What is recorded here

Graves recorded the stone in 1894 after its 1893 discovery near the village where Ballinvoher and Ballyandreen overlap. It bears the name Cóemán son of Vitalinus and may date to the first half of the sixth century. That small marker crossed from a Kerry field into a national museum, carrying one family name out of local forgetfulness.

According to Graves (1894, 374), this ogham stone was discovered in 1893 in the townland of Ballinvoher. No such townland now exists. Ballinvoher is the name of a large parish stretching from Anascaul in the W to Aughils on the barony boundary to E. However, the name Ballinvoher is also applied to the immediate environs of the village in Ballyandreen townland. Ballinvoher Fort (KE045-048----) is sited just beside the village and Ballinvoher Graveyard (KE045-025001-) is located in the adjoining townland of Rathduff. It seems likely then that the ogham stone was found in or close to this village, and that Graves took the name of this small area to be that of a townland. The stone is now preserved in the National Museum of Ireland (DU018-392----) and the inscription reads: COIMAGNI MAQI VITALIN which may be translated as 'Of Cóemán son of Vitalinus'. According to McManus (1991, 94-5) this inscription may be dated to the first half of the sixth century based on the loss of the final -I of VITALIN and its preservation in COIMAGNI. The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 794. This stone has been studied as part of the ‘Ogham in 3D’ project undertaken by the School of Celtic Studies, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. To access details go to the following website: http://ogham.celt.dias.ie/search.php?ciic=166 Updated by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 31 December 2014

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