According to Macalister, CIIC, a group of seven stones was discovered "in an ancient burial ground, called Kilvickillane, on the shore of Smerwick Bay" when "a storm blew away an accumulation of sand" in 1782. The storm and its effects were for the first time depicted by Henry Pelham (in Vallancey, Collectanea 6, 226; n.v.) who "erroneously names Ballineanig, the next townland on the landward side, as the site of the ancient burial-place. This error was corrected by Hitchcock in his notebook, in the R.I.A. Library, who gives an account of the uncovering of the stones" (Macalister, CIIC I, 144). Cill-vickillane means "The Graves of the Youths" according to Brash, OIM 208.
According to the same author, Pelham "appears to have discovered five of the inscribed stones" at the site which he "represents .. as a low Cairn flat on the top, the stones being in a circle". Human bones were found "on digging round their bases", as Hitchcock reported (in Ulster Journal Arch. V, I, 104; n.v.). The site is accordingly mentioned in Brash, JRSAI 16, 1884, 128 because of being a "pagan cemetery". Ferguson, however, stated that it could not be determined "whether the site was a cealluragh or a cemetery attached to a church" (OI, 42).
The site was visited by Windele in 1838 who "found on the Cairn seven inscribed stones" (Brash, OIM) and made a "highly characteristic sketch" of the place (Ferguson, OI 42). By his second visit, in 1848, three of the stones {148, 149, 150} had been removed by Lord Ventry to his seat in Burnham, where they are still today, together with a fourth one {151} that had been stored in "Lough near Ballintaggart" until 1870 at least (cf. Ferguson, OI 43 and Brash, OIM 210, according to whom this was at "Lough House, within a quarter of a mile from Dingle, the residence of the Rev. Richard Chute) and with two stones from different localities [{147} and {175}]. Two other stones from Ballinrannig [{152}, {153}] were transferred to Chute Hall near Tralee, the residence of Lord Ventry's son-in-law, Richard Chute. The seventh stone {154} remained on the site: "it was for long buried in sand" (so that it was not visible to Macalister when preparing Epig. 1: cf. p. 27), but was later "re-erected on a knoll, at or near the original site". Brash visited Burnham in July 1868 (but not the original location in Ballinrannig, it seems).
When visiting this spot in 1978, the remaining stone {154} was still standing upright, but by 1981 another storm had affected it so that it was nearly lying prostrate again (this happened in winter 1979 according to Sheehy, Dingle 52). Further damage is probable because the site is crowded by campers in the summer time.
Another "(fragmentary) stone" from the site was recorded in Hitchcock's and Graves's notebooks; it was assigned {154A} in Macalister's CIIC.
Size according to Brash, OIM 208 (no. 1): 3'10" above ground, x 13" x 8"
Size according to Macalister, CIIC: 3'5 1/2" x 1'10 1/2" x 0'8"
Published illustrations:
- Brash, OIM pl. XXVI, no. 1 (draft)
- Macalister, CIIC I, 145 (draft).
Left angle:
îìâòñòñåäîìåãêè
CARRICES
Right angle:
ïâîíîíåäíåãêéâîí
MAQQITENAC
"CARRICES THE SON OF TENAC"
"There is a flake off the left angle, by which portions of the first two scores of the C have been removed; the first two scores of the last letter, S, are much worn". - "There is some evidence of the existence of the terminal I after TENAC." - The reading agrees with the copies made by James Brenan of Cork and by J. Windele (in 1848) who read Arrices as against a reading published by S. Ferguson [where?] who "appears to have identified only three letters of" the inscription, viz. "L RRA, which he proposes to fill up as follows: [Gil]l[amu]rra, his object evidently being to produce Gillamuire (Servant of Mary)". - "Caricis, alias Careticus, was king of Wales and Cornwall for 25 years, A.D. 586".
MAQQITENAC
GILLAMURRas
"The Christian form of Gillamurras excited much controversy. It still seems to me the likeliest reconstruction of the text .. it depends altogether on whether the second digit of what otherwise would be an i of five notches hast not extended on both sides of the arris, turning i into amu."
Left:
îìâòñòñåäîìâåä
CARRICAI
Right:
ïâîíîíåäíåãêéâîìä..
MAQQITENACi
The inscription is "difficult to decipher". Carricc- "is a unique name in Ogham nomenclature, but is, no doubt, the Cairech of the MSS; it is found as a female name in the Four Masters".
DUBONIRRAS MAQQI TENAC[I]
The inscription is "unusually disposed (down dexter-up sinister)". "The reading is absolutely certain .. At first sight the D might seem to be C, but the two additional scores which would have to be used are mere scratches and do not reach the angle. The S is faint .. The final C is faint but traceable .. the top bears three apparent vowel-notches, reduced to evanescence, which might be the last three notches of the missing final I .. But they are rather far away from the C".
DUBONIRRAS/MAQQI TENACI&127;
Only the last letter is very damaged. The inscription belongs to an early period.
DUBONIRRAS MAQQI TENACi
Reading Gippert (1978):
Dexter angle down (?) - 
Sinister angle up:
(DUB)[O](N)IRR(A)[S] || MAQQI TE(N)[A](C)[
(ìäç)[ã](êé)åäòñòñ(â)[êè] || ïâîíîíåäíåãê(é)[â](îì)[
(ëëâââçâ)[â](çç)çççâââââïïïïïæïïïïï(â)[çççç] || ïâëëëëëâââââëëëââââçççç(ç)[â](ëëëë)[
Note that the unsual direction of reading, dexter-down - sinister-up, is mostly determined by the interpretation of the B on the dexter angle which cannot be regarded as certain in any way; it seems a little bit slanted so that one might think of a M instead. The four characters in the upper half of the dexter angle are severely damaged; the N looks rather like a V, the space between its presumed fourth and fifth scores being broken. - As against Macalister's draft (in CIIC I, 145), the C (or Q?) of TENAC seems to be arranged at the top rather than the sinister angle. In this case, there is room for more than one vowel notch between N and C.
Additional literature:
Vallancey, Collectanea 6, 226: H. Pelham
Ulster Journ.Arch. V. I. p. 104: Hitchcock (acc. to Brash, OIM 208)Last changes of this record: 27.04.97
Copyright Jost Gippert, Frankfurt a/M 1996. No parts of this document may be republished in any form without prior permission by the copyright holder. 
