Plummer, Bethada Náem nÉrenn I (1922) — translated from the Irish.

¹ After Ciaran had read the divine Scripture in Rome, and had been made a bishop, Patrick met him in Italy, and this is what Patrick said: “Go before me to Ireland, and prepare a place for you in the middle of that island; and there shall be your honour and your own resurrection.” Ciaran answered that and said: “I know not that place, and it is not easy to find.” Said Patrick: “In the place where this bell you have shall speak, make your dwelling there.” Then Ciaran came into Ireland, and he had relics of the saints with him — the relics of Paul and Peter — and the dumb bell, until he reached the plain of Saighir; and it was there that the bell spoke — the little crozier-bell(?) that Germanus the smith had made for Ciaran by the grace of God.

² Ciaran stayed in that place, and sat under a tree there; and he found a wild boar under the tree’s shade. That boar fled from Ciaran at first, and came to him again gently; and that boar was Ciaran’s first monk, and it was he that plucked the rods and stuff of the church with his tusks. Thereafter other monks came to Ciaran — a fox, and a badger, and a wolf — and they were obedient to him.

³ And it befell one day that the monk who is called the fox stole the abbot’s hawks — Saint Ciaran’s — in his dwelling; whereupon Saint Ciaran sent the monk whose name was the badger to seek the fox and the hawks; and he found them. And when he had found them he plucked the two ears and the tail off the fox, along with much of his fur.

⁴ Then the fox and the badger came, and the hawks whole with them, to the holy man. Said Ciaran to the fox: “Why did you do this evil?” said he; “for if it was flesh you desired to eat, God could have made flesh for you of the bark of the trees, and it would be sweet to drink with water.” The fox then did penance — a fast of three days.

⁵ And after Patrick had come into Ireland the faith and the piety increased, and the holy men multiplied; and of them was Brendan of Birr; and his stead was near Ciaran’s. And Brendan had a single cow, and Coirpre Crom — an officer of the king of Leinster — stole that cow; and when he came to Sliabh Sinore a black dark mist came about him, so that he fell into a stream and died therein; and the cow returned to Ciaran.

⁶ Then Saint Ciaran wished to send the cow from him to Brendan, but Brendan would not have the cow, and said he would never have a cow. Ciaran was in his own dwelling then, and said that he had a little sickness and a desire for milk. And Brendan ordered a little narrow copper vessel to be filled with water, and blessed it, and made new milk of it. And it was brought to the guest-house to Ciaran, and Ciaran blessed the milk, and made water of it. Then Brendan took the cow to himself, and Ciaran gave thanks to him for taking the cow back again.

⁷ Then Ciaran said to Brendan: “It is the cow that shall decide the boundary between us for ever — the ground over which the cow goes grazing this day shall be the boundary that remains between us.” And the cow went grazing that day to Achad Bó, and that is the border between Ciaran and Brendan.

⁸ Now Saint Ciaran of Cluain was that day in the hand of the king of Forfigi, as punishment for the king’s treasures which Ciaran had given to God’s poor; and this is what the king said to Ciaran: “If you wish your release, ask for seven sleek red calves with white heads.” Then Ciaran of Cluain came to Saighir where Ciaran of Saighir was, to ask him whether he would get the like of what was demanded for his release — seven sleek red calves with white heads. And Ciaran of Cluain found the two Brendans in the guest-house before him at Saighir — Brendan of Birr and Brendan mac Findlogha.

⁹ And Ciaran of Saighir was joyful at seeing that company; and he said to his cook: “What have you that we might give these guests?” “There is a side of bacon,” said the cook, “though I think it is a fast.” “Give it to the guests though it be,” said Ciaran; and it was given, and it was found as fish, and honey, and oil, by Ciaran’s word; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

¹⁰ And there was a layman there — the cook’s son — and he had not taken his supper, for he had seen the side of bacon with the cook, and had not wished for flesh on the fast. Said Ciaran of Saighir to him: “you shall eat ox-flesh, and red shall it be, on the eve before Easter; and you shall die in that hour with your enemies, and you shall not have the kingdom of heaven.” And that was fulfilled as Ciaran said.

¹¹ And after that hospitality had been given to the saints, Sen-Ciaran of Saighir went with Ciaran of Cluain on the road to converse with him. And this is what Ciaran of Cluain said to Ciaran of Saighir: “Wealth of food and prosperity shall be in your stead for ever.” Said Ciaran of Saighir to Ciaran of Cluain: “Wealth of wisdom and consecrated oil shall be in your stead for ever.”

¹² And thereafter the two Ciarans came to Achad Salcur on the river’s brink, and found the seven calves that Ciaran of Cluain needed as pledges — sleek and red, with white heads. And when Ciaran of Cluain went free from the king, no hold was found on those seven calves. And God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

¹³ Another time a lad named Crichid of Cluain came to Saighir, and after he had been a few days there, he extinguished one certain day the fire that the devil had urged — the consecrated fire that the monks had. And Ciaran said to the monks: “Do you see the consecrated fire that you had extinguished by the devilish lad? And there shall be no fire in this place for ever, until fire comes from God into it.” And the lad who quenched the fire went out of the stead the next day, and the wolves slew him. And God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

¹⁴ And when Mac an t-Sáeir (Ciaran of Clonmacnoise) heard of that lad’s death, he came to seek him; and he was received with honour; and there was no fire in the city of Saighir to meet him. Then Ciaran of Saighir arose and entreated God, and fire came from heaven into his bosom, and he bore it to the guest-house. And when the guests had been warmed, and their supper set before them, Ciaran of Cluain said he would not eat food until the lad should come; and the lad arose as soon as that was said, and ate food. And God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

¹⁵ A little while thereafter a clerk named Bartanus of the monks of that house quenched the fire of the monastery; and Ruadán of Lothra came that day to Saighir; and there was no fire wherewith to warm them in the house. And Ciaran blessed a stone, and the stone blazed, and Ciaran carried the fire on his hands to the house where Ruadán of Lothra was; and it hurt not his hands; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

¹⁶ Another time thereafter that same Bartanus spilt a cauldron full of milk; and Ciaran blessed the cauldron so that it was full again.

¹⁷ Líadán — Ciaran’s mother — was near Ciaran with her virgins. And she had a well-formed foster-daughter named Bruitnech, a daughter of the king of Munster; and Daimhene, a king of the race of Fiachna, heard the report of that woman’s beauty; and he came to her and bore her off, and had her as wife for a while.

¹⁸ And thereafter Ciaran went to demand the maiden from the king; and he would not give her to him. And he said to Ciaran that he would not let her go from him until the cuckoo’s voice should call. On the next day a great snow fell and covered the earth; and it came not near Ciaran or his people — and it was winter at that time. Early the next day the cuckoo’s voice was heard, and the king arose and knelt to Ciaran and gave him his fosterling.

¹⁹ And when Ciaran saw his fosterling coming to him, and her womb great with pregnancy, he made the sign of the holy cross over her, and her womb lessened, and no pregnancy appeared in her womb; and he bore her back to the same stead; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

²⁰ Another day thereafter the king came to Ciaran in anger and said: “Therefore have you slain my wife?” said he; “and you shall not be in this place any more, but I shall cast you out.” Said Ciaran: “you are not God; and I shall be in my own stead.”

²¹ The king went off angrily, with great madness, to Dún Croibhtine — to his own dwelling; and he found it burning. And the queen fled and forgot her beloved son inside. The queen said sorrowfully: “I put my son under Ciaran of Saighir’s protection”; and a wondrous miracle was done there — the house burned, and the boy safe.

²² Then rex Dairine and Bishop Aed came to Ciaran of Saighir, and the king did Ciaran’s will, and gave him his two sons — Dúnchad who had been saved from the fire, and his other son, with their seed to Ciaran. When the king had gone from Ciaran, he revived Bruitnech, and she was whole; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified by those miracles.

²³ The king of Munster — Aengus mac Nad Fraích — had seven harpers who came from his own lord in Gaul; and they were slain in Muscraige, and their bodies were hidden unknown to any; and Aengus was sorrowful at not knowing of his harpers.

²⁴ And he came to Ciaran of Saighir to get help; and Ciaran said to him: “Your harpers are drowned in a water-lake, and their harps are aloft in a tree on the upper side above the lake.” “I beseech you,” said the king to Ciaran, “come with me to seek them.” And Ciaran arose, and a band of his people — a hundred and forty — with him to the lake; and they dwelling there three days and three nights praying and fasting.

²⁵ And when those three days had been fulfilled, the lake dried up, and the bodies were found on the shore; and Ciaran revived them after they had been a month under the lake. And they took their harps to them and played them and sang their songs, so that the king with his hosts fell asleep to that music. And the lake has been without water ever since, and its name is Loch na c-Cruitenn (the Lake of the Harpers); and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

²⁶ Once when a young warrior of the king of Munster was travelling in the border of Muscraige, he found the pig of a holy man — Cáin was his name — and the young warrior killed the pig, and bore it to a wood, and put it on a fire. And while it was cooking, a war-band came to him and slew him and twenty of his people with him on the brink of the Brosnach (a river); and they themselves went from the place and saw not the pig that was on the fire.

²⁷ That was revealed to Ciaran, and he went to where his fosterling was — Carthach son of Aengus son of Nat Fraích — to raise the bodies, lest the wolves should eat them, and to bear them to his own place; and when he saw the many bodies and had no means of carrying them, Ciaran said: “In Jesus Christ’s name, arise upon your own feet and come with me to my church”; and they arose quickly — the prefect with his people, alive and whole; and the pig was revived and went to its own master.

²⁸ That noble company came with Ciaran; and Foda mac Forax with his seed was there, and they united themselves with their seed to Ciaran, and gave themselves to him from the beginning, and were buried with him.

²⁹ A little while thereafter the head of Aengus mac Nad Fraích’s host, named Mac Ceisi, was slain; and Ciaran prayed for him, and he was revived, and went away whole; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

³⁰ A nobleman named Mac Eirce, of the seed of Ó n-Duach, killed Patrick’s chariot-horse, and was taken by Aengus, and that man was bound. And Ciaran came to free him, and gave much gold and silver for him; and when he took Mac Eirce, neither the gold nor the silver was found. Aengus grew angry and came to Ciaran and said: “Give me my gold and silver, for everything you gav me is vain; for there is nothing in it but a phantom.” And he spoke rough words to Ciaran.

³¹ And Ciaran said: “you shall get for your share of gold and silver nothing but a curse.” And as Ciaran spoke that word, darkness rose about the king and he died. When Carthach saw his father fall, he was sorrowful and begged Ciaran to revive him. And Ciaran prayed for him, and he was whole, and Aengus did penance, and gave himself with his seed to Ciaran; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

³² Once as Ciaran was walking in autumn-time, he stretched his hand to a briar on which were blackberries. And he knew from God that he would need them at another season, and he left them.

³³ And thereafter in spring-time, after Easter, Aengus mac Nad Fraích came on a visit to the house of Concrach mac Duach in the district of Ossory, and his wife was with Aengus — Eithne; and she loved Concrach, and wished to be his wife, for Aengus was old at that time. And Concrach refused that while Aengus was alive.

³⁴ And when Eithne saw the refusal Concrach gave her, she stirred up strife between those two kings — Aengus and Concrach. And at the end of that feast she feigned sickness; and everyone asked her what would heal her. And she said: “It is not easy to find my healing at this season — blackberries would heal me.” And the king and his people were sad at that, because they could not be found for her.

³⁵ And fear seized Concrach that Eithne would stay with him after Aengus departed, to get her will of him. And Concrach went quickly to where Ciaran was, to tell of that desire that had been given to the woman — blackberries after Easter; and Ciaran sent Concrach with him to the briar where he had left the blackberries in the autumn before; and the blackberries were found as Ciaran had left them, and he gathered them into a copper vessel, and put a white cloth over them, and the queen ate them and was whole; and the other queens ate them, and they had the taste of honey and the strength of wine.

³⁶ And Ciaran made peace between those kings — Aengus and Concrach — and Eithne fell on her knees to Ciaran and gave him thanks for healing her, and Concrach gave himself with his seed to Ciaran; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

³⁷ Once Laeghaire mac Néill came with his host against the Munstermen, and Oilioll king of Cashel went to meet him; and Ciaran wished to make peace between them, and the proud kings gave no honour to Ciaran. And then Ciaran prayed God, and what he got not from the proud kings he got from God: for when the battles wished to join each other, the wood that was facing the Munstermen lay down to the ground, and the stream that was before the Ulstermen rose high, so that the Munstermen came back without a battle, and Laeghaire went in like manner. And Ciaran then gave his fill of food to the men of Munster with a single beef and the side of another; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

³⁸ Once a war-band of the Clann Fiacrach came to seek swine to steal in the districts of Munster, and they hid themselves in a wood. And Lonán mac Nat Fraích — Aengus’s brother — got word of their being there, and went to them. And they besought Ciaran to get help for them. And when they had prayed, the wood blazed at once. And when Lonán saw that he turned back; and the other folk went to Ciaran and were his monks until the day of their deaths; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

³⁹ Once Patrick came to Saighir, and ten kings of the kings of Munster with him; and Ciaran gave them a feast of three days and three nights from the seven cows that he had. And he blessed a well and made wine of it, so that they were joyful, satisfied and glad; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁴⁰ Once his cellarer said to Ciaran: “We have no pigs, and they must be bought.” And Ciaran said: “We cannot do that,” said he; “but the King who gives us food and clothing will give us pigs.” Early the next day they found a sow and twelve little pigs on the floor of the stead, so that they made a sufficiency of pigs of them; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁴¹ Another time his cellarer said to Ciaran: “We have no sheep”; and Ciaran said: “He who gave us pigs will give us sheep.” On the next day morning the cellarer found thrice nine white sheep at the door of the stead; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁴² Another time Ciaran revived Laeghaire mac Fintain, and he lived many years in his bodily life, and thereafter gave land in offering to God and to Ciaran.

⁴³ Another time Ciaran’s oxen used to go westward to the sea, to the chapel of Cocha — Ciaran’s foster-mother — to plough for her; and when they had finished the ploughing they used to come back to Saighir without a man to lead them.

⁴⁴ Another time Ciaran went on Christmas night after service to Cocha’s chapel — to Druim Benncair — and came in the morning back again to Saighir.

⁴⁵ There is a rock of stone in the western sea where Cocha — Ciaran’s foster-mother — used to make her prayer alone amid the sea-waves; and Ciaran used to go without ship or boat to where Cocha was on the rock, and used to come out of it again.

⁴⁶ One day Ciaran came to Cocha’s chapel, and many people with him; and hospitality was given to him there — a side of bacon; and Ciaran blessed the side and made wheat and honey and fish of it, and other noble foods; and he blessed a water-well that was in that place and made wine of it; and the number that was satisfied with it was forty and eight hundred; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁴⁷ Another time Ciaran came to Ráith Tamnach, and sat there with many people in council. And there was rex Cobranus there — a man whose eyes were poisonous; and he saw the son of Aengus mac Nad Fraích’s son coming to them; and he looked at him with his venomous eyes, and the boy died at once.

⁴⁸ When Ciaran saw that, he grew angry against the king and blinded the king at once. The king knelt to Ciaran, and he gave him his sight, and the king gave himself with his seed to him. And the lad who had died of the venom of the king’s eye before that was revived; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁴⁹ Another time Ciaran’s mother — Liven — had a female fosterling, and Ciaran had a male fosterling — Carthach son of Aengus mac Nad Fraích’s son — and they gave fleshly love to each other; and they appointed a trysting-place to do their own will; and when they saw each other’s faces, the wood blazed between them, and they fled from each other; and from that day that woman never saw a single thing(?)… and Carthach was sent into exile on the sea for seven years, and he read the divine Scripture in penance; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁵⁰ Another time Liven — Ciaran’s mother — had linen drying on the house’s wattling, and it took fire, and the house burned thereby. And Ciaran saw that, though he was far from it, and he lifted his hand and blessed the house, and quenched the fire, and saved the house from burning; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁵¹ Another time a maiden was taken by her enemies, and they cut off her head; and when Ciaran saw that, he prayed for her, and she was revived; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁵² Another time Liven’s priest — Cerpanus — was walking on the road and died; and Ciaran prayed for him; and he was revived; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁵³ Another time Brendan of Birr’s mother — Mannsena was her name — came to Saighir, and wished to go into exile to Oilén Doimle. And Ciaran said: “Go not,” said he, “for it is not there your resurrection shall be, but in Tamlachta you shall die; and there you shall arise, and your son Brendan; and when your body shall be brought from that place to your own city, there shall be a great light between those two places that night.” And that was fulfilled for Brendan and his mother.

⁵⁴ More of his miracles: two brothers of Ciaran’s in Muscraige — from Leitrecha — Odranus and Midranus were their names, and they wished to go into Ossory as pilgrims; and when they came to Saighir, Medhranus wished to stay there in Ciaran’s company. Odranus told him not to stay, and told Ciaran not to detain him; and this is what Ciaran said: “Let God judge between us whether he shall stay with me or go with you. Let a lamp without oil or fire be taken in his hand, and if the lamp light at a breath being put under it, he shall stay with me.”

⁵⁵ And it was done so; and the lamp lit, and Midranus stayed with Ciaran till his death. And Ciaran said to Odranus: “Whatever road you take, you shall come safe to Muscraige at last; and when Colum mac Criomtain shall be brought for burial, hidden in wheat, by you and by Mo Chaimhe of Tír da Ghlas, you, Odran, shall come to your own city, and in it shall be your resurrection.”

⁵⁶ A noble woman named Achaill fell out of her chariot and died; and Ciaran revived her at the end of the third day; and she gave the land, which is named Léim Achaill, to God and to Ciaran; and it was magnified, and so forth.

⁵⁷ Another time thereafter Fergus Cend Faelad — the head of the king of Munster’s household — came, and he choked Ciaran’s steward, Cronán his name; and Ciaran revived the steward at the end of seven days, and this is what Ciaran said: “As Cronán was choked, so shall Fergus be choked, and his body shall be burned at Ráith Lochmuighi by the Éile.”

⁵⁸ Thereafter Ailill king of Munster came to demand his young warrior from Ciaran, and when Ciaran heard that he took his speech from him for seven days; and at the end of the seventh day the king came to where Ciaran was and knelt to him. And when Ciaran saw that, he gave his speech to the king; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁵⁹ Another time there was a lay monk with Ciaran, Gobranus his name, and he was afraid of dying by strangulation; and he asked Ciaran that he should not get that death. And Ciaran said: “I obtain from God that you shall not get that death, and I obtain a better thing — that you shall not go to hell.” And it was done so.

⁶⁰ Now Cainnech and Brigit were conversing in a solitary place, and Cainnech said to Brigit: “Great is the gift God gave Ciaran of Saighir — the monk who spilled blood(?) found his soul in hell; and he said that he himself would be in that monk’s place in hell unless he were freed for him; and he was freed”; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁶¹ One day his herdsman came to Ciaran and said to him: “One of our oxen has gone from us” — it was a calf of Brendan’s, with a red colour on it and a white foot. This is what Ciaran said: “Go to Glenn Damháin, and you shall find it there, and another herd you do not ask for with it.” And the young man went to the glen; and found, as Ciaran had said, the ox; and so he found it, with seven score cows in its company; and God’s name and Ciaran’s were magnified thereby.

⁶² Another night thereafter Ciaran went into a cold-water bath, and a pilgrim with him named Germanus. The cold greatly affected Germanus. Ciaran blessed the water and made it warm.

⁶³ Said Ciaran to Germanus: “See you Carthach coming to us on the way tonight? And whatever is beside you, give it not to him.” And he stretched his hands out, and what he found was a great fish; and he flung it away from him onto the ground.

⁶⁴ And Ciaran went thereafter to Martin’s city, and took Martin’s relics with him with great joy.

⁶⁵ Three gifts God gave Ciaran: whoever should be buried in his wall, hell would not be shut upon him. The second gift: the man who should keep his day honourably would never be poor. The third gift: so long as a monk should stay in his own stead, no enemy’s strength should be upon him for ever.

⁶⁶ Thereafter Ciaran asked God for a well; and that angel showed it to him, and every sickness washed in it was healed.

⁶⁷ These were Ciaran’s virtues throughout his life: he never took woollen clothing on him, but the skins of wolves and irrational beasts; and he shunned worldly foods and the drinks in which is drunkenness; and little was the sleep he took. And the angels’ continual attendance was with him. And countless is the number of bishops and priests he ordained. Four hundred years he lived without sickness without or within, without lack of teeth, without shortening of breath, without dimming of his sight, without failing of his hearing, without dullness of his heart or his senses; and though the enemy of the human race used to blind the senses, he got not that victory over Ciaran.

⁶⁸ And moreover, every evil thing that was done to him, it was a good thing he did in return; for he used to forgive the evil things; and he used to labour with his hands for God’s love, to get his need of them for the poor; and so he spent his life here below, that he might find the crown of the everlasting life there. Who could live on this earth the like of Ciaran’s life, keeping his body in fasts and in watchings, in cold and in nakedness, in chastity and in hospitality?

⁶⁹ And so he led his life from his infancy to his death — in prayer every day, and reading, and preaching, and judging, between silence and speech. And he was gentle and humble, wise, steadfast, merciful, virtuous, obedient to God and to his neighbour, teaching his monks after the apostle’s word — Paul’s — and these are Paul’s words: “Do you my imitation,” said Paul, “as I have done the imitation of Christ, to receive honour from God and not from men, and to seek nothing for worldly glory but for God.”

⁷⁰ And he neglected nothing of God’s commandments: food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, and to be cheerful to guests, and to visit the sick, and alms to the poor, and clothing to the naked. And this was the reason he did that — to obtain his share of the everlasting life, and for fear of God’s reproof in the presence of the judgement. And Ciaran commanded his monks to keep those commandments — that they should have love for one another.

⁷¹ And Ciaran prophesied that seven men would come after him who would make and keep this rule; and after them everyone who should come and not fulfil this rule would not find their share of God’s kingdom.

⁷² And when the time of Ciaran’s death came, sickness seized all of him, and all his people were gathered about him in one place; and this is what he said to them: “In this hour my own Lord is calling me to him, and it is grievous to me to leave my flock; and I commend you to God and to Carthach with a blessing. And I am teaching you to govern this place with good customs; and let not the son of cursing be long among you, for your days will be shortened thereby.

⁷³ “And a time will come in which there shall be many horrible plagues that will destroy the churches, and they shall be waste; and the truth shall be turned into falsehood, and baptism shall not have its own form(?); and it is about the stranger and not about themselves that they shall be contending. O beloved brethren, pray with me to God that I go not alone to him, but that I bring other folk with me, and that my road to the King be not a dark road, and that it be joyful before me.”

⁷⁴ And he went thereafter to the altar with the offering, and received Christ’s body, and told three worthy men of his people to keep his body; and he said to them: “Open three handbreadths of the earth, and bury me with the other saints, and with Martin; and let no man know that secret place.” Then his soul parted from his body at midnight. And thereafter that soul was carried with great light and the shining of angels into heaven’s kingdom, and thirty bishops along with it.

⁷⁵ And the monks were around Ciaran’s body with hymns and canticles and other praises, and with ointments as is fitting and fitting; and with a great light seven days with their nights they were so. And thereafter he was wrapped in a multitude of white linen cloths, and was buried with those cloths — to his resurrection with the light of the judgement; and he is in heaven with Patrick and with Martin and with many other saints, to whom is due worship and honour per infinita in secula seculorum. Amen. FINIS.