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