What is recorded here

Macalister first recorded the prostrate sandstone in 1939, yet he called the place Curraghmore West instead of East. That small mistake has haunted the stone ever since. The chisel marks still hold a name, but the top edge is cut away, leaving the last word incomplete. A dead person becomes a puzzle when half their identity disappears into stone dust.

Macalister (1945, 198, no. 204) cites himself in an article of 1939, as the first record of the stone, and states that it is `lying prostrate in a field at the upper end of the townland'. However, Macalister gives the townland as Curraghmore West (rather than East), which has led to some confusion since. He described the stone as 'sandstone', 1.17 x 0.71 x 0.38 (converted from Macalister, 1945, 198-9) with a 'small Latin cross pattee on the side of the stone'. He notes that 'the top of the stone appears to be cut off, but without injuring the lettering', which he interprets as: ANM MAGANN MAQI NUADAT. However, McManus (1997, 176, note 48) disagrees with Macalister's reading saying that 'it is highly unlikely that the symbol between the N and the D of the last name should be read as an otherwise unattested epigraphical forfid with the diphthong value ua'. He was also unsure 'as to whether the consonant following the A was D or T, or whether this was the last letter, as there appeared to be at least one vowel score on the top angle'. McManus' (1997, 67) reading is as follows: ANM MAGANN MAQI N?Dad/t. Compiled by: Nora White Date of upload: 19 November 2016 To see a 3D model of this monument, visit; https://skfb.ly/oyoXG

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