The content of the inscriptions has led scholars such as McNeill and Macalister to argue that they are explicitly pagan in nature. They argue that the inscriptions were later defaced by Christian converts, who deliberately attacked them by removing the word MUCOI on account of its supposedly tribal, pagan associations, and adding crosses next to them to Christianize them. Other scholars, such as McManus argue that there is no evidence for this, citing inscriptions such as (145) QRIMITIR RONANN MAQ COMOGANN , where QRIMITIR is a loan word from Latin "presbyter" or 'priest'. McManus argues that the supposed vandalism of the inscriptions is simply wear and tear, and due to the inscription stones being reused as building material for walls, lintels, etc. (McManus, §4.9). McManus also argues that the MUCOI formula word survived into Christian manuscript usage. There is also the fact the inscriptions were made at a time when Christianity had become firmly established in Ireland. Whether those who wrote the inscriptions were pagans, Christians, or a mixture of both remains unclear.