Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy- 



III. — Ok an Ogham Inscribed Stone, at Kiltera, Co. Waterfqrx>- 

 By Bichard Bolt Beash, M. B. I. A. — (Plate I.) 



[Read February 14, 1870.] 



The inscribed stone which forms the subject of the present communi- 

 cation stands on the townland of Dromore, Drom-mor, i. e. the Great 

 Bidge, in the parish of Agiish, and about one mile south of Villiarstown, 

 county of Waterford. The locality will be found on sheet No. 29 of 

 the Ordnance Survey of that county. A farm road leads southwards 

 from the bridge of Aughaclaren, until it meets the Grooish stream, a 

 tributary of the Blackwater, which the visitor crosses by stepping 

 stones ; about forty yards down the opposite bank is a stile over the 

 fence, leading to a field on the farm of Mr. John Keating. In this 

 field are the remains of a Cilleen, consisting of a portion of the circular 

 fence, and a raised circular area, which gives some idea of the extent 

 it originally occupied. Close to the existing portion of this ancient 

 fence are three stones, two of them standing on edge, and nearly parallel, 

 being deeply sunk in the ground ; the third, which is inscribed on two 

 corners of the same face, stands at right angles to the others, as shown 

 on the ground plan, Plate I., fig. 2. 



The parallel stones look as if they formed part of a Cistvaen : one 

 of them is a slab of the old red sandstone, about seven inches thick ; 

 the other, of hard clay slate, six inches thick ; an aged thorn tree over- 

 shadows the group. When I visited this spot, on June 17th, 1869, 

 I found much difficulty in ascertaining the precise locale of the Ogham, 

 owing to defective information. I have, therefore, been particular in 

 placing on record its exact situation, so that future pilgrims will find 

 no difficulty in visiting the site. 



The inscribed stone (Plate I., figs. 1 and 2, a), is a slab of hard, close- 

 grained clay slate, standing two feet eight inches above the present level 

 of ground, and having some ogham scores on two angles of the same face ; 

 upon close examination, it appeared to me that the characters went be- 

 low the present surface of the killeen ; I therefore procured the assis- 

 tance of a labourer, with a spade, and commenced clearing away the earth 

 at the bottom of the stone. This we found a work of some difficulty, as 

 the ground was firmly compacted, and all around the stone wedged with 

 flat spawls, set on edge, and rammed down quite tight ; it took us a 

 full hour of hard work to get at the bottom of the monument. "We 

 were, however, encouraged to persevere by finding, as we went down, 

 that we uncovered additional scores. When we had gotten about six 

 inches below the surface, I found we had uncovered four letters, which, 

 in their combination, appeared to me to be the termination of a proper 

 name, " Collabot," — which I had seen before — to which I shall refer 

 by-and-by. I found the dimensions of the stone to be as follows : — 



