An expert in archaeolinguistics has said that international attention has been drawn to the significance of the mysterious writings engraved on the rock known as Carraig na Scriob, high up in the Caha Mountains, mentioned in this column last week.
Prof Bill Grant, who lectures on Celtic linguistics at Edinburgh University, told a packed audience in Tuosist parish hall on the Beara Peninsula in Co Kerry last weekend that this is the first time that an ancient rock inscription of this size and extent has been identified in Ireland.
Prof Grant, who was associated with the group which found and investigated a similar major site in the US known as the Wyoming petroglyphs, said that after he was guided to the Caha Mountains site recently he telephoned colleagues and told them: "We finally found one in Ireland of that scale."
His lecture was a highlight of Eigse Sheain Ui Shuilleabhain, a weekend festival celebrating the rich Gaelic culture of Beara. The existence of the rock scribings at Carraig na Scriob has been known locally for generations, but the few experts who made expeditions to the area earlier this century failed to locate the site.
Prof Grant outlined the limited, and often disputed understanding reached by specialists so far concerning the origins of, and links between, ancient languages such as Phoenicean and Ogham as preserved in rock engravings throughout the world. He ventured his own opinion that these languages developed and changed by a process of evolution and that eventually it would be established that they shared a common ancestry.
He cautioned his audience: "After you find these things, you don't give map co-ordinates - then you get a little time to do detailed scientific evaluation before they are interfered with and perhaps damaged by curious sightseers or vandals."
He said his preliminary assessment was that the inscriptions could date from between 500 BCAD 500, but highly specialised scientific examination was required to confirm this. "The big thing for me is the size of the inscription," he added. "It has made such an impact on people who work in this field that we eventually found one this size. We're just so thankful that we found one of these in Ireland."
He noted that Co Kerry was thought to have been the location of one of the "last stands" of the mesolithic peoples, or hunter-gatherers, before they were displaced by the neolithic people.
Mr Conchur O Murchu, chairman of the eigse, said he was sure that Carraig na Scriob would become "one of the very special sites in Ireland".