About

The primary aim of the project is to advance the study of early Irish inscriptions (both Insular Latin scripts and ogham), a rich source of information on early medieval Ireland. Many of the inscriptions pre-date Irish material in manuscripts and are more securely linked to specific locations, some even remaining in their landscape setting, allowing for insights to be investigated into the early development of the Irish language, writing and literacy, and the spread of Christianity, which is particularly linked to the use of the Latin script and the development of cross-slabs.

Despite some ground-breaking focused studies, mostly notably McManus (1991) A Guide to Ogam, mainly on linguistic aspects (also Ziegler, 1994) and regional studies, primarily on Clonmacnoise (e.g. Ó Floinn 1995; 2001 and Swift 1995; 1999; 2003) and Munster (Okasha and Forsyth 2001), the lack of a complete up-to-date catalogue of early Irish inscriptions is a gap in the fields of both Epigraphy and Early Irish. The OG(H)AM project (an IRC/AHRC-funded collaboration between Maynooth University and the University of Glasgow) is currently working on remedying this situation in relation to inscriptions in the ogham script. The EMISoS project will not only to do the same for inscriptions in the Latin script (initiated on the EMILI pilot project), but also take the next, crucial step in using all of this newly generated data to address new and long-standing research questions around the origins and development of epigraphic writing in Irish, such as: Who is inscribing/commissioning and why in early medieval Ireland? And what can a close examination of the inscriptions from various perspectives and experimental

An in-depth study of the palaeography of the ogham script has begun on the OG(H)AM and follow-on OPal+ (Ogham palaeography+) projects. This is now being extended to Latinate inscriptions and an examination of the relationships between Insular Latin scripts in epigraphic and manuscript sources will be explored as part of the research. This will include practical experimentation in letter carving and utilising digital methods and tools in collaboration with others working in the area of Digital Palaeography internationally.

The project is undertaking a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the study of the inscriptions, including the crucial art historic and material aspects of the inscribed monuments (as well as a smaller number of portable objects) to advance our understanding and knowledge of the origins, roles and development of epigraphic writing in Ireland. We are also continuing to build on collaborations with the archaeological sector (universities and state bodies), in particular, and to establish Irish Epigraphy in the international field of Digital Epigraphy and ensure that data on the Irish material will be FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable for all.