CIIC 40. Painestown, Co. Meath.
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Site Type
Unassociated
Description
Site
Discovered 'lying in a field near Seneschalstown House' (Macalister 1945, 45).
Monument
2.24m x 0.76m x 0.33m (Macalister 1945, 45).
Text
'Inscription in two lines on the face, not on the edge (up-up)' (Macalister 1945, 45).
Translation
'of Mac-Cáirthinn Uí Enechglais'
Commentary
MAQI- (gen. of MAQ(Q)AS), as a first element meaning 'devotee' or the like, rather than 'son' and cáerthann 'rowan tree' (McManus 1991, 108-9). INEQAGLAS, for ENEQ- with addition of a score, (eponym Bresal Enechglas) 'having a grey face' (McManus 1991, 7, 106).
This inscription may be dated to the first half of the sixth century based on the loss of the final -I of INEQAGLAS and its retention in MAQI-CAIRATINI (McManus 1991, 94-5).
The person commemorated here has been identified with a Mac-Cáirthinn of a Leinster poem who was an Uí Enechglais king of Leinster and Tara (Carney 1971, 69. n2; Ó Corráin 1985, 62-3; Byrne 1973, 137-8). Although the Uí Enechglais are located in county Wicklow and this stone comes from Co. Meath, it has been argued that the relegation to the Wicklow coast may have been later (Byrne 1973, 138, 142). This may also be the same Mac-Cárthinn mac Cóelbath mentioned in the annals in 446, a date which does not fit with the linguistic assessment (McManus 1991, 53, 112). However, a recent possible emendation of the date of the annals puts the entry concerning Mac-Cárthinn mac Cóelbath to in or around 530, which fits well with the linguistic dating (Eogan & Moore 2008, 304).
Locations
Found
lying in a field near Seneschalstown House (Macalister 1947, 45), in the barony of Duleek Lower. Precise coordinates unknown. (GPS coordinates of approximate location only -6.565704,53.667656)
Original
Find location possibly original site
Last Recorded
National Museum of Ireland (NMI Ref. 1970:6), Dublin. The present location of this stone may be accessed via the National Monuments Service Historic Environment viewer on www.archaeology.ie. (GPS coordinates -6.254558,53.340408)
Recording
Recognised in 1898 by Rhys, J. Afterwards removed for a time to the grounds of Piltown House, near Drogheda (Macalister 1947, 45)
References
- Byrne, F.J. (1973): Irish Kings and High Kings, pp 137-8, 142.
- Carney, J. (1971): 'Three Old Irish accentual poems', Ériu 22, p. 69. n2.
- Eogan, G. and Moore, F. (2008): 'A Fragment of an Iron-Age Quern and an Ogham Stone', Peritia 20, pp 297–314.
- Macalister, R.A.S. (1945): Corpus inscriptionum insularum Celticarum, pp 45-6.
- McManus, D. (1991): A guide to Ogam. Maynooth Monographs 4, pp 7, 53, 94, 103, 105-106, 111-112, 117, 121.
- Ó Corráin, D. (1985): 'Irish origin legends and genealogy: recurrent aetiologies', History and heroic tale: a symposium (ed. T. Nyberg et al.) 22, pp 62-3.
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