My Visit to Kilnasaggart Pillar Stone: Ireland’s Oldest Inscribed Monument

Hello friends, Aidan here from Gifts of Ireland 🇮🇪.

This week on my Story of Ireland, I followed a winding country road to a place that holds one of the oldest known inscriptions in Ireland—the Kilnasaggart Pillar Stone, tucked away in County Armagh. It was one of those proper summer days: blue skies, sun on our backs, and not a breeze in sight.

Getting there was half the craic. We were driving down one of those narrow Irish roads with tall hedges on either side and a perfect line of grass running up the middle. To top it off, the speed limit sign said 50 mph, which made us laugh—sure you’d barely get a bicycle through some stretches. We were convinced we’d taken a wrong turn until a small wooden sign finally pointed us across a green field.

We parked up and crossed through two quiet fields on foot, following a well-worn path that led to a small turnstile. And then suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, there it was—the Kilnasaggart pillar, standing tall and proud in its own field, surrounded by high ditches and complete stillness.

The stone itself is incredibly well preserved. It’s over 2 metres tall and carved with an inscription in early Christian Latin, which dates back to around the 8th century. Translated, it reads:

“This place Ternoc son of Ceran Bic dedicates to the God of heaven, for himself and for his relatives.”

Beneath this, there are several carved crosses, some beautifully detailed with ringed outlines, showing a strong link to early Irish Christianity. The site may once have been a monastery or burial ground—it definitely had that kind of sacred feel to it.

As we stood admiring the carvings, we were struck by how clear the markings still are, even after all these centuries. It’s amazing to think this pillar has been quietly standing here through invasions, famines, and all the upheaval of Irish history—untouched, unchanged.

On the way out, we had a grand chat with a local farmer who happened to be passing by in his tractor. He smiled when he saw us and told us the pillar had been there all his life, but for most of it, no one really came to see it. “Now they’re coming from everywhere,” he said, “and it’s great to see people appreciating it.” You could tell he was proud to have something so historic in his own backyard.

It’s visits like this that remind me why I started this journey. Ireland’s heritage isn’t just in museums or tourist spots—it’s in fields, in stones, and in stories waiting to be found.

Slán go fóill,

Aidan 💚🇮🇪☘️