OGAM INSCRIPTIONS:
The point has now been reached when it is necessary to discuss the kind of writing used in pagan times. As has been stated, none of the books of pre-Christian Ireland are now extant, so evidence as to the kind of writing in use must be sought elsewhere. In the absence of books the coinage of a country has often given valuable information in this connection. In the case of Ireland, however, this source of information is lacking; for though metals were worked from very early times and gold was plentiful no trace of a native coinage has been found. Luckily there remain in the stone inscriptions the clearest proofs that the ancient Irish practised a peculiar kind of writing called Ogam.