Ogham stone in Ballynabortagh

This ogham stone was discovered in a souterrain (CO052-061001-) in 2005 where it was one of four pillars supporting the roof (McCarthy 2005). This is the SW pillar stone. The NE pillar stone also bears an ogham inscription (see CO052-061002-). This is an irregularly shaped, rough, sandstone pillar, subrectangular in section (1.5m x 0.24m x 0.35m), inscribed on the right angle of one of the narrower faces. The inscribed face of the stone widens towards the top and the ogham inscription, in so far as it survives, is confined to the narrower lower part of the stone. The surviving letters can be read as follows: (L)……C(A)……. CIOT. At first glance it would appear that nothing intelligible can be gleaned from this reading but given what is known about ogham inscriptions and the range of formulae used in its monumental phase, it is likely that we are looking at an inscription using the MAQI MUCOI formula, meaning son of a remote ancestor. A very tentative reading as follows can be proposed L……[MA](Q)I [MU]COI T…. (Ronan et al. 2009, no. 16163) Compiled by: Nora White Date of upload: 27 February 2016