Speke-Farm-Keeill-Stein
The Speke Farm Keeill stone , discovered in 2007, is a small, flat Ogham column. Their bound Oghamin script is carved along a line winding across the surface (a shape typical of Scotland) rather than on the edge. Speke Farm is located roughly west of Douglas on the Isle of Man .
Ogham scripts on stone surfaces (rather than on edges) are uncommon outside of Scotland , where they are typical of Pictish Ogham scripts. Bound inscriptions like this (English Ogham Bind) are a form of writing in which the individual Ogham characters are connected at the tips. The shape found on some Pictish Oghamstones is considered to be a Pictish influence on the shape of the Ogham. Pictish ogham stones usually date a little later than the ogham columns, and the late linguistic form “maci” for the “maqi” in this text shows that it was written at a later point in time compared to other ogham columns.
The stone was found near a keeill and a disturbed stone box and was probably a memorial for the approximately 14-20 year old buried. A dated fragment of a skull from the tomb dates from 540 to 650 AD, which the inscription dates to the second half of the 6th or first half of the 7th century. This time position is consistent with the text image and the linguistic features. The significance of the discovery is that it is one of the few examples of Ogham writings from this period.
The reconstructable part of the inscription reads: [-] [A] MAC [I] MUCOI CATIALL [I] = ..., son of the Catiallus tribe.
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Coordinates: 54 ° 8 ′ 26.2 ″ N , 4 ° 33 ′ 8.5 ″ W.