Corpus Refs: | Macalister/1949:927 Okasha/Forsyth/2001:Monaincha 2 |
Site: | MONAI |
Discovery: | recognised, 1837 Petrie, G. |
History: | Petrie/1878, 37: `Drawn by Dr. Petrie from the stone in 1837. A portion of this monument is now preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 201--202: `first recorded by Petrie who drew it in 1837 .. Petrie recorded that stones nos. 1, 2, and 3 had been found `in the church' ... This may, however, merely indicate that they were found around the church site, as seems to have been the case with Monaincha 1 [MONAI/1]. Monaicha 2 [this stone] was broken before 1853 when the portion still in existence was exhibited at the Great Exhibition by the Royal Irish Academy ... It may by then have been presented to the Academy by a Mr Birch and certainly had been so by 1857 ... This portion of the stone was transferred with the rest of the Academy collection to the NMI in 1890. The portion of the stone now lost is known only from Petrie's account and drawing'. Earliest reference noted in Macalister is JRSAI 1852. |
Geology: | |
Dimensions: | 0.59 x 1.56 x 0.07 (Okasha/Forsyth/2001) |
Setting: | unattch |
Location: | National Museum of Ireland (Cat: reg. no. W 17) Macalister/1949, 102: `The stone is in the R.I.A. collection'. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 201: `Part of the stone is in the store of the National Museum of Ireland ... and part is lost'. |
Form: | body-slab Petrie/1878, Plate XXIV, Fig. 50, gives a 1/12 scale drawing which gives the approximate dimensions given. Macalister/1949, 102, gives no description or dimensions for the stone. Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 201: `large plain slab'. |
Condition: | incomplete , some Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 202: `The stone is complete except for the right-hand edge which is now broken, the break coming in the middle of the second letter D. Petrie's drawing shows the slab complete and his scale drawing indicates that the stone was then about 156 cm in width. This indicates that a sizeable piece of the stone is now lost'. |
Folklore: | none |
Crosses: | none |
Decorations: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 202: `The stone contains no carving'. |
Petrie, G. (1837): | O~R~DOBRANDUB Expansion: OROIT DO BRAN DUB Translation: Pray for Bran the Black (PN). Petrie/1878 37 reading only |
Macalister, R.A.S. (1949): | O~R~DOBRAN[.-- Expansion: OR DO BRAN [DUB] Macalister/1949 102 concise discussion |
Okasha and Forsyth (2001): | O~R~DOBRAN [D][UB] Expansion: OROIT DO BRANDUB Translation: A prayer for Brandub (PN). Expansion: OROIT DO BRAN DUB Translation: A prayer for Bran (PN) the black. Okasha/Forsyth/2001 203 reading only |
Orientation: | horizontal |
Position: | ind ; broad ; n/a ; undecorated Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 202: `The text is incised in a single horizontal line along the long axis of the stone, roughly equidistant from both upper and lower edges'. |
Incision: | inc |
Date: | None published |
Language: | Goidelic (rbook) |
Ling. Notes: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 203: `The adjective dub can mean `black; dark (morally or metaphorically); great' (DIL s.v.). Although doubtless ubiquitous in everyday use, personal epithets are rarely recorded in memorial inscriptions'. |
Palaeography: | Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 202: `The letters are large and dominate the slab ... The script used is half-uncial except for the second D which in Petrie's drawing was clearly a capital. The lettering is rather square, especially the four-sided form of A'. CISP: The lettering is in Insular half-uncial. Some letters such as B, R and N have wedge-shaped finials atop ascenders. The two Rs are in open majuscule form, although the 'foot' of the second R is straight and not curved (contra drawing in Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 202). The first D has an ascender which bends to the left over an open bow, while the ascender on the Bs are vertical. The A is angular and almost square- or lozenge-shaped, and similar to that found on MONAI/1. The second D, was in capitalis with the curved stroke extending to the left beyond the ascender. |
Legibility: | some Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 202: `The first eight letters are undamaged and legible'. |
Lines: | 1 |
Carving errors: | n |
Doubtful: | no |
Petrie/1878, 37: `Dubh `dark', `black', is, according to Mr. Rhys, cognate with the Norse dökkr, dunkel'.
Okasha/Forsyth/2001, 203, seem to prefer Brandub as a personal name rather than as name + epithet.