Provenance
Discovery: Discovered by Gerry Cribben and others while carrying out fieldwork in 2000 in the north-east quadrant of Kilgarvan graveyard (Moore 2001, 33). Kilgarvan (Cill na nGarbhán ‘Church of the Garbháns’) is said to have been founded by St Féichéine of Fore (Fobar), a Connacht man, in the seventh century.
Findspot: Kilgarvan (Cill na nGarbhán), Co. Mayo, Ireland (ITM Coordinates: 532776, 816140)
Last recorded location(s): The pillar was observed (May 2022) lying flat on the ground orientated N-S in the graveyard of Kilgarvan. 3D recorded as part of the Mayo Ogham project, funded by The Heritage Council and Mayo County Council.
Support
National Monuments Service SMR ID: MA040-031004-
Object type: Pillar
Material: Granite
Dimensions: H 1.35 × W 0.30 × D 0.20 m
Condition: The surface of the stone is moderately blotched with lichens and moss, with denser growth on the W face. The start of the ogham inscription has been spalled away which may have removed a couple of scores (Archaeological Survey of Ireland, Field Report 2017).
Inscription
Text field: The ogham inscription runs up along an upper angle of the pillar (left side of the broad face) extending from roughly mid-way along its length to the top of the stone.
Letters: The broad, evenly-spaced strokes appear to have been pocked and rubbed.
Edition
Ogham text: ᚇᚑᚈᚐᚌᚅᚔ
Transcription: DOTAGNI
Critical apparatus:
The reasonably clear ogham inscription has been read as DOTAGNI. However, a possible original COTAGNI was noted by Moore (2001, 33), as the spall at the start of the inscription may have removed a couple of scores.
Translation
of Dothán
Commentary
A later version of DOTAGNI would be something like Dothán, but no such name appears to be attested in the later sources. The name may consist of the word doth ‘bearing, bringing forth, hatching (of animals)’ or, if COTHAGNI, possibly coth ‘food, sustenance’.
References
- Moore 2001, 33