QUICK REFERENCE

GUIDE TO
OGHAM

GUIDE COMPILED BY:

Lora O'Brien
OGHAM ACADEMY

A BRIEF HISTORY
of the Ogham

TIMELINE OF THE Ogham (Modern Irish; earlier

ogum, ogom, ogam) is an
IRISH LANGUAGE, ancient Irish alphabet,
AND OGHAM developed to record the oldest
known Goidelic language,
known as Primitive Irish.
Ogham is an ingenious writing
system, not a language itself:
"As a graphic system, it is
Only a scatter of geographical names among the most abstract and
non-iconic writing systems ever
0 - 100s CE devised for human
communication". (Stifter, 2022)
Primitive Irish

300s - 500s CE From the classical or ‘orthodox’

period of Ogham inscription on
stones, between the 5th and 7th
Archaic or Early Old Irish Centuries Common Era (CE),
600s CE there remains in Ireland
approx. 400 stones containing
Ogham writing. After the 7th
Old Irish Century (600s CE), the grammar
700s - 800s and linguistic structure changed
to Old Irish, and we have
records that we now call
Ogham - Classical Period (Orthodox) ‘scholastic’ examples of ogham,
5th to 7th Centuries moving into the manuscript
tradition and right up to present
day Modern Irish and even
Ogham - Scholastic Period
English language use.
Post 7th Century (McManus, 1991)

Page 02
 The First Aicme

B
Beith - Vital Beginnings
H
L
Lus - Look Around
D
F
Fern - Rooted Guardian
T
S
Sail - Ancestral Messages
C
N
Nin - Women's Peace
Q
The Second Aicme
hÚath - Challenging Fear
B H
Dair - Righteous Endurance
L D
Tinne - Martial Tools
F T
Coll - Visionary Wisdom
S C
Ceirt - Temporary Setbacks
N Q
 The Third Aicme

M
Muin - Emotional Communication
M
G
Gort - Cultivated Sanctuary
G
nG
nGétal - Active Healing
P
St
Straif - Forced Change
Z
R
Ruis - Controlling Power
R
The Fourth Aicme
Ailm - Focusing Chaos
A A
Onn - Necessary Journeys
O O
Úr - Letting Go
U U
Edad - Otherworld Support
E E
Idad - Ancient Power
I I
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