| Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1949:946 |
| Site: | KSAGT |
| Discovery: | first mentioned, 1855 Doyle, J.B. |
| History: | Petrie/1878, 30: `Photographed by the late Earl of Dunraven, in the year 1869. This monument has already been described and illustrated by the Rev. Dr. Reeves, in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. i., p. 221, and by the Rev. George H. Reade, in the Journal of the Kilkenny and South-east Ireland Archaeol. Society, new series, vol. i., p. 315. A sketch is also given in Tours in Ulster (p. 170), by. J. B. Doyle, 1855'. |
| Geology: | |
| Dimensions: | 2.18 x 0.43 x 0.18 (converted from Macalister/1949) |
| Setting: | in ground |
| Location: | earliest |
| Form: | cross-marked Petrie/1878, 29: `The pillar-stone stands 7 feet 4 inches out of the ground, it is 1 feet 6 inches wide, and 6 inches thick'. Macalister/1949, 114: `A pillar stone...On one face a group of ten equal armed crosses...On the opposite face there [are 3 more crosses and the inscription]'. |
| Condition: | complete , good |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: latin; linear; straight; expanded; plain; none; none; none; n/a 2: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 3: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 4: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 5: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 6: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 7: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 8: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 9: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 10: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 11: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 12: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a 13: equal-armed; linear; straight; expanded; plain; circular; none; none; n/a |
| Decorations: | band Petrie/1878, 29: `There are ten crosses within circles, carved on the back of the stone, and the crosses are incised, while the circles with enclose them are in relief. Under these numerous tool marks may be seen'. Macalister/1949, 114: `On one face a group of ten equal-armed crosses, the terminals enriched with spirals or otherwise, incised upon circular discs in cavo rilievo. Five of these discs are relatively large and five small: there is an evident reference to the multiplication of the loaves in the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, with a further suggestion of the Eucharist -- the `loaves' being representations of the cross-signed wafer. This symbolism is appropriate to the purpose of the monument, having regard to the injunction Pasce oues meas (Ev. Iohannis xxi 17)...On the opposite face there is an additional `wafer' on a chamfering of the shoulder: a large Latin cross with expanding terminals, at the top of the stone: an equal-armed cross with terminals bifid and spirally coiled, all within a circle, at the bottom: and between them the...inscription...A deep groove beneath the lower cross on this face, conspicuous in the photograph [CIIL] is now concealed in the earth. It may have been meant to indicate an appropriate ground line'. |
| Petrie, G. (1878): | INLOC | SOTANI | MMAIRNI TERNOHC | MACCERAN | BICERCUL | PETERAP | STEL Expansion: IN LOC SO TANIMMAIRNI TERNOHC MAC CERAN BIC ER CUL PETER APSTEL Translation: This place, Ternóc (PN), son of Ciarán (PN) the Little, bequeathed it under the protection of Apostle Peter. Petrie/1878 27 reading only |
| Macalister, R.A.S. (1949): | INLOC | SOTANI | MMAIRNI TERNOHC | MACCERAN | BICERCUL | PETERAP | STAL Expansion: IN LOC SO TANIMMAIRNI TERNOHC MAC CERAN BIC ER CUL PETER APSTAL Translation: This place did Ternoc (PN) son of Ciaran (PN) the Little bequeath under the protection of Peter the Apostle. Macalister/1949 115 reading only |
| Orientation: | horizontal |
| Position: | inc ; broad ; other ; undivided Macalister/1949, 114--115: `between [the crosses]...the...inscription [is] in eight lines'. |
| Incision: | cut Macalister/1949, 115; `chisel-cut'. |
| Date: | 714 - 716 (Macalister/1949) Macalister/1949, 115: `The obit of this personage is recorded A.D. 716 [Tigernach] 714 [Four Masters]'. |
| Language: | Goidelic (rbook) |
| Ling. Notes: | Petrie/1878, 27, provides a linguistic commentary. Macalister/1945, 115: `The date [716/714 AD] suggests that, like the `Peter' stone at Whithorn, the inscription is one of the by-products of the decision of the Synod of Whitby'. |
| Palaeography: | Macalister/1949, 114: `Below the group of `wafers' there is a series of scratches and notches, principally on the dexter edge of the stone: these have often been mistaken for Ogham marks, or for such an inscription intentionally defaced by the addition of extraneous scores. The marks, however, have certainly been produced by the sharpening of tools, and have no literary significance. On the other hand, both angles of this face are chamfered, and may possibly have borne an Ogham inscription, carefully removed as a preliminary to the re-use of the stone. The stone certainly looks more like a pillar selected to bear an Ogham inscription than a monument intended for Christian purposes'. CISP: Half-uncial inscription dated to before AD 716. The first three letters of line one have wedge-shaped finials, as does the final I of line 2. These do not appear in any of the other 6 lines. Letters of note include the 'OC' A, the half-uncial rather than majuscule S, the open Es, the majuscule R, and the open-bowed B. A large number of the letters are conjoined. |
| Legibility: | good Macalister/1949, 115: `in good condition'. |
| Lines: | 8 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |
Macalister/1949, 115: `The obit of this personage is recorded A.D. 716 [Tigernach] 714 [Four Masters]'.