KE043-25001 - AN BAILE ÍOCHTARACH - Ogham Stone

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A sandstone ogham stone rises upright, measuring 1.4 meters high, with a base of 0.51 meters by 0.13 meters. It's said to have been discovered in the stream bed within Ballyeightragh townland on Dingle peninsula. The inscription is positioned on its southwest corner, extending onto the northwest face. Starting approximately 0.34 meters above current ground level, it curves around the apex and down the northeast corner. Macalister (1945, 162-3) interpreted the text as 'M A Q I - L I A G M A Q I E R C A, son of Liag, son of Erca.' However, Cuppage noted that the final letter 'A' was no longer legible and that the first 'I' had been damaged due to a notch cut into the stone's edge. A 0.12-meter-long notch is located 0.36 meters from the stone's base, with possible sharpening marks on both northwest and southeast faces. This ogham stone was reportedly presented to the Bishop of Kerry in 1919 before being relocated to St. Brendan's seminary in Killarney (ITA) during the 1940s.