only a very little bit. i have my last name in ogham, embossed on a copper plaque, as a decoration on my fireplace --along with a copper bedwarmer, and plaque that says "failte" (welcome) so i know about 5 characters of ogham, (7 letters in my name, 2 repeats.)

the plaque is a converation starter, needless to say! a local store offered them, (custom made of course!)many moons ago.

Jared Diamond, in Gun, Germs and Steel mentions it.

writing and alphabets were invent in fertile crecsant. (and china, and other places) but most of europe copied either the idea, or the actual alphabets from earlier users.

by the time the idea (or meme!) of alphabets got to ireland, most of the detail were lost, ogham is an invented alphabet from a people who had never seen a printed word, but though the idea was a good one! with the idea in mind, they created a (what is now, clearly) a crude alphabet. but how good a plane could you build, if you had never seen one, but had been told they did exist?


my other obsession