CIIC no. 019

Location and history:

A group of seven stones, some of them fragments, were discovered by Rev. John Francis Shearman (1831-1885) in Oct. 1861, on the former graveyard called "Cillín Cormaic" in Colbinstown. By the time of Macalister, CIIC, this was situated "near the railway station"; the railway has meanwhile been given up.

The present one is the only stone from the site that was removed to the Dublin NM; it is the only "bilingual" inscription in Ireland (but cp. {176: Camp}). The Ogham inscription runs up-top-down; the Latin one is on the front (up).

Published illustrations:

Macalister, CIIC (draft);

Macalister, PRIA 32, 1914 (R);

Marstrander, NTS 1954 (R, identical with Macalister's from 1914, but with reduced size).

Reading Shearman, PRIA 9, 1864-66, 253 (quoted by Macalister, PRIA 32, cf. below):

(Lat.:)IV VERE DRVVIDES

("Four true druids.")

Reading (whose?) quoted by Macalister, JRSAI 27, 1897, 224:

IVACATTOS

(Such as against the reading SAHATTOS as proposed by Brash).

Reading Macalister, Epig. 1, 78 (50.):

(Ogam:) UVANOSAVIIVACATTOS

("Stone of Uvan grandson of Ivacatt".)

(Lat.:) IVVE[ ]EDRVVIDES

(The S is "reversed". The missing letter might be R or, more probably, N. The similarity of DRVVIDES with druids is "probably accidental"; instead, we should prefer to read this as "Iuvene son (-ides) of Drui", Ogham UVAN reflecting Lat. IUVENE. For Ogham AVI as an equivalent of Lat. "son" cp. Llanwinio {378} with Ogham Bivv(edi) avvi Bocib(evve) as against Lat. BIVADI FILI BODIBEVE or Trallong {342} with Ogham Cunacenni (a)vi Ilvveto as against Lat. CUNOCENNI FILIUS CUNOCENI. - Drui with gen. Druad appears as a proper name as well as an appellative; cp. Ballaqueeny / Man {503} with Droata or Bressay / Shetld. {P8} with Meqqddrroann. - Ivacatt was identified with Eochaid by Stokes. - Iuvene is a nom. form like Luguvve in Aghacarrible III {140} or Ogtene in Trefgarne / Pembr. {450}. A ms. variant of this might be found in Uppan; still more improbable would be an identification with Gobban.)

Reading Rhys, Studies in Early Irish History, Proc. Brit. Acad., 1 ("British Academy" according to Marstrander, cf. below) quoted by Macalister, PRIA 32 (cf. below):

(Ogam:) OVANOS

(Lat.:) IVVERE DRUUIDES

(As against former proposals, the fifth letter cannot be read as an N but only as an R because it is not connected with the following E. The Lat. inscription means "the druids of Ireland".)

Reading Macalister PRIA 32, 1914, 227 ff.:

(Ogam:) OVANOS or UVANOS AVI IVACATTOS

(As against former proposals, the first letter should be read O rather than U (thus in accordance with Rhys).
(Lat.:) IVVEGEDRVVIDES

(The fifth letter seems to be either an R without its curved bow, or an N without its right vertical line. - Considering Shearman's proposal, we might compare the inscription from Iniscealtra reading ILAD IN DECHENBOIR, i.e. "the grave of the ten men", or that from Onaght / Aranmore reading OROIT AR II CANOIN, i.e. "a prayer for the two canons". According to Stokes (where?), the letter in quesion is rather an N, thus yielding "the druid youths" or "Juvan the druid", but the identification of OVANO by IVVENE has to be withdrawn "in defiance of all the relevant laws of phonology". In fact, the remaining ѣ represents neither an R (what seems to be the curved bow of this is rather a "fracture in the surface of the stone") nor an N connected in a ligature with an E, but a G in the shape of a Greek Gamma; cp. the Runic G which also derived from the Greek letter (before C and G were distinguished in Latin). The whole Lat. inscription then reflects an inverted rendering of an Ogham inscription reading CELI TURLEGETTI, i.e. "tenant, or follower, of Turlegettios"! For CELI cp. Whitefield {215}, Glounaglough {123}, Donoughmore {109: Kilmartin Lower}, and Drumloghan {275}; for the "remarkable" TURLEGETTI cp. the equally enigmatic name appearing as GLUNLEGGET in Monataggart {118}. - The usage of Latin, the application of an inverted reading and the usage of the Gamma-like G proves that "the carver was .. a blanderer.")

Reading Macalister, CIIC:

(Ogam:) OVANOS AVI IVACATTOS

(Some accidental "scratches" at the beginning and some "small nicks interpolated by some meddler above 1V₃" lead (whom?) to the erroneous reading Duftanos.)

(Lat.:) IVVEΛEDRVVIDES

(Same interpretation as in PRIA.)

Interpretation Marstrander, NTS 13, 1945, 353 ff.:

(Ogam:) ỌVANI (/ UVANI) AVI IVACATTOS

(This reflects an OIr. ...no aui Eochado, i.e. "Ovani nepotis Ivacatti").

(Lat.:) IVVEṚEDRVVIDES

(Macalister's proposal has to be rejected: Druides would be a correct nom. pl. form both in Latin (cf. Caesar) and in Old Irish. IVVEṚE reminds of Gaul. ieuru "fecit" (?) but might also represent Latin verbal forms such as a 3rd pl. "juvere druides" or "jubente druide s[acra or sacrorum]".)

Interpretation Korolev, DP:

(Ogam:) a. OVANOS AVI IVACATTOS

(This inscription must be comparatively early, midth of the 5th century.)

(lat.:) b. ivveṇedrvvides

(The script used is a comparatively early monumental one, dating from the 4th or 5th cent. - The inscription is not a bilingual, the relationship between its two parts is unclear. Of all the proposals published so far, Macalister's CELI TURLEGETTI is the "most fantastic one". More sensible but still not convincing is Marstrander's juvere druides meaning "the druids helped". According to Jackson (where?), nothing but IVVENE should be read here.)

Additional literature:

Proc. Brit. Acad. 1: Rhys, Studies in Early Irish History.

PRIA 9, 1865, 253: Shearman;

PRIA 2.ser. 1, 172: Shearman;

JRSAI 12, 1872, 339; 544: Shearman;

JRSAI 13, 1874, 165: Brash;

JRSAI 25, 1895, 308: Wm. FitzGerald;

Kildare Arch. Soc. 2, 206-8 (Fitzgerald ?);

Kildare 4, 1903-5, 206: Wm. FitzGerald (same entry as the one before?)

Kildare 3, 1899-1902, *149: W. FitzGerald;

PRIA 38, 1929, 297: Macalister / Praeger;

RC 3, 453: Gaidoz, Shearman;

Roy. Hist. Arch. Ass. Irel., 1872-3, 339: Shearman;

Roy. Hist. Arch. Ass. Irel., 1874-5, 165: Brash;

PRIA II / ii [= 1879-88 ?], 32: Ferguson;

Brash, 306-318;

Ferguson, 70-74;

Cambr. Antiqu. Soc. 9, 138: Macalister.

KZ ?? 1866 ??: Stokes, "Two Old Celtic Bilinguals"