| Corpus Refs: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001:St Berrihert's Kyle 1 |
| Site: | BKYLE |
| Discovery: | first mentioned, 1967 O Heailidhe, P. |
| History: | First published in OhEailidhe/1967, 108--109, 120--22, but with no information as to the circumstances of discovery. It may be, however, that the work done in 1946 by the Office of Public Works, mentioned at 102, was the time when the inscription was discovered. |
| Geology: | OhEailidhe/1967, 108: `Grey sandstone'. |
| Dimensions: | 0.28 x 0.25 x 0.08 (OhEailidhe/1967) |
| Setting: | in display |
| Location: | on site OhEailidhe/1967, 103, states that the Office of Public Works built a structure on site into which they placed most of the cross slabs. This is illustrated in Pl. VIII. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 220: `The stone is built face inwards into the oval structure at the southern end of the enclosure; it is cemented to the top of the wall, to the right of the large cross-head'. |
| Form: | name-slab Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 221: `The stone is a natural slab of irregular shape'. |
| Condition: | incomplete , good Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 221: `broken across its short axis and missing the left portion'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 221: `There is no trace on the surviving portion of any carving other than the text'. |
| OhEailidhe, P. (1967): | [..]ERGU/SSAN | [..]AIT DO Expansion: [FE]RGUSSAN ORAIT DO ÓhÉailidhe/1967 120--21 reading only |
| Okasha and Forsyth (1998): | [..R]GU/SSAN | [--]DO Expansion: [FER]GUSSAN [ORAIT] DO Translation: A prayer for Fergussán (PN) Expansion: [FER]GUSSAN [OROIT] DO Translation: A prayer for Fergussán (PN) Okasha/Forsyth/2001 222 reading only |
| Orientation: | Indeterminate |
| Position: | n/a ; broad ; n/a ; undecorated Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 221: `As the stone is now set on end on top of the wall, the text reads up the stone'. |
| Incision: | inc Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 221: `The lettering is pecked'. |
| Date: | 800 - 899 (Fanning/1976) Fanning/1976, 36, argues for a ninth-century date. 500 - 833 (ÓhÉailidhe/1967) ÓhÉailidhe/1967, 122 cites parallels from the sixth to the early ninth centuries. |
| Language: | Goidelic (rbook) |
| Ling. Notes: | OhEailidhe/1967, 121, notes the unusual word-order of the inscription with the name preceeding the 'OROIT DO' formula. He also notes the unusual spelling of ORAIT, only found elsewhere at KBRCN/7, or Macalister/1949, no. 538. |
| Palaeography: | OhEailidhe/1967, 121: `The use of the half-uncial S and the Roman minuscular d could be an indication of early date...Macalister in his study of the palaeography of the Clonmacnoise slabs, has noted that the alphabet which includes the half-uncial S and minuscular d, is characteristic...to the last half of the eighth century.' Also mentioned are the unusual ligature of U/S in the middle of a word, and the 'point-topped' A. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 221--222: `The text uses insular minuscule script ... with a maximum letter H. of 8 cm. ... The lettering of the first line has been well laid-out in the middle of the slab with the letters reaching right into the corner, while the lower line has been squeezed in below, with the DO tilted to fit. The lettering of the upper line is elegant. Its calligraphic quality is apparent in the sweep of the G and, particularly, in the overlapping arrangement of the tall insular letters S, the first ligatured with the U. As Ó hÉailidhe observed, the influence of manuscript writing is obvious and `the easy flow of the long curves is indicative of ... brush-work' ... Other features of note are the large triangular serifs carved in outline and the pointed-top minuscule A'. |
| Legibility: | good Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 221: `The text is slightly deteriorated'. |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |