This stone is in pretty good condition. Much of the inscription is still visible. MacAlister read it as 'LUGUDI MAQI L...D...QA MOCOI DOMM(A)' in 1945.
The stone is now kept in the garden of Comeragh Lodge under a large shrub, which seems to be providing some protection from the elements. This does make it almost impossible to see the inscription properly though. The stone originated somewhere in the Knockalafalla-Rathgormuck area.
The people who live in the Lodge are very friendly and I enjoyed a long chat. The lady of the house told me that the stone came to be where it is because a previous owner of the house was travelling in the Rathgormuck area when he saw some workmen about to use it as a gatepost. He recognised it for what it is and offered them a new gatepost in exchange for the stone.
This is an explanation of (and a bit of a disclaimer for) the coordinates I provide. Where a GPS figure is given this is the master for all other coordinates. According to my Garmin these are quite accurate. Where there is no GPS figure the 6 figure grid reference is master for the others. This may not be very accurate as it could have come from the OS maps and could have been read by eye. Consequently, all other cordinates are going to have inaccuracies. The calculation of Longitude and Latitude uses an algorithm that is not 100% accurate. The long/lat figures are used as a basis for calculating the UTM & ITM coordinates. Consequently, UTM & ITM coordinates are slightly out. UTM is a global coordinate system - Universal Transverse Mercator - that is at the core of the GPS system. ITM is the new coordinate system - Irish Transverse Mercator - that is more accurate and more GPS friendly than the Irish Grid Reference system. This will be used on the next generation of Irish OS maps. |