One of the sights I wanted to see in Ireland was an Ogham Stone. These are standing stones inscribed with a script of the Ogham alphabet. They are found throughout Ireland but are most numerous in the south-west. Many are found on private land and so are inaccessible to the general public. A large number are on display in museums. This Ogham stone is at Derrynane on the Kerry peninsula. It dates from the 4th to the 6th century AD so would be contemporary with abbey in yesterday’s posting.
The Ogham script was created specifically for the Irish language and have inscriptions that are usually the names of people and tribes. A sort of family history. Ogham, by the way, is pronounced ome as in ‘home’. Read vertically from the bottom the script is comprised of lines. Each letter is also associated with a particular tree or plant. By the magic of the internet, there is an Ogham transliterator available. Here is my attempt at writing the name of this blog in Ogham.
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