What is recorded here
Gallaun is a 2.4m ogham stone on Valencia Island, County Kerry, bearing the weathered name Errlonna son of Ruteni. It leans slightly northeast on a terrace below Geokaun hill, facing south and west seas. Four hundred metres away stands another ogham stone at Kildreenagh, suggesting a small cluster of marked stones rather than a single isolated monument. The sea wind has rubbed most of the edges smooth, but the angle and name still break through the moss.
Marked on the OS maps as 'Gallaun', this ogham stone is located on a natural terrace on the lower SW slopes of Geokaun hill, Valencia Island, from which commanding views may be had to S and W. A second ogham stone (KE078-009003-) stands 400m to NE in Kildreenagh ecclesiastical site (KE078-009004-). Of irregular elevation, this large stone rises to a maximum height of 2.4m, measures 0.77m x 0.45m at base and is aligned NNW-SSE. It inclines somewhat to NE and carries the inscription along its SE angle. Macalister's revised reading (1945, 226-7) of this is:
. . . ]ERRLONNA MAQI R[U]T[E]N[I] / -]ERR[L]ON[N]M MAQ[I] [RUTE]N[I
The very weathered and uneven surface of the stone detracts from the general clarity of the inscription. The first stroke of the L is unclear, as is the final stroke of the second N. The next character appears to be M rather than A. Only two notches of the first I are discernible, and the first stroke of the third R is incomplete. The first stroke of the T and the final E and I are doubtful.
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The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 912. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.
Date of upload: 29 July 2013
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- What survives
- Recorded monument
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