Crossword Genius

Inscribed with Irish words, touch the old stone (6,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tigers eye

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'old stone' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'inscribed with irish words touch the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'irish' could be 'erse' (I've seen this before) and 'erse' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tigers eye that I've seen before include "Gemstone" , "Ornamental stone" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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