What is recorded here

One Rathkenny ogham stone is a partial lintel inside an underground passage beside Lismore, marking a chamber that people entered and left through generations. Its scores are shallow enough to overlook yet steady enough to read, preserving a name or claim that ordinary memory has forgotten. The ringfort stands on rising land with a wide view, suggesting the passage was not a hidden panic hole but a deliberate room beneath a lived place.

This is one of four ogham stones (KE021-087002-; KE021-087004-; KE021-087005-; KE021-087007-) from the Man-made underground passage (KE021-087001-) in the SW sector of the ringfort named Lismore (An Lios Mór; KE021-087----). This multivallate rath is situated on rising land and has an extensive view of the surrounding countryside. It consists of a circular area enclosed by three banks and fosses. An opening was made into one of the chambers in the late 1970s, so the drystone walling construction of the chambers and tunnels is quite visible (Toal 1995, no. 774). This stone was discovered in 2014. It acts as a lintel on the chamber side of the passage to right (N chamber) on entering the Man-made underground passage. It is at least 0.74m x 0.22m x 0.13m (dimensions taken from the 3d data). The full extent is unknown as the stone is embedded in the structure. What is visible of the inscription is picked in broad scores but there may be further letters which are inaccessible. All that can be made out is an S (or possibly a C) at one end of the stone (final -S or initial C-?), a possible vowel notch (A) and 3 or 4 possible faint scores representing V (/T) or S (/C). 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=Rathkenny_IV Compiled by: Nora White Date of upload: 10 October 2017 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 186/1949).

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