Provenance
Discovery: Found in 1884 at the site of a crannog at Moynagh Lough (ME005-088001-), very close to the townland (Brittas, with Moynagh and Nobber) and parish (Nobber with Castletown) boundary. Discovered by a local farmer, Owen Smith, the inscribed object was sent to Charles Graves, bishop of Limerick. A report by Graves (1888-1891) was read to the Royal Irish Academy on 24 June 1889. In the early medieval period, this was an important centre for the Airgialla population group, the Mugdorna. Dendrochronological dating of the crannog showed it was built c.625 and occupied until it was abandoned around 800AD. One of the round-houses is, at over 11m in diameter, the largest yet found in Ireland, and it has been suggested the site may have been of senior elite, or even royal, status. There is extensive evidence for deluxe metal-working and, or course, leather-working (Potterton 2022, 20-21).
Findspot: Moynagh Lough, Brittas, Co. Meath, Ireland (approximate loaction)
Current repository: Ireland National Museum of Ireland (inv. no. RIA 1889:13)
Last recorded location(s): In the National Museum of Ireland where it was examined and recorded by the OG(H)AM team in November 2023.
Support
Object type: Leather-working tool
Material: Antler tine
Dimensions: H 63.50 × W 19.00 mm
Condition: Worked red deer antler tine, cylindrical in cross-section, with a slight curve. It is strong and sturdy but decidedly pen-shaped at one end with a notch in its nib-like tip, which helped to identify the object as a beveller, a specialist tool for trimming the edge of leather to produce a smooth result. The leather-working tools from Birsay, Orkney, now in the National Museum of Scotland, are exactly contemporary (640x860AD) and provide a handy parallel.
Inscription
Text field: Two sides of the object have ogham characters running along the length. On one side (1) a natural ridge is used as a stem-line but on the other (2) a stem-line is carved for the ogham characters.
Letters: The ogham strokes are very finely cut and are especially faint on the back (2) (the side that doesn’t have the shaped tip). According to Holder’s unpublished catalogue (1994, 10–11), the two inscriptions were made with different instruments. The strokes of the former are between 0.25–0.5mm wide, whereas those of no. 2 are much finer (0.1mm). The vowel strokes are not short notches like on the arris of a stone, but with half-length strokes, occupying the “1/2 band” of ogham strokes (Forsyth 1996, xxxiv f., xliv-xlv). There is possible use in this inscription of one of the forfid, which appears as an X but not through the stem-line (like the X-forfid ᚕ) but to the right or below it (like the I-forfid ᚘ but with a single X).
Edition
Ogham text: ᚉᚑᚂᚑᚏᚏᚄ ᚘ
Transcription: COLORRS PIBANSNAVQẸ
Critical apparatus:
- It is unclear if this is one continuous text on two sides or two unrelated texts. 2. The X-type forfid at the beginning of line 2 does not cross the stem-line, as would be usual for the ᚕ or X-forfid, but is entirely carved to the right of the stem-line. It is therefore possible that this is a single X variant of the ᚘ or I-forfid with ‘P’ value. There are a few other comparable examples on stone (e.g. I-KER-102 An Chúil Thoir | Cool East 1 and W-BRE-004 Crickhowell 1), where it appears to represent a ‘P’ sound. It is also conceivable that it is not a letter at all, but that the X simply marks the beginning of the inscription, being functionally equivalent to a feather-mark. 3. The object is damaged at the end of line 2 where there are three relatively clear strokes (U) but the remains of a fourth stroke are discernible (E), which could even be the remains of an I.
References
- Bradley 1991, 7
- Forsyth 1996, xxxiv f., xliv-xlv
- Potterton 2022, 18-23