| Corpus Refs: | Kermode/1907:2 Macalister/1945:504 |
| Site: | RUSHN |
| Discovery: | non-arch dig, 1871 Grant, F.B. |
| History: | Kneale/1887, 163--164: `discovered at Ballaqueeney in the year 1874, by the Rev. F.B. Grant...while excavations were being made in 1874 at the Cronk...for the purpose of obtaining ballast for the railway...Unfortunately this monumental stone was kept in the garden at Ballaqueeney from 1874 to about 1885; and it has consequently suffered greatly from exposure to the weather. Since Mr. Grant's transcript...two characters have been obliterated'. Rhys/1886a, 33: `It is now in two or three dozen fragments, having been left out in the weather. All the pieces are in a box'. Rhys/1886b, 93: `A [further] bit of the stone has now been found'. Kermode/1907, 96: `discovery...was in 1871 [now] in a greenhouse [at Ballaqueeney]'. Macalister/1945, 480: `now at the Manx Museum'. Bruce/1968, 59: `now in the Manx Museum'. |
| Geology: | Kermode/1907, 98: `ordinary clay-slate of the district'. |
| Dimensions: | 0.52 x 0.125 x 0.1 (converted from Kermode/1907) |
| Setting: | in display |
| Location: | Manx Museum, Douglas. (Cat: MM 2) Manx Museum (MM 2), Douglas. |
| Form: | plain |
| Condition: | incomplete , poor Kneale/1887, 164: `Unfortunately this monumental stone was kept in the garden at Ballaqueeney from 1874 to about 1885; and it has consequently suffered greatly from exposure to the weather. Since Mr. Grant's transcript...two characters have been obliterated'. Rhys/1886a, 33: `It is now in two or three dozen fragments, having been left out in the weather'. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | none |
| Decorations: | no other decoration |
| Rhys, J. (1886): | BIVAICUNASMAQIMUCOI ||| CUNAVA[--] Expansion: BIVAICUNAS MAQI MUCOI CUNAVA[--] Translation: (The stone) of Bivaidu (PN), son of the clan/tribe Cunava[li] - (Connell) Rhys/1886b 93 reading only |
| Rhys, J. (1886): | BIVAI[--]NASMAQIMUCOICUNAVA[--] Expansion: BIVAI[--]NAS MAQI MUCOI CUNAVA[--] Rhys/1886a 33 reading only Rhys/Browne/1891 39 minor reference |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1902): | BIVAIDONASMAQIMUCOI ||| CUNAVA[--] Expansion: BIVAIDONAS MAQI MUCOI CUNAVA[LI] Macalister/1902 136 reading only Macalister/1945 482 substantial discussion |
| Kermode, P.M.C. (1907): | BIVAI[DO]NASMAQIMUCOI ||| CUNAVA[--] Expansion: BIVAI[DO]NAS MAQI MUCOI CUNAVA[--] Translation: (The stone) of Bivaidu (PN), son of the tribe Cunava[li] - (Connell). Kermode/1907 73--74, 98--99 substantial discussion |
| Orientation: | vertical up along down |
| Position: | inc ; arris ; n/a ; undecorated Macalister/1945, 482, the inscription `had run up the sinister angle, over the top, and on to the dexter angle [now lost]'. |
| Incision: | cut Macalister/1945, 482, states that the grooves are finely cut with a V-shaped section. |
| Date: | 466 - 533 (Kermode/1907) 466 - 499 (Cubbon/1982) 400 - 550 (Ziegler/1994) Ziegler/1994, 161, dates the name CUNAVA[LI] to her period I (AD 400-500) and, on pp. 137--138, the name BIVAIDONAS to her periods I-II (AD 400-550). |
| Language: | Goidelic (ogham) |
| Ling. Notes: | McManus/1991, 102, 103, 104, 116, 117, 121. |
| Palaeography: | Kneale/1887, 164: `the scores forming the consonants for the most part are 2 inches in length...there are no traces of divisional points; but there are longer spaces between the words than between the letters'. |
| Legibility: | some |
| Lines: | 1 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |
This identification is followed by Cubbon/1982, 259, and OCróinín/1995, 50.
Ziegler/1994, 137--138, states that this name is an n-stem in the genitive singular. She also states that BIV(A)- < *biuo- gives Old Irish béo and -AID- gives aéd, with BIVAIDONAS giving Old Irish Béoaéd.