Provenance
Discovery: Discovered by O’Kelly during excavation (1960s/70s) at Newgrange, which included Roman finds, suggesting a possible 4th-century date. However, the catalogue description (Carson and O’Kelly 1977) does not make its context clear, and it could be later. The Roman finds from Newgrange date from the Flavian period (69-96 CE) through to the fifth century CE, and these were single deliberate deposits of exceptional quality jewellery and coins over the entire Roman period.
Findspot: Newgrange (An Ghráinseach Nua, Co. Meath, Ireland (approximate)
Current repository: Ireland National Museum of Ireland (inv. no. E56.1715)
Last recorded location(s): National Museum of Ireland (on display in the Treasury).
Support
Object type: Votive plaque
Material: Bronze
Dimensions: H 91 × W 53 mm
Condition: A leaf-shaped ‘fragment of bronze sheet, slightly convex, damaged and coroded’ (Carson and O’Kelly 1977, 53). The object appears to be some sort of votive plaque with holes along the edge, suggesting that it was attached to something. ‘Its form, shape, and size is similar to some of the much more elaborate votive leaves that have been found at Roman shrines in Britain’ (Worldhistory.org: Interview on Late Iron Age and Roman Ireland project/; compare Roman Inscription of Britain: votive objects).
Inscription
Text field: The inscription runs along a stem-line parallel to the edge of the object, which is quite damaged in places. With the pointed end of the object at the bottom, the inscription appears to run from top right (where at least one stroke has been lost) downwards and back up on the left side where the end of the inscription is most damaged.
Letters: The inscription is faintly scratched on a stem-line running parallel to the edge of the object and the X-forfid appears twice. These features are particularly noteworthy considering the potentially early context in which the object was found.
Date: Possibly fourth century AD (archaeological context)
Edition
Transcription: [---M]AQI AVI KOLUI KOI[.. ? ..]Ḍ[---]
Critical apparatus:
- There are possible traces of two further H-aicme strokes (D or remains of T, C or Q) following a damaged section (space would accomodate roughly 7 strokes).
Translation
of […] son of a descendant of Col? here […]
Commentary
This inscription seems to have three formula words commonly found in the ogham corpus: MAQI ‘son’, AVI ‘grandson, descendant’ and KOI ‘here’(? possibly equivalent to HIC IACIT on British inscriptions). The word (presumably name?) KOLUI (or less likely EOLUI) is uncertain and remains unidentified. However, it is comparable to names with a first element coll ’hazel’.
References
- Carson and O’Kelly 1977, 53