What is recorded here

Ogham fragments surfaced in Wexford in 1845 and 1930, named Derc Masoc, ancestor of Dublin's ruling line. The stone traveled from Portersgate to County Dublin, where it sits complete only after 1987 excavation returned its final piece. What is missing is not substance but witness: nobody recorded the moment the last fragment left the earth or the hands that carried it across the country.

This is the present location for the ogham stone from Portersgate, Co. Wexford (WX054-004----). Fragments of this ogham stone were found in 1845 on the shore below Brecaun Church (WX054-003002-) (Barry 1896, 127-8), and c. 1930 another fragment was found which enabled Macalister (1930, 54-5; 1945, 50-51, no. 46) to read the inscription as: SEDAN [1 MAQQI CAT]TABGBOTT AVVI DERCMASOC. He describes the stone as ‘3 ft. 10 ½ inches, by 1 ft. by 8 inches thick’ (c. 1.18m x c. 0.3m x c. 0.2m). In the mythological history of early Ireland Derc Masoc was the son of Cathair Mór, who was said to have been one of the first kings to have ruled all of Ireland. Derc Masoc was the progenitor of Uí Deirc Mosaig, the ruling family of Ath Cliath Cualann, or the Dublin area. Archaeological excavation in 1987 found the final missing piece of the ogham stone (Breen 1988). Compiled by: Nora White Date of upload: 3 August 2016

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