Provenance
Discovery: Found, along with Aglish 2 (I-KER-009), by Richard Hitchcock in the graveyard (KE054-032002-) in this townland. This stone was presented on his behalf to the Royal Irish Academy in 1848 by Bishop Graves (Macalister 1945, 137). The second ogham stone is still in situ. Aglish is a probable early church site with a bullaun also discovered in the graveyard. No trace of a church survives (Cuppage et al 1986, 258).
Findspot: Aglish (An Eaglais), Co. Kerry, Ireland (ITM coordinates: 453672, 600395 approximate)
Current repository: Ireland National Museum of Ireland (inv. no. 2194:W1)
Last recorded location(s): In the collection of the National Museum of Ireland. Currently (July 2025) on display as part of the Words on the Wave Exhibition. This stone was recorded in 3D in collaboration with the Discovery Programme in 2016 as part of the Ogham in 3D project.
Support
National Monuments Service SMR ID: KE054-032003-
Object type: Cross-carved slab
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: H 0.88 × W 0.25 × D 0.05 m
Decoration: The stone was later (6th-9th century) repurposed when it was inverted (in relation to the ogham) and a cross added. It is a cross-of-arcs within a circle, with the arms of the cross sunken in relation to its spandrels. Below the circular frame there is an arrow-like stem flanked by two swastikas (Seaver et al. n.d, 204).
Condition: As noted by Macalister (1945, 137), this slab appears to have been ‘split off from the surface of a larger stone’ and ‘trimmed’ when the cross was added.
Inscription
Text field: On two angles, unusually, beginning upwards on the right (left of the cross) and continuing downwards on the left (right of the cross). Note that the inscription is inverted when the cross is at the top.
Letters: The inscription is pocked in bold, well-spaced strokes. Vowel strokes wedge-shaped and possibly chisel-cut. There is an example of the use of the X-forfid.
Edition
Transcription: [---]MAQI MAQ[I---] OG̣GODIK[A]
Translation
[…] son of Mac-[…]
Commentary
As noted by McManus (1991, 109): ‘MAQ(Q)I-X names can be distinguished from the patronymic MAQ(Q)I X (“son of X”) type either by appearing first on the inscription or (as in this case) by being preceded by MAQ(Q)I (“son of”) or some other formula word’.
The last name, or what survives of it, is unclear but Ziegler (1994, 198) suggests that it may be an example of LUGUDECCAS, which is found in a number of other inscriptions.
References
- Cuppage 1986, 258
- Hitchcock 1848, 271
- Macalister 1945, 137-138
- Seaver, Ó Riain, and Sikora 2025, 204-205
- Ziegler 1994, 198