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AN GAOḊAL.
orm faoi,
Dá ḃ-fáġainn cáirde air na bóiṫriḃ aċt
air n dóiġe ḋeaṁan piġinn.
D'éiriġ mé air maidin 's ċuaiḋ mé air
an ród,
'S d'iar mé air Ṁac Muire mo leas a
ċur róṁam;
Sé d'ḟiafruiḋ bean a leanna ḋíom,
"Ca ḃ-fuil luaċ an óil!?
"Le hanam na marḃ, tá i d-Teampul
Ṁaiḋeo"
We copy the foliowing poem with
the translation from O Curry's Lect¬
ures. It was written about the year
1001 by our namesake, Cuan Ó'Lóċáin,
whom O'Curry calls a very learned
man, and we do so to show the style
of writing at that remote period.
CUAN O LOĊAIN CECINIT.
Temair toga na tulaċ,
Fota Erin indradaċ,
Ardċaṫair Ċormaic mic Airt,
Mic Cuind Cedcaṫaiġ comnairt.
Cormac ba cundail a maiṫ,
Ba sia, ba fili, ba flaiṫ,
Ba fír ḃreiṫeṁ Fer Féne,
Ba cara ba coigéle.
Cormac ra c'ai caegaid caṫ,
[Do s] ilaid Saltair Temraċ,
Is in tSaltair sin atá,
Anus deċ sunn sencusa.
Is in tSaltair sin adber,
Seċt n airdri Eirend inbir;
Coig ríg na cóigeḋ dosgní,
Rí Erenn is a hoirrí.
Is ínti atá de gaċ leiṫ
Ina ndliġ caċ ri co giḋ;
Ina ndliġ rí Temra tair
Do rig gaċ cúigiḋ ceólaig.
Coingneḋ comaimserad caiċ,
Cec rí dia raile doraiṫ,
Críċad ceċ cóiciḋ f [ocruaiċ],
Ota traiġid co trom tuaiṫ.
Translation,
Temair, choicest of hills,
For (possession of) which Erinn is now devastated,
The noble city of Cormac Son of Art,
Who was the son of the great Conn of the hun¬
(dred battles;
Cormac, the prudent and good.
Was a sage, a file (or poet), a prince ;
Was a righteous judge of the Fene-men,
Was a good friend and companion.
Cormac gained fifty battles
He compilled the Saltair of Temur,
In that Saltair is contained
The best summary of history;
It is that Saltair which assigns
Seven chief kings to Erinn of harbours.
They consisted of the five kings of the provinces —
The monarch of Erinn and his Deputy.
In it are (written ) on either side,
What each provincial king is entitled to,
What the king of Temur in the east is entitled to,
From the king of each musical province.
The synchronisms and chronology of all,
The kings, with each other (one with another) all,
The boundaries of each brave province,
From a cantred up to a great chieftaincy.
O'Curry's Lectures.
ON THE
MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL OF ANCIENT IRISH HIS¬
TORY.
LECTURE IV.
[Delivered March 22, 1855]
(Continued)
In enumerating those of our national records to
which the name of Annals have been given, we
have commenced with these of Tighernach, be¬
cause these annals seemed naturally to claim our
attention in the first place, not only on account of
their extent and importance, but in consideration
of the scholarship and judgment exhibited in their
composition. It is by no means certain, however
that they were the first in the order of time. There
is great reason to believe that both local and gen¬
eral annals were kept, even long before the time
of Tighernach, in some of the great ecclesiastical
and educational establishments, and also by some
of these accomplished lay scholars of whom men¬
tion is so frequently made as having flourished in
the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries.
We have before, in the remarkable instance of
Flann Mainistrech, called attention to the great
learning and the devotion to scholary pursuits
which were to be found in Irish laymen of the
tenth and eleventh centuries. And when we re¬
flect that this learning and this devotion to the
pursuit of knowledge were often combined with
exalted social rank, sometimes even princely, and
with the enjoyment of extensive territorial sway, I
think the fact offers evidence of a cultivation and
diffusion of literature, which, at so early a period,
would do honor to the history of any country. We
shall have frequent occasion to speak of this class
of Irish scholars.
The next existing compilation after that of Ti¬
ghernach, in order of time, is the very extensive
body of ecclesiastical as well as general, historic
records, known as the Annals of Inisfallen. The
composition of these Annals is usually attributed
to the early part of the of the thirteenth century
[about A D. 1215), but there is very good reason
