Knickeen Long Stone

Long stone with ogham writing at Knickeen, Glen of Imaal

Close up of Ogham writing on Knickeen Long Stone

Ogham is often called Celtic Tree alphabet.

Ogham is an ancient form of writing. It is an alphabet using lines and cuts in the stone. Ogham stones can be found throughout Ireland and there are a reported 400 stones covering the length and breath of the land. Ogham is often called Celtic Tree alphabet and some of the markings refer to Irish trees. There are four listed Ogham stones in County Wicklow and we are very lucky to have one on our doorstep. The stone is situated at the entrance to Stranahely forest in the Glen of Imaal.

The lines on the side of the stone are his fingermarks.

Folklore has it that a giant was growing oats on the land and one day he was on top of Lugnaquilla mountain and saw sheep in the field eating his oats so he picked up a huge rock and threw it at the sheep and that the lines on the side of the stone are his fingermarks. ¹

On the Stranahely long stone, the lines spell out MAQI NILI meaning Son of Neill/Niall. ²

(1) Christiaan Corlett and Mairead Weaver (Eds): The Liam Price Notebooks, (Dublin 2002). Duchas The Heritage Service.

^{(2) www.countywicklowheritage.org}