114 



Secondly. That the Ogham monuments were used merely as 

 building material, having the ends knocked off where it suited the 

 builders, and being placed in every position that suited the exigencies 

 of the work, without any reference to the inscriptions, some of them 

 being in fact turned upside down,- and several placed where they could 

 not be read except by removing portions of the structure. 



Thirdly. That the inscriptions are all in good order, and perfectly 

 legible, the only exception being that with the three characters already 

 alluded to ; and that this favourable circumstance is owing to their 

 concealment in this crypt, where they have been preserved, probably 

 for ages, from the hand of violence and the injuries of weather. 



Fourthly. That eighteen simple letters are used in these inscrip- 

 tions, a double consonant, st, being used once only ; and that none of 

 the characters given in the scales published by Dr. O'Donovan and the 

 Eight Rev. Dr. Graves, as representing diphthongs, are made use of. 



Fifthly. That the monuments exhibit no traces of marks or carv- 

 ings of any kind — no cross, or other Christian emblem ; and that the 

 inscriptions show no indications of the pious formula that usually dis- 

 tinguishes the memorials of a Christian people. 



Sixthly. The singularity of the names, which, though not actually 

 found in our ancient annals, are of that archaic type which we meet 

 in our bardic remains. 



I. shall here recapitulate these names, hoping that our Gaedhelic 

 scholars may be able to identify them in the course of their investiga- 

 tions : — 



Manu, Cu-Naleg, 

 Unoga, Cet, 

 Timoce, Igu, 

 Arb, Dag, 

 IJnofic, Bir, 

 Mucoi, 'JNe, 

 Saetad, Odafe, 

 Ini, Denafe, 

 Deago. 



The remarkable uniformity of the names found on all the Ogham 

 monuments hitherto discovered, and their general dissimilarity to those 

 usually found in our annals and other historic documents, point signi- 

 ficantly to the fact, that the people who inscribed them were a peculiar 

 and distinct tribe. The question then arises, who were this people ? 

 from whence came they ? and in what age did they live ?— questions 

 easier asked than answered. "While I must state that I have no theory 

 on this subject, yet I think there are some facts and considerations that 

 point to one of the many migrations to our island recorded in the bardic 

 annals as the people to whom we are indebted for the introduction of 

 the Ogham ; and I would briefly set these before the Academy m the 

 way of suggestions. The great majority, then, of our Ogham monuments 

 are found in the province of Minister, ar>d principally in the counties of 



