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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:36:10 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11168-0.txt b/11168-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77f13d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/11168-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3288 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11168 *** + +IRISH TEXTS SOCIETY. + +"COMANN NA SGRIBEANN GAEDILGE." + + +Vol. XVI. +[1914.] + + + +LIFE OF ST. DECLAN OF ARDMORE, +(Edited from MS. in Bibliotheque Royale, Brussels), + +and + +LIFE OF ST. MOCHUDA OF LISMORE, +(Edited from MS. in the Library of Royal Irish Academy), + + + +With Introduction, Translation, and Notes, + + +by + +Rev. P. Power, M.R.I.A., +University College, Cork. + + + +1914. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +Preface +Introduction + - General + - St. Declan + - St. Mochuda + - Map of Ireland +Life of Declan +Life of Mochuda +[Transcriber's Note] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It is solely the historical aspect and worth of the two tracts herewith +presented that appealed to their edition and first suggested to him +their preparation and publication. Had preparation in question depended +for its motive merely on considerations of the texts' philologic +interest or value it would, to speak frankly, never have been +undertaken. The editor, who disclaims qualification as a philologist, +regards these Lives as very valuable historical material, publication of +which may serve to light up some dark corners of our Celtic +ecclesiastical past. He is egotist enough to hope that the present +"blazing of the track," inadequate and feeble though it be, may induce +other and better equipped explorers to follow. + +The present editor was studying the Life of Declan for quite another +purpose when, some years since, the zealous Hon. Secretary of the Irish +Texts Society suggested to him publication of the tract in its present +form, and addition of the Life of Carthach [Mochuda]. Whatever credit +therefore is due to originating this work is Miss Hull's, and hers alone. + +The editor's best thanks are due, and are hereby most gratefully +tendered, to Rev. M. Sheehan, D.D., D.Ph., Rev. Paul Walsh, Rev. J. +MacErlhean, S.J., M.A., as well as to Mr. R. O'Foley, who, at much +expense of time and labour, have carefully read the proofs, and, with +unselfish prodigality of their scholarly resources, have made many +valuable suggestions and corrections. + + P.P. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +I.--GENERAL. + + +A most distinctive class of ancient Irish literature, and probably the +class that is least popularly familiar, is the hagiographical. It is, +the present writer ventures to submit, as valuable as it is distinctive +and as well worthy of study as it is neglected. While annals, tales and +poetry have found editors the Lives of Irish Saints have remained +largely a mine unworked. Into the causes of this strange neglect it is +not the purpose of the present introduction to enter. Suffice it to +glance in passing at one of the reasons which has been alleged in +explanation, scil.:--that the "Lives" are uncritical and romantic, that +they abound in wild legends, chronological impossibilities and all sorts +of incredible stories, and, finally, that miracles are multiplied till +the miraculous becomes the ordinary, and that marvels are magnified till +the narrative borders on the ludicrous. The Saint as he is sketched is +sometimes a positively repulsive being--arrogant, venomous, and cruel; +he demands two eyes or more for one, and, pucklike, fairly revels in +mischief! As painted he is in fact more a pagan deity than a Christian +man. + +The foregoing charges may, or must, be admitted partially or in full, +but such admission implies no denial of the historical value of the +Lives. All archaic literature, be it remembered, is in a greater or +less degree uncritical, and it must be read in the light of the writer's +times and surroundings. That imagination should sometimes run riot and +the pen be carried beyond the boundary line of the strictly literal is +perhaps nothing much to be marvelled at in the case of the supernatural +minded Celt with religion for his theme. Did the scribe believe what he +wrote when he recounted the multiplied marvels of his holy patron's +life? Doubtless he did--and why not! To the unsophisticated monastic +and mediaeval mind, as to the mind of primitive man, the marvellous and +supernatural is almost as real and near as the commonplace and natural. +If anyone doubts this let him study the mind of the modern Irish +peasant; let him get beneath its surface and inside its guardian ring of +shrinking reserve; there he will find the same material exactly as +composed the mind of the tenth century biographers of Declan and +Mochuda. Dreamers and visionaries were of as frequent occurrence in Erin +of ages ago as they are to-day. Then as now the supernatural and +marvellous had a wondrous fascination for the Celtic mind. Sometimes the +attraction becomes so strong as seemingly to overbalance the faculty of +distinguishing fact from fancy. Of St. Bridget we are gravely told that +to dry her wet cloak she hung in out on a sunbeam! Another Saint sailed +away to a foreign land on a sod from his native hillside! More than +once we find a flagstone turned into a raft to bear a missionary band +beyond the seas! St. Fursey exchanged diseases with his friend +Magnentius, and, stranger still, the exchange was arranged and effected +by correspondence! To the saints moreover are ascribed lives of +incredible duration--to Mochta, Ibar, Seachnal, and Brendan, for +instance, three hundred years each; St. Mochaemog is credited with a +life of four hundred and thirteen years, and so on! + +Clan, or tribe, rivalry was doubtless one of the things which made for +the invention and multiplication of miracles. If the patron of the +Decies is credited with a miracle, the tribesmen of Ossory must go one +better and attribute to their tribal saint a marvel more striking still. +The hagiographers of Decies retort for their patron by a claim of yet +another miracle and so on. It is to be feared too that occasionally a +less worthy motive than tribal honour prompted the imagination of our +Irish hagiographers--the desire to exploit the saint and his honour for +worldly gain. + +The "Lives" of the Irish Saints contain an immense quantity of material +of first rate importance for the historian of the Celtic church. +Underneath the later concoction of fable is a solid substratum of fact +which no serious student can ignore. Even where the narrative is +otherwise plainly myth or fiction it sheds many a useful sidelight on +ancient manners, customs and laws as well as on the curious and often +intricate operations of the Celtic mind. + +By "Lives" are here meant the old MS. biographies which have come down +to us from ages before the invention of printing. Sometimes these +"Lives" are styled "Acts." Generally we have only one standard "Life" +of a saint and of this there are usually several copies, scattered in +various libraries and collections. Occasionally a second Life is found +differing essentially from the first, but, as a rule, the different +copies are only recensions of a single original. Some of the MSS. are +parchment but the majority are in paper; some Lives again are merely +fragments and no doubt scores if not hundreds of others have been +entirely lost. Of many hundreds of our Irish saints we have only the +meagre details supplied by the martyrologies, with perhaps occasional +reference to them in the Lives of other saints. Again, finally, the +memory of hundreds and hundreds of saints additional survives only in +place names or is entirely lost. + +There still survive probably over a hundred "Lives"--possibly one +hundred and fifty; this, however, does not imply that therefore we have +Lives of one hundred or one hundred and fifty saints, for many of the +saints whose Acts survive have really two sets of the latter--one in +Latin and the other in Irish; moreover, of a few of the Latin Lives and +of a larger number of the Irish Lives we have two or more recensions. +There are, for instance, three independent Lives of St. Mochuda and one +of these is in two recensions. + +The surviving Lives naturally divide themselves into two great +classes--the Latin Lives and the Irish,--written in Latin and Irish +respectively. We have a Latin Life only of some saints, and Irish Life +only of others, and of others again we have a Latin Life and an Irish. +It may be necessary to add the Acts which have been translated into Latin +by Colgan or the Bollandists do not of course rank as Latin Lives. +Whether the Latin Lives proper are free translations of the Irish Lives +or the Irish Lives translations of Latin originals remains still, to a +large extent, an open question. Plummer ("Vitae SSm. Hib.," Introd.) +seems to favour the Latin Lives as the originals. His reasoning here +however leaves one rather unconvinced. This is not the place to go into +the matter at length, but a new bit of evidence which makes against the +theory of Latin originals may be quoted; it is furnished by the well +known collection of Latin Lives known as the Codex Salmanticensis, to +which are appended brief marginal notes in mixed middle Irish and Latin. +One such note to the Life of St. Cuangus of Lismore (recte Liathmore) +requests a prayer for him who has translated the Life out of the Irish +into Latin. If one of the Lives, and this a typical or characteristic +Life, be a translation, we may perhaps assume that the others, or most +of them, are translations also. In any case we may assume as certain +that there were original Irish materials or data from which the formal +Lives (Irish or Latin) were compiled. + +The Latin Lives are contained mainly in four great collections. The +first and probably the most important of these is in the Royal Library +at Brussels, included chiefly in a large MS. known as 'Codex +Salmanticensis' from the fact that it belonged in the seventeenth +century to the Irish College of Salamanca. The second collection is in +Marsh's Library, Dublin, and the third in Trinity College Library. The +two latter may for practical purposes be regarded as one, for they are +sister MSS.--copied from the same original. The Marsh's Library +collection is almost certainly, teste Plummer, the document referred to +by Colgan as Codex Kilkenniensis and it is quite certainly the Codex +Ardmachanus of Fleming. The fourth collection (or the third, if we take +as one the two last mentioned,) is in the Bodleian at Oxford amongst +what are known as the Rawlinson MSS. Of minor importance, for one +reason or another, are the collections of the Franciscan Library, +Merchants' Quay, Dublin, and in Maynooth College respectively. The +first of the enumerated collections was published 'in extenso,' about +twenty-five years since, by the Marquis of Bute, while recently the gist +of all the Latin collections has been edited with rare scholarship by +Rev. Charles Plummer of Oxford. Incidentally may be noted the one +defect in Mr. Plummer's great work--its author's almost irritating +insistence on pagan origins, nature myths, and heathen survivals. +Besides the Marquis of Bute and Plummer, Colgan and the Bollandists have +published some Latin Lives, and a few isolated "Lives" have been +published from time to time by other more or less competent editors. + +The Irish Lives, though more numerous than the Latin, are less +accessible. The chief repertorium of the former is the Burgundian or +Royal Library, Brussels. The MS. collection at Brussels appears to have +originally belonged to the Irish Franciscans of Louvain and much of it +is in the well-known handwriting of Michael O'Clery. There are also +several collections of Irish Lives in Ireland--in the Royal Irish +Academy, for instance, and Trinity College Libraries. Finally, there +are a few Irish Lives at Oxford and Cambridge, in the British Museum, +Marsh's Library, &c., and in addition there are many Lives in private +hands. In this connection it can be no harm, and may do some good, to +note that an apparently brisk, if unpatriotic, trade in Irish MSS. +(including of course "Lives" of Saints) is carried on with the United +States. Wealthy, often ignorant, Irish-Americans, who are unable to +read them, are making collections of Irish MSS. and rare Irish books, to +Ireland's loss. Some Irish MSS. too, including Lives of Saints, have +been carried away as mementoes of the old land by departing emigrants. + +The date or period at which the Lives (Latin and Irish) were written is +manifestly, for half a dozen good reasons, a question of the utmost +importance to the student of the subject. Alas, that the question has +to some extent successfully defied quite satisfactory solution. We can, +so far, only conjecture--though the probabilities seem strong and the +grounds solid. The probabilities are that the Latin Lives date as a +rule from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when they were put into +something like their present form for reading (perhaps in the refectory) +in the great religious houses. They were copied and re-copied during +the succeeding centuries and the scribes according to their knowledge, +devotion or caprice made various additions, subtractions and occasional +multiplications. The Irish Lives are almost certainly of a somewhat +earlier date than the Latin and are based partly (i.e. as regards the +bulk of the miracles) on local tradition, and partly (i.e. as regards +the purely historical element) on the authority of written materials. +They too were, no doubt, copied and interpolated much as were the Latin +Lives. The present copies of Irish Lives date as a rule from the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries only, and the fact that the Latin +and the Irish Life (where there is this double biography) sometimes +agree very perfectly may indicate that the Latin translation or Life is +very late. + +The chief published collections of Irish Saints' Lives may be set down +as seven, scil.:--five in Latin and one each in Irish and English. The +Latin collections are the Bollandists', Colgan's, Messingham's, +Fleming's, and Plummer's; the Irish collection is Stokes' ("Lives of +Saints from the Book of Lismore") and the English is of course +O'Hanlon's. + +Most striking, probably, of the characteristics of the "Lives" is their +very evident effort to exalt and glorify the saint at any cost. With +this end of glorification in view the hagiographer is prepared to +swallow everything and record anything. He has, in fact, no critical +sense and possibly he would regard possession of such a sense as rather +an evil thing and use of it as irreverent. He does not, as a +consequence, succeed in presenting us with a very life-like or +convincing portrait of either the man or the saint. Indeed the saint, +as drawn in the Lives, is, as already hinted, a very unsaintlike +individual--almost as ready to curse as to pray and certainly very much +more likely to smite the aggressor than to present to him the other +cheek. In the text we shall see St. Mochuda, whose Life is a specially +sane piece of work, cursing on the same occasion, first, King Blathmac +and the Prince of Cluain, then, the rich man Cronan who sympathised with +the eviction, next an individual named Dubhsulach who winked insolently +at him, and finally the people of St. Columba's holy city of Durrow who +had stirred up hostile feeling against him. Even gentle female saints +can hurl an imprecation too. St. Laisrech, for instance, condemned the +lands of those who refused her tribute, to--nettles, elder shrub, and +corncrakes! It is pretty plain that the compilers of the lives had some +prerogatives, claims or rights to uphold--hence this frequent insistence +on the evil of resisting the Saint and presumably his successors. + +One characteristic of the Irish ascetics appears very clear through all +the exaggeration and all the biographical absurdity; it is their spirit +of intense mortification. To understand this we have only to study one +of the ancient Irish Monastic Rules or one of the Irish Penitentials as +edited by D'Achery ("Spicilegium") or Wasserschleben ("Irische +Kanonensamerlung"). Severest fasting, unquestioning obedience and +perpetual self renunciation were inculcated by the Rules and we have +ample evidence that they were observed with extraordinary fidelity. The +Rule of Maelruin absolutely forbade the use of meat or of beer. Such a +prohibition a thousand years ago was an immensely more grievous thing +than it would sound to-day. Wheaten bread might partially supply the +place of meat to-day, but meat was easier to procure than bread in the +eighth century. Again, a thousand years ago, tea or coffee there was +none and even milk was often difficult or impossible to procure in +winter. So severe in fact was the fast that religious sometimes died of +it. Bread and water being found insufficient to sustain life and health, +gruel was substituted in some monasteries and of this monastic gruel +there were three varieties:--(a) "gruel upon water" in which the liquid +was so thick that the meal reached the surface, (b) "gruel between two +waters" in which the meal, while it did not rise to the surface, did not +quite fall to the bottom, and (c) "gruel under water" which was so weak +and so badly boiled that he meal easily fell to the bottom. In the case +of penitents the first brand of gruel was prescribed for light offences, +the second kind for sins of ordinary gravity, and the "gruel under +water" for extraordinary crimes (vid. Messrs. Gwynne and Purton on the +Rule of Maelruin, &c.) The most implicit, exact and prompt obedience +was prescribed and observed. An overseer of Mochuda's monastery at +Rahen had occasion to order by name a young monk called Colman to do +something which involved his wading into a river. Instantly a dozen +Colmans plunged into the water. Instances of extraordinary penance +abound, beside which the austerities of Simon Stylites almost pale. The +Irish saints' love of solitude was also a very marked characteristic. +Desert places and solitary islands of the ocean possessed an apparently +wonderful fascination for them. The more inaccessible or forbidding the +island the more it was in request as a penitential retreat. There is +hardly one of the hundred islands around the Irish coast which, one time +or another, did not harbour some saint or solitary upon its rocky bosom. + +The testimony of the "Lives" to the saints' love and practice of prayer +is borne out by the evidence of more trustworthy documents. Besides +private prayers, the whole psalter seems to have been recited each day, +in three parts of fifty psalms each. In addition, an immense number of +Pater Nosters was prescribed. The office and prayers were generally +pretty liberally interspersed with genuflexions or prostrations, of +which a certain anchorite performed as many as seven hundred daily. +Another penitential action which accompanied prayer was the +'cros-figul.' This was an extension of the arms in the shape of a +cross; if anyone wants to know how difficult a practice this is let him +try it for, say, fifteen minutes. Regarding recitation of the Divine +Office it was of counsel, and probably of precept, that is should not be +from memory merely, but that the psalms should all be read. For this a +good reason was given by Maelruin, i.e. that the recitation might engage +the eye as well as the tongue and thought. An Irish homily refers to +the mortification of the saints and religious of the time as martyrdom, +of which it distinguishes three kinds--red, white, and blue. Red +martyrdom was death for the faith; white martyrdom was the discipline of +fasting, labour and bodily austerities; while blue martyrdom was +abnegation of the will and heartfelt sorrow for sin. + +One of the puzzles of Irish hagiology is the great age attributed to +certain saints--periods of two hundred, three hundred, and even four +hundred years. Did the original compilers of the Life intend this? +Whatever the full explanation be the writers of the Lives were clearly +animated by a desire to make their saint cotemporary and, if possible, a +disciple, of one or other of the great monastic founders, or at any rate +to prove him a pupil of one of the great schools of Erin. There was +special anxiety to connect the saint with Bangor or Clonard. To effect +the connection in question it was sometimes necessary to carry the life +backwards, at other times to carry it forwards, and occasionally to +lengthen it both backwards and forwards. Dr. Chas. O'Connor gives a +not very convincing explanation of the three-hundred-year "Lives," +scil.:--that the saint lived in three centuries--during the whole of one +century and in the end and beginning respectively of the preceding and +succeeding centuries. This explanation, even if satisfactory for the +three-hundred-year Lives, would not help at all towards the Lives of +four hundred years. A common explanation is that the scribe mistook +numerals in the MS. before him and wrote the wrong figures. There is no +doubt that copying is a fruitful source of error as regards numerals. +It is much more easy to make a mistake in a numeral than in a letter; +the context will enable one to correct the letter, while it will give +him no clue as regards a numeral. On the subject of the alleged +longevity of Irish Saints Anscombe has recently been elaborating in +'Eriu' a new and very ingenious theory. Somewhat unfortunately the +author happens to be a rather frequent propounder of ingenious theories. +His explanation is briefly--the use and confusion of different systems +of chronology. He alleges that the original writers used what is called +the Diocletian Era or the "Era of the Martyrs" as the 'terminus a quo' +of their chronological system and, in support of his position, he +adduces the fact that this, which was the most ancient of all +ecclesiastical eras, was the era used by the schismatics in Britain and +that it was introduced by St. Patrick. + +As against the contradiction, anachronisms and extravagances of the +Lives we have to put the fact that generally speaking the latter +corroborate one another, and that they receive extern corroboration from +the annals. Such disagreements as occur are only what one would expect +to find in documents dealing with times so remote. To the credit side +too must go the fact that references to Celtic geography and to local +history are all as a rule accurate. Of continental geography and +history however the writers of the Lives show much ignorance, but +scarcely quite as much as the corresponding ignorance shown by +Continental writers about Ireland. + +The missionary methods of the early Irish Church and its monastic or +semi-monastic system are frequently referred to as peculiar, if not +unique. A missionary system more or less similar must however have +prevailed generally in that age. What other system could have been +nearly as successful amongst a pagan people circumstanced as the Irish +were? The community system alone afforded the necessary mutual +encouragement and protection to the missionaries. Each monastic station +became a base of operations. The numerous diminutive dioceses, +quasi-dioceses, or tribal churches, were little more than extensive +parishes and the missionary bishops were little more in jurisdiction +than glorified parish priests. The bishop's 'muintir,' that is the +members of his household, were his assistant clergy. Having converted +the chieftain or head of the tribe the missionary had but to instruct +and baptise the tribesmen and to erect churches for them. Land and +materials for the church were provided by the Clan or the Clan's head, +and lands for support of the missioner or of the missionary community +were allotted just as they had been previously allotted to the pagan +priesthood; in fact there can be but little doubt that the lands of the +pagan priests became in many cases the endowment of the Christian +establishment. It is not necessary, by the way, to assume that the +Church in Ireland as Patrick left it, was formally monastic. The clergy +lived in community, it is true, but it was under a somewhat elastic +rule, which was really rather a series of Christian and Religious +counsels. A more formal monasticism had developed by the time of +Mochuda; this was evidently influenced by the spread of St. Benedict's +Rule, as Patrick's quasi-monasticism, nearly two centuries previously, +had been influenced by Pachomius and St. Basil, through Lerins. The +real peculiarity in Ireland was that when the community-missionary- +system was no longer necessary it was not abandoned as in other lands +but was rather developed and emphasised. + + + +II.--ST. DECLAN. + + +"If thou hast the right, O Erin, +to a champion of battle to aid thee +thou hast the head of a hundred +thousand, Declan of Ardmore." +(Martyrology of Oengus). + + +Five miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the southern +Irish coast, a short, rocky and rather elevated promontory juts, with a +south-easterly trend, into the ocean. Maps and admiralty charts call it +Ram Head, but the real name is Ceann-a-Rama and popularly it is often +styled Ardmore Head. The material of this inhospitable coast is a hard +metamorphic schist which bids defiance to time and weather. Landwards +the shore curves in clay cliffs to the north-east, leaving, between it +and the iron headland beyond, a shallow exposed bay wherein many a proud +ship has met her doom. Nestling at the north side of the headland and +sheltered by the latter from Atlantic storms stands one of the most +remarkable groups of ancient ecclesiastical remains in Ireland--all that +has survived of St. Declan's holy city of Ardmore. This embraces a +beautiful and perfect round tower, a singularly interesting ruined church +commonly called the cathedral, the ruins of a second church beside a holy +well, a primitive oratory, a couple of ogham inscribed pillar stones, +&c., &c. + +No Irish saint perhaps has so strong a local hold as Declan or has left +so abiding a popular memory. Nevertheless his period is one of the great +disputed questions of early Irish history. According to the express +testimony of his Life, corroborated by testimony of the Lives of SS. +Ailbhe and Ciaran, he preceded St. Patrick in the Irish mission and was a +co-temporary of the national apostle. Objection, exception or opposition +to the theory of Declan's early period is based less on any inherent +improbability in the theory itself than on contradictions and +inconsistencies in the Life. Beyond any doubt the Life does actually +contradict itself; it makes Declan a cotemporary of Patrick in the fifth +century and a cotemporary likewise of St. David a century later. In any +attempted solution of the difficulty involved it may be helpful to +remember a special motive likely to animate a tribal histrographer, +scil.:--the family relationship, if we may so call it, of the two saints; +David was bishop of the Deisi colony in Wales as Declan was bishop of +their kinsmen of southern Ireland. It was very probably part of the +writer's purpose to call attention to the links of kindred which bound +the separated Deisi; witness his allusion later to the alleged visit of +Declan to his kinsmen of Bregia. Possibly there were several Declans, as +there were scores of Colmans, Finians, &c., and hence perhaps the +confusion and some of the apparent inconsistencies. There was certainly +a second Declan, a disciple of St. Virgilius, to whom the latter +committed care of a church in Austria where he died towards close of +eighth century. Again we find mention of a St. Declan who was a foster +son of Mogue of Ferns, and so on. It is too much, as Delehaye ("Legendes +Hagiographiques") remarks, to expect the populace to distinguish between +namesakes. Great men are so rare! Is it likely there should have lived +two saints of the same name in the same country! + +The latest commentators on the question of St. Declan's period--and they +happen to be amongst the most weighty--argue strongly in favour of the +pre-Patrician mission (Cfr. Prof. Kuno Meyer, "Learning Ireland in the +Fifth Century"). Discussing the way in which letters first reached our +distant island of the west and the causes which led to the proficiency of +sixth-century Ireland in classical learning Zimmer and Meyer contend that +the seeds of that literary culture, which flourished in Ireland of the +sixth century, had been sown therein in the first and second decades of +the preceding century by Gaulish scholars who had fled from their own +country owing to invasion of the latter by Goths and other barbarians. +The fact that these scholars, who were mostly Christians, sought asylum +in Ireland indicates that Christianity had already penetrated thither, or +at any rate that it was known and tolerated there. Dr. Meyer answers the +objection that if so large and so important an invasion of scholars took +place we ought have some reference to the fact in the Irish annals. The +annals, he replies, are of local origin and they rarely refer in their +oldest parts to national events: moreover they are very meagre in their +information about the fifth century. One Irish reference to the Gaulish +scholars is, however, adduced in corroboration; it occurs in that well +known passage in St. Patrick's "Confessio" where the saint cries out +against certain "rhetoricians" in Ireland who were hostile to him and +pagan,--"You rhetoricians who do not know the Lord, hear and search Who +it was that called me up, fool though I be, from the midst of those who +think themselves wise and skilled in the law and mighty orators and +powerful in everything." Who were these "rhetorici" that have made this +passage so difficult for commentators and have caused so various +constructions to be put upon it? It is clear, the professor maintains, +that the reference is to pagan rhetors from Gaul whose arrogant +presumption, founded on their learning, made them regard with disdain the +comparatively illiterate apostle of the Scots. Everyone is familiar with +the classic passage of Tacitus wherein he alludes to the harbours of +Ireland as being more familiar to continental mariners than those of +Britain. We have references moreover to refugee Christians who fled to +Ireland from the persecutions of Diocletian more than a century before +St. Patrick's day; in addition it is abundantly evident that many +Irishmen--Christians like Celestius the lieutenant of Pelagius, and +possibly Pelagius himself, amongst them--had risen to distinction or +notoriety abroad before middle of the fifth century. + +Possibly the best way to present the question of Declan's age is to put +in tabulated form the arguments of the pre-Patrician advocates against +the counter contentions of those who claim that Declan's period is later +than Patrick's:-- + + For the Pre-Patrician Mission. +I.--Positive statement of Life, corroborated by Lives of SS. Ciaran and +Ailbhe. +II.--Patrick's apparent avoidance of the Principality of Decies. +III.--The peculiar Declan cult and the strong local hold which Declan has +maintained. + + Against Theory of Early Fifth Century period. +I.--Contradictions, anachronisms, &c., of Life. +II.--Lack of allusion to Declan in the Lives of St. Patrick. +III.--Prosper's testimony to the mission of Palladius as first bishop to +the believing Scots. +IV.--Alleged motives for later invention of Pre-Patrician story. + +In this matter and at this hour it is hardly worth appealing to the +authority of Lanigan and the scholars of the past. Much evidence not +available in Lanigan's day is now at the service of scholars. We are to +look rather at the reasoning of Colgan, Ussher, and Lanigan than to the +mere weight of their names. + +Referring in order to our tabulated grounds of argument, pro and con, and +taking the pro arguments first, we may (I.) discard as evidence for our +purpose the Life of St. Ibar which is very fragmentary and otherwise a +rather unsatisfactory document. The Lives of Ailbhe, Ciaran, and Declan +are however mutually corroborative and consistent. The Roman visit and +the alleged tutelage under Hilarius are probably embellishments; they +look like inventions to explain something and they may contain more than +a kernel of truth. At any rate they are matters requiring further +investigation and elucidation. In this connection it may be useful to +recall that the Life (Latin) of St. Ciaran has been attributed by Colgan +to Evinus the disciple and panegyrist of St. Patrick. + +Patrick's apparent neglect of the Decies (II.) may have no special +significance. At best it is but negative evidence: taken, however, in +connection with (I.) and its consectaria it is suggestive. We can +hardly help speculating why the apostle--passing as it were by its front +door--should have given the go-bye to a region so important as the +Munster Decies. Perhaps he sent preachers into it; perhaps there was no +special necessity for a formal mission, as the faith had already found +entrance. It is a little noteworthy too that we do not find St. +Patrick's name surviving in any ecclesiastical connection with the +Decies, if we except Patrick's Well, near Clonmel, and this Well is +within a mile or so of the territorial frontier. Moreover the southern +portion of the present Tipperary County had been ceded by Aengus to the +Deisi, only just previous to Patrick's advent, and had hardly yet had +sufficient time to become absorbed. The whole story of Declan's alleged +relations with Patrick undoubtedly suggests some irregularity in Declan's +mission--an irregularity which was capable of rectification through +Patrick and which de facto was finally so rectified. + +(III.) No one in Eastern Munster requires to be told how strong is the +cult of St. Declan throughout Decies and the adjacent territory. It is +hardly too much to say that the Declan tradition in Waterford and Cork is +a spiritual actuality, extraordinary and unique, even in a land which +till recently paid special popular honour to its local saints. In +traditional popular regard Declan in the Decies has ever stood first, +foremost, and pioneer. Carthage, founder of the tribal see, has held and +holds in the imagination of the people only a secondary place. Declan, +whencesoever or whenever he came, is regarded as the spiritual father to +whom the Deisi owe the gift of faith. How far this tradition and the +implied belief in Declan's priority and independent mission are derived +from circulation of the "Life" throughout Munster in the last few +centuries it is difficult to gauge, but the tradition seems to have +flourished as vigorously in the days of Colgan as it does to-day. +Declan's "pattern" at Ardmore continues to be still the most noted +celebration of its kind in Ireland. A few years ago it was participated +in by as many as fourteen thousand people from all parts of Waterford, +Cork, and Tipperary. The scenes and ceremonies have been so frequently +described that it is not necessary to recount them here--suffice it to +say that the devotional practices and, in fact, the whole celebration is +of a purely popular character receiving no approbation, and but bare +toleration, from church or clergy. Even to the present day Declan's name +is borne as their praenomen by hundreds of Waterford men, and, before +introduction of the modern practice of christening with foolish foreign +names, its use was far more common, as the ancient baptismal registers of +Ardmore, Old Parish, and Clashmore attest. On the other hand Declan's +name is associated with comparatively few places in the Decies. Of these +the best known is Relig Deaglain, a disused graveyard and early church +site on the townland of Drumroe, near Cappoquin. There was also an +ancient church called Killdeglain, near Stradbally. + +Against the theory of the pre-Patrician or citra-Patrician mission we +have first the objection, which really has no weight, and which we shall +not stop to discuss, that it is impossible for Christianity at that early +date to have found its way to this distant island, beyond the boundary of +the world. An argument on a different plane is (I.), the undoubtedly +contradictory and inconsistent character of the Life. It is easy however +to exaggerate the importance of this point. Modern critical methods were +undreamed of in the days of our hagiographer, who wrote, moreover, for +edification only in a credulous age. Most of the historical documents of +the period are in a greater or less degree uncritical but that does not +discredit their testimony however much it may confuse their editors. It +can be urged moreover that two mutually incompatible genealogies of the +saint are given. The genealogy given by MacFirbisigh seems in fact to +disagree in almost every possible detail with the genealogy in 23 M. 50 +R.I.A. That however is like an argument that Declan never existed. It +really suggests and almost postulates the existence of a second Declan +whose Acts and those of our Declan have become mutually confused. + +(II.) Absence of Declan's name from the Acts of Patrick is a negative +argument. It is explicable perhaps by the supposed irregularity of +Declan's preaching. Declan was certainly earlier than Mochuda and yet +there is no reference to him in the Life of the latter saint. Ailbhe +however is referred to in the Tripartite Life of Patrick and the cases of +Ailbhe and Declan are "a pari"; the two saints stand or fall together. + +(IV.) Motives for invention of the pre-Patrician myth are alleged, +scil.:--to rebut certain claims to jurisdiction, tribute or visitation +advanced by Armagh in after ages. It is hard to see however how +resistance to the claims in question could be better justified on the +theory of a pre-Patrician Declan, who admittedly acknowledged Patrick's +supremacy, than on the admission of a post-Patrician mission. + +That in Declan we have to deal with a very early Christian teacher of the +Decies there can be no doubt. If not anterior to Patrick he must have +been the latter's cotemporary. Declan however had failed to convert the +chieftain of his race and for this--reading between the lines of the +"Life"--we seem to hear Patrick blaming him. + +The monuments proper of Declan remaining at Ardmore are (a) his oratory +near the Cathedral and Round Tower in the graveyard, (b) his stone on the +beach, (c) his well on the cliff, and (d) another stone said to have been +found in his tomb and preserved at Ardmore for long ages with great +reveration. The "Life" refers moreover to the saint's pastoral staff and +his bell but these have disappeared for centuries. + +The "Oratory" is simply a primitive church of the usual sixth century +type: it stands 13' 4" x 8' 9" in the clear, and has, or had, the usual +high-pitched gables and square-headed west doorway with inclining jambs. +Another characteristic feature of the early oratory is seen in the +curious antae or prolongation of the side walls. Locally the little +building is known as the "beannacan," in allusion, most likely, to its +high gables or the finials which once, no doubt, in Irish fashion, +adorned its roof. Though somewhat later than Declan's time this +primitive building is very intimately connected with the Saint. +Popularly it is supposed to be his grave and within it is a hollow space +scooped out, wherein it is said his ashes once reposed. It is highly +probable that tradition is quite correct as to the saint's grave, over +which the little church was erected in the century following Declan's +death. The oratory was furnished with a roof of slate by Bishop Mills in +1716. + +"St. Declan's Stone" is a glacial boulder of very hard conglomerate which +lies on a rocky ledge of beach beneath the village of Ardmore. It +measures some 8' 6" x 4' 6" x 4' 0" and reposes upon two slightly jutting +points of the underlying metamorphic rock. Wonderful virtues are +attributed to St. Declan's Stone, which, on the occasion of the patronal +feast, is visited by hundreds of devotees who, to participate in its +healing efficacy and beneficence, crawl laboriously on face and hands +through the narrow space between the boulder and the underlying rock. +Near by, at foot of a new storm-wall, are two similar but somewhat +smaller boulders which, like their venerated and more famous neighbour, +were all wrenched originally by a glacier from their home in the Comeragh +Mountains twenty miles away. + +"St. Declan's Well," beside some remains of a rather large and apparently +twelfth century church on the cliff, in the townland of Dysert is +diverted into a shallow basin in which pilgrims bathe feet and hands. +Set in some comparatively modern masonry over the well are a carved +crucifixion and other figures of apparently late mediaeval character. +Some malicious interference with this well led, nearly a hundred years +since, to much popular indignation and excitement. + +The second "St. Declan's Stone" was a small, cross-inscribed jet-black +piece of slate or marble, approximately--2" or 3" x 1 1/2". Formerly it +seems to have had a small silver cross inset and was in great demand +locally as an amulet for cattle curing. It disappeared however, some +fifty years or so since, but very probably it could still be recovered in +Dungarvan. + +Far the most striking of all the monuments at Ardmore is, of course, the +Round Tower which, in an excellent state of preservation, stands with its +conical cap of stone nearly a hundred feet high. Two remarkable, if not +unique, features of the tower are the series of sculptured corbels which +project between the floors on the inside, and the four projecting belts +or zones of masonry which divide the tower into storeys externally. The +tower's architectural anomalies are paralleled by its history which is +correspondingly unique: it stood a regular siege in 1642, when ordnance +was brought to bear on it and it was defended by forty confederates +against the English under Lords Dungarvan and Broghil. + +A few yards to north of the Round Tower stands "The Cathedral" +illustrating almost every phase of ecclesiastical architecture which +flourished in Ireland from St. Patrick to the Reformation--Cyclopean, +Celtic-Romanesque, Transitional and Pointed. The chancel arch is +possibly the most remarkable and beautiful illustration of the +Transitional that we have. An extraordinary feature of the church is the +wonderful series of Celtic arcades and panels filled with archaic +sculptures in relief which occupy the whole external face of the west +gable. + +St. Declan's foundation at Ardmore seems (teste Moran's Archdall) to have +been one of the Irish religious houses which accepted the reform of Pope +Innocent at the Lateran Council and to have transformed itself into a +Regular Canonry. It would however be possible to hold, on the evidence, +that it degenerated into a mere parochial church. We hear indeed of two +or three episcopal successors of the saint, scil.:--Ultan who immediately +followed him, Eugene who witnessed a charter to the abbey of Cork in +1174, and Moelettrim O Duibhe-rathre who died in 1303 after he had, +according to the annals of Inisfallen, "erected and finished the Church" +of Ardmore. The "Wars of the Gaedhil and Gall" have reference, circa 824 +or 825, to plunder by the Northmen of Disert Tipraite which is almost +certainly the church of Dysert by the Holy Well at Ardmore. The same +fleet, on the same expedition, plundered Dunderrow (near Kinsale), +Inisshannon (Bandon River), Lismore, and Kilmolash. + +Regarding the age of our "Life" it is difficult with the data at hand to +say anything very definite. While dogmatism however is dangerous +indefiniteness is unsatisfying. True, we cannot trace the genealogy of +the present version beyond middle of the sixteenth century, but its +references to ancient monuments existing at date of its compilation show +it to be many centuries older. Its language proves little or nothing, +for, being a popular work, it would be modernised to date by each +successive scribe. Colgan was of opinion it was a composition of the +eighth century. Ussher and Ware, who had the Life in very ancient +codices, also thought it of great antiquity. Papebrach, the Bollandist, +on the other hand, considered the Life could not be older than the +twelfth century, but this opinion of his seems to have been based on a +misapprehension. In the absence of all diocesan colour or allusion one +feels constrained to assign the production to some period previous to +Rathbreasail. We should not perhaps be far wrong in assigning the first +collection of materials to somewhere in the eighth century or in the +century succeeding. The very vigorous ecclesiastical revival of the +eleventh century, at conclusion of the Danish wars, must have led to some +revision of the country's religious literature. The introduction, a +century and-a-half later, of the great religious orders most probably led +to translation of the Life into Latin and its casting into shape for +reading in refectory or choir. + +Only three surviving copies of the Irish Life are known to the writer: +one in the Royal Library at Brussels, the second in the Royal Irish +Academy Collection (M. 23, 50, pp. 109-120), and the third in possession +of Professor Hyde. As the second and third enumerated are copies of one +imperfect exemplar it has not been thought necessary to collate both with +the Brussels MS. which has furnished the text here printed. M. 23, 50 +(R.I.A.) has however been so collated and the marginal references +initialled B are to that imperfect copy. The latter, by the way, is in +the handwriting of John Murphy "na Raheenach," and is dated 1740. It has +not been thought necessary to give more than the important variants. + +The present text is a reproduction of the Brussels MS. plus lengthening +of contractions. As regards lengthening in question it is to be noted +that the well known contraction for "ea" or "e" has been uniformly +transliterated "e." Otherwise orthography of the MS. has been +scrupulously followed--even where inconsistent or incorrect. For the +division into paragraphs the editor is not responsible; he has merely +followed the division originated, or adopted, by the scribe. The Life +herewith presented was copied in 1629 by Brother Michael O'Clery of the +Four Masters' staff from an older MS. of Eochy O'Heffernan's dated 1582. +The MS. of O'Heffernan is referred to by our scribe as "seinleabar," but +his reference is rather to the contents than to the copy. Apparently +O'Clery did more than transcribe; he re-edited, as was his wont, into the +literary Irish of his day. A page of the Brussels MS., reproduced in +facsimile as a frontispiece to the present volume, will give the student +a good idea of O'Clery's script and style. + +Occasional notes on Declan in the martyrologies and elsewhere give some +further information about our saint. Unfortunately however the alleged +facts are not always capable of reconciliation with statements of our +"Life," and again the existence of a second, otherwise unknown, Declan is +suggested. The introduction of rye is attributed to him in the Calendar +of Oengus, as introduction of wheat is credited to St. Finan Camm, and +introduction of bees to St. Modomnoc,--"It was the full of his shoe that +Declan brought, the full of his shoe likewise Finan, but the full of his +bell Modomnoc" (Cal. Oeng., April 7th). More puzzling is the note in the +same Calendar which makes Declan a foster son of Mogue of Ferns! This +entry illustrates the way in which errors originate. A former scribe +inadvertently copied in, after Declan's name, portion of the entry +immediately following which relates to Colman Hua Liathain. Successive +scribes re-copied the error without discovering it and so it became +stereotyped. + + + +III.--ST. MOCHUDA. + + +"It was he (Mochuda) that had the famous congregation +consisting of seven hundred and ten persons; an angel +used to address every third man of them." +(Martyrology of Donegal). + + +In some respects the Life of Mochuda here presented is in sharp contrast +to the corresponding Life of Declan. The former document is in all +essentials a very sober historical narrative--accurate wherever we can +test it, credible and harmonious on the whole. Philologically, to be +sure, it is of little value,--certainly a much less valuable Life than +Declan's; historically, however (and question of the pre-Patrician +mission apart) it is immensely the more important document. On one +point do we feel inclined to quarrel with its author, scil.: that he +has not given us more specifically the motives underlying Mochuda's +expulsion from Rahen--one of the three worst counsels ever given in +Erin. Reading between his lines we spell, jealousy--'invidia +religiosorum.' Another jealousy too is suggested--the mutual distrust +of north and south which has been the canker-worm of Irish political +life for fifteen hundred years, making intelligible if not justifying +the indignation of a certain distinguished Irishman who wanted to know +the man's name, in order to curse its owner, who first divided Ireland +into two provinces. + +Three different Lives of Mochuda are known to the present writer. Two of +them are contained in a MS. at Brussels (C/r. Bindon, p. 8, 13) and of +one of these there is a copy in a MS. of Dineen's in the Royal Irish +Academy (Stowe Collection, A. IV, I.) Dineen appears to have been a +Cork or Kerry man and to have worked under the patronage of the rather +noted Franciscan Father Francis Matthew (O'Mahony), who was put to death +at Cork by Inchiquin in 1644. The bald text of Dineen's "Life" was +published a few years since, without translation, in the 'Irish Rosary.' +The corresponding Brussels copy is in Michael O'Clery's familiar hand. +In it occurs the strange pagan-flavoured story of the British Monk +Constantine. O'Clery's copy was made in January, 1627, at the Friary of +Drouish from the Book of Tadhg O'Ceanan and it is immediately followed +by a tract entitled--"Do Macaib Ua Suanac." The bell of Mochuda, by the +way, which the saint rang against Blathmac, was called the 'glassan' of +Hui Suanaig in later times. + +The "Life" here printed, which follows the Latin Life so closely that +one seems a late translation of the other, is as far as the editor is +aware, contained in a single MS. only. This is M. 23, 50, R.I.A., in +the handwriting of John Murphy, "na Raheenach." Murphy was a Co. Cork +schoolmaster, scribe, and poet, of whom a biographical sketch will be +found prefixed by Mr. R. A. Foley to a collection of Murphy's poems that +he has edited. The sobriquet, "na Raheenach," is really a kind of +tribal designation. The "Life" is very full but is in its present form +a comparatively late production; it was transcribed by Murphy between +1740 and 1750. It is much to be regretted that the scribe tells us +nothing of his original. Murphy, but the way, seems to have specialised +to some extent in saint's Lives and to have imbued his disciples with +something of the same taste. One of his pupils was Maurice O'Connor, a +scribe and shipwright of Cove, to whom we owe the Life of St. Ciaran of +Saighir printed in "Silva Gadelica." The reasons of choice for +publication here of the present Life are avowedly non-philological; the +motive for preference is that it is the longest of the three Lives and +for historical purposes the most important. + +The Life presents considerable evidence of historical reliability; its +geography is detailed and correct; its references to contemporaries +of Mochuda are accurate on the whole and there are few inconsistencies +or none. Moreover it sheds some new light on that chronic +puzzle--organisation of the Celtic Church of Ireland. Mochuda, head of a +great monastery at Rahen, is likewise a kind of pluralist Parish Priest +with a parish in Kerry, administered in his name by deputed +ecclesiastics, and other parishes similarly administered in Kerrycurrihy, +Rostellan, West Muskerry, and Spike Island, Co. Cork. When a chief +parishioner lies seriously ill in distant Corca Duibhne, Mochuda himself +comes all the way from the centre of Ireland to administer the last rites +to the dying man, and so on. + +The relations of the people to the Church and its ministers are in many +respects not at all easy to understand. Oblations, for instance, of +themselves and their territory, &c., by chieftains are frequent. +Oblations of monasteries are made in a similar way. Probably this +signifies no more than that the chief region or monastery put itself +under the saint's jurisdiction or rule or both. That there were other +churches too than the purely monastic appears from offerings to Mochuda +of already existing churches, v.g. from the Clanna Ruadhan in Decies, +&c. + +Lismore, the most famous of Mochuda's foundations, became within a +century of the saint's death, one of the great monastic schools of Erin, +attracting to his halls, or rather to its boothies, students from all +Ireland and even--so it is claimed--from lands beyond the seas. King +Alfrid [Aldfrith] of Northumbria, for instance, is said to have partaken +of Lismore's hospitality, and certainly Cormac of Cashel, Malachy and +Celsus of Armagh and many others of the most distinguished of the Scots +partook thereof. The roll of Lismore's calendared saints would require, +did the matter fall within our immediate province, more than one page to +itself. Some interesting reference to Mochuda and his holy city occur +in the Life of one of his disciples, St. Colman Maic Luachain, edited +for the R.I.A. by Professor Kuno Meyer. + +There are many indications in the present Life that, at one period, and +in the time of Carthach, the western boundary of Decies extended far +beyond the line at present recognised. Similar indications are furnished +by the martyrologies, &c.; for instance, the martyrology of Donegal +under November 28th records of "the three sons of Bochra" that "they are +of Archadh Raithin in Ui Mic Caille in Deisi Mumhan" and Ibid, p. +xxxvii, it is stated "i ccondae Corcaige ataid na Desi Muman." Not only +Imokilly but all Co. Cork, east of Queenstown [Cobh] and north to the +Blackwater, seems to have acknowledged Mochuda's jurisdiction. At +Rathbreasail accordingly (teste Keating, on the authority of the Book of +Cloneneigh) the Diocese of Lismore is made to extend to Cork,--probably +over the present baronies of Imokilly, Kinatallon, and Barrymore. That +part, at least, of Condons and Clangibbon was likewise included is +inferrible from the fact that, as late as the sixteenth century +visitations, Kilworth, founded by Colman Maic Luachain, ranked as a +parish in the diocese of Lismore. Further evidence pointing in the same +direction is furnished by Clondulane, &c., represented in the present +Life as within Carthach's jurisdiction. + +The Rule of St. Carthach is one of the few ancient Irish so-called +monastic Rules surviving. It is in reality less a "rule," as the latter +is now understood, than a series of Christian and religious counsels +drawn up by a spiritual master for his disciples. It must not be +understood from this that each religious house did not have it formal +regulations. The latter however seem to have depended largely upon the +abbot's spirit, will or discretion. The existing "Rules" abound in +allusions to forgotten practices and customs and, to add to their +obscurity, their language is very difficult--sometimes, like the +language of the Brehon Laws, unintelligible. The rule ascribed to +Mochuda is certainly a document of great antiquity and may well have +emanated from the seventh century and from the author whose name it +bears. The tradition of Lismore and indeed of the Irish Church is +constant in attributing it to him. Copies of the Rule are found in +numerous MSS. but many of them are worthless owing to the incompetence +of the scribes to whom the difficult Irish of the text was +unintelligible. The text in the Leabhar Breac has been made the basis +of his edition of the Rule by Mac Eaglaise, a writer in the 'Irish +Ecclesiastical Record' (1910). Mac Eaglaise's edition, though it is not +all that could be desired, is far the most satisfactory which has yet +appeared. Previous editions of the Rule or part of it comprise one by +Dr. Reeves in his tract on the Culdees, one by Kuno Meyer in the 'Gaelic +Journal' (Vol. V.) and another in 'Archiv fuer C.L.' (3 Bund. 1905), and +another again in 'Eriu' (Vol. 2, p. 172), besides a free translation of +the whole rule by O'Curry in the 'I. R. Record' for 1864. The text of +the 'Record' edition of 1910 is from Leabhar Breac collated with other +MSS. The order in the various copies is not the same and some copies +contain material which is wanting in others. The "Rule" commences with +the Ten Commandments, then it enumerates the obligations respectively of +bishops, abbots, priests, monks, and culdees [anchorites]. Finally there +is a section on the order of meals and on the refectory and another on +the obligations of a king. The following excerpt on the duties of an +abbot ('I. E. Record' translation) will illustrate the style and spirit +of the Rule: + + "Of the Abbot of a Church. +1.--If you be the head man of a Church noble is the power, better for you +that you be just who take the heirship of the king. +2.--If you are the head man of a Church noble is the obligation, +preservation of the rights of the Church from the small to the great. +3.--What Holy Church commands preach then with diligence; what you order +to each one do it yourself. +4.--As you love your own soul love the souls of all. Yours the +magnification of every good [and] banishment of every evil. +5.--Be not a candle under a bushel [Luke 11:33]. Your learning without a +cloud over it. Yours the healing of every host both strong and weak. +6.--Yours to judge each one according to grade and according to deed; he +will advise you at judgment before the king.... +10.--Yours to rebuke the foolish, to punish the hosts, turning disorder +into order [restraint] of the stubborn, obstinate, wretched." + +Reservation of the Coarbship of Mochuda at Lismore in favour of Kerrymen +is an extremely curious if not unique provision. How long it continued +in force we do not know. Probably it endured to the twelfth century and +possibly the rule was not of strict interpretation. Christian +O'Connarchy, who was bishop of Lismore in the twelfth century, is +regarded as a native of Decies, though the contrary is slightly +suggested by his final retirement to Kerry. The alleged prophecy +concerning Kerry men and the coarbship points to some rule, regulation +or law of Mochuda. + + + +MAP OF IRELAND. + + ++-------------------------------------------+ +| | +| __ __---_ | +| ,-~~~ ~\/ ~\ | +| ,_/ | | +| /,_ / | +| _ _/ ~\ | +| /~~ ~\/~-_| / | +| \ /~ | +| \ _ _\/ | +| ,' | | +| /~ Tara \ | +| \ * | | +| '~|__- Rahen / | +| .- ,/~ * \ | +| | / | +| / | | +| /_,_/~ | | +| / Cashel / | +| ,--~ * | | +| /--- Lismore __|_-_/ | +| ,-~ *-,-~ | +| \_-~/ \ /~ * | +| ,-~/= _/~ Ardmore | +| --~/_-_-/~'~ | +| | ++-------------------------------------------+ + + + + +LIFE OF ST. DECLAN. + +"BETHA DECCLAIN." + + +1. The most blessed Bishop Declan of the most noble race of the kings of +Ireland, i.e., the holy bishop who is called Declan was of the most noble +royal family of Ireland--a family which held the sceptre and exacted +tribute from all Ireland at Tara for ages. Declan was by birth of noble +blood as will appear from his origin and genealogy, for it was from +Eochaidh Feidhleach, the powerful Ardrigh of Ireland for twelve years, +that he sprang. Eochaidh aforesaid, had three sons, scil.:--Breas, Nar, +and Lothola, who are called the three Finneavna; there reigned one +hundred and seven kings of their race and kindred before and after them, +i.e. of the race of Eremon, king of Ireland,--before the introduction of +Christianity and since. These three youths lay one day with their own +sister Clothra, daughter of the same father, and she conceived of them. +The son she brought forth as a consequence of that intercourse was marked +by three red wavy lines which indicated his descent from the three youths +aforesaid. He was named Lugaidh Sriabhdearg from the three lines +[sriabaib] in question, and he was beautiful to behold and of greater +bodily strength in infancy than is usual with children of his age. He +commenced his reign as king of Ireland the year in which Caius Caesar +[Caligula] died and he reigned for twenty-six years. His son was named +Criomthan Nianair who reigned but sixteen years. Criomthan's son was +named Fearadach Finnfechtnach whose son was Fiacha Finnolaidh whose son +again was Tuathal Teachtmhar. This Tuathal had a son Felimidh Reachtmhar +who had in turn three sons--Conn Ceadcathach, Eochaidh Finn, and Fiacha +Suighde. Conn was king of Ireland for twenty years and the +productiveness of crops and soil and of dairies in the time of Conn are +worthy of commemoration and of fame to the end of time. Conn was killed +in Magh Cobha by the Ulstermen, scil.:--by Tiopruid Tireach and it is +principally his seed which has held the kingship of Ireland ever since. +Eochaidh Finn was second son to Felimidh Reachtmhar and he migrated to +the latter's province of Leinster, and it is in that province his race +and progeny have remained since then. They are called Leinstermen, and +there are many chieftains and powerful persons of them in Leinster. +Fiacha Suighde moreover, although he died before he succeeded to the +chief sovereignty, possessed land around Tara. He left three sons--Ross, +Oengus, and Eoghan who were renowned for martial deeds--valiant and +heroic in battle and in conflict. Of the three, Oengus excelled in all +gallant deeds so that he came to be styled Oengus of the poisonous +javelin. Cormac Mac Art Mac Conn it was who reigned in Ireland at this +time. Cormac had a son named Ceallach who took by force the daughter of +Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde to dwell with him, i.e. Credhe the daughter of +Eoghan. When Oengus Gaebuaibhtheach ("of the poisonous javelin") heard +this, viz., that the daughter of his brother had been abducted by +Ceallach he was roused to fury and he followed Ceallach to Tara taking +with him his foster child, scil.:--Corc Duibhne, the son of Cairbre, son +of Conaire, son of Mogha Lamha whom Cormac held as a hostage from the +Munstermen, and whom he had given for safe custody to Oengus. When +Oengus reached Tara he beheld Ceallach sitting behind Cormac. He thrust +his spear at Ceallach and pierced him through from front to back. +However as he was withdrawing the spear the handle struck Cormac's eye +and knocked it out and then, striking the steward, killed him. He +himself (Oengus) with his foster child escaped safely. After a time +Cormac, grieving for the loss of his son, his eye and his steward at the +hands of Oengus of the poisonous javelin and of his kinsmen, ordered +their expulsion from their tribal territory, i.e. from the Decies of +Tara, and not alone from these, but from whole northern half of Ireland. +However, seven battles were fought in which tremendous loss was inflicted +on Cormac and his followers before Oengus and his people, i.e. the three +sons of Fiacha Suighde, namely, Ross and Oengus and Eoghan, as we have +already said, were eventually defeated, and obliged to fly the country +and to suffer exile. Consequent on their banishment as above by the king +of Ireland they sought hospitality from the king of Munster, Oilill Olum, +because Sadhbh, daughter of Conn Ceadcathach was his wife. They got land +from him, scil.: the Decies of Munster, and it is to that race, i.e. the +race of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde that the kings and country of the +Decies belong ever since. + +2. Of this same race of Eoghan was the holy bishop Declan of whom I +shall speak later scil.: Declan son of Eirc, son of Trein, son of +Lughaidh, son of Miaich, son of Brian, son of Eoghan, son of Art Corp, +son of Moscorb, son of Mesgeadra, son of Measfore, son of Cuana +Cainbhreathaigh, son of Conaire Cathbuadhaigh, son of Cairbre, son of +Eoghan, son of Fiacha Suighde, son of Felimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal +Teachtmhar. The father of Declan was therefore Erc Mac Trein. He and +his wife Deithin went on a visit to the house of his kinsman Dobhran +about the time that Declan's birth was due. The child she bore was +Declan, whom she brought forth without sickness, pain or difficulty but +in being lifted up afterwards he struck his head against a great stone. +Let it be mentioned that Declan showed proofs of sanctification and power +of miracle-working in his mother's womb, as the prophet writes:--"De +vulva sanctificavi te et prophetam in gentibus dedi te" [Jeremias 1:5] +(Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and made thee +a prophet unto the nations). Thus it is that Declan was sanctified in +his mother's womb and was given by God as a prophet to the pagans for the +conversion of multitudes of them from heathenism and the misery of +unbelief to the worship of Christ and to the Catholic faith, as we shall +see later on. The very soft apex of his head struck against a hard +stone, as we have said, and where the head came in contact with the stone +it made therein a hollow and cavity of its own form and shape, without +injury of any kind to him. Great wonder thereupon seized all who +witnessed this, for Ireland was at this time without the true faith and +it was rarely that any one (therein) had shown heavenly Christian signs. +"Declan's Rock" is the name of the stone with which the Saint's head came +into contact. The water or rain which falls into the before-mentioned +cavity (the place of Declan's head) dispels sickness and infirmity, by +the grace of God, as proof of Declan's sanctity. + +3. On the night of Declan's birth a wondrous sign was revealed to all, +that is to the people who were in the neighbourhood of the birthplace; +this was a ball of fire which was seen blazing on summit of the house in +which the child lay, until it reached up to heaven and down again, and it +was surrounded by a multitude of angels. It assumed the shape of a +ladder such as the Patriarch, Jacob saw [Genesis 28:12]. The persons who +saw and heard these things wondered at them. They did not know (for the +true faith had not yet been preached to them or in this region) that it +was God who (thus) manifested His wondrous power (works) in the infant, +His chosen child. Upon the foregoing manifestation a certain true +Christian, scil.:--Colman, at that time a priest and afterwards a holy +bishop, came, rejoicing greatly and filled with the spirit of prophecy, +to the place where Declan was; he preached the faith of Christ to the +parents and made known to them that the child was full of the grace of +God. He moreover revealed to them the height of glory and honour to +which the infant should attain before God and men, and it was revealed to +him that he (Declan) should spend his life in sanctity and devotion. +Through the grace of God, these, i.e. Erc and Deithin, believed in God +and Colman, and they delivered the child for baptism to Colman who +baptised him thereupon, giving him the name of Declan. When, in the +presence of all, he had administered Baptism, Colman spoke this prophecy +concerning the infant "Truly, beloved child and lord you will be in +heaven and on earth most high and holy, and your good deeds, fame, and +sanctity will fill all (the four quarters of) Ireland and you will +convert your own nation and the Decies from paganism to Christianity. On +that account I bind myself to you by the tie of brotherhood and I commend +myself to your sanctity." + +4. Colman thereupon returned to his own abode; he commanded that Declan +should be brought up with due care, that he should be well trained, and +be set to study at the age of seven years if there could be found in his +neighbourhood a competent Christian scholar to undertake his tuition. +Even at the period of his baptism grace and surpassing charity manifested +themselves in the countenance of Declan so that it was understood of all +that great should be the goodness and the spiritual charm of his mature +age. When Dobhran had heard and seen these things concerning his kinsman +Erc he requested the latter and Deithin to give him the child to foster, +and with this request Erc complied. The name of the locality was +"Dobhran's Place" at that time, but since then it has been "Declan's +Place." Dobhran presented the homestead to Declan and removed his own +dwelling thence to another place. In after years, when Declan had become +a bishop, he erected there a celebrated cell in honour of God, and this +is the situation of the cell in question:--In the southern part of the +Decies, on the east side of Magh Sgiath and not far from the city of +Mochuda i.e. Lismore. For the space of seven years Declan was fostered +with great care by Dobhran (his father's brother) and was much loved by +him. God wrought many striking miracles through Declan's instrumentality +during those years. By aid of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him he +(Declan)--discreet Christian man that he was--avoided every fault and +every unlawful desire during that time. + +5. On the completion of seven years Declan was taken from his parents +and friends and fosterers to be sent to study as Colman had ordained. It +was to Dioma they sent him, a certain devout man perfect in the faith, +who had come at that time by God's design into Ireland having spent a +long period abroad in acquiring learning. He (Dioma) built in that place +a small cell wherein he might instruct Declan and dwell himself. There +was given him also, to instruct, together with Declan, another child, +scil., Cairbre Mac Colmain, who became afterwards a holy learned bishop. +Both these were for a considerable period pursuing their studies +together. + +6. There were seven men dwelling in Magh Sgiath, who frequently saw the +fiery globe which it has been already told they first beheld at the time +of Declan's birth. It happened by the Grace of God that they were the +first persons to reveal and describe that lightning. These seven came to +the place where Declan abode and took him for their director and master. +They made known publicly in the presence of all that, later on, he should +be a bishop and they spoke prophetically:--"The day, O beloved child and +servant of God, will come when we shall commit ourselves and our lands to +thee." And it fell out thus (as they foretold), for, upon believing, +they were baptised and became wise, devout (and) attentive and erected +seven churches in honour of God around Magh Sgiath. + +7. Declan remained a long time with Dioma, the holy man we have named, +and acquired science and sanctity and diversity of learning and doctrine, +and he was prudent, mild, and capable so that many who knew his nobility +of blood came when they had heard of the fullness of his sanctity and +grace. Moreover they submitted themselves to him and accepted his +religious rule. Declan judged it proper that he should visit Rome to +study discipline and ecclesiastical system, to secure for himself esteem +and approbation thence, and obtain authority to preach to the (Irish) +people and to bring back with him the rules of Rome as these obtained in +Rome itself. He set out with his followers and he tarried not till he +arrived in Rome where they remained some time. + +8. At the same period there was a holy bishop, i.e. Ailbe, who had been +in Rome for a number of years before this and was in the household of +Pope Hilary by whom he had been made a bishop. When Declan with his +disciples arrived in Rome Ailbe received him with great affection and +gladness and he bore testimony before the Roman people to his (Declan's) +sanctity of life and nobility of blood. He (Declan) therefore received +marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of Rome +when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was comely, of +good appearance, humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent in counsel, +frank in conversation, virtuous in mien, generous in gifts, holy in life +and resplendent in miracles. + +9. When Declan had spent a considerable time in Rome he was ordained a +bishop by the Pope, who gave him church-books and rules and orders and +sent him to Ireland that he might preach there. Having bidden farewell +to the Pope and received the latter's blessing Declan commenced his +journey to Ireland. Many Romans followed him to Ireland to perform their +pilgrimage and to spend their lives there under the yoke and rule of +Bishop Declan, and amongst those who accompanied him was Runan, son of +the king of Rome; he was dear to Declan. + +10. On the road through Italy Bishop Declan and Patrick met. Patrick +was not a bishop at that time, though he was (made a bishop) subsequently +by Pope Celestinus, who sent him to preach to the Irish. Patrick was +truly chief bishop of the Irish island. They bade farewell to one +another and they made a league and bond of mutual fraternity and kissed +in token of peace. They departed thereupon each on his own journey, +scil.:--Declan to Ireland and Patrick to Rome. + +11. Declan was beginning mass one day in a church which lay in his road, +when there was sent him from heaven a little black bell, (which came) in +through the window of the church and remained on the altar before Declan. +Declan greatly rejoiced thereat and gave thanks and glory to Christ on +account of it, and it filled him with much courage to combat the error +and false teaching of heathendom. He gave the bell for safe keeping and +carriage, to Runan aforesaid, i.e. son of the king of Rome, and this is +its name in Ireland--"The Duibhin Declain," and it is from its colour it +derives its name, for its colour is black [dub]. There were manifested, +by grace of God and Declan's merits, many miracles through its agency and +it is still preserved in Declan's church. + +12. When Declan and his holy companions arrived at the Sea of Icht +[English Channel] he failed, owing to lack of money, to find a ship, for +he did not have the amount demanded, and every ship was refused him on +that account. He therefore struck his bell and prayed to God for help in +this extremity. In a short time after this they saw coming towards them +on the crest of the waves an empty, sailless ship and no man therein. +Thereupon Declan said:--"Let us enter the ship in the name of Christ, and +He who has sent it to us will direct it skilfully to what harbour soever +He wishes we should go." At the word of Declan they entered in, and the +ship floated tranquilly and safely until it reached harbour in England. +Upon its abandonment by Declan and his disciples the ship turned back and +went again to the place from which it had come and the people who saw the +miracles and heard of them magnified the name of the Lord and Declan, and +the words of the prophet David were verified:--"Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis +Suis" [Psalm 67(68):36] (God is wonderful in His Saints). + +13. After this Declan came to Ireland. Declan was wise like a serpent +and gentle like a dove and industrious like the bee, for as the bee +gathers honey and avoids the poisonous herbs so did Declan, for he +gathered the sweet sap of grace and Holy Scripture till he was filled +therewith. There were in Ireland before Patrick came thither four holy +bishops with their followers who evangelized and sowed the word of God +there; these are the four:--Ailbe, Bishop Ibar, Declan, and Ciaran. They +drew multitudes from error to the faith of Christ, although it was +Patrick who sowed the faith throughout Ireland and it is he who turned +chiefs and kings of Ireland to the way of baptism, faith and sacrifice +and everlasting judgment. + +14. These three, scil.:--Declan, Ailbe and Bishop Ibar made a bond of +friendship and a league amongst themselves and their spiritual posterity +in heaven and on earth for ever and they loved one another. SS. Ailbe +and Declan, especially, loved one another as if they were brothers so +that, on account of their mutual affection they did not like to be +separated from one another--except when their followers threatened to +separate them by force if they did not go apart for a very short +time. After this Declan returned to his own country--to the Decies of +Munster--where he preached, and baptized, in the name of Christ, many +whom he turned to the Catholic faith from the power of the devil. He +built numerous churches in which he placed many of his own followers to +serve and worship God and to draw people to God from the wiles of Satan. + +15. Once on a time Declan came on a visit to the place of his birth, +where he remained forty days there and established a religious house in +which devout men have dwelt ever since. Then came the seven men we have +already mentioned as having made their abode around Magh Sgiath and as +having prophesied concerning Declan. They now dedicated themselves and +their establishment to him as they had promised and these are their +names:--Mocellac and Riadan, Colman, Lactain, Finnlaoc, Kevin, &c. +[Mobi]. These therefore were under the rule and spiritual sway of bishop +Declan thenceforward, and they spent their lives devoutly there and +wrought many wonders afterwards. + +16. After some time Declan set out to visit Aongus MacNatfrich, king of +Cashel, to preach to him and to convert him to the faith of Christ. +Declan however had two uterine brothers, sons of Aongus, scil.: Colman +and Eoghan. The grace of the Holy Ghost inspiring him Colman went to +Ailbe of Emly and received baptism and the religious habit at the +latter's hands, and he remained for a space sedulously studying science +until he became a saintly and perfect man. Eochaid however remained as +he was (at home)--expecting the kingdom of Munster on his father's death, +and he besought his father to show due honour to his brother Declan. The +king did so and put no obstacle in the way of Declan's preaching but was +pleased with Declan's religion and doctrine, although he neither believed +nor accepted baptism himself. It is said that refusal (of baptism) was +based on this ground: Declan was of the Decies and of Conn's Half, while +Aongus himself was of the Eoghanacht of Cashel of Munster--always hostile +to the Desii. It was not therefore through ill will to the faith that he +believed not, as is proved from this that, when the king heard of the +coming to him of Patrick, the archbishop of Ireland, a man who was of +British race against which the Irish cherished no hate, not only did he +believe but he went from his own city of Cashel to meet him, professed +Christianity and was immediately baptised. + +17. After this Declan, having sown the word of God and preached to the +king (although the latter did not assent to his doctrines), proceeded to +his own country and they (the Desii) believed and received baptism except +the king alone and the people of his household who were every day +promising to believe and be baptised. It however came about through the +Devil's agency that they hesitated continually and procrastinated. + +18. Other authorities declare that Declan went many times to Rome, but +we have no written testimony from the ancient biographers that he went +there more than three times. On one of these occasions Declan paid a +visit to the holy bishop of the Britons whose name was David at the +church which is called Killmuine [Menevia] where the bishop dwelt beside +the shore of the sea which divides Ireland from Britain. The bishop +received Declan with honour and he remained there forty days, in +affection and joy, and they sang Mass each day and they entered into a +bond of charity which continued between themselves and their successors +for ever afterwards. On the expiration of the forty days Declan took +leave of David giving him a kiss in token of peace and set out himself +and his followers to the shore of the sea to take ship for Ireland. + +19. Now the bell which we have alluded to as sent from heaven to Declan, +was, at that time, in the custody of Runan to carry as we have said, for +Declan did not wish, on any account, to part with it. On this particular +day as they were proceeding towards the ship Runan entrusted it to +another member of the company. On reaching the shore however the latter +laid the bell on a rock by the shore and forgot it till they were half +way across the sea. Then they remembered it and on remembrance they were +much distressed. Declan was very sorrowful that the gift sent him by the +Lord from heaven should have been forgotten in a place where he never +expected to find it again. Thereupon raising his eyes heavenward he +prayed to God within his heart and he said to his followers:--"Lay aside +your sorrow for it is possible with God who sent that bell in the +beginning to send it now again by some marvellous ship." Very fully and +wonderfully and beautifully the creature without reason or understanding +obeyed its creator, for the very heavy unwieldy rock floated buoyantly +and without deviation, so that in a short time they beheld it in their +rear with the bell upon it. And when his people saw this wondrous thing +it filled them with love for God and reverence for their master. Declan +thereupon addressed them prophetically:--"Permit the bell to precede you +and follow it exactly and whatsoever haven it will enter into it is there +my city and my bishopric will be whence I shall go to paradise and there +my resurrection will be." Meantime the bell preceded the ship, and it +eased down its great speed remaining slightly in advance of the ship, so +that it could be seen from and not overtaken by the latter. The bell +directed its course to Ireland until it reached a harbour on the south +coast, scil.:--in the Decies of Munster, at an island called, at that +time, High Sheep Island [Aird na gCcaorac] and the ship made the same +port, as Declan declared. The holy man went ashore and gave thanks and +praise to God that he had reached the place of his resurrection. Now, in +that island depastured the sheep belonging to the wife of the chieftain +of Decies and it is thence that it derives its Irish name--Ard-na- +Ccaorac, scil.:--there was in it a high hill and it was a promontory +beautiful to behold. One of the party, ascending the summit of the hill, +said to Declan:--"How can this little height support your people?" +Declan replied:--"Do not call it little hill, beloved son, but 'great +height' [ard mor]," and that name has adhered to the city ever since, +scil.:--Ardmore-Declain. After this Declan went to the king of the Desii +and asked of him the aforesaid island. Whereupon the king gave it to +him. + +20. Declan next returned to Ait-mBreasail where, in a haven at the north +side, were the shipping and boats of the island, plying thither and +backwards. The people of the island hid all their boats not willing that +Declan should settle there; they dreaded greatly that if Declan came to +dwell there they themselves should be expelled. Whereupon his disciples +addressed Declan:--"Father," said they, "Many things are required (scil.: +from the mainland) and we must often go by boat to this island and there +will be (crossing) more frequently when you have gone to heaven and we +pray thee to abandon the place or else to obtain from God that the sea +recede from the land so that it can be entered dry shod, for Christ has +said:--'Whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name He will give it +to you' [John 15:16]; the place cannot be easily inhabited unless the sea +recede from it and on that account you cannot establish your city in it." +Declan answered them and said:--"How can I abandon the place ordained by +God and in which He has promised that my burial and resurrection shall +be? As to the alleged inconvenience of dwelling therein, do you wish me +to pray to God (for things) contrary to His will--to deprive the sea of +its natural domain? Nevertheless in compliance with your request I shall +pray to God and whatever thing be God's will, let it be done." Declan's +community thereupon rose up and said:--"Father, take your crosier as +Moses took the rod [Exodus 14:16] and strike the sea therewith and God +will thus show His will to you." His disciples prayed therefore to him +because they were tried and holy men. They put Declan's crosier in his +hand and he struck the water in the name of the Father and of the Son and +of the Holy Ghost and made the sign of the cross over the water and +immediately, by command and permission of God, the sea commenced to move +out from its accustomed place--so swiftly too that the monsters of the +sea were swimming and running and that it was with difficulty they +escaped with the sea. However, many fishes were left behind on the dry +strand owing to the suddenness of the ebb. Declan, his crosier in his +hand, pursued the receding tide and his disciples followed after him. +Moreover the sea and the departing monsters made much din and commotion +and when Declan arrived at the place where is now the margin of the sea a +stripling whose name was Mainchin, frightened at the thunder of the waves +and the cry of the unknown monsters with gaping mouths following the +(receding) water, exclaimed:--"Father, you have driven out the sea far +enough; for I am afraid of those horrid monsters." When Declan heard +this and (saw) the sea standing still at the word of the youth it +displeased him and turning round he struck him a slight blow on the nose. +Three drops of blood flowed from the wound on to the ground in three +separate places at the feet of Declan. Thereupon Declan blessed the nose +and the blood ceased immediately (to flow). Then Declan declared:--"It +was not I who drove out the sea but God in His own great power who +expelled it and He would have done still more had you not spoken the +words you have said." Three little wells of clear sweet water burst +forth in the place where fell the three drops of blood at the feet of +Declan, and these wells are there still and the colour of blood is seen +in them occasionally as a memorial of this miracle. The shore, rescued +from the sea, is a mile in width and is of great length around (the +island) and it is good and fertile land for tillage and pasture--lying +beneath the monastery of Declan. As to the crosier which was in Declan's +hand while he wrought this miracle, this is its name--the Feartach +Declain, from the miracles and marvels [fertaib] wrought through it. I +shall in another, subsequent, place relate some of these miracles +(narrated). + +21. After the expulsion of the sea by this famous Saint, scil.: Declan, +whose name and renown spread throughout Erin because of his great and +diverse miracles, he commenced to build a great monastery by the south +side of the stream which flows through the island into the sea. This +monastery is illustrious and beautiful and its name is Ardmor Declain, as +we have said. After this came many persons to Declan, drawn from the +uttermost parts of Ireland, by the fame of his holy living; they devoted +themselves, soul and body to God and Declan, binding themselves beneath +his yoke and his rule. Moreover he built himself in every place +throughout the territory of the Decies, churches and monasteries and not +alone in his own territory (did he build) but in other regions of Ireland +under tribute to him. Great too were the multitudes (thousands) of men +and women who were under his spiritual sway and rule, in the places we +have referred to, throughout Ireland, where happily they passed their +lives. He ordained some of his disciples bishops and appointed them in +these places to sow the seed of faith and religion therein. Gentleness +and charity manifested themselves in Declan to such an extent that his +disciples preferred to live under his immediate control and under his +direction as subjects than to be in authority in another monastery. + +22. After this the holy renowned bishop, head of justice and faith in +the Gaelic island came into Ireland, i.e. Patrick sent by Celestinus, the +Pope. Aongus Mac Nathfrich went to meet him soon as he heard the account +of his coming. He conducted him (Patrick) with reverence and great +honour to his own royal city--to Cashel. Then Patrick baptised him and +blessed himself and his people and his city. Patrick heard that the +prince of the Decies had not been baptised and did not believe, that +there was a disagreement between the prince and Declan and that the +former refused to receive instruction from the latter. Patrick thereupon +set out to preach to the prince aforesaid. Next, as to the four bishops +we have named who had been in Rome: Except Declan alone they were not in +perfect agreement with Patrick. It is true that subsequently to this +they did enter into a league of peace and harmonious actions with Patrick +and paid him fealty. Ciaran, however, paid him all respect and reverence +and was of one mind with him present or absent. Ailbe then, when he saw +the kings and rulers of Ireland paying homage to Patrick and going out to +meet him, came himself to Cashel, to wait on him and he also paid homage +to him (Patrick) and submitted to his jurisdiction, in presence of the +king and all others. Bear in mind it was Ailbe whom the other holy +bishops had elected their superior. He therefore came first to Patrick, +lest the others, on his account, should offer opposition to Patrick, and +also that by his example the others might be more easily drawn to his +jurisdiction and rule. Bishop Ibar however would on no account consent +to be subject to Patrick, for it was displeasing to him that a foreigner +should be patron of Ireland. It happened that Patrick in his origin was +of the Britons and he was nurtured in Ireland having been sold to bondage +in his boyhood. There arose misunderstanding and dissension between +Patrick and Bishop Ibar at first, although (eventually), by intervention +of the angel of peace, they formed a mutual fellowship and brotherly +compact and they remained in agreement for ever after. But Declan did +not wish to disagree at all with Patrick for they had formed a mutual +bond of friendship on the Italian highway and it is thus the angel +commanded him to go to Patrick and obey him:-- + +23. The angel of God came to Declan and said to him "Go quickly to +Patrick and prevent him cursing your kindred and country, for to-night, +in the plain which is called Inneoin, he is fasting against the king, and +if he curses your people they shall be accursed for ever." Thereupon +Declan set out in haste by direction of the angel to Inneoin, i.e. the +place which is in the centre of the plain of Femhin in the northern part +of the Decies. He crossed Slieve Gua [Knockmaeldown] and over the Suir +and arrived on the following morning at the place where Patrick was. +When Patrick and his disciples heard that Declan was there they welcomed +him warmly for they had been told he would not come. Moreover Patrick +and his people received him with great honour. But Declan made obeisance +to Patrick and besought him earnestly that he should not execrate his +people and that he should not curse them nor the land in which they +dwelt, and he promised to allow Patrick do as he pleased. And Patrick +replied:--"On account of your prayer not only shall I not curse them but +I shall give them a blessing." Declan went thereupon to the place where +was the king of Decies who was a neighbour of his. But he contemned +Patrick and he would not believe him even at the request of Declan. +Moreover Declan promised rewards to him if he would go to Patrick to +receive baptism at his hands and assent to the faith. But he would not +assent on any account. When Declan saw this, scil.:--that the king of +the Decies, who was named Ledban, was obstinate in his infidelity and +in his devilry--through fear lest Patrick should curse his race and +country--he (Declan) turned to the assembly and addressed +them:--"Separate yourselves from this accursed man lest you become +yourselves accursed on his account, for I have myself baptised and +blessed you, but come you," said he, "with us, to Patrick, whom God has +sent to bless you, for he has been chosen Archbishop and chief Patron of +all Erin; moreover, I have a right to my own patrimony and to be king +over you as that man (Ledban) has been." At this speech they all arose +and followed Declan who brought them into the presence of Patrick and +said to the latter:--"See how the whole people of the Deisi have come with +me as their Lord to thee and they have left the accursed prince whose +subjects they have been, and behold they are ready to reverence you and +to obey you for it is from me they have received baptism." At this +Patrick rose up with his followers and he blessed the people of the Deisi +and not them alone, but their woods and water and land. Whereupon the +chiefs and nobles of the Deisi said:--"Who will be King or Lord over us +now?" And Declan replied:--"I am your lord and whomsoever I shall +appoint offer you as lord, Patrick and all of us will bless, and he shall +be king over you all." And he whom Declan appointed was Feargal +MacCormac a certain young man of the nation of the Deisi who was a +kinsman of Declan himself. He (Declan) set him in the midst of the +assembly in the king's place and he was pleasing to all. Whereupon +Patrick and Declan blessed him and each of them apart proclaimed him +chieftain. Patrick moreover promised the young man that he should be +brave and strong in battle, that the land should be fruitful during his +reign. Thus have the kings of the Deisi always been. + +24. After these things Declan and Feargal Mac Cormac (king of the Deisi) +and his people gave a large area of land to Patrick in the neighbourhood +of Magh Feimhin and this belongs to his successors ever since and great +lordship there. And the place which was given over to him is not far +from the Suir. There is a great very clear fountain there which is +called "Patrick's Well" and this was dear to Patrick. After this, with +blessing, they took leave of one another and Patrick returned to Cashel +to Aongus Mac Natfrich and Declan went with him. + +25. A miracle was wrought at that time on Declan through the +intercession and prayers of Patrick for as Declan was walking carelessly +along he trod upon a piece of sharp iron which cut his foot so that blood +flowed freely and Declan began to limp. Ailbe of Emly was present at +this miracle and Sechnall a bishop of Patrick's and a holy and wise man, +and he is said to be the first bishop buried in Ireland. The wound which +Declan had received grieved them very much. Patrick was informed of the +accident and was grieved thereat. He said:--"Heal, O Master (i.e. God), +the foot of your own servant who bears much toil and hardship on your +account." Patrick laid his hand on the wounded foot and made over it the +sign of the cross when immediately the flow of blood ceased, the lips of +the wound united, a cicatrix formed upon it and a cure was effected. +Then Declan rose up with his foot healed and joined in praising God. The +soldiers and fighting men who were present cried out loudly, blessing God +and the saints. + +26. As Patrick and the saints were in Cashel, i.e. Ailbe and Declan with +their disciples, in the territory of Aongus Mac Nathfrich, they made much +progress against paganism and errors in faith and they converted them +(the pagans) to Christianity. It was ordained by Patrick and Aongus Mac +Natfrich in presence of the assembly, that the Archbishopric of Munster +should belong to Ailbe, and to Declan, in like manner, was ordained +(committed) his own race, i.e. the Deisi, whom he had converted to be his +parish and his episcopate. As the Irish should serve Patrick, so should +the Deisi serve Declan as their patron, and Patrick made the "rann":-- + +"Humble Ailbe the Patrick of Munster, greater than any saying, Declan, +Patrick of the Deisi--the Decies to Declan for ever." + +This is equivalent to saying that Ailbe was a second Patrick and that +Declan was a second Patrick of the Decies. After that, when the king had +bidden them farewell and they had all taken leave of one another, the +saints returned to their respective territories to sow therein the seed +of faith. + +27. Declan and Ferghal Mac Cormac, king of the Deisi, with his army and +followers, met one another at Indeoin and they made still more strong on +the people the bond of Christian obligation. The king we have already +mentioned, scil.:--Ledban, the recusant to the Christian name, was +rejected of all and he came to nothing, leaving no knowledge (memory) of +his history, as is written of the enemies of the faith:--"Their memory +perisheth like a sound" [Psalm 9:7]. Moreover Declan and Fergal and the +chief men of the Deisi decreed this as the place where the king of the +Deisi should be inaugurated for ever thenceforward, because it was there +Patrick and Declan blessed the king, Fergal; moreover tradition states +that it was there the kings were crowned and ruled over the Deisi in +pagan times. + +28. At that time there broke out a dreadful plague in Munster and it was +more deadly in Cashel than elsewhere. Thus it affected those whom it +attacked: it first changed their colour to yellow and then killed them. +Now Aongus had, in a stone fort called "Rath na nIrlann," on the western +side of Cashel, seven noble hostages. It happened that in one and the +same night they all died of the plague. The king was much affected +thereat and he gave orders to have the fact concealed lest it should +bring disgrace or even war upon him, for the hostages were scions of the +strongest and most powerful families in Munster. On the morrow however +Declan came to Cashel and talked with Aonghus. The king welcomed him +heartily and addressing him said to him in presence of persons of his +court, "I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in the name of Christ +you would raise to life for me the seven hostages whom I held in bondage +from the chieftains of Munster. They have died from the plague of which +you hear, and I fear their fathers will raise war and rebellion against +me, for they are men of strength and power, and indeed we are ashamed of +their death, for they will say that it is we ourselves who killed them." +Declan answered the king, saying to him:--"Such a matter as this--to +raise one to life from death--belongs to Omnipotence alone--but I shall +do whatever is in my power. I go where the bodies lie and pray to God +for them and let Him do in their regard what seems best to Him." Next, +Declan, with a multitude and his disciples together with the king's +councillors, went to the place where the corpses of the young men lay. +The king followed after them until he came in sight of the bodies. +Declan, full of divine faith, entered the house wherein they lay and he +sprinkled holy water over them and prayed for them in the presence of +all, saying:--"O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the living God, for thine +own name's sake wake the dead that they may be strengthened in the +Catholic faith through our instrumentality." Thereupon, at Declan's +prayer, the group (of corpses) revived and they moved their eyelids and +Declan said to them "In the name of Christ, our Saviour, stand up and +bless and glorify God." And at his words they rose up immediately and +spoke to all. Declan then announced to the king that they were alive and +well. When people saw this remarkable miracle they all gave glory and +praise to God. The fame of Declan thereupon spread throughout Erin and +the king rejoiced for restoration of his hostages. + +29. After this the people of Cashel besought Bishop Declan to bless +their city and banish the plague from them and to intercede with God for +those stricken with sickness who could not escape from its toils. Declan +seeing the people's faith prayed to God and signed with the sign of +Redemption the four points of the compass. As he concluded, there was +verified the saying of Christ to His disciples when leaving them and +going to heaven:--"Super aegros imponent manus et bene habebunt" [Mark +16:18] (I shall place my hands on the sick and they shall be healed). +Soon as Declan had made the sign of the cross each one who was ill became +well and not alone were these restored to health but (all the sick) of +the whole region round about in whatsoever place there were persons +ailing. Moreover the plague was banished from every place and all +rejoiced greatly thereat as well as on account of the resurrection of the +dead men we have narrated. The king thereupon ordered tribute and honour +to Declan and his successors from himself and from every king who should +hold Cashel ever after. Upon this the glorious bishop Declan blessed +Aongus together with his city and people and returned back to his own +place. + +30. One night Declan was a guest at the house of a wealthy man who dwelt +in the southern part of Magh Femhin; this is the kind of person his host +was, scil.:--a pagan who rejected the true faith, and his name was +Dercan. He resolved to amuse himself at the Christians' expense; +accordingly he ordered his servants to kill a dog secretly, to cut off +its head and feet and to bury them in the earth and then to cook the +flesh properly and to set it before Declan and his company as their meal. +Moreover he directed that the dog should be so fat that his flesh might +pass as mutton. When, in due course, it was cooked, the flesh, together +with bread and other food, was laid before Declan and his following. At +that moment Declan had fallen asleep but he was aroused by his disciples +that he might bless their meal. He observed to them:--"Indeed I see, +connected with this meat, the ministry of the devil." Whereupon he +questioned the waiters as to the meat--what kind it was and whence +procured. They replied: "Our master ordered us to kill a fat ram for +you and we have done as he commanded." Declan said, "Our Master is Jesus +Christ and may He show us what it is that connects the ministry of Satan +with this meat and preserve thy servants from eating forbidden food." As +he spoke thus Declan saw in the meat the claw of a dog, for, without +intending it, they had boiled one quarter of the dog with its paw +adhering; they thought they had buried it (the incriminating limb) with +the other paws. Declan exclaimed, "This is not a sheep's but a dog's +foot." When the attendants heard this they went at once to their master +and related the matter to him. Then Dercan came to Declan, accepted his +faith and received Baptism at his hands, giving himself and his posterity +to Declan for ever. Moreover he gave his homestead to Declan and his +people were baptised. After this Dercan requested that Declan should +bless something in his homestead which might remain as a memorial of him +(Dercan) for ever. Then Declan blessed a bell which he perceived there +and its name is Clog-Dhercain ("Dercan's Bell"); moreover, he declared: +"I endow it with this virtue (power) that if the king of Decies march +around it when going to battle, against his enemies, or to punish +violation of his rights, he shall return safely and with victory." This +promise has been frequently fulfilled, but proud (men) undertaking battle +or conflict unjustly even if they march around it do not obtain victory +but success remains with the enemy. The name of that homestead was +Teach-Dhercain ("Dercain's House") and its name now is Coningean, from +the claw [con] of the hound or dog aforesaid. To this place came the +saintly concourse, scil:--Coman and Ultan, MacErc and Mocoba and +Maclaisren, who dedicated themselves to (the service of) God and placed +themselves under the spiritual rule and sway of Declan. + +31. Thereupon Declan established a monastery in that place, scil.--in +Coningin--and he placed there this holy community with a further band of +disciples. Ultan however he took away with him to the place whither he +went. + +32. On another (subsequent) occasion Declan visited Bregia, i.e. the +original territory which belonged to his race previous to the expulsion +of his ancestors. There he was treated with particular honour by the +king of Tara and by the chieftains of Meath by whom he was beloved, since +it was from themselves (their tribe and territory) that his forbears had +gone out, for that region was the patrimony of his race and within it +lies Tara. Declan instituted therein a monastery of Canons, on land +which he received from the king, and it is from him the place is named. +Moreover he left therein a relic or illuminated book and a famous gospel +which he was accustomed to carry always with him. The gospel is still +preserved with much honour in the place and miracles are wrought through +it. After this again he turned towards Munster. + +33. Declan was once travelling through Ossory when he wished to remain +for the night in a certain village. But the villagers not only did not +receive him but actually drove him forth by force of arms. The saint +however prayed to God that it might happen to them what the Sacred +Scripture says, "Vengeance is mine I will repay" [Deuteronomy 32:35]. +The dwellers in the village, who numbered sixty, died that same night +with the exception of two men and ten women to whom the conduct of the +others towards the saint had been displeasing. On the morrow these +men and women came humbly to the place where Declan was and they told +him--what he himself foreknew--how miserably the others had died. They +themselves did penance and they bestowed on Declan a suitable site +whereon he built a monastery and he got another piece of land and had the +dead buried where he built the monastery. The name of that monastery is +Cill-Colm-Dearg. This Colm-Dearg was a kind, holy man and a disciple of +Declan. He was of East Leinster, i.e. of the Dal Meiscorb, and it is +from him that the monastery is named. When he (Declan) had completed +that place he came to his own territory again, i.e. to the Decies. + +34. On a certain day Declan came to a place called Ait-Breasail and the +dwellers therein would not allow him to enter their village; moreover +they hid all their boats so that he could not go into his own island, for +they hated him very much. In consideration however of the sanctity of +his servant, who prayed in patience, God the All-Powerful turned the sea +into dry land as you have already heard. Declan passed the night in an +empty stable out in the plain and the people of the village did not give +him even a fire. Whereupon, appropriately the anger of God fell on them, +who had not compassion enough to supply the disciple of God with a fire. +There came fire from heaven on them to consume them all [together with +their] homestead and village, so that the place has been ever since a +wilderness accursed, as the prophet writes: "civitates eorum +destruxisti" [Psalm 9:7] (the dwellings of the unmerciful are laid +waste). + +35. On yet another occasion Declan was in his own region--travelling +over Slieve Gua in the Decies, when his horse from some cause got lame so +that he could proceed no further. Declan however, seeing a herd of deer +roaming the mountain close to him, said to one of his people: "Go, and +bring me for my chariot one of these deer to replace my horse and take +with you this halter for him." Without any misgiving the disciple went +on till he reached the deer which waited quietly for him. He chose the +animal which was largest and therefore strongest, and, bringing him back, +yoked him to the chariot. The deer thereupon obediently and without +effort carried Bishop Declan till he came to Magh Femhin, where, when he +reached a house of entertainment, the saint unloosed the stag and bade +him to go free as was his nature. Accordingly, at the command of the +saintly man and in the presence of all, the stag returned on the same +road back (to the mountain). Dormanach is the name of the man aforesaid +who brought the stag to Declan and him Declan blessed and gave him a +piece of land on the north of Decies close by the Eoghanacht and his +posterity live till now in that place. + +36. On another occasion, Declan, accompanied, as usual, by a large +following, was travelling, when one member of the party fell on the road +and broke his shin bone in twain. Declan saw the accident and, pitying +the injured man, he directed an individual of the company to bandage the +broken limb so that the sufferer might not die through excess of pain and +loss of blood. All replied that they could not endure to dress the wound +owing to their horror thereof. But there was one of the company, Daluadh +by name, who faced the wound boldly and confidently and said: "In the +name of Christ and of Declan our patron I shall be surgeon to this foot"; +and he said that jestingly. Nevertheless he bandaged the foot carefully +and blessed it aright in the name of God and Declan, and in a little +while the wound healed and they all gave praise to God. Then Declan said +to Daluadh: "You promised to be surgeon to that foot in Christ's name +and in mine and God has vouchsafed to heal it at these words: on this +account you will be a true physician for ever and your children and your +seed after you for ever shall also possess the healing art, and +whomsoever they shall practise healing upon in God's name and mine, +provided there be no hatred [in their hearts] nor too great covetousness +of a physician's fee to him, God and myself shall send relief." This +promise of Declan has been fulfilled in the case of that family. + +37. On another occasion, as Declan was travelling in the northern part +of Magh Femhin beside the Suir, he met there a man who was carrying a +little infant to get it baptised. Declan said to the people [his +"muinntear," or following]: "Wait here till I baptise yonder child," for +it was revealed by the Holy Ghost to him that he [the babe] should serve +God. The attendant replied to him that they had neither a vessel nor +salt for the baptism. Declan said: "We have a wide vessel, the Suir, +and God will send us salt, for this child is destined to become holy and +wonderful [in his works]." Thereupon Declan took up a fistful of earth +and, making prayer in his heart to God, he signed the clay with the sign +of the cross of redemption. It (the handful of earth) became white, dry +salt, and all, on seeing it, gave thanks and honour to God and Declan. +The infant was baptised there and the name of Ciaran given him. Declan +said: "Bring up my spiritual son carefully and send him, at a fitting +age, for education to a holy man who is well instructed in the faith for +he will become a shining bright pillar in the Church." And it was this +child, Ciaran Mac Eochaidh, who founded in after years a famous monastery +(from which he migrated to heaven) and another place (monastery) besides. +He worked many miracles and holy signs and this is the name of his +monastery Tiprut [Tubrid] and this is where it is:--in the western part +of the Decies in Ui Faithe between Slieve Grot [Galtee] and Sieve Cua and +it is within the bishopric of Declan. + +38. On another day there came a woman to Declan's monastery not far from +the city where she dwelt. She committed a theft that day in Declan's +monastery as she had often done previously, and this is the thing she +stole--a "habellum" [possibly an item of tribute]; she departed homewards +taking it with her and there met her a group of people on the highway, +and the earth, in their presence, swallowed her up, and she cast out the +tabellum from her bosom and it was quickly turned into a stone which the +wayfarers took and brought with them to Declan. Declan himself had in +supernatural vision seen all that happened to the woman in punishment of +her theft, and the name of Declan was magnified owing to those marvels so +that fear took possession of all-those present and those absent. The +stone in question remains still in Declan's graveyard in his own town of +Ardmore-Declain, where it stands on an elevated place in memory of this +miracle. + +39. A rich man named Fintan was childless, for his wife was barren for +many years. He himself, with his wife, visited Declan and promised large +alms and performance of good works provided he (Declan) would pray that +they might have children: they held it as certain that if Declan but +prayed for them God would grant them children. Declan therefore, praying +to God and blessing the pair, said: "Proceed to your home and through +God's bounty you shall have offspring." The couple returned home, with +great joy for the blessing and for the promise of the offspring. The +following night, Fintan lay with his wife and she conceived and brought +forth twin sons, scil.: Fiacha and Aodh, who, together with their +children and descendants were under tribute and service to God and +Declan. + +40. When it was made known to a certain holy man, scil.:--Ailbe of Emly +Iubar, chief bishop of Munster, that his last days had come, he said to +his disciples: "Beloved brethren, I wish, before I die, to visit my very +dear fellow worker, scil.:--Declan." After this Ailbe set out on the +journey and an angel of God came to Declan notifying him that Ailbe was +on his way to visit him. On the angel's notification Declan ordered his +disciples to prepare the house for Ailbe's coming. He himself went to +meet Ailbe as far as the place which is called Druim Luctraidh +[Luchluachra]. Thence they came home together and Ailbe, treated with +great honour by Declan and his people, stayed fourteen pleasant days. +After that the aged saint returned home again to his own city, scil.:--to +Emly Iubar. Declan came and many of his people, escorting Ailbe, to +Druim Luchtradh, and Ailbe bade him return to his own city. The two knew +they should not see one another in this world ever again. In taking +leave of one another, therefore, they shed plentiful tears of sorrow and +they instituted an everlasting compact and league between their +successors in that place. Ailbe moreover blessed the city of Declan, his +clergy and people and Declan did the same for Ailbe and they kissed one +another in token of love and peace and each returned to his own city. + +41. On a certain day the Castle of Cinaedh, King of the Deisi, took fire +and it burned violently. It happened however that Declan was proceeding +towards the castle on some business and he was grieved to see it burning; +he flung towards it the staff to which we have referred in connection +with the drying up of the sea, and it (the staff) flew hovering in the +air with heavenly wings till it reached the midst of the flame and the +fire was immediately extinguished of its own accord through the grace of +God and virtue of the staff and of Declan to whom it belonged. The place +from which Declan cast the staff was a long mile distant from the castle +and when the king, i.e. Cinaedh, and all the others witnessed this +miracle they were filled with amazement and gave thanks to God and to +Declan when they came to know that it was he who wrought it. Now the +place where the castle stands is not far from the Suir, i.e. on the south +side of it and the place from which Declan cast the staff is beside a +ford which is in the Suir or a stream which flows beside the monastery +called Mag Laca [Molough] which the holy virgins, daughters of the king +of Decies, have built in honour of God. There is a pile of stones and a +cross in the place to commemorate this miracle. + +42. On another occasion there approached a foreign fleet towards +Declan's city and this was their design--to destroy and to plunder it of +persons and of cattle, because they (the foreigners) were people hostile +to the faith. Many members of the community ran with great haste to tell +Declan of the fleet which threatened the town and to request him to beg +the assistance of God against the invaders. Declan knew the man amongst +his own disciples who was holiest and most abounding in grace, scil., +Ultan, already mentioned, and him he ordered to pray to God against the +fleet. Ultan had pity on the Christian people and he went instantly, at +the command of Declan, in front of the fleet and he held his left hand +against it, and, on the spot, the sea swallowed them like sacks full of +lead, and the drowned sailors were changed into large rocks which stand +not far from the mouth of the haven where they are visible (standing) +high out of the sea from that time till now. All Christians who +witnessed this rejoiced and were glad and they gave great praise and +glory to God and to Declan their own patron who caused the working of +this miracle and of many other miracles besides. Next there arose a +contention between Ultan and Declan concerning this miracle, for Ultan +attributed it to Declan and Declan credited it to Ultan; and it has +become a proverb since in Ireland when people hear of danger or +jeopardy:--"The left hand of Ultan against you (the danger)." Ultan +became, after the death of Declan, a miracle-working abbot of many other +holy monks. + +43. The holy and glorious archbishop, i.e. Patrick, sent one of his own +followers to Declan with power and authority (delegation) from the +archbishop. And proceeding through the southern part of Decies he was +drowned in a river [the Lickey] there, two miles from the city of Declan. +When Declan heard this he was grieved and he said: "Indeed it grieves me +that a servant of God and of Patrick who sent him to visit me, having +travelled all over Ireland, should be drowned in a river of my own +territory. Get my chariot for me that I may go in haste to see his +corpse, so that Patrick may come to hear of the worry and the grief I +have undergone because of his disciple's death." The body had been +recovered before the arrival of Declan by others who were close at hand +and it had been placed on a bier to be carried to Ciaran for interment. +Declan however met them on the way, when he ordered the body to be laid +down on the ground. They supposed he was about to recite the Office for +the Dead. He (Declan) advanced to the place where the bier was and +lifted the sheet covering the face. It (the face) looked dark and +deformed as is usual in the case of the drowned. He prayed to God and +shed tears, but no one heard aught of what he said. After this he +commanded:--"In the name of the Trinity, in the name of the Father and of +the Son and of the Holy Ghost whose religious yoke I bear myself, arise +to us for God has given your life to me." He (the dead man) rose up +immediately at the command and he greeted Declan and all the others. +Whereupon Declan and his disciples received him with honour. At first he +was not completely cured but (was) like one convalescent until (complete) +health returned to him by degrees again. He however accompanied Declan +and remained some time with him and there was much rejoicing in Declan's +city on account of the miracle and his (Declan's) name and fame extended +over the country generally. This disciple of Patrick was named Ballin; +he returned with great joy and he told him (Patrick) that Declan had +raised him from the dead. To many others likewise he related what had +happened to him. Patrick, in presence of many persons, hearing of the +miracle gave glory and thanks to God and the name of Declan was +magnified. + +44. With this extraordinary miracle wrought by Declan we wish to +conclude our discourse. The number of miracles he wrought, but which are +not written here, you are to judge and gather from what we have written. +And we wish moreover that you would understand that he healed the infirm, +that he gave sight to the eyes of the blind, cleansed lepers, and gave +"their walk" to cripples; that he obtained hearing for the deaf, and that +he healed many and various diseases in many different places throughout +Ireland--(things) which are not written here because of their length and +because they are so numerous to record, for fear it should tire readers +to hear so much said of one particular person. On that account we shall +pass them by. + +45. When Declan realised that his last days were at hand and that the +time remaining to him was very short he summoned to him his own spiritual +son, scil., MacLiag (residing) in the monastery which is on the eastern +side of the Decies close to the Leinstermen in order that, at the hour of +death, he might receive the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments +of the Church from his hands. Thereupon he foretold to his disciples the +day of his death and he commanded them to bring him to his own city, for +it was not there he dwelt at the time but in a small venerable cell which +he had ordered to be built for him between the hill called Ardmore +Declain and the ocean--in a narrow place at the brink of the sea by which +there flows down from the hill above a small shining stream about which +are trees and bushes all around, and it is called Disert Declain. Thence +to the city it is a short mile and the reason why Declan used go there +was to avoid turmoil and noise so that he might be able to read and pray +and fast there. Indeed it was not easy for him to stay even there +because of the multitude of disciples and paupers and pilgrims and +beggars who followed him thither. Declan was however generous and very +sympathetic and on that account it is recorded by tradition that a great +following (of poor, &c.), generally accompanied him and that moreover the +little cell was very dear to him for the reason we have given, and many +devout people have made it their practice to dwell therein. + +46. When Declan fell ill and became weak in body, but still strong in +hope and faith and love of God, he returned to his own city--his people +and disciples and clergy surrounding him. He discoursed to them on the +commands of God and he enjoined on them to live holily after his death, +to be submissive to authority and to follow as closely as possible the +way he had marked out and to preserve his city in a state of piety and +under religious rule. And when they had all heard the discourse it +grieved them greatly to perceive, from what he had said, he realised that +in a short time he would go away to heaven from them. But they were +consoled by his gentle words and then there came to him the holy man, to +wit, MacLiag, at his own request, already referred to. He [Declan] +received the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church +from his [MacLiag's] hand--surrounded by holy men and his disciples, and +he blessed his people and his dependents and his poor, and he kissed them +in token of love and peace. Thus, having banished images and the +sacrifices to idols, having converted multitudes to the true faith, +having established monasteries and ecclesiastical orders in various +places, having spent his whole life profitably and holily, this glorious +bishop went with the angels to heaven on the ninth day of the Kalends of +August [July 24] and his body was blessed and honoured with Masses and +chanting by holy men and by the people of the Decies and by his own monks +and disciples collected from every quarter at the time of his death. He +was buried with honour in his own city--in Declan's High-Place--in the +tomb which by direction of an angel he had himself indicated--which +moreover has wrought wonders and holy signs from that time to now. He +departed to the Unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost in +Saecula Saeculorum; Amen. FINIS. + + +The poor brother, Michael O'Clery originally copied this life of Declan +in Cashel, from the book of Eochy O'Heffernan. The date, A.D., at which +that ancient book of Eochy was written is 1582. And the same life has +now been re-written in the Convent of the Friars at Druiske, the date, +A.D., 27th February, 1629. + + + +NOTE + + +The Irish text of the "rann" from paragraph 26 reads: + +Ailbe umal; Patraicc Muman, mo gacrath, +Declan, Patraicc na nDeisi: na Deisi ag Declan gan brat. + + +And the Latin rendering: + +Albeus est humilis dixit Caephurnia proles; +Patriciusque esto hinc Ailbee Momonia. +Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto; +Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos. + + + + +LIFE OF ST. MOCHUDA. + +"BEATA MOCUDA." + + +The renowned bishop, Carthach, commonly called Mochuda, was of the +territory of Ciarraighe Luachra [North Kerry] and of the race of Fergus +Mac Roigh. + +The illustrious bishop, who is generally known as Mochuda, was of the +Ciarraighe Luachra; to be exact--he was of the line of Fergus Mac Roigh, +who held the kingship of Ulster, till the time that he gave the kingship +to a woman for a year and did not get it back when the year was over. +His descendants are now to be found throughout various provinces of +Ireland. He fell himself, through the treachery of Oilioll, king of +Connaght, and the latter's jealousy of his wife, Meadbh, daughter of +Eochaid Feidhleach. Finghen Mac Gnaoi of Ciarraighe Luachra was father +of Mochuda, and his mother was Mead, daughter of Finghin, of Corca +Duibhne, in the vicinity of the stream called Laune in the western part +of Ireland. The forthcoming birth of Mochuda was revealed to St. +Comhghall by an angel, announcing--"There will be conceived a child in +the western part of Erin, and Carthach will be his baptismal name and he +will be beloved of God and men--in heaven and on earth. He will come to +you seeking direction as to a proposed pilgrimage to Rome--but you must +not permit the journey for the Lord has assigned him to you; but let him +remain with you a whole year." All this came to pass, as foretold. In +similar manner the future Mochuda was foretold to St. Brendan by an +angel who declared: "There will come to you a wonder-working brother +who will be the patron of you and your kindred for ever; the region of +Ciarraighe will be divided between you and him, and Carthach will be his +name; to multitudes his advent will be cause for joy and he will gain +multitudes for heaven. His first city will be Raithen [Rahen or Rahan] +in the region of Fircheall, territory of Meath and central plain of +Ireland; this will become a place revered of men, and revered and famous +will be his second city and church, scil.:--Lismore, which shall possess +lordship and great pre-eminence." + +One day when there was a large meeting of people at a certain place in +Kerry, the men and women who were present saw descending a fiery globe, +which rested on the head of Mochuda's mother, at that time pregnant of +the future saint. The ball of fire did no one any injury but +disappeared before it did injury to anyone. All those who beheld this +marvel wondered thereat and speculated what it could portend. This is +what it did mean:--that the graces of the Holy Spirit had visited this +woman and her holy child unborn. + +Mochuda's father was a rich and powerful chieftain owning two strong +lioses--one, on the south side of Slieve Mish, and the other, in which +Mochuda first saw the light, beside the River Maing [Maine]. Both +places were blessed for sake of the Saint, who was conceived in one of +them and born in the other; it is even said that no evil disposed or +vicious person can live in either. Carthage in due course was sent to +be baptised, and, on the way, the servant who bore the infant, meeting a +saintly man named Aodhgan, asked him to perform the ceremony. There was +however no water in the place, but a beautiful well, which burst forth +for the occasion and still remains, yielded a supply. With the water of +this well the infant was baptised and Carthach, as the angel had +foretold, was the name given him. Nevertheless 'Mochuda' is the name by +which he was commonly known, because he was so called, through affection +and regard, by his master (St. Carthach Senior). Many scarcely know +that he has any other name than Mochuda and it is lawful to write either +Mochuda or Carthach. Speaking prophetically Aodhgan said of him:--"This +child whom I have baptised will become famous and he will be beloved by +God and men." That prophecy has been fulfilled, for Mochuda was +graceful of figure and handsome of features as David, he was master of +his passions as Daniel, and mild and gentle like Moses. His parents +however despised him because he valued not earthly vanities and in his +regard were verified the words of David:--"Pater meus et mater mea +derliquerunt me, Dominus autem assumpsit me" [Psalm 26(27):10] (For my +father and my mother have left me and the Lord hath taken me up). Like +David too--who kept the sheep of his father--Mochuda, with other youths, +herded his father's swine in his boyhood. + +On a certain day as Mochuda, with his companion swineherds and their +charges, was in the vicinity of the River Maing, he heard that the king +of Ciarraighe Luachra was at his residence called Achadh-di; he waited +on the king by whom he was kindly and politely received. The king, +whose name was Maoltuile and who wished to see Mochuda frequently, +invited the youth to come every day to the royal lios and to bring with +him his companions, who would be made welcome for his sake. One evening +as Mochuda sate in the king's presence Maoltuile gazed so long and so +intently at the youth that the queen (Dand, daughter of Maolduin Mac +Aodha Beannan, king of Munster) reproved her husband asking why he +stared every evening at the boy. "O wife," answered the king, "if you +but saw what I see, you would never gaze at anything else, for I behold +a wondrous golden chain about his neck and a column of fire reaching +from his head to the heavens, and since I first beheld these marvels my +affection for the boy has largely increased." "Then," said the queen, +"let him sit there beside you." Thenceforth the youth sate as +suggested. Sometimes Mochuda herded the swine in the woods and at other +times he remained with the king in his court. + +One day as Mochuda was keeping his herd as usual beside the river +already alluded to, he heard the bishop and his clerics pass by, +chanting psalms as they went along. The Spirit of God touched the boy's +heart and leaving his pigs Mochuda followed the procession as far as the +monastery called Tuaim [Druim Fertain] [into which the clerics entered]. +And as the bishop and his household sate down to eat, Mochuda, unknown +to them, concealed himself--sitting in the shadow of the doorway. +Meanwhile the king, Maoltuile, was troubled about the boy, noticing his +absence [from the homestead at Achaddi] that evening and not knowing the +cause thereof. He immediately sent messengers to seek the youth +throughout the country, and one of these found him sitting, as +indicated, in the shadow of the doorway of the bishop's house. The +messenger took Mochuda with him back to the king. The latter questioned +him:--"My child, why have you stayed away in this manner?" Mochuda +replied, "Sire, this is why I have stayed away--through attraction of +the holy chant of the bishop and clergy; I have never heard anything so +beautiful as this; the clerics sang as they went along the whole way +before me; they sang until they arrived at their house, and thenceforth +they sang till they went to sleep. The bishop however remained by +himself far into the night praying by himself when the others had +retired. And I wish, O king, that I might learn [their psalms and +ritual]." Hearing this the king at once sent a message to the bishop +requesting the latter to come to him. + +About this time Mochuda's father gave a feast in the king's honour and +as the company were at supper the king calling Mochuda before him +offered him a shield, sword, javelin, and princely robe, saying: "Take +these and be henceforth a knight to me as your father has been." But +Mochuda declined the offer. "What is it," asked the king, "that you +will accept, so that [whatever it be] I may give it to you?" Mochuda +answered:--"I do not long for anything of earth--only that I be allowed +to learn the psalms of the clerics which I heard them sing." In this +answer the king discerned the working of divine grace, whereupon he +promised the youth the favour he asked for. Shortly afterwards the +bishop, Carthach, whom we have mentioned as sent for by the king, +arrived, and to him the latter entrusted Mochuda to be instructed in +reading and writing. With great joy the bishop undertook his charge for +he saw that his pupil was marked by grace, and under the bishop's +guidance and tutelage Mochuda remained till his promotion to the +priesthood. + +Mochuda was very handsome of features with the result that at different +times during his youth maidens to the number of thirty were so enamoured +of him that they could not conceal their feeling. But Mochuda prayed +for them, and obtained for them by his prayers that their carnal love +should be turned into a spiritual. They afterwards became consecrated +religious and within what to-day is his parish he built them cells and +monasteries which the holy virgins placed under his protection and +jurisdiction. + +Finntan Mac Cartan, bringing with him an infant for baptism came to +Bishop Carthach. The latter said to him:--"Let the young priest there +who was ordained to-day baptise the child." Whereupon Finntan handed the +infant to the young priest. Mochuda enquired the name he was to impose, +and the father answered--Fodhran. Having administered baptism Mochuda +taking the infant's hand prophesied concerning the babe--"This hand will +be strong in battle and will win hostages and submission of the Clan +Torna whose country lies in mid-Kerry from Sliabh Luachra [Slieve +Lougher] to the sea. From his seed, moreover, will spring kings to the +end of time, unless indeed they refuse me due allegiance, and if, at any +time, they incur displeasure of my successors their kingship and +dominion will come to an end." This prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Sometime afterwards Mochuda with his master, Carthach, visited King +Maoltuile, whom they found at a place called Feorainn, near Tralee, from +which the lords and kings of Kerry take their name. Said Bishop +Carthach:--"Here, Sire, is the youth you gave me to train; he is a good +scholar and he has studied the holy writings with much success. I have +ordained him a priest and (his) grace is manifest in many ways." "What +recompense do you desire for your labour?" asked the king. "Only," +replied Carthach, "that you would place yourself and your posterity +under the spiritual jurisdiction of this young priest, the servant of +God." The king, however, hesitated--because of Mochuda's youth. Soon +as Carthach perceived this he himself inclined to Mochuda and bending +his knee before him exclaimed:--"I hereby give myself, my parish and +monastery to God and to Mochuda for ever." Touched by the bishop's +example the king prostrated himself before Mochuda and pledged to God +and to him, his soul and body and posterity to the end of time. Then +Mochuda placed his foot upon the king's neck and measured the royal body +with his foot. Against this proceeding of Mochuda's a member of the +king's party protested in abusive and insulting terms--"It is a haughty +act of yours, laying your foot upon the king's neck, for be it known to +you the body on which you trample is worthy of respect." On hearing +this Mochuda ceased to measure the king and declared:--"The neck upon +which I have set my heel shall never be decapitated and the body which I +have measured with my foot shall not be slain and but for your +interference there would not be wanting anything to him or his seed for +ever." Addressing (specially) the interrupter, he prophesied:--"You and +your posterity will be for ever contemptible among the tribes." +Blessing the king he promised him prosperity here and heaven hereafter +and assured him:--"If any one of your posterity contemn my successors +refusing me my lawful dues he will never reign over the kingdom of +Kerry." This prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Next, Mochuda, at the suggestion of his master, the bishop, and the King +Maoltuile, built a famous cell called Kiltulach [Kiltallagh] at a place +between Sliabh Mis and the River Maing in the southern part of Kerry. +Here his many miracles won him the esteem of all. In that region he +found two bishops already settled before him, scil.:--Dibhilin and +Domailgig. These became envious of the honour paid him and the fame he +acquired, and they treated him evilly. Whereupon he went to Maoltuile +and told him the state of affairs. Soon as the king heard the tale he +came with Mochuda from the place where he then was on the bank of the +Luimnech and stayed not till they reached the summit of Sliabh Mis, when +he addressed Mochuda: "Leave this confined region for the present to +the envy and jealousy of the bishops and hereafter it will become yours +and your coarbs' to the end of time." The advice commended itself to +Mochuda and he thanked the king for it. Thereupon he abandoned his cell +to the aforesaid bishops and determined to set out alone as a pilgrim to +the northern part of Ireland. + +In the meantime an angel visited Comghall and repeated to him what had +been foretold him already--that there should come to him a young priest +desirous for Christ's sake of pilgrimage beyond the seas--that Comghall +should dissuade him and, instead, retain the stranger with him for a +year at Bangor. "And how am I to recognise him?" asked Comghall. The +angel answered:--"Whom you shall see going from the church to the +guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to visit the church first). +[See note 1.] Comghall announced to his household that there was coming +to them a distinguished stranger, well-beloved of God, of whose advent +an angel had twice foretold him. Some time later Mochuda arrived at +Comghall's establishment, and he went first to the monastery and +Comghall recognised him and bade him welcome. In that place Mochuda +remained a whole year, as the angel had said, and at the end of the year +he returned to his own country where he built many cells and churches +and worked many wonders, winning many souls to religion and to good +works. Many persons moreover placed themselves, their children, and +their kindred under his jurisdiction, and the great parishes of their +own territory were assigned to him, and finally the episcopate of Kerry +became his. + +Subsequent to this Mochuda, having committed the care of his cell and +parish to certain pious and suitable persons, set out himself, +accompanied by a few disciples, through the south of Munster to visit +the Monastery of Ciaran Mac Fionntan at Rosgiallan [Rostellan]. From +Ciaran Mochuda enquired, where--in south Munster (as the angel had +mentioned to Comghall)--the chief and most distinguished of these +churches should be. Ciaran, who possessed the spirit of prophecy, +replied--"You shall go first to Meath where you will found a famous +church in the territory of Ibh Neill and there you will remain for forty +years. You shall be driven thence into exile and you will return to +Munster wherein will be your greatest and most renowned church." +Mochuda offered to place himself under the patronage and jurisdiction of +Ciaran: "Not so, shall it be," said Ciaran, "but rather do I put myself +and my church under you, for ever, reserving only that my son, Fuadhran, +be my successor in this place." This Mochuda assented to and Fuadhran +governed the monastic city for twenty years as Ciaran's successor in the +abbacy. + +Next, Mochuda entered the territory of the Munster Decies where dwelt +the Clanna Ruadhain who placed themselves and all their churches under +him, and one Colman Mac Cobhthaigh a wealthy magnate of the region +donated extensive lands to Mochuda who placed them under devout persons +--to hold for him. Proceeding thence Mochuda took his way across Sliabh +Gua looking back from the summit of which he saw by the bank of the Nemh +[Blackwater] angels ascending towards heaven and descending thence. And +they took up with them to heaven a silver chair with a golden image +thereon. This was the place in which long afterwards he founded his +famous church and whence he departed himself to glory. + +Hence Mochuda travelled to Molua Mac Coinche's monastery of Clonfert +[Kyle], on the confines of Leinster and Munster. He found Molua in the +harvest field in the midst of a 'meitheal' [team] of reapers. Before +setting out on this present journey of his Mochuda had, with one +exception, dismissed all his disciples to their various homes for he, +but with a single companion, did not wish to enter the strange land +ostentatiously. The single follower whom Mochuda had retained wishing +to remain at Clonfert, said to St. Molua: "Holy father, I should wish +to remain here with you." Molua answered:--"I shall permit you, +brother, if your pious master consents." Mochuda, having dismissed so +many, would not make any difficulty about an individual, and so he gave +the monk his freedom. Mochuda thereupon set out alone, which, Molua's +monks observing, they remark:--"It were time for that aged man to remain +in some monastery, for it is unbecoming such a (senior) monk to wander +about alone." They did not know that he, of whom they spoke, was +Mochuda, for it was not the custom of the latter to make himself known +to many. "Say not so," said Molua (to the censorious brethren), "for +the day will come when our community and city will seem but +insignificant beside his--though now he goes alone; you do not know that +he is Mochuda whom many obey and whom many more will obey in times to +come." + +As Mochuda went on his lonely way he met two monks who asked him whither +he was bound. "To Colman Elo," he answered. Then said one of them to +him:--"Take us with you as monks and subjects," for they judged him from +his countenance to be a holy man. Mochuda accepted the monks and they +journeyed on together till they came to Colman's monastery [Lynally]. +Mochuda said to Colman: "Father I would remain here with you." "Not +so," replied Colman, "but go you to a place called Rahen in this +vicinity; that is the place ordained by God for your dwelling and you +shall have there a large community in the service of God and from that +place you will get your first name--Mochuda of Rahen." Having said +farewell to Colman and obtained his blessing Mochuda, with his two +monks, set out for the place indicated and there in the beginning he +built a small cell and Colman and he often afterwards exchanged visits. + +Colman had in the beginning--some time previous to Mochuda's +advent--contemplated establishing himself at Rahen and he had left there +two or three [bundles] of rods remarking to his disciples that another +should come after him for whom and not for himself God had destined this +place. It was with this material that Mochuda commenced to build his +cell as Colman had foretold in the first instance. He erected later a +great monastery in which he lived forty years and had eight hundred and +eighty seven religious under his guidance and rule. + +Subsequent to Mochuda's foundation of Rahen his miracles and the marvels +he wrought spread his fame far and wide through Ireland and through +Britain, and multitudes came to him from various parts of those +countries to give themselves to the service of God under his guidance. +In the beginning he refused worldly gifts from others although his +church was honoured and patronised by neighbouring kings and chieftains +who offered him lands and cattle and money and many other things. +Mochuda kept his monks employed in hard labour and in ploughing the +ground for he wanted them to be always humble. Others, however, of the +Saints of Erin did not force their monks to servile labour in this +fashion. + +Mochuda was consecrated bishop by many saints and from time to time he +visited his parish in Kerry, but as a rule he remained at Rahen with his +monks, for it is monks he had with him not clerics. + +On a certain day in the (early) springtime there came to tempt him a +druid who said to him:--"In the name of your God cause this apple-tree +branch to produce foliage." Mochuda knew that it was in contempt for +divine power the druid proposed this, and the branch put forth leaves on +the instant. The druid demanded "In the name of your God, put blossom +on it." Mochuda made the sign of the cross [over the twig] and it +blossomed presently. The druid persisted:--"What profits blossom +without fruit?" [said the druid]. Mochuda, for the third time, +blessed the branch and it produced a quantity of fruit. The druid +said:--"Follower of Christ, cause the fruit to ripen." Mochuda blessed +the tree and the fruit, fully ripe, fell to the earth. The druid picked +up an apple off the ground and examining it he saw it was quite sour, +whereupon he objected:--"Such miracles as these are worthless since it +leaves the fruit uneatable." Mochuda blessed the apples and they all +became sweet as honey, and in punishment of his opposition the magician +was deprived for a year of his eyesight. At the end of a year he came to +Mochuda and did penance, whereupon he received his sight back again and +he returned home rejoicing. + +On another occasion there came to Mochuda a secular who brought with him +his deaf and dumb son whom he besought the saint to heal. Mochuda +prayed to God for him and said, "My son, hear and speak." The boy +answered immediately and said, "Man of God, I give myself and my +inheritance to you for ever," and thenceforth he possessed the use of +all his senses and members. + +Another day a young man who had contracted leprosy came to Mochuda +showing him his misery and his wretched condition. The saint prayed for +him and he was restored to health. + +At another time there came to Mochuda a man whose face was deformed. He +besought the saint's aid and his face was healed upon the spot. + +On yet another occasion in the springtime a poor man who dwelt some +distance from the monastery of Rahen, came to Mochuda, and asked the +loan of two oxen and a ploughman to do a day's ploughing for him. But +Mochuda, as we have already said, had no cattle, for it was the monks +themselves who dug and tilled the soil. Mochuda summoned one of his +labourers named Aodhan whom he ordered to go into the nearest wood to +bring back thence a pair of deer with him and go along with them to the +poor man to do the spring work for him. Aodhan did dutifully all that +Mochuda bade him--he found the two deer, went with the poor man and +ploughed for him till the work was completed when the deer returned to +their habitat and Aodhan to Mochuda. + +On another day there came to Mochuda a man troubled by the devil. +Mochuda cured him at once, driving the demons from him and the man went +his way thanking God and Mochuda. + +Once, when the brethren were at work in the fields and in the kitchen, +Mochuda went to the mill to grind meal for the monk's use, and nine +robbers, who hated him, followed with the intention of murdering him. +The chief of the band sent each member of the gang to the mill in turn. +Not one of them however could enter the mill because of a violent flame +of fire which encircled the building round about, through the goodness +of God protecting Mochuda from the robbers. The latter, through the +mill door, watched Mochuda who slept portion of the time and was awake +another portion. And while he slept the mill stopped of itself, and +while he was awake it went of its own accord. The gang thereupon +returned to the chief and told him all they had seen, which, when he +heard, he became enraged. Then he hastened himself to the mill to kill +Mochuda. But he experienced the same things as all the others and he +was unable to hurt Mochuda. He returned to his followers and said to +them--"Let us stay here till he comes out of the mill, for we need not +fear that he will call help nor need we fear his arm." Shortly +afterwards Mochuda came out carrying his load. The robbers rushed on +him, but they were unable to do him any injury for as each man of them +tried to draw his weapon his hands became powerless, so he was unable to +use them. Mochuda requested them to allow him pass with his burden and +he promised them on his credit and his word that he should return to +them when he had deposited the sack in safety. They took his word and he +went, deposited his bag of meal in the kitchen, and returned meekly to +martyrdom. The brethren imagined he had gone to a quiet place for +prayer as was his custom. When he returned to the robbers they drew +their weapons several times to kill him but they were unable to do so. +Seeing this wonder they were moved to repentance and they gave +themselves to God and to Mochuda for ever and, till the time of their +death, they remained under his guidance and rule and many subsequent +edifying and famous acts of theirs are recorded. + +An angel came to Mochuda at Rahen on another occasion announcing to him +the command of God that he should go that same day to Mac Fhiodaig, king +of his own region of Kerry Luachra, and administer to him Holy Communion +and Confession as he was on the point of death. Mochuda asked the angel +how he could reach Kerry that day from Rahen. The angel thereupon (for +reply) took him up through the air in a fiery chariot until they arrived +at the king's residence. Mochuda administered Holy Communion and +Confession and the king having bestowed generous alms upon him departed +hence to glory. Mochuda returned that same day to Rahen where he found +the community singing vespers. + +On another occasion Mochuda visited Colman Elo at the latter's monastery +of Lynally and requested Colman to come with him to consecrate for him +his cemetery at Rahen, for Colman, assisted by angels, was in the habit +of consecrating cemeteries and God gave him the privilege that no one +should go to hell who was interred in a grave consecrated by him. +Colman said to him:--"Return home and on the fifth day from now I shall +follow." Mochuda returned home, where he remained till the fifth day, +when, seeing that Colman had not arrived he came again to the latter. +"Father," said he, "why have you not kept your promise?" To which +Colman replied, "I came and an angel with me that day and consecrated +your cemetery. Return now and you will find it marked (consecrated) on +the south side of your own cell. Lay it out as it is there indicated +and think not that its area is too small, because a larger will be +consecrated for you later, by the angels, in the southern part of Erin, +namely--in Lismore." Mochuda returned and found the cemetery duly marked +as Colman had indicated. + +About the same time clerics came across Slieve Luachra in the territory +of Kerry to the church of Ita, honoured [abbess] of Conall Gabhra. They +had with them a child upon seeing whom Ita wept bitterly. The clerics +demanded why she cried at seeing them. "Blessed," she answered, "is the +hour in which that youth in your company was born, for no one shall ever +go to hell from the cemetery in which he will be buried, but, alas, for +me, that I cannot be buried therein." The clerics asked what cemetery +it was in which he should be buried. "In Mochuda's cemetery," said she, +"which though it be as yet unconsecrated will be honoured and famous in +times to come." This all came to pass, for the youth afterwards became +a monk under Mochuda and he is buried in the monastic cemetery of +Lismore as Ita had foretold. + +A child on another occasion fell off the bridge of Rahen into the river +and was drowned. The body was a day and a night in the water before it +was recovered. Then it was brought to Mochuda who, moved with +compassion for the father in his loss of an only son, restored the boy +to life. Moreover he himself fostered the child for a considerable time +afterwards and when the youth had grown up, he sent him back to his own +country of Delbhna. Mochuda's foster son begat sons and daughters and he +gave himself and them, as well as his inheritance, to God and Mochuda, +and his descendants are to this day servile tenants of the monastery. + +Once as Mochuda, with large offerings, was returning from Kerry to Rahen +he passed through the confines of Delbhna [Lemanaghan?] by the lake +called Muincine [Lough Gur?] where he and his party were overtaken by +night. They found here before them by the roadside revolving wheels, +which an artisan, who was erecting a mill on the stream from the lake, +had set up for a joke. As the wheels revolved they made a terrific +noise which was heard by the whole neighbourhood. Many of the +inhabitants of the neighbouring villages aroused by the noise rushed +out, with appeals for help and loud cries, to investigate the matter. +Mochuda's people were frightened by the din and their pack and riding +horses stampeded and lost their loads and it was not without difficulty +that they were caught again. Mochuda knew what caused the noise and he +told the workmen who had played this mischievous trick that they should +be scattered throughout the different provinces of Ireland, that they +should be always worthless and unprofitable, that the mill they were +engaged on should never be finished and that their progeny after them +should be valueless race of mischief-makers. The latter are called the +Hi-Enna [Ui Enna Aine Aulium] to-day. + +One day Mochuda came to a place called Cluain-Breanainn where apples +abounded. His followers asked some apples for him but the orchard owner +refused them. Said Mochuda:--"From this day forward no fruit shall grow +in you orchard for ever," and that prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Mochuda had in his monastery twelve exceedingly perfect disciples, +scil.:--Caoinche Mac Mellain [Mochua Mac Mellain or Cronan], who was the +first monk to enter Rahen; Mucoinog [Mochoemog]; the three sons of +Nascainn--Goban, Srafan, and Laisren; Mulua [Molua]; Lugair; Mochomog +Eile; Aodhan [Aedhan]; Fachtna Coinceann [Fiachna or Fiochrae]; Fionnlog +and Mochomog who became a bishop later. The virtue of these monks +surpassed belief and Mochuda wished to mitigate their austerities before +their death. He therefore built separate cells for them that they might +have some comfort in their old age as a reward for their virtue in +youth; moreover he predicted blessings for them. He made [a prophecy] +for one of them, mentioned above, scil.:--Mochua Mac Mellain, for whom +he had built a comfortable cell at a place called Cluain-Da-Chrann. He +said to him: "Your place of resurrection will not be here but in +another place which God has given you." That prediction has been +verified. To a second disciple, scil.:--Fiachna, Mochuda said:--"Your +resurrection will not be in this place though I have made you a cell +here; you will have three further abiding places, nevertheless it will +be with your own companion, Aodhan, that your remains will rest and your +resurrection will be in the territory of Ui Torna, and it is from you +that the place will get its name." For this Aodhan alluded to Mochuda +likewise built another cell in the land of Ui Torna close by Slieve +Luachra, and speaking prophetically he said to him: "The remains of +your fellow-disciple, Fiachna, will be carried to you hither and from +him will this place be named." That statement has been verified, for +the church is now called Cill-Fiachna and it was first called +Cill-Aeghain. Concerning other persons, Mochuda prophesied various +other things, all of them have come to pass. + +A child born of secret adultery was abandoned close by the monastery of +Rahen and Mochuda fostered the child until he became a bishop, though no +one knew his name or his progenitors. Mochuda said:--"This child's name +is Dioma and his father is Cormac of the race of Eochaidh Eachach." All +thereupon magnified the foreknowledge of Mochuda, which he had from no +other than the Holy Spirit. Having consecrated him bishop, Mochuda +instructed him: "Go in haste to your own native region of Hy-Eachach in +the southern confines of Munster for there will your resurrection be. +War and domestic strife shall arise among your race and kinsfolk unless +you arrive there soon to prevent it." Dioma set out, accompanied by +another bishop, Cuana by name, who was also a disciple of Mochuda's. +They travelled into Ibh Eachach and Dioma preached the word of God to +his brethren and tribesmen. He made peace between them and they built a +monastery for him and he placed himself, his kindred, and parish under +his chosen master, Mochuda, and he ended his life (there) in peace. + +On another occasion Mochuda travelled from Rahen to the provinces of +Munster and entered Ciarraighe Corca. It happened that Cairbre Mac +Criomhthain, who was king of Munster, was at that time in Magh-Cuirce, +the place to which Mochuda came. At the same time there fell a fire +ball which destroyed one of the king's residences, killing his wife, +many of his people and his son, Aodh Mac Cairbre, who were buried in the +falling ruin. There were killed there moreover two good carriage horses +of the king's. Cairbre besought Mochuda that he would restore the queen +and his son to life, and when the saint saw the king's faith he prayed +for him to God and then addressing the dead he said,--"Arise." They +arose thereupon and he gave them safe to the king and they all gave +glory and thanks to God and Mochuda. The king moreover made large +offerings of land and servile tenants to Mochuda. But one of the +tenants, through pride and jealousy, refused to obey Mochuda, +notwithstanding the king's command. Mochuda said: "Your posterity will +die out and their inheritance, for sake of which you (mis)behave towards +me, shall become mine for ever; whosoever takes from me that which +another has given me shall be deprived of heaven and earth." That man +and his posterity soon came to nought. + +On another occasion Mochuda sent a golden belt to Fergus Mac Criomhthan +who suffered from uncleanness of skin arising from kidney disease and +upon application of the girdle, by the blessing of Mochuda he recovered. + +Another time again a king of Munster, Cathal Mac Aodha, in the region of +Cuirche, was a sufferer from a combination of complaints--he was deaf, +lame, and blind, and when Mochuda came to see him the king and his +friends prayed the saint to cure him. Mochuda therefore prayed for him +and made the sign of the cross on his eyes and ears and immediately he +was healed of all his maladies--he heard and saw perfectly, and Cathal +gave extensive lands to God and Mochuda for ever, scil:--Oilean Cathail +and Ros-Beg and Ros-Mor and Inis-Pic [Spike Island]. Mochuda placed a +religious community in Ros-Beg to build there a church in honour of God. +Mochuda himself commenced to build a church on Inis-Pic and he remained +there a whole year. [On his departure] Mochuda left there--in the +monastery of Inis-Pic--to watch over it, in his stead, and to keep it +in perfect order--the three disciples whom we have already named +(scil:--the three sons of Nascon, i.e. Goban a bishop, Srafan a priest, +and holy Laisren) together with the saintly bishop, Dardomaighen +[Domangenum], (who had conferred orders on them in presence of Mochuda) +and forty monks. Thereupon Mochuda returned to Rahen. That island we +have mentioned, scil.:--Inis-Pic, is a most holy place in which an +exceedingly devout community constantly dwell. + +Mochuda next directed his steps eastward through Munster and he crossed +the river then called Nemh, and now named the Abhainn More. As he +crossed he saw a large apple floating in the middle of the ford. This +he took up and carried away with him in his hand. Hence (that ford is +named) Ath-Ubhla in Fermoy [Ballyhooley]. His attendant asked Mochuda +for the apple, but the latter refused to give it saying--"God will work +a miracle by that apple and through me to-day: we shall meet Cuana Mac +Cailcin's daughter whose right hand is powerless so that she cannot move +it from her side. But she shall be cured by the power of God through +this apple." This was accomplished. Mochuda espied the child playing a +game with the other girls in the faithche [lawn] of the Lios. He +approached and said to her:--"Take this apple." She, as usual, put +forth her left hand for the fruit. "You shall not get it in that hand, +but take it in the other." The girl full of faith tried to put out the +right hand, and on the instant the hand became full of strength and +blood and motion so that she took the apple in it. All rejoiced thereat +and were amazed at the wonder wrought. That night Cuana said to his +daughter: "Choose yourself which you prefer of the royal youths of +Munster and whomsoever your choice be I shall obtain in marriage for +you." "The only spouse I shall have," said she, "is the man who cured +my hand." "Do you hear what she says O Mochuda?" said the king. +"Entrust the child to me," answered Mochuda, "I shall present her as a +bride to God who has healed her hand." Whereupon Cuana gave his +daughter Flandnait, together with her dowry and lands on the bank of +Nemh, to God and to Mochuda for ever. Cuana was almost incredibly +generous. Mochuda took the maiden with him to Rahen where she passed her +years happily with the religious women there till Mochuda was expelled +by the kings of Tara as you may hear. He took Flandnait with him (from +Rahen) in his party to her own native region that she might build +herself a cell there. She did build a famous cell at Cluain Dallain in +Mochuda's own parish. + +Previous to his expulsion (from Rahen) Mochuda visited the place where +(later) he built Lismore and he heard the voice of persons reading at +Rahen, wherefore he said to his followers: "I know that this is the +place where God will permit us to build our monastery." This prophecy +was subsequently verified. + +On a certain occasion Columcille came to Rahen where Mochuda was and +asked him:--"Is this place in which you now are dear to you?" "It is, +indeed," answered Mochuda. Columcille said: "Let not what I say to you +trouble you--this will not be the place of your resurrection, for the +king of Erin and his family will grow jealous of you owing to +machinations of some of the Irish clergy, and they shall eventually +drive you hence." Mochuda questioned Columcille who had a true +prophetic gift--"In what other place then will my resurrection be?" +Columcille told him--"The place where from the summit of Slieve Gua you +saw the host of angels building a chair of silver with a statue of gold +therein on the bank of the Nemh--there will your resurrection be, and +the chair of silver is your church in the midst of them [, and you are +truly the golden statue in its midst]." Mochuda believing what he heard +thanked and glorified God. + +As Mochuda on another day was at Rahen there came to him a priest and +monk of his own community from the northern part of Munster; he made a +reverence as was the custom of the monks, in Mochuda's presence and said +to him, "Father, I have complied with all your commands and the precepts +of God from the day I left Rahen till now--except this--that, without +your permission, I have taken my brother from the secular life." +"Verily I say to you," answered Mochuda, "if you were to go to the top +of a high hill and to shout as loudly as you could and were to bring to +me all who heard the cry I should not refuse the habit of religion to +one of them." Hearing these words all realised the character and extent +of Mochuda's charity and returned thanks to God for it. + +On a certain day about vesper time, because of the holiness of the hour, +Mochuda said to his monks:--"We shall not eat to-day till each one of +you has made his confession," for he knew that some one of them had ill +will in his heart against another. All the brethren thereupon confessed +to him. One of them in the course of his confession stated: "I love +not your miller and the cause of my lack of charity towards him is this, +that when I come to the mill he will not lift the loads off the horses +and he will neither help me to fill the meal sacks nor to load them on +the horse when filled. And not this alone but he does everything that +is disagreeable to me; moreover I cannot tell, but God knows, why he so +acts. Often I have thought of striking him or even beating him to +death." Mochuda replied, "Brother dear, the prophet says--'Declina a +malo et fac bonum' [Psalm 36(37):27] (Avoid evil and do good). Following +this precept let you act kindly towards the miller and that charity of +yours will move him to charity towards you and ye shall yet be steadfast +friends." Things went on thus for three days--the monk doing all he +could to placate the miller. Nevertheless the miller did not cease his +persecution, nor the brother his hate of the miller. On the third day +Mochuda directed the brother to confess to him again. The brother said: +--"This is my confession, Father, I do not yet love the miller." Mochuda +observed:--"He will change to-night, and to-morrow he will not break +fast till you meet him and you shall sit on the same seat, at the same +table, and you shall remain fast friends for the rest of your lives." +All this came to pass; for that monk was, through the instruction of +Mochuda, filled with the grace of the Divine Spirit. And he glorified +and praised Mochuda, for he recognised him as a man favoured by the Holy +Ghost. + +On another occasion two British monks of Mochuda's monastery had a +conversation in secret. Mochuda, they said, is very old though there is +no immediate appearance of approaching death--and there is no doubt that +his equal in virtue or good works will never be found--therefore if he +were out of the way one of us might succeed him. Let us then kill him +as there is no likelihood of his natural death within a reasonable time. +They resolved therefore to drown him in the river towards close of the +following night and to conceal all traces so that the crime could never +be discovered. They found him subsequently in a lonely place where he +was accustomed to pray. They bound him tightly and carried him between +them on their shoulders to the water. On their way to the river they +met one of the monks who used to walk around the cemetery every night. +He said to them: "What is that you carry?" They replied that it was +portion of the monastic washing which they were taking to the river. He +however, under the insistent suggestion of the Holy Spirit, believed +them not. He said: "Put down your load till we examine it." They were +constrained to obey and the burden proved to be--Mochuda. The monk who +detected [the proposed murder] was the overseer of the homestead. He +said mournfully, "My God, it is a dreadful work you are about." Mochuda +said gently:--"Son, it were well for me had that been done to me for I +should now be numbered among the holy martyrs. And it were bad for them +(the two wicked monks) for it is with Judas the betrayer of his Lord +they should be tortured for ever, who had desired my death for their own +advancement. Neither these wretched men themselves nor anyone of their +nation shall be my coarb for ever, but my successors shall be of his +race through whom God has rescued me. Moreover my city shall never be +without men of the British race who will be butts and laughing-stocks +and serve no useful purpose." The person who saved Mochuda was of the +Ciarraighe race and it is of that same people that the coarbs and +successors of Mochuda have commonly been ever since. [See note 2.] + +Mochuda refused for a long while, as we have already said, to accept +cattle or horses from anyone; it was the monks themselves who dug and +cultivated the land and they did all the haulage of the monastery on +their own backs. St. Fionan however who was a kinsman of Mochuda and +had just returned from Rome, came at this time on a visit to the +monastery. He reproached Mochuda saying: "Mochuda, why do you impose +the burden of brute beasts upon rational beings? Is it not for use of +the latter that all other animals have been created? Of a truth I shall +not taste food in this house till you have remedied this grievance." +Thenceforth Mochuda--in honour of Fionan--permitted his monks to accept +horses and oxen from the people and he freed them from the hardship +alluded to. Sometime later the holy abbot, Lachtaoin [St. Lachten], +compassionating Mochuda and his monks because of their lack of cattle +paid a visit to Rahen bringing with him a gift of thirty cows and a +bull, also a couple of cattlemen and two dairymaids. Coming near Rahen +he left the cattle in a secluded place, for he did not wish them to be +seen. Thereupon he went himself to the monastery and simulating illness +requested a drink of milk. The house steward went to Mochuda to tell +him that Lachtaoin was ill and required milk. Mochuda ordered the +steward to fill a pitcher with water and bring it to him--and this order +was executed. Mochuda blessed the water which immediately was changed +into sweet new milk apparently of that day's milking. He sent the milk +to Lachtaoin but the latter identified it as milk miraculously produced; +he in turn blessed it with the result that it was changed back again +into water. He complained:--"It is not water but milk I have +asked for." The messenger related this fact publicly. Lachtaoin +declared:--"Mochuda is a good monk but his successors will not be able to +change water to milk," and to the messenger he said--"Go to Mochuda and +tell him that I shall not break bread in this house until he accept the +alms which I have brought to the community." On Mochuda agreeing to +accept them he handed over the cattle and dairymen to the monks of Rahen +and the stewards took charge of them. Mochuda said thereupon, that he +should not have accepted the cattle but as a compliment to Lachtaoin. +Lachtaoin replied:--"From this day forward there will be plenty cattle +and worldly substance in your dwelling-place and there will be a +multitude of holy people in the other place whence you are to depart to +heaven (for you will be exiled from your present home)." After they had +mutually blessed and taken leave and pledged friendship Lachtaoin +departed. + +Once, at harvest time, the farm steward came to Mochuda complaining +that, though the crop was dead ripe, a sufficient number of harvesters +could not be found. Mochuda answered: "Go in peace, dear brother, and +God will send you satisfactory reapers." This promise was fulfilled, +for a band of angels came to the ripest and largest fields, reaped and +bound a great deal quickly, and gathered the crop into one place. The +monks marvelled, though they knew it was God's work and they praised and +thanked Him and Mochuda. + +The spirit of obedience amongst Mochuda's monks was such that if any +senior member of the community ordered another to lie in the fire he +would be obeyed. As an instance of this,--some of the brethren were on +one occasion baking bread in an oven when one the monks said to another +younger than himself, "The bread is burning: take it out instantly." +There was an iron shovel for drawing out the bread but the brother could +not find it on the instant. He heeded not the flames which shot out of +the oven's mouth but caught the hot bread and shifted it with his hands +and suffered no hurt whatever. On another day the monks were engaged in +labour beside the river which runs through the monastery. One of the +senior monks called upon a young monk named Colman to do a certain piece +of work. Immediately, as he had not named any particular Colman, twelve +monks of the name rushed into the water. The readiness and exactness of +the obedience practised was displayed in this incident. + +Great moreover was their meekness and patience in sickness or ill-health +as appears from the case of the monk out of the wounds of whose body +maggots fell as he walked; yet he never complained or told anyone or +left his work for two moments although it was plain from his appearance +that his health was declining, and he was growing thinner from day to +day. The brothers pitied him very much. At length Mochuda questioned +him--putting him under obedience to tell the truth--as to the cause of +his decline. The monk thereupon showed him his sides which were torn by +a twig tied fast around them. Mochuda asked him who had done that +barbarous and intolerable thing to him. The monk answered:--"One day +while we were drawing logs of timber from the wood my girdle broke from +the strain, so that my clothes hung loose. A monk behind me saw this +and cutting a twig tied it so tightly around my sides that it has caused +my flesh to mortify." Mochuda asked--"And why did you not loosen the +twig?" The monk replied--"Because my body in not my own and he who tied +it (the withe) has never loosed it." It was a whole year since the +withe had been fastened around him. Mochuda said to him:--"Brother, you +have suffered great pain; as a reward thereof take now you choice--your +restoration to bodily health or spiritual health by immediate departure +hence to eternal life." He answered, deciding to go to heaven:--"Why +should I desire to remain in this life?" Having received the Sacrament +and the Holy Communion he departed hence to glory. + +There came to Mochuda on another occasion with her husband, a woman +named Brigh whose hand lay withered and useless by her side: she +besought the saint to cure her hand. Moreover she was pregnant at the +time. Mochuda held out an apple in his hand to her as he had done +before to Flandnait, the daughter of Cuana, saying--"Alleluia, put forth +your nerveless hand to take this apple." She did as she was told and +took the apple from his hand and was cured; moreover as she tasted the +fruit parturition came on--without pain or inconvenience, after which +[the pair] returned to their home rejoicing. + +In fulfilment of the prophecy of Columcille and other holy men that +Mochuda should be expelled from Rahen the king of Tara, Blathmac, the +son of Aodh Slaine, and his brother Diarmuid came, together with some +clergy of the Cluain Earaird [Clonard] community, to carry out the +eviction [in A.D. 635]. They said to him, "Leave this monastery and +region and seek a place for yourself elsewhere." Mochuda replied--"In +this place I have desired to end my days. Here I have been many years +serving God and have almost reached the end of my life. Therefore I +shall not depart unless I am dragged hence by the hands against my will, +for it is not becoming an old man to abandon easily the place in which +he has spent great part of his life." Then the nobles returned to +Blathmac and they made various complaints of Mochuda, accusing him +falsely of many things; finally they asked the king to undertake the +expulsion personally, for they were themselves unequal to the task. The +king thereupon came to the place accompanied by a large retinue. +Alluding prophetically to the king's coming, previous to that event, +Mochuda said, addressing the monks:--"Beloved brothers, get ready and +gather your belongings, for violence and eviction are close at hand: the +chieftains of this land are about to expel and banish you from your own +home." Then the king, with his brothers and many of the chief men, +arrived on the scene. They encamped near Rahen and the king sent his +brother Diarmuid with some others to expel Mochuda and to put him out by +force--which Diarmuid pledged his word he should do. It was in the +choir at prayer that Diarmuid found Mochuda. Mochuda, though he knew +his mission, asked Diarmuid why he was come and what he sought. +Diarmuid replied that he came by order of King Blathmac to take him by +the hand and put him out of that establishment and to banish him from +Meath. "Do as you please," said Mochuda, "for we are prepared to +undergo all things for Christ's sake." "By my word," answered Diarmuid, +"I shall never be guilty of such a crime; let him who chooses do it." +Mochuda said:--"You shall possess the kingdom of God and you shall reign +in your brother's stead and your face which you have turned from me +shall never be turned from your enemies. Moreover the reproaches which +the king will presently cast upon you for not doing the work he has set +you, will be your praise and your pride. At the same time as a penalty +for your evil designs toward me and your greater readiness to drive me +out, your son shall not succeed you in the sovereignty." Diarmuid +returned to the king and told him that he could do no injury to Mochuda. +The king retorted [sarcastically and] in anger, "What a valiant man you +are, Diarmuid." Diarmuid replied:--"That is just what Mochuda promised +--that I should be a warrior of God." He was known as Diarmuid Ruanaidh +thenceforth, for the whole assembly cried out with one voice--truly he +is Valiant (Ruanaidh). + +Next, the nobles present cast lots to decide which one of them should go +with the king to lay hands on Mochuda and expel him from the monastery. +The lot fell upon the Herenach [hereditary steward] of Cluain Earaird. +He and the king accompanied by armed men went to the monastery where +they found Mochuda and all the brethren in the church. Cronan, a +certain rich man in the company, shouted out, "Make haste with the +business on which you are come." Mochuda answered him--"You shall die +immediately, but on account of the alms which you gave me for the love +of Christ and on account of your uniform piety heretofore your progeny +shall prosper for ever." That prophecy has been fulfilled. Another man, +Dulach by name, winked mockingly with one of his eyes; moreover he +laughed and behaved irreverently towards Mochuda. Mochuda said to him: +--"Thus shall you be--with one eye closed and a grin on your countenance +--to the end of your life; and of your descendants many will be similarly +afflicted." Yet another member of the company, one Cailche, +scurrilously abused and cursed Mochuda. To him Mochuda said:--"Dysentery +will attack you immediately and murrain that will cause your +death." The misfortune foretold befell him and indeed woeful misfortune +and ill luck pursued many of them for their part in the wrong doing. +When the king saw these things he became furious and, advancing--himself +and the abbot of Cluain Earaird--they took each a hand of Mochuda and in +a disrespectful, uncivil manner, they led him forth out of the monastery +while their followers did the same with Mochuda's community. Throughout +the city and in the country around there was among both sexes weeping, +mourning, and wailing over their humiliating expulsion from their own +home and monastery. Even amongst the soldiers of the king were many who +were moved to pity and compassion for Mochuda and his people. + +One of Mochuda's monks had gout in his foot and for him Mochuda besought +the king and his following that he, as he was unable to travel, might be +allowed to remain in the monastery; the request was, however, refused. +Mochuda called the monk to him and, in the name of Christ, he commanded +the pain to leave the foot and to betake itself to the foot of Colman +[Colman mac hua Telduib, abbot, or perhaps erenach only, of Cluain +Earaird], the chieftain who was most unrelenting towards him. That +soreness remained in Colman's foot as long as he lived. The monk +however rose up and walked and was able to proceed on his way with his +master. + +There was an aged monk who wished to be buried at Rahen; Mochuda granted +the request, and he received Holy Communion and sacred rites at the +saint's hands. Then he departed to heaven in the presence of all and +his body was buried at Rahen as he had himself chosen that it should be. + +Leaving Rahen Mochuda paid a visit to the monastic cemetery weeping as +he looked upon it; he blessed those interred there and prayed for them. +By the permission of God it happened that the grave of a long deceased +monk opened so that all saw it, and, putting his head out of the grave, +the tenant of the tomb cried out in a loud voice: "O holy man and +servant of God, bless us that through thy blessing we may rise and go +with you whither you go." Mochuda replied:--"So novel a thing I shall +not do, for it behoves not to raise so large a number of people before +the general resurrection." The monk asked--"Why then father, do you +leave us, though we have promised union with you in one place for ever?" +Mochuda answered:--"Brother, have you ever heard the proverb--'necessitas +movet decretum et consilium' (necessity is its own law)? Remain ye +therefore in your resting places and on the day of general resurrection +I shall come with all my brethren and we shall all assemble before the +great cross called 'Cross of the Angels' at the church door and go +together for judgement." When Mochuda had finished, the monk lay back in +his grave and the coffin closed. + +Mochuda, with his following, next visited the cross already mentioned +and here, turning to the king, he thus addressed him:--"Behold the +heavens above you and the earth below." The king looked at them: then +Mochuda continued:--"Heaven may you not possess and even from your +earthly principality may you soon be driven and your brother whom you +have reproached, because he would not lay hands on me, shall possess it +instead of you, and in your lifetime. You shall be despised by all--so +much so that in your brother's house they shall forget to supply you +with food. Moreover yourself and your children shall come to an evil +end and in a little while there shall not be one of your seed +remaining." Then Mochuda cursed him and he rang his small bell against +him and against his race, whence the bell has since been known as "The +Bell of Blathmac's Extinguishing," or "The Bell of Blathmac's Drowning," +because it drowned or extinguished Blathmac with his posterity. +Blathmac had a large family of sons and daughters but, owing to +Mochuda's curse, their race became extinct. Next to the prince of +Cluain Earaird who also had seized him by the hand, he said: "You shall +be a servant and a bondman ere you die and you shall lose your territory +and your race will be a servile one." To another of those who led him +by the hand he said:--"What moved you to drag me by the hand from my own +monastery?" The other replied:--"It pleased me not that a Munster man +should have such honour in Meath." "I wish," said Mochuda, "that the +hand you laid on me may be accursed and that the face you turned against +me to expel me from my home may be repulsive and scrofulous for the +remainder of your life." This curse was effective for the man's eye was +thereupon destroyed in his head. Mochuda noticed that some of +Columcille's successors and people from Durrow, which was one of +Columcille's foundations, had taken part in his eviction. He thus +addressed them:--"Contention and quarrelling shall be yours for ever to +work evil and schism amongst you--for you have had a prominent part in +exciting opposition to me." And so it fell out. + +The king and his people thereupon compelled Mochuda to proceed on his +way. Mochuda did proceed with his disciples, eight hundred and sixty +seven in number (and as many more they left buried in Rahen). Moreover, +many more living disciples of his who had lived in various parts of +Ireland were already dead. All the community abounded in grace: many +of its members became bishops and abbots in after years and they erected +many churches to the glory of God. + +Understand, moreover, that great was the charity of the holy bishop, as +the following fact will prove:--in a cell without the city of Rahen he +maintained in comfort and respectability a multitude of lepers. He +frequently visited them and ministered to them himself--entrusting that +office to no one else. It was known to all the lepers of Ireland how +Mochuda made their fellow-sufferers his special care and family, and the +result was that an immense number of lepers from all parts flocked to +him and he took charge and care of them. These on his departure from +Rahen he took with him to Lismore where he prepared suitable quarters +for them and there they have been ever since in comfort and in honour +according to Mochuda's command. + +As Mochuda and his people journeyed along with their vehicles they found +the way blocked by a large tree which lay across it. Owing to the +density of underwood at either side they were unable to proceed. Some +one announced:--"There is a tree across the road before us, so that we +cannot advance." Mochuda said: "In the name of Christ I command thee, +tree, to rise up and stand again in thy former place." At the command +of Mochuda the tree stood erect as it was originally and it still +retains its former appearance, and there is a pile of stones there at +its base to commemorate the miracle. + +It was necessary to proceed; the first night after Mochuda's departure +from Rahen the place that he came to was a cell called Drum Cuilinn +[Drumcullen], on the confines of Munster, Leinster, and Clanna Neill, +but actually within Clanna Neill, scil.:--in the territory of Fearceall +in which also is Rahen. In Drum Cuilinn dwelt the holy abbot, +Barrfhinn, renowned for miracles. On the morrow Mochuda arrived at +Saighir Chiarain [Seirkieran] and the following night at the +establishment where Cronan is now, scil.:--Roscrea. That night Mochuda +remained without entertainment although it was offered to them by Cronan +who had prepared supper for him. Mochuda refused however to go to it +saying that he would not go out of his way to visit a man who avoids +guests and builds his cell in a wild bog far from men and that such a +man's proper guests are creatures of the wilderness instead of human +beings. When Cronan heard this saying of Mochuda he came to the latter, +by whose advice he abandoned his hermitage in the bog and he, with +Mochuda, marked out the site of a new monastery and church at Roscrea. +There he founded a great establishment and there he is himself buried. +Mochuda took leave of Cronan and, travelling through Eile [Ely +O'Carroll], came to the royal city named Cashel. On the following day +the king, scil.:--Failbhe [Failbhe Flann], came to Mochuda offering him +a place whereon to found a church. Mochuda replied:--"It is not +permitted us by God to stay our journey anywhere till we come to the +place promised to us by the holy men." + +About the same time there came messengers from the king of Leinster to +the king of Munster praying the latter, by virtue of league and +alliance, to come to his assistance as Leath-Chuinn and the north were +advancing in great force to ravage Leinster. This is how Failbhe was +situated at the time: he had lost one of his eyes and he was ashamed to +go half-blind into a strange territory. As soon as Mochuda realised the +extent of the king's diffidence he blessed the eye making on it the sign +of the cross and it was immediately healed in the presence of all. The +king and Mochuda took leave of one another and went each his own way. +The king and his hosting went to the aid of Leinster in the latter's +necessity. + +Mochuda journeyed on through Muscraige Oirthir the chief of which +territory received him with great honour. Aodhan was the chief's name +and he bestowed his homestead called Isiol [Athassel] on Mochuda, who +blessed him and his seed. Next he came into the Decies. He travelled +through Magh Femin where he broke his journey at Ard Breanuinn +[Ardfinnan] on the bank of the Suir. There came to him here Maolochtair, +king of the Decies, and the other nobles [or one noble, Suibhne] of his +nation who were at variance with him concerning land. Mochuda by the +grace of God made peace amongst them, and dismissed them in amity. +Maolochtair gave that land to Mochuda who marked out a cell there where +is now the city of Ardfinnnan, attached to which is a large parish +subject to Mochuda and bearing his name. The wife of Maolochtair, +scil:--Cuciniceas, daughter of Failbhe Flann, king of Munster, had a +vision, viz.:--a flock of very beautiful birds flying above her head and +one bird was more beautiful and larger than the rest. The other birds +followed this one and it nestled in the king's bosom. Soon as she awoke +she related the vision to the king; the king observed: "Woman you have +dreamed a good dream and soon it will be realised; the flock of birds +you have seen is Mochuda with his monks coming from Rahen and the most +distinguished bird is Mochuda himself. And the settling in my bosom +means that the place of his resurrection will be in my territory. Many +blessings will come to us and our territory through him." That vision +of the faithful woman was realised as the faithful king had explained +it. + +Subsequently Mochuda came to Maolochtair requesting from him a place +where he might erect a monastery. Maolochtair replied: "So large a +community cannot dwell in such a narrow place." Mochuda said: "God, +who sent us to you, will show you a place suited to us." The king +answered:--"I have a place, convenient for fish and wood, beside Slieve +Gua on the bank of the Nemh but I fear it will not be large enough." +Mochuda said:--"It will not be narrow; there is a river and fish and +that it shall be the place of our resurrection." Thereupon, in +the presence of many witnesses, the king handed over the land, +scil.:--Lismore, to God and Mochuda and it is in that place Mochuda +afterwards founded his famous city. Mochuda blessed the king and his +wife as well as the nobles and all the people and taking leave of them +and receiving their homage he journeyed across Slieve Gua till he came to +the church called Ceall Clochair [Kilcloher]. The saint of that church, +scil.:--Mochua Mianain, prepared a supper for Mochuda to the best of his +ability, but he had only a single barrel of ale for them all. Although +Mochuda with his people remained there three days and three nights and +although the holy abbot (Mochua) continued to draw the ale into small +vessels to serve the company, according to their needs, the quantity in +the barrel grew no less but increased after the manner of the oil +blessed by Elias [3 Kings 17:16]. Then one of the monks said to +Mochuda, "If you remain in this place till the feast ends your stay will +be a long one for it (the entertainment) grows no smaller for all the +consumption." "That is true, brother," said Mochuda, "and it is fitting +for us to depart now." They started therefore on their way and Mochua +Mianain gave himself and his place to God and Mochuda for ever. On +Mochuda's departure the ale barrel drained out to the lees. + +Mochuda proceeded till he reached the river Nemh at a ford called +Ath-Mheadhon [Affane] which no one could cross except a swimmer or a very +strong person at low water in a dry season of summer heat, for the tide +flows against the stream far as Lismore, five miles further up. On this +particular occasion it happened to be high tide. The two first of +Mochuda's people to reach the ford were the monks Molua and Colman, +while Mochuda himself came last. They turned round to him and said that +it was not possible to cross the river till the ebb. Mochuda answered: +--"Advance through the water before the others in the name of your Lord +Jesus Christ for He is the way the truth and the life" [John 14:6]. As +soon as they heard this command of Mochuda's Molua said to Colman, +"Which of the two will you hold back--the stream above or the sea +below?" Colman answered:--"Let each restrain that which is nearest to +him"--for Molua was on the upper, or stream, side and Colman on the +lower, or sea, side. Molua said to Colman--"Forbid you the sea side to +flow naturally and I shall forbid the stream side." Then with great +faith they proceeded to cross the river; they signed the river with the +sign of Christ's cross and the waters stood on either hand and apart, so +that the dry earth appeared between. The side banks of water rose high +because there was no passage up or down, so that the ridges were very +elevated on both the sea and stream sides. The waters remained thus +till such time as all Mochuda's people had crossed. Mochuda himself was +the last to pass over and the path across was so level that it offered +no obstacle to foot-passengers or chariots but was like a level plain so +that they crossed dryshod, as the Jordan fell back for Josue the son of +Nun [Josue 3:17]. Soon as Mochuda had crossed over he blessed the waters +and commanded them to resume their natural course. On the reuniting +again of the waters they made a noise like thunder, and the name of the +place is The Place of Benedictions, from the blessings of Mochuda and +his people. + +Next the glorious bishop, Mochuda, proceeded to the place promised to +him by God and the prophets, which place is the plain called +Magh-Sciath. Mochuda, with the holy men, blessed the place and +dedicated there the site of a church in circular form. There came to +them a holy woman named Caimell who had a cell there and she asked, +"What do you propose doing here, ye servants of God?" "We propose," +answered Mochuda, "building here a little 'Lios' [enclosure] around our +possession." Caimell observed, "Not a little Lios will it be but a +great ['mor'] one (Lis-mor)." "True indeed, virgin," responded Mochuda, +"Lismore will be its name for ever." The virgin offered herself and her +cell to God and Mochuda for ever, where the convent of women is now +established in the city of Lismore. + +As Colman Elo, alluded to already, promised, Mochuda found his burial +place marked out (consecrated?) by angels; there he and a multitude of +his disciples are buried and it was made known to him by divine wisdom +the number of holy persons that to the end of the world would be buried +therein. Lismore is a renowned city, for there is one portion of it +which no woman may enter and there are within it many chapels and +monasteries, and in which there are always multitudes of devout people +not from Ireland alone but from the land of the Saxons and from Britain +and from other lands as well. This is its situation--on the south bank +of the Avonmore in the Decies territory. + +On a certain day there came a druid to Mochuda to argue and contend with +him. He said:--"If you be a servant of God cause natural fruit to grow +on this withered branch." Mochuda knew that it was to throw contempt on +the power of God that the druid had come. He blessed the branch and it +produced first living skin, then, as the druid had asked--leaves, +blossom and fruit in succession. The druid marvelled exceedingly and +went his way. + +A poor man came to Mochuda on another occasion with an ill timed request +for milk, and beer along with it. Mochuda was at the time close by the +well which is known as "Mochuda's Well" at the present time; this he +blessed changing it first into milk then into beer and finally to wine. +Then he told the poor man to take away whatever quantity of each of +these liquids he required. The well remained thus till at Mochuda's +prayer it returned to its original condition again. An angel came from +heaven to Mochuda at the time and told him that the well should remain a +source of health and virtues and of marvels, and it still, like every +well originally blessed by Mochuda, possesses power of healing from +every malady. + +Mochuda, now grown old and of failing powers and strength, was wearied +and worried by the incessant clamour of building operations--the +dressing of stones and timber--carried on by the multitude of monks and +artisans. He therefore by consent and counsel of the brethren retired +to a remote, lonely place situated in a glen called "Mochuda's Inch" +below the great monastery. He took with him there a few monks and built +a resplendent monastery; he remained in that place a year and six months +more leading a hermitical life. The brethren and seniors of the +community visited him (from time to time) and he gave them sound, +sweetly-reasoned advice. He received a vow from each to follow his +Rule, for he was the support of the aged, the health-giver to the weak, +the consoler of the afflicted, the hope-giver to the hopeless, the +faith-giver to the doubting, the moderator and uniter of the young. + +As soon as Mochuda saw the hardship to the visiting brothers and elders +of the descent from Lismore and the ascent thereto again--knowing at the +same time that his end was approaching--he ordered himself to be carried +up to the monastery so that the monks might be saved the fatigue of the +descent to him. Then it pleased God to call to Himself His devoted +servant from the troubles of life and to render to him the reward of his +good works. He opened the gates of heaven then and sent to him a host +of angels, in glory and majesty unspeakable. When Mochuda saw the +heavens open above him and the angel band approaching, he ordered that +he be set down in the middle of the glen and he related to the seniors +the things that he had seen and he asked to receive the Body of Christ +and he gave his last instruction to the monks--to observe the Law of God +and keep His commands. The place was by the cross called "Crux +Migrationis," or the cross from which Mochuda departed to Glory. Having +received the Body and Blood of Christ, having taught them divine +doctrines, in the midst of holy choirs and of many brethren and monks to +whom in turn he gave his blessing and the kiss of peace according to the +rule, the glorious and holy bishop departed to heaven accompanied by +hosts of angels on the day before the Ides of May [May 14], in his union +with the Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. +Amen. + +Finit 7ber [September] 4th, 1741. + + + +NOTE 1 + +One of our scribe's predecessors omitted a word or two from the text +here, with disastrous results to the sense. The Latin Life comes to our +aid however and enables us to make good the omission; the latter, by +the way, puzzles our scribe who is like a man fighting an invisible +enemy--correcting a text of which he does not know the defect. Insertion +of the words "walking backwards" immediately after "church," in the +angel's answer, will enable us to see the original writer's meaning. The +text should probably read: + +The angel answered:--"Whom you shall see going from the church walking +backwards to the guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to walk +backwards from the door of the church). Comghall announced to his +household that there was coming to them a distinguished stranger, +well-beloved of God, of whose advent an angel had twice foretold him. +Some time later Mochuda arrived at Comghall's establishment, and he went +to the monastery first and he did just as the angel foretold of him and +Comghall recognised him and bade him welcome. + + + +NOTE 2 + + +The obits of Mochuda's successors, down to Christian O'Conarchy, +are chronicled as follows:-- + +A.D. 650. Cuanan, maternal uncle and immediate successor of +Mochuda (Lanigan). +A.D. 698. Iarnla, surnamed Hierologus (Four Masters). In his +time King Alfrid was a student in Lismore. +A.D. 702. Colman, son of Finnbhar (Acta Sanctorum). During his +reign the abbey of Lismore reached the zenith of its fame. +A.D. 716. Cronan Ua Eoan (F. Masters). +A.D. 719. Colman O'Liathain (Annals of Inisfallen). +A.D. 741. Finghal (F. Masters). +A.D. 746. Mac hUige (Ibid). +A.D. 747. Ihrichmech (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 748. Maccoigeth (F. M.) +A.D. 752. Sinchu (F. M.) +A.D. 755. Condath (Ibid). +A.D. 756. Fincon (Annals of Ulster). +A.D. 761. Aedhan (F. M.) +A.D. 763. Ronan (Ware). +A.D. 769. Soairleach Ua Concuarain (F. M.) +A.D. 771. Eoghan (Ibid). +A.D. 776. Orach (Ibid). +A.D. 799. Carabran (Ibid). +A.D. 801. Aedhan Ua Raichlich (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 823. Flann (F. M.) +A.D. 849. Tibrade Ua Baethlanaigh (F. M.) At this period the +town was plundered and burned by the Danes who had sailed up +thither on the Blackwater. +A.D. 849. Daniel (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 854. Suibne Ua Roichlech (F. M. and A. of Ulster). What is +probably his gravestone is one of five Irish-inscribed slabs +built into the west gable of the Cathedral. +A.D. 861. Daniel Ua Liaithidhe (F. M.) +A.D. 878. Martin Ua Roichligh (Ibid). Another of the inscribed +stones above referred to asks "A prayer for Martan." +A.D. 880. Flann Mac Forbasaich (A. I.) +A.D. 899. Maelbrighte Mac Maeldomnaich (Ibid). +A.D. 918. Cormac Mac Cuilennan (A. I.) He is to be +distinguished from his more famous namesake of Cashel. +A.D. 936. Ciaran (F. M.) +A.D. 951. Diarmuid (Ibid). +A.D. 957. Maenach Mac Cormaic (Ibid). +A.D. 958. Cathmog (Ibid). He was also bishop of Cork. +A.D. 963. Cinaedh (F. M.) +A.D. 1025. Omaelsluaig (Cotton's "Fasti"). +A.D. 1034. Moriertach O'Selbach, bishop of Lismore (Cotton). +A.D. 1064. Mac Airthir, bishop (Cotton). +A.D. 1090. Maelduin O'Rebhacain (Ibid). +A.D. 1112. Gilla Mochuda O'Rebhacain (A. of I.) +A.D. 1113. Nial Macgettigan. His episcopal staff, possibly +enclosing the venerable oaken staff of the founder of the abbey, +is still preserved at Lismore Castle. [Also known as the +'Lismore Crozier,' in 2004 it is housed in 'The Treasury' exhibit +at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St., Dublin 2.] +A.D. 1134. Malchus. Most probably he is identical with the +first bishop of Waterford. During his term both St. Malachy and +King Cormac MacCarthy dwelt as fugitives, guests or pilgrims, at +Lismore. +A.D. 1142. Ua Rebhacain. +A.D. 1186. St. Christian. He had however resigned the +bishopric. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The source for this text includes the Irish text and English translation +on facing pages and notes. The notes are quite lengthy and should take +longer to transcribe than the English text. Except for a few notes +transplanted in brackets to the body of the text I have not transcribed +them. Due to inexperience with the Irish language and its script I have +decided not to attempt to transcribe the Irish text. Hopefully someone +with the appropriate talent and interest will undertake that task some +day. I have corrected the errata as indicated in the source and a few +obvious printer errors. Please note that this text contains variant +spellings of names and words sometimes inconsistently applied. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda, Anonymous + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11168 *** diff --git a/11168-h.zip b/11168-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..55ed323 --- /dev/null +++ b/11168-h.zip diff --git a/11168-h/11168-h.htm b/11168-h/11168-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd6826c --- /dev/null +++ b/11168-h/11168-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3917 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 1st November 2003), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=us-ascii" /> +<title>Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda</title> + +</head> +<body bgcolor="white"> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda, Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: February 19, 2004 [EBook #11168] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF SS. DECLAN AND MOCHUDA *** + + + + +Produced by Dennis McCarthy + + + + + +</pre> + + +<center> +<h1>Irish Texts Society.</h1> +<h1><i>Comann na Sgríbeann Gaedilge.</i></h1> +<img src="a-front.gif" width="258" alt="Celtic Weave Graphic" /> +<h3>Vol. XVI.</h3> +<p>[1914.]</p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<h1>Life of St. Declan of Ardmore,</h1> +(Edited from MS. in Bibliotheque Royale, Brussels), +<h3>AND</h3> +<h1>Life of St. Mochuda of Lismore,</h1> +(Edited from MS. in the Library of Royal Irish Academy), +<h2>With Introduction, Translation, and Notes,</h2> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>Rev. P. Power, M.R.I.A.,</h2> +University College, Cork. + +<p>1914.</p> + + +<hr width="50%" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +</center> +<ul> +<li><a href="#preface"><b>Preface</b></a></li> +<li><b>Introduction</b> +<ul> +<li><a href="#intro-g">General</a></li> +<li><a href="#intro-d">St. Declan</a></li> +<li><a href="#intro-m">St. Mochuda</a></li> +<li><a href="#map">Maps</a></li> +</ul> +</li> +<li><a href="#declan"><b>Life of Declan</b></a></li> +<li><a href="#mochuda"><b>Life of Mochuda</b></a></li> +<li>[<a href="#2004_note">Transcriber's Note</a>]</li> +</ul> +<center> +<p><img src="b-oclery.jpg" width="508" height="700" alt= +"Page of Life of Declan, MS. 4190-4200, Royal (Burgundian) Library, Brussels. +[Handwriting of Brother Michael O'Clery.]" /></p> +<p><a name="preface" id="preface"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +</center> +It is solely the historical aspect and worth of the two tracts +herewith presented that appealed to their edition and first +suggested to him their preparation and publication.  Had +preparation in question depended for its motive merely on +considerations of the texts' philologic interest or value it would, +to speak frankly, never have been undertaken.  The editor, who +disclaims qualification as a philologist, regards these Lives as +very valuable historical material, publication of which may serve +to light up some dark corners of our Celtic ecclesiastical past.  +He is egotist enough to hope that the present "blazing of the +track," inadequate and feeble though it be, may induce other and +better equipped explorers to follow. +<p>    The present editor was studying the Life of Declan for +quite another purpose when, some years since, the zealous Hon. +Secretary of the Irish Texts Society suggested to him publication +of the tract in its present form, and addition of the Life of +Carthach [Mochuda].  Whatever credit therefore is due to +originating this work is Miss Hull's, and hers alone.</p> +<p>    The editor's best thanks are due, and are hereby most +gratefully tendered, to Rev. M. Sheehan, D.D., D.Ph., Rev. Paul +Walsh, Rev. J. MacErlhean, S.J., M.A., as well as to Mr. R. +O'Foley, who, at much expense of time and labour, have carefully +read the proofs, and, with unselfish prodigality of their scholarly +resources, have made many valuable suggestions and corrections.</p> +<p>    P.P.</p> +<p><a name="intro-g" id="intro-g"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<center> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<h3><i>I.—GENERAL.</i></h3> +</center> +<p>A most distinctive class of ancient Irish literature, and +probably the class that is least popularly familiar, is the +hagiographical.  It is, the present writer ventures to submit, as +valuable as it is distinctive and as well worthy of study as it is +neglected.  While annals, tales and poetry have found editors the +Lives of Irish Saints have remained largely a mine unworked.  +Into the causes of this strange neglect it is not the purpose of +the present introduction to enter.  Suffice it to glance in +passing at one of the reasons which has been alleged in +explanation, scil.:—that the "Lives" are uncritical and +romantic, that they abound in wild legends, chronological +impossibilities and all sorts of incredible stories, and, finally, +that miracles are multiplied till the miraculous becomes the +ordinary, and that marvels are magnified till the narrative borders +on the ludicrous.  The Saint as he is sketched is sometimes a +positively repulsive being—arrogant, venomous, and cruel; he +demands two eyes or more for one, and, pucklike, fairly revels in +mischief!  As painted he is in fact more a pagan deity than a +Christian man.</p> +<p>    The foregoing charges may, or must, be admitted +partially or in full, but such admission implies no denial of the +historical value of the Lives.  All archaic literature, be it +remembered, is in a greater or less degree uncritical, and it must +be read in the light of the writer's times and surroundings.  +That imagination should sometimes run riot and the pen be carried +beyond the boundary line of the strictly literal is perhaps nothing +much to be marvelled at in the case of the supernatural minded Celt +with religion for his theme.  Did the scribe believe what he +wrote when he recounted the multiplied marvels of his holy patron's +life?  Doubtless he did—and why not!  To the +unsophisticated monastic and mediaeval mind, as to the mind of +primitive man, the marvellous and supernatural is almost as real +and near as the commonplace and natural.  If anyone doubts this +let him study the mind of the modern Irish peasant; let him get +beneath its surface and inside its guardian ring of shrinking +reserve; there he will find the same material exactly as composed +the mind of the tenth century biographers of Declan and Mochuda.  +Dreamers and visionaries were of as frequent occurrence in Erin of +ages ago as they are to-day.  Then as now the supernatural and +marvellous had a wondrous fascination for the Celtic mind.  +Sometimes the attraction becomes so strong as seemingly to +overbalance the faculty of distinguishing fact from fancy.  Of +St. Bridget we are gravely told that to dry her wet cloak she hung +in out on a sunbeam!  Another Saint sailed away to a foreign land +on a sod from his native hillside!  More than once we find a +flagstone turned into a raft to bear a missionary band beyond the +seas!  St. Fursey exchanged diseases with his friend Magnentius, +and, stranger still, the exchange was arranged and effected by +correspondence!  To the saints moreover are ascribed lives of +incredible duration—to Mochta, Ibar, Seachnal, and Brendan, +for instance, three hundred years each; St. Mochaemog is credited +with a life of four hundred and thirteen years, and so on!</p> +<p>    Clan, or tribe, rivalry was doubtless one of the things +which made for the invention and multiplication of miracles.  If +the patron of the Decies is credited with a miracle, the tribesmen +of Ossory must go one better and attribute to their tribal saint a +marvel more striking still.  The hagiographers of Decies retort +for their patron by a claim of yet another miracle and so on.  It +is to be feared too that occasionally a less worthy motive than +tribal honour prompted the imagination of our Irish +hagiographers—the desire to exploit the saint and his honour +for worldly gain.</p> +<p>    The "Lives" of the Irish Saints contain an immense +quantity of material of first rate importance for the historian of +the Celtic church.  Underneath the later concoction of fable is a +solid substratum of fact which no serious student can ignore.  +Even where the narrative is otherwise plainly myth or fiction it +sheds many a useful sidelight on ancient manners, customs and laws +as well as on the curious and often intricate operations of the +Celtic mind.</p> +<p>    By "Lives" are here meant the old MS. biographies which +have come down to us from ages before the invention of printing.  +Sometimes these "Lives" are styled "Acts."  Generally we have +only one standard "Life" of a saint and of this there are usually +several copies, scattered in various libraries and collections.  +Occasionally a second Life is found differing essentially from the +first, but, as a rule, the different copies are only recensions of +a single original.  Some of the MSS. are parchment but the +majority are in paper; some Lives again are merely fragments and no +doubt scores if not hundreds of others have been entirely lost.  +Of many hundreds of our Irish saints we have only the meagre +details supplied by the martyrologies, with perhaps occasional +reference to them in the Lives of other saints.  Again, finally, +the memory of hundreds and hundreds of saints additional survives +only in place names or is entirely lost.</p> +<p>    There still survive probably over a hundred +"Lives"—possibly one hundred and fifty; this, however, does +not imply that therefore we have Lives of one hundred or one +hundred and fifty saints, for many of the saints whose Acts survive +have really two sets of the latter—one in Latin and the other +in Irish; moreover, of a few of the Latin Lives and of a larger +number of the Irish Lives we have two or more recensions.  There +are, for instance, three independent Lives of St. Mochuda and one +of these is in two recensions.</p> +<p>    The surviving Lives naturally divide themselves into two +great classes—the Latin Lives and the Irish,—written in +Latin and Irish respectively.  We have a Latin Life only of some +saints, and Irish Life only of others, and of others again we have +a Latin Life and an Irish.  It may be necessary to add the Acts +which have been translated into Latin by Colgan or the Bollandists +do not of course rank as Latin Lives.  Whether the Latin Lives +proper are free translations of the Irish Lives or the Irish Lives +translations of Latin originals remains still, to a large extent, +an open question.  Plummer (<i>"Vitae SSm. Hib.," Introd.</i>) +seems to favour the Latin Lives as the originals.  His reasoning +here however leaves one rather unconvinced.  This is not the +place to go into the matter at length, but a new bit of evidence +which makes against the theory of Latin originals may be quoted; it +is furnished by the well known collection of Latin Lives known as +the Codex Salmanticensis, to which are appended brief marginal +notes in mixed middle Irish and Latin.  One such note to the Life +of St. Cuangus of Lismore (<i>recte</i> Liathmore) requests a +prayer for him who has translated the Life out of the Irish into +Latin.  If one of the Lives, and this a typical or characteristic +Life, be a translation, we may perhaps assume that the others, or +most of them, are translations also.  In any case we may assume +as certain that there were original Irish materials or data from +which the formal Lives (Irish or Latin) were compiled.</p> +<p>    The Latin Lives are contained mainly in four great +collections.  The first and probably the most important of these +is in the Royal Library at Brussels, included chiefly in a large +MS. known as <i>Codex Salmanticensis</i> from the fact that it +belonged in the seventeenth century to the Irish College of +Salamanca.  The second collection is in Marsh's Library, Dublin, +and the third in Trinity College Library.  The two latter may for +practical purposes be regarded as one, for they are sister +MSS.—copied from the same original.  The Marsh's Library +collection is almost certainly, <i>teste</i> Plummer, the document +referred to by Colgan as Codex Kilkenniensis and it is quite +certainly the Codex Ardmachanus of Fleming.  The fourth +collection (or the third, if we take as one the two last +mentioned,) is in the Bodleian at Oxford amongst what are known as +the Rawlinson MSS.  Of minor importance, for one reason or +another, are the collections of the Franciscan Library, Merchants' +Quay, Dublin, and in Maynooth College respectively.  The first of +the enumerated collections was published <i>in extenso,</i> about +twenty-five years since, by the Marquis of Bute, while recently the +gist of all the Latin collections has been edited with rare +scholarship by Rev. Charles Plummer of Oxford.  Incidentally may +be noted the one defect in Mr. Plummer's great work—its +author's almost irritating insistence on pagan origins, nature +myths, and heathen survivals.  Besides the Marquis of Bute and +Plummer, Colgan and the Bollandists have published some Latin +Lives, and a few isolated "Lives" have been published from time to +time by other more or less competent editors.</p> +<p>    The Irish Lives, though more numerous than the Latin, +are less accessible.  The chief repertorium of the former is the +Burgundian or Royal Library, Brussels.  The MS. collection at +Brussels appears to have originally belonged to the Irish +Franciscans of Louvain and much of it is in the well-known +handwriting of Michael O'Clery.  There are also several +collections of Irish Lives in Ireland—in the Royal Irish +Academy, for instance, and Trinity College Libraries.  Finally, +there are a few Irish Lives at Oxford and Cambridge, in the British +Museum, Marsh's Library, &c., and in addition there are many +Lives in private hands.  In this connection it can be no harm, +and may do some good, to note that an apparently brisk, if +unpatriotic, trade in Irish MSS. (including of course "Lives" of +Saints) is carried on with the United States.  Wealthy, often +ignorant, Irish-Americans, who are unable to read them, are making +collections of Irish MSS. and rare Irish books, to Ireland's +loss.  Some Irish MSS. too, including Lives of Saints, have been +carried away as mementoes of the old land by departing +emigrants.</p> +<p>    The date or period at which the Lives (Latin and Irish) +were written is manifestly, for half a dozen good reasons, a +question of the utmost importance to the student of the subject.  +Alas, that the question has to some extent successfully defied +quite satisfactory solution.  We can, so far, only +conjecture—though the probabilities seem strong and the +grounds solid.  The probabilities are that the Latin Lives date +as a rule from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when they were +put into something like their present form for reading (perhaps in +the refectory) in the great religious houses.  They were copied +and re-copied during the succeeding centuries and the scribes +according to their knowledge, devotion or caprice made various +additions, subtractions and occasional multiplications.  The +Irish Lives are almost certainly of a somewhat earlier date than +the Latin and are based partly (<i>i.e.</i> as regards the bulk of +the miracles) on local tradition, and partly (<i>i.e.</i> as +regards the purely historical element) on the authority of written +materials.  They too were, no doubt, copied and interpolated much +as were the Latin Lives.  The present copies of Irish Lives date +as a rule from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries only, and +the fact that the Latin and the Irish Life (where there is this +double biography) sometimes agree very perfectly may indicate that +the Latin translation or Life is very late.</p> +<p>    The chief published collections of Irish Saints' Lives +may be set down as seven, scil.:—five in Latin and one each +in Irish and English.  The Latin collections are the +Bollandists', Colgan's, Messingham's, Fleming's, and Plummer's; the +Irish collection is Stokes' (<i>"Lives of Saints from the Book of +Lismore"</i>) and the English is of course O'Hanlon's.</p> +<p>    Most striking, probably, of the characteristics of the +"Lives" is their very evident effort to exalt and glorify the saint +at any cost.  With this end of glorification in view the +hagiographer is prepared to swallow everything and record +anything.  He has, in fact, no critical sense and possibly he +would regard possession of such a sense as rather an evil thing and +use of it as irreverent.  He does not, as a consequence, succeed +in presenting us with a very life-like or convincing portrait of +either the man or the saint.  Indeed the saint, as drawn in the +Lives, is, as already hinted, a very unsaintlike +individual—almost as ready to curse as to pray and certainly +very much more likely to smite the aggressor than to present to him +the other cheek.  In the text we shall see St. Mochuda, whose +Life is a specially sane piece of work, cursing on the same +occasion, first, King Blathmac and the Prince of Cluain, then, the +rich man Cronan who sympathised with the eviction, next an +individual named Dubhsulach who winked insolently at him, and +finally the people of St. Columba's holy city of Durrow who had +stirred up hostile feeling against him.  Even gentle female +saints can hurl an imprecation too.  St. Laisrech, for instance, +condemned the lands of those who refused her tribute, +to—nettles, elder shrub, and corncrakes!  It is pretty +plain that the compilers of the lives had some prerogatives, claims +or rights to uphold—hence this frequent insistence on the +evil of resisting the Saint and presumably his successors.</p> +<p>    One characteristic of the Irish ascetics appears very +clear through all the exaggeration and all the biographical +absurdity; it is their spirit of intense mortification.  To +understand this we have only to study one of the ancient Irish +Monastic Rules or one of the Irish Penitentials as edited by +D'Achery (<i>"Spicilegium"</i>) or Wasserschleben (<i>"Irische +Kanonensamerlung"</i>).  Severest fasting, unquestioning +obedience and perpetual self renunciation were inculcated by the +Rules and we have ample evidence that they were observed with +extraordinary fidelity.  The Rule of Maelruin absolutely forbade +the use of meat or of beer.  Such a prohibition a thousand years +ago was an immensely more grievous thing than it would sound +to-day.  Wheaten bread might partially supply the place of meat +to-day, but meat was easier to procure than bread in the eighth +century.  Again, a thousand years ago, tea or coffee there was +none and even milk was often difficult or impossible to procure in +winter.  So severe in fact was the fast that religious sometimes +died of it.  Bread and water being found insufficient to sustain +life and health, gruel was substituted in some monasteries and of +this monastic gruel there were three varieties:—(<i>a</i>) +"gruel upon water" in which the liquid was so thick that the meal +reached the surface, (<i>b</i>) "gruel between two waters" in which +the meal, while it did not rise to the surface, did not quite fall +to the bottom, and (<i>c</i>) "gruel under water" which was so weak +and so badly boiled that he meal easily fell to the bottom.  In +the case of penitents the first brand of gruel was prescribed for +light offences, the second kind for sins of ordinary gravity, and +the "gruel under water" for extraordinary crimes (<i>vid.</i> +Messrs. Gwynne and Purton on the Rule of Maelruin, &c.)  The +most implicit, exact and prompt obedience was prescribed and +observed.  An overseer of Mochuda's monastery at Rahen had +occasion to order by name a young monk called Colman to do +something which involved his wading into a river.  Instantly a +dozen Colmans plunged into the water.  Instances of extraordinary +penance abound, beside which the austerities of Simon Stylites +almost pale.  The Irish saints' love of solitude was also a very +marked characteristic.  Desert places and solitary islands of the +ocean possessed an apparently wonderful fascination for them.  +The more inaccessible or forbidding the island the more it was in +request as a penitential retreat.  There is hardly one of the +hundred islands around the Irish coast which, one time or another, +did not harbour some saint or solitary upon its rocky bosom.</p> +<p>    The testimony of the "Lives" to the saints' love and +practice of prayer is borne out by the evidence of more trustworthy +documents.  Besides private prayers, the whole psalter seems to +have been recited each day, in three parts of fifty psalms each.  +In addition, an immense number of Pater Nosters was prescribed.  +The office and prayers were generally pretty liberally interspersed +with genuflexions or prostrations, of which a certain anchorite +performed as many as seven hundred daily.  Another penitential +action which accompanied prayer was the <i>cros-figul.</i>  This +was an extension of the arms in the shape of a cross; if anyone +wants to know how difficult a practice this is let him try it for, +say, fifteen minutes.  Regarding recitation of the Divine Office +it was of counsel, and probably of precept, that is should not be +from memory merely, but that the psalms should all be read.  For +this a good reason was given by Maelruin, <i>i.e.</i> that the +recitation might engage the eye as well as the tongue and +thought.  An Irish homily refers to the mortification of the +saints and religious of the time as martyrdom, of which it +distinguishes three kinds—red, white, and blue.  Red +martyrdom was death for the faith; white martyrdom was the +discipline of fasting, labour and bodily austerities; while blue +martyrdom was abnegation of the will and heartfelt sorrow for +sin.</p> +<p>    One of the puzzles of Irish hagiology is the great age +attributed to certain saints—periods of two hundred, three +hundred, and even four hundred years.  Did the original compilers +of the Life intend this?  Whatever the full explanation be the +writers of the Lives were clearly animated by a desire to make +their saint cotemporary and, if possible, a disciple, of one or +other of the great monastic founders, or at any rate to prove him a +pupil of one of the great schools of Erin.  There was special +anxiety to connect the saint with Bangor or Clonard.  To effect +the connection in question it was sometimes necessary to carry the +life backwards, at other times to carry it forwards, and +occasionally to lengthen it both backwards and forwards.  Dr. +Chas. O'Connor gives a not very convincing explanation of the +three-hundred-year "Lives," scil.:—that the saint lived in +three centuries—during the whole of one century and in the +end and beginning respectively of the preceding and succeeding +centuries.  This explanation, even if satisfactory for the +three-hundred-year Lives, would not help at all towards the Lives +of four hundred years.  A common explanation is that the scribe +mistook numerals in the MS. before him and wrote the wrong +figures.  There is no doubt that copying is a fruitful source of +error as regards numerals.  It is much more easy to make a +mistake in a numeral than in a letter; the context will enable one +to correct the letter, while it will give him no clue as regards a +numeral.  On the subject of the alleged longevity of Irish Saints +Anscombe has recently been elaborating in <i>Eriu</i> a new and +very ingenious theory.  Somewhat unfortunately the author happens +to be a rather frequent propounder of ingenious theories.  His +explanation is briefly—the use and confusion of different +systems of chronology.  He alleges that the original writers used +what is called the Diocletian Era or the "Era of the Martyrs" as +the <i>terminus a quo</i> of their chronological system and, in +support of his position, he adduces the fact that this, which was +the most ancient of all ecclesiastical eras, was the era used by +the schismatics in Britain and that it was introduced by St. +Patrick.</p> +<p>    As against the contradiction, anachronisms and +extravagances of the Lives we have to put the fact that generally +speaking the latter corroborate one another, and that they receive +extern corroboration from the annals.  Such disagreements as +occur are only what one would expect to find in documents dealing +with times so remote.  To the credit side too must go the fact +that references to Celtic geography and to local history are all as +a rule accurate.  Of continental geography and history however +the writers of the Lives show much ignorance, but scarcely quite as +much as the corresponding ignorance shown by Continental writers +about Ireland.</p> +<p>    The missionary methods of the early Irish Church and its +monastic or semi-monastic system are frequently referred to as +peculiar, if not unique.  A missionary system more or less +similar must however have prevailed generally in that age.  What +other system could have been nearly as successful amongst a pagan +people circumstanced as the Irish were?  The community system +alone afforded the necessary mutual encouragement and protection to +the missionaries.  Each monastic station became a base of +operations.  The numerous diminutive dioceses, quasi-dioceses, or +tribal churches, were little more than extensive parishes and the +missionary bishops were little more in jurisdiction than glorified +parish priests.  The bishop's <i>muintir,</i> that is the members +of his household, were his assistant clergy.  Having converted +the chieftain or head of the tribe the missionary had but to +instruct and baptise the tribesmen and to erect churches for +them.  Land and materials for the church were provided by the +Clan or the Clan's head, and lands for support of the missioner or +of the missionary community were allotted just as they had been +previously allotted to the pagan priesthood; in fact there can be +but little doubt that the lands of the pagan priests became in many +cases the endowment of the Christian establishment.  It is not +necessary, by the way, to assume that the Church in Ireland as +Patrick left it, was formally monastic.  The clergy lived in +community, it is true, but it was under a somewhat elastic rule, +which was really rather a series of Christian and Religious +counsels.  A more formal monasticism had developed by the time of +Mochuda; this was evidently influenced by the spread of St. +Benedict's Rule, as Patrick's quasi-monasticism, nearly two +centuries previously, had been influenced by Pachomius and St. +Basil, through Lerins.  The real peculiarity in Ireland was that +when the community-missionary-system was no longer necessary it was +not abandoned as in other lands but was rather developed and +emphasised.</p> +<p><a name="intro-d" id="intro-d"></a></p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<center> +<h3><i>II.—ST. DECLAN.</i></h3> +</center> +<blockquote><font size="-1">"If thou hast the right, O Erin, to a +champion of battle to aid thee thou hast the head of a hundred +thousand, Declan of Ardmore."  <cite>(Martyrology of +Oengus).</cite></font></blockquote> +<p>Five miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the +southern Irish coast, a short, rocky and rather elevated promontory +juts, with a south-easterly trend, into the ocean.  Maps and +admiralty charts call it Ram +Head, but the real name is Ceann-a-Rama and popularly it is often +styled Ardmore Head.  The material of this inhospitable coast is +a hard metamorphic schist which bids defiance to time and +weather.  Landwards the shore curves in clay cliffs to the +north-east, leaving, between it and the iron headland beyond, a +shallow exposed bay wherein many a proud ship has met her doom.  +Nestling at the north side of the headland and sheltered by the +latter from Atlantic storms stands one of the most remarkable +groups of ancient ecclesiastical remains in Ireland—all that +has survived of St. Declan's holy city of Ardmore.  This embraces +a beautiful and perfect round tower, a singularly interesting +ruined church commonly called the cathedral, the ruins of a second +church beside a holy well, a primitive oratory, a couple of ogham +inscribed pillar stones, &c., &c.</p> +<p>    No Irish saint perhaps has so strong a local hold as +Declan or has left so abiding a popular memory.  Nevertheless his +period is one of the great disputed questions of early Irish +history.  According to the express testimony of his Life, +corroborated by testimony of the Lives of SS. Ailbhe and Ciaran, he +preceded St. Patrick in the Irish mission and was a co-temporary of +the national apostle.  Objection, exception or opposition to the +theory of Declan's early period is based less on any inherent +improbability in the theory itself than on contradictions and +inconsistencies in the Life.  Beyond any doubt the Life does +actually contradict itself; it makes Declan a cotemporary of +Patrick in the fifth century and a cotemporary likewise of St. +David a century later.  In any attempted solution of the +difficulty involved it may be helpful to remember a special motive +likely to animate a tribal histrographer, scil.:—the family +relationship, if we may so call it, of the two saints; David was +bishop of the Deisi colony in Wales as Declan was bishop of their +kinsmen of southern Ireland.  It was very probably part of the +writer's purpose to call attention to the links of kindred which +bound the separated Deisi; witness his allusion later to the +alleged visit of Declan to his kinsmen of Bregia.  Possibly there +were several Declans, as there were scores of Colmans, Finians, +&c., and hence perhaps the confusion and some of the apparent +inconsistencies.  There was certainly a second Declan, a disciple +of St. Virgilius, to whom the latter committed care of a church in +Austria where he died towards close of eighth century.  Again we +find mention of a St. Declan who was a foster son of Mogue of +Ferns, and so on.  It is too much, as Delehaye (<i>"Legendes +Hagiographiques"</i>) remarks, to expect the populace to +distinguish between namesakes.  Great men are so rare!  Is it +likely there should have lived two saints of the same name in the +same country!</p> +<p>    The latest commentators on the question of St. Declan's +period—and they happen to be amongst the most +weighty—argue strongly in favour of the pre-Patrician mission +(<i>Cfr.</i> Prof. Kuno Meyer, <i>"Learning Ireland in the Fifth +Century"</i>).  Discussing the <i>way</i> in which letters first +reached our distant island of the west and the <i>causes</i> which +led to the proficiency of sixth-century Ireland in classical +learning Zimmer and Meyer contend that the seeds of that literary +culture, which flourished in Ireland of the sixth century, had been +sown therein in the first and second decades of the preceding +century by Gaulish scholars who had fled from their own country +owing to invasion of the latter by Goths and other barbarians.  +The fact that these scholars, who were mostly Christians, sought +asylum in Ireland indicates that Christianity had already +penetrated thither, or at any rate that it was known and tolerated +there.  Dr. Meyer answers the objection that if so large and so +important an invasion of scholars took place we ought have some +reference to the fact in the Irish annals.  The annals, he +replies, are of local origin and they rarely refer in their oldest +parts to national events:  moreover they are very meagre in their +information about the fifth century.  One Irish reference to the +Gaulish scholars is, however, adduced in corroboration; it occurs +in that well known passage in St. Patrick's "Confessio" where the +saint cries out against certain "rhetoricians" in Ireland who were +hostile to him and pagan,—"You rhetoricians who do not know +the Lord, hear and search Who it was that called me up, fool though +I be, from the midst of those who think themselves wise and skilled +in the law and mighty orators and powerful in everything."  Who +were these "rhetorici" that have made this passage so difficult for +commentators and have caused so various constructions to be put +upon it?  It is clear, the professor maintains, that the +reference is to pagan rhetors from Gaul whose arrogant presumption, +founded on their learning, made them regard with disdain the +comparatively illiterate apostle of the Scots.  Everyone is +familiar with the classic passage of Tacitus wherein he alludes to +the harbours of Ireland as being more familiar to continental +mariners than those of Britain.  We have references moreover to +refugee Christians who fled to Ireland from the persecutions of +Diocletian more than a century before St. Patrick's day; in +addition it is abundantly evident that many +Irishmen—Christians like Celestius the lieutenant of +Pelagius, and possibly Pelagius himself, amongst them—had +risen to distinction or notoriety abroad before middle of the fifth +century.</p> +<p>    Possibly the best way to present the question of +Declan's age is to put in tabulated form the arguments of the +pre-Patrician advocates against the counter contentions of those +who claim that Declan's period is later than Patrick's:—</p> +<center> +<table border="0" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="3" width="100%" +summary="Pro and Con"> +<tr> +<td valign="top" align="left"> +<center><font size="-1">For the Pre-Patrician +Mission.</font></center> +   I.—Positive statement of Life, corroborated by Lives +of SS. Ciaran and Ailbhe.<br /> +   II.—Patrick's apparent avoidance of the Principality +of Decies.<br /> +   III.—The peculiar Declan cult and the strong local +hold which Declan has maintained.</td> +<td valign="top" align="left"> +<center><font size="-1">Against Theory of Early Fifth Century +period.</font></center> +   I.—Contradictions, anachronisms, &c., of +Life.<br /> +   II.—Lack of allusion to Declan in the Lives of St. +Patrick.<br /> +   III.—Prosper's testimony to the mission of Palladius +as first bishop to the believing Scots.<br /> +   IV.—Alleged motives for later invention of +Pre-Patrician story.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<p>    In this matter and at this hour it is hardly worth +appealing to the authority of Lanigan and the scholars of the +past.  Much evidence not available in Lanigan's day is now at the +service of scholars.  We are to look rather at the reasoning of +Colgan, Ussher, and Lanigan than to the mere weight of their +names.</p> +<p>    Referring in order to our tabulated grounds of argument, +<i>pro</i> and <i>con,</i> and taking the <i>pro</i> arguments +first, we may (I.) discard as evidence for our purpose the Life of +St. Ibar which is very fragmentary and otherwise a rather +unsatisfactory document.  The Lives of Ailbhe, Ciaran, and Declan +are however mutually corroborative and consistent.  The Roman +visit and the alleged tutelage under Hilarius are probably +embellishments; they look like inventions to explain something and +they may contain more than a kernel of truth.  At any rate they +are matters requiring further investigation and elucidation.  In +this connection it may be useful to recall that the Life (Latin) of +St. Ciaran has been attributed by Colgan to Evinus the disciple and +panegyrist of St. Patrick.</p> +<p>    Patrick's apparent neglect of the Decies (II.) may have +no special significance.  At best it is but negative evidence:  +taken, however, in connection with (I.) and its consectaria it is +suggestive.  We can hardly help speculating why the +apostle—passing as it were by its front door—should +have given the go-bye to a region so important as the Munster +Decies.  Perhaps he sent preachers into it; perhaps there was no +special necessity for a formal mission, as the faith had already +found entrance.  It is a little noteworthy too that we do not +find St. Patrick's name surviving in any ecclesiastical connection +with the Decies, if we except Patrick's Well, near Clonmel, and +this Well is within a mile or so of the territorial frontier.  +Moreover the southern portion of the present Tipperary County had +been ceded by Aengus to the Deisi, only just previous to Patrick's +advent, and had hardly yet had sufficient time to become +absorbed.  The whole story of Declan's alleged relations with +Patrick undoubtedly suggests some irregularity in Declan's +mission—an irregularity which was capable of rectification +through Patrick and which <i>de facto</i> was finally so +rectified.</p> +<p>    (III.) No one in Eastern Munster requires to be told how +strong is the cult of St. Declan throughout Decies and the adjacent +territory.  It is hardly too much to say that the Declan +tradition in Waterford and Cork is a spiritual actuality, +extraordinary and unique, even in a land which till recently paid +special popular honour to its local saints.  In traditional +popular regard Declan in the Decies has ever stood first, foremost, +and pioneer.  Carthage, founder of the tribal see, has held and +holds in the imagination of the people only a secondary place.  +Declan, whencesoever or whenever he came, is regarded as the +spiritual father to whom the Deisi owe the gift of faith.  How +far this tradition and the implied belief in Declan's priority and +independent mission are derived from circulation of the "Life" +throughout Munster in the last few centuries it is difficult to +gauge, but the tradition seems to have flourished as vigorously in +the days of Colgan as it does to-day.  Declan's "pattern" at +Ardmore continues to be still the most noted celebration of its +kind in Ireland.  A few years ago it was participated in by as +many as fourteen thousand people from all parts of Waterford, Cork, +and Tipperary.  The scenes and ceremonies have been so frequently +described that it is not necessary to recount them +here—suffice it to say that the devotional practices and, in +fact, the whole celebration is of a purely popular character +receiving no approbation, and but bare toleration, from church or +clergy.  Even to the present day Declan's name is borne as their +prænomen by hundreds of Waterford men, and, before +introduction of the modern practice of christening with foolish +foreign names, its use was far more common, as the ancient +baptismal registers of Ardmore, Old Parish, and Clashmore +attest.  On the other hand Declan's name is associated with +comparatively few places in the Decies.  Of these the best known +is Relig Deaglain, a disused graveyard and early church site on the +townland of Drumroe, near Cappoquin.  There was also an ancient +church called Killdeglain, near Stradbally.</p> +<p>    Against the theory of the pre-Patrician or +citra-Patrician mission we have first the objection, which really +has no weight, and which we shall not stop to discuss, that it is +impossible for Christianity at that early date to have found its +way to this distant island, beyond the boundary of the world.  An +argument on a different plane is (I.), the undoubtedly +contradictory and inconsistent character of the Life.  It is easy +however to exaggerate the importance of this point.  Modern +critical methods were undreamed of in the days of our hagiographer, +who wrote, moreover, for edification only in a credulous age.  +Most of the historical documents of the period are in a greater or +less degree uncritical but that does not discredit their testimony +however much it may confuse their editors.  It can be urged +moreover that two mutually incompatible genealogies of the saint +are given.  The genealogy given by MacFirbisigh seems in fact to +disagree in almost every possible detail with the genealogy in 23 +M. 50 R.I.A.  That however is like an argument that Declan never +existed.  It really suggests and almost postulates the existence +of a second Declan whose Acts and those of <i>our</i> Declan have +become mutually confused.</p> +<p>    (II.) Absence of Declan's name from the Acts of Patrick +is a negative argument.  It is explicable perhaps by the supposed +irregularity of Declan's preaching.  Declan was certainly earlier +than Mochuda and yet there is no reference to him in the Life of +the latter saint.  Ailbhe however is referred to in the +Tripartite Life of Patrick and the cases of Ailbhe and Declan are +<i>a pari;</i> the two saints stand or fall together.</p> +<p>    (IV.) Motives for invention of the pre-Patrician myth +are alleged, scil.:—to rebut certain claims to jurisdiction, +tribute or visitation advanced by Armagh in after ages.  It is +hard to see however how resistance to the claims in question could +be better justified on the theory of a pre-Patrician Declan, who +admittedly acknowledged Patrick's supremacy, than on the admission +of a post-Patrician mission.</p> +<p>    That in Declan we have to deal with a very early +Christian teacher of the Decies there can be no doubt.  If not +anterior to Patrick he must have been the latter's cotemporary.  +Declan however had failed to convert the chieftain of his race and +for this—reading between the lines of the "Life"—we +seem to hear Patrick blaming him.</p> +<p>    The monuments proper of Declan remaining at Ardmore are +(<i>a</i>) his <i>oratory</i> near the Cathedral and Round Tower in +the graveyard, (<i>b</i>) his <i>stone</i> on the beach, (<i>c</i>) +his <i>well</i> on the cliff, and (<i>d</i>) <i>another stone</i> +said to have been found in his tomb and preserved at Ardmore for +long ages with great reveration.  The "Life" refers moreover to +the saint's pastoral staff and his bell but these have disappeared +for centuries.</p> +<p>    The "Oratory" is simply a primitive church of the usual +sixth century type:  it stands 13' 4" x 8' 9" in the clear, and +has, or had, the usual high-pitched gables and square-headed west +doorway with inclining jambs.  Another characteristic feature of +the early oratory is seen in the curious antae or prolongation of +the side walls.  Locally the little building is known as the +<i>beannacán,</i> in allusion, most likely, to its high gables +or the finials which once, no doubt, in Irish fashion, adorned its +roof.  Though somewhat later than Declan's time this primitive +building is very intimately connected with the Saint.  Popularly +it is supposed to be his grave and within it is a hollow space +scooped out, wherein it is said his ashes once reposed.  It is +highly probable that tradition is quite correct as to the saint's +grave, over which the little church was erected in the century +following Declan's death.  The oratory was furnished with a roof +of slate by Bishop Mills in 1716.</p> +<p>    "St. Declan's Stone" is a glacial boulder of very hard +conglomerate which lies on a rocky ledge of beach beneath the +village of Ardmore.  It measures some 8' 6" x 4' 6" x 4' 0" and +reposes upon two slightly jutting points of the underlying +metamorphic rock.  Wonderful virtues are attributed to St. +Declan's Stone, which, on the occasion of the patronal feast, is +visited by hundreds of devotees who, to participate in its healing +efficacy and beneficence, crawl laboriously on face and hands +through the narrow space between the boulder and the underlying +rock.  Near by, at foot of a new storm-wall, are two similar but +somewhat smaller boulders which, like their venerated and more +famous neighbour, were all wrenched originally by a glacier from +their home in the Comeragh Mountains twenty miles away.</p> +<p>    "St. Declan's Well," beside some remains of a rather +large and apparently twelfth century church on the cliff, in the +townland of Dysert is diverted into a shallow basin in which +pilgrims bathe feet and hands.  Set in some comparatively modern +masonry over the well are a carved crucifixion and other figures of +apparently late mediaeval character.  Some malicious interference +with this well led, nearly a hundred years since, to much popular +indignation and excitement.</p> +<p>    The second "St. Declan's Stone" was a small, +cross-inscribed jet-black piece of slate or marble, +approximately—2" or 3" x 1½".  Formerly it seems to +have had a small silver cross inset and was in great demand locally +as an amulet for cattle curing.  It disappeared however, some +fifty years or so since, but very probably it could still be +recovered in Dungarvan.</p> +<p>    Far the most striking of all the monuments at Ardmore +is, of course, the Round Tower which, in an excellent state of +preservation, stands with its conical cap of stone nearly a hundred +feet high.  Two remarkable, if not unique, features of the tower +are the series of sculptured corbels which project between the +floors on the inside, and the four projecting belts or zones of +masonry which divide the tower into storeys externally.  The +tower's architectural anomalies are paralleled by its history which +is correspondingly unique:  it stood a regular siege in 1642, +when ordnance was brought to bear on it and it was defended by +forty confederates against the English under Lords Dungarvan and +Broghil.</p> +<p>    A few yards to north of the Round Tower stands "The +Cathedral" illustrating almost every phase of ecclesiastical +architecture which flourished in Ireland from St. Patrick to the +Reformation—Cyclopean, Celtic-Romanesque, Transitional and +Pointed.  The chancel arch is possibly the most remarkable and +beautiful illustration of the Transitional that we have.  An +extraordinary feature of the church is the wonderful series of +Celtic arcades and panels filled with archaic sculptures in relief +which occupy the whole external face of the west gable.</p> +<p>    St. Declan's foundation at Ardmore seems (<i>teste</i> +Moran's Archdall) to have been one of the Irish religious houses +which accepted the reform of Pope Innocent at the Lateran Council +and to have transformed itself into a Regular Canonry.  It would +however be possible to hold, on the evidence, that it degenerated +into a mere parochial church.  We hear indeed of two or three +episcopal successors of the saint, scil.:—Ultan who +immediately followed him, Eugene who witnessed a charter to the +abbey of Cork in 1174, and Moelettrim Ô Duibhe-rathre who died +in 1303 after he had, according to the annals of Inisfallen, +"erected and finished the Church" of Ardmore.  The <i>"Wars of +the Gaedhil and Gall"</i> have reference, circa 824 or 825, to +plunder by the Northmen of Disert Tipraite which is almost +certainly the church of Dysert by the Holy Well at Ardmore.  The +same fleet, on the same expedition, plundered Dunderrow (near +Kinsale), Inisshannon (Bandon River), Lismore, and Kilmolash.</p> +<p>    Regarding the age of our "Life" it is difficult with the +data at hand to say anything very definite.  While dogmatism +however is dangerous indefiniteness is unsatisfying.  True, we +cannot trace the genealogy of the present version beyond middle of +the sixteenth century, but its references to ancient monuments +existing at date of its compilation show it to be many centuries +older.  Its language proves little or nothing, for, being a +popular work, it would be modernised to date by each successive +scribe.  Colgan was of opinion it was a composition of the eighth +century.  Ussher and Ware, who had the Life in very ancient +codices, also thought it of great antiquity.  Papebrach, the +Bollandist, on the other hand, considered the Life could not be +older than the twelfth century, but this opinion of his seems to +have been based on a misapprehension.  In the absence of all +diocesan colour or allusion one feels constrained to assign the +production to some period previous to Rathbreasail.  We should +not perhaps be far wrong in assigning the first collection of +materials to somewhere in the eighth century or in the century +succeeding.  The very vigorous ecclesiastical revival of the +eleventh century, at conclusion of the Danish wars, must have led +to some revision of the country's religious literature.  The +introduction, a century and-a-half later, of the great religious +orders most probably led to translation of the Life into Latin and +its casting into shape for reading in refectory or choir.</p> +<p>    Only three surviving copies of the Irish Life are known +to the writer:  one in the Royal Library at Brussels, the second +in the Royal Irish Academy Collection (M. 23, 50, pp. 109-120), and +the third in possession of Professor Hyde.  As the second and +third enumerated are copies of one imperfect exemplar it has not +been thought necessary to collate both with the Brussels MS. which +has furnished the text here printed.  M. 23, 50 (R.I.A.) has +however been so collated and the marginal references initialled B +are to that imperfect copy.  The latter, by the way, is in the +handwriting of John Murphy "na Raheenach," and is dated 1740.  It +has not been thought necessary to give more than the important +variants.</p> +<p>    The present text is a reproduction of the Brussels MS. +plus lengthening of contractions.  As regards lengthening in +question it is to be noted that the well known contraction for +<i>ea</i> or <i>e</i> has been uniformly transliterated +<i>e.</i>  Otherwise orthography of the MS. has been scrupulously +followed—even where inconsistent or incorrect.  For the +division into paragraphs the editor is not responsible; he has +merely followed the division originated, or adopted, by the +scribe.  The Life herewith presented was copied in 1629 by +Brother Michael O'Clery of the Four Masters' staff from an older +MS. of Eochy O'Heffernan's dated 1582.  The MS. of O'Heffernan is +referred to by our scribe as <i>seinleabar,</i> but his reference +is rather to the contents than to the copy.  Apparently O'Clery +did more than transcribe; he re-edited, as was his wont, into the +literary Irish of his day.  A page of the Brussels MS., +reproduced in facsimile as a frontispiece to the present volume, +will give the student a good idea of O'Clery's script and +style.</p> +<p>    Occasional notes on Declan in the martyrologies and +elsewhere give some further information about our saint.  +Unfortunately however the alleged facts are not always capable of +reconciliation with statements of our "Life," and again the +existence of a second, otherwise unknown, Declan is suggested.  +The introduction of rye is attributed to him in the Calendar of +Oengus, as introduction of wheat is credited to St. Finan Camm, and +introduction of bees to St. Modomnoc,—"It was the full of his +shoe that Declan brought, the full of his shoe likewise Finan, but +the full of his bell Modomnoc" (<i>Cal. Oeng.,</i> April 7th).  +More puzzling is the note in the same Calendar which makes Declan a +foster son of Mogue of Ferns!  This entry illustrates the way in +which errors originate.  A former scribe inadvertently copied in, +after Declan's name, portion of the entry immediately following +which relates to Colman Hua Liathain.  Successive scribes +re-copied the error without discovering it and so it became +stereotyped.</p> +<p><a name="intro-m" id="intro-m"></a></p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<center> +<h3><i>III.—ST. MOCHUDA.</i></h3> +</center> +<blockquote><font size="-1">"It was he (Mochuda) that had the +famous congregation consisting of seven hundred and ten persons; an +angel used to address every third man of them.  +<cite>(Martyrology of Donegal).</cite></font></blockquote> +<p>In some respects the Life of Mochuda here presented is in sharp +contrast to the corresponding Life of Declan.  The former +document is in all essentials a very sober historical +narrative—accurate wherever we can test it, credible and +harmonious on the whole.  Philologically, to be sure, it is of +little value,—certainly a much less valuable Life than +Declan's; historically, however (and question of the pre-Patrician +mission apart) it is immensely the more important document.  On +one point do we feel inclined to quarrel with its author, scil.:  +that he has not given us more specifically the motives underlying +Mochuda's expulsion from Rahen—one of the three worst +counsels ever given in Erin.  Reading between his lines we spell, +jealousy—<i>invidia religiosorum.</i>  Another jealousy too +is suggested—the mutual distrust of north and south which has +been the canker-worm of Irish political life for fifteen hundred +years, making intelligible if not justifying the indignation of a +certain distinguished Irishman who wanted to know the man's name, +in order to curse its owner, who first divided Ireland into two +provinces.</p> +<p>    Three different Lives of Mochuda are known to the +present writer.  Two of them are contained in a MS. at Brussels +(<i>C/r.</i> Bindon, p. 8, 13) and of one of these there is a copy +in a MS. of Dineen's in the Royal Irish Academy (Stowe Collection, +A. IV, I.)  Dineen appears to have been a Cork or Kerry man and +to have worked under the patronage of the rather noted Franciscan +Father Francis Matthew (O'Mahony), who was put to death at Cork by +Inchiquin in 1644.  The bald text of Dineen's "Life" was +published a few years since, without translation, in the <i>Irish +Rosary.</i>  The corresponding Brussels copy is in Michael +O'Clery's familiar hand.  In it occurs the strange +pagan-flavoured story of the British Monk Constantine.  O'Clery's +copy was made in January, 1627, at the Friary of Drouish from the +Book of Tadhg O'Ceanan and it is immediately followed by a tract +entitled—<i>"Do Macaib Ua Suanac."</i>  The bell of +Mochuda, by the way, which the saint rang against Blathmac, was +called the <i>glassan</i> of Hui Suanaig in later times.</p> +<p>    The "Life" here printed, which follows the Latin Life so +closely that one seems a late translation of the other, is as far +as the editor is aware, contained in a single MS. only.  This is +M. 23, 50, R.I.A., in the handwriting of John Murphy, "na +Raheenach."  Murphy was a Co. Cork schoolmaster, scribe, and +poet, of whom a biographical sketch will be found prefixed by Mr. +R. A. Foley to a collection of Murphy's poems that he has +edited.  The sobriquet, "na Raheenach," is really a kind of +tribal designation.  The "Life" is very full but is in its +present form a comparatively late production; it was transcribed by +Murphy between 1740 and 1750.  It is much to be regretted that +the scribe tells us nothing of his original.  Murphy, but the +way, seems to have specialised to some extent in saint's Lives and +to have imbued his disciples with something of the same taste.  +One of his pupils was Maurice O'Connor, a scribe and shipwright of +Cove, to whom we owe the Life of St. Ciaran of Saighir printed in +<i>"Silva Gadelica."</i>  The reasons of choice for publication +here of the present Life are avowedly non-philological; the motive +for preference is that it is the longest of the three Lives and for +historical purposes the most important.</p> +<p>    The Life presents considerable evidence of historical +reliability; its geography is detailed and correct; its references +to contemporaries of Mochuda are accurate on the whole and there +are few inconsistencies or none.  Moreover it sheds some new +light on that chronic puzzle—organisation of the Celtic +Church of Ireland.  Mochuda, head of a great monastery at Rahen, +is likewise a kind of pluralist Parish Priest with a parish in +Kerry, administered in his name by deputed ecclesiastics, and other +parishes similarly administered in Kerrycurrihy, Rostellan, West +Muskerry, and Spike Island, Co. Cork.  When a chief parishioner +lies seriously ill in distant Corca Duibhne, Mochuda himself comes +all the way from the centre of Ireland to administer the last rites +to the dying man, and so on.</p> +<p>    The relations of the people to the Church and its +ministers are in many respects not at all easy to understand.  +Oblations, for instance, of themselves and their territory, +&c., by chieftains are frequent.  Oblations of monasteries +are made in a similar way.  Probably this signifies no more than +that the chief region or monastery put itself under the saint's +jurisdiction or rule or both.  That there were other churches too +than the purely monastic appears from offerings to Mochuda of +already existing churches, <i>v.g.</i> from the Clanna Ruadhan in +Decies, &c.</p> +<p>    Lismore, the most famous of Mochuda's foundations, +became within a century of the saint's death, one of the great +monastic schools of Erin, attracting to his halls, or rather to its +boothies, students from all Ireland and even—so it is +claimed—from lands beyond the seas.  King Alfrid [Aldfrith] +of Northumbria, for instance, is said to have partaken of Lismore's +hospitality, and certainly Cormac of Cashel, Malachy and Celsus of +Armagh and many others of the most distinguished of the Scots +partook thereof.  The roll of Lismore's calendared saints would +require, did the matter fall within our immediate province, more +than one page to itself.  Some interesting reference to Mochuda +and his holy city occur in the Life of one of his disciples, St. +Colman Maic Luachain, edited for the R.I.A. by Professor Kuno +Meyer.</p> +<p>    There are many indications in the present Life that, at +one period, and in the time of Carthach, the western boundary of +Decies extended far beyond the line at present recognised.  +Similar indications are furnished by the martyrologies, &c.; +for instance, the martyrology of Donegal under November 28th +records of "the three sons of Bochra" that "they are of Archadh +Raithin in Ui Mic Caille in Deisi Mumhan" and Ibid, p. xxxvii, it +is stated <i>"i ccondae Corcaige ataid na Desi Múman."</i>  +Not only Imokilly but all Co. Cork, east of Queenstown [Cobh] and +north to the Blackwater, seems to have acknowledged Mochuda's +jurisdiction.  At Rathbreasail accordingly (<i>teste</i> Keating, +on the authority of the Book of Cloneneigh) the Diocese of Lismore +is made to extend to Cork,—probably over the present baronies +of Imokilly, Kinatallon, and Barrymore.  That part, at least, of +Condons and Clangibbon was likewise included is inferrible from the +fact that, as late as the sixteenth century visitations, Kilworth, +founded by Colman Maic Luachain, ranked as a parish in the diocese +of Lismore.  Further evidence pointing in the same direction is +furnished by Clondulane, &c., represented in the present Life +as within Carthach's jurisdiction.</p> +<p>    The Rule of St. Carthach is one of the few ancient Irish +so-called monastic Rules surviving.  It is in reality less a +"rule," as the latter is now understood, than a series of Christian +and religious counsels drawn up by a spiritual master for his +disciples.  It must not be understood from this that each +religious house did not have it formal regulations.  The latter +however seem to have depended largely upon the abbot's spirit, will +or discretion.  The existing "Rules" abound in allusions to +forgotten practices and customs and, to add to their obscurity, +their language is very difficult—sometimes, like the language +of the Brehon Laws, unintelligible.  The rule ascribed to Mochuda +is certainly a document of great antiquity and may well have +emanated from the seventh century and from the author whose name it +bears.  The tradition of Lismore and indeed of the Irish Church +is constant in attributing it to him.  Copies of the Rule are +found in numerous MSS. but many of them are worthless owing to the +incompetence of the scribes to whom the difficult Irish of the text +was unintelligible.  The text in the Leabhar Breac has been made +the basis of his edition of the Rule by <i>Mac Eaglaise,</i> a +writer in the <i>Irish Ecclesiastical Record</i> (1910).  <i>Mac +Eaglaise's</i> edition, though it is not all that could be desired, +is far the most satisfactory which has yet appeared.  Previous +editions of the Rule or part of it comprise one by Dr. Reeves in +his tract on the Culdees, one by Kuno Meyer in the <i>Gaelic +Journal</i> (<i>Vol. V.</i>) and another in <i>Archiv für +C.L.</i> (3 <i>Bund.</i> 1905), and another again in <i>Eriu</i> +(<i>Vol.</i> 2, <i>p.</i> 172), besides a free translation of the +whole rule by O'Curry in the <i>I. R. Record</i> for 1864.  The +text of the <i>Record</i> edition of 1910 is from Leabhar Breac +collated with other MSS.  The order in the various copies is not +the same and some copies contain material which is wanting in +others.  The "Rule" commences with the Ten Commandments, then it +enumerates the obligations respectively of bishops, abbots, +priests, monks, and culdees [anchorites].  Finally there is a +section on the order of meals and on the refectory and another on +the obligations of a king.  The following excerpt on the duties +of an abbot (<i>I. E. Record</i> translation) will illustrate the +style and spirit of the Rule:</p> +<center>"Of the Abbot of a Church.</center> +    1.—If you be the head man of a Church noble is the +power, better for you that you be just who take the heirship of the +king.<br /> +    2.—If you are the head man of a Church noble is the +obligation, preservation of the rights of the Church from the small +to the great.<br /> +    3.—What Holy Church commands preach then with +diligence; what you order to each one do it yourself.<br /> +    4.—As you love your own soul love the souls of +all.  Yours the magnification of every good [and] banishment of +every evil.<br /> +    5.—Be not a candle under a bushel [Luke 11:33].  +Your learning without a cloud over it.  Yours the healing of +every host both strong and weak.<br /> +    6.—Yours to judge each one according to grade and +according to deed; he will advise you at judgment before the king. +<center>.    .    .    .    .    .    .  +  .    .    .    .    .    .</center> +    10.—Yours to rebuke the foolish, to punish the hosts, +turning disorder into order [restraint] of the stubborn, obstinate, +wretched." +<p>    Reservation of the Coarbship of Mochuda at Lismore in +favour of Kerrymen is an extremely curious if not unique +provision.  How long it continued in force we do not know.  +Probably it endured to the twelfth century and possibly the rule +was not of strict interpretation.  Christian O'Connarchy, who was +bishop of Lismore in the twelfth century, is regarded as a native +of Decies, though the contrary is slightly suggested by his final +retirement to Kerry.  The alleged prophecy concerning Kerry men +and the coarbship points to some rule, regulation or law of +Mochuda.</p> +<p><a name="map" id="map"></a></p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<center> +<h3><i>MAP OF IRELAND.</i></h3> +<pre> + ++-------------------------------------------+ +| | +| __ __---_ | +| ,-~~~ ~\/ ~\ | +| ,_/ | | +| /,_ / | +| _ _/ ~\ | +| /~~ ~\/~-_| / | +| \ /~ | +| \ _ _\/ | +| ,' | | +| /~ Tara \ | +| \ * | | +| '~|__- Rahen / | +| .- ,/~ * \ | +| | / | +| / | | +| /_,_/~ | | +| / Cashel / | +| ,--~ * | | +| /--- Lismore __|_-_/ | +| ,-~ *-,-~ | +| \_-~/ \ /~ * | +| ,-~/= _/~ Ardmore | +| --~/_-_-/~'~ | +| | ++-------------------------------------------+ +</pre> +<h3><i>MAP OF DECIES.</i></h3> +<img src="c-map.jpg" width="529" height="900" border="1" alt= +"Principality of Decies. +To Illustrate Lives of Declan and Mochuda." /></center> +<p><a name="declan" id="declan"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<center> +<h1>Life of St. Declan.</h1> +<h1><i>Betha Decclain.</i></h1> +</center> +1.  The most blessed Bishop Declan of the most noble race of the +kings of Ireland, <i>i.e.,</i> the holy bishop who is called Declan +was of the most noble royal family of Ireland—a family which +held the sceptre and exacted tribute from all Ireland at Tara for +ages.  Declan was by birth of noble blood as will appear from his +origin and genealogy, for it was from Eochaidh Feidhleach, the +powerful Ardrigh of Ireland for twelve years, that he sprang.  +Eochaidh aforesaid, had three sons, scil.:—Breas, Nar, and +Lothola, who are called the three Finneavna; there reigned one +hundred and seven kings of their race and kindred before and after +them, <i>i.e.</i> of the race of Eremon, king of +Ireland,—before the introduction of Christianity and +since.  These three youths lay one day with their own sister +Clothra, daughter of the same father, and she conceived of them.  +The son she brought forth as a consequence of that intercourse was +marked by three red wavy lines which indicated his descent from the +three youths aforesaid.  He was named Lugaidh Sriabhdearg from +the three lines [<i>sriabaib</i>] in question, and he was beautiful +to behold and of greater bodily strength in infancy than is usual +with children of his age.  He commenced his reign as king of +Ireland the year in which Caius Caesar [Caligula] died and he +reigned for twenty-six years.  His son was named Criomthan +Nianair who reigned but sixteen years.  Criomthan's son was named +Fearadach Finnfechtnach whose son was Fiacha Finnolaidh whose son +again was Tuathal Teachtmhar.  This Tuathal had a son Felimidh +Reachtmhar who had in turn three sons—Conn Ceadcathach, +Eochaidh Finn, and Fiacha Suighde.  Conn was king of Ireland for +twenty years and the productiveness of crops and soil and of +dairies in the time of Conn are worthy of commemoration and of fame +to the end of time.  Conn was killed in Magh Cobha by the +Ulstermen, scil.:—by Tiopruid Tireach and it is principally +his seed which has held the kingship of Ireland ever since.  +Eochaidh Finn was second son to Felimidh Reachtmhar and he migrated +to the latter's province of Leinster, and it is in that province +his race and progeny have remained since then.  They are called +Leinstermen, and there are many chieftains and powerful persons of +them in Leinster.  Fiacha Suighde moreover, although he died +before he succeeded to the chief sovereignty, possessed land around +Tara.  He left three sons—Ross, Oengus, and Eoghan who were +renowned for martial deeds—valiant and heroic in battle and +in conflict.  Of the three, Oengus excelled in all gallant deeds +so that he came to be styled Oengus of the poisonous javelin.  +Cormac Mac Art Mac Conn it was who reigned in Ireland at this +time.  Cormac had a son named Ceallach who took by force the +daughter of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde to dwell with him, +<i>i.e.</i> Credhe the daughter of Eoghan.  When Oengus +Gaebuaibhtheach ("of the poisonous javelin") heard this, viz., that +the daughter of his brother had been abducted by Ceallach he was +roused to fury and he followed Ceallach to Tara taking with him his +foster child, scil.:—Corc Duibhne, the son of Cairbre, son of +Conaire, son of Mogha Lamha whom Cormac held as a hostage from the +Munstermen, and whom he had given for safe custody to Oengus.  +When Oengus reached Tara he beheld Ceallach sitting behind +Cormac.  He thrust his spear at Ceallach and pierced him through +from front to back.  However as he was withdrawing the spear the +handle struck Cormac's eye and knocked it out and then, striking +the steward, killed him.  He himself (Oengus) with his foster +child escaped safely.  After a time Cormac, grieving for the loss +of his son, his eye and his steward at the hands of Oengus of the +poisonous javelin and of his kinsmen, ordered their expulsion from +their tribal territory, <i>i.e.</i> from the Decies of Tara, and +not alone from these, but from whole northern half of Ireland.  +However, seven battles were fought in which tremendous loss was +inflicted on Cormac and his followers before Oengus and his people, +<i>i.e.</i> the three sons of Fiacha Suighde, namely, Ross and +Oengus and Eoghan, as we have already said, were eventually +defeated, and obliged to fly the country and to suffer exile.  +Consequent on their banishment as above by the king of Ireland they +sought hospitality from the king of Munster, Oilill Olum, because +Sadhbh, daughter of Conn Ceadcathach was his wife.  They got land +from him, scil.:  the Decies of Munster, and it is to that race, +<i>i.e.</i> the race of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde that the kings +and country of the Decies belong ever since. +<p>    2.  Of this same race of Eoghan was the holy bishop +Declan of whom I shall speak later scil.:  Declan son of Eirc, +son of Trein, son of Lughaidh, son of Miaich, son of Brian, son of +Eoghan, son of Art Corp, son of Moscorb, son of Mesgeadra, son of +Measfore, son of Cuana Cainbhreathaigh, son of Conaire +Cathbuadhaigh, son of Cairbre, son of Eoghan, son of Fiacha +Suighde, son of Felimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal Teachtmhar.  +The father of Declan was therefore Erc Mac Trein.  He and his +wife Deithin went on a visit to the house of his kinsman Dobhran +about the time that Declan's birth was due.  The child she bore +was Declan, whom she brought forth without sickness, pain or +difficulty but in being lifted up afterwards he struck his head +against a great stone.  Let it be mentioned that Declan showed +proofs of sanctification and power of miracle-working in his +mother's womb, as the prophet writes:—<i>"De vulva +sanctificavi te et prophetam in gentibus dedi te"</i> [Jeremias +1:5] (Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee +and made thee a prophet unto the nations).  Thus it is that +Declan was sanctified in his mother's womb and was given by God as +a prophet to the pagans for the conversion of multitudes of them +from heathenism and the misery of unbelief to the worship of Christ +and to the Catholic faith, as we shall see later on.  The very +soft apex of his head struck against a hard stone, as we have said, +and where the head came in contact with the stone it made therein a +hollow and cavity of its own form and shape, without injury of any +kind to him.  Great wonder thereupon seized all who witnessed +this, for Ireland was at this time without the true faith and it +was rarely that any one (therein) had shown heavenly Christian +signs.  "Declan's Rock" is the name of the stone with which the +Saint's head came into contact.  The water or rain which falls +into the before-mentioned cavity (the place of Declan's head) +dispels sickness and infirmity, by the grace of God, as proof of +Declan's sanctity.</p> +<p>    3.  On the night of Declan's birth a wondrous sign was +revealed to all, that is to the people who were in the +neighbourhood of the birthplace; this was a ball of fire which was +seen blazing on summit of the house in which the child lay, until +it reached up to heaven and down again, and it was surrounded by a +multitude of angels.  It assumed the shape of a ladder such as +the Patriarch, Jacob saw [Genesis 28:12].  The persons who saw +and heard these things wondered at them.  They did not know (for +the true faith had not yet been preached to them or in this region) +that it was God who (thus) manifested His wondrous power (works) in +the infant, His chosen child.  Upon the foregoing manifestation a +certain true Christian, scil.:—Colman, at that time a priest +and afterwards a holy bishop, came, rejoicing greatly and filled +with the spirit of prophecy, to the place where Declan was; he +preached the faith of Christ to the parents and made known to them +that the child was full of the grace of God.  He moreover +revealed to them the height of glory and honour to which the infant +should attain before God and men, and it was revealed to him that +he (Declan) should spend his life in sanctity and devotion.  +Through the grace of God, these, <i>i.e.</i> Erc and Deithin, +believed in God and Colman, and they delivered the child for +baptism to Colman who baptised him thereupon, giving him the name +of Declan.  When, in the presence of all, he had administered +Baptism, Colman spoke this prophecy concerning the infant:  +"Truly, beloved child and lord you will be in heaven and on earth +most high and holy, and your good deeds, fame, and sanctity will +fill all (the four quarters of) Ireland and you will convert your +own nation and the Decies from paganism to Christianity.  On that +account I bind myself to you by the tie of brotherhood and I +commend myself to your sanctity."</p> +<p>    4.  Colman thereupon returned to his own abode; he +commanded that Declan should be brought up with due care, that he +should be well trained, and be set to study at the age of seven +years if there could be found in his neighbourhood a competent +Christian scholar to undertake his tuition.  Even at the period +of his baptism grace and surpassing charity manifested themselves +in the countenance of Declan so that it was understood of all that +great should be the goodness and the spiritual charm of his mature +age.  When Dobhran had heard and seen these things concerning his +kinsman Erc he requested the latter and Deithin to give him the +child to foster, and with this request Erc complied.  The name of +the locality was "Dobhran's Place" at that time, but since then it +has been "Declan's Place."  Dobhran presented the homestead to +Declan and removed his own dwelling thence to another place.  In +after years, when Declan had become a bishop, he erected there a +celebrated cell in honour of God, and this is the situation of the +cell in question:—In the southern part of the Decies, on the +east side of Magh Sgiath and not far from the city of Mochuda +<i>i.e.</i> Lismore.  For the space of seven years Declan was +fostered with great care by Dobhran (his father's brother) and was +much loved by him.  God wrought many striking miracles through +Declan's instrumentality during those years.  By aid of the Holy +Spirit dwelling in him he (Declan)—discreet Christian man +that he was—avoided every fault and every unlawful desire +during that time.</p> +<p>    5.  On the completion of seven years Declan was taken +from his parents and friends and fosterers to be sent to study as +Colman had ordained.  It was to Dioma they sent him, a certain +devout man perfect in the faith, who had come at that time by God's +design into Ireland having spent a long period abroad in acquiring +learning.  He (Dioma) built in that place a small cell wherein he +might instruct Declan and dwell himself.  There was given him +also, to instruct, together with Declan, another child, scil., +Cairbre Mac Colmain, who became afterwards a holy learned +bishop.  Both these were for a considerable period pursuing their +studies together.</p> +<p>    6.  There were seven men dwelling in Magh Sgiath, who +frequently saw the fiery globe which it has been already told they +first beheld at the time of Declan's birth.  It happened by the +Grace of God that they were the first persons to reveal and +describe that lightning.  These seven came to the place where +Declan abode and took him for their director and master.  They +made known publicly in the presence of all that, later on, he +should be a bishop and they spoke prophetically:—"The day, O +beloved child and servant of God, will come when we shall commit +ourselves and our lands to thee."  And it fell out thus (as they +foretold), for, upon believing, they were baptised and became wise, +devout (and) attentive and erected seven churches in honour of God +around Magh Sgiath.</p> +<p>    7.  Declan remained a long time with Dioma, the holy +man we have named, and acquired science and sanctity and diversity +of learning and doctrine, and he was prudent, mild, and capable so +that many who knew his nobility of blood came when they had heard +of the fullness of his sanctity and grace.  Moreover they +submitted themselves to him and accepted his religious rule.  +Declan judged it proper that he should visit Rome to study +discipline and ecclesiastical system, to secure for himself esteem +and approbation thence, and obtain authority to preach to the +(Irish) people and to bring back with him the rules of Rome as +these obtained in Rome itself.  He set out with his followers and +he tarried not till he arrived in Rome where they remained some +time.</p> +<p>    8.  At the same period there was a holy bishop, +<i>i.e.</i> Ailbe, who had been in Rome for a number of years +before this and was in the household of Pope Hilary by whom he had +been made a bishop.  When Declan with his disciples arrived in +Rome Ailbe received him with great affection and gladness and he +bore testimony before the Roman people to his (Declan's) sanctity +of life and nobility of blood.  He (Declan) therefore received +marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of +Rome when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was +comely, of good appearance, humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent +in counsel, frank in conversation, virtuous in mien, generous in +gifts, holy in life and resplendent in miracles.</p> +<p>    9.  When Declan had spent a considerable time in Rome +he was ordained a bishop by the Pope, who gave him church-books and +rules and orders and sent him to Ireland that he might preach +there.  Having bidden farewell to the Pope and received the +latter's blessing Declan commenced his journey to Ireland.  Many +Romans followed him to Ireland to perform their pilgrimage and to +spend their lives there under the yoke and rule of Bishop Declan, +and amongst those who accompanied him was Runan, son of the king of +Rome; he was dear to Declan.</p> +<p>    10.  On the road through Italy Bishop Declan and +Patrick met.  Patrick was not a bishop at that time, though he +was (made a bishop) subsequently by Pope Celestinus, who sent him +to preach to the Irish.  Patrick was truly chief bishop of the +Irish island.  They bade farewell to one another and they made a +league and bond of mutual fraternity and kissed in token of +peace.  They departed thereupon each on his own journey, +scil.:—Declan to Ireland and Patrick to Rome.</p> +<p>    11.  Declan was beginning mass one day in a church +which lay in his road, when there was sent him from heaven a little +black bell, (which came) in through the window of the church and +remained on the altar before Declan.  Declan greatly rejoiced +thereat and gave thanks and glory to Christ on account of it, and +it filled him with much courage to combat the error and false +teaching of heathendom.  He gave the bell for safe keeping and +carriage, to Runan aforesaid, <i>i.e.</i> son of the king of Rome, +and this is its name in Ireland—"The Duibhin Declain," and it +is from its colour it derives its name, for its colour is black +[<i>dub</i>].  There were manifested, by grace of God and +Declan's merits, many miracles through its agency and it is still +preserved in Declan's church.</p> +<p>    12.  When Declan and his holy companions arrived at +the Sea of Icht [English Channel] he failed, owing to lack of +money, to find a ship, for he did not have the amount demanded, and +every ship was refused him on that account.  He therefore struck +his bell and prayed to God for help in this extremity.  In a +short time after this they saw coming towards them on the crest of +the waves an empty, sailless ship and no man therein.  Thereupon +Declan said:—"Let us enter the ship in the name of Christ, +and He who has sent it to us will direct it skilfully to what +harbour soever He wishes we should go."  At the word of Declan +they entered in, and the ship floated tranquilly and safely until +it reached harbour in England.  Upon its abandonment by Declan +and his disciples the ship turned back and went again to the place +from which it had come and the people who saw the miracles and +heard of them magnified the name of the Lord and Declan, and the +words of the prophet David were verified:—<i>"Mirabilis Deus +in Sanctis Suis"</i> [Psalm 67(68):36] (God is wonderful in His +Saints).</p> +<p>    13.  After this Declan came to Ireland.  Declan was +wise like a serpent and gentle like a dove and industrious like the +bee, for as the bee gathers honey and avoids the poisonous herbs so +did Declan, for he gathered the sweet sap of grace and Holy +Scripture till he was filled therewith.  There were in Ireland +before Patrick came thither four holy bishops with their followers +who evangelized and sowed the word of God there; these are the +four:—Ailbe, Bishop Ibar, Declan, and Ciaran.  They drew +multitudes from error to the faith of Christ, although it was +Patrick who sowed the faith throughout Ireland and it is he who +turned chiefs and kings of Ireland to the way of baptism, faith and +sacrifice and everlasting judgment.</p> +<p>    14.  These three, scil.:—Declan, Ailbe and +Bishop Ibar made a bond of friendship and a league amongst +themselves and their spiritual posterity in heaven and on earth for +ever and they loved one another.  SS. Ailbe and Declan, +especially, loved one another as if they were brothers so that, on +account of their mutual affection they did not like to be separated +from one another—except when their followers threatened to +separate them by force if they did not go apart for a very short +time.  After this Declan returned to his own country—to the +Decies of Munster—where he preached, and baptized, in the +name of Christ, many whom he turned to the Catholic faith from the +power of the devil.  He built numerous churches in which he +placed many of his own followers to serve and worship God and to +draw people to God from the wiles of Satan.</p> +<p>    15.  Once on a time Declan came on a visit to the +place of his birth, where he remained forty days there and +established a religious house in which devout men have dwelt ever +since.  Then came the seven men we have already mentioned as +having made their abode around Magh Sgiath and as having prophesied +concerning Declan.  They now dedicated themselves and their +establishment to him as they had promised and these are their +names:—Mocellac and Riadan, Colman, Lactain, Finnlaoc, Kevin, +&c. [Mobi].  These therefore were under the rule and +spiritual sway of bishop Declan thenceforward, and they spent their +lives devoutly there and wrought many wonders afterwards.</p> +<p>    16.  After some time Declan set out to visit Aongus +MacNatfrich, king of Cashel, to preach to him and to convert him to +the faith of Christ.  Declan however had two uterine brothers, +sons of Aongus, scil.:  Colman and Eoghan.  The grace of the +Holy Ghost inspiring him Colman went to Ailbe of Emly and received +baptism and the religious habit at the latter's hands, and he +remained for a space sedulously studying science until he became a +saintly and perfect man.  Eochaid however remained as he was (at +home)—expecting the kingdom of Munster on his father's death, +and he besought his father to show due honour to his brother +Declan.  The king did so and put no obstacle in the way of +Declan's preaching but was pleased with Declan's religion and +doctrine, although he neither believed nor accepted baptism +himself.  It is said that refusal (of baptism) was based on this +ground:  Declan was of the Decies and of Conn's Half, while +Aongus himself was of the Eoghanacht of Cashel of +Munster—always hostile to the Desii.  It was not therefore +through ill will to the faith that he believed not, as is proved +from this that, when the king heard of the coming to him of +Patrick, the archbishop of Ireland, a man who was of British race +against which the Irish cherished no hate, not only did he believe +but he went from his own city of Cashel to meet him, professed +Christianity and was immediately baptised.</p> +<p>    17.  After this Declan, having sown the word of God +and preached to the king (although the latter did not assent to his +doctrines), proceeded to his own country and they (the Desii) +believed and received baptism except the king alone and the people +of his household who were every day promising to believe and be +baptised.  It however came about through the Devil's agency that +they hesitated continually and procrastinated.</p> +<p>    18.  Other authorities declare that Declan went many +times to Rome, but we have no written testimony from the ancient +biographers that he went there more than three times.  On one of +these occasions Declan paid a visit to the holy bishop of the +Britons whose name was David at the church which is called +Killmuine [Menevia] where the bishop dwelt beside the shore of the +sea which divides Ireland from Britain.  The bishop received +Declan with honour and he remained there forty days, in affection +and joy, and they sang Mass each day and they entered into a bond +of charity which continued between themselves and their successors +for ever afterwards.  On the expiration of the forty days Declan +took leave of David giving him a kiss in token of peace and set out +himself and his followers to the shore of the sea to take ship for +Ireland.</p> +<p>    19.  Now the bell which we have alluded to as sent +from heaven to Declan, was, at that time, in the custody of Runan +to carry as we have said, for Declan did not wish, on any account, +to part with it.  On this particular day as they were proceeding +towards the ship Runan entrusted it to another member of the +company.  On reaching the shore however the latter laid the bell +on a rock by the shore and forgot it till they were half way across +the sea.  Then they remembered it and on remembrance they were +much distressed.  Declan was very sorrowful that the gift sent +him by the Lord from heaven should have been forgotten in a place +where he never expected to find it again.  Thereupon raising his +eyes heavenward he prayed to God within his heart and he said to +his followers:—"Lay aside your sorrow for it is possible with +God who sent that bell in the beginning to send it now again by +some marvellous ship."  Very fully and wonderfully and +beautifully the creature without reason or understanding obeyed its +creator, for the very heavy unwieldy rock floated buoyantly and +without deviation, so that in a short time they beheld it in their +rear with the bell upon it.  And when his people saw this +wondrous thing it filled them with love for God and reverence for +their master.  Declan thereupon addressed them +prophetically:—"Permit the bell to precede you and follow it +exactly and whatsoever haven it will enter into it is there my city +and my bishopric will be whence I shall go to paradise and there my +resurrection will be."  Meantime the bell preceded the ship, and +it eased down its great speed remaining slightly in advance of the +ship, so that it could be seen from and not overtaken by the +latter.  The bell directed its course to Ireland until it reached +a harbour on the south coast, scil.:—in the Decies of +Munster, at an island called, at that time, High Sheep Island +[<i>Aird na gCcaorac</i>] and the ship made the same port, as +Declan declared.  The holy man went ashore and gave thanks and +praise to God that he had reached the place of his resurrection.  +Now, in that island depastured the sheep [<i>cáoirigh</i>] +belonging to the wife of the chieftain of Decies and it is thence +that it derives its Irish name—Ard-na-Ccaorac, +scil.:—there was in it a high hill and it was a promontory +beautiful to behold.  One of the party, ascending the summit of +the hill, said to Declan:—"How can this little height support +your people?"  Declan replied:—"Do not call it little hill, +beloved son, but 'great height' [<i>ard mór</i>]," and that +name has adhered to the city ever since, +scil.:—Ardmore-Declain.  After this Declan went to the king +of the Desii and asked of him the aforesaid island.  Whereupon +the king gave it to him.</p> +<p>    20.  Declan next returned to Ait-mBreasail where, in a +haven at the north side, were the shipping and boats of the island, +plying thither and backwards.  The people of the island hid all +their boats not willing that Declan should settle there; they +dreaded greatly that if Declan came to dwell there they themselves +should be expelled.  Whereupon his disciples addressed +Declan:—"Father," said they, "Many things are required +(scil.:  from the mainland) and we must often go by boat to this +island and there will be (crossing) more frequently when you have +gone to heaven and we pray thee to abandon the place or else to +obtain from God that the sea recede from the land so that it can be +entered dry shod, for Christ has said:—'Whatsoever you shall +ask of the Father in my name He will give it to you' [John 15:16]; +the place cannot be easily inhabited unless the sea recede from it +and on that account you cannot establish your city in it."  +Declan answered them and said:—"How can I abandon the place +ordained by God and in which He has promised that my burial and +resurrection shall be?  As to the alleged inconvenience of +dwelling therein, do you wish me to pray to God (for things) +contrary to His will—to deprive the sea of its natural +domain?  Nevertheless in compliance with your request I shall +pray to God and whatever thing be God's will, let it be done."  +Declan's community thereupon rose up and said:—"Father, take +your crosier as Moses took the rod [Exodus 14:16] and strike the +sea therewith and God will thus show His will to you."  His +disciples prayed therefore to him because they were tried and holy +men.  They put Declan's crosier in his hand and he struck the +water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy +Ghost and made the sign of the cross over the water and +immediately, by command and permission of God, the sea commenced to +move out from its accustomed place—so swiftly too that the +monsters of the sea were swimming and running and that it was with +difficulty they escaped with the sea.  However, many fishes were +left behind on the dry strand owing to the suddenness of the +ebb.  Declan, his crosier in his hand, pursued the receding tide +and his disciples followed after him.  Moreover the sea and the +departing monsters made much din and commotion and when Declan +arrived at the place where is now the margin of the sea a stripling +whose name was Mainchin, frightened at the thunder of the waves and +the cry of the unknown monsters with gaping mouths following the +(receding) water, exclaimed:—"Father, you have driven out the +sea far enough; for I am afraid of those horrid monsters."  When +Declan heard this and (saw) the sea standing still at the word of +the youth it displeased him and turning round he struck him a +slight blow on the nose.  Three drops of blood flowed from the +wound on to the ground in three separate places at the feet of +Declan.  Thereupon Declan blessed the nose and the blood ceased +immediately (to flow).  Then Declan declared:—"It was not I +who drove out the sea but God in His own great power who expelled +it and He would have done still more had you not spoken the words +you have said."  Three little wells of clear sweet water burst +forth in the place where fell the three drops of blood at the feet +of Declan, and these wells are there still and the colour of blood +is seen in them occasionally as a memorial of this miracle.  The +shore, rescued from the sea, is a mile in width and is of great +length around (the island) and it is good and fertile land for +tillage and pasture—lying beneath the monastery of Declan.  +As to the crosier which was in Declan's hand while he wrought this +miracle, this is its name—the Feartach Declain, from the +miracles and marvels [<i>fertaib</i>] wrought through it.  I +shall in another, subsequent, place relate some of these miracles +(narrated).</p> +<p>    21.  After the expulsion of the sea by this famous +Saint, scil.:  Declan, whose name and renown spread throughout +Erin because of his great and diverse miracles, he commenced to +build a great monastery by the south side of the stream which flows +through the island into the sea.  This monastery is illustrious +and beautiful and its name is Ardmor Declain, as we have said.  +After this came many persons to Declan, drawn from the uttermost +parts of Ireland, by the fame of his holy living; they devoted +themselves, soul and body to God and Declan, binding themselves +beneath his yoke and his rule.  Moreover he built himself in +every place throughout the territory of the Decies, churches and +monasteries and not alone in his own territory (did he build) but +in other regions of Ireland under tribute to him.  Great too were +the multitudes (thousands) of men and women who were under his +spiritual sway and rule, in the places we have referred to, +throughout Ireland, where happily they passed their lives.  He +ordained some of his disciples bishops and appointed them in these +places to sow the seed of faith and religion therein.  Gentleness +and charity manifested themselves in Declan to such an extent that +his disciples preferred to live under his immediate control and +under his direction as subjects than to be in authority in another +monastery.</p> +<p>    22.  After this the holy renowned bishop, head of +justice and faith in the Gaelic island came into Ireland, +<i>i.e.</i> Patrick sent by Celestinus, the Pope.  Aongus Mac +Nathfrich went to meet him soon as he heard the account of his +coming.  He conducted him (Patrick) with reverence and great +honour to his own royal city—to Cashel.  Then Patrick +baptised him and blessed himself and his people and his city.  +Patrick heard that the prince of the Decies had not been baptised +and did not believe, that there was a disagreement between the +prince and Declan and that the former refused to receive +instruction from the latter.  Patrick thereupon set out to preach +to the prince aforesaid.  Next, as to the four bishops we have +named who had been in Rome:  Except Declan alone they were not in +perfect agreement with Patrick.  It is true that subsequently to +this they did enter into a league of peace and harmonious actions +with Patrick and paid him fealty.  Ciaran, however, paid him all +respect and reverence and was of one mind with him present or +absent.  Ailbe then, when he saw the kings and rulers of Ireland +paying homage to Patrick and going out to meet him, came himself to +Cashel, to wait on him and he also paid homage to him (Patrick) and +submitted to his jurisdiction, in presence of the king and all +others.  Bear in mind it was Ailbe whom the other holy bishops +had elected their superior.  He therefore came first to Patrick, +lest the others, on his account, should offer opposition to +Patrick, and also that by his example the others might be more +easily drawn to his jurisdiction and rule.  Bishop Ibar however +would on no account consent to be subject to Patrick, for it was +displeasing to him that a foreigner should be patron of Ireland.  +It happened that Patrick in his origin was of the Britons and he +was nurtured in Ireland having been sold to bondage in his +boyhood.  There arose misunderstanding and dissension between +Patrick and Bishop Ibar at first, although (eventually), by +intervention of the angel of peace, they formed a mutual fellowship +and brotherly compact and they remained in agreement for ever +after.  But Declan did not wish to disagree at all with Patrick +for they had formed a mutual bond of friendship on the Italian +highway and it is thus the angel commanded him to go to Patrick and +obey him:—</p> +<p>    23.  The angel of God came to Declan and said to him, +"Go quickly to Patrick and prevent him cursing your kindred and +country, for to-night, in the plain which is called Inneoin, he is +fasting against the king, and if he curses your people they shall +be accursed for ever."  Thereupon Declan set out in haste by +direction of the angel to Inneoin, <i>i.e.</i> the place which is +in the centre of the plain of Femhin in the northern part of the +Decies.  He crossed Slieve Gua [Knockmaeldown] and over the Suir +and arrived on the following morning at the place where Patrick +was.  When Patrick and his disciples heard that Declan was there +they welcomed him warmly for they had been told he would not +come.  Moreover Patrick and his people received him with great +honour.  But Declan made obeisance to Patrick and besought him +earnestly that he should not execrate his people and that he should +not curse them nor the land in which they dwelt, and he promised to +allow Patrick do as he pleased.  And Patrick replied:—"On +account of your prayer not only shall I not curse them but I shall +give them a blessing."  Declan went thereupon to the place where +was the king of Decies who was a neighbour of his.  But he +contemned Patrick and he would not believe him even at the request +of Declan.  Moreover Declan promised rewards to him if he would +go to Patrick to receive baptism at his hands and assent to the +faith.  But he would not assent on any account.  When Declan +saw this, scil.:—that the king of the Decies, who was named +Ledban, was obstinate in his infidelity and in his +devilry—through fear lest Patrick should curse his race and +country—he (Declan) turned to the assembly and addressed +them:—"Separate yourselves from this accursed man lest you +become yourselves accursed on his account, for I have myself +baptised and blessed you, but come you," said he, "with us, to +Patrick, whom God has sent to bless you, for he has been chosen +Archbishop and chief Patron of all Erin; moreover, I have a right +to my own patrimony and to be king over you as that man (Ledban) +has been."  At this speech they all arose and followed Declan who +brought them into the presence of Patrick and said to the +latter:—"See how the whole people of the Deisi have come with +me as their Lord to thee and they have left the accursed prince +whose subjects they have been, and behold they are ready to +reverence you and to obey you for it is from me they have received +baptism."  At this Patrick rose up with his followers and he +blessed the people of the Deisi and not them alone, but their woods +and water and land.  Whereupon the chiefs and nobles of the Deisi +said:—"Who will be King or Lord over us now?"  And Declan +replied:—"I am your lord and whomsoever I shall appoint offer +you as lord, Patrick and all of us will bless, and he shall be king +over you all."  And he whom Declan appointed was Feargal Mac +Cormac a certain young man of the nation of the Deisi who was a +kinsman of Declan himself.  He (Declan) set him in the midst of +the assembly in the king's place and he was pleasing to all.  +Whereupon Patrick and Declan blessed him and each of them apart +proclaimed him chieftain.  Patrick moreover promised the young +man that he should be brave and strong in battle, that the land +should be fruitful during his reign.  Thus have the kings of the +Deisi always been.</p> +<p>    24.  After these things Declan and Feargal Mac Cormac +(king of the Deisi) and his people gave a large area of land to +Patrick in the neighbourhood of Magh Feimhin and this belongs to +his successors ever since and great lordship there.  And the +place which was given over to him is not far from the Suir.  +There is a great very clear fountain there which is called +"Patrick's Well" and this was dear to Patrick.  After this, with +blessing, they took leave of one another and Patrick returned to +Cashel to Aongus Mac Natfrich and Declan went with him.</p> +<p>    25.  A miracle was wrought at that time on Declan +through the intercession and prayers of Patrick for as Declan was +walking carelessly along he trod upon a piece of sharp iron which +cut his foot so that blood flowed freely and Declan began to +limp.  Ailbe of Emly was present at this miracle and Sechnall a +bishop of Patrick's and a holy and wise man, and he is said to be +the first bishop buried in Ireland.  The wound which Declan had +received grieved them very much.  Patrick was informed of the +accident and was grieved thereat.  He said:—"Heal, O Master +(<i>i.e.</i> God), the foot of your own servant who bears much toil +and hardship on your account."  Patrick laid his hand on the +wounded foot and made over it the sign of the cross when +immediately the flow of blood ceased, the lips of the wound united, +a cicatrix formed upon it and a cure was effected.  Then Declan +rose up with his foot healed and joined in praising God.  The +soldiers and fighting men who were present cried out loudly, +blessing God and the saints.</p> +<p>    26.  As Patrick and the saints were in Cashel, +<i>i.e.</i> Ailbe and Declan with their disciples, in the territory +of Aongus Mac Nathfrich, they made much progress against paganism +and errors in faith and they converted them (the pagans) to +Christianity.  It was ordained by Patrick and Aongus Mac Natfrich +in presence of the assembly, that the Archbishopric of Munster +should belong to Ailbe, and to Declan, in like manner, was ordained +(committed) his own race, <i>i.e.</i> the Deisi, whom he had +converted to be his parish and his episcopate.  As the Irish +should serve Patrick, so should the Deisi serve Declan as their +patron, and Patrick made the <i>rann:—</i></p> +<blockquote>"Humble Ailbe the Patrick of Munster, greater than any +saying,<br /> +Declan, Patrick of the Deisi—the Decies to Declan for +ever."</blockquote> +This is equivalent to saying that Ailbe was a second Patrick and +that Declan was a second Patrick of the Decies.  After that, when +the king had bidden them farewell and they had all taken leave of +one another, the saints returned to their respective territories to +sow therein the seed of faith. +<p>    27.  Declan and Ferghal Mac Cormac, king of the Deisi, +with his army and followers, met one another at Indeoin and they +made still more strong on the people the bond of Christian +obligation.  The king we have already mentioned, +scil.:—Ledban, the recusant to the Christian name, was +rejected of all and he came to nothing, leaving no knowledge +(memory) of his history, as is written of the enemies of the +faith:—"Their memory perisheth like a sound" [Psalm 9:7].  +Moreover Declan and Fergal and the chief men of the Deisi decreed +this as the place where the king of the Deisi should be inaugurated +for ever thenceforward, because it was there Patrick and Declan +blessed the king, Fergal; moreover tradition states that it was +there the kings were crowned and ruled over the Deisi in pagan +times.</p> +<p>    28.  At that time there broke out a dreadful plague in +Munster and it was more deadly in Cashel than elsewhere.  Thus it +affected those whom it attacked:  it first changed their colour +to yellow and then killed them.  Now Aongus had, in a stone fort +called "Rath na nIrlann," on the western side of Cashel, seven +noble hostages.  It happened that in one and the same night they +all died of the plague.  The king was much affected thereat and +he gave orders to have the fact concealed lest it should bring +disgrace or even war upon him, for the hostages were scions of the +strongest and most powerful families in Munster.  On the morrow +however Declan came to Cashel and talked with Aonghus.  The king +welcomed him heartily and addressing him said to him in presence of +persons of his court, "I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in +the name of Christ you would raise to life for me the seven +hostages whom I held in bondage from the chieftains of Munster.  +They have died from the plague of which you hear, and I fear their +fathers will raise war and rebellion against me, for they are men +of strength and power, and indeed we are ashamed of their death, +for they will say that it is we ourselves who killed them."  +Declan answered the king, saying to him:—"Such a matter as +this—to raise one to life from death—belongs to +Omnipotence alone—but I shall do whatever is in my power.  +I go where the bodies lie and pray to God for them and let Him do +in their regard what seems best to Him."  Next, Declan, with a +multitude and his disciples together with the king's councillors, +went to the place where the corpses of the young men lay.  The +king followed after them until he came in sight of the bodies.  +Declan, full of divine faith, entered the house wherein they lay +and he sprinkled holy water over them and prayed for them in the +presence of all, saying:—"O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of +the living God, for thine own name's sake wake the dead that they +may be strengthened in the Catholic faith through our +instrumentality."  Thereupon, at Declan's prayer, the group (of +corpses) revived and they moved their eyelids and Declan said to +them "In the name of Christ, our Saviour, stand up and bless and +glorify God."  And at his words they rose up immediately and +spoke to all.  Declan then announced to the king that they were +alive and well.  When people saw this remarkable miracle they all +gave glory and praise to God.  The fame of Declan thereupon +spread throughout Erin and the king rejoiced for restoration of his +hostages.</p> +<p>    29.  After this the people of Cashel besought Bishop +Declan to bless their city and banish the plague from them and to +intercede with God for those stricken with sickness who could not +escape from its toils.  Declan seeing the people's faith prayed +to God and signed with the sign of Redemption the four points of +the compass.  As he concluded, there was verified the saying of +Christ to His disciples when leaving them and going to +heaven:—<i>"Super aegros imponent manus et bene habebunt"</i> +[Mark 16:18] (I shall place my hands on the sick and they shall be +healed).  Soon as Declan had made the sign of the cross each one +who was ill became well and not alone were <i>these</i> restored to +health but (all the sick) of the whole region round about in +whatsoever place there were persons ailing.  Moreover the plague +was banished from every place and all rejoiced greatly thereat as +well as on account of the resurrection of the dead men we have +narrated.  The king thereupon ordered tribute and honour to +Declan and his successors from himself and from every king who +should hold Cashel ever after.  Upon this the glorious bishop +Declan blessed Aongus together with his city and people and +returned back to his own place.</p> +<p>    30.  One night Declan was a guest at the house of a +wealthy man who dwelt in the southern part of Magh Femhin; this is +the kind of person his host was, scil.:—a pagan who rejected +the true faith, and his name was Dercan.  He resolved to amuse +himself at the Christians' expense; accordingly he ordered his +servants to kill a dog secretly, to cut off its head and feet and +to bury them in the earth and then to cook the flesh properly and +to set it before Declan and his company as their meal.  Moreover +he directed that the dog should be so fat that his flesh might pass +as mutton.  When, in due course, it was cooked, the flesh, +together with bread and other food, was laid before Declan and his +following.  At that moment Declan had fallen asleep but he was +aroused by his disciples that he might bless their meal.  He +observed to them:—"Indeed I see, connected with this meat, +the ministry of the devil."  Whereupon he questioned the waiters +as to the meat—what kind it was and whence procured.  They +replied:  "Our master ordered us to kill a fat ram for you and we +have done as he commanded."  Declan said, "Our Master is Jesus +Christ and may He show us what it is that connects the ministry of +Satan with this meat and preserve thy servants from eating +forbidden food."  As he spoke thus Declan saw in the meat the +claw of a dog, for, without intending it, they had boiled one +quarter of the dog with its paw adhering; they thought they had +buried it (the incriminating limb) with the other paws.  Declan +exclaimed, "This is not a sheep's but a dog's foot."  When the +attendants heard this they went at once to their master and related +the matter to him.  Then Dercan came to Declan, accepted his +faith and received Baptism at his hands, giving himself and his +posterity to Declan for ever.  Moreover he gave his homestead to +Declan and his people were baptised.  After this Dercan requested +that Declan should bless something in his homestead which might +remain as a memorial of him (Dercan) for ever.  Then Declan +blessed a bell which he perceived there and its name is +Clog-Dhercain ("Dercan's Bell"); moreover, he declared:  "I endow +it with this virtue (power) that if the king of Decies march around +it when going to battle, against his enemies, or to punish +violation of his rights, he shall return safely and with +victory."  This promise has been frequently fulfilled, but proud +(men) undertaking battle or conflict unjustly even if they march +around it do not obtain victory but success remains with the +enemy.  The name of that homestead was Teach-Dhercain ("Dercain's +House") and its name now is Coningean, from the claw [<i>con</i>] +of the hound or dog aforesaid.  To this place came the saintly +concourse, scil:—Coman and Ultan, MacErc and Mocoba and +Maclaisren, who dedicated themselves to (the service of) God and +placed themselves under the spiritual rule and sway of Declan.</p> +<p>    31.  Thereupon Declan established a monastery in that +place, scil.—in Coningin—and he placed there this holy +community with a further band of disciples.  Ultan however he +took away with him to the place whither he went.</p> +<p>    32.  On another (subsequent) occasion Declan visited +Bregia, <i>i.e.</i> the original territory which belonged to his +race previous to the expulsion of his ancestors.  There he was +treated with particular honour by the king of Tara and by the +chieftains of Meath by whom he was beloved, since it was from +themselves (their tribe and territory) that his forbears had gone +out, for that region was the patrimony of his race and within it +lies Tara.  Declan instituted therein a monastery of Canons, on +land which he received from the king, and it is from him the place +is named.  Moreover he left therein a relic or illuminated book +and a famous gospel which he was accustomed to carry always with +him.  The gospel is still preserved with much honour in the place +and miracles are wrought through it.  After this again he turned +towards Munster.</p> +<p>    33.  Declan was once travelling through Ossory when he +wished to remain for the night in a certain village.  But the +villagers not only did not receive him but actually drove him forth +by force of arms.  The saint however prayed to God that it might +happen to them what the Sacred Scripture says, "Vengeance is mine I +will repay" [Deuteronomy 32:35].  The dwellers in the village, +who numbered sixty, died that same night with the exception of two +men and ten women to whom the conduct of the others towards the +saint had been displeasing.  On the morrow these men and women +came humbly to the place where Declan was and they told +him—what he himself foreknew—how miserably the others +had died.  They themselves did penance and they bestowed on +Declan a suitable site whereon he built a monastery and he got +another piece of land and had the dead buried where he built the +monastery.  The name of that monastery is Cill-Colm-Dearg.  +This Colm-Dearg was a kind, holy man and a disciple of Declan.  +He was of East Leinster, <i>i.e.</i> of the Dal Meiscorb, and it is +from him that the monastery is named.  When he (Declan) had +completed that place he came to his own territory again, +<i>i.e.</i> to the Decies.</p> +<p>    34.  On a certain day Declan came to a place called +Ait-Breasail and the dwellers therein would not allow him to enter +their village; moreover they hid all their boats so that he could +not go into his own island, for they hated him very much.  In +consideration however of the sanctity of his servant, who prayed in +patience, God the All-Powerful turned the sea into dry land as you +have already heard.  Declan passed the night in an empty stable +out in the plain and the people of the village did not give him +even a fire.  Whereupon, appropriately the anger of God fell on +them, who had not compassion enough to supply the disciple of God +with a fire.  There came fire from heaven on them to consume them +all [together with their] homestead and village, so that the place +has been ever since a wilderness accursed, as the prophet +writes:  <i>"civitates eorum destruxisti"</i> [Psalm 9:7] (the +dwellings of the unmerciful are laid waste).</p> +<p>    35.  On yet another occasion Declan was in his own +region—travelling over Slieve Gua in the Decies, when his +horse from some cause got lame so that he could proceed no +further.  Declan however, seeing a herd of deer roaming the +mountain close to him, said to one of his people:  "Go, and bring +me for my chariot one of these deer to replace my horse and take +with you this halter for him."  Without any misgiving the +disciple went on till he reached the deer which waited quietly for +him.  He chose the animal which was largest and therefore +strongest, and, bringing him back, yoked him to the chariot.  The +deer thereupon obediently and without effort carried Bishop Declan +till he came to Magh Femhin, where, when he reached a house of +entertainment, the saint unloosed the stag and bade him to go free +as was his nature.  Accordingly, at the command of the saintly +man and in the presence of all, the stag returned on the same road +back (to the mountain).  Dormanach is the name of the man +aforesaid who brought the stag to Declan and him Declan blessed and +gave him a piece of land on the north of Decies close by the +Eoghanacht and his posterity live till now in that place.</p> +<p>    36.  On another occasion, Declan, accompanied, as +usual, by a large following, was travelling, when one member of the +party fell on the road and broke his shin bone in twain.  Declan +saw the accident and, pitying the injured man, he directed an +individual of the company to bandage the broken limb so that the +sufferer might not die through excess of pain and loss of blood.  +All replied that they could not endure to dress the wound owing to +their horror thereof.  But there was one of the company, Daluadh +by name, who faced the wound boldly and confidently and said:  +"In the name of Christ and of Declan our patron I shall be surgeon +to this foot"; and he said that jestingly.  Nevertheless he +bandaged the foot carefully and blessed it aright in the name of +God and Declan, and in a little while the wound healed and they all +gave praise to God.  Then Declan said to Daluadh:  "You +promised to be surgeon to that foot in Christ's name and in mine +and God has vouchsafed to heal it at these words:  on this +account you will be a true physician for ever and your children and +your seed after you for ever shall also possess the healing art, +and whomsoever they shall practise healing upon in God's name and +mine, provided there be no hatred [in their hearts] nor too great +covetousness of a physician's fee to him, God and myself shall send +relief."  This promise of Declan has been fulfilled in the case +of that family.</p> +<p>    37.  On another occasion, as Declan was travelling in +the northern part of Magh Femhin beside the Suir, he met there a +man who was carrying a little infant to get it baptised.  Declan +said to the people [his <i>muinntear,</i> or following]:  "Wait +here till I baptise yonder child," for it was revealed by the Holy +Ghost to him that he [the babe] should serve God.  The attendant +replied to him that they had neither a vessel nor salt for the +baptism.  Declan said:  "We have a wide vessel, the Suir, and +God will send us salt, for this child is destined to become holy +and wonderful [in his works]."  Thereupon Declan took up a +fistful of earth and, making prayer in his heart to God, he signed +the clay with the sign of the cross of redemption.  It (the +handful of earth) became white, dry salt, and all, on seeing it, +gave thanks and honour to God and Declan.  The infant was +baptised there and the name of Ciaran given him.  Declan said:  +"Bring up my spiritual son carefully and send him, at a fitting +age, for education to a holy man who is well instructed in the +faith for he will become a shining bright pillar in the Church."  +And it was this child, Ciaran Mac Eochaidh, who founded in after +years a famous monastery (from which he migrated to heaven) and +another place (monastery) besides.  He worked many miracles and +holy signs and this is the name of his monastery Tiprut [Tubrid] +and this is where it is:—in the western part of the Decies in +Ui Faithe between Slieve Grot [Galtee] and Sieve Cua and it is +within the bishopric of Declan.</p> +<p>    38.  On another day there came a woman to Declan's +monastery not far from the city where she dwelt.  She committed a +theft that day in Declan's monastery as she had often done +previously, and this is the thing she stole—a <i>habellum</i> +[possibly an item of tribute]; she departed homewards taking it +with her and there met her a group of people on the highway, and +the earth, in their presence, swallowed her up, and she cast out +the tabellum from her bosom and it was quickly turned into a stone +which the wayfarers took and brought with them to Declan.  Declan +himself had in supernatural vision seen all that happened to the +woman in punishment of her theft, and the name of Declan was +magnified owing to those marvels so that fear took possession of +all-those present and those absent.  The stone in question +remains still in Declan's graveyard in his own town of +Ardmore-Declain, where it stands on an elevated place in memory of +this miracle.</p> +<p>    39.  A rich man named Fintan was childless, for his +wife was barren for many years.  He himself, with his wife, +visited Declan and promised large alms and performance of good +works provided he (Declan) would pray that they might have +children:  they held it as certain that if Declan but prayed for +them God would grant them children.  Declan therefore, praying to +God and blessing the pair, said:  "Proceed to your home and +through God's bounty you shall have offspring."  The couple +returned home, with great joy for the blessing and for the promise +of the offspring.  The following night, Fintan lay with his wife +and she conceived and brought forth twin sons, scil.:  Fiacha and +Aodh, who, together with their children and descendants were under +tribute and service to God and Declan.</p> +<p>    40.  When it was made known to a certain holy man, +scil.:—Ailbe of Emly Iubar, chief bishop of Munster, that his +last days had come, he said to his disciples:  "Beloved brethren, +I wish, before I die, to visit my very dear fellow worker, +scil.:—Declan."  After this Ailbe set out on the journey +and an angel of God came to Declan notifying him that Ailbe was on +his way to visit him.  On the angel's notification Declan ordered +his disciples to prepare the house for Ailbe's coming.  He +himself went to meet Ailbe as far as the place which is called +Druim Luctraidh [Luchluachra].  Thence they came home together +and Ailbe, treated with great honour by Declan and his people, +stayed fourteen pleasant days.  After that the aged saint +returned home again to his own city, scil.:—to Emly Iubar.  +Declan came and many of his people, escorting Ailbe, to Druim +Luchtradh, and Ailbe bade him return to his own city.  The two +knew they should not see one another in this world ever again.  +In taking leave of one another, therefore, they shed plentiful +tears of sorrow and they instituted an everlasting compact and +league between their successors in that place.  Ailbe moreover +blessed the city of Declan, his clergy and people and Declan did +the same for Ailbe and they kissed one another in token of love and +peace and each returned to his own city.</p> +<p>    41.  On a certain day the Castle of Cinaedh, King of +the Deisi, took fire and it burned violently.  It happened +however that Declan was proceeding towards the castle on some +business and he was grieved to see it burning; he flung towards it +the staff to which we have referred in connection with the drying +up of the sea, and it (the staff) flew hovering in the air with +heavenly wings till it reached the midst of the flame and the fire +was immediately extinguished of its own accord through the grace of +God and virtue of the staff and of Declan to whom it belonged.  +The place from which Declan cast the staff was a long mile distant +from the castle and when the king, <i>i.e.</i> Cinaedh, and all the +others witnessed this miracle they were filled with amazement and +gave thanks to God and to Declan when they came to know that it was +he who wrought it.  Now the place where the castle stands is not +far from the Suir, <i>i.e.</i> on the south side of it and the +place from which Declan cast the staff is beside a ford which is in +the Suir or a stream which flows beside the monastery called Mag +Laca [Molough] which the holy virgins, daughters of the king of +Decies, have built in honour of God.  There is a pile of stones +and a cross in the place to commemorate this miracle.</p> +<p>    42.  On another occasion there approached a foreign +fleet towards Declan's city and this was their design—to +destroy and to plunder it of persons and of cattle, because they +(the foreigners) were people hostile to the faith.  Many members +of the community ran with great haste to tell Declan of the fleet +which threatened the town and to request him to beg the assistance +of God against the invaders.  Declan knew the man amongst his own +disciples who was holiest and most abounding in grace, scil., +Ultan, already mentioned, and him he ordered to pray to God against +the fleet.  Ultan had pity on the Christian people and he went +instantly, at the command of Declan, in front of the fleet and he +held his left hand against it, and, on the spot, the sea swallowed +them like sacks full of lead, and the drowned sailors were changed +into large rocks which stand not far from the mouth of the haven +where they are visible (standing) high out of the sea from that +time till now.  All Christians who witnessed this rejoiced and +were glad and they gave great praise and glory to God and to Declan +their own patron who caused the working of this miracle and of many +other miracles besides.  Next there arose a contention between +Ultan and Declan concerning this miracle, for Ultan attributed it +to Declan and Declan credited it to Ultan; and it has become a +proverb since in Ireland when people hear of danger or +jeopardy:—"The left hand of Ultan against you (the +danger)."  Ultan became, after the death of Declan, a +miracle-working abbot of many other holy monks.</p> +<p>    43.  The holy and glorious archbishop, <i>i.e.</i> +Patrick, sent one of his own followers to Declan with power and +authority (delegation) from the archbishop.  And proceeding +through the southern part of Decies he was drowned in a river [the +Lickey] there, two miles from the city of Declan.  When Declan +heard this he was grieved and he said:  "Indeed it grieves me +that a servant of God and of Patrick who sent him to visit me, +having travelled all over Ireland, should be drowned in a river of +my own territory.  Get my chariot for me that I may go in haste +to see his corpse, so that Patrick may come to hear of the worry +and the grief I have undergone because of his disciple's death."  +The body had been recovered before the arrival of Declan by others +who were close at hand and it had been placed on a bier to be +carried to Ciaran for interment.  Declan however met them on the +way, when he ordered the body to be laid down on the ground.  +They supposed he was about to recite the Office for the Dead.  He +(Declan) advanced to the place where the bier was and lifted the +sheet covering the face.  It (the face) looked dark and deformed +as is usual in the case of the drowned.  He prayed to God and +shed tears, but no one heard aught of what he said.  After this +he commanded:—"In the name of the Trinity, in the name of the +Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost whose religious yoke I +bear myself, arise to us for God has given your life to me."  He +(the dead man) rose up immediately at the command and he greeted +Declan and all the others.  Whereupon Declan and his disciples +received him with honour.  At first he was not completely cured +but (was) like one convalescent until (complete) health returned to +him by degrees again.  He however accompanied Declan and remained +some time with him and there was much rejoicing in Declan's city on +account of the miracle and his (Declan's) name and fame extended +over the country generally.  This disciple of Patrick was named +Ballin; he returned with great joy and he told him (Patrick) that +Declan had raised him from the dead.  To many others likewise he +related what had happened to him.  Patrick, in presence of many +persons, hearing of the miracle gave glory and thanks to God and +the name of Declan was magnified.</p> +<p>    44.  With this extraordinary miracle wrought by Declan +we wish to conclude our discourse.  The number of miracles he +wrought, but which are not written here, you are to judge and +gather from what we have written.  And we wish moreover that you +would understand that he healed the infirm, that he gave sight to +the eyes of the blind, cleansed lepers, and gave "their walk" to +cripples; that he obtained hearing for the deaf, and that he healed +many and various diseases in many different places throughout +Ireland—(things) which are not written here because of their +length and because they are so numerous to record, for fear it +should tire readers to hear so much said of one particular +person.  On that account we shall pass them by.</p> +<p>    45.  When Declan realised that his last days were at +hand and that the time remaining to him was very short he summoned +to him his own spiritual son, scil., MacLiag (residing) in the +monastery which is on the eastern side of the Decies close to the +Leinstermen in order that, at the hour of death, he might receive +the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from +his hands.  Thereupon he foretold to his disciples the day of his +death and he commanded them to bring him to his own city, for it +was not there he dwelt at the time but in a small venerable cell +which he had ordered to be built for him between the hill called +Ardmore Declain and the ocean—in a narrow place at the brink +of the sea by which there flows down from the hill above a small +shining stream about which are trees and bushes all around, and it +is called Disert Declain.  Thence to the city it is a short mile +and the reason why Declan used go there was to avoid turmoil and +noise so that he might be able to read and pray and fast there.  +Indeed it was not easy for him to stay even there because of the +multitude of disciples and paupers and pilgrims and beggars who +followed him thither.  Declan was however generous and very +sympathetic and on that account it is recorded by tradition that a +great following (of poor, &c.), generally accompanied him and +that moreover the little cell was very dear to him for the reason +we have given, and many devout people have made it their practice +to dwell therein.</p> +<p>    46.  When Declan fell ill and became weak in body, but +still strong in hope and faith and love of God, he returned to his +own city—his people and disciples and clergy surrounding +him.  He discoursed to them on the commands of God and he +enjoined on them to live holily after his death, to be submissive +to authority and to follow as closely as possible the way he had +marked out and to preserve his city in a state of piety and under +religious rule.  And when they had all heard the discourse it +grieved them greatly to perceive, from what he had said, he +realised that in a short time he would go away to heaven from +them.  But they were consoled by his gentle words and then there +came to him the holy man, to wit, MacLiag, at his own request, +already referred to.  He [Declan] received the Body and Blood of +Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from his [MacLiag's] +hand—surrounded by holy men and his disciples, and he blessed +his people and his dependents and his poor, and he kissed them in +token of love and peace.  Thus, having banished images and the +sacrifices to idols, having converted multitudes to the true faith, +having established monasteries and ecclesiastical orders in various +places, having spent his whole life profitably and holily, this +glorious bishop went with the angels to heaven on the ninth day of +the Kalends of August [July 24] and his body was blessed and +honoured with Masses and chanting by holy men and by the people of +the Decies and by his own monks and disciples collected from every +quarter at the time of his death.  He was buried with honour in +his own city—in Declan's High-Place—in the tomb which +by direction of an angel he had himself indicated—which +moreover has wrought wonders and holy signs from that time to +now.  He departed to the Unity of the Father and the Son and the +Holy Ghost in <i>Saecula Saeculorum; Amen.</i>  FINIS.</p> +<hr width="10%" /> +<p>    The poor brother, Michael O'Clery originally copied this +life of Declan in Cashel, from the book of Eochy O'Heffernan.  +The date, A.D., at which that ancient book of Eochy was written is +1582.  And the same life has now been re-written in the Convent +of the Friars at Druiske, the date, A.D., 27th February, 1629.</p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<h4>Note</h4> +The Irish text of the <i>rann</i> from paragraph 26 reads: +<blockquote><i>Ailbe umal; Patraicc Muman, mó gacrath,<br /> +Déclan, Patraicc na nDéisi:  na Déisi ag Declan +gan brat.</i></blockquote> +And the Latin rendering: +<blockquote><i>Albeus est humilis dixit Caephurnia proles;<br /> +Patriciusque esto hinc Ailbee Momonia.<br /> +Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto;<br /> +Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos.</i></blockquote> +<center> +<p><img src="d-mid.gif" width="176" height="222" alt= +"Cross Graphic" /></p> +<p><a name="mochuda" id="mochuda"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<h1>Life of St. Mochuda.</h1> +<h1><i>Beata Mocuda.</i></h1> +</center> +The renowned bishop, Carthach, commonly called Mochuda, was of the +territory of Ciarraighe Luachra [North Kerry] and of the race of +Fergus Mac Roigh. +<p>    The illustrious bishop, who is generally known as +Mochuda, was of the Ciarraighe Luachra; to be exact—he was of +the line of Fergus Mac Roigh, who held the kingship of Ulster, till +the time that he gave the kingship to a woman for a year and did +not get it back when the year was over.  His descendants are now +to be found throughout various provinces of Ireland.  He fell +himself, through the treachery of Oilioll, king of Connaght, and +the latter's jealousy of his wife, Meadbh, daughter of Eochaid +Feidhleach.  Finghen Mac Gnaoi of Ciarraighe Luachra was father +of Mochuda, and his mother was Mead, daughter of Finghin, of Corca +Duibhne, in the vicinity of the stream called Laune in the western +part of Ireland.  The forthcoming birth of Mochuda was revealed +to St. Comhghall by an angel, announcing—"There will be +conceived a child in the western part of Erin, and Carthach will be +his baptismal name and he will be beloved of God and men—in +heaven and on earth.  He will come to you seeking direction as to +a proposed pilgrimage to Rome—but you must not permit the +journey for the Lord has assigned him to you; but let him remain +with you a whole year."  All this came to pass, as foretold.  +In similar manner the future Mochuda was foretold to St. Brendan by +an angel who declared:  "There will come to you a wonder-working +brother who will be the patron of you and your kindred for ever; +the region of Ciarraighe will be divided between you and him, and +Carthach will be his name; to multitudes his advent will be cause +for joy and he will gain multitudes for heaven.  His first city +will be Raithen [Rahen or Rahan] in the region of Fircheall, +territory of Meath and central plain of Ireland; this will become a +place revered of men, and revered and famous will be his second +city and church, scil.:—Lismore, which shall possess lordship +and great pre-eminence."</p> +<p>    One day when there was a large meeting of people at a +certain place in Kerry, the men and women who were present saw +descending a fiery globe, which rested on the head of Mochuda's +mother, at that time pregnant of the future saint.  The ball of +fire did no one any injury but disappeared before it did injury to +anyone.  All those who beheld this marvel wondered thereat and +speculated what it could portend.  This is what it did +mean:—that the graces of the Holy Spirit had visited this +woman and her holy child unborn.</p> +<p>    Mochuda's father was a rich and powerful chieftain +owning two strong lioses—one, on the south side of Slieve +Mish, and the other, in which Mochuda first saw the light, beside +the River Maing [Maine].  Both places were blessed for sake of +the Saint, who was conceived in one of them and born in the other; +it is even said that no evil disposed or vicious person can live in +either.  Carthage in due course was sent to be baptised, and, on +the way, the servant who bore the infant, meeting a saintly man +named Aodhgan, asked him to perform the ceremony.  There was +however no water in the place, but a beautiful well, which burst +forth for the occasion and still remains, yielded a supply.  With +the water of this well the infant was baptised and Carthach, as the +angel had foretold, was the name given him.  Nevertheless +<i>Mochuda</i> is the name by which he was commonly known, because +he was so called, through affection and regard, by his master (St. +Carthach Senior).  Many scarcely know that he has any other name +than Mochuda and it is lawful to write either Mochuda or +Carthach.  Speaking prophetically Aodhgan said of +him:—"This child whom I have baptised will become famous and +he will be beloved by God and men."  That prophecy has been +fulfilled, for Mochuda was graceful of figure and handsome of +features as David, he was master of his passions as Daniel, and +mild and gentle like Moses.  His parents however despised him +because he valued not earthly vanities and in his regard were +verified the words of David:—<i>"Pater meus et mater mea +derliquerunt me, Dominus autem assumpsit me"</i> [Psalm 26(27):10] +(For my father and my mother have left me and the Lord hath taken +me up).  Like David too—who kept the sheep of his +father—Mochuda, with other youths, herded his father's swine +in his boyhood.</p> +<p>    On a certain day as Mochuda, with his companion +swineherds and their charges, was in the vicinity of the River +Maing, he heard that the king of Ciarraighe Luachra was at his +residence called Achadh-di; he waited on the king by whom he was +kindly and politely received.  The king, whose name was Maoltuile +and who wished to see Mochuda frequently, invited the youth to come +every day to the royal lios and to bring with him his companions, +who would be made welcome for his sake.  One evening as Mochuda +sate in the king's presence Maoltuile gazed so long and so intently +at the youth that the queen (Dand, daughter of Maolduin Mac Aodha +Beannan, king of Munster) reproved her husband asking why he stared +every evening at the boy.  "O wife," answered the king, "if you +but saw what I see, you would never gaze at anything else, for I +behold a wondrous golden chain about his neck and a column of fire +reaching from his head to the heavens, and since I first beheld +these marvels my affection for the boy has largely increased."  +"Then," said the queen, "let him sit there beside you."  +Thenceforth the youth sate as suggested.  Sometimes Mochuda +herded the swine in the woods and at other times he remained with +the king in his court.</p> +<p>    One day as Mochuda was keeping his herd as usual beside +the river already alluded to, he heard the bishop and his clerics +pass by, chanting psalms as they went along.  The Spirit of God +touched the boy's heart and leaving his pigs Mochuda followed the +procession as far as the monastery called Tuaim [Druim Fertain] +[into which the clerics entered].  And as the bishop and his +household sate down to eat, Mochuda, unknown to them, concealed +himself—sitting in the shadow of the doorway.  Meanwhile +the king, Maoltuile, was troubled about the boy, noticing his +absence [from the homestead at Achaddi] that evening and not +knowing the cause thereof.  He immediately sent messengers to +seek the youth throughout the country, and one of these found him +sitting, as indicated, in the shadow of the doorway of the bishop's +house.  The messenger took Mochuda with him back to the king.  +The latter questioned him:—"My child, why have you stayed +away in this manner?"  Mochuda replied, "Sire, this is why I have +stayed away—through attraction of the holy chant of the +bishop and clergy; I have never heard anything so beautiful as +this; the clerics sang as they went along the whole way before me; +they sang until they arrived at their house, and thenceforth they +sang till they went to sleep.  The bishop however remained by +himself far into the night praying by himself when the others had +retired.  And I wish, O king, that I might learn [their psalms +and ritual].  Hearing this the king at once sent a message to the +bishop requesting the latter to come to him.</p> +<p>    About this time Mochuda's father gave a feast in the +king's honour and as the company were at supper the king calling +Mochuda before him offered him a shield, sword, javelin, and +princely robe, saying:  "Take these and be henceforth a knight to +me as your father has been."  But Mochuda declined the offer.  +"What is it," asked the king, "that you will accept, so that +[whatever it be] I may give it to you?"  Mochuda +answered:—"I do not long for anything of earth—only +that I be allowed to learn the psalms of the clerics which I heard +them sing."  In this answer the king discerned the working of +divine grace, whereupon he promised the youth the favour he asked +for.  Shortly afterwards the bishop, Carthach, whom we have +mentioned as sent for by the king, arrived, and to him the latter +entrusted Mochuda to be instructed in reading and writing.  With +great joy the bishop undertook his charge for he saw that his pupil +was marked by grace, and under the bishop's guidance and tutelage +Mochuda remained till his promotion to the priesthood.</p> +<p>    Mochuda was very handsome of features with the result +that at different times during his youth maidens to the number of +thirty were so enamoured of him that they could not conceal their +feeling.  But Mochuda prayed for them, and obtained for them by +his prayers that their carnal love should be turned into a +spiritual.  They afterwards became consecrated religious and +within what to-day is his parish he built them cells and +monasteries which the holy virgins placed under his protection and +jurisdiction.</p> +<p>    Finntan Mac Cartan, bringing with him an infant for +baptism came to Bishop Carthach.  The latter said to +him:—"Let the young priest there who was ordained to-day +baptise the child."  Whereupon Finntan handed the infant to the +young priest.  Mochuda enquired the name he was to impose, and +the father answered—Fodhran.  Having administered baptism +Mochuda taking the infant's hand prophesied concerning the +babe—"This hand will be strong in battle and will win +hostages and submission of the Clan Torna whose country lies in +mid-Kerry from Sliabh Luachra [Slieve Lougher] to the sea.  From +his seed, moreover, will spring kings to the end of time, unless +indeed they refuse me due allegiance, and if, at any time, they +incur displeasure of my successors their kingship and dominion will +come to an end."  This prophecy has been fulfilled.</p> +<p>    Sometime afterwards Mochuda with his master, Carthach, +visited King Maoltuile, whom they found at a place called Feorainn, +near Tralee, from which the lords and kings of Kerry take their +name.  Said Bishop Carthach:—"Here, Sire, is the youth you +gave me to train; he is a good scholar and he has studied the holy +writings with much success.  I have ordained him a priest and +(his) grace is manifest in many ways."  "What recompense do you +desire for your labour?" asked the king.  "Only," replied +Carthach, "that you would place yourself and your posterity under +the spiritual jurisdiction of this young priest, the servant of +God."  The king, however, hesitated—because of Mochuda's +youth.  Soon as Carthach perceived this he himself inclined to +Mochuda and bending his knee before him exclaimed:—"I hereby +give myself, my parish and monastery to God and to Mochuda for +ever."  Touched by the bishop's example the king prostrated +himself before Mochuda and pledged to God and to him, his soul and +body and posterity to the end of time.  Then Mochuda placed his +foot upon the king's neck and measured the royal body with his +foot.  Against this proceeding of Mochuda's a member of the +king's party protested in abusive and insulting terms—"It is +a haughty act of yours, laying your foot upon the king's neck, for +be it known to you the body on which you trample is worthy of +respect."  On hearing this Mochuda ceased to measure the king and +declared:—"The neck upon which I have set my heel shall never +be decapitated and the body which I have measured with my foot +shall not be slain and but for your interference there would not be +wanting anything to him or his seed for ever."  Addressing +(specially) the interrupter, he prophesied:—"You and your +posterity will be for ever contemptible among the tribes."  +Blessing the king he promised him prosperity here and heaven +hereafter and assured him:—"If any one of your posterity +contemn my successors refusing me my lawful dues he will never +reign over the kingdom of Kerry."  This prophecy has been +fulfilled.</p> +<p>    Next, Mochuda, at the suggestion of his master, the +bishop, and the King Maoltuile, built a famous cell called +Kiltulach [Kiltallagh] at a place between Sliabh Mis and the River +Maing in the southern part of Kerry.  Here his many miracles won +him the esteem of all.  In that region he found two bishops +already settled before him, scil.:—Dibhilin and Domailgig.  +These became envious of the honour paid him and the fame he +acquired, and they treated him evilly.  Whereupon he went to +Maoltuile and told him the state of affairs.  Soon as the king +heard the tale he came with Mochuda from the place where he then +was on the bank of the Luimnech and stayed not till they reached +the summit of Sliabh Mis, when he addressed Mochuda:  "Leave this +confined region for the present to the envy and jealousy of the +bishops and hereafter it will become yours and your coarbs' to the +end of time."  The advice commended itself to Mochuda and he +thanked the king for it.  Thereupon he abandoned his cell to the +aforesaid bishops and determined to set out alone as a pilgrim to +the northern part of Ireland.</p> +<p>    In the meantime an angel visited Comghall and repeated +to him what had been foretold him already—that there should +come to him a young priest desirous for Christ's sake of pilgrimage +beyond the seas—that Comghall should dissuade him and, +instead, retain the stranger with him for a year at Bangor.  "And +how am I to recognise him?" asked Comghall.  The angel +answered:—"Whom you shall see going from the church to the +guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to visit the church +first).  [See note 1.]  Comghall announced to his household +that there was coming to them a distinguished stranger, +well-beloved of God, of whose advent an angel had twice foretold +him.  Some time later Mochuda arrived at Comghall's +establishment, and he went first to the monastery and Comghall +recognised him and bade him welcome.  In that place Mochuda +remained a whole year, as the angel had said, and at the end of the +year he returned to his own country where he built many cells and +churches and worked many wonders, winning many souls to religion +and to good works.  Many persons moreover placed themselves, +their children, and their kindred under his jurisdiction, and the +great parishes of their own territory were assigned to him, and +finally the episcopate of Kerry became his.</p> +<p>    Subsequent to this Mochuda, having committed the care of +his cell and parish to certain pious and suitable persons, set out +himself, accompanied by a few disciples, through the south of +Munster to visit the Monastery of Ciaran Mac Fionntan at Rosgiallan +[Rostellan].  From Ciaran Mochuda enquired, where—in south +Munster (as the angel had mentioned to Comghall)—the chief +and most distinguished of these churches should be.  Ciaran, who +possessed the spirit of prophecy, replied—"You shall go first +to Meath where you will found a famous church in the territory of +Ibh Neill and there you will remain for forty years.  You shall +be driven thence into exile and you will return to Munster wherein +will be your greatest and most renowned church."  Mochuda offered +to place himself under the patronage and jurisdiction of Ciaran:  +"Not so, shall it be," said Ciaran, "but rather do I put myself and +my church under you, for ever, reserving only that my son, +Fuadhran, be my successor in this place."  This Mochuda assented +to and Fuadhran governed the monastic city for twenty years as +Ciaran's successor in the abbacy.</p> +<p>    Next, Mochuda entered the territory of the Munster +Decies where dwelt the Clanna Ruadhain who placed themselves and +all their churches under him, and one Colman Mac Cobhthaigh a +wealthy magnate of the region donated extensive lands to Mochuda +who placed them under devout persons—to hold for him.  +Proceeding thence Mochuda took his way across Sliabh Gua looking +back from the summit of which he saw by the bank of the Nemh +[Blackwater] angels ascending towards heaven and descending +thence.  And they took up with them to heaven a silver chair with +a golden image thereon.  This was the place in which long +afterwards he founded his famous church and whence he departed +himself to glory.</p> +<p>    Hence Mochuda travelled to Molua Mac Coinche's monastery +of Clonfert [Kyle], on the confines of Leinster and Munster.  He +found Molua in the harvest field in the midst of a <i>meitheal</i> +[team] of reapers.  Before setting out on this present journey of +his Mochuda had, with one exception, dismissed all his disciples to +their various homes for he, but with a single companion, did not +wish to enter the strange land ostentatiously.  The single +follower whom Mochuda had retained wishing to remain at Clonfert, +said to St. Molua:  "Holy father, I should wish to remain here +with you."  Molua answered:—"I shall permit you, brother, +if your pious master consents."  Mochuda, having dismissed so +many, would not make any difficulty about an individual, and so he +gave the monk his freedom.  Mochuda thereupon set out alone, +which, Molua's monks observing, they remark:—"It were time +for that aged man to remain in some monastery, for it is unbecoming +such a (senior) monk to wander about alone."  They did not know +that he, of whom they spoke, was Mochuda, for it was not the custom +of the latter to make himself known to many.  "Say not so," said +Molua (to the censorious brethren), "for the day will come when our +community and city will seem but insignificant beside +his—though now he goes alone; you do not know that he is +Mochuda whom many obey and whom many more will obey in times to +come."</p> +<p>    As Mochuda went on his lonely way he met two monks who +asked him whither he was bound.  "To Colman Elo," he answered.  +Then said one of them to him:—"Take us with you as monks and +subjects," for they judged him from his countenance to be a holy +man.  Mochuda accepted the monks and they journeyed on together +till they came to Colman's monastery [Lynally].  Mochuda said to +Colman:  "Father I would remain here with you."  "Not so," +replied Colman, "but go you to a place called Rahen in this +vicinity; that is the place ordained by God for your dwelling and +you shall have there a large community in the service of God and +from that place you will get your first name—Mochuda of +Rahen."  Having said farewell to Colman and obtained his blessing +Mochuda, with his two monks, set out for the place indicated and +there in the beginning he built a small cell and Colman and he +often afterwards exchanged visits.</p> +<p>    Colman had in the beginning—some time previous to +Mochuda's advent—contemplated establishing himself at Rahen +and he had left there two or three [bundles] of rods remarking to +his disciples that another should come after him for whom and not +for himself God had destined this place.  It was with this +material that Mochuda commenced to build his cell as Colman had +foretold in the first instance.  He erected later a great +monastery in which he lived forty years and had eight hundred and +eighty seven religious under his guidance and rule.</p> +<p>    Subsequent to Mochuda's foundation of Rahen his miracles +and the marvels he wrought spread his fame far and wide through +Ireland and through Britain, and multitudes came to him from +various parts of those countries to give themselves to the service +of God under his guidance.  In the beginning he refused worldly +gifts from others although his church was honoured and patronised +by neighbouring kings and chieftains who offered him lands and +cattle and money and many other things.  Mochuda kept his monks +employed in hard labour and in ploughing the ground for he wanted +them to be always humble.  Others, however, of the Saints of Erin +did not force their monks to servile labour in this fashion.</p> +<p>    Mochuda was consecrated bishop by many saints and from +time to time he visited his parish in Kerry, but as a rule he +remained at Rahen with his monks, for it is monks he had with him +not clerics.</p> +<p>    On a certain day in the (early) springtime there came to +tempt him a druid who said to him:—"In the name of your God +cause this apple-tree branch to produce foliage."  Mochuda knew +that it was in contempt for divine power the druid proposed this, +and the branch put forth leaves on the instant.  The druid +demanded "In the name of your God, put blossom on it."  Mochuda +made the sign of the cross [over the twig] and it blossomed +presently.  The druid persisted:—"What profits blossom +without fruit?" [said the druid].  Mochuda, for the third time, +blessed the branch and it produced a quantity of fruit.  The +druid said:—"Follower of Christ, cause the fruit to +ripen."  Mochuda blessed the tree and the fruit, fully ripe, fell +to the earth.  The druid picked up an apple off the ground and +examining it he saw it was quite sour, whereupon he +objected:—"Such miracles as these are worthless since it +leaves the fruit uneatable."  Mochuda blessed the apples and they +all became sweet as honey, and in punishment of his opposition the +magician was deprived for a year of his eyesight.  At the end of +a year he came to Mochuda and did penance, whereupon he received +his sight back again and he returned home rejoicing.</p> +<p>    On another occasion there came to Mochuda a secular who +brought with him his deaf and dumb son whom he besought the saint +to heal.  Mochuda prayed to God for him and said, "My son, hear +and speak."  The boy answered immediately and said, "Man of God, +I give myself and my inheritance to you for ever," and thenceforth +he possessed the use of all his senses and members.</p> +<p>    Another day a young man who had contracted leprosy came +to Mochuda showing him his misery and his wretched condition.  +The saint prayed for him and he was restored to health.</p> +<p>    At another time there came to Mochuda a man whose face +was deformed.  He besought the saint's aid and his face was +healed upon the spot.</p> +<p>    On yet another occasion in the springtime a poor man who +dwelt some distance from the monastery of Rahen, came to Mochuda, +and asked the loan of two oxen and a ploughman to do a day's +ploughing for him.  But Mochuda, as we have already said, had no +cattle, for it was the monks themselves who dug and tilled the +soil.  Mochuda summoned one of his labourers named Aodhan whom he +ordered to go into the nearest wood to bring back thence a pair of +deer with him and go along with them to the poor man to do the +spring work for him.  Aodhan did dutifully all that Mochuda bade +him—he found the two deer, went with the poor man and +ploughed for him till the work was completed when the deer returned +to their habitat and Aodhan to Mochuda.</p> +<p>    On another day there came to Mochuda a man troubled by +the devil.  Mochuda cured him at once, driving the demons from +him and the man went his way thanking God and Mochuda.</p> +<p>    Once, when the brethren were at work in the fields and +in the kitchen, Mochuda went to the mill to grind meal for the +monk's use, and nine robbers, who hated him, followed with the +intention of murdering him.  The chief of the band sent each +member of the gang to the mill in turn.  Not one of them however +could enter the mill because of a violent flame of fire which +encircled the building round about, through the goodness of God +protecting Mochuda from the robbers.  The latter, through the +mill door, watched Mochuda who slept portion of the time and was +awake another portion.  And while he slept the mill stopped of +itself, and while he was awake it went of its own accord.  The +gang thereupon returned to the chief and told him all they had +seen, which, when he heard, he became enraged.  Then he hastened +himself to the mill to kill Mochuda.  But he experienced the same +things as all the others and he was unable to hurt Mochuda.  He +returned to his followers and said to them—"Let us stay here +till he comes out of the mill, for we need not fear that he will +call help nor need we fear his arm."  Shortly afterwards Mochuda +came out carrying his load.  The robbers rushed on him, but they +were unable to do him any injury for as each man of them tried to +draw his weapon his hands became powerless, so he was unable to use +them.  Mochuda requested them to allow him pass with his burden +and he promised them on his credit and his word that he should +return to them when he had deposited the sack in safety.  They +took his word and he went, deposited his bag of meal in the +kitchen, and returned meekly to martyrdom.  The brethren imagined +he had gone to a quiet place for prayer as was his custom.  When +he returned to the robbers they drew their weapons several times to +kill him but they were unable to do so.  Seeing this wonder they +were moved to repentance and they gave themselves to God and to +Mochuda for ever and, till the time of their death, they remained +under his guidance and rule and many subsequent edifying and famous +acts of theirs are recorded.</p> +<p>    An angel came to Mochuda at Rahen on another occasion +announcing to him the command of God that he should go that same +day to Mac Fhiodaig, king of his own region of Kerry Luachra, and +administer to him Holy Communion and Confession as he was on the +point of death.  Mochuda asked the angel how he could reach Kerry +that day from Rahen.  The angel thereupon (for reply) took him up +through the air in a fiery chariot until they arrived at the king's +residence.  Mochuda administered Holy Communion and Confession +and the king having bestowed generous alms upon him departed hence +to glory.  Mochuda returned that same day to Rahen where he found +the community singing vespers.</p> +<p>    On another occasion Mochuda visited Colman Elo at the +latter's monastery of Lynally and requested Colman to come with him +to consecrate for him his cemetery at Rahen, for Colman, assisted +by angels, was in the habit of consecrating cemeteries and God gave +him the privilege that no one should go to hell who was interred in +a grave consecrated by him.  Colman said to him:—"Return +home and on the fifth day from now I shall follow."  Mochuda +returned home, where he remained till the fifth day, when, seeing +that Colman had not arrived he came again to the latter.  +"Father," said he, "why have you not kept your promise?"  To +which Colman replied, "I came and an angel with me that day and +consecrated your cemetery.  Return now and you will find it +marked (consecrated) on the south side of your own cell.  Lay it +out as it is there indicated and think not that its area is too +small, because a larger will be consecrated for you later, by the +angels, in the southern part of Erin, namely—in Lismore."  +Mochuda returned and found the cemetery duly marked as Colman had +indicated.</p> +<p>    About the same time clerics came across Slieve Luachra +in the territory of Kerry to the church of Ita, honoured [abbess] +of Conall Gabhra.  They had with them a child upon seeing whom +Ita wept bitterly.  The clerics demanded why she cried at seeing +them.  "Blessed," she answered, "is the hour in which that youth +in your company was born, for no one shall ever go to hell from the +cemetery in which he will be buried, but, alas, for me, that I +cannot be buried therein."  The clerics asked what cemetery it +was in which he should be buried.  "In Mochuda's cemetery," said +she, "which though it be as yet unconsecrated will be honoured and +famous in times to come."  This all came to pass, for the youth +afterwards became a monk under Mochuda and he is buried in the +monastic cemetery of Lismore as Ita had foretold.</p> +<p>    A child on another occasion fell off the bridge of Rahen +into the river and was drowned.  The body was a day and a night +in the water before it was recovered.  Then it was brought to +Mochuda who, moved with compassion for the father in his loss of an +only son, restored the boy to life.  Moreover he himself fostered +the child for a considerable time afterwards and when the youth had +grown up, he sent him back to his own country of Delbhna.  +Mochuda's foster son begat sons and daughters and he gave himself +and them, as well as his inheritance, to God and Mochuda, and his +descendants are to this day servile tenants of the monastery.</p> +<p>    Once as Mochuda, with large offerings, was returning +from Kerry to Rahen he passed through the confines of Delbhna +[Lemanaghan?] by the lake called Muincine [Lough Gur?] where he and +his party were overtaken by night.  They found here before them +by the roadside revolving wheels, which an artisan, who was +erecting a mill on the stream from the lake, had set up for a +joke.  As the wheels revolved they made a terrific noise which +was heard by the whole neighbourhood.  Many of the inhabitants of +the neighbouring villages aroused by the noise rushed out, with +appeals for help and loud cries, to investigate the matter.  +Mochuda's people were frightened by the din and their pack and +riding horses stampeded and lost their loads and it was not without +difficulty that they were caught again.  Mochuda knew what caused +the noise and he told the workmen who had played this mischievous +trick that they should be scattered throughout the different +provinces of Ireland, that they should be always worthless and +unprofitable, that the mill they were engaged on should never be +finished and that their progeny after them should be valueless race +of mischief-makers.  The latter are called the Hi-Enna [Uí +Énna Áine Aulium] to-day.</p> +<p>    One day Mochuda came to a place called Cluain-Breanainn +where apples abounded.  His followers asked some apples for him +but the orchard owner refused them.  Said Mochuda:—"From +this day forward no fruit shall grow in you orchard for ever," and +that prophecy has been fulfilled.</p> +<p>    Mochuda had in his monastery twelve exceedingly perfect +disciples, scil.:—Caoinche Mac Mellain [Mochua Mac Mellain or +Cronan], who was the first monk to enter Rahen; Mucoinog +[Mochoemog]; the three sons of Nascainn—Goban, Srafan, and +Laisren; Mulua [Molua]; Lugair; Mochomog Eile; Aodhan [Aedhan]; +Fachtna Coinceann [Fiachna or Fiochrae]; Fionnlog and Mochomog who +became a bishop later.  The virtue of these monks surpassed +belief and Mochuda wished to mitigate their austerities before +their death.  He therefore built separate cells for them that +they might have some comfort in their old age as a reward for their +virtue in youth; moreover he predicted blessings for them.  He +made [a prophecy] for one of them, mentioned above, +scil.:—Mochua Mac Mellain, for whom he had built a +comfortable cell at a place called Cluain-Da-Chrann.  He said to +him:  "Your place of resurrection will not be here but in another +place which God has given you."  That prediction has been +verified.  To a second disciple, scil.:—Fiachna, Mochuda +said:—"Your resurrection will not be in this place though I +have made you a cell here; you will have three further abiding +places, nevertheless it will be with your own companion, Aodhan, +that your remains will rest and your resurrection will be in the +territory of Ui Torna, and it is from you that the place will get +its name."  For this Aodhan alluded to Mochuda likewise built +another cell in the land of Ui Torna close by Slieve Luachra, and +speaking prophetically he said to him:  "The remains of your +fellow-disciple, Fiachna, will be carried to you hither and from +him will this place be named."  That statement has been verified, +for the church is now called Cill-Fiachna and it was first called +Cill-Aeghain.  Concerning other persons, Mochuda prophesied +various other things, all of them have come to pass.</p> +<p>    A child born of secret adultery was abandoned close by +the monastery of Rahen and Mochuda fostered the child until he +became a bishop, though no one knew his name or his progenitors.  +Mochuda said:—"This child's name is Dioma and his father is +Cormac of the race of Eochaidh Eachach."  All thereupon magnified +the foreknowledge of Mochuda, which he had from no other than the +Holy Spirit.  Having consecrated him bishop, Mochuda instructed +him:  "Go in haste to your own native region of Hy-Eachach in the +southern confines of Munster for there will your resurrection +be.  War and domestic strife shall arise among your race and +kinsfolk unless you arrive there soon to prevent it."  Dioma set +out, accompanied by another bishop, Cuana by name, who was also a +disciple of Mochuda's.  They travelled into Ibh Eachach and Dioma +preached the word of God to his brethren and tribesmen.  He made +peace between them and they built a monastery for him and he placed +himself, his kindred, and parish under his chosen master, Mochuda, +and he ended his life (there) in peace.</p> +<p>    On another occasion Mochuda travelled from Rahen to the +provinces of Munster and entered Ciarraighe Corca.  It happened +that Cairbre Mac Criomhthain, who was king of Munster, was at that +time in Magh-Cuirce, the place to which Mochuda came.  At the +same time there fell a fire ball which destroyed one of the king's +residences, killing his wife, many of his people and his son, Aodh +Mac Cairbre, who were buried in the falling ruin.  There were +killed there moreover two good carriage horses of the king's.  +Cairbre besought Mochuda that he would restore the queen and his +son to life, and when the saint saw the king's faith he prayed for +him to God and then addressing the dead he said,—"Arise."  +They arose thereupon and he gave them safe to the king and they all +gave glory and thanks to God and Mochuda.  The king moreover made +large offerings of land and servile tenants to Mochuda.  But one +of the tenants, through pride and jealousy, refused to obey +Mochuda, notwithstanding the king's command.  Mochuda said:  +"Your posterity will die out and their inheritance, for sake of +which you (mis)behave towards me, shall become mine for ever; +whosoever takes from me that which another has given me shall be +deprived of heaven and earth."  That man and his posterity soon +came to nought.</p> +<p>    On another occasion Mochuda sent a golden belt to Fergus +Mac Criomhthan who suffered from uncleanness of skin arising from +kidney disease and upon application of the girdle, by the blessing +of Mochuda he recovered.</p> +<p>    Another time again a king of Munster, Cathal Mac Aodha, +in the region of Cuirche, was a sufferer from a combination of +complaints—he was deaf, lame, and blind, and when Mochuda +came to see him the king and his friends prayed the saint to cure +him.  Mochuda therefore prayed for him and made the sign of the +cross on his eyes and ears and immediately he was healed of all his +maladies—he heard and saw perfectly, and Cathal gave +extensive lands to God and Mochuda for ever, scil:—Oilean +Cathail and Ros-Beg and Ros-Mor and Inis-Pic [Spike Island].  +Mochuda placed a religious community in Ros-Beg to build there a +church in honour of God.  Mochuda himself commenced to build a +church on Inis-Pic and he remained there a whole year.  [On his +departure] Mochuda left there—in the monastery of +Inis-Pic—to watch over it, in his stead, and to keep it in +perfect order—the three disciples whom we have already named +(scil:—the three sons of Nascon, <i>i.e.</i> Goban a bishop, +Srafan a priest, and holy Laisren) together with the saintly +bishop, Dardomaighen [Domangenum], (who had conferred orders on +them in presence of Mochuda) and forty monks.  Thereupon Mochuda +returned to Rahen.  That island we have mentioned, +scil.:—Inis-Pic, is a most holy place in which an exceedingly +devout community constantly dwell.</p> +<p>    Mochuda next directed his steps eastward through Munster +and he crossed the river then called Nemh, and now named the +Abhainn More.  As he crossed he saw a large apple floating in the +middle of the ford.  This he took up and carried away with him in +his hand.  Hence (that ford is named) Ath-Ubhla in Fermoy +[Ballyhooley].  His attendant asked Mochuda for the apple, but +the latter refused to give it saying—"God will work a miracle +by that apple and through me to-day:  we shall meet Cuana Mac +Cailcin's daughter whose right hand is powerless so that she cannot +move it from her side.  But she shall be cured by the power of +God through this apple."  This was accomplished.  Mochuda +espied the child playing a game with the other girls in the +faithche [lawn] of the Lios.  He approached and said to +her:—"Take this apple."  She, as usual, put forth her left +hand for the fruit.  "You shall not get it in that hand, but take +it in the other."  The girl full of faith tried to put out the +right hand, and on the instant the hand became full of strength and +blood and motion so that she took the apple in it.  All rejoiced +thereat and were amazed at the wonder wrought.  That night Cuana +said to his daughter:  "Choose yourself which you prefer of the +royal youths of Munster and whomsoever your choice be I shall +obtain in marriage for you."  "The only spouse I shall have," +said she, "is the man who cured my hand."  "Do you hear what she +says O Mochuda?" said the king.  "Entrust the child to me," +answered Mochuda, "I shall present her as a bride to God who has +healed her hand."  Whereupon Cuana gave his daughter Flandnait, +together with her dowry and lands on the bank of Nemh, to God and +to Mochuda for ever.  Cuana was almost incredibly generous.  +Mochuda took the maiden with him to Rahen where she passed her +years happily with the religious women there till Mochuda was +expelled by the kings of Tara as you may hear.  He took Flandnait +with him (from Rahen) in his party to her own native region that +she might build herself a cell there.  She did build a famous +cell at Cluain Dallain in Mochuda's own parish.</p> +<p>    Previous to his expulsion (from Rahen) Mochuda visited +the place where (later) he built Lismore and he heard the voice of +persons reading at Rahen, wherefore he said to his followers:  "I +know that this is the place where God will permit us to build our +monastery."  This prophecy was subsequently verified.</p> +<p>    On a certain occasion Columcille came to Rahen where +Mochuda was and asked him:—"Is this place in which you now +are dear to you?"  "It is, indeed," answered Mochuda.  +Columcille said:  "Let not what I say to you trouble +you—this will not be the place of your resurrection, for the +king of Erin and his family will grow jealous of you owing to +machinations of some of the Irish clergy, and they shall eventually +drive you hence."  Mochuda questioned Columcille who had a true +prophetic gift—"In what other place then will my resurrection +be?"  Columcille told him—"The place where from the summit +of Slieve Gua you saw the host of angels building a chair of silver +with a statue of gold therein on the bank of the Nemh—there +will your resurrection be, and the chair of silver is your church +in the midst of them [, and you are truly the golden statue in its +midst]."  Mochuda believing what he heard thanked and glorified +God.</p> +<p>    As Mochuda on another day was at Rahen there came to him +a priest and monk of his own community from the northern part of +Munster; he made a reverence as was the custom of the monks, in +Mochuda's presence and said to him, "Father, I have complied with +all your commands and the precepts of God from the day I left Rahen +till now—except this—that, without your permission, I +have taken my brother from the secular life."  "Verily I say to +you," answered Mochuda, "if you were to go to the top of a high +hill and to shout as loudly as you could and were to bring to me +all who heard the cry I should not refuse the habit of religion to +one of them."  Hearing these words all realised the character and +extent of Mochuda's charity and returned thanks to God for it.</p> +<p>    On a certain day about vesper time, because of the +holiness of the hour, Mochuda said to his monks:—"We shall +not eat to-day till each one of you has made his confession," for +he knew that some one of them had ill will in his heart against +another.  All the brethren thereupon confessed to him.  One of +them in the course of his confession stated:  "I love not your +miller and the cause of my lack of charity towards him is this, +that when I come to the mill he will not lift the loads off the +horses and he will neither help me to fill the meal sacks nor to +load them on the horse when filled.  And not this alone but he +does everything that is disagreeable to me; moreover I cannot tell, +but God knows, why he so acts.  Often I have thought of striking +him or even beating him to death."  Mochuda replied, "Brother +dear, the prophet says—<i>'Declina a malo et fac bonum'</i> +[Psalm 36(37):27] (Avoid evil and do good).  Following this +precept let you act kindly towards the miller and that charity of +yours will move him to charity towards you and ye shall yet be +steadfast friends."  Things went on thus for three days—the +monk doing all he could to placate the miller.  Nevertheless the +miller did not cease his persecution, nor the brother his hate of +the miller.  On the third day Mochuda directed the brother to +confess to him again.  The brother said:—"This is my +confession, Father, I do not yet love the miller."  Mochuda +observed:—"He will change to-night, and to-morrow he will not +break fast till you meet him and you shall sit on the same seat, at +the same table, and you shall remain fast friends for the rest of +your lives."  All this came to pass; for that monk was, through +the instruction of Mochuda, filled with the grace of the Divine +Spirit.  And he glorified and praised Mochuda, for he recognised +him as a man favoured by the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>    On another occasion two British monks of Mochuda's +monastery had a conversation in secret.  Mochuda, they said, is +very old though there is no immediate appearance of approaching +death—and there is no doubt that his equal in virtue or good +works will never be found—therefore if he were out of the way +one of us might succeed him.  Let us then kill him as there is no +likelihood of his natural death within a reasonable time.  They +resolved therefore to drown him in the river towards close of the +following night and to conceal all traces so that the crime could +never be discovered.  They found him subsequently in a lonely +place where he was accustomed to pray.  They bound him tightly +and carried him between them on their shoulders to the water.  On +their way to the river they met one of the monks who used to walk +around the cemetery every night.  He said to them:  "What is +that you carry?"  They replied that it was portion of the +monastic washing which they were taking to the river.  He +however, under the insistent suggestion of the Holy Spirit, +believed them not.  He said:  "Put down your load till we +examine it."  They were constrained to obey and the burden proved +to be—Mochuda.  The monk who detected [the proposed murder] +was the overseer of the homestead.  He said mournfully, "My God, +it is a dreadful work you are about."  Mochuda said +gently:—"Son, it were well for me had that been done to me +for I should now be numbered among the holy martyrs.  And it were +bad for them (the two wicked monks) for it is with Judas the +betrayer of his Lord they should be tortured for ever, who had +desired my death for their own advancement.  Neither these +wretched men themselves nor anyone of their nation shall be my +coarb for ever, but my successors shall be of his race through whom +God has rescued me.  Moreover my city shall never be without men +of the British race who will be butts and laughing-stocks and serve +no useful purpose."  The person who saved Mochuda was of the +Ciarraighe race and it is of that same people that the coarbs and +successors of Mochuda have commonly been ever since.  [See note +2.]</p> +<p>    Mochuda refused for a long while, as we have already +said, to accept cattle or horses from anyone; it was the monks +themselves who dug and cultivated the land and they did all the +haulage of the monastery on their own backs.  St. Fionan however +who was a kinsman of Mochuda and had just returned from Rome, came +at this time on a visit to the monastery.  He reproached Mochuda +saying:  "Mochuda, why do you impose the burden of brute beasts +upon rational beings?  Is it not for use of the latter that all +other animals have been created?  Of a truth I shall not taste +food in this house till you have remedied this grievance."  +Thenceforth Mochuda—in honour of Fionan—permitted his +monks to accept horses and oxen from the people and he freed them +from the hardship alluded to.  Sometime later the holy abbot, +Lachtaoin [St. Lachten], compassionating Mochuda and his monks +because of their lack of cattle paid a visit to Rahen bringing with +him a gift of thirty cows and a bull, also a couple of cattlemen +and two dairymaids.  Coming near Rahen he left the cattle in a +secluded place, for he did not wish them to be seen.  Thereupon +he went himself to the monastery and simulating illness requested a +drink of milk.  The house steward went to Mochuda to tell him +that Lachtaoin was ill and required milk.  Mochuda ordered the +steward to fill a pitcher with water and bring it to him—and +this order was executed.  Mochuda blessed the water which +immediately was changed into sweet new milk apparently of that +day's milking.  He sent the milk to Lachtaoin but the latter +identified it as milk miraculously produced; he in turn blessed it +with the result that it was changed back again into water.  He +complained:—"It is not water but milk I have asked for."  +The messenger related this fact publicly.  Lachtaoin +declared:—"Mochuda is a good monk but his successors will not +be able to change water to milk," and to the messenger he +said—"Go to Mochuda and tell him that I shall not break bread +in this house until he accept the alms which I have brought to the +community."  On Mochuda agreeing to accept them he handed over +the cattle and dairymen to the monks of Rahen and the stewards took +charge of them.  Mochuda said thereupon, that he should not have +accepted the cattle but as a compliment to Lachtaoin.  Lachtaoin +replied:—"From this day forward there will be plenty cattle +and worldly substance in your dwelling-place and there will be a +multitude of holy people in the other place whence you are to +depart to heaven (for you will be exiled from your present +home)."  After they had mutually blessed and taken leave and +pledged friendship Lachtaoin departed.</p> +<p>    Once, at harvest time, the farm steward came to Mochuda +complaining that, though the crop was dead ripe, a sufficient +number of harvesters could not be found.  Mochuda answered:  +"Go in peace, dear brother, and God will send you satisfactory +reapers."  This promise was fulfilled, for a band of angels came +to the ripest and largest fields, reaped and bound a great deal +quickly, and gathered the crop into one place.  The monks +marvelled, though they knew it was God's work and they praised and +thanked Him and Mochuda.</p> +<p>    The spirit of obedience amongst Mochuda's monks was such +that if any senior member of the community ordered another to lie +in the fire he would be obeyed.  As an instance of +this,—some of the brethren were on one occasion baking bread +in an oven when one the monks said to another younger than himself, +"The bread is burning:  take it out instantly."  There was an +iron shovel for drawing out the bread but the brother could not +find it on the instant.  He heeded not the flames which shot out +of the oven's mouth but caught the hot bread and shifted it with +his hands and suffered no hurt whatever.  On another day the +monks were engaged in labour beside the river which runs through +the monastery.  One of the senior monks called upon a young monk +named Colman to do a certain piece of work.  Immediately, as he +had not named any particular Colman, twelve monks of the name +rushed into the water.  The readiness and exactness of the +obedience practised was displayed in this incident.</p> +<p>    Great moreover was their meekness and patience in +sickness or ill-health as appears from the case of the monk out of +the wounds of whose body maggots fell as he walked; yet he never +complained or told anyone or left his work for two moments although +it was plain from his appearance that his health was declining, and +he was growing thinner from day to day.  The brothers pitied him +very much.  At length Mochuda questioned him—putting him +under obedience to tell the truth—as to the cause of his +decline.  The monk thereupon showed him his sides which were torn +by a twig tied fast around them.  Mochuda asked him who had done +that barbarous and intolerable thing to him.  The monk +answered:—"One day while we were drawing logs of timber from +the wood my girdle broke from the strain, so that my clothes hung +loose.  A monk behind me saw this and cutting a twig tied it so +tightly around my sides that it has caused my flesh to mortify."  +Mochuda asked—"And why did you not loosen the twig?"  The +monk replied—"Because my body in not my own and he who tied +it (the withe) has never loosed it."  It was a whole year since +the withe had been fastened around him.  Mochuda said to +him:—"Brother, you have suffered great pain; as a reward +thereof take now you choice—your restoration to bodily health +or spiritual health by immediate departure hence to eternal +life."  He answered, deciding to go to heaven:—"Why should +I desire to remain in this life?"  Having received the Sacrament +and the Holy Communion he departed hence to glory.</p> +<p>    There came to Mochuda on another occasion with her +husband, a woman named Brigh whose hand lay withered and useless by +her side:  she besought the saint to cure her hand.  Moreover +she was pregnant at the time.  Mochuda held out an apple in his +hand to her as he had done before to Flandnait, the daughter of +Cuana, saying—"Alleluia, put forth your nerveless hand to +take this apple."  She did as she was told and took the apple +from his hand and was cured; moreover as she tasted the fruit +parturition came on—without pain or inconvenience, after +which [the pair] returned to their home rejoicing.</p> +<p>    In fulfilment of the prophecy of Columcille and other +holy men that Mochuda should be expelled from Rahen the king of +Tara, Blathmac, the son of Aodh Slaine, and his brother Diarmuid +came, together with some clergy of the Cluain Earaird [Clonard] +community, to carry out the eviction [in A.D. 635].  They said to +him, "Leave this monastery and region and seek a place for yourself +elsewhere."  Mochuda replied—"In this place I have desired +to end my days.  Here I have been many years serving God and have +almost reached the end of my life.  Therefore I shall not depart +unless I am dragged hence by the hands against my will, for it is +not becoming an old man to abandon easily the place in which he has +spent great part of his life."  Then the nobles returned to +Blathmac and they made various complaints of Mochuda, accusing him +falsely of many things; finally they asked the king to undertake +the expulsion personally, for they were themselves unequal to the +task.  The king thereupon came to the place accompanied by a +large retinue.  Alluding prophetically to the king's coming, +previous to that event, Mochuda said, addressing the +monks:—"Beloved brothers, get ready and gather your +belongings, for violence and eviction are close at hand:  the +chieftains of this land are about to expel and banish you from your +own home."  Then the king, with his brothers and many of the +chief men, arrived on the scene.  They encamped near Rahen and +the king sent his brother Diarmuid with some others to expel +Mochuda and to put him out by force—which Diarmuid pledged +his word he should do.  It was in the choir at prayer that +Diarmuid found Mochuda.  Mochuda, though he knew his mission, +asked Diarmuid why he was come and what he sought.  Diarmuid +replied that he came by order of King Blathmac to take him by the +hand and put him out of that establishment and to banish him from +Meath.  "Do as you please," said Mochuda, "for we are prepared to +undergo all things for Christ's sake."  "By my word," answered +Diarmuid, "I shall never be guilty of such a crime; let him who +chooses do it."  Mochuda said:—"You shall possess the +kingdom of God and you shall reign in your brother's stead and your +face which you have turned from me shall never be turned from your +enemies.  Moreover the reproaches which the king will presently +cast upon you for not doing the work he has set you, will be your +praise and your pride.  At the same time as a penalty for your +evil designs toward me and your greater readiness to drive me out, +your son shall not succeed you in the sovereignty."  Diarmuid +returned to the king and told him that he could do no injury to +Mochuda.  The king retorted [sarcastically and] in anger, "What a +valiant man you are, Diarmuid."  Diarmuid replied:—"That is +just what Mochuda promised—that I should be a warrior of +God."  He was known as Diarmuid Ruanaidh thenceforth, for the +whole assembly cried out with one voice—truly he is Valiant +(<i>Ruanaidh</i>).</p> +<p>    Next, the nobles present cast lots to decide which one +of them should go with the king to lay hands on Mochuda and expel +him from the monastery.  The lot fell upon the Herenach +[hereditary steward] of Cluain Earaird.  He and the king +accompanied by armed men went to the monastery where they found +Mochuda and all the brethren in the church.  Cronan, a certain +rich man in the company, shouted out, "Make haste with the business +on which you are come."  Mochuda answered him—"You shall +die immediately, but on account of the alms which you gave me for +the love of Christ and on account of your uniform piety heretofore +your progeny shall prosper for ever."  That prophecy has been +fulfilled.  Another man, Dulach by name, winked mockingly with +one of his eyes; moreover he laughed and behaved irreverently +towards Mochuda.  Mochuda said to him:—"Thus shall you +be—with one eye closed and a grin on your +countenance—to the end of your life; and of your descendants +many will be similarly afflicted."  Yet another member of the +company, one Cailche, scurrilously abused and cursed Mochuda.  To +him Mochuda said:—"Dysentery will attack you immediately and +murrain that will cause your death."  The misfortune foretold +befell him and indeed woeful misfortune and ill luck pursued many +of them for their part in the wrong doing.  When the king saw +these things he became furious and, advancing—himself and the +abbot of Cluain Earaird—they took each a hand of Mochuda and +in a disrespectful, uncivil manner, they led him forth out of the +monastery while their followers did the same with Mochuda's +community.  Throughout the city and in the country around there +was among both sexes weeping, mourning, and wailing over their +humiliating expulsion from their own home and monastery.  Even +amongst the soldiers of the king were many who were moved to pity +and compassion for Mochuda and his people.</p> +<p>    One of Mochuda's monks had gout in his foot and for him +Mochuda besought the king and his following that he, as he was +unable to travel, might be allowed to remain in the monastery; the +request was, however, refused.  Mochuda called the monk to him +and, in the name of Christ, he commanded the pain to leave the foot +and to betake itself to the foot of Colman [Colman mac hua Telduib, +abbot, or perhaps erenach only, of Cluain Earaird], the chieftain +who was most unrelenting towards him.  That soreness remained in +Colman's foot as long as he lived.  The monk however rose up and +walked and was able to proceed on his way with his master.</p> +<p>    There was an aged monk who wished to be buried at Rahen; +Mochuda granted the request, and he received Holy Communion and +sacred rites at the saint's hands.  Then he departed to heaven in +the presence of all and his body was buried at Rahen as he had +himself chosen that it should be.</p> +<p>    Leaving Rahen Mochuda paid a visit to the monastic +cemetery weeping as he looked upon it; he blessed those interred +there and prayed for them.  By the permission of God it happened +that the grave of a long deceased monk opened so that all saw it, +and, putting his head out of the grave, the tenant of the tomb +cried out in a loud voice:  "O holy man and servant of God, bless +us that through thy blessing we may rise and go with you whither +you go."  Mochuda replied:—"So novel a thing I shall not +do, for it behoves not to raise so large a number of people before +the general resurrection."  The monk asked—"Why then +father, do you leave us, though we have promised union with you in +one place for ever?"  Mochuda answered:—"Brother, have you +ever heard the proverb—<i>'necessitas movet decretum et +consilium'</i> (necessity is its own law)?  Remain ye therefore +in your resting places and on the day of general resurrection I +shall come with all my brethren and we shall all assemble before +the great cross called 'Cross of the Angels' at the church door and +go together for judgement."  When Mochuda had finished, the monk +lay back in his grave and the coffin closed.</p> +<p>    Mochuda, with his following, next visited the cross +already mentioned and here, turning to the king, he thus addressed +him:—"Behold the heavens above you and the earth below."  +The king looked at them:  then Mochuda continued:—"Heaven +may you not possess and even from your earthly principality may you +soon be driven and your brother whom you have reproached, because +he would not lay hands on me, shall possess it instead of you, and +in your lifetime.  You shall be despised by all—so much so +that in your brother's house they shall forget to supply you with +food.  Moreover yourself and your children shall come to an evil +end and in a little while there shall not be one of your seed +remaining."  Then Mochuda cursed him and he rang his small bell +against him and against his race, whence the bell has since been +known as "The Bell of Blathmac's Extinguishing," or "The Bell of +Blathmac's Drowning," because it drowned or extinguished Blathmac +with his posterity.  Blathmac had a large family of sons and +daughters but, owing to Mochuda's curse, their race became +extinct.  Next to the prince of Cluain Earaird who also had +seized him by the hand, he said:  "You shall be a servant and a +bondman ere you die and you shall lose your territory and your race +will be a servile one."  To another of those who led him by the +hand he said:—"What moved you to drag me by the hand from my +own monastery?"  The other replied:—"It pleased me not that +a Munster man should have such honour in Meath."  "I wish," said +Mochuda, "that the hand you laid on me may be accursed and that the +face you turned against me to expel me from my home may be +repulsive and scrofulous for the remainder of your life."  This +curse was effective for the man's eye was thereupon destroyed in +his head.  Mochuda noticed that some of Columcille's successors +and people from Durrow, which was one of Columcille's foundations, +had taken part in his eviction.  He thus addressed +them:—"Contention and quarrelling shall be yours for ever to +work evil and schism amongst you—for you have had a prominent +part in exciting opposition to me."  And so it fell out.</p> +<p>    The king and his people thereupon compelled Mochuda to +proceed on his way.  Mochuda did proceed with his disciples, +eight hundred and sixty seven in number (and as many more they left +buried in Rahen).  Moreover, many more living disciples of his +who had lived in various parts of Ireland were already dead.  All +the community abounded in grace:  many of its members became +bishops and abbots in after years and they erected many churches to +the glory of God.</p> +<p>    Understand, moreover, that great was the charity of the +holy bishop, as the following fact will prove:—in a cell +without the city of Rahen he maintained in comfort and +respectability a multitude of lepers.  He frequently visited them +and ministered to them himself—entrusting that office to no +one else.  It was known to all the lepers of Ireland how Mochuda +made their fellow-sufferers his special care and family, and the +result was that an immense number of lepers from all parts flocked +to him and he took charge and care of them.  These on his +departure from Rahen he took with him to Lismore where he prepared +suitable quarters for them and there they have been ever since in +comfort and in honour according to Mochuda's command.</p> +<p>    As Mochuda and his people journeyed along with their +vehicles they found the way blocked by a large tree which lay +across it.  Owing to the density of underwood at either side they +were unable to proceed.  Some one announced:—"There is a +tree across the road before us, so that we cannot advance."  +Mochuda said:  "In the name of Christ I command thee, tree, to +rise up and stand again in thy former place."  At the command of +Mochuda the tree stood erect as it was originally and it still +retains its former appearance, and there is a pile of stones there +at its base to commemorate the miracle.</p> +<p>    It was necessary to proceed; the first night after +Mochuda's departure from Rahen the place that he came to was a cell +called Drum Cuilinn [Drumcullen], on the confines of Munster, +Leinster, and Clanna Neill, but actually within Clanna Neill, +scil.:—in the territory of Fearceall in which also is +Rahen.  In Drum Cuilinn dwelt the holy abbot, Barrfhinn, renowned +for miracles.  On the morrow Mochuda arrived at Saighir Chiarain +[Seirkieran] and the following night at the establishment where +Cronan is now, scil.:—Roscrea.  That night Mochuda remained +without entertainment although it was offered to them by Cronan who +had prepared supper for him.  Mochuda refused however to go to it +saying that he would not go out of his way to visit a man who +avoids guests and builds his cell in a wild bog far from men and +that such a man's proper guests are creatures of the wilderness +instead of human beings.  When Cronan heard this saying of +Mochuda he came to the latter, by whose advice he abandoned his +hermitage in the bog and he, with Mochuda, marked out the site of a +new monastery and church at Roscrea.  There he founded a great +establishment and there he is himself buried.  Mochuda took leave +of Cronan and, travelling through Eile [Ely O'Carroll], came to the +royal city named Cashel.  On the following day the king, +scil.:—Failbhe [Failbhe Flann], came to Mochuda offering him +a place whereon to found a church.  Mochuda replied:—"It is +not permitted us by God to stay our journey anywhere till we come +to the place promised to us by the holy men."</p> +<p>    About the same time there came messengers from the king +of Leinster to the king of Munster praying the latter, by virtue of +league and alliance, to come to his assistance as Leath-Chuinn and +the north were advancing in great force to ravage Leinster.  This +is how Failbhe was situated at the time:  he had lost one of his +eyes and he was ashamed to go half-blind into a strange +territory.  As soon as Mochuda realised the extent of the king's +diffidence he blessed the eye making on it the sign of the cross +and it was immediately healed in the presence of all.  The king +and Mochuda took leave of one another and went each his own way.  +The king and his hosting went to the aid of Leinster in the +latter's necessity.</p> +<p>    Mochuda journeyed on through Muscraige Oirthir the chief +of which territory received him with great honour.  Aodhan was +the chief's name and he bestowed his homestead called Isiol +[Athassel] on Mochuda, who blessed him and his seed.  Next he +came into the Decies.  He travelled through Magh Femin where he +broke his journey at Ard Breanuinn [Ardfinnan] on the bank of the +Suir.  There came to him here Maolochtair, king of the Decies, +and the other nobles [or one noble, Suibhne] of his nation who were +at variance with him concerning land.  Mochuda by the grace of +God made peace amongst them, and dismissed them in amity.  +Maolochtair gave that land to Mochuda who marked out a cell there +where is now the city of Ardfinnnan, attached to which is a large +parish subject to Mochuda and bearing his name.  The wife of +Maolochtair, scil:—Cuciniceas, daughter of Failbhe Flann, +king of Munster, had a vision, viz.:—a flock of very +beautiful birds flying above her head and one bird was more +beautiful and larger than the rest.  The other birds followed +this one and it nestled in the king's bosom.  Soon as she awoke +she related the vision to the king; the king observed:  "Woman +you have dreamed a good dream and soon it will be realised; the +flock of birds you have seen is Mochuda with his monks coming from +Rahen and the most distinguished bird is Mochuda himself.  And +the settling in my bosom means that the place of his resurrection +will be in my territory.  Many blessings will come to us and our +territory through him."  That vision of the faithful woman was +realised as the faithful king had explained it.</p> +<p>    Subsequently Mochuda came to Maolochtair requesting from +him a place where he might erect a monastery.  Maolochtair +replied:  "So large a community cannot dwell in such a narrow +place."  Mochuda said:  "God, who sent us to you, will show you +a place suited to us."  The king answered:—"I have a place, +convenient for fish and wood, beside Slieve Gua on the bank of the +Nemh but I fear it will not be large enough."  Mochuda +said:—"It will not be narrow; there is a river and fish and +that it shall be the place of our resurrection."  Thereupon, in +the presence of many witnesses, the king handed over the land, +scil.:—Lismore, to God and Mochuda and it is in that place +Mochuda afterwards founded his famous city.  Mochuda blessed the +king and his wife as well as the nobles and all the people and +taking leave of them and receiving their homage he journeyed across +Slieve Gua till he came to the church called Ceall Clochair +[Kilcloher].  The saint of that church, scil.:—Mochua +Mianain, prepared a supper for Mochuda to the best of his ability, +but he had only a single barrel of ale for them all.  Although +Mochuda with his people remained there three days and three nights +and although the holy abbot (Mochua) continued to draw the ale into +small vessels to serve the company, according to their needs, the +quantity in the barrel grew no less but increased after the manner +of the oil blessed by Elias [3 Kings 17:16].  Then one of the +monks said to Mochuda, "If you remain in this place till the feast +ends your stay will be a long one for it (the entertainment) grows +no smaller for all the consumption."  "That is true, brother," +said Mochuda and it is fitting for us to depart now."  They +started therefore on their way and Mochua Mianain gave himself and +his place to God and Mochuda for ever.  On Mochuda's departure +the ale barrel drained out to the lees.</p> +<p>    Mochuda proceeded till he reached the river Nemh at a +ford called Ath-Mheadhon [Affane] which no one could cross except a +swimmer or a very strong person at low water in a dry season of +summer heat, for the tide flows against the stream far as Lismore, +five miles further up.  On this particular occasion it happened +to be high tide.  The two first of Mochuda's people to reach the +ford were the monks Molua and Colman, while Mochuda himself came +last.  They turned round to him and said that it was not possible +to cross the river till the ebb.  Mochuda +answered:—"Advance through the water before the others in the +name of your Lord Jesus Christ for He is the way the truth and the +life" [John 14:6].  As soon as they heard this command of +Mochuda's Molua said to Colman, "Which of the two will you hold +back—the stream above or the sea below?"  Colman +answered:—"Let each restrain that which is nearest to +him"—for Molua was on the upper, or stream, side and Colman +on the lower, or sea, side.  Molua said to Colman—"Forbid +you the sea side to flow naturally and I shall forbid the stream +side."  Then with great faith they proceeded to cross the river; +they signed the river with the sign of Christ's cross and the +waters stood on either hand and apart, so that the dry earth +appeared between.  The side banks of water rose high because +there was no passage up or down, so that the ridges were very +elevated on both the sea and stream sides.  The waters remained +thus till such time as all Mochuda's people had crossed.  Mochuda +himself was the last to pass over and the path across was so level +that it offered no obstacle to foot-passengers or chariots but was +like a level plain so that they crossed dryshod, as the Jordan fell +back for Josue the son of Nun [Josue 3:17].  Soon as Mochuda had +crossed over he blessed the waters and commanded them to resume +their natural course.  On the reuniting again of the waters they +made a noise like thunder, and the name of the place is The Place +of Benedictions, from the blessings of Mochuda and his people.</p> +<p>    Next the glorious bishop, Mochuda, proceeded to the +place promised to him by God and the prophets, which place is the +plain called Magh-Sciath.  Mochuda, with the holy men, blessed +the place and dedicated there the site of a church in circular +form.  There came to them a holy woman named Caimell who had a +cell there and she asked, "What do you propose doing here, ye +servants of God?"  "We propose," answered Mochuda, "building here +a little <i>Lios</i> [enclosure] around our possession."  Caimell +observed, "Not a little Lios will it be but a great [<i>mor</i>] +one (Lis-mor)."  "True indeed, virgin," responded Mochuda, +"Lismore will be its name for ever."  The virgin offered herself +and her cell to God and Mochuda for ever, where the convent of +women is now established in the city of Lismore.</p> +<p>    As Colman Elo, alluded to already, promised, Mochuda +found his burial place marked out (consecrated?) by angels; there +he and a multitude of his disciples are buried and it was made +known to him by divine wisdom the number of holy persons that to +the end of the world would be buried therein.  Lismore is a +renowned city, for there is one portion of it which no woman may +enter and there are within it many chapels and monasteries, and in +which there are always multitudes of devout people not from Ireland +alone but from the land of the Saxons and from Britain and from +other lands as well.  This is its situation—on the south +bank of the Avonmore in the Decies territory.</p> +<p>    On a certain day there came a druid to Mochuda to argue +and contend with him.  He said:—"If you be a servant of God +cause natural fruit to grow on this withered branch."  Mochuda +knew that it was to throw contempt on the power of God that the +druid had come.  He blessed the branch and it produced first +living skin, then, as the druid had asked—leaves, blossom and +fruit in succession.  The druid marvelled exceedingly and went +his way.</p> +<p>    A poor man came to Mochuda on another occasion with an +ill timed request for milk, and beer along with it.  Mochuda was +at the time close by the well which is known as "Mochuda's Well" at +the present time; this he blessed changing it first into milk then +into beer and finally to wine.  Then he told the poor man to take +away whatever quantity of each of these liquids he required.  The +well remained thus till at Mochuda's prayer it returned to its +original condition again.  An angel came from heaven to Mochuda +at the time and told him that the well should remain a source of +health and virtues and of marvels, and it still, like every well +originally blessed by Mochuda, possesses power of healing from +every malady.</p> +<p>    Mochuda, now grown old and of failing powers and +strength, was wearied and worried by the incessant clamour of +building operations—the dressing of stones and +timber—carried on by the multitude of monks and artisans.  +He therefore by consent and counsel of the brethren retired to a +remote, lonely place situated in a glen called "Mochuda's Inch" +below the great monastery.  He took with him there a few monks +and built a resplendent monastery; he remained in that place a year +and six months more leading a hermitical life.  The brethren and +seniors of the community visited him (from time to time) and he +gave them sound, sweetly-reasoned advice.  He received a vow from +each to follow his Rule, for he was the support of the aged, the +health-giver to the weak, the consoler of the afflicted, the +hope-giver to the hopeless, the faith-giver to the doubting, the +moderator and uniter of the young.</p> +<p>    As soon as Mochuda saw the hardship to the visiting +brothers and elders of the descent from Lismore and the ascent +thereto again—knowing at the same time that his end was +approaching—he ordered himself to be carried up to the +monastery so that the monks might be saved the fatigue of the +descent to him.  Then it pleased God to call to Himself His +devoted servant from the troubles of life and to render to him the +reward of his good works.  He opened the gates of heaven then and +sent to him a host of angels, in glory and majesty unspeakable.  +When Mochuda saw the heavens open above him and the angel band +approaching, he ordered that he be set down in the middle of the +glen and he related to the seniors the things that he had seen and +he asked to receive the Body of Christ and he gave his last +instruction to the monks—to observe the Law of God and keep +His commands.  The place was by the cross called <i>"Crux +Migrationis,"</i> or the cross from which Mochuda departed to +Glory.  Having received the Body and Blood of Christ, having +taught them divine doctrines, in the midst of holy choirs and of +many brethren and monks to whom in turn he gave his blessing and +the kiss of peace according to the rule, the glorious and holy +bishop departed to heaven accompanied by hosts of angels on the day +before the Ides of May [May 14], in his union with the Holy +Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.  +Amen.</p> +<p>Finit 7ber [September] 4th, 1741.</p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<h4>NOTE 1</h4> +<p>One of our scribe's predecessors omitted a word or two from the +text here, with disastrous results to the sense.  The Latin Life +comes to our aid however and enables us to make good the omission; +the latter, by the way, puzzles our scribe who is like a man +fighting an invisible enemy—correcting a text of which he +does not know the defect.  Insertion of the words "walking +backwards" immediately after "church," in the angel's answer, will +enable us to see the original writer's meaning.  The text should +probably read:</p> +<blockquote>The angel answered:—"Whom you shall see going +from the church walking backwards to the guest-house" (for it was +Mochuda's custom to walk backwards from the door of the church).  +Comghall announced to his household that there was coming to them a +distinguished stranger, well-beloved of God, of whose advent an +angel had twice foretold him.  Some time later Mochuda arrived at +Comghall's establishment, and he went to the monastery first and he +did just as the angel foretold of him and Comghall recognised him +and bade him welcome.</blockquote> +<h4>NOTE 2</h4> +The obits of Mochuda's successors, down to Christian O'Conarchy, +are chronicled as follows:— +<ul> +<li>A.D. 650.  Cuanan, maternal uncle and immediate successor of +Mochuda (Lanigan).</li> +<li>A.D. 698.  Iarnla, surnamed Hierologus (Four Masters).  In +his time King Alfrid was a student in Lismore.</li> +<li>A.D. 702.  Colman, son of Finnbhar (Acta Sanctorum).  +During his reign the abbey of Lismore reached the zenith of its +fame.</li> +<li>A.D. 716.  Cronan Ua Eoan (F. Masters).</li> +<li>A.D. 719.  Colman O'Liathain (Annals of Inisfallen).</li> +<li>A.D. 741.  Finghal (F. Masters).</li> +<li>A.D. 746.  Mac hUige (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 747.  Ihrichmech (A. of Inisf.)</li> +<li>A.D. 748.  Maccoigeth (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 752.  Sinchu (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 755.  Condath (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 756.  Fincon (Annals of Ulster).</li> +<li>A.D. 761.  Aedhan (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 763.  Ronan (Ware).</li> +<li>A.D. 769.  Soairleach Ua Concuarain (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 771.  Eoghan (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 776.  Orach (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 799.  Carabran (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 801.  Aedhan Ua Raichlich (A. of Inisf.)</li> +<li>A.D. 823.  Flann (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 849.  Tibrade Ua Baethlanaigh (F. M.)  At this period +the town was plundered and burned by the Danes who had sailed up +thither on the Blackwater.</li> +<li>A.D. 849.  Daniel (A. of Inisf.)</li> +<li>A.D. 854.  Suibne Ua Roichlech (F. M. and A. of Ulster).  +What is probably his gravestone is one of five Irish-inscribed +slabs built into the west gable of the Cathedral.</li> +<li>A.D. 861.  Daniel Ua Liaithidhe (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 878.  Martin Ua Roichligh (Ibid).  Another of the +inscribed stones above referred to asks "A prayer for Martan."</li> +<li>A.D. 880.  Flann Mac Forbasaich (A. I.)</li> +<li>A.D. 899.  Maelbrighte Mac Maeldomnaich (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 918.  Cormac Mac Cuilennan (A. I.)  He is to be +distinguished from his more famous namesake of Cashel.</li> +<li>A.D. 936.  Ciaran (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 951.  Diarmuid (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 957.  Maenach Mac Cormaic (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 958.  Cathmog (Ibid).  He was also bishop of +Cork.</li> +<li>A.D. 963.  Cinaedh (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 1025.  Omaelsluaig (Cotton's "Fasti").</li> +<li>A.D. 1034.  Moriertach O'Selbach, bishop of Lismore +(Cotton).</li> +<li>A.D. 1064.  Mac Airthir, bishop (Cotton).</li> +<li>A.D. 1090.  Maelduin O'Rebhacain (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 1112.  Gilla Mochuda O'Rebhacain (A. of I.)</li> +<li>A.D. 1113.  Nial Macgettigan.  His episcopal staff, +possibly enclosing the venerable oaken staff of the founder of the +abbey, is still preserved at Lismore Castle.  [Also known as the +'Lismore Crozier,' in 2004 it is housed in 'The Treasury' exhibit +at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St., Dublin 2.]</li> +<li>A.D. 1134.  Malchus.  Most probably he is identical with +the first bishop of Waterford.  During his term both St. Malachy +and King Cormac MacCarthy dwelt as fugitives, guests or pilgrims, +at Lismore.</li> +<li>A.D. 1142.  Ua Rebhacain.</li> +<li>A.D. 1186.  St. Christian.  He had however resigned the +bishopric.</li> +</ul> +<center><img src="e-back.gif" width="323" height="90" alt= +"Shamrock Graphic" /></center> +<p><a name="2004_note"></a></p> +<hr width="75%" /> +<h4>Transcriber's Note</h4> +<p>The source for this +text includes the Irish text and English translation on facing +pages and notes.  The notes are quite lengthy and should take +longer to transcribe than the English text.  Except for a few +notes transplanted in brackets to the body of the text I have not +transcribed them.  Due to inexperience with the Irish language +and its script I have decided not to attempt to transcribe the +Irish text.  Hopefully someone with the appropriate talent and +interest will undertake that task some day.  I have corrected the +errata as indicated in the source and a few obvious printer +errors.  Please note that this text contains variant spellings of +names and words sometimes inconsistently applied. +</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lives of SS. 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Declan and Mochuda, Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: February 19, 2004 [EBook #11168] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF SS. DECLAN AND MOCHUDA *** + + + + +Produced by Dennis McCarthy + + + + +IRISH TEXTS SOCIETY. + +"COMANN NA SGRIBEANN GAEDILGE." + + +Vol. XVI. +[1914.] + + + +LIFE OF ST. DECLAN OF ARDMORE, +(Edited from MS. in Bibliotheque Royale, Brussels), + +and + +LIFE OF ST. MOCHUDA OF LISMORE, +(Edited from MS. in the Library of Royal Irish Academy), + + + +With Introduction, Translation, and Notes, + + +by + +Rev. P. Power, M.R.I.A., +University College, Cork. + + + +1914. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +Preface +Introduction + - General + - St. Declan + - St. Mochuda + - Map of Ireland +Life of Declan +Life of Mochuda +[Transcriber's Note] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It is solely the historical aspect and worth of the two tracts herewith +presented that appealed to their edition and first suggested to him +their preparation and publication. Had preparation in question depended +for its motive merely on considerations of the texts' philologic +interest or value it would, to speak frankly, never have been +undertaken. The editor, who disclaims qualification as a philologist, +regards these Lives as very valuable historical material, publication of +which may serve to light up some dark corners of our Celtic +ecclesiastical past. He is egotist enough to hope that the present +"blazing of the track," inadequate and feeble though it be, may induce +other and better equipped explorers to follow. + +The present editor was studying the Life of Declan for quite another +purpose when, some years since, the zealous Hon. Secretary of the Irish +Texts Society suggested to him publication of the tract in its present +form, and addition of the Life of Carthach [Mochuda]. Whatever credit +therefore is due to originating this work is Miss Hull's, and hers alone. + +The editor's best thanks are due, and are hereby most gratefully +tendered, to Rev. M. Sheehan, D.D., D.Ph., Rev. Paul Walsh, Rev. J. +MacErlhean, S.J., M.A., as well as to Mr. R. O'Foley, who, at much +expense of time and labour, have carefully read the proofs, and, with +unselfish prodigality of their scholarly resources, have made many +valuable suggestions and corrections. + + P.P. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +I.--GENERAL. + + +A most distinctive class of ancient Irish literature, and probably the +class that is least popularly familiar, is the hagiographical. It is, +the present writer ventures to submit, as valuable as it is distinctive +and as well worthy of study as it is neglected. While annals, tales and +poetry have found editors the Lives of Irish Saints have remained +largely a mine unworked. Into the causes of this strange neglect it is +not the purpose of the present introduction to enter. Suffice it to +glance in passing at one of the reasons which has been alleged in +explanation, scil.:--that the "Lives" are uncritical and romantic, that +they abound in wild legends, chronological impossibilities and all sorts +of incredible stories, and, finally, that miracles are multiplied till +the miraculous becomes the ordinary, and that marvels are magnified till +the narrative borders on the ludicrous. The Saint as he is sketched is +sometimes a positively repulsive being--arrogant, venomous, and cruel; +he demands two eyes or more for one, and, pucklike, fairly revels in +mischief! As painted he is in fact more a pagan deity than a Christian +man. + +The foregoing charges may, or must, be admitted partially or in full, +but such admission implies no denial of the historical value of the +Lives. All archaic literature, be it remembered, is in a greater or +less degree uncritical, and it must be read in the light of the writer's +times and surroundings. That imagination should sometimes run riot and +the pen be carried beyond the boundary line of the strictly literal is +perhaps nothing much to be marvelled at in the case of the supernatural +minded Celt with religion for his theme. Did the scribe believe what he +wrote when he recounted the multiplied marvels of his holy patron's +life? Doubtless he did--and why not! To the unsophisticated monastic +and mediaeval mind, as to the mind of primitive man, the marvellous and +supernatural is almost as real and near as the commonplace and natural. +If anyone doubts this let him study the mind of the modern Irish +peasant; let him get beneath its surface and inside its guardian ring of +shrinking reserve; there he will find the same material exactly as +composed the mind of the tenth century biographers of Declan and +Mochuda. Dreamers and visionaries were of as frequent occurrence in Erin +of ages ago as they are to-day. Then as now the supernatural and +marvellous had a wondrous fascination for the Celtic mind. Sometimes the +attraction becomes so strong as seemingly to overbalance the faculty of +distinguishing fact from fancy. Of St. Bridget we are gravely told that +to dry her wet cloak she hung in out on a sunbeam! Another Saint sailed +away to a foreign land on a sod from his native hillside! More than +once we find a flagstone turned into a raft to bear a missionary band +beyond the seas! St. Fursey exchanged diseases with his friend +Magnentius, and, stranger still, the exchange was arranged and effected +by correspondence! To the saints moreover are ascribed lives of +incredible duration--to Mochta, Ibar, Seachnal, and Brendan, for +instance, three hundred years each; St. Mochaemog is credited with a +life of four hundred and thirteen years, and so on! + +Clan, or tribe, rivalry was doubtless one of the things which made for +the invention and multiplication of miracles. If the patron of the +Decies is credited with a miracle, the tribesmen of Ossory must go one +better and attribute to their tribal saint a marvel more striking still. +The hagiographers of Decies retort for their patron by a claim of yet +another miracle and so on. It is to be feared too that occasionally a +less worthy motive than tribal honour prompted the imagination of our +Irish hagiographers--the desire to exploit the saint and his honour for +worldly gain. + +The "Lives" of the Irish Saints contain an immense quantity of material +of first rate importance for the historian of the Celtic church. +Underneath the later concoction of fable is a solid substratum of fact +which no serious student can ignore. Even where the narrative is +otherwise plainly myth or fiction it sheds many a useful sidelight on +ancient manners, customs and laws as well as on the curious and often +intricate operations of the Celtic mind. + +By "Lives" are here meant the old MS. biographies which have come down +to us from ages before the invention of printing. Sometimes these +"Lives" are styled "Acts." Generally we have only one standard "Life" +of a saint and of this there are usually several copies, scattered in +various libraries and collections. Occasionally a second Life is found +differing essentially from the first, but, as a rule, the different +copies are only recensions of a single original. Some of the MSS. are +parchment but the majority are in paper; some Lives again are merely +fragments and no doubt scores if not hundreds of others have been +entirely lost. Of many hundreds of our Irish saints we have only the +meagre details supplied by the martyrologies, with perhaps occasional +reference to them in the Lives of other saints. Again, finally, the +memory of hundreds and hundreds of saints additional survives only in +place names or is entirely lost. + +There still survive probably over a hundred "Lives"--possibly one +hundred and fifty; this, however, does not imply that therefore we have +Lives of one hundred or one hundred and fifty saints, for many of the +saints whose Acts survive have really two sets of the latter--one in +Latin and the other in Irish; moreover, of a few of the Latin Lives and +of a larger number of the Irish Lives we have two or more recensions. +There are, for instance, three independent Lives of St. Mochuda and one +of these is in two recensions. + +The surviving Lives naturally divide themselves into two great +classes--the Latin Lives and the Irish,--written in Latin and Irish +respectively. We have a Latin Life only of some saints, and Irish Life +only of others, and of others again we have a Latin Life and an Irish. +It may be necessary to add the Acts which have been translated into Latin +by Colgan or the Bollandists do not of course rank as Latin Lives. +Whether the Latin Lives proper are free translations of the Irish Lives +or the Irish Lives translations of Latin originals remains still, to a +large extent, an open question. Plummer ("Vitae SSm. Hib.," Introd.) +seems to favour the Latin Lives as the originals. His reasoning here +however leaves one rather unconvinced. This is not the place to go into +the matter at length, but a new bit of evidence which makes against the +theory of Latin originals may be quoted; it is furnished by the well +known collection of Latin Lives known as the Codex Salmanticensis, to +which are appended brief marginal notes in mixed middle Irish and Latin. +One such note to the Life of St. Cuangus of Lismore (recte Liathmore) +requests a prayer for him who has translated the Life out of the Irish +into Latin. If one of the Lives, and this a typical or characteristic +Life, be a translation, we may perhaps assume that the others, or most +of them, are translations also. In any case we may assume as certain +that there were original Irish materials or data from which the formal +Lives (Irish or Latin) were compiled. + +The Latin Lives are contained mainly in four great collections. The +first and probably the most important of these is in the Royal Library +at Brussels, included chiefly in a large MS. known as 'Codex +Salmanticensis' from the fact that it belonged in the seventeenth +century to the Irish College of Salamanca. The second collection is in +Marsh's Library, Dublin, and the third in Trinity College Library. The +two latter may for practical purposes be regarded as one, for they are +sister MSS.--copied from the same original. The Marsh's Library +collection is almost certainly, teste Plummer, the document referred to +by Colgan as Codex Kilkenniensis and it is quite certainly the Codex +Ardmachanus of Fleming. The fourth collection (or the third, if we take +as one the two last mentioned,) is in the Bodleian at Oxford amongst +what are known as the Rawlinson MSS. Of minor importance, for one +reason or another, are the collections of the Franciscan Library, +Merchants' Quay, Dublin, and in Maynooth College respectively. The +first of the enumerated collections was published 'in extenso,' about +twenty-five years since, by the Marquis of Bute, while recently the gist +of all the Latin collections has been edited with rare scholarship by +Rev. Charles Plummer of Oxford. Incidentally may be noted the one +defect in Mr. Plummer's great work--its author's almost irritating +insistence on pagan origins, nature myths, and heathen survivals. +Besides the Marquis of Bute and Plummer, Colgan and the Bollandists have +published some Latin Lives, and a few isolated "Lives" have been +published from time to time by other more or less competent editors. + +The Irish Lives, though more numerous than the Latin, are less +accessible. The chief repertorium of the former is the Burgundian or +Royal Library, Brussels. The MS. collection at Brussels appears to have +originally belonged to the Irish Franciscans of Louvain and much of it +is in the well-known handwriting of Michael O'Clery. There are also +several collections of Irish Lives in Ireland--in the Royal Irish +Academy, for instance, and Trinity College Libraries. Finally, there +are a few Irish Lives at Oxford and Cambridge, in the British Museum, +Marsh's Library, &c., and in addition there are many Lives in private +hands. In this connection it can be no harm, and may do some good, to +note that an apparently brisk, if unpatriotic, trade in Irish MSS. +(including of course "Lives" of Saints) is carried on with the United +States. Wealthy, often ignorant, Irish-Americans, who are unable to +read them, are making collections of Irish MSS. and rare Irish books, to +Ireland's loss. Some Irish MSS. too, including Lives of Saints, have +been carried away as mementoes of the old land by departing emigrants. + +The date or period at which the Lives (Latin and Irish) were written is +manifestly, for half a dozen good reasons, a question of the utmost +importance to the student of the subject. Alas, that the question has +to some extent successfully defied quite satisfactory solution. We can, +so far, only conjecture--though the probabilities seem strong and the +grounds solid. The probabilities are that the Latin Lives date as a +rule from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when they were put into +something like their present form for reading (perhaps in the refectory) +in the great religious houses. They were copied and re-copied during +the succeeding centuries and the scribes according to their knowledge, +devotion or caprice made various additions, subtractions and occasional +multiplications. The Irish Lives are almost certainly of a somewhat +earlier date than the Latin and are based partly (i.e. as regards the +bulk of the miracles) on local tradition, and partly (i.e. as regards +the purely historical element) on the authority of written materials. +They too were, no doubt, copied and interpolated much as were the Latin +Lives. The present copies of Irish Lives date as a rule from the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries only, and the fact that the Latin +and the Irish Life (where there is this double biography) sometimes +agree very perfectly may indicate that the Latin translation or Life is +very late. + +The chief published collections of Irish Saints' Lives may be set down +as seven, scil.:--five in Latin and one each in Irish and English. The +Latin collections are the Bollandists', Colgan's, Messingham's, +Fleming's, and Plummer's; the Irish collection is Stokes' ("Lives of +Saints from the Book of Lismore") and the English is of course +O'Hanlon's. + +Most striking, probably, of the characteristics of the "Lives" is their +very evident effort to exalt and glorify the saint at any cost. With +this end of glorification in view the hagiographer is prepared to +swallow everything and record anything. He has, in fact, no critical +sense and possibly he would regard possession of such a sense as rather +an evil thing and use of it as irreverent. He does not, as a +consequence, succeed in presenting us with a very life-like or +convincing portrait of either the man or the saint. Indeed the saint, +as drawn in the Lives, is, as already hinted, a very unsaintlike +individual--almost as ready to curse as to pray and certainly very much +more likely to smite the aggressor than to present to him the other +cheek. In the text we shall see St. Mochuda, whose Life is a specially +sane piece of work, cursing on the same occasion, first, King Blathmac +and the Prince of Cluain, then, the rich man Cronan who sympathised with +the eviction, next an individual named Dubhsulach who winked insolently +at him, and finally the people of St. Columba's holy city of Durrow who +had stirred up hostile feeling against him. Even gentle female saints +can hurl an imprecation too. St. Laisrech, for instance, condemned the +lands of those who refused her tribute, to--nettles, elder shrub, and +corncrakes! It is pretty plain that the compilers of the lives had some +prerogatives, claims or rights to uphold--hence this frequent insistence +on the evil of resisting the Saint and presumably his successors. + +One characteristic of the Irish ascetics appears very clear through all +the exaggeration and all the biographical absurdity; it is their spirit +of intense mortification. To understand this we have only to study one +of the ancient Irish Monastic Rules or one of the Irish Penitentials as +edited by D'Achery ("Spicilegium") or Wasserschleben ("Irische +Kanonensamerlung"). Severest fasting, unquestioning obedience and +perpetual self renunciation were inculcated by the Rules and we have +ample evidence that they were observed with extraordinary fidelity. The +Rule of Maelruin absolutely forbade the use of meat or of beer. Such a +prohibition a thousand years ago was an immensely more grievous thing +than it would sound to-day. Wheaten bread might partially supply the +place of meat to-day, but meat was easier to procure than bread in the +eighth century. Again, a thousand years ago, tea or coffee there was +none and even milk was often difficult or impossible to procure in +winter. So severe in fact was the fast that religious sometimes died of +it. Bread and water being found insufficient to sustain life and health, +gruel was substituted in some monasteries and of this monastic gruel +there were three varieties:--(a) "gruel upon water" in which the liquid +was so thick that the meal reached the surface, (b) "gruel between two +waters" in which the meal, while it did not rise to the surface, did not +quite fall to the bottom, and (c) "gruel under water" which was so weak +and so badly boiled that he meal easily fell to the bottom. In the case +of penitents the first brand of gruel was prescribed for light offences, +the second kind for sins of ordinary gravity, and the "gruel under +water" for extraordinary crimes (vid. Messrs. Gwynne and Purton on the +Rule of Maelruin, &c.) The most implicit, exact and prompt obedience +was prescribed and observed. An overseer of Mochuda's monastery at +Rahen had occasion to order by name a young monk called Colman to do +something which involved his wading into a river. Instantly a dozen +Colmans plunged into the water. Instances of extraordinary penance +abound, beside which the austerities of Simon Stylites almost pale. The +Irish saints' love of solitude was also a very marked characteristic. +Desert places and solitary islands of the ocean possessed an apparently +wonderful fascination for them. The more inaccessible or forbidding the +island the more it was in request as a penitential retreat. There is +hardly one of the hundred islands around the Irish coast which, one time +or another, did not harbour some saint or solitary upon its rocky bosom. + +The testimony of the "Lives" to the saints' love and practice of prayer +is borne out by the evidence of more trustworthy documents. Besides +private prayers, the whole psalter seems to have been recited each day, +in three parts of fifty psalms each. In addition, an immense number of +Pater Nosters was prescribed. The office and prayers were generally +pretty liberally interspersed with genuflexions or prostrations, of +which a certain anchorite performed as many as seven hundred daily. +Another penitential action which accompanied prayer was the +'cros-figul.' This was an extension of the arms in the shape of a +cross; if anyone wants to know how difficult a practice this is let him +try it for, say, fifteen minutes. Regarding recitation of the Divine +Office it was of counsel, and probably of precept, that is should not be +from memory merely, but that the psalms should all be read. For this a +good reason was given by Maelruin, i.e. that the recitation might engage +the eye as well as the tongue and thought. An Irish homily refers to +the mortification of the saints and religious of the time as martyrdom, +of which it distinguishes three kinds--red, white, and blue. Red +martyrdom was death for the faith; white martyrdom was the discipline of +fasting, labour and bodily austerities; while blue martyrdom was +abnegation of the will and heartfelt sorrow for sin. + +One of the puzzles of Irish hagiology is the great age attributed to +certain saints--periods of two hundred, three hundred, and even four +hundred years. Did the original compilers of the Life intend this? +Whatever the full explanation be the writers of the Lives were clearly +animated by a desire to make their saint cotemporary and, if possible, a +disciple, of one or other of the great monastic founders, or at any rate +to prove him a pupil of one of the great schools of Erin. There was +special anxiety to connect the saint with Bangor or Clonard. To effect +the connection in question it was sometimes necessary to carry the life +backwards, at other times to carry it forwards, and occasionally to +lengthen it both backwards and forwards. Dr. Chas. O'Connor gives a +not very convincing explanation of the three-hundred-year "Lives," +scil.:--that the saint lived in three centuries--during the whole of one +century and in the end and beginning respectively of the preceding and +succeeding centuries. This explanation, even if satisfactory for the +three-hundred-year Lives, would not help at all towards the Lives of +four hundred years. A common explanation is that the scribe mistook +numerals in the MS. before him and wrote the wrong figures. There is no +doubt that copying is a fruitful source of error as regards numerals. +It is much more easy to make a mistake in a numeral than in a letter; +the context will enable one to correct the letter, while it will give +him no clue as regards a numeral. On the subject of the alleged +longevity of Irish Saints Anscombe has recently been elaborating in +'Eriu' a new and very ingenious theory. Somewhat unfortunately the +author happens to be a rather frequent propounder of ingenious theories. +His explanation is briefly--the use and confusion of different systems +of chronology. He alleges that the original writers used what is called +the Diocletian Era or the "Era of the Martyrs" as the 'terminus a quo' +of their chronological system and, in support of his position, he +adduces the fact that this, which was the most ancient of all +ecclesiastical eras, was the era used by the schismatics in Britain and +that it was introduced by St. Patrick. + +As against the contradiction, anachronisms and extravagances of the +Lives we have to put the fact that generally speaking the latter +corroborate one another, and that they receive extern corroboration from +the annals. Such disagreements as occur are only what one would expect +to find in documents dealing with times so remote. To the credit side +too must go the fact that references to Celtic geography and to local +history are all as a rule accurate. Of continental geography and +history however the writers of the Lives show much ignorance, but +scarcely quite as much as the corresponding ignorance shown by +Continental writers about Ireland. + +The missionary methods of the early Irish Church and its monastic or +semi-monastic system are frequently referred to as peculiar, if not +unique. A missionary system more or less similar must however have +prevailed generally in that age. What other system could have been +nearly as successful amongst a pagan people circumstanced as the Irish +were? The community system alone afforded the necessary mutual +encouragement and protection to the missionaries. Each monastic station +became a base of operations. The numerous diminutive dioceses, +quasi-dioceses, or tribal churches, were little more than extensive +parishes and the missionary bishops were little more in jurisdiction +than glorified parish priests. The bishop's 'muintir,' that is the +members of his household, were his assistant clergy. Having converted +the chieftain or head of the tribe the missionary had but to instruct +and baptise the tribesmen and to erect churches for them. Land and +materials for the church were provided by the Clan or the Clan's head, +and lands for support of the missioner or of the missionary community +were allotted just as they had been previously allotted to the pagan +priesthood; in fact there can be but little doubt that the lands of the +pagan priests became in many cases the endowment of the Christian +establishment. It is not necessary, by the way, to assume that the +Church in Ireland as Patrick left it, was formally monastic. The clergy +lived in community, it is true, but it was under a somewhat elastic +rule, which was really rather a series of Christian and Religious +counsels. A more formal monasticism had developed by the time of +Mochuda; this was evidently influenced by the spread of St. Benedict's +Rule, as Patrick's quasi-monasticism, nearly two centuries previously, +had been influenced by Pachomius and St. Basil, through Lerins. The +real peculiarity in Ireland was that when the community-missionary- +system was no longer necessary it was not abandoned as in other lands +but was rather developed and emphasised. + + + +II.--ST. DECLAN. + + +"If thou hast the right, O Erin, +to a champion of battle to aid thee +thou hast the head of a hundred +thousand, Declan of Ardmore." +(Martyrology of Oengus). + + +Five miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the southern +Irish coast, a short, rocky and rather elevated promontory juts, with a +south-easterly trend, into the ocean. Maps and admiralty charts call it +Ram Head, but the real name is Ceann-a-Rama and popularly it is often +styled Ardmore Head. The material of this inhospitable coast is a hard +metamorphic schist which bids defiance to time and weather. Landwards +the shore curves in clay cliffs to the north-east, leaving, between it +and the iron headland beyond, a shallow exposed bay wherein many a proud +ship has met her doom. Nestling at the north side of the headland and +sheltered by the latter from Atlantic storms stands one of the most +remarkable groups of ancient ecclesiastical remains in Ireland--all that +has survived of St. Declan's holy city of Ardmore. This embraces a +beautiful and perfect round tower, a singularly interesting ruined church +commonly called the cathedral, the ruins of a second church beside a holy +well, a primitive oratory, a couple of ogham inscribed pillar stones, +&c., &c. + +No Irish saint perhaps has so strong a local hold as Declan or has left +so abiding a popular memory. Nevertheless his period is one of the great +disputed questions of early Irish history. According to the express +testimony of his Life, corroborated by testimony of the Lives of SS. +Ailbhe and Ciaran, he preceded St. Patrick in the Irish mission and was a +co-temporary of the national apostle. Objection, exception or opposition +to the theory of Declan's early period is based less on any inherent +improbability in the theory itself than on contradictions and +inconsistencies in the Life. Beyond any doubt the Life does actually +contradict itself; it makes Declan a cotemporary of Patrick in the fifth +century and a cotemporary likewise of St. David a century later. In any +attempted solution of the difficulty involved it may be helpful to +remember a special motive likely to animate a tribal histrographer, +scil.:--the family relationship, if we may so call it, of the two saints; +David was bishop of the Deisi colony in Wales as Declan was bishop of +their kinsmen of southern Ireland. It was very probably part of the +writer's purpose to call attention to the links of kindred which bound +the separated Deisi; witness his allusion later to the alleged visit of +Declan to his kinsmen of Bregia. Possibly there were several Declans, as +there were scores of Colmans, Finians, &c., and hence perhaps the +confusion and some of the apparent inconsistencies. There was certainly +a second Declan, a disciple of St. Virgilius, to whom the latter +committed care of a church in Austria where he died towards close of +eighth century. Again we find mention of a St. Declan who was a foster +son of Mogue of Ferns, and so on. It is too much, as Delehaye ("Legendes +Hagiographiques") remarks, to expect the populace to distinguish between +namesakes. Great men are so rare! Is it likely there should have lived +two saints of the same name in the same country! + +The latest commentators on the question of St. Declan's period--and they +happen to be amongst the most weighty--argue strongly in favour of the +pre-Patrician mission (Cfr. Prof. Kuno Meyer, "Learning Ireland in the +Fifth Century"). Discussing the way in which letters first reached our +distant island of the west and the causes which led to the proficiency of +sixth-century Ireland in classical learning Zimmer and Meyer contend that +the seeds of that literary culture, which flourished in Ireland of the +sixth century, had been sown therein in the first and second decades of +the preceding century by Gaulish scholars who had fled from their own +country owing to invasion of the latter by Goths and other barbarians. +The fact that these scholars, who were mostly Christians, sought asylum +in Ireland indicates that Christianity had already penetrated thither, or +at any rate that it was known and tolerated there. Dr. Meyer answers the +objection that if so large and so important an invasion of scholars took +place we ought have some reference to the fact in the Irish annals. The +annals, he replies, are of local origin and they rarely refer in their +oldest parts to national events: moreover they are very meagre in their +information about the fifth century. One Irish reference to the Gaulish +scholars is, however, adduced in corroboration; it occurs in that well +known passage in St. Patrick's "Confessio" where the saint cries out +against certain "rhetoricians" in Ireland who were hostile to him and +pagan,--"You rhetoricians who do not know the Lord, hear and search Who +it was that called me up, fool though I be, from the midst of those who +think themselves wise and skilled in the law and mighty orators and +powerful in everything." Who were these "rhetorici" that have made this +passage so difficult for commentators and have caused so various +constructions to be put upon it? It is clear, the professor maintains, +that the reference is to pagan rhetors from Gaul whose arrogant +presumption, founded on their learning, made them regard with disdain the +comparatively illiterate apostle of the Scots. Everyone is familiar with +the classic passage of Tacitus wherein he alludes to the harbours of +Ireland as being more familiar to continental mariners than those of +Britain. We have references moreover to refugee Christians who fled to +Ireland from the persecutions of Diocletian more than a century before +St. Patrick's day; in addition it is abundantly evident that many +Irishmen--Christians like Celestius the lieutenant of Pelagius, and +possibly Pelagius himself, amongst them--had risen to distinction or +notoriety abroad before middle of the fifth century. + +Possibly the best way to present the question of Declan's age is to put +in tabulated form the arguments of the pre-Patrician advocates against +the counter contentions of those who claim that Declan's period is later +than Patrick's:-- + + For the Pre-Patrician Mission. +I.--Positive statement of Life, corroborated by Lives of SS. Ciaran and +Ailbhe. +II.--Patrick's apparent avoidance of the Principality of Decies. +III.--The peculiar Declan cult and the strong local hold which Declan has +maintained. + + Against Theory of Early Fifth Century period. +I.--Contradictions, anachronisms, &c., of Life. +II.--Lack of allusion to Declan in the Lives of St. Patrick. +III.--Prosper's testimony to the mission of Palladius as first bishop to +the believing Scots. +IV.--Alleged motives for later invention of Pre-Patrician story. + +In this matter and at this hour it is hardly worth appealing to the +authority of Lanigan and the scholars of the past. Much evidence not +available in Lanigan's day is now at the service of scholars. We are to +look rather at the reasoning of Colgan, Ussher, and Lanigan than to the +mere weight of their names. + +Referring in order to our tabulated grounds of argument, pro and con, and +taking the pro arguments first, we may (I.) discard as evidence for our +purpose the Life of St. Ibar which is very fragmentary and otherwise a +rather unsatisfactory document. The Lives of Ailbhe, Ciaran, and Declan +are however mutually corroborative and consistent. The Roman visit and +the alleged tutelage under Hilarius are probably embellishments; they +look like inventions to explain something and they may contain more than +a kernel of truth. At any rate they are matters requiring further +investigation and elucidation. In this connection it may be useful to +recall that the Life (Latin) of St. Ciaran has been attributed by Colgan +to Evinus the disciple and panegyrist of St. Patrick. + +Patrick's apparent neglect of the Decies (II.) may have no special +significance. At best it is but negative evidence: taken, however, in +connection with (I.) and its consectaria it is suggestive. We can +hardly help speculating why the apostle--passing as it were by its front +door--should have given the go-bye to a region so important as the +Munster Decies. Perhaps he sent preachers into it; perhaps there was no +special necessity for a formal mission, as the faith had already found +entrance. It is a little noteworthy too that we do not find St. +Patrick's name surviving in any ecclesiastical connection with the +Decies, if we except Patrick's Well, near Clonmel, and this Well is +within a mile or so of the territorial frontier. Moreover the southern +portion of the present Tipperary County had been ceded by Aengus to the +Deisi, only just previous to Patrick's advent, and had hardly yet had +sufficient time to become absorbed. The whole story of Declan's alleged +relations with Patrick undoubtedly suggests some irregularity in Declan's +mission--an irregularity which was capable of rectification through +Patrick and which de facto was finally so rectified. + +(III.) No one in Eastern Munster requires to be told how strong is the +cult of St. Declan throughout Decies and the adjacent territory. It is +hardly too much to say that the Declan tradition in Waterford and Cork is +a spiritual actuality, extraordinary and unique, even in a land which +till recently paid special popular honour to its local saints. In +traditional popular regard Declan in the Decies has ever stood first, +foremost, and pioneer. Carthage, founder of the tribal see, has held and +holds in the imagination of the people only a secondary place. Declan, +whencesoever or whenever he came, is regarded as the spiritual father to +whom the Deisi owe the gift of faith. How far this tradition and the +implied belief in Declan's priority and independent mission are derived +from circulation of the "Life" throughout Munster in the last few +centuries it is difficult to gauge, but the tradition seems to have +flourished as vigorously in the days of Colgan as it does to-day. +Declan's "pattern" at Ardmore continues to be still the most noted +celebration of its kind in Ireland. A few years ago it was participated +in by as many as fourteen thousand people from all parts of Waterford, +Cork, and Tipperary. The scenes and ceremonies have been so frequently +described that it is not necessary to recount them here--suffice it to +say that the devotional practices and, in fact, the whole celebration is +of a purely popular character receiving no approbation, and but bare +toleration, from church or clergy. Even to the present day Declan's name +is borne as their praenomen by hundreds of Waterford men, and, before +introduction of the modern practice of christening with foolish foreign +names, its use was far more common, as the ancient baptismal registers of +Ardmore, Old Parish, and Clashmore attest. On the other hand Declan's +name is associated with comparatively few places in the Decies. Of these +the best known is Relig Deaglain, a disused graveyard and early church +site on the townland of Drumroe, near Cappoquin. There was also an +ancient church called Killdeglain, near Stradbally. + +Against the theory of the pre-Patrician or citra-Patrician mission we +have first the objection, which really has no weight, and which we shall +not stop to discuss, that it is impossible for Christianity at that early +date to have found its way to this distant island, beyond the boundary of +the world. An argument on a different plane is (I.), the undoubtedly +contradictory and inconsistent character of the Life. It is easy however +to exaggerate the importance of this point. Modern critical methods were +undreamed of in the days of our hagiographer, who wrote, moreover, for +edification only in a credulous age. Most of the historical documents of +the period are in a greater or less degree uncritical but that does not +discredit their testimony however much it may confuse their editors. It +can be urged moreover that two mutually incompatible genealogies of the +saint are given. The genealogy given by MacFirbisigh seems in fact to +disagree in almost every possible detail with the genealogy in 23 M. 50 +R.I.A. That however is like an argument that Declan never existed. It +really suggests and almost postulates the existence of a second Declan +whose Acts and those of our Declan have become mutually confused. + +(II.) Absence of Declan's name from the Acts of Patrick is a negative +argument. It is explicable perhaps by the supposed irregularity of +Declan's preaching. Declan was certainly earlier than Mochuda and yet +there is no reference to him in the Life of the latter saint. Ailbhe +however is referred to in the Tripartite Life of Patrick and the cases of +Ailbhe and Declan are "a pari"; the two saints stand or fall together. + +(IV.) Motives for invention of the pre-Patrician myth are alleged, +scil.:--to rebut certain claims to jurisdiction, tribute or visitation +advanced by Armagh in after ages. It is hard to see however how +resistance to the claims in question could be better justified on the +theory of a pre-Patrician Declan, who admittedly acknowledged Patrick's +supremacy, than on the admission of a post-Patrician mission. + +That in Declan we have to deal with a very early Christian teacher of the +Decies there can be no doubt. If not anterior to Patrick he must have +been the latter's cotemporary. Declan however had failed to convert the +chieftain of his race and for this--reading between the lines of the +"Life"--we seem to hear Patrick blaming him. + +The monuments proper of Declan remaining at Ardmore are (a) his oratory +near the Cathedral and Round Tower in the graveyard, (b) his stone on the +beach, (c) his well on the cliff, and (d) another stone said to have been +found in his tomb and preserved at Ardmore for long ages with great +reveration. The "Life" refers moreover to the saint's pastoral staff and +his bell but these have disappeared for centuries. + +The "Oratory" is simply a primitive church of the usual sixth century +type: it stands 13' 4" x 8' 9" in the clear, and has, or had, the usual +high-pitched gables and square-headed west doorway with inclining jambs. +Another characteristic feature of the early oratory is seen in the +curious antae or prolongation of the side walls. Locally the little +building is known as the "beannacan," in allusion, most likely, to its +high gables or the finials which once, no doubt, in Irish fashion, +adorned its roof. Though somewhat later than Declan's time this +primitive building is very intimately connected with the Saint. +Popularly it is supposed to be his grave and within it is a hollow space +scooped out, wherein it is said his ashes once reposed. It is highly +probable that tradition is quite correct as to the saint's grave, over +which the little church was erected in the century following Declan's +death. The oratory was furnished with a roof of slate by Bishop Mills in +1716. + +"St. Declan's Stone" is a glacial boulder of very hard conglomerate which +lies on a rocky ledge of beach beneath the village of Ardmore. It +measures some 8' 6" x 4' 6" x 4' 0" and reposes upon two slightly jutting +points of the underlying metamorphic rock. Wonderful virtues are +attributed to St. Declan's Stone, which, on the occasion of the patronal +feast, is visited by hundreds of devotees who, to participate in its +healing efficacy and beneficence, crawl laboriously on face and hands +through the narrow space between the boulder and the underlying rock. +Near by, at foot of a new storm-wall, are two similar but somewhat +smaller boulders which, like their venerated and more famous neighbour, +were all wrenched originally by a glacier from their home in the Comeragh +Mountains twenty miles away. + +"St. Declan's Well," beside some remains of a rather large and apparently +twelfth century church on the cliff, in the townland of Dysert is +diverted into a shallow basin in which pilgrims bathe feet and hands. +Set in some comparatively modern masonry over the well are a carved +crucifixion and other figures of apparently late mediaeval character. +Some malicious interference with this well led, nearly a hundred years +since, to much popular indignation and excitement. + +The second "St. Declan's Stone" was a small, cross-inscribed jet-black +piece of slate or marble, approximately--2" or 3" x 1 1/2". Formerly it +seems to have had a small silver cross inset and was in great demand +locally as an amulet for cattle curing. It disappeared however, some +fifty years or so since, but very probably it could still be recovered in +Dungarvan. + +Far the most striking of all the monuments at Ardmore is, of course, the +Round Tower which, in an excellent state of preservation, stands with its +conical cap of stone nearly a hundred feet high. Two remarkable, if not +unique, features of the tower are the series of sculptured corbels which +project between the floors on the inside, and the four projecting belts +or zones of masonry which divide the tower into storeys externally. The +tower's architectural anomalies are paralleled by its history which is +correspondingly unique: it stood a regular siege in 1642, when ordnance +was brought to bear on it and it was defended by forty confederates +against the English under Lords Dungarvan and Broghil. + +A few yards to north of the Round Tower stands "The Cathedral" +illustrating almost every phase of ecclesiastical architecture which +flourished in Ireland from St. Patrick to the Reformation--Cyclopean, +Celtic-Romanesque, Transitional and Pointed. The chancel arch is +possibly the most remarkable and beautiful illustration of the +Transitional that we have. An extraordinary feature of the church is the +wonderful series of Celtic arcades and panels filled with archaic +sculptures in relief which occupy the whole external face of the west +gable. + +St. Declan's foundation at Ardmore seems (teste Moran's Archdall) to have +been one of the Irish religious houses which accepted the reform of Pope +Innocent at the Lateran Council and to have transformed itself into a +Regular Canonry. It would however be possible to hold, on the evidence, +that it degenerated into a mere parochial church. We hear indeed of two +or three episcopal successors of the saint, scil.:--Ultan who immediately +followed him, Eugene who witnessed a charter to the abbey of Cork in +1174, and Moelettrim O Duibhe-rathre who died in 1303 after he had, +according to the annals of Inisfallen, "erected and finished the Church" +of Ardmore. The "Wars of the Gaedhil and Gall" have reference, circa 824 +or 825, to plunder by the Northmen of Disert Tipraite which is almost +certainly the church of Dysert by the Holy Well at Ardmore. The same +fleet, on the same expedition, plundered Dunderrow (near Kinsale), +Inisshannon (Bandon River), Lismore, and Kilmolash. + +Regarding the age of our "Life" it is difficult with the data at hand to +say anything very definite. While dogmatism however is dangerous +indefiniteness is unsatisfying. True, we cannot trace the genealogy of +the present version beyond middle of the sixteenth century, but its +references to ancient monuments existing at date of its compilation show +it to be many centuries older. Its language proves little or nothing, +for, being a popular work, it would be modernised to date by each +successive scribe. Colgan was of opinion it was a composition of the +eighth century. Ussher and Ware, who had the Life in very ancient +codices, also thought it of great antiquity. Papebrach, the Bollandist, +on the other hand, considered the Life could not be older than the +twelfth century, but this opinion of his seems to have been based on a +misapprehension. In the absence of all diocesan colour or allusion one +feels constrained to assign the production to some period previous to +Rathbreasail. We should not perhaps be far wrong in assigning the first +collection of materials to somewhere in the eighth century or in the +century succeeding. The very vigorous ecclesiastical revival of the +eleventh century, at conclusion of the Danish wars, must have led to some +revision of the country's religious literature. The introduction, a +century and-a-half later, of the great religious orders most probably led +to translation of the Life into Latin and its casting into shape for +reading in refectory or choir. + +Only three surviving copies of the Irish Life are known to the writer: +one in the Royal Library at Brussels, the second in the Royal Irish +Academy Collection (M. 23, 50, pp. 109-120), and the third in possession +of Professor Hyde. As the second and third enumerated are copies of one +imperfect exemplar it has not been thought necessary to collate both with +the Brussels MS. which has furnished the text here printed. M. 23, 50 +(R.I.A.) has however been so collated and the marginal references +initialled B are to that imperfect copy. The latter, by the way, is in +the handwriting of John Murphy "na Raheenach," and is dated 1740. It has +not been thought necessary to give more than the important variants. + +The present text is a reproduction of the Brussels MS. plus lengthening +of contractions. As regards lengthening in question it is to be noted +that the well known contraction for "ea" or "e" has been uniformly +transliterated "e." Otherwise orthography of the MS. has been +scrupulously followed--even where inconsistent or incorrect. For the +division into paragraphs the editor is not responsible; he has merely +followed the division originated, or adopted, by the scribe. The Life +herewith presented was copied in 1629 by Brother Michael O'Clery of the +Four Masters' staff from an older MS. of Eochy O'Heffernan's dated 1582. +The MS. of O'Heffernan is referred to by our scribe as "seinleabar," but +his reference is rather to the contents than to the copy. Apparently +O'Clery did more than transcribe; he re-edited, as was his wont, into the +literary Irish of his day. A page of the Brussels MS., reproduced in +facsimile as a frontispiece to the present volume, will give the student +a good idea of O'Clery's script and style. + +Occasional notes on Declan in the martyrologies and elsewhere give some +further information about our saint. Unfortunately however the alleged +facts are not always capable of reconciliation with statements of our +"Life," and again the existence of a second, otherwise unknown, Declan is +suggested. The introduction of rye is attributed to him in the Calendar +of Oengus, as introduction of wheat is credited to St. Finan Camm, and +introduction of bees to St. Modomnoc,--"It was the full of his shoe that +Declan brought, the full of his shoe likewise Finan, but the full of his +bell Modomnoc" (Cal. Oeng., April 7th). More puzzling is the note in the +same Calendar which makes Declan a foster son of Mogue of Ferns! This +entry illustrates the way in which errors originate. A former scribe +inadvertently copied in, after Declan's name, portion of the entry +immediately following which relates to Colman Hua Liathain. Successive +scribes re-copied the error without discovering it and so it became +stereotyped. + + + +III.--ST. MOCHUDA. + + +"It was he (Mochuda) that had the famous congregation +consisting of seven hundred and ten persons; an angel +used to address every third man of them." +(Martyrology of Donegal). + + +In some respects the Life of Mochuda here presented is in sharp contrast +to the corresponding Life of Declan. The former document is in all +essentials a very sober historical narrative--accurate wherever we can +test it, credible and harmonious on the whole. Philologically, to be +sure, it is of little value,--certainly a much less valuable Life than +Declan's; historically, however (and question of the pre-Patrician +mission apart) it is immensely the more important document. On one +point do we feel inclined to quarrel with its author, scil.: that he +has not given us more specifically the motives underlying Mochuda's +expulsion from Rahen--one of the three worst counsels ever given in +Erin. Reading between his lines we spell, jealousy--'invidia +religiosorum.' Another jealousy too is suggested--the mutual distrust +of north and south which has been the canker-worm of Irish political +life for fifteen hundred years, making intelligible if not justifying +the indignation of a certain distinguished Irishman who wanted to know +the man's name, in order to curse its owner, who first divided Ireland +into two provinces. + +Three different Lives of Mochuda are known to the present writer. Two of +them are contained in a MS. at Brussels (C/r. Bindon, p. 8, 13) and of +one of these there is a copy in a MS. of Dineen's in the Royal Irish +Academy (Stowe Collection, A. IV, I.) Dineen appears to have been a +Cork or Kerry man and to have worked under the patronage of the rather +noted Franciscan Father Francis Matthew (O'Mahony), who was put to death +at Cork by Inchiquin in 1644. The bald text of Dineen's "Life" was +published a few years since, without translation, in the 'Irish Rosary.' +The corresponding Brussels copy is in Michael O'Clery's familiar hand. +In it occurs the strange pagan-flavoured story of the British Monk +Constantine. O'Clery's copy was made in January, 1627, at the Friary of +Drouish from the Book of Tadhg O'Ceanan and it is immediately followed +by a tract entitled--"Do Macaib Ua Suanac." The bell of Mochuda, by the +way, which the saint rang against Blathmac, was called the 'glassan' of +Hui Suanaig in later times. + +The "Life" here printed, which follows the Latin Life so closely that +one seems a late translation of the other, is as far as the editor is +aware, contained in a single MS. only. This is M. 23, 50, R.I.A., in +the handwriting of John Murphy, "na Raheenach." Murphy was a Co. Cork +schoolmaster, scribe, and poet, of whom a biographical sketch will be +found prefixed by Mr. R. A. Foley to a collection of Murphy's poems that +he has edited. The sobriquet, "na Raheenach," is really a kind of +tribal designation. The "Life" is very full but is in its present form +a comparatively late production; it was transcribed by Murphy between +1740 and 1750. It is much to be regretted that the scribe tells us +nothing of his original. Murphy, but the way, seems to have specialised +to some extent in saint's Lives and to have imbued his disciples with +something of the same taste. One of his pupils was Maurice O'Connor, a +scribe and shipwright of Cove, to whom we owe the Life of St. Ciaran of +Saighir printed in "Silva Gadelica." The reasons of choice for +publication here of the present Life are avowedly non-philological; the +motive for preference is that it is the longest of the three Lives and +for historical purposes the most important. + +The Life presents considerable evidence of historical reliability; its +geography is detailed and correct; its references to contemporaries +of Mochuda are accurate on the whole and there are few inconsistencies +or none. Moreover it sheds some new light on that chronic +puzzle--organisation of the Celtic Church of Ireland. Mochuda, head of a +great monastery at Rahen, is likewise a kind of pluralist Parish Priest +with a parish in Kerry, administered in his name by deputed +ecclesiastics, and other parishes similarly administered in Kerrycurrihy, +Rostellan, West Muskerry, and Spike Island, Co. Cork. When a chief +parishioner lies seriously ill in distant Corca Duibhne, Mochuda himself +comes all the way from the centre of Ireland to administer the last rites +to the dying man, and so on. + +The relations of the people to the Church and its ministers are in many +respects not at all easy to understand. Oblations, for instance, of +themselves and their territory, &c., by chieftains are frequent. +Oblations of monasteries are made in a similar way. Probably this +signifies no more than that the chief region or monastery put itself +under the saint's jurisdiction or rule or both. That there were other +churches too than the purely monastic appears from offerings to Mochuda +of already existing churches, v.g. from the Clanna Ruadhan in Decies, +&c. + +Lismore, the most famous of Mochuda's foundations, became within a +century of the saint's death, one of the great monastic schools of Erin, +attracting to his halls, or rather to its boothies, students from all +Ireland and even--so it is claimed--from lands beyond the seas. King +Alfrid [Aldfrith] of Northumbria, for instance, is said to have partaken +of Lismore's hospitality, and certainly Cormac of Cashel, Malachy and +Celsus of Armagh and many others of the most distinguished of the Scots +partook thereof. The roll of Lismore's calendared saints would require, +did the matter fall within our immediate province, more than one page to +itself. Some interesting reference to Mochuda and his holy city occur +in the Life of one of his disciples, St. Colman Maic Luachain, edited +for the R.I.A. by Professor Kuno Meyer. + +There are many indications in the present Life that, at one period, and +in the time of Carthach, the western boundary of Decies extended far +beyond the line at present recognised. Similar indications are furnished +by the martyrologies, &c.; for instance, the martyrology of Donegal +under November 28th records of "the three sons of Bochra" that "they are +of Archadh Raithin in Ui Mic Caille in Deisi Mumhan" and Ibid, p. +xxxvii, it is stated "i ccondae Corcaige ataid na Desi Muman." Not only +Imokilly but all Co. Cork, east of Queenstown [Cobh] and north to the +Blackwater, seems to have acknowledged Mochuda's jurisdiction. At +Rathbreasail accordingly (teste Keating, on the authority of the Book of +Cloneneigh) the Diocese of Lismore is made to extend to Cork,--probably +over the present baronies of Imokilly, Kinatallon, and Barrymore. That +part, at least, of Condons and Clangibbon was likewise included is +inferrible from the fact that, as late as the sixteenth century +visitations, Kilworth, founded by Colman Maic Luachain, ranked as a +parish in the diocese of Lismore. Further evidence pointing in the same +direction is furnished by Clondulane, &c., represented in the present +Life as within Carthach's jurisdiction. + +The Rule of St. Carthach is one of the few ancient Irish so-called +monastic Rules surviving. It is in reality less a "rule," as the latter +is now understood, than a series of Christian and religious counsels +drawn up by a spiritual master for his disciples. It must not be +understood from this that each religious house did not have it formal +regulations. The latter however seem to have depended largely upon the +abbot's spirit, will or discretion. The existing "Rules" abound in +allusions to forgotten practices and customs and, to add to their +obscurity, their language is very difficult--sometimes, like the +language of the Brehon Laws, unintelligible. The rule ascribed to +Mochuda is certainly a document of great antiquity and may well have +emanated from the seventh century and from the author whose name it +bears. The tradition of Lismore and indeed of the Irish Church is +constant in attributing it to him. Copies of the Rule are found in +numerous MSS. but many of them are worthless owing to the incompetence +of the scribes to whom the difficult Irish of the text was +unintelligible. The text in the Leabhar Breac has been made the basis +of his edition of the Rule by Mac Eaglaise, a writer in the 'Irish +Ecclesiastical Record' (1910). Mac Eaglaise's edition, though it is not +all that could be desired, is far the most satisfactory which has yet +appeared. Previous editions of the Rule or part of it comprise one by +Dr. Reeves in his tract on the Culdees, one by Kuno Meyer in the 'Gaelic +Journal' (Vol. V.) and another in 'Archiv fuer C.L.' (3 Bund. 1905), and +another again in 'Eriu' (Vol. 2, p. 172), besides a free translation of +the whole rule by O'Curry in the 'I. R. Record' for 1864. The text of +the 'Record' edition of 1910 is from Leabhar Breac collated with other +MSS. The order in the various copies is not the same and some copies +contain material which is wanting in others. The "Rule" commences with +the Ten Commandments, then it enumerates the obligations respectively of +bishops, abbots, priests, monks, and culdees [anchorites]. Finally there +is a section on the order of meals and on the refectory and another on +the obligations of a king. The following excerpt on the duties of an +abbot ('I. E. Record' translation) will illustrate the style and spirit +of the Rule: + + "Of the Abbot of a Church. +1.--If you be the head man of a Church noble is the power, better for you +that you be just who take the heirship of the king. +2.--If you are the head man of a Church noble is the obligation, +preservation of the rights of the Church from the small to the great. +3.--What Holy Church commands preach then with diligence; what you order +to each one do it yourself. +4.--As you love your own soul love the souls of all. Yours the +magnification of every good [and] banishment of every evil. +5.--Be not a candle under a bushel [Luke 11:33]. Your learning without a +cloud over it. Yours the healing of every host both strong and weak. +6.--Yours to judge each one according to grade and according to deed; he +will advise you at judgment before the king.... +10.--Yours to rebuke the foolish, to punish the hosts, turning disorder +into order [restraint] of the stubborn, obstinate, wretched." + +Reservation of the Coarbship of Mochuda at Lismore in favour of Kerrymen +is an extremely curious if not unique provision. How long it continued +in force we do not know. Probably it endured to the twelfth century and +possibly the rule was not of strict interpretation. Christian +O'Connarchy, who was bishop of Lismore in the twelfth century, is +regarded as a native of Decies, though the contrary is slightly +suggested by his final retirement to Kerry. The alleged prophecy +concerning Kerry men and the coarbship points to some rule, regulation +or law of Mochuda. + + + +MAP OF IRELAND. + + ++-------------------------------------------+ +| | +| __ __---_ | +| ,-~~~ ~\/ ~\ | +| ,_/ | | +| /,_ / | +| _ _/ ~\ | +| /~~ ~\/~-_| / | +| \ /~ | +| \ _ _\/ | +| ,' | | +| /~ Tara \ | +| \ * | | +| '~|__- Rahen / | +| .- ,/~ * \ | +| | / | +| / | | +| /_,_/~ | | +| / Cashel / | +| ,--~ * | | +| /--- Lismore __|_-_/ | +| ,-~ *-,-~ | +| \_-~/ \ /~ * | +| ,-~/= _/~ Ardmore | +| --~/_-_-/~'~ | +| | ++-------------------------------------------+ + + + + +LIFE OF ST. DECLAN. + +"BETHA DECCLAIN." + + +1. The most blessed Bishop Declan of the most noble race of the kings of +Ireland, i.e., the holy bishop who is called Declan was of the most noble +royal family of Ireland--a family which held the sceptre and exacted +tribute from all Ireland at Tara for ages. Declan was by birth of noble +blood as will appear from his origin and genealogy, for it was from +Eochaidh Feidhleach, the powerful Ardrigh of Ireland for twelve years, +that he sprang. Eochaidh aforesaid, had three sons, scil.:--Breas, Nar, +and Lothola, who are called the three Finneavna; there reigned one +hundred and seven kings of their race and kindred before and after them, +i.e. of the race of Eremon, king of Ireland,--before the introduction of +Christianity and since. These three youths lay one day with their own +sister Clothra, daughter of the same father, and she conceived of them. +The son she brought forth as a consequence of that intercourse was marked +by three red wavy lines which indicated his descent from the three youths +aforesaid. He was named Lugaidh Sriabhdearg from the three lines +[sriabaib] in question, and he was beautiful to behold and of greater +bodily strength in infancy than is usual with children of his age. He +commenced his reign as king of Ireland the year in which Caius Caesar +[Caligula] died and he reigned for twenty-six years. His son was named +Criomthan Nianair who reigned but sixteen years. Criomthan's son was +named Fearadach Finnfechtnach whose son was Fiacha Finnolaidh whose son +again was Tuathal Teachtmhar. This Tuathal had a son Felimidh Reachtmhar +who had in turn three sons--Conn Ceadcathach, Eochaidh Finn, and Fiacha +Suighde. Conn was king of Ireland for twenty years and the +productiveness of crops and soil and of dairies in the time of Conn are +worthy of commemoration and of fame to the end of time. Conn was killed +in Magh Cobha by the Ulstermen, scil.:--by Tiopruid Tireach and it is +principally his seed which has held the kingship of Ireland ever since. +Eochaidh Finn was second son to Felimidh Reachtmhar and he migrated to +the latter's province of Leinster, and it is in that province his race +and progeny have remained since then. They are called Leinstermen, and +there are many chieftains and powerful persons of them in Leinster. +Fiacha Suighde moreover, although he died before he succeeded to the +chief sovereignty, possessed land around Tara. He left three sons--Ross, +Oengus, and Eoghan who were renowned for martial deeds--valiant and +heroic in battle and in conflict. Of the three, Oengus excelled in all +gallant deeds so that he came to be styled Oengus of the poisonous +javelin. Cormac Mac Art Mac Conn it was who reigned in Ireland at this +time. Cormac had a son named Ceallach who took by force the daughter of +Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde to dwell with him, i.e. Credhe the daughter of +Eoghan. When Oengus Gaebuaibhtheach ("of the poisonous javelin") heard +this, viz., that the daughter of his brother had been abducted by +Ceallach he was roused to fury and he followed Ceallach to Tara taking +with him his foster child, scil.:--Corc Duibhne, the son of Cairbre, son +of Conaire, son of Mogha Lamha whom Cormac held as a hostage from the +Munstermen, and whom he had given for safe custody to Oengus. When +Oengus reached Tara he beheld Ceallach sitting behind Cormac. He thrust +his spear at Ceallach and pierced him through from front to back. +However as he was withdrawing the spear the handle struck Cormac's eye +and knocked it out and then, striking the steward, killed him. He +himself (Oengus) with his foster child escaped safely. After a time +Cormac, grieving for the loss of his son, his eye and his steward at the +hands of Oengus of the poisonous javelin and of his kinsmen, ordered +their expulsion from their tribal territory, i.e. from the Decies of +Tara, and not alone from these, but from whole northern half of Ireland. +However, seven battles were fought in which tremendous loss was inflicted +on Cormac and his followers before Oengus and his people, i.e. the three +sons of Fiacha Suighde, namely, Ross and Oengus and Eoghan, as we have +already said, were eventually defeated, and obliged to fly the country +and to suffer exile. Consequent on their banishment as above by the king +of Ireland they sought hospitality from the king of Munster, Oilill Olum, +because Sadhbh, daughter of Conn Ceadcathach was his wife. They got land +from him, scil.: the Decies of Munster, and it is to that race, i.e. the +race of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde that the kings and country of the +Decies belong ever since. + +2. Of this same race of Eoghan was the holy bishop Declan of whom I +shall speak later scil.: Declan son of Eirc, son of Trein, son of +Lughaidh, son of Miaich, son of Brian, son of Eoghan, son of Art Corp, +son of Moscorb, son of Mesgeadra, son of Measfore, son of Cuana +Cainbhreathaigh, son of Conaire Cathbuadhaigh, son of Cairbre, son of +Eoghan, son of Fiacha Suighde, son of Felimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal +Teachtmhar. The father of Declan was therefore Erc Mac Trein. He and +his wife Deithin went on a visit to the house of his kinsman Dobhran +about the time that Declan's birth was due. The child she bore was +Declan, whom she brought forth without sickness, pain or difficulty but +in being lifted up afterwards he struck his head against a great stone. +Let it be mentioned that Declan showed proofs of sanctification and power +of miracle-working in his mother's womb, as the prophet writes:--"De +vulva sanctificavi te et prophetam in gentibus dedi te" [Jeremias 1:5] +(Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and made thee +a prophet unto the nations). Thus it is that Declan was sanctified in +his mother's womb and was given by God as a prophet to the pagans for the +conversion of multitudes of them from heathenism and the misery of +unbelief to the worship of Christ and to the Catholic faith, as we shall +see later on. The very soft apex of his head struck against a hard +stone, as we have said, and where the head came in contact with the stone +it made therein a hollow and cavity of its own form and shape, without +injury of any kind to him. Great wonder thereupon seized all who +witnessed this, for Ireland was at this time without the true faith and +it was rarely that any one (therein) had shown heavenly Christian signs. +"Declan's Rock" is the name of the stone with which the Saint's head came +into contact. The water or rain which falls into the before-mentioned +cavity (the place of Declan's head) dispels sickness and infirmity, by +the grace of God, as proof of Declan's sanctity. + +3. On the night of Declan's birth a wondrous sign was revealed to all, +that is to the people who were in the neighbourhood of the birthplace; +this was a ball of fire which was seen blazing on summit of the house in +which the child lay, until it reached up to heaven and down again, and it +was surrounded by a multitude of angels. It assumed the shape of a +ladder such as the Patriarch, Jacob saw [Genesis 28:12]. The persons who +saw and heard these things wondered at them. They did not know (for the +true faith had not yet been preached to them or in this region) that it +was God who (thus) manifested His wondrous power (works) in the infant, +His chosen child. Upon the foregoing manifestation a certain true +Christian, scil.:--Colman, at that time a priest and afterwards a holy +bishop, came, rejoicing greatly and filled with the spirit of prophecy, +to the place where Declan was; he preached the faith of Christ to the +parents and made known to them that the child was full of the grace of +God. He moreover revealed to them the height of glory and honour to +which the infant should attain before God and men, and it was revealed to +him that he (Declan) should spend his life in sanctity and devotion. +Through the grace of God, these, i.e. Erc and Deithin, believed in God +and Colman, and they delivered the child for baptism to Colman who +baptised him thereupon, giving him the name of Declan. When, in the +presence of all, he had administered Baptism, Colman spoke this prophecy +concerning the infant "Truly, beloved child and lord you will be in +heaven and on earth most high and holy, and your good deeds, fame, and +sanctity will fill all (the four quarters of) Ireland and you will +convert your own nation and the Decies from paganism to Christianity. On +that account I bind myself to you by the tie of brotherhood and I commend +myself to your sanctity." + +4. Colman thereupon returned to his own abode; he commanded that Declan +should be brought up with due care, that he should be well trained, and +be set to study at the age of seven years if there could be found in his +neighbourhood a competent Christian scholar to undertake his tuition. +Even at the period of his baptism grace and surpassing charity manifested +themselves in the countenance of Declan so that it was understood of all +that great should be the goodness and the spiritual charm of his mature +age. When Dobhran had heard and seen these things concerning his kinsman +Erc he requested the latter and Deithin to give him the child to foster, +and with this request Erc complied. The name of the locality was +"Dobhran's Place" at that time, but since then it has been "Declan's +Place." Dobhran presented the homestead to Declan and removed his own +dwelling thence to another place. In after years, when Declan had become +a bishop, he erected there a celebrated cell in honour of God, and this +is the situation of the cell in question:--In the southern part of the +Decies, on the east side of Magh Sgiath and not far from the city of +Mochuda i.e. Lismore. For the space of seven years Declan was fostered +with great care by Dobhran (his father's brother) and was much loved by +him. God wrought many striking miracles through Declan's instrumentality +during those years. By aid of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him he +(Declan)--discreet Christian man that he was--avoided every fault and +every unlawful desire during that time. + +5. On the completion of seven years Declan was taken from his parents +and friends and fosterers to be sent to study as Colman had ordained. It +was to Dioma they sent him, a certain devout man perfect in the faith, +who had come at that time by God's design into Ireland having spent a +long period abroad in acquiring learning. He (Dioma) built in that place +a small cell wherein he might instruct Declan and dwell himself. There +was given him also, to instruct, together with Declan, another child, +scil., Cairbre Mac Colmain, who became afterwards a holy learned bishop. +Both these were for a considerable period pursuing their studies +together. + +6. There were seven men dwelling in Magh Sgiath, who frequently saw the +fiery globe which it has been already told they first beheld at the time +of Declan's birth. It happened by the Grace of God that they were the +first persons to reveal and describe that lightning. These seven came to +the place where Declan abode and took him for their director and master. +They made known publicly in the presence of all that, later on, he should +be a bishop and they spoke prophetically:--"The day, O beloved child and +servant of God, will come when we shall commit ourselves and our lands to +thee." And it fell out thus (as they foretold), for, upon believing, +they were baptised and became wise, devout (and) attentive and erected +seven churches in honour of God around Magh Sgiath. + +7. Declan remained a long time with Dioma, the holy man we have named, +and acquired science and sanctity and diversity of learning and doctrine, +and he was prudent, mild, and capable so that many who knew his nobility +of blood came when they had heard of the fullness of his sanctity and +grace. Moreover they submitted themselves to him and accepted his +religious rule. Declan judged it proper that he should visit Rome to +study discipline and ecclesiastical system, to secure for himself esteem +and approbation thence, and obtain authority to preach to the (Irish) +people and to bring back with him the rules of Rome as these obtained in +Rome itself. He set out with his followers and he tarried not till he +arrived in Rome where they remained some time. + +8. At the same period there was a holy bishop, i.e. Ailbe, who had been +in Rome for a number of years before this and was in the household of +Pope Hilary by whom he had been made a bishop. When Declan with his +disciples arrived in Rome Ailbe received him with great affection and +gladness and he bore testimony before the Roman people to his (Declan's) +sanctity of life and nobility of blood. He (Declan) therefore received +marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of Rome +when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was comely, of +good appearance, humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent in counsel, +frank in conversation, virtuous in mien, generous in gifts, holy in life +and resplendent in miracles. + +9. When Declan had spent a considerable time in Rome he was ordained a +bishop by the Pope, who gave him church-books and rules and orders and +sent him to Ireland that he might preach there. Having bidden farewell +to the Pope and received the latter's blessing Declan commenced his +journey to Ireland. Many Romans followed him to Ireland to perform their +pilgrimage and to spend their lives there under the yoke and rule of +Bishop Declan, and amongst those who accompanied him was Runan, son of +the king of Rome; he was dear to Declan. + +10. On the road through Italy Bishop Declan and Patrick met. Patrick +was not a bishop at that time, though he was (made a bishop) subsequently +by Pope Celestinus, who sent him to preach to the Irish. Patrick was +truly chief bishop of the Irish island. They bade farewell to one +another and they made a league and bond of mutual fraternity and kissed +in token of peace. They departed thereupon each on his own journey, +scil.:--Declan to Ireland and Patrick to Rome. + +11. Declan was beginning mass one day in a church which lay in his road, +when there was sent him from heaven a little black bell, (which came) in +through the window of the church and remained on the altar before Declan. +Declan greatly rejoiced thereat and gave thanks and glory to Christ on +account of it, and it filled him with much courage to combat the error +and false teaching of heathendom. He gave the bell for safe keeping and +carriage, to Runan aforesaid, i.e. son of the king of Rome, and this is +its name in Ireland--"The Duibhin Declain," and it is from its colour it +derives its name, for its colour is black [dub]. There were manifested, +by grace of God and Declan's merits, many miracles through its agency and +it is still preserved in Declan's church. + +12. When Declan and his holy companions arrived at the Sea of Icht +[English Channel] he failed, owing to lack of money, to find a ship, for +he did not have the amount demanded, and every ship was refused him on +that account. He therefore struck his bell and prayed to God for help in +this extremity. In a short time after this they saw coming towards them +on the crest of the waves an empty, sailless ship and no man therein. +Thereupon Declan said:--"Let us enter the ship in the name of Christ, and +He who has sent it to us will direct it skilfully to what harbour soever +He wishes we should go." At the word of Declan they entered in, and the +ship floated tranquilly and safely until it reached harbour in England. +Upon its abandonment by Declan and his disciples the ship turned back and +went again to the place from which it had come and the people who saw the +miracles and heard of them magnified the name of the Lord and Declan, and +the words of the prophet David were verified:--"Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis +Suis" [Psalm 67(68):36] (God is wonderful in His Saints). + +13. After this Declan came to Ireland. Declan was wise like a serpent +and gentle like a dove and industrious like the bee, for as the bee +gathers honey and avoids the poisonous herbs so did Declan, for he +gathered the sweet sap of grace and Holy Scripture till he was filled +therewith. There were in Ireland before Patrick came thither four holy +bishops with their followers who evangelized and sowed the word of God +there; these are the four:--Ailbe, Bishop Ibar, Declan, and Ciaran. They +drew multitudes from error to the faith of Christ, although it was +Patrick who sowed the faith throughout Ireland and it is he who turned +chiefs and kings of Ireland to the way of baptism, faith and sacrifice +and everlasting judgment. + +14. These three, scil.:--Declan, Ailbe and Bishop Ibar made a bond of +friendship and a league amongst themselves and their spiritual posterity +in heaven and on earth for ever and they loved one another. SS. Ailbe +and Declan, especially, loved one another as if they were brothers so +that, on account of their mutual affection they did not like to be +separated from one another--except when their followers threatened to +separate them by force if they did not go apart for a very short +time. After this Declan returned to his own country--to the Decies of +Munster--where he preached, and baptized, in the name of Christ, many +whom he turned to the Catholic faith from the power of the devil. He +built numerous churches in which he placed many of his own followers to +serve and worship God and to draw people to God from the wiles of Satan. + +15. Once on a time Declan came on a visit to the place of his birth, +where he remained forty days there and established a religious house in +which devout men have dwelt ever since. Then came the seven men we have +already mentioned as having made their abode around Magh Sgiath and as +having prophesied concerning Declan. They now dedicated themselves and +their establishment to him as they had promised and these are their +names:--Mocellac and Riadan, Colman, Lactain, Finnlaoc, Kevin, &c. +[Mobi]. These therefore were under the rule and spiritual sway of bishop +Declan thenceforward, and they spent their lives devoutly there and +wrought many wonders afterwards. + +16. After some time Declan set out to visit Aongus MacNatfrich, king of +Cashel, to preach to him and to convert him to the faith of Christ. +Declan however had two uterine brothers, sons of Aongus, scil.: Colman +and Eoghan. The grace of the Holy Ghost inspiring him Colman went to +Ailbe of Emly and received baptism and the religious habit at the +latter's hands, and he remained for a space sedulously studying science +until he became a saintly and perfect man. Eochaid however remained as +he was (at home)--expecting the kingdom of Munster on his father's death, +and he besought his father to show due honour to his brother Declan. The +king did so and put no obstacle in the way of Declan's preaching but was +pleased with Declan's religion and doctrine, although he neither believed +nor accepted baptism himself. It is said that refusal (of baptism) was +based on this ground: Declan was of the Decies and of Conn's Half, while +Aongus himself was of the Eoghanacht of Cashel of Munster--always hostile +to the Desii. It was not therefore through ill will to the faith that he +believed not, as is proved from this that, when the king heard of the +coming to him of Patrick, the archbishop of Ireland, a man who was of +British race against which the Irish cherished no hate, not only did he +believe but he went from his own city of Cashel to meet him, professed +Christianity and was immediately baptised. + +17. After this Declan, having sown the word of God and preached to the +king (although the latter did not assent to his doctrines), proceeded to +his own country and they (the Desii) believed and received baptism except +the king alone and the people of his household who were every day +promising to believe and be baptised. It however came about through the +Devil's agency that they hesitated continually and procrastinated. + +18. Other authorities declare that Declan went many times to Rome, but +we have no written testimony from the ancient biographers that he went +there more than three times. On one of these occasions Declan paid a +visit to the holy bishop of the Britons whose name was David at the +church which is called Killmuine [Menevia] where the bishop dwelt beside +the shore of the sea which divides Ireland from Britain. The bishop +received Declan with honour and he remained there forty days, in +affection and joy, and they sang Mass each day and they entered into a +bond of charity which continued between themselves and their successors +for ever afterwards. On the expiration of the forty days Declan took +leave of David giving him a kiss in token of peace and set out himself +and his followers to the shore of the sea to take ship for Ireland. + +19. Now the bell which we have alluded to as sent from heaven to Declan, +was, at that time, in the custody of Runan to carry as we have said, for +Declan did not wish, on any account, to part with it. On this particular +day as they were proceeding towards the ship Runan entrusted it to +another member of the company. On reaching the shore however the latter +laid the bell on a rock by the shore and forgot it till they were half +way across the sea. Then they remembered it and on remembrance they were +much distressed. Declan was very sorrowful that the gift sent him by the +Lord from heaven should have been forgotten in a place where he never +expected to find it again. Thereupon raising his eyes heavenward he +prayed to God within his heart and he said to his followers:--"Lay aside +your sorrow for it is possible with God who sent that bell in the +beginning to send it now again by some marvellous ship." Very fully and +wonderfully and beautifully the creature without reason or understanding +obeyed its creator, for the very heavy unwieldy rock floated buoyantly +and without deviation, so that in a short time they beheld it in their +rear with the bell upon it. And when his people saw this wondrous thing +it filled them with love for God and reverence for their master. Declan +thereupon addressed them prophetically:--"Permit the bell to precede you +and follow it exactly and whatsoever haven it will enter into it is there +my city and my bishopric will be whence I shall go to paradise and there +my resurrection will be." Meantime the bell preceded the ship, and it +eased down its great speed remaining slightly in advance of the ship, so +that it could be seen from and not overtaken by the latter. The bell +directed its course to Ireland until it reached a harbour on the south +coast, scil.:--in the Decies of Munster, at an island called, at that +time, High Sheep Island [Aird na gCcaorac] and the ship made the same +port, as Declan declared. The holy man went ashore and gave thanks and +praise to God that he had reached the place of his resurrection. Now, in +that island depastured the sheep belonging to the wife of the chieftain +of Decies and it is thence that it derives its Irish name--Ard-na- +Ccaorac, scil.:--there was in it a high hill and it was a promontory +beautiful to behold. One of the party, ascending the summit of the hill, +said to Declan:--"How can this little height support your people?" +Declan replied:--"Do not call it little hill, beloved son, but 'great +height' [ard mor]," and that name has adhered to the city ever since, +scil.:--Ardmore-Declain. After this Declan went to the king of the Desii +and asked of him the aforesaid island. Whereupon the king gave it to +him. + +20. Declan next returned to Ait-mBreasail where, in a haven at the north +side, were the shipping and boats of the island, plying thither and +backwards. The people of the island hid all their boats not willing that +Declan should settle there; they dreaded greatly that if Declan came to +dwell there they themselves should be expelled. Whereupon his disciples +addressed Declan:--"Father," said they, "Many things are required (scil.: +from the mainland) and we must often go by boat to this island and there +will be (crossing) more frequently when you have gone to heaven and we +pray thee to abandon the place or else to obtain from God that the sea +recede from the land so that it can be entered dry shod, for Christ has +said:--'Whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name He will give it +to you' [John 15:16]; the place cannot be easily inhabited unless the sea +recede from it and on that account you cannot establish your city in it." +Declan answered them and said:--"How can I abandon the place ordained by +God and in which He has promised that my burial and resurrection shall +be? As to the alleged inconvenience of dwelling therein, do you wish me +to pray to God (for things) contrary to His will--to deprive the sea of +its natural domain? Nevertheless in compliance with your request I shall +pray to God and whatever thing be God's will, let it be done." Declan's +community thereupon rose up and said:--"Father, take your crosier as +Moses took the rod [Exodus 14:16] and strike the sea therewith and God +will thus show His will to you." His disciples prayed therefore to him +because they were tried and holy men. They put Declan's crosier in his +hand and he struck the water in the name of the Father and of the Son and +of the Holy Ghost and made the sign of the cross over the water and +immediately, by command and permission of God, the sea commenced to move +out from its accustomed place--so swiftly too that the monsters of the +sea were swimming and running and that it was with difficulty they +escaped with the sea. However, many fishes were left behind on the dry +strand owing to the suddenness of the ebb. Declan, his crosier in his +hand, pursued the receding tide and his disciples followed after him. +Moreover the sea and the departing monsters made much din and commotion +and when Declan arrived at the place where is now the margin of the sea a +stripling whose name was Mainchin, frightened at the thunder of the waves +and the cry of the unknown monsters with gaping mouths following the +(receding) water, exclaimed:--"Father, you have driven out the sea far +enough; for I am afraid of those horrid monsters." When Declan heard +this and (saw) the sea standing still at the word of the youth it +displeased him and turning round he struck him a slight blow on the nose. +Three drops of blood flowed from the wound on to the ground in three +separate places at the feet of Declan. Thereupon Declan blessed the nose +and the blood ceased immediately (to flow). Then Declan declared:--"It +was not I who drove out the sea but God in His own great power who +expelled it and He would have done still more had you not spoken the +words you have said." Three little wells of clear sweet water burst +forth in the place where fell the three drops of blood at the feet of +Declan, and these wells are there still and the colour of blood is seen +in them occasionally as a memorial of this miracle. The shore, rescued +from the sea, is a mile in width and is of great length around (the +island) and it is good and fertile land for tillage and pasture--lying +beneath the monastery of Declan. As to the crosier which was in Declan's +hand while he wrought this miracle, this is its name--the Feartach +Declain, from the miracles and marvels [fertaib] wrought through it. I +shall in another, subsequent, place relate some of these miracles +(narrated). + +21. After the expulsion of the sea by this famous Saint, scil.: Declan, +whose name and renown spread throughout Erin because of his great and +diverse miracles, he commenced to build a great monastery by the south +side of the stream which flows through the island into the sea. This +monastery is illustrious and beautiful and its name is Ardmor Declain, as +we have said. After this came many persons to Declan, drawn from the +uttermost parts of Ireland, by the fame of his holy living; they devoted +themselves, soul and body to God and Declan, binding themselves beneath +his yoke and his rule. Moreover he built himself in every place +throughout the territory of the Decies, churches and monasteries and not +alone in his own territory (did he build) but in other regions of Ireland +under tribute to him. Great too were the multitudes (thousands) of men +and women who were under his spiritual sway and rule, in the places we +have referred to, throughout Ireland, where happily they passed their +lives. He ordained some of his disciples bishops and appointed them in +these places to sow the seed of faith and religion therein. Gentleness +and charity manifested themselves in Declan to such an extent that his +disciples preferred to live under his immediate control and under his +direction as subjects than to be in authority in another monastery. + +22. After this the holy renowned bishop, head of justice and faith in +the Gaelic island came into Ireland, i.e. Patrick sent by Celestinus, the +Pope. Aongus Mac Nathfrich went to meet him soon as he heard the account +of his coming. He conducted him (Patrick) with reverence and great +honour to his own royal city--to Cashel. Then Patrick baptised him and +blessed himself and his people and his city. Patrick heard that the +prince of the Decies had not been baptised and did not believe, that +there was a disagreement between the prince and Declan and that the +former refused to receive instruction from the latter. Patrick thereupon +set out to preach to the prince aforesaid. Next, as to the four bishops +we have named who had been in Rome: Except Declan alone they were not in +perfect agreement with Patrick. It is true that subsequently to this +they did enter into a league of peace and harmonious actions with Patrick +and paid him fealty. Ciaran, however, paid him all respect and reverence +and was of one mind with him present or absent. Ailbe then, when he saw +the kings and rulers of Ireland paying homage to Patrick and going out to +meet him, came himself to Cashel, to wait on him and he also paid homage +to him (Patrick) and submitted to his jurisdiction, in presence of the +king and all others. Bear in mind it was Ailbe whom the other holy +bishops had elected their superior. He therefore came first to Patrick, +lest the others, on his account, should offer opposition to Patrick, and +also that by his example the others might be more easily drawn to his +jurisdiction and rule. Bishop Ibar however would on no account consent +to be subject to Patrick, for it was displeasing to him that a foreigner +should be patron of Ireland. It happened that Patrick in his origin was +of the Britons and he was nurtured in Ireland having been sold to bondage +in his boyhood. There arose misunderstanding and dissension between +Patrick and Bishop Ibar at first, although (eventually), by intervention +of the angel of peace, they formed a mutual fellowship and brotherly +compact and they remained in agreement for ever after. But Declan did +not wish to disagree at all with Patrick for they had formed a mutual +bond of friendship on the Italian highway and it is thus the angel +commanded him to go to Patrick and obey him:-- + +23. The angel of God came to Declan and said to him "Go quickly to +Patrick and prevent him cursing your kindred and country, for to-night, +in the plain which is called Inneoin, he is fasting against the king, and +if he curses your people they shall be accursed for ever." Thereupon +Declan set out in haste by direction of the angel to Inneoin, i.e. the +place which is in the centre of the plain of Femhin in the northern part +of the Decies. He crossed Slieve Gua [Knockmaeldown] and over the Suir +and arrived on the following morning at the place where Patrick was. +When Patrick and his disciples heard that Declan was there they welcomed +him warmly for they had been told he would not come. Moreover Patrick +and his people received him with great honour. But Declan made obeisance +to Patrick and besought him earnestly that he should not execrate his +people and that he should not curse them nor the land in which they +dwelt, and he promised to allow Patrick do as he pleased. And Patrick +replied:--"On account of your prayer not only shall I not curse them but +I shall give them a blessing." Declan went thereupon to the place where +was the king of Decies who was a neighbour of his. But he contemned +Patrick and he would not believe him even at the request of Declan. +Moreover Declan promised rewards to him if he would go to Patrick to +receive baptism at his hands and assent to the faith. But he would not +assent on any account. When Declan saw this, scil.:--that the king of +the Decies, who was named Ledban, was obstinate in his infidelity and +in his devilry--through fear lest Patrick should curse his race and +country--he (Declan) turned to the assembly and addressed +them:--"Separate yourselves from this accursed man lest you become +yourselves accursed on his account, for I have myself baptised and +blessed you, but come you," said he, "with us, to Patrick, whom God has +sent to bless you, for he has been chosen Archbishop and chief Patron of +all Erin; moreover, I have a right to my own patrimony and to be king +over you as that man (Ledban) has been." At this speech they all arose +and followed Declan who brought them into the presence of Patrick and +said to the latter:--"See how the whole people of the Deisi have come with +me as their Lord to thee and they have left the accursed prince whose +subjects they have been, and behold they are ready to reverence you and +to obey you for it is from me they have received baptism." At this +Patrick rose up with his followers and he blessed the people of the Deisi +and not them alone, but their woods and water and land. Whereupon the +chiefs and nobles of the Deisi said:--"Who will be King or Lord over us +now?" And Declan replied:--"I am your lord and whomsoever I shall +appoint offer you as lord, Patrick and all of us will bless, and he shall +be king over you all." And he whom Declan appointed was Feargal +MacCormac a certain young man of the nation of the Deisi who was a +kinsman of Declan himself. He (Declan) set him in the midst of the +assembly in the king's place and he was pleasing to all. Whereupon +Patrick and Declan blessed him and each of them apart proclaimed him +chieftain. Patrick moreover promised the young man that he should be +brave and strong in battle, that the land should be fruitful during his +reign. Thus have the kings of the Deisi always been. + +24. After these things Declan and Feargal Mac Cormac (king of the Deisi) +and his people gave a large area of land to Patrick in the neighbourhood +of Magh Feimhin and this belongs to his successors ever since and great +lordship there. And the place which was given over to him is not far +from the Suir. There is a great very clear fountain there which is +called "Patrick's Well" and this was dear to Patrick. After this, with +blessing, they took leave of one another and Patrick returned to Cashel +to Aongus Mac Natfrich and Declan went with him. + +25. A miracle was wrought at that time on Declan through the +intercession and prayers of Patrick for as Declan was walking carelessly +along he trod upon a piece of sharp iron which cut his foot so that blood +flowed freely and Declan began to limp. Ailbe of Emly was present at +this miracle and Sechnall a bishop of Patrick's and a holy and wise man, +and he is said to be the first bishop buried in Ireland. The wound which +Declan had received grieved them very much. Patrick was informed of the +accident and was grieved thereat. He said:--"Heal, O Master (i.e. God), +the foot of your own servant who bears much toil and hardship on your +account." Patrick laid his hand on the wounded foot and made over it the +sign of the cross when immediately the flow of blood ceased, the lips of +the wound united, a cicatrix formed upon it and a cure was effected. +Then Declan rose up with his foot healed and joined in praising God. The +soldiers and fighting men who were present cried out loudly, blessing God +and the saints. + +26. As Patrick and the saints were in Cashel, i.e. Ailbe and Declan with +their disciples, in the territory of Aongus Mac Nathfrich, they made much +progress against paganism and errors in faith and they converted them +(the pagans) to Christianity. It was ordained by Patrick and Aongus Mac +Natfrich in presence of the assembly, that the Archbishopric of Munster +should belong to Ailbe, and to Declan, in like manner, was ordained +(committed) his own race, i.e. the Deisi, whom he had converted to be his +parish and his episcopate. As the Irish should serve Patrick, so should +the Deisi serve Declan as their patron, and Patrick made the "rann":-- + +"Humble Ailbe the Patrick of Munster, greater than any saying, Declan, +Patrick of the Deisi--the Decies to Declan for ever." + +This is equivalent to saying that Ailbe was a second Patrick and that +Declan was a second Patrick of the Decies. After that, when the king had +bidden them farewell and they had all taken leave of one another, the +saints returned to their respective territories to sow therein the seed +of faith. + +27. Declan and Ferghal Mac Cormac, king of the Deisi, with his army and +followers, met one another at Indeoin and they made still more strong on +the people the bond of Christian obligation. The king we have already +mentioned, scil.:--Ledban, the recusant to the Christian name, was +rejected of all and he came to nothing, leaving no knowledge (memory) of +his history, as is written of the enemies of the faith:--"Their memory +perisheth like a sound" [Psalm 9:7]. Moreover Declan and Fergal and the +chief men of the Deisi decreed this as the place where the king of the +Deisi should be inaugurated for ever thenceforward, because it was there +Patrick and Declan blessed the king, Fergal; moreover tradition states +that it was there the kings were crowned and ruled over the Deisi in +pagan times. + +28. At that time there broke out a dreadful plague in Munster and it was +more deadly in Cashel than elsewhere. Thus it affected those whom it +attacked: it first changed their colour to yellow and then killed them. +Now Aongus had, in a stone fort called "Rath na nIrlann," on the western +side of Cashel, seven noble hostages. It happened that in one and the +same night they all died of the plague. The king was much affected +thereat and he gave orders to have the fact concealed lest it should +bring disgrace or even war upon him, for the hostages were scions of the +strongest and most powerful families in Munster. On the morrow however +Declan came to Cashel and talked with Aonghus. The king welcomed him +heartily and addressing him said to him in presence of persons of his +court, "I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in the name of Christ +you would raise to life for me the seven hostages whom I held in bondage +from the chieftains of Munster. They have died from the plague of which +you hear, and I fear their fathers will raise war and rebellion against +me, for they are men of strength and power, and indeed we are ashamed of +their death, for they will say that it is we ourselves who killed them." +Declan answered the king, saying to him:--"Such a matter as this--to +raise one to life from death--belongs to Omnipotence alone--but I shall +do whatever is in my power. I go where the bodies lie and pray to God +for them and let Him do in their regard what seems best to Him." Next, +Declan, with a multitude and his disciples together with the king's +councillors, went to the place where the corpses of the young men lay. +The king followed after them until he came in sight of the bodies. +Declan, full of divine faith, entered the house wherein they lay and he +sprinkled holy water over them and prayed for them in the presence of +all, saying:--"O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the living God, for thine +own name's sake wake the dead that they may be strengthened in the +Catholic faith through our instrumentality." Thereupon, at Declan's +prayer, the group (of corpses) revived and they moved their eyelids and +Declan said to them "In the name of Christ, our Saviour, stand up and +bless and glorify God." And at his words they rose up immediately and +spoke to all. Declan then announced to the king that they were alive and +well. When people saw this remarkable miracle they all gave glory and +praise to God. The fame of Declan thereupon spread throughout Erin and +the king rejoiced for restoration of his hostages. + +29. After this the people of Cashel besought Bishop Declan to bless +their city and banish the plague from them and to intercede with God for +those stricken with sickness who could not escape from its toils. Declan +seeing the people's faith prayed to God and signed with the sign of +Redemption the four points of the compass. As he concluded, there was +verified the saying of Christ to His disciples when leaving them and +going to heaven:--"Super aegros imponent manus et bene habebunt" [Mark +16:18] (I shall place my hands on the sick and they shall be healed). +Soon as Declan had made the sign of the cross each one who was ill became +well and not alone were these restored to health but (all the sick) of +the whole region round about in whatsoever place there were persons +ailing. Moreover the plague was banished from every place and all +rejoiced greatly thereat as well as on account of the resurrection of the +dead men we have narrated. The king thereupon ordered tribute and honour +to Declan and his successors from himself and from every king who should +hold Cashel ever after. Upon this the glorious bishop Declan blessed +Aongus together with his city and people and returned back to his own +place. + +30. One night Declan was a guest at the house of a wealthy man who dwelt +in the southern part of Magh Femhin; this is the kind of person his host +was, scil.:--a pagan who rejected the true faith, and his name was +Dercan. He resolved to amuse himself at the Christians' expense; +accordingly he ordered his servants to kill a dog secretly, to cut off +its head and feet and to bury them in the earth and then to cook the +flesh properly and to set it before Declan and his company as their meal. +Moreover he directed that the dog should be so fat that his flesh might +pass as mutton. When, in due course, it was cooked, the flesh, together +with bread and other food, was laid before Declan and his following. At +that moment Declan had fallen asleep but he was aroused by his disciples +that he might bless their meal. He observed to them:--"Indeed I see, +connected with this meat, the ministry of the devil." Whereupon he +questioned the waiters as to the meat--what kind it was and whence +procured. They replied: "Our master ordered us to kill a fat ram for +you and we have done as he commanded." Declan said, "Our Master is Jesus +Christ and may He show us what it is that connects the ministry of Satan +with this meat and preserve thy servants from eating forbidden food." As +he spoke thus Declan saw in the meat the claw of a dog, for, without +intending it, they had boiled one quarter of the dog with its paw +adhering; they thought they had buried it (the incriminating limb) with +the other paws. Declan exclaimed, "This is not a sheep's but a dog's +foot." When the attendants heard this they went at once to their master +and related the matter to him. Then Dercan came to Declan, accepted his +faith and received Baptism at his hands, giving himself and his posterity +to Declan for ever. Moreover he gave his homestead to Declan and his +people were baptised. After this Dercan requested that Declan should +bless something in his homestead which might remain as a memorial of him +(Dercan) for ever. Then Declan blessed a bell which he perceived there +and its name is Clog-Dhercain ("Dercan's Bell"); moreover, he declared: +"I endow it with this virtue (power) that if the king of Decies march +around it when going to battle, against his enemies, or to punish +violation of his rights, he shall return safely and with victory." This +promise has been frequently fulfilled, but proud (men) undertaking battle +or conflict unjustly even if they march around it do not obtain victory +but success remains with the enemy. The name of that homestead was +Teach-Dhercain ("Dercain's House") and its name now is Coningean, from +the claw [con] of the hound or dog aforesaid. To this place came the +saintly concourse, scil:--Coman and Ultan, MacErc and Mocoba and +Maclaisren, who dedicated themselves to (the service of) God and placed +themselves under the spiritual rule and sway of Declan. + +31. Thereupon Declan established a monastery in that place, scil.--in +Coningin--and he placed there this holy community with a further band of +disciples. Ultan however he took away with him to the place whither he +went. + +32. On another (subsequent) occasion Declan visited Bregia, i.e. the +original territory which belonged to his race previous to the expulsion +of his ancestors. There he was treated with particular honour by the +king of Tara and by the chieftains of Meath by whom he was beloved, since +it was from themselves (their tribe and territory) that his forbears had +gone out, for that region was the patrimony of his race and within it +lies Tara. Declan instituted therein a monastery of Canons, on land +which he received from the king, and it is from him the place is named. +Moreover he left therein a relic or illuminated book and a famous gospel +which he was accustomed to carry always with him. The gospel is still +preserved with much honour in the place and miracles are wrought through +it. After this again he turned towards Munster. + +33. Declan was once travelling through Ossory when he wished to remain +for the night in a certain village. But the villagers not only did not +receive him but actually drove him forth by force of arms. The saint +however prayed to God that it might happen to them what the Sacred +Scripture says, "Vengeance is mine I will repay" [Deuteronomy 32:35]. +The dwellers in the village, who numbered sixty, died that same night +with the exception of two men and ten women to whom the conduct of the +others towards the saint had been displeasing. On the morrow these +men and women came humbly to the place where Declan was and they told +him--what he himself foreknew--how miserably the others had died. They +themselves did penance and they bestowed on Declan a suitable site +whereon he built a monastery and he got another piece of land and had the +dead buried where he built the monastery. The name of that monastery is +Cill-Colm-Dearg. This Colm-Dearg was a kind, holy man and a disciple of +Declan. He was of East Leinster, i.e. of the Dal Meiscorb, and it is +from him that the monastery is named. When he (Declan) had completed +that place he came to his own territory again, i.e. to the Decies. + +34. On a certain day Declan came to a place called Ait-Breasail and the +dwellers therein would not allow him to enter their village; moreover +they hid all their boats so that he could not go into his own island, for +they hated him very much. In consideration however of the sanctity of +his servant, who prayed in patience, God the All-Powerful turned the sea +into dry land as you have already heard. Declan passed the night in an +empty stable out in the plain and the people of the village did not give +him even a fire. Whereupon, appropriately the anger of God fell on them, +who had not compassion enough to supply the disciple of God with a fire. +There came fire from heaven on them to consume them all [together with +their] homestead and village, so that the place has been ever since a +wilderness accursed, as the prophet writes: "civitates eorum +destruxisti" [Psalm 9:7] (the dwellings of the unmerciful are laid +waste). + +35. On yet another occasion Declan was in his own region--travelling +over Slieve Gua in the Decies, when his horse from some cause got lame so +that he could proceed no further. Declan however, seeing a herd of deer +roaming the mountain close to him, said to one of his people: "Go, and +bring me for my chariot one of these deer to replace my horse and take +with you this halter for him." Without any misgiving the disciple went +on till he reached the deer which waited quietly for him. He chose the +animal which was largest and therefore strongest, and, bringing him back, +yoked him to the chariot. The deer thereupon obediently and without +effort carried Bishop Declan till he came to Magh Femhin, where, when he +reached a house of entertainment, the saint unloosed the stag and bade +him to go free as was his nature. Accordingly, at the command of the +saintly man and in the presence of all, the stag returned on the same +road back (to the mountain). Dormanach is the name of the man aforesaid +who brought the stag to Declan and him Declan blessed and gave him a +piece of land on the north of Decies close by the Eoghanacht and his +posterity live till now in that place. + +36. On another occasion, Declan, accompanied, as usual, by a large +following, was travelling, when one member of the party fell on the road +and broke his shin bone in twain. Declan saw the accident and, pitying +the injured man, he directed an individual of the company to bandage the +broken limb so that the sufferer might not die through excess of pain and +loss of blood. All replied that they could not endure to dress the wound +owing to their horror thereof. But there was one of the company, Daluadh +by name, who faced the wound boldly and confidently and said: "In the +name of Christ and of Declan our patron I shall be surgeon to this foot"; +and he said that jestingly. Nevertheless he bandaged the foot carefully +and blessed it aright in the name of God and Declan, and in a little +while the wound healed and they all gave praise to God. Then Declan said +to Daluadh: "You promised to be surgeon to that foot in Christ's name +and in mine and God has vouchsafed to heal it at these words: on this +account you will be a true physician for ever and your children and your +seed after you for ever shall also possess the healing art, and +whomsoever they shall practise healing upon in God's name and mine, +provided there be no hatred [in their hearts] nor too great covetousness +of a physician's fee to him, God and myself shall send relief." This +promise of Declan has been fulfilled in the case of that family. + +37. On another occasion, as Declan was travelling in the northern part +of Magh Femhin beside the Suir, he met there a man who was carrying a +little infant to get it baptised. Declan said to the people [his +"muinntear," or following]: "Wait here till I baptise yonder child," for +it was revealed by the Holy Ghost to him that he [the babe] should serve +God. The attendant replied to him that they had neither a vessel nor +salt for the baptism. Declan said: "We have a wide vessel, the Suir, +and God will send us salt, for this child is destined to become holy and +wonderful [in his works]." Thereupon Declan took up a fistful of earth +and, making prayer in his heart to God, he signed the clay with the sign +of the cross of redemption. It (the handful of earth) became white, dry +salt, and all, on seeing it, gave thanks and honour to God and Declan. +The infant was baptised there and the name of Ciaran given him. Declan +said: "Bring up my spiritual son carefully and send him, at a fitting +age, for education to a holy man who is well instructed in the faith for +he will become a shining bright pillar in the Church." And it was this +child, Ciaran Mac Eochaidh, who founded in after years a famous monastery +(from which he migrated to heaven) and another place (monastery) besides. +He worked many miracles and holy signs and this is the name of his +monastery Tiprut [Tubrid] and this is where it is:--in the western part +of the Decies in Ui Faithe between Slieve Grot [Galtee] and Sieve Cua and +it is within the bishopric of Declan. + +38. On another day there came a woman to Declan's monastery not far from +the city where she dwelt. She committed a theft that day in Declan's +monastery as she had often done previously, and this is the thing she +stole--a "habellum" [possibly an item of tribute]; she departed homewards +taking it with her and there met her a group of people on the highway, +and the earth, in their presence, swallowed her up, and she cast out the +tabellum from her bosom and it was quickly turned into a stone which the +wayfarers took and brought with them to Declan. Declan himself had in +supernatural vision seen all that happened to the woman in punishment of +her theft, and the name of Declan was magnified owing to those marvels so +that fear took possession of all-those present and those absent. The +stone in question remains still in Declan's graveyard in his own town of +Ardmore-Declain, where it stands on an elevated place in memory of this +miracle. + +39. A rich man named Fintan was childless, for his wife was barren for +many years. He himself, with his wife, visited Declan and promised large +alms and performance of good works provided he (Declan) would pray that +they might have children: they held it as certain that if Declan but +prayed for them God would grant them children. Declan therefore, praying +to God and blessing the pair, said: "Proceed to your home and through +God's bounty you shall have offspring." The couple returned home, with +great joy for the blessing and for the promise of the offspring. The +following night, Fintan lay with his wife and she conceived and brought +forth twin sons, scil.: Fiacha and Aodh, who, together with their +children and descendants were under tribute and service to God and +Declan. + +40. When it was made known to a certain holy man, scil.:--Ailbe of Emly +Iubar, chief bishop of Munster, that his last days had come, he said to +his disciples: "Beloved brethren, I wish, before I die, to visit my very +dear fellow worker, scil.:--Declan." After this Ailbe set out on the +journey and an angel of God came to Declan notifying him that Ailbe was +on his way to visit him. On the angel's notification Declan ordered his +disciples to prepare the house for Ailbe's coming. He himself went to +meet Ailbe as far as the place which is called Druim Luctraidh +[Luchluachra]. Thence they came home together and Ailbe, treated with +great honour by Declan and his people, stayed fourteen pleasant days. +After that the aged saint returned home again to his own city, scil.:--to +Emly Iubar. Declan came and many of his people, escorting Ailbe, to +Druim Luchtradh, and Ailbe bade him return to his own city. The two knew +they should not see one another in this world ever again. In taking +leave of one another, therefore, they shed plentiful tears of sorrow and +they instituted an everlasting compact and league between their +successors in that place. Ailbe moreover blessed the city of Declan, his +clergy and people and Declan did the same for Ailbe and they kissed one +another in token of love and peace and each returned to his own city. + +41. On a certain day the Castle of Cinaedh, King of the Deisi, took fire +and it burned violently. It happened however that Declan was proceeding +towards the castle on some business and he was grieved to see it burning; +he flung towards it the staff to which we have referred in connection +with the drying up of the sea, and it (the staff) flew hovering in the +air with heavenly wings till it reached the midst of the flame and the +fire was immediately extinguished of its own accord through the grace of +God and virtue of the staff and of Declan to whom it belonged. The place +from which Declan cast the staff was a long mile distant from the castle +and when the king, i.e. Cinaedh, and all the others witnessed this +miracle they were filled with amazement and gave thanks to God and to +Declan when they came to know that it was he who wrought it. Now the +place where the castle stands is not far from the Suir, i.e. on the south +side of it and the place from which Declan cast the staff is beside a +ford which is in the Suir or a stream which flows beside the monastery +called Mag Laca [Molough] which the holy virgins, daughters of the king +of Decies, have built in honour of God. There is a pile of stones and a +cross in the place to commemorate this miracle. + +42. On another occasion there approached a foreign fleet towards +Declan's city and this was their design--to destroy and to plunder it of +persons and of cattle, because they (the foreigners) were people hostile +to the faith. Many members of the community ran with great haste to tell +Declan of the fleet which threatened the town and to request him to beg +the assistance of God against the invaders. Declan knew the man amongst +his own disciples who was holiest and most abounding in grace, scil., +Ultan, already mentioned, and him he ordered to pray to God against the +fleet. Ultan had pity on the Christian people and he went instantly, at +the command of Declan, in front of the fleet and he held his left hand +against it, and, on the spot, the sea swallowed them like sacks full of +lead, and the drowned sailors were changed into large rocks which stand +not far from the mouth of the haven where they are visible (standing) +high out of the sea from that time till now. All Christians who +witnessed this rejoiced and were glad and they gave great praise and +glory to God and to Declan their own patron who caused the working of +this miracle and of many other miracles besides. Next there arose a +contention between Ultan and Declan concerning this miracle, for Ultan +attributed it to Declan and Declan credited it to Ultan; and it has +become a proverb since in Ireland when people hear of danger or +jeopardy:--"The left hand of Ultan against you (the danger)." Ultan +became, after the death of Declan, a miracle-working abbot of many other +holy monks. + +43. The holy and glorious archbishop, i.e. Patrick, sent one of his own +followers to Declan with power and authority (delegation) from the +archbishop. And proceeding through the southern part of Decies he was +drowned in a river [the Lickey] there, two miles from the city of Declan. +When Declan heard this he was grieved and he said: "Indeed it grieves me +that a servant of God and of Patrick who sent him to visit me, having +travelled all over Ireland, should be drowned in a river of my own +territory. Get my chariot for me that I may go in haste to see his +corpse, so that Patrick may come to hear of the worry and the grief I +have undergone because of his disciple's death." The body had been +recovered before the arrival of Declan by others who were close at hand +and it had been placed on a bier to be carried to Ciaran for interment. +Declan however met them on the way, when he ordered the body to be laid +down on the ground. They supposed he was about to recite the Office for +the Dead. He (Declan) advanced to the place where the bier was and +lifted the sheet covering the face. It (the face) looked dark and +deformed as is usual in the case of the drowned. He prayed to God and +shed tears, but no one heard aught of what he said. After this he +commanded:--"In the name of the Trinity, in the name of the Father and of +the Son and of the Holy Ghost whose religious yoke I bear myself, arise +to us for God has given your life to me." He (the dead man) rose up +immediately at the command and he greeted Declan and all the others. +Whereupon Declan and his disciples received him with honour. At first he +was not completely cured but (was) like one convalescent until (complete) +health returned to him by degrees again. He however accompanied Declan +and remained some time with him and there was much rejoicing in Declan's +city on account of the miracle and his (Declan's) name and fame extended +over the country generally. This disciple of Patrick was named Ballin; +he returned with great joy and he told him (Patrick) that Declan had +raised him from the dead. To many others likewise he related what had +happened to him. Patrick, in presence of many persons, hearing of the +miracle gave glory and thanks to God and the name of Declan was +magnified. + +44. With this extraordinary miracle wrought by Declan we wish to +conclude our discourse. The number of miracles he wrought, but which are +not written here, you are to judge and gather from what we have written. +And we wish moreover that you would understand that he healed the infirm, +that he gave sight to the eyes of the blind, cleansed lepers, and gave +"their walk" to cripples; that he obtained hearing for the deaf, and that +he healed many and various diseases in many different places throughout +Ireland--(things) which are not written here because of their length and +because they are so numerous to record, for fear it should tire readers +to hear so much said of one particular person. On that account we shall +pass them by. + +45. When Declan realised that his last days were at hand and that the +time remaining to him was very short he summoned to him his own spiritual +son, scil., MacLiag (residing) in the monastery which is on the eastern +side of the Decies close to the Leinstermen in order that, at the hour of +death, he might receive the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments +of the Church from his hands. Thereupon he foretold to his disciples the +day of his death and he commanded them to bring him to his own city, for +it was not there he dwelt at the time but in a small venerable cell which +he had ordered to be built for him between the hill called Ardmore +Declain and the ocean--in a narrow place at the brink of the sea by which +there flows down from the hill above a small shining stream about which +are trees and bushes all around, and it is called Disert Declain. Thence +to the city it is a short mile and the reason why Declan used go there +was to avoid turmoil and noise so that he might be able to read and pray +and fast there. Indeed it was not easy for him to stay even there +because of the multitude of disciples and paupers and pilgrims and +beggars who followed him thither. Declan was however generous and very +sympathetic and on that account it is recorded by tradition that a great +following (of poor, &c.), generally accompanied him and that moreover the +little cell was very dear to him for the reason we have given, and many +devout people have made it their practice to dwell therein. + +46. When Declan fell ill and became weak in body, but still strong in +hope and faith and love of God, he returned to his own city--his people +and disciples and clergy surrounding him. He discoursed to them on the +commands of God and he enjoined on them to live holily after his death, +to be submissive to authority and to follow as closely as possible the +way he had marked out and to preserve his city in a state of piety and +under religious rule. And when they had all heard the discourse it +grieved them greatly to perceive, from what he had said, he realised that +in a short time he would go away to heaven from them. But they were +consoled by his gentle words and then there came to him the holy man, to +wit, MacLiag, at his own request, already referred to. He [Declan] +received the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church +from his [MacLiag's] hand--surrounded by holy men and his disciples, and +he blessed his people and his dependents and his poor, and he kissed them +in token of love and peace. Thus, having banished images and the +sacrifices to idols, having converted multitudes to the true faith, +having established monasteries and ecclesiastical orders in various +places, having spent his whole life profitably and holily, this glorious +bishop went with the angels to heaven on the ninth day of the Kalends of +August [July 24] and his body was blessed and honoured with Masses and +chanting by holy men and by the people of the Decies and by his own monks +and disciples collected from every quarter at the time of his death. He +was buried with honour in his own city--in Declan's High-Place--in the +tomb which by direction of an angel he had himself indicated--which +moreover has wrought wonders and holy signs from that time to now. He +departed to the Unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost in +Saecula Saeculorum; Amen. FINIS. + + +The poor brother, Michael O'Clery originally copied this life of Declan +in Cashel, from the book of Eochy O'Heffernan. The date, A.D., at which +that ancient book of Eochy was written is 1582. And the same life has +now been re-written in the Convent of the Friars at Druiske, the date, +A.D., 27th February, 1629. + + + +NOTE + + +The Irish text of the "rann" from paragraph 26 reads: + +Ailbe umal; Patraicc Muman, mo gacrath, +Declan, Patraicc na nDeisi: na Deisi ag Declan gan brat. + + +And the Latin rendering: + +Albeus est humilis dixit Caephurnia proles; +Patriciusque esto hinc Ailbee Momonia. +Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto; +Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos. + + + + +LIFE OF ST. MOCHUDA. + +"BEATA MOCUDA." + + +The renowned bishop, Carthach, commonly called Mochuda, was of the +territory of Ciarraighe Luachra [North Kerry] and of the race of Fergus +Mac Roigh. + +The illustrious bishop, who is generally known as Mochuda, was of the +Ciarraighe Luachra; to be exact--he was of the line of Fergus Mac Roigh, +who held the kingship of Ulster, till the time that he gave the kingship +to a woman for a year and did not get it back when the year was over. +His descendants are now to be found throughout various provinces of +Ireland. He fell himself, through the treachery of Oilioll, king of +Connaght, and the latter's jealousy of his wife, Meadbh, daughter of +Eochaid Feidhleach. Finghen Mac Gnaoi of Ciarraighe Luachra was father +of Mochuda, and his mother was Mead, daughter of Finghin, of Corca +Duibhne, in the vicinity of the stream called Laune in the western part +of Ireland. The forthcoming birth of Mochuda was revealed to St. +Comhghall by an angel, announcing--"There will be conceived a child in +the western part of Erin, and Carthach will be his baptismal name and he +will be beloved of God and men--in heaven and on earth. He will come to +you seeking direction as to a proposed pilgrimage to Rome--but you must +not permit the journey for the Lord has assigned him to you; but let him +remain with you a whole year." All this came to pass, as foretold. In +similar manner the future Mochuda was foretold to St. Brendan by an +angel who declared: "There will come to you a wonder-working brother +who will be the patron of you and your kindred for ever; the region of +Ciarraighe will be divided between you and him, and Carthach will be his +name; to multitudes his advent will be cause for joy and he will gain +multitudes for heaven. His first city will be Raithen [Rahen or Rahan] +in the region of Fircheall, territory of Meath and central plain of +Ireland; this will become a place revered of men, and revered and famous +will be his second city and church, scil.:--Lismore, which shall possess +lordship and great pre-eminence." + +One day when there was a large meeting of people at a certain place in +Kerry, the men and women who were present saw descending a fiery globe, +which rested on the head of Mochuda's mother, at that time pregnant of +the future saint. The ball of fire did no one any injury but +disappeared before it did injury to anyone. All those who beheld this +marvel wondered thereat and speculated what it could portend. This is +what it did mean:--that the graces of the Holy Spirit had visited this +woman and her holy child unborn. + +Mochuda's father was a rich and powerful chieftain owning two strong +lioses--one, on the south side of Slieve Mish, and the other, in which +Mochuda first saw the light, beside the River Maing [Maine]. Both +places were blessed for sake of the Saint, who was conceived in one of +them and born in the other; it is even said that no evil disposed or +vicious person can live in either. Carthage in due course was sent to +be baptised, and, on the way, the servant who bore the infant, meeting a +saintly man named Aodhgan, asked him to perform the ceremony. There was +however no water in the place, but a beautiful well, which burst forth +for the occasion and still remains, yielded a supply. With the water of +this well the infant was baptised and Carthach, as the angel had +foretold, was the name given him. Nevertheless 'Mochuda' is the name by +which he was commonly known, because he was so called, through affection +and regard, by his master (St. Carthach Senior). Many scarcely know +that he has any other name than Mochuda and it is lawful to write either +Mochuda or Carthach. Speaking prophetically Aodhgan said of him:--"This +child whom I have baptised will become famous and he will be beloved by +God and men." That prophecy has been fulfilled, for Mochuda was +graceful of figure and handsome of features as David, he was master of +his passions as Daniel, and mild and gentle like Moses. His parents +however despised him because he valued not earthly vanities and in his +regard were verified the words of David:--"Pater meus et mater mea +derliquerunt me, Dominus autem assumpsit me" [Psalm 26(27):10] (For my +father and my mother have left me and the Lord hath taken me up). Like +David too--who kept the sheep of his father--Mochuda, with other youths, +herded his father's swine in his boyhood. + +On a certain day as Mochuda, with his companion swineherds and their +charges, was in the vicinity of the River Maing, he heard that the king +of Ciarraighe Luachra was at his residence called Achadh-di; he waited +on the king by whom he was kindly and politely received. The king, +whose name was Maoltuile and who wished to see Mochuda frequently, +invited the youth to come every day to the royal lios and to bring with +him his companions, who would be made welcome for his sake. One evening +as Mochuda sate in the king's presence Maoltuile gazed so long and so +intently at the youth that the queen (Dand, daughter of Maolduin Mac +Aodha Beannan, king of Munster) reproved her husband asking why he +stared every evening at the boy. "O wife," answered the king, "if you +but saw what I see, you would never gaze at anything else, for I behold +a wondrous golden chain about his neck and a column of fire reaching +from his head to the heavens, and since I first beheld these marvels my +affection for the boy has largely increased." "Then," said the queen, +"let him sit there beside you." Thenceforth the youth sate as +suggested. Sometimes Mochuda herded the swine in the woods and at other +times he remained with the king in his court. + +One day as Mochuda was keeping his herd as usual beside the river +already alluded to, he heard the bishop and his clerics pass by, +chanting psalms as they went along. The Spirit of God touched the boy's +heart and leaving his pigs Mochuda followed the procession as far as the +monastery called Tuaim [Druim Fertain] [into which the clerics entered]. +And as the bishop and his household sate down to eat, Mochuda, unknown +to them, concealed himself--sitting in the shadow of the doorway. +Meanwhile the king, Maoltuile, was troubled about the boy, noticing his +absence [from the homestead at Achaddi] that evening and not knowing the +cause thereof. He immediately sent messengers to seek the youth +throughout the country, and one of these found him sitting, as +indicated, in the shadow of the doorway of the bishop's house. The +messenger took Mochuda with him back to the king. The latter questioned +him:--"My child, why have you stayed away in this manner?" Mochuda +replied, "Sire, this is why I have stayed away--through attraction of +the holy chant of the bishop and clergy; I have never heard anything so +beautiful as this; the clerics sang as they went along the whole way +before me; they sang until they arrived at their house, and thenceforth +they sang till they went to sleep. The bishop however remained by +himself far into the night praying by himself when the others had +retired. And I wish, O king, that I might learn [their psalms and +ritual]." Hearing this the king at once sent a message to the bishop +requesting the latter to come to him. + +About this time Mochuda's father gave a feast in the king's honour and +as the company were at supper the king calling Mochuda before him +offered him a shield, sword, javelin, and princely robe, saying: "Take +these and be henceforth a knight to me as your father has been." But +Mochuda declined the offer. "What is it," asked the king, "that you +will accept, so that [whatever it be] I may give it to you?" Mochuda +answered:--"I do not long for anything of earth--only that I be allowed +to learn the psalms of the clerics which I heard them sing." In this +answer the king discerned the working of divine grace, whereupon he +promised the youth the favour he asked for. Shortly afterwards the +bishop, Carthach, whom we have mentioned as sent for by the king, +arrived, and to him the latter entrusted Mochuda to be instructed in +reading and writing. With great joy the bishop undertook his charge for +he saw that his pupil was marked by grace, and under the bishop's +guidance and tutelage Mochuda remained till his promotion to the +priesthood. + +Mochuda was very handsome of features with the result that at different +times during his youth maidens to the number of thirty were so enamoured +of him that they could not conceal their feeling. But Mochuda prayed +for them, and obtained for them by his prayers that their carnal love +should be turned into a spiritual. They afterwards became consecrated +religious and within what to-day is his parish he built them cells and +monasteries which the holy virgins placed under his protection and +jurisdiction. + +Finntan Mac Cartan, bringing with him an infant for baptism came to +Bishop Carthach. The latter said to him:--"Let the young priest there +who was ordained to-day baptise the child." Whereupon Finntan handed the +infant to the young priest. Mochuda enquired the name he was to impose, +and the father answered--Fodhran. Having administered baptism Mochuda +taking the infant's hand prophesied concerning the babe--"This hand will +be strong in battle and will win hostages and submission of the Clan +Torna whose country lies in mid-Kerry from Sliabh Luachra [Slieve +Lougher] to the sea. From his seed, moreover, will spring kings to the +end of time, unless indeed they refuse me due allegiance, and if, at any +time, they incur displeasure of my successors their kingship and +dominion will come to an end." This prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Sometime afterwards Mochuda with his master, Carthach, visited King +Maoltuile, whom they found at a place called Feorainn, near Tralee, from +which the lords and kings of Kerry take their name. Said Bishop +Carthach:--"Here, Sire, is the youth you gave me to train; he is a good +scholar and he has studied the holy writings with much success. I have +ordained him a priest and (his) grace is manifest in many ways." "What +recompense do you desire for your labour?" asked the king. "Only," +replied Carthach, "that you would place yourself and your posterity +under the spiritual jurisdiction of this young priest, the servant of +God." The king, however, hesitated--because of Mochuda's youth. Soon +as Carthach perceived this he himself inclined to Mochuda and bending +his knee before him exclaimed:--"I hereby give myself, my parish and +monastery to God and to Mochuda for ever." Touched by the bishop's +example the king prostrated himself before Mochuda and pledged to God +and to him, his soul and body and posterity to the end of time. Then +Mochuda placed his foot upon the king's neck and measured the royal body +with his foot. Against this proceeding of Mochuda's a member of the +king's party protested in abusive and insulting terms--"It is a haughty +act of yours, laying your foot upon the king's neck, for be it known to +you the body on which you trample is worthy of respect." On hearing +this Mochuda ceased to measure the king and declared:--"The neck upon +which I have set my heel shall never be decapitated and the body which I +have measured with my foot shall not be slain and but for your +interference there would not be wanting anything to him or his seed for +ever." Addressing (specially) the interrupter, he prophesied:--"You and +your posterity will be for ever contemptible among the tribes." +Blessing the king he promised him prosperity here and heaven hereafter +and assured him:--"If any one of your posterity contemn my successors +refusing me my lawful dues he will never reign over the kingdom of +Kerry." This prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Next, Mochuda, at the suggestion of his master, the bishop, and the King +Maoltuile, built a famous cell called Kiltulach [Kiltallagh] at a place +between Sliabh Mis and the River Maing in the southern part of Kerry. +Here his many miracles won him the esteem of all. In that region he +found two bishops already settled before him, scil.:--Dibhilin and +Domailgig. These became envious of the honour paid him and the fame he +acquired, and they treated him evilly. Whereupon he went to Maoltuile +and told him the state of affairs. Soon as the king heard the tale he +came with Mochuda from the place where he then was on the bank of the +Luimnech and stayed not till they reached the summit of Sliabh Mis, when +he addressed Mochuda: "Leave this confined region for the present to +the envy and jealousy of the bishops and hereafter it will become yours +and your coarbs' to the end of time." The advice commended itself to +Mochuda and he thanked the king for it. Thereupon he abandoned his cell +to the aforesaid bishops and determined to set out alone as a pilgrim to +the northern part of Ireland. + +In the meantime an angel visited Comghall and repeated to him what had +been foretold him already--that there should come to him a young priest +desirous for Christ's sake of pilgrimage beyond the seas--that Comghall +should dissuade him and, instead, retain the stranger with him for a +year at Bangor. "And how am I to recognise him?" asked Comghall. The +angel answered:--"Whom you shall see going from the church to the +guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to visit the church first). +[See note 1.] Comghall announced to his household that there was coming +to them a distinguished stranger, well-beloved of God, of whose advent +an angel had twice foretold him. Some time later Mochuda arrived at +Comghall's establishment, and he went first to the monastery and +Comghall recognised him and bade him welcome. In that place Mochuda +remained a whole year, as the angel had said, and at the end of the year +he returned to his own country where he built many cells and churches +and worked many wonders, winning many souls to religion and to good +works. Many persons moreover placed themselves, their children, and +their kindred under his jurisdiction, and the great parishes of their +own territory were assigned to him, and finally the episcopate of Kerry +became his. + +Subsequent to this Mochuda, having committed the care of his cell and +parish to certain pious and suitable persons, set out himself, +accompanied by a few disciples, through the south of Munster to visit +the Monastery of Ciaran Mac Fionntan at Rosgiallan [Rostellan]. From +Ciaran Mochuda enquired, where--in south Munster (as the angel had +mentioned to Comghall)--the chief and most distinguished of these +churches should be. Ciaran, who possessed the spirit of prophecy, +replied--"You shall go first to Meath where you will found a famous +church in the territory of Ibh Neill and there you will remain for forty +years. You shall be driven thence into exile and you will return to +Munster wherein will be your greatest and most renowned church." +Mochuda offered to place himself under the patronage and jurisdiction of +Ciaran: "Not so, shall it be," said Ciaran, "but rather do I put myself +and my church under you, for ever, reserving only that my son, Fuadhran, +be my successor in this place." This Mochuda assented to and Fuadhran +governed the monastic city for twenty years as Ciaran's successor in the +abbacy. + +Next, Mochuda entered the territory of the Munster Decies where dwelt +the Clanna Ruadhain who placed themselves and all their churches under +him, and one Colman Mac Cobhthaigh a wealthy magnate of the region +donated extensive lands to Mochuda who placed them under devout persons +--to hold for him. Proceeding thence Mochuda took his way across Sliabh +Gua looking back from the summit of which he saw by the bank of the Nemh +[Blackwater] angels ascending towards heaven and descending thence. And +they took up with them to heaven a silver chair with a golden image +thereon. This was the place in which long afterwards he founded his +famous church and whence he departed himself to glory. + +Hence Mochuda travelled to Molua Mac Coinche's monastery of Clonfert +[Kyle], on the confines of Leinster and Munster. He found Molua in the +harvest field in the midst of a 'meitheal' [team] of reapers. Before +setting out on this present journey of his Mochuda had, with one +exception, dismissed all his disciples to their various homes for he, +but with a single companion, did not wish to enter the strange land +ostentatiously. The single follower whom Mochuda had retained wishing +to remain at Clonfert, said to St. Molua: "Holy father, I should wish +to remain here with you." Molua answered:--"I shall permit you, +brother, if your pious master consents." Mochuda, having dismissed so +many, would not make any difficulty about an individual, and so he gave +the monk his freedom. Mochuda thereupon set out alone, which, Molua's +monks observing, they remark:--"It were time for that aged man to remain +in some monastery, for it is unbecoming such a (senior) monk to wander +about alone." They did not know that he, of whom they spoke, was +Mochuda, for it was not the custom of the latter to make himself known +to many. "Say not so," said Molua (to the censorious brethren), "for +the day will come when our community and city will seem but +insignificant beside his--though now he goes alone; you do not know that +he is Mochuda whom many obey and whom many more will obey in times to +come." + +As Mochuda went on his lonely way he met two monks who asked him whither +he was bound. "To Colman Elo," he answered. Then said one of them to +him:--"Take us with you as monks and subjects," for they judged him from +his countenance to be a holy man. Mochuda accepted the monks and they +journeyed on together till they came to Colman's monastery [Lynally]. +Mochuda said to Colman: "Father I would remain here with you." "Not +so," replied Colman, "but go you to a place called Rahen in this +vicinity; that is the place ordained by God for your dwelling and you +shall have there a large community in the service of God and from that +place you will get your first name--Mochuda of Rahen." Having said +farewell to Colman and obtained his blessing Mochuda, with his two +monks, set out for the place indicated and there in the beginning he +built a small cell and Colman and he often afterwards exchanged visits. + +Colman had in the beginning--some time previous to Mochuda's +advent--contemplated establishing himself at Rahen and he had left there +two or three [bundles] of rods remarking to his disciples that another +should come after him for whom and not for himself God had destined this +place. It was with this material that Mochuda commenced to build his +cell as Colman had foretold in the first instance. He erected later a +great monastery in which he lived forty years and had eight hundred and +eighty seven religious under his guidance and rule. + +Subsequent to Mochuda's foundation of Rahen his miracles and the marvels +he wrought spread his fame far and wide through Ireland and through +Britain, and multitudes came to him from various parts of those +countries to give themselves to the service of God under his guidance. +In the beginning he refused worldly gifts from others although his +church was honoured and patronised by neighbouring kings and chieftains +who offered him lands and cattle and money and many other things. +Mochuda kept his monks employed in hard labour and in ploughing the +ground for he wanted them to be always humble. Others, however, of the +Saints of Erin did not force their monks to servile labour in this +fashion. + +Mochuda was consecrated bishop by many saints and from time to time he +visited his parish in Kerry, but as a rule he remained at Rahen with his +monks, for it is monks he had with him not clerics. + +On a certain day in the (early) springtime there came to tempt him a +druid who said to him:--"In the name of your God cause this apple-tree +branch to produce foliage." Mochuda knew that it was in contempt for +divine power the druid proposed this, and the branch put forth leaves on +the instant. The druid demanded "In the name of your God, put blossom +on it." Mochuda made the sign of the cross [over the twig] and it +blossomed presently. The druid persisted:--"What profits blossom +without fruit?" [said the druid]. Mochuda, for the third time, +blessed the branch and it produced a quantity of fruit. The druid +said:--"Follower of Christ, cause the fruit to ripen." Mochuda blessed +the tree and the fruit, fully ripe, fell to the earth. The druid picked +up an apple off the ground and examining it he saw it was quite sour, +whereupon he objected:--"Such miracles as these are worthless since it +leaves the fruit uneatable." Mochuda blessed the apples and they all +became sweet as honey, and in punishment of his opposition the magician +was deprived for a year of his eyesight. At the end of a year he came to +Mochuda and did penance, whereupon he received his sight back again and +he returned home rejoicing. + +On another occasion there came to Mochuda a secular who brought with him +his deaf and dumb son whom he besought the saint to heal. Mochuda +prayed to God for him and said, "My son, hear and speak." The boy +answered immediately and said, "Man of God, I give myself and my +inheritance to you for ever," and thenceforth he possessed the use of +all his senses and members. + +Another day a young man who had contracted leprosy came to Mochuda +showing him his misery and his wretched condition. The saint prayed for +him and he was restored to health. + +At another time there came to Mochuda a man whose face was deformed. He +besought the saint's aid and his face was healed upon the spot. + +On yet another occasion in the springtime a poor man who dwelt some +distance from the monastery of Rahen, came to Mochuda, and asked the +loan of two oxen and a ploughman to do a day's ploughing for him. But +Mochuda, as we have already said, had no cattle, for it was the monks +themselves who dug and tilled the soil. Mochuda summoned one of his +labourers named Aodhan whom he ordered to go into the nearest wood to +bring back thence a pair of deer with him and go along with them to the +poor man to do the spring work for him. Aodhan did dutifully all that +Mochuda bade him--he found the two deer, went with the poor man and +ploughed for him till the work was completed when the deer returned to +their habitat and Aodhan to Mochuda. + +On another day there came to Mochuda a man troubled by the devil. +Mochuda cured him at once, driving the demons from him and the man went +his way thanking God and Mochuda. + +Once, when the brethren were at work in the fields and in the kitchen, +Mochuda went to the mill to grind meal for the monk's use, and nine +robbers, who hated him, followed with the intention of murdering him. +The chief of the band sent each member of the gang to the mill in turn. +Not one of them however could enter the mill because of a violent flame +of fire which encircled the building round about, through the goodness +of God protecting Mochuda from the robbers. The latter, through the +mill door, watched Mochuda who slept portion of the time and was awake +another portion. And while he slept the mill stopped of itself, and +while he was awake it went of its own accord. The gang thereupon +returned to the chief and told him all they had seen, which, when he +heard, he became enraged. Then he hastened himself to the mill to kill +Mochuda. But he experienced the same things as all the others and he +was unable to hurt Mochuda. He returned to his followers and said to +them--"Let us stay here till he comes out of the mill, for we need not +fear that he will call help nor need we fear his arm." Shortly +afterwards Mochuda came out carrying his load. The robbers rushed on +him, but they were unable to do him any injury for as each man of them +tried to draw his weapon his hands became powerless, so he was unable to +use them. Mochuda requested them to allow him pass with his burden and +he promised them on his credit and his word that he should return to +them when he had deposited the sack in safety. They took his word and he +went, deposited his bag of meal in the kitchen, and returned meekly to +martyrdom. The brethren imagined he had gone to a quiet place for +prayer as was his custom. When he returned to the robbers they drew +their weapons several times to kill him but they were unable to do so. +Seeing this wonder they were moved to repentance and they gave +themselves to God and to Mochuda for ever and, till the time of their +death, they remained under his guidance and rule and many subsequent +edifying and famous acts of theirs are recorded. + +An angel came to Mochuda at Rahen on another occasion announcing to him +the command of God that he should go that same day to Mac Fhiodaig, king +of his own region of Kerry Luachra, and administer to him Holy Communion +and Confession as he was on the point of death. Mochuda asked the angel +how he could reach Kerry that day from Rahen. The angel thereupon (for +reply) took him up through the air in a fiery chariot until they arrived +at the king's residence. Mochuda administered Holy Communion and +Confession and the king having bestowed generous alms upon him departed +hence to glory. Mochuda returned that same day to Rahen where he found +the community singing vespers. + +On another occasion Mochuda visited Colman Elo at the latter's monastery +of Lynally and requested Colman to come with him to consecrate for him +his cemetery at Rahen, for Colman, assisted by angels, was in the habit +of consecrating cemeteries and God gave him the privilege that no one +should go to hell who was interred in a grave consecrated by him. +Colman said to him:--"Return home and on the fifth day from now I shall +follow." Mochuda returned home, where he remained till the fifth day, +when, seeing that Colman had not arrived he came again to the latter. +"Father," said he, "why have you not kept your promise?" To which +Colman replied, "I came and an angel with me that day and consecrated +your cemetery. Return now and you will find it marked (consecrated) on +the south side of your own cell. Lay it out as it is there indicated +and think not that its area is too small, because a larger will be +consecrated for you later, by the angels, in the southern part of Erin, +namely--in Lismore." Mochuda returned and found the cemetery duly marked +as Colman had indicated. + +About the same time clerics came across Slieve Luachra in the territory +of Kerry to the church of Ita, honoured [abbess] of Conall Gabhra. They +had with them a child upon seeing whom Ita wept bitterly. The clerics +demanded why she cried at seeing them. "Blessed," she answered, "is the +hour in which that youth in your company was born, for no one shall ever +go to hell from the cemetery in which he will be buried, but, alas, for +me, that I cannot be buried therein." The clerics asked what cemetery +it was in which he should be buried. "In Mochuda's cemetery," said she, +"which though it be as yet unconsecrated will be honoured and famous in +times to come." This all came to pass, for the youth afterwards became +a monk under Mochuda and he is buried in the monastic cemetery of +Lismore as Ita had foretold. + +A child on another occasion fell off the bridge of Rahen into the river +and was drowned. The body was a day and a night in the water before it +was recovered. Then it was brought to Mochuda who, moved with +compassion for the father in his loss of an only son, restored the boy +to life. Moreover he himself fostered the child for a considerable time +afterwards and when the youth had grown up, he sent him back to his own +country of Delbhna. Mochuda's foster son begat sons and daughters and he +gave himself and them, as well as his inheritance, to God and Mochuda, +and his descendants are to this day servile tenants of the monastery. + +Once as Mochuda, with large offerings, was returning from Kerry to Rahen +he passed through the confines of Delbhna [Lemanaghan?] by the lake +called Muincine [Lough Gur?] where he and his party were overtaken by +night. They found here before them by the roadside revolving wheels, +which an artisan, who was erecting a mill on the stream from the lake, +had set up for a joke. As the wheels revolved they made a terrific +noise which was heard by the whole neighbourhood. Many of the +inhabitants of the neighbouring villages aroused by the noise rushed +out, with appeals for help and loud cries, to investigate the matter. +Mochuda's people were frightened by the din and their pack and riding +horses stampeded and lost their loads and it was not without difficulty +that they were caught again. Mochuda knew what caused the noise and he +told the workmen who had played this mischievous trick that they should +be scattered throughout the different provinces of Ireland, that they +should be always worthless and unprofitable, that the mill they were +engaged on should never be finished and that their progeny after them +should be valueless race of mischief-makers. The latter are called the +Hi-Enna [Ui Enna Aine Aulium] to-day. + +One day Mochuda came to a place called Cluain-Breanainn where apples +abounded. His followers asked some apples for him but the orchard owner +refused them. Said Mochuda:--"From this day forward no fruit shall grow +in you orchard for ever," and that prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Mochuda had in his monastery twelve exceedingly perfect disciples, +scil.:--Caoinche Mac Mellain [Mochua Mac Mellain or Cronan], who was the +first monk to enter Rahen; Mucoinog [Mochoemog]; the three sons of +Nascainn--Goban, Srafan, and Laisren; Mulua [Molua]; Lugair; Mochomog +Eile; Aodhan [Aedhan]; Fachtna Coinceann [Fiachna or Fiochrae]; Fionnlog +and Mochomog who became a bishop later. The virtue of these monks +surpassed belief and Mochuda wished to mitigate their austerities before +their death. He therefore built separate cells for them that they might +have some comfort in their old age as a reward for their virtue in +youth; moreover he predicted blessings for them. He made [a prophecy] +for one of them, mentioned above, scil.:--Mochua Mac Mellain, for whom +he had built a comfortable cell at a place called Cluain-Da-Chrann. He +said to him: "Your place of resurrection will not be here but in +another place which God has given you." That prediction has been +verified. To a second disciple, scil.:--Fiachna, Mochuda said:--"Your +resurrection will not be in this place though I have made you a cell +here; you will have three further abiding places, nevertheless it will +be with your own companion, Aodhan, that your remains will rest and your +resurrection will be in the territory of Ui Torna, and it is from you +that the place will get its name." For this Aodhan alluded to Mochuda +likewise built another cell in the land of Ui Torna close by Slieve +Luachra, and speaking prophetically he said to him: "The remains of +your fellow-disciple, Fiachna, will be carried to you hither and from +him will this place be named." That statement has been verified, for +the church is now called Cill-Fiachna and it was first called +Cill-Aeghain. Concerning other persons, Mochuda prophesied various +other things, all of them have come to pass. + +A child born of secret adultery was abandoned close by the monastery of +Rahen and Mochuda fostered the child until he became a bishop, though no +one knew his name or his progenitors. Mochuda said:--"This child's name +is Dioma and his father is Cormac of the race of Eochaidh Eachach." All +thereupon magnified the foreknowledge of Mochuda, which he had from no +other than the Holy Spirit. Having consecrated him bishop, Mochuda +instructed him: "Go in haste to your own native region of Hy-Eachach in +the southern confines of Munster for there will your resurrection be. +War and domestic strife shall arise among your race and kinsfolk unless +you arrive there soon to prevent it." Dioma set out, accompanied by +another bishop, Cuana by name, who was also a disciple of Mochuda's. +They travelled into Ibh Eachach and Dioma preached the word of God to +his brethren and tribesmen. He made peace between them and they built a +monastery for him and he placed himself, his kindred, and parish under +his chosen master, Mochuda, and he ended his life (there) in peace. + +On another occasion Mochuda travelled from Rahen to the provinces of +Munster and entered Ciarraighe Corca. It happened that Cairbre Mac +Criomhthain, who was king of Munster, was at that time in Magh-Cuirce, +the place to which Mochuda came. At the same time there fell a fire +ball which destroyed one of the king's residences, killing his wife, +many of his people and his son, Aodh Mac Cairbre, who were buried in the +falling ruin. There were killed there moreover two good carriage horses +of the king's. Cairbre besought Mochuda that he would restore the queen +and his son to life, and when the saint saw the king's faith he prayed +for him to God and then addressing the dead he said,--"Arise." They +arose thereupon and he gave them safe to the king and they all gave +glory and thanks to God and Mochuda. The king moreover made large +offerings of land and servile tenants to Mochuda. But one of the +tenants, through pride and jealousy, refused to obey Mochuda, +notwithstanding the king's command. Mochuda said: "Your posterity will +die out and their inheritance, for sake of which you (mis)behave towards +me, shall become mine for ever; whosoever takes from me that which +another has given me shall be deprived of heaven and earth." That man +and his posterity soon came to nought. + +On another occasion Mochuda sent a golden belt to Fergus Mac Criomhthan +who suffered from uncleanness of skin arising from kidney disease and +upon application of the girdle, by the blessing of Mochuda he recovered. + +Another time again a king of Munster, Cathal Mac Aodha, in the region of +Cuirche, was a sufferer from a combination of complaints--he was deaf, +lame, and blind, and when Mochuda came to see him the king and his +friends prayed the saint to cure him. Mochuda therefore prayed for him +and made the sign of the cross on his eyes and ears and immediately he +was healed of all his maladies--he heard and saw perfectly, and Cathal +gave extensive lands to God and Mochuda for ever, scil:--Oilean Cathail +and Ros-Beg and Ros-Mor and Inis-Pic [Spike Island]. Mochuda placed a +religious community in Ros-Beg to build there a church in honour of God. +Mochuda himself commenced to build a church on Inis-Pic and he remained +there a whole year. [On his departure] Mochuda left there--in the +monastery of Inis-Pic--to watch over it, in his stead, and to keep it +in perfect order--the three disciples whom we have already named +(scil:--the three sons of Nascon, i.e. Goban a bishop, Srafan a priest, +and holy Laisren) together with the saintly bishop, Dardomaighen +[Domangenum], (who had conferred orders on them in presence of Mochuda) +and forty monks. Thereupon Mochuda returned to Rahen. That island we +have mentioned, scil.:--Inis-Pic, is a most holy place in which an +exceedingly devout community constantly dwell. + +Mochuda next directed his steps eastward through Munster and he crossed +the river then called Nemh, and now named the Abhainn More. As he +crossed he saw a large apple floating in the middle of the ford. This +he took up and carried away with him in his hand. Hence (that ford is +named) Ath-Ubhla in Fermoy [Ballyhooley]. His attendant asked Mochuda +for the apple, but the latter refused to give it saying--"God will work +a miracle by that apple and through me to-day: we shall meet Cuana Mac +Cailcin's daughter whose right hand is powerless so that she cannot move +it from her side. But she shall be cured by the power of God through +this apple." This was accomplished. Mochuda espied the child playing a +game with the other girls in the faithche [lawn] of the Lios. He +approached and said to her:--"Take this apple." She, as usual, put +forth her left hand for the fruit. "You shall not get it in that hand, +but take it in the other." The girl full of faith tried to put out the +right hand, and on the instant the hand became full of strength and +blood and motion so that she took the apple in it. All rejoiced thereat +and were amazed at the wonder wrought. That night Cuana said to his +daughter: "Choose yourself which you prefer of the royal youths of +Munster and whomsoever your choice be I shall obtain in marriage for +you." "The only spouse I shall have," said she, "is the man who cured +my hand." "Do you hear what she says O Mochuda?" said the king. +"Entrust the child to me," answered Mochuda, "I shall present her as a +bride to God who has healed her hand." Whereupon Cuana gave his +daughter Flandnait, together with her dowry and lands on the bank of +Nemh, to God and to Mochuda for ever. Cuana was almost incredibly +generous. Mochuda took the maiden with him to Rahen where she passed her +years happily with the religious women there till Mochuda was expelled +by the kings of Tara as you may hear. He took Flandnait with him (from +Rahen) in his party to her own native region that she might build +herself a cell there. She did build a famous cell at Cluain Dallain in +Mochuda's own parish. + +Previous to his expulsion (from Rahen) Mochuda visited the place where +(later) he built Lismore and he heard the voice of persons reading at +Rahen, wherefore he said to his followers: "I know that this is the +place where God will permit us to build our monastery." This prophecy +was subsequently verified. + +On a certain occasion Columcille came to Rahen where Mochuda was and +asked him:--"Is this place in which you now are dear to you?" "It is, +indeed," answered Mochuda. Columcille said: "Let not what I say to you +trouble you--this will not be the place of your resurrection, for the +king of Erin and his family will grow jealous of you owing to +machinations of some of the Irish clergy, and they shall eventually +drive you hence." Mochuda questioned Columcille who had a true +prophetic gift--"In what other place then will my resurrection be?" +Columcille told him--"The place where from the summit of Slieve Gua you +saw the host of angels building a chair of silver with a statue of gold +therein on the bank of the Nemh--there will your resurrection be, and +the chair of silver is your church in the midst of them [, and you are +truly the golden statue in its midst]." Mochuda believing what he heard +thanked and glorified God. + +As Mochuda on another day was at Rahen there came to him a priest and +monk of his own community from the northern part of Munster; he made a +reverence as was the custom of the monks, in Mochuda's presence and said +to him, "Father, I have complied with all your commands and the precepts +of God from the day I left Rahen till now--except this--that, without +your permission, I have taken my brother from the secular life." +"Verily I say to you," answered Mochuda, "if you were to go to the top +of a high hill and to shout as loudly as you could and were to bring to +me all who heard the cry I should not refuse the habit of religion to +one of them." Hearing these words all realised the character and extent +of Mochuda's charity and returned thanks to God for it. + +On a certain day about vesper time, because of the holiness of the hour, +Mochuda said to his monks:--"We shall not eat to-day till each one of +you has made his confession," for he knew that some one of them had ill +will in his heart against another. All the brethren thereupon confessed +to him. One of them in the course of his confession stated: "I love +not your miller and the cause of my lack of charity towards him is this, +that when I come to the mill he will not lift the loads off the horses +and he will neither help me to fill the meal sacks nor to load them on +the horse when filled. And not this alone but he does everything that +is disagreeable to me; moreover I cannot tell, but God knows, why he so +acts. Often I have thought of striking him or even beating him to +death." Mochuda replied, "Brother dear, the prophet says--'Declina a +malo et fac bonum' [Psalm 36(37):27] (Avoid evil and do good). Following +this precept let you act kindly towards the miller and that charity of +yours will move him to charity towards you and ye shall yet be steadfast +friends." Things went on thus for three days--the monk doing all he +could to placate the miller. Nevertheless the miller did not cease his +persecution, nor the brother his hate of the miller. On the third day +Mochuda directed the brother to confess to him again. The brother said: +--"This is my confession, Father, I do not yet love the miller." Mochuda +observed:--"He will change to-night, and to-morrow he will not break +fast till you meet him and you shall sit on the same seat, at the same +table, and you shall remain fast friends for the rest of your lives." +All this came to pass; for that monk was, through the instruction of +Mochuda, filled with the grace of the Divine Spirit. And he glorified +and praised Mochuda, for he recognised him as a man favoured by the Holy +Ghost. + +On another occasion two British monks of Mochuda's monastery had a +conversation in secret. Mochuda, they said, is very old though there is +no immediate appearance of approaching death--and there is no doubt that +his equal in virtue or good works will never be found--therefore if he +were out of the way one of us might succeed him. Let us then kill him +as there is no likelihood of his natural death within a reasonable time. +They resolved therefore to drown him in the river towards close of the +following night and to conceal all traces so that the crime could never +be discovered. They found him subsequently in a lonely place where he +was accustomed to pray. They bound him tightly and carried him between +them on their shoulders to the water. On their way to the river they +met one of the monks who used to walk around the cemetery every night. +He said to them: "What is that you carry?" They replied that it was +portion of the monastic washing which they were taking to the river. He +however, under the insistent suggestion of the Holy Spirit, believed +them not. He said: "Put down your load till we examine it." They were +constrained to obey and the burden proved to be--Mochuda. The monk who +detected [the proposed murder] was the overseer of the homestead. He +said mournfully, "My God, it is a dreadful work you are about." Mochuda +said gently:--"Son, it were well for me had that been done to me for I +should now be numbered among the holy martyrs. And it were bad for them +(the two wicked monks) for it is with Judas the betrayer of his Lord +they should be tortured for ever, who had desired my death for their own +advancement. Neither these wretched men themselves nor anyone of their +nation shall be my coarb for ever, but my successors shall be of his +race through whom God has rescued me. Moreover my city shall never be +without men of the British race who will be butts and laughing-stocks +and serve no useful purpose." The person who saved Mochuda was of the +Ciarraighe race and it is of that same people that the coarbs and +successors of Mochuda have commonly been ever since. [See note 2.] + +Mochuda refused for a long while, as we have already said, to accept +cattle or horses from anyone; it was the monks themselves who dug and +cultivated the land and they did all the haulage of the monastery on +their own backs. St. Fionan however who was a kinsman of Mochuda and +had just returned from Rome, came at this time on a visit to the +monastery. He reproached Mochuda saying: "Mochuda, why do you impose +the burden of brute beasts upon rational beings? Is it not for use of +the latter that all other animals have been created? Of a truth I shall +not taste food in this house till you have remedied this grievance." +Thenceforth Mochuda--in honour of Fionan--permitted his monks to accept +horses and oxen from the people and he freed them from the hardship +alluded to. Sometime later the holy abbot, Lachtaoin [St. Lachten], +compassionating Mochuda and his monks because of their lack of cattle +paid a visit to Rahen bringing with him a gift of thirty cows and a +bull, also a couple of cattlemen and two dairymaids. Coming near Rahen +he left the cattle in a secluded place, for he did not wish them to be +seen. Thereupon he went himself to the monastery and simulating illness +requested a drink of milk. The house steward went to Mochuda to tell +him that Lachtaoin was ill and required milk. Mochuda ordered the +steward to fill a pitcher with water and bring it to him--and this order +was executed. Mochuda blessed the water which immediately was changed +into sweet new milk apparently of that day's milking. He sent the milk +to Lachtaoin but the latter identified it as milk miraculously produced; +he in turn blessed it with the result that it was changed back again +into water. He complained:--"It is not water but milk I have +asked for." The messenger related this fact publicly. Lachtaoin +declared:--"Mochuda is a good monk but his successors will not be able to +change water to milk," and to the messenger he said--"Go to Mochuda and +tell him that I shall not break bread in this house until he accept the +alms which I have brought to the community." On Mochuda agreeing to +accept them he handed over the cattle and dairymen to the monks of Rahen +and the stewards took charge of them. Mochuda said thereupon, that he +should not have accepted the cattle but as a compliment to Lachtaoin. +Lachtaoin replied:--"From this day forward there will be plenty cattle +and worldly substance in your dwelling-place and there will be a +multitude of holy people in the other place whence you are to depart to +heaven (for you will be exiled from your present home)." After they had +mutually blessed and taken leave and pledged friendship Lachtaoin +departed. + +Once, at harvest time, the farm steward came to Mochuda complaining +that, though the crop was dead ripe, a sufficient number of harvesters +could not be found. Mochuda answered: "Go in peace, dear brother, and +God will send you satisfactory reapers." This promise was fulfilled, +for a band of angels came to the ripest and largest fields, reaped and +bound a great deal quickly, and gathered the crop into one place. The +monks marvelled, though they knew it was God's work and they praised and +thanked Him and Mochuda. + +The spirit of obedience amongst Mochuda's monks was such that if any +senior member of the community ordered another to lie in the fire he +would be obeyed. As an instance of this,--some of the brethren were on +one occasion baking bread in an oven when one the monks said to another +younger than himself, "The bread is burning: take it out instantly." +There was an iron shovel for drawing out the bread but the brother could +not find it on the instant. He heeded not the flames which shot out of +the oven's mouth but caught the hot bread and shifted it with his hands +and suffered no hurt whatever. On another day the monks were engaged in +labour beside the river which runs through the monastery. One of the +senior monks called upon a young monk named Colman to do a certain piece +of work. Immediately, as he had not named any particular Colman, twelve +monks of the name rushed into the water. The readiness and exactness of +the obedience practised was displayed in this incident. + +Great moreover was their meekness and patience in sickness or ill-health +as appears from the case of the monk out of the wounds of whose body +maggots fell as he walked; yet he never complained or told anyone or +left his work for two moments although it was plain from his appearance +that his health was declining, and he was growing thinner from day to +day. The brothers pitied him very much. At length Mochuda questioned +him--putting him under obedience to tell the truth--as to the cause of +his decline. The monk thereupon showed him his sides which were torn by +a twig tied fast around them. Mochuda asked him who had done that +barbarous and intolerable thing to him. The monk answered:--"One day +while we were drawing logs of timber from the wood my girdle broke from +the strain, so that my clothes hung loose. A monk behind me saw this +and cutting a twig tied it so tightly around my sides that it has caused +my flesh to mortify." Mochuda asked--"And why did you not loosen the +twig?" The monk replied--"Because my body in not my own and he who tied +it (the withe) has never loosed it." It was a whole year since the +withe had been fastened around him. Mochuda said to him:--"Brother, you +have suffered great pain; as a reward thereof take now you choice--your +restoration to bodily health or spiritual health by immediate departure +hence to eternal life." He answered, deciding to go to heaven:--"Why +should I desire to remain in this life?" Having received the Sacrament +and the Holy Communion he departed hence to glory. + +There came to Mochuda on another occasion with her husband, a woman +named Brigh whose hand lay withered and useless by her side: she +besought the saint to cure her hand. Moreover she was pregnant at the +time. Mochuda held out an apple in his hand to her as he had done +before to Flandnait, the daughter of Cuana, saying--"Alleluia, put forth +your nerveless hand to take this apple." She did as she was told and +took the apple from his hand and was cured; moreover as she tasted the +fruit parturition came on--without pain or inconvenience, after which +[the pair] returned to their home rejoicing. + +In fulfilment of the prophecy of Columcille and other holy men that +Mochuda should be expelled from Rahen the king of Tara, Blathmac, the +son of Aodh Slaine, and his brother Diarmuid came, together with some +clergy of the Cluain Earaird [Clonard] community, to carry out the +eviction [in A.D. 635]. They said to him, "Leave this monastery and +region and seek a place for yourself elsewhere." Mochuda replied--"In +this place I have desired to end my days. Here I have been many years +serving God and have almost reached the end of my life. Therefore I +shall not depart unless I am dragged hence by the hands against my will, +for it is not becoming an old man to abandon easily the place in which +he has spent great part of his life." Then the nobles returned to +Blathmac and they made various complaints of Mochuda, accusing him +falsely of many things; finally they asked the king to undertake the +expulsion personally, for they were themselves unequal to the task. The +king thereupon came to the place accompanied by a large retinue. +Alluding prophetically to the king's coming, previous to that event, +Mochuda said, addressing the monks:--"Beloved brothers, get ready and +gather your belongings, for violence and eviction are close at hand: the +chieftains of this land are about to expel and banish you from your own +home." Then the king, with his brothers and many of the chief men, +arrived on the scene. They encamped near Rahen and the king sent his +brother Diarmuid with some others to expel Mochuda and to put him out by +force--which Diarmuid pledged his word he should do. It was in the +choir at prayer that Diarmuid found Mochuda. Mochuda, though he knew +his mission, asked Diarmuid why he was come and what he sought. +Diarmuid replied that he came by order of King Blathmac to take him by +the hand and put him out of that establishment and to banish him from +Meath. "Do as you please," said Mochuda, "for we are prepared to +undergo all things for Christ's sake." "By my word," answered Diarmuid, +"I shall never be guilty of such a crime; let him who chooses do it." +Mochuda said:--"You shall possess the kingdom of God and you shall reign +in your brother's stead and your face which you have turned from me +shall never be turned from your enemies. Moreover the reproaches which +the king will presently cast upon you for not doing the work he has set +you, will be your praise and your pride. At the same time as a penalty +for your evil designs toward me and your greater readiness to drive me +out, your son shall not succeed you in the sovereignty." Diarmuid +returned to the king and told him that he could do no injury to Mochuda. +The king retorted [sarcastically and] in anger, "What a valiant man you +are, Diarmuid." Diarmuid replied:--"That is just what Mochuda promised +--that I should be a warrior of God." He was known as Diarmuid Ruanaidh +thenceforth, for the whole assembly cried out with one voice--truly he +is Valiant (Ruanaidh). + +Next, the nobles present cast lots to decide which one of them should go +with the king to lay hands on Mochuda and expel him from the monastery. +The lot fell upon the Herenach [hereditary steward] of Cluain Earaird. +He and the king accompanied by armed men went to the monastery where +they found Mochuda and all the brethren in the church. Cronan, a +certain rich man in the company, shouted out, "Make haste with the +business on which you are come." Mochuda answered him--"You shall die +immediately, but on account of the alms which you gave me for the love +of Christ and on account of your uniform piety heretofore your progeny +shall prosper for ever." That prophecy has been fulfilled. Another man, +Dulach by name, winked mockingly with one of his eyes; moreover he +laughed and behaved irreverently towards Mochuda. Mochuda said to him: +--"Thus shall you be--with one eye closed and a grin on your countenance +--to the end of your life; and of your descendants many will be similarly +afflicted." Yet another member of the company, one Cailche, +scurrilously abused and cursed Mochuda. To him Mochuda said:--"Dysentery +will attack you immediately and murrain that will cause your +death." The misfortune foretold befell him and indeed woeful misfortune +and ill luck pursued many of them for their part in the wrong doing. +When the king saw these things he became furious and, advancing--himself +and the abbot of Cluain Earaird--they took each a hand of Mochuda and in +a disrespectful, uncivil manner, they led him forth out of the monastery +while their followers did the same with Mochuda's community. Throughout +the city and in the country around there was among both sexes weeping, +mourning, and wailing over their humiliating expulsion from their own +home and monastery. Even amongst the soldiers of the king were many who +were moved to pity and compassion for Mochuda and his people. + +One of Mochuda's monks had gout in his foot and for him Mochuda besought +the king and his following that he, as he was unable to travel, might be +allowed to remain in the monastery; the request was, however, refused. +Mochuda called the monk to him and, in the name of Christ, he commanded +the pain to leave the foot and to betake itself to the foot of Colman +[Colman mac hua Telduib, abbot, or perhaps erenach only, of Cluain +Earaird], the chieftain who was most unrelenting towards him. That +soreness remained in Colman's foot as long as he lived. The monk +however rose up and walked and was able to proceed on his way with his +master. + +There was an aged monk who wished to be buried at Rahen; Mochuda granted +the request, and he received Holy Communion and sacred rites at the +saint's hands. Then he departed to heaven in the presence of all and +his body was buried at Rahen as he had himself chosen that it should be. + +Leaving Rahen Mochuda paid a visit to the monastic cemetery weeping as +he looked upon it; he blessed those interred there and prayed for them. +By the permission of God it happened that the grave of a long deceased +monk opened so that all saw it, and, putting his head out of the grave, +the tenant of the tomb cried out in a loud voice: "O holy man and +servant of God, bless us that through thy blessing we may rise and go +with you whither you go." Mochuda replied:--"So novel a thing I shall +not do, for it behoves not to raise so large a number of people before +the general resurrection." The monk asked--"Why then father, do you +leave us, though we have promised union with you in one place for ever?" +Mochuda answered:--"Brother, have you ever heard the proverb--'necessitas +movet decretum et consilium' (necessity is its own law)? Remain ye +therefore in your resting places and on the day of general resurrection +I shall come with all my brethren and we shall all assemble before the +great cross called 'Cross of the Angels' at the church door and go +together for judgement." When Mochuda had finished, the monk lay back in +his grave and the coffin closed. + +Mochuda, with his following, next visited the cross already mentioned +and here, turning to the king, he thus addressed him:--"Behold the +heavens above you and the earth below." The king looked at them: then +Mochuda continued:--"Heaven may you not possess and even from your +earthly principality may you soon be driven and your brother whom you +have reproached, because he would not lay hands on me, shall possess it +instead of you, and in your lifetime. You shall be despised by all--so +much so that in your brother's house they shall forget to supply you +with food. Moreover yourself and your children shall come to an evil +end and in a little while there shall not be one of your seed +remaining." Then Mochuda cursed him and he rang his small bell against +him and against his race, whence the bell has since been known as "The +Bell of Blathmac's Extinguishing," or "The Bell of Blathmac's Drowning," +because it drowned or extinguished Blathmac with his posterity. +Blathmac had a large family of sons and daughters but, owing to +Mochuda's curse, their race became extinct. Next to the prince of +Cluain Earaird who also had seized him by the hand, he said: "You shall +be a servant and a bondman ere you die and you shall lose your territory +and your race will be a servile one." To another of those who led him +by the hand he said:--"What moved you to drag me by the hand from my own +monastery?" The other replied:--"It pleased me not that a Munster man +should have such honour in Meath." "I wish," said Mochuda, "that the +hand you laid on me may be accursed and that the face you turned against +me to expel me from my home may be repulsive and scrofulous for the +remainder of your life." This curse was effective for the man's eye was +thereupon destroyed in his head. Mochuda noticed that some of +Columcille's successors and people from Durrow, which was one of +Columcille's foundations, had taken part in his eviction. He thus +addressed them:--"Contention and quarrelling shall be yours for ever to +work evil and schism amongst you--for you have had a prominent part in +exciting opposition to me." And so it fell out. + +The king and his people thereupon compelled Mochuda to proceed on his +way. Mochuda did proceed with his disciples, eight hundred and sixty +seven in number (and as many more they left buried in Rahen). Moreover, +many more living disciples of his who had lived in various parts of +Ireland were already dead. All the community abounded in grace: many +of its members became bishops and abbots in after years and they erected +many churches to the glory of God. + +Understand, moreover, that great was the charity of the holy bishop, as +the following fact will prove:--in a cell without the city of Rahen he +maintained in comfort and respectability a multitude of lepers. He +frequently visited them and ministered to them himself--entrusting that +office to no one else. It was known to all the lepers of Ireland how +Mochuda made their fellow-sufferers his special care and family, and the +result was that an immense number of lepers from all parts flocked to +him and he took charge and care of them. These on his departure from +Rahen he took with him to Lismore where he prepared suitable quarters +for them and there they have been ever since in comfort and in honour +according to Mochuda's command. + +As Mochuda and his people journeyed along with their vehicles they found +the way blocked by a large tree which lay across it. Owing to the +density of underwood at either side they were unable to proceed. Some +one announced:--"There is a tree across the road before us, so that we +cannot advance." Mochuda said: "In the name of Christ I command thee, +tree, to rise up and stand again in thy former place." At the command +of Mochuda the tree stood erect as it was originally and it still +retains its former appearance, and there is a pile of stones there at +its base to commemorate the miracle. + +It was necessary to proceed; the first night after Mochuda's departure +from Rahen the place that he came to was a cell called Drum Cuilinn +[Drumcullen], on the confines of Munster, Leinster, and Clanna Neill, +but actually within Clanna Neill, scil.:--in the territory of Fearceall +in which also is Rahen. In Drum Cuilinn dwelt the holy abbot, +Barrfhinn, renowned for miracles. On the morrow Mochuda arrived at +Saighir Chiarain [Seirkieran] and the following night at the +establishment where Cronan is now, scil.:--Roscrea. That night Mochuda +remained without entertainment although it was offered to them by Cronan +who had prepared supper for him. Mochuda refused however to go to it +saying that he would not go out of his way to visit a man who avoids +guests and builds his cell in a wild bog far from men and that such a +man's proper guests are creatures of the wilderness instead of human +beings. When Cronan heard this saying of Mochuda he came to the latter, +by whose advice he abandoned his hermitage in the bog and he, with +Mochuda, marked out the site of a new monastery and church at Roscrea. +There he founded a great establishment and there he is himself buried. +Mochuda took leave of Cronan and, travelling through Eile [Ely +O'Carroll], came to the royal city named Cashel. On the following day +the king, scil.:--Failbhe [Failbhe Flann], came to Mochuda offering him +a place whereon to found a church. Mochuda replied:--"It is not +permitted us by God to stay our journey anywhere till we come to the +place promised to us by the holy men." + +About the same time there came messengers from the king of Leinster to +the king of Munster praying the latter, by virtue of league and +alliance, to come to his assistance as Leath-Chuinn and the north were +advancing in great force to ravage Leinster. This is how Failbhe was +situated at the time: he had lost one of his eyes and he was ashamed to +go half-blind into a strange territory. As soon as Mochuda realised the +extent of the king's diffidence he blessed the eye making on it the sign +of the cross and it was immediately healed in the presence of all. The +king and Mochuda took leave of one another and went each his own way. +The king and his hosting went to the aid of Leinster in the latter's +necessity. + +Mochuda journeyed on through Muscraige Oirthir the chief of which +territory received him with great honour. Aodhan was the chief's name +and he bestowed his homestead called Isiol [Athassel] on Mochuda, who +blessed him and his seed. Next he came into the Decies. He travelled +through Magh Femin where he broke his journey at Ard Breanuinn +[Ardfinnan] on the bank of the Suir. There came to him here Maolochtair, +king of the Decies, and the other nobles [or one noble, Suibhne] of his +nation who were at variance with him concerning land. Mochuda by the +grace of God made peace amongst them, and dismissed them in amity. +Maolochtair gave that land to Mochuda who marked out a cell there where +is now the city of Ardfinnnan, attached to which is a large parish +subject to Mochuda and bearing his name. The wife of Maolochtair, +scil:--Cuciniceas, daughter of Failbhe Flann, king of Munster, had a +vision, viz.:--a flock of very beautiful birds flying above her head and +one bird was more beautiful and larger than the rest. The other birds +followed this one and it nestled in the king's bosom. Soon as she awoke +she related the vision to the king; the king observed: "Woman you have +dreamed a good dream and soon it will be realised; the flock of birds +you have seen is Mochuda with his monks coming from Rahen and the most +distinguished bird is Mochuda himself. And the settling in my bosom +means that the place of his resurrection will be in my territory. Many +blessings will come to us and our territory through him." That vision +of the faithful woman was realised as the faithful king had explained +it. + +Subsequently Mochuda came to Maolochtair requesting from him a place +where he might erect a monastery. Maolochtair replied: "So large a +community cannot dwell in such a narrow place." Mochuda said: "God, +who sent us to you, will show you a place suited to us." The king +answered:--"I have a place, convenient for fish and wood, beside Slieve +Gua on the bank of the Nemh but I fear it will not be large enough." +Mochuda said:--"It will not be narrow; there is a river and fish and +that it shall be the place of our resurrection." Thereupon, in +the presence of many witnesses, the king handed over the land, +scil.:--Lismore, to God and Mochuda and it is in that place Mochuda +afterwards founded his famous city. Mochuda blessed the king and his +wife as well as the nobles and all the people and taking leave of them +and receiving their homage he journeyed across Slieve Gua till he came to +the church called Ceall Clochair [Kilcloher]. The saint of that church, +scil.:--Mochua Mianain, prepared a supper for Mochuda to the best of his +ability, but he had only a single barrel of ale for them all. Although +Mochuda with his people remained there three days and three nights and +although the holy abbot (Mochua) continued to draw the ale into small +vessels to serve the company, according to their needs, the quantity in +the barrel grew no less but increased after the manner of the oil +blessed by Elias [3 Kings 17:16]. Then one of the monks said to +Mochuda, "If you remain in this place till the feast ends your stay will +be a long one for it (the entertainment) grows no smaller for all the +consumption." "That is true, brother," said Mochuda, "and it is fitting +for us to depart now." They started therefore on their way and Mochua +Mianain gave himself and his place to God and Mochuda for ever. On +Mochuda's departure the ale barrel drained out to the lees. + +Mochuda proceeded till he reached the river Nemh at a ford called +Ath-Mheadhon [Affane] which no one could cross except a swimmer or a very +strong person at low water in a dry season of summer heat, for the tide +flows against the stream far as Lismore, five miles further up. On this +particular occasion it happened to be high tide. The two first of +Mochuda's people to reach the ford were the monks Molua and Colman, +while Mochuda himself came last. They turned round to him and said that +it was not possible to cross the river till the ebb. Mochuda answered: +--"Advance through the water before the others in the name of your Lord +Jesus Christ for He is the way the truth and the life" [John 14:6]. As +soon as they heard this command of Mochuda's Molua said to Colman, +"Which of the two will you hold back--the stream above or the sea +below?" Colman answered:--"Let each restrain that which is nearest to +him"--for Molua was on the upper, or stream, side and Colman on the +lower, or sea, side. Molua said to Colman--"Forbid you the sea side to +flow naturally and I shall forbid the stream side." Then with great +faith they proceeded to cross the river; they signed the river with the +sign of Christ's cross and the waters stood on either hand and apart, so +that the dry earth appeared between. The side banks of water rose high +because there was no passage up or down, so that the ridges were very +elevated on both the sea and stream sides. The waters remained thus +till such time as all Mochuda's people had crossed. Mochuda himself was +the last to pass over and the path across was so level that it offered +no obstacle to foot-passengers or chariots but was like a level plain so +that they crossed dryshod, as the Jordan fell back for Josue the son of +Nun [Josue 3:17]. Soon as Mochuda had crossed over he blessed the waters +and commanded them to resume their natural course. On the reuniting +again of the waters they made a noise like thunder, and the name of the +place is The Place of Benedictions, from the blessings of Mochuda and +his people. + +Next the glorious bishop, Mochuda, proceeded to the place promised to +him by God and the prophets, which place is the plain called +Magh-Sciath. Mochuda, with the holy men, blessed the place and +dedicated there the site of a church in circular form. There came to +them a holy woman named Caimell who had a cell there and she asked, +"What do you propose doing here, ye servants of God?" "We propose," +answered Mochuda, "building here a little 'Lios' [enclosure] around our +possession." Caimell observed, "Not a little Lios will it be but a +great ['mor'] one (Lis-mor)." "True indeed, virgin," responded Mochuda, +"Lismore will be its name for ever." The virgin offered herself and her +cell to God and Mochuda for ever, where the convent of women is now +established in the city of Lismore. + +As Colman Elo, alluded to already, promised, Mochuda found his burial +place marked out (consecrated?) by angels; there he and a multitude of +his disciples are buried and it was made known to him by divine wisdom +the number of holy persons that to the end of the world would be buried +therein. Lismore is a renowned city, for there is one portion of it +which no woman may enter and there are within it many chapels and +monasteries, and in which there are always multitudes of devout people +not from Ireland alone but from the land of the Saxons and from Britain +and from other lands as well. This is its situation--on the south bank +of the Avonmore in the Decies territory. + +On a certain day there came a druid to Mochuda to argue and contend with +him. He said:--"If you be a servant of God cause natural fruit to grow +on this withered branch." Mochuda knew that it was to throw contempt on +the power of God that the druid had come. He blessed the branch and it +produced first living skin, then, as the druid had asked--leaves, +blossom and fruit in succession. The druid marvelled exceedingly and +went his way. + +A poor man came to Mochuda on another occasion with an ill timed request +for milk, and beer along with it. Mochuda was at the time close by the +well which is known as "Mochuda's Well" at the present time; this he +blessed changing it first into milk then into beer and finally to wine. +Then he told the poor man to take away whatever quantity of each of +these liquids he required. The well remained thus till at Mochuda's +prayer it returned to its original condition again. An angel came from +heaven to Mochuda at the time and told him that the well should remain a +source of health and virtues and of marvels, and it still, like every +well originally blessed by Mochuda, possesses power of healing from +every malady. + +Mochuda, now grown old and of failing powers and strength, was wearied +and worried by the incessant clamour of building operations--the +dressing of stones and timber--carried on by the multitude of monks and +artisans. He therefore by consent and counsel of the brethren retired +to a remote, lonely place situated in a glen called "Mochuda's Inch" +below the great monastery. He took with him there a few monks and built +a resplendent monastery; he remained in that place a year and six months +more leading a hermitical life. The brethren and seniors of the +community visited him (from time to time) and he gave them sound, +sweetly-reasoned advice. He received a vow from each to follow his +Rule, for he was the support of the aged, the health-giver to the weak, +the consoler of the afflicted, the hope-giver to the hopeless, the +faith-giver to the doubting, the moderator and uniter of the young. + +As soon as Mochuda saw the hardship to the visiting brothers and elders +of the descent from Lismore and the ascent thereto again--knowing at the +same time that his end was approaching--he ordered himself to be carried +up to the monastery so that the monks might be saved the fatigue of the +descent to him. Then it pleased God to call to Himself His devoted +servant from the troubles of life and to render to him the reward of his +good works. He opened the gates of heaven then and sent to him a host +of angels, in glory and majesty unspeakable. When Mochuda saw the +heavens open above him and the angel band approaching, he ordered that +he be set down in the middle of the glen and he related to the seniors +the things that he had seen and he asked to receive the Body of Christ +and he gave his last instruction to the monks--to observe the Law of God +and keep His commands. The place was by the cross called "Crux +Migrationis," or the cross from which Mochuda departed to Glory. Having +received the Body and Blood of Christ, having taught them divine +doctrines, in the midst of holy choirs and of many brethren and monks to +whom in turn he gave his blessing and the kiss of peace according to the +rule, the glorious and holy bishop departed to heaven accompanied by +hosts of angels on the day before the Ides of May [May 14], in his union +with the Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. +Amen. + +Finit 7ber [September] 4th, 1741. + + + +NOTE 1 + +One of our scribe's predecessors omitted a word or two from the text +here, with disastrous results to the sense. The Latin Life comes to our +aid however and enables us to make good the omission; the latter, by +the way, puzzles our scribe who is like a man fighting an invisible +enemy--correcting a text of which he does not know the defect. Insertion +of the words "walking backwards" immediately after "church," in the +angel's answer, will enable us to see the original writer's meaning. The +text should probably read: + +The angel answered:--"Whom you shall see going from the church walking +backwards to the guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to walk +backwards from the door of the church). Comghall announced to his +household that there was coming to them a distinguished stranger, +well-beloved of God, of whose advent an angel had twice foretold him. +Some time later Mochuda arrived at Comghall's establishment, and he went +to the monastery first and he did just as the angel foretold of him and +Comghall recognised him and bade him welcome. + + + +NOTE 2 + + +The obits of Mochuda's successors, down to Christian O'Conarchy, +are chronicled as follows:-- + +A.D. 650. Cuanan, maternal uncle and immediate successor of +Mochuda (Lanigan). +A.D. 698. Iarnla, surnamed Hierologus (Four Masters). In his +time King Alfrid was a student in Lismore. +A.D. 702. Colman, son of Finnbhar (Acta Sanctorum). During his +reign the abbey of Lismore reached the zenith of its fame. +A.D. 716. Cronan Ua Eoan (F. Masters). +A.D. 719. Colman O'Liathain (Annals of Inisfallen). +A.D. 741. Finghal (F. Masters). +A.D. 746. Mac hUige (Ibid). +A.D. 747. Ihrichmech (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 748. Maccoigeth (F. M.) +A.D. 752. Sinchu (F. M.) +A.D. 755. Condath (Ibid). +A.D. 756. Fincon (Annals of Ulster). +A.D. 761. Aedhan (F. M.) +A.D. 763. Ronan (Ware). +A.D. 769. Soairleach Ua Concuarain (F. M.) +A.D. 771. Eoghan (Ibid). +A.D. 776. Orach (Ibid). +A.D. 799. Carabran (Ibid). +A.D. 801. Aedhan Ua Raichlich (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 823. Flann (F. M.) +A.D. 849. Tibrade Ua Baethlanaigh (F. M.) At this period the +town was plundered and burned by the Danes who had sailed up +thither on the Blackwater. +A.D. 849. Daniel (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 854. Suibne Ua Roichlech (F. M. and A. of Ulster). What is +probably his gravestone is one of five Irish-inscribed slabs +built into the west gable of the Cathedral. +A.D. 861. Daniel Ua Liaithidhe (F. M.) +A.D. 878. Martin Ua Roichligh (Ibid). Another of the inscribed +stones above referred to asks "A prayer for Martan." +A.D. 880. Flann Mac Forbasaich (A. I.) +A.D. 899. Maelbrighte Mac Maeldomnaich (Ibid). +A.D. 918. Cormac Mac Cuilennan (A. I.) He is to be +distinguished from his more famous namesake of Cashel. +A.D. 936. Ciaran (F. M.) +A.D. 951. Diarmuid (Ibid). +A.D. 957. Maenach Mac Cormaic (Ibid). +A.D. 958. Cathmog (Ibid). He was also bishop of Cork. +A.D. 963. Cinaedh (F. M.) +A.D. 1025. Omaelsluaig (Cotton's "Fasti"). +A.D. 1034. Moriertach O'Selbach, bishop of Lismore (Cotton). +A.D. 1064. Mac Airthir, bishop (Cotton). +A.D. 1090. Maelduin O'Rebhacain (Ibid). +A.D. 1112. Gilla Mochuda O'Rebhacain (A. of I.) +A.D. 1113. Nial Macgettigan. His episcopal staff, possibly +enclosing the venerable oaken staff of the founder of the abbey, +is still preserved at Lismore Castle. [Also known as the +'Lismore Crozier,' in 2004 it is housed in 'The Treasury' exhibit +at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St., Dublin 2.] +A.D. 1134. Malchus. Most probably he is identical with the +first bishop of Waterford. During his term both St. Malachy and +King Cormac MacCarthy dwelt as fugitives, guests or pilgrims, at +Lismore. +A.D. 1142. Ua Rebhacain. +A.D. 1186. St. Christian. He had however resigned the +bishopric. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The source for this text includes the Irish text and English translation +on facing pages and notes. The notes are quite lengthy and should take +longer to transcribe than the English text. Except for a few notes +transplanted in brackets to the body of the text I have not transcribed +them. Due to inexperience with the Irish language and its script I have +decided not to attempt to transcribe the Irish text. Hopefully someone +with the appropriate talent and interest will undertake that task some +day. I have corrected the errata as indicated in the source and a few +obvious printer errors. Please note that this text contains variant +spellings of names and words sometimes inconsistently applied. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda, Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF SS. DECLAN AND MOCHUDA *** + +***** This file should be named 11168.txt or 11168.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/1/6/11168/ + +Produced by Dennis McCarthy + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Declan and Mochuda</title> + +</head> +<body bgcolor="white"> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda, Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: February 19, 2004 [EBook #11168] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF SS. DECLAN AND MOCHUDA *** + + + + +Produced by Dennis McCarthy + + + + + +</pre> + + +<center> +<h1>Irish Texts Society.</h1> +<h1><i>Comann na Sgríbeann Gaedilge.</i></h1> +<img src="a-front.gif" width="258" alt="Celtic Weave Graphic" /> +<h3>Vol. XVI.</h3> +<p>[1914.]</p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<h1>Life of St. Declan of Ardmore,</h1> +(Edited from MS. in Bibliotheque Royale, Brussels), +<h3>AND</h3> +<h1>Life of St. Mochuda of Lismore,</h1> +(Edited from MS. in the Library of Royal Irish Academy), +<h2>With Introduction, Translation, and Notes,</h2> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>Rev. P. Power, M.R.I.A.,</h2> +University College, Cork. + +<p>1914.</p> + + +<hr width="50%" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +</center> +<ul> +<li><a href="#preface"><b>Preface</b></a></li> +<li><b>Introduction</b> +<ul> +<li><a href="#intro-g">General</a></li> +<li><a href="#intro-d">St. Declan</a></li> +<li><a href="#intro-m">St. Mochuda</a></li> +<li><a href="#map">Maps</a></li> +</ul> +</li> +<li><a href="#declan"><b>Life of Declan</b></a></li> +<li><a href="#mochuda"><b>Life of Mochuda</b></a></li> +<li>[<a href="#2004_note">Transcriber's Note</a>]</li> +</ul> +<center> +<p><img src="b-oclery.jpg" width="508" height="700" alt= +"Page of Life of Declan, MS. 4190-4200, Royal (Burgundian) Library, Brussels. +[Handwriting of Brother Michael O'Clery.]" /></p> +<p><a name="preface" id="preface"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +</center> +It is solely the historical aspect and worth of the two tracts +herewith presented that appealed to their edition and first +suggested to him their preparation and publication.  Had +preparation in question depended for its motive merely on +considerations of the texts' philologic interest or value it would, +to speak frankly, never have been undertaken.  The editor, who +disclaims qualification as a philologist, regards these Lives as +very valuable historical material, publication of which may serve +to light up some dark corners of our Celtic ecclesiastical past.  +He is egotist enough to hope that the present "blazing of the +track," inadequate and feeble though it be, may induce other and +better equipped explorers to follow. +<p>    The present editor was studying the Life of Declan for +quite another purpose when, some years since, the zealous Hon. +Secretary of the Irish Texts Society suggested to him publication +of the tract in its present form, and addition of the Life of +Carthach [Mochuda].  Whatever credit therefore is due to +originating this work is Miss Hull's, and hers alone.</p> +<p>    The editor's best thanks are due, and are hereby most +gratefully tendered, to Rev. M. Sheehan, D.D., D.Ph., Rev. Paul +Walsh, Rev. J. MacErlhean, S.J., M.A., as well as to Mr. R. +O'Foley, who, at much expense of time and labour, have carefully +read the proofs, and, with unselfish prodigality of their scholarly +resources, have made many valuable suggestions and corrections.</p> +<p>    P.P.</p> +<p><a name="intro-g" id="intro-g"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<center> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<h3><i>I.—GENERAL.</i></h3> +</center> +<p>A most distinctive class of ancient Irish literature, and +probably the class that is least popularly familiar, is the +hagiographical.  It is, the present writer ventures to submit, as +valuable as it is distinctive and as well worthy of study as it is +neglected.  While annals, tales and poetry have found editors the +Lives of Irish Saints have remained largely a mine unworked.  +Into the causes of this strange neglect it is not the purpose of +the present introduction to enter.  Suffice it to glance in +passing at one of the reasons which has been alleged in +explanation, scil.:—that the "Lives" are uncritical and +romantic, that they abound in wild legends, chronological +impossibilities and all sorts of incredible stories, and, finally, +that miracles are multiplied till the miraculous becomes the +ordinary, and that marvels are magnified till the narrative borders +on the ludicrous.  The Saint as he is sketched is sometimes a +positively repulsive being—arrogant, venomous, and cruel; he +demands two eyes or more for one, and, pucklike, fairly revels in +mischief!  As painted he is in fact more a pagan deity than a +Christian man.</p> +<p>    The foregoing charges may, or must, be admitted +partially or in full, but such admission implies no denial of the +historical value of the Lives.  All archaic literature, be it +remembered, is in a greater or less degree uncritical, and it must +be read in the light of the writer's times and surroundings.  +That imagination should sometimes run riot and the pen be carried +beyond the boundary line of the strictly literal is perhaps nothing +much to be marvelled at in the case of the supernatural minded Celt +with religion for his theme.  Did the scribe believe what he +wrote when he recounted the multiplied marvels of his holy patron's +life?  Doubtless he did—and why not!  To the +unsophisticated monastic and mediaeval mind, as to the mind of +primitive man, the marvellous and supernatural is almost as real +and near as the commonplace and natural.  If anyone doubts this +let him study the mind of the modern Irish peasant; let him get +beneath its surface and inside its guardian ring of shrinking +reserve; there he will find the same material exactly as composed +the mind of the tenth century biographers of Declan and Mochuda.  +Dreamers and visionaries were of as frequent occurrence in Erin of +ages ago as they are to-day.  Then as now the supernatural and +marvellous had a wondrous fascination for the Celtic mind.  +Sometimes the attraction becomes so strong as seemingly to +overbalance the faculty of distinguishing fact from fancy.  Of +St. Bridget we are gravely told that to dry her wet cloak she hung +in out on a sunbeam!  Another Saint sailed away to a foreign land +on a sod from his native hillside!  More than once we find a +flagstone turned into a raft to bear a missionary band beyond the +seas!  St. Fursey exchanged diseases with his friend Magnentius, +and, stranger still, the exchange was arranged and effected by +correspondence!  To the saints moreover are ascribed lives of +incredible duration—to Mochta, Ibar, Seachnal, and Brendan, +for instance, three hundred years each; St. Mochaemog is credited +with a life of four hundred and thirteen years, and so on!</p> +<p>    Clan, or tribe, rivalry was doubtless one of the things +which made for the invention and multiplication of miracles.  If +the patron of the Decies is credited with a miracle, the tribesmen +of Ossory must go one better and attribute to their tribal saint a +marvel more striking still.  The hagiographers of Decies retort +for their patron by a claim of yet another miracle and so on.  It +is to be feared too that occasionally a less worthy motive than +tribal honour prompted the imagination of our Irish +hagiographers—the desire to exploit the saint and his honour +for worldly gain.</p> +<p>    The "Lives" of the Irish Saints contain an immense +quantity of material of first rate importance for the historian of +the Celtic church.  Underneath the later concoction of fable is a +solid substratum of fact which no serious student can ignore.  +Even where the narrative is otherwise plainly myth or fiction it +sheds many a useful sidelight on ancient manners, customs and laws +as well as on the curious and often intricate operations of the +Celtic mind.</p> +<p>    By "Lives" are here meant the old MS. biographies which +have come down to us from ages before the invention of printing.  +Sometimes these "Lives" are styled "Acts."  Generally we have +only one standard "Life" of a saint and of this there are usually +several copies, scattered in various libraries and collections.  +Occasionally a second Life is found differing essentially from the +first, but, as a rule, the different copies are only recensions of +a single original.  Some of the MSS. are parchment but the +majority are in paper; some Lives again are merely fragments and no +doubt scores if not hundreds of others have been entirely lost.  +Of many hundreds of our Irish saints we have only the meagre +details supplied by the martyrologies, with perhaps occasional +reference to them in the Lives of other saints.  Again, finally, +the memory of hundreds and hundreds of saints additional survives +only in place names or is entirely lost.</p> +<p>    There still survive probably over a hundred +"Lives"—possibly one hundred and fifty; this, however, does +not imply that therefore we have Lives of one hundred or one +hundred and fifty saints, for many of the saints whose Acts survive +have really two sets of the latter—one in Latin and the other +in Irish; moreover, of a few of the Latin Lives and of a larger +number of the Irish Lives we have two or more recensions.  There +are, for instance, three independent Lives of St. Mochuda and one +of these is in two recensions.</p> +<p>    The surviving Lives naturally divide themselves into two +great classes—the Latin Lives and the Irish,—written in +Latin and Irish respectively.  We have a Latin Life only of some +saints, and Irish Life only of others, and of others again we have +a Latin Life and an Irish.  It may be necessary to add the Acts +which have been translated into Latin by Colgan or the Bollandists +do not of course rank as Latin Lives.  Whether the Latin Lives +proper are free translations of the Irish Lives or the Irish Lives +translations of Latin originals remains still, to a large extent, +an open question.  Plummer (<i>"Vitae SSm. Hib.," Introd.</i>) +seems to favour the Latin Lives as the originals.  His reasoning +here however leaves one rather unconvinced.  This is not the +place to go into the matter at length, but a new bit of evidence +which makes against the theory of Latin originals may be quoted; it +is furnished by the well known collection of Latin Lives known as +the Codex Salmanticensis, to which are appended brief marginal +notes in mixed middle Irish and Latin.  One such note to the Life +of St. Cuangus of Lismore (<i>recte</i> Liathmore) requests a +prayer for him who has translated the Life out of the Irish into +Latin.  If one of the Lives, and this a typical or characteristic +Life, be a translation, we may perhaps assume that the others, or +most of them, are translations also.  In any case we may assume +as certain that there were original Irish materials or data from +which the formal Lives (Irish or Latin) were compiled.</p> +<p>    The Latin Lives are contained mainly in four great +collections.  The first and probably the most important of these +is in the Royal Library at Brussels, included chiefly in a large +MS. known as <i>Codex Salmanticensis</i> from the fact that it +belonged in the seventeenth century to the Irish College of +Salamanca.  The second collection is in Marsh's Library, Dublin, +and the third in Trinity College Library.  The two latter may for +practical purposes be regarded as one, for they are sister +MSS.—copied from the same original.  The Marsh's Library +collection is almost certainly, <i>teste</i> Plummer, the document +referred to by Colgan as Codex Kilkenniensis and it is quite +certainly the Codex Ardmachanus of Fleming.  The fourth +collection (or the third, if we take as one the two last +mentioned,) is in the Bodleian at Oxford amongst what are known as +the Rawlinson MSS.  Of minor importance, for one reason or +another, are the collections of the Franciscan Library, Merchants' +Quay, Dublin, and in Maynooth College respectively.  The first of +the enumerated collections was published <i>in extenso,</i> about +twenty-five years since, by the Marquis of Bute, while recently the +gist of all the Latin collections has been edited with rare +scholarship by Rev. Charles Plummer of Oxford.  Incidentally may +be noted the one defect in Mr. Plummer's great work—its +author's almost irritating insistence on pagan origins, nature +myths, and heathen survivals.  Besides the Marquis of Bute and +Plummer, Colgan and the Bollandists have published some Latin +Lives, and a few isolated "Lives" have been published from time to +time by other more or less competent editors.</p> +<p>    The Irish Lives, though more numerous than the Latin, +are less accessible.  The chief repertorium of the former is the +Burgundian or Royal Library, Brussels.  The MS. collection at +Brussels appears to have originally belonged to the Irish +Franciscans of Louvain and much of it is in the well-known +handwriting of Michael O'Clery.  There are also several +collections of Irish Lives in Ireland—in the Royal Irish +Academy, for instance, and Trinity College Libraries.  Finally, +there are a few Irish Lives at Oxford and Cambridge, in the British +Museum, Marsh's Library, &c., and in addition there are many +Lives in private hands.  In this connection it can be no harm, +and may do some good, to note that an apparently brisk, if +unpatriotic, trade in Irish MSS. (including of course "Lives" of +Saints) is carried on with the United States.  Wealthy, often +ignorant, Irish-Americans, who are unable to read them, are making +collections of Irish MSS. and rare Irish books, to Ireland's +loss.  Some Irish MSS. too, including Lives of Saints, have been +carried away as mementoes of the old land by departing +emigrants.</p> +<p>    The date or period at which the Lives (Latin and Irish) +were written is manifestly, for half a dozen good reasons, a +question of the utmost importance to the student of the subject.  +Alas, that the question has to some extent successfully defied +quite satisfactory solution.  We can, so far, only +conjecture—though the probabilities seem strong and the +grounds solid.  The probabilities are that the Latin Lives date +as a rule from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when they were +put into something like their present form for reading (perhaps in +the refectory) in the great religious houses.  They were copied +and re-copied during the succeeding centuries and the scribes +according to their knowledge, devotion or caprice made various +additions, subtractions and occasional multiplications.  The +Irish Lives are almost certainly of a somewhat earlier date than +the Latin and are based partly (<i>i.e.</i> as regards the bulk of +the miracles) on local tradition, and partly (<i>i.e.</i> as +regards the purely historical element) on the authority of written +materials.  They too were, no doubt, copied and interpolated much +as were the Latin Lives.  The present copies of Irish Lives date +as a rule from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries only, and +the fact that the Latin and the Irish Life (where there is this +double biography) sometimes agree very perfectly may indicate that +the Latin translation or Life is very late.</p> +<p>    The chief published collections of Irish Saints' Lives +may be set down as seven, scil.:—five in Latin and one each +in Irish and English.  The Latin collections are the +Bollandists', Colgan's, Messingham's, Fleming's, and Plummer's; the +Irish collection is Stokes' (<i>"Lives of Saints from the Book of +Lismore"</i>) and the English is of course O'Hanlon's.</p> +<p>    Most striking, probably, of the characteristics of the +"Lives" is their very evident effort to exalt and glorify the saint +at any cost.  With this end of glorification in view the +hagiographer is prepared to swallow everything and record +anything.  He has, in fact, no critical sense and possibly he +would regard possession of such a sense as rather an evil thing and +use of it as irreverent.  He does not, as a consequence, succeed +in presenting us with a very life-like or convincing portrait of +either the man or the saint.  Indeed the saint, as drawn in the +Lives, is, as already hinted, a very unsaintlike +individual—almost as ready to curse as to pray and certainly +very much more likely to smite the aggressor than to present to him +the other cheek.  In the text we shall see St. Mochuda, whose +Life is a specially sane piece of work, cursing on the same +occasion, first, King Blathmac and the Prince of Cluain, then, the +rich man Cronan who sympathised with the eviction, next an +individual named Dubhsulach who winked insolently at him, and +finally the people of St. Columba's holy city of Durrow who had +stirred up hostile feeling against him.  Even gentle female +saints can hurl an imprecation too.  St. Laisrech, for instance, +condemned the lands of those who refused her tribute, +to—nettles, elder shrub, and corncrakes!  It is pretty +plain that the compilers of the lives had some prerogatives, claims +or rights to uphold—hence this frequent insistence on the +evil of resisting the Saint and presumably his successors.</p> +<p>    One characteristic of the Irish ascetics appears very +clear through all the exaggeration and all the biographical +absurdity; it is their spirit of intense mortification.  To +understand this we have only to study one of the ancient Irish +Monastic Rules or one of the Irish Penitentials as edited by +D'Achery (<i>"Spicilegium"</i>) or Wasserschleben (<i>"Irische +Kanonensamerlung"</i>).  Severest fasting, unquestioning +obedience and perpetual self renunciation were inculcated by the +Rules and we have ample evidence that they were observed with +extraordinary fidelity.  The Rule of Maelruin absolutely forbade +the use of meat or of beer.  Such a prohibition a thousand years +ago was an immensely more grievous thing than it would sound +to-day.  Wheaten bread might partially supply the place of meat +to-day, but meat was easier to procure than bread in the eighth +century.  Again, a thousand years ago, tea or coffee there was +none and even milk was often difficult or impossible to procure in +winter.  So severe in fact was the fast that religious sometimes +died of it.  Bread and water being found insufficient to sustain +life and health, gruel was substituted in some monasteries and of +this monastic gruel there were three varieties:—(<i>a</i>) +"gruel upon water" in which the liquid was so thick that the meal +reached the surface, (<i>b</i>) "gruel between two waters" in which +the meal, while it did not rise to the surface, did not quite fall +to the bottom, and (<i>c</i>) "gruel under water" which was so weak +and so badly boiled that he meal easily fell to the bottom.  In +the case of penitents the first brand of gruel was prescribed for +light offences, the second kind for sins of ordinary gravity, and +the "gruel under water" for extraordinary crimes (<i>vid.</i> +Messrs. Gwynne and Purton on the Rule of Maelruin, &c.)  The +most implicit, exact and prompt obedience was prescribed and +observed.  An overseer of Mochuda's monastery at Rahen had +occasion to order by name a young monk called Colman to do +something which involved his wading into a river.  Instantly a +dozen Colmans plunged into the water.  Instances of extraordinary +penance abound, beside which the austerities of Simon Stylites +almost pale.  The Irish saints' love of solitude was also a very +marked characteristic.  Desert places and solitary islands of the +ocean possessed an apparently wonderful fascination for them.  +The more inaccessible or forbidding the island the more it was in +request as a penitential retreat.  There is hardly one of the +hundred islands around the Irish coast which, one time or another, +did not harbour some saint or solitary upon its rocky bosom.</p> +<p>    The testimony of the "Lives" to the saints' love and +practice of prayer is borne out by the evidence of more trustworthy +documents.  Besides private prayers, the whole psalter seems to +have been recited each day, in three parts of fifty psalms each.  +In addition, an immense number of Pater Nosters was prescribed.  +The office and prayers were generally pretty liberally interspersed +with genuflexions or prostrations, of which a certain anchorite +performed as many as seven hundred daily.  Another penitential +action which accompanied prayer was the <i>cros-figul.</i>  This +was an extension of the arms in the shape of a cross; if anyone +wants to know how difficult a practice this is let him try it for, +say, fifteen minutes.  Regarding recitation of the Divine Office +it was of counsel, and probably of precept, that is should not be +from memory merely, but that the psalms should all be read.  For +this a good reason was given by Maelruin, <i>i.e.</i> that the +recitation might engage the eye as well as the tongue and +thought.  An Irish homily refers to the mortification of the +saints and religious of the time as martyrdom, of which it +distinguishes three kinds—red, white, and blue.  Red +martyrdom was death for the faith; white martyrdom was the +discipline of fasting, labour and bodily austerities; while blue +martyrdom was abnegation of the will and heartfelt sorrow for +sin.</p> +<p>    One of the puzzles of Irish hagiology is the great age +attributed to certain saints—periods of two hundred, three +hundred, and even four hundred years.  Did the original compilers +of the Life intend this?  Whatever the full explanation be the +writers of the Lives were clearly animated by a desire to make +their saint cotemporary and, if possible, a disciple, of one or +other of the great monastic founders, or at any rate to prove him a +pupil of one of the great schools of Erin.  There was special +anxiety to connect the saint with Bangor or Clonard.  To effect +the connection in question it was sometimes necessary to carry the +life backwards, at other times to carry it forwards, and +occasionally to lengthen it both backwards and forwards.  Dr. +Chas. O'Connor gives a not very convincing explanation of the +three-hundred-year "Lives," scil.:—that the saint lived in +three centuries—during the whole of one century and in the +end and beginning respectively of the preceding and succeeding +centuries.  This explanation, even if satisfactory for the +three-hundred-year Lives, would not help at all towards the Lives +of four hundred years.  A common explanation is that the scribe +mistook numerals in the MS. before him and wrote the wrong +figures.  There is no doubt that copying is a fruitful source of +error as regards numerals.  It is much more easy to make a +mistake in a numeral than in a letter; the context will enable one +to correct the letter, while it will give him no clue as regards a +numeral.  On the subject of the alleged longevity of Irish Saints +Anscombe has recently been elaborating in <i>Eriu</i> a new and +very ingenious theory.  Somewhat unfortunately the author happens +to be a rather frequent propounder of ingenious theories.  His +explanation is briefly—the use and confusion of different +systems of chronology.  He alleges that the original writers used +what is called the Diocletian Era or the "Era of the Martyrs" as +the <i>terminus a quo</i> of their chronological system and, in +support of his position, he adduces the fact that this, which was +the most ancient of all ecclesiastical eras, was the era used by +the schismatics in Britain and that it was introduced by St. +Patrick.</p> +<p>    As against the contradiction, anachronisms and +extravagances of the Lives we have to put the fact that generally +speaking the latter corroborate one another, and that they receive +extern corroboration from the annals.  Such disagreements as +occur are only what one would expect to find in documents dealing +with times so remote.  To the credit side too must go the fact +that references to Celtic geography and to local history are all as +a rule accurate.  Of continental geography and history however +the writers of the Lives show much ignorance, but scarcely quite as +much as the corresponding ignorance shown by Continental writers +about Ireland.</p> +<p>    The missionary methods of the early Irish Church and its +monastic or semi-monastic system are frequently referred to as +peculiar, if not unique.  A missionary system more or less +similar must however have prevailed generally in that age.  What +other system could have been nearly as successful amongst a pagan +people circumstanced as the Irish were?  The community system +alone afforded the necessary mutual encouragement and protection to +the missionaries.  Each monastic station became a base of +operations.  The numerous diminutive dioceses, quasi-dioceses, or +tribal churches, were little more than extensive parishes and the +missionary bishops were little more in jurisdiction than glorified +parish priests.  The bishop's <i>muintir,</i> that is the members +of his household, were his assistant clergy.  Having converted +the chieftain or head of the tribe the missionary had but to +instruct and baptise the tribesmen and to erect churches for +them.  Land and materials for the church were provided by the +Clan or the Clan's head, and lands for support of the missioner or +of the missionary community were allotted just as they had been +previously allotted to the pagan priesthood; in fact there can be +but little doubt that the lands of the pagan priests became in many +cases the endowment of the Christian establishment.  It is not +necessary, by the way, to assume that the Church in Ireland as +Patrick left it, was formally monastic.  The clergy lived in +community, it is true, but it was under a somewhat elastic rule, +which was really rather a series of Christian and Religious +counsels.  A more formal monasticism had developed by the time of +Mochuda; this was evidently influenced by the spread of St. +Benedict's Rule, as Patrick's quasi-monasticism, nearly two +centuries previously, had been influenced by Pachomius and St. +Basil, through Lerins.  The real peculiarity in Ireland was that +when the community-missionary-system was no longer necessary it was +not abandoned as in other lands but was rather developed and +emphasised.</p> +<p><a name="intro-d" id="intro-d"></a></p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<center> +<h3><i>II.—ST. DECLAN.</i></h3> +</center> +<blockquote><font size="-1">"If thou hast the right, O Erin, to a +champion of battle to aid thee thou hast the head of a hundred +thousand, Declan of Ardmore."  <cite>(Martyrology of +Oengus).</cite></font></blockquote> +<p>Five miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the +southern Irish coast, a short, rocky and rather elevated promontory +juts, with a south-easterly trend, into the ocean.  Maps and +admiralty charts call it Ram +Head, but the real name is Ceann-a-Rama and popularly it is often +styled Ardmore Head.  The material of this inhospitable coast is +a hard metamorphic schist which bids defiance to time and +weather.  Landwards the shore curves in clay cliffs to the +north-east, leaving, between it and the iron headland beyond, a +shallow exposed bay wherein many a proud ship has met her doom.  +Nestling at the north side of the headland and sheltered by the +latter from Atlantic storms stands one of the most remarkable +groups of ancient ecclesiastical remains in Ireland—all that +has survived of St. Declan's holy city of Ardmore.  This embraces +a beautiful and perfect round tower, a singularly interesting +ruined church commonly called the cathedral, the ruins of a second +church beside a holy well, a primitive oratory, a couple of ogham +inscribed pillar stones, &c., &c.</p> +<p>    No Irish saint perhaps has so strong a local hold as +Declan or has left so abiding a popular memory.  Nevertheless his +period is one of the great disputed questions of early Irish +history.  According to the express testimony of his Life, +corroborated by testimony of the Lives of SS. Ailbhe and Ciaran, he +preceded St. Patrick in the Irish mission and was a co-temporary of +the national apostle.  Objection, exception or opposition to the +theory of Declan's early period is based less on any inherent +improbability in the theory itself than on contradictions and +inconsistencies in the Life.  Beyond any doubt the Life does +actually contradict itself; it makes Declan a cotemporary of +Patrick in the fifth century and a cotemporary likewise of St. +David a century later.  In any attempted solution of the +difficulty involved it may be helpful to remember a special motive +likely to animate a tribal histrographer, scil.:—the family +relationship, if we may so call it, of the two saints; David was +bishop of the Deisi colony in Wales as Declan was bishop of their +kinsmen of southern Ireland.  It was very probably part of the +writer's purpose to call attention to the links of kindred which +bound the separated Deisi; witness his allusion later to the +alleged visit of Declan to his kinsmen of Bregia.  Possibly there +were several Declans, as there were scores of Colmans, Finians, +&c., and hence perhaps the confusion and some of the apparent +inconsistencies.  There was certainly a second Declan, a disciple +of St. Virgilius, to whom the latter committed care of a church in +Austria where he died towards close of eighth century.  Again we +find mention of a St. Declan who was a foster son of Mogue of +Ferns, and so on.  It is too much, as Delehaye (<i>"Legendes +Hagiographiques"</i>) remarks, to expect the populace to +distinguish between namesakes.  Great men are so rare!  Is it +likely there should have lived two saints of the same name in the +same country!</p> +<p>    The latest commentators on the question of St. Declan's +period—and they happen to be amongst the most +weighty—argue strongly in favour of the pre-Patrician mission +(<i>Cfr.</i> Prof. Kuno Meyer, <i>"Learning Ireland in the Fifth +Century"</i>).  Discussing the <i>way</i> in which letters first +reached our distant island of the west and the <i>causes</i> which +led to the proficiency of sixth-century Ireland in classical +learning Zimmer and Meyer contend that the seeds of that literary +culture, which flourished in Ireland of the sixth century, had been +sown therein in the first and second decades of the preceding +century by Gaulish scholars who had fled from their own country +owing to invasion of the latter by Goths and other barbarians.  +The fact that these scholars, who were mostly Christians, sought +asylum in Ireland indicates that Christianity had already +penetrated thither, or at any rate that it was known and tolerated +there.  Dr. Meyer answers the objection that if so large and so +important an invasion of scholars took place we ought have some +reference to the fact in the Irish annals.  The annals, he +replies, are of local origin and they rarely refer in their oldest +parts to national events:  moreover they are very meagre in their +information about the fifth century.  One Irish reference to the +Gaulish scholars is, however, adduced in corroboration; it occurs +in that well known passage in St. Patrick's "Confessio" where the +saint cries out against certain "rhetoricians" in Ireland who were +hostile to him and pagan,—"You rhetoricians who do not know +the Lord, hear and search Who it was that called me up, fool though +I be, from the midst of those who think themselves wise and skilled +in the law and mighty orators and powerful in everything."  Who +were these "rhetorici" that have made this passage so difficult for +commentators and have caused so various constructions to be put +upon it?  It is clear, the professor maintains, that the +reference is to pagan rhetors from Gaul whose arrogant presumption, +founded on their learning, made them regard with disdain the +comparatively illiterate apostle of the Scots.  Everyone is +familiar with the classic passage of Tacitus wherein he alludes to +the harbours of Ireland as being more familiar to continental +mariners than those of Britain.  We have references moreover to +refugee Christians who fled to Ireland from the persecutions of +Diocletian more than a century before St. Patrick's day; in +addition it is abundantly evident that many +Irishmen—Christians like Celestius the lieutenant of +Pelagius, and possibly Pelagius himself, amongst them—had +risen to distinction or notoriety abroad before middle of the fifth +century.</p> +<p>    Possibly the best way to present the question of +Declan's age is to put in tabulated form the arguments of the +pre-Patrician advocates against the counter contentions of those +who claim that Declan's period is later than Patrick's:—</p> +<center> +<table border="0" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="3" width="100%" +summary="Pro and Con"> +<tr> +<td valign="top" align="left"> +<center><font size="-1">For the Pre-Patrician +Mission.</font></center> +   I.—Positive statement of Life, corroborated by Lives +of SS. Ciaran and Ailbhe.<br /> +   II.—Patrick's apparent avoidance of the Principality +of Decies.<br /> +   III.—The peculiar Declan cult and the strong local +hold which Declan has maintained.</td> +<td valign="top" align="left"> +<center><font size="-1">Against Theory of Early Fifth Century +period.</font></center> +   I.—Contradictions, anachronisms, &c., of +Life.<br /> +   II.—Lack of allusion to Declan in the Lives of St. +Patrick.<br /> +   III.—Prosper's testimony to the mission of Palladius +as first bishop to the believing Scots.<br /> +   IV.—Alleged motives for later invention of +Pre-Patrician story.</td> +</tr> +</table> +</center> +<p>    In this matter and at this hour it is hardly worth +appealing to the authority of Lanigan and the scholars of the +past.  Much evidence not available in Lanigan's day is now at the +service of scholars.  We are to look rather at the reasoning of +Colgan, Ussher, and Lanigan than to the mere weight of their +names.</p> +<p>    Referring in order to our tabulated grounds of argument, +<i>pro</i> and <i>con,</i> and taking the <i>pro</i> arguments +first, we may (I.) discard as evidence for our purpose the Life of +St. Ibar which is very fragmentary and otherwise a rather +unsatisfactory document.  The Lives of Ailbhe, Ciaran, and Declan +are however mutually corroborative and consistent.  The Roman +visit and the alleged tutelage under Hilarius are probably +embellishments; they look like inventions to explain something and +they may contain more than a kernel of truth.  At any rate they +are matters requiring further investigation and elucidation.  In +this connection it may be useful to recall that the Life (Latin) of +St. Ciaran has been attributed by Colgan to Evinus the disciple and +panegyrist of St. Patrick.</p> +<p>    Patrick's apparent neglect of the Decies (II.) may have +no special significance.  At best it is but negative evidence:  +taken, however, in connection with (I.) and its consectaria it is +suggestive.  We can hardly help speculating why the +apostle—passing as it were by its front door—should +have given the go-bye to a region so important as the Munster +Decies.  Perhaps he sent preachers into it; perhaps there was no +special necessity for a formal mission, as the faith had already +found entrance.  It is a little noteworthy too that we do not +find St. Patrick's name surviving in any ecclesiastical connection +with the Decies, if we except Patrick's Well, near Clonmel, and +this Well is within a mile or so of the territorial frontier.  +Moreover the southern portion of the present Tipperary County had +been ceded by Aengus to the Deisi, only just previous to Patrick's +advent, and had hardly yet had sufficient time to become +absorbed.  The whole story of Declan's alleged relations with +Patrick undoubtedly suggests some irregularity in Declan's +mission—an irregularity which was capable of rectification +through Patrick and which <i>de facto</i> was finally so +rectified.</p> +<p>    (III.) No one in Eastern Munster requires to be told how +strong is the cult of St. Declan throughout Decies and the adjacent +territory.  It is hardly too much to say that the Declan +tradition in Waterford and Cork is a spiritual actuality, +extraordinary and unique, even in a land which till recently paid +special popular honour to its local saints.  In traditional +popular regard Declan in the Decies has ever stood first, foremost, +and pioneer.  Carthage, founder of the tribal see, has held and +holds in the imagination of the people only a secondary place.  +Declan, whencesoever or whenever he came, is regarded as the +spiritual father to whom the Deisi owe the gift of faith.  How +far this tradition and the implied belief in Declan's priority and +independent mission are derived from circulation of the "Life" +throughout Munster in the last few centuries it is difficult to +gauge, but the tradition seems to have flourished as vigorously in +the days of Colgan as it does to-day.  Declan's "pattern" at +Ardmore continues to be still the most noted celebration of its +kind in Ireland.  A few years ago it was participated in by as +many as fourteen thousand people from all parts of Waterford, Cork, +and Tipperary.  The scenes and ceremonies have been so frequently +described that it is not necessary to recount them +here—suffice it to say that the devotional practices and, in +fact, the whole celebration is of a purely popular character +receiving no approbation, and but bare toleration, from church or +clergy.  Even to the present day Declan's name is borne as their +prænomen by hundreds of Waterford men, and, before +introduction of the modern practice of christening with foolish +foreign names, its use was far more common, as the ancient +baptismal registers of Ardmore, Old Parish, and Clashmore +attest.  On the other hand Declan's name is associated with +comparatively few places in the Decies.  Of these the best known +is Relig Deaglain, a disused graveyard and early church site on the +townland of Drumroe, near Cappoquin.  There was also an ancient +church called Killdeglain, near Stradbally.</p> +<p>    Against the theory of the pre-Patrician or +citra-Patrician mission we have first the objection, which really +has no weight, and which we shall not stop to discuss, that it is +impossible for Christianity at that early date to have found its +way to this distant island, beyond the boundary of the world.  An +argument on a different plane is (I.), the undoubtedly +contradictory and inconsistent character of the Life.  It is easy +however to exaggerate the importance of this point.  Modern +critical methods were undreamed of in the days of our hagiographer, +who wrote, moreover, for edification only in a credulous age.  +Most of the historical documents of the period are in a greater or +less degree uncritical but that does not discredit their testimony +however much it may confuse their editors.  It can be urged +moreover that two mutually incompatible genealogies of the saint +are given.  The genealogy given by MacFirbisigh seems in fact to +disagree in almost every possible detail with the genealogy in 23 +M. 50 R.I.A.  That however is like an argument that Declan never +existed.  It really suggests and almost postulates the existence +of a second Declan whose Acts and those of <i>our</i> Declan have +become mutually confused.</p> +<p>    (II.) Absence of Declan's name from the Acts of Patrick +is a negative argument.  It is explicable perhaps by the supposed +irregularity of Declan's preaching.  Declan was certainly earlier +than Mochuda and yet there is no reference to him in the Life of +the latter saint.  Ailbhe however is referred to in the +Tripartite Life of Patrick and the cases of Ailbhe and Declan are +<i>a pari;</i> the two saints stand or fall together.</p> +<p>    (IV.) Motives for invention of the pre-Patrician myth +are alleged, scil.:—to rebut certain claims to jurisdiction, +tribute or visitation advanced by Armagh in after ages.  It is +hard to see however how resistance to the claims in question could +be better justified on the theory of a pre-Patrician Declan, who +admittedly acknowledged Patrick's supremacy, than on the admission +of a post-Patrician mission.</p> +<p>    That in Declan we have to deal with a very early +Christian teacher of the Decies there can be no doubt.  If not +anterior to Patrick he must have been the latter's cotemporary.  +Declan however had failed to convert the chieftain of his race and +for this—reading between the lines of the "Life"—we +seem to hear Patrick blaming him.</p> +<p>    The monuments proper of Declan remaining at Ardmore are +(<i>a</i>) his <i>oratory</i> near the Cathedral and Round Tower in +the graveyard, (<i>b</i>) his <i>stone</i> on the beach, (<i>c</i>) +his <i>well</i> on the cliff, and (<i>d</i>) <i>another stone</i> +said to have been found in his tomb and preserved at Ardmore for +long ages with great reveration.  The "Life" refers moreover to +the saint's pastoral staff and his bell but these have disappeared +for centuries.</p> +<p>    The "Oratory" is simply a primitive church of the usual +sixth century type:  it stands 13' 4" x 8' 9" in the clear, and +has, or had, the usual high-pitched gables and square-headed west +doorway with inclining jambs.  Another characteristic feature of +the early oratory is seen in the curious antae or prolongation of +the side walls.  Locally the little building is known as the +<i>beannacán,</i> in allusion, most likely, to its high gables +or the finials which once, no doubt, in Irish fashion, adorned its +roof.  Though somewhat later than Declan's time this primitive +building is very intimately connected with the Saint.  Popularly +it is supposed to be his grave and within it is a hollow space +scooped out, wherein it is said his ashes once reposed.  It is +highly probable that tradition is quite correct as to the saint's +grave, over which the little church was erected in the century +following Declan's death.  The oratory was furnished with a roof +of slate by Bishop Mills in 1716.</p> +<p>    "St. Declan's Stone" is a glacial boulder of very hard +conglomerate which lies on a rocky ledge of beach beneath the +village of Ardmore.  It measures some 8' 6" x 4' 6" x 4' 0" and +reposes upon two slightly jutting points of the underlying +metamorphic rock.  Wonderful virtues are attributed to St. +Declan's Stone, which, on the occasion of the patronal feast, is +visited by hundreds of devotees who, to participate in its healing +efficacy and beneficence, crawl laboriously on face and hands +through the narrow space between the boulder and the underlying +rock.  Near by, at foot of a new storm-wall, are two similar but +somewhat smaller boulders which, like their venerated and more +famous neighbour, were all wrenched originally by a glacier from +their home in the Comeragh Mountains twenty miles away.</p> +<p>    "St. Declan's Well," beside some remains of a rather +large and apparently twelfth century church on the cliff, in the +townland of Dysert is diverted into a shallow basin in which +pilgrims bathe feet and hands.  Set in some comparatively modern +masonry over the well are a carved crucifixion and other figures of +apparently late mediaeval character.  Some malicious interference +with this well led, nearly a hundred years since, to much popular +indignation and excitement.</p> +<p>    The second "St. Declan's Stone" was a small, +cross-inscribed jet-black piece of slate or marble, +approximately—2" or 3" x 1½".  Formerly it seems to +have had a small silver cross inset and was in great demand locally +as an amulet for cattle curing.  It disappeared however, some +fifty years or so since, but very probably it could still be +recovered in Dungarvan.</p> +<p>    Far the most striking of all the monuments at Ardmore +is, of course, the Round Tower which, in an excellent state of +preservation, stands with its conical cap of stone nearly a hundred +feet high.  Two remarkable, if not unique, features of the tower +are the series of sculptured corbels which project between the +floors on the inside, and the four projecting belts or zones of +masonry which divide the tower into storeys externally.  The +tower's architectural anomalies are paralleled by its history which +is correspondingly unique:  it stood a regular siege in 1642, +when ordnance was brought to bear on it and it was defended by +forty confederates against the English under Lords Dungarvan and +Broghil.</p> +<p>    A few yards to north of the Round Tower stands "The +Cathedral" illustrating almost every phase of ecclesiastical +architecture which flourished in Ireland from St. Patrick to the +Reformation—Cyclopean, Celtic-Romanesque, Transitional and +Pointed.  The chancel arch is possibly the most remarkable and +beautiful illustration of the Transitional that we have.  An +extraordinary feature of the church is the wonderful series of +Celtic arcades and panels filled with archaic sculptures in relief +which occupy the whole external face of the west gable.</p> +<p>    St. Declan's foundation at Ardmore seems (<i>teste</i> +Moran's Archdall) to have been one of the Irish religious houses +which accepted the reform of Pope Innocent at the Lateran Council +and to have transformed itself into a Regular Canonry.  It would +however be possible to hold, on the evidence, that it degenerated +into a mere parochial church.  We hear indeed of two or three +episcopal successors of the saint, scil.:—Ultan who +immediately followed him, Eugene who witnessed a charter to the +abbey of Cork in 1174, and Moelettrim Ô Duibhe-rathre who died +in 1303 after he had, according to the annals of Inisfallen, +"erected and finished the Church" of Ardmore.  The <i>"Wars of +the Gaedhil and Gall"</i> have reference, circa 824 or 825, to +plunder by the Northmen of Disert Tipraite which is almost +certainly the church of Dysert by the Holy Well at Ardmore.  The +same fleet, on the same expedition, plundered Dunderrow (near +Kinsale), Inisshannon (Bandon River), Lismore, and Kilmolash.</p> +<p>    Regarding the age of our "Life" it is difficult with the +data at hand to say anything very definite.  While dogmatism +however is dangerous indefiniteness is unsatisfying.  True, we +cannot trace the genealogy of the present version beyond middle of +the sixteenth century, but its references to ancient monuments +existing at date of its compilation show it to be many centuries +older.  Its language proves little or nothing, for, being a +popular work, it would be modernised to date by each successive +scribe.  Colgan was of opinion it was a composition of the eighth +century.  Ussher and Ware, who had the Life in very ancient +codices, also thought it of great antiquity.  Papebrach, the +Bollandist, on the other hand, considered the Life could not be +older than the twelfth century, but this opinion of his seems to +have been based on a misapprehension.  In the absence of all +diocesan colour or allusion one feels constrained to assign the +production to some period previous to Rathbreasail.  We should +not perhaps be far wrong in assigning the first collection of +materials to somewhere in the eighth century or in the century +succeeding.  The very vigorous ecclesiastical revival of the +eleventh century, at conclusion of the Danish wars, must have led +to some revision of the country's religious literature.  The +introduction, a century and-a-half later, of the great religious +orders most probably led to translation of the Life into Latin and +its casting into shape for reading in refectory or choir.</p> +<p>    Only three surviving copies of the Irish Life are known +to the writer:  one in the Royal Library at Brussels, the second +in the Royal Irish Academy Collection (M. 23, 50, pp. 109-120), and +the third in possession of Professor Hyde.  As the second and +third enumerated are copies of one imperfect exemplar it has not +been thought necessary to collate both with the Brussels MS. which +has furnished the text here printed.  M. 23, 50 (R.I.A.) has +however been so collated and the marginal references initialled B +are to that imperfect copy.  The latter, by the way, is in the +handwriting of John Murphy "na Raheenach," and is dated 1740.  It +has not been thought necessary to give more than the important +variants.</p> +<p>    The present text is a reproduction of the Brussels MS. +plus lengthening of contractions.  As regards lengthening in +question it is to be noted that the well known contraction for +<i>ea</i> or <i>e</i> has been uniformly transliterated +<i>e.</i>  Otherwise orthography of the MS. has been scrupulously +followed—even where inconsistent or incorrect.  For the +division into paragraphs the editor is not responsible; he has +merely followed the division originated, or adopted, by the +scribe.  The Life herewith presented was copied in 1629 by +Brother Michael O'Clery of the Four Masters' staff from an older +MS. of Eochy O'Heffernan's dated 1582.  The MS. of O'Heffernan is +referred to by our scribe as <i>seinleabar,</i> but his reference +is rather to the contents than to the copy.  Apparently O'Clery +did more than transcribe; he re-edited, as was his wont, into the +literary Irish of his day.  A page of the Brussels MS., +reproduced in facsimile as a frontispiece to the present volume, +will give the student a good idea of O'Clery's script and +style.</p> +<p>    Occasional notes on Declan in the martyrologies and +elsewhere give some further information about our saint.  +Unfortunately however the alleged facts are not always capable of +reconciliation with statements of our "Life," and again the +existence of a second, otherwise unknown, Declan is suggested.  +The introduction of rye is attributed to him in the Calendar of +Oengus, as introduction of wheat is credited to St. Finan Camm, and +introduction of bees to St. Modomnoc,—"It was the full of his +shoe that Declan brought, the full of his shoe likewise Finan, but +the full of his bell Modomnoc" (<i>Cal. Oeng.,</i> April 7th).  +More puzzling is the note in the same Calendar which makes Declan a +foster son of Mogue of Ferns!  This entry illustrates the way in +which errors originate.  A former scribe inadvertently copied in, +after Declan's name, portion of the entry immediately following +which relates to Colman Hua Liathain.  Successive scribes +re-copied the error without discovering it and so it became +stereotyped.</p> +<p><a name="intro-m" id="intro-m"></a></p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<center> +<h3><i>III.—ST. MOCHUDA.</i></h3> +</center> +<blockquote><font size="-1">"It was he (Mochuda) that had the +famous congregation consisting of seven hundred and ten persons; an +angel used to address every third man of them.  +<cite>(Martyrology of Donegal).</cite></font></blockquote> +<p>In some respects the Life of Mochuda here presented is in sharp +contrast to the corresponding Life of Declan.  The former +document is in all essentials a very sober historical +narrative—accurate wherever we can test it, credible and +harmonious on the whole.  Philologically, to be sure, it is of +little value,—certainly a much less valuable Life than +Declan's; historically, however (and question of the pre-Patrician +mission apart) it is immensely the more important document.  On +one point do we feel inclined to quarrel with its author, scil.:  +that he has not given us more specifically the motives underlying +Mochuda's expulsion from Rahen—one of the three worst +counsels ever given in Erin.  Reading between his lines we spell, +jealousy—<i>invidia religiosorum.</i>  Another jealousy too +is suggested—the mutual distrust of north and south which has +been the canker-worm of Irish political life for fifteen hundred +years, making intelligible if not justifying the indignation of a +certain distinguished Irishman who wanted to know the man's name, +in order to curse its owner, who first divided Ireland into two +provinces.</p> +<p>    Three different Lives of Mochuda are known to the +present writer.  Two of them are contained in a MS. at Brussels +(<i>C/r.</i> Bindon, p. 8, 13) and of one of these there is a copy +in a MS. of Dineen's in the Royal Irish Academy (Stowe Collection, +A. IV, I.)  Dineen appears to have been a Cork or Kerry man and +to have worked under the patronage of the rather noted Franciscan +Father Francis Matthew (O'Mahony), who was put to death at Cork by +Inchiquin in 1644.  The bald text of Dineen's "Life" was +published a few years since, without translation, in the <i>Irish +Rosary.</i>  The corresponding Brussels copy is in Michael +O'Clery's familiar hand.  In it occurs the strange +pagan-flavoured story of the British Monk Constantine.  O'Clery's +copy was made in January, 1627, at the Friary of Drouish from the +Book of Tadhg O'Ceanan and it is immediately followed by a tract +entitled—<i>"Do Macaib Ua Suanac."</i>  The bell of +Mochuda, by the way, which the saint rang against Blathmac, was +called the <i>glassan</i> of Hui Suanaig in later times.</p> +<p>    The "Life" here printed, which follows the Latin Life so +closely that one seems a late translation of the other, is as far +as the editor is aware, contained in a single MS. only.  This is +M. 23, 50, R.I.A., in the handwriting of John Murphy, "na +Raheenach."  Murphy was a Co. Cork schoolmaster, scribe, and +poet, of whom a biographical sketch will be found prefixed by Mr. +R. A. Foley to a collection of Murphy's poems that he has +edited.  The sobriquet, "na Raheenach," is really a kind of +tribal designation.  The "Life" is very full but is in its +present form a comparatively late production; it was transcribed by +Murphy between 1740 and 1750.  It is much to be regretted that +the scribe tells us nothing of his original.  Murphy, but the +way, seems to have specialised to some extent in saint's Lives and +to have imbued his disciples with something of the same taste.  +One of his pupils was Maurice O'Connor, a scribe and shipwright of +Cove, to whom we owe the Life of St. Ciaran of Saighir printed in +<i>"Silva Gadelica."</i>  The reasons of choice for publication +here of the present Life are avowedly non-philological; the motive +for preference is that it is the longest of the three Lives and for +historical purposes the most important.</p> +<p>    The Life presents considerable evidence of historical +reliability; its geography is detailed and correct; its references +to contemporaries of Mochuda are accurate on the whole and there +are few inconsistencies or none.  Moreover it sheds some new +light on that chronic puzzle—organisation of the Celtic +Church of Ireland.  Mochuda, head of a great monastery at Rahen, +is likewise a kind of pluralist Parish Priest with a parish in +Kerry, administered in his name by deputed ecclesiastics, and other +parishes similarly administered in Kerrycurrihy, Rostellan, West +Muskerry, and Spike Island, Co. Cork.  When a chief parishioner +lies seriously ill in distant Corca Duibhne, Mochuda himself comes +all the way from the centre of Ireland to administer the last rites +to the dying man, and so on.</p> +<p>    The relations of the people to the Church and its +ministers are in many respects not at all easy to understand.  +Oblations, for instance, of themselves and their territory, +&c., by chieftains are frequent.  Oblations of monasteries +are made in a similar way.  Probably this signifies no more than +that the chief region or monastery put itself under the saint's +jurisdiction or rule or both.  That there were other churches too +than the purely monastic appears from offerings to Mochuda of +already existing churches, <i>v.g.</i> from the Clanna Ruadhan in +Decies, &c.</p> +<p>    Lismore, the most famous of Mochuda's foundations, +became within a century of the saint's death, one of the great +monastic schools of Erin, attracting to his halls, or rather to its +boothies, students from all Ireland and even—so it is +claimed—from lands beyond the seas.  King Alfrid [Aldfrith] +of Northumbria, for instance, is said to have partaken of Lismore's +hospitality, and certainly Cormac of Cashel, Malachy and Celsus of +Armagh and many others of the most distinguished of the Scots +partook thereof.  The roll of Lismore's calendared saints would +require, did the matter fall within our immediate province, more +than one page to itself.  Some interesting reference to Mochuda +and his holy city occur in the Life of one of his disciples, St. +Colman Maic Luachain, edited for the R.I.A. by Professor Kuno +Meyer.</p> +<p>    There are many indications in the present Life that, at +one period, and in the time of Carthach, the western boundary of +Decies extended far beyond the line at present recognised.  +Similar indications are furnished by the martyrologies, &c.; +for instance, the martyrology of Donegal under November 28th +records of "the three sons of Bochra" that "they are of Archadh +Raithin in Ui Mic Caille in Deisi Mumhan" and Ibid, p. xxxvii, it +is stated <i>"i ccondae Corcaige ataid na Desi Múman."</i>  +Not only Imokilly but all Co. Cork, east of Queenstown [Cobh] and +north to the Blackwater, seems to have acknowledged Mochuda's +jurisdiction.  At Rathbreasail accordingly (<i>teste</i> Keating, +on the authority of the Book of Cloneneigh) the Diocese of Lismore +is made to extend to Cork,—probably over the present baronies +of Imokilly, Kinatallon, and Barrymore.  That part, at least, of +Condons and Clangibbon was likewise included is inferrible from the +fact that, as late as the sixteenth century visitations, Kilworth, +founded by Colman Maic Luachain, ranked as a parish in the diocese +of Lismore.  Further evidence pointing in the same direction is +furnished by Clondulane, &c., represented in the present Life +as within Carthach's jurisdiction.</p> +<p>    The Rule of St. Carthach is one of the few ancient Irish +so-called monastic Rules surviving.  It is in reality less a +"rule," as the latter is now understood, than a series of Christian +and religious counsels drawn up by a spiritual master for his +disciples.  It must not be understood from this that each +religious house did not have it formal regulations.  The latter +however seem to have depended largely upon the abbot's spirit, will +or discretion.  The existing "Rules" abound in allusions to +forgotten practices and customs and, to add to their obscurity, +their language is very difficult—sometimes, like the language +of the Brehon Laws, unintelligible.  The rule ascribed to Mochuda +is certainly a document of great antiquity and may well have +emanated from the seventh century and from the author whose name it +bears.  The tradition of Lismore and indeed of the Irish Church +is constant in attributing it to him.  Copies of the Rule are +found in numerous MSS. but many of them are worthless owing to the +incompetence of the scribes to whom the difficult Irish of the text +was unintelligible.  The text in the Leabhar Breac has been made +the basis of his edition of the Rule by <i>Mac Eaglaise,</i> a +writer in the <i>Irish Ecclesiastical Record</i> (1910).  <i>Mac +Eaglaise's</i> edition, though it is not all that could be desired, +is far the most satisfactory which has yet appeared.  Previous +editions of the Rule or part of it comprise one by Dr. Reeves in +his tract on the Culdees, one by Kuno Meyer in the <i>Gaelic +Journal</i> (<i>Vol. V.</i>) and another in <i>Archiv für +C.L.</i> (3 <i>Bund.</i> 1905), and another again in <i>Eriu</i> +(<i>Vol.</i> 2, <i>p.</i> 172), besides a free translation of the +whole rule by O'Curry in the <i>I. R. Record</i> for 1864.  The +text of the <i>Record</i> edition of 1910 is from Leabhar Breac +collated with other MSS.  The order in the various copies is not +the same and some copies contain material which is wanting in +others.  The "Rule" commences with the Ten Commandments, then it +enumerates the obligations respectively of bishops, abbots, +priests, monks, and culdees [anchorites].  Finally there is a +section on the order of meals and on the refectory and another on +the obligations of a king.  The following excerpt on the duties +of an abbot (<i>I. E. Record</i> translation) will illustrate the +style and spirit of the Rule:</p> +<center>"Of the Abbot of a Church.</center> +    1.—If you be the head man of a Church noble is the +power, better for you that you be just who take the heirship of the +king.<br /> +    2.—If you are the head man of a Church noble is the +obligation, preservation of the rights of the Church from the small +to the great.<br /> +    3.—What Holy Church commands preach then with +diligence; what you order to each one do it yourself.<br /> +    4.—As you love your own soul love the souls of +all.  Yours the magnification of every good [and] banishment of +every evil.<br /> +    5.—Be not a candle under a bushel [Luke 11:33].  +Your learning without a cloud over it.  Yours the healing of +every host both strong and weak.<br /> +    6.—Yours to judge each one according to grade and +according to deed; he will advise you at judgment before the king. +<center>.    .    .    .    .    .    .  +  .    .    .    .    .    .</center> +    10.—Yours to rebuke the foolish, to punish the hosts, +turning disorder into order [restraint] of the stubborn, obstinate, +wretched." +<p>    Reservation of the Coarbship of Mochuda at Lismore in +favour of Kerrymen is an extremely curious if not unique +provision.  How long it continued in force we do not know.  +Probably it endured to the twelfth century and possibly the rule +was not of strict interpretation.  Christian O'Connarchy, who was +bishop of Lismore in the twelfth century, is regarded as a native +of Decies, though the contrary is slightly suggested by his final +retirement to Kerry.  The alleged prophecy concerning Kerry men +and the coarbship points to some rule, regulation or law of +Mochuda.</p> +<p><a name="map" id="map"></a></p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<center> +<h3><i>MAP OF IRELAND.</i></h3> +<pre> + ++-------------------------------------------+ +| | +| __ __---_ | +| ,-~~~ ~\/ ~\ | +| ,_/ | | +| /,_ / | +| _ _/ ~\ | +| /~~ ~\/~-_| / | +| \ /~ | +| \ _ _\/ | +| ,' | | +| /~ Tara \ | +| \ * | | +| '~|__- Rahen / | +| .- ,/~ * \ | +| | / | +| / | | +| /_,_/~ | | +| / Cashel / | +| ,--~ * | | +| /--- Lismore __|_-_/ | +| ,-~ *-,-~ | +| \_-~/ \ /~ * | +| ,-~/= _/~ Ardmore | +| --~/_-_-/~'~ | +| | ++-------------------------------------------+ +</pre> +<h3><i>MAP OF DECIES.</i></h3> +<img src="c-map.jpg" width="529" height="900" border="1" alt= +"Principality of Decies. +To Illustrate Lives of Declan and Mochuda." /></center> +<p><a name="declan" id="declan"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<center> +<h1>Life of St. Declan.</h1> +<h1><i>Betha Decclain.</i></h1> +</center> +1.  The most blessed Bishop Declan of the most noble race of the +kings of Ireland, <i>i.e.,</i> the holy bishop who is called Declan +was of the most noble royal family of Ireland—a family which +held the sceptre and exacted tribute from all Ireland at Tara for +ages.  Declan was by birth of noble blood as will appear from his +origin and genealogy, for it was from Eochaidh Feidhleach, the +powerful Ardrigh of Ireland for twelve years, that he sprang.  +Eochaidh aforesaid, had three sons, scil.:—Breas, Nar, and +Lothola, who are called the three Finneavna; there reigned one +hundred and seven kings of their race and kindred before and after +them, <i>i.e.</i> of the race of Eremon, king of +Ireland,—before the introduction of Christianity and +since.  These three youths lay one day with their own sister +Clothra, daughter of the same father, and she conceived of them.  +The son she brought forth as a consequence of that intercourse was +marked by three red wavy lines which indicated his descent from the +three youths aforesaid.  He was named Lugaidh Sriabhdearg from +the three lines [<i>sriabaib</i>] in question, and he was beautiful +to behold and of greater bodily strength in infancy than is usual +with children of his age.  He commenced his reign as king of +Ireland the year in which Caius Caesar [Caligula] died and he +reigned for twenty-six years.  His son was named Criomthan +Nianair who reigned but sixteen years.  Criomthan's son was named +Fearadach Finnfechtnach whose son was Fiacha Finnolaidh whose son +again was Tuathal Teachtmhar.  This Tuathal had a son Felimidh +Reachtmhar who had in turn three sons—Conn Ceadcathach, +Eochaidh Finn, and Fiacha Suighde.  Conn was king of Ireland for +twenty years and the productiveness of crops and soil and of +dairies in the time of Conn are worthy of commemoration and of fame +to the end of time.  Conn was killed in Magh Cobha by the +Ulstermen, scil.:—by Tiopruid Tireach and it is principally +his seed which has held the kingship of Ireland ever since.  +Eochaidh Finn was second son to Felimidh Reachtmhar and he migrated +to the latter's province of Leinster, and it is in that province +his race and progeny have remained since then.  They are called +Leinstermen, and there are many chieftains and powerful persons of +them in Leinster.  Fiacha Suighde moreover, although he died +before he succeeded to the chief sovereignty, possessed land around +Tara.  He left three sons—Ross, Oengus, and Eoghan who were +renowned for martial deeds—valiant and heroic in battle and +in conflict.  Of the three, Oengus excelled in all gallant deeds +so that he came to be styled Oengus of the poisonous javelin.  +Cormac Mac Art Mac Conn it was who reigned in Ireland at this +time.  Cormac had a son named Ceallach who took by force the +daughter of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde to dwell with him, +<i>i.e.</i> Credhe the daughter of Eoghan.  When Oengus +Gaebuaibhtheach ("of the poisonous javelin") heard this, viz., that +the daughter of his brother had been abducted by Ceallach he was +roused to fury and he followed Ceallach to Tara taking with him his +foster child, scil.:—Corc Duibhne, the son of Cairbre, son of +Conaire, son of Mogha Lamha whom Cormac held as a hostage from the +Munstermen, and whom he had given for safe custody to Oengus.  +When Oengus reached Tara he beheld Ceallach sitting behind +Cormac.  He thrust his spear at Ceallach and pierced him through +from front to back.  However as he was withdrawing the spear the +handle struck Cormac's eye and knocked it out and then, striking +the steward, killed him.  He himself (Oengus) with his foster +child escaped safely.  After a time Cormac, grieving for the loss +of his son, his eye and his steward at the hands of Oengus of the +poisonous javelin and of his kinsmen, ordered their expulsion from +their tribal territory, <i>i.e.</i> from the Decies of Tara, and +not alone from these, but from whole northern half of Ireland.  +However, seven battles were fought in which tremendous loss was +inflicted on Cormac and his followers before Oengus and his people, +<i>i.e.</i> the three sons of Fiacha Suighde, namely, Ross and +Oengus and Eoghan, as we have already said, were eventually +defeated, and obliged to fly the country and to suffer exile.  +Consequent on their banishment as above by the king of Ireland they +sought hospitality from the king of Munster, Oilill Olum, because +Sadhbh, daughter of Conn Ceadcathach was his wife.  They got land +from him, scil.:  the Decies of Munster, and it is to that race, +<i>i.e.</i> the race of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde that the kings +and country of the Decies belong ever since. +<p>    2.  Of this same race of Eoghan was the holy bishop +Declan of whom I shall speak later scil.:  Declan son of Eirc, +son of Trein, son of Lughaidh, son of Miaich, son of Brian, son of +Eoghan, son of Art Corp, son of Moscorb, son of Mesgeadra, son of +Measfore, son of Cuana Cainbhreathaigh, son of Conaire +Cathbuadhaigh, son of Cairbre, son of Eoghan, son of Fiacha +Suighde, son of Felimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal Teachtmhar.  +The father of Declan was therefore Erc Mac Trein.  He and his +wife Deithin went on a visit to the house of his kinsman Dobhran +about the time that Declan's birth was due.  The child she bore +was Declan, whom she brought forth without sickness, pain or +difficulty but in being lifted up afterwards he struck his head +against a great stone.  Let it be mentioned that Declan showed +proofs of sanctification and power of miracle-working in his +mother's womb, as the prophet writes:—<i>"De vulva +sanctificavi te et prophetam in gentibus dedi te"</i> [Jeremias +1:5] (Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee +and made thee a prophet unto the nations).  Thus it is that +Declan was sanctified in his mother's womb and was given by God as +a prophet to the pagans for the conversion of multitudes of them +from heathenism and the misery of unbelief to the worship of Christ +and to the Catholic faith, as we shall see later on.  The very +soft apex of his head struck against a hard stone, as we have said, +and where the head came in contact with the stone it made therein a +hollow and cavity of its own form and shape, without injury of any +kind to him.  Great wonder thereupon seized all who witnessed +this, for Ireland was at this time without the true faith and it +was rarely that any one (therein) had shown heavenly Christian +signs.  "Declan's Rock" is the name of the stone with which the +Saint's head came into contact.  The water or rain which falls +into the before-mentioned cavity (the place of Declan's head) +dispels sickness and infirmity, by the grace of God, as proof of +Declan's sanctity.</p> +<p>    3.  On the night of Declan's birth a wondrous sign was +revealed to all, that is to the people who were in the +neighbourhood of the birthplace; this was a ball of fire which was +seen blazing on summit of the house in which the child lay, until +it reached up to heaven and down again, and it was surrounded by a +multitude of angels.  It assumed the shape of a ladder such as +the Patriarch, Jacob saw [Genesis 28:12].  The persons who saw +and heard these things wondered at them.  They did not know (for +the true faith had not yet been preached to them or in this region) +that it was God who (thus) manifested His wondrous power (works) in +the infant, His chosen child.  Upon the foregoing manifestation a +certain true Christian, scil.:—Colman, at that time a priest +and afterwards a holy bishop, came, rejoicing greatly and filled +with the spirit of prophecy, to the place where Declan was; he +preached the faith of Christ to the parents and made known to them +that the child was full of the grace of God.  He moreover +revealed to them the height of glory and honour to which the infant +should attain before God and men, and it was revealed to him that +he (Declan) should spend his life in sanctity and devotion.  +Through the grace of God, these, <i>i.e.</i> Erc and Deithin, +believed in God and Colman, and they delivered the child for +baptism to Colman who baptised him thereupon, giving him the name +of Declan.  When, in the presence of all, he had administered +Baptism, Colman spoke this prophecy concerning the infant:  +"Truly, beloved child and lord you will be in heaven and on earth +most high and holy, and your good deeds, fame, and sanctity will +fill all (the four quarters of) Ireland and you will convert your +own nation and the Decies from paganism to Christianity.  On that +account I bind myself to you by the tie of brotherhood and I +commend myself to your sanctity."</p> +<p>    4.  Colman thereupon returned to his own abode; he +commanded that Declan should be brought up with due care, that he +should be well trained, and be set to study at the age of seven +years if there could be found in his neighbourhood a competent +Christian scholar to undertake his tuition.  Even at the period +of his baptism grace and surpassing charity manifested themselves +in the countenance of Declan so that it was understood of all that +great should be the goodness and the spiritual charm of his mature +age.  When Dobhran had heard and seen these things concerning his +kinsman Erc he requested the latter and Deithin to give him the +child to foster, and with this request Erc complied.  The name of +the locality was "Dobhran's Place" at that time, but since then it +has been "Declan's Place."  Dobhran presented the homestead to +Declan and removed his own dwelling thence to another place.  In +after years, when Declan had become a bishop, he erected there a +celebrated cell in honour of God, and this is the situation of the +cell in question:—In the southern part of the Decies, on the +east side of Magh Sgiath and not far from the city of Mochuda +<i>i.e.</i> Lismore.  For the space of seven years Declan was +fostered with great care by Dobhran (his father's brother) and was +much loved by him.  God wrought many striking miracles through +Declan's instrumentality during those years.  By aid of the Holy +Spirit dwelling in him he (Declan)—discreet Christian man +that he was—avoided every fault and every unlawful desire +during that time.</p> +<p>    5.  On the completion of seven years Declan was taken +from his parents and friends and fosterers to be sent to study as +Colman had ordained.  It was to Dioma they sent him, a certain +devout man perfect in the faith, who had come at that time by God's +design into Ireland having spent a long period abroad in acquiring +learning.  He (Dioma) built in that place a small cell wherein he +might instruct Declan and dwell himself.  There was given him +also, to instruct, together with Declan, another child, scil., +Cairbre Mac Colmain, who became afterwards a holy learned +bishop.  Both these were for a considerable period pursuing their +studies together.</p> +<p>    6.  There were seven men dwelling in Magh Sgiath, who +frequently saw the fiery globe which it has been already told they +first beheld at the time of Declan's birth.  It happened by the +Grace of God that they were the first persons to reveal and +describe that lightning.  These seven came to the place where +Declan abode and took him for their director and master.  They +made known publicly in the presence of all that, later on, he +should be a bishop and they spoke prophetically:—"The day, O +beloved child and servant of God, will come when we shall commit +ourselves and our lands to thee."  And it fell out thus (as they +foretold), for, upon believing, they were baptised and became wise, +devout (and) attentive and erected seven churches in honour of God +around Magh Sgiath.</p> +<p>    7.  Declan remained a long time with Dioma, the holy +man we have named, and acquired science and sanctity and diversity +of learning and doctrine, and he was prudent, mild, and capable so +that many who knew his nobility of blood came when they had heard +of the fullness of his sanctity and grace.  Moreover they +submitted themselves to him and accepted his religious rule.  +Declan judged it proper that he should visit Rome to study +discipline and ecclesiastical system, to secure for himself esteem +and approbation thence, and obtain authority to preach to the +(Irish) people and to bring back with him the rules of Rome as +these obtained in Rome itself.  He set out with his followers and +he tarried not till he arrived in Rome where they remained some +time.</p> +<p>    8.  At the same period there was a holy bishop, +<i>i.e.</i> Ailbe, who had been in Rome for a number of years +before this and was in the household of Pope Hilary by whom he had +been made a bishop.  When Declan with his disciples arrived in +Rome Ailbe received him with great affection and gladness and he +bore testimony before the Roman people to his (Declan's) sanctity +of life and nobility of blood.  He (Declan) therefore received +marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of +Rome when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was +comely, of good appearance, humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent +in counsel, frank in conversation, virtuous in mien, generous in +gifts, holy in life and resplendent in miracles.</p> +<p>    9.  When Declan had spent a considerable time in Rome +he was ordained a bishop by the Pope, who gave him church-books and +rules and orders and sent him to Ireland that he might preach +there.  Having bidden farewell to the Pope and received the +latter's blessing Declan commenced his journey to Ireland.  Many +Romans followed him to Ireland to perform their pilgrimage and to +spend their lives there under the yoke and rule of Bishop Declan, +and amongst those who accompanied him was Runan, son of the king of +Rome; he was dear to Declan.</p> +<p>    10.  On the road through Italy Bishop Declan and +Patrick met.  Patrick was not a bishop at that time, though he +was (made a bishop) subsequently by Pope Celestinus, who sent him +to preach to the Irish.  Patrick was truly chief bishop of the +Irish island.  They bade farewell to one another and they made a +league and bond of mutual fraternity and kissed in token of +peace.  They departed thereupon each on his own journey, +scil.:—Declan to Ireland and Patrick to Rome.</p> +<p>    11.  Declan was beginning mass one day in a church +which lay in his road, when there was sent him from heaven a little +black bell, (which came) in through the window of the church and +remained on the altar before Declan.  Declan greatly rejoiced +thereat and gave thanks and glory to Christ on account of it, and +it filled him with much courage to combat the error and false +teaching of heathendom.  He gave the bell for safe keeping and +carriage, to Runan aforesaid, <i>i.e.</i> son of the king of Rome, +and this is its name in Ireland—"The Duibhin Declain," and it +is from its colour it derives its name, for its colour is black +[<i>dub</i>].  There were manifested, by grace of God and +Declan's merits, many miracles through its agency and it is still +preserved in Declan's church.</p> +<p>    12.  When Declan and his holy companions arrived at +the Sea of Icht [English Channel] he failed, owing to lack of +money, to find a ship, for he did not have the amount demanded, and +every ship was refused him on that account.  He therefore struck +his bell and prayed to God for help in this extremity.  In a +short time after this they saw coming towards them on the crest of +the waves an empty, sailless ship and no man therein.  Thereupon +Declan said:—"Let us enter the ship in the name of Christ, +and He who has sent it to us will direct it skilfully to what +harbour soever He wishes we should go."  At the word of Declan +they entered in, and the ship floated tranquilly and safely until +it reached harbour in England.  Upon its abandonment by Declan +and his disciples the ship turned back and went again to the place +from which it had come and the people who saw the miracles and +heard of them magnified the name of the Lord and Declan, and the +words of the prophet David were verified:—<i>"Mirabilis Deus +in Sanctis Suis"</i> [Psalm 67(68):36] (God is wonderful in His +Saints).</p> +<p>    13.  After this Declan came to Ireland.  Declan was +wise like a serpent and gentle like a dove and industrious like the +bee, for as the bee gathers honey and avoids the poisonous herbs so +did Declan, for he gathered the sweet sap of grace and Holy +Scripture till he was filled therewith.  There were in Ireland +before Patrick came thither four holy bishops with their followers +who evangelized and sowed the word of God there; these are the +four:—Ailbe, Bishop Ibar, Declan, and Ciaran.  They drew +multitudes from error to the faith of Christ, although it was +Patrick who sowed the faith throughout Ireland and it is he who +turned chiefs and kings of Ireland to the way of baptism, faith and +sacrifice and everlasting judgment.</p> +<p>    14.  These three, scil.:—Declan, Ailbe and +Bishop Ibar made a bond of friendship and a league amongst +themselves and their spiritual posterity in heaven and on earth for +ever and they loved one another.  SS. Ailbe and Declan, +especially, loved one another as if they were brothers so that, on +account of their mutual affection they did not like to be separated +from one another—except when their followers threatened to +separate them by force if they did not go apart for a very short +time.  After this Declan returned to his own country—to the +Decies of Munster—where he preached, and baptized, in the +name of Christ, many whom he turned to the Catholic faith from the +power of the devil.  He built numerous churches in which he +placed many of his own followers to serve and worship God and to +draw people to God from the wiles of Satan.</p> +<p>    15.  Once on a time Declan came on a visit to the +place of his birth, where he remained forty days there and +established a religious house in which devout men have dwelt ever +since.  Then came the seven men we have already mentioned as +having made their abode around Magh Sgiath and as having prophesied +concerning Declan.  They now dedicated themselves and their +establishment to him as they had promised and these are their +names:—Mocellac and Riadan, Colman, Lactain, Finnlaoc, Kevin, +&c. [Mobi].  These therefore were under the rule and +spiritual sway of bishop Declan thenceforward, and they spent their +lives devoutly there and wrought many wonders afterwards.</p> +<p>    16.  After some time Declan set out to visit Aongus +MacNatfrich, king of Cashel, to preach to him and to convert him to +the faith of Christ.  Declan however had two uterine brothers, +sons of Aongus, scil.:  Colman and Eoghan.  The grace of the +Holy Ghost inspiring him Colman went to Ailbe of Emly and received +baptism and the religious habit at the latter's hands, and he +remained for a space sedulously studying science until he became a +saintly and perfect man.  Eochaid however remained as he was (at +home)—expecting the kingdom of Munster on his father's death, +and he besought his father to show due honour to his brother +Declan.  The king did so and put no obstacle in the way of +Declan's preaching but was pleased with Declan's religion and +doctrine, although he neither believed nor accepted baptism +himself.  It is said that refusal (of baptism) was based on this +ground:  Declan was of the Decies and of Conn's Half, while +Aongus himself was of the Eoghanacht of Cashel of +Munster—always hostile to the Desii.  It was not therefore +through ill will to the faith that he believed not, as is proved +from this that, when the king heard of the coming to him of +Patrick, the archbishop of Ireland, a man who was of British race +against which the Irish cherished no hate, not only did he believe +but he went from his own city of Cashel to meet him, professed +Christianity and was immediately baptised.</p> +<p>    17.  After this Declan, having sown the word of God +and preached to the king (although the latter did not assent to his +doctrines), proceeded to his own country and they (the Desii) +believed and received baptism except the king alone and the people +of his household who were every day promising to believe and be +baptised.  It however came about through the Devil's agency that +they hesitated continually and procrastinated.</p> +<p>    18.  Other authorities declare that Declan went many +times to Rome, but we have no written testimony from the ancient +biographers that he went there more than three times.  On one of +these occasions Declan paid a visit to the holy bishop of the +Britons whose name was David at the church which is called +Killmuine [Menevia] where the bishop dwelt beside the shore of the +sea which divides Ireland from Britain.  The bishop received +Declan with honour and he remained there forty days, in affection +and joy, and they sang Mass each day and they entered into a bond +of charity which continued between themselves and their successors +for ever afterwards.  On the expiration of the forty days Declan +took leave of David giving him a kiss in token of peace and set out +himself and his followers to the shore of the sea to take ship for +Ireland.</p> +<p>    19.  Now the bell which we have alluded to as sent +from heaven to Declan, was, at that time, in the custody of Runan +to carry as we have said, for Declan did not wish, on any account, +to part with it.  On this particular day as they were proceeding +towards the ship Runan entrusted it to another member of the +company.  On reaching the shore however the latter laid the bell +on a rock by the shore and forgot it till they were half way across +the sea.  Then they remembered it and on remembrance they were +much distressed.  Declan was very sorrowful that the gift sent +him by the Lord from heaven should have been forgotten in a place +where he never expected to find it again.  Thereupon raising his +eyes heavenward he prayed to God within his heart and he said to +his followers:—"Lay aside your sorrow for it is possible with +God who sent that bell in the beginning to send it now again by +some marvellous ship."  Very fully and wonderfully and +beautifully the creature without reason or understanding obeyed its +creator, for the very heavy unwieldy rock floated buoyantly and +without deviation, so that in a short time they beheld it in their +rear with the bell upon it.  And when his people saw this +wondrous thing it filled them with love for God and reverence for +their master.  Declan thereupon addressed them +prophetically:—"Permit the bell to precede you and follow it +exactly and whatsoever haven it will enter into it is there my city +and my bishopric will be whence I shall go to paradise and there my +resurrection will be."  Meantime the bell preceded the ship, and +it eased down its great speed remaining slightly in advance of the +ship, so that it could be seen from and not overtaken by the +latter.  The bell directed its course to Ireland until it reached +a harbour on the south coast, scil.:—in the Decies of +Munster, at an island called, at that time, High Sheep Island +[<i>Aird na gCcaorac</i>] and the ship made the same port, as +Declan declared.  The holy man went ashore and gave thanks and +praise to God that he had reached the place of his resurrection.  +Now, in that island depastured the sheep [<i>cáoirigh</i>] +belonging to the wife of the chieftain of Decies and it is thence +that it derives its Irish name—Ard-na-Ccaorac, +scil.:—there was in it a high hill and it was a promontory +beautiful to behold.  One of the party, ascending the summit of +the hill, said to Declan:—"How can this little height support +your people?"  Declan replied:—"Do not call it little hill, +beloved son, but 'great height' [<i>ard mór</i>]," and that +name has adhered to the city ever since, +scil.:—Ardmore-Declain.  After this Declan went to the king +of the Desii and asked of him the aforesaid island.  Whereupon +the king gave it to him.</p> +<p>    20.  Declan next returned to Ait-mBreasail where, in a +haven at the north side, were the shipping and boats of the island, +plying thither and backwards.  The people of the island hid all +their boats not willing that Declan should settle there; they +dreaded greatly that if Declan came to dwell there they themselves +should be expelled.  Whereupon his disciples addressed +Declan:—"Father," said they, "Many things are required +(scil.:  from the mainland) and we must often go by boat to this +island and there will be (crossing) more frequently when you have +gone to heaven and we pray thee to abandon the place or else to +obtain from God that the sea recede from the land so that it can be +entered dry shod, for Christ has said:—'Whatsoever you shall +ask of the Father in my name He will give it to you' [John 15:16]; +the place cannot be easily inhabited unless the sea recede from it +and on that account you cannot establish your city in it."  +Declan answered them and said:—"How can I abandon the place +ordained by God and in which He has promised that my burial and +resurrection shall be?  As to the alleged inconvenience of +dwelling therein, do you wish me to pray to God (for things) +contrary to His will—to deprive the sea of its natural +domain?  Nevertheless in compliance with your request I shall +pray to God and whatever thing be God's will, let it be done."  +Declan's community thereupon rose up and said:—"Father, take +your crosier as Moses took the rod [Exodus 14:16] and strike the +sea therewith and God will thus show His will to you."  His +disciples prayed therefore to him because they were tried and holy +men.  They put Declan's crosier in his hand and he struck the +water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy +Ghost and made the sign of the cross over the water and +immediately, by command and permission of God, the sea commenced to +move out from its accustomed place—so swiftly too that the +monsters of the sea were swimming and running and that it was with +difficulty they escaped with the sea.  However, many fishes were +left behind on the dry strand owing to the suddenness of the +ebb.  Declan, his crosier in his hand, pursued the receding tide +and his disciples followed after him.  Moreover the sea and the +departing monsters made much din and commotion and when Declan +arrived at the place where is now the margin of the sea a stripling +whose name was Mainchin, frightened at the thunder of the waves and +the cry of the unknown monsters with gaping mouths following the +(receding) water, exclaimed:—"Father, you have driven out the +sea far enough; for I am afraid of those horrid monsters."  When +Declan heard this and (saw) the sea standing still at the word of +the youth it displeased him and turning round he struck him a +slight blow on the nose.  Three drops of blood flowed from the +wound on to the ground in three separate places at the feet of +Declan.  Thereupon Declan blessed the nose and the blood ceased +immediately (to flow).  Then Declan declared:—"It was not I +who drove out the sea but God in His own great power who expelled +it and He would have done still more had you not spoken the words +you have said."  Three little wells of clear sweet water burst +forth in the place where fell the three drops of blood at the feet +of Declan, and these wells are there still and the colour of blood +is seen in them occasionally as a memorial of this miracle.  The +shore, rescued from the sea, is a mile in width and is of great +length around (the island) and it is good and fertile land for +tillage and pasture—lying beneath the monastery of Declan.  +As to the crosier which was in Declan's hand while he wrought this +miracle, this is its name—the Feartach Declain, from the +miracles and marvels [<i>fertaib</i>] wrought through it.  I +shall in another, subsequent, place relate some of these miracles +(narrated).</p> +<p>    21.  After the expulsion of the sea by this famous +Saint, scil.:  Declan, whose name and renown spread throughout +Erin because of his great and diverse miracles, he commenced to +build a great monastery by the south side of the stream which flows +through the island into the sea.  This monastery is illustrious +and beautiful and its name is Ardmor Declain, as we have said.  +After this came many persons to Declan, drawn from the uttermost +parts of Ireland, by the fame of his holy living; they devoted +themselves, soul and body to God and Declan, binding themselves +beneath his yoke and his rule.  Moreover he built himself in +every place throughout the territory of the Decies, churches and +monasteries and not alone in his own territory (did he build) but +in other regions of Ireland under tribute to him.  Great too were +the multitudes (thousands) of men and women who were under his +spiritual sway and rule, in the places we have referred to, +throughout Ireland, where happily they passed their lives.  He +ordained some of his disciples bishops and appointed them in these +places to sow the seed of faith and religion therein.  Gentleness +and charity manifested themselves in Declan to such an extent that +his disciples preferred to live under his immediate control and +under his direction as subjects than to be in authority in another +monastery.</p> +<p>    22.  After this the holy renowned bishop, head of +justice and faith in the Gaelic island came into Ireland, +<i>i.e.</i> Patrick sent by Celestinus, the Pope.  Aongus Mac +Nathfrich went to meet him soon as he heard the account of his +coming.  He conducted him (Patrick) with reverence and great +honour to his own royal city—to Cashel.  Then Patrick +baptised him and blessed himself and his people and his city.  +Patrick heard that the prince of the Decies had not been baptised +and did not believe, that there was a disagreement between the +prince and Declan and that the former refused to receive +instruction from the latter.  Patrick thereupon set out to preach +to the prince aforesaid.  Next, as to the four bishops we have +named who had been in Rome:  Except Declan alone they were not in +perfect agreement with Patrick.  It is true that subsequently to +this they did enter into a league of peace and harmonious actions +with Patrick and paid him fealty.  Ciaran, however, paid him all +respect and reverence and was of one mind with him present or +absent.  Ailbe then, when he saw the kings and rulers of Ireland +paying homage to Patrick and going out to meet him, came himself to +Cashel, to wait on him and he also paid homage to him (Patrick) and +submitted to his jurisdiction, in presence of the king and all +others.  Bear in mind it was Ailbe whom the other holy bishops +had elected their superior.  He therefore came first to Patrick, +lest the others, on his account, should offer opposition to +Patrick, and also that by his example the others might be more +easily drawn to his jurisdiction and rule.  Bishop Ibar however +would on no account consent to be subject to Patrick, for it was +displeasing to him that a foreigner should be patron of Ireland.  +It happened that Patrick in his origin was of the Britons and he +was nurtured in Ireland having been sold to bondage in his +boyhood.  There arose misunderstanding and dissension between +Patrick and Bishop Ibar at first, although (eventually), by +intervention of the angel of peace, they formed a mutual fellowship +and brotherly compact and they remained in agreement for ever +after.  But Declan did not wish to disagree at all with Patrick +for they had formed a mutual bond of friendship on the Italian +highway and it is thus the angel commanded him to go to Patrick and +obey him:—</p> +<p>    23.  The angel of God came to Declan and said to him, +"Go quickly to Patrick and prevent him cursing your kindred and +country, for to-night, in the plain which is called Inneoin, he is +fasting against the king, and if he curses your people they shall +be accursed for ever."  Thereupon Declan set out in haste by +direction of the angel to Inneoin, <i>i.e.</i> the place which is +in the centre of the plain of Femhin in the northern part of the +Decies.  He crossed Slieve Gua [Knockmaeldown] and over the Suir +and arrived on the following morning at the place where Patrick +was.  When Patrick and his disciples heard that Declan was there +they welcomed him warmly for they had been told he would not +come.  Moreover Patrick and his people received him with great +honour.  But Declan made obeisance to Patrick and besought him +earnestly that he should not execrate his people and that he should +not curse them nor the land in which they dwelt, and he promised to +allow Patrick do as he pleased.  And Patrick replied:—"On +account of your prayer not only shall I not curse them but I shall +give them a blessing."  Declan went thereupon to the place where +was the king of Decies who was a neighbour of his.  But he +contemned Patrick and he would not believe him even at the request +of Declan.  Moreover Declan promised rewards to him if he would +go to Patrick to receive baptism at his hands and assent to the +faith.  But he would not assent on any account.  When Declan +saw this, scil.:—that the king of the Decies, who was named +Ledban, was obstinate in his infidelity and in his +devilry—through fear lest Patrick should curse his race and +country—he (Declan) turned to the assembly and addressed +them:—"Separate yourselves from this accursed man lest you +become yourselves accursed on his account, for I have myself +baptised and blessed you, but come you," said he, "with us, to +Patrick, whom God has sent to bless you, for he has been chosen +Archbishop and chief Patron of all Erin; moreover, I have a right +to my own patrimony and to be king over you as that man (Ledban) +has been."  At this speech they all arose and followed Declan who +brought them into the presence of Patrick and said to the +latter:—"See how the whole people of the Deisi have come with +me as their Lord to thee and they have left the accursed prince +whose subjects they have been, and behold they are ready to +reverence you and to obey you for it is from me they have received +baptism."  At this Patrick rose up with his followers and he +blessed the people of the Deisi and not them alone, but their woods +and water and land.  Whereupon the chiefs and nobles of the Deisi +said:—"Who will be King or Lord over us now?"  And Declan +replied:—"I am your lord and whomsoever I shall appoint offer +you as lord, Patrick and all of us will bless, and he shall be king +over you all."  And he whom Declan appointed was Feargal Mac +Cormac a certain young man of the nation of the Deisi who was a +kinsman of Declan himself.  He (Declan) set him in the midst of +the assembly in the king's place and he was pleasing to all.  +Whereupon Patrick and Declan blessed him and each of them apart +proclaimed him chieftain.  Patrick moreover promised the young +man that he should be brave and strong in battle, that the land +should be fruitful during his reign.  Thus have the kings of the +Deisi always been.</p> +<p>    24.  After these things Declan and Feargal Mac Cormac +(king of the Deisi) and his people gave a large area of land to +Patrick in the neighbourhood of Magh Feimhin and this belongs to +his successors ever since and great lordship there.  And the +place which was given over to him is not far from the Suir.  +There is a great very clear fountain there which is called +"Patrick's Well" and this was dear to Patrick.  After this, with +blessing, they took leave of one another and Patrick returned to +Cashel to Aongus Mac Natfrich and Declan went with him.</p> +<p>    25.  A miracle was wrought at that time on Declan +through the intercession and prayers of Patrick for as Declan was +walking carelessly along he trod upon a piece of sharp iron which +cut his foot so that blood flowed freely and Declan began to +limp.  Ailbe of Emly was present at this miracle and Sechnall a +bishop of Patrick's and a holy and wise man, and he is said to be +the first bishop buried in Ireland.  The wound which Declan had +received grieved them very much.  Patrick was informed of the +accident and was grieved thereat.  He said:—"Heal, O Master +(<i>i.e.</i> God), the foot of your own servant who bears much toil +and hardship on your account."  Patrick laid his hand on the +wounded foot and made over it the sign of the cross when +immediately the flow of blood ceased, the lips of the wound united, +a cicatrix formed upon it and a cure was effected.  Then Declan +rose up with his foot healed and joined in praising God.  The +soldiers and fighting men who were present cried out loudly, +blessing God and the saints.</p> +<p>    26.  As Patrick and the saints were in Cashel, +<i>i.e.</i> Ailbe and Declan with their disciples, in the territory +of Aongus Mac Nathfrich, they made much progress against paganism +and errors in faith and they converted them (the pagans) to +Christianity.  It was ordained by Patrick and Aongus Mac Natfrich +in presence of the assembly, that the Archbishopric of Munster +should belong to Ailbe, and to Declan, in like manner, was ordained +(committed) his own race, <i>i.e.</i> the Deisi, whom he had +converted to be his parish and his episcopate.  As the Irish +should serve Patrick, so should the Deisi serve Declan as their +patron, and Patrick made the <i>rann:—</i></p> +<blockquote>"Humble Ailbe the Patrick of Munster, greater than any +saying,<br /> +Declan, Patrick of the Deisi—the Decies to Declan for +ever."</blockquote> +This is equivalent to saying that Ailbe was a second Patrick and +that Declan was a second Patrick of the Decies.  After that, when +the king had bidden them farewell and they had all taken leave of +one another, the saints returned to their respective territories to +sow therein the seed of faith. +<p>    27.  Declan and Ferghal Mac Cormac, king of the Deisi, +with his army and followers, met one another at Indeoin and they +made still more strong on the people the bond of Christian +obligation.  The king we have already mentioned, +scil.:—Ledban, the recusant to the Christian name, was +rejected of all and he came to nothing, leaving no knowledge +(memory) of his history, as is written of the enemies of the +faith:—"Their memory perisheth like a sound" [Psalm 9:7].  +Moreover Declan and Fergal and the chief men of the Deisi decreed +this as the place where the king of the Deisi should be inaugurated +for ever thenceforward, because it was there Patrick and Declan +blessed the king, Fergal; moreover tradition states that it was +there the kings were crowned and ruled over the Deisi in pagan +times.</p> +<p>    28.  At that time there broke out a dreadful plague in +Munster and it was more deadly in Cashel than elsewhere.  Thus it +affected those whom it attacked:  it first changed their colour +to yellow and then killed them.  Now Aongus had, in a stone fort +called "Rath na nIrlann," on the western side of Cashel, seven +noble hostages.  It happened that in one and the same night they +all died of the plague.  The king was much affected thereat and +he gave orders to have the fact concealed lest it should bring +disgrace or even war upon him, for the hostages were scions of the +strongest and most powerful families in Munster.  On the morrow +however Declan came to Cashel and talked with Aonghus.  The king +welcomed him heartily and addressing him said to him in presence of +persons of his court, "I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in +the name of Christ you would raise to life for me the seven +hostages whom I held in bondage from the chieftains of Munster.  +They have died from the plague of which you hear, and I fear their +fathers will raise war and rebellion against me, for they are men +of strength and power, and indeed we are ashamed of their death, +for they will say that it is we ourselves who killed them."  +Declan answered the king, saying to him:—"Such a matter as +this—to raise one to life from death—belongs to +Omnipotence alone—but I shall do whatever is in my power.  +I go where the bodies lie and pray to God for them and let Him do +in their regard what seems best to Him."  Next, Declan, with a +multitude and his disciples together with the king's councillors, +went to the place where the corpses of the young men lay.  The +king followed after them until he came in sight of the bodies.  +Declan, full of divine faith, entered the house wherein they lay +and he sprinkled holy water over them and prayed for them in the +presence of all, saying:—"O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of +the living God, for thine own name's sake wake the dead that they +may be strengthened in the Catholic faith through our +instrumentality."  Thereupon, at Declan's prayer, the group (of +corpses) revived and they moved their eyelids and Declan said to +them "In the name of Christ, our Saviour, stand up and bless and +glorify God."  And at his words they rose up immediately and +spoke to all.  Declan then announced to the king that they were +alive and well.  When people saw this remarkable miracle they all +gave glory and praise to God.  The fame of Declan thereupon +spread throughout Erin and the king rejoiced for restoration of his +hostages.</p> +<p>    29.  After this the people of Cashel besought Bishop +Declan to bless their city and banish the plague from them and to +intercede with God for those stricken with sickness who could not +escape from its toils.  Declan seeing the people's faith prayed +to God and signed with the sign of Redemption the four points of +the compass.  As he concluded, there was verified the saying of +Christ to His disciples when leaving them and going to +heaven:—<i>"Super aegros imponent manus et bene habebunt"</i> +[Mark 16:18] (I shall place my hands on the sick and they shall be +healed).  Soon as Declan had made the sign of the cross each one +who was ill became well and not alone were <i>these</i> restored to +health but (all the sick) of the whole region round about in +whatsoever place there were persons ailing.  Moreover the plague +was banished from every place and all rejoiced greatly thereat as +well as on account of the resurrection of the dead men we have +narrated.  The king thereupon ordered tribute and honour to +Declan and his successors from himself and from every king who +should hold Cashel ever after.  Upon this the glorious bishop +Declan blessed Aongus together with his city and people and +returned back to his own place.</p> +<p>    30.  One night Declan was a guest at the house of a +wealthy man who dwelt in the southern part of Magh Femhin; this is +the kind of person his host was, scil.:—a pagan who rejected +the true faith, and his name was Dercan.  He resolved to amuse +himself at the Christians' expense; accordingly he ordered his +servants to kill a dog secretly, to cut off its head and feet and +to bury them in the earth and then to cook the flesh properly and +to set it before Declan and his company as their meal.  Moreover +he directed that the dog should be so fat that his flesh might pass +as mutton.  When, in due course, it was cooked, the flesh, +together with bread and other food, was laid before Declan and his +following.  At that moment Declan had fallen asleep but he was +aroused by his disciples that he might bless their meal.  He +observed to them:—"Indeed I see, connected with this meat, +the ministry of the devil."  Whereupon he questioned the waiters +as to the meat—what kind it was and whence procured.  They +replied:  "Our master ordered us to kill a fat ram for you and we +have done as he commanded."  Declan said, "Our Master is Jesus +Christ and may He show us what it is that connects the ministry of +Satan with this meat and preserve thy servants from eating +forbidden food."  As he spoke thus Declan saw in the meat the +claw of a dog, for, without intending it, they had boiled one +quarter of the dog with its paw adhering; they thought they had +buried it (the incriminating limb) with the other paws.  Declan +exclaimed, "This is not a sheep's but a dog's foot."  When the +attendants heard this they went at once to their master and related +the matter to him.  Then Dercan came to Declan, accepted his +faith and received Baptism at his hands, giving himself and his +posterity to Declan for ever.  Moreover he gave his homestead to +Declan and his people were baptised.  After this Dercan requested +that Declan should bless something in his homestead which might +remain as a memorial of him (Dercan) for ever.  Then Declan +blessed a bell which he perceived there and its name is +Clog-Dhercain ("Dercan's Bell"); moreover, he declared:  "I endow +it with this virtue (power) that if the king of Decies march around +it when going to battle, against his enemies, or to punish +violation of his rights, he shall return safely and with +victory."  This promise has been frequently fulfilled, but proud +(men) undertaking battle or conflict unjustly even if they march +around it do not obtain victory but success remains with the +enemy.  The name of that homestead was Teach-Dhercain ("Dercain's +House") and its name now is Coningean, from the claw [<i>con</i>] +of the hound or dog aforesaid.  To this place came the saintly +concourse, scil:—Coman and Ultan, MacErc and Mocoba and +Maclaisren, who dedicated themselves to (the service of) God and +placed themselves under the spiritual rule and sway of Declan.</p> +<p>    31.  Thereupon Declan established a monastery in that +place, scil.—in Coningin—and he placed there this holy +community with a further band of disciples.  Ultan however he +took away with him to the place whither he went.</p> +<p>    32.  On another (subsequent) occasion Declan visited +Bregia, <i>i.e.</i> the original territory which belonged to his +race previous to the expulsion of his ancestors.  There he was +treated with particular honour by the king of Tara and by the +chieftains of Meath by whom he was beloved, since it was from +themselves (their tribe and territory) that his forbears had gone +out, for that region was the patrimony of his race and within it +lies Tara.  Declan instituted therein a monastery of Canons, on +land which he received from the king, and it is from him the place +is named.  Moreover he left therein a relic or illuminated book +and a famous gospel which he was accustomed to carry always with +him.  The gospel is still preserved with much honour in the place +and miracles are wrought through it.  After this again he turned +towards Munster.</p> +<p>    33.  Declan was once travelling through Ossory when he +wished to remain for the night in a certain village.  But the +villagers not only did not receive him but actually drove him forth +by force of arms.  The saint however prayed to God that it might +happen to them what the Sacred Scripture says, "Vengeance is mine I +will repay" [Deuteronomy 32:35].  The dwellers in the village, +who numbered sixty, died that same night with the exception of two +men and ten women to whom the conduct of the others towards the +saint had been displeasing.  On the morrow these men and women +came humbly to the place where Declan was and they told +him—what he himself foreknew—how miserably the others +had died.  They themselves did penance and they bestowed on +Declan a suitable site whereon he built a monastery and he got +another piece of land and had the dead buried where he built the +monastery.  The name of that monastery is Cill-Colm-Dearg.  +This Colm-Dearg was a kind, holy man and a disciple of Declan.  +He was of East Leinster, <i>i.e.</i> of the Dal Meiscorb, and it is +from him that the monastery is named.  When he (Declan) had +completed that place he came to his own territory again, +<i>i.e.</i> to the Decies.</p> +<p>    34.  On a certain day Declan came to a place called +Ait-Breasail and the dwellers therein would not allow him to enter +their village; moreover they hid all their boats so that he could +not go into his own island, for they hated him very much.  In +consideration however of the sanctity of his servant, who prayed in +patience, God the All-Powerful turned the sea into dry land as you +have already heard.  Declan passed the night in an empty stable +out in the plain and the people of the village did not give him +even a fire.  Whereupon, appropriately the anger of God fell on +them, who had not compassion enough to supply the disciple of God +with a fire.  There came fire from heaven on them to consume them +all [together with their] homestead and village, so that the place +has been ever since a wilderness accursed, as the prophet +writes:  <i>"civitates eorum destruxisti"</i> [Psalm 9:7] (the +dwellings of the unmerciful are laid waste).</p> +<p>    35.  On yet another occasion Declan was in his own +region—travelling over Slieve Gua in the Decies, when his +horse from some cause got lame so that he could proceed no +further.  Declan however, seeing a herd of deer roaming the +mountain close to him, said to one of his people:  "Go, and bring +me for my chariot one of these deer to replace my horse and take +with you this halter for him."  Without any misgiving the +disciple went on till he reached the deer which waited quietly for +him.  He chose the animal which was largest and therefore +strongest, and, bringing him back, yoked him to the chariot.  The +deer thereupon obediently and without effort carried Bishop Declan +till he came to Magh Femhin, where, when he reached a house of +entertainment, the saint unloosed the stag and bade him to go free +as was his nature.  Accordingly, at the command of the saintly +man and in the presence of all, the stag returned on the same road +back (to the mountain).  Dormanach is the name of the man +aforesaid who brought the stag to Declan and him Declan blessed and +gave him a piece of land on the north of Decies close by the +Eoghanacht and his posterity live till now in that place.</p> +<p>    36.  On another occasion, Declan, accompanied, as +usual, by a large following, was travelling, when one member of the +party fell on the road and broke his shin bone in twain.  Declan +saw the accident and, pitying the injured man, he directed an +individual of the company to bandage the broken limb so that the +sufferer might not die through excess of pain and loss of blood.  +All replied that they could not endure to dress the wound owing to +their horror thereof.  But there was one of the company, Daluadh +by name, who faced the wound boldly and confidently and said:  +"In the name of Christ and of Declan our patron I shall be surgeon +to this foot"; and he said that jestingly.  Nevertheless he +bandaged the foot carefully and blessed it aright in the name of +God and Declan, and in a little while the wound healed and they all +gave praise to God.  Then Declan said to Daluadh:  "You +promised to be surgeon to that foot in Christ's name and in mine +and God has vouchsafed to heal it at these words:  on this +account you will be a true physician for ever and your children and +your seed after you for ever shall also possess the healing art, +and whomsoever they shall practise healing upon in God's name and +mine, provided there be no hatred [in their hearts] nor too great +covetousness of a physician's fee to him, God and myself shall send +relief."  This promise of Declan has been fulfilled in the case +of that family.</p> +<p>    37.  On another occasion, as Declan was travelling in +the northern part of Magh Femhin beside the Suir, he met there a +man who was carrying a little infant to get it baptised.  Declan +said to the people [his <i>muinntear,</i> or following]:  "Wait +here till I baptise yonder child," for it was revealed by the Holy +Ghost to him that he [the babe] should serve God.  The attendant +replied to him that they had neither a vessel nor salt for the +baptism.  Declan said:  "We have a wide vessel, the Suir, and +God will send us salt, for this child is destined to become holy +and wonderful [in his works]."  Thereupon Declan took up a +fistful of earth and, making prayer in his heart to God, he signed +the clay with the sign of the cross of redemption.  It (the +handful of earth) became white, dry salt, and all, on seeing it, +gave thanks and honour to God and Declan.  The infant was +baptised there and the name of Ciaran given him.  Declan said:  +"Bring up my spiritual son carefully and send him, at a fitting +age, for education to a holy man who is well instructed in the +faith for he will become a shining bright pillar in the Church."  +And it was this child, Ciaran Mac Eochaidh, who founded in after +years a famous monastery (from which he migrated to heaven) and +another place (monastery) besides.  He worked many miracles and +holy signs and this is the name of his monastery Tiprut [Tubrid] +and this is where it is:—in the western part of the Decies in +Ui Faithe between Slieve Grot [Galtee] and Sieve Cua and it is +within the bishopric of Declan.</p> +<p>    38.  On another day there came a woman to Declan's +monastery not far from the city where she dwelt.  She committed a +theft that day in Declan's monastery as she had often done +previously, and this is the thing she stole—a <i>habellum</i> +[possibly an item of tribute]; she departed homewards taking it +with her and there met her a group of people on the highway, and +the earth, in their presence, swallowed her up, and she cast out +the tabellum from her bosom and it was quickly turned into a stone +which the wayfarers took and brought with them to Declan.  Declan +himself had in supernatural vision seen all that happened to the +woman in punishment of her theft, and the name of Declan was +magnified owing to those marvels so that fear took possession of +all-those present and those absent.  The stone in question +remains still in Declan's graveyard in his own town of +Ardmore-Declain, where it stands on an elevated place in memory of +this miracle.</p> +<p>    39.  A rich man named Fintan was childless, for his +wife was barren for many years.  He himself, with his wife, +visited Declan and promised large alms and performance of good +works provided he (Declan) would pray that they might have +children:  they held it as certain that if Declan but prayed for +them God would grant them children.  Declan therefore, praying to +God and blessing the pair, said:  "Proceed to your home and +through God's bounty you shall have offspring."  The couple +returned home, with great joy for the blessing and for the promise +of the offspring.  The following night, Fintan lay with his wife +and she conceived and brought forth twin sons, scil.:  Fiacha and +Aodh, who, together with their children and descendants were under +tribute and service to God and Declan.</p> +<p>    40.  When it was made known to a certain holy man, +scil.:—Ailbe of Emly Iubar, chief bishop of Munster, that his +last days had come, he said to his disciples:  "Beloved brethren, +I wish, before I die, to visit my very dear fellow worker, +scil.:—Declan."  After this Ailbe set out on the journey +and an angel of God came to Declan notifying him that Ailbe was on +his way to visit him.  On the angel's notification Declan ordered +his disciples to prepare the house for Ailbe's coming.  He +himself went to meet Ailbe as far as the place which is called +Druim Luctraidh [Luchluachra].  Thence they came home together +and Ailbe, treated with great honour by Declan and his people, +stayed fourteen pleasant days.  After that the aged saint +returned home again to his own city, scil.:—to Emly Iubar.  +Declan came and many of his people, escorting Ailbe, to Druim +Luchtradh, and Ailbe bade him return to his own city.  The two +knew they should not see one another in this world ever again.  +In taking leave of one another, therefore, they shed plentiful +tears of sorrow and they instituted an everlasting compact and +league between their successors in that place.  Ailbe moreover +blessed the city of Declan, his clergy and people and Declan did +the same for Ailbe and they kissed one another in token of love and +peace and each returned to his own city.</p> +<p>    41.  On a certain day the Castle of Cinaedh, King of +the Deisi, took fire and it burned violently.  It happened +however that Declan was proceeding towards the castle on some +business and he was grieved to see it burning; he flung towards it +the staff to which we have referred in connection with the drying +up of the sea, and it (the staff) flew hovering in the air with +heavenly wings till it reached the midst of the flame and the fire +was immediately extinguished of its own accord through the grace of +God and virtue of the staff and of Declan to whom it belonged.  +The place from which Declan cast the staff was a long mile distant +from the castle and when the king, <i>i.e.</i> Cinaedh, and all the +others witnessed this miracle they were filled with amazement and +gave thanks to God and to Declan when they came to know that it was +he who wrought it.  Now the place where the castle stands is not +far from the Suir, <i>i.e.</i> on the south side of it and the +place from which Declan cast the staff is beside a ford which is in +the Suir or a stream which flows beside the monastery called Mag +Laca [Molough] which the holy virgins, daughters of the king of +Decies, have built in honour of God.  There is a pile of stones +and a cross in the place to commemorate this miracle.</p> +<p>    42.  On another occasion there approached a foreign +fleet towards Declan's city and this was their design—to +destroy and to plunder it of persons and of cattle, because they +(the foreigners) were people hostile to the faith.  Many members +of the community ran with great haste to tell Declan of the fleet +which threatened the town and to request him to beg the assistance +of God against the invaders.  Declan knew the man amongst his own +disciples who was holiest and most abounding in grace, scil., +Ultan, already mentioned, and him he ordered to pray to God against +the fleet.  Ultan had pity on the Christian people and he went +instantly, at the command of Declan, in front of the fleet and he +held his left hand against it, and, on the spot, the sea swallowed +them like sacks full of lead, and the drowned sailors were changed +into large rocks which stand not far from the mouth of the haven +where they are visible (standing) high out of the sea from that +time till now.  All Christians who witnessed this rejoiced and +were glad and they gave great praise and glory to God and to Declan +their own patron who caused the working of this miracle and of many +other miracles besides.  Next there arose a contention between +Ultan and Declan concerning this miracle, for Ultan attributed it +to Declan and Declan credited it to Ultan; and it has become a +proverb since in Ireland when people hear of danger or +jeopardy:—"The left hand of Ultan against you (the +danger)."  Ultan became, after the death of Declan, a +miracle-working abbot of many other holy monks.</p> +<p>    43.  The holy and glorious archbishop, <i>i.e.</i> +Patrick, sent one of his own followers to Declan with power and +authority (delegation) from the archbishop.  And proceeding +through the southern part of Decies he was drowned in a river [the +Lickey] there, two miles from the city of Declan.  When Declan +heard this he was grieved and he said:  "Indeed it grieves me +that a servant of God and of Patrick who sent him to visit me, +having travelled all over Ireland, should be drowned in a river of +my own territory.  Get my chariot for me that I may go in haste +to see his corpse, so that Patrick may come to hear of the worry +and the grief I have undergone because of his disciple's death."  +The body had been recovered before the arrival of Declan by others +who were close at hand and it had been placed on a bier to be +carried to Ciaran for interment.  Declan however met them on the +way, when he ordered the body to be laid down on the ground.  +They supposed he was about to recite the Office for the Dead.  He +(Declan) advanced to the place where the bier was and lifted the +sheet covering the face.  It (the face) looked dark and deformed +as is usual in the case of the drowned.  He prayed to God and +shed tears, but no one heard aught of what he said.  After this +he commanded:—"In the name of the Trinity, in the name of the +Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost whose religious yoke I +bear myself, arise to us for God has given your life to me."  He +(the dead man) rose up immediately at the command and he greeted +Declan and all the others.  Whereupon Declan and his disciples +received him with honour.  At first he was not completely cured +but (was) like one convalescent until (complete) health returned to +him by degrees again.  He however accompanied Declan and remained +some time with him and there was much rejoicing in Declan's city on +account of the miracle and his (Declan's) name and fame extended +over the country generally.  This disciple of Patrick was named +Ballin; he returned with great joy and he told him (Patrick) that +Declan had raised him from the dead.  To many others likewise he +related what had happened to him.  Patrick, in presence of many +persons, hearing of the miracle gave glory and thanks to God and +the name of Declan was magnified.</p> +<p>    44.  With this extraordinary miracle wrought by Declan +we wish to conclude our discourse.  The number of miracles he +wrought, but which are not written here, you are to judge and +gather from what we have written.  And we wish moreover that you +would understand that he healed the infirm, that he gave sight to +the eyes of the blind, cleansed lepers, and gave "their walk" to +cripples; that he obtained hearing for the deaf, and that he healed +many and various diseases in many different places throughout +Ireland—(things) which are not written here because of their +length and because they are so numerous to record, for fear it +should tire readers to hear so much said of one particular +person.  On that account we shall pass them by.</p> +<p>    45.  When Declan realised that his last days were at +hand and that the time remaining to him was very short he summoned +to him his own spiritual son, scil., MacLiag (residing) in the +monastery which is on the eastern side of the Decies close to the +Leinstermen in order that, at the hour of death, he might receive +the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from +his hands.  Thereupon he foretold to his disciples the day of his +death and he commanded them to bring him to his own city, for it +was not there he dwelt at the time but in a small venerable cell +which he had ordered to be built for him between the hill called +Ardmore Declain and the ocean—in a narrow place at the brink +of the sea by which there flows down from the hill above a small +shining stream about which are trees and bushes all around, and it +is called Disert Declain.  Thence to the city it is a short mile +and the reason why Declan used go there was to avoid turmoil and +noise so that he might be able to read and pray and fast there.  +Indeed it was not easy for him to stay even there because of the +multitude of disciples and paupers and pilgrims and beggars who +followed him thither.  Declan was however generous and very +sympathetic and on that account it is recorded by tradition that a +great following (of poor, &c.), generally accompanied him and +that moreover the little cell was very dear to him for the reason +we have given, and many devout people have made it their practice +to dwell therein.</p> +<p>    46.  When Declan fell ill and became weak in body, but +still strong in hope and faith and love of God, he returned to his +own city—his people and disciples and clergy surrounding +him.  He discoursed to them on the commands of God and he +enjoined on them to live holily after his death, to be submissive +to authority and to follow as closely as possible the way he had +marked out and to preserve his city in a state of piety and under +religious rule.  And when they had all heard the discourse it +grieved them greatly to perceive, from what he had said, he +realised that in a short time he would go away to heaven from +them.  But they were consoled by his gentle words and then there +came to him the holy man, to wit, MacLiag, at his own request, +already referred to.  He [Declan] received the Body and Blood of +Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from his [MacLiag's] +hand—surrounded by holy men and his disciples, and he blessed +his people and his dependents and his poor, and he kissed them in +token of love and peace.  Thus, having banished images and the +sacrifices to idols, having converted multitudes to the true faith, +having established monasteries and ecclesiastical orders in various +places, having spent his whole life profitably and holily, this +glorious bishop went with the angels to heaven on the ninth day of +the Kalends of August [July 24] and his body was blessed and +honoured with Masses and chanting by holy men and by the people of +the Decies and by his own monks and disciples collected from every +quarter at the time of his death.  He was buried with honour in +his own city—in Declan's High-Place—in the tomb which +by direction of an angel he had himself indicated—which +moreover has wrought wonders and holy signs from that time to +now.  He departed to the Unity of the Father and the Son and the +Holy Ghost in <i>Saecula Saeculorum; Amen.</i>  FINIS.</p> +<hr width="10%" /> +<p>    The poor brother, Michael O'Clery originally copied this +life of Declan in Cashel, from the book of Eochy O'Heffernan.  +The date, A.D., at which that ancient book of Eochy was written is +1582.  And the same life has now been re-written in the Convent +of the Friars at Druiske, the date, A.D., 27th February, 1629.</p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<h4>Note</h4> +The Irish text of the <i>rann</i> from paragraph 26 reads: +<blockquote><i>Ailbe umal; Patraicc Muman, mó gacrath,<br /> +Déclan, Patraicc na nDéisi:  na Déisi ag Declan +gan brat.</i></blockquote> +And the Latin rendering: +<blockquote><i>Albeus est humilis dixit Caephurnia proles;<br /> +Patriciusque esto hinc Ailbee Momonia.<br /> +Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto;<br /> +Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos.</i></blockquote> +<center> +<p><img src="d-mid.gif" width="176" height="222" alt= +"Cross Graphic" /></p> +<p><a name="mochuda" id="mochuda"></a></p> +<hr width="50%" /> +<h1>Life of St. Mochuda.</h1> +<h1><i>Beata Mocuda.</i></h1> +</center> +The renowned bishop, Carthach, commonly called Mochuda, was of the +territory of Ciarraighe Luachra [North Kerry] and of the race of +Fergus Mac Roigh. +<p>    The illustrious bishop, who is generally known as +Mochuda, was of the Ciarraighe Luachra; to be exact—he was of +the line of Fergus Mac Roigh, who held the kingship of Ulster, till +the time that he gave the kingship to a woman for a year and did +not get it back when the year was over.  His descendants are now +to be found throughout various provinces of Ireland.  He fell +himself, through the treachery of Oilioll, king of Connaght, and +the latter's jealousy of his wife, Meadbh, daughter of Eochaid +Feidhleach.  Finghen Mac Gnaoi of Ciarraighe Luachra was father +of Mochuda, and his mother was Mead, daughter of Finghin, of Corca +Duibhne, in the vicinity of the stream called Laune in the western +part of Ireland.  The forthcoming birth of Mochuda was revealed +to St. Comhghall by an angel, announcing—"There will be +conceived a child in the western part of Erin, and Carthach will be +his baptismal name and he will be beloved of God and men—in +heaven and on earth.  He will come to you seeking direction as to +a proposed pilgrimage to Rome—but you must not permit the +journey for the Lord has assigned him to you; but let him remain +with you a whole year."  All this came to pass, as foretold.  +In similar manner the future Mochuda was foretold to St. Brendan by +an angel who declared:  "There will come to you a wonder-working +brother who will be the patron of you and your kindred for ever; +the region of Ciarraighe will be divided between you and him, and +Carthach will be his name; to multitudes his advent will be cause +for joy and he will gain multitudes for heaven.  His first city +will be Raithen [Rahen or Rahan] in the region of Fircheall, +territory of Meath and central plain of Ireland; this will become a +place revered of men, and revered and famous will be his second +city and church, scil.:—Lismore, which shall possess lordship +and great pre-eminence."</p> +<p>    One day when there was a large meeting of people at a +certain place in Kerry, the men and women who were present saw +descending a fiery globe, which rested on the head of Mochuda's +mother, at that time pregnant of the future saint.  The ball of +fire did no one any injury but disappeared before it did injury to +anyone.  All those who beheld this marvel wondered thereat and +speculated what it could portend.  This is what it did +mean:—that the graces of the Holy Spirit had visited this +woman and her holy child unborn.</p> +<p>    Mochuda's father was a rich and powerful chieftain +owning two strong lioses—one, on the south side of Slieve +Mish, and the other, in which Mochuda first saw the light, beside +the River Maing [Maine].  Both places were blessed for sake of +the Saint, who was conceived in one of them and born in the other; +it is even said that no evil disposed or vicious person can live in +either.  Carthage in due course was sent to be baptised, and, on +the way, the servant who bore the infant, meeting a saintly man +named Aodhgan, asked him to perform the ceremony.  There was +however no water in the place, but a beautiful well, which burst +forth for the occasion and still remains, yielded a supply.  With +the water of this well the infant was baptised and Carthach, as the +angel had foretold, was the name given him.  Nevertheless +<i>Mochuda</i> is the name by which he was commonly known, because +he was so called, through affection and regard, by his master (St. +Carthach Senior).  Many scarcely know that he has any other name +than Mochuda and it is lawful to write either Mochuda or +Carthach.  Speaking prophetically Aodhgan said of +him:—"This child whom I have baptised will become famous and +he will be beloved by God and men."  That prophecy has been +fulfilled, for Mochuda was graceful of figure and handsome of +features as David, he was master of his passions as Daniel, and +mild and gentle like Moses.  His parents however despised him +because he valued not earthly vanities and in his regard were +verified the words of David:—<i>"Pater meus et mater mea +derliquerunt me, Dominus autem assumpsit me"</i> [Psalm 26(27):10] +(For my father and my mother have left me and the Lord hath taken +me up).  Like David too—who kept the sheep of his +father—Mochuda, with other youths, herded his father's swine +in his boyhood.</p> +<p>    On a certain day as Mochuda, with his companion +swineherds and their charges, was in the vicinity of the River +Maing, he heard that the king of Ciarraighe Luachra was at his +residence called Achadh-di; he waited on the king by whom he was +kindly and politely received.  The king, whose name was Maoltuile +and who wished to see Mochuda frequently, invited the youth to come +every day to the royal lios and to bring with him his companions, +who would be made welcome for his sake.  One evening as Mochuda +sate in the king's presence Maoltuile gazed so long and so intently +at the youth that the queen (Dand, daughter of Maolduin Mac Aodha +Beannan, king of Munster) reproved her husband asking why he stared +every evening at the boy.  "O wife," answered the king, "if you +but saw what I see, you would never gaze at anything else, for I +behold a wondrous golden chain about his neck and a column of fire +reaching from his head to the heavens, and since I first beheld +these marvels my affection for the boy has largely increased."  +"Then," said the queen, "let him sit there beside you."  +Thenceforth the youth sate as suggested.  Sometimes Mochuda +herded the swine in the woods and at other times he remained with +the king in his court.</p> +<p>    One day as Mochuda was keeping his herd as usual beside +the river already alluded to, he heard the bishop and his clerics +pass by, chanting psalms as they went along.  The Spirit of God +touched the boy's heart and leaving his pigs Mochuda followed the +procession as far as the monastery called Tuaim [Druim Fertain] +[into which the clerics entered].  And as the bishop and his +household sate down to eat, Mochuda, unknown to them, concealed +himself—sitting in the shadow of the doorway.  Meanwhile +the king, Maoltuile, was troubled about the boy, noticing his +absence [from the homestead at Achaddi] that evening and not +knowing the cause thereof.  He immediately sent messengers to +seek the youth throughout the country, and one of these found him +sitting, as indicated, in the shadow of the doorway of the bishop's +house.  The messenger took Mochuda with him back to the king.  +The latter questioned him:—"My child, why have you stayed +away in this manner?"  Mochuda replied, "Sire, this is why I have +stayed away—through attraction of the holy chant of the +bishop and clergy; I have never heard anything so beautiful as +this; the clerics sang as they went along the whole way before me; +they sang until they arrived at their house, and thenceforth they +sang till they went to sleep.  The bishop however remained by +himself far into the night praying by himself when the others had +retired.  And I wish, O king, that I might learn [their psalms +and ritual].  Hearing this the king at once sent a message to the +bishop requesting the latter to come to him.</p> +<p>    About this time Mochuda's father gave a feast in the +king's honour and as the company were at supper the king calling +Mochuda before him offered him a shield, sword, javelin, and +princely robe, saying:  "Take these and be henceforth a knight to +me as your father has been."  But Mochuda declined the offer.  +"What is it," asked the king, "that you will accept, so that +[whatever it be] I may give it to you?"  Mochuda +answered:—"I do not long for anything of earth—only +that I be allowed to learn the psalms of the clerics which I heard +them sing."  In this answer the king discerned the working of +divine grace, whereupon he promised the youth the favour he asked +for.  Shortly afterwards the bishop, Carthach, whom we have +mentioned as sent for by the king, arrived, and to him the latter +entrusted Mochuda to be instructed in reading and writing.  With +great joy the bishop undertook his charge for he saw that his pupil +was marked by grace, and under the bishop's guidance and tutelage +Mochuda remained till his promotion to the priesthood.</p> +<p>    Mochuda was very handsome of features with the result +that at different times during his youth maidens to the number of +thirty were so enamoured of him that they could not conceal their +feeling.  But Mochuda prayed for them, and obtained for them by +his prayers that their carnal love should be turned into a +spiritual.  They afterwards became consecrated religious and +within what to-day is his parish he built them cells and +monasteries which the holy virgins placed under his protection and +jurisdiction.</p> +<p>    Finntan Mac Cartan, bringing with him an infant for +baptism came to Bishop Carthach.  The latter said to +him:—"Let the young priest there who was ordained to-day +baptise the child."  Whereupon Finntan handed the infant to the +young priest.  Mochuda enquired the name he was to impose, and +the father answered—Fodhran.  Having administered baptism +Mochuda taking the infant's hand prophesied concerning the +babe—"This hand will be strong in battle and will win +hostages and submission of the Clan Torna whose country lies in +mid-Kerry from Sliabh Luachra [Slieve Lougher] to the sea.  From +his seed, moreover, will spring kings to the end of time, unless +indeed they refuse me due allegiance, and if, at any time, they +incur displeasure of my successors their kingship and dominion will +come to an end."  This prophecy has been fulfilled.</p> +<p>    Sometime afterwards Mochuda with his master, Carthach, +visited King Maoltuile, whom they found at a place called Feorainn, +near Tralee, from which the lords and kings of Kerry take their +name.  Said Bishop Carthach:—"Here, Sire, is the youth you +gave me to train; he is a good scholar and he has studied the holy +writings with much success.  I have ordained him a priest and +(his) grace is manifest in many ways."  "What recompense do you +desire for your labour?" asked the king.  "Only," replied +Carthach, "that you would place yourself and your posterity under +the spiritual jurisdiction of this young priest, the servant of +God."  The king, however, hesitated—because of Mochuda's +youth.  Soon as Carthach perceived this he himself inclined to +Mochuda and bending his knee before him exclaimed:—"I hereby +give myself, my parish and monastery to God and to Mochuda for +ever."  Touched by the bishop's example the king prostrated +himself before Mochuda and pledged to God and to him, his soul and +body and posterity to the end of time.  Then Mochuda placed his +foot upon the king's neck and measured the royal body with his +foot.  Against this proceeding of Mochuda's a member of the +king's party protested in abusive and insulting terms—"It is +a haughty act of yours, laying your foot upon the king's neck, for +be it known to you the body on which you trample is worthy of +respect."  On hearing this Mochuda ceased to measure the king and +declared:—"The neck upon which I have set my heel shall never +be decapitated and the body which I have measured with my foot +shall not be slain and but for your interference there would not be +wanting anything to him or his seed for ever."  Addressing +(specially) the interrupter, he prophesied:—"You and your +posterity will be for ever contemptible among the tribes."  +Blessing the king he promised him prosperity here and heaven +hereafter and assured him:—"If any one of your posterity +contemn my successors refusing me my lawful dues he will never +reign over the kingdom of Kerry."  This prophecy has been +fulfilled.</p> +<p>    Next, Mochuda, at the suggestion of his master, the +bishop, and the King Maoltuile, built a famous cell called +Kiltulach [Kiltallagh] at a place between Sliabh Mis and the River +Maing in the southern part of Kerry.  Here his many miracles won +him the esteem of all.  In that region he found two bishops +already settled before him, scil.:—Dibhilin and Domailgig.  +These became envious of the honour paid him and the fame he +acquired, and they treated him evilly.  Whereupon he went to +Maoltuile and told him the state of affairs.  Soon as the king +heard the tale he came with Mochuda from the place where he then +was on the bank of the Luimnech and stayed not till they reached +the summit of Sliabh Mis, when he addressed Mochuda:  "Leave this +confined region for the present to the envy and jealousy of the +bishops and hereafter it will become yours and your coarbs' to the +end of time."  The advice commended itself to Mochuda and he +thanked the king for it.  Thereupon he abandoned his cell to the +aforesaid bishops and determined to set out alone as a pilgrim to +the northern part of Ireland.</p> +<p>    In the meantime an angel visited Comghall and repeated +to him what had been foretold him already—that there should +come to him a young priest desirous for Christ's sake of pilgrimage +beyond the seas—that Comghall should dissuade him and, +instead, retain the stranger with him for a year at Bangor.  "And +how am I to recognise him?" asked Comghall.  The angel +answered:—"Whom you shall see going from the church to the +guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to visit the church +first).  [See note 1.]  Comghall announced to his household +that there was coming to them a distinguished stranger, +well-beloved of God, of whose advent an angel had twice foretold +him.  Some time later Mochuda arrived at Comghall's +establishment, and he went first to the monastery and Comghall +recognised him and bade him welcome.  In that place Mochuda +remained a whole year, as the angel had said, and at the end of the +year he returned to his own country where he built many cells and +churches and worked many wonders, winning many souls to religion +and to good works.  Many persons moreover placed themselves, +their children, and their kindred under his jurisdiction, and the +great parishes of their own territory were assigned to him, and +finally the episcopate of Kerry became his.</p> +<p>    Subsequent to this Mochuda, having committed the care of +his cell and parish to certain pious and suitable persons, set out +himself, accompanied by a few disciples, through the south of +Munster to visit the Monastery of Ciaran Mac Fionntan at Rosgiallan +[Rostellan].  From Ciaran Mochuda enquired, where—in south +Munster (as the angel had mentioned to Comghall)—the chief +and most distinguished of these churches should be.  Ciaran, who +possessed the spirit of prophecy, replied—"You shall go first +to Meath where you will found a famous church in the territory of +Ibh Neill and there you will remain for forty years.  You shall +be driven thence into exile and you will return to Munster wherein +will be your greatest and most renowned church."  Mochuda offered +to place himself under the patronage and jurisdiction of Ciaran:  +"Not so, shall it be," said Ciaran, "but rather do I put myself and +my church under you, for ever, reserving only that my son, +Fuadhran, be my successor in this place."  This Mochuda assented +to and Fuadhran governed the monastic city for twenty years as +Ciaran's successor in the abbacy.</p> +<p>    Next, Mochuda entered the territory of the Munster +Decies where dwelt the Clanna Ruadhain who placed themselves and +all their churches under him, and one Colman Mac Cobhthaigh a +wealthy magnate of the region donated extensive lands to Mochuda +who placed them under devout persons—to hold for him.  +Proceeding thence Mochuda took his way across Sliabh Gua looking +back from the summit of which he saw by the bank of the Nemh +[Blackwater] angels ascending towards heaven and descending +thence.  And they took up with them to heaven a silver chair with +a golden image thereon.  This was the place in which long +afterwards he founded his famous church and whence he departed +himself to glory.</p> +<p>    Hence Mochuda travelled to Molua Mac Coinche's monastery +of Clonfert [Kyle], on the confines of Leinster and Munster.  He +found Molua in the harvest field in the midst of a <i>meitheal</i> +[team] of reapers.  Before setting out on this present journey of +his Mochuda had, with one exception, dismissed all his disciples to +their various homes for he, but with a single companion, did not +wish to enter the strange land ostentatiously.  The single +follower whom Mochuda had retained wishing to remain at Clonfert, +said to St. Molua:  "Holy father, I should wish to remain here +with you."  Molua answered:—"I shall permit you, brother, +if your pious master consents."  Mochuda, having dismissed so +many, would not make any difficulty about an individual, and so he +gave the monk his freedom.  Mochuda thereupon set out alone, +which, Molua's monks observing, they remark:—"It were time +for that aged man to remain in some monastery, for it is unbecoming +such a (senior) monk to wander about alone."  They did not know +that he, of whom they spoke, was Mochuda, for it was not the custom +of the latter to make himself known to many.  "Say not so," said +Molua (to the censorious brethren), "for the day will come when our +community and city will seem but insignificant beside +his—though now he goes alone; you do not know that he is +Mochuda whom many obey and whom many more will obey in times to +come."</p> +<p>    As Mochuda went on his lonely way he met two monks who +asked him whither he was bound.  "To Colman Elo," he answered.  +Then said one of them to him:—"Take us with you as monks and +subjects," for they judged him from his countenance to be a holy +man.  Mochuda accepted the monks and they journeyed on together +till they came to Colman's monastery [Lynally].  Mochuda said to +Colman:  "Father I would remain here with you."  "Not so," +replied Colman, "but go you to a place called Rahen in this +vicinity; that is the place ordained by God for your dwelling and +you shall have there a large community in the service of God and +from that place you will get your first name—Mochuda of +Rahen."  Having said farewell to Colman and obtained his blessing +Mochuda, with his two monks, set out for the place indicated and +there in the beginning he built a small cell and Colman and he +often afterwards exchanged visits.</p> +<p>    Colman had in the beginning—some time previous to +Mochuda's advent—contemplated establishing himself at Rahen +and he had left there two or three [bundles] of rods remarking to +his disciples that another should come after him for whom and not +for himself God had destined this place.  It was with this +material that Mochuda commenced to build his cell as Colman had +foretold in the first instance.  He erected later a great +monastery in which he lived forty years and had eight hundred and +eighty seven religious under his guidance and rule.</p> +<p>    Subsequent to Mochuda's foundation of Rahen his miracles +and the marvels he wrought spread his fame far and wide through +Ireland and through Britain, and multitudes came to him from +various parts of those countries to give themselves to the service +of God under his guidance.  In the beginning he refused worldly +gifts from others although his church was honoured and patronised +by neighbouring kings and chieftains who offered him lands and +cattle and money and many other things.  Mochuda kept his monks +employed in hard labour and in ploughing the ground for he wanted +them to be always humble.  Others, however, of the Saints of Erin +did not force their monks to servile labour in this fashion.</p> +<p>    Mochuda was consecrated bishop by many saints and from +time to time he visited his parish in Kerry, but as a rule he +remained at Rahen with his monks, for it is monks he had with him +not clerics.</p> +<p>    On a certain day in the (early) springtime there came to +tempt him a druid who said to him:—"In the name of your God +cause this apple-tree branch to produce foliage."  Mochuda knew +that it was in contempt for divine power the druid proposed this, +and the branch put forth leaves on the instant.  The druid +demanded "In the name of your God, put blossom on it."  Mochuda +made the sign of the cross [over the twig] and it blossomed +presently.  The druid persisted:—"What profits blossom +without fruit?" [said the druid].  Mochuda, for the third time, +blessed the branch and it produced a quantity of fruit.  The +druid said:—"Follower of Christ, cause the fruit to +ripen."  Mochuda blessed the tree and the fruit, fully ripe, fell +to the earth.  The druid picked up an apple off the ground and +examining it he saw it was quite sour, whereupon he +objected:—"Such miracles as these are worthless since it +leaves the fruit uneatable."  Mochuda blessed the apples and they +all became sweet as honey, and in punishment of his opposition the +magician was deprived for a year of his eyesight.  At the end of +a year he came to Mochuda and did penance, whereupon he received +his sight back again and he returned home rejoicing.</p> +<p>    On another occasion there came to Mochuda a secular who +brought with him his deaf and dumb son whom he besought the saint +to heal.  Mochuda prayed to God for him and said, "My son, hear +and speak."  The boy answered immediately and said, "Man of God, +I give myself and my inheritance to you for ever," and thenceforth +he possessed the use of all his senses and members.</p> +<p>    Another day a young man who had contracted leprosy came +to Mochuda showing him his misery and his wretched condition.  +The saint prayed for him and he was restored to health.</p> +<p>    At another time there came to Mochuda a man whose face +was deformed.  He besought the saint's aid and his face was +healed upon the spot.</p> +<p>    On yet another occasion in the springtime a poor man who +dwelt some distance from the monastery of Rahen, came to Mochuda, +and asked the loan of two oxen and a ploughman to do a day's +ploughing for him.  But Mochuda, as we have already said, had no +cattle, for it was the monks themselves who dug and tilled the +soil.  Mochuda summoned one of his labourers named Aodhan whom he +ordered to go into the nearest wood to bring back thence a pair of +deer with him and go along with them to the poor man to do the +spring work for him.  Aodhan did dutifully all that Mochuda bade +him—he found the two deer, went with the poor man and +ploughed for him till the work was completed when the deer returned +to their habitat and Aodhan to Mochuda.</p> +<p>    On another day there came to Mochuda a man troubled by +the devil.  Mochuda cured him at once, driving the demons from +him and the man went his way thanking God and Mochuda.</p> +<p>    Once, when the brethren were at work in the fields and +in the kitchen, Mochuda went to the mill to grind meal for the +monk's use, and nine robbers, who hated him, followed with the +intention of murdering him.  The chief of the band sent each +member of the gang to the mill in turn.  Not one of them however +could enter the mill because of a violent flame of fire which +encircled the building round about, through the goodness of God +protecting Mochuda from the robbers.  The latter, through the +mill door, watched Mochuda who slept portion of the time and was +awake another portion.  And while he slept the mill stopped of +itself, and while he was awake it went of its own accord.  The +gang thereupon returned to the chief and told him all they had +seen, which, when he heard, he became enraged.  Then he hastened +himself to the mill to kill Mochuda.  But he experienced the same +things as all the others and he was unable to hurt Mochuda.  He +returned to his followers and said to them—"Let us stay here +till he comes out of the mill, for we need not fear that he will +call help nor need we fear his arm."  Shortly afterwards Mochuda +came out carrying his load.  The robbers rushed on him, but they +were unable to do him any injury for as each man of them tried to +draw his weapon his hands became powerless, so he was unable to use +them.  Mochuda requested them to allow him pass with his burden +and he promised them on his credit and his word that he should +return to them when he had deposited the sack in safety.  They +took his word and he went, deposited his bag of meal in the +kitchen, and returned meekly to martyrdom.  The brethren imagined +he had gone to a quiet place for prayer as was his custom.  When +he returned to the robbers they drew their weapons several times to +kill him but they were unable to do so.  Seeing this wonder they +were moved to repentance and they gave themselves to God and to +Mochuda for ever and, till the time of their death, they remained +under his guidance and rule and many subsequent edifying and famous +acts of theirs are recorded.</p> +<p>    An angel came to Mochuda at Rahen on another occasion +announcing to him the command of God that he should go that same +day to Mac Fhiodaig, king of his own region of Kerry Luachra, and +administer to him Holy Communion and Confession as he was on the +point of death.  Mochuda asked the angel how he could reach Kerry +that day from Rahen.  The angel thereupon (for reply) took him up +through the air in a fiery chariot until they arrived at the king's +residence.  Mochuda administered Holy Communion and Confession +and the king having bestowed generous alms upon him departed hence +to glory.  Mochuda returned that same day to Rahen where he found +the community singing vespers.</p> +<p>    On another occasion Mochuda visited Colman Elo at the +latter's monastery of Lynally and requested Colman to come with him +to consecrate for him his cemetery at Rahen, for Colman, assisted +by angels, was in the habit of consecrating cemeteries and God gave +him the privilege that no one should go to hell who was interred in +a grave consecrated by him.  Colman said to him:—"Return +home and on the fifth day from now I shall follow."  Mochuda +returned home, where he remained till the fifth day, when, seeing +that Colman had not arrived he came again to the latter.  +"Father," said he, "why have you not kept your promise?"  To +which Colman replied, "I came and an angel with me that day and +consecrated your cemetery.  Return now and you will find it +marked (consecrated) on the south side of your own cell.  Lay it +out as it is there indicated and think not that its area is too +small, because a larger will be consecrated for you later, by the +angels, in the southern part of Erin, namely—in Lismore."  +Mochuda returned and found the cemetery duly marked as Colman had +indicated.</p> +<p>    About the same time clerics came across Slieve Luachra +in the territory of Kerry to the church of Ita, honoured [abbess] +of Conall Gabhra.  They had with them a child upon seeing whom +Ita wept bitterly.  The clerics demanded why she cried at seeing +them.  "Blessed," she answered, "is the hour in which that youth +in your company was born, for no one shall ever go to hell from the +cemetery in which he will be buried, but, alas, for me, that I +cannot be buried therein."  The clerics asked what cemetery it +was in which he should be buried.  "In Mochuda's cemetery," said +she, "which though it be as yet unconsecrated will be honoured and +famous in times to come."  This all came to pass, for the youth +afterwards became a monk under Mochuda and he is buried in the +monastic cemetery of Lismore as Ita had foretold.</p> +<p>    A child on another occasion fell off the bridge of Rahen +into the river and was drowned.  The body was a day and a night +in the water before it was recovered.  Then it was brought to +Mochuda who, moved with compassion for the father in his loss of an +only son, restored the boy to life.  Moreover he himself fostered +the child for a considerable time afterwards and when the youth had +grown up, he sent him back to his own country of Delbhna.  +Mochuda's foster son begat sons and daughters and he gave himself +and them, as well as his inheritance, to God and Mochuda, and his +descendants are to this day servile tenants of the monastery.</p> +<p>    Once as Mochuda, with large offerings, was returning +from Kerry to Rahen he passed through the confines of Delbhna +[Lemanaghan?] by the lake called Muincine [Lough Gur?] where he and +his party were overtaken by night.  They found here before them +by the roadside revolving wheels, which an artisan, who was +erecting a mill on the stream from the lake, had set up for a +joke.  As the wheels revolved they made a terrific noise which +was heard by the whole neighbourhood.  Many of the inhabitants of +the neighbouring villages aroused by the noise rushed out, with +appeals for help and loud cries, to investigate the matter.  +Mochuda's people were frightened by the din and their pack and +riding horses stampeded and lost their loads and it was not without +difficulty that they were caught again.  Mochuda knew what caused +the noise and he told the workmen who had played this mischievous +trick that they should be scattered throughout the different +provinces of Ireland, that they should be always worthless and +unprofitable, that the mill they were engaged on should never be +finished and that their progeny after them should be valueless race +of mischief-makers.  The latter are called the Hi-Enna [Uí +Énna Áine Aulium] to-day.</p> +<p>    One day Mochuda came to a place called Cluain-Breanainn +where apples abounded.  His followers asked some apples for him +but the orchard owner refused them.  Said Mochuda:—"From +this day forward no fruit shall grow in you orchard for ever," and +that prophecy has been fulfilled.</p> +<p>    Mochuda had in his monastery twelve exceedingly perfect +disciples, scil.:—Caoinche Mac Mellain [Mochua Mac Mellain or +Cronan], who was the first monk to enter Rahen; Mucoinog +[Mochoemog]; the three sons of Nascainn—Goban, Srafan, and +Laisren; Mulua [Molua]; Lugair; Mochomog Eile; Aodhan [Aedhan]; +Fachtna Coinceann [Fiachna or Fiochrae]; Fionnlog and Mochomog who +became a bishop later.  The virtue of these monks surpassed +belief and Mochuda wished to mitigate their austerities before +their death.  He therefore built separate cells for them that +they might have some comfort in their old age as a reward for their +virtue in youth; moreover he predicted blessings for them.  He +made [a prophecy] for one of them, mentioned above, +scil.:—Mochua Mac Mellain, for whom he had built a +comfortable cell at a place called Cluain-Da-Chrann.  He said to +him:  "Your place of resurrection will not be here but in another +place which God has given you."  That prediction has been +verified.  To a second disciple, scil.:—Fiachna, Mochuda +said:—"Your resurrection will not be in this place though I +have made you a cell here; you will have three further abiding +places, nevertheless it will be with your own companion, Aodhan, +that your remains will rest and your resurrection will be in the +territory of Ui Torna, and it is from you that the place will get +its name."  For this Aodhan alluded to Mochuda likewise built +another cell in the land of Ui Torna close by Slieve Luachra, and +speaking prophetically he said to him:  "The remains of your +fellow-disciple, Fiachna, will be carried to you hither and from +him will this place be named."  That statement has been verified, +for the church is now called Cill-Fiachna and it was first called +Cill-Aeghain.  Concerning other persons, Mochuda prophesied +various other things, all of them have come to pass.</p> +<p>    A child born of secret adultery was abandoned close by +the monastery of Rahen and Mochuda fostered the child until he +became a bishop, though no one knew his name or his progenitors.  +Mochuda said:—"This child's name is Dioma and his father is +Cormac of the race of Eochaidh Eachach."  All thereupon magnified +the foreknowledge of Mochuda, which he had from no other than the +Holy Spirit.  Having consecrated him bishop, Mochuda instructed +him:  "Go in haste to your own native region of Hy-Eachach in the +southern confines of Munster for there will your resurrection +be.  War and domestic strife shall arise among your race and +kinsfolk unless you arrive there soon to prevent it."  Dioma set +out, accompanied by another bishop, Cuana by name, who was also a +disciple of Mochuda's.  They travelled into Ibh Eachach and Dioma +preached the word of God to his brethren and tribesmen.  He made +peace between them and they built a monastery for him and he placed +himself, his kindred, and parish under his chosen master, Mochuda, +and he ended his life (there) in peace.</p> +<p>    On another occasion Mochuda travelled from Rahen to the +provinces of Munster and entered Ciarraighe Corca.  It happened +that Cairbre Mac Criomhthain, who was king of Munster, was at that +time in Magh-Cuirce, the place to which Mochuda came.  At the +same time there fell a fire ball which destroyed one of the king's +residences, killing his wife, many of his people and his son, Aodh +Mac Cairbre, who were buried in the falling ruin.  There were +killed there moreover two good carriage horses of the king's.  +Cairbre besought Mochuda that he would restore the queen and his +son to life, and when the saint saw the king's faith he prayed for +him to God and then addressing the dead he said,—"Arise."  +They arose thereupon and he gave them safe to the king and they all +gave glory and thanks to God and Mochuda.  The king moreover made +large offerings of land and servile tenants to Mochuda.  But one +of the tenants, through pride and jealousy, refused to obey +Mochuda, notwithstanding the king's command.  Mochuda said:  +"Your posterity will die out and their inheritance, for sake of +which you (mis)behave towards me, shall become mine for ever; +whosoever takes from me that which another has given me shall be +deprived of heaven and earth."  That man and his posterity soon +came to nought.</p> +<p>    On another occasion Mochuda sent a golden belt to Fergus +Mac Criomhthan who suffered from uncleanness of skin arising from +kidney disease and upon application of the girdle, by the blessing +of Mochuda he recovered.</p> +<p>    Another time again a king of Munster, Cathal Mac Aodha, +in the region of Cuirche, was a sufferer from a combination of +complaints—he was deaf, lame, and blind, and when Mochuda +came to see him the king and his friends prayed the saint to cure +him.  Mochuda therefore prayed for him and made the sign of the +cross on his eyes and ears and immediately he was healed of all his +maladies—he heard and saw perfectly, and Cathal gave +extensive lands to God and Mochuda for ever, scil:—Oilean +Cathail and Ros-Beg and Ros-Mor and Inis-Pic [Spike Island].  +Mochuda placed a religious community in Ros-Beg to build there a +church in honour of God.  Mochuda himself commenced to build a +church on Inis-Pic and he remained there a whole year.  [On his +departure] Mochuda left there—in the monastery of +Inis-Pic—to watch over it, in his stead, and to keep it in +perfect order—the three disciples whom we have already named +(scil:—the three sons of Nascon, <i>i.e.</i> Goban a bishop, +Srafan a priest, and holy Laisren) together with the saintly +bishop, Dardomaighen [Domangenum], (who had conferred orders on +them in presence of Mochuda) and forty monks.  Thereupon Mochuda +returned to Rahen.  That island we have mentioned, +scil.:—Inis-Pic, is a most holy place in which an exceedingly +devout community constantly dwell.</p> +<p>    Mochuda next directed his steps eastward through Munster +and he crossed the river then called Nemh, and now named the +Abhainn More.  As he crossed he saw a large apple floating in the +middle of the ford.  This he took up and carried away with him in +his hand.  Hence (that ford is named) Ath-Ubhla in Fermoy +[Ballyhooley].  His attendant asked Mochuda for the apple, but +the latter refused to give it saying—"God will work a miracle +by that apple and through me to-day:  we shall meet Cuana Mac +Cailcin's daughter whose right hand is powerless so that she cannot +move it from her side.  But she shall be cured by the power of +God through this apple."  This was accomplished.  Mochuda +espied the child playing a game with the other girls in the +faithche [lawn] of the Lios.  He approached and said to +her:—"Take this apple."  She, as usual, put forth her left +hand for the fruit.  "You shall not get it in that hand, but take +it in the other."  The girl full of faith tried to put out the +right hand, and on the instant the hand became full of strength and +blood and motion so that she took the apple in it.  All rejoiced +thereat and were amazed at the wonder wrought.  That night Cuana +said to his daughter:  "Choose yourself which you prefer of the +royal youths of Munster and whomsoever your choice be I shall +obtain in marriage for you."  "The only spouse I shall have," +said she, "is the man who cured my hand."  "Do you hear what she +says O Mochuda?" said the king.  "Entrust the child to me," +answered Mochuda, "I shall present her as a bride to God who has +healed her hand."  Whereupon Cuana gave his daughter Flandnait, +together with her dowry and lands on the bank of Nemh, to God and +to Mochuda for ever.  Cuana was almost incredibly generous.  +Mochuda took the maiden with him to Rahen where she passed her +years happily with the religious women there till Mochuda was +expelled by the kings of Tara as you may hear.  He took Flandnait +with him (from Rahen) in his party to her own native region that +she might build herself a cell there.  She did build a famous +cell at Cluain Dallain in Mochuda's own parish.</p> +<p>    Previous to his expulsion (from Rahen) Mochuda visited +the place where (later) he built Lismore and he heard the voice of +persons reading at Rahen, wherefore he said to his followers:  "I +know that this is the place where God will permit us to build our +monastery."  This prophecy was subsequently verified.</p> +<p>    On a certain occasion Columcille came to Rahen where +Mochuda was and asked him:—"Is this place in which you now +are dear to you?"  "It is, indeed," answered Mochuda.  +Columcille said:  "Let not what I say to you trouble +you—this will not be the place of your resurrection, for the +king of Erin and his family will grow jealous of you owing to +machinations of some of the Irish clergy, and they shall eventually +drive you hence."  Mochuda questioned Columcille who had a true +prophetic gift—"In what other place then will my resurrection +be?"  Columcille told him—"The place where from the summit +of Slieve Gua you saw the host of angels building a chair of silver +with a statue of gold therein on the bank of the Nemh—there +will your resurrection be, and the chair of silver is your church +in the midst of them [, and you are truly the golden statue in its +midst]."  Mochuda believing what he heard thanked and glorified +God.</p> +<p>    As Mochuda on another day was at Rahen there came to him +a priest and monk of his own community from the northern part of +Munster; he made a reverence as was the custom of the monks, in +Mochuda's presence and said to him, "Father, I have complied with +all your commands and the precepts of God from the day I left Rahen +till now—except this—that, without your permission, I +have taken my brother from the secular life."  "Verily I say to +you," answered Mochuda, "if you were to go to the top of a high +hill and to shout as loudly as you could and were to bring to me +all who heard the cry I should not refuse the habit of religion to +one of them."  Hearing these words all realised the character and +extent of Mochuda's charity and returned thanks to God for it.</p> +<p>    On a certain day about vesper time, because of the +holiness of the hour, Mochuda said to his monks:—"We shall +not eat to-day till each one of you has made his confession," for +he knew that some one of them had ill will in his heart against +another.  All the brethren thereupon confessed to him.  One of +them in the course of his confession stated:  "I love not your +miller and the cause of my lack of charity towards him is this, +that when I come to the mill he will not lift the loads off the +horses and he will neither help me to fill the meal sacks nor to +load them on the horse when filled.  And not this alone but he +does everything that is disagreeable to me; moreover I cannot tell, +but God knows, why he so acts.  Often I have thought of striking +him or even beating him to death."  Mochuda replied, "Brother +dear, the prophet says—<i>'Declina a malo et fac bonum'</i> +[Psalm 36(37):27] (Avoid evil and do good).  Following this +precept let you act kindly towards the miller and that charity of +yours will move him to charity towards you and ye shall yet be +steadfast friends."  Things went on thus for three days—the +monk doing all he could to placate the miller.  Nevertheless the +miller did not cease his persecution, nor the brother his hate of +the miller.  On the third day Mochuda directed the brother to +confess to him again.  The brother said:—"This is my +confession, Father, I do not yet love the miller."  Mochuda +observed:—"He will change to-night, and to-morrow he will not +break fast till you meet him and you shall sit on the same seat, at +the same table, and you shall remain fast friends for the rest of +your lives."  All this came to pass; for that monk was, through +the instruction of Mochuda, filled with the grace of the Divine +Spirit.  And he glorified and praised Mochuda, for he recognised +him as a man favoured by the Holy Ghost.</p> +<p>    On another occasion two British monks of Mochuda's +monastery had a conversation in secret.  Mochuda, they said, is +very old though there is no immediate appearance of approaching +death—and there is no doubt that his equal in virtue or good +works will never be found—therefore if he were out of the way +one of us might succeed him.  Let us then kill him as there is no +likelihood of his natural death within a reasonable time.  They +resolved therefore to drown him in the river towards close of the +following night and to conceal all traces so that the crime could +never be discovered.  They found him subsequently in a lonely +place where he was accustomed to pray.  They bound him tightly +and carried him between them on their shoulders to the water.  On +their way to the river they met one of the monks who used to walk +around the cemetery every night.  He said to them:  "What is +that you carry?"  They replied that it was portion of the +monastic washing which they were taking to the river.  He +however, under the insistent suggestion of the Holy Spirit, +believed them not.  He said:  "Put down your load till we +examine it."  They were constrained to obey and the burden proved +to be—Mochuda.  The monk who detected [the proposed murder] +was the overseer of the homestead.  He said mournfully, "My God, +it is a dreadful work you are about."  Mochuda said +gently:—"Son, it were well for me had that been done to me +for I should now be numbered among the holy martyrs.  And it were +bad for them (the two wicked monks) for it is with Judas the +betrayer of his Lord they should be tortured for ever, who had +desired my death for their own advancement.  Neither these +wretched men themselves nor anyone of their nation shall be my +coarb for ever, but my successors shall be of his race through whom +God has rescued me.  Moreover my city shall never be without men +of the British race who will be butts and laughing-stocks and serve +no useful purpose."  The person who saved Mochuda was of the +Ciarraighe race and it is of that same people that the coarbs and +successors of Mochuda have commonly been ever since.  [See note +2.]</p> +<p>    Mochuda refused for a long while, as we have already +said, to accept cattle or horses from anyone; it was the monks +themselves who dug and cultivated the land and they did all the +haulage of the monastery on their own backs.  St. Fionan however +who was a kinsman of Mochuda and had just returned from Rome, came +at this time on a visit to the monastery.  He reproached Mochuda +saying:  "Mochuda, why do you impose the burden of brute beasts +upon rational beings?  Is it not for use of the latter that all +other animals have been created?  Of a truth I shall not taste +food in this house till you have remedied this grievance."  +Thenceforth Mochuda—in honour of Fionan—permitted his +monks to accept horses and oxen from the people and he freed them +from the hardship alluded to.  Sometime later the holy abbot, +Lachtaoin [St. Lachten], compassionating Mochuda and his monks +because of their lack of cattle paid a visit to Rahen bringing with +him a gift of thirty cows and a bull, also a couple of cattlemen +and two dairymaids.  Coming near Rahen he left the cattle in a +secluded place, for he did not wish them to be seen.  Thereupon +he went himself to the monastery and simulating illness requested a +drink of milk.  The house steward went to Mochuda to tell him +that Lachtaoin was ill and required milk.  Mochuda ordered the +steward to fill a pitcher with water and bring it to him—and +this order was executed.  Mochuda blessed the water which +immediately was changed into sweet new milk apparently of that +day's milking.  He sent the milk to Lachtaoin but the latter +identified it as milk miraculously produced; he in turn blessed it +with the result that it was changed back again into water.  He +complained:—"It is not water but milk I have asked for."  +The messenger related this fact publicly.  Lachtaoin +declared:—"Mochuda is a good monk but his successors will not +be able to change water to milk," and to the messenger he +said—"Go to Mochuda and tell him that I shall not break bread +in this house until he accept the alms which I have brought to the +community."  On Mochuda agreeing to accept them he handed over +the cattle and dairymen to the monks of Rahen and the stewards took +charge of them.  Mochuda said thereupon, that he should not have +accepted the cattle but as a compliment to Lachtaoin.  Lachtaoin +replied:—"From this day forward there will be plenty cattle +and worldly substance in your dwelling-place and there will be a +multitude of holy people in the other place whence you are to +depart to heaven (for you will be exiled from your present +home)."  After they had mutually blessed and taken leave and +pledged friendship Lachtaoin departed.</p> +<p>    Once, at harvest time, the farm steward came to Mochuda +complaining that, though the crop was dead ripe, a sufficient +number of harvesters could not be found.  Mochuda answered:  +"Go in peace, dear brother, and God will send you satisfactory +reapers."  This promise was fulfilled, for a band of angels came +to the ripest and largest fields, reaped and bound a great deal +quickly, and gathered the crop into one place.  The monks +marvelled, though they knew it was God's work and they praised and +thanked Him and Mochuda.</p> +<p>    The spirit of obedience amongst Mochuda's monks was such +that if any senior member of the community ordered another to lie +in the fire he would be obeyed.  As an instance of +this,—some of the brethren were on one occasion baking bread +in an oven when one the monks said to another younger than himself, +"The bread is burning:  take it out instantly."  There was an +iron shovel for drawing out the bread but the brother could not +find it on the instant.  He heeded not the flames which shot out +of the oven's mouth but caught the hot bread and shifted it with +his hands and suffered no hurt whatever.  On another day the +monks were engaged in labour beside the river which runs through +the monastery.  One of the senior monks called upon a young monk +named Colman to do a certain piece of work.  Immediately, as he +had not named any particular Colman, twelve monks of the name +rushed into the water.  The readiness and exactness of the +obedience practised was displayed in this incident.</p> +<p>    Great moreover was their meekness and patience in +sickness or ill-health as appears from the case of the monk out of +the wounds of whose body maggots fell as he walked; yet he never +complained or told anyone or left his work for two moments although +it was plain from his appearance that his health was declining, and +he was growing thinner from day to day.  The brothers pitied him +very much.  At length Mochuda questioned him—putting him +under obedience to tell the truth—as to the cause of his +decline.  The monk thereupon showed him his sides which were torn +by a twig tied fast around them.  Mochuda asked him who had done +that barbarous and intolerable thing to him.  The monk +answered:—"One day while we were drawing logs of timber from +the wood my girdle broke from the strain, so that my clothes hung +loose.  A monk behind me saw this and cutting a twig tied it so +tightly around my sides that it has caused my flesh to mortify."  +Mochuda asked—"And why did you not loosen the twig?"  The +monk replied—"Because my body in not my own and he who tied +it (the withe) has never loosed it."  It was a whole year since +the withe had been fastened around him.  Mochuda said to +him:—"Brother, you have suffered great pain; as a reward +thereof take now you choice—your restoration to bodily health +or spiritual health by immediate departure hence to eternal +life."  He answered, deciding to go to heaven:—"Why should +I desire to remain in this life?"  Having received the Sacrament +and the Holy Communion he departed hence to glory.</p> +<p>    There came to Mochuda on another occasion with her +husband, a woman named Brigh whose hand lay withered and useless by +her side:  she besought the saint to cure her hand.  Moreover +she was pregnant at the time.  Mochuda held out an apple in his +hand to her as he had done before to Flandnait, the daughter of +Cuana, saying—"Alleluia, put forth your nerveless hand to +take this apple."  She did as she was told and took the apple +from his hand and was cured; moreover as she tasted the fruit +parturition came on—without pain or inconvenience, after +which [the pair] returned to their home rejoicing.</p> +<p>    In fulfilment of the prophecy of Columcille and other +holy men that Mochuda should be expelled from Rahen the king of +Tara, Blathmac, the son of Aodh Slaine, and his brother Diarmuid +came, together with some clergy of the Cluain Earaird [Clonard] +community, to carry out the eviction [in A.D. 635].  They said to +him, "Leave this monastery and region and seek a place for yourself +elsewhere."  Mochuda replied—"In this place I have desired +to end my days.  Here I have been many years serving God and have +almost reached the end of my life.  Therefore I shall not depart +unless I am dragged hence by the hands against my will, for it is +not becoming an old man to abandon easily the place in which he has +spent great part of his life."  Then the nobles returned to +Blathmac and they made various complaints of Mochuda, accusing him +falsely of many things; finally they asked the king to undertake +the expulsion personally, for they were themselves unequal to the +task.  The king thereupon came to the place accompanied by a +large retinue.  Alluding prophetically to the king's coming, +previous to that event, Mochuda said, addressing the +monks:—"Beloved brothers, get ready and gather your +belongings, for violence and eviction are close at hand:  the +chieftains of this land are about to expel and banish you from your +own home."  Then the king, with his brothers and many of the +chief men, arrived on the scene.  They encamped near Rahen and +the king sent his brother Diarmuid with some others to expel +Mochuda and to put him out by force—which Diarmuid pledged +his word he should do.  It was in the choir at prayer that +Diarmuid found Mochuda.  Mochuda, though he knew his mission, +asked Diarmuid why he was come and what he sought.  Diarmuid +replied that he came by order of King Blathmac to take him by the +hand and put him out of that establishment and to banish him from +Meath.  "Do as you please," said Mochuda, "for we are prepared to +undergo all things for Christ's sake."  "By my word," answered +Diarmuid, "I shall never be guilty of such a crime; let him who +chooses do it."  Mochuda said:—"You shall possess the +kingdom of God and you shall reign in your brother's stead and your +face which you have turned from me shall never be turned from your +enemies.  Moreover the reproaches which the king will presently +cast upon you for not doing the work he has set you, will be your +praise and your pride.  At the same time as a penalty for your +evil designs toward me and your greater readiness to drive me out, +your son shall not succeed you in the sovereignty."  Diarmuid +returned to the king and told him that he could do no injury to +Mochuda.  The king retorted [sarcastically and] in anger, "What a +valiant man you are, Diarmuid."  Diarmuid replied:—"That is +just what Mochuda promised—that I should be a warrior of +God."  He was known as Diarmuid Ruanaidh thenceforth, for the +whole assembly cried out with one voice—truly he is Valiant +(<i>Ruanaidh</i>).</p> +<p>    Next, the nobles present cast lots to decide which one +of them should go with the king to lay hands on Mochuda and expel +him from the monastery.  The lot fell upon the Herenach +[hereditary steward] of Cluain Earaird.  He and the king +accompanied by armed men went to the monastery where they found +Mochuda and all the brethren in the church.  Cronan, a certain +rich man in the company, shouted out, "Make haste with the business +on which you are come."  Mochuda answered him—"You shall +die immediately, but on account of the alms which you gave me for +the love of Christ and on account of your uniform piety heretofore +your progeny shall prosper for ever."  That prophecy has been +fulfilled.  Another man, Dulach by name, winked mockingly with +one of his eyes; moreover he laughed and behaved irreverently +towards Mochuda.  Mochuda said to him:—"Thus shall you +be—with one eye closed and a grin on your +countenance—to the end of your life; and of your descendants +many will be similarly afflicted."  Yet another member of the +company, one Cailche, scurrilously abused and cursed Mochuda.  To +him Mochuda said:—"Dysentery will attack you immediately and +murrain that will cause your death."  The misfortune foretold +befell him and indeed woeful misfortune and ill luck pursued many +of them for their part in the wrong doing.  When the king saw +these things he became furious and, advancing—himself and the +abbot of Cluain Earaird—they took each a hand of Mochuda and +in a disrespectful, uncivil manner, they led him forth out of the +monastery while their followers did the same with Mochuda's +community.  Throughout the city and in the country around there +was among both sexes weeping, mourning, and wailing over their +humiliating expulsion from their own home and monastery.  Even +amongst the soldiers of the king were many who were moved to pity +and compassion for Mochuda and his people.</p> +<p>    One of Mochuda's monks had gout in his foot and for him +Mochuda besought the king and his following that he, as he was +unable to travel, might be allowed to remain in the monastery; the +request was, however, refused.  Mochuda called the monk to him +and, in the name of Christ, he commanded the pain to leave the foot +and to betake itself to the foot of Colman [Colman mac hua Telduib, +abbot, or perhaps erenach only, of Cluain Earaird], the chieftain +who was most unrelenting towards him.  That soreness remained in +Colman's foot as long as he lived.  The monk however rose up and +walked and was able to proceed on his way with his master.</p> +<p>    There was an aged monk who wished to be buried at Rahen; +Mochuda granted the request, and he received Holy Communion and +sacred rites at the saint's hands.  Then he departed to heaven in +the presence of all and his body was buried at Rahen as he had +himself chosen that it should be.</p> +<p>    Leaving Rahen Mochuda paid a visit to the monastic +cemetery weeping as he looked upon it; he blessed those interred +there and prayed for them.  By the permission of God it happened +that the grave of a long deceased monk opened so that all saw it, +and, putting his head out of the grave, the tenant of the tomb +cried out in a loud voice:  "O holy man and servant of God, bless +us that through thy blessing we may rise and go with you whither +you go."  Mochuda replied:—"So novel a thing I shall not +do, for it behoves not to raise so large a number of people before +the general resurrection."  The monk asked—"Why then +father, do you leave us, though we have promised union with you in +one place for ever?"  Mochuda answered:—"Brother, have you +ever heard the proverb—<i>'necessitas movet decretum et +consilium'</i> (necessity is its own law)?  Remain ye therefore +in your resting places and on the day of general resurrection I +shall come with all my brethren and we shall all assemble before +the great cross called 'Cross of the Angels' at the church door and +go together for judgement."  When Mochuda had finished, the monk +lay back in his grave and the coffin closed.</p> +<p>    Mochuda, with his following, next visited the cross +already mentioned and here, turning to the king, he thus addressed +him:—"Behold the heavens above you and the earth below."  +The king looked at them:  then Mochuda continued:—"Heaven +may you not possess and even from your earthly principality may you +soon be driven and your brother whom you have reproached, because +he would not lay hands on me, shall possess it instead of you, and +in your lifetime.  You shall be despised by all—so much so +that in your brother's house they shall forget to supply you with +food.  Moreover yourself and your children shall come to an evil +end and in a little while there shall not be one of your seed +remaining."  Then Mochuda cursed him and he rang his small bell +against him and against his race, whence the bell has since been +known as "The Bell of Blathmac's Extinguishing," or "The Bell of +Blathmac's Drowning," because it drowned or extinguished Blathmac +with his posterity.  Blathmac had a large family of sons and +daughters but, owing to Mochuda's curse, their race became +extinct.  Next to the prince of Cluain Earaird who also had +seized him by the hand, he said:  "You shall be a servant and a +bondman ere you die and you shall lose your territory and your race +will be a servile one."  To another of those who led him by the +hand he said:—"What moved you to drag me by the hand from my +own monastery?"  The other replied:—"It pleased me not that +a Munster man should have such honour in Meath."  "I wish," said +Mochuda, "that the hand you laid on me may be accursed and that the +face you turned against me to expel me from my home may be +repulsive and scrofulous for the remainder of your life."  This +curse was effective for the man's eye was thereupon destroyed in +his head.  Mochuda noticed that some of Columcille's successors +and people from Durrow, which was one of Columcille's foundations, +had taken part in his eviction.  He thus addressed +them:—"Contention and quarrelling shall be yours for ever to +work evil and schism amongst you—for you have had a prominent +part in exciting opposition to me."  And so it fell out.</p> +<p>    The king and his people thereupon compelled Mochuda to +proceed on his way.  Mochuda did proceed with his disciples, +eight hundred and sixty seven in number (and as many more they left +buried in Rahen).  Moreover, many more living disciples of his +who had lived in various parts of Ireland were already dead.  All +the community abounded in grace:  many of its members became +bishops and abbots in after years and they erected many churches to +the glory of God.</p> +<p>    Understand, moreover, that great was the charity of the +holy bishop, as the following fact will prove:—in a cell +without the city of Rahen he maintained in comfort and +respectability a multitude of lepers.  He frequently visited them +and ministered to them himself—entrusting that office to no +one else.  It was known to all the lepers of Ireland how Mochuda +made their fellow-sufferers his special care and family, and the +result was that an immense number of lepers from all parts flocked +to him and he took charge and care of them.  These on his +departure from Rahen he took with him to Lismore where he prepared +suitable quarters for them and there they have been ever since in +comfort and in honour according to Mochuda's command.</p> +<p>    As Mochuda and his people journeyed along with their +vehicles they found the way blocked by a large tree which lay +across it.  Owing to the density of underwood at either side they +were unable to proceed.  Some one announced:—"There is a +tree across the road before us, so that we cannot advance."  +Mochuda said:  "In the name of Christ I command thee, tree, to +rise up and stand again in thy former place."  At the command of +Mochuda the tree stood erect as it was originally and it still +retains its former appearance, and there is a pile of stones there +at its base to commemorate the miracle.</p> +<p>    It was necessary to proceed; the first night after +Mochuda's departure from Rahen the place that he came to was a cell +called Drum Cuilinn [Drumcullen], on the confines of Munster, +Leinster, and Clanna Neill, but actually within Clanna Neill, +scil.:—in the territory of Fearceall in which also is +Rahen.  In Drum Cuilinn dwelt the holy abbot, Barrfhinn, renowned +for miracles.  On the morrow Mochuda arrived at Saighir Chiarain +[Seirkieran] and the following night at the establishment where +Cronan is now, scil.:—Roscrea.  That night Mochuda remained +without entertainment although it was offered to them by Cronan who +had prepared supper for him.  Mochuda refused however to go to it +saying that he would not go out of his way to visit a man who +avoids guests and builds his cell in a wild bog far from men and +that such a man's proper guests are creatures of the wilderness +instead of human beings.  When Cronan heard this saying of +Mochuda he came to the latter, by whose advice he abandoned his +hermitage in the bog and he, with Mochuda, marked out the site of a +new monastery and church at Roscrea.  There he founded a great +establishment and there he is himself buried.  Mochuda took leave +of Cronan and, travelling through Eile [Ely O'Carroll], came to the +royal city named Cashel.  On the following day the king, +scil.:—Failbhe [Failbhe Flann], came to Mochuda offering him +a place whereon to found a church.  Mochuda replied:—"It is +not permitted us by God to stay our journey anywhere till we come +to the place promised to us by the holy men."</p> +<p>    About the same time there came messengers from the king +of Leinster to the king of Munster praying the latter, by virtue of +league and alliance, to come to his assistance as Leath-Chuinn and +the north were advancing in great force to ravage Leinster.  This +is how Failbhe was situated at the time:  he had lost one of his +eyes and he was ashamed to go half-blind into a strange +territory.  As soon as Mochuda realised the extent of the king's +diffidence he blessed the eye making on it the sign of the cross +and it was immediately healed in the presence of all.  The king +and Mochuda took leave of one another and went each his own way.  +The king and his hosting went to the aid of Leinster in the +latter's necessity.</p> +<p>    Mochuda journeyed on through Muscraige Oirthir the chief +of which territory received him with great honour.  Aodhan was +the chief's name and he bestowed his homestead called Isiol +[Athassel] on Mochuda, who blessed him and his seed.  Next he +came into the Decies.  He travelled through Magh Femin where he +broke his journey at Ard Breanuinn [Ardfinnan] on the bank of the +Suir.  There came to him here Maolochtair, king of the Decies, +and the other nobles [or one noble, Suibhne] of his nation who were +at variance with him concerning land.  Mochuda by the grace of +God made peace amongst them, and dismissed them in amity.  +Maolochtair gave that land to Mochuda who marked out a cell there +where is now the city of Ardfinnnan, attached to which is a large +parish subject to Mochuda and bearing his name.  The wife of +Maolochtair, scil:—Cuciniceas, daughter of Failbhe Flann, +king of Munster, had a vision, viz.:—a flock of very +beautiful birds flying above her head and one bird was more +beautiful and larger than the rest.  The other birds followed +this one and it nestled in the king's bosom.  Soon as she awoke +she related the vision to the king; the king observed:  "Woman +you have dreamed a good dream and soon it will be realised; the +flock of birds you have seen is Mochuda with his monks coming from +Rahen and the most distinguished bird is Mochuda himself.  And +the settling in my bosom means that the place of his resurrection +will be in my territory.  Many blessings will come to us and our +territory through him."  That vision of the faithful woman was +realised as the faithful king had explained it.</p> +<p>    Subsequently Mochuda came to Maolochtair requesting from +him a place where he might erect a monastery.  Maolochtair +replied:  "So large a community cannot dwell in such a narrow +place."  Mochuda said:  "God, who sent us to you, will show you +a place suited to us."  The king answered:—"I have a place, +convenient for fish and wood, beside Slieve Gua on the bank of the +Nemh but I fear it will not be large enough."  Mochuda +said:—"It will not be narrow; there is a river and fish and +that it shall be the place of our resurrection."  Thereupon, in +the presence of many witnesses, the king handed over the land, +scil.:—Lismore, to God and Mochuda and it is in that place +Mochuda afterwards founded his famous city.  Mochuda blessed the +king and his wife as well as the nobles and all the people and +taking leave of them and receiving their homage he journeyed across +Slieve Gua till he came to the church called Ceall Clochair +[Kilcloher].  The saint of that church, scil.:—Mochua +Mianain, prepared a supper for Mochuda to the best of his ability, +but he had only a single barrel of ale for them all.  Although +Mochuda with his people remained there three days and three nights +and although the holy abbot (Mochua) continued to draw the ale into +small vessels to serve the company, according to their needs, the +quantity in the barrel grew no less but increased after the manner +of the oil blessed by Elias [3 Kings 17:16].  Then one of the +monks said to Mochuda, "If you remain in this place till the feast +ends your stay will be a long one for it (the entertainment) grows +no smaller for all the consumption."  "That is true, brother," +said Mochuda and it is fitting for us to depart now."  They +started therefore on their way and Mochua Mianain gave himself and +his place to God and Mochuda for ever.  On Mochuda's departure +the ale barrel drained out to the lees.</p> +<p>    Mochuda proceeded till he reached the river Nemh at a +ford called Ath-Mheadhon [Affane] which no one could cross except a +swimmer or a very strong person at low water in a dry season of +summer heat, for the tide flows against the stream far as Lismore, +five miles further up.  On this particular occasion it happened +to be high tide.  The two first of Mochuda's people to reach the +ford were the monks Molua and Colman, while Mochuda himself came +last.  They turned round to him and said that it was not possible +to cross the river till the ebb.  Mochuda +answered:—"Advance through the water before the others in the +name of your Lord Jesus Christ for He is the way the truth and the +life" [John 14:6].  As soon as they heard this command of +Mochuda's Molua said to Colman, "Which of the two will you hold +back—the stream above or the sea below?"  Colman +answered:—"Let each restrain that which is nearest to +him"—for Molua was on the upper, or stream, side and Colman +on the lower, or sea, side.  Molua said to Colman—"Forbid +you the sea side to flow naturally and I shall forbid the stream +side."  Then with great faith they proceeded to cross the river; +they signed the river with the sign of Christ's cross and the +waters stood on either hand and apart, so that the dry earth +appeared between.  The side banks of water rose high because +there was no passage up or down, so that the ridges were very +elevated on both the sea and stream sides.  The waters remained +thus till such time as all Mochuda's people had crossed.  Mochuda +himself was the last to pass over and the path across was so level +that it offered no obstacle to foot-passengers or chariots but was +like a level plain so that they crossed dryshod, as the Jordan fell +back for Josue the son of Nun [Josue 3:17].  Soon as Mochuda had +crossed over he blessed the waters and commanded them to resume +their natural course.  On the reuniting again of the waters they +made a noise like thunder, and the name of the place is The Place +of Benedictions, from the blessings of Mochuda and his people.</p> +<p>    Next the glorious bishop, Mochuda, proceeded to the +place promised to him by God and the prophets, which place is the +plain called Magh-Sciath.  Mochuda, with the holy men, blessed +the place and dedicated there the site of a church in circular +form.  There came to them a holy woman named Caimell who had a +cell there and she asked, "What do you propose doing here, ye +servants of God?"  "We propose," answered Mochuda, "building here +a little <i>Lios</i> [enclosure] around our possession."  Caimell +observed, "Not a little Lios will it be but a great [<i>mor</i>] +one (Lis-mor)."  "True indeed, virgin," responded Mochuda, +"Lismore will be its name for ever."  The virgin offered herself +and her cell to God and Mochuda for ever, where the convent of +women is now established in the city of Lismore.</p> +<p>    As Colman Elo, alluded to already, promised, Mochuda +found his burial place marked out (consecrated?) by angels; there +he and a multitude of his disciples are buried and it was made +known to him by divine wisdom the number of holy persons that to +the end of the world would be buried therein.  Lismore is a +renowned city, for there is one portion of it which no woman may +enter and there are within it many chapels and monasteries, and in +which there are always multitudes of devout people not from Ireland +alone but from the land of the Saxons and from Britain and from +other lands as well.  This is its situation—on the south +bank of the Avonmore in the Decies territory.</p> +<p>    On a certain day there came a druid to Mochuda to argue +and contend with him.  He said:—"If you be a servant of God +cause natural fruit to grow on this withered branch."  Mochuda +knew that it was to throw contempt on the power of God that the +druid had come.  He blessed the branch and it produced first +living skin, then, as the druid had asked—leaves, blossom and +fruit in succession.  The druid marvelled exceedingly and went +his way.</p> +<p>    A poor man came to Mochuda on another occasion with an +ill timed request for milk, and beer along with it.  Mochuda was +at the time close by the well which is known as "Mochuda's Well" at +the present time; this he blessed changing it first into milk then +into beer and finally to wine.  Then he told the poor man to take +away whatever quantity of each of these liquids he required.  The +well remained thus till at Mochuda's prayer it returned to its +original condition again.  An angel came from heaven to Mochuda +at the time and told him that the well should remain a source of +health and virtues and of marvels, and it still, like every well +originally blessed by Mochuda, possesses power of healing from +every malady.</p> +<p>    Mochuda, now grown old and of failing powers and +strength, was wearied and worried by the incessant clamour of +building operations—the dressing of stones and +timber—carried on by the multitude of monks and artisans.  +He therefore by consent and counsel of the brethren retired to a +remote, lonely place situated in a glen called "Mochuda's Inch" +below the great monastery.  He took with him there a few monks +and built a resplendent monastery; he remained in that place a year +and six months more leading a hermitical life.  The brethren and +seniors of the community visited him (from time to time) and he +gave them sound, sweetly-reasoned advice.  He received a vow from +each to follow his Rule, for he was the support of the aged, the +health-giver to the weak, the consoler of the afflicted, the +hope-giver to the hopeless, the faith-giver to the doubting, the +moderator and uniter of the young.</p> +<p>    As soon as Mochuda saw the hardship to the visiting +brothers and elders of the descent from Lismore and the ascent +thereto again—knowing at the same time that his end was +approaching—he ordered himself to be carried up to the +monastery so that the monks might be saved the fatigue of the +descent to him.  Then it pleased God to call to Himself His +devoted servant from the troubles of life and to render to him the +reward of his good works.  He opened the gates of heaven then and +sent to him a host of angels, in glory and majesty unspeakable.  +When Mochuda saw the heavens open above him and the angel band +approaching, he ordered that he be set down in the middle of the +glen and he related to the seniors the things that he had seen and +he asked to receive the Body of Christ and he gave his last +instruction to the monks—to observe the Law of God and keep +His commands.  The place was by the cross called <i>"Crux +Migrationis,"</i> or the cross from which Mochuda departed to +Glory.  Having received the Body and Blood of Christ, having +taught them divine doctrines, in the midst of holy choirs and of +many brethren and monks to whom in turn he gave his blessing and +the kiss of peace according to the rule, the glorious and holy +bishop departed to heaven accompanied by hosts of angels on the day +before the Ides of May [May 14], in his union with the Holy +Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever.  +Amen.</p> +<p>Finit 7ber [September] 4th, 1741.</p> +<hr width="25%" /> +<h4>NOTE 1</h4> +<p>One of our scribe's predecessors omitted a word or two from the +text here, with disastrous results to the sense.  The Latin Life +comes to our aid however and enables us to make good the omission; +the latter, by the way, puzzles our scribe who is like a man +fighting an invisible enemy—correcting a text of which he +does not know the defect.  Insertion of the words "walking +backwards" immediately after "church," in the angel's answer, will +enable us to see the original writer's meaning.  The text should +probably read:</p> +<blockquote>The angel answered:—"Whom you shall see going +from the church walking backwards to the guest-house" (for it was +Mochuda's custom to walk backwards from the door of the church).  +Comghall announced to his household that there was coming to them a +distinguished stranger, well-beloved of God, of whose advent an +angel had twice foretold him.  Some time later Mochuda arrived at +Comghall's establishment, and he went to the monastery first and he +did just as the angel foretold of him and Comghall recognised him +and bade him welcome.</blockquote> +<h4>NOTE 2</h4> +The obits of Mochuda's successors, down to Christian O'Conarchy, +are chronicled as follows:— +<ul> +<li>A.D. 650.  Cuanan, maternal uncle and immediate successor of +Mochuda (Lanigan).</li> +<li>A.D. 698.  Iarnla, surnamed Hierologus (Four Masters).  In +his time King Alfrid was a student in Lismore.</li> +<li>A.D. 702.  Colman, son of Finnbhar (Acta Sanctorum).  +During his reign the abbey of Lismore reached the zenith of its +fame.</li> +<li>A.D. 716.  Cronan Ua Eoan (F. Masters).</li> +<li>A.D. 719.  Colman O'Liathain (Annals of Inisfallen).</li> +<li>A.D. 741.  Finghal (F. Masters).</li> +<li>A.D. 746.  Mac hUige (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 747.  Ihrichmech (A. of Inisf.)</li> +<li>A.D. 748.  Maccoigeth (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 752.  Sinchu (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 755.  Condath (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 756.  Fincon (Annals of Ulster).</li> +<li>A.D. 761.  Aedhan (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 763.  Ronan (Ware).</li> +<li>A.D. 769.  Soairleach Ua Concuarain (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 771.  Eoghan (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 776.  Orach (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 799.  Carabran (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 801.  Aedhan Ua Raichlich (A. of Inisf.)</li> +<li>A.D. 823.  Flann (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 849.  Tibrade Ua Baethlanaigh (F. M.)  At this period +the town was plundered and burned by the Danes who had sailed up +thither on the Blackwater.</li> +<li>A.D. 849.  Daniel (A. of Inisf.)</li> +<li>A.D. 854.  Suibne Ua Roichlech (F. M. and A. of Ulster).  +What is probably his gravestone is one of five Irish-inscribed +slabs built into the west gable of the Cathedral.</li> +<li>A.D. 861.  Daniel Ua Liaithidhe (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 878.  Martin Ua Roichligh (Ibid).  Another of the +inscribed stones above referred to asks "A prayer for Martan."</li> +<li>A.D. 880.  Flann Mac Forbasaich (A. I.)</li> +<li>A.D. 899.  Maelbrighte Mac Maeldomnaich (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 918.  Cormac Mac Cuilennan (A. I.)  He is to be +distinguished from his more famous namesake of Cashel.</li> +<li>A.D. 936.  Ciaran (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 951.  Diarmuid (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 957.  Maenach Mac Cormaic (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 958.  Cathmog (Ibid).  He was also bishop of +Cork.</li> +<li>A.D. 963.  Cinaedh (F. M.)</li> +<li>A.D. 1025.  Omaelsluaig (Cotton's "Fasti").</li> +<li>A.D. 1034.  Moriertach O'Selbach, bishop of Lismore +(Cotton).</li> +<li>A.D. 1064.  Mac Airthir, bishop (Cotton).</li> +<li>A.D. 1090.  Maelduin O'Rebhacain (Ibid).</li> +<li>A.D. 1112.  Gilla Mochuda O'Rebhacain (A. of I.)</li> +<li>A.D. 1113.  Nial Macgettigan.  His episcopal staff, +possibly enclosing the venerable oaken staff of the founder of the +abbey, is still preserved at Lismore Castle.  [Also known as the +'Lismore Crozier,' in 2004 it is housed in 'The Treasury' exhibit +at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St., Dublin 2.]</li> +<li>A.D. 1134.  Malchus.  Most probably he is identical with +the first bishop of Waterford.  During his term both St. Malachy +and King Cormac MacCarthy dwelt as fugitives, guests or pilgrims, +at Lismore.</li> +<li>A.D. 1142.  Ua Rebhacain.</li> +<li>A.D. 1186.  St. Christian.  He had however resigned the +bishopric.</li> +</ul> +<center><img src="e-back.gif" width="323" height="90" alt= +"Shamrock Graphic" /></center> +<p><a name="2004_note"></a></p> +<hr width="75%" /> +<h4>Transcriber's Note</h4> +<p>The source for this +text includes the Irish text and English translation on facing +pages and notes.  The notes are quite lengthy and should take +longer to transcribe than the English text.  Except for a few +notes transplanted in brackets to the body of the text I have not +transcribed them.  Due to inexperience with the Irish language +and its script I have decided not to attempt to transcribe the +Irish text.  Hopefully someone with the appropriate talent and +interest will undertake that task some day.  I have corrected the +errata as indicated in the source and a few obvious printer +errors.  Please note that this text contains variant spellings of +names and words sometimes inconsistently applied. +</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lives of SS. 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Declan and Mochuda, Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: February 19, 2004 [EBook #11168] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF SS. DECLAN AND MOCHUDA *** + + + + +Produced by Dennis McCarthy + + + + +IRISH TEXTS SOCIETY. + +"COMANN NA SGRIBEANN GAEDILGE." + + +Vol. XVI. +[1914.] + + + +LIFE OF ST. DECLAN OF ARDMORE, +(Edited from MS. in Bibliotheque Royale, Brussels), + +and + +LIFE OF ST. MOCHUDA OF LISMORE, +(Edited from MS. in the Library of Royal Irish Academy), + + + +With Introduction, Translation, and Notes, + + +by + +Rev. P. Power, M.R.I.A., +University College, Cork. + + + +1914. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +Preface +Introduction + - General + - St. Declan + - St. Mochuda + - Map of Ireland +Life of Declan +Life of Mochuda +[Transcriber's Note] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +It is solely the historical aspect and worth of the two tracts herewith +presented that appealed to their edition and first suggested to him +their preparation and publication. Had preparation in question depended +for its motive merely on considerations of the texts' philologic +interest or value it would, to speak frankly, never have been +undertaken. The editor, who disclaims qualification as a philologist, +regards these Lives as very valuable historical material, publication of +which may serve to light up some dark corners of our Celtic +ecclesiastical past. He is egotist enough to hope that the present +"blazing of the track," inadequate and feeble though it be, may induce +other and better equipped explorers to follow. + +The present editor was studying the Life of Declan for quite another +purpose when, some years since, the zealous Hon. Secretary of the Irish +Texts Society suggested to him publication of the tract in its present +form, and addition of the Life of Carthach [Mochuda]. Whatever credit +therefore is due to originating this work is Miss Hull's, and hers alone. + +The editor's best thanks are due, and are hereby most gratefully +tendered, to Rev. M. Sheehan, D.D., D.Ph., Rev. Paul Walsh, Rev. J. +MacErlhean, S.J., M.A., as well as to Mr. R. O'Foley, who, at much +expense of time and labour, have carefully read the proofs, and, with +unselfish prodigality of their scholarly resources, have made many +valuable suggestions and corrections. + + P.P. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +I.--GENERAL. + + +A most distinctive class of ancient Irish literature, and probably the +class that is least popularly familiar, is the hagiographical. It is, +the present writer ventures to submit, as valuable as it is distinctive +and as well worthy of study as it is neglected. While annals, tales and +poetry have found editors the Lives of Irish Saints have remained +largely a mine unworked. Into the causes of this strange neglect it is +not the purpose of the present introduction to enter. Suffice it to +glance in passing at one of the reasons which has been alleged in +explanation, scil.:--that the "Lives" are uncritical and romantic, that +they abound in wild legends, chronological impossibilities and all sorts +of incredible stories, and, finally, that miracles are multiplied till +the miraculous becomes the ordinary, and that marvels are magnified till +the narrative borders on the ludicrous. The Saint as he is sketched is +sometimes a positively repulsive being--arrogant, venomous, and cruel; +he demands two eyes or more for one, and, pucklike, fairly revels in +mischief! As painted he is in fact more a pagan deity than a Christian +man. + +The foregoing charges may, or must, be admitted partially or in full, +but such admission implies no denial of the historical value of the +Lives. All archaic literature, be it remembered, is in a greater or +less degree uncritical, and it must be read in the light of the writer's +times and surroundings. That imagination should sometimes run riot and +the pen be carried beyond the boundary line of the strictly literal is +perhaps nothing much to be marvelled at in the case of the supernatural +minded Celt with religion for his theme. Did the scribe believe what he +wrote when he recounted the multiplied marvels of his holy patron's +life? Doubtless he did--and why not! To the unsophisticated monastic +and mediaeval mind, as to the mind of primitive man, the marvellous and +supernatural is almost as real and near as the commonplace and natural. +If anyone doubts this let him study the mind of the modern Irish +peasant; let him get beneath its surface and inside its guardian ring of +shrinking reserve; there he will find the same material exactly as +composed the mind of the tenth century biographers of Declan and +Mochuda. Dreamers and visionaries were of as frequent occurrence in Erin +of ages ago as they are to-day. Then as now the supernatural and +marvellous had a wondrous fascination for the Celtic mind. Sometimes the +attraction becomes so strong as seemingly to overbalance the faculty of +distinguishing fact from fancy. Of St. Bridget we are gravely told that +to dry her wet cloak she hung in out on a sunbeam! Another Saint sailed +away to a foreign land on a sod from his native hillside! More than +once we find a flagstone turned into a raft to bear a missionary band +beyond the seas! St. Fursey exchanged diseases with his friend +Magnentius, and, stranger still, the exchange was arranged and effected +by correspondence! To the saints moreover are ascribed lives of +incredible duration--to Mochta, Ibar, Seachnal, and Brendan, for +instance, three hundred years each; St. Mochaemog is credited with a +life of four hundred and thirteen years, and so on! + +Clan, or tribe, rivalry was doubtless one of the things which made for +the invention and multiplication of miracles. If the patron of the +Decies is credited with a miracle, the tribesmen of Ossory must go one +better and attribute to their tribal saint a marvel more striking still. +The hagiographers of Decies retort for their patron by a claim of yet +another miracle and so on. It is to be feared too that occasionally a +less worthy motive than tribal honour prompted the imagination of our +Irish hagiographers--the desire to exploit the saint and his honour for +worldly gain. + +The "Lives" of the Irish Saints contain an immense quantity of material +of first rate importance for the historian of the Celtic church. +Underneath the later concoction of fable is a solid substratum of fact +which no serious student can ignore. Even where the narrative is +otherwise plainly myth or fiction it sheds many a useful sidelight on +ancient manners, customs and laws as well as on the curious and often +intricate operations of the Celtic mind. + +By "Lives" are here meant the old MS. biographies which have come down +to us from ages before the invention of printing. Sometimes these +"Lives" are styled "Acts." Generally we have only one standard "Life" +of a saint and of this there are usually several copies, scattered in +various libraries and collections. Occasionally a second Life is found +differing essentially from the first, but, as a rule, the different +copies are only recensions of a single original. Some of the MSS. are +parchment but the majority are in paper; some Lives again are merely +fragments and no doubt scores if not hundreds of others have been +entirely lost. Of many hundreds of our Irish saints we have only the +meagre details supplied by the martyrologies, with perhaps occasional +reference to them in the Lives of other saints. Again, finally, the +memory of hundreds and hundreds of saints additional survives only in +place names or is entirely lost. + +There still survive probably over a hundred "Lives"--possibly one +hundred and fifty; this, however, does not imply that therefore we have +Lives of one hundred or one hundred and fifty saints, for many of the +saints whose Acts survive have really two sets of the latter--one in +Latin and the other in Irish; moreover, of a few of the Latin Lives and +of a larger number of the Irish Lives we have two or more recensions. +There are, for instance, three independent Lives of St. Mochuda and one +of these is in two recensions. + +The surviving Lives naturally divide themselves into two great +classes--the Latin Lives and the Irish,--written in Latin and Irish +respectively. We have a Latin Life only of some saints, and Irish Life +only of others, and of others again we have a Latin Life and an Irish. +It may be necessary to add the Acts which have been translated into Latin +by Colgan or the Bollandists do not of course rank as Latin Lives. +Whether the Latin Lives proper are free translations of the Irish Lives +or the Irish Lives translations of Latin originals remains still, to a +large extent, an open question. Plummer ("Vitae SSm. Hib.," Introd.) +seems to favour the Latin Lives as the originals. His reasoning here +however leaves one rather unconvinced. This is not the place to go into +the matter at length, but a new bit of evidence which makes against the +theory of Latin originals may be quoted; it is furnished by the well +known collection of Latin Lives known as the Codex Salmanticensis, to +which are appended brief marginal notes in mixed middle Irish and Latin. +One such note to the Life of St. Cuangus of Lismore (recte Liathmore) +requests a prayer for him who has translated the Life out of the Irish +into Latin. If one of the Lives, and this a typical or characteristic +Life, be a translation, we may perhaps assume that the others, or most +of them, are translations also. In any case we may assume as certain +that there were original Irish materials or data from which the formal +Lives (Irish or Latin) were compiled. + +The Latin Lives are contained mainly in four great collections. The +first and probably the most important of these is in the Royal Library +at Brussels, included chiefly in a large MS. known as 'Codex +Salmanticensis' from the fact that it belonged in the seventeenth +century to the Irish College of Salamanca. The second collection is in +Marsh's Library, Dublin, and the third in Trinity College Library. The +two latter may for practical purposes be regarded as one, for they are +sister MSS.--copied from the same original. The Marsh's Library +collection is almost certainly, teste Plummer, the document referred to +by Colgan as Codex Kilkenniensis and it is quite certainly the Codex +Ardmachanus of Fleming. The fourth collection (or the third, if we take +as one the two last mentioned,) is in the Bodleian at Oxford amongst +what are known as the Rawlinson MSS. Of minor importance, for one +reason or another, are the collections of the Franciscan Library, +Merchants' Quay, Dublin, and in Maynooth College respectively. The +first of the enumerated collections was published 'in extenso,' about +twenty-five years since, by the Marquis of Bute, while recently the gist +of all the Latin collections has been edited with rare scholarship by +Rev. Charles Plummer of Oxford. Incidentally may be noted the one +defect in Mr. Plummer's great work--its author's almost irritating +insistence on pagan origins, nature myths, and heathen survivals. +Besides the Marquis of Bute and Plummer, Colgan and the Bollandists have +published some Latin Lives, and a few isolated "Lives" have been +published from time to time by other more or less competent editors. + +The Irish Lives, though more numerous than the Latin, are less +accessible. The chief repertorium of the former is the Burgundian or +Royal Library, Brussels. The MS. collection at Brussels appears to have +originally belonged to the Irish Franciscans of Louvain and much of it +is in the well-known handwriting of Michael O'Clery. There are also +several collections of Irish Lives in Ireland--in the Royal Irish +Academy, for instance, and Trinity College Libraries. Finally, there +are a few Irish Lives at Oxford and Cambridge, in the British Museum, +Marsh's Library, &c., and in addition there are many Lives in private +hands. In this connection it can be no harm, and may do some good, to +note that an apparently brisk, if unpatriotic, trade in Irish MSS. +(including of course "Lives" of Saints) is carried on with the United +States. Wealthy, often ignorant, Irish-Americans, who are unable to +read them, are making collections of Irish MSS. and rare Irish books, to +Ireland's loss. Some Irish MSS. too, including Lives of Saints, have +been carried away as mementoes of the old land by departing emigrants. + +The date or period at which the Lives (Latin and Irish) were written is +manifestly, for half a dozen good reasons, a question of the utmost +importance to the student of the subject. Alas, that the question has +to some extent successfully defied quite satisfactory solution. We can, +so far, only conjecture--though the probabilities seem strong and the +grounds solid. The probabilities are that the Latin Lives date as a +rule from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when they were put into +something like their present form for reading (perhaps in the refectory) +in the great religious houses. They were copied and re-copied during +the succeeding centuries and the scribes according to their knowledge, +devotion or caprice made various additions, subtractions and occasional +multiplications. The Irish Lives are almost certainly of a somewhat +earlier date than the Latin and are based partly (i.e. as regards the +bulk of the miracles) on local tradition, and partly (i.e. as regards +the purely historical element) on the authority of written materials. +They too were, no doubt, copied and interpolated much as were the Latin +Lives. The present copies of Irish Lives date as a rule from the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries only, and the fact that the Latin +and the Irish Life (where there is this double biography) sometimes +agree very perfectly may indicate that the Latin translation or Life is +very late. + +The chief published collections of Irish Saints' Lives may be set down +as seven, scil.:--five in Latin and one each in Irish and English. The +Latin collections are the Bollandists', Colgan's, Messingham's, +Fleming's, and Plummer's; the Irish collection is Stokes' ("Lives of +Saints from the Book of Lismore") and the English is of course +O'Hanlon's. + +Most striking, probably, of the characteristics of the "Lives" is their +very evident effort to exalt and glorify the saint at any cost. With +this end of glorification in view the hagiographer is prepared to +swallow everything and record anything. He has, in fact, no critical +sense and possibly he would regard possession of such a sense as rather +an evil thing and use of it as irreverent. He does not, as a +consequence, succeed in presenting us with a very life-like or +convincing portrait of either the man or the saint. Indeed the saint, +as drawn in the Lives, is, as already hinted, a very unsaintlike +individual--almost as ready to curse as to pray and certainly very much +more likely to smite the aggressor than to present to him the other +cheek. In the text we shall see St. Mochuda, whose Life is a specially +sane piece of work, cursing on the same occasion, first, King Blathmac +and the Prince of Cluain, then, the rich man Cronan who sympathised with +the eviction, next an individual named Dubhsulach who winked insolently +at him, and finally the people of St. Columba's holy city of Durrow who +had stirred up hostile feeling against him. Even gentle female saints +can hurl an imprecation too. St. Laisrech, for instance, condemned the +lands of those who refused her tribute, to--nettles, elder shrub, and +corncrakes! It is pretty plain that the compilers of the lives had some +prerogatives, claims or rights to uphold--hence this frequent insistence +on the evil of resisting the Saint and presumably his successors. + +One characteristic of the Irish ascetics appears very clear through all +the exaggeration and all the biographical absurdity; it is their spirit +of intense mortification. To understand this we have only to study one +of the ancient Irish Monastic Rules or one of the Irish Penitentials as +edited by D'Achery ("Spicilegium") or Wasserschleben ("Irische +Kanonensamerlung"). Severest fasting, unquestioning obedience and +perpetual self renunciation were inculcated by the Rules and we have +ample evidence that they were observed with extraordinary fidelity. The +Rule of Maelruin absolutely forbade the use of meat or of beer. Such a +prohibition a thousand years ago was an immensely more grievous thing +than it would sound to-day. Wheaten bread might partially supply the +place of meat to-day, but meat was easier to procure than bread in the +eighth century. Again, a thousand years ago, tea or coffee there was +none and even milk was often difficult or impossible to procure in +winter. So severe in fact was the fast that religious sometimes died of +it. Bread and water being found insufficient to sustain life and health, +gruel was substituted in some monasteries and of this monastic gruel +there were three varieties:--(a) "gruel upon water" in which the liquid +was so thick that the meal reached the surface, (b) "gruel between two +waters" in which the meal, while it did not rise to the surface, did not +quite fall to the bottom, and (c) "gruel under water" which was so weak +and so badly boiled that he meal easily fell to the bottom. In the case +of penitents the first brand of gruel was prescribed for light offences, +the second kind for sins of ordinary gravity, and the "gruel under +water" for extraordinary crimes (vid. Messrs. Gwynne and Purton on the +Rule of Maelruin, &c.) The most implicit, exact and prompt obedience +was prescribed and observed. An overseer of Mochuda's monastery at +Rahen had occasion to order by name a young monk called Colman to do +something which involved his wading into a river. Instantly a dozen +Colmans plunged into the water. Instances of extraordinary penance +abound, beside which the austerities of Simon Stylites almost pale. The +Irish saints' love of solitude was also a very marked characteristic. +Desert places and solitary islands of the ocean possessed an apparently +wonderful fascination for them. The more inaccessible or forbidding the +island the more it was in request as a penitential retreat. There is +hardly one of the hundred islands around the Irish coast which, one time +or another, did not harbour some saint or solitary upon its rocky bosom. + +The testimony of the "Lives" to the saints' love and practice of prayer +is borne out by the evidence of more trustworthy documents. Besides +private prayers, the whole psalter seems to have been recited each day, +in three parts of fifty psalms each. In addition, an immense number of +Pater Nosters was prescribed. The office and prayers were generally +pretty liberally interspersed with genuflexions or prostrations, of +which a certain anchorite performed as many as seven hundred daily. +Another penitential action which accompanied prayer was the +'cros-figul.' This was an extension of the arms in the shape of a +cross; if anyone wants to know how difficult a practice this is let him +try it for, say, fifteen minutes. Regarding recitation of the Divine +Office it was of counsel, and probably of precept, that is should not be +from memory merely, but that the psalms should all be read. For this a +good reason was given by Maelruin, i.e. that the recitation might engage +the eye as well as the tongue and thought. An Irish homily refers to +the mortification of the saints and religious of the time as martyrdom, +of which it distinguishes three kinds--red, white, and blue. Red +martyrdom was death for the faith; white martyrdom was the discipline of +fasting, labour and bodily austerities; while blue martyrdom was +abnegation of the will and heartfelt sorrow for sin. + +One of the puzzles of Irish hagiology is the great age attributed to +certain saints--periods of two hundred, three hundred, and even four +hundred years. Did the original compilers of the Life intend this? +Whatever the full explanation be the writers of the Lives were clearly +animated by a desire to make their saint cotemporary and, if possible, a +disciple, of one or other of the great monastic founders, or at any rate +to prove him a pupil of one of the great schools of Erin. There was +special anxiety to connect the saint with Bangor or Clonard. To effect +the connection in question it was sometimes necessary to carry the life +backwards, at other times to carry it forwards, and occasionally to +lengthen it both backwards and forwards. Dr. Chas. O'Connor gives a +not very convincing explanation of the three-hundred-year "Lives," +scil.:--that the saint lived in three centuries--during the whole of one +century and in the end and beginning respectively of the preceding and +succeeding centuries. This explanation, even if satisfactory for the +three-hundred-year Lives, would not help at all towards the Lives of +four hundred years. A common explanation is that the scribe mistook +numerals in the MS. before him and wrote the wrong figures. There is no +doubt that copying is a fruitful source of error as regards numerals. +It is much more easy to make a mistake in a numeral than in a letter; +the context will enable one to correct the letter, while it will give +him no clue as regards a numeral. On the subject of the alleged +longevity of Irish Saints Anscombe has recently been elaborating in +'Eriu' a new and very ingenious theory. Somewhat unfortunately the +author happens to be a rather frequent propounder of ingenious theories. +His explanation is briefly--the use and confusion of different systems +of chronology. He alleges that the original writers used what is called +the Diocletian Era or the "Era of the Martyrs" as the 'terminus a quo' +of their chronological system and, in support of his position, he +adduces the fact that this, which was the most ancient of all +ecclesiastical eras, was the era used by the schismatics in Britain and +that it was introduced by St. Patrick. + +As against the contradiction, anachronisms and extravagances of the +Lives we have to put the fact that generally speaking the latter +corroborate one another, and that they receive extern corroboration from +the annals. Such disagreements as occur are only what one would expect +to find in documents dealing with times so remote. To the credit side +too must go the fact that references to Celtic geography and to local +history are all as a rule accurate. Of continental geography and +history however the writers of the Lives show much ignorance, but +scarcely quite as much as the corresponding ignorance shown by +Continental writers about Ireland. + +The missionary methods of the early Irish Church and its monastic or +semi-monastic system are frequently referred to as peculiar, if not +unique. A missionary system more or less similar must however have +prevailed generally in that age. What other system could have been +nearly as successful amongst a pagan people circumstanced as the Irish +were? The community system alone afforded the necessary mutual +encouragement and protection to the missionaries. Each monastic station +became a base of operations. The numerous diminutive dioceses, +quasi-dioceses, or tribal churches, were little more than extensive +parishes and the missionary bishops were little more in jurisdiction +than glorified parish priests. The bishop's 'muintir,' that is the +members of his household, were his assistant clergy. Having converted +the chieftain or head of the tribe the missionary had but to instruct +and baptise the tribesmen and to erect churches for them. Land and +materials for the church were provided by the Clan or the Clan's head, +and lands for support of the missioner or of the missionary community +were allotted just as they had been previously allotted to the pagan +priesthood; in fact there can be but little doubt that the lands of the +pagan priests became in many cases the endowment of the Christian +establishment. It is not necessary, by the way, to assume that the +Church in Ireland as Patrick left it, was formally monastic. The clergy +lived in community, it is true, but it was under a somewhat elastic +rule, which was really rather a series of Christian and Religious +counsels. A more formal monasticism had developed by the time of +Mochuda; this was evidently influenced by the spread of St. Benedict's +Rule, as Patrick's quasi-monasticism, nearly two centuries previously, +had been influenced by Pachomius and St. Basil, through Lerins. The +real peculiarity in Ireland was that when the community-missionary- +system was no longer necessary it was not abandoned as in other lands +but was rather developed and emphasised. + + + +II.--ST. DECLAN. + + +"If thou hast the right, O Erin, +to a champion of battle to aid thee +thou hast the head of a hundred +thousand, Declan of Ardmore." +(Martyrology of Oengus). + + +Five miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the southern +Irish coast, a short, rocky and rather elevated promontory juts, with a +south-easterly trend, into the ocean. Maps and admiralty charts call it +Ram Head, but the real name is Ceann-a-Rama and popularly it is often +styled Ardmore Head. The material of this inhospitable coast is a hard +metamorphic schist which bids defiance to time and weather. Landwards +the shore curves in clay cliffs to the north-east, leaving, between it +and the iron headland beyond, a shallow exposed bay wherein many a proud +ship has met her doom. Nestling at the north side of the headland and +sheltered by the latter from Atlantic storms stands one of the most +remarkable groups of ancient ecclesiastical remains in Ireland--all that +has survived of St. Declan's holy city of Ardmore. This embraces a +beautiful and perfect round tower, a singularly interesting ruined church +commonly called the cathedral, the ruins of a second church beside a holy +well, a primitive oratory, a couple of ogham inscribed pillar stones, +&c., &c. + +No Irish saint perhaps has so strong a local hold as Declan or has left +so abiding a popular memory. Nevertheless his period is one of the great +disputed questions of early Irish history. According to the express +testimony of his Life, corroborated by testimony of the Lives of SS. +Ailbhe and Ciaran, he preceded St. Patrick in the Irish mission and was a +co-temporary of the national apostle. Objection, exception or opposition +to the theory of Declan's early period is based less on any inherent +improbability in the theory itself than on contradictions and +inconsistencies in the Life. Beyond any doubt the Life does actually +contradict itself; it makes Declan a cotemporary of Patrick in the fifth +century and a cotemporary likewise of St. David a century later. In any +attempted solution of the difficulty involved it may be helpful to +remember a special motive likely to animate a tribal histrographer, +scil.:--the family relationship, if we may so call it, of the two saints; +David was bishop of the Deisi colony in Wales as Declan was bishop of +their kinsmen of southern Ireland. It was very probably part of the +writer's purpose to call attention to the links of kindred which bound +the separated Deisi; witness his allusion later to the alleged visit of +Declan to his kinsmen of Bregia. Possibly there were several Declans, as +there were scores of Colmans, Finians, &c., and hence perhaps the +confusion and some of the apparent inconsistencies. There was certainly +a second Declan, a disciple of St. Virgilius, to whom the latter +committed care of a church in Austria where he died towards close of +eighth century. Again we find mention of a St. Declan who was a foster +son of Mogue of Ferns, and so on. It is too much, as Delehaye ("Legendes +Hagiographiques") remarks, to expect the populace to distinguish between +namesakes. Great men are so rare! Is it likely there should have lived +two saints of the same name in the same country! + +The latest commentators on the question of St. Declan's period--and they +happen to be amongst the most weighty--argue strongly in favour of the +pre-Patrician mission (Cfr. Prof. Kuno Meyer, "Learning Ireland in the +Fifth Century"). Discussing the way in which letters first reached our +distant island of the west and the causes which led to the proficiency of +sixth-century Ireland in classical learning Zimmer and Meyer contend that +the seeds of that literary culture, which flourished in Ireland of the +sixth century, had been sown therein in the first and second decades of +the preceding century by Gaulish scholars who had fled from their own +country owing to invasion of the latter by Goths and other barbarians. +The fact that these scholars, who were mostly Christians, sought asylum +in Ireland indicates that Christianity had already penetrated thither, or +at any rate that it was known and tolerated there. Dr. Meyer answers the +objection that if so large and so important an invasion of scholars took +place we ought have some reference to the fact in the Irish annals. The +annals, he replies, are of local origin and they rarely refer in their +oldest parts to national events: moreover they are very meagre in their +information about the fifth century. One Irish reference to the Gaulish +scholars is, however, adduced in corroboration; it occurs in that well +known passage in St. Patrick's "Confessio" where the saint cries out +against certain "rhetoricians" in Ireland who were hostile to him and +pagan,--"You rhetoricians who do not know the Lord, hear and search Who +it was that called me up, fool though I be, from the midst of those who +think themselves wise and skilled in the law and mighty orators and +powerful in everything." Who were these "rhetorici" that have made this +passage so difficult for commentators and have caused so various +constructions to be put upon it? It is clear, the professor maintains, +that the reference is to pagan rhetors from Gaul whose arrogant +presumption, founded on their learning, made them regard with disdain the +comparatively illiterate apostle of the Scots. Everyone is familiar with +the classic passage of Tacitus wherein he alludes to the harbours of +Ireland as being more familiar to continental mariners than those of +Britain. We have references moreover to refugee Christians who fled to +Ireland from the persecutions of Diocletian more than a century before +St. Patrick's day; in addition it is abundantly evident that many +Irishmen--Christians like Celestius the lieutenant of Pelagius, and +possibly Pelagius himself, amongst them--had risen to distinction or +notoriety abroad before middle of the fifth century. + +Possibly the best way to present the question of Declan's age is to put +in tabulated form the arguments of the pre-Patrician advocates against +the counter contentions of those who claim that Declan's period is later +than Patrick's:-- + + For the Pre-Patrician Mission. +I.--Positive statement of Life, corroborated by Lives of SS. Ciaran and +Ailbhe. +II.--Patrick's apparent avoidance of the Principality of Decies. +III.--The peculiar Declan cult and the strong local hold which Declan has +maintained. + + Against Theory of Early Fifth Century period. +I.--Contradictions, anachronisms, &c., of Life. +II.--Lack of allusion to Declan in the Lives of St. Patrick. +III.--Prosper's testimony to the mission of Palladius as first bishop to +the believing Scots. +IV.--Alleged motives for later invention of Pre-Patrician story. + +In this matter and at this hour it is hardly worth appealing to the +authority of Lanigan and the scholars of the past. Much evidence not +available in Lanigan's day is now at the service of scholars. We are to +look rather at the reasoning of Colgan, Ussher, and Lanigan than to the +mere weight of their names. + +Referring in order to our tabulated grounds of argument, pro and con, and +taking the pro arguments first, we may (I.) discard as evidence for our +purpose the Life of St. Ibar which is very fragmentary and otherwise a +rather unsatisfactory document. The Lives of Ailbhe, Ciaran, and Declan +are however mutually corroborative and consistent. The Roman visit and +the alleged tutelage under Hilarius are probably embellishments; they +look like inventions to explain something and they may contain more than +a kernel of truth. At any rate they are matters requiring further +investigation and elucidation. In this connection it may be useful to +recall that the Life (Latin) of St. Ciaran has been attributed by Colgan +to Evinus the disciple and panegyrist of St. Patrick. + +Patrick's apparent neglect of the Decies (II.) may have no special +significance. At best it is but negative evidence: taken, however, in +connection with (I.) and its consectaria it is suggestive. We can +hardly help speculating why the apostle--passing as it were by its front +door--should have given the go-bye to a region so important as the +Munster Decies. Perhaps he sent preachers into it; perhaps there was no +special necessity for a formal mission, as the faith had already found +entrance. It is a little noteworthy too that we do not find St. +Patrick's name surviving in any ecclesiastical connection with the +Decies, if we except Patrick's Well, near Clonmel, and this Well is +within a mile or so of the territorial frontier. Moreover the southern +portion of the present Tipperary County had been ceded by Aengus to the +Deisi, only just previous to Patrick's advent, and had hardly yet had +sufficient time to become absorbed. The whole story of Declan's alleged +relations with Patrick undoubtedly suggests some irregularity in Declan's +mission--an irregularity which was capable of rectification through +Patrick and which de facto was finally so rectified. + +(III.) No one in Eastern Munster requires to be told how strong is the +cult of St. Declan throughout Decies and the adjacent territory. It is +hardly too much to say that the Declan tradition in Waterford and Cork is +a spiritual actuality, extraordinary and unique, even in a land which +till recently paid special popular honour to its local saints. In +traditional popular regard Declan in the Decies has ever stood first, +foremost, and pioneer. Carthage, founder of the tribal see, has held and +holds in the imagination of the people only a secondary place. Declan, +whencesoever or whenever he came, is regarded as the spiritual father to +whom the Deisi owe the gift of faith. How far this tradition and the +implied belief in Declan's priority and independent mission are derived +from circulation of the "Life" throughout Munster in the last few +centuries it is difficult to gauge, but the tradition seems to have +flourished as vigorously in the days of Colgan as it does to-day. +Declan's "pattern" at Ardmore continues to be still the most noted +celebration of its kind in Ireland. A few years ago it was participated +in by as many as fourteen thousand people from all parts of Waterford, +Cork, and Tipperary. The scenes and ceremonies have been so frequently +described that it is not necessary to recount them here--suffice it to +say that the devotional practices and, in fact, the whole celebration is +of a purely popular character receiving no approbation, and but bare +toleration, from church or clergy. Even to the present day Declan's name +is borne as their praenomen by hundreds of Waterford men, and, before +introduction of the modern practice of christening with foolish foreign +names, its use was far more common, as the ancient baptismal registers of +Ardmore, Old Parish, and Clashmore attest. On the other hand Declan's +name is associated with comparatively few places in the Decies. Of these +the best known is Relig Deaglain, a disused graveyard and early church +site on the townland of Drumroe, near Cappoquin. There was also an +ancient church called Killdeglain, near Stradbally. + +Against the theory of the pre-Patrician or citra-Patrician mission we +have first the objection, which really has no weight, and which we shall +not stop to discuss, that it is impossible for Christianity at that early +date to have found its way to this distant island, beyond the boundary of +the world. An argument on a different plane is (I.), the undoubtedly +contradictory and inconsistent character of the Life. It is easy however +to exaggerate the importance of this point. Modern critical methods were +undreamed of in the days of our hagiographer, who wrote, moreover, for +edification only in a credulous age. Most of the historical documents of +the period are in a greater or less degree uncritical but that does not +discredit their testimony however much it may confuse their editors. It +can be urged moreover that two mutually incompatible genealogies of the +saint are given. The genealogy given by MacFirbisigh seems in fact to +disagree in almost every possible detail with the genealogy in 23 M. 50 +R.I.A. That however is like an argument that Declan never existed. It +really suggests and almost postulates the existence of a second Declan +whose Acts and those of our Declan have become mutually confused. + +(II.) Absence of Declan's name from the Acts of Patrick is a negative +argument. It is explicable perhaps by the supposed irregularity of +Declan's preaching. Declan was certainly earlier than Mochuda and yet +there is no reference to him in the Life of the latter saint. Ailbhe +however is referred to in the Tripartite Life of Patrick and the cases of +Ailbhe and Declan are "a pari"; the two saints stand or fall together. + +(IV.) Motives for invention of the pre-Patrician myth are alleged, +scil.:--to rebut certain claims to jurisdiction, tribute or visitation +advanced by Armagh in after ages. It is hard to see however how +resistance to the claims in question could be better justified on the +theory of a pre-Patrician Declan, who admittedly acknowledged Patrick's +supremacy, than on the admission of a post-Patrician mission. + +That in Declan we have to deal with a very early Christian teacher of the +Decies there can be no doubt. If not anterior to Patrick he must have +been the latter's cotemporary. Declan however had failed to convert the +chieftain of his race and for this--reading between the lines of the +"Life"--we seem to hear Patrick blaming him. + +The monuments proper of Declan remaining at Ardmore are (a) his oratory +near the Cathedral and Round Tower in the graveyard, (b) his stone on the +beach, (c) his well on the cliff, and (d) another stone said to have been +found in his tomb and preserved at Ardmore for long ages with great +reveration. The "Life" refers moreover to the saint's pastoral staff and +his bell but these have disappeared for centuries. + +The "Oratory" is simply a primitive church of the usual sixth century +type: it stands 13' 4" x 8' 9" in the clear, and has, or had, the usual +high-pitched gables and square-headed west doorway with inclining jambs. +Another characteristic feature of the early oratory is seen in the +curious antae or prolongation of the side walls. Locally the little +building is known as the "beannacan," in allusion, most likely, to its +high gables or the finials which once, no doubt, in Irish fashion, +adorned its roof. Though somewhat later than Declan's time this +primitive building is very intimately connected with the Saint. +Popularly it is supposed to be his grave and within it is a hollow space +scooped out, wherein it is said his ashes once reposed. It is highly +probable that tradition is quite correct as to the saint's grave, over +which the little church was erected in the century following Declan's +death. The oratory was furnished with a roof of slate by Bishop Mills in +1716. + +"St. Declan's Stone" is a glacial boulder of very hard conglomerate which +lies on a rocky ledge of beach beneath the village of Ardmore. It +measures some 8' 6" x 4' 6" x 4' 0" and reposes upon two slightly jutting +points of the underlying metamorphic rock. Wonderful virtues are +attributed to St. Declan's Stone, which, on the occasion of the patronal +feast, is visited by hundreds of devotees who, to participate in its +healing efficacy and beneficence, crawl laboriously on face and hands +through the narrow space between the boulder and the underlying rock. +Near by, at foot of a new storm-wall, are two similar but somewhat +smaller boulders which, like their venerated and more famous neighbour, +were all wrenched originally by a glacier from their home in the Comeragh +Mountains twenty miles away. + +"St. Declan's Well," beside some remains of a rather large and apparently +twelfth century church on the cliff, in the townland of Dysert is +diverted into a shallow basin in which pilgrims bathe feet and hands. +Set in some comparatively modern masonry over the well are a carved +crucifixion and other figures of apparently late mediaeval character. +Some malicious interference with this well led, nearly a hundred years +since, to much popular indignation and excitement. + +The second "St. Declan's Stone" was a small, cross-inscribed jet-black +piece of slate or marble, approximately--2" or 3" x 1 1/2". Formerly it +seems to have had a small silver cross inset and was in great demand +locally as an amulet for cattle curing. It disappeared however, some +fifty years or so since, but very probably it could still be recovered in +Dungarvan. + +Far the most striking of all the monuments at Ardmore is, of course, the +Round Tower which, in an excellent state of preservation, stands with its +conical cap of stone nearly a hundred feet high. Two remarkable, if not +unique, features of the tower are the series of sculptured corbels which +project between the floors on the inside, and the four projecting belts +or zones of masonry which divide the tower into storeys externally. The +tower's architectural anomalies are paralleled by its history which is +correspondingly unique: it stood a regular siege in 1642, when ordnance +was brought to bear on it and it was defended by forty confederates +against the English under Lords Dungarvan and Broghil. + +A few yards to north of the Round Tower stands "The Cathedral" +illustrating almost every phase of ecclesiastical architecture which +flourished in Ireland from St. Patrick to the Reformation--Cyclopean, +Celtic-Romanesque, Transitional and Pointed. The chancel arch is +possibly the most remarkable and beautiful illustration of the +Transitional that we have. An extraordinary feature of the church is the +wonderful series of Celtic arcades and panels filled with archaic +sculptures in relief which occupy the whole external face of the west +gable. + +St. Declan's foundation at Ardmore seems (teste Moran's Archdall) to have +been one of the Irish religious houses which accepted the reform of Pope +Innocent at the Lateran Council and to have transformed itself into a +Regular Canonry. It would however be possible to hold, on the evidence, +that it degenerated into a mere parochial church. We hear indeed of two +or three episcopal successors of the saint, scil.:--Ultan who immediately +followed him, Eugene who witnessed a charter to the abbey of Cork in +1174, and Moelettrim O Duibhe-rathre who died in 1303 after he had, +according to the annals of Inisfallen, "erected and finished the Church" +of Ardmore. The "Wars of the Gaedhil and Gall" have reference, circa 824 +or 825, to plunder by the Northmen of Disert Tipraite which is almost +certainly the church of Dysert by the Holy Well at Ardmore. The same +fleet, on the same expedition, plundered Dunderrow (near Kinsale), +Inisshannon (Bandon River), Lismore, and Kilmolash. + +Regarding the age of our "Life" it is difficult with the data at hand to +say anything very definite. While dogmatism however is dangerous +indefiniteness is unsatisfying. True, we cannot trace the genealogy of +the present version beyond middle of the sixteenth century, but its +references to ancient monuments existing at date of its compilation show +it to be many centuries older. Its language proves little or nothing, +for, being a popular work, it would be modernised to date by each +successive scribe. Colgan was of opinion it was a composition of the +eighth century. Ussher and Ware, who had the Life in very ancient +codices, also thought it of great antiquity. Papebrach, the Bollandist, +on the other hand, considered the Life could not be older than the +twelfth century, but this opinion of his seems to have been based on a +misapprehension. In the absence of all diocesan colour or allusion one +feels constrained to assign the production to some period previous to +Rathbreasail. We should not perhaps be far wrong in assigning the first +collection of materials to somewhere in the eighth century or in the +century succeeding. The very vigorous ecclesiastical revival of the +eleventh century, at conclusion of the Danish wars, must have led to some +revision of the country's religious literature. The introduction, a +century and-a-half later, of the great religious orders most probably led +to translation of the Life into Latin and its casting into shape for +reading in refectory or choir. + +Only three surviving copies of the Irish Life are known to the writer: +one in the Royal Library at Brussels, the second in the Royal Irish +Academy Collection (M. 23, 50, pp. 109-120), and the third in possession +of Professor Hyde. As the second and third enumerated are copies of one +imperfect exemplar it has not been thought necessary to collate both with +the Brussels MS. which has furnished the text here printed. M. 23, 50 +(R.I.A.) has however been so collated and the marginal references +initialled B are to that imperfect copy. The latter, by the way, is in +the handwriting of John Murphy "na Raheenach," and is dated 1740. It has +not been thought necessary to give more than the important variants. + +The present text is a reproduction of the Brussels MS. plus lengthening +of contractions. As regards lengthening in question it is to be noted +that the well known contraction for "ea" or "e" has been uniformly +transliterated "e." Otherwise orthography of the MS. has been +scrupulously followed--even where inconsistent or incorrect. For the +division into paragraphs the editor is not responsible; he has merely +followed the division originated, or adopted, by the scribe. The Life +herewith presented was copied in 1629 by Brother Michael O'Clery of the +Four Masters' staff from an older MS. of Eochy O'Heffernan's dated 1582. +The MS. of O'Heffernan is referred to by our scribe as "seinleabar," but +his reference is rather to the contents than to the copy. Apparently +O'Clery did more than transcribe; he re-edited, as was his wont, into the +literary Irish of his day. A page of the Brussels MS., reproduced in +facsimile as a frontispiece to the present volume, will give the student +a good idea of O'Clery's script and style. + +Occasional notes on Declan in the martyrologies and elsewhere give some +further information about our saint. Unfortunately however the alleged +facts are not always capable of reconciliation with statements of our +"Life," and again the existence of a second, otherwise unknown, Declan is +suggested. The introduction of rye is attributed to him in the Calendar +of Oengus, as introduction of wheat is credited to St. Finan Camm, and +introduction of bees to St. Modomnoc,--"It was the full of his shoe that +Declan brought, the full of his shoe likewise Finan, but the full of his +bell Modomnoc" (Cal. Oeng., April 7th). More puzzling is the note in the +same Calendar which makes Declan a foster son of Mogue of Ferns! This +entry illustrates the way in which errors originate. A former scribe +inadvertently copied in, after Declan's name, portion of the entry +immediately following which relates to Colman Hua Liathain. Successive +scribes re-copied the error without discovering it and so it became +stereotyped. + + + +III.--ST. MOCHUDA. + + +"It was he (Mochuda) that had the famous congregation +consisting of seven hundred and ten persons; an angel +used to address every third man of them." +(Martyrology of Donegal). + + +In some respects the Life of Mochuda here presented is in sharp contrast +to the corresponding Life of Declan. The former document is in all +essentials a very sober historical narrative--accurate wherever we can +test it, credible and harmonious on the whole. Philologically, to be +sure, it is of little value,--certainly a much less valuable Life than +Declan's; historically, however (and question of the pre-Patrician +mission apart) it is immensely the more important document. On one +point do we feel inclined to quarrel with its author, scil.: that he +has not given us more specifically the motives underlying Mochuda's +expulsion from Rahen--one of the three worst counsels ever given in +Erin. Reading between his lines we spell, jealousy--'invidia +religiosorum.' Another jealousy too is suggested--the mutual distrust +of north and south which has been the canker-worm of Irish political +life for fifteen hundred years, making intelligible if not justifying +the indignation of a certain distinguished Irishman who wanted to know +the man's name, in order to curse its owner, who first divided Ireland +into two provinces. + +Three different Lives of Mochuda are known to the present writer. Two of +them are contained in a MS. at Brussels (C/r. Bindon, p. 8, 13) and of +one of these there is a copy in a MS. of Dineen's in the Royal Irish +Academy (Stowe Collection, A. IV, I.) Dineen appears to have been a +Cork or Kerry man and to have worked under the patronage of the rather +noted Franciscan Father Francis Matthew (O'Mahony), who was put to death +at Cork by Inchiquin in 1644. The bald text of Dineen's "Life" was +published a few years since, without translation, in the 'Irish Rosary.' +The corresponding Brussels copy is in Michael O'Clery's familiar hand. +In it occurs the strange pagan-flavoured story of the British Monk +Constantine. O'Clery's copy was made in January, 1627, at the Friary of +Drouish from the Book of Tadhg O'Ceanan and it is immediately followed +by a tract entitled--"Do Macaib Ua Suanac." The bell of Mochuda, by the +way, which the saint rang against Blathmac, was called the 'glassan' of +Hui Suanaig in later times. + +The "Life" here printed, which follows the Latin Life so closely that +one seems a late translation of the other, is as far as the editor is +aware, contained in a single MS. only. This is M. 23, 50, R.I.A., in +the handwriting of John Murphy, "na Raheenach." Murphy was a Co. Cork +schoolmaster, scribe, and poet, of whom a biographical sketch will be +found prefixed by Mr. R. A. Foley to a collection of Murphy's poems that +he has edited. The sobriquet, "na Raheenach," is really a kind of +tribal designation. The "Life" is very full but is in its present form +a comparatively late production; it was transcribed by Murphy between +1740 and 1750. It is much to be regretted that the scribe tells us +nothing of his original. Murphy, but the way, seems to have specialised +to some extent in saint's Lives and to have imbued his disciples with +something of the same taste. One of his pupils was Maurice O'Connor, a +scribe and shipwright of Cove, to whom we owe the Life of St. Ciaran of +Saighir printed in "Silva Gadelica." The reasons of choice for +publication here of the present Life are avowedly non-philological; the +motive for preference is that it is the longest of the three Lives and +for historical purposes the most important. + +The Life presents considerable evidence of historical reliability; its +geography is detailed and correct; its references to contemporaries +of Mochuda are accurate on the whole and there are few inconsistencies +or none. Moreover it sheds some new light on that chronic +puzzle--organisation of the Celtic Church of Ireland. Mochuda, head of a +great monastery at Rahen, is likewise a kind of pluralist Parish Priest +with a parish in Kerry, administered in his name by deputed +ecclesiastics, and other parishes similarly administered in Kerrycurrihy, +Rostellan, West Muskerry, and Spike Island, Co. Cork. When a chief +parishioner lies seriously ill in distant Corca Duibhne, Mochuda himself +comes all the way from the centre of Ireland to administer the last rites +to the dying man, and so on. + +The relations of the people to the Church and its ministers are in many +respects not at all easy to understand. Oblations, for instance, of +themselves and their territory, &c., by chieftains are frequent. +Oblations of monasteries are made in a similar way. Probably this +signifies no more than that the chief region or monastery put itself +under the saint's jurisdiction or rule or both. That there were other +churches too than the purely monastic appears from offerings to Mochuda +of already existing churches, v.g. from the Clanna Ruadhan in Decies, +&c. + +Lismore, the most famous of Mochuda's foundations, became within a +century of the saint's death, one of the great monastic schools of Erin, +attracting to his halls, or rather to its boothies, students from all +Ireland and even--so it is claimed--from lands beyond the seas. King +Alfrid [Aldfrith] of Northumbria, for instance, is said to have partaken +of Lismore's hospitality, and certainly Cormac of Cashel, Malachy and +Celsus of Armagh and many others of the most distinguished of the Scots +partook thereof. The roll of Lismore's calendared saints would require, +did the matter fall within our immediate province, more than one page to +itself. Some interesting reference to Mochuda and his holy city occur +in the Life of one of his disciples, St. Colman Maic Luachain, edited +for the R.I.A. by Professor Kuno Meyer. + +There are many indications in the present Life that, at one period, and +in the time of Carthach, the western boundary of Decies extended far +beyond the line at present recognised. Similar indications are furnished +by the martyrologies, &c.; for instance, the martyrology of Donegal +under November 28th records of "the three sons of Bochra" that "they are +of Archadh Raithin in Ui Mic Caille in Deisi Mumhan" and Ibid, p. +xxxvii, it is stated "i ccondae Corcaige ataid na Desi Muman." Not only +Imokilly but all Co. Cork, east of Queenstown [Cobh] and north to the +Blackwater, seems to have acknowledged Mochuda's jurisdiction. At +Rathbreasail accordingly (teste Keating, on the authority of the Book of +Cloneneigh) the Diocese of Lismore is made to extend to Cork,--probably +over the present baronies of Imokilly, Kinatallon, and Barrymore. That +part, at least, of Condons and Clangibbon was likewise included is +inferrible from the fact that, as late as the sixteenth century +visitations, Kilworth, founded by Colman Maic Luachain, ranked as a +parish in the diocese of Lismore. Further evidence pointing in the same +direction is furnished by Clondulane, &c., represented in the present +Life as within Carthach's jurisdiction. + +The Rule of St. Carthach is one of the few ancient Irish so-called +monastic Rules surviving. It is in reality less a "rule," as the latter +is now understood, than a series of Christian and religious counsels +drawn up by a spiritual master for his disciples. It must not be +understood from this that each religious house did not have it formal +regulations. The latter however seem to have depended largely upon the +abbot's spirit, will or discretion. The existing "Rules" abound in +allusions to forgotten practices and customs and, to add to their +obscurity, their language is very difficult--sometimes, like the +language of the Brehon Laws, unintelligible. The rule ascribed to +Mochuda is certainly a document of great antiquity and may well have +emanated from the seventh century and from the author whose name it +bears. The tradition of Lismore and indeed of the Irish Church is +constant in attributing it to him. Copies of the Rule are found in +numerous MSS. but many of them are worthless owing to the incompetence +of the scribes to whom the difficult Irish of the text was +unintelligible. The text in the Leabhar Breac has been made the basis +of his edition of the Rule by Mac Eaglaise, a writer in the 'Irish +Ecclesiastical Record' (1910). Mac Eaglaise's edition, though it is not +all that could be desired, is far the most satisfactory which has yet +appeared. Previous editions of the Rule or part of it comprise one by +Dr. Reeves in his tract on the Culdees, one by Kuno Meyer in the 'Gaelic +Journal' (Vol. V.) and another in 'Archiv fuer C.L.' (3 Bund. 1905), and +another again in 'Eriu' (Vol. 2, p. 172), besides a free translation of +the whole rule by O'Curry in the 'I. R. Record' for 1864. The text of +the 'Record' edition of 1910 is from Leabhar Breac collated with other +MSS. The order in the various copies is not the same and some copies +contain material which is wanting in others. The "Rule" commences with +the Ten Commandments, then it enumerates the obligations respectively of +bishops, abbots, priests, monks, and culdees [anchorites]. Finally there +is a section on the order of meals and on the refectory and another on +the obligations of a king. The following excerpt on the duties of an +abbot ('I. E. Record' translation) will illustrate the style and spirit +of the Rule: + + "Of the Abbot of a Church. +1.--If you be the head man of a Church noble is the power, better for you +that you be just who take the heirship of the king. +2.--If you are the head man of a Church noble is the obligation, +preservation of the rights of the Church from the small to the great. +3.--What Holy Church commands preach then with diligence; what you order +to each one do it yourself. +4.--As you love your own soul love the souls of all. Yours the +magnification of every good [and] banishment of every evil. +5.--Be not a candle under a bushel [Luke 11:33]. Your learning without a +cloud over it. Yours the healing of every host both strong and weak. +6.--Yours to judge each one according to grade and according to deed; he +will advise you at judgment before the king.... +10.--Yours to rebuke the foolish, to punish the hosts, turning disorder +into order [restraint] of the stubborn, obstinate, wretched." + +Reservation of the Coarbship of Mochuda at Lismore in favour of Kerrymen +is an extremely curious if not unique provision. How long it continued +in force we do not know. Probably it endured to the twelfth century and +possibly the rule was not of strict interpretation. Christian +O'Connarchy, who was bishop of Lismore in the twelfth century, is +regarded as a native of Decies, though the contrary is slightly +suggested by his final retirement to Kerry. The alleged prophecy +concerning Kerry men and the coarbship points to some rule, regulation +or law of Mochuda. + + + +MAP OF IRELAND. + + ++-------------------------------------------+ +| | +| __ __---_ | +| ,-~~~ ~\/ ~\ | +| ,_/ | | +| /,_ / | +| _ _/ ~\ | +| /~~ ~\/~-_| / | +| \ /~ | +| \ _ _\/ | +| ,' | | +| /~ Tara \ | +| \ * | | +| '~|__- Rahen / | +| .- ,/~ * \ | +| | / | +| / | | +| /_,_/~ | | +| / Cashel / | +| ,--~ * | | +| /--- Lismore __|_-_/ | +| ,-~ *-,-~ | +| \_-~/ \ /~ * | +| ,-~/= _/~ Ardmore | +| --~/_-_-/~'~ | +| | ++-------------------------------------------+ + + + + +LIFE OF ST. DECLAN. + +"BETHA DECCLAIN." + + +1. The most blessed Bishop Declan of the most noble race of the kings of +Ireland, i.e., the holy bishop who is called Declan was of the most noble +royal family of Ireland--a family which held the sceptre and exacted +tribute from all Ireland at Tara for ages. Declan was by birth of noble +blood as will appear from his origin and genealogy, for it was from +Eochaidh Feidhleach, the powerful Ardrigh of Ireland for twelve years, +that he sprang. Eochaidh aforesaid, had three sons, scil.:--Breas, Nar, +and Lothola, who are called the three Finneavna; there reigned one +hundred and seven kings of their race and kindred before and after them, +i.e. of the race of Eremon, king of Ireland,--before the introduction of +Christianity and since. These three youths lay one day with their own +sister Clothra, daughter of the same father, and she conceived of them. +The son she brought forth as a consequence of that intercourse was marked +by three red wavy lines which indicated his descent from the three youths +aforesaid. He was named Lugaidh Sriabhdearg from the three lines +[sriabaib] in question, and he was beautiful to behold and of greater +bodily strength in infancy than is usual with children of his age. He +commenced his reign as king of Ireland the year in which Caius Caesar +[Caligula] died and he reigned for twenty-six years. His son was named +Criomthan Nianair who reigned but sixteen years. Criomthan's son was +named Fearadach Finnfechtnach whose son was Fiacha Finnolaidh whose son +again was Tuathal Teachtmhar. This Tuathal had a son Felimidh Reachtmhar +who had in turn three sons--Conn Ceadcathach, Eochaidh Finn, and Fiacha +Suighde. Conn was king of Ireland for twenty years and the +productiveness of crops and soil and of dairies in the time of Conn are +worthy of commemoration and of fame to the end of time. Conn was killed +in Magh Cobha by the Ulstermen, scil.:--by Tiopruid Tireach and it is +principally his seed which has held the kingship of Ireland ever since. +Eochaidh Finn was second son to Felimidh Reachtmhar and he migrated to +the latter's province of Leinster, and it is in that province his race +and progeny have remained since then. They are called Leinstermen, and +there are many chieftains and powerful persons of them in Leinster. +Fiacha Suighde moreover, although he died before he succeeded to the +chief sovereignty, possessed land around Tara. He left three sons--Ross, +Oengus, and Eoghan who were renowned for martial deeds--valiant and +heroic in battle and in conflict. Of the three, Oengus excelled in all +gallant deeds so that he came to be styled Oengus of the poisonous +javelin. Cormac Mac Art Mac Conn it was who reigned in Ireland at this +time. Cormac had a son named Ceallach who took by force the daughter of +Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde to dwell with him, i.e. Credhe the daughter of +Eoghan. When Oengus Gaebuaibhtheach ("of the poisonous javelin") heard +this, viz., that the daughter of his brother had been abducted by +Ceallach he was roused to fury and he followed Ceallach to Tara taking +with him his foster child, scil.:--Corc Duibhne, the son of Cairbre, son +of Conaire, son of Mogha Lamha whom Cormac held as a hostage from the +Munstermen, and whom he had given for safe custody to Oengus. When +Oengus reached Tara he beheld Ceallach sitting behind Cormac. He thrust +his spear at Ceallach and pierced him through from front to back. +However as he was withdrawing the spear the handle struck Cormac's eye +and knocked it out and then, striking the steward, killed him. He +himself (Oengus) with his foster child escaped safely. After a time +Cormac, grieving for the loss of his son, his eye and his steward at the +hands of Oengus of the poisonous javelin and of his kinsmen, ordered +their expulsion from their tribal territory, i.e. from the Decies of +Tara, and not alone from these, but from whole northern half of Ireland. +However, seven battles were fought in which tremendous loss was inflicted +on Cormac and his followers before Oengus and his people, i.e. the three +sons of Fiacha Suighde, namely, Ross and Oengus and Eoghan, as we have +already said, were eventually defeated, and obliged to fly the country +and to suffer exile. Consequent on their banishment as above by the king +of Ireland they sought hospitality from the king of Munster, Oilill Olum, +because Sadhbh, daughter of Conn Ceadcathach was his wife. They got land +from him, scil.: the Decies of Munster, and it is to that race, i.e. the +race of Eoghan Mac Fiacha Suighde that the kings and country of the +Decies belong ever since. + +2. Of this same race of Eoghan was the holy bishop Declan of whom I +shall speak later scil.: Declan son of Eirc, son of Trein, son of +Lughaidh, son of Miaich, son of Brian, son of Eoghan, son of Art Corp, +son of Moscorb, son of Mesgeadra, son of Measfore, son of Cuana +Cainbhreathaigh, son of Conaire Cathbuadhaigh, son of Cairbre, son of +Eoghan, son of Fiacha Suighde, son of Felimidh Reachtmhar, son of Tuathal +Teachtmhar. The father of Declan was therefore Erc Mac Trein. He and +his wife Deithin went on a visit to the house of his kinsman Dobhran +about the time that Declan's birth was due. The child she bore was +Declan, whom she brought forth without sickness, pain or difficulty but +in being lifted up afterwards he struck his head against a great stone. +Let it be mentioned that Declan showed proofs of sanctification and power +of miracle-working in his mother's womb, as the prophet writes:--"De +vulva sanctificavi te et prophetam in gentibus dedi te" [Jeremias 1:5] +(Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and made thee +a prophet unto the nations). Thus it is that Declan was sanctified in +his mother's womb and was given by God as a prophet to the pagans for the +conversion of multitudes of them from heathenism and the misery of +unbelief to the worship of Christ and to the Catholic faith, as we shall +see later on. The very soft apex of his head struck against a hard +stone, as we have said, and where the head came in contact with the stone +it made therein a hollow and cavity of its own form and shape, without +injury of any kind to him. Great wonder thereupon seized all who +witnessed this, for Ireland was at this time without the true faith and +it was rarely that any one (therein) had shown heavenly Christian signs. +"Declan's Rock" is the name of the stone with which the Saint's head came +into contact. The water or rain which falls into the before-mentioned +cavity (the place of Declan's head) dispels sickness and infirmity, by +the grace of God, as proof of Declan's sanctity. + +3. On the night of Declan's birth a wondrous sign was revealed to all, +that is to the people who were in the neighbourhood of the birthplace; +this was a ball of fire which was seen blazing on summit of the house in +which the child lay, until it reached up to heaven and down again, and it +was surrounded by a multitude of angels. It assumed the shape of a +ladder such as the Patriarch, Jacob saw [Genesis 28:12]. The persons who +saw and heard these things wondered at them. They did not know (for the +true faith had not yet been preached to them or in this region) that it +was God who (thus) manifested His wondrous power (works) in the infant, +His chosen child. Upon the foregoing manifestation a certain true +Christian, scil.:--Colman, at that time a priest and afterwards a holy +bishop, came, rejoicing greatly and filled with the spirit of prophecy, +to the place where Declan was; he preached the faith of Christ to the +parents and made known to them that the child was full of the grace of +God. He moreover revealed to them the height of glory and honour to +which the infant should attain before God and men, and it was revealed to +him that he (Declan) should spend his life in sanctity and devotion. +Through the grace of God, these, i.e. Erc and Deithin, believed in God +and Colman, and they delivered the child for baptism to Colman who +baptised him thereupon, giving him the name of Declan. When, in the +presence of all, he had administered Baptism, Colman spoke this prophecy +concerning the infant "Truly, beloved child and lord you will be in +heaven and on earth most high and holy, and your good deeds, fame, and +sanctity will fill all (the four quarters of) Ireland and you will +convert your own nation and the Decies from paganism to Christianity. On +that account I bind myself to you by the tie of brotherhood and I commend +myself to your sanctity." + +4. Colman thereupon returned to his own abode; he commanded that Declan +should be brought up with due care, that he should be well trained, and +be set to study at the age of seven years if there could be found in his +neighbourhood a competent Christian scholar to undertake his tuition. +Even at the period of his baptism grace and surpassing charity manifested +themselves in the countenance of Declan so that it was understood of all +that great should be the goodness and the spiritual charm of his mature +age. When Dobhran had heard and seen these things concerning his kinsman +Erc he requested the latter and Deithin to give him the child to foster, +and with this request Erc complied. The name of the locality was +"Dobhran's Place" at that time, but since then it has been "Declan's +Place." Dobhran presented the homestead to Declan and removed his own +dwelling thence to another place. In after years, when Declan had become +a bishop, he erected there a celebrated cell in honour of God, and this +is the situation of the cell in question:--In the southern part of the +Decies, on the east side of Magh Sgiath and not far from the city of +Mochuda i.e. Lismore. For the space of seven years Declan was fostered +with great care by Dobhran (his father's brother) and was much loved by +him. God wrought many striking miracles through Declan's instrumentality +during those years. By aid of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him he +(Declan)--discreet Christian man that he was--avoided every fault and +every unlawful desire during that time. + +5. On the completion of seven years Declan was taken from his parents +and friends and fosterers to be sent to study as Colman had ordained. It +was to Dioma they sent him, a certain devout man perfect in the faith, +who had come at that time by God's design into Ireland having spent a +long period abroad in acquiring learning. He (Dioma) built in that place +a small cell wherein he might instruct Declan and dwell himself. There +was given him also, to instruct, together with Declan, another child, +scil., Cairbre Mac Colmain, who became afterwards a holy learned bishop. +Both these were for a considerable period pursuing their studies +together. + +6. There were seven men dwelling in Magh Sgiath, who frequently saw the +fiery globe which it has been already told they first beheld at the time +of Declan's birth. It happened by the Grace of God that they were the +first persons to reveal and describe that lightning. These seven came to +the place where Declan abode and took him for their director and master. +They made known publicly in the presence of all that, later on, he should +be a bishop and they spoke prophetically:--"The day, O beloved child and +servant of God, will come when we shall commit ourselves and our lands to +thee." And it fell out thus (as they foretold), for, upon believing, +they were baptised and became wise, devout (and) attentive and erected +seven churches in honour of God around Magh Sgiath. + +7. Declan remained a long time with Dioma, the holy man we have named, +and acquired science and sanctity and diversity of learning and doctrine, +and he was prudent, mild, and capable so that many who knew his nobility +of blood came when they had heard of the fullness of his sanctity and +grace. Moreover they submitted themselves to him and accepted his +religious rule. Declan judged it proper that he should visit Rome to +study discipline and ecclesiastical system, to secure for himself esteem +and approbation thence, and obtain authority to preach to the (Irish) +people and to bring back with him the rules of Rome as these obtained in +Rome itself. He set out with his followers and he tarried not till he +arrived in Rome where they remained some time. + +8. At the same period there was a holy bishop, i.e. Ailbe, who had been +in Rome for a number of years before this and was in the household of +Pope Hilary by whom he had been made a bishop. When Declan with his +disciples arrived in Rome Ailbe received him with great affection and +gladness and he bore testimony before the Roman people to his (Declan's) +sanctity of life and nobility of blood. He (Declan) therefore received +marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of Rome +when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was comely, of +good appearance, humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent in counsel, +frank in conversation, virtuous in mien, generous in gifts, holy in life +and resplendent in miracles. + +9. When Declan had spent a considerable time in Rome he was ordained a +bishop by the Pope, who gave him church-books and rules and orders and +sent him to Ireland that he might preach there. Having bidden farewell +to the Pope and received the latter's blessing Declan commenced his +journey to Ireland. Many Romans followed him to Ireland to perform their +pilgrimage and to spend their lives there under the yoke and rule of +Bishop Declan, and amongst those who accompanied him was Runan, son of +the king of Rome; he was dear to Declan. + +10. On the road through Italy Bishop Declan and Patrick met. Patrick +was not a bishop at that time, though he was (made a bishop) subsequently +by Pope Celestinus, who sent him to preach to the Irish. Patrick was +truly chief bishop of the Irish island. They bade farewell to one +another and they made a league and bond of mutual fraternity and kissed +in token of peace. They departed thereupon each on his own journey, +scil.:--Declan to Ireland and Patrick to Rome. + +11. Declan was beginning mass one day in a church which lay in his road, +when there was sent him from heaven a little black bell, (which came) in +through the window of the church and remained on the altar before Declan. +Declan greatly rejoiced thereat and gave thanks and glory to Christ on +account of it, and it filled him with much courage to combat the error +and false teaching of heathendom. He gave the bell for safe keeping and +carriage, to Runan aforesaid, i.e. son of the king of Rome, and this is +its name in Ireland--"The Duibhin Declain," and it is from its colour it +derives its name, for its colour is black [dub]. There were manifested, +by grace of God and Declan's merits, many miracles through its agency and +it is still preserved in Declan's church. + +12. When Declan and his holy companions arrived at the Sea of Icht +[English Channel] he failed, owing to lack of money, to find a ship, for +he did not have the amount demanded, and every ship was refused him on +that account. He therefore struck his bell and prayed to God for help in +this extremity. In a short time after this they saw coming towards them +on the crest of the waves an empty, sailless ship and no man therein. +Thereupon Declan said:--"Let us enter the ship in the name of Christ, and +He who has sent it to us will direct it skilfully to what harbour soever +He wishes we should go." At the word of Declan they entered in, and the +ship floated tranquilly and safely until it reached harbour in England. +Upon its abandonment by Declan and his disciples the ship turned back and +went again to the place from which it had come and the people who saw the +miracles and heard of them magnified the name of the Lord and Declan, and +the words of the prophet David were verified:--"Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis +Suis" [Psalm 67(68):36] (God is wonderful in His Saints). + +13. After this Declan came to Ireland. Declan was wise like a serpent +and gentle like a dove and industrious like the bee, for as the bee +gathers honey and avoids the poisonous herbs so did Declan, for he +gathered the sweet sap of grace and Holy Scripture till he was filled +therewith. There were in Ireland before Patrick came thither four holy +bishops with their followers who evangelized and sowed the word of God +there; these are the four:--Ailbe, Bishop Ibar, Declan, and Ciaran. They +drew multitudes from error to the faith of Christ, although it was +Patrick who sowed the faith throughout Ireland and it is he who turned +chiefs and kings of Ireland to the way of baptism, faith and sacrifice +and everlasting judgment. + +14. These three, scil.:--Declan, Ailbe and Bishop Ibar made a bond of +friendship and a league amongst themselves and their spiritual posterity +in heaven and on earth for ever and they loved one another. SS. Ailbe +and Declan, especially, loved one another as if they were brothers so +that, on account of their mutual affection they did not like to be +separated from one another--except when their followers threatened to +separate them by force if they did not go apart for a very short +time. After this Declan returned to his own country--to the Decies of +Munster--where he preached, and baptized, in the name of Christ, many +whom he turned to the Catholic faith from the power of the devil. He +built numerous churches in which he placed many of his own followers to +serve and worship God and to draw people to God from the wiles of Satan. + +15. Once on a time Declan came on a visit to the place of his birth, +where he remained forty days there and established a religious house in +which devout men have dwelt ever since. Then came the seven men we have +already mentioned as having made their abode around Magh Sgiath and as +having prophesied concerning Declan. They now dedicated themselves and +their establishment to him as they had promised and these are their +names:--Mocellac and Riadan, Colman, Lactain, Finnlaoc, Kevin, &c. +[Mobi]. These therefore were under the rule and spiritual sway of bishop +Declan thenceforward, and they spent their lives devoutly there and +wrought many wonders afterwards. + +16. After some time Declan set out to visit Aongus MacNatfrich, king of +Cashel, to preach to him and to convert him to the faith of Christ. +Declan however had two uterine brothers, sons of Aongus, scil.: Colman +and Eoghan. The grace of the Holy Ghost inspiring him Colman went to +Ailbe of Emly and received baptism and the religious habit at the +latter's hands, and he remained for a space sedulously studying science +until he became a saintly and perfect man. Eochaid however remained as +he was (at home)--expecting the kingdom of Munster on his father's death, +and he besought his father to show due honour to his brother Declan. The +king did so and put no obstacle in the way of Declan's preaching but was +pleased with Declan's religion and doctrine, although he neither believed +nor accepted baptism himself. It is said that refusal (of baptism) was +based on this ground: Declan was of the Decies and of Conn's Half, while +Aongus himself was of the Eoghanacht of Cashel of Munster--always hostile +to the Desii. It was not therefore through ill will to the faith that he +believed not, as is proved from this that, when the king heard of the +coming to him of Patrick, the archbishop of Ireland, a man who was of +British race against which the Irish cherished no hate, not only did he +believe but he went from his own city of Cashel to meet him, professed +Christianity and was immediately baptised. + +17. After this Declan, having sown the word of God and preached to the +king (although the latter did not assent to his doctrines), proceeded to +his own country and they (the Desii) believed and received baptism except +the king alone and the people of his household who were every day +promising to believe and be baptised. It however came about through the +Devil's agency that they hesitated continually and procrastinated. + +18. Other authorities declare that Declan went many times to Rome, but +we have no written testimony from the ancient biographers that he went +there more than three times. On one of these occasions Declan paid a +visit to the holy bishop of the Britons whose name was David at the +church which is called Killmuine [Menevia] where the bishop dwelt beside +the shore of the sea which divides Ireland from Britain. The bishop +received Declan with honour and he remained there forty days, in +affection and joy, and they sang Mass each day and they entered into a +bond of charity which continued between themselves and their successors +for ever afterwards. On the expiration of the forty days Declan took +leave of David giving him a kiss in token of peace and set out himself +and his followers to the shore of the sea to take ship for Ireland. + +19. Now the bell which we have alluded to as sent from heaven to Declan, +was, at that time, in the custody of Runan to carry as we have said, for +Declan did not wish, on any account, to part with it. On this particular +day as they were proceeding towards the ship Runan entrusted it to +another member of the company. On reaching the shore however the latter +laid the bell on a rock by the shore and forgot it till they were half +way across the sea. Then they remembered it and on remembrance they were +much distressed. Declan was very sorrowful that the gift sent him by the +Lord from heaven should have been forgotten in a place where he never +expected to find it again. Thereupon raising his eyes heavenward he +prayed to God within his heart and he said to his followers:--"Lay aside +your sorrow for it is possible with God who sent that bell in the +beginning to send it now again by some marvellous ship." Very fully and +wonderfully and beautifully the creature without reason or understanding +obeyed its creator, for the very heavy unwieldy rock floated buoyantly +and without deviation, so that in a short time they beheld it in their +rear with the bell upon it. And when his people saw this wondrous thing +it filled them with love for God and reverence for their master. Declan +thereupon addressed them prophetically:--"Permit the bell to precede you +and follow it exactly and whatsoever haven it will enter into it is there +my city and my bishopric will be whence I shall go to paradise and there +my resurrection will be." Meantime the bell preceded the ship, and it +eased down its great speed remaining slightly in advance of the ship, so +that it could be seen from and not overtaken by the latter. The bell +directed its course to Ireland until it reached a harbour on the south +coast, scil.:--in the Decies of Munster, at an island called, at that +time, High Sheep Island [Aird na gCcaorac] and the ship made the same +port, as Declan declared. The holy man went ashore and gave thanks and +praise to God that he had reached the place of his resurrection. Now, in +that island depastured the sheep belonging to the wife of the chieftain +of Decies and it is thence that it derives its Irish name--Ard-na- +Ccaorac, scil.:--there was in it a high hill and it was a promontory +beautiful to behold. One of the party, ascending the summit of the hill, +said to Declan:--"How can this little height support your people?" +Declan replied:--"Do not call it little hill, beloved son, but 'great +height' [ard mor]," and that name has adhered to the city ever since, +scil.:--Ardmore-Declain. After this Declan went to the king of the Desii +and asked of him the aforesaid island. Whereupon the king gave it to +him. + +20. Declan next returned to Ait-mBreasail where, in a haven at the north +side, were the shipping and boats of the island, plying thither and +backwards. The people of the island hid all their boats not willing that +Declan should settle there; they dreaded greatly that if Declan came to +dwell there they themselves should be expelled. Whereupon his disciples +addressed Declan:--"Father," said they, "Many things are required (scil.: +from the mainland) and we must often go by boat to this island and there +will be (crossing) more frequently when you have gone to heaven and we +pray thee to abandon the place or else to obtain from God that the sea +recede from the land so that it can be entered dry shod, for Christ has +said:--'Whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name He will give it +to you' [John 15:16]; the place cannot be easily inhabited unless the sea +recede from it and on that account you cannot establish your city in it." +Declan answered them and said:--"How can I abandon the place ordained by +God and in which He has promised that my burial and resurrection shall +be? As to the alleged inconvenience of dwelling therein, do you wish me +to pray to God (for things) contrary to His will--to deprive the sea of +its natural domain? Nevertheless in compliance with your request I shall +pray to God and whatever thing be God's will, let it be done." Declan's +community thereupon rose up and said:--"Father, take your crosier as +Moses took the rod [Exodus 14:16] and strike the sea therewith and God +will thus show His will to you." His disciples prayed therefore to him +because they were tried and holy men. They put Declan's crosier in his +hand and he struck the water in the name of the Father and of the Son and +of the Holy Ghost and made the sign of the cross over the water and +immediately, by command and permission of God, the sea commenced to move +out from its accustomed place--so swiftly too that the monsters of the +sea were swimming and running and that it was with difficulty they +escaped with the sea. However, many fishes were left behind on the dry +strand owing to the suddenness of the ebb. Declan, his crosier in his +hand, pursued the receding tide and his disciples followed after him. +Moreover the sea and the departing monsters made much din and commotion +and when Declan arrived at the place where is now the margin of the sea a +stripling whose name was Mainchin, frightened at the thunder of the waves +and the cry of the unknown monsters with gaping mouths following the +(receding) water, exclaimed:--"Father, you have driven out the sea far +enough; for I am afraid of those horrid monsters." When Declan heard +this and (saw) the sea standing still at the word of the youth it +displeased him and turning round he struck him a slight blow on the nose. +Three drops of blood flowed from the wound on to the ground in three +separate places at the feet of Declan. Thereupon Declan blessed the nose +and the blood ceased immediately (to flow). Then Declan declared:--"It +was not I who drove out the sea but God in His own great power who +expelled it and He would have done still more had you not spoken the +words you have said." Three little wells of clear sweet water burst +forth in the place where fell the three drops of blood at the feet of +Declan, and these wells are there still and the colour of blood is seen +in them occasionally as a memorial of this miracle. The shore, rescued +from the sea, is a mile in width and is of great length around (the +island) and it is good and fertile land for tillage and pasture--lying +beneath the monastery of Declan. As to the crosier which was in Declan's +hand while he wrought this miracle, this is its name--the Feartach +Declain, from the miracles and marvels [fertaib] wrought through it. I +shall in another, subsequent, place relate some of these miracles +(narrated). + +21. After the expulsion of the sea by this famous Saint, scil.: Declan, +whose name and renown spread throughout Erin because of his great and +diverse miracles, he commenced to build a great monastery by the south +side of the stream which flows through the island into the sea. This +monastery is illustrious and beautiful and its name is Ardmor Declain, as +we have said. After this came many persons to Declan, drawn from the +uttermost parts of Ireland, by the fame of his holy living; they devoted +themselves, soul and body to God and Declan, binding themselves beneath +his yoke and his rule. Moreover he built himself in every place +throughout the territory of the Decies, churches and monasteries and not +alone in his own territory (did he build) but in other regions of Ireland +under tribute to him. Great too were the multitudes (thousands) of men +and women who were under his spiritual sway and rule, in the places we +have referred to, throughout Ireland, where happily they passed their +lives. He ordained some of his disciples bishops and appointed them in +these places to sow the seed of faith and religion therein. Gentleness +and charity manifested themselves in Declan to such an extent that his +disciples preferred to live under his immediate control and under his +direction as subjects than to be in authority in another monastery. + +22. After this the holy renowned bishop, head of justice and faith in +the Gaelic island came into Ireland, i.e. Patrick sent by Celestinus, the +Pope. Aongus Mac Nathfrich went to meet him soon as he heard the account +of his coming. He conducted him (Patrick) with reverence and great +honour to his own royal city--to Cashel. Then Patrick baptised him and +blessed himself and his people and his city. Patrick heard that the +prince of the Decies had not been baptised and did not believe, that +there was a disagreement between the prince and Declan and that the +former refused to receive instruction from the latter. Patrick thereupon +set out to preach to the prince aforesaid. Next, as to the four bishops +we have named who had been in Rome: Except Declan alone they were not in +perfect agreement with Patrick. It is true that subsequently to this +they did enter into a league of peace and harmonious actions with Patrick +and paid him fealty. Ciaran, however, paid him all respect and reverence +and was of one mind with him present or absent. Ailbe then, when he saw +the kings and rulers of Ireland paying homage to Patrick and going out to +meet him, came himself to Cashel, to wait on him and he also paid homage +to him (Patrick) and submitted to his jurisdiction, in presence of the +king and all others. Bear in mind it was Ailbe whom the other holy +bishops had elected their superior. He therefore came first to Patrick, +lest the others, on his account, should offer opposition to Patrick, and +also that by his example the others might be more easily drawn to his +jurisdiction and rule. Bishop Ibar however would on no account consent +to be subject to Patrick, for it was displeasing to him that a foreigner +should be patron of Ireland. It happened that Patrick in his origin was +of the Britons and he was nurtured in Ireland having been sold to bondage +in his boyhood. There arose misunderstanding and dissension between +Patrick and Bishop Ibar at first, although (eventually), by intervention +of the angel of peace, they formed a mutual fellowship and brotherly +compact and they remained in agreement for ever after. But Declan did +not wish to disagree at all with Patrick for they had formed a mutual +bond of friendship on the Italian highway and it is thus the angel +commanded him to go to Patrick and obey him:-- + +23. The angel of God came to Declan and said to him "Go quickly to +Patrick and prevent him cursing your kindred and country, for to-night, +in the plain which is called Inneoin, he is fasting against the king, and +if he curses your people they shall be accursed for ever." Thereupon +Declan set out in haste by direction of the angel to Inneoin, i.e. the +place which is in the centre of the plain of Femhin in the northern part +of the Decies. He crossed Slieve Gua [Knockmaeldown] and over the Suir +and arrived on the following morning at the place where Patrick was. +When Patrick and his disciples heard that Declan was there they welcomed +him warmly for they had been told he would not come. Moreover Patrick +and his people received him with great honour. But Declan made obeisance +to Patrick and besought him earnestly that he should not execrate his +people and that he should not curse them nor the land in which they +dwelt, and he promised to allow Patrick do as he pleased. And Patrick +replied:--"On account of your prayer not only shall I not curse them but +I shall give them a blessing." Declan went thereupon to the place where +was the king of Decies who was a neighbour of his. But he contemned +Patrick and he would not believe him even at the request of Declan. +Moreover Declan promised rewards to him if he would go to Patrick to +receive baptism at his hands and assent to the faith. But he would not +assent on any account. When Declan saw this, scil.:--that the king of +the Decies, who was named Ledban, was obstinate in his infidelity and +in his devilry--through fear lest Patrick should curse his race and +country--he (Declan) turned to the assembly and addressed +them:--"Separate yourselves from this accursed man lest you become +yourselves accursed on his account, for I have myself baptised and +blessed you, but come you," said he, "with us, to Patrick, whom God has +sent to bless you, for he has been chosen Archbishop and chief Patron of +all Erin; moreover, I have a right to my own patrimony and to be king +over you as that man (Ledban) has been." At this speech they all arose +and followed Declan who brought them into the presence of Patrick and +said to the latter:--"See how the whole people of the Deisi have come with +me as their Lord to thee and they have left the accursed prince whose +subjects they have been, and behold they are ready to reverence you and +to obey you for it is from me they have received baptism." At this +Patrick rose up with his followers and he blessed the people of the Deisi +and not them alone, but their woods and water and land. Whereupon the +chiefs and nobles of the Deisi said:--"Who will be King or Lord over us +now?" And Declan replied:--"I am your lord and whomsoever I shall +appoint offer you as lord, Patrick and all of us will bless, and he shall +be king over you all." And he whom Declan appointed was Feargal +MacCormac a certain young man of the nation of the Deisi who was a +kinsman of Declan himself. He (Declan) set him in the midst of the +assembly in the king's place and he was pleasing to all. Whereupon +Patrick and Declan blessed him and each of them apart proclaimed him +chieftain. Patrick moreover promised the young man that he should be +brave and strong in battle, that the land should be fruitful during his +reign. Thus have the kings of the Deisi always been. + +24. After these things Declan and Feargal Mac Cormac (king of the Deisi) +and his people gave a large area of land to Patrick in the neighbourhood +of Magh Feimhin and this belongs to his successors ever since and great +lordship there. And the place which was given over to him is not far +from the Suir. There is a great very clear fountain there which is +called "Patrick's Well" and this was dear to Patrick. After this, with +blessing, they took leave of one another and Patrick returned to Cashel +to Aongus Mac Natfrich and Declan went with him. + +25. A miracle was wrought at that time on Declan through the +intercession and prayers of Patrick for as Declan was walking carelessly +along he trod upon a piece of sharp iron which cut his foot so that blood +flowed freely and Declan began to limp. Ailbe of Emly was present at +this miracle and Sechnall a bishop of Patrick's and a holy and wise man, +and he is said to be the first bishop buried in Ireland. The wound which +Declan had received grieved them very much. Patrick was informed of the +accident and was grieved thereat. He said:--"Heal, O Master (i.e. God), +the foot of your own servant who bears much toil and hardship on your +account." Patrick laid his hand on the wounded foot and made over it the +sign of the cross when immediately the flow of blood ceased, the lips of +the wound united, a cicatrix formed upon it and a cure was effected. +Then Declan rose up with his foot healed and joined in praising God. The +soldiers and fighting men who were present cried out loudly, blessing God +and the saints. + +26. As Patrick and the saints were in Cashel, i.e. Ailbe and Declan with +their disciples, in the territory of Aongus Mac Nathfrich, they made much +progress against paganism and errors in faith and they converted them +(the pagans) to Christianity. It was ordained by Patrick and Aongus Mac +Natfrich in presence of the assembly, that the Archbishopric of Munster +should belong to Ailbe, and to Declan, in like manner, was ordained +(committed) his own race, i.e. the Deisi, whom he had converted to be his +parish and his episcopate. As the Irish should serve Patrick, so should +the Deisi serve Declan as their patron, and Patrick made the "rann":-- + +"Humble Ailbe the Patrick of Munster, greater than any saying, Declan, +Patrick of the Deisi--the Decies to Declan for ever." + +This is equivalent to saying that Ailbe was a second Patrick and that +Declan was a second Patrick of the Decies. After that, when the king had +bidden them farewell and they had all taken leave of one another, the +saints returned to their respective territories to sow therein the seed +of faith. + +27. Declan and Ferghal Mac Cormac, king of the Deisi, with his army and +followers, met one another at Indeoin and they made still more strong on +the people the bond of Christian obligation. The king we have already +mentioned, scil.:--Ledban, the recusant to the Christian name, was +rejected of all and he came to nothing, leaving no knowledge (memory) of +his history, as is written of the enemies of the faith:--"Their memory +perisheth like a sound" [Psalm 9:7]. Moreover Declan and Fergal and the +chief men of the Deisi decreed this as the place where the king of the +Deisi should be inaugurated for ever thenceforward, because it was there +Patrick and Declan blessed the king, Fergal; moreover tradition states +that it was there the kings were crowned and ruled over the Deisi in +pagan times. + +28. At that time there broke out a dreadful plague in Munster and it was +more deadly in Cashel than elsewhere. Thus it affected those whom it +attacked: it first changed their colour to yellow and then killed them. +Now Aongus had, in a stone fort called "Rath na nIrlann," on the western +side of Cashel, seven noble hostages. It happened that in one and the +same night they all died of the plague. The king was much affected +thereat and he gave orders to have the fact concealed lest it should +bring disgrace or even war upon him, for the hostages were scions of the +strongest and most powerful families in Munster. On the morrow however +Declan came to Cashel and talked with Aonghus. The king welcomed him +heartily and addressing him said to him in presence of persons of his +court, "I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in the name of Christ +you would raise to life for me the seven hostages whom I held in bondage +from the chieftains of Munster. They have died from the plague of which +you hear, and I fear their fathers will raise war and rebellion against +me, for they are men of strength and power, and indeed we are ashamed of +their death, for they will say that it is we ourselves who killed them." +Declan answered the king, saying to him:--"Such a matter as this--to +raise one to life from death--belongs to Omnipotence alone--but I shall +do whatever is in my power. I go where the bodies lie and pray to God +for them and let Him do in their regard what seems best to Him." Next, +Declan, with a multitude and his disciples together with the king's +councillors, went to the place where the corpses of the young men lay. +The king followed after them until he came in sight of the bodies. +Declan, full of divine faith, entered the house wherein they lay and he +sprinkled holy water over them and prayed for them in the presence of +all, saying:--"O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the living God, for thine +own name's sake wake the dead that they may be strengthened in the +Catholic faith through our instrumentality." Thereupon, at Declan's +prayer, the group (of corpses) revived and they moved their eyelids and +Declan said to them "In the name of Christ, our Saviour, stand up and +bless and glorify God." And at his words they rose up immediately and +spoke to all. Declan then announced to the king that they were alive and +well. When people saw this remarkable miracle they all gave glory and +praise to God. The fame of Declan thereupon spread throughout Erin and +the king rejoiced for restoration of his hostages. + +29. After this the people of Cashel besought Bishop Declan to bless +their city and banish the plague from them and to intercede with God for +those stricken with sickness who could not escape from its toils. Declan +seeing the people's faith prayed to God and signed with the sign of +Redemption the four points of the compass. As he concluded, there was +verified the saying of Christ to His disciples when leaving them and +going to heaven:--"Super aegros imponent manus et bene habebunt" [Mark +16:18] (I shall place my hands on the sick and they shall be healed). +Soon as Declan had made the sign of the cross each one who was ill became +well and not alone were these restored to health but (all the sick) of +the whole region round about in whatsoever place there were persons +ailing. Moreover the plague was banished from every place and all +rejoiced greatly thereat as well as on account of the resurrection of the +dead men we have narrated. The king thereupon ordered tribute and honour +to Declan and his successors from himself and from every king who should +hold Cashel ever after. Upon this the glorious bishop Declan blessed +Aongus together with his city and people and returned back to his own +place. + +30. One night Declan was a guest at the house of a wealthy man who dwelt +in the southern part of Magh Femhin; this is the kind of person his host +was, scil.:--a pagan who rejected the true faith, and his name was +Dercan. He resolved to amuse himself at the Christians' expense; +accordingly he ordered his servants to kill a dog secretly, to cut off +its head and feet and to bury them in the earth and then to cook the +flesh properly and to set it before Declan and his company as their meal. +Moreover he directed that the dog should be so fat that his flesh might +pass as mutton. When, in due course, it was cooked, the flesh, together +with bread and other food, was laid before Declan and his following. At +that moment Declan had fallen asleep but he was aroused by his disciples +that he might bless their meal. He observed to them:--"Indeed I see, +connected with this meat, the ministry of the devil." Whereupon he +questioned the waiters as to the meat--what kind it was and whence +procured. They replied: "Our master ordered us to kill a fat ram for +you and we have done as he commanded." Declan said, "Our Master is Jesus +Christ and may He show us what it is that connects the ministry of Satan +with this meat and preserve thy servants from eating forbidden food." As +he spoke thus Declan saw in the meat the claw of a dog, for, without +intending it, they had boiled one quarter of the dog with its paw +adhering; they thought they had buried it (the incriminating limb) with +the other paws. Declan exclaimed, "This is not a sheep's but a dog's +foot." When the attendants heard this they went at once to their master +and related the matter to him. Then Dercan came to Declan, accepted his +faith and received Baptism at his hands, giving himself and his posterity +to Declan for ever. Moreover he gave his homestead to Declan and his +people were baptised. After this Dercan requested that Declan should +bless something in his homestead which might remain as a memorial of him +(Dercan) for ever. Then Declan blessed a bell which he perceived there +and its name is Clog-Dhercain ("Dercan's Bell"); moreover, he declared: +"I endow it with this virtue (power) that if the king of Decies march +around it when going to battle, against his enemies, or to punish +violation of his rights, he shall return safely and with victory." This +promise has been frequently fulfilled, but proud (men) undertaking battle +or conflict unjustly even if they march around it do not obtain victory +but success remains with the enemy. The name of that homestead was +Teach-Dhercain ("Dercain's House") and its name now is Coningean, from +the claw [con] of the hound or dog aforesaid. To this place came the +saintly concourse, scil:--Coman and Ultan, MacErc and Mocoba and +Maclaisren, who dedicated themselves to (the service of) God and placed +themselves under the spiritual rule and sway of Declan. + +31. Thereupon Declan established a monastery in that place, scil.--in +Coningin--and he placed there this holy community with a further band of +disciples. Ultan however he took away with him to the place whither he +went. + +32. On another (subsequent) occasion Declan visited Bregia, i.e. the +original territory which belonged to his race previous to the expulsion +of his ancestors. There he was treated with particular honour by the +king of Tara and by the chieftains of Meath by whom he was beloved, since +it was from themselves (their tribe and territory) that his forbears had +gone out, for that region was the patrimony of his race and within it +lies Tara. Declan instituted therein a monastery of Canons, on land +which he received from the king, and it is from him the place is named. +Moreover he left therein a relic or illuminated book and a famous gospel +which he was accustomed to carry always with him. The gospel is still +preserved with much honour in the place and miracles are wrought through +it. After this again he turned towards Munster. + +33. Declan was once travelling through Ossory when he wished to remain +for the night in a certain village. But the villagers not only did not +receive him but actually drove him forth by force of arms. The saint +however prayed to God that it might happen to them what the Sacred +Scripture says, "Vengeance is mine I will repay" [Deuteronomy 32:35]. +The dwellers in the village, who numbered sixty, died that same night +with the exception of two men and ten women to whom the conduct of the +others towards the saint had been displeasing. On the morrow these +men and women came humbly to the place where Declan was and they told +him--what he himself foreknew--how miserably the others had died. They +themselves did penance and they bestowed on Declan a suitable site +whereon he built a monastery and he got another piece of land and had the +dead buried where he built the monastery. The name of that monastery is +Cill-Colm-Dearg. This Colm-Dearg was a kind, holy man and a disciple of +Declan. He was of East Leinster, i.e. of the Dal Meiscorb, and it is +from him that the monastery is named. When he (Declan) had completed +that place he came to his own territory again, i.e. to the Decies. + +34. On a certain day Declan came to a place called Ait-Breasail and the +dwellers therein would not allow him to enter their village; moreover +they hid all their boats so that he could not go into his own island, for +they hated him very much. In consideration however of the sanctity of +his servant, who prayed in patience, God the All-Powerful turned the sea +into dry land as you have already heard. Declan passed the night in an +empty stable out in the plain and the people of the village did not give +him even a fire. Whereupon, appropriately the anger of God fell on them, +who had not compassion enough to supply the disciple of God with a fire. +There came fire from heaven on them to consume them all [together with +their] homestead and village, so that the place has been ever since a +wilderness accursed, as the prophet writes: "civitates eorum +destruxisti" [Psalm 9:7] (the dwellings of the unmerciful are laid +waste). + +35. On yet another occasion Declan was in his own region--travelling +over Slieve Gua in the Decies, when his horse from some cause got lame so +that he could proceed no further. Declan however, seeing a herd of deer +roaming the mountain close to him, said to one of his people: "Go, and +bring me for my chariot one of these deer to replace my horse and take +with you this halter for him." Without any misgiving the disciple went +on till he reached the deer which waited quietly for him. He chose the +animal which was largest and therefore strongest, and, bringing him back, +yoked him to the chariot. The deer thereupon obediently and without +effort carried Bishop Declan till he came to Magh Femhin, where, when he +reached a house of entertainment, the saint unloosed the stag and bade +him to go free as was his nature. Accordingly, at the command of the +saintly man and in the presence of all, the stag returned on the same +road back (to the mountain). Dormanach is the name of the man aforesaid +who brought the stag to Declan and him Declan blessed and gave him a +piece of land on the north of Decies close by the Eoghanacht and his +posterity live till now in that place. + +36. On another occasion, Declan, accompanied, as usual, by a large +following, was travelling, when one member of the party fell on the road +and broke his shin bone in twain. Declan saw the accident and, pitying +the injured man, he directed an individual of the company to bandage the +broken limb so that the sufferer might not die through excess of pain and +loss of blood. All replied that they could not endure to dress the wound +owing to their horror thereof. But there was one of the company, Daluadh +by name, who faced the wound boldly and confidently and said: "In the +name of Christ and of Declan our patron I shall be surgeon to this foot"; +and he said that jestingly. Nevertheless he bandaged the foot carefully +and blessed it aright in the name of God and Declan, and in a little +while the wound healed and they all gave praise to God. Then Declan said +to Daluadh: "You promised to be surgeon to that foot in Christ's name +and in mine and God has vouchsafed to heal it at these words: on this +account you will be a true physician for ever and your children and your +seed after you for ever shall also possess the healing art, and +whomsoever they shall practise healing upon in God's name and mine, +provided there be no hatred [in their hearts] nor too great covetousness +of a physician's fee to him, God and myself shall send relief." This +promise of Declan has been fulfilled in the case of that family. + +37. On another occasion, as Declan was travelling in the northern part +of Magh Femhin beside the Suir, he met there a man who was carrying a +little infant to get it baptised. Declan said to the people [his +"muinntear," or following]: "Wait here till I baptise yonder child," for +it was revealed by the Holy Ghost to him that he [the babe] should serve +God. The attendant replied to him that they had neither a vessel nor +salt for the baptism. Declan said: "We have a wide vessel, the Suir, +and God will send us salt, for this child is destined to become holy and +wonderful [in his works]." Thereupon Declan took up a fistful of earth +and, making prayer in his heart to God, he signed the clay with the sign +of the cross of redemption. It (the handful of earth) became white, dry +salt, and all, on seeing it, gave thanks and honour to God and Declan. +The infant was baptised there and the name of Ciaran given him. Declan +said: "Bring up my spiritual son carefully and send him, at a fitting +age, for education to a holy man who is well instructed in the faith for +he will become a shining bright pillar in the Church." And it was this +child, Ciaran Mac Eochaidh, who founded in after years a famous monastery +(from which he migrated to heaven) and another place (monastery) besides. +He worked many miracles and holy signs and this is the name of his +monastery Tiprut [Tubrid] and this is where it is:--in the western part +of the Decies in Ui Faithe between Slieve Grot [Galtee] and Sieve Cua and +it is within the bishopric of Declan. + +38. On another day there came a woman to Declan's monastery not far from +the city where she dwelt. She committed a theft that day in Declan's +monastery as she had often done previously, and this is the thing she +stole--a "habellum" [possibly an item of tribute]; she departed homewards +taking it with her and there met her a group of people on the highway, +and the earth, in their presence, swallowed her up, and she cast out the +tabellum from her bosom and it was quickly turned into a stone which the +wayfarers took and brought with them to Declan. Declan himself had in +supernatural vision seen all that happened to the woman in punishment of +her theft, and the name of Declan was magnified owing to those marvels so +that fear took possession of all-those present and those absent. The +stone in question remains still in Declan's graveyard in his own town of +Ardmore-Declain, where it stands on an elevated place in memory of this +miracle. + +39. A rich man named Fintan was childless, for his wife was barren for +many years. He himself, with his wife, visited Declan and promised large +alms and performance of good works provided he (Declan) would pray that +they might have children: they held it as certain that if Declan but +prayed for them God would grant them children. Declan therefore, praying +to God and blessing the pair, said: "Proceed to your home and through +God's bounty you shall have offspring." The couple returned home, with +great joy for the blessing and for the promise of the offspring. The +following night, Fintan lay with his wife and she conceived and brought +forth twin sons, scil.: Fiacha and Aodh, who, together with their +children and descendants were under tribute and service to God and +Declan. + +40. When it was made known to a certain holy man, scil.:--Ailbe of Emly +Iubar, chief bishop of Munster, that his last days had come, he said to +his disciples: "Beloved brethren, I wish, before I die, to visit my very +dear fellow worker, scil.:--Declan." After this Ailbe set out on the +journey and an angel of God came to Declan notifying him that Ailbe was +on his way to visit him. On the angel's notification Declan ordered his +disciples to prepare the house for Ailbe's coming. He himself went to +meet Ailbe as far as the place which is called Druim Luctraidh +[Luchluachra]. Thence they came home together and Ailbe, treated with +great honour by Declan and his people, stayed fourteen pleasant days. +After that the aged saint returned home again to his own city, scil.:--to +Emly Iubar. Declan came and many of his people, escorting Ailbe, to +Druim Luchtradh, and Ailbe bade him return to his own city. The two knew +they should not see one another in this world ever again. In taking +leave of one another, therefore, they shed plentiful tears of sorrow and +they instituted an everlasting compact and league between their +successors in that place. Ailbe moreover blessed the city of Declan, his +clergy and people and Declan did the same for Ailbe and they kissed one +another in token of love and peace and each returned to his own city. + +41. On a certain day the Castle of Cinaedh, King of the Deisi, took fire +and it burned violently. It happened however that Declan was proceeding +towards the castle on some business and he was grieved to see it burning; +he flung towards it the staff to which we have referred in connection +with the drying up of the sea, and it (the staff) flew hovering in the +air with heavenly wings till it reached the midst of the flame and the +fire was immediately extinguished of its own accord through the grace of +God and virtue of the staff and of Declan to whom it belonged. The place +from which Declan cast the staff was a long mile distant from the castle +and when the king, i.e. Cinaedh, and all the others witnessed this +miracle they were filled with amazement and gave thanks to God and to +Declan when they came to know that it was he who wrought it. Now the +place where the castle stands is not far from the Suir, i.e. on the south +side of it and the place from which Declan cast the staff is beside a +ford which is in the Suir or a stream which flows beside the monastery +called Mag Laca [Molough] which the holy virgins, daughters of the king +of Decies, have built in honour of God. There is a pile of stones and a +cross in the place to commemorate this miracle. + +42. On another occasion there approached a foreign fleet towards +Declan's city and this was their design--to destroy and to plunder it of +persons and of cattle, because they (the foreigners) were people hostile +to the faith. Many members of the community ran with great haste to tell +Declan of the fleet which threatened the town and to request him to beg +the assistance of God against the invaders. Declan knew the man amongst +his own disciples who was holiest and most abounding in grace, scil., +Ultan, already mentioned, and him he ordered to pray to God against the +fleet. Ultan had pity on the Christian people and he went instantly, at +the command of Declan, in front of the fleet and he held his left hand +against it, and, on the spot, the sea swallowed them like sacks full of +lead, and the drowned sailors were changed into large rocks which stand +not far from the mouth of the haven where they are visible (standing) +high out of the sea from that time till now. All Christians who +witnessed this rejoiced and were glad and they gave great praise and +glory to God and to Declan their own patron who caused the working of +this miracle and of many other miracles besides. Next there arose a +contention between Ultan and Declan concerning this miracle, for Ultan +attributed it to Declan and Declan credited it to Ultan; and it has +become a proverb since in Ireland when people hear of danger or +jeopardy:--"The left hand of Ultan against you (the danger)." Ultan +became, after the death of Declan, a miracle-working abbot of many other +holy monks. + +43. The holy and glorious archbishop, i.e. Patrick, sent one of his own +followers to Declan with power and authority (delegation) from the +archbishop. And proceeding through the southern part of Decies he was +drowned in a river [the Lickey] there, two miles from the city of Declan. +When Declan heard this he was grieved and he said: "Indeed it grieves me +that a servant of God and of Patrick who sent him to visit me, having +travelled all over Ireland, should be drowned in a river of my own +territory. Get my chariot for me that I may go in haste to see his +corpse, so that Patrick may come to hear of the worry and the grief I +have undergone because of his disciple's death." The body had been +recovered before the arrival of Declan by others who were close at hand +and it had been placed on a bier to be carried to Ciaran for interment. +Declan however met them on the way, when he ordered the body to be laid +down on the ground. They supposed he was about to recite the Office for +the Dead. He (Declan) advanced to the place where the bier was and +lifted the sheet covering the face. It (the face) looked dark and +deformed as is usual in the case of the drowned. He prayed to God and +shed tears, but no one heard aught of what he said. After this he +commanded:--"In the name of the Trinity, in the name of the Father and of +the Son and of the Holy Ghost whose religious yoke I bear myself, arise +to us for God has given your life to me." He (the dead man) rose up +immediately at the command and he greeted Declan and all the others. +Whereupon Declan and his disciples received him with honour. At first he +was not completely cured but (was) like one convalescent until (complete) +health returned to him by degrees again. He however accompanied Declan +and remained some time with him and there was much rejoicing in Declan's +city on account of the miracle and his (Declan's) name and fame extended +over the country generally. This disciple of Patrick was named Ballin; +he returned with great joy and he told him (Patrick) that Declan had +raised him from the dead. To many others likewise he related what had +happened to him. Patrick, in presence of many persons, hearing of the +miracle gave glory and thanks to God and the name of Declan was +magnified. + +44. With this extraordinary miracle wrought by Declan we wish to +conclude our discourse. The number of miracles he wrought, but which are +not written here, you are to judge and gather from what we have written. +And we wish moreover that you would understand that he healed the infirm, +that he gave sight to the eyes of the blind, cleansed lepers, and gave +"their walk" to cripples; that he obtained hearing for the deaf, and that +he healed many and various diseases in many different places throughout +Ireland--(things) which are not written here because of their length and +because they are so numerous to record, for fear it should tire readers +to hear so much said of one particular person. On that account we shall +pass them by. + +45. When Declan realised that his last days were at hand and that the +time remaining to him was very short he summoned to him his own spiritual +son, scil., MacLiag (residing) in the monastery which is on the eastern +side of the Decies close to the Leinstermen in order that, at the hour of +death, he might receive the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments +of the Church from his hands. Thereupon he foretold to his disciples the +day of his death and he commanded them to bring him to his own city, for +it was not there he dwelt at the time but in a small venerable cell which +he had ordered to be built for him between the hill called Ardmore +Declain and the ocean--in a narrow place at the brink of the sea by which +there flows down from the hill above a small shining stream about which +are trees and bushes all around, and it is called Disert Declain. Thence +to the city it is a short mile and the reason why Declan used go there +was to avoid turmoil and noise so that he might be able to read and pray +and fast there. Indeed it was not easy for him to stay even there +because of the multitude of disciples and paupers and pilgrims and +beggars who followed him thither. Declan was however generous and very +sympathetic and on that account it is recorded by tradition that a great +following (of poor, &c.), generally accompanied him and that moreover the +little cell was very dear to him for the reason we have given, and many +devout people have made it their practice to dwell therein. + +46. When Declan fell ill and became weak in body, but still strong in +hope and faith and love of God, he returned to his own city--his people +and disciples and clergy surrounding him. He discoursed to them on the +commands of God and he enjoined on them to live holily after his death, +to be submissive to authority and to follow as closely as possible the +way he had marked out and to preserve his city in a state of piety and +under religious rule. And when they had all heard the discourse it +grieved them greatly to perceive, from what he had said, he realised that +in a short time he would go away to heaven from them. But they were +consoled by his gentle words and then there came to him the holy man, to +wit, MacLiag, at his own request, already referred to. He [Declan] +received the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church +from his [MacLiag's] hand--surrounded by holy men and his disciples, and +he blessed his people and his dependents and his poor, and he kissed them +in token of love and peace. Thus, having banished images and the +sacrifices to idols, having converted multitudes to the true faith, +having established monasteries and ecclesiastical orders in various +places, having spent his whole life profitably and holily, this glorious +bishop went with the angels to heaven on the ninth day of the Kalends of +August [July 24] and his body was blessed and honoured with Masses and +chanting by holy men and by the people of the Decies and by his own monks +and disciples collected from every quarter at the time of his death. He +was buried with honour in his own city--in Declan's High-Place--in the +tomb which by direction of an angel he had himself indicated--which +moreover has wrought wonders and holy signs from that time to now. He +departed to the Unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost in +Saecula Saeculorum; Amen. FINIS. + + +The poor brother, Michael O'Clery originally copied this life of Declan +in Cashel, from the book of Eochy O'Heffernan. The date, A.D., at which +that ancient book of Eochy was written is 1582. And the same life has +now been re-written in the Convent of the Friars at Druiske, the date, +A.D., 27th February, 1629. + + + +NOTE + + +The Irish text of the "rann" from paragraph 26 reads: + +Ailbe umal; Patraicc Muman, mo gacrath, +Declan, Patraicc na nDeisi: na Deisi ag Declan gan brat. + + +And the Latin rendering: + +Albeus est humilis dixit Caephurnia proles; +Patriciusque esto hinc Ailbee Momonia. +Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto; +Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos. + + + + +LIFE OF ST. MOCHUDA. + +"BEATA MOCUDA." + + +The renowned bishop, Carthach, commonly called Mochuda, was of the +territory of Ciarraighe Luachra [North Kerry] and of the race of Fergus +Mac Roigh. + +The illustrious bishop, who is generally known as Mochuda, was of the +Ciarraighe Luachra; to be exact--he was of the line of Fergus Mac Roigh, +who held the kingship of Ulster, till the time that he gave the kingship +to a woman for a year and did not get it back when the year was over. +His descendants are now to be found throughout various provinces of +Ireland. He fell himself, through the treachery of Oilioll, king of +Connaght, and the latter's jealousy of his wife, Meadbh, daughter of +Eochaid Feidhleach. Finghen Mac Gnaoi of Ciarraighe Luachra was father +of Mochuda, and his mother was Mead, daughter of Finghin, of Corca +Duibhne, in the vicinity of the stream called Laune in the western part +of Ireland. The forthcoming birth of Mochuda was revealed to St. +Comhghall by an angel, announcing--"There will be conceived a child in +the western part of Erin, and Carthach will be his baptismal name and he +will be beloved of God and men--in heaven and on earth. He will come to +you seeking direction as to a proposed pilgrimage to Rome--but you must +not permit the journey for the Lord has assigned him to you; but let him +remain with you a whole year." All this came to pass, as foretold. In +similar manner the future Mochuda was foretold to St. Brendan by an +angel who declared: "There will come to you a wonder-working brother +who will be the patron of you and your kindred for ever; the region of +Ciarraighe will be divided between you and him, and Carthach will be his +name; to multitudes his advent will be cause for joy and he will gain +multitudes for heaven. His first city will be Raithen [Rahen or Rahan] +in the region of Fircheall, territory of Meath and central plain of +Ireland; this will become a place revered of men, and revered and famous +will be his second city and church, scil.:--Lismore, which shall possess +lordship and great pre-eminence." + +One day when there was a large meeting of people at a certain place in +Kerry, the men and women who were present saw descending a fiery globe, +which rested on the head of Mochuda's mother, at that time pregnant of +the future saint. The ball of fire did no one any injury but +disappeared before it did injury to anyone. All those who beheld this +marvel wondered thereat and speculated what it could portend. This is +what it did mean:--that the graces of the Holy Spirit had visited this +woman and her holy child unborn. + +Mochuda's father was a rich and powerful chieftain owning two strong +lioses--one, on the south side of Slieve Mish, and the other, in which +Mochuda first saw the light, beside the River Maing [Maine]. Both +places were blessed for sake of the Saint, who was conceived in one of +them and born in the other; it is even said that no evil disposed or +vicious person can live in either. Carthage in due course was sent to +be baptised, and, on the way, the servant who bore the infant, meeting a +saintly man named Aodhgan, asked him to perform the ceremony. There was +however no water in the place, but a beautiful well, which burst forth +for the occasion and still remains, yielded a supply. With the water of +this well the infant was baptised and Carthach, as the angel had +foretold, was the name given him. Nevertheless 'Mochuda' is the name by +which he was commonly known, because he was so called, through affection +and regard, by his master (St. Carthach Senior). Many scarcely know +that he has any other name than Mochuda and it is lawful to write either +Mochuda or Carthach. Speaking prophetically Aodhgan said of him:--"This +child whom I have baptised will become famous and he will be beloved by +God and men." That prophecy has been fulfilled, for Mochuda was +graceful of figure and handsome of features as David, he was master of +his passions as Daniel, and mild and gentle like Moses. His parents +however despised him because he valued not earthly vanities and in his +regard were verified the words of David:--"Pater meus et mater mea +derliquerunt me, Dominus autem assumpsit me" [Psalm 26(27):10] (For my +father and my mother have left me and the Lord hath taken me up). Like +David too--who kept the sheep of his father--Mochuda, with other youths, +herded his father's swine in his boyhood. + +On a certain day as Mochuda, with his companion swineherds and their +charges, was in the vicinity of the River Maing, he heard that the king +of Ciarraighe Luachra was at his residence called Achadh-di; he waited +on the king by whom he was kindly and politely received. The king, +whose name was Maoltuile and who wished to see Mochuda frequently, +invited the youth to come every day to the royal lios and to bring with +him his companions, who would be made welcome for his sake. One evening +as Mochuda sate in the king's presence Maoltuile gazed so long and so +intently at the youth that the queen (Dand, daughter of Maolduin Mac +Aodha Beannan, king of Munster) reproved her husband asking why he +stared every evening at the boy. "O wife," answered the king, "if you +but saw what I see, you would never gaze at anything else, for I behold +a wondrous golden chain about his neck and a column of fire reaching +from his head to the heavens, and since I first beheld these marvels my +affection for the boy has largely increased." "Then," said the queen, +"let him sit there beside you." Thenceforth the youth sate as +suggested. Sometimes Mochuda herded the swine in the woods and at other +times he remained with the king in his court. + +One day as Mochuda was keeping his herd as usual beside the river +already alluded to, he heard the bishop and his clerics pass by, +chanting psalms as they went along. The Spirit of God touched the boy's +heart and leaving his pigs Mochuda followed the procession as far as the +monastery called Tuaim [Druim Fertain] [into which the clerics entered]. +And as the bishop and his household sate down to eat, Mochuda, unknown +to them, concealed himself--sitting in the shadow of the doorway. +Meanwhile the king, Maoltuile, was troubled about the boy, noticing his +absence [from the homestead at Achaddi] that evening and not knowing the +cause thereof. He immediately sent messengers to seek the youth +throughout the country, and one of these found him sitting, as +indicated, in the shadow of the doorway of the bishop's house. The +messenger took Mochuda with him back to the king. The latter questioned +him:--"My child, why have you stayed away in this manner?" Mochuda +replied, "Sire, this is why I have stayed away--through attraction of +the holy chant of the bishop and clergy; I have never heard anything so +beautiful as this; the clerics sang as they went along the whole way +before me; they sang until they arrived at their house, and thenceforth +they sang till they went to sleep. The bishop however remained by +himself far into the night praying by himself when the others had +retired. And I wish, O king, that I might learn [their psalms and +ritual]." Hearing this the king at once sent a message to the bishop +requesting the latter to come to him. + +About this time Mochuda's father gave a feast in the king's honour and +as the company were at supper the king calling Mochuda before him +offered him a shield, sword, javelin, and princely robe, saying: "Take +these and be henceforth a knight to me as your father has been." But +Mochuda declined the offer. "What is it," asked the king, "that you +will accept, so that [whatever it be] I may give it to you?" Mochuda +answered:--"I do not long for anything of earth--only that I be allowed +to learn the psalms of the clerics which I heard them sing." In this +answer the king discerned the working of divine grace, whereupon he +promised the youth the favour he asked for. Shortly afterwards the +bishop, Carthach, whom we have mentioned as sent for by the king, +arrived, and to him the latter entrusted Mochuda to be instructed in +reading and writing. With great joy the bishop undertook his charge for +he saw that his pupil was marked by grace, and under the bishop's +guidance and tutelage Mochuda remained till his promotion to the +priesthood. + +Mochuda was very handsome of features with the result that at different +times during his youth maidens to the number of thirty were so enamoured +of him that they could not conceal their feeling. But Mochuda prayed +for them, and obtained for them by his prayers that their carnal love +should be turned into a spiritual. They afterwards became consecrated +religious and within what to-day is his parish he built them cells and +monasteries which the holy virgins placed under his protection and +jurisdiction. + +Finntan Mac Cartan, bringing with him an infant for baptism came to +Bishop Carthach. The latter said to him:--"Let the young priest there +who was ordained to-day baptise the child." Whereupon Finntan handed the +infant to the young priest. Mochuda enquired the name he was to impose, +and the father answered--Fodhran. Having administered baptism Mochuda +taking the infant's hand prophesied concerning the babe--"This hand will +be strong in battle and will win hostages and submission of the Clan +Torna whose country lies in mid-Kerry from Sliabh Luachra [Slieve +Lougher] to the sea. From his seed, moreover, will spring kings to the +end of time, unless indeed they refuse me due allegiance, and if, at any +time, they incur displeasure of my successors their kingship and +dominion will come to an end." This prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Sometime afterwards Mochuda with his master, Carthach, visited King +Maoltuile, whom they found at a place called Feorainn, near Tralee, from +which the lords and kings of Kerry take their name. Said Bishop +Carthach:--"Here, Sire, is the youth you gave me to train; he is a good +scholar and he has studied the holy writings with much success. I have +ordained him a priest and (his) grace is manifest in many ways." "What +recompense do you desire for your labour?" asked the king. "Only," +replied Carthach, "that you would place yourself and your posterity +under the spiritual jurisdiction of this young priest, the servant of +God." The king, however, hesitated--because of Mochuda's youth. Soon +as Carthach perceived this he himself inclined to Mochuda and bending +his knee before him exclaimed:--"I hereby give myself, my parish and +monastery to God and to Mochuda for ever." Touched by the bishop's +example the king prostrated himself before Mochuda and pledged to God +and to him, his soul and body and posterity to the end of time. Then +Mochuda placed his foot upon the king's neck and measured the royal body +with his foot. Against this proceeding of Mochuda's a member of the +king's party protested in abusive and insulting terms--"It is a haughty +act of yours, laying your foot upon the king's neck, for be it known to +you the body on which you trample is worthy of respect." On hearing +this Mochuda ceased to measure the king and declared:--"The neck upon +which I have set my heel shall never be decapitated and the body which I +have measured with my foot shall not be slain and but for your +interference there would not be wanting anything to him or his seed for +ever." Addressing (specially) the interrupter, he prophesied:--"You and +your posterity will be for ever contemptible among the tribes." +Blessing the king he promised him prosperity here and heaven hereafter +and assured him:--"If any one of your posterity contemn my successors +refusing me my lawful dues he will never reign over the kingdom of +Kerry." This prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Next, Mochuda, at the suggestion of his master, the bishop, and the King +Maoltuile, built a famous cell called Kiltulach [Kiltallagh] at a place +between Sliabh Mis and the River Maing in the southern part of Kerry. +Here his many miracles won him the esteem of all. In that region he +found two bishops already settled before him, scil.:--Dibhilin and +Domailgig. These became envious of the honour paid him and the fame he +acquired, and they treated him evilly. Whereupon he went to Maoltuile +and told him the state of affairs. Soon as the king heard the tale he +came with Mochuda from the place where he then was on the bank of the +Luimnech and stayed not till they reached the summit of Sliabh Mis, when +he addressed Mochuda: "Leave this confined region for the present to +the envy and jealousy of the bishops and hereafter it will become yours +and your coarbs' to the end of time." The advice commended itself to +Mochuda and he thanked the king for it. Thereupon he abandoned his cell +to the aforesaid bishops and determined to set out alone as a pilgrim to +the northern part of Ireland. + +In the meantime an angel visited Comghall and repeated to him what had +been foretold him already--that there should come to him a young priest +desirous for Christ's sake of pilgrimage beyond the seas--that Comghall +should dissuade him and, instead, retain the stranger with him for a +year at Bangor. "And how am I to recognise him?" asked Comghall. The +angel answered:--"Whom you shall see going from the church to the +guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to visit the church first). +[See note 1.] Comghall announced to his household that there was coming +to them a distinguished stranger, well-beloved of God, of whose advent +an angel had twice foretold him. Some time later Mochuda arrived at +Comghall's establishment, and he went first to the monastery and +Comghall recognised him and bade him welcome. In that place Mochuda +remained a whole year, as the angel had said, and at the end of the year +he returned to his own country where he built many cells and churches +and worked many wonders, winning many souls to religion and to good +works. Many persons moreover placed themselves, their children, and +their kindred under his jurisdiction, and the great parishes of their +own territory were assigned to him, and finally the episcopate of Kerry +became his. + +Subsequent to this Mochuda, having committed the care of his cell and +parish to certain pious and suitable persons, set out himself, +accompanied by a few disciples, through the south of Munster to visit +the Monastery of Ciaran Mac Fionntan at Rosgiallan [Rostellan]. From +Ciaran Mochuda enquired, where--in south Munster (as the angel had +mentioned to Comghall)--the chief and most distinguished of these +churches should be. Ciaran, who possessed the spirit of prophecy, +replied--"You shall go first to Meath where you will found a famous +church in the territory of Ibh Neill and there you will remain for forty +years. You shall be driven thence into exile and you will return to +Munster wherein will be your greatest and most renowned church." +Mochuda offered to place himself under the patronage and jurisdiction of +Ciaran: "Not so, shall it be," said Ciaran, "but rather do I put myself +and my church under you, for ever, reserving only that my son, Fuadhran, +be my successor in this place." This Mochuda assented to and Fuadhran +governed the monastic city for twenty years as Ciaran's successor in the +abbacy. + +Next, Mochuda entered the territory of the Munster Decies where dwelt +the Clanna Ruadhain who placed themselves and all their churches under +him, and one Colman Mac Cobhthaigh a wealthy magnate of the region +donated extensive lands to Mochuda who placed them under devout persons +--to hold for him. Proceeding thence Mochuda took his way across Sliabh +Gua looking back from the summit of which he saw by the bank of the Nemh +[Blackwater] angels ascending towards heaven and descending thence. And +they took up with them to heaven a silver chair with a golden image +thereon. This was the place in which long afterwards he founded his +famous church and whence he departed himself to glory. + +Hence Mochuda travelled to Molua Mac Coinche's monastery of Clonfert +[Kyle], on the confines of Leinster and Munster. He found Molua in the +harvest field in the midst of a 'meitheal' [team] of reapers. Before +setting out on this present journey of his Mochuda had, with one +exception, dismissed all his disciples to their various homes for he, +but with a single companion, did not wish to enter the strange land +ostentatiously. The single follower whom Mochuda had retained wishing +to remain at Clonfert, said to St. Molua: "Holy father, I should wish +to remain here with you." Molua answered:--"I shall permit you, +brother, if your pious master consents." Mochuda, having dismissed so +many, would not make any difficulty about an individual, and so he gave +the monk his freedom. Mochuda thereupon set out alone, which, Molua's +monks observing, they remark:--"It were time for that aged man to remain +in some monastery, for it is unbecoming such a (senior) monk to wander +about alone." They did not know that he, of whom they spoke, was +Mochuda, for it was not the custom of the latter to make himself known +to many. "Say not so," said Molua (to the censorious brethren), "for +the day will come when our community and city will seem but +insignificant beside his--though now he goes alone; you do not know that +he is Mochuda whom many obey and whom many more will obey in times to +come." + +As Mochuda went on his lonely way he met two monks who asked him whither +he was bound. "To Colman Elo," he answered. Then said one of them to +him:--"Take us with you as monks and subjects," for they judged him from +his countenance to be a holy man. Mochuda accepted the monks and they +journeyed on together till they came to Colman's monastery [Lynally]. +Mochuda said to Colman: "Father I would remain here with you." "Not +so," replied Colman, "but go you to a place called Rahen in this +vicinity; that is the place ordained by God for your dwelling and you +shall have there a large community in the service of God and from that +place you will get your first name--Mochuda of Rahen." Having said +farewell to Colman and obtained his blessing Mochuda, with his two +monks, set out for the place indicated and there in the beginning he +built a small cell and Colman and he often afterwards exchanged visits. + +Colman had in the beginning--some time previous to Mochuda's +advent--contemplated establishing himself at Rahen and he had left there +two or three [bundles] of rods remarking to his disciples that another +should come after him for whom and not for himself God had destined this +place. It was with this material that Mochuda commenced to build his +cell as Colman had foretold in the first instance. He erected later a +great monastery in which he lived forty years and had eight hundred and +eighty seven religious under his guidance and rule. + +Subsequent to Mochuda's foundation of Rahen his miracles and the marvels +he wrought spread his fame far and wide through Ireland and through +Britain, and multitudes came to him from various parts of those +countries to give themselves to the service of God under his guidance. +In the beginning he refused worldly gifts from others although his +church was honoured and patronised by neighbouring kings and chieftains +who offered him lands and cattle and money and many other things. +Mochuda kept his monks employed in hard labour and in ploughing the +ground for he wanted them to be always humble. Others, however, of the +Saints of Erin did not force their monks to servile labour in this +fashion. + +Mochuda was consecrated bishop by many saints and from time to time he +visited his parish in Kerry, but as a rule he remained at Rahen with his +monks, for it is monks he had with him not clerics. + +On a certain day in the (early) springtime there came to tempt him a +druid who said to him:--"In the name of your God cause this apple-tree +branch to produce foliage." Mochuda knew that it was in contempt for +divine power the druid proposed this, and the branch put forth leaves on +the instant. The druid demanded "In the name of your God, put blossom +on it." Mochuda made the sign of the cross [over the twig] and it +blossomed presently. The druid persisted:--"What profits blossom +without fruit?" [said the druid]. Mochuda, for the third time, +blessed the branch and it produced a quantity of fruit. The druid +said:--"Follower of Christ, cause the fruit to ripen." Mochuda blessed +the tree and the fruit, fully ripe, fell to the earth. The druid picked +up an apple off the ground and examining it he saw it was quite sour, +whereupon he objected:--"Such miracles as these are worthless since it +leaves the fruit uneatable." Mochuda blessed the apples and they all +became sweet as honey, and in punishment of his opposition the magician +was deprived for a year of his eyesight. At the end of a year he came to +Mochuda and did penance, whereupon he received his sight back again and +he returned home rejoicing. + +On another occasion there came to Mochuda a secular who brought with him +his deaf and dumb son whom he besought the saint to heal. Mochuda +prayed to God for him and said, "My son, hear and speak." The boy +answered immediately and said, "Man of God, I give myself and my +inheritance to you for ever," and thenceforth he possessed the use of +all his senses and members. + +Another day a young man who had contracted leprosy came to Mochuda +showing him his misery and his wretched condition. The saint prayed for +him and he was restored to health. + +At another time there came to Mochuda a man whose face was deformed. He +besought the saint's aid and his face was healed upon the spot. + +On yet another occasion in the springtime a poor man who dwelt some +distance from the monastery of Rahen, came to Mochuda, and asked the +loan of two oxen and a ploughman to do a day's ploughing for him. But +Mochuda, as we have already said, had no cattle, for it was the monks +themselves who dug and tilled the soil. Mochuda summoned one of his +labourers named Aodhan whom he ordered to go into the nearest wood to +bring back thence a pair of deer with him and go along with them to the +poor man to do the spring work for him. Aodhan did dutifully all that +Mochuda bade him--he found the two deer, went with the poor man and +ploughed for him till the work was completed when the deer returned to +their habitat and Aodhan to Mochuda. + +On another day there came to Mochuda a man troubled by the devil. +Mochuda cured him at once, driving the demons from him and the man went +his way thanking God and Mochuda. + +Once, when the brethren were at work in the fields and in the kitchen, +Mochuda went to the mill to grind meal for the monk's use, and nine +robbers, who hated him, followed with the intention of murdering him. +The chief of the band sent each member of the gang to the mill in turn. +Not one of them however could enter the mill because of a violent flame +of fire which encircled the building round about, through the goodness +of God protecting Mochuda from the robbers. The latter, through the +mill door, watched Mochuda who slept portion of the time and was awake +another portion. And while he slept the mill stopped of itself, and +while he was awake it went of its own accord. The gang thereupon +returned to the chief and told him all they had seen, which, when he +heard, he became enraged. Then he hastened himself to the mill to kill +Mochuda. But he experienced the same things as all the others and he +was unable to hurt Mochuda. He returned to his followers and said to +them--"Let us stay here till he comes out of the mill, for we need not +fear that he will call help nor need we fear his arm." Shortly +afterwards Mochuda came out carrying his load. The robbers rushed on +him, but they were unable to do him any injury for as each man of them +tried to draw his weapon his hands became powerless, so he was unable to +use them. Mochuda requested them to allow him pass with his burden and +he promised them on his credit and his word that he should return to +them when he had deposited the sack in safety. They took his word and he +went, deposited his bag of meal in the kitchen, and returned meekly to +martyrdom. The brethren imagined he had gone to a quiet place for +prayer as was his custom. When he returned to the robbers they drew +their weapons several times to kill him but they were unable to do so. +Seeing this wonder they were moved to repentance and they gave +themselves to God and to Mochuda for ever and, till the time of their +death, they remained under his guidance and rule and many subsequent +edifying and famous acts of theirs are recorded. + +An angel came to Mochuda at Rahen on another occasion announcing to him +the command of God that he should go that same day to Mac Fhiodaig, king +of his own region of Kerry Luachra, and administer to him Holy Communion +and Confession as he was on the point of death. Mochuda asked the angel +how he could reach Kerry that day from Rahen. The angel thereupon (for +reply) took him up through the air in a fiery chariot until they arrived +at the king's residence. Mochuda administered Holy Communion and +Confession and the king having bestowed generous alms upon him departed +hence to glory. Mochuda returned that same day to Rahen where he found +the community singing vespers. + +On another occasion Mochuda visited Colman Elo at the latter's monastery +of Lynally and requested Colman to come with him to consecrate for him +his cemetery at Rahen, for Colman, assisted by angels, was in the habit +of consecrating cemeteries and God gave him the privilege that no one +should go to hell who was interred in a grave consecrated by him. +Colman said to him:--"Return home and on the fifth day from now I shall +follow." Mochuda returned home, where he remained till the fifth day, +when, seeing that Colman had not arrived he came again to the latter. +"Father," said he, "why have you not kept your promise?" To which +Colman replied, "I came and an angel with me that day and consecrated +your cemetery. Return now and you will find it marked (consecrated) on +the south side of your own cell. Lay it out as it is there indicated +and think not that its area is too small, because a larger will be +consecrated for you later, by the angels, in the southern part of Erin, +namely--in Lismore." Mochuda returned and found the cemetery duly marked +as Colman had indicated. + +About the same time clerics came across Slieve Luachra in the territory +of Kerry to the church of Ita, honoured [abbess] of Conall Gabhra. They +had with them a child upon seeing whom Ita wept bitterly. The clerics +demanded why she cried at seeing them. "Blessed," she answered, "is the +hour in which that youth in your company was born, for no one shall ever +go to hell from the cemetery in which he will be buried, but, alas, for +me, that I cannot be buried therein." The clerics asked what cemetery +it was in which he should be buried. "In Mochuda's cemetery," said she, +"which though it be as yet unconsecrated will be honoured and famous in +times to come." This all came to pass, for the youth afterwards became +a monk under Mochuda and he is buried in the monastic cemetery of +Lismore as Ita had foretold. + +A child on another occasion fell off the bridge of Rahen into the river +and was drowned. The body was a day and a night in the water before it +was recovered. Then it was brought to Mochuda who, moved with +compassion for the father in his loss of an only son, restored the boy +to life. Moreover he himself fostered the child for a considerable time +afterwards and when the youth had grown up, he sent him back to his own +country of Delbhna. Mochuda's foster son begat sons and daughters and he +gave himself and them, as well as his inheritance, to God and Mochuda, +and his descendants are to this day servile tenants of the monastery. + +Once as Mochuda, with large offerings, was returning from Kerry to Rahen +he passed through the confines of Delbhna [Lemanaghan?] by the lake +called Muincine [Lough Gur?] where he and his party were overtaken by +night. They found here before them by the roadside revolving wheels, +which an artisan, who was erecting a mill on the stream from the lake, +had set up for a joke. As the wheels revolved they made a terrific +noise which was heard by the whole neighbourhood. Many of the +inhabitants of the neighbouring villages aroused by the noise rushed +out, with appeals for help and loud cries, to investigate the matter. +Mochuda's people were frightened by the din and their pack and riding +horses stampeded and lost their loads and it was not without difficulty +that they were caught again. Mochuda knew what caused the noise and he +told the workmen who had played this mischievous trick that they should +be scattered throughout the different provinces of Ireland, that they +should be always worthless and unprofitable, that the mill they were +engaged on should never be finished and that their progeny after them +should be valueless race of mischief-makers. The latter are called the +Hi-Enna [Ui Enna Aine Aulium] to-day. + +One day Mochuda came to a place called Cluain-Breanainn where apples +abounded. His followers asked some apples for him but the orchard owner +refused them. Said Mochuda:--"From this day forward no fruit shall grow +in you orchard for ever," and that prophecy has been fulfilled. + +Mochuda had in his monastery twelve exceedingly perfect disciples, +scil.:--Caoinche Mac Mellain [Mochua Mac Mellain or Cronan], who was the +first monk to enter Rahen; Mucoinog [Mochoemog]; the three sons of +Nascainn--Goban, Srafan, and Laisren; Mulua [Molua]; Lugair; Mochomog +Eile; Aodhan [Aedhan]; Fachtna Coinceann [Fiachna or Fiochrae]; Fionnlog +and Mochomog who became a bishop later. The virtue of these monks +surpassed belief and Mochuda wished to mitigate their austerities before +their death. He therefore built separate cells for them that they might +have some comfort in their old age as a reward for their virtue in +youth; moreover he predicted blessings for them. He made [a prophecy] +for one of them, mentioned above, scil.:--Mochua Mac Mellain, for whom +he had built a comfortable cell at a place called Cluain-Da-Chrann. He +said to him: "Your place of resurrection will not be here but in +another place which God has given you." That prediction has been +verified. To a second disciple, scil.:--Fiachna, Mochuda said:--"Your +resurrection will not be in this place though I have made you a cell +here; you will have three further abiding places, nevertheless it will +be with your own companion, Aodhan, that your remains will rest and your +resurrection will be in the territory of Ui Torna, and it is from you +that the place will get its name." For this Aodhan alluded to Mochuda +likewise built another cell in the land of Ui Torna close by Slieve +Luachra, and speaking prophetically he said to him: "The remains of +your fellow-disciple, Fiachna, will be carried to you hither and from +him will this place be named." That statement has been verified, for +the church is now called Cill-Fiachna and it was first called +Cill-Aeghain. Concerning other persons, Mochuda prophesied various +other things, all of them have come to pass. + +A child born of secret adultery was abandoned close by the monastery of +Rahen and Mochuda fostered the child until he became a bishop, though no +one knew his name or his progenitors. Mochuda said:--"This child's name +is Dioma and his father is Cormac of the race of Eochaidh Eachach." All +thereupon magnified the foreknowledge of Mochuda, which he had from no +other than the Holy Spirit. Having consecrated him bishop, Mochuda +instructed him: "Go in haste to your own native region of Hy-Eachach in +the southern confines of Munster for there will your resurrection be. +War and domestic strife shall arise among your race and kinsfolk unless +you arrive there soon to prevent it." Dioma set out, accompanied by +another bishop, Cuana by name, who was also a disciple of Mochuda's. +They travelled into Ibh Eachach and Dioma preached the word of God to +his brethren and tribesmen. He made peace between them and they built a +monastery for him and he placed himself, his kindred, and parish under +his chosen master, Mochuda, and he ended his life (there) in peace. + +On another occasion Mochuda travelled from Rahen to the provinces of +Munster and entered Ciarraighe Corca. It happened that Cairbre Mac +Criomhthain, who was king of Munster, was at that time in Magh-Cuirce, +the place to which Mochuda came. At the same time there fell a fire +ball which destroyed one of the king's residences, killing his wife, +many of his people and his son, Aodh Mac Cairbre, who were buried in the +falling ruin. There were killed there moreover two good carriage horses +of the king's. Cairbre besought Mochuda that he would restore the queen +and his son to life, and when the saint saw the king's faith he prayed +for him to God and then addressing the dead he said,--"Arise." They +arose thereupon and he gave them safe to the king and they all gave +glory and thanks to God and Mochuda. The king moreover made large +offerings of land and servile tenants to Mochuda. But one of the +tenants, through pride and jealousy, refused to obey Mochuda, +notwithstanding the king's command. Mochuda said: "Your posterity will +die out and their inheritance, for sake of which you (mis)behave towards +me, shall become mine for ever; whosoever takes from me that which +another has given me shall be deprived of heaven and earth." That man +and his posterity soon came to nought. + +On another occasion Mochuda sent a golden belt to Fergus Mac Criomhthan +who suffered from uncleanness of skin arising from kidney disease and +upon application of the girdle, by the blessing of Mochuda he recovered. + +Another time again a king of Munster, Cathal Mac Aodha, in the region of +Cuirche, was a sufferer from a combination of complaints--he was deaf, +lame, and blind, and when Mochuda came to see him the king and his +friends prayed the saint to cure him. Mochuda therefore prayed for him +and made the sign of the cross on his eyes and ears and immediately he +was healed of all his maladies--he heard and saw perfectly, and Cathal +gave extensive lands to God and Mochuda for ever, scil:--Oilean Cathail +and Ros-Beg and Ros-Mor and Inis-Pic [Spike Island]. Mochuda placed a +religious community in Ros-Beg to build there a church in honour of God. +Mochuda himself commenced to build a church on Inis-Pic and he remained +there a whole year. [On his departure] Mochuda left there--in the +monastery of Inis-Pic--to watch over it, in his stead, and to keep it +in perfect order--the three disciples whom we have already named +(scil:--the three sons of Nascon, i.e. Goban a bishop, Srafan a priest, +and holy Laisren) together with the saintly bishop, Dardomaighen +[Domangenum], (who had conferred orders on them in presence of Mochuda) +and forty monks. Thereupon Mochuda returned to Rahen. That island we +have mentioned, scil.:--Inis-Pic, is a most holy place in which an +exceedingly devout community constantly dwell. + +Mochuda next directed his steps eastward through Munster and he crossed +the river then called Nemh, and now named the Abhainn More. As he +crossed he saw a large apple floating in the middle of the ford. This +he took up and carried away with him in his hand. Hence (that ford is +named) Ath-Ubhla in Fermoy [Ballyhooley]. His attendant asked Mochuda +for the apple, but the latter refused to give it saying--"God will work +a miracle by that apple and through me to-day: we shall meet Cuana Mac +Cailcin's daughter whose right hand is powerless so that she cannot move +it from her side. But she shall be cured by the power of God through +this apple." This was accomplished. Mochuda espied the child playing a +game with the other girls in the faithche [lawn] of the Lios. He +approached and said to her:--"Take this apple." She, as usual, put +forth her left hand for the fruit. "You shall not get it in that hand, +but take it in the other." The girl full of faith tried to put out the +right hand, and on the instant the hand became full of strength and +blood and motion so that she took the apple in it. All rejoiced thereat +and were amazed at the wonder wrought. That night Cuana said to his +daughter: "Choose yourself which you prefer of the royal youths of +Munster and whomsoever your choice be I shall obtain in marriage for +you." "The only spouse I shall have," said she, "is the man who cured +my hand." "Do you hear what she says O Mochuda?" said the king. +"Entrust the child to me," answered Mochuda, "I shall present her as a +bride to God who has healed her hand." Whereupon Cuana gave his +daughter Flandnait, together with her dowry and lands on the bank of +Nemh, to God and to Mochuda for ever. Cuana was almost incredibly +generous. Mochuda took the maiden with him to Rahen where she passed her +years happily with the religious women there till Mochuda was expelled +by the kings of Tara as you may hear. He took Flandnait with him (from +Rahen) in his party to her own native region that she might build +herself a cell there. She did build a famous cell at Cluain Dallain in +Mochuda's own parish. + +Previous to his expulsion (from Rahen) Mochuda visited the place where +(later) he built Lismore and he heard the voice of persons reading at +Rahen, wherefore he said to his followers: "I know that this is the +place where God will permit us to build our monastery." This prophecy +was subsequently verified. + +On a certain occasion Columcille came to Rahen where Mochuda was and +asked him:--"Is this place in which you now are dear to you?" "It is, +indeed," answered Mochuda. Columcille said: "Let not what I say to you +trouble you--this will not be the place of your resurrection, for the +king of Erin and his family will grow jealous of you owing to +machinations of some of the Irish clergy, and they shall eventually +drive you hence." Mochuda questioned Columcille who had a true +prophetic gift--"In what other place then will my resurrection be?" +Columcille told him--"The place where from the summit of Slieve Gua you +saw the host of angels building a chair of silver with a statue of gold +therein on the bank of the Nemh--there will your resurrection be, and +the chair of silver is your church in the midst of them [, and you are +truly the golden statue in its midst]." Mochuda believing what he heard +thanked and glorified God. + +As Mochuda on another day was at Rahen there came to him a priest and +monk of his own community from the northern part of Munster; he made a +reverence as was the custom of the monks, in Mochuda's presence and said +to him, "Father, I have complied with all your commands and the precepts +of God from the day I left Rahen till now--except this--that, without +your permission, I have taken my brother from the secular life." +"Verily I say to you," answered Mochuda, "if you were to go to the top +of a high hill and to shout as loudly as you could and were to bring to +me all who heard the cry I should not refuse the habit of religion to +one of them." Hearing these words all realised the character and extent +of Mochuda's charity and returned thanks to God for it. + +On a certain day about vesper time, because of the holiness of the hour, +Mochuda said to his monks:--"We shall not eat to-day till each one of +you has made his confession," for he knew that some one of them had ill +will in his heart against another. All the brethren thereupon confessed +to him. One of them in the course of his confession stated: "I love +not your miller and the cause of my lack of charity towards him is this, +that when I come to the mill he will not lift the loads off the horses +and he will neither help me to fill the meal sacks nor to load them on +the horse when filled. And not this alone but he does everything that +is disagreeable to me; moreover I cannot tell, but God knows, why he so +acts. Often I have thought of striking him or even beating him to +death." Mochuda replied, "Brother dear, the prophet says--'Declina a +malo et fac bonum' [Psalm 36(37):27] (Avoid evil and do good). Following +this precept let you act kindly towards the miller and that charity of +yours will move him to charity towards you and ye shall yet be steadfast +friends." Things went on thus for three days--the monk doing all he +could to placate the miller. Nevertheless the miller did not cease his +persecution, nor the brother his hate of the miller. On the third day +Mochuda directed the brother to confess to him again. The brother said: +--"This is my confession, Father, I do not yet love the miller." Mochuda +observed:--"He will change to-night, and to-morrow he will not break +fast till you meet him and you shall sit on the same seat, at the same +table, and you shall remain fast friends for the rest of your lives." +All this came to pass; for that monk was, through the instruction of +Mochuda, filled with the grace of the Divine Spirit. And he glorified +and praised Mochuda, for he recognised him as a man favoured by the Holy +Ghost. + +On another occasion two British monks of Mochuda's monastery had a +conversation in secret. Mochuda, they said, is very old though there is +no immediate appearance of approaching death--and there is no doubt that +his equal in virtue or good works will never be found--therefore if he +were out of the way one of us might succeed him. Let us then kill him +as there is no likelihood of his natural death within a reasonable time. +They resolved therefore to drown him in the river towards close of the +following night and to conceal all traces so that the crime could never +be discovered. They found him subsequently in a lonely place where he +was accustomed to pray. They bound him tightly and carried him between +them on their shoulders to the water. On their way to the river they +met one of the monks who used to walk around the cemetery every night. +He said to them: "What is that you carry?" They replied that it was +portion of the monastic washing which they were taking to the river. He +however, under the insistent suggestion of the Holy Spirit, believed +them not. He said: "Put down your load till we examine it." They were +constrained to obey and the burden proved to be--Mochuda. The monk who +detected [the proposed murder] was the overseer of the homestead. He +said mournfully, "My God, it is a dreadful work you are about." Mochuda +said gently:--"Son, it were well for me had that been done to me for I +should now be numbered among the holy martyrs. And it were bad for them +(the two wicked monks) for it is with Judas the betrayer of his Lord +they should be tortured for ever, who had desired my death for their own +advancement. Neither these wretched men themselves nor anyone of their +nation shall be my coarb for ever, but my successors shall be of his +race through whom God has rescued me. Moreover my city shall never be +without men of the British race who will be butts and laughing-stocks +and serve no useful purpose." The person who saved Mochuda was of the +Ciarraighe race and it is of that same people that the coarbs and +successors of Mochuda have commonly been ever since. [See note 2.] + +Mochuda refused for a long while, as we have already said, to accept +cattle or horses from anyone; it was the monks themselves who dug and +cultivated the land and they did all the haulage of the monastery on +their own backs. St. Fionan however who was a kinsman of Mochuda and +had just returned from Rome, came at this time on a visit to the +monastery. He reproached Mochuda saying: "Mochuda, why do you impose +the burden of brute beasts upon rational beings? Is it not for use of +the latter that all other animals have been created? Of a truth I shall +not taste food in this house till you have remedied this grievance." +Thenceforth Mochuda--in honour of Fionan--permitted his monks to accept +horses and oxen from the people and he freed them from the hardship +alluded to. Sometime later the holy abbot, Lachtaoin [St. Lachten], +compassionating Mochuda and his monks because of their lack of cattle +paid a visit to Rahen bringing with him a gift of thirty cows and a +bull, also a couple of cattlemen and two dairymaids. Coming near Rahen +he left the cattle in a secluded place, for he did not wish them to be +seen. Thereupon he went himself to the monastery and simulating illness +requested a drink of milk. The house steward went to Mochuda to tell +him that Lachtaoin was ill and required milk. Mochuda ordered the +steward to fill a pitcher with water and bring it to him--and this order +was executed. Mochuda blessed the water which immediately was changed +into sweet new milk apparently of that day's milking. He sent the milk +to Lachtaoin but the latter identified it as milk miraculously produced; +he in turn blessed it with the result that it was changed back again +into water. He complained:--"It is not water but milk I have +asked for." The messenger related this fact publicly. Lachtaoin +declared:--"Mochuda is a good monk but his successors will not be able to +change water to milk," and to the messenger he said--"Go to Mochuda and +tell him that I shall not break bread in this house until he accept the +alms which I have brought to the community." On Mochuda agreeing to +accept them he handed over the cattle and dairymen to the monks of Rahen +and the stewards took charge of them. Mochuda said thereupon, that he +should not have accepted the cattle but as a compliment to Lachtaoin. +Lachtaoin replied:--"From this day forward there will be plenty cattle +and worldly substance in your dwelling-place and there will be a +multitude of holy people in the other place whence you are to depart to +heaven (for you will be exiled from your present home)." After they had +mutually blessed and taken leave and pledged friendship Lachtaoin +departed. + +Once, at harvest time, the farm steward came to Mochuda complaining +that, though the crop was dead ripe, a sufficient number of harvesters +could not be found. Mochuda answered: "Go in peace, dear brother, and +God will send you satisfactory reapers." This promise was fulfilled, +for a band of angels came to the ripest and largest fields, reaped and +bound a great deal quickly, and gathered the crop into one place. The +monks marvelled, though they knew it was God's work and they praised and +thanked Him and Mochuda. + +The spirit of obedience amongst Mochuda's monks was such that if any +senior member of the community ordered another to lie in the fire he +would be obeyed. As an instance of this,--some of the brethren were on +one occasion baking bread in an oven when one the monks said to another +younger than himself, "The bread is burning: take it out instantly." +There was an iron shovel for drawing out the bread but the brother could +not find it on the instant. He heeded not the flames which shot out of +the oven's mouth but caught the hot bread and shifted it with his hands +and suffered no hurt whatever. On another day the monks were engaged in +labour beside the river which runs through the monastery. One of the +senior monks called upon a young monk named Colman to do a certain piece +of work. Immediately, as he had not named any particular Colman, twelve +monks of the name rushed into the water. The readiness and exactness of +the obedience practised was displayed in this incident. + +Great moreover was their meekness and patience in sickness or ill-health +as appears from the case of the monk out of the wounds of whose body +maggots fell as he walked; yet he never complained or told anyone or +left his work for two moments although it was plain from his appearance +that his health was declining, and he was growing thinner from day to +day. The brothers pitied him very much. At length Mochuda questioned +him--putting him under obedience to tell the truth--as to the cause of +his decline. The monk thereupon showed him his sides which were torn by +a twig tied fast around them. Mochuda asked him who had done that +barbarous and intolerable thing to him. The monk answered:--"One day +while we were drawing logs of timber from the wood my girdle broke from +the strain, so that my clothes hung loose. A monk behind me saw this +and cutting a twig tied it so tightly around my sides that it has caused +my flesh to mortify." Mochuda asked--"And why did you not loosen the +twig?" The monk replied--"Because my body in not my own and he who tied +it (the withe) has never loosed it." It was a whole year since the +withe had been fastened around him. Mochuda said to him:--"Brother, you +have suffered great pain; as a reward thereof take now you choice--your +restoration to bodily health or spiritual health by immediate departure +hence to eternal life." He answered, deciding to go to heaven:--"Why +should I desire to remain in this life?" Having received the Sacrament +and the Holy Communion he departed hence to glory. + +There came to Mochuda on another occasion with her husband, a woman +named Brigh whose hand lay withered and useless by her side: she +besought the saint to cure her hand. Moreover she was pregnant at the +time. Mochuda held out an apple in his hand to her as he had done +before to Flandnait, the daughter of Cuana, saying--"Alleluia, put forth +your nerveless hand to take this apple." She did as she was told and +took the apple from his hand and was cured; moreover as she tasted the +fruit parturition came on--without pain or inconvenience, after which +[the pair] returned to their home rejoicing. + +In fulfilment of the prophecy of Columcille and other holy men that +Mochuda should be expelled from Rahen the king of Tara, Blathmac, the +son of Aodh Slaine, and his brother Diarmuid came, together with some +clergy of the Cluain Earaird [Clonard] community, to carry out the +eviction [in A.D. 635]. They said to him, "Leave this monastery and +region and seek a place for yourself elsewhere." Mochuda replied--"In +this place I have desired to end my days. Here I have been many years +serving God and have almost reached the end of my life. Therefore I +shall not depart unless I am dragged hence by the hands against my will, +for it is not becoming an old man to abandon easily the place in which +he has spent great part of his life." Then the nobles returned to +Blathmac and they made various complaints of Mochuda, accusing him +falsely of many things; finally they asked the king to undertake the +expulsion personally, for they were themselves unequal to the task. The +king thereupon came to the place accompanied by a large retinue. +Alluding prophetically to the king's coming, previous to that event, +Mochuda said, addressing the monks:--"Beloved brothers, get ready and +gather your belongings, for violence and eviction are close at hand: the +chieftains of this land are about to expel and banish you from your own +home." Then the king, with his brothers and many of the chief men, +arrived on the scene. They encamped near Rahen and the king sent his +brother Diarmuid with some others to expel Mochuda and to put him out by +force--which Diarmuid pledged his word he should do. It was in the +choir at prayer that Diarmuid found Mochuda. Mochuda, though he knew +his mission, asked Diarmuid why he was come and what he sought. +Diarmuid replied that he came by order of King Blathmac to take him by +the hand and put him out of that establishment and to banish him from +Meath. "Do as you please," said Mochuda, "for we are prepared to +undergo all things for Christ's sake." "By my word," answered Diarmuid, +"I shall never be guilty of such a crime; let him who chooses do it." +Mochuda said:--"You shall possess the kingdom of God and you shall reign +in your brother's stead and your face which you have turned from me +shall never be turned from your enemies. Moreover the reproaches which +the king will presently cast upon you for not doing the work he has set +you, will be your praise and your pride. At the same time as a penalty +for your evil designs toward me and your greater readiness to drive me +out, your son shall not succeed you in the sovereignty." Diarmuid +returned to the king and told him that he could do no injury to Mochuda. +The king retorted [sarcastically and] in anger, "What a valiant man you +are, Diarmuid." Diarmuid replied:--"That is just what Mochuda promised +--that I should be a warrior of God." He was known as Diarmuid Ruanaidh +thenceforth, for the whole assembly cried out with one voice--truly he +is Valiant (Ruanaidh). + +Next, the nobles present cast lots to decide which one of them should go +with the king to lay hands on Mochuda and expel him from the monastery. +The lot fell upon the Herenach [hereditary steward] of Cluain Earaird. +He and the king accompanied by armed men went to the monastery where +they found Mochuda and all the brethren in the church. Cronan, a +certain rich man in the company, shouted out, "Make haste with the +business on which you are come." Mochuda answered him--"You shall die +immediately, but on account of the alms which you gave me for the love +of Christ and on account of your uniform piety heretofore your progeny +shall prosper for ever." That prophecy has been fulfilled. Another man, +Dulach by name, winked mockingly with one of his eyes; moreover he +laughed and behaved irreverently towards Mochuda. Mochuda said to him: +--"Thus shall you be--with one eye closed and a grin on your countenance +--to the end of your life; and of your descendants many will be similarly +afflicted." Yet another member of the company, one Cailche, +scurrilously abused and cursed Mochuda. To him Mochuda said:--"Dysentery +will attack you immediately and murrain that will cause your +death." The misfortune foretold befell him and indeed woeful misfortune +and ill luck pursued many of them for their part in the wrong doing. +When the king saw these things he became furious and, advancing--himself +and the abbot of Cluain Earaird--they took each a hand of Mochuda and in +a disrespectful, uncivil manner, they led him forth out of the monastery +while their followers did the same with Mochuda's community. Throughout +the city and in the country around there was among both sexes weeping, +mourning, and wailing over their humiliating expulsion from their own +home and monastery. Even amongst the soldiers of the king were many who +were moved to pity and compassion for Mochuda and his people. + +One of Mochuda's monks had gout in his foot and for him Mochuda besought +the king and his following that he, as he was unable to travel, might be +allowed to remain in the monastery; the request was, however, refused. +Mochuda called the monk to him and, in the name of Christ, he commanded +the pain to leave the foot and to betake itself to the foot of Colman +[Colman mac hua Telduib, abbot, or perhaps erenach only, of Cluain +Earaird], the chieftain who was most unrelenting towards him. That +soreness remained in Colman's foot as long as he lived. The monk +however rose up and walked and was able to proceed on his way with his +master. + +There was an aged monk who wished to be buried at Rahen; Mochuda granted +the request, and he received Holy Communion and sacred rites at the +saint's hands. Then he departed to heaven in the presence of all and +his body was buried at Rahen as he had himself chosen that it should be. + +Leaving Rahen Mochuda paid a visit to the monastic cemetery weeping as +he looked upon it; he blessed those interred there and prayed for them. +By the permission of God it happened that the grave of a long deceased +monk opened so that all saw it, and, putting his head out of the grave, +the tenant of the tomb cried out in a loud voice: "O holy man and +servant of God, bless us that through thy blessing we may rise and go +with you whither you go." Mochuda replied:--"So novel a thing I shall +not do, for it behoves not to raise so large a number of people before +the general resurrection." The monk asked--"Why then father, do you +leave us, though we have promised union with you in one place for ever?" +Mochuda answered:--"Brother, have you ever heard the proverb--'necessitas +movet decretum et consilium' (necessity is its own law)? Remain ye +therefore in your resting places and on the day of general resurrection +I shall come with all my brethren and we shall all assemble before the +great cross called 'Cross of the Angels' at the church door and go +together for judgement." When Mochuda had finished, the monk lay back in +his grave and the coffin closed. + +Mochuda, with his following, next visited the cross already mentioned +and here, turning to the king, he thus addressed him:--"Behold the +heavens above you and the earth below." The king looked at them: then +Mochuda continued:--"Heaven may you not possess and even from your +earthly principality may you soon be driven and your brother whom you +have reproached, because he would not lay hands on me, shall possess it +instead of you, and in your lifetime. You shall be despised by all--so +much so that in your brother's house they shall forget to supply you +with food. Moreover yourself and your children shall come to an evil +end and in a little while there shall not be one of your seed +remaining." Then Mochuda cursed him and he rang his small bell against +him and against his race, whence the bell has since been known as "The +Bell of Blathmac's Extinguishing," or "The Bell of Blathmac's Drowning," +because it drowned or extinguished Blathmac with his posterity. +Blathmac had a large family of sons and daughters but, owing to +Mochuda's curse, their race became extinct. Next to the prince of +Cluain Earaird who also had seized him by the hand, he said: "You shall +be a servant and a bondman ere you die and you shall lose your territory +and your race will be a servile one." To another of those who led him +by the hand he said:--"What moved you to drag me by the hand from my own +monastery?" The other replied:--"It pleased me not that a Munster man +should have such honour in Meath." "I wish," said Mochuda, "that the +hand you laid on me may be accursed and that the face you turned against +me to expel me from my home may be repulsive and scrofulous for the +remainder of your life." This curse was effective for the man's eye was +thereupon destroyed in his head. Mochuda noticed that some of +Columcille's successors and people from Durrow, which was one of +Columcille's foundations, had taken part in his eviction. He thus +addressed them:--"Contention and quarrelling shall be yours for ever to +work evil and schism amongst you--for you have had a prominent part in +exciting opposition to me." And so it fell out. + +The king and his people thereupon compelled Mochuda to proceed on his +way. Mochuda did proceed with his disciples, eight hundred and sixty +seven in number (and as many more they left buried in Rahen). Moreover, +many more living disciples of his who had lived in various parts of +Ireland were already dead. All the community abounded in grace: many +of its members became bishops and abbots in after years and they erected +many churches to the glory of God. + +Understand, moreover, that great was the charity of the holy bishop, as +the following fact will prove:--in a cell without the city of Rahen he +maintained in comfort and respectability a multitude of lepers. He +frequently visited them and ministered to them himself--entrusting that +office to no one else. It was known to all the lepers of Ireland how +Mochuda made their fellow-sufferers his special care and family, and the +result was that an immense number of lepers from all parts flocked to +him and he took charge and care of them. These on his departure from +Rahen he took with him to Lismore where he prepared suitable quarters +for them and there they have been ever since in comfort and in honour +according to Mochuda's command. + +As Mochuda and his people journeyed along with their vehicles they found +the way blocked by a large tree which lay across it. Owing to the +density of underwood at either side they were unable to proceed. Some +one announced:--"There is a tree across the road before us, so that we +cannot advance." Mochuda said: "In the name of Christ I command thee, +tree, to rise up and stand again in thy former place." At the command +of Mochuda the tree stood erect as it was originally and it still +retains its former appearance, and there is a pile of stones there at +its base to commemorate the miracle. + +It was necessary to proceed; the first night after Mochuda's departure +from Rahen the place that he came to was a cell called Drum Cuilinn +[Drumcullen], on the confines of Munster, Leinster, and Clanna Neill, +but actually within Clanna Neill, scil.:--in the territory of Fearceall +in which also is Rahen. In Drum Cuilinn dwelt the holy abbot, +Barrfhinn, renowned for miracles. On the morrow Mochuda arrived at +Saighir Chiarain [Seirkieran] and the following night at the +establishment where Cronan is now, scil.:--Roscrea. That night Mochuda +remained without entertainment although it was offered to them by Cronan +who had prepared supper for him. Mochuda refused however to go to it +saying that he would not go out of his way to visit a man who avoids +guests and builds his cell in a wild bog far from men and that such a +man's proper guests are creatures of the wilderness instead of human +beings. When Cronan heard this saying of Mochuda he came to the latter, +by whose advice he abandoned his hermitage in the bog and he, with +Mochuda, marked out the site of a new monastery and church at Roscrea. +There he founded a great establishment and there he is himself buried. +Mochuda took leave of Cronan and, travelling through Eile [Ely +O'Carroll], came to the royal city named Cashel. On the following day +the king, scil.:--Failbhe [Failbhe Flann], came to Mochuda offering him +a place whereon to found a church. Mochuda replied:--"It is not +permitted us by God to stay our journey anywhere till we come to the +place promised to us by the holy men." + +About the same time there came messengers from the king of Leinster to +the king of Munster praying the latter, by virtue of league and +alliance, to come to his assistance as Leath-Chuinn and the north were +advancing in great force to ravage Leinster. This is how Failbhe was +situated at the time: he had lost one of his eyes and he was ashamed to +go half-blind into a strange territory. As soon as Mochuda realised the +extent of the king's diffidence he blessed the eye making on it the sign +of the cross and it was immediately healed in the presence of all. The +king and Mochuda took leave of one another and went each his own way. +The king and his hosting went to the aid of Leinster in the latter's +necessity. + +Mochuda journeyed on through Muscraige Oirthir the chief of which +territory received him with great honour. Aodhan was the chief's name +and he bestowed his homestead called Isiol [Athassel] on Mochuda, who +blessed him and his seed. Next he came into the Decies. He travelled +through Magh Femin where he broke his journey at Ard Breanuinn +[Ardfinnan] on the bank of the Suir. There came to him here Maolochtair, +king of the Decies, and the other nobles [or one noble, Suibhne] of his +nation who were at variance with him concerning land. Mochuda by the +grace of God made peace amongst them, and dismissed them in amity. +Maolochtair gave that land to Mochuda who marked out a cell there where +is now the city of Ardfinnnan, attached to which is a large parish +subject to Mochuda and bearing his name. The wife of Maolochtair, +scil:--Cuciniceas, daughter of Failbhe Flann, king of Munster, had a +vision, viz.:--a flock of very beautiful birds flying above her head and +one bird was more beautiful and larger than the rest. The other birds +followed this one and it nestled in the king's bosom. Soon as she awoke +she related the vision to the king; the king observed: "Woman you have +dreamed a good dream and soon it will be realised; the flock of birds +you have seen is Mochuda with his monks coming from Rahen and the most +distinguished bird is Mochuda himself. And the settling in my bosom +means that the place of his resurrection will be in my territory. Many +blessings will come to us and our territory through him." That vision +of the faithful woman was realised as the faithful king had explained +it. + +Subsequently Mochuda came to Maolochtair requesting from him a place +where he might erect a monastery. Maolochtair replied: "So large a +community cannot dwell in such a narrow place." Mochuda said: "God, +who sent us to you, will show you a place suited to us." The king +answered:--"I have a place, convenient for fish and wood, beside Slieve +Gua on the bank of the Nemh but I fear it will not be large enough." +Mochuda said:--"It will not be narrow; there is a river and fish and +that it shall be the place of our resurrection." Thereupon, in +the presence of many witnesses, the king handed over the land, +scil.:--Lismore, to God and Mochuda and it is in that place Mochuda +afterwards founded his famous city. Mochuda blessed the king and his +wife as well as the nobles and all the people and taking leave of them +and receiving their homage he journeyed across Slieve Gua till he came to +the church called Ceall Clochair [Kilcloher]. The saint of that church, +scil.:--Mochua Mianain, prepared a supper for Mochuda to the best of his +ability, but he had only a single barrel of ale for them all. Although +Mochuda with his people remained there three days and three nights and +although the holy abbot (Mochua) continued to draw the ale into small +vessels to serve the company, according to their needs, the quantity in +the barrel grew no less but increased after the manner of the oil +blessed by Elias [3 Kings 17:16]. Then one of the monks said to +Mochuda, "If you remain in this place till the feast ends your stay will +be a long one for it (the entertainment) grows no smaller for all the +consumption." "That is true, brother," said Mochuda, "and it is fitting +for us to depart now." They started therefore on their way and Mochua +Mianain gave himself and his place to God and Mochuda for ever. On +Mochuda's departure the ale barrel drained out to the lees. + +Mochuda proceeded till he reached the river Nemh at a ford called +Ath-Mheadhon [Affane] which no one could cross except a swimmer or a very +strong person at low water in a dry season of summer heat, for the tide +flows against the stream far as Lismore, five miles further up. On this +particular occasion it happened to be high tide. The two first of +Mochuda's people to reach the ford were the monks Molua and Colman, +while Mochuda himself came last. They turned round to him and said that +it was not possible to cross the river till the ebb. Mochuda answered: +--"Advance through the water before the others in the name of your Lord +Jesus Christ for He is the way the truth and the life" [John 14:6]. As +soon as they heard this command of Mochuda's Molua said to Colman, +"Which of the two will you hold back--the stream above or the sea +below?" Colman answered:--"Let each restrain that which is nearest to +him"--for Molua was on the upper, or stream, side and Colman on the +lower, or sea, side. Molua said to Colman--"Forbid you the sea side to +flow naturally and I shall forbid the stream side." Then with great +faith they proceeded to cross the river; they signed the river with the +sign of Christ's cross and the waters stood on either hand and apart, so +that the dry earth appeared between. The side banks of water rose high +because there was no passage up or down, so that the ridges were very +elevated on both the sea and stream sides. The waters remained thus +till such time as all Mochuda's people had crossed. Mochuda himself was +the last to pass over and the path across was so level that it offered +no obstacle to foot-passengers or chariots but was like a level plain so +that they crossed dryshod, as the Jordan fell back for Josue the son of +Nun [Josue 3:17]. Soon as Mochuda had crossed over he blessed the waters +and commanded them to resume their natural course. On the reuniting +again of the waters they made a noise like thunder, and the name of the +place is The Place of Benedictions, from the blessings of Mochuda and +his people. + +Next the glorious bishop, Mochuda, proceeded to the place promised to +him by God and the prophets, which place is the plain called +Magh-Sciath. Mochuda, with the holy men, blessed the place and +dedicated there the site of a church in circular form. There came to +them a holy woman named Caimell who had a cell there and she asked, +"What do you propose doing here, ye servants of God?" "We propose," +answered Mochuda, "building here a little 'Lios' [enclosure] around our +possession." Caimell observed, "Not a little Lios will it be but a +great ['mor'] one (Lis-mor)." "True indeed, virgin," responded Mochuda, +"Lismore will be its name for ever." The virgin offered herself and her +cell to God and Mochuda for ever, where the convent of women is now +established in the city of Lismore. + +As Colman Elo, alluded to already, promised, Mochuda found his burial +place marked out (consecrated?) by angels; there he and a multitude of +his disciples are buried and it was made known to him by divine wisdom +the number of holy persons that to the end of the world would be buried +therein. Lismore is a renowned city, for there is one portion of it +which no woman may enter and there are within it many chapels and +monasteries, and in which there are always multitudes of devout people +not from Ireland alone but from the land of the Saxons and from Britain +and from other lands as well. This is its situation--on the south bank +of the Avonmore in the Decies territory. + +On a certain day there came a druid to Mochuda to argue and contend with +him. He said:--"If you be a servant of God cause natural fruit to grow +on this withered branch." Mochuda knew that it was to throw contempt on +the power of God that the druid had come. He blessed the branch and it +produced first living skin, then, as the druid had asked--leaves, +blossom and fruit in succession. The druid marvelled exceedingly and +went his way. + +A poor man came to Mochuda on another occasion with an ill timed request +for milk, and beer along with it. Mochuda was at the time close by the +well which is known as "Mochuda's Well" at the present time; this he +blessed changing it first into milk then into beer and finally to wine. +Then he told the poor man to take away whatever quantity of each of +these liquids he required. The well remained thus till at Mochuda's +prayer it returned to its original condition again. An angel came from +heaven to Mochuda at the time and told him that the well should remain a +source of health and virtues and of marvels, and it still, like every +well originally blessed by Mochuda, possesses power of healing from +every malady. + +Mochuda, now grown old and of failing powers and strength, was wearied +and worried by the incessant clamour of building operations--the +dressing of stones and timber--carried on by the multitude of monks and +artisans. He therefore by consent and counsel of the brethren retired +to a remote, lonely place situated in a glen called "Mochuda's Inch" +below the great monastery. He took with him there a few monks and built +a resplendent monastery; he remained in that place a year and six months +more leading a hermitical life. The brethren and seniors of the +community visited him (from time to time) and he gave them sound, +sweetly-reasoned advice. He received a vow from each to follow his +Rule, for he was the support of the aged, the health-giver to the weak, +the consoler of the afflicted, the hope-giver to the hopeless, the +faith-giver to the doubting, the moderator and uniter of the young. + +As soon as Mochuda saw the hardship to the visiting brothers and elders +of the descent from Lismore and the ascent thereto again--knowing at the +same time that his end was approaching--he ordered himself to be carried +up to the monastery so that the monks might be saved the fatigue of the +descent to him. Then it pleased God to call to Himself His devoted +servant from the troubles of life and to render to him the reward of his +good works. He opened the gates of heaven then and sent to him a host +of angels, in glory and majesty unspeakable. When Mochuda saw the +heavens open above him and the angel band approaching, he ordered that +he be set down in the middle of the glen and he related to the seniors +the things that he had seen and he asked to receive the Body of Christ +and he gave his last instruction to the monks--to observe the Law of God +and keep His commands. The place was by the cross called "Crux +Migrationis," or the cross from which Mochuda departed to Glory. Having +received the Body and Blood of Christ, having taught them divine +doctrines, in the midst of holy choirs and of many brethren and monks to +whom in turn he gave his blessing and the kiss of peace according to the +rule, the glorious and holy bishop departed to heaven accompanied by +hosts of angels on the day before the Ides of May [May 14], in his union +with the Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever and ever. +Amen. + +Finit 7ber [September] 4th, 1741. + + + +NOTE 1 + +One of our scribe's predecessors omitted a word or two from the text +here, with disastrous results to the sense. The Latin Life comes to our +aid however and enables us to make good the omission; the latter, by +the way, puzzles our scribe who is like a man fighting an invisible +enemy--correcting a text of which he does not know the defect. Insertion +of the words "walking backwards" immediately after "church," in the +angel's answer, will enable us to see the original writer's meaning. The +text should probably read: + +The angel answered:--"Whom you shall see going from the church walking +backwards to the guest-house" (for it was Mochuda's custom to walk +backwards from the door of the church). Comghall announced to his +household that there was coming to them a distinguished stranger, +well-beloved of God, of whose advent an angel had twice foretold him. +Some time later Mochuda arrived at Comghall's establishment, and he went +to the monastery first and he did just as the angel foretold of him and +Comghall recognised him and bade him welcome. + + + +NOTE 2 + + +The obits of Mochuda's successors, down to Christian O'Conarchy, +are chronicled as follows:-- + +A.D. 650. Cuanan, maternal uncle and immediate successor of +Mochuda (Lanigan). +A.D. 698. Iarnla, surnamed Hierologus (Four Masters). In his +time King Alfrid was a student in Lismore. +A.D. 702. Colman, son of Finnbhar (Acta Sanctorum). During his +reign the abbey of Lismore reached the zenith of its fame. +A.D. 716. Cronan Ua Eoan (F. Masters). +A.D. 719. Colman O'Liathain (Annals of Inisfallen). +A.D. 741. Finghal (F. Masters). +A.D. 746. Mac hUige (Ibid). +A.D. 747. Ihrichmech (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 748. Maccoigeth (F. M.) +A.D. 752. Sinchu (F. M.) +A.D. 755. Condath (Ibid). +A.D. 756. Fincon (Annals of Ulster). +A.D. 761. Aedhan (F. M.) +A.D. 763. Ronan (Ware). +A.D. 769. Soairleach Ua Concuarain (F. M.) +A.D. 771. Eoghan (Ibid). +A.D. 776. Orach (Ibid). +A.D. 799. Carabran (Ibid). +A.D. 801. Aedhan Ua Raichlich (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 823. Flann (F. M.) +A.D. 849. Tibrade Ua Baethlanaigh (F. M.) At this period the +town was plundered and burned by the Danes who had sailed up +thither on the Blackwater. +A.D. 849. Daniel (A. of Inisf.) +A.D. 854. Suibne Ua Roichlech (F. M. and A. of Ulster). What is +probably his gravestone is one of five Irish-inscribed slabs +built into the west gable of the Cathedral. +A.D. 861. Daniel Ua Liaithidhe (F. M.) +A.D. 878. Martin Ua Roichligh (Ibid). Another of the inscribed +stones above referred to asks "A prayer for Martan." +A.D. 880. Flann Mac Forbasaich (A. I.) +A.D. 899. Maelbrighte Mac Maeldomnaich (Ibid). +A.D. 918. Cormac Mac Cuilennan (A. I.) He is to be +distinguished from his more famous namesake of Cashel. +A.D. 936. Ciaran (F. M.) +A.D. 951. Diarmuid (Ibid). +A.D. 957. Maenach Mac Cormaic (Ibid). +A.D. 958. Cathmog (Ibid). He was also bishop of Cork. +A.D. 963. Cinaedh (F. M.) +A.D. 1025. Omaelsluaig (Cotton's "Fasti"). +A.D. 1034. Moriertach O'Selbach, bishop of Lismore (Cotton). +A.D. 1064. Mac Airthir, bishop (Cotton). +A.D. 1090. Maelduin O'Rebhacain (Ibid). +A.D. 1112. Gilla Mochuda O'Rebhacain (A. of I.) +A.D. 1113. Nial Macgettigan. His episcopal staff, possibly +enclosing the venerable oaken staff of the founder of the abbey, +is still preserved at Lismore Castle. [Also known as the +'Lismore Crozier,' in 2004 it is housed in 'The Treasury' exhibit +at the National Museum of Ireland, Kildare St., Dublin 2.] +A.D. 1134. Malchus. Most probably he is identical with the +first bishop of Waterford. During his term both St. Malachy and +King Cormac MacCarthy dwelt as fugitives, guests or pilgrims, at +Lismore. +A.D. 1142. Ua Rebhacain. +A.D. 1186. St. Christian. He had however resigned the +bishopric. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The source for this text includes the Irish text and English translation +on facing pages and notes. The notes are quite lengthy and should take +longer to transcribe than the English text. Except for a few notes +transplanted in brackets to the body of the text I have not transcribed +them. Due to inexperience with the Irish language and its script I have +decided not to attempt to transcribe the Irish text. Hopefully someone +with the appropriate talent and interest will undertake that task some +day. I have corrected the errata as indicated in the source and a few +obvious printer errors. Please note that this text contains variant +spellings of names and words sometimes inconsistently applied. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lives of SS. Declan and Mochuda, Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF SS. DECLAN AND MOCHUDA *** + +***** This file should be named 11168.txt or 11168.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/1/6/11168/ + +Produced by Dennis McCarthy + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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