ogam

Ogam, also known as ogham, is an early medieval alphabet traditionally used to write the Irish language and several other languages of the British Isles. It emerged in the first centuries of the Common Era and is most strongly associated with Ireland, though inscriptions have been found in parts of western Britain and nearby regions. The script is primarily attested on inscriptions carved into stone, but it was also used on wood, bone, and metal.

The basic ogham alphabet comprises twenty letters, organized into five groups, or aicme, each named after a tree. Letters are represented by vertical or near-vertical stems with notches added to either side of the line. The arrangement of the notches indicates the specific letter, and the side of the stem on which a letter’s marks appear helps identify its aicme. In addition to the twenty primary letters, late medieval sources mention five supplementary characters, or forfeda, created to write sounds borrowed from Latin and other languages.

Ogam inscriptions are typically memorial stones, boundary markers, or dedications. They often record personal names, genealogies, or ownership, and sometimes date or locate the artifact. The script’s use declined as Latin literacy and the Latin alphabet became dominant in the medieval Gaelic and British worlds, though ogham continued to be studied, transcribed, and interpreted by scholars in later periods.

Modern scholarship treats ogham as a crucial source for the phonology of Primitive Irish, early toponymy, and the material culture of early medieval Ireland and its surroundings. It remains a cultural emblem in Irish Celtic studies and has broader presence in art and educational contexts where the ancient script is celebrated and studied.