 15.
Davis, Mr. Edward, his translation of the bard
Taliesin quoted, 18.
Decedd and kindred names frequent on monuments
(see Proper Names), 184, 203.
Declan (Deglann), St., Precursor of St. Patrick, 12,
111, 247.
Deelish, Ogam Stone at (Pl. W.), 52, 122.
Deirdre, pathetic tale of, 33.
Deities of the Gaedhil, 22.
Delbhaeth, son of Elathan, 14, 18.
Dempster the noted Saint stealer, 7.
Derc, name of Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Desii, warlike tribe from Meath, 245.
Dialogue of the Sages, tract in the Book of Lismore,
17, 106.
Dialogue of the Ancient Men, 147.
Dianceacht, constructor of the silver hand, 15.
Dinsenchus, quotation from, 84, 85, 86, 72, 96.
Dobhar, a mythic ancient city in north of Scotland,
14, 16.
Domnach-Fiech, Monastery, 6.
Donn, the principal leader of Scottish Invasion,
shipwreck of, 211.
Dorbun the Bard, 86.
Downing, Mr. Roger, discovers Cromlech Monument,
159. -
Dowth, sepulchral mound at, 21.
Dromkeare, curious account of Keel at (Pl. XXVIII.),
215
Dromsneachta, Book of, 39.
Drumloghan, Souterrain and singular Ogam Stones
at, 272 sq. (Pl. XXXVI.)
Druidic writings burnt by St. Patrick, 46.
Druids and Druidism in Erin, 4, 9, 11, 315.
Druim (Ridge), name of stem-line on which Ogam
letters are arranged, 58.
Dubtach, the Arch Poet, 5.
Dum, name of a kind of Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Dunbell, Remarkable discovery of Ogam Stones at,
282 sq. (Pl. XXXIX.)
Dunlo, Ogam Stones at (Pl. XXXI.), 59, 231.
Dunraven, Earl, 198, 222, 224, 227, 244, 259, 373.
Duns, names given to ancient Sea Coast fortifica-
tions (see Rath), 32, 101, 114; list of from Book of
Ballymote, 102.
Du Noyer, Mr. G. W., 179, 202, 241, 243, 246, 261,
264, 266, 268, 282.
Eastern forms of Ogams, 367.
ECC on Ogam Monuments, signification of, 294.
Echtach, King, 16.
Edain, Queen, Poem to, 39.
Egypt, Hieroglyphics of, 1.
Egyptian Sculptured Tomb in B. Mus. shows resem-
blance to Ogams, 372.
Eliphius and Eucharius, martyrs, 8.
Eliseg, Pillar Stone of, 314, 397.
English Examples of Ogam Monuments, 98.
Eochaidh Airemh, Monarch of Erinn, Story of, 39,
64 (see Proper Names).
Eochaidh Mac Erc, Fir-Bolg Monarch, 15, 68 (see
Proper Names).
Eochaidh O'Flinn, Poem by, 19.
Eochaidh Ollathair, the Daghda-More,
Ealthan, 18.
Eothieile the Artificer, 68.
Etain, Flight of, ancient tract, 166.
Erc, Erca, Ercus, Ogam monumental names pre-
serving the Archaic form of the name Hercules,
6, 27, 179, 239.

Son of
Falias, mythic Scandinavian town, 14, 16.
Fate of the Sons of Tuirinn, historical tract, 17.
Feargus, King of Ulster, 9.
Feadha (trees), name for letters of Ogam alphabet,
58, 62.
Feredach, King of Scotland, 35.
“Feis Tighe Chonain Chuin Sleibhe,” Ossianic
Tales, 33.
Feir ceirtne, ancient poet and philospher, 13.
“Feis Tighe Conan,” Ossianic tale, 22.
Fenians of Fionn, 48.
Fenian Poem ascribed to Oisin, 71.
Feradach, monarch A.D. 90, 9.
Ferguson, Dr. Samuel, method of taking Ogam casts,
55; quoted, 141, 161, 172, 176, 188, 196, 201, 203,
205, 209, 210, 225, 236, 244, 249, 267, 302, 306,
312, 318, 325, 342, 350, 358.
Fert, name of a kind of Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Fiachna, his 10 years' reign, 15.
Finias, mythic Scandinavian town, 14, 16.
Fintan, Poet and Historian, 178.
Fiachrach (Hy), Tribes and Customs of, 66, 139
a 193, 300.
Fiec, Conversion of, 5.
Filfot or Swastika, a Gnostic symbol found on
Ogam Monuments, 189, 359.
Fiondruine, 32.
Fir-Bolgs, taking of Ireland by, 14, 68, 114, 214. 353.
Fitzgerald, Mr. E., 246 sq., Youghal Ogam Stone, 413.
H. H. H.
418
INDEX.
Flann-na-Manistreach, poem by, 211.
Fleasg (Twig), name of vertical lines, in Ogam In-
scriptions, 58, 62.
Forfeada (over trees), name for Ogam diphthongs,
58.
Fothaidh Airgtech, story of, 30.
Fox, Colonel A. Lane, 148,179, 201,203, 205, 207, 243.
Four True Druids, Roman legend of, on stone at
Killeen-Cormac, 312.
Fulartach, a bard in Leinster, 45.
Gabhra, Battle of, a poem, 29, 48, 66.
Gaedhelic Colonies in Argyleshire and Western
Islands, 352.
Gaedhelic occupation of Western Britain, Period
of, 406 sq.
Gaedhelic Root Words, examples in Cornwall, 392.
Gaedhil, belief in magic weapons among the, 17.
Gaedhil, Deities of the, 22.
Gaedhil, Migrations of the, the story identical with
the classic account of the conquests of Hercules, 27.
Gaedhil, Spanish Colonists, 376.
Gaedhelic, Cymric and English topographical names,
390.
Gaedhelic MS. collected by O'Clery, 14.
Gaedhil Burial Customs, Urns, 77; Illustrative of
care and reverence in disposal of remains, 87.
Gaedhil, letters besides (gam existing amongst prior
to St. Patrick, 379.
Gaelic Language of to-day differs from that of 2,000
years ago, 1.
Gaelic Dominion, Extent of the, 384.
Garreg Lwyd, Ogam Stone, near Carmarthen, 347.
Gauls in Caesar's time had written characters, 11.
Gennadius quoted, 8.
Gilla Caemhan, 11th century historian, 279.
Giraldus Cambrensis quoted, 4.
Glenfais Camp, Ogam Stone at (Pl. XVI.), 59, 174.
Glossed Manuscripts, 2, 323.
Gollan, Gaelic name for Pillar Stones, 95.
Goodman, Rev. J., Valuable Inscription discovered
by, 119, 219.
Gorias, Mythic Scandinavian town, 14, 16.
Gough's Camden's Britannia, 331.
Graves, Rev. Dr. (Bishop of Limerick) on Ogams, 2,
13, 53, 75, 118, 129, 172, 185, 189, 197, 204, 218,
222, 227, 237, 244, 282, 288, 295, 319, 321, 354,
367.
Grammatica Celtica
character, 28.
Grianan, a secret place in a Dun, 32.
Gwynnedd, Invasions of 382.
quoted, respecting Ogam
Hackett, Mr. 145, 154.
Haigh, Rev. Daniel H., quoted on the Ogam. Note on
Clydai bilingual monument, 62, 337, 346, 348, 351.
Hammer, Mr Joseph, on Ancient Alphabets, 367.
Harding, Messrs. James and John, 159.
Hawkes, Mr. Zachariah, 140, 145, 148.
Hawkesworth, Mr. Edward, discovers Stone at Tullig-
more, l?9.
Hennessy, Mr. W. M., quoted, 306.
Herbert, “Cyclops Christianus,” quoted, 18, 19, 22.
Hercules-Ogmious, 24.
Hercules, the widely diffused worship of, 26.
Herman Hugo, 7.
Hieroglyphics of Egypt, 1.
Hildebert, Archbishop of the Scots, 7. -
Hitchcock, Mr., 2, 54, 120, 132, 178, 180, 186, 187,
193, 195, 197, 200, 208, 219, 246, 266, 287.
Horgan, Rev. M., copies Callan Stone, 49, 52, 53,
118, 124, 145, 179, 197, 220, 297.
Horgan, Mr. Paul, 122.
“Hy Fiachrach,” curious extract from respecting
interments, 66, 139, 300,
Inscriptions in Debased Roman Letters:—Brecon 398,
Buckland 404, Buckland Monachorum 405, Capel
Birthdir 400, Cheriton 398, Cuberts, St. 403,
Cwmdu 398, Devynock 399, Dolau Cothy 398,
Eliseg, Pillar of, 397, Gnoll Castle 401, Gulval 403,
Gwytherin 399, Lannor 397, Lanyon 403, Llan-
dawke 401, Llanfihangel 402, Llanlear 401, Llan-
gian 397, Long Stone 403, Maen Madoc 399,
Mawgon 403, Merthyr 398, Michael 403, Nicholas,
St. 398, Parcau 402, Penbryn 400, Penrhos Llugwy
399, Spittal 400, Tavistock 405, Worthyvale 403.
Iberian Colonists, 115, 408, 410, 412.
Ibhar, early professor of Christianity, 12.
Iberian topographical names, similarity of to the
Gaedhelic, 411, seq.
Ibn Wahshih, Arabic collection of alphabets, 367.
Imtheacht-na-Tromdhaimhe, Ossianic Tale, 139.
Inauguration Stones of Irish Kings, 17.
Indai, progenitor of Dagda the Great, 18.
Inisfallen, Annals of, 323.
Innes, Father, his Anti-Irish prejudices quoted, 2,
12.
Interment, mcdes of, amongst the Gaedhil, 65.
Iola MSS. quoted, 382.
Iphin (X) represents P or EA, 59, 187, sq., 201,
232, 240, 260, 331.
Ireland, Social Condition in Pagan Times, 3.
Ireland, Antiquity of Letters in, 4.
Irish Academy Library, 3.
Irish Antiquities, prejudice against the study of, 1.
Is, meaning of in inscriptions, 194.
Isle of Man, early history of, 380.

Jarbonel, Iarbanel Faidh, 13.
Jerome, St., his Philippic against Celestius, an Irish-
man, 8.
Jiar-Dobhar, a mythic Ancient City in North of
Scotland, 14, 16.
John O’Dugan, topographical poem by, 199.
Jones, Rev. Basil, Westiges of the Gaedhil quoted,
390.
Jones, Rev. H. Longueville, quoted, from Archæo-
logia Cambrensis, 333, 336, 339, 342, 344, 345,
349.
Jones's Brecknockshire quoted, 331.
Keating, Geoffrey, General History, 14. 19, 47, 64,
183, 211, 242, 263, 276, 304, 305.
Keel, The, a Gaedhil Burial Place, 87; Formation
of, 88; Reverence of the Peasantry regarding, 88;
INDEX.
419
Pagan character of, 89, 90, 272; Superstitions
regarding, 93; Prolific in Ogam Stones, 99, 265;
Reeves, Dr., the Antiquarian, quoted, 89, 90 (see
Cilleen).
Kemble, Mr. John M., quoted, 44, 46.
Kenmore, largest inscribed stone in Ireland, 129.
Kerry, Smith's History of quoted, 170.
Kerry, County of, richest in pre-historic remains, 170.
Kieran, early professor of Christianity, 12.
Kill (Cill), names of Churches of Celtic origin, 91.
Kilmalkedar, Ogam Stone at, 51, 110, 243.
Kinahan, Mr. G. H., quoted on cinerary urns, 77.
Kingly Flag Stone, 32.
Knockfierna, curious disappearance of an Ogam
Stone found at, 293.
Knowth, Sepulchral mound at, 21.
Laborde, inscription on Pharos at Corunna dis-
covered by, 27.
Lanigan, Dr. quoted, 5, 47, 154, 157.
Laoghairé, reigning monarch in Ireland at time of
St. Patrick, 4.
Leabhar-na-g’Ceart, 68, poem in quoted, 96.
Leabhar-na-h Uidre, a wellum MS. by Maelmuiri,
30, 39, 80, 85, 86, 166, 301.
Leabhar Gabhala, or Book of Invasions, Ancient
MS., 14, 277, 279.
Leaba, early name applied to the graves of cele-
brities, 92, 240.
Leac (Liag), a Gaelic name for flat stone monu-
ments, 95.
Leaca, or gravestones, 68.
Leacht, name for Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Leacht-na-Laochruidhe (Grave of the Heroes), 67.
Leacht-na-Machruidhe (Grave of the Youths), 67.
Lecain, Book of, 13, 60, 68, 82, 178, 183, 211, 215,
306, 352.
Ledwich, the antiquary, ridicules the authenticity of
Callan Stone, 49, 91, 297; his anti-Irish preju-
dices, 2, 50.
Leinster, Book of, 13, 29, 152, 306, 315.
Letters, forms of, in Pre-Christian times, 12.
Lhyd, the antiquary, the first who noticed Ogam
inscribed stone in 1707, 47, 172-3, 333, 387.
Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny, 14, 16.
Liac, name of a kind of Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Lir, Fate of the Children of, a Story, 33, 294.
Lismore, Book of, 23, 31, 67, 96, 106, 134, 147.
Lloyd, John, “ Munster Irish Poet,” charge of
forging inscriptions refuted, 49.
Lomanagh, Inscription translated by Rev. M.
Horgan, 53.
Lomna the Buffoon, Story of, 38.
“Loinges Mac-an-Duil Dermit,” an ancient tale, 35.
Long, Joseph, Translation of Dialogue of the Sages,
17.
Lucian, his mention of Ogmius quoted, 25.
Lugadians, an Irish Tribe descended from Lugud,
115-246,
Lughaid Lamhfada, Magic Spear of, his 40 years'
reign, 15 sq.
Lugnagappul, Ogam Stone at (Pl. XXIV.), 51, 197.
Lugud, favourite tribe name of Clanna Breogan,
found on Ogam Monuments, 246.
Lynch, John, his reply to statements of Giraldus
Cambrensis, 4, 47.
Lyr, Gaedhelic name in Cyclops Christianus, 19.
Ma, meaning of in inscriptions, 194.
Mabinogi in Cyclops Christianus, 19.
Mac Badraidi, Neime, 68.
Mac Carthy Reagh, look of, called also the Book of
Lismore, 31.
Mac Ceacht, his reign, 15.
Mac Cuill, his reign, 15.
Mac Cumhail, Fionn, the myth of 19.
Mac Curtin, chapter on Ogam in his Dictionary, 60;
quoted, 64; vindication, 182.
Mac Firbis, Duald, his Book of Genealogies quoted,
36, 102, 314.
Mac Firbis, Duald, quoted on Raths, 104.
Mac Firbis, Gilla Isa Mor, compiler of Book of
Lecan, 13.
Mac Gorman, Finn, Bishop of Kildare, compiler of
Book of Leinster, 13.
Mac Greine, his reign, 15.
Mac Liag, Poet, 180.
Mac Nia, the Poet, son of Oenna, quoted, 23.
Mac Pherson, his anti-Irish prejudices, 2; Daithula,
33.
Mac Ua Cormaic (St. Abban), Burial-place decided
by Bullocks, 308.
Maelmuiri, compiler of Leabhar-na-h Uidre, 80, 85.
Magh Tuireadh (Moytura) near Coug, 15, 16.
Magic Bath, Superstition of, 32.
Mananan Mac Lir, Gaedhil Deity, 22, 210.
Mananan Mac Lir, mythic sword of, 17.
Mansuyor Mansuetos, Bishop of Toul, an Irishman, 6.
Manuscript, ancient Irish, in Library at Stowe, 1, 323.
Manuscripts, ancient, present an approximate key
to Ogamic alphabet, 1.
“Maqi,” the word identified and formula of in-
scriptions settled in 1845, 197.
Marbhan Mucaidhe, 139.
Margam, Romano-British Inscribed Stone at, 330.
Matholwch, an Irish King, 19.
Memorial Stones in remote ages, evidence of the
custom of erecting, 92.
Meyrick, Sir Samuel, historian of Cardiganshire,
quoted, 342.
Miach, son of Dianceacht, 15.
Miledh, Clanna, Taking of Ireland by, 14, 15.
Milesians, Landing of, 376 sqq.
Mirror, a symbol on stone at Aboyne, 364.
Mochta, Saint, Disciple of St. Patrick, 9.
Mogha Neid, king of Munster, Poem upon, 65.
Monachan's, St., Stone at Ballymorereagh, 110.
Monumental evidence in Wales and Cornwall of its
Gaedhelic inhabitants, 394.
Moore, Dr. Norman, quoted, 325, 358, 359.
Morann, early Irish writer, 9.
Morrigan or Ana, Gaedhil Deity, 22.
Mount Callan, Ogam Stone at, 47, 296 sqq.
Mucoi, name on Ogam Stones, rarely without Maqi
preceding it, 292. -




420
INDEX.
Munster (South) Society of Antiquaries, 52.
Murias, Mythic Scandinavian town, 14, 16.
Nash, Mr. D. W., on Derrygane Stone, 193,
Navan, Book of, 44.
Neamhshencus, an ancient tract, 314.
Nemain, Gaedhil Deity, 22.
Nemedius, Taking of Ireland by, 14.
Neid, progenitor of Dagda the Great, 18.
Neime Mac Badraidi, 68.
Neimhedh, 16.
Neimhed (Nemedius), Children of 114, 376.
Nennius quoted, 211.
Nevins, Mr. Hugh, Account of Stone found at Hook
Point, 294.
New Grange, Sepulchral Mound at, 21.
Nuada, Magic Sword of, 15 sq.
Nuadhat, King, of the Silver Hand (Nuada Airgead-
lamh), 15.
Octavius Augustus, mention of in ancient fair of
Carman, 82.
Oenach Ailbhe, Cemetery of the Lagenians, 86.
Oenach Colman, Cemetery, 87.
Oenach-Culi, Cemetery of, 86.
0gma, Son of Elathan, inventor of Ogam Alpha-
bets, 14, 18, 28.
Ogma and Ogmius identical, 26.
Ogam, O'Brien's Dictionary quoted on, 95; disuse of,
96; material of monuments, 96; formation of
letters, 98. Its use preceded the building of Raths
by a long period, 107; never refer to anything
Christian, 109; first inscribed stone discovered by
Mr. Windele, 52, 117; origin centuries before
Christianity, 306.
Ogam, probable date of its introduction into Ireland, 2.
Ogam, early notices of, 13.
Ogam Alphabets, tract on in the Book of Ballymote,
13, 98.
Ogam, the great antiquity of the word, 26.
Ogam character alluded to in Grammatica Celtica,
28.
Ogam, use of the, manuscript evidences of, 28.
Ogam used for various purposes besides Sepulchral
Inscriptions, 34.
Ogams on Wood, 38, 39.
Ogam used for Necromancy, 41; 0gam used for com-
municating information, 42.
Ogam Scales in Book of Ballymote (Pl. I., II.), 44.
Ogam Craoibh, or branch of Ogam, showing arbore-
tic origin of the names of letters, 45, 57 sq., 62.
Ogam probably used as a Talisman, 45.
Ogam disused after introduction of the Faith, reason
why, 46.
Ogam Moutiments, size and form of, 96; Position of
Inscriptions, 97; sites of, 99; many existing
examples found in Rath Caves, 107; theories to
account for their occurrence, 107; those found in
Rath Caves always near a Keel, 108; on Christian
sites, 108; only four of these with Christian sym-
bols, 113, 204; mostly near the sea coast, 184;
only one with inscription in Roman letters of
same date, 318; one hundred and ninety-three
found in Ireland, 378,
Ogam Monuments, history of the discovery of, 47
Sqq.
Ogam Character described, 57.
Ogam, ancient dialect, preserved among the learned,
and considered an accomplishment, 61.
Ogam used by “Sworn Antiquaries” as a secret
record of the actions of monarchs, 61.
Ogam, value attached to the, by “Sworn Anti-
quaries,” 61.
Ogam Inscriptions, no other, found in Killeens, 92.
Ogam Monuments, County Cork, 114 sqq.
Ogam Stone with Maltese Cross upon it, 152, 225.
Ogam Monuments, County Kerry, 169 sqq.
Ogam Monuments, County of Waterford, 245.
(gam Monuments, County Kilkenny, 279.
Ogam Monuments in Wales and England, 328;
identity in character with Irish inscriptions, 328;
palpable witnesses of Gaedhelic occupation, 341.
Ogam “ Glosses” in MS., 2, 323.
Ogam Monuments in Scotland, 352.
Ogams, Eastern forms of, 367.
Ogam Stones at:-Aboyne (Pl. xIIx.) 364, Adare
Manor (Pl. XXIX.) 198,224, Aghabulloge 139. Aghacar-
rible 107, 236, Aghadoe 110, 225, Aghaliskey (Pl.
xiv.) 98, 107, 108, 120, 145, Aglish (Pl. xxiv.) 109,
Anascaul 239, Ardmore 97, 111, 246, Ardovenagh
111, Ardowanig 213, Arraglin (Pl. xxvii.) 111, 195,
Ballentarmon (Pl. xxii.) 97, 111, 199, Ballin-
rannig (Pl. xxvi., Pl. xxxiv.) 96, 98, 208, 212,
Ballintaggart (Pl. xxiii.) 96, 200, Ballinwoher
110, Ballybodan 97, 98, 287, Ballycrovane
(Pl. VII.) 97, 127, Pallydoolough 326, Ballyhank
(Pl. Iv) 107, 140, Ballymorereagh (Pl. xxv.) 110,
206, Ballynahunt (P1 xxiv) 109,206, Bally-
meanig 180, Ballymeesteenig 97, (Pl. xv.11.) 176,
Ballyquin (Pl. xxxvii.). 265, Ballyvoorey (Pl. xxxv.)
255, Barachaurin º Iv.) 97, 121, Barming
351, Brackloon 213, Brakel 226, Brandon (Pl.
xxvii.). 226, Breastagh 318, Bressay (Pl. xlvi.I.) 113,
354, Bridell (Pl. XLV.) 339, 394, Buckland Mona-
chorum (Pl. XLVI.) 350, Buckland (Bilingual) 350,
Burnfort (Pl. Iv.) 107, 118, Burriam (Pl. XLIX) 362,
Bweeng (Pl. VIII.) 97, 98, 144, Cahernagat (Pl.
xxv.) 219, Caldy Island 113, 346, Callan Mountain
98, 296, Camelford 351, Capel Maire 348, Carrig-
navar 126, Castletimon, 96, '95, Cavancarragh
326, Cilgerran (Pl. XLII.) 332, 395, Clarah 112, 291,
323, Clydai (Pl. XLIV) 335, 395, Cooldorrihy (Pl. x.)
107, 108, 159, Coolineagh (P1 x.) 131, 132, Cool-
owen 117, Coomliah 158, Corkaboy (Pl. xxviii.)
108, 227, Corrody (Pl. XL.) 325, Crickhowel (Pl.
XLII.) 330, 395, Croghan 108, Deelish (Pl. v.) 98,
122, Derreen 226, Derrygurrane 192, Derrynane
(Pl. xx.) 244, Donard 324, Droumatouk (Pl. xx)
220, Drumloghan (Pl. xxxvi.) 107, 108, 272, Drum-
caor (Dromkeare, Pl. xxvii.I.) 110, 215, Dunbell
(Pl. xxxix.) 107, 128, 282, Dunloe (Pl. xxxii.)
107, 231, Dunmore (Pl. xvii.) 98, 178, Emlagh
West (Pl. xxiv.) 216, Fardel (Pl. XLVI.) 348, 396,
Fortwilliam (Pl, xxii.) 98, 218, Gigha 364, Glen-
-



INDEX. 421
fais (Pl. xvi).96,97, 98,174, Glounagloch (Pl. Iv.) 52,
219, 121, Glennawillen 107,135, Golspie (Pl. xlvi.II.)
113, 363, Gormlee 155, Gortamaccaree (Pl. xxix.)
198, Gortnagullionach 98, 111, 128, 181, Gowran
(Pl. xxxix.) 112,281, Greenhill (Pl. XII.) 137, Grange
258, 414, Gurranes (Pl. v.) 108, Hacketstown 325,
Hackness (Pl. L.) 373, Hook Point (Pl. XL.)
97, 294, Island (Pl. xxxv.) 253, Innishvickil-
lane 110, 226, Keelvaugh-More 168, Kenfig
(Pl. XLII.) 329, 395, Kilbolane (Kilbonane
(Pl. xxxHII.) 98, 110, 234, Kilcaskan (Pl. xi.)
166, Kilcolaght (Pl. xxxi.) 97, 228, Kilcullin (Pl.
xv.) 163, Kilfountain (Pl. xxx.) 226, Kilgobinet 238,
Kilgravane (PI. xxxvi.) 256, Killeen Cormac (Pl.
xL.) 96, 306, Killeenadreena (Pl. xxxHII.) 111, 241,
Killogrome 239, Killmalkedar 110, 243, Kilnaghtin
(Pl. xxi.I.) il0, 192, Kilrush 112, 270, Kiltera (Pl,
xxxvii.) 259, Kinnard 109, Kinnard East (Pl. xxv.)
217, Knockboy (Pl. XI.) 135, Knockfierna 293,
Knockourane (Pl. xiv) 109, 152, Knockrour (Pl. x.)
132, Knockane 97, Kunningsburgh 366, 413,
Laharan 222, Llanarth 113, 348, Llandwke
(Pl. xlvi.) 347, Llanfechan (Pl. xIIII.) 342, 396,
Llanwinio 347, Logie Stone (Pl. xlvi.11.) 358, Lo-
managh (Pl. xxi.) 98, 196, Lougher (Pl. xvii.I.) 186,
345, Lougher, Wales (Pl. XLV) 394, Lugnagappul
(Pl. xxiv.) 96, 197, Lunnasting (Pl. XLIx.) 365,
Maeshowe (Pl. L.) 373, Mangerton 227, Martramane
(Pl. xvii.I.) 186, Maumanorig (Pl. xxi.) 98, 111,
224, Monataggart (Pl. xv.) 160, Mullagh 325,
Nevern 347, Newton Stone (Pl. xlix.) 359,
Rath-Crogan 107, 299, Rathduff 213, Rooves-
more (Pl. XIII.) 108, 148, Ross Hill 325,
Royal Irish Academy (Plts. xviii. xix.) 192,
Ruthin 348, St. Dogmaels (Pl. xliii.) 333, 395,
St. Florence 347, St. Hild (Pl. L.) 373, St. Ninians
(Pl. xix.) 364, St. Olan's Church (Plts. VIII. Ix.)
131, St. Olan's Well (Pl. v.I.) 125, Salterbridge
(Pl. xxxvi.) 98, 271, Scoonie (Pl. XLVIII.) 353, Seski-
nan (Pl. xxxviii.) 108, 112, 260, Shanacloon (Pl.
xlv.) 153, Sleive na Callighe (Pl. x.) 326, Team-
puleen Fachtna 153, Templeenoach 269, Tinna-
hally (Pl. xxvii.) 107, 213, Topped Mountain
326, Trabeg (Pl. xvi.) 96, 98, 111, 170, Trallong
(Pl. xliv.) 112, 343, 396, Trefgarne (Pl. xlv.)
346, Tulligmore (Pl. VIII.) 129, Tulloherin (Pl.
xxxix.) 112, 280, Tycoed 113, Tyvoria 244, Windele
Collection (Pi. x) 156, Windgap (Pl. xxxv.) 107,
268, Youghal, p. 413.
Ogam Monuments, miscellaneous in Ireland, 293.
Ogamic Alphabet, Key to, in Ancient Manuscripts,
1, 2, 13, 45, 53, 57 (Pl. I. II.)
Ogamic Inscriptions, neglect of their study accounted
for 1.
Ogamic Character, Eastern origin of, 367 sqq.
Ogamic Ornaments, &c.:—Ballyspellan Fibula (Pl.
XII.) 289, 319, Conyngham Patera (Pl XLI.) 319,
Ring (Pl. xi.1) 321, Arrowhead 321 Amber Amu-
let (Pl. xII.) 321, Priscian Glosses 321, Stone
Amulets 325, Bone Pins 325, Leaden Bottle (Kil-
mallock, Pl. xII.) 327.
O'Brien, Irish Dictionary of, quoted, 38,91, 95, 100,
121, 138.
O'Clery, Friar Michael, 14.
O'Connor, the Ven. Charles, Prolegomena, letter on
the State of Ireland at St. Patrick's time quoted,
5, 11, 13, 47, 60, 306, 323.
O'Curry, Dr., 2, 3, 9, 29, 33, 38, 44, 45, 64, 165, 315,
382.
O'Daly, Mr. John, quoted, 71.
O'Donovan, Dr. quoted 2, 3, 22, 24, 66, 86, 162,
192, 250, 263, 274, 288, 300, 321, 381.
O'Driscolls (descendants of Lughaid), 116.
O'Droma, Solomon, one of the Compilers of Book of
Ballymote, 13.
O'Duigenann, Manus, one of the compilers of Book
of Ballymote, 13.
O'Flaherty, Roderick, quoted, 6, 9, 15, 28, 46, 47,
60, 182, 183, 211, 352.
O'Flanagan, Mr. quoted, 5, 47, 48 sq., 296.
O'Flinn, Eochaidh, Poem by, quoted, 19, 28.
O'Gibelan, Morishe, “a Poet and Speaker of Ogam,”
61.
O'Hartigan, Cuieth, bard, 16.
O'Kearney, Nicholas, 48.
O'Heerin, his topographical poem on Munster, 116.
O'Lochain, Cuam, bard, 16.
O'Looney, Professor, record of destruction of Sliabh
Cullane, 299 note.
O'Longan, his translation of “Dialogue of the
Ancient Men,” quoted, 67.
O'Molloy, on the Ogam as used among the literati,
61


O'Reilly, Irish Dictionary of, 38, 87, 100, 130, 138.
O'Sullivan, Dr., 3, 41, 68, 78, 82, 83, 312, 314.
Oisin Cecinit, 29.
Oisin, Fenian Poem ascribed to, 71.
Olaham, Mr. Thos., 266.
Olioll Olum, King of Munster, in third century,
Poem ascribed to, 1.
Ollamhs, 16.
Ollamh Fodhla, Tomb of, 84.
Ong—In Ogam Inscriptions signifies Sorrow, Alas,
266.
Ortelius on the locality of the Brigantes, 116.
Ossianic, Celtic and Archaeological Societies, 3.
Ossianic, Translations quoted, 21, 30, 34, 139.
Padstow, Cornwall, Inscribed Stone at, 143.
Pagan Character of Ogam Monuments evidenced by
their Inscriptions, 95, 108, 109, 113, 204, 306, 314.
Palladius, 12.
Partholanus, Taking of Ireland by, 14.
Patrick, St., State of Ireland at the time of, 4 sqq.
Patrick, St., the absurd representations respecting
his labours according to the Archaeologist, 3.
Patrick, St., overthrows symbols of Crom-Cruach, 95;
orders the sacred name to be inscribed on some
pillars, 95, 108; Mochoi, an early convert, 139;
Bruscos a contemporary of, 171; his burial place
decided by team of Bullocks, 308.
Pelham, Mr. H., his researches, 51, 54, 174, 176,
197, 199, 200, 208, 225, 243.
Petrie, Dr., on the Lia Fail stone, 16 sq.
Petrie, Dr., his scepticism, 52.
Petrie's Round Towers quoted, 30, 80, 86, 206,
422 INDEX.
Petrie, Dr., Letter from, to Mr. Windele, on Ardmore
Ogam Stone, 252.
Pettigrew, Dr., on Pagan Cemeteries appropriated by
Christians, 108.
Phallic Worship, 94, 131.
Phoenix Park, Dublin, Tumulus at, 74.
Pillar Stones, erection of, a custom in all ages and
amongst all nations, 93, 94; as memorials of the
dead, 94; objects of worship, 94; Gaedhelic
Phalli, 95; evidence of reverence for amongst
Pagan Irish, 95, 132, 133, 134, 157, 167; St.
Patrick orders some to be destroyed, 95; Material
of, 96; Mostly near the Sea, 184, 251, 378;
Superstitions regarding, 195; Some on the shores
of estuaries, 280; With legends in Roman capitals,
309; Stone of Eliseg, numerous names on, 314, 397.
Pinkerton, his anti-Irish prejudices, 2, 50.
Piran, patron saint of Cornwall, identical with St.
Kieran, a Munster Bishop, 144.
Port Talbot, Romano-British inscribed stone at, 330.
Pre-Christian Ireland, 3
Pre-Christian I’illar—The Ardmore undoubtedly
so, 251. -
Pre-historic remains, Co. Cork, 117; Co. Kerry, 170.
Prim, Mr Geo., quoted, 280 sq.
Priscian Glosses, 321.
Professional names amongst the Gaedhil, 313.
Proper names in debased Roman letter inscriptions,
397 sqq.
Ptolemy the Roman Geographer, his account of early
people of Ireland, 115, 279; confirms the Bardic
Historians, 170.
“Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne,” a tale, 34.
Proper Names occurring on Ogam Monuments and
in the Irish Annals:—Abeil 189, Abilogus 189,
Abhortach 22, Adamair 235, Adamnan 235, Addilon
235, Adhbhartagh 71, Adhlan 235, Aed 102, Aedh
67, 73,263, Aengus 178, 182, 267, 318, 353, Aengus
Tireach 70, 71, Aengus Oge 18, 21, 23, Aggo (Acco)
230, Agidd 230, Aichleach 294, Ailbe 12, Aildebhair
190, Ailliltir 225, Ailill 41, 335, Ailill Mac Mada
80, Ailluatan 152, 190, Aimalini 348, Aine 67, 207,
Aireach 211, 377, Airnealech 69, Aladdhu 135, 190,
Alal 2, 141, Allgheanan 190, Allai 18, 24, 152,
Alattocel 190, Allican 178, Alloth (Allod) 18, 20,
152, 222, Altach 83, Amadu 253, Amergin 115,
377, Amhalgaidh 68, 318, Amhergin 13, 241, 377,
Ana 207, 236, Anac 253, Anafen 238, Anlon 80,
Annaccann 162, Ansaloti 414, Aodh 18, Aongus 246,
Apilogdo 187, 189, Ard Patrick 32, Art 81,171, Arta-
gan 137, Arias 14, Arb 274, Arannan 242, At 133,
313, Athlach 294, Ath Bolg 34, Attos 313, Augustin
192, Avaggdu 18.
Bachar 34, Badbh 20, Baeth 236, Bagan 147,
Bainche 102, Balur 102, Ban 147, Banba 20, Banoa
20, Barceadh 236, Barcun 262, Barr 351, Barrivend
347, Bealach Atha Hy 32, Bec 199, 237, Bechmilli
20, Beffe 347, Begeglach 105, Beli 382, Benn 73,
Benres (Benir) 355, Beothach, 16, 20, Bera 115,
Berichtir 176, Biadi 347, Bicealmas 178, Bille
211, Bir 153, 276, Blaise 294, Bodbdearg 71, Bodb
83, Bodvoc 330, Boga. 294, 347, Boinn 73, Bolc 102,
Bolg 20, Bran, and kindred names 286, Bran ap
Lyr, 15, 19, 287, Brannittas (Branid) 128, 286,
Breasal 18, 152, 171, Brehon of Brian 14, Brendan,
St. 177, 178, 195, Breogan 115, Breogan (Braganza)
27, 115, 243, 245, 279, 411, Bres (Breas) 14, 15, 20,
24, 28, 80, 171,211, Brighit 18, 22, Broc 155, 243,
348, Brocan 243, Brochmael 314, Broinionas 163,
210, Brolach 316, Bron 210, Brusco 171, Bruscos 171,
Buaidhe 211, Buailec Bec 73, Buan 211, Buamann
22, Buas 211, Buidi 73.
Cacua 190, 247 sq., Cael 171, Caelitgearn and kindred
names 230, 264, 330, Cafec 254, Cafu (Caf) 249
sq., Cailte 30 sq., 37, Cairbre 38, 72, 180, 183,
185, 263, 406, Cairbre Lefeachair 29, Cal 171,
275, Calbadh 171, Calgach 171, Callit 157, Callitin
171, Calunofiqq 275, Camin 212, Caoilte 69, 70,
71, 134, 193, Caol 67, Caol-Ua-Neamnainn 17,
Caradoc 122, Carman 83, Carmund 83, Carrices
208, Carrttac 122, 277, 343, 408, Carthagh 122,
Cas 274, 305, Casmael 20, Casruba 102,
Cassidus 157, Cassittas 128, 157, Caswallon 382,
Catabar 266, Cathair 86, 171, Cathal 70, Cathaldus
7, Cathaoir Mor 71, Cathbad 266, 335, Cathbar
266, Cathbran 266, Cathluan 352, Cathmogha 266,
335,0athub 185, Catotigurn 330, Cattel 314, Cattin
143, 202, 212, Catuff and kindred 181, 227, 228,
Cearmada 18, Cearmna 20, Ceanneff 364, Cearnach
174, Celestius 8, Cellach 73, Cennfaelad 13, 37,
Centighearn and kindred names 264, 330, Ceridwen
15, 18, Cermud 73, Cesair 14, Cet (Cat) 80, 209,
Cetcuimnigh 45, Cian 33, 115, 171, 335, Ciar 169,
304, Cinaedh 73, Cinel-Eoghain 199, Cirr 73,263,
Cithruadh 71, Clothru 80, Cnaimhseach 291,
Cobhthach 80, 81, Cofar 203, Coftet 213, Coillabbot
223, 259, Colabot 222, Colcenn 214, Colgan
214, Coligan 214, Colla-Uais 199, Colman 71,
135, 225, 294, 324, Colomagni 225, Colpa 241,
377, Comgan 196, Comhgall 294, Comogann 196,
Conaf 299, Conaing 105, 194, Conaire Carpraige 81,
Conaire More 81, 86, 182, 183, 184, Conait 254,
Conall 67, 70, 105, 174, 304, Conan 33, 47, 71,
Concan and kindred names 224, Concenn 314,
Conchobhar 81, 85, 239, Concu 239, Congal 106,
Congal Clidhna 67, Conlavin 9, Conmac 305, Con-
march 314, Conn 65, 72, 212, 258, Connait 175,
Connacians 41, Connor Mac Nessa 9, 35, 266, 304,
Connu 43, Conumeatt 175, 254, Corbagan 224,
Corbagni 143, Corbb 212, 223, 262,318, Corbed and
kindred names 288, Corc 35, 187,218, 304, Cormac
381, Cormac Cas 115, 316, 380, Cormac Mac Art
43, 81,177, 245, Cormac Ua Cuinn 71, Corman 224,
Corna 294, Corpre (Coirpre) 20, 81, Cosaf and
kindred names 298, Creide 67, 106, Creidne 15, 20,
22, Creidinbell 20, Cricil 102, Crimthan 274, 315,
353, 380, 406, Crimhthann Cas 70, 80, Crimthann
Niamar 72,406, Cruimther 195, Crunan (Croman) 194,
Crunmael 194, Cu and names so compounded 205,
335, Cuanach (Cuana) 199, Cualann 20, Cu-bretan
120, Cueaf 175, Cuchulinn. 29, 120, 174, 353,
Cuchulind 17, 41, Cucui 190, Cu-dulig 120, Cueg
and kindred names 287, 349, Cuic 287, 349, Cuit
(Cuet) 132, 209, 255, Cuillean Ceard 17, Cuin 168,
324, Cuinnedha 335, Cuirrell 73, Culigenn 214,
Cumibia 233, Cunacena 233, 344, Cunaguss 120,


INDEX.
423
i47, Cunaleg 275, Cunanetan 254, Cunatam 835,
395, Cuod 160, Curalan 139, Curci 218, Curcitti 187,
204, Cureach 187, Curi 195, 223, 398, Curitt 138,
140, 167, 180, 209, 256, Curoi Mac Daire, 174, 182,
223, Cu-sinna 120.
Da-Chich Danainne 22, Dag and kindred names
276, 316, Dagda 15, 18, 20, 22, 24, 28, 7.1, 72, 152,
222, Daire 118, 119, 318, 398, Daire Sirchreach-
tach 171, 398, Dal 163, 233, 316, Dalach 233, 287,
Dalagan 163, Dallan 40, 233, Dallan Forghail 1,
Dalta Deaghad 183, Danaan 20, 22 sq., Dana 24,
Dangorr 229, Dathi and kindred names 85, 287,
301, Datho 83, Ddattac 287, Deag 86, 126, 182,
277, Deagaidh 180, 185, Deagost 277, Dealbaoth
20, Dianceacht 15, 22, Dearg Damhsa 65, Decabar-
balon 348, Decedd 128, 181, 203, 286, 310, 316,
350, 399, Decuma 294, Dee 20, Deglann 111, 215,
Declan 12, Dego 125, 232, 277, Deirdre 33, Dela
214, Delbhaeth 14, 15, 18, 24, 152, 222, Denaffe 277,
Desmond 116, Diancecht 20, Diarmait Mac Fergusa
Cerrbheoil 37, Diarmuid 34, 71, 87, 145. 185, 192,
Dil 211, Dobhan, 339, 395, Dobun 339, 351, 395,
Doceiososn 354, Doche 80, Dofet 202, 338, 396,
Dofinias 179, Donnchadha 71, Donn 71, Domhnall
102, Donn 211, 241, 242, 293,377, 383, Drebriu 80,
Drosten 314, Duach 182, Duach Temin 85, Dubh
da Tuath 96, Dubhcruit 102, Dubtach 5, 309, 314,
Dubthach Mac Ua Lughair 32, Ducofar 02, Duftan
309, Duibhream 43, Duibhdrenn 294, Duinea-
chaidh 191, Dulbh 83, Dunadach 191, 206, Dunan
191, Dun-Bolg 34, Dunchadh 191, Dunocati 191,
395, Durb 83, Durdru 139, Duvan 206.
Eadbho. 34, Ealadan 28, 152, 171, Earnmas 20,
Ebhlinn 339, Edain 39,337, Edar 329, Eddoin 219,
EderscellS2, 183, 184, Edgaeth 330, Eibher 115,
183, 241, 245, 276, 279, 377, Eighneach 235, Eire
19, Eithne 20, Eithne Ollardha 71, Elathan 14, 18,
20, 24, Ele 80, Elidam 229, Elidmes 229, Eliseg 314,
397, Elt 314, En Ennad 258,275. 276,315, 351,381,
Ennabarr 351, Eochaidh 150, 263, 300, 305, 318,
381, Eochaidh Ollathair 18, 68, 81, Eochaidh
Muigh-meadon 31, Eochaidh Garbh 85, Eochaidh
Aireamh 64, Eocho Airemh 80, Eocho Fedhlech 80,
Eoghan 32, 115, Eoghan Bel 65, Erc, Erca, Ercus
6, 27, 150, 179, 239, Ercias 128, Eremon 115, 241,
276, 377, Erenam and kindred names 241, 242, 262,
277, Erinn 19, Ernaans 18.", Ernaine 242, Err 42,
183, 262, Erus 14, Eruto 262, Esclam 73, Etan 81,
337, Eternus 336,337, Eternalus 330, 336, Ethan 20,
337, Ethna 20, Ettern and kindred names 337, 395,
Eudaf 277, Evolenci 339
Fachtna 182, Fael 203, Faelchu 203, Faelghus 203,
Faeltigearn 236, Faill 105, Fais 174, Fal 203,
Falaman 150, Falias 14, 16, Fallomhan 203, Fallon
203, Fanon 349, Farren 199, Farudran 199, 214,
Fea 20, Fearchair 272, Fearcorb 235, Fear Domhuin
71, Feargair 272, Feargna 105, Feargus, King 9, 105,
263, Feargus Etercomal 33, Feargus Finnbheil 71,
Fecam 197, Fechin 176, 197, Fechtach 176, 197,337,
Fechtnach 176, Fecm 197, Fecoana 160, Fectune 176,
Feidlimidh 72, Fedelmed 192, Fedlloi 219, Feileach-
air 70, Feine 19, Feirceirtne 13, Fenians 48, 70, Fenii
31, 32, Feradach, King 9, Ferdiad 174, Fergus
Mac Roigh 33, 41, 43, 169,304, Fergus 233, Fiacha
Finscothach, 305, Fiacha Sraiphtine 72, Fiachna
15, 242, 337, Fiachra 31, 78, 162,242, 250, 337,
Fianna Erionn 31, Fictor 337, Fidhemma 80, Fiech
(Fiacc) 5, 182, 192, Finn, see Fionn, Finias, 14,
16, 19, 22, 30, Fintan 336, Fionn (Finn) 33, 34, 39,
67, 70, 199, 275,294, Fionn Tulach 32, Fion-Mac-
Cumhal 115, 147, Fir Bolgs 14, Firfann 229,
Firicu 266, Flamatt 149, Fland 85, Flann 67, 178,
Fochlainn 42, Foddon 231, Foddonos 231, Fodhla
20, Foich 42, Forann 72, Forcus 314, Forgere 272,
Forrenni 362, Fothadh 231, Fothaidh Airgteach 30,
Fraic and kindred names 303, 305, Fulartach 45,
Furuddrann 199, 214.
Gabhlan 102, Gacua 190, Gadelus 377, Gafal 294,
Gann 114, 214, 215, 235,6arbh. Cronan 70, Garbhan
199, Gatigan 236, 269, Geaman. 19, 214, Gel 211,
Gennge 206, Geno 138, Gionga 239, Girogan 146,
Glunlegget 167, Goibhnen 20, Goll 31, 65, 102,
147, 276, Gollamh 279, Gonnggu 239, 343, Gorias
14, 16, Goronog 383, Gostian 190, Gosucttias 190,
198, Graine 34, 145, Gruibni 35, Guaire 139, 147,
Guasacht 190, Guc 190, 254, Gud 352, Gunnat
83, Guoillauc 314, Gurhir 348, Gusan 190, Gwion
18, Gwreang 18, Gwyddno 18.
Habam 325, Hartagan 236, He 130, Heremon 64,
80, 182, 183, 301, 352, Humeledonas 347, Hy-
Bairrehe 6. -
Iarnon and kindred names 281, Ibhar 12, Ieracos
281, Igu 276, In 275, Indai 18, 24, 152, Inell 42,
Inissionas 205, Tomcadh, 316, Ipe 314, Irgalach 73,
Irr 195, 241, 377, Ith 115, 246, 279, 319.
Jarbanel 20, Jarbonel Fatha 16, Jomais 34.
Kieran 12.
Labhraidh 80, 289, 316, Labridd 289, Laddigan
236, laidhgeann 236, Laidgin 236, Laighne
178, Laighdiagan 236, Largach 83, Laseg 130,
Lassera 294, Leath 183, Lena. 83, Leoghairé 4,
66, 81,315, Liath 178, Lobat 256, 260, Lobhar 256,
Lobran 256, ocan 32, Locar 83, Logha 178,
Logo 241, Loich 214, Lomna 38, Lonan 314,
Lothor 80, Luacra 194, Lucairen 194, Lucan
194, Luchair 194, Luchta 194, Luchtigearn 230,
264, Lucraid 194, Lucuman 194, Lugdach 16,
Lugh (Luc) 193, 194, Lugh Lahmfada 85,
Lughaidh Cal 171, 318, Lughaidh 20, 85, 116, 250,
274, 279, 380, Lughaidh-Riabh n-derg 80, 81,
lughaid Lamhfada 15, 16, 17, 33, Lugucurit 167,
180, 241, Lugud 85, 246 sq., Lugudeccas 181, 247
sq., 257 Lyr 15, 19.
Mac Arb 274, Mac Badraide neime 68, Mac Beag
29, Mac Breasal 147, Mac Cann 215, Mac Ceacht
15, 20, Mac Cuill 15, 21, Mac Cumhail 19, 22, 30,
39, 72, 145, 294, Mac Daire Curoi 174, Mac
Datho 83, Mac Donough Tomaltach og 13, Mac
Erc Eochaidh 15, 179, Mac Fadden 231, Mac
Fideach-Crimthan 31, Mac Firbis Gilla Isa Mor
13, Mac Firbis Duald 36, 102, 314, Mac Greine
15, 20, Mac Gann 215, Mac Gorman Finn 13, Mac
Iiag 180, 185, Mac Lir 210, Mac Lughaidh 66, 72,
Mac Maolcro Seanach 32, Mac Nessa Concovar 17,
169, Mac Nessa Connor 9, 35, 266, Mac Nia 23, Mac
Oc 164, 166, Mac Raith 191, Mac Ret 191, Mac
Romain Caoilte 67, 71, Mac Roth 191, Mac Ua
Lughair Dubthach 32, Macchodecheti 128, 181, 203,
424
INDEX.
285, 316, 350, Macciari 201-2, Macha 20, 193, Mac-
leigin and like names 343, Macutreni 332, 395,
Madigan 236, Maelcinbir 243, Maelcobha 73, Mael-
maire 85, 290, Maelogan 204, Maelseachland 85,
Maeludaig 291, Magari 351, Magh 193, Magh Mor
85, Maglagni 204, 343, Maguire Roe 14, Maine 274,
Mal 239, Mananan 17, 22, 210, Manogan 382,
Mansuy (Mansuetos) 6, Manu and kindred names
274, Maqueragi 347, Marianus 217, Marin 316,
Marvan 139, Mata 72, Meay 35, 191, 263, 300,
Medb (Medhbh) 41, 80, 81, Medf 303, Meidbh 169,
Mengf 305, Menlenn 216, Mesc 83, Mesceagra 83,
Mes Ded 83, Mes Delmon 83, Mesroed 83, Mes
Sed 83, Miach 15, Mic (Mig) 195, Midir 40, Miledh
14, 115, 169, 211, 279, Miledh Clanna 14, 115, 169,
211, 279, 377, Milesius 21, Minodor 291, Moc and
kindred names 274, Mochoe St. 5, 9, Mochtigearm
230, Moddagan and kindred names 269, Moenan
177, Mogha-Corb 115, Mogha Neid 65, Moinema
177, Moirfhias 14, Molaisi 314, Monenna 177, Mon-
gan 30, 270, Mongedi 270, Monghfin 31, Mongus
144, Moninde 314, Mor 102, Morann 9, Morna
Clanna 31, Morrigan 72, Motur 83, Moy Tuireadh
20, Muadhan 133, Muadhnat 133, Mucotuc 192,
Mucoi 138, 139, 146, 147, 150, 157, 187, 191,
203, 205, 210, 223, 232, 233, 236, 258, 259, 269,
275, 277, 282, 341, 394, 414 Mudossa. 313, 343,
Mugain 80, Muinchin 34, Muineamhon 305,
Muiredh 73, Muirium 70, Muresc 80, Murias 14, 16,
Murkertach 150.
Na 257, Nadfraich 102, Nafic 210, Nagus 332,
Naindith 192, Naimid 210, Naisi 33, Naoi 276, Nar
80, 199, Nargal 199, Natdodd 355, Nathi 210, Ne 276,
Nechtan 73, 341, Necuasagrom 341, Ned 22, Neid
18, 24, 152, Neigh 28, Neimhedh 16, 20, 114, 215,
376, Neime Mac Badraidi 68, Nemann 20, 22,
Nemedius 14, 376, Nettacu 326, Nia 276, Nialbron
186, 207, Nialgus 186, Niall 81, 274, 381, Niallan
186, 207, Niamh 70, Niloc 186, 207, Nisigan 257,
No 126, Noar 199, Nocat 19, 274, 343, 395, Nogati
191,274, Nogtene 346, Nuada 15, 182, 255, Nuadhat
15, 191, 255, Nuagat 191, Nuataf 255.
O'Bric 246, O'Connor, Hugh, King 13, O'Droma,
Soloman 13, O’Duibhne 71,0’Duigenann, Manus 13,
O'Felan 246, O'Flinn, Eochaidh 21, 28,0'Furadhran
199, O'Gibelan 61, O’Hartigan, Cinaeth 16, O'Leo.
chain 178, O'Lochain Cuam 16, O’Neill, Aodh 96,
O'Romain 193, Ocudden 329, Odaff 277, Oddach 277,
Odin 197, Oe 81, 171, Oeca 83, Oenna 23, Of 249,
Ogma 14, 18, 20, 24, 28, 81, 152, 222, Ogmius 24,
Oisin (Ossian) 33, 37, 300, Oisin, son of Fionn 70,
()ilioll More 304, Olacon 177, Olchu 178, Olill 86, 182,
183. Olioll Olum 1, 115, 171,245, 250, 380, Ollamh
Fodhla 81, 85, Ollam 81, Ollcham 178, Oriund 115,
Osbbar 325, Oscar 29, 66, 71, 72, Ot (Ota) (Otun)
130, 197, Ottinn 197, 222.
Partholanus 14, 169, Pheryllt 18, Pool 192.
Reddos 206, Ret 191, Rettos 220, 276, Rian and like
names 218, 350, Ringin 102, Riondal 150, Ritti
201, 205, 222, 228, 230, 231, 232, 276, Roigh 263,
Ronnaire 106, Ros 180, 185, Rossa Ruadh 304,
Rottais 276, Ruraidhe 214, 239, 242.
Sacattini 143, Saetad 275, Safaqquc 287, 349,
Safei and kindred names 287, 313, 349, Safficueg
287, 349, Sagram and like names 335, 341, 350,
395, Sagranus 334, Sah 313, Salbuidhe 70, Samhair
115, Sarimus 350, Sartigurm 264, Scal Balbh 85,
Sean 9, 182, Seanagh 33, Seangann 114, 214,
Sechim 197, Sedan and kindred names 295. Sedna
305, Semius 14, Sen 83, Serigi 383, Setas 262, 275,
Shivaun-na-Geelagh 171, Siadhal (Sedulius) 7, 8,
Siconas 198,203, Slainge 214, Smiorgad 71, Smirach
83, Sochams and kindred names 295, ºocht 43,
Solinus 336, Stil 121, Suairlech 203, Sualtan 41,
Su Buleus 203, Succat 83. Sufal 202, Suibhne 203,
Tabairn 18, 24, 152, Tadhg 171, 335, Tailte 85,
Tailtin 85, Tal 233, Talamnach. 216, Taliesin 18,
174, Talluorrh 364, Tasegagni 292, Tecan 192,
Teige 72, Tenac 208, Thait 18, 24, 152, Tighernac
102, Tigurn 141-2, 230, 264, 330, Tinne 304, Tire-
chan 9, Tocha 232, Todann 216, Tofisac 348,
Togittacc 220, Toic (Toica) 232, 234, Toicteach
232, Toranan 128, Torbach and kindred names 331,
Trea 204, Tren (Trein) and kindred names 332,
Tenacatto 343, Treneguss 332, 395, Tresc 73, Tria
204, Trian 204, 315, 343, Trichem 204, Trimeach
204, Troighleathan 102, Tuatha-de-Damann 14,
Tuirinn 17, Tulach Fionn 32, Tuilogh Óg 13, Tur-
pili 330, 395. -
Uca 83, Uchadan 191, 330, Uddam 191, Ufam and
kindred names 312, Ui-Mic-Uais 199, Ui Deagha
184, 316, 317, Uige 258, Uirgreann 43, Ulcagan
143, Ulcong 121, Ullachan 178, Umor 180, 185,
Un 257, 275, Uoret 314, Uoser 319, 362, Usalet
151, Utreni 332.
Wendon 336, Wendubar 347, Victor 336, Vitalian
347, Vortigern 230, 264.

Rath, the, a construction peculiar to the Gaedhelic
races, 99; Chambers in (Pl. III.), 103, 273; not in-
troduced by the Danes, 101; List of from Book of
Ballymote, 102; used for residence and securing
cattle 105; domestic uses of, 106; Account of a
Rath resigned to a Christian community, 104;
Incredible number of in County Kerry, 170; at
Seskinan 265.
Raths at Aghabulloge, 99; List of in the Annals of
Four Masters, 102; Miribheach Mil, 104; at Seski-
man, 265; Rath-Croghan at Kilcorkey, 299; Regal
Cemetery, 301.
Rath at Coolowen, 52.
Rhys, Professor J., 346.
Richard of Cirencester on the locality of the
Brigantes, 116.
Ring, Ogam on (Pl. xi.1) 321.
Rite, a patronymic, 124.
Roberts, Mr. Peter on Lhoyd's discovery of Trabeg
Stone, 173.
Rooke, Mr., Article on the Brimham Rocks, "A0.
Roovesmore Ogam Stones (Pl. xIII.) 59, 148.
Rowan, Archdeacon, 54, 175.
Ryland, Mr. History of Waterford quoted, 267.
Samian Ware, Notice of 126,
Scepticism in regard to early Ogam discoveries, 51.
Sean, son of Aige, composer of Fonn Seanchais
Mhoir, 9.
Seanchuidhe, the, quoted, 117, 207.
INDEX.
425
Sedulius, a Scottish Priest, 7.
Senchus Mor (Digest of Laws), 323.
Senchus-na-Relig, History of the Cemeteries, an
ancient tract, 72, 80, 84, 85, 86, 300.
Sepulchral uses of the Gaedhil, 64; Place of
sepulture frequently determined by Bullocks, 308.
Shearman, Rev. John, Palladian Churches, 184;
Description of Killeen Cormac Stones, 306, 314 sq.
Siadhal, Celtic form of the name Sedulius, 8.
Silures (Suil Eibher), Tacitus quoted, 406; Gaedhelic
tradition of, 408. -
Silver Hand Nuadhat, King, 15.
Skene, Dr., 360.
Sliabh Cullane, 296 sq.
Sliabh Dallan, 40.
Sesostris, the conqueror, the supposed original of
Hercules, 26.
Sliabh-an-Iaruin, 15.
Smirke, Mr. Edward, 348,
Smiddy, Rev. Canon (note), 61.
Smith's History of Kerry quoted, 170.
Smith, Mr. J. R. his explorations at Ballon Hill, 75.
Solinus, companion of Palladius, name on Welsh
inscribed stone, 336.
Spain, Geographical nomenclature of reproduced in
South West of Ireland, 170.
Spencer's View of Ireland quoted, 10, 17.
Spurrell, Mr. Geo., 348.
Stokes, Dr. Whitley, quoted, 22, 58, 312.
Stokes, Miss, Ancient Christian Inscriptions, 288,
324.
Stone of Blessing, 133.
Stowe Library, Ancient Irish MS. at, 1.
Stuart, Sir John, Editor of Sculptured Stones, 355.
Suidhe Finn, 148.
Swastika, or Filfot, a Gnostic symbol found on Ogam
Monuments, 189, 358, 359.
Sword Hilt, Ogam on, 43,
Symbols to express Language, Origin of, 1.
Tabairn, progenitor of Dagda the Great, 18.
Taball Lorga, 36.
Taibhli Fileadh (Tablets of the Poets) 36.
Tailltiu, or Teltown, Fair at, 84.
Tain Bo Chuailgne, or the Cattle Raid of Cooley, a
popular story, 28, 41, 42, 191, 304.
Taliesin the Bard quoted, 18.
Tamlorguibh Fileadh, 37.
Tamlorga Filid (Staves of the Poets) 36.
Taobomna (side trees), name for Ogam consonants,
58, 62.
Tara, Lia Fail at, 16.
Teimm Laeghda, 38.
Temhair Erann, Cemetery of, 86.
Thait, progenitor of Dagda the Great, 18.
Theban Papyrus Rolls, copy of, showing resemblance
to Ogam, 372.
“Three Tragical Stories of Erinn,” 33.
Tinnehally, Ogam Stones at (Pl. xxvii.) 59, 213,
Tirechan, Annotations of, on Life of St. Patrick, 9,
192.
Todd, Dr., his Life of St. Patrick, quoted 5 sq., 54.
Toland, John, quoted 24 sq.
Tomaltach og Mac Donough, Lord of Corann, 13.
Topographical names of Wales point to its Gaedhelic
origin 390, of Cornwall and Devon, 392.
Tor Breogan of the Bardic Writers identical with
Corunna, 27, 279.
Trabeg Monument, 47, 170 sq.
Tree-origin of names of Ogamic letters or trees named
from the letters, 63.
Triads, the, quoted, 382.
Trias Thaumaturga of Colgan, 6. -
Tripartite Life quoted, 95.
Trithemius quoted, 7.
Tuatha-de-Damand Colony, 13, 14, 68, 115, 135, 174,
178, 242, 250, 353; absurdity of its Chronology,
15; Deities associated with well-known localities,
23.
Tuireann, Story of the Sons of, 33.
Tula-an-Bhanchuire, 67.
Tulach, name for Sepulchral Monument, 68.
Tuomey, Mr. J. C., Account of the Castletimon
Stone, 295.
Turney, Rev. W., quoted on Irish Pottery Examples,
76.
Turlogh Óg, King of Connaught, 12.
UC and OC in Inscriptions signifies Alas! 171, 185,
192.
Uisneach, Story of the Children of, 33.
Ulster Migration, Story of, 182 sq.
Ulster Journal of Archaeology quoted, 193.
Uraceipt Na-n-Eges, Primer of the Bards, passages
relating to Ogam in, 13, 37, 57, 59, 322.
Usher and Ware, 7, 8, 47.
Wallancey School Antiquaries, 3.
Wallancey, General, his labours in Irish Archæology,
47, 50, 173, 199, 289, 319.
Ward, Rev. F., 6.
Ware's Antiquities quoted, 10.
Ware and Usher, 7, 8, 13, 34, 47, 60.
Wakeman, Mr. W. H., 326.
Waraeus, 12.
Welsh Examples of Ogam Monuments, 98.
Wemyss, Lady, cinerary urns presented by, 77.
Westwood, Mr. J. O., 329, 331, 332, 334, 336, 337,
338, 348.
Wigford, Lincolnshire, curious inscribed Stone in
St. Mary's Tower at, 171.
Wilde, Mr. William, quoted, 84.
Wilde, Dr., quoted, 68.
Williams, Mr. William, 55, 112, 121, 246, 256, 266,
271, 273, 278.
Windele, Mr. John, his labours and discoveries, 2, 34,
52, 54, 55, 91, 110, 117-168, 174, 177-179, 190-214,
216, 217, 221-238, 243, 251, 253, 254-256, 260, 266,
268, 287, 293, 300, 324; Controversy with Dr.
Petrie 251.
Wynn, Sir Watkin W., 173.
Yew Tree, sacred among Irish Druids, 41.
Youghal, Ogam Stone at, 413.
Zeuss, in Grammatica Celtica, 28; on the MS.
glossed copy of Priscian, 321.
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