Provenance
Discovery: First mentioned by Brash (1879, 286) who says he visited and inspected the site in 1868. This stone was reused, according to Macalister (1945, 135), as a support stone (third on the left as you enter) in the outer section of a souterrain in a rath (KE054-006----). He noted that the souterrain was ‘L-shaped: the first two stones are supports in its outer section, the third a lintel in the inner section. There is also a stone bearing two crosses (KE054-006003-) and no inscription, and a stone with Ogham-like but meaningless marks on the left-hand side of the entrance to the outer section’.
Findspot: Aghacarrible (Áth an Charbaill), Co. Kerry, Ireland (ITM coordinates: 451179, 600006 )
Last recorded location(s): In situ inside the inaccessible souterrain.
Support
National Monuments Service SMR ID: KE054-006004-
Object type: Pillar
Material: Sandstone
Dimensions: H 0.96 × W 0.27 × D 0.18 m
Condition: Reused as a supporting stone in a souterrain now inaccessible. Macalister (1945, 135-136) describes the stone as follows: ‘the inscribed angle is turned inward, and some of the scores can be determined by touch only… the cave has become much silted up since I first saw it, many years ago, and the first six letters are now buried. The top of the stone is broken.’ Dimensions are of the exposed part only (Macalister 1945, 136).
Inscription
Text field: From the drawing by Hitchcock (Macalister 1945, 135), the inscription appears to take up one angle with the last letter on the the top of the stone. According to Cuppage (1986, no. 285), the inscription occupies the outside angle on the W side of the stone.
Letters: According to Macalister (1945, 136) the inscription was pocked and rubbed. We have no further information on the appearance of the characters. Hitchcock’s drawing is not detailed enough to be helpful in this regard.
Edition
Ogham text: ᚂᚐᚇᚇᚔᚌᚅᚔ ᚋᚐᚊ̣ᚊᚔ ᚋᚒᚉᚉᚑᚔ ᚐᚅ[---
Transcription: LADDIGNI MAQ̣QI MUCCOI AN[---]
Critical apparatus:
- Macalister (1945, 136) noted that ‘the readings of all three of these stones must remain tentative until the cave can be dismantled’.
Translation
of *Laídén son of a descendant of An[…]
Commentary
The name of the person commemorated is uncertain. Ziegler (1994, 191) suggests that it may be related to ladan ‘dumb’, which is rarely attested. Another possibility is that it contains the word láed ‘marrow’ (cf. LAIDANN in I-KER-006), as diphthongs in ogham are sometimes written with the first vowel only. This would be something like *Laídén in Old Irish.
References
- Cuppage 1986, no. 285
- Macalister 1945, 135-136
- Ziegler 1994, 191