IRISH OGAM
INSCRIPTIONS *
INTRODUCTION
Both the early
Irish and the succeeding Roman Catholic church used the Ogam script. As the following
examples show, long sentences were condensed into very short Ogam
inscriptions by compiling the first consonants of words of the indigenous
Irish language into one "word" with a few vowels added in between.
The resulting word usually made no apparent sense. It was not supposed to.
The amazing thing about this Ogam script is that it was designed for, and
could be used with, one language only. The encoded sentence could be decoded
and read with considerable confidence, but only if the inscription was
clearly legible. The language used was the universal (Gen. 11:1) Saharan language, a close survivor of which we now
know in western Europe as Basque. Many have tried to translate the
inscriptions using the Celtic language, but without any success. Not
a single genuine Ogam inscription is written in Celtic, and so far not a
single name has been found in any of them by Edo Nyland. The Celtic
language did not yet exist at the time these petroglyphs were made, as
explained in the Benedictines' own operations manual the "Auraicept" . Only the Basque language possesses the
vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) structure of the
morphemes which allows the encoding into the Ogam script (see VCV Formula)
The modern Basque-English dictionary by Gorka Aulestia is eminently suited to decode and translate
many of these very old inscriptions, in combination with Nyland’s VCV
dictionary,. About half of the words in the
Basque vocabulary start with VCV, and it was this VCV half which was used
almost exclusively in the Ogam inscriptions. See also the "Saharan Language".
One very special characteristic of both the Ogam script and the Saharan
language is that numerical- and letter- magic is built into the structure of
the inscription. This early Christian
magic was intended to overpower the magic of the pre-Christian, or Ashera Religion For example, both Q and K
are used in the inscriptions and both represent a K. However, the number of strokes in the inscription and the total
value of the letters is different, which has to do with the numerical magic
of the inscription. For a more detailed discussion of the all-pervading
pre-Christian magic and its use, please see the section on magic in "The Timeless Society",
a society very different from ours.
The numbers behind the following inscription names
refer to the "Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum" by
R.A.S. Macalister (1949).
The silver Ballispellan broche is located in the
Treasury of the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. Beside the broche was a
description saying that the Ogam engraving on the backside had not yet been
translated but that it was expected to give the name of the artist who made
the broche. Two years later, this explanation was replaced with the suggestion
that the inscription represented the names of four successive owners, even
though the lettering was done in exactly the same hand. These remarks were
obviously guesswork. This then became
a challenge for Edo Nyland because the Ogam inscription is one of the longer
known and has far too many letters to be merely an artist's name or even four
names. In fact, the four carefully inscribed lines are one tragic story and
there is no break in the interlocking between them. This inscription is #27
in the Irish National Register compiled by R.A.S. Macalister.
This tantalizing inscription intrigued Edo Nyland and
he was compelled to translate it. The lettering appeared to be in a code that
had not yet been broken. It was obvious that the language could not be Gaelic
so he tried Latin., which was the only other language that was known to be in
use in Ireland. However, this was not productive. After months of groping
with possible codes, involving comparisons with Ogam from Scotland, Ireland
and West Virginia, the effort finally paid off when
the surprise language showed up, thanks to an article by Dr. Cavalli-Sforza in Scientific American
(November 1991 issue). The solution turned out to be deceptively simple. It
involved a code so ingenious that only one consonant was required to express
an entire complex word and still allow that word to be identified with
confidence. The paucity of vowels did create a few problems in deciphering
but none were insurmountable. Some value judgments were required in cases
where more than one interpretation was possible, but the long and coherent
text made this relatively easy. In the end it was the liberal scattering of
vowels throughout this inscription that made it possible to translate its
meaning.
Here is
the lettering as transliterated in Ireland:
CNAEMSECHCELLACH MINODORMUAD MAELMAIRE MAELUADAIG
As the "C" is not part of the original
Ogam alphabet, this letter had to be written as "K". The
complete coding would show alternating vowels and consonants: VCVCVCV etc.
However, many vowels and some h's were removed so that only those (mostly
monks) knowledgeable of the system could read it at the time. The removed
vowels and H's are represented here by dots. The three spaces indicate the
places where the vowel interlocking is interrupted.
.K.NA.EM.SEK.H.KEL.LAK.H. .MINODOR.MU.AD.
.MA.EL.MA.IRE .MA.ELU.ADA.IG.
.k. aka akabu death .na ana anai brother a.e ahe aihezka grieving em. ema emazte wife .se ase aserregorri fury ek. eka ekaizte storm .h. ahi ahituezin endless .ke ike ikertu to explore, search el. ele ele story .la ela elaberriti talker, story teller ak. aka akabu dead .h. aha ahaideko relative .mi ami amilketa fell down cliff ino ino inolaz somehow odo odo odolgaizto violently or. ora oratu seized .mu amu amultsuki affectionately, gently u.a uha uharka waterbody ad. ada -ada roaring .ma amai amaitu endlessly a.e aihe aihenatu to disappear el. ele elegile storyteller .ma ama emakumezko woman a.i ahi ahitortu to witness ire ire irensle swallowing by the sea ema emai emaitza ending a.e aihe aihenegarri lamentable elu elu elurtu to freeze u.a uha uhalde coast ada ada adarreztatu to cover with branches a.i ahi ahizpa woman ig. iga igar dead My dead brother's grieving wife searched endlessly in the fury of the storm. The story teller's dead relative had somehow fallen violently down a cliff, was seized gently by the endlessly roaring water and then disappeared. The storyteller witnessed the woman being swallowed by the sea. The lamentable ending on that frozen coast was the covering of the dead woman with branches.
Note: The word irensle (swallowing) comes from the verb irentsi (to swallow). In the context it is a
shortening of itzasoak
irentsi hura (the sea swallowed her). Nyland has estimated that the
inscription on the Ballispellan broche was made between 600 and 700 A.D.
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DRUMMIN #11
CUNAVATO corrected
to: KUNABATO
.ku-una-aba-ato
.ku aku akuilatu
to stimulate
una una unadora
boredom
aba
aba abade priest
ato
ato ator
Come!
"The
priest will stimulate your boredom; come!"
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CUNAGUSOS MAQI
MUCOI VIRAGNI
corrected
to:
KUNAGUSOS MAKI
MUKOI BIRAGNI
.ku-una-agu-uso-os.
.ma-aki .mu-uko-oi .bi-ira-ag.-.ni
.ku
iku ikuste
the act of seeing
una una
unatu
to tire
agu agu
agur egin
to worship
uso uso uso
dove, holy man
os. oso oso
sincere
.ma ama
ama
mother
aki
aki akiarazi
to tire,
to age
.mu amu
amultsu
affectionate
uko uko
uko egin to renounce
oi
oi oiheskeria vulgarity
.bi ubi ubil
whirlpool
ira
ira irauti patient
ag. agu
agur egin
to worship
.ni uni unibertsal general
"After seeing the tired and sincere holy man in worship, our
aged and affectionate mother renounced the vulgarity of the whirlpool by
patient general worshiping".
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DOMNGEN
.do-om.-.n.-.ge-en.
.do ado adoratu to worship
om. oma oma
grandmother
.n.
ana anaia religious brother
.ge age
agerian openly
en. ene
enetan always
"Grandmother's religious brother always worshiped
openly".
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BOGAI MAQI
BIRACO
corrected to:
BOGAI MAKI BIRAKO
.bo-oga-ai
.ma-aki .bi-ira-ako
.bo
abo abonau
to approve of, to voice
oga oga
ogasun
wealth
ai
ai aiene
lament
.ma ama ama
mother
aki
aki akiarazi
to tire, to age
.bi
obi obi
grave
ira
ira iraunkor suffering
ako ako akorduan
euki to remember
"Voicing a wealth of lament, we remembered our aged mother's
suffering at her grave".
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BALLYKNOCK #94
DEGO MACI VEDUKURI
corrected to:
DEGO MAKI
BEDUKURI
Macalister,
because of lack of clarity here, had to decide between DOMMO MACI and DEGO MACI and he picked
the first one that was impossible to translate. He also rejected someone
else's transliteration VEDUCURI in favour of his own VEDUCERI. Again his
chosen interpretation was impossible to translate because there exists no
such letter combination in Basque as UCE (UKE).
.de-ego
.ma-aki .be-edu-uku-uri
.de ede eder egin to be pleased
ego ego
egon to stay
.ma ama ama
mother
aki
aki akitu
to be exhausted
.be abe
abelgorri cattle
edu edu eduki
to keep
uku uku ukuilu
stable
uri
uri urrindu to smell
"The exhausted mother was pleased to stay with the cattle,
kept in the smelly stable".
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BALLYKNOCK #95
ANM MEDDOGENI.
an.-.m. /
.me-ed.-.do-oge-eni
an. ana anaia
religious
brother
.me ame
amestu to imagine, to wonder
.me eme emen
here
ed. edi ediren to find
.do
ido idor dry
oge oge
oge
bed
eni eni
enitzat for me
"The religious brother wondered: 'How to find a dry bed here
for me'?"
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BALLYKNOCK #96
COVALOTI
corrected
to:
KOBALOTI
.ko-oba-alo-oti
.ko oko okolu stable
oba oba oba
better
alo
alo alorgizon
farmer
oti
oti otzikaratu
to shiver
"The shivering farmer (felt) better in the stable".
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AB ULCCAGNI
corrected
to
AB. ULKKAGNI
ab.
ul.-.k.-.ka-ag.-.ni
ab./
aba abade
priest
ul. ula ulatu
to welcome
.k. aki akigabe
tirelessly
.ka ika ikaserazi to teach
ag. agu agur
egin
to worship
.ni
uni unibertsal general
"The welcome priest tirelessly taught general worship."
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UDDMENSA CELI
NETTASLOGI
ud.-.d.-.me-en.-.sa
/ seli-.ne-et.-ta-.as.-.lo-ogi
ud. uda udazken autumn
.d.
ade adelatu to prepare
.me eme emen
here
en.
ena -ena (superlative) great
.sa asa asaldaketa excitement
.se ase asete
period of abundance
eli
eli elikatura food
.ne ane anega
grain measure/supply
et. ete
etenkatu to interrupt
et. eta -eta
action/work
as. ase asegaitz craving
.lo alo
alorgizon farmer
ogi ogi ogi
bread
"In the autumn we prepare here for the great excitement of
the period of abundant food of the grain supply, the work only interrupted by
our craving for farmer's bread."
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MICANAVVI MAQ
LUGUNI
corrected to:
MIKANABBI MAK LEGUNI
Macalister comments that the two
U's are very faint, and indeed the first U is incorrect because there is no
morpheme UGU in the Basque language. The following translation will show why
it should have been an E.
.mi-ika-ana-ab.-.bi
.ma-ak. .le-egu-uni
.mi umi umil humble
ika
ika ikasi
to learn
ana ana anaia
religious brother
.ba aba abantailadun
privileged
ab.
abi abilitate talented
.ma ema eman
to teach
ak.
aki akigabe
tirelessly
.le
ele ele story
egu egu egundainoko
eternal
uni
uni unibertsal
universal
"Humbly learn from the talented and privileged religious
brother who is teaching tirelessly the eternal story of the universal
God".
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KNOCKSHANAWEE
#113
VEQIKAMI MAQI LUGUNI
corrected to:
BEKIKAMO MAKI LEGUNI
.be-eki-
ika-ami .ma-aki .le-egu-uni
.be
ebe ebertar Hebrew, Jesus
eki eki
ekinalean as much as possible
ika ika
ikasi
to learn
ami amo amodio
love
.ma ema eman
to teach
aki aki
akigabe tirelessly
.le ele ele story
egu egu
egundainoko eternal
uni uni
unibertsal universal
"Learn as much as possible of Jesus' love, then teach tirelessly
the eternal story of the universal God".
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VEQREQ MUCOI
GLUNLEGGET
corrected to:
BEKREK MOSOI
GLUNLEGGET
In the entrance hall of the National
Museum of Ireland in Dublin stands a tall slim stone, one of the thousands of
megalithic stones that were placed upright by the pre-Christian Irish. It was
found in 1872 and had been used as building material in an underground
chamber in Monataggert, County Cork. On this stone (#118 in Macalister's
National Register) an Ogam inscription was carved which to this day is
regarded as the grave-marker of Mr. Glun Legget, whoever he may have been.
They say this only because the last letters of the inscription read GLUNLEGGET. The fact that
this "name" is written in one word is explained as a
"typo" made by the inscriber, who "forgot" to leave a
space after GLUN (McManus 5.29). The
binomial system of naming was not introduced until several centuries later.
However, so ingrained is the belief that all Irish Ogam stones are grave
markers and that the inscriptions say something like: "here lies Johnny
mourned by Mary", that any suggestion a quite different explanation could
exist was rejected right out of hand by museum staff. The letters "Legget"
were adopted by an Irish family as their tribal name.
.be-ek.-.re-ek. .mo-oso-oi .g.-.lu-un.-.le-.eg.-.ge-et. .be abe abe cross ek. eku ekurutasun peace of mind .re ure urentasun nobility ek. eka ekarri to bring .mo amo amodio love oso oso osoro totally o.i ohi ohilkor oppressed .g. agi aginbide authority .lu ilu ilun dull un. una unagarri darkness .le ale alegera rejoicing eg. egi egiazki true .ge ige iges escaping et. eto etorki caste, clan
The peace of
mind of the noble Cross brings love to the totally oppressed. It has the
authority (to change) dull darkness into true rejoicing when escaping from
the clan.
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DEGOS MAQI
MOCOI TOICAKI
corrected to
DEGOS MAKI MOSOI
TOIKAKI
.de-ego-os.
.ma-aki .mo-oso-oi .to-o.i-ika-aki
de de deboziotu to be devoted
ego
ego egoki to be concerned
os
. oso oso sincere
.ma
ama ama
mother
aki
aki akigarri aging
.mo
emo emonkor generous
oso
oso oso
sincere
oi
oi oialgin weaver
.to eto etorri
inspiration
oi oi oituraz
always
ika
ika ikaserazi teaching
aki aki
akigabe tireless
"Devoted, concerned and sincere, our aging mother was an
inspired weaver, always teaching tirelessly".
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COOLMAGORT #199
CUNACENA
corrected to:
KUNAKENA
Seven stones found in a souterrain
in 1838 were presented by the owner to the Irish people and were brought to
the surface and protected from the elements. This is stone #3.
.ku-una-ake-ena
,ku
uku ukur
evil
una una unagarri annoying
ake ake akela
priestess
ena ena ena
(superlative) extremely
"The priestess is extremely evil and annoying".
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RITTUVVECC MAQI
VEDDONOS.
corrected to:
RITTUBBEKK MAKI BEDDONOS
.ri
eri erio
death
it.
iti iti to denounce
.tu itu
ituragabe senseless
ub. ubi ubil
whirlpool
.be ibe ibeni
to bring about
ek. eko ekoizpen
fertility
.k. oka okaztagarr
i disgusting
.ma ama ama
mother
aki aki akiarazi aged
.be ebe ebertar Jew, Jesus
ed. eda edangura
thirsting for
.do ado adoratu
to worship
ono ono onon
wonderful
os. oso oso
sincere
"While denouncing the senseless death in the whirlpool, to bring
about disgusting fertility, our aged mother thirsted for Christ's wonderfully
sincere worship".
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ALATTO CELI
BATTIGNI
corrected
to:
ALATTO KELI
BATTIGNI.
ala
ala alabeharreko
necessary
at. ate ateratu
to leave
.to eto etorri
come!
.ke ike ikertu
to visit, to go to
eli
eli eliza church
.ba aba oba
better
ati ati
atiki
to gather
ig. iga igar
dead, body
.ni ani ani
anitz
"It is necessary to leave. Come, let's go to the church. It
is better to gather the many bodies at the refuge.
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WHITEFIELD #216
GOSOCTEAS MOSAC
MAKINI
.go
ago agortu
to dry up
oso oso oso
perfect
ok. oka okaldi
bellyful
.te
ate atera to get
as. ase asearazi
to stuff
.mo umo umo
sensible
osa osa osaketa
healing
ak. ako akorduan
euki to remember
.ma ama ama
mother
aki
aki akiarazi aged
ini
ini ini my
"It is perfect to dry up and get your belly stuffed full. We
remembered the sensible healing of our aged mother."
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KINGULBIN EAST #1086
BLADNACH COGRADEDENA and BLADNACH CUILEN
BLADNAK KOGRADEDENA and
BLADNAK KUILEN
These inscriptions are found on a bronze hanging bowl, probably an incence burner, dug up from a swamp in County Kerry. McManus (7.6) writes: "They are inscribed along the upper surface of the rim and on one of the escutcheons". This bowl may be seen in the National Museum in Dublin. Bladnak: .b.-la-ad.-.na-ak .b. abe abe cross .la ela ela story ad. ade adelatu to prepare .na ena ena that ak. aka akabu ultimate, superior kogradedena: .ko-og.-.ra-ade-ede-ena .ko ako akorduan euki to remember og. ogi ogizatitze breaking of the bread .ra ira iragan to suffer ade ade adelatu to prepare ede ede edergi to confide in dena dena Deuna Lord The story of the Cross prepares us for that ultimate remembrance while preparing for the breaking of the bread (for His) suffering (while we) confide in the Lord. kuilen: .ku eku ekurutasun peace of mind ile ile ilezin everlasting en. ene eneganatu to come over me/us The story of the cross prepares us for that ultimate everlasting peace of mind (which will) come over us.
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Transliteration:
B.Fell: Ma-q -q -i -i -a -r -i y i m a
E.Nyland: .MAK. KI.IARI. E.A.IMA
This rather startling Ogam
inscription is included here to give an impression of the great variety of
topics written on stone in Ireland. The Ballintaggert text is inscribed on a phallic
stone from County Kerry, Ireland (James P.Whittall II). The transliteration
was published in Barry Fell's book "America
B.C." (p.22) and corrected by me. I inserted dots to show where the
author of the inscription had eliminated vowels. Fell's "y" in the
transliteration could not be used as this letter is not part of the Ogam
alphabet. Also, the "X" shown in the inscription is the standard
forfeda character for "EA". More about the five Forfeda characters
in Translating Ogam.
.ma-ak-.ki-i.a-ari-i.e-e.a-ima .ma ema emagose sexual desire ak. aku akuilatu stimulate .ki uki ukitu to touch i.i ihi ihizitegi secret place i.a iha ihardun to spend time ari ari arrigarri marvelous i.e ihe ihesaldi escape e.a eha ea (emphasis) a.i ahi ahigarri exhausting ima ima imatz wattle shelter Stimulate your sexual desire by touching your secret place and spend a marvelous time in exhausting escape in the wattle shelter.
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TIRTHURKIRTHUS INRRISKURSSIARISTA A
This stone was removed in 1865
from the ancient Cille Barra cemetary and taken to the Museum of Antiquities
in Edinburgh. It was always thought to be a gravestone, which it obviously is
not. The transliteration was copied from a local tourist pamphlet.
Barra-Vatersay is the most southerly populated island in the Outer Hebrides
of Scotland. Dots indicate where vowels were removed by the author. In this
inscription, only one 'h' was removed, also indicated by a dot.
.ti-ir.-.t.-.hu-ur.-.ki-ir.-.t.-hu-us.
in.-.r.-.ri-is.-.ku-ur.-.s.-.si-i.a-ari-is.-.ta a
.ti uti utikan get
away from here!
ir.
iro irol run-off
.t.
ota otamendi brush covered mountain
.hu ahu ahulkor
weakened
ur. ure ure
water
.ki
eki ekin
to continue
ir.
iru irudi
to look like
.t.
utsi utsitu
to empty, to surge
.hu ihu ihurtzuri
thunder
us. usta ustakatu
to scourge
in. ino inor
everyone
.r.
ora orratio
dismayed
.ri
ari arritu
petrified
is.
isi isiltze
overwhelmed
.ku iku ikustaile
eye-witness
ur. ura uraldi
flood
.s. asa asaldagarri
shocking
.si asi
asialdi
beginning
i.a iha ihartu
to dry up
ari ari
arinari
to escape
is. isi
isiltoke shelter
.ta ita itaizur
leaky
a ? ?
Get away from
here! The run-off has weakened the brush-covered mountain and it looks like
(the water) will continue to surge and the thunder to scour. Everyone is
dismayed, petrified and overwhelmed to see this shocking flood from the
beginning; to dry up we escaped to this leaky shelter.
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