Chapter V

P. 81.—Patrick’s landing-place in Ireland. Muirchu, p. 275. Palladius had landed at the same place (_Vit. Trip._ p. 30; V₂, 24 and 25). Todd (_St. Patrick_, 338 _sqq._) thought that the circumstances of the landing of Palladius were transferred to Patrick, it being unreasonable to suppose that both missionaries should have landed at the same place. This is a bad argument. For, in the first place, Inber Dee may have been the usual port for ships from South Britain; and, in the second place, nothing was more natural than that Patrick should first go to the region in which his predecessor had been active. And if this is admitted there is nothing unreasonable (Todd’s second objection) in supposing that the chieftain Nathi MacGarrchon, who (according to _Vit. Trip._ p. 30, V₂, 24) opposed Palladius, should also have opposed Patrick (V₂, 25). It is more to the purpose that Muirchu says nothing of Nathi, but it may be observed that his opposition might help to explain why both bishops remained such a short time in Wicklow.

P. 83.—Sea-journey from Wicklow to Ulidia. Dr. Gwynn suggests that Muirchu (who seems to have visited Ulidia, see Appendix A, ii. 3) made this journey himself. Patrick’s visit to Inis Patrick is also mentioned by Tírechán (p. 303), who seems almost to imply that it was the first place he visited in Ireland. According to Tírechán’s account he proceeded from the islands off Skerries directly to the plain of Breg (the visit to Ulidia is not mentioned). Here we have a Meath tradition, at variance with the Ulidian tradition reproduced by Muirchu. It is perhaps impossible to decide between them. There can be no doubt that Patrick was active both in Down and in Meath; the question at issue is only one of chronological order. Muirchu worked the Ulidian episode into a narrative which originated in Meath, but this proves nothing for the superior authenticity of either. And on the other hand, the motive which probably influenced Muirchu in accepting the Down tradition that Mag Inis in Ulidia was the first field of Patrick’s labours—namely the bishop’s desire to visit and convert his old master, and pay him the price of his freedom—cannot have very much weight, even if we accept the tradition that Patrick was a captive in north Dalaradia. In my narrative I have adopted Muirchu’s order, but without any decided opinion that it is right. If, as I think, Dalaradia was the destination of Palladius when he left Wicklow, there may have been a good reason for Patrick’s proceeding thither first. If the tradition that his first Easter in Ireland A.D. 433 was celebrated at Slane is accepted, very little time is left for his labours in Ulidia.

P. 84.—Patrick’s landing-place in Dalaradia. Muirchu, p. 275. The _ostium Slain_ was identified by J.W. Hanna in a rare tract, _An Enquiry into the True Landing-place of St. Patrick in Ulster_, printed at Downpatrick in 1858. The river flows into the lake at Ringban, about two miles from Saul, dividing the townlands of Ringban and Ballintogher (see Ordnance Map). Mr. Hanna discovered that the name Slaney was still in use for the river, and this furnished him with the identification. Since he wrote, the name has been forgotten. The church of Ballintogher is called the church of Bally-_bren_ in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas; offering the same word by which the mouth of Strangford Lough, _fretum quod est Brene_, was known to Muirchu (see further on the locality, O’Laverty, _Diocese of Down and Connor_, i. 216 _sqq._).

_Ib._—Dún Lethglasse. For the striking remains of the fort, also called Rathceltchair, see Mr. Westropp’s valuable study on the forts of Ireland in _Transactions of R.I.A._ vol. xxxi. p. 586, where it is cited as an instance of the mote type of fort. It has a platform separate from the central mound, and the mound is surrounded by three ramparts thirty feet wide.

_Ib._—Dichu. The proof of Dichu’s reality[349] is supplied by the petition (Muirchu 296₁₀) _ut nepotes Dichon qui te benigne susceperunt misericordiam mereantur et non pereant_. _Nepotes Dichon_ means the Hy Dichon, Dichu’s tribe; and, though _susceperunt_ may be an error for _suscepit_, the text is not inconsistent with the story. There is further confirmation in the independent testimony to the existence of Rus or Ros, son of Trechim, said to have been Dichu’s brother. (See Appendix, C, 12; on the _Senchus Mór_.) Rus is said to have lived at Derlus (V₂ c. 31 = V₄ c. 37, _Vit. Trip._ p. 38, cp. V₃ c. 33), which was at Mrechtan, now Bright. It has been conjectured that the Castle of Bright stands on the site of Derlus (O’Laverty, _op. cit._ i. p. 148), and the Protestant church is supposed to be on the site of the ancient church (_ib._ 147).

P. 86.—For Skerry, cp. Reeves, _Eccl. Ant._ pp. 83-4.

P. 87.—Sabul, Saul (see Reeves, _op. cit._ pp. 220 _sqq._).

P. 90.—Tassach at Raholp. That he was stationed in the neighbourhood of Saul is implied in Muirchu 297₁₀. For his connexion with Rathcolpa see _Mart. Dung._ April 14; schol. on _Genair Patraicc_ hymn, l. 53 (_Lib. Hymn._ i. p. 102). There are ruins of an ancient church, known as Church-Moyley, described in Reeves, _Eccl. Antiq._ p. 39.

P. 90.—Loarn at Bright. _V. Trip._ p. 38, V₄ c. 37, V₂ c. 31. It was recorded in a common source of _V. Trip._ (p. 40) and V₂ (c. 32) that near Bright Patrick converted Mochae, who afterwards founded a church at Noendrum, now Mahee island in L. Strangford (_ob._ 497, _Ann. Ult._ and Tigernach). O’Laverty has much to say on this, _op. cit._ i. 143-4. For Bright, cp. Reeves, _op. cit._ p. 35; for Noendrum, _ib._ pp. 10, 148 _sqq._, 187 _sqq._ It is a legitimate inference from the silence of our authorities, that no church at Dún Lethglasse was founded by Patrick. For its history see Reeves, _op. cit._ 141 _sqq._, 220 _sqq._ The first bishop recorded is Fergus, whose death is placed in _Ann. Ult._ at A.D. 584 or 590.

P. 91.—_Mudebroth._ Dr. W. Stokes interprets _Dei mei indicium_ (_Trip._ p. 289), but cp. Atkinson, _Lib. Hymn._ ii. p. 179.

_Ib._—Druimbo, _Collum bouis_. Cp. O’Laverty, _op. cit._ p. 228 _note_.