This ogham stone 'stands in the elevated and exposed gap between Masatiompan and the steep N slopes of Brandon mountain, and commands a dramatic view to both sides of the mountain range' (Cuppage 1986, 248). On the Mount Brandon pilgrimage route.

Monument

Sandstone 1.91m x 0.38m x 0.20m (Converted from Macalister 1945, 140). Note: 1.67m in height above ground (Fionnbarr Moore).

'Both faces are inscribed with crosses and there appears to have been some dressing of the stone to prepare surfaces for the carvings. One face bears a Maltese cross with a hook-like expansion at the right side of the upper arm: this is a monogram form of the chi-rho symbol. The opposite face bears a Maltese cross within a circle; the lower arm is linked to the circle by a short, straight stem' (Cuppage 1986, 248). McManus (1991, 172) notes that this ogham stone is 'discussed by Henry (1937, 276 and 1940, 29), where it is described an an imitation of the Brito-Roman type of funerary monument'.

Text

Up-top-down, 'in pocked scores, now rather worn...The turn of the angle has confused him [the carver], so that on the sinister edge he has inverted the side-scores' (Macalister 1945, 141) giving MAN SOMOGAQQ where presumably MAQ COMOGANN was intended. 'The top right hand corner is damaged and the AN recorded by Macalister is unclear as is the Q further down the same edge. Otherwise the scores are clearly legible' (Cuppage 1986, 248). This reading was confirmed on inspection of the 3d data. Regarding the unclear penultimate N of RONANN, two of the five scores are visible on the 3d model. Nothing remains of the preceding A. Extra space has been left between initial word QRIMITIR and the following name RONAN, which may be taken as an example of word division in ogham. This phenomonen is found elsewhere in the ogham corpus (e.g. CIIC 229 Cunburrin, Co. Kerry and CIIC 118 Monataggart I, Co. Cork). However, in this case it could just as easily be an example of letter division, distinguishing the final R of QRIMITIR and the initial R of RONAN. The use of space in ogham to distinguish letters and words has been discussed by Moffat (2011, 290)

Transliteration

QRIMITIRvac. RO/Ṇ[A]/ṆN MAQ̣ COMOGANN

Translation

'of the priest Rónán son of Comgán'

Commentary

Macalister's claims of evidence of Christianisation of this ogham stone are rightly argued against by McManus (1991, 56-7). McManus (1991, 91, 117) also points out that 'genitive forms often have the appearance of nominatives and Macalister was mislead by this in the case of [this ogham stone], which he described as a (Christian) `signature' as opposed to a (pagan) `epitaph'. Here RONANN, MAQ and COMOGANN have the deceptive appearance of nominatives but QRIMITIR with -IR, not -ER, is quite clearly genitive'.
The personal names RONANN and COMOGANN come from rón 'seal' and com- `with' + ag 'leads' (Gailsh Comagus) (McManus 1991, 107) and both ending with a late form of the diminutive suffix -AN(N) (earlier -AGNI).
In this inscription all endings are lost, including in the formula word (MAQ, earlier MAQ(Q)I) but syncope has not yet taken place. This linguistic evidnece suggests a date of approximately the second half of the sixth century (McManus 1991, 96-7).

Locations

Found

the stone was found upright on Mt Brandon but buried in peat up to within 2 feet of the top (Macalister 1945, 141) in the townland of Arraglen and barony of Corkaguiney. (GPS coordinates -10.249772, 52.257546)

Original

Find location probably original site

Last Recorded

Re-erected in 1980s just a few meters from find spot (personal comment from Fionnbarr Moore) on Mount Brandon. The present location of this stone may be accessed via the National Monuments Service Historic Environment viewer on www.archaeology.ie.