| Corpus Refs: | none |
| Site: | RATAS |
| Discovery: | in/on structure, 1975 Fanning, T. |
| History: | Fanning/1977, 14--16: `Discovered in 1975 during a routine clean-up of the interior of the ancient church at Ratass...[it] had been re-used and built into the sides of a nineteenth-century burial vault or tomb in the south-west corner of the church'. Fanning also argues that the stone went through a phase of being used as `a sharpening stone for knives and other blades', before being `turned upside down' and a cross carved on it, possibly in the 10th or 11th centuries. |
| Geology: | Fanning/1977, 14: `fine purple sandstone'. |
| Dimensions: | 1.45 x 0.34 x 0.2 (Fanning/1977) |
| Setting: | on ground |
| Location: | on site The plates in Fanning/1977, indicate that stone is now placed upright outside the church. |
| Form: | cross-marked |
| Condition: | incomplete , some Fanning/1977, 14, refers to some chipping and polishing which has damaged the stone. |
| Folklore: | none |
| Crosses: | 1: latin; outline; straight; plain; plain; none; none; other; plain |
| Decorations: | Fanning/1977, 15: `on the opposite broad face to the Ogham and placed at the wider end of the pillar stone is a simple Latin cross composed of double grooves. It has closed terminals except at the stem which is open-ended'. |
| Fanning, T. (1977): | [.]NMSILLANNMAQFATTILLOGG Expansion: [A]NM SILLANN MAQ FATTILLOGG Fanning/1977 14 reading only |
| McManus, D. (1991): | [.]NMSILLANNMAQFATTILLOGG[.] Expansion: [A]NM SILLANN MAQ FATTILLOGG[A] Expansion: [A]NM SILLANN MAQ FATTILLOGG[O] McManus/1991 71 reading only |
| Orientation: | vertical up |
| Position: | n/a ; arris ; n/a ; undecorated Fanning/1977, 15, argues that the cross is a much later addition to the stone. |
| Incision: | inc |
| Date: | 700 - 899 (Fanning/1977) 800 - 899 (OCorráin/1977) 550 - 599 (McManus/1991) McManus/1991, 71, 97, argues against the dating of Fanning and Ó Corráin, preferring a date in the later sixth century. 500 - 900 (Ziegler/1994) Ziegler/1994, 130--131, 232, dates the name ATTILLOGG to the period 700-900, and the name SILLANN to the period 500-900. |
| Language: | Goidelic (ogham) |
| Ling. Notes: | See McManus/1991, 71, 107, 117, 172, and pp. 80, 96, for the late date of the anm formula. |
| Palaeography: | none |
| Legibility: | good Fanning/1977, 14: `the incisions are clear, regular and unweathered'. |
| Lines: | 1 |
| Carving errors: | 0 |
| Doubtful: | no |
McManus/1991, 71, does not accept this identification.