- An Ogham stone is usually a gravestone with the name of a person engraved.
- Ogham was written in a particular alphabet. (See image.)
- Vowels: dots or strokes straight across the corner of the stone.
- Consonants: strokes to the right, to the left or diagonally.
- Ogham is read from the ground up.
- The stones belong to the period between the 4th and 7th century.
- The coming of Christianity put an end to Ogham as the monks began using the Latin Alphabet.
- We have about three hundred Ogham stones remaining, most of them in Munster. There are Ogham stones in Wales as well.
- Modern jewellers are making ear-rings and the like available with the person's name written in Ogham.
- "Branchy Ogham":
The letters are named for
trees - Hazel, Oak, Birch...
- This is how the mythological tale of The Children of Lir ends:
"Mochaomhóg baptized them aand they died on the spot... and their funeral rites were provided, and their names were written in Branchy Ogham and their souls went to Heaven..."
