In the 1800s, Bishop Charles Graves developed a passionate fascination with archaeology, especially the mysterious Ogham inscriptions. His pioneering work deciphering the ancient Ogham script cemented his reputation as a leading authority. Graves also championed the publication of Ireland's ancient Brehon Laws, bridging the gap between Ireland's legal heritage and its linguistic past. Spending summers at Parknasilla House in Sneem, Co Kerrry he meticulously studied Ogham stones found on the estate, playing a vital role in preserving this unique alphabet.

For the people of Sneem, Ogham is far more than a relic of the past. To honor Bishop Graves and celebrate their rich heritage, they created the enchanting Ogham Tree Trail.

This inspired project features a handcrafted sculpture for each native tree species, carved from the very wood of the tree it represents. Each sculpture proudly displays an Ogham letter forged in iron, accompanied by delicately wrought iron seeds and leaves. Informative signs accompany each piece, revealing the origins of the Ogham letter and the tree's significance within the ancient Brehon Laws. These sculptures are thoughtfully placed beside living trees, with a special reverence for venerable specimens that have stood the test of time.

Driven by the passionate community spirit of Sneem TidyTowns, in collaboration with Féilte na Snadhma and Sneem Story House, this initiative beautifully weaves together Ireland's natural beauty and cultural legacy through captivating art and immersive education.

Visitors to the trail are not only treated to stunning craftsmanship but also invited to deepen their understanding of Ireland’s intertwined natural and linguistic heritage, making the ancient Ogham alphabet come alive in the modern world.

The Sneem Ogham Tree Trail stands as a vibrant testament to how ancient traditions can be celebrated and preserved through community creativity and respect for nature.

If you find yourself in the area, you should make a visit to Sneem to experience the Ogham Tree Trail firsthand. It’s a captivating blend of art, history, and nature that brings ancient traditions vividly to life.

This Irish epic, Immram Brain maic Febail (The Voyage of Bran, son of Febal), contains a mythical connection to the Ogham script. This narrative, famous for its magical sea journey, has a special place in our lore because the story itself dictates that it was preserved in the script of the trees. It’s a powerful narrative about the lure of the Otherworld and the terrible price of timelessness.

The Unearthly Summons

The epic begins with Bran, a chieftain, being drawn away from the mundane world. He is lulled to sleep by mysterious music and wakes to find a silver branch with white blossoms, a token from the supernatural realm. Soon, a woman from that realm appears in his court, singing of a glorious paradise—a land without suffering, death, or time—Emain Ablach, the Isle of Apples. The woman’s sudden vanishing, along with the branch, compels Bran to set sail with twenty-seven men to pursue this promised, perfect land.

Encounters at Sea

As they travel west, the voyage immediately becomes supernatural. They encounter Manannán mac Lir, the powerful God of the Sea, who rides his chariot across the water, telling Bran that the ocean is, in fact, a flowery plain and that Bran is destined to father a famed son, Mongán.

Their next stop is an island where the inhabitants are gripped by bizarre, unending laughter. When one of Bran's crew goes ashore, he is instantly consumed by their mindless ecstasy, forcing Bran to leave him behind. This strange episode emphasizes the alien and sometimes dangerous nature of the Otherworld’s gifts.

Finally, they reach their goal: the Land of Women. It is a place of unending luxury and joy, where time does not pass for them. They live there in blissful companionship, believing only a year has gone by.

The Tragedy of Time

After what were truly centuries, a deep longing for home strikes one of the men, Nechtan. Bran consents to return, but the Queen of the island warns them absolutely not to set foot on the soil of Ireland.

When they reach the coast of their homeland, they find their world is unrecognizable. The people on the beach speak of Bran’s journey as a story from the deep past. Overcome by emotion, Nechtan leaps from the boat. The moment his feet touch the earth, he instantly turns into a pile of ash and dust, the full weight of the centuries catching up to him.

Bran tells the whole, tragic story of his voyage to the crowd. To ensure the epic would not be lost, he inscribed the entire tale onto wooden tablets using the Ogham alphabet. He threw the inscribed wood ashore and then, with his remaining crew, turned his boat back to the sea, sailing away forever into the west.

When you think of writing, you probably imagine letters, punctuation, and the occasional space. That last one — the space — is usually invisible, silent, and taken for granted. But what if a writing system treated the space between words as a character in its own right?

That’s exactly what happened with Ogham, a script used in early medieval Ireland. And it’s one of the few writing systems in history that turned the concept of “nothing” into “something.”

What Is Ogham?

Ogham is a unique alphabet developed around the 4th century CE. Instead of writing across a page, Ogham inscriptions were carved vertically along the edges of stones. Each letter was represented by a series of strokes — one to five — placed to the left, right, or across a central line.

It was primarily used for short inscriptions, often names or territorial markers, and many examples still survive today on standing stones scattered across Ireland and parts of western Britain.

The Space That Wasn’t Empty

Here’s where things get weird — and wonderful. Unlike most writing systems, Ogham didn’t rely on blank gaps to separate words. Instead, it used a visible symbol: a deliberate mark that functioned as a space. This character is now officially recognized in Unicode as the “Ogham Space Mark.”

That means in Ogham, the space wasn’t just a pause — it was a glyph. A letter. A thing.

Why This Matters for Language and Tech

In modern computing, the space character is treated as a control character. It’s not something you see; it’s something that tells the system where one word ends and another begins. But Ogham’s approach forces a rethink.

For linguists, it’s a reminder that not all languages follow the same rules. For software developers and typographers, it’s a challenge: how do you encode a space that’s meant to be seen? How do you render it in fonts? How do you teach a computer to treat it as both a separator and a symbol?

Unicode had to make room for this oddity, assigning it a unique code point (U+1680) and treating it like any other character — even though it represents a concept most systems treat as invisible.

A Script Ahead of Its Time?

Ogham might be ancient, but its treatment of space feels surprisingly modern. In an age where we’re constantly rethinking how we communicate — from emojis to markup languages — Ogham reminds us that even the most basic elements of writing can be reimagined.

It’s a script that carved meaning into the margins, turned silence into symbol, and gave space a voice.

As a special gift we're giving out a 10% off coupon - SPACENOTASPACE which you can enter at the checkout or apply by clicking here 

Explore more and dive deeper: If you're fascinated by ancient scripts like Ogham and how they intersect with modern technology, be sure to check out this informative video on YouTube.

You can’t always wander an ancient field in Mayo or run your fingers along the grooves of a 1,500-year-old Ogham stone — but now, you don’t have to.

Thanks to the Mayo 3D project, these incredible monuments have been brought online in stunning detail. Their “Og_h_am 3D” collection on Sketchfab turns Ireland’s oldest alphabet into an interactive experience — you can zoom, rotate, and explore every carved line from your phone or laptop.

Each scan captures the fine texture of the stone and the precision of its inscriptions — the ancient letters that once recorded names, boundaries, and memories. It’s not just digital preservation; it’s like standing beside the stones themselves.

Projects like this are helping bridge the gap between archaeology and accessibility — making Ireland’s early medieval past available to everyone, from scholars to the simply curious.

Explore the collection here:
Mayo 3D – Ogham Stones Collection

Hidden in the margins of a 9th-century Irish manuscript is one of the most unexpectedly human notes ever left by a medieval scribe. Written in the ancient ogham alphabet ᚛ᚂᚐᚈᚆᚓᚔᚏᚈ᚜ , it translates — believe it or not — to “Massive hangover.”

Yes, somewhere between the sacred texts and careful calligraphy, a weary monk confessed his pain the old-fashioned way — not with words, but with lines and notches.

The Word: Láithreirt

The Old Irish word behind this translation is “latheirt” (pronounced law-hret), meaning a hangover or weakness after drinking. It appears tucked neatly into the manuscript’s edge, scratched in ogham script — Ireland’s earliest written language, dating back to the 4th or 5th century CE.

Whether it was the morning after a saint’s feast or just a bit too much monastery ale, we’ll never know. But what we do know is that this little line of ogham captures something timeless — the all-too-human aftermath of a good night gone slightly too far.

From Sacred Script to Shared Story

Ogham was usually reserved for marking graves, boundaries, or blessings — not the fallout of overindulgence. But that’s what makes this inscription so extraordinary: it reminds us that even the scribes of old Ireland had their moments of frailty, humor, and humanity.

Twelve centuries later, that honesty still resonates. It’s proof that while the ink has faded, the spirit — and the hangover — remain very much alive.

Raise a Glass to History

To celebrate this perfect blend of ancient wit and modern relatability, we’ve created the Láithreirt Drinkware Collection — a line of pint and whisky glasses engraved with the ogham for Láithreirt.

So next time you’re feeling the weight of your own Láithreirt, raise a glass — you’re in good company. After all, even a 9th-century monk couldn’t resist jotting down his morning-after regret.

Did you know that Ogham — Ireland’s oldest alphabet — is often called the Celtic Tree Alphabet?

Ogham is Ireland's earliest known alphabet, originating around the 4th century CE. It was primarily used for inscriptions on stone monuments and wooden staves, serving as a means of communication and record-keeping.

The alphabet consists of 20 characters, each represented by a series of notches or strokes along a central line. These characters are known as feda (singular: fid), meaning "trees" or "branches" in Old Irish. While some of these characters correspond to tree names, it's important to note that not all of them do. 

For instance:

• ᚁ (B): Beith – commonly associated with the birch tree.

• ᚇ (D): Dair – linked to the oak tree.

• ᚄ (S): Saille – associated with the willow tree.

These associations are often derived from medieval glosses and interpretations, such as the Bríatharogam (Word Oghams), which provide poetic descriptions for each letter 

The Role of Trees in Early Irish Society

In early Irish culture, trees held significant importance. They were not only sources of material resources but also symbols of various concepts and values. The association of certain Ogham characters with trees reflects this cultural reverence. 

In the mist-filled age of Ireland’s earliest gods — the Tuatha Dé Danann — one figure stood apart for his mastery of language, learning, and eloquence. His name was Ogma (Modern Irish: Oghma) — the radiant champion and sage who, legend says, gave Ireland her first written script: Ogham.

The God of Speech and Strength

Ogma was both a warrior and a scholar, a rare combination of strength and intellect. In the myths of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is described as Grianainech — “the sun-faced,” radiant and shining — and as Trenfher, the “strongman” or “champion.”

He fought alongside his divine kin in the Battle of Mag Tuiredh, wielding both words and weapons in equal measure. Yet his greatest weapon was not a sword, but an alphabet.

Cut from Stone and Spirit

According to the Ogam Tract, Ogma invented the Ogham script “as proof of his ingenuity” — a system of carved strokes and lines that allowed the learned class of early Ireland, the filí (poets and scholars), to record their knowledge, names, and sacred language.

The very name Ogma is thought to come from the ancient root ak- or ag- — meaning “to cut.”
Each Ogham mark was literally cut into stone or wood, carrying sound, meaning, and identity. In mythic terms, Sound was said to be the father of Ogham, and Matter its mother — a perfect union of idea and form.

The Eloquence of the Gods

Ogma was more than a god of writing; he was the embodiment of eloquence, poetry, and storytelling. His words had power, his speech could inspire, and his language connected the worlds of gods and mortals.

Alongside Lugh the Bright One and the Dagda, Ogma was counted among the Trí Dée Dána — the “three gods of skill,” who represented the divine arts of craft, knowledge, and expression.

Over centuries, Ogham would move from divine inspiration to human craft, inscribed on stones across Ireland and the western Celtic world.
Many of these stones still stand today — silent yet speaking, their carved notches bearing witness to a time when language itself was sacred.

Each mark is a memory of Ogma’s gift — a bridge between the mystical and the material, between the sound of a word and the shape of a soul.

At OghamLore.com, we celebrate Ogma’s enduring influence through authentic Ogham-inspired art and design — connecting modern makers and storytellers with Ireland’s oldest form of written expression.

Bring a touch of ancient wisdom into your home with our Ogham Collections — where every line, every mark, and every word still carries the spirit of Ogma, the god of eloquence.

Sources & Further Reading

• Ogam Tract, from the Book of Ballymote (c. 14th century)

• MacKillop, James. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press, 2004

• Lebor Gabála Érenn (“The Book of Invasions”)

• Cath Maige Tuired (“The Battle of Mag Tuired”)

• Wikipedia – Ogma (Irish mythology)

• Carey, John. The Mythological Cycle of Irish Literature, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

Ogham, Ireland's earliest known alphabet, originated around the 4th century CE. While it began as a script for monumental inscriptions, by the medieval period, it had evolved into a tool for encoding messages, serving as a cipher in various contexts.

Scholarly Use and Cryptographic Applications

In the medieval era, Ogham was employed not only for writing but also as a cryptographic tool. Scholarly works, such as the Auraicept na nÉces, preserved in the Book of Ballymote, delve into the structure and usage of Ogham, indicating its role in encoding and decoding information.

Additionally, the Irish legal manuscript tradition showcases the use of Ogham alongside other cryptographic methods, reflecting a broader concern with abstruse writing among the late medieval learned classes. 

Manuscript Inscriptions and Marginalia

Ogham inscriptions appear in various medieval manuscripts, often in the margins or as annotations. For instance, the Codex Sangallensis 904, dating from the 9th century, contains eight Ogham marginalia, providing evidence of its use among Irish scholars during that period. 

Similarly, the Berner Ogham-Zeichenübersicht, found in Codex 207, Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum, folio 1b recto, is a seven-line Ogham inscription dating to the late 8th or early 9th century, further illustrating the script's continued use and its cryptographic applications. 

Did you know Gone Medieval once featured a full episode all about Ogham, Ireland’s ancient alphabet?
In “Ogham: A Forgotten Medieval Alphabet,” experts explore how this mysterious script was carved, used, and preserved through the centuries.

🎧 Listen here: Gone Medieval

It’s an older episode — but a timeless listen for anyone fascinated by early writing, language, and Celtic history.

Ogham is the oldest known form of written Irish, first appearing between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. It was used primarily in Ireland but is also found in western parts of Britain, particularly in areas with strong Irish influence such as Wales, the Isle of Man, and southwest Scotland. The script is made up of linear strokes or notches, typically carved along the edge of a standing stone or piece of wood. Each group of marks represents a letter from an alphabet originally consisting of 20 characters.

The origins of Ogham are closely tied to a period of significant cultural change in Ireland. Although Ireland was never part of the Roman Empire, there was contact between the Irish and the Roman world—through trade, migration, and military service in Roman Britain. Many scholars believe that Ogham developed as a response to these interactions, particularly as a native system of writing influenced by the Latin alphabet.

Evidence supporting this theory includes the fact that the earliest Ogham inscriptions coincide in time and geography with Roman Britain, and that the system is alphabetic, a concept likely introduced through Roman literacy. However, Ogham does not resemble Latin visually. Instead of letters written across a page, Ogham letters are made of straight lines and notches grouped along a vertical or horizontal line—often the natural edge of a stone. This design suggests it was created with carving in mind, rather than writing on parchment or papyrus.

The language used in the earliest Ogham inscriptions is known as Primitive Irish, the ancestor of Old Irish and, eventually, modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic. These inscriptions are mostly personal in nature: names of individuals, sometimes along with kinship terms or tribal affiliations. The content is brief, formulaic, and consistent—suggesting that Ogham had a practical purpose, likely tied to property rights, burial markers, and territorial claims.

One key feature of early Ogham inscriptions is their physical location. Most are found in the southern and western parts of Ireland, often in remote rural landscapes. They are frequently placed near boundaries, ancient roads, or burial sites, reinforcing the idea that the script had legal or ceremonial functions.

There are also mythological and medieval references to Ogham found in later Irish manuscripts, where the script is described as being used by Druids or as a system of secret communication. These accounts are much later—often from the 12th century onward—and reflect a reimagining or reinterpretation of the script in a Christian and literary context. While they provide insight into how Ogham was viewed in medieval Ireland, they are not reliable sources for understanding its original development.

Although Ogham's everyday use was relatively short-lived, its creation marked a significant step in the history of literacy in Ireland. The fact that it was developed outside the Roman world, tailored to the Irish language, and adapted to local needs—like carving into stone—makes it a remarkable example of early script innovation. The stones remain where they were first placed, weathered but legible, offering direct contact with a time when marking a name in stone was one of the few ways to be remembered.