Provenance
Discovery: Discovered in 1846 by Cork antiquarians Windele, Abell, and Hawkes in a souterrain (CO085-067002-) in the SW quadrant of a ringfort (CO085-067001-), with five other ogham stones: I-COR-047, I-COR-048, I-COR-049, I-COR-050 and I-COR-051. According to Macalister (1945, 92-93), this stone was purchased from the local farmer by F. M. Jennings in 1846, and presented by him to the Royal Irish Academy (without any statement of provenance). In 1849 Windele removed the remaining stones to his own residence (Blair’s Castle, Cork) but they were later also moved to the museum of the Royal Irish Academy.
Findspot: Ballyhank (Baile Sheanc), Co. Cork, Ireland (ITM Coordinates: 557971, 564534)
Current repository: Ireland National Museum of Ireland (inv. no. W2)
Last recorded location(s): All six stones from Ballyhank are now in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland. 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: CO085-067003-
Object type: Fragment
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: H 0.57 × W 0.25 × D 0.13 m
Condition: Reused as a lintel in a souterrain and described by Macalister (1945, 93) as the top of an inscribed stone. According to Brash (1879, 140) it was ‘reduced from its original form and dimensions for convenience of carriage’. The original dimensions do not appear to have been recorded.
Inscription
Text field: The inscription reads upwards on the left angle, across the top and down the right-hand side. According to Macalister (1945, 93-94), there is an older inscription on the stone (which he read as DIOBI) ‘a copy of which has been scratched in minute pin-scrapes on the unoccupied part of the second inscribed angle, perhaps by the representatives of the earlier owner’. Although there are faint marks on the angle below the end of the inscription, as well as a faint, possible stroke between the the two Ls, Macalister’s reading and explanation of these are not convincing.
Letters: The strokes are quite finely scored and described by Macalister (1945, 93) as ‘straggling knife-cuts’. They tend to trail off at the distal ends. The initial Ls (if this is the correct interpretation) are more widely spaced than the rest of the characters. The M-aicmi strokes (M, R) are rather straight.
Date: Mid to late sixth century AD (linguistic)
Edition
Transcription: [---]ALL[A(?)] MAQI VORRTIG̣U[R]N
Critical apparatus:
- There is space enough for a lost A between the LL and M (where Macalister sees the remains of an earlier inscription), but because the spacing at this point in the inscription is quite wide, it is very uncertain. After the M, there is enough space for two vowel strokes (read as O by Brash 1879, 141), although even one is barely visible. 2. Brash (1879, 141) adds an A between the two Rs of VORRTIGURN but it seems likely that he mistook slight damage to the stone at this point as a vowel notch. 3. A spall at the top right corner of the stone has resulted in the almost complete loss of the penultimate character R, which previous editors seemed to be able to read and of which just two possible, partial strokes remain.
Translation
[of Ailill?] son of Foirtchern
Commentary
Although very fragmentary and uncertain, the LL with possible vowels before and after suggests a name like Ailill (gen. Ailello/Ailella). The father’s name (VORRTIGURN) is a compound of OIr for ‘on, over’ and tigern ‘lord’ and is also found in an inscription at Knockboy, Co. Waterford (I-WAT-038). In both instances the ending -GURN appears in place of an expected -GERN (McManus 1991, 7).
The endings of the personal names appear to have been lost suggesting a mid to late 6th-century date (McManus 1991, 97).
References
- Brash 1879, 140-142
- Macalister 1945, 92-94
- McManus 1991, 7
- Power, Byrne, Egan, Lane, and Sleeman 1997, no. 7948