Deciphering and demystifying the centuries of fact, fiction and speculation about Ogham, the first written form of Irish, can be an overwhelming task. But let’s start with the basics – Ogham is a writing system of intersecting and perpendicular lines written on a single line called a drium. It was originally written on trees and on stones. Beyond these two pieces of information, however, very little is agreed upon by the scholars who have tried to make sense of Ogham.
The following is a brief list of some of the arguments regarding Ogham, written in very general terms regarding what some say so as not to get too bogged down in endless quotes and citations.
Ogham pronounced (OH-um or AHG-m) is believed to be named for Ogma, the Celtic god of eloquent speech. It is also at times referred to as “The Tree Language” since it was written on trees, as well as the fact that the many of the letters themselves are named for and associated with the names of trees.
The Ogham Alphabet itself consists of anywhere from 20 – 25 distinct characters, depending on which version you use. It is usually divided into sets of five letters called aicme. Early examples have symbols with multiple uses – example F/V or S/X.
The version of the alphabet pictured here is considered one of the oldest, with the one exception being that the letter “P” has been added. This letter was lacking in early versions of the alphabet. Ogham is read from bottom to top. In rare cases when it has been written sideways there is almost a 50/50 split on whether it is read right to left or left to right. Some even say that on wood and trees it is right to left and on parchment left to right. One other interesting piece of speculation is that it may be a written form of a primitive sign language given that uses from 1-5 full and half lines – like fingers.
So, when was Ogham first used? The pendulum of time swings rather widely on this subject, but the general consensus places Ogham’s birth at about the 4th Century A.D., although some say the 2nd Century. There exists a small vocal minority who place its origin earlier…much earlier… at 3000 B.C. However, there is little or no historical or archeological evidence to support this theory.
Where was Ogham first used? If we assume that Ogham was first used in the 4th Century, then after seventeen hundred years, obviously none of the trees on which Ogham had been written still survive. All that we have left are stones and a few manuscripts. There are fewer than 400 known stones to remain in existence. Over 180 of these exist in the South and West of Ireland. The remainder are spread throughout the rest of Ireland and the British Isles. There have been some recent discoveries that at first seemed to be Ogham related, but which have since been discounted as geological phenomena, rather than proving to be man-made Ogham writing.
There are others that speculate that examples of ancient Ogham exist in North America. The possibly does exist that another group of people, from a different place and a different time, also carved lines into stones as a way of communicating with others, yet it would seem highly unlikely that this form of ancient writing is the same as that practiced in Ireland and, instead, it is more probable that this “North American Ogham” would have evolved separately.
Who created Ogham? Barring the case for North American primitive use, Ogham by most accounts is an Irish invention. It is thought to have been used by the early Irish who wanted to maintain a level of secrecy from outside visitors and invaders. Some think that necessity was the mother of Ogham’s invention; the somewhat restrictive Latin alphabet could not support the distinctive sounds of the Irish language and thus a separate written language structure had to be created.
Why was Ogham used? Once translated, what we have of Ogham stones are fairly innocuous in their message. They, for the most part, honor a person by name. It is thought that the stones were mainly used for marking territory or as an indication of a land transaction.
Hopefully, you’ve found this brief overview of Ogham interesting and informative. For more information on Ogham, and to see this ancient language being used by modern artists, check out OghamArt.com. Some other websites that can provide additional information regarding the history of Ogham are: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ogham.htm and http://ogham.lyberty.com/index.html
About the Author – Chris Conway from OghamArt.com began working with Ogham by doing watercolor paintings of names and words for friends and family. The curiosity and questions aroused by these gifts drove additional exploration into the history of Ogham and, eventually, a business devoted to exploring this uniquely Irish language as an art form. Chris and his wife Colleen enjoy the opportunity to explain Ogham to those that they meet at various art fairs and to discuss its rich history with them. By far their most popular service is their custom work, where they create a print of a name or word specifically for the purchaser. They find that this allows others to express themselves and link more deeply with their Irish heritage.
You can find their website at www.oghamart.com and see how they have repurposed this mysterious writing system for use in a new, exciting and beautiful way. You can contact them via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter (Contact information can be found on their website).
