Ogham stone, Colbinstown, Co. Kildare

Co. Kildare |

Stone Monuments

Ogham stone, Colbinstown, Co. Kildare

Most ogham stones carry personal names, genealogies, or memorial formulae running the full length of the stone in the distinctive notched script developed in early medieval Ireland. This one, a compact block of granite unearthed from the south-south-west side of a burial mound at Killeen Cormac in County Kildare, carries just two letters: UR. Whether that represents a fragment of something longer, a name reduced to its opening syllables, or something else entirely, is not recorded.

Ogham is an alphabet rendered in strokes and notches cut along the edge or face of a stone, most commonly used between roughly the fourth and seventh centuries to record names in early Irish or, occasionally, Latin. The stone here is modest in size, approximately 34 by 48 by 38 centimetres, and was one of seven ogham stones documented at the Killeen Cormac burial ground by the epigrapher R. A. S. Macalister, whose 1945 corpus of Irish ogham inscriptions remains a foundational reference for the field. The two bold scores spelling UR were noted as unusually large and clear relative to the stone's small dimensions, which makes the brevity of the inscription all the stranger.

Rated 0 out of 5

Visitor Notes

Review type for post source and places source type not found
Added by
Picture of Pete F
Pete F
IrishHistory.com is passionate about helping people discover and connect with the rich stories of their local communities.
Please use the form below to submit any photos you may have of Ogham stone, Colbinstown, Co. Kildare. We're happy to take any suggested edits you may have too. Please be advised it will take us some time to get to these submissions. Thank you.
Name
Email
Message
Upload images/documents
Maximum file size: 100 MB
If you'd like to add an image or a PDF please do it here.

Advertisement