| Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1949:888 Okasha/Forsyth/2001:Inishcaltra 1 |
| Site: | ICLTA |
| Discovery: | first mentioned, 1837 Wakeman, W.F. |
| History: | Petrie/1878, 43: `Drawn by Mr. W. F. Wakeman for Dr. Petrie from the stone at Iniscealtra, in the year 1837, corrected from a rubbing taken by the Rev. James Graves in 1874'. Macalister/1916, 146, notes that Wakeman's drawing is published by Petrie/1878, 56, but states it was drawn in 1838. Macalister/1916, 146--147: `The stone stands on what seems to be a low carn, covered with earth, and grass-grown. Delany told me that in the process of cleaning out the cemetery a large number of small rounded stones, about the size and shape of a turkey's egg, were here found. These he had collected together, but they were soon dispersed by mischievous people. A similar hoard of rounded stones was found in a grave of about the eleventh century, uncovered during the restoration of Iona cathedral'. The stone was in the same position during a CISP visit in 1996. |
| Geology: | |
| Dimensions: | 0.27 x 1.27 x 0.81 (Okasha/Forsyth/2001) |
| Setting: | on ground |
| Location: | earliest Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 47: `This stone is in the south-west corner of the Saints' Graveyard, apparently in situ'. |
| Form: | cross-base Macalister/1916, 146: `Stone, 9 inches high, with trapezium-shaped upper surface, the sides measuring respectively 2 feet 10 inches, 2 feet 9 inches, 4 feet 2 inches, and 2 feet 10 inches. An oblong socket in the middle, parallel with the longest side, 1 foot 8 1/2 inches long, 4 inches across, 7 inches deep. A groove is cut round the upper surface, parallel with the edges'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 47: `cross-base'. |
| Condition: | complete , some Macalister/1916, 146: `The stone is broken through the socket, and was so when Wakeman drew it in 1838'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 48: `The cross-base is now split through the socket in two pieces'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | band A groove cut round the edge of the upper surface. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 48: `Only the top few centimetres of the sides are shaped, which suggests that it was intended to be imbedded in the ground. The upper surface is dressed and is of a trapezoidal shape; since the south-west corner has been chamfered, it is, strictly speaking, a five-sided rather than a four-sided figure. A groove on the upper surface forms a flat perimtere moulding'. |
| Petrie, G. (1874): | +ILADI~DECHENBOIR Expansion: + ILAD IN DECHENBOIR Translation: The tomb-stone of the ten persons. Petrie/1878 42 concise discussion |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1915): | +ILADI~DECHENBOIR Expansion: + ILAD IN DECHENBOIR Translation: The grave of the Ten Men. Macalister/1916 146 concise discussion Macalister/1949 88 reading only |
| Okasha and Forsyth (1996): | +ILAD I~DECHENBOIR Expansion: + ILAD IN DECHENBOIR Translation: Tomb of the ten persons. Okasha/Forsyth/2001 48 reading only |
| Orientation: | Indeterminate |
| Position: | E ; top ; n/a ; undivided CISP: The text is between the cross-shaft socket and the groove. |
| Incision: | inc |
| Date: | None published |
| Language: | Goidelic (rbook) |
| Ling. Notes: | Petrie/1878, 42, `It may be safely conjectured that the first word Ilad is a form of Ulad, a stone tomb. The dat. sing. occurs in the Leber Brecc, p. 94, in right margin. ``Atat a thaisi in ulaid Senpatraic in Ardmacha.'' `His relics are in Old Patrick's ulad in Armagh.' In is the gen. sing. masc., and neut. of the article. Deichenboir is the gen. sing. of deichenbar---a decad of ten persons---now deichneabhar (See Cormac's Glossary, p. 166, and Irish Glosses, p. 72) The dative singular occurs in the Calendar of Oengus, July 14:---``Ateocham no-n-ailem con-deichenbor noeiden.'' `Let us pray to him, let us beseech him with a decad of infants. `This formula is very peculiar, and only two other inscriptions have been found in Ireland, which can be classed along with it. They are ``VII Romani,'' and ``Orait ar II. canoin;'' both are tombstones in the Island of Aran. It is not improbable that this slab marked the grave of some of those men slain in battle, to whom the above-mentioned Teampul n b-fear n-gonta was dedicated.' Macalister/1916, 146: `Who these ``ten men'' may have been, it is useless to speculate. For the formula we may compare the memorial ``of the two cannons'' at St. Brecan's Arab Mór. `... The ``ten men'' were no doubt sufficiently notorious when the monument was made to render further definition superflous, though the tradition of them is now wholly lost.' Macalister/1949, 88: `Who these ten men were is unknown.' |
| Palaeography: | Macalister/1916, 146: `The small initial cross, however, shows that the inscription, unsatisfying though it be, is complete'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 48: `The text uses half-uncial script'. CISP: The lettering is Insular half-uncial and is preceded by an equal-arm cross with expanding terminals. The A is in the 'OC' form and the B and second I both have wedge-shaped finials. The two Ds both have 'ascenders' which bend to the left over an open bow. The two Es differ from each other - one is in the open uncial form, the other in the closed minuscule form. The L bends to the right and the final R is majuscule. |
| Legibility: | some The inscription is now quite worn (CISP visit 1996). |
| Lines: | 1 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |