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-046, I-COR-047, I-COR-049, I-COR-050 and I-COR-051. In 1849 Windele removed five of the stones, including this one, to his own residence (Blair’s Castle, Cork) but they were later moved to the museum of the Royal Irish Academy (Brash 1879, 140; Macalister 1945, 92-93).
Findspot: Ballyhank (Baile Sheanc), Co. Cork, Ireland (ITM Coordinates: 557971, 564534)
Current repository: Ireland National Museum of Ireland (inv. no. 1872.22)
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 2010 as part of the Ogham in 3D project.
Support
National Monuments Service SMR ID: CO085-067005-
Object type: Pillar
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: H 1.23 × W 0.50 × D 0.27 m
Condition: Reused as a lintel in a souterrain. The top of the stone is damaged which resulted in the loss of some of the inscription. According to Brash (1879, 143) it was a ‘rough pillar’ of 1.57m (5ft. 2in.) in length. Macalister’s 1.23m (4ft.) is the height above the display stand.
Inscription
Text field: The inscription commences on the dexter edge, 1.09m (3ft. 7in.) from the bottom (Brash 1879, 143) and the last two letters are on the top of the stone. There is no basis for Macalister’s (1945, 96-97) suggestion that ‘there seems to have been a continuation of the inscription running along here and down the sinister angle, of which no trace now remains; in all probability in the forbidden “MUCOI” formula’.
Letters: The strokes of the inscription are pocked and rubbed. The vowel stokes are wedge-shaped and the consonant strokes are quite long and evenly spaced.
Edition
Ogham text: ᚄᚐᚉᚐᚈᚈ[ᚔ]ᚅ[ᚔ]
Transcription: SACATT[I]N[I]
Commentary
Ziegler (1994, 229) suggests that this name may contain the element saich ‘bad, evil’ (compare saigthe). She also notes that a similar name, Saichtha, occurs in the genealogies (CGH S. 729, GENELACH ÚA m-BAIRRCHE).
References
- Brash 1879, 140, 143
- Macalister 1945, 96-97
- McManus 1991, 66
- Power, Byrne, Egan, Lane, and Sleeman 1997, no. 7950
- Ziegler 1994, 229