life – OG(H)AM

R. A. S. Macalister – A Life

By Katherine Forsyth, OG(H)AM’s UK Principal Investigator Hurrah! It’s International Day of Ogham! In celebrating Ogham’s special day, we also mark the 153rd anniversary of the birth of the founding father of modern ogham studies, R. A. S. Macalister—born on 8 July 1870. In this month’s blog we take a look at Macalister’s life. For… Continue reading R. A. S. Macalister – A Life

This stone originally stood as part of the Bryn y Beddau monumental landscape, populated with up to six barrows and two stone circles. In the late fifth or early sixth century, the stone was reused to display a name in two scripts, Roman and Ogham.
Roman-letter: SIMILINI / TOVISACI
‘Similin(i)us Tovisacos’
Ogham: S[I]B[I]L[I]N[I] / [TO]VISACI
‘Sibilin(i)us Tovisacos’
Both inscriptions are simply a name, Si(m/b)ilin(i)us, followed by the title or patronymic Tovisacos, meaning ‘leader’ representing an early form of later Welsh tywysog and Old Irish toísech, Modern Irish Taoiseach. This could reflect a method of communicating identity and authority, a way of legitimising land claims, or perhaps an attempt to relate to myths and leaders important in the land.