This is the oldest known script in Ireland, and indeed in the whole of the north of the West. Probably a variant of the Germanic runes, it’s characterized by a succession of notches set more or less apart from one another and obeying variable orientations according to “the letters”.
There are almost 600 oghams scattered all over the island:
Numerous clues would seem to indicate to archaeologists that stone was not the only support. Wooden tablets with a vertical line on them enabled the natives to write. What we know of the Celtic people’s relationship between knowledge and trees (such as the Dagda tree, the yew) tends to confirm this theory.
Another theory is that this script, imported by the first Gnostic missionary monks around 350 AD, originated in Libya.
Some specialists also believe that oghams can be classified into 4 families with different origins, dating back to the age of the reindeer and the notched stick used for calculating. With regard to the idea of numbering at the origin of the Oghams, we put forward the idea of numbering by 20 (corresponding to fingers and toes) as the basis of prehistoric calculation.
A little less down-to-earth, one version attributes the origin of the Oghams to a deity of the Irish pantheon, which goes some way to emphasizing the importance of this scripture. This dates back to the time of Bres, son of Elatha, King of Ireland. Ogma, son of Elatha and Delbaeth, was a very learned man in language and poetry. He had created this alphabet for scholars to the exclusion of bumpkins and shepherds, to prove his intelligence. The term Ogham comes from Ogma. Gaelic is measured in letters by poets. The father of the Ogham is the hand or knife of Ogme.
The Oghams inscription has been studied by many leading researchers. A reference in this field is the study made in a collection attributed in part to Manus O’Duignan during the 14th century for Tonnaltagh McDonagh. The book is a compilation of translations of manuscripts, treatises and other documents as diverse as they are varied. It includes the saga of Finn and Brian Boru, as well as explanations of the Ogham language.
We remember that Lug (the polytechnic god) learned of his wife’s abduction by reading an Ogham engraved on birch wood. Oghams are also mentioned in Cooley’s famous Cow Razzia.
Cuchulainn cuts oak branches with his characteristic ardor, engraving the names of the Oghams on them, before hurling them far behind his chariot and magically stopping the enemy army on the riverbank. These cuts were most frequently aligned on either side of a natural edge of a raised stone, and could be read from bottom to top. In the case of a horizontal support, reading was from left to right.
The unsuitable medium did not allow for long texts, and the main purpose was to indicate names, dates etc… Its alphabet is made up of 15 consonants followed by 5 vowels. It’s the only alphabet that works in this way.
