Penannular Ring-Brooch Mould, HCA 688

Culture: Early Christian Material: Soapstone Dims: H 6.1cm W 5.9cm Accession No: HCA 686 Current Location: The Hunt Museum Limerick A valve with moulds for penannular ring-brooches on both sides. One negative is for a ribbed ring with slightly expanded, triangular terminals. Pouring channels are located at the terminal ends. Depressions in two corners indicate where other valve was secured. The reverse has a negative for a plain ring with spheroid terminals and a smaller ring with small spheroid terminals. Pouring channels are visible for both. There is an ogham inscription on one edge. Five letters are present. Three are typical ogham and include an A, D and NG. The other two do not conform to recognised ogham letters but may relate to letters seen in the Book of Ballymote, which contains a written key to the ogham alphabet. Ogham generally relates to personal names and most objects on which it has been found are larger monuments dating fro the fourth to the sixth-century AD.