Inscribed slab (present location), Dublin South City, Co. Dublin
Co. Dublin |
Religious Objects
Somewhere in the south city of Dublin, an inscribed slab sits in a location that is, strictly speaking, not its own.
The object carries a record number that trails a hyphen and a second sequence of digits, the standard notation used by the Archaeological Survey of Ireland to indicate that what you are looking at has been moved, that its present address and its original address are two different places entirely. The slab belongs, in the survey's accounting, to a site recorded in County Westmeath, and whatever marks or letters cut into its surface were made in a context now geographically remote from where the stone currently rests.
The parent record, WM029-042007, is registered in Westmeath, which suggests the slab originated somewhere in that county's landscape before being relocated to Dublin. Inscribed slabs of this general type range widely in date and purpose across Ireland; some carry early medieval Latin or ogham script, ogham being an alphabet of notched lines cut along a central stem that was used primarily between the fourth and seventh centuries, while others bear later medieval lettering or simple incised crosses. Without further detail attached to this particular record, the precise character of the inscription and the circumstances of its removal from Westmeath remain unclear, but the fact of its displacement is itself part of its story. Objects like this were frequently moved by antiquarians, landowners, or institutions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, often with the intention of preservation, sometimes with rather less noble motives.
Because the present location is recorded administratively rather than as a publicly accessible monument, visiting requires some prior research. The Archaeological Survey of Ireland's database is the logical starting point; the record for WM029-042007 may carry additional notes pointing toward a museum, a private collection, or an institutional building in the south city area. Dublin's municipal museums and the collections held at institutions along the south quays are reasonable places to make enquiries. It is worth contacting the relevant institution in advance rather than arriving unannounced, since pieces like this are not always on open display and may be held in storage or study collections accessible only by appointment.