Hut site, Boleycarrigeen, Co. Wicklow
Co. Wicklow |
Settlement Sites
A small pillar stone, barely reaching knee height, tilts at an angle from the earthen bank of a ringfort on a south-east-facing slope in the Wicklow forestry.
Carved into it is a single ogham word: VOTI. Ogham is an early medieval Irish script in which letters are represented by notches and strokes cut along a central line, most commonly found on standing stones from roughly the fourth to seventh centuries. The inscription here is brief to the point of mystery, just one word, a personal name in the genitive case suggesting possession or commemoration, probably meaning something along the lines of "of Votus". It is the kind of thing that raises more questions than it answers.
The ringfort at Boleycarrigeen contains, within its north-western interior, the drystone foundations of what appear to be two hut-sites, the larger measuring five metres by five metres and the smaller four metres by five metres. Ringforts, which are enclosed farmsteads typically dating from the early medieval period, are among the most common field monuments in Ireland, but the survival of internal structures within them is less usual, and the presence of an ogham stone on the bank adds a further layer of interest. R. A. S. Macalister recorded the VOTI inscription in his comprehensive 1945 catalogue of Irish ogham stones, placing this quiet hillside site within a body of early medieval epigraphic evidence that stretches across Munster, Leinster, and beyond into Wales and Scotland.
The site sits within forestry on a notably sloped terrain, which shapes the approach and the atmosphere of the place. The ogham pillar protrudes from the ringfort bank rather than standing upright, which gives it an air of gradual subsidence into the landscape over many centuries. It is a small thing to come across, not immediately dramatic, but the combination of the carved letters, the low stone foundations, and the enclosing bank rewards slow attention.