St. Patrick’s Day Google doodle includes hidden word written in ancient Irish ogham alphabet

Today’s Google doodle celebrating St. Patrick’s Day includes a hidden word, but you have to know the ancient Irish ogham alphabet to decipher it.

Created by the Irish artist Ross Stewart, the doodle leads to a search for “St. Patrick’s Day.” The image depicts a traditional Irish scene, with a stonemason arranging rocks that spell out the name Google. The secret message written in ogham alphabet letters is carved into the large stone.

“Standing in for the Google ‘L’ is a tall stone that pays homage to Ireland’s earliest form of writing: ogham,” writes Google on the Google Doodle Blog, “The edge is marked with a series of ancient carvings, each group representing a letter of the ogham alphabet.”

Google shared the following early sketches of Stewart’s work for the St. Patrick’s Day doodle:

If you’re having trouble figuring out the what’s carved in the large stone, Google’s doodle team offered up a link to an image search for ogham alphabet.

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