Monumental Stone — Mám An Óraigh

National Monument No. 10044. Kilcolman/Cill na gColmán: An Early Christian church site (KE042-141001-) lying on the S slopes of an E-W spur of Lateevemore, overlooking Ventry Harbour. (4) (KE042-141006-) Standing near the SE edge of the enclosure is a large irregularly-shaped boulder, its W face inscribed with an ogham inscription and 2 crosses. It measures 1.15m in height, 1.58m in length and .54m in thickness. The stem line for the ogham inscription was carved up the left side of the face and across the top, framing the crosses. The ogham scores are clearly legible but the inscription is confused and puzzling. Macalister's ingenious interpretation may be correct (1945, 186-8). He suggested that the inscription intended was ANM COLMAN AILITHIR and that the peculiarities can be explained as an attempt to correct mistakes made during its execution. The main cross motif is a deeply carved cross of arcs within a circle, its lower arm linked to the circle by a short stem. This latter continues beyond the circle to below the present ground surface and exhibits a triangular expansion at about its mid-point. An equal-armed cross with fishtail-like terminals occupies the upper right portion of this face of the stone. To see a 3D model of this stone visit: https://skfb.ly/Mrzz The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 868. 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=193 Updated by: Paul Walsh Revised date of upload: 2 January 2015