The Irish Celts
The Pumpeius Stone
Rome formally severed its ties with the Province of Britannia in 410 AD when the Emperor wrote to those who still exercised government here advising them to look to their own defences – the legions had gone and would not be returning. In South Wales the main threat at this time was posed by the Irish whose raids had been causing havoc along the coasts of the Bristol Channel throughout the preceding 150 years. In response to these the Empire had re-occupied the abandoned fortresses at Cardiff and Lougher to offer some protection to the local population, but with the army now gone, they had to shift for themselves as best they could.
For a time the Irish even established a small Kingdom in North Pembrokeshire on the coast of South Wales, but the work of St Patrick in converting their nation to Christianity brought about a complete change in their relations with the Welsh. Clerics from both nations regularly exchanged visits across the Irish Sea, and there are in Wales many examples of churches dedicated to Irish saints – Llansantffraid (Aberkenfig) and St Brides Major (both dedicated to St Bridget) being two fairly local examples.
A stray find in Kenfig Dunes of a 6th century broach of a design common in Ireland may or may not indicate an Irish presence in the area, but of greater significance in this respect is the Pumpeis stone on Water Street connecting Kenfig to Margam where there is thought to have been an early Celtic monastery.
It is first mentioned by an Elizabethan antiquary named Rees Merrick who spotted it lying alongside the road. He believed the inscription to be in Welsh, and paid for it to be raised upright on the spot, now marked by a concrete replica.
The inscription actually reads “Pumpeius Carantoris” which is believed to be the Latinised form of a personal name and was therefore probably erected as a memorial. On the corners however are carved a series of notches which are actually a form of writing developed in Ireland and known as Ogham script. A half-hearted attempt was made to erase this sometime in the past when such writing was considered “heathen”, but one word that can be made out is “pampes” – perhaps the same “Pumpeius” commemorated in the Latin inscription.
This stone was the first on which Ogham script was identified in Wales, and it led to the discovery of ten or so other examples. Its combination of Latin and Ogham dates it to that time when the hated Irish raiders of the Roman and post-Roman period had become the welcome fellow Christians visiting the monasteries of South Wales to study and learn about the new religion.
For a time the Irish even established a small Kingdom in North Pembrokeshire on the coast of South Wales, but the work of St Patrick in converting their nation to Christianity brought about a complete change in their relations with the Welsh. Clerics from both nations regularly exchanged visits across the Irish Sea, and there are in Wales many examples of churches dedicated to Irish saints – Llansantffraid (Aberkenfig) and St Brides Major (both dedicated to St Bridget) being two fairly local examples.
A stray find in Kenfig Dunes of a 6th century broach of a design common in Ireland may or may not indicate an Irish presence in the area, but of greater significance in this respect is the Pumpeis stone on Water Street connecting Kenfig to Margam where there is thought to have been an early Celtic monastery.
It is first mentioned by an Elizabethan antiquary named Rees Merrick who spotted it lying alongside the road. He believed the inscription to be in Welsh, and paid for it to be raised upright on the spot, now marked by a concrete replica.
The inscription actually reads “Pumpeius Carantoris” which is believed to be the Latinised form of a personal name and was therefore probably erected as a memorial. On the corners however are carved a series of notches which are actually a form of writing developed in Ireland and known as Ogham script. A half-hearted attempt was made to erase this sometime in the past when such writing was considered “heathen”, but one word that can be made out is “pampes” – perhaps the same “Pumpeius” commemorated in the Latin inscription.
This stone was the first on which Ogham script was identified in Wales, and it led to the discovery of ten or so other examples. Its combination of Latin and Ogham dates it to that time when the hated Irish raiders of the Roman and post-Roman period had become the welcome fellow Christians visiting the monasteries of South Wales to study and learn about the new religion.
