Ogam (modern Irish ogham) is an Irish linear script consisting of sets of strokes inscribed along the edge of a stone representing letters of the alphabet. In other words, it is an ancient form of writing made by carving lines along the edge of a stone. It is thought to have originated around 400 AD and became obsolete around the middle of the 600s. It is usually inscribed on standing stones, probably to mark the burial place of important people. There are many fine examples of ogham stones on the Dingle peninsula – in fact, one sixth of the entire country's collection of ogham writing is to be found here. Ogham was the first script in the world to use word spacing – other writing was run together with no spaces between words. Irish monks, familiar with ogham, adopted its word spacing on their Latin manuscripts and so gave the world the space between words.
