Ogham project preserves messages from the past

WEST Kerry’s vast collection of ogham stones and standing stones are wearing away under the weather but the messages they carry from the distant past are being preserved by an ambitious community-based project to record the ancient stone inscriptions in three dimensional digital images.

An Discovery Programme exhibition currently running in Dingle library gives a glimpse into the work of the Corca Dhuibhne 3-D project, along with the broader Ogham 3-D project which covers ogham stones throughout the country, and the still broater 3-D Icons project which includes important archaeological sites and buildings across Europe, among them Gallarus Oratory.

The exhibition was officially opened last Thursday by journalist and broadcaster Ted Creedon who pointed out that West Kerry has more ogham and standing stones per acre than anywhere else in Ireland. Much has been done to record the location and inscriptions on these stones – notably with the West Kerry Archaeological Survey, in which Ted played a key part back in the 1980s. However, little or nothing has been done to protect any of these monuments from the ravages of the weather and they are gradually wearing away.

Ted recalled Professor M.J.O’Kelly’s view that leaving ogham stones out in the countryside where their inscriptions are being eroded by the weather,was like leaving pages from the Book of Kells lying around the courtyard of Trinity College. O’Kelly was well versed in these matters – he excavated and restored Newgrange Passage Tomb and discovered how sunlight shines into the tomb at the winter solstice.

But while there’s no stopping the effects of the weather, Musaem Chorca Dhuibhne, with the help of local enthusiasts, is building up an archive of 3-D images of local ogham stones. These images show how the inscriptions would have looked before they became weathered and they will also allow archaeologists to measure the rate of erosion over time. Local contributors to the project include Cyril Harrington from Ventry (who is currently completing a book of photos and stories about standing stones in West Kerry), Máirtín Mac Oiste, Helena Zacharias, Helene Brennan and Emmy Von Den Berg. Log on to corcadhuibhne3d.ie to see the fascinating results of their work.

Máirtín MacOiste, Helena Zacharias, Cyril Harrington, Helene Brennan and Emmy Von Den Berg whose photographs of ogham stones in Corca Dhuibhne are included in the Discovery Exhibition.

RIGHT: Ted Creedon (second from left) who launched the 25th anniversary Discovery Programme exhibition in Dingle Library on Thursday night with, from left: Osobal Bennett, Curator Musaem Chorca Dhuibhne; Linda Shine, Discovery Programme Public...