Benignus

ON ST. BENIGNUS, BISHOP OF ARMAGH,

IN THE YEAR 467

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY

Benignus, bishop of Armagh. (S.)

§ I. On the sources of the history of St. Benignus.

[1] Both Lives of Benignus are more recent. Of St. Benignus, whom St. Patrick held as a boy dearest to him above his other disciples and, after he had given up the helm of the church of Armagh, himself appointed in his own place, only one Life has been preserved, composed in Irish, and that of a later age. There is added a narrative of doubtful, or rather of no credibility at all, which was invented and written in Latin in England (BHL. 1151). But not a few things are to be found, both elsewhere and above all scattered here and there among the deeds of the apostle of the Irish, which no one yet, at least that we know of, has collected and weighed [Except what was briefly touched on, besides those whose opinions we are about to report, by the learned James Stuart, Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh (Newry, 1819), p. 90; A. P. Forbes in Wm. Smith and H. Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. I (London, 1877), p. 392; D. P. Conyngham, Lives of the Irish Saints and Martyrs (New York, [1885]), pp. 112–114; John Healy, The Life and Writings of St. Patrick (Dublin, 1905), pp. 576–78; N. J. D. White, St. Patrick. His Writings and Life (London, 1920), p. 129. Of no use at all is W. H. Grattan-Flood in The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. II (New York, n.d. [1907]), p. 479, col. 2, who in listing the authors was so incautious as to cite "O'Hanlon, Lives of Irish Saints (9 November) XI," although it is established that the pious writer died before the month of October was finished.]. For neither John Colgan, nor, some years ago, Canon John O'Hanlon, had the fortune to carry his writings as far as the month of November. Colgan, however, frequently treated of this Benignus in that Trias Thaumaturga, and also made an index of all the places where, in the Lives of St. Patrick which he himself had published, there was mention of St. Benignus [Triadis Thaumaturgae… Acta… studio R. P. F. Ioannis Colgani (Louvain, 1647), p. 265, col. 2 and p. 680, col. 2.]; he also put into Latin and sent to the press a large part of the Life (which we now publish for the first time in Irish) Id., ibid., pp. 203–205.. And those who compiled the Martyrology of Donegal handed down a summary of the same Life in Irish at 9 November See below, p. 149, note 7.. But the writers who in our times have disputed so fully and learnedly about the beginnings of the Irish church have so fixed their eyes on Patrick alone that they scarcely ever mentioned his predecessor, and as it were in passing. His history is to be dug out from the Patrician documents. Therefore the acts of St. Benignus will have to be dug out by us from the ancient documents and the writings of more recent authors. If anything should escape our diligence, let it be permitted to excuse it by what that simple and courteous man Geoffrey Keating observed three hundred years ago: "That those who read should know that he had found from certain chief and most ancient histories that sixty-four Lives of Patrick had been written [Otherwise the Tripartite Life in Colgan, op. cit., p. 167, ch. 99: "For there have been written about the acts of this Thaumaturgus, Apostle of the West, sixty-six books, and all of them by most weighty and very ancient authors." With this the Third Life agrees, n. 87, in J. B. Bury, A Life of St. Patrick, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXII, C, p. 258.]; each of which was dissimilar from the others, since each of the writers

brought forward new things which were lacking in the rest [Seathrun Ceitinn (Geoffrey Keating), Foras Feasa ar Eirinn. The History of Ireland, book II, ch. III, ed. P. S. Dinneen, vol. III (London, 1908), p. 30 (= Irish Texts Society, vol. IX).]."

[2] Benignus of Armagh to be distinguished from his namesakes. But before we speak of St. Benignus of Armagh, it must be noted that there were in both Scotlands at the same time several men of the same name illustrious for virtue.

That the feast day of Benignus, priest, is observed at Lesmahago on the fifth day before the Ides of August, writes Dempster [Thomas Dempster, Menologium Scotorum (Bologna, 1622), in the calendar at the day. This work A. P. Forbes reprinted, Kalendars of Scottish Saints (Edinburgh, 1872), pp. 175–229. Lesmahago is a parish in the county of Lanark, in lesser Scotland.], citing the Collectanea of Gilbert Brown, which perished long ago ["On the authority of the long-lost Collectanea of Gilbert Brown, abbot of Sweetheart." A. P. Forbes, op. cit., p. 278, col. 2. But from where the same learned man drew, in the Dictionary of Christian Biography, loc. cit., col. 1, n. 1, that the year of death of this Benignus was 436, we have not yet discovered; unless perhaps he seemed to himself to read it in Dempster. For he cites no other authority.], the writings of Henry Sinclair, etc. Who this Benignus the priest was, our predecessors desired to be taught Act. SS., Aug. vol. II, p. 399, among the Praetermissi.

Binean (otherwise, in Latin form, Bineanus), son of Lugni See below, no. 65., son of the daughter of Lugaith Maicc Netach, scribe, priest, anchorite, is read in the Book of Armagh, fol. 17 a 2, among the things added to the Collectanea of Tírechán (BHL. 6499), to have founded a church consecrated to God and offered to Patrick; and St. Patrick marked out the place for him with his staff, and he himself first offered the body and blood of Christ after Bineanus had received the grade from him; and he blessed him and left him after him in his place.

Benignus, brother of Cethiacus, of the race of Ailill, assuredly other than Benignus of Armagh. For both, in the company of St. Patrick, went up to the heights of Selca, the name of each was inscribed by Patrick's hand on a stone, which Tírechán testifies in the Book of Armagh, fol. 12 b 2, he had seen with his own eyes. Of this Benignus we shall treat more than once, when we distinguish as best we can what he did and what Benignus of Armagh did.

A certain St. Benignus (otherwise Beona) is said to rest in the monastery of Glastonbury. Whether he was the same as the one of Armagh will have to be seen [Below, nos. 83–86. Finally, lest we seem to omit anything, in a recent Spanish Life of St. Patrick we read that a certain Benignus presided over the monks whom St. Patrick visited on his journey after he had broken his bonds and fled from Ireland: "D'après Montalvan, le supérieur de cette communauté de moines était un certain Benigno qui portait le même nom que le successeur de Patrice à Armagh." [According to Montalvan, the superior of this community of monks was a certain Benigno who bore the same name as the successor of Patrick at Armagh.] Joseph Dunn, La Vie de Saint Patrice. Mystère breton en trois actes (Paris, 1909), p. XVIII. The title prefixed to the Spanish work is this: Vida y Purgatorio del glorioso S. Patricio… por el Doctor Juan Perez de Montalvan [Life and Purgatory of the glorious St. Patrick… by Doctor Juan Pérez de Montalván]. But who this Benignus was, nay rather whether he ever existed anywhere except in the fertile wit of a certain Spaniard, is entirely uncertain.].

[3] Of St. Benignus, whose feast is appointed on 9 November in the Festology of Marianus O'Gorman [Wh. Stokes, Félire húi Gormáin. The Martyrology of Gorman (London, 1895), p. 214 (= Henry Bradshaw Society, vol. IX).] and in the Martyrology of Donegal [Michael O'Clery, The Martyrology of Donegal, ed. J. O'Donovan, J. H. Todd and W. Reeves (Dublin, 1864), p. 300 (Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society).], we have already indicated in passing what the sources of the Life were. Of the Glastonbury fictions there will be another, more fitting place to speak. The matter must now be set out by us at greater length.

[4] The single transcript of the Irish Life; The Irish Life, or rather Homily, on St. Benignus, hitherto unpublished, was copied by Michael O'Clery O. F. M. This is the single transcript which, with other writings of the indefatigable scribe, is now kept in the Royal Library of Brussels, in the codex marked 4190–4200, fol. 210r–219r (formerly fol. 203r–212r), paper, written in full lines [On this codex see V. Tourneur, in J. Van den Gheyn, Catalogue des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, vol. V (Brussels, 1905), pp. 381–84; C. Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn. Lives of Irish Saints (Oxford, 1922), vol. I, pp. XI–XII.]. At what time and from what codex the Life of St. Benignus itself was copied, this colophon on fol. 223r (formerly 216r), in the very hand of Michael O'Clery, indicates: As leabhar meammruim fuarus on tsaccart Nioclas ó Cathasaigh ar íasacht do sccriobus Betha Fhindéin 7 Beineoin 7 gach a bfuil ina ndiaigh diaidh corrected i nAth Cliath .i. i ttigh na mbráthar .i.-bráthar above the line an céid fhecht 7 ro scriobhus in ath uair annso na neithe céttna i ttigh na mbrathar ag Drobhaois .7. marta 1629. Aois Criost an trath ro sccriobh Giolla Glas ua Huiginn an seinleabar. m. cccc. lxxi. In Latin: From a parchment codex which I borrowed from Nicholas ó Cathasaigh, priest, I copied the Life of Finnian and of Benignus, and the other things which follow the Lives up to this place, first at Dublin in the convent of the friars; the same I transcribed into this codex in the convent of the friars of Drobhaois, on 7 March 1629. The old codex (namely the parchment one which I used) was written by Giolla Glas úa Huiginn in the year 1471.

[5] Note that the illustrious antiquary was of such diligence in copying [That supreme care of Michael O'Clery C. Plummer has recently proved by a clear argument, op. cit., pp. XIII–XIV.] that he did not deviate from the exemplar even in the abbreviations of the writing; we must therefore use the transcript just as if it were a codex written in the year 1471. Afterwards, however, it was emended in not a few places with other ink and by another hand. We think the corrector was the Irish hagiographer John Colgan, a member of the same Franciscan order. For it is established that the codex was in the college of Saint Anthony at Louvain, where Colgan laboured for some time with his companions; the same codex also seems to be the one which the learned man used to make the Latin translation which he sent to the press [Trias Thaumaturga (Louvain, 1647), pp. 203–205. These are the passages which we have found cited by Colgan from the Irish Life of St. Benignus: ch. 2, 3, 7–18, Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 203–205; part of ch. 20, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 307, col. 2; ch. 12 and 13, ibid., p. 308; the beginning of ch. 10, ibid., p. 788, col. 1.].

[6] The Irish Life we now publish for the first time, with the greatest diligence that the typographical art allowed; the abbreviations of the writing which we have resolved we have always expressed in italic letters, as is customary in publishing ancient Irish writings; whatever was added by the corrector, not neglecting even the accents, we have carefully noted at the foot of the page. To each chapter of the codex there corresponds a new Latin translation [In proper names, both in this commentary and in the Latin translation, we have not used one way of writing: so variously are they expressed in the very monuments of the Irish language, and above all in writings separated from one another by so great an interval of time. We shall take care that the index of names comprises all the variants, as far as can be done. If we have sinned in this matter, only he will count it against us who has never put his hand to business of this kind. Where we have added a Latin ending to Irish names, we have distinguished it, as occasion required, with a little line inserted, in this way: Brendán-i, Brendán-o.]. In preparing these we were greatly helped by the most kind benevolence and illustrious learning of the learned gentlemen Charles Plummer, most expert in the hagiographical fasti of Ireland, and John Fraser, professor of Celtic languages and literature in Jesus College, Oxford: whom we name here both for honour's sake and out of a grateful mind.

[7] its sources. We must now come to indicating briefly the sources of the Irish Life. The first and last chapters consist almost of commonplaces; into them, however, the unknown yet not careless writer mingled here and there a few things about St. Benignus, about his feast day, about the monasteries and churches founded by him, about the lineage of St. Iarlaithe See the note on ch. 20.. The second chapter presents the origin of the family of St. Benignus, both paternal and maternal, not without grave errors See below, nos. 14–15.; this the writer seems to have borrowed from some genealogist. Very many of the other things drew their origin from the ancient Patrician writings, especially from the Tripartite Life (BHL. 6509). The writer seems to have used a transcript not unlike codex Egerton 93 See below, nos. 28–29.. Finally, chapters 10 and 11 were drawn from some Latin Life, whether of St. Patrick or of St. Benignus is uncertain. I should, however, be more inclined to believe that a Life of St. Patrick was plundered; for both St. Patrick plays the chief part and, if the writer had had an ancient Latin Life of St. Benignus in his hands, he would surely, content with the office of translator, have abstained from that farrago which we read. However the matter stands, the writer of this Latin fragment is of plainly wonderful diligence in listing in their order the names of places which are entirely lacking in the other Patrician documents; so much so that here, by happy fortune, there seems to have been preserved a small part of some lost work on the deeds of St. Patrick in the western parts of Connacht, or at least that there were committed to writing here the things which were commonly handed down and believed in those regions. Some poems are interspersed, as is customarily done in Irish writings composed in prose. What their authority was seems rather idle to inquire: so little sense is there in those futile verses. Perhaps, however, at least some of these poems were not composed by the one who committed the Irish Life to writing, for for the most part they are cited by him as testimony.

[8] Latin Lives The Latin Life (BHL. 1151) was composed before the middle of the 14th century by John of Tynemouth from the Glastonbury monuments, of which we shall speak below See below, nos. 83–86.. Two miracles have been added. Four codices have preserved the Life.

codices 1 = Codex of the British Museum Cotton. Tiberius

E. I, parchment, written in two columns in the middle of the 14th century. It comprises the work of Tynemouth, in which is read On St. Benignus, bishop and confessor, on the folio formerly marked 131 [By a printer's error, as it seems, T. D. Hardy has, Descriptive Catalogue of Materials relating to the History of Great Britain, vol. I, part I (London, 1862), p. 89 (= Rolls Series, No. 26): "f. 271"; we judge it should be read fol. or p. 261.]; this volume, after the ruinous fire of the year 1731, in which it was somewhat damaged and spoiled, was divided into two volumes and carefully rebound; now the Life of St. Benignus is read at fol. 98–98v of the second volume. This best witness we have followed, with the variant readings of codex 2 and of the book published by Wynkyn de Worde relegated to the margin of the page.

2 = Codex of Oxford, Bodleian Library, Tanner 15, parchment, written in two columns in the year 1499 [A. Hackman, Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecae Bodleianae Pars quarta (Oxford, 1860), col. 18.], comprising the Nova Legenda Angliae, in which the Life of St. Benignus is read at fol. 61. It was collated by the learned T. R. Gambier Parry, one of the Bodleian librarians.

3 = Codex of the British Museum Cotton. Otho D. IX, written before the middle of the 15th century; so damaged by fire and so little different from the others that we were altogether unwilling to spend so much labour on so small a work.

4 = Codex of York, library of the cathedral church XVI. G. 23 [Wrongly, as it seems, C. Horstman has, Nova Legenda Anglie (Oxford, 1901), vol. I, p. XV, that this codex is marked XVI. C. 1.], written in two columns at the beginning of the 15th century [Alb. Poncelet, Le Légendier de Pierre Calo, in Anal. Boll., vol. XXIX, pp. 47–48.]. The same learned T. R. Gambier Parry tried in vain to collate it with the others as a favour to us.

[9] and editions. The same Life of St. Benignus (BHL. 1151) is read in the Nova Legenda Anglie printed by Wynkyn de Worde at London in the year 1516, fol. 36; in the new edition of C. Horstman, vol. I, pp. 112–14, with codex 1 collated. Finally, an English translation of the Latin Life, somewhat contracted, came out in the same year 1516 in the work which begins Here begynneth the Kalendre of the newe Legende of Englande, printed by R. Pynson, London, 1516 Horstman, op. cit., p. XXI..

[10] English Lives The Latin Life of St. Benignus was also turned to his own uses by Nicholas Roscarrock, an Englishman; his work is read in a paper codex written in his own hand between the years 1608 and 1617, which, found not long ago at the place called Brent Eleigh, is now kept in the library of the University of Cambridge, Addit. 3041 Horstman, pp. IX–X, note 1., p. 89 (or fol. 89r?). Let this come to us under the name of the English Life. It is entitled: Of Sainct Benignus Bishopp and Confessor and Triumpher ouer Deuill. 3 Nouemb. anno 460: anno 500. It begins: Sainct Benignus was baptizesed by St Patrick, saith Joceline ch: 41 and adds above the line having 〈bene〉 manie yeres a Bishopp in Ireland [and St Patricks scoller and successor in his sea (sic) adds above the line; the word and prior afterwards deleted] and governing well there, was advised by his owne good Angell or some other to leave his countrie and to live in some Desert.

[11] many sources, In the last lines of the page Nicholas himself commends to readers the authors he followed in writing, in these words: whose (Benignus') Bodie being translated in the yere of our lord .1091. to Glastenbury, manye Miracles were then wrought, as ye maie reede in Capgraue, out of whom I haue collected this Sanctilogi Britania fol: 262. cap: 1 [Hence it can be conjectured that Nicholas Roscarrock used the codex which is now Cotton. Tiberius E. I (see above no. 8); for in this the Latin Life of St. Benignus is read on the folio which was then 131; if, therefore, you count pages, folio 131v becomes page 262.]. William Malmesbury abut the year 1140 wrote his life. And lib: 2. pontif: maketh him amongst others to be buried at Glastenburie fol: 148 and Molanus in Vsuard Nouembris 3. The Tables of the Church of Glastenbury doe make mention that Saint Benignus, the schollar of Saint Patrick and third successor of his Bishoprick came vnto him being at Glastenbury, anno 460. and of his and that his MS procuring the water of fferramere by his prayer, and that of MS, afterwards deleted his Staff turned to a Tree, and of his Translation anno 1091. being famous for Miracles in the time of William Rufus.

[12] In the margin, moreover, both Jocelin and John of Tynemouth in the Life of St. Patrick are named as witnesses; those who want more are also referred to the Acts which Nicholas was to write when he came to St. Patrick. no authority. Reading these things we learned, what we by no means suspected, that in the Cambridge codex there lies hidden not the illustrious document which imprudent report was cracking up [Horstman, loc. cit. Cf. W. C. Borlase, The Age of the Saints (Truro, 1893), p. 186, note 1.], but an English epitome of the Latin Life, wholly unworthy to be sent to the press. It is enough to have mentioned it. Of the other sources of the history of St. Benignus we shall speak one by one as this commentary proceeds.

§ II. On the lineage and age of St. Benignus.

[13] On the paternal pedigree of Benignus Different authors have derived the lineage of St. Benignus from different sources; Geoffrey Keating believed them so candidly that, having made a computation, he pronounced that Benignus was begotten in the eighty-seventh generation from Adam [Cf. ch. 2 of the Irish Life and Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating), Foras Feasa ar Éirinn. The History of Ireland, ed. cit., vol. IV, p. 17.]. We have no such faith; but having collected as many testimonies as we could, we do not deny that many things seem to have been sincerely handed down in those monuments Eoin MacNeill, Celtic Ireland (Dublin, 1921), pp. 43–63.. As regards St. Benignus, it is not easily to be called into doubt that his paternal stock drew its origin from Cian, son of King Ailill Ólom (the crop-eared); that his father's name was written Sescnanus in the very exemplar of the Book of Armagh is our conjecture Patriciana, in Anal. Boll., vol. XLIII.. But let us cite the genealogists, and first indeed that ancient author whose studies are preserved in the Book of Leinster (c. 1150):

Benian, salmchetlaid Patric, mac Sescniain, do Chiannacht Glinni Gaimin do sil Taidc meic Cein do [The Book of Leinster, (facsimile) published by the Royal Irish Academy, with Introduction… by R. Atkinson (Dublin, 1880), p. 351, col. 2.]. In Latin: Benignus, psalmist of Patrick, son of Sescnianus, of the tribe called Cíanachta Glinne Gaimen, of the seed of Tadg son of Cian.

[14] While most witnesses agree fairly well with this [Leabhar Breac. The Speckled Book, (facsimile) published from the original manuscript in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy Preface by Samuel Ferguson (Dublin, 1872–1876), p. 19, col. 1: Beneoin .i. salmcedlaid Patraic (.i.-Patraic above the line) mac Sescnen do shil Taidg meic Cein a Cianachtu Glinde Geimin do. In Latin: Benignus, psalmist of Patrick, son of Sescnenus, of the seed of Tadg son of Cian, of the tribe called Cianachta Glinde Geimin. Ibid., p. 220, col. 2: Benen, mac Sescnén, salmcetlaid Patraic, do Chianachta Glinde Gaimen, do síl Taidg meic Cein ó Chaissil dó. [Benén, son of Sescnén, psalmist of Patrick, of the Cíanachta of Glenn Gaimen, of the seed of Tadg son of Cian of Cashel.] J. O'Donovan, Leabhar na g-Ceart or The Book of Rights (Dublin, 1847), p. 50 (Celtic Society): … tecusca Benén, meic Sescnéan, sailm-cheatlaigh Pédraic; 7 do Chiandacta Gleanda Gemhin, do shil Taidhc meic Céna Mumhain máir dó. [… the instruction of Benén, son of Sescnén, psalmist of Patrick; and he was of the Cíanachta of Glenn Gemin, of the seed of Tadg son of Cian of great Munster.] Add what O'Donovan notes in the same place about the later fortunes of the illustrious stock called Cíanachta Gleanna Geimhin. Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae by the Four Masters, ed. Paul Walsh in Archivium Hibernicum and afterwards separately (Maynooth and Dublin, 1918), p. 122: Cap. XXXVI. Do Sliocht Cen meic Oilella Oluim… Benen, sailmcetlaidh Patraig, easpacc 7 priomhaidh iaramh, mac Sescnen. In Latin: Benignus, psalmist of Patrick, afterwards bishop and primate, son of Sescnenus. Michael O'Clery, The Martyrology of Donegal, ed. cit., p. 300: Benen, mac Seiscnein, … do shliocht Cein mic Oiliolla Oluim dó. Sodhelbh, inghen Cathaoir mic Feidhlimidh Fir Urglais, do Laighnibh, a mhathair. [Benén, son of Seiscnén, … he was of the race of Cian son of Ailill Ólom. Sodhelbh, daughter of Cathaír son of Feidhlimidh Fir Urglais, of the Leinstermen, was his mother.]], one genealogy preserved in the Oxford codex Laud 610 dissents, the authors dispute among themselves. whose authority in matters of this kind is not small: for it seems to have borrowed much from that very ancient and genuine Psalter of Cashel [See J. MacNeill, Notes on the Laud Genealogies, in Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, vol. VIII (1911), pp. 411–18; although J. MacNeill treats one part of the codex, we cite another.]. Here St. Benignus is reported to have sprung ar slicht Aengusa mic 〈Nadfraich〉, "of the seed of Oengus mac Nadfraich" [Fol. 38 c. Of this the distinguished C. Plummer, with his usual kindness, informed us.]. This is not to be taken as if the stock of Benignus had drawn its origin from that Oengus who in the very time of St. Patrick ruled in the parts of Munster. Rather, it is certain from elsewhere that both St. Benignus and King Oengus were most closely connected with the tribe called the Eoghanachta. The paternal lineage of St. Benignus, that man most expert in these matters, I. F. Shearman, believed could be restored thus: Oilill Olum, Cian, Taidg, Cormac Galeng, Lui (otherwise Laoi), Sescnan, Benen [Loca Patriciana (Dublin, 1879); Table facing p. 394. Somewhat otherwise John O'Donovan, Leabhar na g-Ceart, p. III, note a: "According to the Genealogies of the Saints collected by the O'Clerighs, Benean, bishop and primate, was the son of Sesgnean, son of Laei, son of Tadhg, son of Cian, son of Oilioll Olum." But this wrongly, as it seems; for we have cited the passage from those Genealogies collected by the Four Masters, above p. 148, note 9, who do not the same

sound.]. And so our Irish writer Ch. 2., deceived by the pedigree which is found in most authors, seems imprudently to have made Benignus the son of a son of Cian, who, if the Irish historians are to be trusted, began his reign in the territory of Bregia in the year 226 and met his fate in the year 241, nearly two hundred years before Benignus was born [See what W. Reeves noted in Michael O'Clery, The Martyrology of Donegal, ed. cit., pp. 300–301, notes 1 and 2.]. And so much for his paternal stock.

[15] In the maternal stock That his mother's name was Sodhelbh (otherwise Sodelb, Soidhealbh, in Latin "beautiful form"), several authors have related. The oldest of them is that genealogist in the Book of Leinster whom we cited above [The Book of Leinster, p. 347, col. 5. Almost the same, the Four Masters in their genealogies, Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. cit., p. 62.]; Michael O'Clery seems to have followed him in the Martyrology of Donegal, before he rescued the Irish Life from oblivion [See the critical edition of the Martyrology of Donegal at this day in the sylloge On the Saints who are venerated in both Scotlands, below. Cf. Michael O'Clery, The Martyrology of Donegal, ed. cit., p. 300.]. In the latter, indeed, the mother of St. Benignus is mentioned more than once, especially in chapter 10, where a quatrain is cited as testimony, which seems to have been excerpted from some poem on the mothers of the saints of Ireland. For a catalogue of these survives [For example in the codex of the British Museum Addit. 30. 512, fol. 52b; a transcript of which is in the codex of Trinity College, Dublin H. 1. 11, fol. 165. T. K. Abbott and E. J. Gwynn, Catalogue of the Irish Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin (Dublin, 1921), p. 34. Also in The Book of Ballymote, pp. 212–14, and The Book of Leinster, pp. 372–73.], a kind of document which was always a most welcome subject for the versifying of the Irish muse. Note that the mother of St. Benignus is listed among the holy women in the Book of Leinster and elsewhere; a twofold name of hers is also handed down, the one Dari (otherwise Daire), the other Sodelb, as though this had been her surname. A saint of this name is venerated on 26 October, and there were not lacking those who believed that she was the mother of St. Benignus Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. cit., p. 62.. But in the pedigree of the mother of St. Benignus the writer of the Irish Life again revealed his gross ignorance Ch. 2 and 10., when he relates that Cathaoir, the maternal grandfather of St. Benignus, was that very Cathaoir Mór (the great), king, who, if the domestic Annals of the Irish are to be believed, was slain in the year 122 from the birth of Christ Annals of the Four Masters, ed. cit., vol. I, p. 102.. Add that an altogether different pedigree of the one and of the other is handed down by the genealogists; for most restore the stock of Cathaoir Mór thus [Whoever wants an interpretation of the pedigree, let him go to the second chapter of the Irish Life in our version. Here it is to be noted that two ὁμοιοτέλευτα names (Con Cuirb and Modha Cuirb) were passed over by the writer of the Irish Life, who, to show that this was his own transcript, sprinkled it with not a few errors.]: Cathaoir Mor mac Fedlimidh Firurglais mic Corbmaic Gealta Gaoth mic Niadha Cuirb mic Con Cuirb mic Modha Cuirb mic Concobair Abhradruaid mic Finn Filedh mic Rosa Ruaid mic Ferghosa Fairrge mic Nuadat Necht mic Sedna Siothbaic mic Luigdech Loichfinn mic Breasail Bric [Cathaoir Mór, son of Fedlimid Fir Urglais, son of Cormac Gealta Gáeth, son of Nia Corb, son of Cú Corb, son of Mug Corb, son of Conchobar Abradruad, son of Finn File, son of Ross Ruad, son of Fergus Fairrge, son of Nuadu Necht, son of Sétna Sithbacc, son of Lugaid Loíchfind, son of Bresal Brec] Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. cit., pp. 25, 27.. the Irish Life erred. But Cathaoir, father of St. Soidhealbh, is said to be mac Luighdeach mic Sedna mic Amhalgadha mic Fiachrach mic Eathach Moighmedhóin Op. cit., p. 62., that is, son of Lughaidh, son of Séadna, son of Amhalgaidh, son of Fiachra, son of Eochaidh Moighmedhón. And by that very quatrain which the writer of the Irish Life himself brings forward he ought to have been taught out of his error; for there it is distinctly indicated that the surname of Cathaoir, father of St. Soidhealbh, was not Mór (the great), but Cenrudrach or Ceannrudrach (flat-headed).

[16] Edmund Hogan Documenta de S. Patricio, in Anal. Boll., vol. II, p. 218, note a., while he wishes to clear up a perplexed passage of the Book of Armagh, conjectures that St. Benignus son of Sescnanus is the same as Benignus son of Lugni; for this, he holds, was the name not of the father but of the mother. We think otherwise See the note on chapter 10 of the Irish Life.; but of all these things let posterity be the judge, who, we hope, will one day have these genealogies conveniently edited and furnished with the fullest indexes. Finally, that the two SS. Benignus, namely the one of Armagh and the brother of Cethiacus, sprang from the seed of Cian is a not improbable conjecture of Colgan Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 177–78, note 109.. With this, as you would expect, the Genealogies collected by the Four Masters agree Loc. cit..

[17] Benignus, born in the year 426, All the authors who have related the deeds of St. Patrick likewise narrate that Benignus as a boy was already with Patrick when he, in the year 433, on 26 March, first celebrated the paschal feast in Ireland. He could not, however, have attached himself to him long before, for Patrick landed in Ireland in the year 432 [B. Mac Carthy, Annals of Ulster, vol. IV (Dublin, 1901), pp. CVI–CIX; with whom J. B. Bury agrees in everything, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 283. That the oldest testimony of all is had in the Historia Brittonum, ed. Mommsen, M. G., Auct. ant., vol. XIII (Berlin, 1898), p. 158, no. 16, A. Anscombe clearly showed, The Exordium of the Annales Cambriae, in Ériu, vol. III (1907), p. 126, note 2.]. They relate, and indeed probably enough, that Benignus was then about seven years old See below, p. 154, note 5..

[18] the Annals relate that he died in the year 467. The year of death of St. Benignus is fixed at 467 by the Annals of Ulster [Annals of Ulster, vol. I, ed. W. M. Hennessy (Dublin, 1887), p. 22. A little after there is written "Thus I found in the book of Cuanu", whence T. Ó Máille gathers, The Language of the Annals of Ulster (Manchester, 1910), p. 8 (= Publications of the University of Manchester, Celtic Series, No. II), that that statement about the death of St. Benignus was perhaps taken from the ancient document called the Book of Cuanu; but, as Ó Máille himself notes, it is more probable that these words refer not to the death of St. Benignus but to the feast of Tara which is treated next in the Annals.], whom the Annals of the Four Masters follow Annals of the Four Masters, ed. cit., vol. I, p. 146.. The Annals called Tigernach's are mutilated at this place [Cf. J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 280. On those Annals see the treatise of E. MacNeill in Ériu, loc. cit.]. The year 465, which is indicated in the Chronicon Scotorum Ed. W. M. Hennessy (London, 1866), p. 26 (= Rolls Series No. 46)., was not taken from some source or tradition. For in the same Chronicle the first year of the reign of Ailill Molt is 461, which in the Ulster Annals is 463, and more truly so. The whole series of years, therefore, seems to have been placed two years too early. Nor are the Annales Cambriae, which record the death of Benignus at the year 468, to be thought to report any trace of antiquity [The Annals were first edited less carefully by J. Williams ab Ithel (London, 1860), p. 3 (= Rolls Series, No. 20), then with the greatest care by E. Phillimore in Y Cymmrodor, vol. IX (1888), p. 141 ff. We have used the excerpts which J. B. Bury cites from this edition, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 284.]: for in these, J. B. Bury has shown, the numbers of the years were computed differently in different places [Tírechán's Memoir of St. Patrick, in English Historical Review, vol. XVII (1902), p. 247, note 49.]. The same year 468 is read in the Annals of Clonmacnoise [The Annals of Clonmacnoise … translated into English A. D. 1627 … edited by Denis Murphy (Dublin), p. 72 (= Extra Volume of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland for 1893–1895).]; from which must be subtracted the year which seems to have been added here and there throughout this whole passage [This will be plain to one who compares the Annals of Ulster with the Annals of Clonmacnoise under the years 469 and 482. But what that "Brandon Bushopp of Ardmagh" means, whom the Annals of Clonmacnoise insert between Benignus and Earlahy (Iarlaithe), we by no means understand. For we have nowhere found any Brendan sitting at that time at the helm of the church of Armagh.], so that it becomes 467. The Annals of Boyle we know only from the translation of John D'Alton [The History of Ireland from the Earliest Period to the year 1245 when the Annals of Boyle which are adopted and embodied as the running Text Authority terminate, vol. II (Dublin, 1845), p. 62.]; he, relying on the weak authority of Charles O'Conor [Annales Buellani ex codice Cottoniano Titus A. XXV, in C. O'Connor, Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres, vol. II (Buckingham, 1825).], whom we can neither trust nor contradict, reports that Benignus, successor of St. Patrick, rested in the year 475; but here, as in the Chronicon Scotorum, the beginning of the reign of Ailill Molt has been put late, not indeed by two but by eight years.

[19] The distinguished I. Lanigan writes An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. I, 2nd ed. (Dublin, 1829), p. 377. that he wonders how the fable of St. Benignus having died at Rome crept into the Annals of Inisfallen, which would not have to be cited here if the learned I. O'Donovan had really demonstrated Leabhar na g-Ceart, p. V, note d. that they are nothing but a farrago concocted after a fashion in the year 1760 at Paris by two Irishmen from the codices of the poets and the books of the learned [These are cited thus by Lanigan: "Annals of Innisfallen among Harris' Manuscripts in the Library of the Royal Dublin Society." Lanigan, op. cit., p. 363, note 134.]. But his arguments were undermined by Ware [The Whole Works of Sir James Ware concerning Ireland. Revised and improved by W. Harris, vol. I (Dublin, 17..?), p. 35.], who had cited this very passage long before the year

1760. It is not established, therefore, that the writer of these Annals did not read somewhere what he reports about St. Benignus. For, comparing the Oxford codex [Rawlinson B. 503, fol. 9v–10. In this matter, as in many others, we have used the kindness and diligence of the learned T. R. Gambier Parry, one of the keepers of the famous library.] with the edition of Charles O'Conor [Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres, vol. II, Annales Innisfallenses ex codice Bodleiano, p. 3.], we have obtained this: An. cccc lx ix Kl. Quies Benigni Epis. in Roma moritur. Year 469, Kalends. The rest of Bishop Benignus; at Rome he dies. So the codex; but in the limping sentence it is not clearly enough seen whether our Benignus himself is said to have died at Rome, or some other whose name has dropped out after episcopi. Add that in the style of the Irish annals clerics do not die, but rest; death carries off laymen only. Finally, about the year, which is 469, the same must be noted as we said of the Chronicon Scotorum, that an error of two years has crept in here. But in such great perplexity of years and events as the Inisfallen Annals present when compared with the others, we scarcely dare to define anything.

[20] In the Irish Chronicle Do Fhlaithesaib 7 Amseraib hErenn iar creitim Of the reigns and times of Ireland after the faith, which was inserted in the Book of Leinster about the year 1160, between the years 463–483 [In reality Ailill Molt reigned in the years 463–482, J. B. Bury, Tírechán's Memoir of St. Patrick, in English Historical Review, vol. XVII (1902), p. 240.], in the reign of Ailill Molt, there is recorded: Quies Benigni fi episcopi The rest of Benignus, fi bishop [J. H. Todd, loc. cit., and Wh. Stokes, loc. cit., read sancti; J. B. Bury, loc. cit., suggested secundi, but rather timidly; H. D'Arbois de Jubainville, loc. cit., reads secundi. We judge that this should be read; but more fully when we treat of the catalogue of the successors of St. Patrick, below, nos. 77–82.] … The rest of Iarlaithe, third bishop [In The Book of Leinster, p. 24, col. 1–2. The treatise was first edited by J. H. Todd, St. Patrick (Dublin, 1864), pp. 184–88; partly again by H. D'Arbois de Jubainville, Saint Patrice et Sen Patrice, in Revue Celtique, vol. IX (1888), pp. 116–17; then in full by Wh. Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. II, pp. 512–29; finally in part by I. B. Bury, Supplementary Notes on Tírechán's Memoir of St. Patrick, in English Historical Review, vol. XVII (1902), pp. 700–702. Him we have mostly followed, inasmuch as he had examined the codex again, not content with the lithographic image. From there Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating) took it that St. Benignus met death in the reign of Ailill Molt, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn. The History of Ireland, vol. III, ed. cit., p. 44.].

[21] Of the fallacious reasoning by which the learned have more than once persuaded themselves that in the Annals of Ulster the year 468 should be written for the year 467, we shall soon say something Below, p. 151, note 15.. By this error the very great men John O'Donovan, J. Lanigan, A. P. Forbes, Wh. Stokes, J. H. Bernard and R. Atkinson were deceived [J. O'Donovan, Leabhar na g-Ceart, p. v; J. Lanigan, An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. I, pp. 358, 362, 374; A. P. Forbes in Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. I, p. 312, col. 1; Wh. Stokes, Félire húi Gormáin, p. 335; J. H. Bernard and R. Atkinson, The Irish Liber Hymnorum, vol. II (London, 1898), p. 247 (= Henry Bradshaw Society, Vol. XIV).].

[22] His commemoration on 9 November. The day of death of St. Benignus the Irish monuments indicate with the greatest agreement as the fifth day before the Ides of November. Gratuitously, then, and without cause, Colgan, who, as is plain from other places, had intended to publish and illustrate the Life of St. Benignus on that day, once referred his readers to the Life of Benignus "at 2 March" Trias Thaumaturga, p. 265, col. 2.. And as for his writing that the natal day of St. Benignus is kept according to the domestic festologies here and there on 1 November, we do not know where he drew it from Op. cit., p. 20, col. 2.. At Glastonbury, however, the feast of St. Benignus seems to have been observed on 3 November [That same day of the Glastonbury feast is the one on which the memory of St. Benignus is appointed in the collectanea on the saints of Ireland kept among the Franciscans at Dublin. These collectanea were gathered with the purpose that Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae might one day be completed. The day 9 Nov. is vacant. Of these matters the distinguished C. Plummer most kindly informed us. More fully elsewhere on those Glastonbury fictions, below, nos. 83–86.].

[23] Into the see of Patrick That St. Benignus succeeded St. Patrick himself in the see of Armagh is read in the Life of St. Mochta (BHL. 5976), in these words:

The supreme Sumus MS. pontiff Patrick began added in the margin by the first hand. at one time to dwell near his monastery. And one day, as both were conversing, an angel was sent to them bearing a letter. When Patrick had read it through he said to Mochta: "Here I will not dwell. For through you God added in the margin by a corrector. has visited the inhabitants of this land. In the fountain of your light they will see light and attain eternal life. For fittingly David speaks to you in their person: for with thee is the fountain of life, and in thy light we shall see light." Mochta said: "If this pleases God, that we should serve Him separated from each other, I will depart." Patrick answered: "The word of the Lord cannot be changed." Then Mochta said: "If I depart from this light before you, I commit my household to you." But Patrick said: "And I commend mine to you, if I go before you to the Lord." And so it came about. And after him Mochta ruled the see for some days and enthroned Benignus, his disciple, in his place [These were copied afresh from the Salamanca codex, fol. 214v; the passage had already been edited through the work of Charles De Smedt and Joseph De Backer, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice Salmanticensi (Edinburgh, London etc., 1888), col. 907.].

Although Colgan judged these things more mildly than was just Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 731, note 10., and on his authority our Pinius Act. SS., Aug. vol. III, pp. 737–38., they are to be relegated altogether among the fictions of the hagiographers. St. Mochta, who in the catalogues of the companions of St. Patrick is called his priest Cf. below, no. 62., was never bishop of Armagh. We do not deny, however, that it was entrusted to him by St. Patrick to take care that a successor should be provided after his death.

[24] The Tripartite Life of Colgan: Benignus … held worthy in the judgment of all… to succeed his master St. Patrick in the archbishopric of Armagh and the primacy of Ireland, which office he discharged most happily for many years Trias Thaumaturga, p. 124, col. 1.. On this testimony some have persuaded themselves that St. Benignus spent many years in the see of Armagh. But if anything is to be gathered from the parallel passages, this was a not very true interpretation by Colgan himself Cf. below, no. 82.; which nonetheless was counted among the most ancient documents on which the primatial authority of the see of Armagh over all Ireland rested [Jus Primatiale Armacanum in Omnes Archiepiscopos, Episcopos, et Universum Clerum totius Regni Hiberniae. Assertum per H. A. M. T. H. P. (that is, Hugh MacMahon of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland), n.p. [1728], p. 120.].

[25] Benignus succeeded. Moreover, that Benignus did not obtain the see immediately after Armagh was founded, as some have wished, we have a clear indication in the little narrative of St. Ercnat, virgin Below, nos. 45–48., where it is related that St. Benignus was then still a youth and psalmist, whatever that office was, while Patrick was administering the church of Armagh [Cf. J. O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, vol. III (Dublin, London, New York, n.d.), p. 747.]. Nor does St. Benignus seem to have been raised to the see of Armagh while Patrick was still alive. For in the heading of the canons which were decreed a little before the year 461 by a synod of the bishops of Ireland, the name of St. Benignus is not yet read [J. Lanigan, An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. I, p. 332. Cf. J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 234.]; and the more recent writers know that St. Patrick died in the year 461, on 17 March [I. B. Bury proved this by very many and most clear arguments; go to him. On the day: op. cit., p. 227, note 1, and p. 319; on the year: Tírechán's Memoir of St. Patrick, in English Historical Review, vol. XVII (1902), pp. 239–48; The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 331–34, 382–84. With him have agreed, to omit others, J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus (Dublin, 1913), p. XLVII; E. MacNeill, The Authorship and Structure of the Annals of Tigernach, in Ériu, vol. VII (1913), p. 82; Id., Phases of Irish History (Dublin, 1920), pp. 222–24; N. J. D. White, St. Patrick. His Writings and Life, p. 1. Add H. J. Lawlor and R. I. Best, The Ancient List of the Coarbs of Patrick, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXV, C, p. 338; these indeed everywhere write 462, because they falsely supposed that, to find the year of the Lord, one year must be added to the number 461 which the Annals of Ulster give. But this ought not to be done before the year 486. On this matter B. Mac Carthy, Annals of Ulster, vol. IV, pp. XCVI–XCIX.]. Some indeed think that he was the coadjutor of Patrick in administering the church of Armagh [An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. I, p. 318, note 146; pp. 323–31, 332, 357–61, 362, 374–77.]. Nor was any other opinion open to those who believe that St. Benignus died many years before St. Patrick; for after they had added to Patrick's age the years in which it was established that other bishops of Armagh lived, what remained but to call these bishops Patrick's coadjutors? Others, who knew that Patrick passed to heaven in the year 461, arrived at the point of attributing to St. Benignus those ten years which are inscribed in the catalogue of the successors of St. Patrick N. J. D. White, St. Patrick. His Writings and Life, p. 129.. Others, finally,

wished to give Patrick the opportunity of going to Glastonbury, where they believe he died, and, lest the Irish church should be so long without a pastor, they substituted Benignus for him. These and other things like them the authors have devised, which there is no leisure to pursue one by one [Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 29, col. 2, note 1; p. 293, col. 1, under the year 467; Id., Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 731, note 10; Roderick O'Flaherty in a manuscript note inscribed in a copy of the Trias Thaumaturga, which I. Lanigan printed, op. cit., p. 318, note 146; Ussher, Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, 2nd ed. (London, 1687), pp. 454–55, p. 520 (year 455), p. 522 (year 468); The Whole Works of Sir James Ware concerning Ireland, ed. W. Harris, vol. I, pp. 34–35; J. O'Donovan, Leabhar na g-Ceart, p. v; A. P. Forbes, Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. I, p. 312; J. F. Shearman, Loca Patriciana, pp. 474–75; J. O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, vol. III (Dublin, London, New York, n.d.), p. 747.].

§ III. On the deeds of St. Benignus in boyhood and youth.

[26] Benignus as companion to Patrick The testimonies of the ancient monuments about the calling of St. Benignus and about the paschal feasts which Patrick the bishop first celebrated in Ireland are so confused that the one who weighed them most diligently of all, the learned I. B. Bury, seemed to himself to be dealing with a hopeless matter [The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 81–82, 87–90, 111. Cf. J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. XXIX.]. We indeed do not so flatter ourselves as to believe that we have found the way out of a difficulty which escaped so great a master; nor, while we try a way of somehow explaining those testimonies and reconciling them with one another, should our conjectures seem more confident than is just, because we do not say again and again that they are uncertain. Already from the beginning, when St. Patrick had begun to announce the faith of Christ in Ireland with those companions whom he had brought with him from overseas, he perceived how much it mattered to the Irish to have Irish clerics, priests, bishops. For this reason he began to seek out and educate boys who would be fit for these offices J. B. Bury, op. cit., pp. 173–74.. The first of these seems to have been our Benignus, who surpassed his fellow pupils both in the merit of virtue and in the glory of his deeds. Of his calling we have as the oldest author Tírechán, BHL. 6496 (about the year 670), who narrates thus: Patrick came… with the Gauls to the islands of Maccuchor and to the eastern island which is called the Island of Patrick, and with him was a multitude of holy bishops and priests and deacons and exorcists, doorkeepers and readers, and also of sons whom he ordained. And he came up from the sea to the plain of Breg at sunrise, with the blessing of God… But first he came to the valley of Sescnanus [We have conjectured that it should be read: "he came to the valley of Sescnanus, father of Benignus, and built" etc. See Patriciana, in Anal. Boll., vol. XLIII.] and built there the first church, and took a son, Sesceneus by name, as bishop with him, and left there two foreign boys. In the evening he came to the mouth of the Ailbine to a certain good man and baptized him. And he found with him a son pleasing to him, and gave him the name Benignus, because he gathered the feet of Patrick between his hands and his breast; and he would not sleep with his father and mother, but wept unless he might sleep with Patrick. And when morning came, as they rose, the blessing having been completed over the father of Benignus, Patrick mounted the chariot, and his feet were apart, one in the chariot and the other on the ground, and the boy Benignus held Patrick's foot with both hands clasped and cried out: "Let me stay with Patrick, my own father." And Patrick said: "Baptize him and lift him into the chariot, for he is the heir of my kingdom." He is Benignus the bishop, successor of Patrick in the church of Macha Lib. Ardm., fol. 9 a 2 — 9 b 1..

[27] Tírechán, with very few changes, is followed by the Third Life of St. Patrick (BHL. 6506–6507), written perhaps in the 9th century: The ship, then, being raised upon the sea, he sailed from the borders of Ulaid as far as the plain of Breg, and there they made harbour. And he went up from the ship and came in the evening to a certain good man and baptized him, etc. [The Third Life (BHL. 6506–6507) the learned I. B. Bury edited from four codices collated with one another, A Life of St. Patrick, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXII, C, pp. 225–62. From him we have borrowed these things.]. The Third Life was contracted by John of Tynemouth in the 14th century in the English Sanctilogium, BHL 6515 [Bury, op. cit., pp. 223–24. See the passage in Nova Legenda Anglie, ed. C. Horstman, vol. II, pp. 281–82.]. Jocelin, however, BHL. 6513, in the 12th century, after his fashion amplifies the history with empty words Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 73–74.; nor of greater moment are the two more recent Irish Lives, of which one, written, as it seems, in the 11th century [Tomás Ó Máille, Contributions to the History of the Verbs of Existence in Irish, in Ériu, vol. VI (1912), p. 1.], was preserved by the codex which in Irish is called Leabhar Breac (end of the 14th century), the other by the Book of Lismore (14th century). At this place the Lismore Life of Patrick scarcely differs from Tírechán, except at the very beginning and end. It will be enough, then, to have reported this: Focerd a luing iarsin sech Eirinn soir co hInis Patraic. Luid i tir. Aroet araili fer for aighidecht i suide 7 creitis do. Luidh Patraic cum a luingi d'acallam Laeghairi co Temhraig. Roimir assidhe co hInnber na mBarc, 7 dogni aoighidhecht a tigh fhir maith annsin, Sescnech a ainm. Pritchaid Patraic breithir nDe dho, 7 creidid do Dia 7 do Patraic. Baister he iarum. Bai mac bec aigi… Co nebert Patraic iardain: "Bidh comarba damsa in mac sin." Et dobreth Patraic ainm fair, Benignus .i. Benén [Whitley Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore (Oxford, 1890), p. 8 (= Anecdota Oxoniensia, Medieval and Modern Series, Part V). Stokes notes that the Irish form Binén seems to have arisen from the Latin Benegnus for Benignus, Félire húi Gormáin, p. 335, and Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, vol. I (1897), p. 69. J. Loth agrees, Les noms des saints bretons, in Revue Celtique, vol. XXX (1909), pp. 318, 403.]. In Latin: Afterwards Patrick sailed along the coast of Ireland to the east, to the Island of Patrick. When he had landed there, he was received with hospitality by a certain man who believed in him. Then Patrick boarded the ship again in order to make for Tara to Laegaire. Setting out from there he went to Inbher na mBarc, where he was received with hospitality into the house of a certain good man, Sescnech by name. He, when he had heard the word of God from Patrick, believed in God and in Patrick and was baptized. This same man had a little son… And it ends: "This boy," says Patrick, "will be my successor." And he gave him the name Benignus, that is, Benén. Somewhat otherwise the Leabhar Breac: Celebrais Patraic do Díchoin 7 triallaid do acallaim Loegaire co Témraig iar fhairgi co Mag mBreg. 7 fuair failte moir isin inad sin oc aroli fir uasal. 7 ro chreit cona muntir dó, 7 ro baitsed, conid acca foracaib a churach. Mac becc boi isin tig dorat seircc do Patraic, 7 gebis a chois oc dul dó isin carpat, 7 dilsigit a múnter do Patraic he, 7 nosbeir Patraic leis, conid hesin Binén gilla Patraic [Leabhar Breac, p. 26. Ed. Stokes, Three Middle-Irish Homilies (Calcutta, 1877), p. 20. Id., The Tripartite Life, vol. II, pp. 452–54.]. In Latin: Patrick, having said farewell to Dichu, made by sea for Tara to Laegaire, into the plain of the men of Bregia, where he was received with liberal hospitality by a certain nobleman. He with his household believed in Patrick; for which reason Patrick left his boat (there) and committed it to his care. There was at home a little boy who for love of Patrick seized his foot as he was mounting his chariot. He, when he had been made over to Patrick by his family, was taken away by him with him. He is Binen gilla Patraic (Benignus, servant of Patrick).

[28] had already joined From Tírechán and his followers the Irish Life of St. Benignus which we publish departs widely, in chapter 3. For here the boy Benignus is said to have been entrusted to his maternal uncle Tadhg; by whom also he was brought up until he completed his seventh year. Then he was brought by his uncle to the Island which is called Patrick's, to give himself to letters and to be anointed with the sacred chrism by St. Patrick, who was then settled there. There once, while the holy bishop slept, a pretty and charming boy brought flowers he had gathered and scattered them in his lap. When the bystanders rebuked him for disturbing the pontiff's sleep, Patrick, smiling, said: "Let him be; for this little boy, who follows me with such zeal, will be my successor." We know of only one author who reports altogether the same things, the writer of the Tripartite work in Stokes. The passage is missing in codex Rawlinson B. 512; taken from codex Egerton 93 it runs thus: Is annsin tanic Benen ina munteras. Contuil íarom Pátraic iter a muin〈tir〉, ocus an fogebed in gilla di scothaib (i. boladh-má-raib boloadh máraib ? MS), dobered inulbroic in cleirich. Adubratar muinter Patraic fri Benen: "Nadena dadena MS sen," arséat, "ar na roduiscid Pátraic." Dixit Pátricius: "Heres regni méi erit Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 36.." In Latin: Then Benignus came into his (Patrick's) company. Patrick fell asleep in the company of his people, and the little boy used to bring into Patrick's lap whatever flowers (namely of sweet scent) he could find. Those who were with Patrick said to Benignus: "Take care not to do it, lest Patrick be awakened from sleep." Patrick said: "He will be the heir of my kingdom."

[29] It is worth while to bring forward here in Irish part of the Irish Life; so exactly does it correspond to the passage from the Tripartite Life which we cited: Is

ann' san inis sin tainic Benén ar tús i muinterus Patraicc. Ro cottail Patraicc iarumh eter a muintir 7 an fogheibedh an gille do sccothaibh boladhmaráibh do bheiredh i mbrollach an chlerich. Atrubhratar munter Patraicc fri Benén: "Na déine sin," ar iett, "arna ro duisce in clerech." Is ann sin atrubhart Patraicc: "Na tairmisg imme in ní dogni. In mac assa erbaid," ar Patraicc, "bidh comharba damhsa," amhail ro comhalladh iartain. Seacht mbliadhna immorro roptar slana do Bhenen an tan sin. [It was in that island that Benén first came into the company of Patrick. Patrick then slept among his household, and whatever sweet-scented flowers the lad would find he used to put in the cleric's bosom. Patrick's household said to Benén: "Do not do that," said they, "lest you wake the cleric." Then Patrick said: "Do not hinder him in what he does. The boy of whom you speak," said Patrick, "will be my successor," as was afterwards fulfilled. Seven years, moreover, were complete for Benén at that time.] And so our Irish writer seems to have used a recension of the Tripartite not much different from Stokes's. Word answers to word; some things have been changed in the language, so that it should smell less of antiquity (for example ro cottail for contuil; i mbrollach for inulbroic). He added only a few things among the words placed in Patrick's mouth, and defined the age of Benignus. This finally: he reads do sccothaibh boladhmáraibh, "of flowers of sweet scent", where the Tripartite has di scothaib with the gloss (.i. boladhmáraib), "of flowers (namely of sweet scent)."

[30] Colgan had also published the Tripartite in the Latin language "from three very old Irish MSS. collated with one another Trias Thaumaturga, p. 169, col. 1."; but in it both narratives of the calling of the boy Benignus seem to have been heaped and fused into one: There St. Patrick turned aside to the house of a certain nobleman, whose name was Seschnenus, who with his wife and household embraced the faith at the preaching of St. Patrick and was baptized. He had a tender little son, whom the saint washed in the saving font, and, giving him a name from his character, called him Benignus. from earliest age, For he was by far benign in character and life, and endowed with such benignity that from his very boyhood nothing could be sweeter and more pleasant to him than to hear the streams of heavenly wisdom from the mouth of his spiritual father and to drink them in from his conduct; so that, leaving his fleshly parents, he clung to him continually and could by no art be torn away from him. As soon as he had been regenerated by him in the sacred font, while the holy man was refreshing his weary limbs in the quiet of sleep, the gracious and dutiful boy bathed his nostrils and face with fragrant herbs and handfuls of flowers, and, pressing the feet of the sleeper to his breast, received them with kisses and embraces. And when, because of such loving services, he was rebuked by the companions of the man of God and removed, lest he should wake the sleeper, he deserved to hear Patrick, awake, approving his services and saying with prophetic mouth: "Let him be; he will be the heir of my kingdom," that is, after me he will be the supreme ruler of the Irish Church. And the event proved the oracle, for that boy afterwards so shone in doctrine and miracles that he was held worthy in the judgment of all to succeed his master St. Patrick in the Archbishopric of Armagh and the Primacy of Ireland; which office he discharged most happily for many years Op. cit., p. 124, col. 1..

[31] So the Tripartite in Colgan, presenting a mixture all too artificial. For the Irish Life teaches that the infant Benignus was not brought up by his parents but handed over to a foster-father, Tadhg son of Cian, the paternal uncle of Benignus. Of his name, which seems to have been added here at random, we spoke in no. 14. Whatever that may be, it was not the custom of those times that the little boys of Irish nobles should be reared in the paternal house. Therefore the Irish Life comes nearer to probability than Tírechán and his followers, who say that Benignus was found by Patrick at home. Indeed, we do not think that Tírechán himself, if you understand him rightly, departs here from our Irish writer. Tírechán, to be sure, expressly mentions the father and mother of Benignus; but he had no other words at hand to exchange with the Irish ones by which foster-parents are designated [Six times in Tírechán's Collectanea we have found the word "nutrire" in that meaning (see J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. 402, col. 2, s. v. "nutrio"); but nowhere among the Patrician writings of the Book of Armagh the words "nutrix", "nutricius". Once, through poverty of words, the Armagh scribe was compelled to write "alumnus" for "foster-father" (Lib. Ardm., fol. 19 a 2; see J. Gwynn, op. cit., p. 463, note 7).]. For it is certain that Tírechán, both generally and in this place especially, used Irish sources Cf. op. cit., p. LI.. And that he wrote: he found with him (the good man) a son pleasing to him, does not necessarily show that the boy was begotten by that good man; for the Irish are accustomed to put "filius" in Latin for mac, which signifies indifferently son and boy or youth.

[32] In our opinion, what is narrated about the calling of the boy Benignus is to be understood thus. St. Patrick stayed for some time on the Island of Patrick. For besides other reasons which occur spontaneously to one reading the Tripartite, it seems hardly probable that this island would have kept Patrick's name if the saint had only passed through it. From the Tripartite we learn that Patrick and the foreign clerics, pressed by a shortage of provisions, ran about in vain through various places of the coast. other authors Meanwhile they certainly picked up reports from the inhabitants of that region, and it was not by chance that they first made for Sescnanus on the journey by which they went on to King Laegaire, the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord being now imminent [Cf. J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 81–82, 87–90. Although the learned man is not to be agreed with when he writes, pp. 122–123, 334–36, that St. Patrick as a youth served in western Ireland; on which matter the old opinion very recently prevailed in the Royal Irish Academy, Eoin MacNeill, Silva Focluti, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXVI, C, n. 14 (1923), pp. 249–55.]. For Patrick had been informed how good a disposition Sescnanus was of [All these things and the rest that we propose about the calling of Benignus scarcely hold, unless it is to be read, as we have conjectured, "he came to the valley of Sescnanus, father of Benignus". See Patriciana, in Anal. Boll., vol. XLIII.]. And as to Patrick's having left two foreign boys in the church which he had founded in the valley of Sescnanus, while he took with him only one son of the householder, Sesceneus by name, who was to be a bishop, I do not know whether it is to be gathered from this that Patrick had agreed with Sescnanus about taking the boy Benignus with him; for he was at that time being brought up, as is said, with his paternal uncle Tadhg. But the boy was not to be taken away at once, since he was not yet of the age at which he would be applied to studies [It was the custom that boys were handed over to a master after completing their seventh year, Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. CXV.]. If the matter stood thus, one may conjecture that Sesceneus was the elder and already a youth, inasmuch as he remained in his father's house, so that there was no need to wait until he was entrusted to Patrick. Therefore, we judge, St. Patrick took a son, Sesceneus by name, as bishop with him, and left there two foreign boys. Perhaps he left two of the young clerics whom he had brought with him from Gaul, so that Sescnanus should have one in his domestic church for each of the children he had entrusted to Patrick; if this was done, it seems to have been done not after the custom of the Irish, but out of a certain kindness and benignity of St. Patrick. But we slip too far, while we strive to pile conjecture on conjecture; for it matters little to the sum of our argument whether the thing was as we suspect, or otherwise. This indeed is certain from Tírechán, that Patrick came in the evening to the mouth of the Ailbine (the place is now called Gormanstown, they narrate otherwise. in the county of Meath) to a certain good man, whom they wrongly report to have been Tadhg, the paternal uncle of Benignus and petty king of the plain of the men of Bregia. Seek the rest from Tírechán. So the boy set out with Patrick for Tara (this was the royal seat of the monarch of the Irish), where what happened we shall soon see. But nowhere do we read that the boy Benignus thereafter remained with St. Patrick for ever; on the contrary, Stokes's Tripartite, which the Irish Life follows, expressly notes that Benignus first came into Patrick's company when that happened which we related above, of the graceful and boyish diligence with which he strewed the lap and head of his resting master with fragrant little flowers. The Irish Life adds that Benignus was then brought to Patrick by his paternal uncle, who was also his foster-father. Hence one may gather that the boy was sent back to his own people after that Paschal feast, until the time came when he would be applied to studies; and that finally, to satisfy the promise, he was brought by his foster-father to the master. For you would hardly expect all things to have fitted together so aptly that the boy Benignus should have completed the age at which he was to be sent to studies at the very time when Patrick came to his house. Yet whether Tírechán (so often does he mix the father and mother of Benignus into this little narrative) is to be thought himself to have understood that Benignus was in his father's house, and not at all with his foster-father, I do not know. And indeed it could have happened. If the matter stood thus, he erred (whoever he was, whether writer, or glossator, or scribe) who in the margin after the words to the valley of Sescnanus added of the father of Benignus. But it could also be that Sescnanus was the guide of the journey for St. Patrick until they came to the house of his brother, and remained there for the night. But this would hardly untie the knot. For the rest, as far as we are concerned, let each think what he will.

[33] By what name he was first called. The same Tírechán relates that the boy was called Benignus by Patrick; whence it is gathered that he already had another name, and that an Irish one [That he was called both Benignus and Stephen Probus relates in error, Fifth Life, book II, ch. 1. Of this we shall treat soon, n. 50.]. Perhaps a trace of this has been preserved. For Tírechán mentions Mathona, sister of Benignus, successor of Patrick Lib. Ardm., fol. 11 b 2.. This has seemed to some to have been done in error; Mathona, namely, met Patrick as he was making his way through the mountain of the sons of Ailill; whence it is probable that she was of the race of Ailill. But note that among Patrick's companions there was at one time a certain Benignus other than the one of Armagh, brother of Cethiacus, of the race of Ailill [The same Mathona is mentioned by Tírechán again, Lib. Ardm., fol. 13 b 1, and in the Irish notes, fol. 18 b 2.]. His

sister I. B. Bury judges Mathona to have been [Stokes's Tripartite, however, p. 98, names Mathona siur Binen, "Mathona, sister of Benignus", without adding the words "successor of Patrick"; so too among the fragments of the Tripartite which E. Hogan edited from cod. Egerton 97, The Latin Lives of the Saints (Dublin, 1894), p. 25 (= Royal Irish Academy, Todd Lecture Series, vol. V).] The Life of St. Patrick, p. 306; cf. Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 176, note 84.; we are unwilling to decide that whole business for this reason, that each Benignus is reported to have sprung from the same blood See above, no. 16.. This I. B. Bury seems to have made little of. In another, rather perplexed, passage of Tírechán perhaps we should read: and he spoke hard words both to Mathous and to Patrick Lib. Ardm., fol. 12 b 1.; where for Mathous some have preferred to read Mathonus, citing the example, of which we have already spoken, of Mathona, sister of Benignus [Cf. J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. 454, note at line 6, and p. 491, col. 1, s. v. Mathous.], and suspecting that Mathous is Benignus. Nor is the conjecture displeasing. For there are found in inscriptions the names Matona and Matonius, in which there seems to lie hidden the Celtic root mǎ-to-, that is "good" [Alfred Holder, Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz, vol. II (Leipzig, 1904), col. 462, s. v. mǎ-to-, and col. 463, s. vv. Matona and Matonius.]; Benignus in Latin sounds the same as Matho〈n〉us in Celtic. It could have happened, then, that this was the Irish name of Benignus.

[34] The calling of Benignus That Benignus had already been called by St. Patrick before the Easter which he first celebrated in Ireland, all the documents report with the greatest agreement. But about the time at which these things were done the authors disagree wonderfully; whoever would wish to reconcile them would spend his labour in vain. Having little confidence, then, in our own little conclusions, we have followed Tírechán chiefly. So much on the calling of St. Benignus, which Tírechán pursued at length, while he passed over many other things of the deeds of Patrick, as though they were already well known to his readers See J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, pp. L–LI.. Were the things which pertain to Benignus, then, not known? Clearly they had not spread among all equally as in the parts about Armagh. Assuredly Tírechán wished to increase the dignity of this see when, relating that prophecy of Patrick: narrated more ornately by the people of Armagh. He will be the heir of my kingdom, he added of his own accord: He is Benignus the bishop, successor of Patrick in the church of Macha. So much did it matter to Patrick that the one should succeed him whom, almost first among the Irish boys, he had washed in holy baptism and received into his company. Not for that reason, however, do we fail to agree with those who contend that the see of Armagh was both founded by St. Patrick himself and distinguished with the primacy of all Ireland; but whether this little narrative is true or invented, it was once produced in court to vindicate the primacy of Armagh Jus Primatiale Armacanum, p. 120, n. 199..

[35] The companions of St. Patrick Here too, by the order of time, must be referred another little narrative which learned and prudent men judge scarcely worthy of credence [J. H. Todd, St. Patrick (Dublin, 1864), p. 417; J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 81–82, 87–90, 111; J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. XXIX. There are those, however, who would vindicate all of it; among whom Dr. John Healy, Archbishop of Tuam, is eminent, The Life and Writings of St. Patrick, pp. 153–54. R. A. S. Macalister indeed asserts, Temair Breg. A Study of the Remains and Traditions of Tara, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXIV, C, pp. 367–69, that many things are found in these narratives which are true and worthy of credence. Certainly what pertains to the rites and ceremonies of the pagans seems genuine; yet it is not for that reason to be believed that St. Patrick did the things which are related.]. For Patrick is said on the day before the Resurrection of the Lord, 25 April of the year 433, to have kindled a pyre, which, since it was then forbidden by law, the king of Ireland and his soothsayers or druids took ill. Muirchú continues: And after they had separated from (ab cod. B) one another, going on a little, the king called St. Patrick with a feigned word, wishing to kill him somehow. But Patrick, knowing the thoughts of the most wicked king, having blessed in the name of Jesus Christ his companions, eight men with a boy (suo adds B), came to the king. The king counts them as they come, and at once they vanished from the king's eyes (dempti adds B); but the gentiles saw only eight (octo B) deer with a fawn going as it were to the wilderness. And King Loiguire, sad, fearful and disgraced, with a few who escaped, returned to Tara at dawn [Lib. Ardm., fol. 4 b 1–2. A few of the things which the Brussels codex 64, fol. 302, has otherwise, we have enclosed in brackets and marked with the letter B.].

[36] Tírechán is silent on this matter. Stokes's Tripartite has this: Nír bú cían iarsin ró choggair in rí leis Pétraic for leith; ocus ised ro imraid, a marbad; ocusní forchoemnacair. Forfhoilsig Día do Pátraic inní sin. changed into deer, Adrubairt Láogairi fri Pétraic: "Tair am díaig si, a chleirig, do Temraig co rochreitiur duit ar bélaibh fer nEirenn." Ocus ro suidig som calleic etarnaig cech belaig o Fherta Fer Féic co Temraig ar chiunn Pátraic dia mharbad. Acht ní rocomarleic Día dó. Dodhechuid Patraic ochtor maccléirech ocus Benén do gillu léu, ocus rosbendach Pátraic ré dúidecht. Dodechuid dícheltair tairsiu conárárdraig fer dib. Atchoncatar immorro na gentligi batar isna intledaib ocht naige altaige do techt secu fón sliab, ocus iarndóe innadegaid ocus gaile for a gúalaind: Patraic a ochtar ocus Benen inandegaidh ocus a fholaire for a muin. Dochuaid iarsin Lóegaire on dedoil dochum Temrach co mbrón ocus co mbebuil cosna huaitib nóernatis leis [Wh. Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, pp. 46 and 52, from codex Egerton 93 (for the passage is missing in the other codex which presents the Tripartite, Rawlinson B. 512); E. Hogan, The Latin Lives of the Saints, pp. 6 and 8.]. In Latin: Not long after, the king called Patrick to him apart, whom he wished to kill. Yet he did not carry out his designs, which God made manifest to Patrick. Laegaire said to Patrick: "Come to me, cleric, to Tara, so that I may believe in you before the Irish." But on all the roads from the place called Ferta Fer Feicc to Tara he had laid ambushes against Patrick to slay him; which counsels of the king, however, God did not allow to be brought to effect. For Patrick, being about to set out with seven clerics and the boy Benignus, Benignus blessed his companions, who were wrapped in a certain darkness and mist, so that none of them now appeared. Yet the gentiles waiting in ambush saw eight wild deer passing under the hill, followed by one fawn, laden with a certain pack on its shoulders; these were Patrick with seven companions and the boy Benignus following, who carried Patrick's writing-tablets on his neck and shoulder. Afterwards Laegaire made for Tara at dawn, sad and confounded with shame, with a few men accompanying him who had escaped with him. Colgan has almost the same in Latin, and adds: Then the holy man composed that hymn written in his native idiom, which is commonly called Feth-fiadha, and by others the Lorica of Patrick; and from that time it is held in the highest esteem among the Irish, because it is believed, and proved by much experience, to preserve those who recite it piously from imminent dangers of soul and body Book II, ch. 60, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 126, col. 2..

[37] The Liber Hymnorum, of which we have the oldest transcript from the 11th century, has nothing very different, in the preface to the Lorica of St. Patrick, in these words: Patraicc dorone inn immum sa. I naimseir Loegaire meic Néil dorigned. Fád a dénma immorro, dia diden cona manchaib ar náimdib in báis ro bátar i netarnid arna cleircheib… Patraic ro chan so intan do rata na hetarnaidi ar a chinn ó Loegaire, na digsed do silad chreitme co Temraig, conid annsin atchessa fiad lucht na netarnade comtis aige alta ocus iarróe ina ndíaid .i. Benen; ocus Fáeth Fiada a hainm [J. H. Bernard and R. Atkinson, The Irish Liber Hymnorum, vol. I, p. 133; Wh. Stokes and J. Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, vol. II (Cambridge, 1903), p. 354. Bernard and Atkinson think those Prefaces were composed in the 10th century, op. cit., vol. II, p. 95.]. In Latin: Patrick composed this hymn, in the time of Laegaire son of Niall, to protect himself and his monks from the deadly enemies who were lying in wait for the clerics… Patrick sang it (the hymn) when ambushes were laid by Laegaire, into a fawn. so that he should not go to Tara for the sake of scattering the seeds of the faith; meanwhile to those lying in ambush they appeared as eight wild deer, which one fawn followed (this was Benignus). Its (the hymn's) name is Fáeth Fiada.

[38] Whether that hymn or Lorica was really composed by Patrick, expert judges hold to be doubtful

have not thought, indeed they have openly affirmed it [George Petrie, On the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XVIII (1837), pp. 55–56, 68–69; J. H. Todd, St. Patrick, pp. 425–26, 429–32; E. Windisch, Irische Texte, vol. I (Leipzig, 1880), pp. 52–53; Wh. Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. CI; R. Atkinson, in J. H. Bernard and R. Atkinson, The Irish Liber Hymnorum, vol. II, pp. LVIII, 209–210, 211, note on line 9; Wh. Stokes and J. Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, vol. II, p. XL; J. B. Bury, St. Patrick, p. 246; G. Dottin, Les Livres de S. Patrice (Paris, 1909), p. 54; L. Gougaud, Étude sur les Loricae celtiques, in Bulletin d'ancienne littérature et d'archéologie chrétiennes, vol. I (1911), pp. 271–72; N. J. D. White, St. Patrick. His Writings and Life, pp. 62–63. K. Meyer, however, judges that the form in which the Lorica has been preserved is not older than the 8th century, Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry (London, 1911), p. 112. The best interpretation of the Lorica was published by N. J. D. White, op. cit., pp. 64–67, with the help of the distinguished E. J. Gwynn.]. An indication is one of the sentences which immediately follow Tírechán's Collectanea in the Book of Armagh: St. Patrick the bishop ought to have a fourfold (sic) honour … that is … 4. always to sing his Irish canticle [Lib. Ardm., fol. 16 a 1. Cf. J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. CCLXXXVII, note at p. 31 a, line 26, and p. 483, col. 1, s. v. canere.]. But even if the hymn was composed by St. Patrick, it must be noted that it does not follow that the preface in the Book of Hymns is of the same authority and antiquity [On the age at which those Prefaces are thought to have been written, see note 2 above.], which Stokes suspects drew its origin from the Tripartite The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. CI.. On the force of the words Fáeth Fiada the grammarians contend. We rather favour the opinion of those who think that the whole little narrative was invented to illustrate the name of the hymn, Fáeth Fiada or Fóid Fiada Stokes and Strachan, loc. cit., otherwise Feth Fiadha, Feth Fia, which has been understood as "the Deer's Cry". But those words seem first to have signified a certain spell or charm which druids and poets used in order to escape the sight of all [Go to the authors and examples which Bernard and Atkinson bring forward, op. cit., vol. II, p. 209, and Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, CLXXIX. Add that those words are used in the same sense even today in lesser Scotland, W. Mackenzie, Gaelic Incantations, Charms and Blessings of the Hebrides, in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, vol. XVII (1891–1892), p. 97 ff.; Eleanor Hull, The Ancient Hymn-Charms of Ireland, in Folk-Lore, vol. XXI (1910), pp. 442–43. It is worth noting (which no one has yet noticed except W. M. Hennessy in M. F. Cusack, The Life of Saint Patrick (London, Dublin etc., 1870), p. 387, note 5) that the word dicheltair too, which Stokes's Tripartite uses, is rendered in English "a place of concealment, an enclosure, a deer-park" by Edw. O'Reilly, An Irish-English Dictionary, New Edition, p. 184, col. 2; whose authority, however, deserves little faith, especially since the learned Holger Pedersen has nothing similar, Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen, vol. II (Göttingen, 1913), p. 483, who translates di-cel- "verhehlen, verbergen" to conceal, to hide and is silent about dicheltair and deer.].

[39] The 11th-century Homily preserved by the codex called Leabhar Breac presents almost the same things as Stokes's Tripartite. These are the things that differ: … hirricht ocht noige nalltai ocus enloeg allaid inandiaid, ocus en find fora gualaind .i. Binen sin ocus polire Patraic fora muin [Wh. Stokes, Three Middle-Irish Homilies, p. 24; Id., The Tripartite Life, vol. II, p. 458.]. In Latin: In the shape of eight wild deer, which one fawn followed, carrying on its shoulder a white bird. This, moreover, was Benignus, who carried Patrick's writing-tablets on his neck and shoulder. The others who narrate the deeds of St. Patrick either report Muirchú in almost as many words [Second Life, ch. 37, in Trias Thaumaturga, p. 15, col. 2; Fifth Life, book I, ch. 40, op. cit., p. 51, col. 1; Jocelin, ch. 44, op. cit., p. 74, col. 2.], or differ little. The Third Life is silent about that passing into another form; but it declares that, amid the ambushes laid all around, Patrick came straight to Tara [Ch. 40, op. cit., p. 24, col. 2, and J. B. Bury, A Life of St. Patrick, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXII, C (1903), p. 236.]. Almost the same the Fourth Life: But St. Patrick, knowing the thoughts of the king, with the eight men and one boy accompanying him, they passed over to a certain place Ch. 43, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 40, col. 2., and John of Tynemouth Nova Legenda Anglie, ed. Horstman, vol. II, p. 282.. In the Lismore codex two leaves have fallen out at this place; therefore what that recension had is unknown Wh. Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 10..

[40] In the ancient Irish writings, too, there is mention of a certain magic deer with which the monarch of Tara had dealings [Cf. A. B. Cook, The European Sky-God, in Folk-Lore, vol. XVII (1906), p. 162; R. A. S. Macalister, Temair Breg, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXIV, C (Dublin, 1919), pp. 364–65.]; and in the Irish Life, which we print below, ch. 10, it is narrated how Benignus changed King Echen into a fawn. Nor do the writers agree about the number of companions whom Patrick had with him at that time. Some relate that the saint had seven, others eight monks or clerics as companions, besides the boy Benignus. But since all say with one mouth that eight deer with one fawn were seen by the gentiles, we believe the error arose from the Irish idiom Patraic a ochtur, which means "Patrick with seven others", but by an easy slip seems to have been understood as "Patrick and eight others" [Pedersen, op. cit., p. 75: a triur, "in ihrer Dreiheit, alle drei" in their threesome, all three. The unpublished codex of the Second Life, formerly marked Phillips 4705, now Royal Library of Brussels II. 1124, has seven, fol. 163v.].

[41] The ordeal of St. Benignus Tírechán continues: Against him came those three magi, brothers from one man, by names and race Cruth, Loch, Lethlanu, of the race of Runtir, who made a great contest against Patrick and Benignus. And the cloak of the magus was set aflame around Benignus and was ended in ash. The holy son too was made whole, by firm faith in God, in the sight of the king and of men and of the magi. And the cloak of Benignus, son of Patrick, was fixed around the magus, and the magus was set aflame in it and was consumed. And Patrick said: "In this hour the whole paganism of Ireland has been consumed Lib. Ardm., fol. 10 a 1.."

[42] Otherwise Muirchú: When all these things had been done (gestis adds B) in the sight of the king between the magus and Patrick, the king said to them: "Throw your books into the water, and him whose books come out unharmed (—rint B) we will adore." Patrick answered: "I will do it." And the magus said: "I will not come to the judgment of water with this man; for he has water as his god." Certainly he had heard of the baptism through water given by Patrick. And the king, answering, said: "Send them through fire (mittite in ignem B)." And Patrick said: "I am ready." But the magus, unwilling, said: "This man, turn and turn about in alternate years, venerates now water, now fire as his god." And the saint said: "Not so. But you yourself shall go, and one of my boys shall go (sic; ibit B) with you, into a separate and closed house, and my garment shall be on you and yours on me, and so together you shall be burned (add and in the sight of the Most High you shall be judged, or rather so that in the s. of the M. you may be judged) [That these or similar words fell out both in the Book of Armagh and in the Brussels codex J. B. Bury elegantly conjectured from the parallel passages, which we shall soon review, The Tradition of Muirchu's Text, in Hermathena, vol. XXVIII (1902), p. 193, n. 11.]." And this counsel took root, and a house was built for them, half of which was made of green timber and the other half of dry. others otherwise And the magus was put into that house, into its green part, and one of the boys of St. Patrick, Bineus (Binems B) by name, with the magus's garment, into the 〈dry〉 part of the house (in parte domus aridae B). The house, then, closed from outside, was set on fire before the whole crowd. And it came about in that hour, as Patrick prayed, that the flame of the fire consumed the magus with the green half of the house, the cloak of St. Patrick alone remaining untouched, which the fire did not touch. But happy Benineus (Binemus B), on the contrary, with the dry half of the house, according to what was said of the three children, the fire did not touch him, nor was he made sad, nor did it bring him any harm (molestiae B); only the cloak of the magus, which had been on him, not without God's will, was burned up (est adds B) [These were copied from the Book of Armagh, fol. 5 a 2 – 5 b 1. The very few things which either had evidently fallen out of the Book of Armagh, or which the Brussels codex 64, fol. 302, had otherwise, we have enclosed in brackets and marked with the letter B.]. Dan. 3, 50. What follows does not pertain to St. Benignus.

[43] The other writers of the Patrician history

report Muirchú in almost as many words [They are the following: the Second Life, ch. 40, in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 16, col. 1; the Third Life, ch. 42, ibid., p. 24, col. 2, and in the critical edition in J. B. Bury, A Life of St. Patrick, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, op. cit., p. 238; the Fourth Life, ch. 48, in Colgan, op. cit., p. 41, col. 2; Probus, Fifth Life, book I, ch. 45, ibid., p. 51, col. 2; Jocelin, Sixth Life, ch. 48, ibid., p. 75, col. 1–2. Finally it is to be noted that the Irish Life of Patrick in the Lismore codex is mutilated at this place, so that one may only conjecture that the narrative was not lacking in the full copy, Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 10. The little narrative was taken from the Third Life and reduced to a summary by John of Tynemouth, Nova Legenda Anglie, ed. Horstman, vol. II, p. 283.]. In the homily on St. Patrick in the Leabhar Breac, however [P. 27, col. 2; Wh. Stokes edited it twice, first in Three Middle-Irish Homilies, pp. 26, 28; then in The Tripartite Life, vol. II, pp. 460, 462.], and in the Tripartite [In Colgan's recension, book I, ch. 55, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 127; of Stokes's recension one codex (Rawlinson B. 512) presents the addition, in the other (Egerton 93) it is missing; see Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 58.], these things are added about the cunning counsel of the king: Is and sin tancatar co Patraic na tri macaim bátar hi ngiallnai ic Lóigairi. Cíit fri Patraic. Immcomairc Pátraic: "Cid annsin?" "Fír flatha," ol síat, "do brisiud hi primcathraig na nGoedel .i. a tech gnither etir in druí 7 do gillae 〈is amlaid gníther .i. leth de úr, 7 leth crín; .i. in leth úr don drai, 7 in crín dot gilla sa〉". Dobeir Patraic a mér for gruaid nhdeiss cech meic dib 7 dobeir a anáil fóithib, co ndernai teora gema díb. Sloiccsit in maic na gemai. "Genfit," ol Patraic, "teora gemai airechdai huadib" .i. Colombcille 7 Comgall 7 Finnía [So Stokes's Tripartite, loc. cit. A few words, which had fallen out through homoioteleuton, we have supplied from the Homily in the Leabhar Breac, loc. cit.; for at this place the Tripartite does not differ from the Homily except that the style has been revised.]. In Latin: There came to Patrick three boys who were hostages with Laegaire. They shed tears before Patrick. Patrick asks: "What is this?" "The prince's faith," they say, "has been broken in the first city of the Gaels. For the house which is being prepared for the druid and for your boy 〈is being prepared in such a way that one half is of fresh timber, the other of dry timber; the former indeed for the druid, the latter for your boy〉". Patrick puts his finger on the right cheek of each of the boys, and lays down one tear from the cheek of each in the palm of his left hand, and, breathing gently, changes the tears into as many gems. The boys swallowed the gems. "Three illustrious gems," says Patrick, "will be born of you," who were Columba of Cille, Comgall, Finnia.

[44] narrate. That the name of that druid who was burned alive was Lucetmael Muirchú relates, at the very beginning of the narrative, a little before the passage we copied out; Tírechán indeed otherwise, but since these names of druids seem to have arisen from certain stones R. A. S. Macalister, Temair Breg, pp. 332–33. and certainly not to be those of men who lived in the fifth century, we shall pass over the whole business in silence. The race of Runtir, or Moccu Runtir, from which Tírechán writes they were, seems to have settled in those parts which are now in Co. Louth, otherwise Dál Runtir and Dál Runtar E. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum (Dublin, 1910), p. 335, col. 2.. This whole little narrative bears a certain resemblance to ordeals. Whether it really took its origin from some pagan rite which was customarily performed in early spring, we leave to be explored by those who make it their business to collect popular traditions [J. B. Bury has some things, The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 302–304. But recently the learned R. A. S. Macalister has discussed the same things excellently and brilliantly, op. cit., pp. 367–72.]. Yet a not dissimilar image of this narrative is had in an ancient Welsh tale which is counted among the Mabinogion [Mabinogi Branwen Verch Llyr, The White Book Mabinogion, ed. J. Gwenogvryn Evans (Pwllheli, 1907), col. 45–47. The edition of the Mabinogion from the Red Book which J. Rhys and J. Gwenogvryn Evans prepared is not available to us; but we have read it in French, in the translation of J. Loth, Les Mabinogion, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1913), vol. I, pp. 129–32. The same J. Loth notes in Revue Celtique, vol. XI (1890), pp. 345–48, that a very similar narrative is also found in Irish in W. M. Hennessy, Mesca Ulad (Dublin, 1889), pp. 42–46 (= Royal Irish Academy, Todd Lecture Series, vol. I, Part I).]; add that in the Welsh writer too the house to be burned is said to have been built not in Wales but in Ireland, and indeed by order of the king of Ireland. The plan of the builders, however, was different, namely to put to death by guile three men of the greatest bodily strength. Finally, about that idiom "fiery house", in Irish tech tenedh [I do not know whether what is briefly touched on about the "boar of fire" (in Irish torc tenedh) in the ancient narrative Togail Bruidne Dá Dergá, ed. Whitley Stokes, in Revue Celtique, vol. XXII (1901), p. 169, no. 69, is to be referred here. This boar of fire seems to have been a certain framework of timbers which was kindled with fire set beneath it, Macalister, op. cit., pp. 370–71. It is easily understood how much difference there is between a pyre of this kind put together from fresh timber and another from dry wood.], remember that among the Irish small buildings consisting of one room are called "houses"; you would better say a hut or cottage. Moreover, it is no wonder that makeshift buildings put up on that day were of such a kind that no trace remained for the antiquaries of our age to dig up [George Petrie, On the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XVIII (1837), pp. 25–232; Macalister, op. cit., pp. 231–399.].

[45] St. Ercnat Into the youth of St. Benignus, as Colgan notes Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 42, col. 2, note 8., there must have fallen, unless the whole thing is fictitious, a certain deed which the ancient authors report candidly enough; but not before the year 444, in which the Annals of Ulster relate that the see of Armagh was founded [And indeed, as it seems, rightly. Annals of Ulster, ed. W. M. Hennessy, vol. I, p. 10.], for these things are said to have been done at Armagh. Benignus was then a youth not yet eighteen years old; yet the things narrated could have happened afterwards. The Fourth Life of St. Patrick (BHL. 6503), in which some things are preserved derived from Irish sources older than the 7th century [J. B. Bury, in Hermathena vol. XXVIII (1902), pp. 186–207; Id., The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 268–69.], has this: At that time the daughter of Daire loved with excessive love a disciple of the holy man, named Benignus; and from this she fell sick and died. But Benignus, receiving blessed water from the saint, went to the place where the girl lay dead, and sprinkling her with the water, at once she rose up unharmed; and afterwards she loved him spiritually. She is St. Ercnat [This is St. Ercnat, virgin, of whom Colgan treats, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, at 8 January, pp. 41–42.], daughter of Daire, who is in Tamlachta-bo [Fourth Life, ch. 97, in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 46, col. 2. Colgan has it that the church of Tamhlacht Bó is situated in Ulster, op. cit., p. 717, col. 2. Hogan doubts, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 620, col. 2, whether it is the same place which in the years 1302–1306 is found written Taulagda, in the diocese of Armagh.]. Among those ancient little notes (BHL. 6499) which were entered into the Book of Armagh partly in Latin, partly in Irish, is read at fol. 19 a 1, line 28: erc. ingena rig long. reliquiae. ymnus. In Latin: Erc. Of the daughters of the king of the Lombards. Relics. Hymn. From the parallel passages of the Tripartite it is manifest that the name Erc was chosen in order to recall the little narrative which we have set out at length; for Ercnat is a hypocoristic of the name Erc [Cf. Erc ingen Daire, "Erc daughter of Daire", in cod. Egerton 93, fol. 18 b 2 (in Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 266), and in The Book of Leinster (facsimile, p. 353, col. d) in the same author.]. Whence it is plain that the matter was very well known already from distant antiquity. toward St. Benignus John Gwynn, however, had a slight doubt whether the word reliquiae had been transposed in error (inasmuch as it pertains to the same little narrative about Ercnat), so that one should read: Erc. Relics. Of the daughters of the king of the L. Hymn. But we fear that he trusted too much to the interpretation of Stokes, who for the Irish cretra (in the parallel passage of the Tripartite) put in English "relics" [Op. cit., p. 233. Although Stokes himself had afterwards somewhat departed from that opinion, op. cit., vol. II, p. 645, col. 1, in the index, s. v. cretra.]. The older writers, in our judgment more truly, understood cretra as "lustral water" or something of that kind. If this is so, "reliquiae" signifies "the relics brought by Patrick from Rome to Armagh," and there is no need to judge that anything has been transposed See on this whole business J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. 462..

[46] The Tripartite Life, BHL. 6509, written about the 9th century from older sources, reports the same things.

This is Stokes's recension, from the Rawlinson codex B. 512: Carais ingen Dáre indní Benen. Robu bind lee a guth iccond erlégund ocunderlegunn cod. Egerton 93.. Dorala galar fuirri combu marb de. Bert Benén cretra dí o Patraic, et surrexit confestim viva, et postea spiritualiter dilexit eum. Ipsa est Ergnat Ercnat Egerton. ingen Dáre fil a Tamlachtau i Tamlachtu Egerton. Bó [The daughter of Daire loved this Benén. His voice at the reading was sweet to her. A sickness befell her, so that she died of it. Benén brought her consecrated water from Patrick, and she rose at once alive, and afterwards loved him spiritually. She is Ergnat daughter of Daire, who is in Tamlachta Bó] [Wh. Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 232, from cod. Rawlinson B. 512; we have added the readings of cod. Egerton 97 from Stokes's notes on the passage, collated with the edition of this passage in E. Hogan, The Latin Lives of the Saints, pp. 57–58: for the Egerton codex is better, and we shall soon note that the Irish Life comes closer to it. Moreover, note that Stokes wrongly translated "Benén took relics to her from Patrick." (J. Gwynn follows Stokes, Liber Ardmachanus, p. 462.) For long ago men most expert in the old Irish language, John Colgan and Michael O'Clery, understood that by the Irish word cretra is signified "consecrated or lustral water" (see what we shall soon bring forward from the Trias Thaumaturga, from the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, from the Martyrology of Donegal). Indeed, in a wider sense, as Hogan notes, The Latin Lives of the Saints, p. 48 (with note 9), p. 58 and p. 121, it means "blessed water (and blessed honey) which is kept for the healing of diseases"; cf. for example in Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 14, line 17, and vol. II, p. 436, line 5. I do not know whether Stokes wrongly understood that phrase of Michael O'Clery, "creatar .i. coisreachta", when he thinks that coisreachta signifies "consecrated elements" (unless perhaps he understood by these English words "some natural thing devoted to sacred uses", by no means "things offered by a priest and consecrated in performing the divine office"). For Michael O'Clery himself, in the Martyrology of Donegal at 9 Nov., writes uiscce coiserctha, "consecrated water", for cretra. Yet Stokes's interpretation is not to be excluded; for Jocelin too seems to have perceived something similar in that word, as we shall soon note. It is wonderful how like this word is to the present-day word criathar, criathair, in the plural créithre, "sieve"; criathar mheala, "honeycomb".]. There is hardly need of a Latin translation; for it reports the same as the Fourth Life, only adding the cause of that love: His (Benignus's) voice as he read (or chanted the psalms) seemed sweet to her (Ercnat). seized with love I do not know whether this was the same reason why Benignus was called Benen bind, "Benignus the melodious", in the Book of Ballymote [The Book of Ballymote, (facsimile) published … by the Royal Irish Academy. With Introduction … by R. Atkinson (Dublin, 1887), p. 232 b, at the foot.]. Colgan in that conflated Tripartite of his writes almost the same, but more fully; it was enough for him, however, to have almost taken the virgin's life away [Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 162–63, and the same altogether in the same words in the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, pp. 41–42; although at this place one may be led into error, since at the very beginning of the little narrative there are inserted the words "as is had in her life", so as to think that this is brought forward not from the Tripartite but from the Irish Life of Benignus; understand that Colgan's opinion was that almost the same narrative is had also in her Life.]. More crudely but more fully Stokes's recension in Irish: co mbu marb de, "she died".

[47] Jocelin (BHL. 6513), after his fashion, embellished the same things and enlarged them with words. Note that by cretra he understands "the saving viaticum of holy communion". He relates, moreover, that a nun, whose name he does not give, feigned sickness so that the last comforts of the dying might be given her by St. Benignus. The writer imagines him to have been already then initiated into the priesthood, on no one's authority; nor is it probable that a youth who is plainly called psalmist was a priest. Clearly it did not please Jocelin to kill the virgin and call her back from the dead; but he narrated that by the sign of the cross and a certain wonderful apparition, which he describes accurately, the demons were put to flight, the little fires of concupiscence were quenched for ever, and the virgin was touched with penitence [In Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 87–88, and the same altogether in the same words in the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 42.]. From the Tripartite our Irish Life (ch. 4) flowed, and indeed from a recension little unlike Stokes's, the authors report candidly. and, if we see anything, nearer to the Egerton codex than to the Rawlinson. As regards the sum of the matter, only the lineage of King Daire has been added. Finally, the little narrative was related in the Martyrology of Donegal at 9 November by Michael O'Clery, not from codices, as it seems, but from memory [See below the critical edition of the martyrology in the sylloge on the saints who are venerated in both Scotlands.]. Michael rendered into Irish the sentence which is also read in Latin in the Tripartite: and afterwards she loved him spiritually. But he adds this, which we do not remember having read anywhere else: Ocus do choidh si iaramh co Patraicc ocus ro adaimh a huile peachta do. In Latin: Then she went to Patrick, to whom she confessed all her sins.

[48] This Daire, father of St. Ercnat, who meets us at this place in the Irish Life, is a person from the history of St. Patrick, where we read that he was called back to life when he was sprinkled with water blessed by St. Patrick [Muirchú, book I, ch. 25 (in Lib. Ardm., fol. 6 b 2 – 7 a 1); it will be enough to cite this one author.]. This same Daire (or Dáre) mac Findchada also bestowed on Patrick that height of land which is named the Ridge of the Willow … and that is the city which is now Ardd Machae Id., ibid..

[49] Benignus Known and widespread among all is the custom of the Celtic saints of pouring out prayers while immersed in icy waters Cf. Patriciana, in Anal. Boll., vol. XLIII, and the authors we cite there.. Muirchú narrates in the most ancient Life of St. Patrick how the holy bishop used that opportunity to test the virtue and spirit of Benignus, the boy most dear to him.

On how St. Patrick saw heaven opened and the Son of God and His angels [We have prefixed the title from the ancient index of this Life of St. Patrick in the Book of Armagh, fol. 20 a 2; this chapter, however, is missing in the Book of Armagh.].

Of the Lord's and apostolic Patrick, of whom we make mention, I shall unfold in a brief relation a certain miracle wonderfully wrought while he was still standing in the flesh understand quod ei adhuc stanti., which is read to have happened to him and to Stephen almost wholly read tantum.. At a certain earlier [Hogan reads: "autem or itaque or namque"; perhaps ante was correctly written, so that the sense is that this, which will soon be narrated, preceded what has already been said. Autem, however, is more probable.] time, when for the sake of prayer he was falling forward understand procederet. to his accustomed place through the spaces of the night, he saw the wonted wonders of heaven; and wishing to test his dearest and faithful holy boy, he said: "O my son, tell me, I pray, whether you perceive the things ea above the line which I perceive." Then the little one, named Benignus, said without hesitation: "Already I know the things that you perceive. For I see heaven opened and the Son of God and His angels." Then Patrick said: "Now I perceive that you are worthy to be my successor." Without delay, with quickened step read gradu concito., they came read pervenere. to the accustomed place of prayer. These at their prayers [His oîb the codex. Assuredly Hogan, loc. cit., and Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. 449, col. 2, rightly read his orationibus: for a little before you have oîs in its place, and as we ran through the codex the abbreviation oîb nowhere met us; written for omnibus, but constantly oms, omib;, omiû etc. Hogan wished to emend the text from the words of Probus (which we shall soon cite) in this way: His 〈ergo in〉 orationibus i. m. f. a. 〈constitutis〉, Anal. Boll., vol. I, p. 571. Almost the same Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. II, p. 497. Gwynn emended nothing, Liber Ardmachanus, p. 451, thinking, as it seems, that these words are clear enough by themselves, especially since a similar idiom is proper to the Irish language, that certain words are inserted, in the very course of the discourse, like a heading. If, however, you wish to make it Latin at all costs, read His orantibus.] in the middle of the bed of the river, the little one said: "I can no longer bear the cold of the water." For the water was too cold for him. Then Patrick told him to go down from the upper understand loco. to the lower. Nevertheless there he could stay for two read diu.. For he testified that he felt the water warm. Then, not enduring to stand long in that place, he went up onto land [We have copied the passage afresh from the codex of the Royal Library of Brussels 64, fol. 302. We have emended, for the most part, according to the opinion of Edm. Hogan, in Anal. Boll., vol. I, pp. 576–77, and Wh. Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. II, pp. 497–98.]

[50] This miracle is not read in the other Lives of Patrick, except in Probus, in the Fifth Life (BHL. 6508), who narrates thus: Of the Lord's and apostolic man, our Father Patrick, of whose labours and journeys we made mention in the former little book, now proposing to narrate, as best we can, the series of his miracles and passing, we undertake with God's help to weave a little work; at the beginning of which I shall unfold in a brief relation a certain miracle which is read to have happened to him and to the boy Stephen. At a certain time, when for the sake of prayer he was going to the accustomed place through the spaces of the night, the aforesaid boy accompanying him, he saw a great wonder in heaven, and wishing to test his dearest and faithful holy boy, he said: "My dearest son, tell me, I pray, tested by pain. whether you perceive and see the things which I perceive and see." Then the aforesaid boy Stephen, who is also Benignus, said without hesitation: "Already, dearest father, to me who presume on your merits, by the grace of the Lord, the things which you perceive and see are known; for I see heaven opened and the Son of God sitting in majesty and His angels before Him." Then St. Patrick said: "Now, son, I perceive that you will be worthy to be my successor." Without delay, with quickened step, they came to the accustomed place of prayer. When, therefore, they were set in prayer in the middle of the bed of the river, the boy said: "Father, help me; I can no longer bear the cold of the water

." For that water was too cold. Patrick says to him: "Go down, dearest son, from the upper place to the lower." And nevertheless he could not stay there long, for he testified that he felt the water too hot. Then he, not enduring that the boy should stand long in that place, went out of the water with him onto land [Probus, Fifth Life, book II, ch. 1–2, in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 52, col. 1.]. Whoever compares these words with Muirchú's will perceive that the passage arose from some exemplar of the same life, but, as it seems, a better one than the Brussels. Muirchú's meaning is clear, at the very beginning, that it happened only to St. Patrick and St. Stephen the protomartyr that they saw "the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7, 55). Since Probus had perversely understood this, he wrote that Stephen was another name of that Benignus who was Patrick's companion. Moreover, we judge that St. Patrick wished to test the boy dearest to him in a twofold way: first, indeed, when he asks whether he perceives the same things that he himself perceives; then by that experiment, which other Irish saints too are said to have used, first to explore the constancy and patience of pain of a disciple in cold waters, and then, the waves having been wonderfully warmed, to compel the disciple to come out [These are a few of the similar narratives, which, though they are told otherwise in the other places we shall cite, nonetheless show what the usual course of the matter was: the Life of St. Comgall, abbot of Bangor (BHL. 1910), ch. 46, in Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. II (Oxford, 1910), p. 17, how widespread which narrative was is plain from the passages cited there, n. 8 (cf. op. cit., vol. I, p. LIX); the Life of St. Fechin, abbot of Fore (BHL. 2845), ch. 17, in Plummer, vol. II, p. 82, and Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 132, col. 1; in the Irish recension in Stokes, in Revue Celtique, vol. XII (1891), p. 332, §22. Something similar of St. Ciarán of Saigir, in Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, vol. I, p. 122, §62, and in the places which he cites, ibid., note 3.]. Either, then, in the Brussels codex the particle non, which Probus has after the words ibi diu perstare, fell out, or the writer, an elegant Latinist forsooth, thought that the word nichilominus had of itself the force of negation. Finally, he who, not enduring to stand long in that place, went up onto land, must be thought to have been Benignus, by no means Patrick, as is plain from the parallel passages. Muirchú had written correctly; Probus understood wrongly.

§ IV. On other deeds of St. Benignus.

[51] The care of the virgin Cruimtheris is entrusted to Benignus. In the Lives of St. Patrick our Benignus is often brought in as his disciple, intimate, and assistant. Of mentions of this kind these seem more worthy of record. One of these (virgins, daughters of the king of the Lombards), called Crumtheris, a virgin of wonderful virtue, (Patrick) separated from the others and shut up in a cell or stone enclosure on the mountain commonly called Kenngobha, near Armagh towards the east; and he entrusted the care to St. Benignus, that every day towards evening he should see that she was provided with a little supper. So the Tripartite Life in Colgan Trias Thaumaturga, p. 163, col. 1.; more briefly Stokes's version: Dodeochaid Cruimtheris iarsuidiu corogaib i cCengobu, ocus nobered Benen a cnabad di cech naidche o Patraic [The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 232. Stokes had translated, ibid., p. 233, "to carry her ration to her", wrongly; but he himself corrected his error, vol. II, p. 672, where he orders "a ration" to be read.]. In Latin: Thence afterwards Cruimtheris, setting out, settled in Cengoba, and Benignus used to bring her daily food to her by night from Patrick.

[52] A vision from heaven is shown to Benignus, Jocelin, from a source unknown to us, unless he invented this whole passage himself on the model of the Fifth Life, book I, ch. 1 We cited the passage above, no. 50.: Once, then, St. Patrick, visiting that region of the Ulstermen which is called Dalnardia, was proceeding, passing through a certain place called Mucoomuir [That Muccomuir (otherwise Muccomer, Mugcomuir) is a monastery in Ulster Colgan relates, op. cit., p. 716, col. 1; perhaps the same as the one otherwise called Connerense, op. cit., p. 113, col. 1, note 106. The place is otherwise unknown, E. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 544, col. 1.], and his disciple named Benignus, mentioned above, fixing his step, was contemplating something wonderful in the heavens. For he saw light-streaming choirs of angels pouring heavenly brightness round that place, and he heard them singing praises to the Creator with inestimable melody. Standing as the devout contemplator of these wonders, he was filled with the exultation of inmost sweetness; yet he did not understand what the apparition shown in that place, of angelic presence, of flashing light, of heavenly hymnody, foretold. But after a short interval of time that wonderful vision wholly disappeared from the eyes of Benignus, and he, following the footsteps of father Patrick who went ahead, hastened his steps to reach him. When the saint asked the cause of his delay, he related the vision shown him from heaven. The holy pontiff, divinely taught, explaining what the outpouring of light and the angelic song hinted or indicated, said before those present: "Know, dearest little sons, that in that place a certain son of life, named Colmanellus [It is uncertain which Colman is to be understood here, Colman, abbot of Land Elo, or Colman of Dromore, Colgan, loc. cit. Moreover more than two hundred Colmans are listed in the ancient catalogues of the namesake saints of Ireland, which Denis T. Brosnan edited, in Archivium Hibernicum, vol. I (Maynooth and Dublin, 1912), pp. 318–326. Among so many of the same name he would be very sharp who recognized his man at once.], will build a church, and will gather together there many sons of light and future fellow citizens of the angels Jocelin, ch. 96; in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 87.."

[53] another to Patrick. These things are read in the Tripartite in Stokes: Diamboi Patraic oc Duma Graid ic ordned int shluaig moir, foatbi. "Cid insin?" ol Binen. "Ni anse," ol Patraic, "Bron ocus Manach Olcan tecait modocum iar Tracht Eothaili, ocus mo dalta sa macc Ercai léu. Dorat tonn in tuli tres mor ocus fubthad don macc dia breith." Faithsine insen Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 98.. In Latin: Patrick once, when he was at Duma Graid and was ordaining a huge multitude of the people, smiled. "What is this?" said Benignus. "Easy to say," said Patrick: "Brón and the monk Olcán are coming to me along the shore of Eothaile, together with my foster-son Mac Erca; but suddenly, a certain wave surging violently, the boy was terrified lest perhaps he be washed away." This was said prophetically. Otherwise Colgan: While he was one day in the place called Dumhacha-gridh, and a huge multitude of the people was running to him to drink the streams of sacred doctrine and to be washed in the saving waters, the holy man, set in a certain deep thought of mind, soon gave signs of an altered mind. And when St. Benignus longed to know the cause of that unwonted alteration, he answered in astonishment: "Bronius and the monk Olcanus, with my disciple Macerca, are on the road coming to us by the estuary called Traigh-Eothuile. And the sea-tide approaching, stirred by winds and storms, terrifies them with its huge roar." Thus the wonderful prophet of God beheld things absent and far removed just as if present, as in a mirror, and deserved by fatherly solicitude to free his disciples from danger [Trias Thaumaturga, p. 135, col. 1. That Dumha-Graidh is a place in Connacht Colgan writes, op. cit., p. 709, col. 2; perhaps in County Roscommon, Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 374, col. 2. There is no leisure to inquire into the remaining names, which do not pertain to Benignus.]. Again Jocelin Ch. 110, in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 90, col. 1 and 2., a fertile writer, so enlarged the matter that it became a huge prodigy: for here St. Patrick, pouring out prayer, holds back the sea which was already enclosing his terrified disciples; and at this place indeed he is silent about St. Benignus. But in the preceding chapter (where another prodigy of this kind is narrated in favour of the same disciples; but so similar that it must be thought, so to speak, another copy of the same exemplar), these things are set first Ch. 109, ibid., col. 1.: Once St. Patrick was preaching to the gentiles, and, instructing and baptizing them, he stayed a long time in that place. But Benignus, the saint's disciple, bore that so long delay in those parts somewhat impatiently. The saint, however, said that he would not leave those places before his disciples and foster-sons came to him from distant parts.

[54] Benignus hinted at in a letter of Patrick, St. Patrick himself, finally, writes to the soldiers of Coroticus: On the next day … I sent a letter with a holy priest whom I taught from infancy, with clerics, that they might grant us something of the booty or of the baptized captives whom they had taken. They made guffaws over them [N. J. D. White, Libri Sancti Patricii (London, 1918), p. 27 (= Texts for Students, No. 4); which edition we have collated with N. J. D. White, Libri Sancti Patricii, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXV, C (Dublin, 1905), p. 254.]. That that priest was our Benignus Ware conjectured [See White, op. cit., p. 297, note; Id., St. Patrick. His Writings and Life, p. 119.], and not without a show of truth. Yet it must be noted that he, whoever he was, is expressly called a priest, not a bishop. Further, the letter seems to have been written when St. Patrick was already growing old, perhaps in the year 459 J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 195, 303.. If these things were so, Benignus (who is said to have died in the year 467) was not long distinguished by the episcopal dignity. Which is probable; for Benignus, in the year 459, was not yet 33 years old [If this priest was Benignus, the matter fits very well with what we noted about his age and about the time at which he was raised to the see of Armagh, nos. 17 and 79.].

[55] he is mentioned in a poem said to be by St. Cuimine, That St. Cuimine of Connor, or, as others will have it, of Nendrum, who died in the year 659, composed in Irish verse a little work on the singular virtues of the chief saints of Ireland, in which for each he reported one singular virtue or heroic deed by way of a special elogium, Colgan writes Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 5, col. 1–2.. The poem among

is to be relegated among the Irish ψευδεπίγραφα, and that it is not earlier than the 11th or even the 12th century was brilliantly shown by the one who edited it, that indefatigable man Wh. Stokes [Cuimmín's Poem on the Saints of Ireland, in Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, vol. I (1897), pp. 59–73. It had already been printed, but not very carefully, by Matthew Kelly, D. D., Calendar of Irish Saints (Dublin, [1857]), pp. 160–171.]. This is the quatrain which pertains to Benignus:

Carais Benignus amhra an tsaoi úasal ba hiomlán eadh risa ngebad a paider ni biodh gan laiden d'iomradh Stokes, loc. cit., p. 66, vv. 137–40..

What these mean, we confess we do not clearly enough perceive; in Latin, however, relying on Stokes's English interpretation, one may translate them roughly thus [These were once translated for our predecessors in Latin verse by Philip O'Sullivan Beare; cf. Kelly, op. cit., pp. 160–61, note. Whether this little work has been preserved we do not know; at any rate it has not yet been dug out by us from the Bollandian Collectanea.]: The illustrious Benignus loved, | the noble and perfect sage (to do this:) | as often as he said the Lord's prayer | he was wont to meditate on the Latin speech [On this occasion it is to be noted that among the Irish Latin letters sometimes signify any teachings of human and divine letters.].

[56] in a mixed series of books, St. Benignus is named among the companions of St. Patrick also in the Irish Life of St. Berach, abbot of Cluain Coirpthe [Ch. 2, §8–10, ed. C. Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn, vol. I, pp. 24–25 (in Irish), vol. II, pp. 23–24 (in English translation); the passage is missing in the Latin Life of St. Berach (BHL. 1168). C. Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, pp. 75–76.]. In that wonderful colloquy, as it is reported, of St. Patrick with the ancient heroes of Ireland, entitled Acallamh na Senórach The Colloquy of the Ancients, Benignus is brought in with his master more than once [Ed. S. H. O'Grady, Silva Gadelica (London, 1892), vol. I, pp. 94–233 (in Irish), vol. II, pp. 101–265 (in a graceful English translation); ed. Wh. Stokes in Wh. Stokes und E. Windisch, Irische Texte, vierte Serie, 1. Heft (Leipzig, 1900). These are the places where St. Benignus is mentioned, cited from Stokes's edition: lines 1088, 1091, 1328, 3498, 3501, 5393 (here he is called Beneoin mac Aeda, that is, Benignus son of Aed, we do not know for what reason), 5395, 5399, 6640, 6642, 6648. Why Stokes in the index called him B. Mór mac Aeda, that is, Benignus the Great son of Aed, we do not perceive; for we have nowhere read that Benignus was surnamed by the word Mór (great), either in the Acallamh na Senórach or elsewhere.]. In the metrical calendar Félire Óengusso [See below the sylloge on the saints who are venerated today in both Scotlands, where we shall dispute more fully about the quatrains which are had in that work on the fifth day before the Ides of November.], in the Irish heortologies. which is thought to have been written between the years 797–808, St. Benignus is not named, although it is plainly certain that his fame was then widely spread. But Mael Maire húa Gormáin (or Marianus, grandson of Gorman), in the 12th century, mentions Benignus in an honourable place in his metrical calendar See below, ibid..

[57] By Tírechán among the companions of St. Patrick The name of St. Benignus is found in two catalogues brought forward by Tírechán; and the first is indeed of remarkable value Of which we have already treated briefly above, no. 2.. For Tírechán has this: Patrick came to Selca, in which were the halls of the sons of Briuin, with a multitude of holy bishops. They encamped on the heights of Selca and set up for themselves a bed and seat among the stones on which his hand wrote letters which we today have seen with our eyes. And with him were: Bronus the bishop, Sachelus, Bronachus the priest, Rodanus, Cassanus, Brocidius, Lommanus his brother, Benignus heir of Patrick and Benignus brother of Cethiacus, and others whose names there is no need for us to copy out [Lib. Ardm., fol. 12 b 2; at which place different people have read different things: we have followed the excellent edition of John Gwynn (pp. 24, 454). The Tripartite too relates the same journey of St. Patrick to the heights of Selca and expresses the same inscription (in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 136, col. 2; in Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, pp. 106, 108), yet not altogether in the same words as Tírechán. Whence I. B. Bury conjectures, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 272, that Tírechán was not the author of the Tripartite work in this matter, but that a separate testimony is brought forward by the Tripartite.]. By this most certain monument we are taught that St. Benignus was Patrick's companion. That the words heir of Patrick were not taken from the inscription but added by Tírechán for the sake of clarity I. B. Bury probably judges [Supplementary Notes on Tírechán's Memoir of St. Patrick, in English Historical Review, 1902, pp. 702–703.]. The same man also, with the greatest skill and sharpness of wit, distinguished that there were three stones inscribed by St. Patrick: the first, with his own name alone; the second: BRONVS EPISCOPVS, SACHELLVS; the third: BRONACHVS PRESPITER, RODANVS, CASSANVS, BROCIDIVS, LOMMANVS, BENIGNVS, BENIGNVS, and the rest. Whence it is to be gathered that Benignus had already then been initiated into the sacred priesthood, but not yet consecrated bishop. Nor does it stand in the way that Patrick is said to have been there with a multitude of holy bishops: for often in Tírechán those are called bishops who were afterwards bishops. These things about the priesthood of St. Benignus, however, though probable, are nevertheless conjecture. This one thing is certain, that St. Benignus was in that place with St. Patrick Whoever wants more, let him go to J. B. Bury, loc. cit.. The year, however, in which St. Patrick visited the heights of Selca with his people is uncertain; unless perhaps something is to be gathered from the fact that Benignus seems not yet to have been a bishop when the synod was convened by St. Patrick (if indeed that synod ever existed) at which Auxilius and Secundinus were present. The latter, however, departed from life in the year 447, at which time Benignus was not yet 24 years old J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 292, 371.. Finally, what those heights of Selca are is not yet, I believe, clear enough to anyone J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. LVI.; we know only from Tírechán that it was a place in Connacht, in the region of the descendants of Brian (Úi Briúin).

[58] and he is named among the bishops consecrated by him. Almost at the very beginning of his work, the occasion being offered by the names of Sesceneus and Benignus, who were both to be bishops, Tírechán writes Of the number of bishops whom (Patrick) ordained in Ireland: 450. There follows a catalogue of some names, of which the first among the bishops is Benignus, assuredly this one of Armagh Lib. Ardm., fol. 9 b.. In copying this catalogue who Tírechán's authority was is uncertain.

[59] He is called psalmist In some old codices there is read a catalogue of the companions of St. Patrick, or of the clerics who made up his household, of the ministers and domestic officials. The catalogue is had both in verse and in prose. In prose, the oldest codex which presents it is the Book of Leinster [The Book of Leinster, p. 353, col. d. Stokes copied the catalogue from there and edited it, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 266, note 1.], written about the year 1160. It runs thus, omitting what does not pertain to the matter: Is iat so in cethrur ar fhichet batar i nurd la Patric .i. … Benen a shalmchetlaid. In Latin: These are those who were with Patrick "in order", twenty-four in number:… Benignus his psalmist. In Irish those are said to be in order who have been initiated into sacred orders, of which more fully soon. The other codices differ little from the Book of Leinster [They are these: The Book of Ballymote (14th century), fol. 119 a, col. 2, line 42; The Yellow Book of Lecan (14th century) fol. 44 b, col. 3, line 36; Leabhar Breac (15th century), p. 220, col. 2, line 52: from which the catalogue was edited by Stokes, op. cit., vol. II, p. 574; the British Museum codex Egerton 93, fol. 18 b 2 (written in the year 1477): from which it was copied by Stokes, op. cit., pp. 264, 266; finally the codex of the Royal Irish Academy 23. D. 9, p. 6, if John O'Hanlon is to be believed, Lives of the Irish Saints, vol. III, p. 760, note 123.]. We shall soon speak of one transcript in which St. Benignus is omitted.

[60] in the catalogues of Patrick's companions, The poem ascribed to Flann, once the light of the school of Monasterboice (in Irish Mainistir Buithe, now in Co. Louth) [In Irish the poet's name is Flann Mainistreach, "Flann of the Monastery".], who died in the year 1056 J. O'Donovan, Annals of the Four Masters, vol. II, p. 870 and note k., contains these little verses:

Muinnter Phadruig na patter accá raibhe ro Laitten Meabhra lim — ni cuirt cranna — a nuirt is a nanmanna. … Benen a shailmcheatlaidh saer . . . [O'Donovan, vol. I., pp. 134, 136. Properly the poem "Muinnter Phadruig na patter" is the second part of the poem "Padruig ab Eireann uile"; for in the autograph codex of the Four Masters, of which O'Donovan edited specimens, pp. 131–32, note h, there had been prefixed to it: "Flann Mainistrech sang it" (ibid., p. 130). In this matter the learned R. I. Best was deceived, who presents the poem "Muinnter Phadruig na patter" as "by an uncertain writer" in that excellent work of his: National Library of Ireland. Bibliography of Irish Philology and of Printed Irish Literature (Dublin, 1913), p. 161.].

Which, word for word, sound thus: The company of Patrick of the prayers, whose speech was good Latin … I remember — no weak company — their order and their names… Benignus his psalmist. These are to be understood in human speech thus: I know the names of those who were present in the most strong company of St. Patrick, and what office or ecclesiastical function each had… This word, for which we render office or ecclesiastical function, has in the Irish language been derived from the Latin word ordo, so that the sense could be: I know of what order each was a cleric, who namely was a bishop, who a priest, and so on. This perhaps less true

seems likely. The same poem Muinnter Phadruig na patter is had also in the Book of Lecan [The Yellow Book of Lecan, fol. 44 b, col. 4, line 12. That the same is found also in the codex of the Royal Irish Academy marked 23. E. 26, p. 240, O'Hanlon reports, op. cit., p. 760, note 125.] (14th century), with whose help O'Donovan emended his codices of the Annals.

[61] yet not in all. In a certain prose catalogue of Patrick's company, which Colgan printed, the name of St. Benignus is not read [Trias Thaumaturga, p. 167, col. 1. In one codex of Stokes's recension (Rawlinson B. 512) the whole catalogue has fallen out; in the other (Egerton 93) we have already noted that everything is in order, above, note 1.]. But together with Benignus there is absent St. MacCaeirthinn the bishop, St. Patrick's attendant and the staff of his old age, who carried him on his shoulders So the Tripartite work in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 149, col. 2.. And he, in the other transcripts which we listed above, immediately precedes Benignus. And so both these names seem to have dropped out in Colgan by some error either of the scribe or of the compositor.

[62] What is the office of psalmist? It remains to inquire what is meant by the name of psalmist. From the title of the catalogue and the poem itself (v. 4) it is clear that they were all clerics, or, as the Irish has it, in order. Understand that they all belonged in some way to the ministry of the church; for after the bishop and the priest there are named the judge, the "champion", the psalmist, the chamberlain, the bell-ringer, the cook, the brewer, the sacristan, the ministers of guests, the charioteer, the fire-tender and provider of wood, the herdsman, the smiths and coppersmiths, the goldsmiths of the sacred furniture, and indeed three nuns, weavers and makers of the sacred linens. Yet from the place which is assigned in this catalogue to the office of psalmist one may scarcely doubt that this was an ecclesiastical function. Moreover, in the little narrative about St. Benignus and St. Ercnat See above, nn. 45–48. you meet St. Benignus the psalmist ocund urlegunn, that is, "reading aloud or reciting" [See Holger Pedersen, Vergleichende Grammatik der keltischen Sprachen, vol. II, p. 561, §757, s. v. air-leg-.]; which word in the ancient Irish glosses is used chiefly of public reading in the sacred assemblies of Christians [Add the places which Pedersen cites, ibid. These clearly treat of reading in church: Wb. 9 b 3, 18 a 24, 25 c 30, 27 d 13 (twice), 27 d 14. Moreover the same word air-leg- renders the Latin words "legendi" Sg. 213 b 9, "perlegendi" Sg. 24 a 14, "recitandi" Sg. 211 b 13. (Wb is the siglum of the Würzburg codex glossed in Irish, Sg of the St. Gallen codex: we have consulted the edition of both in Stokes and Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, vols. I and II.) Therefore Stokes, who had rendered ocund urlegunn as chanting, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 233, afterwards preferred reading aloud, op. cit., vol. II, p. 672. Moreover, the cantor who recites a canticle in an even and unmodulated tone of voice, as is customarily done here and there in the ecclesiastical office, differs little from the reader who reads aloud (for that is air-leg-).]. From these things it can be gathered that the function and office of the psalmist was almost the same as that of the cantor; and that this was sometimes counted among the minor orders, no one is unaware.

A catalogue of the bishops of Ireland. Finally, in a not very ancient catalogue of Irish bishops Benignus is mentioned in a most honourable place, immediately after SS. Patrick and St. Secundinus The Book of Leinster, p. 365, col. 4..

[63] The church of Drumlease In the Book of Armagh three monasteries or churches are reported to have been founded by some St. Benignus: the little cell of Benignus, by St. Benignus brother of Cethiacus Fol. 12 b 2.; a church consecrated to God and offered to Patrick by Bineanus son of Lugni Fol. 17 a 2., certainly another than Benignus of Armagh See below p. 177, note 5 and p. 178, note 9.; finally the monastery in Drumlease, of which, among the things that have been added to Tírechán's Collectanea (BHL. 6499) in the Book of Armagh Fol. 17 a 1–2., these things are handed down in Irish: Conggab Patricc iarnaidpuirt i nDruim Daro, .i. Druim Lias. Facab Patricc a daltae nand, Benignus a ainm, et fuit inse xuii annis. Gabais caille la Patricc Lassar ingen Anfolmithe dicheniul Caichain. Baiade and taresi mBenigni trifichtea bliadne. That is: Patrick founded (a church) in Druimm Daro, that is Druim Lias [Druim(m) Leas, afterwards Druim(m) Lias, now Drumlease or Drumleese, Barony Dromahaire, Co. Leitrim.], after it (the place) had been offered to him. Patrick left his foster-son there, Benignus by name, and he was inse seventeen years [“Et fuit inse xuii annis.” What that inse means we do not know; for whether you understand it to be Latin or Irish, neither helps. E. Hogan will have inse to signify in Irish in it, there, Vita Sancti Patricii (otherwise Documenta de Sancto Patricio), second part (Brussels, 1889), p. 181, col. 2, in the glossary, s. v. inse, and in Outlines of the Grammar of Old-Irish (Dublin, 1900), p. 115. But no one of the more recent writers, at least that we know of, has followed him.]. Lassar [So many are the namesakes of this virgin, even in the Martyrology of Donegal alone, that the riddle can hardly be solved.], daughter of Anfolmithe [Anfolmithe seems to be the name of a woman, Stokes and Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, vol. II, p. 238, note h.], of the race of Caichan, took the pallium Took the pallium, or the veil of virgins consecrated to Christ. from Patrick. She was there after Benignus (or for Benignus, or in the place of Benignus) three times twenty years.

[64] founded by Benignus, The Tripartite reports the same thus in Stokes: Rogab Pattraic iarsin forsindebdairt i nDruim Dara, Druimm Lias indiu .i. do sostaib Patraic and ocus dina liasaib rosainmiged. Foracaib Patraic Benen and a dalta inapdaine fri re fichet bliadan The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 144.. In Latin: Afterwards Patrick founded (a church) in the place which had been offered to him in Druim Dara. (Its name) today is Druim Lias, derived, namely, from the stations of Patrick and his huts (or little buildings, in Irish liasa). Patrick left Benignus there, his foster-son, in the abbacy, twenty years. The same Colgan in the Tripartite Book II, ch. 103, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 143., who names the place Druimdaire and understands those huts and little buildings as built by Patrick and his disciples staying there, doubtful "whether this is St. Benignus son of Seschenus, successor of Patrick … or rather St. Benignus brother of St. Cethechus; since each was a disciple of Patrick and lived at this time in Connacht Id., ibid., p. 180, col. 2, notes 150–151.."

[65] by the one of Armagh To John Gwynn [Liber Ardmachanus, p. LXIX. Why I. Gwynn cited, op. cit., p. LXVIII, last line, a passage from the "Seventh Life" (correctly, from the Irish Life of St. Benignus), Trias Thaumaturga, p. 204, we have not yet perceived; unless he inherited the error of Edmund Hogan, in Anal. Boll., vol. II, p. 218, note a.] it seems hardly probable that this was the same as Binean son of Lugni See above, nos. 2 and 16; and below p. 177, note 5.. For the son of Lugni is reported to have offered to God and to Patrick the estate which he had received by hereditary right from his mother's family, where a church should be founded over which he himself was set by St. Patrick. But in Druim Daro the church was built on lands which the son of Cairthin and Caichan had bestowed. Add that Benignus is expressly called the dalta (that is, foster-son) of Patrick; therefore we should readily believe that he was that celebrated disciple of Patrick, Benignus of Armagh, although both Benignus brother of Cethiacus and Binean son of Lugni were companions of Patrick and could in some way be called disciples or foster-sons [The contrary opinion is defended by I. Lanigan, An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. I, pp. 257–58.]. Finally, there is no reason why we should think that Bineanus son of Lugni presided over several churches in various regions separated from each other by a long distance; and it is certain that Bineanus's church was founded in the place which is now Kilbannon See below p. 178, note 8..

[66] or by another, To the other name Benignus which he had copied from the stone on the heights of Selca See above, no. 57. Tírechán added this: Benignus brother of Cethiacus, of the race of Ailill, who held the little cell of Benignus in aNorto from Patrick and Cethiacus [Lib. Ardm., fol. 12 b 2. See in the edition of J. Gwynn, p. 454, col. 2. The passage is had also in the Tripartite, Stokes, The Tripartite Life, pp. 106, 108; Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 136–37; but here there is nothing that could contribute to the matter we are treating.]. Perhaps in aNorto (the place is very indistinct in the codex) there lies hidden "the garden of St. Patrick in Connacht", lubgort Patraicc i Connachtu, of which the Irish Life of St. Benignus speaks, ch. 16. But the narrative which the Irish Life gives about the founding of Patrick's garden is so different from this little note of Tírechán Ch. 16, below, p. 182. that our conjecture does not satisfy even us enough. Moreover, whatever truth there may be in this, that Benignus who presided over the abbey of Druim Leas is assuredly other than Benignus brother of Cethiacus, who held the little cell of Benignus (for we have nowhere found that the abbey of Druim Leas is called the little cell or cell of Benignus), unless this same man occupied both places in succession; this, however, is hardly probable, for those monasteries seem to have been founded at almost the same time, nor is Patrick easily to be believed to have changed abbots, especially at the very beginnings. There remains, then, of the Benignuses we know, only the one of Armagh who could have been abbot of Druim Leas. One might perhaps object this one thing: if Benignus of Armagh, who succeeded Patrick himself in the primacy of Ireland at the beginning of the year 461 On the chronology see nos. 17–25, 82., remained seventeen years in Druim Leas, he was not yet seventeen years old when he was set over the monastery of Druim Leas in the year 444, the very year in which the things narrated about St. Ercnat the virgin could first have happened See no. 45..

[67] uncertain. This opinion, however, seems to be favoured in the 17th century by Dubhaltach Mac Fir Bhisigh (Duald Mac

Firbis), a man most expert in Irish matters and the last of the old antiquaries, in his little work On certain bishops [Ed. D. H. Kelly (with the help of W. M. Hennessy) in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Irish MSS. Series, vol. I, Part I (Dublin, 1870), p. 108.], when he writes that Benignus of Druim Leas is venerated on 9 November, on which day the one of Armagh is venerated. But this could have happened in error, especially since it is entirely unknown what the feast day of the other Irish Benignuses was. Here, however, is the passage: Druim Lias: Benen in abdaine i nDruim lias Nov. 9. In Latin: Druim Lias: Benignus in the abbacy in Druim Lias, Nov. 9.

[68] Whether Benignus was the guide of the journey for Patrick in Tirerrill. As John Gwynn notes Liber Ardmachanus, pp. LXI–LXII., the region and people of the descendants of Ailill seem not to have been altogether unknown to St. Patrick when he came into those parts near which Drumlease was built; for there came to meet him, as it seems, Cethiacus with his brothers Benignus and Mucneus and his sister Mathona, and at the same time Felartus with his sisters. Perhaps Patrick had come to know that people in this way, that our Benignus of Armagh is himself said to have sprung from the descendants of Ailill; nor is the conjecture so improbable, for although St. Patrick went into Connacht more than once, he seems to have come into the region of the sons of Ailill for the first time when he had churches built there.

[69] The holy bishops of Drumlease. There is no need to burden this commentary with what happened afterwards at Kilbannon and Drumlease; let whoever wants more go to the authors cited by Hogan [Onomasticon Goedelicum, s. v. Cell Beneoin (p. 177, col. 1) and s. v. Druim Lias (p. 366, col. 1).]. Yet not to be passed over are those Litanies which are ascribed to Oengus, in which there are invoked uii. noeb epscoip Dromma Lias [The Book of Leinster, p. 374, col. 1, last line; cf. Leabhar Breac, p. 24, col. 1, near the end.]; in Latin: the seven holy bishops of Druim Lias, whose names are not given; but here (as is plain from the Irish idiom) it is a matter of seven holy bishops who rest in Druim Lias. Benignus of Armagh, however (if indeed the one of Armagh was ever abbot of Druim Leas), certainly did not die at Druim Leas, nor is he buried there. For this reason it is not to be thought that he is spoken of here.

[70] Who the successors of Benignus were. In the Annals of Loch Cé (or, as some have wished, of Kilronan), at the year 1243, there is mentioned Fíndachta húa Lughada, with the titles comarba Beneoin ocus degánach mór Tuama added [The Annals of Loch Cé, ed. W. M. Hennessy, vol. I (London, 1871), p. 360 (= Rolls Series, No. 54). Cf. Annals of the Four Masters, ed. cit., p. 306.], that is, successor of Benignus and greater dean of Tuam. That he was the successor of Benignus at Kilbannon is the opinion of W. M. Hennessy, with whom we agree. But whether it was at Drumlease, or at Kilbannon, or elsewhere, this is a certain indication that in the 13th century there flourished some ecclesiastical dignity which was believed to have taken its name and origin from St. Benignus.

[71] Various churches of Benignus. Colgan in the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae Pp. 714–15., seizing the opportunity from the Life of St. Enda, abbot of Aran, digressed a little from his purpose to copy out about the three islands of Aran and their churches what the Most Illustrious Lord Malachy O'Queely, archbishop of Tuam, had collected Of whom J. H. Todd in O'Clery, The Martyrology of Donegal, p. LII, note 1.. From his writings it is plain that on the larger island there was then a church called Templum Benain, that is, the Church of Benignus [Cf. Roderick O'Flaherty, A Chorographical Description of West or H-Iar Connaught, ed. J. Hardiman (Dublin, 1846), p. 74 (Irish Archaeological Society). The ruined walls of the church seem still to survive.]. Who this Benignus was is not known to us. Perhaps the same one who is said to have established the monastery of Kilbannon; for Kilbannon is not far from the town of Tuam, and the Aran islands lie in the diocese of Tuam. The ruined walls of this church at least seem to exist to this day near the village of Killeany Ordnance Survey of Ireland (One Inch to a Statute Mile), fol. 113.. Finally, the village of Plouenan in Lesser Brittany was formerly called Ploe-Benoan, Ploe-benan, Ploueuenan [J. Loth, Les noms des saints bretons, in Revue Celtique, vol. XXX (1909), pp. 318, 403.]: in the name lies hidden the name of some St. Benignus. Whether this was the one of Armagh it is not worth while to inquire [On other churches and monasteries which are said to have been founded by Benignus, see also chapter 21 of the Irish Life with the notes.].

[72] Writings are ascribed to Benignus Concerning the body of the rights of the kings of Ireland [Leabhar na g-Ceart or The Book of Rights… edited by John O'Donovan (Dublin, 1847) (Celtic Society). That it was one of the first works of that learned man and worthy to be edited anew Eoin MacNeill notes, Phases of Irish History (Dublin, 1920), pp. 276–77, and Celtic Ireland, p. 73, note. Whether St. Benignus wrote that book O'Donovan discusses at length, pp. II–XII (it is ascribed to W. E. Hudson in E. O'Curry, On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, vol. II (London, Dublin, etc., 1873), p. 45, note 14, but wrongly, as will be plain to the reader). Perhaps O'Donovan made more than was just of the testimony of the Irish Life which he brought forward in Colgan's translation, chapter 18; for the whole seems to have been invented by the hagiographer to defend the ancient tradition of the Psalter of Cashel being ascribed to St. Benignus. We should not easily attribute so much authority to the inept antiquary who put together the Irish Life. On the Leabhar na gCeart John MacNeill (the same who is now called by the Irish name Eoin MacNeill) wrote learnedly in The New Ireland Review, vol. XXV (1906), pp. 65–80, 206–216, 348–362; Id., Celtic Ireland, pp. 73–95.], which the ancient monuments relate was composed by St. Benignus of Armagh, it is not for us to agitate the question, which the learned John MacNeill has set out with outstanding erudition Op. cit., pp. 84–85.. Nor will anyone think that what escaped so great a man is to be sought from us. Where, however, the distinguished man judged the testimonies of the sources foreign to his purpose, we have supplied them according to our small measure. That the rights of the kings were first set down by St. Benignus all the poems of which the Leabhar na gCeart consists report with the greatest agreement [J. O'Donovan cites almost all those passages in his dissertation, loc. cit. Cf. the Index s. v. Benean, p. 297, col. 2. With how great a consensus of all the Leabhar na gCeart was afterwards ascribed to Benignus is brilliantly shown by the one who in the 17th century collected the ancient monuments of the nation's history with such zeal, Seathrun Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating), Foras Feasa ar Éirinn. The History of Ireland, vol. I, ed. D. Comyn (London, 1902), p. 78, and vol. III, ed. P. S. Dinneen (London, 1908), p. 166 (= Irish Texts Society, vols. IV and IX).]; Leabhar na gCeart, whose authority it is not permitted to deny without grave cause. Nor is it to be wondered at that the rights and tributes of the peoples and lands were written by St. Benignus, since he had the chief authority among the disciples and helpers of St. Patrick sprung from Irish blood and race. St. Benignus is also said to have been one of those who composed the body of law and statutes which is called Senchus Mór Of which more soon, no. 73.. Moreover, in the Book of Armagh Fol. 21 b 2; of which passage below, no. 74., after Auxilius, Patrick, Secundinus, Benignus also is written to have made a decree on a matter of the greatest concern to the Irish church; and of these four men Benignus alone was Irish by blood. The poem on the rights of the king of Tara at its very opening Ed. O'Donovan, p. 178. clearly indicates that at least that part of the Leabhar na gCeart was first composed in Latin [So indeed it seems to the learned E. MacNeill. But this perhaps, as we have already noted in passing, p. 162, note 3, is nothing other than a not very unusual Irish idiom, which under the name of the Latin language comprises the teachings of almost all the humane arts. Whether au]. We know, moreover, that after Ireland was brought to the faith of Christ no language was held more honourable than Latin: in Latin the ancient commentaries on St. Patrick were written, in Latin the early Annals; in Latin too the body of law must have been written down at the time when the island first became Christian. But after vernacular letters had grown up, the royal poets were charged with comprising these laws in Irish verse; that they had before their eyes the Latin body of law ascribed to St. Benignus is probable. And the prose summaries which are referred to the individual parts all claim St. Benignus as author; but O'Donovan judges with fair probability that these are more recent. No prudent man, however, will think that every smallest little stipulation of the laws, such as are read prescribed in the Leabhar na gCeart after so many changes of political affairs, had already been decreed by St. Benignus in the 5th century. The various poems on the rights of kings seem first to have been collected, with many other things which pertained to the domestic histories, into that great book which they call the Psalter of Cashel. That this was compiled by the illustrious bishop and king of Cashel Cormac son of Cuilennán (836–908), the ancient monuments of the Irish relate almost with one voice. It is probable, therefore, that the poems on the rights of kings were written at the beginning of the 10th century, and the summaries and the other prose additions about the year 1000. Thus far the learned E. MacNeill.

[73] Senchus Mor, St. Benignus is named with St. Patrick among the three bishops who with three grammarians and three kings revised another body of law, called Senchus Mor, and whose names are first read in a quatrain which the same

Cormac son of Cuilennán preserved in his glossary W[hitley Stokes edited it, Three Irish Glossaries (London, 1862), pp. 31–32; and again Id., The Tripartite Life, vol. II, p. 570. Moreover, we not infrequently come upon that quatrain in the monuments of the Irish language; cf. Introduction to Senchus Mór, among the Ancient Laws of Ireland, vol. I (Dublin, 1865), p. 4; Annals of the Four Masters, ed. cit., pp. 132, 134, year 438. S. Céitinn (G. Keating), Foras Feasa ar Éirinn. The History of Ireland, ed. cit., pp. 30, 32, brings forward four quatrains of another poem in which some poet or other seems to have followed, according to his small measure, the opinion of a certain jurist on the arrangement of the body of laws entitled Senchus Mór (more correctly perhaps now Introduction to Senchus Mór; for it comes under that name in the English edition). Compare with the first verse cited by Keating the passage among the Ancient Laws of Ireland, op. cit., p. 18. Although that whole matter of Aimhirgin Gluingheal is very well known. But how celebrated that statement about St. Benignus was among the jurists is shown, to omit other things, by a gloss in the Introduction to Senchus Mór, among the Ancient Laws of Ireland, op. cit., p. 38; a gloss in the treatise Do cetir Slicht Athgabála, ibid., p. 208; a gloss in the treatise Do Fastad Cirt ocus Dligid, op. cit., vol. V, ed. R. Atkinson (Dublin, 1901), p. 470. On this matter see what we note on p. 180, note 1.]. These nine men are said to have emended the code of laws in the reign of Laegaire son of Niall, king of all Ireland. The Annals of Ulster add, indeed, that this happened in the year 438 [Annals of Ulster, ed. cit., vol. I, p. 6. Cf. Chronicum Scotorum, ed. W. M. Hennessey, p. 22.]; if this is so, Benignus, who was then in about his twelfth year On the age of St. Benignus, see above no. 82., could not have been a jurist, much less a bishop [C. O'Conor, Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres, vol. II, pp. 109, 114; J. Lanigan, An Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. I, p. 371, whom G. Petrie follows, On the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XVIII (1837), p. 70; J. O'Donovan, Annals of the Four Masters, vol. I, p. 134, note n; A. P. Forbes, in Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. I, p. 312, col. 1.]. But I. B. Bury has clearly shown The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 355–57. that the year 438 was written into the Annals of Ulster by an inept fraud, so that the Irish Senchus Mór might be believed to have been revised in the same year in which the Theodosian Code was published [Op. cit., p. 356. Add that express mention of the emperor Theodosius is made in that treatise on the arrangement of the Irish laws which we have already cited several times, among the Ancient Laws of Ireland, vol. I, pp. 2, 4, where many things are reported, from the tradition of a later age, about what was done by St. Patrick and St. Benignus in that council. Cf. the narrative of the conversion of Laegaire to the faith of Christ which C. Plummer edited in Revue Celtique, vol. VI (1883–1885), pp. 162–72, and Wh. Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. II, pp. 562–66.]. Add also that this is written in Irish in the Annals; but we have already noted that the older Annals were written in Latin Above no. 72.. Setting aside this falsehood, then, nothing stands in the way of Cormac's quatrain seeming to have flowed from an ancient and approved monument, which is the opinion of I. B. Bury The Life of St. Patrick, loc. cit.. Yet he would not be too obstinate who should suspect that of the names of those nine men at least some were fraudulently added so that the number nine, which among the Celts is sacrosanct, might be completed, and thus credit be won for the code. But of these things there will be another place for discussion, when we undertake to explain the poem inserted in chapter 14 of the Irish Life.

[74] The Hibernensis canon, Likewise whatever very difficult cause shall have arisen, and one unknown to all the judges of the nations of the Scots, is rightly to be referred to the chair of the archbishop of the Irish, that is, of Patrick, and to the examination of this prelate. But if in that chair, with his wise men, such a cause of the aforesaid business cannot easily be healed, we have decreed that it is to be sent to the apostolic see, that is, to the chair of the apostle Peter, which has the authority of the city of Rome. These are they who decreed on this, namely Auxilius, Patrick, Secundinus, Benignus Lib. Ardm., fol. 21 b 2.. These things are in the Book of the Angel (BHL. 6500), which was invented at Armagh, as it seems, at the beginning of the 8th century, for the sake of defending the rights and privileges of the see of Armagh [On the Book of the Angel see J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, pp. LXXV–LXXVIII, and Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 287.]. In almost the same words the Hibernensis canon: If any difficult questions arise in this island, let them be referred to the apostolic see [Hibernensis, 20, 5, b. F. W. H. Wasserschleben, Die irische Kanonensammlung, 2nd ed. (1885), p. 61; we read with Bury, op. cit., p. 371, n. 2.]. I. B. Bury notes that the names subjoined in the Book of the Angel, if they really were excerpted from a catalogue of those who set their names to the decrees of some synod, sufficiently indicate by themselves that the synod was held before the year 447–448, in which Secundinus departed from the living, and that Benignus was even then a priest, not yet a bishop Op. cit., p. 371; cf. p. 292..

[75] The Third Life of Patrick, Of St. Benignus and other reputed writers of the Acts of St. Patrick Jocelin has these things: Whence also of the things which he (Patrick) wonderfully did in the world, little books or treatises are reported to have been written to the number of sixty-six, of which the greatest part perished, consumed by fire, under the rule of Gurmund and Turgesius. Four codices, however, about his virtues and miracles, written partly in Latin and partly in Irish, are found, which at different times four of his disciples are reported to have written, namely blessed Benignus his successor, and St. Mel the bishop, and St. Luman the pontiff, his nephew, and St. Patrick his little godson, who, after the death of his uncle, returning to Britain, met his fate and was honourably buried in the church of Glastonbury (sic) Jocelin, ch. 186, in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 106, col. 2.. That this was the Third Life (BHL. 6506) Colgan contended Ibid., p. 29, col. 2, note 1; pp. 216–17., and he would have contended even more sharply if he had been able to illustrate the Life of Benignus at 9 Nov. in the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae. But recently, with his usual diligence, I. B. Bury proved that the Third Life is not older than the 9th century [A life of St. Patrick, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXII, C, pp. 199–224; The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 272–73.]. It could have happened, however, that St. Benignus committed to writing some testimonies about St. Patrick; but if anything of his writings had existed in the archive of Patrick's church at the beginning of the 9th century, assuredly it would have been received into the Book of Armagh, from which the fussy solicitude of the antiquary allowed nothing to be absent that seemed fit for defending and increasing the rights of the see of Armagh.

[76] other things. Finally, in a poem of the 11th or 12th century [Ed. O'Curry, On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, vol. II, p. 45 (in English translation) and vol. III, p. 542 (in Irish). On similar laws go to the places which O'Curry mentions, op. cit., p. 542, n. 601.], there is ascribed to St. Benignus also that law by which it was forbidden to use the rights of marriage at the assemblies of Carman. The poem on the early inhabitants of Dublin [The Book of Ballymote, p. 279 b, line 10; from which it was copied and furnished with a Latin translation by a certain John Kelly at the beginning of the 17th century, in codex E. 3. 13 of Trinity College, Dublin. T. K. Abbott and E. J. Gwynn, Catalogue of the Irish Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, p. 4, n. 582.], which is attributed to St. Benignus, is certainly spurious.

§ V. St. Benignus, bishop of Armagh. On his cult among the people of Glastonbury.

[77] Into the catalogue of the successors of Patrick We have already read quite often that St. Benignus was called the successor of Patrick. Come now, let us see how this can be proved historically. Four codices have preserved to our age a catalogue of the successors of St. Patrick in ruling the church of Armagh [Colgan first edited it, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 292, col. 2, from the Psalter of Cashel, as he himself writes; but it is not so certain that by this name is to be understood the codex which is now the Oxford Bodleian Laud. 610, as J. H. Todd thinks, St. Patrick, p. 173, whom Wh. Stokes follows, The Tripartite Life, vol. II, p. 548, note 1: for Colgan has more names than are written in the Oxford codex, which he certainly did not add on his own initiative, as is plain from the notes, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 292, col. 2. Yet it could have happened that the scribe whom Colgan used silently added some things to his transcript. Note also that some things in Colgan are different from the Oxford codex. Moreover, on the Psalter of Cashel and codex Laud 610 go to J. O'Donovan, Leabhar na g-Ceart, pp. XXVII–XXXIII, and Wh. Stokes, Félire Óengusso. The Martyrology of Oengus, pp. XIV–XV. From two codices Robert King edited it, A Memoir Introductory to the Early History of the Primacy of Armagh, 2nd ed. (Armagh, 1854), p. 112. From four codices J. H. Todd, op. cit., pp. 172–83; J. F. Shearman again published the beginnings of the catalogue, Loca Patriciana, pp. 474–75. Wh. Stokes reprinted three catalogues, The Tripartite Life, vol. II, pp. 542–48 and p. 548, note 1. From the Oxford codex again, K. Meyer, The Laud Synchronisms, in Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, vol. IX (1913), pp. 478–79, 481–82. Finally, a critical edition with the help of four codices, with a broad inquiry added,

is offered by H. J. Lawlor and R. I. Best, The Ancient List of the Coarbs of Patrick, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXV, C (1919), pp. 316–62. This we use, revised as best we could; for we have perceived that both in the text itself and in the dissertation which follows some things have been copied not very carefully.]. That this, such as we have it, was excerpted between the years 1020 and 1049 from the diptychs of Armagh the learned H. J. Lawlor and R. I. Best have shown, relying on not slight arguments. If they have judged rightly, only the names of the bishops were taken from the diptychs; but that the rest which has been added to the names, in the first part at least (which alone pertains to our matter), flowed from the Annals has been proved by the same H. J. Lawlor and R. I. Best [That in computing the number of years those learned men erred here with the greatest consistency, and for what reason they seemed to have erred, we have already noted above, n. 21.]. But in searching out the sources of the catalogue it is possible to go even further: for it is plain that the very names of the bishops were taken from the Annals, so that in this matter neither the catalogue, nor those lost diptychs, nor any other source of the catalogue there may have been, can be held to be a new and genuine witness. Which is proved thus. The names of two bishops have been wrongly inserted into the catalogue, those of Secundinus and of Patrick the Elder, who certainly never had a place in genuine diptychs; for neither obtained the see of Armagh [We omit that third Patrick whom one codex mentions after Iarlaithe; for here the name of Patrick does not seem to have been read in the archetype.]. For Secundinus was bishop not of Armagh but of the place which was formerly called Donnacsacheling [Wm. Reeves, Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore (Dublin, 1847), p. 128.], now Dunshaughlin J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 117., that is, Domnach Sechnaill, in Latin the Church of Secundinus. Patrick the Elder, however, is to be relegated among the fictions of the learned [There is no reason to cite many witnesses in a matter so clearly perceived. Cf. J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 342–43; C. Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. XXV, n. 2 and p. XXX, n. 6. The contrary opinion is defended among the more recent writers by Patrick Cardinal Moran, in The Irish Theological Quarterly, vol. II (1907), pp. 173–75. Why that Patrick the Elder was believed to have departed from the living in the year 457, no one that we remember has tried to explain except the learned and skilful H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, Saint Patrice et Sen Patricc, in Revue Celtique, vol. IX (1888), pp. 111–12; which little work seems to have escaped even the most diligent investigators of Patrician chronology. Note that the passage from the Annals of Ulster edited by W. M. Hennessy was not yet known to the learned H. d'Arbois de Jubainville. In the treatise Do fhlaithesaib 7 Amseraib hErenn iar nomina creitim, which we have already cited several times, it is recorded: "Laegaire son of Niall held the kingdom of Ireland for 30 years after the coming of Patrick." If you add 30 to the number 432 (in which St. Patrick was believed to have landed in Ireland), it makes 462. Come now (remembering what Tírechán writes, that Laegaire reigned two or five years after the death of Patrick), subtract 5, it makes 457. So H. d'Arbois de Jubainville. But could not the chronologers have erred here, as often elsewhere, who compute the years of the Lord's passion, some from the year which for us is 28, others from the year 32; others from the year 29, others from the year 33? From there perhaps the year 461, in which St. Patrick really died, was confused with the year 457, an error of four years creeping in. Note that at the year 457 in the Annales Cambriae (of which above, no. 18) this is had: "St. Patrick passes to the Lord." But let the judgment of this whole business belong to the more learned.]. Now from where these names crept into the catalogue of the predecessors of St. Patrick I. B. Bury pointed out with his finger [Supplementary Notes on Tírechán's Memoir of St. Patrick, in English Historical Review, vol. XVII (1902), pp. 701–702.]: for there were ancient chronological treatises Such is that Do fhlaithesaib etc. which we have just now cited. which for the fifth century reported little besides the death-years of illustrious men; but before the year 526 all the clerics who are mentioned were abbots of Armagh, except those very ones of whom we are speaking, SS. Secundinus and Patrick the Elder. Hence it is plain by how easy an error those two could have been inserted in the catalogue among the successors of St. Patrick [At Armagh certainly was composed the treatise Do fhlaithesaib etc., in which almost only the prelates of Armagh, as we have said, are mentioned, and St. Iarlaithe is called "third bishop" with no name of a place added; that St. Iarlaithe was one of the successors of St. Patrick is certain from elsewhere. Since these things are so, where the codex has "Quies Benigni fí episcopi", it seems that "Quies Benigni secundi episcopi" should be read, on which matter above, n. 20. And as for the Annals of Ulster having "Quies Benigni episcopi", in our opinion it happened thus. When something difficult to read was written in the exemplar, one scribe omitted the suspicious letters, another boldly and candidly copied out what he had made out, not at all caring whether it suited the sense or not; indeed he did not even care that what he wrote should mean anything. Moreover, that in the Annals St. Benignus was reckoned as the second bishop of Armagh Lawlor and Best rightly perceived, op. cit., pp. 338–39.].

[78] The name of Benignus brought in So much for the series of bishops. Now to the individual names is subjoined the number of years for which each bishop sat. These indications of time too are to be thought to have flowed from the Ulster or other Annals, but by a winding course which it would be long to trace and is little necessary to the present question. For the number of ten years which is attributed to Benignus certainly agrees with the Annals.

[79] from the Irish Annals, From all these things it follows that the catalogue, at least at this place and setting aside various little notes added afterwards which do not concern our matter, is by no means to be held as a witness distinct from the Annals: for the compiler of the catalogue borrowed both the names and the numbers of years either from the Annals of Ulster (either such as we have them, or such as they were before, the year 486 having been omitted, their reckoning of time was vitiated), or from the very source of the Annals, or from a work akin to them. Therefore, that Benignus is said to have been bishop of Armagh for ten years rests on no other foundation than a calculation drawn by a certain computist, who knew that St. Benignus died in the year 467, and Patrick the Elder in the year 457, in whose place he was persuaded Benignus had been substituted. Since these things are so, nothing stands in the way, those fables being dismissed, of believing that St. Benignus succeeded St. Patrick, who died on 17 March of the year 461, and was himself succeeded by St. Iarlaithe after he passed to blessed immortality on 9 November of the year 467 Cf. J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 319.. With this opinion the ancient documents on St. Patrick agree with the greatest concord, which call Benignus alone the successor of Patrick.

[80] toward the end of the 8th century. But the age also in which the catalogue was written can be defined in this way. We have seen both that the catalogue arose from the sacred diptychs [That the catalogue arose from the diptychs is urged with fair probability by Lawlor and Best, as we have already noted; yet, in our judgment at least, it has not yet been proved. But however the matter stands, it matters little to the sum of our argument.] and that the diptychs themselves flowed either from the Annals or from the very sources of the Annals. It could therefore have happened either that the diptychs were composed at the beginning from the Annals (which is hardly probable), or that diptychs destroyed by chance were restored from the Annals; this is to be judged nearer the truth. For H. J. Lawlor and R. I. Best show Op. cit., pp. 336–37. that the catalogue agrees wonderfully with the Annals as far as the name of Fer dá Chrích, who is reported to have died in the year 768 Annals of Ulster, year 767 (correctly 768), op. cit., p. 234.. But it is worth noting that in the time of the predecessor of this Fer dá Chrích, Cú Dinisc by name, Armagh was twice burned [Ibid., years 774 (correctly 775) and 782 (correctly 783), op. cit., pp. 242, 256.], and under Dub dá Lethe (as it seems), the predecessor of Cú Dinisc himself, it was plundered Ibid., year 792 (correctly 793), op. cit., p. 272.. Moreover, that whole time in those parts was calamitous and grievous, as is plain from the monuments of the histories, while in the very city of Armagh matters were fought out between abbots with the sword Cf. Lawlor and Best, op. cit., p. 344 ff.. These things can incline the mind to believe that the diptychs were then destroyed and remade [It could, however, easily have happened that in so many burnings and sackings of Armagh the diptychs perished by chance. If this really happened, the older part (as far as the name Fer da Chrich) then had to be remade from the Annals; and the more recent part was either added from memory, or from other sources which comprised only the narrative of recent events.]. But although the arguments by which, as the matter allowed, we have shown this seem clear, one may add one more, briefer indeed, but perhaps of even greater moment. For from the learned inquiries of the distinguished E. MacNeill [Reconstruction and Date of the Laud Synchronisms, in Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie, vol. X (1914), pp. 81–96.] it has been brilliantly demonstrated that the ancient documents which are kept in the Oxford codex were first collected not many years before.

[81] The faulty chronology of Benignus in the Irish Life It remains for us to give an account of chapter 20 of the Irish Life of St. Benignus. In Latin it runs thus: Benignus lived a hundred and three years, as is gathered from the Annals. For he was in his eighth year when he was brought to Patrick, who had then first landed on the shore. And Patrick baptized and instructed the Irish for sixty years. Then Seachnall was heir of Patrick for sixteen years;

then Seanchonán [Who that Seanchonán (or Sen-Chonán, that is in Latin Conán the Elder) was we have nowhere found. We judge it to be an error either of the scribe, or of the writer, or of the author whom the writer had, for Sen-Patráic (that is, that Patrick the Elder); for it could hardly be anything else, since both the Annals and almost all the codices of the Catalogue agree in that name. Add that the same number of years is ascribed to this Seanchonán which is attributed with the greatest agreement to Patrick the Elder. This is the opinion of Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 293, col. 1, year 457.] for ten years (for he succeeded Seachnall); afterwards Benignus was heir of Patrick for ten years. Which make a hundred and three years. It is plain how the candid writer heaped up the numbers into that wonderful age. That St. Benignus, when he was first handed over by his parents to the instruction of St. Patrick, had completed his seventh year, we have already shown why it was readily believed Above, no. 17.. That this happened immediately after St. Patrick landed in Ireland is certainly not established, but we do not wish to raise a tragedy over one or two years. That St. Patrick was sixty years in Ireland is false, but ancient and widespread. On the death of St. Patrick, St. Seachnall (the same who in Latin is St. Secundinus) was thought to have succeeded; most codices of the catalogue report that he was bishop for thirteen years: the writer of the Irish Life seems to have read sixteen (xui) for thirteen (xiii). The other numbers agree with the catalogue, and all together make a hundred and three.

[82] Chronological summary. To repeat here in summary, then, what we have discussed in the course of this commentary about the chronology of the life of St. Benignus, he seems to have been about seven years old in the year 433 Above, ibid., to have succeeded St. Patrick after his death on 17 March of the year 461 Above, nos. 23–25., and to have died on 9 November 467 Above, nos. 18–22., aged about forty years.

[83] That Benignus of Armagh died at Glastonbury Since the people of Glastonbury, not sparing lies, asserted that St. Benignus's very master, St. Patrick, ended his life at Glastonbury, no one who is not wholly a stranger to the ways of that most celebrated monastery will be surprised that the name of St. Benignus too was sometimes usurped in that famous workshop of false and corrupted writings and monuments. At what time the memory of St. Patrick began to be appointed there is foreign to the present question, nor is time to be wasted in refuting and rebutting follies of this kind. Let us see briefly what the people of Glastonbury invented about St. Benignus. The little book on the places where the saints of England rest, composed in the parts of the East Saxons about the thousandth year from the birth of Christ, has this about Glastonbury, with no express mention of St. Benignus: Blessed Aidan, then, and St. Patrick and many others with them rest in the place which is called Glæstingabyrig [F. Liebermann, Die Heiligen Englands Angelsächsisch und Lateinisch (Hanover, 1889), p. 18, n. 37. Both Anglo-Saxon versions agree with the Latin words we have cited.].

[84] William, monk of Malmesbury, in the second book of the Deeds of the Bishops of England, §91, where he treats of the monastery of Glastonbury and the saints whose relics are said to be kept there: too trusting in William of Malmesbury There is proclaimed there, he says, Benignus the confessor, who was an anchorite not far from here, and by his very illustrious miracles roused the neighbouring monks to venerate and translate him [Willelmi Malmesbiriensis monachi De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum libri quinque, ed. N. E. S. A. Hamilton (London, 1870), p. 198 (= Rolls Series, No. 52).]. The same in the Deeds of the Kings of the English [Book I, §24. Willelmi Malmesbiriensis monachi De Gestis Regum Anglorum libri quinque, Historiae Novellae libri tres, ed. W. Stubbs, vol. I (London, 1887), p. 27 (= Rolls Series, No. 90). On William's Glastonbury writings go to what W. W. Newell wrote learnedly and at length, William of Malmesbury on the Antiquity of Glastonbury, in Publications of the Modern Languages Association of America, vol. XVIII (1903), pp. 459–512. The same argument was afterwards treated under the same title by J. A. Robinson, Somerset Historical Essays (London, 1921), pp. 1–25. William's sources need not concern us here.]: Benignus succeeded Patrick in the rule of abbot, but for how many years is uncertain. Who he was and how he was called in his native tongue the verses which were written in the epitaph at Ferramere express not unwittily:

In this stone are laid the bones of father Beonna, who had been father of the monks here in olden time: him the Irish-born say was perhaps once the minister of Patrick, and they call him Beonna by name.

How great his grace with God was and is, the great works both of his old life of long ago and of his new translation into the greater church proclaim. With the chief words of this testimony correspond the statements of the same illustrious historian in the book On the Antiquity of the Church of Glastonbury, in whose prologue he mentions that he had previously written the miracles of the venerable Benignus P. L., vol. CLXXIX, col. 1682.: In the year of the Lord 460 St. Benignus came to Glastonbury. He was a disciple of St. Patrick and the third successor in his episcopate in Ireland, as their deeds testify. He, then, at the warning of an angel, forsaking his fatherland and the dignity of the pontificate, having undertaken a voluntary pilgrimage, came under God's guidance to Glastonbury, where he also found St. Patrick. How great his grace with God was is plain from many indications of miracles. This too his signs at Fernigemere testify: the most abundant water given at his prayers, and from his dry staff a huge tree, green wreus edit. and leafy. He, then, after immense yones rested with a blessed end in the said island, and after the courses of many years, that is, in the year of the Lord one thousand and ninety-one [nongentesimo primo edit. That an error has crept into the numbers is plain both from other monuments of the writers, which we shall soon cite, and from the very words of Malmesbury, op. cit., col. 1729, where he treats of Abbot Thurstan, who ruled the famous monastery at the end of the 11th century: "To the glory of Thurstan's times assuredly belongs the translation of the most blessed Benignus, not uncelebrated for miracles, which our pen has set out elsewhere."], he was honourably translated to Glastonbury [Op. cit., col. 1691. Note that a little after, col. 1694, among the relics which were kept at Glastonbury there are mentioned "the bones of St. Benignus the martyr". Later too, col. 1701, he reports almost the same words that he used in the Deeds of the Kings: "St. Benignus succeeded; who he was and how he was called in his native tongue the verses which were written in the epitaph of his tomb at Ferremere express not unwittily: 'In this tomb of the father' etc."].

[85] many believed. And so much indeed for those trifles. It is not worth while to review what the writers more recent than William have on this subject: so various are the opinions they have expressed among themselves, so little resting on events and facts, while besides what we have cited they know nothing at all, and strive to reconcile those fictions with what the Irish writers report about the various holy Benignuses [Cf. Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 176, col. 2, pp. 177–78; Ussher, Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, 2nd ed. (London, 1687), pp. 454–56; R. Challoner, A Memorial of Ancient British Piety or a British Martyrology, p. 156; A. P. Forbes, in Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. I, p. 312.]. If we may take refuge in conjecture, we should more readily believe that a certain hermit Beon, born perhaps in Ireland (for the name is not so unusual, but altogether foreign to Benignus), lived piously and holily not far from Glastonbury, in the place called Feringmere, and was buried there in the ground, with no epitaph inscribed on the tomb besides the name. By happy fortune the Glastonbury monks found his body at the time when the fables about St. Patrick, abbot of Glastonbury, had already spread. If it happened so, they could scarcely guard against believing that that Beon was Benignus of Armagh. And so they wrote the epitaph which we know. From where the other things read in Malmesbury were drawn we do not perceive: assuredly he heard them at Glastonbury and committed them to writing at Glastonbury. And John of Tynemouth (whose little work we reprint) seems to have collected from the Glastonbury monuments everything he reports about St. Benignus; for that John went to Glastonbury when he was seeking a forest of material for composing the English Sanctilogium is certain also from elsewhere [Go to Tynemouth's passage in the Life of St. Patrick, Nova Legenda Anglie, ed. C. Horstman, vol. II, p. 279. J. B. Bury had learnedly noted these things, A Life of St. Patrick, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXII, C (1903), p. 224. Note that the sentence which is had in the same Life of St. Patrick, Nova Legenda Anglie, op. cit., p. 290: "And according to the opinion of the moderns St. Patrick and St. Benignus his disciple lie in one shrine on the south side of the high altar at Glastonbury", by no means took its origin from John of Tynemouth, but was added at the time when the work was prepared for the press (cf. op. cit., vol. I, p. XVIII).]. The writer of the English Life, of whom we have already spoken, used Tynemouth's narrative as his authority Above, nos. 10–11..

[86] At Glastonbury Benignus is commemorated by different people on different days. That St. Benignus ended his life at Feringmere on the third day before the Nones of November Tynemouth alone relates. The memory of the translation we have found appointed on 27 June in the unpublished martyrology of the monastery of Syon near London, whose words are these: At Glastonbury: the translation of St. Benignus, confessor [The Martiloge in Englysshe after the use of the chirche of Salisbury and as it is redde in Syon with addicyons. Printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1526. Ed. F. Procter and E. S. Dewick (London, 1893), p. 221 (= Henry Bradshaw Society, vol. III).]. From there, the name being wrongly read, Richard Whytford took it into his English martyrology: At glassenbury the translacion of saynt Bemonus a confessour Ibid., p. 101.. Correctly, however, on the same day among the additions: The feest also of saynt Benygne a confessour. An error in the day seems to lie hidden here: for on 28 June in some copies of Usuard there is read the memory of St. Benignus the martyr, whose relics were kept at Utrecht; and we remember that relics of St. Benignus the martyr were also held at Glastonbury Above, p. 169, note 10.. In two martyrologies we read that the memory of St. Benignus is recalled at Glastonbury on 31 October, in the Altemps and in the Norwich

one, neighbouring on the Altemps R. Stanton, A Menology of England and Wales (London, 1887), p. 660.. Moreover, that the feast is kept at Glastonbury on 9 November Richard Challoner has, following an uncertain authority A Memorial of Ancient British Piety, p. 156..

I. THE IRISH LIFE OF ST. BENIGNUS

Benignus, bishop of Armagh. (S.)

Edited from the codex of the Royal Library of Brussels 4190–4200, with a new Latin translation. Cf. Preliminary Commentary, nos. 4–7.

BETHA BEINEOIN DEISCIPUIL PATRAICC.

[1] Exordium. Qui perseveraverit ad finem salvus erit. Intí feidhlighfes ina shuáilcibh earlier written in shuailcibh. o ticfa dochum choirech co crích a báis, is e bá 〈s〉 slán, ocus bas mor-focraic on Choimdhe. Cf. Matth. 10, 22; 24, 13. Sochaidhe tra do noebhaibh 7 do fhirenaibh in Coimdhedh, eter fettarlaicc ocus núfhiadhnaisi, ro chomhallsat na briathra sa in Choimdhedh tria ghin ind fátha, feibh ro comhaill intí dia tá lith 7 foraithmett i ndecmaing na ree si 7 na haimsire, id est sanctus Benignus episcopus, heres Patricii, .i. naemh Beineon ard-epscop Erend ocus ardcomharda Patraicc eter Erind 7 Albain. Is ann immorro indister ní día ghenelach collaidhe indi noebh Beneoin .i. dia fertaibh 7 dia mírbhailibh, ind eccailsibh na criostaidhe, .i. hi quint id novembris arai laithe mis grene, .i. an tres la ria feil Martain, .i. arai laithe sechtmaine isin mbliadhain i tam … [These words are inserted in Latin into the Irish sentence, and we have therefore printed them in italic letters; it will be enough to have noted this once.]. [2] Benen immorro mac Sescnen meic Céin meic Oililla Oluim .i. mac righ Caisil 7 úa rígh Erend A note in the margin in the same hand, as it seems.. A mhathair (a. m.) added in the margin in the same hand. (.i. Sodhelbh) immorro inghen Catháir Moir meic Feidhlimthe Fir-Urglais meic Corbmaic Gelta Goeth meic Niadh Corb meic Concubair Abhratrúaidh meic Find Filedh meic Rosa Ruaidh meic Ferccusa Fairrge meic Núadhat Necht meic Séttna Sithbaic meic Lughdach Loithfind meic Bresail Bric, ica comraicit Laigin 7 Osraighe. [3] Tadcc immoro mac Cein as lais ro hoiledh Beneon corbo ham tabarta dochum leigind ocus rí Fer mBregh eisidhe an tan sin .i. brathair athar Bhenéoin (.i. Séisgnen mac Cein 7 Tadg mac Céin). Ocus is ó Thadcc ruccadh Benéon an tan sin co hInis Patraicc, co dú irraibhe Patraicc an tan sin, da thabhairt fo laimh espuicc ocus do dhenamh leighinn, ocus is ann san inis sin tainic Benén ar tús i muinterus Patraicc. Ro cottail Patraicc iarumh eter a muintir 7 an fogheibedh an gille do sccothaibh boladhmáraibh do bheiredh i mbrollach an chlericch. Atrubhratar munter Patraicc fri Benen: “Na déine sin.” ar íett, “arna ro duisce in clerech.” Is ann sin atrubhart Patraicc: “Na tairmisg the letter g added afterwards. imme in ní dogní. In mac assa erbaid, ar Patraicc, bidh comharba damhsa,” amhail ro comhalladh iartain. Seacht mbliadhna immorro roptar slana do Bhenen an tan sin. [4] Fecht do Benen 7 do Patraicc ind Ard Macha 7 Benen ina salmcetlaidh ann; carais immorro ingen Daire (.i. meic Finnchada meic Eoghain meic Niallain (.i.-Niallain) above the line in the same hand, as it seems. ) indi Benen, ar ropa bind le a ghuth occond erlegenn. Do rala galar fuirre co mbo marbh de. Bert Benen cretra di ó Phatraicc et surrexit confestim viva et postea spiritualiter dilexit eum. Ipsa est Ercnat Sancta Ercnata Virgo in the margin by the corrector. inghen Dáre fil i Tamhlachta Bó. Ro morad dano ainm Benein 7 Patraicc triasin firt sin. [5] Benignus in the parts of Ross. Is e Benen immorro ro baist Firu Roiss 7 is dó ro slechtsat feraibh macaibh mnáibh 7 is e ro crích a feranna, amhail atbert Patraicc: “Bendacht for [(Bendacht for) above the line by the corrector; and in the margin at this place in the first hand the letter r, for rann (that is, verse).] Firu Culi.” “Fo lem, cia taidhlet Mede,” ar Benen. Ocus “For Firu Roiss cen terbud,” ar Patraicc. “O tá lercca co lLere” (.i. Laind Leire (.i. L. L.) above the line in the same hand, as it seems., ar Benen. Ocus iss edh sin coimhéttthar so the MS: béos 7 dliccidh Benen morcuairt dibh. [6] The ordeal of Benignus. Is e Benen ro cuiredh isin tech tenedh hi Temraigh ocus tonach an druadh imbi. Crin immorro an leth don tigh in ro saidhedh Benen. Úr immorro an leth don tigh in ro cuiredh Luchat Máel 7 casal Patraicc imme. Tunc Patricius cecinit Patriciius cecenit MS; in the margin the letters rr.: Luchat Mael i naghaidh Beneóin i tech tenedh. Benen anall, Luchat Mael thall, fo deiredh. Is e mo dalta blaith Benen, miadh go nglaine. Is me ronalt, is he mo mac gaire. Is é as tocha lim ar talmain, is e m' hinmain, — fir a napraim — is é bis accam im imdaigh. Is e dhérghus damh mo leabaidh; cen cob socair mo taebh re huir, ní chottlaim ar cluimh ná ar colcaigh. Is e teitt romham co solus isind oidhche; ni ria at the foot of fol. 211r: niria; but at the beginning of fol. 211v: iniria. urcra, is e m' firfher cumtha coidhche. Forcoemhnacair firt mor tra ann sin tre ernaighte Patraicc. Ro loisccedh i lleth núr don taigh 7 in drúi immedhón na caslae; 7 ni ro mhill a bhecc don chasal. Ni ro loisccedh immorro in leth crín irraibhe Benen 7 ro anacht Dia Benen i medhon thonaighi an druadh; ro loisccedh immorro an tonach co nderna luaith dhi. Ro moradh dano ainm Benen 7 Patraicc tremit. [7] Docuaidh Patraicc iar ccuairt a procepta hi Mumain. Is ann sin fuair Cairthend mac Blait sencloinne Toirrdelbaigh hi Sangiul 7 ro creitt ann don Coimdhe 7 rombaitse Patraicc. Saingiul immorro doradh don inud sin .i. sain aingeal do dheachaidh do accallaimh Patraicc in la sin 7 nocan he Victor. Nocha berti immorro clanna do Chairthenn acht michuirdi coniccisin. Is annsin rucc ben Cháirthinn pairt cró. Atpert Patraicc fri Benen delbh duine do chumma do loss na bachlae hÍsu isin pairt cró sin 7 a esritiudh iartain co ndiccsedh Patraicc hi ccroisfighill, conidh ass sin atracht Eochaidh Bailldercc mac Cairthind meic Blaitt .i. Pattraicc ocus Benen ro cruthaighsed don pairt cró 7 ro bui ball derg coidche ina churp i ccomartha in fhirtu sin; conidh de sin ro raidedh Eochaidh Bailldercc fris. Ro moradh ainm De 7 Patraicc 7 Benein tresan firt sin. [8] Dlicchidh Benen morcuairt Ua Tairrdelbaigh 7 Dálccais o sin ille 7 each 7 erradh a righ, ocus ro smact Cairthind a shil coidhche do foghnamh do Phatraicc 7 do Benen. Ni deachaidh Patraicc eter ind Iarmumhain, acht Benen moirseiser mac clerech imaille fris do chur inde, ocus is e Benen dosfucc tre fhertaibh 7 tre miorbhuilibh 7 tre cumachtaibh íet dochum nirsi 7 croidmhe so the MS; read creidmhe.. ocus ro bhaist, 7 is dó ro slechtsat feraibh macaibh mnaibh. Is e dlighes cuairt Patraicc i nIarmumhain. Dlicchidh dano Binen morchuairt i cCorc Mo Druadh, ar is é rodbaist 7 dosfucc fa creitteamh. [9] won by Benignus. Is e tra Binen ro baist 7 ro cosecrustar Erinn fri laimh Patraicc, ar ro bui esretiudh Patraicc fri re .uii. mbliadhan i llaimh Benen ic esriadadh 7 ic coisercadh na hErend ro búi lan do demhnaibh for cinn Patraicc, amhail atbert fodein: “I nuair [In the margin at this place in the first hand the letter r, for rann (that is, verse).] tanac i m'cum craind i m' reim dar in muir inall, tri demhain cech feoirnin uill iss edh do fhuarus and. Rostiomairccim [In the margin at this place in the first hand the letter r, for rann (that is, verse).] remum iat eter tir thuaith the line is too short; should one read etir tes is tuaith?; cloch cech demhain treith ro mhettaigh in cruaich.” Conach fil din tír ina cinel ind Érend as nach dlighenn mac Seiscnéin cis arna mor-saetraibh ro chés ria laimh Patraicc ic cosecradh cech ceneoil 7 ica tabairt dochum creitimh tría fhertaibh ocus 7 adds the MS. miorbuilibh.

LIFE OF BENIGNUS, DISCIPLE OF PATRICK.

[1] He that shall persevere [We have noted that this whole chapter is woven together from commonplaces, Preliminary Commentary no. 7.] to the end shall be saved. He who perseveres in virtues from the time when he first betook himself to uprightness until the end of his life, he shall be saved, and shall obtain a great reward from the Lord. Very many indeed, both in the time of the old and of the new covenant, holy men of the Lord and just men have carried out those words which the Lord spoke through the mouth of the prophet, — as he fulfilled them whose feast and commemoration is kept at this recurring time of the year, that is, St. Benignus, bishop, heir of Patrick [These words are inserted in Latin into the Irish sentence, and we have therefore printed them in italic letters; it will be enough to have noted this once.], or St. Benignus, archbishop of Ireland and chief heir of Patrick [On St. Benignus as successor of St. Patrick in the see of Armagh, see Preliminary Commentary nos. 77–82; for this Irish name ard-chomharba, "arch-successor, supreme or most ample successor" of Patrick, signifies the primate of Armagh. Albania, moreover, is the name given in the domestic writings of the Irish to that lesser Scotland situated to the north of England, which is now commonly called Scotland; we therefore use the word Albania because it is not so clear how far to the south that region (in Irish Albu) extended.] both in Ireland and in Albania. On this day of the solar month, then, the fifth

day before the Ides of November On the feast day of St. Benignus, see Preliminary Commentary nos. 22, 86., three days before the feast of St. Martin, which this year is the … day of the week [Here every year the day of the week on which the feast of St. Benignus fell was to be announced.], it is customary in the sacred buildings of the Christians to narrate something of the generation of St. Benignus according to the flesh and of the signs and miracles which he wrought.

[2] The lineage of Benignus. Benignus, then, was the son of Seiscnéan [On the lineage of Benignus, see Preliminary Commentary nos. 13–16. We have not thought it necessary to explain all the names.], who was the son of Cian, who was the son of Ailill Ólom (the crop-eared) [The Irish surnames we have interpreted, as far as we could, in italic letters within brackets.]. He, moreover, was the son of the king of Cashel, and the grandson of the king of Ireland. The mother of Benignus, Soidhealbh by name, was the daughter of Cathaoir Mór, who was the son of Feidhlimidh Ferurglass (the grey?), who was the son of Cormac Gelta Gaoth (…?), who was the son of Nia Corb (…?), who was the son of Conchobhar Abhradhruadh (red-browed), who was the son of Fionn File (the poet), who was the son of Ross Ruadh (the red), who was the son of Fearghus Fairrge (of the sea), who was the son of Nuadha Neacht (…?), who was the son of Séadna Siothbhac (keeper-off of peace), who was the son of Lughaidh Leithfhionn (grey-beard), who was the son of Breasal Breac (the speckled), from whom is drawn the lineage both of the men of Leinster and of the men of Ossory [The Lagenenses and Osrigenses, peoples whose regions are called in English Leinster and Ossory.].

[3] Benignus is first handed over to his paternal uncle, Benignus was brought up by Tadhg, son of Cian [See Preliminary Commentary nos. 26–34. An interpretation, or rather paraphrase, of the chapter you will find in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 203, col. 1, who buried in silence the writer's gross error about Tadhg, paternal uncle of Benignus.], until the time came when he was to be applied to studies. (That Tadhg was at that time king of the men of Bregia [On that reputed paternal uncle of St. Benignus, Preliminary Commentary no. 14. The plain of the men of Bregia extends in the northern parts of the county of Dublin and the southern parts of the county of Meath.] and the paternal uncle of Benignus; for both Seiscnean and Tadhg were born of the same father, Cian.) soon to be handed over to Patrick to be educated. By Tadhg, indeed, Benignus was brought to the Island of Patrick Still called in English St. Patrick's Island, at Skerries, County Dublin., where Patrick then was, to be strengthened by the sacrament of confirmation and to apply himself to studies. That, then, is the island on which Benignus was first admitted into the company of Patrick. Then Patrick fell asleep in the company of his people, and the little boy Benignus used to bring into Patrick's lap as many flowers of sweet scent as he could find. Those who were with Patrick said to Benignus: "Take care not to do it, lest you wake him from sleep." But Patrick said: "Do not prevent him from doing what he does. The boy who has such zeal for me will be my heir." Which afterwards came true. Benignus had then completed his seventh year On the age of St. Benignus, Preliminary Commentary nos. 17, 82..

[4] The premature affection of St. Ercnat the virgin. At a certain time Preliminary Commentary nos. 45–48., when Benignus and Patrick were at Armagh (Benignus was then psalmist), the daughter of Daire (son of Fionnchadh, who was the son of Eoghan, who was the son of Niall) fell in love with Benignus: for his voice, as he read, seemed pleasant to her. The girl fell into some disease by which she was carried off. Benignus brought her lustral water Cf. above, p. 158, note 14. from Patrick, and she rose at once alive and afterwards loved him spiritually. She is Earcnat, daughter of Daire, who rests in Tamhlachta Bo. By this prodigy the fame of Benignus and Patrick was increased.

[5] Benignus baptized the men of Ross [Fir Roiss (the men of Ross), a people and region in the parts which are now called in English the Barony of Farney (County Monaghan) and the Barony of Ardee (County Louth), and partly in the county of Meath.], and they bent the knee to him, men, youths, women That is, they saluted him as lord on bended knee.; he also marked out their lands, as Patrick said:

"A blessing on the men of Cúli [The writer of the Irish Life seems to have borrowed the quatrain from the Tripartite. In Wh. Stokes it runs thus, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 184: Bennacht for Fhiru Cúli: | fó lem cía della meithe, | for Firu Ross cen derba | otha Lerga cu Léire. Which the learned man doubtfully translates thus: "A blessing on Fir Cúle. I am pleased though… On Fir Ross without… from Lerga to Léire." Colgan seems not to have been ignorant of the quatrain, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 151, col. 2, but with his usual prudence preferred to publish a paraphrase of the intricate passage rather than to translate it. But in the Tripartite Benignus does not appear at this place; St. Patrick is said to have brought those peoples to the faith of Christ, the verses are attributed to St. Patrick, with no invented dialogue between Patrick and Benignus. Fir Cúli, the name of the same people which is otherwise Úi Segain, whose seat seems to have been not far from Ardbraccan (Barony Lower Navan, County Meath).]."

"This I approve, even if Mede please them [Mede, perhaps the name of a place. But the sense is so obscure that we would rather define nothing.],"

said Benignus. And

"On the men of Ross without separation,"

said Patrick.

"From those parts which are mountainous to Lére [Perhaps it should be translated: from the place called Lerga to the place called Lére. Lerga could have been the village which is now in English Largay (otherwise Red Lion) in the Barony of Tullyhaw, Co. Cavan. Lére or Lann Léire, now Dunleer, as it seems (Barony Ferrard, County Louth); or perhaps Moylary not far from Dunleer. The gloss ".i. Laind Leire" must be believed to have been written above the line also in Michael O'Clery's exemplar.],"

(that is, Lann Léire), said Benignus. Which is still observed, and Benignus has the right of the greater visitation in those parts [That is, St. Benignus and his successors have the right to go round the region to collect tributes.].

[6] Benignus was set in the fiery house On this burning alive of St. Benignus, Preliminary Commentary nos. 41–44. at Tara, clothed in the tunic of the druid. That part of the house in which Benignus was set was of dry timber; the other part, of green timber, in which Lughaidh Maol (the bald or tonsured) was placed, clothed in the chasuble of Patrick. Then Patrick sang:

Lughaidh Maol against Benignus in the fiery house; Benignus on this side, Lughaidh on that side, at the end [The line is one syllable short, but, as it seems, incurable. So often are Irish poems stuffed with empty words that the sense is entirely smothered; we render word for word, and it is not to be expected that we should explain verses of this kind. Of this poem we know only this transcript.]. Benignus is my sweet foster-son, honoured, pure. I brought him up, he is to me a loving son. He is the one I love most on earth, he is dearest to me, — I speak true — he is wont to be with me in my bed [Here there seems to be a hint of the office of the royal παρακοιμωμένου, in Irish fer leptha righ, in English the king's bedfellow; of which Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. CIV, note 6.]. He strews my bed for me; though my side aches on the ground, I do not sleep on feathers or cushions St. Patrick is commonly related to have slept lying on a stone on the ground.. He it is who goes before me with a light in the night; no harm will befall, he is ever my companion [Perhaps it should be translated: "he is ever most closely joined to me." The poem seems to end incomplete.].

Then by the prayers of Patrick a great prodigy took place. For the green part of the house was burned, and the druid, clothed in the chasuble, was consumed; but the chasuble itself suffered not even the least damage. But the dry part, in which Benignus was, was not burned, and the Lord kept him safe in the druid's tunic; the tunic itself, however, was burned and reduced to ashes. Whence the fame of Benignus and Patrick grew.

[7] Eochaidh Bailldhearg called back to life. Then Patrick set out on a journey to preach in Munster [Momonia or Mumonia (in Irish Mumha, in English Munster), one of the five chief provinces into which Ireland was formerly divided. This chapter and those following to the end of ch. 18, for the most part omitting the poems, Colgan gave in a Latin translation (or more truly a paraphrase), Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 203–205. What is had here about the journey of St. Patrick into Munster, about the etymology of the name Sangal (or Sangul, Saingel, Saingiul), about Eochaidh Bailldhearg called back to life, is briefly narrated in the Tripartite (Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 206; Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 158, col. 1), still more briefly in the Lismore codex (Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 15); but nowhere is there mention either of St. Benignus or of the staff of Jesus.]; at which time he found in Saingiul Cairtheann, son of Blat, ancestor of the race of Toirrdhealbhach [The descendants of Toirrdhealbhach, who in Irish are Ui Toirrdhealbhaigh, in Latin were formerly called both Tordelvii and Theodoricii; they had their seat around Killaloe (County Clare).]. He then believed in the Lord and was baptized by Patrick. (That place was called Saingiul as being Sain Aingeal, "a special angel", who came to converse with Patrick that day, and it was not Victor) [Saingiul, now Singland, as it seems, near Limerick. On the etymology of the name the Irish sources agree, but the more recent writers interpret it differently; we have gone with Stokes's opinion. Colgan, however, op. cit., p. 203, col. 1, has this: "That place is called Saingel because there an angel who was other than the angel Victor appeared to St. Patrick. For Sain is the same as revelation or apparition, and aingel the same as angel; whence, where by the etymology of the word it ought to be called Sain-Aingel, it is called by contraction Saingel." So he, wrongly as it seems. That Patrick enjoyed frequent converse with the angel Victor was commonly believed; which opinion took its origin from some passages which exist in the most ancient Patrician documents.]. Children had not yet been born to that Cairtheann, except monstrous ones only. Then Cairtheann's wife brought forth a bloody mass.

Patrick ordered Benignus to form the image of a man in that bloody mass with the point of the staff of Jesus [Of that staff which they say was given to St. Patrick by the Lord Himself this is not the place to discourse; see Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. CLXXVI; Id., Bethada Naem nErenn, vol. II, p. 338, §10; Bernard and Atkinson, The Irish Liber Hymnorum, vol. II, p. 181; J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, p. CIV, note 2 and p. CV, note 4. It seems to be of great account that the staff of Jesus was entrusted even for a little while to St. Benignus; for this was the one which the successors of St. Patrick carried about when they went round Ireland for the sake of collecting tributes.], and to sprinkle it with lustral water, and Patrick himself prayed with outspread hands. So there arose Eochaidh Bailldhearg (of the red mark) [Wh. Stokes translates into English "Redspot", The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 207, and Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 163; we agree with him. Colgan, however, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 203, col. 2: "And the boy who was then born was called Euchadius Ballderg, that is, of the red mark or of the red limb; for ball among the Irish is sometimes the same as limb, sometimes the same as mark, and derg the same as red."], whom Patrick and Benignus formed out of that bloody mass, and there remained always in his body a red spot as a sign of this miracle; whence he received the name Eochaidh Bailldhearg. By this prodigy the glory of God, of Patrick and of Benignus was increased.

[8] The rights of the see of Armagh over various parts of Ireland From then until the present day Benignus claims for himself the right of the greater visitation in the parts of the descendants of Toirrdhealbhach On this tribe see note 3 above. and in the parts of the Dalcassians [The territories of the Dalcassians (in Irish Dal gCais) extended in the western parts of Munster. Cf. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 331, col. 2, s. v. Dál gCais. It is helpful to borrow Colgan's paraphrase of this passage: "Whence the Teodoricii and Dalcassii from then on were accustomed to pay to the church of St. Benignus some token of their clientship, and their princes to bestow their own horse and garments."], and at the same time the right of receiving the horse and garment of their kings. Cairtheann subjected his seed to serve Patrick and Benignus for ever. Patrick, however, did not himself make for the western parts of Munster [In Irish Iarmumhu or Iarmumha, in Latin sometimes Iarmomonia, Iarmumonia; here there seems to be signified the part of the province of Munster which extends towards the western Ocean; the boundaries of that region have been defined differently by different writers. See Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 452, col. 2, s. v. Iar-muma. With this narrative cf. the Life of St. Patrick from the Book of Lismore in Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 15, line 509: Ni dechaid dano Pátraic dar Luachair ind Iarmhumhain. "But Patrick did not make for the western parts of Munster which are beyond Luachair." And a little after the same unknown writer relates that St. Patrick spent seven years in Munster, line 516. Wrongly, as it seems, the learned U. Bourke read in the Irish Life of St. Benignus Iarmonia for Iarmomonia, thinking this the Latin form of the region called Iar Mainne, in English West Hy-Many; the same man also seemed to himself to read the name of St. Iarlaithe in this chapter of the Irish Life; his opinion is reported by O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, vol. II, p. 485.], but sent Benignus there with seven young clerics [The names of those disciples of St. Patrick and companions of St. Benignus seem to be unknown; cf. Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 268, col. 2.]. Benignus, then, converted the peoples of that region to the faith by miracles, prodigies and signs, and baptized (them); they bent the knee, men, youths, women. He is the one who claims for himself Patrick's right of the greater visitation in the western parts of Munster [A not very clear sentence, which Colgan, after his fashion, passed over in silence. Understand that the right of the successors of St. Patrick to claim for themselves the tributes of West Munster took its origin from St. Benignus, the successor of Patrick, not from Patrick himself; and note that this is not called mór-chuairt, "great visitation", but cuairt, "visitation", only.]. And Benignus has the right of the greater visitation in Corco Modhruadh [A region which seems to have comprised the baronies of Corcomroe and Burren (County Clare) and the Aran islands; we have noted that there was a church of St. Benignus on the larger Aran island, Preliminary Commentary no. 71. Of both the tributes of West Munster and Corco Modhruadh Colgan speaks indefinitely: "Whom accordingly (the peoples of West Munster) devoutly venerate as an apostle with cult and services according to vow. The same services and offices too the Corcamorogii are bound to render, whom, carefully instructed in the faith of Christ and baptized, he gathered into the sheepfold of Christ."], inasmuch as he baptized the inhabitants of this region and brought them to the faith.

[9] And Benignus baptized and consecrated Ireland together with Patrick; inasmuch as for seven years Patrick's sprinkler was entrusted to Benignus [Nowhere, if you except this very passage, do we remember having read that St. Benignus claimed Patrick's sprinkler for himself, but only the office of psalmist (of which Preliminary Commentary nos. 59–62); yet more than once Benignus is said to have sprinkled lustral water in the stead and name of St. Patrick, above ch. 4 and 7; cf. Preliminary Commentary nos. 59–62.], to sprinkle and consecrate Ireland, which Patrick had found full of demons, as he himself said:

"At the time when I came into my possession Should it be translated "in my wooden ship"? on my course from the parts beyond the sea, three great demons on each little blade of grass I found there [The poem otherwise seems to be unknown; something has fallen out in the sixth line. Somewhat otherwise in the epic narrative entitled Acallamh na Senorach, ed. Wh. Stokes in Wh. Stokes und E. Windisch, Irische Texte, vol. IV, 1 (Leipzig, 1900), p. 175, lines 6307–6308; for here they relate that before the coming of St. Patrick a cacodemon lurked in the root of each little blade of grass, but afterwards there were as many angels.]. I drove them before me as fugitives from the regions and cities (?); the little stone of every royal demon increased the heap ["Treith" for "treith", genitive of the noun "triath", that is "leader, prince"; unless perhaps it is derived from the adjective "treith", "weak". The sense seems to be that Patrick marked each demon expelled with one little stone, so that a huge heap was piled up.]."

So that there is no region or tribe of Ireland in which the son of Seiscnean does not have the right of tribute, because of the heavy labours which he endured with Patrick when he consecrated each tribe and converted them to the faith by his prodigies and miracles.

[10] At a certain time [The writer of the Irish Life borrowed chapters 10 and 11 from some Latin Life (of Patrick, as it seems, not of Benignus himself; cf. Preliminary Commentary no. 7), in such a way that he recited the Latin writing in full, but subjoined to each Latin sentence an Irish translation. Yet the translator added not a few things which are lacking in the Latin sentence; these we have each time turned into the Latin language and indicated among the notes, prefixing the words The translator adds. On the time at which these things were done the more recent writers dispute; that St. Patrick visited those parts on his second Connacht journey is a not improbable opinion of John Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, pp. LIII–LXIII, especially p. LX; but not weaker are the arguments relying on which J. B. Bury, The Life of St. Patrick, pp. 358–60 (cf. pp. 129–33), judges that St. Patrick first visited those peoples before the year 441, and revisited them both on his second and on his third Connacht journey.] holy Patrick sic MS [The translator adds: "to baptize the men of Ireland and preach to them, and at length he came to the western region" etc.] went into the western region of the Connachtmen sic MS [Connacht, one of the five provinces which Ireland comprises, slopes towards the Ocean between west and north.], that is, into the plain of Siuil [That the plain of Siuil, in Irish Mágh Siuil (otherwise Mag Seolai etc.; see note 7, where Domhnach Mór Maighe Siuil is treated), extends in the barony of Clare (County Galway) the authors agree. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 530, col. 1, s. v. Mag Seolai, and col. 2, s. v. Mag Siuil); p. 354, col. 1, s. v. Domnach Pátraic; p. 353, col. 1, s. vv. Domnach Mór Maighe Seolai and Domnach Mór Maighe Sile; p. 662, col. 2, s. v. Ui Briúin; p. 663, col. 1, s. v. Ui Briúin Seolai. The writer of this fragment seems to favour the opinion of those who think the plain of Siuil the same as the plain of Selca "in which were the halls of the sons of Briuin" (Lib. Ardm., fol. 12 b 2), although many defend another opinion, Hogan, op. cit., p. 594, col. 2, s. v. Selca; p. 530, col. 1, s. v. Mag Selce; p. 375, col. 1, s. v. Duma Selga; p. 504, col. 1, s. v. Loch Selcae; p. 353, col. 1, s. v. Domnach Mór Maighe Selce.]. Ro escomla noebh Patraicc i naraile aimser ic baistedh ocus occ forcetal fer nerend roimhe co rocht iarthar Connacht .i. Magh Siuil the corrector drew a line under the words M. S.. Echenus, king of Connacht, for having refused hospitality to Patrick, And he went to the house of Echenus [Of this Echenus son of Brian mention is made in the Tripartite: Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 136, col. 2; Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 106. The beginning of the narrative which is had here, up to the words "You will be king and of your seed there will be kings for ever", Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating) reports in his own style, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn. The History of Ireland, vol. III, ed. Dinneen, pp. 26 and 28; where a few things are subjoined which in Latin present this sense: "What Patrick had foretold came true; for he himself was present, with twelve bishops, when Duach Galach took the auspices of the kingdom. And from then on the kings of Connacht are wont to have the successors of those twelve bishops present, together with twelve princes of the stock of Muireadhach and

the descendants of Maolconaire, when they inaugurate their reign on the hill called Carn Fraoich." In agreement with this it is narrated in the Life of St. Benignus that Echenus, who would not receive the faith of Christ, was removed from the kingship; but nowhere except in this Life of Benignus is Echenus read to have been baptized. Comparing what is handed down by Geoffrey Keating about those twelve bishops with the passage of the Tripartite Life which we cited above, perhaps these twelve seem to be the same whose names were inscribed on stones on the heights of Selca (of which in the Preliminary Commentary nos. 2, 57); yet this could hardly be, except by an evident error of the writer, for there were two women among the twelve companions of St. Patrick who are said to have gone up there at that time. That a not dissimilar rite was preserved in the inauguration of the king of Breifne the second Irish Life of St. Maedoc, bishop of Ferns, testifies, in Plummer, Bethada Náem Érenn, vol. I, p. 203; on those inaugurations see op. cit., vol. II, pp. 351–52, and Id., Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. CIV. Finally, note that both in Geoffrey Keating and here too, at the very beginning of the narrative, there is no mention of St. Benignus; yet I should readily believe that this whole matter of King Echenus was handed down from antiquity.], son of Brian, son sic MS of Eochaidh, king of the Connachtmen. Ocus ro indsaigh tech Eichin meic Briain meic Eachach ri Connacht. And Patrick sought sic MS hospitality from him. Ocus ro iair Patraicc failte 7 aigidheacht ar Eichin. And Echenus refused The translator adds: "and he did not come to the faith.". Ocus ni tard Eichin failte do, 7 ni tainic fo creittimh. And Patrick returned to that place in which is today Domhnach Mor Maighe Siuil [The translator adds: "that is, Domhnach Patraic"; in which matter it is worth noting that the writer of the Latin fragment brought forward only the older name Domnach Mor Maighe Siuil and was silent about the more recent Domnach Patraic; this, though very small, will not lack weight when the age of this fragment is to be defined. Domhnach Mór Maighe Siuil signifies in Latin the Great Church of Mágh Siuil; formerly the church was called in Latin by Tírechán "the great church of Saeoli", where "the altar of Felartus, holy bishop" is, Lib. Ardm., fol. 11 b 2, and in Irish among the Additamenta (BHL. 6499) Domnach Mór Maige Sile (for so it should be read), ibid., fol. 19 a 1; otherwise written Domnach Mór Maigi Seolai (Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 96) or Seola (Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 135, col. 1); now, from the other name which the Irish Life gives, Domhnach Patraic, or the Church of Patrick, Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 353, col. 1, s. v. Domnach Mór Maighe Sile and p. 354, col. 1, s. v. Domnach Pátraic; in English Donaghpatrick, or Donoughpatrick, in the barony of Clare (County Galway) at Lough Hacket, which in Irish was called Loch Cimmi or Loch Cime. Whether the ruined walls of that church still exist I do not know; certainly about two hundred years ago they were seen on the bank of the lake. Cf. Roderick O'Flaherty, A Chorographical Description of West or H-Iar Connaught, ed. J. Hardiman, pp. 147–48; The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, vol. II (Dublin, 1846), p. 31, col. 2; S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, vol. I (London, 1837), p. 483, col. 1.]. Ocus dochuaidh Patraicc ar cula corici in mennut itá Domhnach Mór Maighe Siuil indiu .i. Domnach Patraicc. And there he founded a church. Ocus ro fhothaigh ecclas i ndú sin. In which sic MS he left Bishop Filartus [The translator adds: "to guard this monastery he had founded." That St. Felartus was bishop in that place we have the most ancient authors whom we cited in the preceding note from the Book of Armagh. Of this St. Fulartus (for so he writes), bishop of Domnach in Connacht, Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 788.]. Occus is acc fothuccadh na mainistreach sin ro fáccbadh Filarti epscop Domhnac mor, Connacien', Filartus ep. in the margin by the corrector.. And afterwards the king, led sic MS by penitence, came to St. Patrick at that place with his wife and with his brothers and with a great display of his army The translator adds: "to give Patrick whatever he wished to have.". Occus o ro gabh aitrechus in ri iartain, tainic cona shétche 7 cona braitribh 7 co sochaidhe sic MS móir día sluagh coricce ind inadh sin, do thabairt a riara do Patraicc. And Patrick said to Echin: "Are you the king?" Ocus atrubhair Patraicc ri Eichin: “ In tussa ind ri? ” And Echin said: "I am not." Ocus atrubhairt Eichin: “ Nidam ri sea immorro,” ar eissiumh. 〈And Patrick said to Echin omits MS, I have supplied it from the Irish translation.〉: "You will not be king, and from you there will be no king [The translator adds: "or material of a king until the consummation of the world." Rígdomna, rígdamna, ríogh-dhamhna, that is, material of a king, was the name given to those from among whom it was lawful to elect a king. On this matter Eoin MacNeill discusses at length, Celtic Ireland, pp. 114–43.] until the consummation comotionem MS of the world." Atrubhairt immorro Patraicc fri heichine: “Sech ni bát ni bát ni bat ri siu MS rí siu fein o sund amach 7 ni bia rí nó rídamhnae dot' siol co forbha an tsáoghail.” And the younger brother added by the same hand of the sons of Brian said to St. Patrick: "I am king [The translator adds: "that is, Dúi Galach (strenuous in war), son of Brian." His name is wrongly written in Irish in the nominative case Dúach, which is the form of the genitive; we use the form which our authors offer, writing either Dúi or Dúach.]." 7 atrubhairt an sosar brathar re Patraicc .i. Dúi mac Briain: “Meisi ind rí,” ar se. And St. Patrick answered: "You will be king, and of 〈your omits MS, I have supplied it from the Irish translation.〉 seed there will be kings for ever." Is e freccra do rad Patraicc noebh air siumh: “Bát rí siu fodéin 7 is dot′ sil betit na rígh tria bithu.” And the sons sic. of Brian believed sic. in that hour in the Lord through Patrick and were baptized, except Echenus and his wife and his children et 7 liberis MS (that is: et et liberis). [The translator adds: "Brian son of Eochaidh had twenty-four sons: Dui Galach, Fearghus, Eochaidh Earcdhearg, Aonghus Bailldhearg, Tened, Muichit, etc." On the number of the sons of Brian Keating agrees with these, loc. cit.; and in the Tripartite six of his sons are mentioned, partly however by other names, in Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 106; Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 136, col. 2. I do not know whether it is to be gathered from this that here too six names are given, not five; if the matter were so, one should read not Tened Muichit, as if the former were the name and the latter the surname, but Tened, Muichit.]. Ocus ro creittsett meic Briain an tan sin don Coimde tre procept Patraicc 7 ro baist should one read rosbaist? , cen mothá Echen 7 a shéitchi 7 a maca 7 a ingena. Ceithre meic ficet immorro ro bhatar oc Brian mac Echach .i. Dui Galach, Ferccus, Eochaidh Ercderg, Oengus Balldercc, Tened, Muichit should one read Tened Muichit? 7 oile. And the queen, wife of Echinus, came to St. Benignus, son of Sescnianus, disciple so, added by the same hand of St. Patrick, and said to him. Occus tainic in righan sétigh Echin co noebh Benen mac Seisccnein, co dalta naemh Patraicc, 7 is edh ro raidh fris. "I and the king and our sons will be always in your service sic. The translator adds: "and tribute". if you make peace between us and Patrick" [The translator adds: "She, moreover, was the sister of the mother of Benignus (for which reason she sought his help), Fortriu by name (daughter of Cathaoir Mór, king of Leinster), from whom the race of Echenus sprang. And Soidhealbh, daughter of the same Cathaoir, was the mother of Benignus, as is said: Soidhealbh was the mother of Benignus | — without calamitous fame — | (your father did not win her) | daughter of Cathaoir Ceannruadhrach. Whence it is gathered that they were sisters." On the maternal stock of St. Benignus, Preliminary Commentary n. 15. To correct the error Colgan translated: "And Queen Fortriu was the maternal aunt of St. Benignus, sister of Sadeliva his mother, of the stock of Catherus, king of Leinster."]. .i. “Meisi 7 in rí 7 ar sil 7 ar semedh sic; read semendh bemit i cís 7 hi foghnamh duitsi tre bithu sír dia nderna sith ettrainnd sic. 7 Patraicc.” At the entreaty of Benignus, Siúr mathar immorro do Benen issi, conidh aire sin ro iarr air a furtacht, .i. Fortriu inghen do Chatháir Mór do rígh do rígh do rígh Laighen MS Laighen, 7 is uaithe ro genair cenel nEchin. Ocus Sodelbh inghen don Chathair cettna sin mathair Beneoin, ut dicitur: Sodhealbh ba hi matair sic. Beneoin, cen blad pudrach, nisroich t' athair, inghen do Chathair Cenrudhrach. .i. da dheirbhsiair iatt. And St. Benignus answered the queen. Ocus do ratt Benen freccra ar in ríghain ocus iss edh ro raidh fria: "If God wills, I will do it faciem changed to faciam by the corrector" .i. “ Do ghén sa sin madh ail do Dia.” "Go, you and the king and your offspring, before us as far as the township which is called the Township of the Meeting [That Cluain na Coinde, or Cluain na Choinne (in Latin Villa Conventionis), is in Connacht is plain from this passage; Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 258, col. 1, s. v. Cluain Choine; whose authority is Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 204, col. 1 and p. 707, col. 1, s. v. Cluain-choine. Not a few are the places called Cloonkeen in the neighbourhood of the parishes of Donaghpatrick, Killower and

Kilbannon; we judge that here is signified Cloonkeen, a little village situated between the rivers Clare and Grange, about eight miles from the church of Killower, and as many from Kilbannon. But one who goes straight from Killower to Kilbannon would certainly not turn aside to that Cloonkeen; for Killower and Kilbannon are scarcely more than five miles apart.]." “Ergidh remhaind tusa 7 in ri 7 bar cclanda corrici an ferann dianid ainm Cluain na Coinde.” And they went as St. Benignus had commanded them. Ocus do cotar amhail atbert noeb Benen friu. And St. Patrick went to that place in which he founded the cell of St. Falbeus [That this St. Failbhe, bishop, is the son of Lossen who with his brothers is venerated on the Kalends of August on the island of Lough Ree (Loch Rí, Loch Ree) called Inis Mór is the opinion of Colgan, resting on not improbable arguments, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 183, col. 1; although the same Colgan seems to have abandoned the opinion, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 540, col. 1, note 18. But the name Failbhe is so common that we do not dare to define the matter: for why should there not have been two Failbhes, one in Inis Mór of Loch Ríbh, the other in Cill Fabhair or Cill Fobhuir? Which opinion Colgan again favours, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 268, col. 2, where he writes that this Failbhe, of whom our Irish writer speaks, is venerated not on the Kalends of August but on 11 January or 16 April. The place, indeed, of which the Irish Life speaks, otherwise unknown, is plainly situated in Connacht; whether it is the same which is otherwise Achadh Fobuir, Achadh Fhobair, Achadh Fhobhair, Achadh Gabhair, etc. (now in English Aghagower, Barony Burrishoole, County Mayo), Hogan doubts, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 8, col. 2, s. v. Achad Fabhair Umhaill; p. 9, col. 1, s. vv. Achad Fobuir and Achad Gabhair; p. 193, col. 1, s. v. Cell Fobhuir. So indeed Hogan and those learned men whose opinion he follows. But, if we see anything, here Cill Fhobhair is clearly signified as something altogether different from Achadh Fhobhair; namely the parish now called Killower, situated between Lough Cime (where Domnach Pátraic is) and Kilbennan, on the very road by which St. Patrick was then going. And Achadh Fhobhair is about sixty miles distant from the places we have mentioned. Add that the church of Achadh Fobhair does not seem to have been founded by St. Patrick at that time, Lib. Ardm., fol. 13 b 1.], bishop, which is called Cell Fabhair. Ocus ro escomla naemh Patraicc coricci ind inat in ro fothaigedh recles Failbhe nóibh in epscoib as ris rátar Cell Fabhair [the corrector drew a line under the words Falbi episcopi and Cell Fabhair, and also wrote Cell Fabhair again in the margin.] aníu. And afterwards St. Patrick came to the Township of the Meeting. Ocus táinic noebh Patraicc iarsin co Cluain na Coinde Cluain mc Coinde MS. In which St. Benignus refashioned Echenus into the form of a fawn so the first hand; hinnuli the corrector, who also added ceruini above the line coming out of the wood. Is annsin ro delbh noebh Benen indi Echen hi richt laoigh allaidh. And St. Benignus said to Patrick. Ocus atrubhairt noebh Binén re Patraicc. "Bless the fawn leaping towards us and exulting The translator adds: "and greeting you with such great joy."" .i. “Bennach in láegh dogni in surtlaigh 7 an leimnigh i nar fiadhnuse 7 dogní an forbáilte dhuit fodéin.” And Patrick answered: "I will not bless a fawn that has the ears of Echinus, who often opposes me [The translator adds: "and who is accustomed to deny me whatever I demand by right."]." Is e freccra dorat Patraicc ar Benen: “Nocha bennachabh in loegh techus cluasa Echen no fhrithcathaigidh dam dogres 7 no bid ind acchaidh indacch. corrected from inaacch. cecha coirech no erailinn.” And St. Benignus formed Echen into many forms, as they say, and St. Patrick would not bless him The translator adds: "in any of those shapes.". Ocus ro delbh Benen Echen i rrectaibh iomdhaibh irrectaibh e iomdhaibh MS, but the e deleted by a dot placed beneath., amhail innisit na heolaigh, 7 ro eimidh Patraicc a bhennachadh Eichen i ndeilbh dibh sin. And Patrick said to Benignus: "You yourself bless him, and let his seed serve you for ever. But I will not." he is restored to favour. Occus atrubhairt Patraicc re Benén: “Bennach sa fein Eichen 7 foghnadh a shiol 7 a chinél duit tria bithu. Meisi immorro ni bhennachabh.” And St. Patrick went up into the chariot, and the sons of Brian carried St. Patrick by hand across the whole bog [Grunna or gronna renders in Latin the Irish word mónaidh, "a marsh or bituminous and swampy place, whence turf is dug, which, when dried, is used for building a fire, just like coals." So Du Cange s. v. Gronna. That such is the soil both between Killower and Kilbannon and between Cloonkeen and Kilbannon is manifest to one who inspects a map of this tract.] as far as the plain sic MS of Conmacne [Not few are the regions in those parts of Ireland called Conmhaicne, "the territories of the descendants of Conmac," Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, pp. 289–90. The Irish Life falsely mixed together various branches of that family; to refute these errors the more briefly we have drawn up a table from the Book of Leinster, p. 332, col. 2, the Book of Armagh, fol. 17 a 2, the Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. Paul Walsh, pp. 105–106, and from what we have collected from the Irish Life itself. We have added the names of the tribes to the names of the ancestors, inserting, as is usually done, the words "from whom". From this and the following chapter, then, it is plain that here is signified some branch of the tribe called Conmhaicne Críche mac Ercae, over whom the seed of Fraech ruled; their chief seat was in the diocese which is now Ardagh, Hogan, op. cit., p. 289, col. 1, s. v. Conmaicne. But from this passage of the Irish Life and from very many monuments of St. Iarlaithe of Tuam in those regions, it is clear that their territories at that time reached somehow to the river Clare; so the progeny of Duban, father of Niatu, seems to have chosen for itself chiefly those parts which are now the barony of Dunmore, Hogan, loc. cit., col. 2, s. vv. Conmaicne Dúine Móir and Conmaicne Cenéil Dubáin: from which it is clear that these are the ones of whom our Irish writer speaks.]. 7 ro rescabh Patraic ina charpat, ocus ara lamhaihh ro imarcuirset meic Briain in carpa darsin monaidh uile co magh Conmacne 7 sic MS. And St. Patrick got down from the chariot. Ocus tainic Patraicc ann sin asin ccarpatt. And there came to him nine lepers, gentile men, who had never annea the first hand; the corrector changed the second n into t sic MS before believed. By the healing of nine lepers, Is ann sin tangattar co Patraicc nonbhar do lobhraibh; gentlidhe iatsidhe na ro creittsett riamh roimhe sin. And they cried out, saying: "If your God is true, let Him heal us of this leprosy." Ocus doronsat diucaire moir; iss edh ro raidhset: “ Ma's é in fír Día do Día sa, slánaigh inne don cloime si.” And St. Patrick and Benignus rose and lifted levaverunt corrected from lavaverunt a turf cesp. corrected from cisp. from the ground. Ocus atrachtatar noebh Patraicc 7 noebh Benen 7 ro thocaibhsiot fott asin talmain. And there bubbled up ebulluit the first hand; the corrector inserted i a most limpid spring [The translator renders: "from the place whence the saints had lifted the turf."] from the earth. Ocusro mhebhaidh topur ro glan asin inut sin asa ttucsat na naeimh an fótt. In which the lepers were baptized The translator adds: "and they confessed the Catholic faith.". Is ann sin ro baitsithi na nói lobhair 7 ro fuisimsit before correction ro fuirnnsit. in creitim catolica. And in the same hour they were healed of the leprosy and gave glory to the Lord The translator adds: "for their healing and gave thanks to Him.". 7 ro slanaighthi isin uair cetna dia claimhe 7 ruccsat buidhe a slanaighte frisin Coimde, ocus ro altaighsett do. And from this miracle that spring is always named, that is, the Spring of the Lepers de 〈i〉 is. 7 is asan mirbail sin ro fas conid de dongarar Topur na Lobar o sin alle [It is still called the spring Tobernalour; it is six or seven hundred paces distant from the church of Kilbennan to the south, Ordnance Survey of Ireland (One Inch to a Statute Mile), fol. 96.]. In which spring many sick are always healed sanatur MS [The translator adds: "and its water has the power of efficacious relics wherever it is carried."]. Is gnath immorro daoine galair do slanucchadh isin topar sin 7 is cretru tohthachtach sic MS a usce cech conair dech. In which Benignus baptized Echenus, son of Brian [The translator adds: "and he bequeathed many good bequests to him and to his seed. Nor has any saint or just man any right over the race of Echenus except Benignus alone." The race of Echenus, Cenel n-Echen, a tribe in Connacht, Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 219, col. 1.]. Isin topar sin ro baist Benen Echen mac Briain ocus ro faccaibh faccbala maithe dó 7 dia shíl, 7 nocha dlighenn noebh na firen ele ni do chinel Echin acht Benen a oénar.

[11] Niatu brought to the faith And the lord of that region, that is, Níatu mac Dubhain, came with his sons [The translator adds: "Lughaidh, Caillin, Rimid, Nisi, Fillti." For the pedigree of that Niatu see above p. 177, note 5.] to the saints at that place. Ocus tainic fer choimsech an fherainn sin do imaccallaimh fri Patraicc 7 fri Benen conuicce in inut sin .i. Niatu mac Dubain 7 a chóicc meic .i. Lugaith, Callin, Rimid, Nisi, Fillti. And he devoted that township for ever to the saints. 7 ro edbair in inat sin do gres do Patraicc 7 do Benen. Because he saw a miracle there [The translator adds: "a great one which was wrought in that place, namely the healing of the lepers."]. Uair atconnairc an mirbail mair forcoemhnacair isin inut sin .i. slanucchadh

na cclamh. And in that corrected by the first hand from ollo. place Niatu was baptized with his sons et adds MS by Benignus, and all the inhabitants of that region were baptized. Ocus is annsan ionad sin ro baitsedh Niatu cona macaibh o Bhenen, he founds the church of Benignus. 7 ro baitsithe uile aittrebaidhe an ferainn. And Niata gave himself and his sons [corrected by the first hand (from sos, as it seems) and .n. added above the line, what it means we do not know.] and his grandsons for ever The translator adds: "and into tribute." into servitude [seruitutim, MS, but the first hand corrected it to read seruittutim; or seruitium, first hand above the line.] to Benignus and Patrick, and so did all the inhabitants of that region The translator adds: "they ratified the matter.". Ocus ro chinn Níatu insin combiadh fodein 7 a meic 7 a húi dara eisi hi cís 7 hi foghnamh do Benén ocus do Patraicc, ocus ro cinnsett huile aitreabaidhe an ferainn in cetna. And in that place [The translator adds: "(that is, in the fort of Lughaidh son of Niatu) after the place was consecrated to Benignus and Patrick." If these are compared with the last sentence of ch. 15 and with what has been said about the place-names, it is plain that here is signified Kilbannon (otherwise Kilbennan), a parish situated partly in the barony of Clare, but chiefly in the barony of Dunmore (County Galway), of which S. Lewis, op. cit., vol. II, p. 52, col. 1; The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, op. cit., p. 364. Beside the church there wells up a spring called St. Bennan's Well, Ordnance Survey, loc. cit. The antiquity of the church itself is testified by the round tower built beside it, Lewis, loc. cit., which G. Petrie briefly touches on, Inquiry into the Origin of the Round Towers of Ireland, in Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XX (1845); a monastery existed in that place, of which nothing has been committed to memory except the title of heir of St. Benignus once taken into the Annals (see Preliminary Commentary no. 70), and the very dissolution of the monastery, Lewis, loc. cit. These things indeed show that the church or monastery in Killbannon was founded in antiquity by some Benignus; to which is added the most certain testimony of the name itself: for Kilbannon is altogether the same as the Cell of Benignus. But he erred by the whole breadth of heaven who thought this Benignus was the successor of St. Patrick in the see of Armagh (cf. J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, pp. LXVIII–LXIX); for there exists a certain transcript of a donation in the archive of the church of Armagh, whose words are these: "Binean son of Lugni, scribe and priest and also anchorite, was the son of the daughter of Lugaith maicc Nétach, to whom God gave the inheritance of the race (genus MS) of his mother, in which he founded a church consecrated to God and offered to Patrick. And St. Patrick marked out the place for him with his staff, and he himself first offered the body and blood of Christ after Bineanus had received the grade from him, and he blessed him and left him after him in his place" (Lib. Ardm., fol. 17 a 2). To the words Patricius and ipse there has been added a sign which signifies that Patricius is the antecedent of the pronoun ipse; and the last words certainly signify: Patrick left after him Bineanus in the place offered by Bineanus; and a little before, where "he marked out the place for him", understand: "Patrick marked out the place for Benignus" (cf. Gwynn, op. cit., p. LXIX, note 1). Lugaith macc Nétach, moreover, is the same as Lughaidh mac Niatuch (otherwise Niatach) of whom the Irish Life speaks; for in the Book of Armagh é is written more than once where the more recent writers write ía, Stokes and Strachan, Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus, vol. II, pp. XIV–XV. This Binean (or Benignus), then, son of Lugni, son of the daughter of Lugaith maicc Nétach, is neither the one of Armagh (whose pedigree see Preliminary Commentary nos. 13–15), nor Benignus brother of Cethiacus or Cethechus (cf. ibid., no. 2). For the father of this St. Cethechus was indeed of the race of Ailill, but his mother of the race of Sai, Lib. Ardm., fol. 12 b 1; otherwise the Tripartite, in Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. II, p. 104, and in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 136, col. 1. But even in that reputedly genuine transcript I do not know whether a parachronism lies hidden; see Patriciana in Anal. Boll., vol. XL III.] the city of St. Benignus was founded. Ocus is ann sin .i. i ndun Lugaith meic Niatuch iarna coisercadh do Benén ocus do Phatraicc ro fothaighedh 7 ro cumdaigedh ecclas do noémh Binén. These, moreover, are the foster-sons of St. Benignus, that is, Callianus son of Niatach, bishop, and Iarladius son of Lagha, bishop.

[12] Disciples of St. Benignus Is iat so immorro daltadha noemh Beneoin .i. Caillin mac Niatach in tepscob ocus Iarlaithe mac Lagha in tepscob uasal ele. Is acc Benen ro léghsatt ocus is e doratt gradha forra. Ocus is e ro coisreccastair cella 7 reclésa doibh 7 ro erail ar a mbraithribh cendsa do dhenamh fríu; ar is e Benen rob ard-chend Conmacne eter cill is tír, ar is dó ro erbastair Patraicc a mbaitsedh 7 a forcetul, ocus is e ro fhacaibh ettorra, 7 is e ro toghsatt fein i ccennacht forra (ro toghsatt-forra) in another hand on an erasure. sech cech noebh. [13] Dalta dano do Benen Nechtan ocus Curnan, Mugan 7 Buadmael, Berrán ocus Modimóc, Báetan 7 Cairell, 7 .uii. meic Domhongairt, ocus sochaidhe ele do maithibh arcena. [14] Is ann sin ro bhennach Patraicc Conmacne .i. clann Cairedha, conidh ann atbert: “Mo bhennacht for Conmacne, for síl Caireda, for a macu is for a mna, is for a nóidhena. Beite do chloinn Cairedha, cein beit do réir mo fhreccra, epscoip 7 aircinnigh, sui eiccsi 7 sui eccna.” Ocus is e an Cairedh Cairedh corrected from Cairech. sin an tres fer atracht ria Patraicc dar sarucchadh Logoire meic Neill i tTemhraigh .i. Erc Slaine ar tús (hi Fertaibh Fer Feicc atrac〈ht〉 sidhe) ocus Dubthach mac húi Lughair ocus maothoclach dia muinntir (.i. Fiac Sleibe) in céidfhecht tainic Patraicc. Ocus an dara fecht doluidh Patraicc docum Temrach ro smachtadh la Laeghaire cona heirsedh nech ría Patraicc 7 cona dernta umhalóitt dó. O do riacht Patraicc isin teghdais isin teghdais, the first hand corrected from isin tethdais. righdae, Cairiudh mac Findcoimh, in fili do Connachtaibh, rope an dara primhecces an tan sin, ro greissedh o rath an Spirtu Noeibh co neracht asa cathair ollamnachta résin clerech, ar nír bó comadhus in súi 7 in tepscop do beith cen inut ba dingbála dó fri procept don tsochaidhe; ocus atracht co ba trí ría a muinntir .i. as cech cúil ina ina ina chéiliu MS chéiliu, co ro thoilli in mórseissiur ann 〈acht Benén a aenar. Ba bronach Beinén desin. Asbert frí Cairiudh: “Bidh i ccuil duit 7 dod' cloinn ondiu go brath.” “Cech cuil a ngeba,” ol Padraic, “bidh cuil go nana 7 ordan 7 tagad.” “No gebhta righe Temrach uaid,” oil Benén, “dia neiristea roamumsa.” “Fagebha onoir agamhsa 7 ag fior m' ionuid,” ol Padraic [the corrector drew lines over the words acht Benen - ol Padraic so that they can scarcely be read; then he rewrote the whole passage in the lower margin, prefixing the words: fri leth supra. We copy everything from the margin; very few things seem to differ from what the first hand had; these are the ones we make out: ingebha the first hand, an geba the corrector; Patraicc the first hand (twice), Padraic the corrector (twice); Benen the first hand, Beinén the corrector; uait the first hand, uaid the corrector; remhumsa the first hand, agamhsa the corrector; oc fir m' ionaid co brat the first hand, ag fior m'ionuid the corrector. All, as is plain, with almost the same sense but a different manner of writing.] .〉 Dorat Patraicc bennacht do Chairiudh ara umhaloitt, conidh don bhennachtain sin doratt Patraicc 7 don umhla do rinne Cairiudh forcantar an laidh sea sís: and to his descendants Scuchais an fer cor ar chái cein ba etrocur in rí; riasin aoidhigh, co rath nDé, atracht Cairiuch fo trí. Donarraid Donáraidh the corrector; dá ttárraidh cretemh in the margin by the corrector. creitimh is cond i ttigh in righ lasin sanct. Scuchais ar cúla in fili find, co talla in moirsheiser ann. Doratt Patraicc bennacht fair, dorath dó talamh do nimh sic MS; should one read do ratt do talmh is nimh? : “Rotbe tir co toradh do muir, rop lir líonmhar, a gloss on lir in the corrector's hand. do clann is bu 〈d〉 dil.” Bat Fiach forbarta fan mbith mbuan, ba súi leighinn litter lan. Bat barce barce the corrector. muine maoine, a gloss on muine in the corrector's hand. do thir, do rath duine daoine, a gloss on duine in the corrector's hand. 7 dal. Rop sciath Críost ettrat is uath uathbais, a gloss on uath in the corrector's hand. ; ar it fili fuata fath fuaidhte fath, a gloss on fuata fath in the corrector's hand. . Rop cathair cloth Connacht do crich. Ar do treibh bennacht co brath. Dobera fer m' inuid inn onoir in ait 〈e〉 dot' cloind. Mo bennacht ort co brath mbinn, eter tir is chill is chaill. Sc〈uchais.〉 [15] Do roine Patraicc sith eter Benen 7 Cairiudh [the corrector drew lines over the words Do roine - Cairiudh so that they can scarcely be read.] . Foraccaibh Benen i sidh between sidh and cech the corrector adds da. cech Conmacnech dara raghadh úir a reilge gomadh nimhidh gom from com, the first hand. , 7 gomadh e bad breitemh bratha doibh fri laimh fri laimh fri laimh Patraicc MS Patraicc, ocus gomadh leo airechus an bhallain ana. Foraccaibh immorro Patraicc hi sith dhósomh ó Chairiudh co mbadh dó no

fhoighenadh an bhadh ergna dia síl, amhail ro comalladh sin .i. Lugaith mac Niatach 7 a cland 7 a cenel 7 clann Erecain meic Anaili ag foghnamh do Dia ocus do Bhenén 7 do Patraicc tria bithiu sír; ar is é Benén 7 Patraicc ro baist cinel Niatach, 7 rosfuc fo iris ocus cretimh, 7 rosbennach. Ocus dorat somh a mhanchine do Benen ocus do Patraicc feraib macaibh mnaibh. Ocus ro edbair Lughait a dhun flaithiusa do Bhenen 7 do Patraicc, conidh ann sidhe ata Cell Beneoin aníu, .i. dún Lughait meic Niatach.

[16] Cethracha laite do Patraicc isin inud sin, ica chosercad 7 aga bhennachadh ocus acc baitsiudh na ttuath 7 na cinel imbe ar cech leth; ocus ata inad puiple Patraicc 7 suidech ann bheos. Is edh tra atfiadat na senchusa, do righne Patraicc ocus Benen aiffrionn ar in seachtmhadh immaire o Bheind Garud co Cungae, 7 ro smactad termann 7 neimhedh doibh o chach, amhail bidh aca no beith a eisérgiu; ocus is eissein lubgort Patraicc i Connachtu. The rights of Benignus himself over the region of Conmhaicne Ocus nocha dligh rí no reachtaire ind Erind screpall cana, na air, na acru dibh, acht Patraicc 7 a comharba. Is ruidles tra do Patraicc 7 do Benen cenel Niatach, amhail atrubhramar, 7 cech Conmacnech archena.

[17] and over northern Ireland Is e Benen dano dliges primit lachta Connacht 7 Leithe Cuinn arcena (.i. cétt laeg 7 cett úan cecha tige, 7 cétt gruth 7 cét toradh imme cecha muinntire), ar is hé ro doirt an ballan ana for Connactaibh 7 fo earlier for, but the letter r erased. Leith Cuind arcena .i. saili Patraicc fri re in Corgais i Cruachan Aighle .i. an cetrachat lá 7 oidhce. Ocus ro erb Patraicc fri Benen in ballan in ro tionoiledh in saili in airet sin do dortadh fo Leith Mogha. In tan immorro ro siacht Benen co Máenmagh, whence they were acquired. dorad a aigidh annsin ri Leith Cuinn 7 ri Connachtuibh seach cách, uair is a cConnactaibh fuair maincine mair 7 foirb, 7 rosdoirt an ballán ana fothibh iarttain .i. fa Connachtuibh. Ar nirbó aicenta lais, in ní ro tinoiledh aca do breith uathaibh co cenel aile. Conidh aire sin dlighes primit lachta Leithe Cuinn 7 a tindscetlu sech cech noebh ind Erind, amhail adeir in laidh si sís:

Dlighid Benen fochraic lachta beneficium, a gloss on fochraic lachta in the corrector's hand. — gili gartu — [Dlighid Benen fochraic lachta fer ol ne (ne the corrector) comact gili gartu MS; we have suppressed f. o. n. c., words which suit neither the metre nor the sense, so far at least as we perceive. At first the corrector glossed gartu: gamoin, but deleted gamoin and wrote clú.] — baistiud macradh diri dualgus no dleachtanas, a gloss on diri in the corrector's hand. abbad — caini cáini the corrector. smachta. — Tailcenn coimsech, uad ro toimsed toimhsed the corrector. — gile ruine rúine the corrector. — Gab〈l〉 a Liune Gabla liuine the corrector. . O Drobháeis 〈co〉 lind Beind Gulbain — caine rota róta the corrector. — co lind Luimnigh Murusc Eogain — fedba, fotu. — O síl Eoghain, clainne the line is mutilated. … fonnaib, finib, logh a sgribind dirim dligidh, dlighidh Beneon [The corrector expunged dlighid Beneon and wrote a small d after dirim dligidh, so that one should read: O síl Eoghain clainne | fonnaib finib | logh a sgribind | dirim dligidh. | D〈lighid.〉 We suspect that the word clainne, which does not accord with the rest of the line, crept in from a gloss written in the exemplar above the word síl.] . 〈Dlighidh.〉 Espoc Connacht ba he Benen — curi ratha — ba gem rothu ratha, a gloss on rothu in the corrector's hand. … ba cenn Macha. Cathach Cruaiche Cruaiche MS tren ro dichuir fine demhnu, orguin in drúadh i mmúr tenedh tighe Temhra. Sechis Patraic i Sliabh Cruaichi — dichur digla, — amail mac Nun seichis Moysi Fersat cethraca aine — ba soreid, ba firt calma — amail Iesu im mbeinn Choreb should one read Choreib? is mac Amra. Cf. Matth. 4, 2. Fisidh Fóttla — ili ranna — ba cain should one read cain? Eire Eiri MS . Cf. 3 Reg. 19, 8. Ba mind oighe, … ba dind mullach, a gloss on dind in the corrector's hand. leire creidimh no craibhtheacht, a gloss on leire in the corrector's hand. . Mormhac Seiscnein, ba cuin cuin MS , tesmailt clú nó iomradh, a gloss on tesmailt in the corrector's hand. , ba bind, rosglic, ba cing espoc. Epscop Connacht.

[18] The Psalter of Cashel written by Benignus. Roptar dimdaigh a braithre deisiumh fan mballan ana do dortadh fa leith Cuind, 7 Patraicc d'íaradh a dhortadh fo Leith Mogha. It iat roptar dimdaig deissiumh, Eoganacht Caisil 7 clana cland the corrector. Ailiolla Uluim ocus Leth Mogha arcena. Conidh do dhichur na diomdha sin ro bui dia braithribh i lleith fris ro scriobh Benen Psaltair Caisil, 7 dorad sidhe rath righ Caisil 7 an dlechtanus 7 in cís dlegait as cech tír. Ro sccriobh innte dano dligedh 7 dlectanais righ nErend arcena. The rights of Benignus over the tribe of the Eoghanachta Dlighidh immorro Benen morchuairt Eoghanacht ar an adhbhar sin. Is e immorro dlectanus Beneoin don morcuairt dlighes comarba Patraicc a hErind, amhail innisit na senchusa, .i. cuairt Connacht uile, ocus gach tres pinginn a hErind uile arcena, and over all Ireland. la taebh a dilis fadéin ara mhorsaethar dosomhsin ó Phatraicc. Ar is tre Benén iar fír ro ghabhsat fir hErend hiris creitimh, uair is edh atrubhrattar fir hErend ri Patraicc, na creittfitis co ccreittedh an taird-ri ro bui forra .i. Laeghaire mac Neill; 7 ní ro creit sen co facaidh a note in the margin in the first hand. Benen do techt slan asin tigh tenedh. O ro creitt immorro in rí, ro creitsit fir Erend ina deaghaidh.

[19] Fect do Lucchaidh mac Laeghaire, .i. do righ Erend, co rocht co hAchadh Farcha, co tarla dó imadall do tabairt ar Patraicc 7 ar a shámhadh dar éis Patraicc. Co tainicc Benen dia saigidh conicce an inud sin .i. ard-espoc Erend Benen an tan sin 7 ard-comarba. Atrubhairt Benen ri Lucchaidh cidh ma tartais imadhall ar Phatraic 7 ar in ecclais. Rosfreccair immorro Lucchaidh, 7 iss edh ro raidh: “Ind edh rop ail no ropa doigh latsa, a Beneoin, co tuccainn si duitsi cuttrama cadusa 7 dontí ro búi romhat .i. do Phatraicc.” Is edh ro raidh Benen frissiumh: “Ni fhuil cumang ele accamsa, acht tocebat mo rusca suas dochum nimhe in conair conair the corrector. dochum mo tigerna.” Is annsin tarlaiced farcha teinntighe dona nemhdaibh hi cend in rígh, conidh í ro marb; conidh de ata Achudh Farcha. Ro moradh ainm Benen 7 Patraicc don firt sin.

[20] Tri bliadhna immorro 7 coicc fichet rop hí aes Beneoin, amhail fogabhar isna handalaibh. Ar is .uii. mbliadhna ropa slan dó an tan ruccad, go Patraicc .i. iar tiachtain Patraicc dar muir fó cettóir, 7 tri fichit bliadain do Patraicc ic baistedh 7 ic forcetal fer nErend. Se bliadhna decc do Sechnall i ccomarbus Patraicc, ocus deich mbliadhna do Shenchonan, ar is he rosgabh inatt Sechnaill, ocus .x. mbliadhna aile do Benen hi comarbas Patraicc. Conidh tri bliadhna ar cétt sin uile.

[21] It iat innsin innsin added, in the same hand, as it seems. immorro ni dia fhertaibh Beneoin conicce sin; 7 araidhe isat uaite do ilibh, mine tisadh fein doridisi hi ccolainn, no mine tisadh aingel in Coimdedh dia fhaisneis i nderna Dia do fhertaibh ocus do mhiorbalaibh for Beneon. Ba fer cumacht〈ach〉 tra in fer so hi fertaibh 7 hi miorbalaibh. Ba haintech, ba hennac, ba eirnedech, ba hairbittnech, ba failidh i tiomnaibh De, ba cobhsaidh, ba humhal, ba dilgadach, dercach; ba comrar coisrecta cuirp Críost 7 a fhola a chridi 7 a menma; ba slanucchadh cecha tuaithe 7 cecha ecailsi cosa roiched Benen a briathra 7 a forcetal. Nocha lamhudh demon beith fora ioncaibh cech conair no teighedh. Ba díochur de cetfaidhe as cech airecht a aiged d' faicsin ara muine (a. m.) the corrector deleted. . No ícadh lucht gacha tedhma 7 gacha galair sodeitbir na suailce huile ro bui ann. Uair ro ba sai eccna 7 crabhaidh, 7 ro ba súi berla 7 breithemhnasa. Ro ba sái senchusa 7 fessa. Rob uasal-epscop 7 ro ba mac oighi 7 rob ard-chomarba Patraicc fo hErend 7 fo Albain. O tainic tra gusna deighionchu do Benen, iar fertaibh ocus miorbalaibh, iar nionnarbadh demon a hErind 7 iar nionnarbadh idhal 7 arracht ri laimh Patraicc, Monasteries and churches founded by Benignus. iar fotucchadh cell 7 ecclaise (.i. recles dó hi ffarradh Arda Macha .i. Magh-eter-da-glais, ocus ceall ele i mBrethnaibh, 7 cell ele i nGlinn Chorpraidhe i tuaiscert Luachra Dedhadh ocus a primh-cell hi Conmacne Connacht .i. i ndun Lugaith meic Niatach), o ro comhfoigsigh uair a eitsechta, amhail atrubhramar, arroet corp Críost o Iarlaithe [the corrector drew a line under the words o I. and wrote in the margin Jërlathei genus.] mac Trena meic Feic meic Imchuda meic Bresail meic Sirchadha mic Fiatach Find (ar is e ro fer tota hEirend hi comarbus Patraicc dara eisiumh)

ocus ro faidh a ainim dochum nimhe isin tres bliadhain ar .c. a áeisi. Atat a taisi hibus isna talmandaibh co nonoir 7 airmitin, co fertaibh 7 mírbhallaibh; ata immorro a ainim amhail grein isin cathraigh nemdha. Ocus cidh mor a onóir 7 a gloir colléic, bidh mó a gloir i lló bratha, an tan bias, immaille re a ticcerna .i. nóeph Patraic, ic breith breithe for toradh a procepta .i. for feraibh Erend. Biaidh immorro mac Seiscnein Seiscnein corrected from Seiccnein by the first hand. i naentaidh muintire nimhe .i. eter aingliu 7 archaingliu, i noentaidh hiruphin 7 saraphin, i noentaidh apstal 7 descipul Íosu, i naentaidh meic Maire Oighi, is i nóentaidh as uaisle cech náentaidh, i naentaidh na náemh Trinoide uaisle, Athar 7 Meic 7 Spirait Naemh. Ailim trocaire Dé uasail uile-chumachtaigh, tria ernaigthe 7 impidhe noemh Beneoin, ro ísam ro airiltnigem, ro aittrebham i naentaidh sin huile in secula scecula MS seculorum. Amen. Finis.

[12] These, moreover, are the foster-sons of St. Benignus: Caillin son of Niatu, bishop [That these were connected with Bineanus son of Lugni, and have nothing to do with Benignus of Armagh, the genealogical table shows, p. 177, note 5. On each St. Iarlaithe see below, p. 186, note 6.], and Iarlaithe son of Lagh, another noble bishop. Benignus had instructed both and advanced them to the priesthood; he himself also consecrated churches and cells for them, and ordered their brothers [“St. Benignus is the one who … induced their … friends and kinsfolk to treat them humanely and charitably, and who by his office presided in spiritual rule over the whole clergy and people of Conmacne.” So Colgan in his paraphrase.] to show them goodwill; for Benignus was the head of the region of Conmhaicne, both of its lands and of its churches. For to him Patrick had committed the office of baptizing and instructing the inhabitants, him he had left among them, him the inhabitants themselves had chosen for their lord, before the other saints.

[13] who they were. The foster-sons of Benignus were Neachtain [Nectanus or Nectarius, Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 204, col. 1, we do not know on what authority; he also omitted Baetan. Whoever would wish to dispute about all those disciples of St. Benignus would be asking water from a pumice-stone. Colgan has these things, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 268, col. 2: that St. Nectan is venerated on 22 April and 8 January (this indeed wrongly; for, if the Martyrology of Donegal is to be trusted, on 8 January the memory of another Nectan was appointed, who died in the year 678); that the feast of St. Curnan is kept on 6 January or 22 December (where the Donegal writes Cuirrin); that Mugan perhaps was written falsely for Mucna, Colgan has, op. cit., p. 692, col. 2; of the rest he is silent, nor shall we be less prudent. Whether that Domhongart was other than Domungart son of Echaid, whose name is read in the Book of Armagh, fol. 19 a 1, and in the Tripartite, in Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, pp. 120, 224, and in Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 161, col. 2, I do not know; of whom Id., op. cit., p. 185, col. 2, notes 94–95, and Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, pp. 742–44; cf. Act. SS., Mar. vol. III, pp. 483–84. The sons of Domhongart are not read in the Macrad noeb hErend, or catalogue of the saints who are called not by their own name but by their father's, The Book of Leinster, p. 369, col. 3–6.] and Curnán, Mughain and Buaidh-mhaol, Bearrán and Modimóc, Baetán and Caireall, and the seven sons of Domhongart, and very many other noble men.

[14] To Cairedh the poet Then Patrick blessed the region of Conmhaicne (that is, the descendants of Cairedh) and said:

My blessing on Conmhaicne, on the seed of Cairedh [This poem seems to have been preserved only in this codex, with such carelessness of the scribes that it has become incurable. The pedigree of the tribe called Síl Carotha (that is, the Seed of Cairedh) we have set out in the genealogical table, p. 177, note 5; cf. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 514, col. 2, s. v. Mag Caireda, and p. 519, col. 2, s. v. Mag Enna. From which passages it is plain that here the talk is of a tribe other than Conmhaicne Dúine Móir, namely Conmhaicne Cúile Tolaid (of whom Hogan, op. cit., p. 289, col. 2, s. vv. Conmaicne Cúile, Conmaicne Cúle Talad and Conmaicne na Cúile; p. 322, col. 2, s. vv. Cúl Thalaith, Cúl Toladh and Cúl Tulad), whose territories were in the present barony of Kilmaine (County Mayo). These, if Tírechán is to be trusted, Lib. Ardm., fol. 13 a 2, St. Patrick visited not immediately after the sons of Brian had been baptized.], on their sons and wives and infants. There must be, from the sons of Cairedh, so long as they shall do my will, bishops and princes of churches [Understand lay patrons of churches, or rather lay abbots set over monasteries by hereditary right; of whom Plummer treats briefly, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. CXVII, note 5. The sense of this passage Colgan reports in these words, Trias Thaumaturga p. 204: “he (Patrick) promised that so long as they acquiesced in his commands, there would come forth from them (the people of Conmacne, or the sons of Charethus) many bishops, prelates and other men illustrious in doctrine and wisdom.” On those so-called legacies of the saints (in Irish “facbála”), see below p. 181, note 7.], poets and learned men.

This Cairedh, moreover, is the third man who rose before Patrick [The Irish words signify either “the third man who rose before Patrick”, or “one of the three men who rose before Patrick”; this, however, is less probable, since our Irish writer seems to indicate that Cairedh showed honour to St. Patrick after Earc and Dubhthach.] at Tara, against the will of Laegaire son of Niall. For first of all Earc of Slane [He is St. Erc or Earc, afterwards bishop of Slane, of whom Act. SS., Nov. vol. I, pp. 557–62.] rose before Patrick, at Ferta Fer Fec; to a well-deserving disciple then Dubhthach Maccu Lughair, together with a certain youth of his company, Fiacc of Sletty [Dubhthach Maccu Lughair, whose name is read written in the Book of Armagh Dubthach (otherwise Dubthoch) Maccu Lugil and Dubthach Maccu Lugir (fol. 4 b 2 and 20 a 2). Of the things signified here the oldest author is Muirchú, loc. cit., fol. 4 b 2 – 5 a 1. On St. Fiacc (otherwise Fécc, Fiac, Fiacc, etc.), bishop of Sletty, Act. SS., Oct. vol. VI, pp. 96–106; O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, vol. X, pp. 181–200.], at the time when Patrick first came; but when Patrick came again to Tara, Laegaire had forbidden that anyone should rise before him or show him reverence. But when Patrick entered the royal hall, Cairedh son of Fionnchoem, poet of the Connachtmen (he at that time held the second place among the poets [In that greatest and most splendid banqueting-hall of Tara each of the worthiest had his own seat, say for the king, the poet, the druid and so on, so that no one should lack the honour of his rank; R. A. S. Macalister undertook to restore and describe the form of the building, Temair Breg. A Study of the Remains and Traditions of Tara, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. XXXIV, C. pl. IX: where you will find what place was assigned to whom. The same discusses that hall at length, op. cit., pp. 262–69. I do not know whether our Irish writer invented this whole passage about Cairedh the poet on no one's authority, after the likeness of what is commonly handed down by the Patrician writers about Dubhthach Maccu Lughair. For why does he assign Cairedh the second place among the poets, except that Muirchú had called Dubhthach “the best poet”? What, too, does that mention of Fiacc mean in the next poem “on the blessing of Patrick and the reverence of Cairedh”? Add that the most ancient authors nowhere seem to mention that Patrick approached the king sitting at the banquet at Tara after the day on which Dubhthach rose before him, which was Easter Sunday, 26 March 433. Yet in the Book of Leinster, where the genealogy of Conmhaicne Cúile Tolad is treated, these things are handed down about Cairedh son of Findchaem: Is é ro slecht do Patric i Temraig. In Latin: He it is who bent the knee to Patrick at Tara, The Book of Leinster, p. 332, col. 2. Nor is it to be passed over (as J. B. Bury notes, The Life of St. Patrick, p. 305) that all these things about poets rising before St. Patrick at Tara, who certainly did not draw their origin from the territories of Meath, arose from some confusion; for older deeds are mixed up at this place with later ones, which, if we see anything, happened at the time when the Senchus Mór was revised. For both Dubhthach and Cairedh, each a poet, are expressly named among those revisers of the laws in the treatise called Córus Bescna (this is part of the Senchus Mór) among the Ancient Laws of Ireland, vol. III (Dublin and London, 1873), p. 28. The testimony of this treatise on this matter the learned Eoin MacNeill both gladly accepts and reckons among the most ancient Patrician documents, in Studies, vol. XIII (1924), p. 160; he also judges that from there flowed what was afterwards handed down about those nine men and other things of the same kind; cf. above, p. 166, note 1.]), was moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit to rise from the seat which had been set apart for him according to his dignity among the poets, because it was unbecoming that a wise man and bishop should lack the place from which he might worthily exhort the people with sacred addresses. Three times, then, Cairedh rose for those who were with Patrick, namely from each corner into another [What this means we do not understand; but we have rendered the Irish words in Latin as best we could.], so that there was room for seven men, Benignus alone being excluded. When he took this ill, he said to Cairedh: “May there be for you and your sons nothing but a corner from now on for ever.” But Patrick: “Whatever corner you choose, it will be a corner distinguished by beauty, nobility, happiness.” — “You would have obtained from him the kingdom of Tara,” said

Benignus, "if you had risen for me." — "You shall receive honour," said Patrick, "from me and from my successors." And Patrick blessed Cairedh because he had shown him reverence. Of which blessing of Patrick and reverence of Cairedh this poem is recited:

The man withdrew from his place The poem is otherwise, as it seems, unknown. when the king was showing himself harsh; for the guest, by the grace of God Should it be understood: "before the guest, through the grace of God"?, Cairedh rose three times. To him came faith and wisdom into the royal hall with the saint. The fair poet stepped back so that seven men found room there. Patrick blessed him, gave him lands from heaven [Perhaps it is to be understood "of grace, of earth, of heaven"; or, if we rightly conjecture that in the Irish talamh is nimh can be read, it should be translated: "he gave him heaven and earth".]: "May you have lands with fruit from the sea Lands, namely, lying open to waters abounding in fish., many and faithful If with the codex you read il be your descendants." Famous will Fiac be [Of this mention of Fiac we said a little above, p. 180, note 1. It is uncertain whether our Irish writer borrowed this quatrain from some poem about Dubhthach Maccu Lughair, or himself thought that St. Fiac was a disciple not of Dubhthach but of Cairedh. Both are assuredly worthy of our man.] in the world, he will be learned in all the teaching of letters. Abundant will be the crops of your lands, men and assemblies [Here there seems to be signified the assembly or session of a tribe, or of a province, or of all Ireland.] favouring. May Christ be a shield between you and fear; for you are a poet for joining causes. May your region be a famous city of Connacht. A blessing on your tribe for ever. My successor will bestow there the honour of the place on your sons. My blessing on you until the melodious day of judgment [He called that day melodious so that he might make his own little verse melodious. He cared little for that last trumpet; for the word bind signifies rather a sweet sound, by no means clangour and din.], on land and church and wood. The man withdrew [In this kind of poem it was necessary that the last word should be the same as the first; therefore the last word of the poem is repeated, to show that the writer has satisfied the laws (you have two examples in ch. 17). But at this place, after the last quatrain, which ends in chaill, our Irish writer did indeed repeat the word scuchais, which is the first of the poem, as if he had the work complete; yet he left it imperfect.].

[15] Patrick blesses. Then, after Patrick had made peace between Benignus and Cairedh, Benignus by pledge conferred [Perhaps it should be translated: "conferred in covenant". Colgan interprets: "After, then, Caredus and Niatus with their sons had been baptized and St. Patrick and St. Benignus were imparting to them various blessings" etc., and escaped the difficulties by that small swerve.] these benefits on the people of Conmhaicne: that whoever of their number should be buried, covered with the earth of the cemetery of Benignus, should be a dweller in heaven [Nimhidh, "dweller in heaven", the same, as it seems, as nemidech or nimidech: this is read in Leabhar na h-Uidhri, facsimile (Dublin, 1870), p. 116; cf. Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 304, §3. On a similar reward granted to other cemeteries, Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. XCIII; Id., Bethada Naem n Erenn, vol. I, p. 223, §119.]; that Benignus himself together with Patrick should be their judge on that last day; that the vessel of felicity should be committed to them [Of the vessel of felicity ch. 16–17 treat. Understand that to one of the people of Conmhaicne would be committed the hereditary office of guarding that vessel; so a guardian was appointed for certain chief relics, for instance the staff of Jesus, the little bell of Patrick, the staff of St. Columba, the Canon of Patrick or Book of Armagh, J. Gwynn, Liber Ardmachanus, pp. CV–CVI. This office, then, Patrick left to the people of Conmhaicne among the other legacies (in Irish factála) which are explained at this place; cf. Plummer, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. XCII, note 2, p. CIV, note 6, p. CLXXIV, and above p. 177, note 3.]. Patrick, for his part, granted to Benignus, at the words of Cairedh, that those who should arise from the seed of Cairedh distinguished above the rest of his descendants should serve Benignus. Which came true: for Lughaidh son of Niatu with his children [Understand with the whole tribe which sprang from that Lughaidh, in Irish 7 a cland 7 a chenel.], and the children of Ereachan son of Anaile [Note the same as above about the tribe of Lughaidh. Moreover, each tribe seems to be unknown, nor are these names read in the Book of Leinster, loc. cit. (cf. p. 177, note 5).] serve God and Benignus and Patrick for ever, In their dominion a church committed to Benignus. inasmuch as by them the children of Niatu were baptized and received faith and blessing. Niatu gave himself into the dominion of Benignus and Patrick, together with men, youths, women. Lughaidh offered his principal fort to Benignus and Patrick; there the cell of Benignus was established in the stronghold which was Lughaidh's, son of Niatu [Colgan reports the sense thus: "Lugadius son of Nieta gave them his fort with the adjoining estate, that they might build a church there. For there they built a church which was formerly called from Lugadius's name Dun Lugaidh, that is, the Fort of Lugadius, and today is called Kill Beinein, that is, the Cell of Benignus." Cf. Preliminary Commentary nos. 2, 63.].

[16] Patrick stayed forty days in that place, which he consecrated and blessed, and baptized all the peoples round about. There is still had there the site of the tent and seat of Patrick [The place called Pupal Patraic, "tent of Patrick", has nowhere been found; and of those called Suidhe Patraic, "seat of Patrick", none is situated in Conmhaicne. Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 565, col. 1 and p. 619, col. 1.]. We have learned also from the writers of ancient matters that Patrick and Benignus offered the sacrifice of the Mass at every seventh ridge from the peak of Garudh to Conga [Benn Garudh, assuredly the same as "the peak of Garad", Lib. Ardm., fol. 12 b 2; now Oran, a parish in the barony of Ballymoe (County Roscommon) in the territories of Conmhaicne Críche mac Ercae; see the table p. 177, note 5. Cunga, now in English Cong (Barony Ross, County Mayo). What that about the sacrifice offered so often means, we do not perceive. Colgan translates: "and, as the antiquaries relate, at every seventh furrow of that whole tract which is between Benn-Garadh and Cunga, St. Patrick and St. Benignus celebrated Mass." Cf. the Life of St. Patrick in Stokes, Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 15, lines 516–17: Iss ed dorimet ind eolaig co nderna (Patraic) aifrenn cacha sechtmad imaire doneoch imrulai i Mumain; Stokes renders in English, p. 160: "The wise reckon that he celebrated mass on every ridge which he passed over in Munster."]; where by common consent there was established for the saints an enclosure with sanctuary, on this condition, namely, that the resurrection of the givers should be with the saints. This is the garden of Patrick in Connacht Cf. Preliminary Commentary no. 66.. Nor is it lawful for any lord or minister in Ireland to exact from those men either a scruple of tribute, or of ploughing, or of the market, or anything else, except for Patrick and his heir [Colgan renders: "And to the territory consecrated to them such great immunity was granted that it is free and exempt from every tribute, royal exaction and public contribution; and it is held as a garden or granary in Connacht." In our interpretation understand that the inhabitants of the region are immune from the burden of ploughing anyone's fields, and cannot be called to judgment except before Patrick and his successor.]. The people of Niatu are peculiarly Patrick's and Benignus's, as we said, and besides all the people of Conmhaicne.

[17] Benignus indeed claims by right for himself the first-fruits of milk throughout Connacht and the rest of the Half of Conn [The middle part of Ireland which faced the north; the rest of the island was called the Half of Mogh.]; that is: the first-born calf and lamb in each house, and the first curds and the first butter in each household. For Benignus poured out over Connacht and the rest of the Half of Conn the vessel of felicity, namely the spittle of Patrick during the time of Lent [Various prodigies wrought through the saliva of the Celtic saints Plummer has collected, Vitae Sanctorum Hiberniae, vol. I, p. CLXXVIII (on the saliva of a fasting man, note 5); Id., Bethada Náem nÉrenn., vol. II, p. 349.], forty days and forty nights, on Cruachan Aighle [Of that Lenten fast we have as the oldest author Tírechán, whom the other writers follow. Nowhere, however, except in our Irish writer have we found that St. Benignus was then Patrick's companion; but not so far from the summit of the mountain there is a heap of stones called the altar of Benignus, if W. C. Borlase is to be trusted, The Age of the Saints (Truro, 1893), p. 46; he, on the authority of John O'Donovan in I know not what work (perhaps not printed, cf. Borlase, op. cit., p. 76, note 1), reports that pilgrims were accustomed to go round that altar of Benignus seven times. This rite seems not yet to have died out, although the one who handed down the Order of the Croaghpatrick Station is silent about the name of the altar of Benignus, in John Healy, The Life and Writings of St. Patrick (Dublin, 1905), p. 654. The mountain Cruachan Aighle is the one which is now called Croagh Patrick, in English the Reek (Barony Murrisk, County Mayo).]. For Benignus, to whom had been committed by Patrick the vessel in which the spittle had been collected during that space of time, to pour it out over the Half of Mogh, when he had come into the plain called Maenmagh The plain Maenmagh, not far from Loughrea (County Galway)., turned himself towards the Half of Conn and Connacht (for in Connacht Benignus had broad estates and lands), and poured out the vessel of felicity over their territories, namely over the Half of Conn. For he judged that it would have been done against nature if what had been collected in their territories should be transferred to another people. Therefore Benignus alone of all the saints of Ireland has the right of claiming the first-fruits of milk of the Half

of Conn and the beginnings of everything that is done there. Which this poem declares:

Two poems on Benignus. Benignus claims for himself [Our Irish writer did not notice that he had copied out two poems, otherwise unknown, as one (cf. above, p. 181, note 4). Colgan reports the sum of the matter thus in Latin: "Whence the whole of Connacht, from the river Drobhaois to Muresc-Eogain, beside Limerick, and from the place which is called Lein-lara to Druim-Snamha in the region of Gabhal-liuin, (St. Patrick) consecrated to St. Benignus and his successors, ordering them to pay every year the first-fruits of milk products, calves, lambs and animals of that kind, so that afterwards he was held as the tutelary and bishop of the Connachtmen."] the first-fruits of milk. — The brightness of generosity — It belongs to abbots to baptize boys. — The splendour of authority. Mighty is Tailcheann [The surname of St. Patrick, who is said to have measured and marked out the lands of those peoples. In this and the following quatrain the writer defines Connacht.], who measured — The whiteness of the mystery — From Léim Lara to Druim Shnáma [Where the place called Léim Lara was we have not found; Druim Snámha, now Drumsna, in the parish of Rossorry, barony of Clanawley (County Fermanagh), Hogan, op. cit., p. 369, col. 1.] Gabhal Liuine [Gabhal Liuine, now the parish of Galloon (Baronies Coole, Clankelly and Knockninny, County Fermanagh).], From the Draobhaois A river, now written in English Drowes. to the lake of Benn Gulbain [Benn Gulbain, now Binbulbin in the parish of Drumcliff (Barony Carbury, County Sligo). By the lake perhaps Drumcliff Bay is here understood.], — Of the fair road — To the lake of Luimneach [Lind Luimnig or Loch Luimnig, the mouths of the river Shannon, Hogan, op. cit., p. 491, col. 1 and p. 508, col. 1.], Muireasc Eoghain — Woods, fields. — [Muireasc Eoghain, a region otherwise unknown to us, seems from this to be situated not far from Limerick.] From the seed of Eoghan, the race… The line is mutilated. From its lands and families, The reward for writing this, which is so great that it cannot be counted, Benignus claims for himself Here in the Irish poem the word dlighidh is repeated. Cf. p. 181, note 4.. Claims for himself.

The bishop of Connacht was Benignus, An army of grace Should it be understood "a hero of grace"?, He was a gem of grace… [Perhaps at the beginning there was written rothne, for ruthne, ruithne, which is the genuine form of the genitive singular of the word ruthen, ruithen; so that it could be rendered in Latin "a radiant gem". The latter part of this line has fallen out; what it was is uncertain. One may conjecture with the learned C. Plummer mormhac Seiscnein or mormhac Sescnen, that is, "the great son of Sescnianus". These words agree most aptly with those immediately preceding in sound, metre and alliteration, and perhaps fell out through homoeoteleuton; for they occur again after the fourth quatrain.] He was the head of (Ard) Macha. The strong warrior of Cruach [The story is that St. Patrick, at the time of that fast on the mountain Cruachan Aighle (above, p. 182, note 7), drove the demons out of Ireland; the honour of this deed our Irish writer claims for Benignus too, inasmuch as he was Patrick's inseparable companion in that fast. Colgan too in his paraphrase speaks at length of the demons put to flight, Trias Thaumaturga, pp. 203–204. Note that in England too the saliva of a fasting man is held effective for killing serpents (which they say St. Patrick drove fleeing out of Ireland), J. A. H. Murray, A New English Dictionary, vol. IV, part I (Oxford, 1901), p. 91, col. 3, s. v. Fasting. And some have believed that demons in the appearance of serpents were put to flight by Patrick.] who put to flight The tribe of demons. The destruction of the druid in the fiery cell Of the palace of Tara. He followed Patrick onto the mountain Cruach — The driving out of vengeance, — As the son of Nun followed Moses Onto Mount Sinai. Cf. Exod. 24. They kept a fast forty days — it was very easy [The line is wretchedly ruined and at least one syllable too long. Perhaps it should be corrected: Fersat cethracha aine soreid, that is "They kept a fast of forty days"; or rather: Fersat aine cethracha aidhche, that is "They kept a fast of forty nights."] It was a vigorous miracle, — As Jesus on Mount Horeb And the son of Amra. The sage of Ireland — many couplets [Or "many divisions"; for the sense of the Irish words is twofold, nor could you easily say which suits better.] — Beautiful Beautiful, if you read cáin; happy, if you read cain. was Ireland. He was a diadem of virginity, … [The second part of this line has fallen out; what it was it is not worth while to conjecture.] He was a citadel of diligence. Great son of Seiscnean, beautiful were his ways [Unless perhaps cuin is written for ciun, ciuin, so that it should be understood "gentle were his ways".], He was melodious, sharp-eyed Unless perhaps it should be understood "wise in sayings"., he was a warrior bishop. The bishop of Connacht See above, p. 181, note 4..

[18] His brothers took it ill that the vessel of felicity had been poured out over the Half of Conn, which Patrick had wished to be poured out over the Half of Mogh. Those who were indignant against Benignus were the Eoghanachta of Cashel [Eoghanachta Caisil, a tribe and region situated around the city of Cashel. Cf. Preliminary Commentary no. 14.] and the descendants of Ailill Ólom and the other men of the Half of Mogh. And so, to soften the anger of his brothers against him, Benignus wrote the Psalter of Cashel On the writings ascribed to St. Benignus, Preliminary Commentary nos. 72–76. and defined the gifts to be given to the kings and the tributes and dues which were owed to them from each land. He set out besides the tributes and rights of the kings of Ireland. For which reason Benignus has the right of the greater visitation in the land of Eoghan. Proper to Benignus is the right of the greater visitation which the heir of Patrick claims for himself from Ireland, as the writers of ancient matters relate, namely the visitation of all Connacht and besides every third penny from all Ireland, in addition to what is owed to Benignus himself on account of the arduous labours which Patrick committed to him to carry out. For there is no doubt that through Benignus the men of Ireland received the faith; for the men of Ireland had told Patrick that they would never come to the faith of Christ unless the king who ruled over them had first believed. He was then Laegaire son of Niall; and he did not believe until he saw Benignus coming out safe from the fiery house [See above ch. 6 and Preliminary Commentary nos. 41–44. What is narrated here Colgan explains thus in his paraphrase, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 205, col. 1: "The kinsfolk of St. Benignus, such as the people of the Eoganacht of Cashel, the Olildian progeny and other men of Munster, having heard of his aforesaid deed, are said to have been not a little offended and indignant against the man of God. But St. Benignus, to wash away that offence by some pleasing service, began and composed that famous chronicle which is called the Psalter of Cashel, in which are written down the acts, rights, prerogatives and succession not only of the monarchs of all Ireland but especially of the kings of Munster. And hence to St. Benignus and his successors the faculty of visiting all Munster was granted. And of what is owed to the successors of St. Patrick from the whole kingdom, a third part, and besides an annual visitation of all Connacht, is specially designated for St. Benignus and his successors. The special reason, moreover, why the nobles of the whole kingdom were inclined to such great observance of Benignus is said to be that the people and nobles refused to embrace the faith of Christ first preached by St. Patrick until they should first see their king believing in Christ" etc.]. And from the time the king believed, the men of Ireland believed after him.

[19] The arrogance of King Lughaidh is punished. At a certain time Lughaidh son of Laegaire, king of Ireland, came to the place called Achadh Farcha (field of the thunderbolt) [Achadh Farcha in the barony of Slane, County Meath, Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 6, col. 2, s. v. Achad Archa; p. 8, col. 2, s. v. Achad Farcha; p. 9, col. 1, s. v. Achad Forcha.] and visited Patrick and his congregation after him. There came to meet him in that place Benignus, who was then archbishop of Ireland and chief heir 〈of Patrick〉 [Cf. p. 170, note 3. This could hardly have happened except by some chronological prodigy; for the Annals relate that Lughaidh died, some in one year, some in another, but all in the sixth century after Christ, many years after St. Benignus; cf. Preliminary Commentary nos. 17–25. Moreover, the same narrative of Lughaidh slain by a thunderbolt is read in the Tripartite, Stokes, The Tripartite Life, vol. I, p. 60; Colgan, Trias Thaumaturga, p. 128, col. 1, and in very many other Patrician writings; but it is always related that Lughaidh was punished with death by St. Patrick himself, with no mention made of Benignus except by our Irish writer.], and asked the king why he had visited Patrick and the church. Lughaidh answered: "Do you wish, Benignus, or expect, that I should show you the same honour which I showed your predecessor Patrick?" Benignus said to him: "I have no other power than to look up to heaven to my Lord." Then a fiery thunderbolt falling from heaven onto the king's head, he was killed. Whence the name Achadh Farcha. By this prodigy the fame of Benignus and Patrick was increased.

[20] The chronology of the life of Benignus. Benignus lived a hundred and three years Cf. Preliminary Commentary no. 81., as is gathered from the Annals. For he was in his eighth year when he was brought to Patrick, who had then first landed on the shore. And Patrick baptized and instructed the Irish for sixty years. Then Seachnall was heir of Patrick for sixteen years; then Seanchonan for ten years (for he succeeded Seachnall); afterwards Benignus was heir of Patrick for ten years. Which make a hundred and three years.

[21] Epilogue. So much, then This whole chapter consists almost of commonplaces., about the prodigies which Benignus wrought, although we have related only a few out of many. For if you wished to unfold each one, either he himself would have to return into the flesh, or an angel of the Lord would have to make manifest what signs and miracles God wrought in favour of Benignus; so much did his virtue shine forth in matters of this kind. But he was also distinguished by continence in food, integrity of morals, assiduity in prayer, reverence; by remarkable joy in carrying out

the commandments of God, with a mind at once constant and lowly; ready to forgive and most lavish in generosity. His mind and soul were a certain holy shrine of the Body and Blood of Christ. The words and teachings of Benignus brought salvation to all the peoples and churches to which he came. Because of him the devil did not dare to infest the parts which he visited. Even to have looked upon his face was enough to drive discord out of any gathering of the people, because of his grace. The eminence of virtue that was in him sufficed to heal any plague and disease, inasmuch as he was distinguished in doctrine, piety, the eloquence of law and jurisprudence [The language of the jurists differed very much from the common and everyday language. These things indeed concern the legal knowledge of St. Benignus. What follows about his historical writings seems to signify the Psalter of Cashel; for in this codex there were many things about the antiquities of Ireland. Cf. Preliminary Commentary nos. 14, 72.]; nor was he ignorant of histories or of learning, a noble bishop, a son of virginity That is, of incorrupt virginity., chief heir of Patrick both in Ireland and in Albania. And when Benignus came to the end of his life, after the signs and miracles wrought, after the demons driven out of Ireland, after the idols and images of the gods overthrown with Patrick's help; after the monasteries and churches founded (these are: his cell of Magh eter da Ghlais, which belongs to Armagh [Magh eter da Ghlais (otherwise Magh etir di Ghlais), now Magheraglass, in the parish of Kildress (Barony Upper Dungannon, County Tyrone). Of this monastery briefly and learnedly W. Reeves, The Life of St. Columba, p. 154, note. That St. Benignus was set by Patrick over the school of Armagh Douglas Hyde relates, A Literary History of Ireland (London, 1899), pp. 134–35, in Hugh Graham, The Early Irish Monastic Schools (Dublin, 1923), p. 26. What authors these followed, however, we do not know. Moreover, the place called Tulach Bennain (that is, the Hill of Benignus), situated, as it seems, in Munster, is mentioned in the Life of St. Fintan of Duleng in the Salamanca codex, fol. 89 b, in Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, p. 11, col. 2, and in De Smedt and De Backer, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae ex codice Salmanticensi, col. 229. To which Benignus that name is to be judged to refer is uncertain.], and another monastery in Britain [Here the Glastonbury fictions seem to be hinted at, of which cf. Preliminary Commentary nos. 83–86.], and a monastery in Gleann Chorbraidhe in the northern parts of Luachair Deadhaidh [Gleann Chorpraidhe i tuaiscert Luachra Deadhaidh, now Glin (Barony Shanid, County Limerick), Hogan, Onomasticon Goedelicum, p. 441, col. 2, s. v. Glenn Corbraighe.], and the chief monastery in Conmhaicne of Connacht, in the fort of Lughaidh See p. 178, note 8, and Preliminary Commentary nos. 63–70. son of Niatu), after all these things, I say, when, as we said, his last day was approaching, he received the Body of Christ from Iarlaithe [This is another than Iarlaithe of Tuam, of whom ch. 12. See Preliminary Commentary no. 79. This pedigree of Iarlaithe agrees with most genealogists: Genealogiae Regum et Sanctorum Hiberniae, ed. P. Walsh, p. 83. On each Iarlaithe Colgan, Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, pp. 307–310, O'Hanlon, Lives of the Irish Saints, vol. II, pp. 481–84, 485; vol. VI, pp. 200–212.] son of Trian, son of Fiacc, son of Iomchadh, son of Breasal, son of Siorchadh, son of Fiatu Fionn (the white) (for this is the Iarlaithe who, by the greatest consent of the people of all Ireland, was made heir of Patrick [The codices of the Catalogue of the successors of Patrick agree in this name, in H. J. Lawlor and R. I. Best, The Ancient List of the Coarbs of Patrick, p. 319. Cf. Preliminary Commentary nos. 77–79. One codex, however, subjoined the first part of the pedigree of St. Iarlaithe of Tuam. On the title ard-chomharba, see p. 170, note 3.] after Benignus), and breathed out his soul in the hundred and third year of his age. Still among men his relics [The relics of St. Benignus are otherwise unknown, nor is this statement of our Irish writer to be made much of, especially in a commonplace.] are preserved with honour and reverence, and shine with miracles and prodigies; but his soul shines like the sun in the heavenly city. And though his honour and glory are now great, yet they will be greater on the day of judgment, when he will judge with his lord (that is, with St. Patrick) the fruits of his preaching, the men of Ireland. And the son of Seiscnean will be among the dwellers in heaven, among angels and archangels, together with cherubim and seraphim, with the apostles and disciples of Jesus, with the son of the Virgin Mary, together with that noblest unity of all, the most holy Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. I implore of the mercy of the most high almighty God, by the prayers and intercession of St. Benignus, that we too may come there and deserve to dwell with them all for ever and ever. Amen. The end.

II. THE LATIN LIFE OF ST. BENIGNUS BY JOHN OF TYNEMOUTH

Benignus, bishop of Armagh. (S.)

From the codex of the British Museum Cotton. Tiberius E. I (= 1), collated with the codex of the Bodleian Library Tanner 15 (= 2) and the Nova Legenda Anglie printed by Wynkyn de Worde, fol. 36. Cf. Preliminary Commentary, nos. 8–9.

Benignus, bishop of Armagh. (S.)

On St. Benignus, bishop and confessor.

[1] Benignus, at Patrick's urging, settles near Glastonbury. St. Benignus, then, after many years had been happily spent in pontifical rule in Ireland, one night omits 2., when asleep, is admonished by an angel to leave his fatherland and, undertaking a voluntary pilgrimage, to seek the secret places of the desert. Having crossed the sea prosperously, then, coming to Glastonbury he found St. Patrick, who said to him: "Set out, my brother, content with your staff, and when, Himself leading, you have come to the place predestined for you by the Lord l. t. a. D. 2., on whatever ground you see your staff, when fixed, grow green, flower f. v. 2. and put forth leaves, there know that you are to dwell and that a dwelling has been prepared for you." He, setting out with a certain boy named Pincius accompanying him, walking through wooded and marshy places, they came to a certain island [That this is situated not far from Glastonbury is plain from what will soon be said; cf. Preliminary Commentary no. 84, where the finding of the relics and the translation to Glastonbury are treated.] named Ferramere Ferramen (?) 2.; and his staff having been fixed there, it began to grow green leaves and to bring forth flowers. A spring wells up at his prayers. For in those times the river which we now see flowing down there did not then flow, but the man of God with the boy suffered every day an excessive lack of water. And when one day the boy, carrying water for him on his shoulders from far off, fell asleep on the way, the malign enemy took away the little vessel and went off. The boy, awaking and grieving, at once burst out in tears into these words, saying: "Ho," he said, "I speak to you, whoever you are who have stolen f. e. m. 2. my little vessel; behold, I adjure you by the God of heaven, whom my master blessed (quembeatus) almost deleted 1. Benignus adores, in whom he believes and whom he faithfully serves, that you restore it to me quickly." Without delay, the demon could no longer keep his vessel with him, but restored it quicker than speech and fled away guffawing. Hearing this, St. Benignus, prostrate on the ground with his whole body, when he had poured out devout prayers to God, an angel of the Lord, having wings with gleaming feathers and radiant with a flaming countenance, appeared to him, saying: "Be steadfast, servant of God; your prayers have been heard. Send your boy Pincius to the eastern side of your cell, where, striking the earth with your staff, he will see a perennial spring flow forth abundantly abundare 1.." The boy went, therefore, to the place designated by the man of God, and when he had struck the earth with the staff, a huge spring at once broke forth, from which we see that a great and broad river statim adds 2. has grown up until now.

[2] The demon is beaten. The man of God Benignus [Ineptly Baring-Gould and Fisher, Lives of the British Saints, vol. I, p. 205, try to explain what is narrated here, and think that tricks were played on St. Benignus by some rascal for whom the matter turned to his ruin.] was accustomed to go alone in the dark silence of the night to the church of St. Mary at Glastonbury for the sake of prayer. And when one night he was crossing by a bridge which he had made, he saw a certain most foul demon, terrible to look at, coming to meet him. The saint, coming nearer to him, addressed him a. e. 2. with these words, saying: "Why," he said, "do you stand here, bloody beast? For whom are you lying in wait? On whom do you long to inflict harm by waiting here?" The demon said to him: "I am waiting for you here, toothless old man; I desire to deceive you." The saint said to him: "The Lord," he said, "is my helper; I will not fear (n. t.) omits 2. what homo adds 2. the malign one may do or omits 2. say to me." Cf. Ps. 117, 6. And saying this, he seized him with his left hand, and with the staff which he carried in his right he beat him for a very long time; and he threw him headlong into a certain very deep pit; and he appeared no more. For from that time until the present day no one has dared to approach that pit, since it is said that no bottom at all is found there. And sed 2. the saint, going on to Glastonbury and having made his accustomed prayer there, returned to his cell. Giving himself to assiduous fasts and prayers, he held the last suppremam 1. hour of his life in expectation daily. The death of Benignus. When sum by the error of the rubricator 2., therefore, he had learned by divine revelation that his end was imminent, he called his disciples and made known to them the hour at which he was to depart from this world. At length, having raised his eyes to heaven (e. t. i. c.) almost deleted 1., amid their illorum 2. hands he sent forth his happy soul to the blessedness of the citizens on high on the third day before the Nones of November (emisit) almost deleted 1..

[3] Miracles wrought at the translation of the body and afterwards. In the year of the Lord one thousand and ninety-one On the time at which these things were done, cf. above, p. 169, note 10. his holy body was raised from the earth and carried to the church of Glastonbury. On that day the abbot, taking one of the holy bones and making the sign of the cross with it over the people, made glad, their health recovered, some who were vexed by various torments of sicknesses (l. c.) langoribus 2., and certain blind and crippled people obtained the health they longed for. And very many candles in the hands of the people

which had first been extinguished by wind and whirlwind were, through the merits of blessed Benignus, divinely lighted at that very hour. Very many also who had snakes and various kinds of pains in their bowels so the MSS vomited them up, the people openly watching. For so great a grace of healing was shown in that place that scarcely anyone weak or sick coming to the tomb of the saint went away without having recovered health.

[4] The impious words of a certain monk are punished. A certain brother, wasted by a long infirmity, is asked rogatur corrected, earlier rogat (?) 1. by the brethren to entreat St. Benignus for his health; he answered thus: "In very truth etenim 2., just as he cannot help me, so he cannot non adds 2. harm me." And when he had given his limbs to sleep, St. Benignus appeared to him, adorned in white garments, who, as if indignant, addressed him thus: "What now," he said, "do you think of Benignus the servant of God, brother? Which of the two is it best for you to believe crede edit., that he rejoices with omits 2. the saints in the kingdom, or is tortured with the impious in punishments?" And when he so the edition; illi 1, 2. did not dare to answer, the saint added this threateningly: "Since the secret judgments of God cannot be comprehended by the wit of human frailty, why have you disparaged me? Why have you wished to blaspheme me? Behold, you shall unwillingly endure a heavier infirmity and trouble than you have suffered hitherto, because you have detracted from me, mocking with empty words. The others too whom I know to have held me in omits edit. derision, The stolen tooth of Benignus is restored. and that one so the MSS above all who stole my tooth by theft, unless they come to their senses by doing penance, let them know that they will be tortured with the impious in bitter punishments." Having said these things, he gave him a huge slap in the face. And at once, awakened from sleep, he began then to fear and venerate the one whom he had before despised; yet, seized with dire fevers, he could not be freed for a whole year. When the abbot and brethren had heard this in order, the tooth was received back from the brother and restored to its place, and praises and thanks were rendered by all to God and to His saint [The one codex Tiberius E. I gives a prayer of St. Benignus in the lower margin, in the first hand: "Almighty everlasting God, who shinest wonderfully in Thine elect, whom Thou hast willed to glorify by dwelling in them, grant us, we beseech, so to venerate the deposition of blessed Benignus, that by the support〈ing merits of him we may deserve to become Thy temple〉." The mutilated transcript was supplied for us by the distinguished T. R. Gambier Parry from The Sarum Missal, ed. J. Wickham Legg, with the help of the same T. R. Gambier Parry (Oxford, 1916), p. 318, on the feast of St. Bertin, abbot.].