115 



Kerry, Cork, and "Waterford, embracing a large extent of the south and 

 west coast, from Tralee Bay, in Kerry, to Waterford harbour. As near 

 as I can ascertain, the following numbers of monuments have been 

 found : in Kerry, 75 ; Cork, 42 ; Waterford, 26 ; Limerick, 1 ; Clare, 

 1 . These are all in the province of Munster. All the rest of Ireland 

 supplies but 10; of these 5 are in the county of Kilkenny, still a 

 southern county ; the others are divided as follows : 1 in Wicklow, 

 1 in Meath, 2 in Roscommon ; so that for the purposes of our argu- 

 ment it may be fairly assumed that the three southern counties named 

 above form the Ogham district. 



Again, it is worthy of remark that the majority of these monuments 

 are found on the seaboard of the above-named counties — very many of 

 them on the strands. The Drumlohan find is within three or four miles 

 of the sea, as are many others of the Waterford and Kerry Oghams ; 

 those found in the county of Cork are more inland. The inferences 

 from these facts are obvious. 



First. That the Ogham was not invented in our island, else it would 

 have been used generally throughout the country, and would not have 

 been confined to one district. 



Secondly. That it was introduced by a maritime people, who landed 

 on our south or south-western shores, spreading themselves along the 

 seaboard of the counties already named, and who ultimately became 

 masters of the whole island. 



Thirdly. That the language spoken by those invaders, and engraven 

 on their sepulchral monuments, became the language of the country, and 

 is the same as that which has come down to us, saving those mutations 

 to which time and civilization subject all languages. But the ques- 

 tion naturally arises here, if such a people landed on our southern 

 shores, and, making themselves masters of the island, imposed their 

 language and customs upon the whole, why are their engraved monu- 

 ments not found all over the country ? An answer to this may be 

 found in the supposition that they came as colonists — perhaps the first 

 colonists, and very probably few in number ; that it took a considerable 

 lapse of time before they fully occupied the southern parts of the 

 island, and much more before the entire was peopled. In these early 

 times population increased but slowly, internal feuds and other causes 

 checking their growth. Before this people grew beyond the limits of 

 the southern district they may have abandoned the use of the Ogham, 

 and adopted a more advanced character, suited to a more advanced stage 

 of civilization, and derived most probably from foreign intercourse. For 

 it is certain that the Gaedhil had letters independent of the Ogham 

 prior to the introduction of the Roman alphabet by St. Patrick, in the 

 fifth century. That such a transition took place is evident from the 

 fact, that the learned among the Gaedhil preserved the Ogham as a 

 literary curiosity, and used it occasionally in annotations and scholia, 

 delighting to write their own names in it. 



It. I. A. PTtOC VOL. X. K 



