Provenance
Discovery: Site of church and old burial gound (An Cheallúnach or An Lisín). ‘This circular enclosure crowns the summit of a low, but prominent, hillock between Dingle Harbour and Trabeg. The site of a church is shown within the enclosure on the OS maps, but nothing more is known about this, and no visible trace survives. Children were still being interred there in the burial ground in the mid-19th century’ (Cuppage et al 1986, 264). The current stone enclosure, approximately 30m in diameter, is ‘only a portion of the original site and was built up by a landlord sometime prior to 1847’ (Devane 2001, 372). Macalister (1945, 151-7) recorded nine ogham stones collected together at the site. These ‘mostly pulvinar’ or oval water-rolled boulders resemble the stones found ‘about 6 miles away’ at Minard storm beach. Eight of the nine stones are now arranged in a circle within the stone enclosure with the ninth placed centrally. Apart from the ogham stones, the interior consists of ‘a confusion of low mounds and low upright grave markers’ (Cuppage et al 1986, 264). A tenth ogham stone was discovered in the 1980’s but only protrudes 24cm above the ground (Devane 2001, 369). This stone came from the cairn or the nearby ‘tombs’ (Cuppage et al 265) in the townland of Ballintaggart and barony of Corkaguiney. First mentioned by Vallancey in 1804 (Macalister 1945, 151).
Findspot: Ballintaggart (Baile an tSagairt), Co. Kerry, Ireland (ITM coordinates (approximate): 446414, 599691)
Last recorded location(s): in situ (inside modern enclosure)
Support
National Monuments Service SMR ID: KE053-033013-
Object type: Cross-carved pulvinar pillar
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: H 1.04 × W 0.56 × D 0.18 m
Inscription
Text field: Cuppage et al (1986, 265): `The flattened upper surface of this boulder bears a plain Latin cross and a natural fissure continues the line of its shaft down the centre of the stone’. Inverted with respect to the inscription.
Letters: Pocked. N-strokes are quite sloped and vowel strokes relatively short. Use of the X-forfid. Letters tend to overlap and little and quite worn, especially towards the end. Macalister (1945, 156) states ‘The last name [DOVINIAS] cannot be entirely deciphered, with close attention, except the vowels IA, which cannot be traced’. McManus’ (1991, 66) reading with nothing clear after DO of the final word is in agreement with what can be read on the 3D model. However, faint traces of many of the scores can be made out wit the help of raking light on the high resolution 3D model.
Edition
Transcription: N[E]TTA-LAMINACCA KOI ṂAQQI MỤCOI DOṾ[I]Ṇ[IA]Ṣ
Translation
? here son of the descendant of Duibne
Commentary
McManus (1991, 119) writes ‘KOI, which is invariably written with the first supplementary character (see Ogham alphabet) and is alone among formula words in not being attested later, has been explained as a word defining locality, “here”, analogous to HIC IACIT in the British inscriptions though it is never used in these’.
The first name (NETTA-LAMINACCA) consists of the element NET(T)A ‘champion’ and an unknown second element (McManus 1991, 109-110).
All but one of the inscriptions containing the tribal name DOVINIAS (‘of Duibne’) have been found on the Dingle peninsula, barony of Corkaguiney (Corcu Duibne), which got its name from that tribe or sept (McManus 1991, 111).
References
- Bennett, Uí Shíthigh, Holden, and Ó Bric 1995, 18
- Cuppage 1986, 264-266
- Devane 2001, 369-372
- Macalister 1945, 151, 156-157
- McManus 1991, 66, 79, 109-110