¹ Patrick of the city of Armagh loved —son of Calphurn—a noble rule: from Shrovetide until Easter to abstain from food; no penance of his was greater than this.

² Colum Cille, the famous, loved, son of Feidhlimidh, during his pilgrimage, never to take into his body in a week as much as would feed a poor man for one meal.

³ Brigid of the blessings loved continual mortification beyond womanhood, keeping vigil and rising early, and showing hospitality to holy men.

⁴ Mochta of Lugh-mhagh loved, by law and by rule, that no rich food should enter his body for the space of one hundred years.

⁵ The hospitable Feichin of Fabhar loved— and it was no false mortification— to lay his fleshless ribs upon the hard rocks without clothing.

⁶ Ciaran the famous, of Cluain, loved humility, from which he never rashly turned aside; and he never spoke what was false, nor looked upon a woman from his birth.

⁷ Beo-Aedh loved friendship with all the saints of Ireland; a home for strangers, and gifts, he would give to every person.

⁸ Molaise of the lake loved to dwell in a hard stone cell; a home for strangers for the men of Ireland, without refusal, without any sign of inhospitality.

⁹ Brendan loved continual mortification in obedience to his synod and his flock; seven years upon the back of the great whale— it was a grievous form of mortification.

¹⁰ Mide greatly loved fosterage,
steadfast humility without dejection;
she never laid her cheek upon the floor,
ever, ever, for love of the Lord.

¹¹ From the time she bound the girdle around her body,
and what I know is what I have heard,
she never ate a full or sufficient meal,
Monuinne of Sliabh Cuilinn.

¹² Caoimhghin loved a narrow cell;
it was a work of mortification and devotion
to stand there continually;
it was a great protection against demons.

¹³ Scuithin of the sweet legends loved—
blessings upon him who did so—
beautiful and pure maidens,
and among them preserved his virtue.

¹⁴ Cainnech of the mortifications loved
to dwell in a bleak, wooded wilderness,
where there was no one to attend upon him
except the wild deer alone.

¹⁵ Ailbhe loved hospitality;
that was no false devotion.
There never came into a body of clay
one who gave more food and clothing.

¹⁶ Fionnchus of Bri-Gobham loved—
the blessing of Jesus upon his soul—
seven years upon his chains,
without ever touching the ground.

¹⁷ Dalbhach the beautiful, of Cuil, loved
to practise steadfast repentance;
he never put his hand to his side
for as long as he retained his soul.

¹⁸ Barra, the torch of wisdom, loved
humility towards all people;
he never saw anyone in grievous distress
whom he would not relieve.

¹⁹ Mochuda of the mortification loved—
admirable is every chapter of his story—
[to weep so greatly] that before his time no one had shed
half as many tears as he shed.

²⁰ Colman the comely, of Cluain, loved
poetry according to the sweet rules of art;
no one whom he praised as faultless
ever afterwards came to evil.

²¹ Fachtna, the generous and steadfast, loved
to instruct the crowds together;
he never spoke anything base,
nor anything but what was pleasing to his Lord.

²² Senan, the noble invalid, loved—
good was every answer that he gave—
to have thirty diseases in his body,
a sufficient mortification for the sage.

²³ Enda loved glorious mortification
in Arann—triumphant virtue!—
a narrow dungeon of flinty stone,
to bring the people to heaven.

²⁴ Fursa, the truly devout, loved—
nothing more admirable is told of him—
in a well as cold as snow,
carefully to sing his psalms.

²⁵ Neassan, the holy deacon, loved
an angelic, pure mortification;
there never passed his lips
anything false or deceitful.

²⁶ Mac Creiche, the devout, loved
a hard and undefiled dungeon;
from Shrovetide until Easter he would subsist
upon bread and cresses alone.

²⁷ Lachtain, the champion, loved
humility, perfect and pure;
continually he stood
in defence of the men of Munster.

²⁸ Mobeog, the gifted, loved,
according to the Synod of the learned,
often, when bowing his head,
to plunge it beneath the water.

²⁹ Jarlathe, the illustrious, loved—
a cleric who practised no niggardliness—
three hundred genuflexions each night,
three hundred genuflexions each evening.

³⁰ Ulltang loved his children,
a dungeon for his lean side,
and bathing in the cold water,
and he loved the biting wind.

³¹ Ceallach Mac Conmaic loved
mortifications that afflicted his body;
blindness, deafness, and lameness
were allotted to him—an unhappy lot.

³² Ruadhan, king of Lothra, loved
a curse that was deserved;
no angel’s displeasure attended
any cause that he loved.

³³ Fiachna loved true devotion,
to instruct the people in great numbers;
he never spoke a contemptible word,
nor anything but what pleased his Lord.

³⁴ Benignus, the illustrious, loved—
the noble and perfect teacher—
that whenever he could repeat a prayer,
he let no [time] pass without reciting Latin.

³⁵ Molua of Cluain-fearta loved
humility, glorious and pure:
submission to his tutor, submission to his parents,
submission to all people, and [submission] under illness.

³⁶ I am Cuimin of Connaire,
who has practised mortification and chastity;
the company in whom I place my trust are the best:
the prayers of the saints I have loved.