Ogham stone in Scattery Island

This ogham stone was formerly set against the exterior of the west wall of a church-like building known as St Senan’s Bed (CL067-024002-) where it is used as the seat of a bench-like structure. The ogham stone is currently on display inside the refurbished exhibition centre on Scattery Island. It was described by Okasha and Forsyth (2001, 12) as ‘a large block of gritstone with 'ogham-like scores' (Westropp 1897, 285). This stone was not included by Macalister in his corpus (Macalister 1945, 1949). Close examination suggests that it is indeed a much-battered ogham stone. The stone is about 200 cm long, 60 cm wide and 14 cm thick with the inscription cut along the upper outer edge. Faint traces of individual strokes are discernible at various points but the best preserved section is towards the left end where the remains of five neatly parallel strokes of equal length, 6 cm long and 2 cm apart, are visible on the upper surface. These form an ogham letter N. Further to the left, following a gap, are the remains of four similar strokes on the upper surface, an S or part of an N. 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=Scattery. This is a national monument in state care, no. 10. Compiled by: Nora White Revised date of upload: 8 November 2017 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 1/1971).