22
AN GAOḊAL
ṗrionnsaiḋiḃ na h-Éireann iad féin do
ċruinniuġaḋ faoi ṁeirge ġlais a d-tíre.
Ṫainic siad i sluaiġtiḃ móra le caṫ
do ḃriseaḋ ar an náṁaid, & giḋ naċ raḃ
Éire mar aon ar an ócáid ċriṫeaglaiġ
seo, ṫainic siad ċuig Brian beagaċ
ó gaċ cúige 'n Éirinn Ḃí arm & caḃlaċ
na Loċlann ṫart timċioll Ḃ'l'áṫ Cliaṫ,
& gan ṁoill tarraingeaḋ an t-arm suas
i líne cogaiḋ, 'sé sin le ráḋ, le troid
a ḋeunaṁ ar ṁaġṫaiḃ Ċluan-Tairḃ. Ba
ró-ḟada ḃí na daoine ag súil leis an
lá éifeaċtaċ so, aċt ṫainic sé fá ḋeir¬
eaḋ, & buḋ é an lá é a ḃí ro-ċuiṁneaċ
a slánuġaḋ na cruinne, 'sé sin le ráḋ,
Aoine Ċeusta, an tríoṁaḋ lá air ḟiċ¬
ead de ṁí an Abráin, 1014. Ḃí 'n bui¬
ḋean Éireannaċ áitiġṫe & réiḋ, aċt
níor ḃian le Brian caṫ do ṫaḃairt ar
an lá ar a ḃ-fuair ar Slánuiġṫeoir bás,
mar ḃí sé diaḋeunta. Ḃí ḟios ag na
Loċlannaiġiḃ naċ m-beiḋeaḋ dúil nó
mian ag arm Críosdaṁuil na h-Éir¬
eann fuil do ḋórtaḋ ar an lá sin. Ḃí
ḟios aċu mar an g-ceudna naċ raḃ an
t-imlán de arm Ḃriain i láṫair, & mar
sin de níor ċaill siad aon am, aċ ḋeif¬
riġ siad ar aġaiḋ le caṫ do ḃriseaḋ
ar an arm Éireannaċ. Ċó luaṫ & ṫain¬
ic Brian go raḃ an caṫ le ḋul ar aġaiḋ,
& na'r ḃ'ḟéidir leis é a ṡeaċnaḋ nó a
ċur ar g-cúl, ṫug sé orduiġṫe do'n arm
Éireannaċ an náṁaid d' ionnsuġaḋ.
Do léim sé in a ḋiallaid, & anois ag
marcuiġeaċt ar a eaċ-ċogaiḋ, a ċrois
ḃeannuiġṫe in a láiṁ, laḃair sé leis an
arm Éireannaċ, ag ráḋ :—
"A ḟeara na h-Éireann, tá ḟios
agaiḃ gur b'é seo an lá ar ar eug an
Slánuiġṫeóir ar an g-crois ar ar son-
sa & ar son an dóṁain go h-uile; & má
tá sé riaċtanaċ, agraiġim orraiḃ bás
ḟáġail ar A ṡon-san andiu. Feuċaiġiḋ
na Loċlannuiḋe in ḃur g-coṁair, náiṁ¬
de Íosa Criost, & náiṁde ḃur g-cried¬
iṁ naoṁṫa. Uime sin, glaoiḋim orraiḃ
a ḟeara na h-Éireann, ṫroid do ḋeun¬
aḋ & buaiḋ d'ḟáġail andiu, nó eugaiġiḋ
ar léana 'n áir; troidiġiḋ ar son Dé;
tarraingiḋ ḃur g-cloiḋṁe ar son ḃur
g-creidiṁ; cuiriġiḋ ḃur b-píciḋe i n-as-
enemy; and though Ireland was not one [that is,
her chieftains were not united, on this tremendous
occasion, armies came to Brian from nearly all the
provinces of Ireland. The Danish army and navy
surrounded the city of Dublin, and, without delay,
the army was drawn up in line of battle — that is to
say, to give battle on the plains of Clontarf. Too
long the people were in expectation of this eventful
day, but it came at last; and it was the day which
was memorable in the salvation of the world, name¬
ly, Good Friday, the 23rd day of the month of
April, 1014. The Irish hosts were placed and rea¬
dy, but Brian did not desire to give battle on that
day on which the Savior died, because he was
pious. The Scandinavians knew that the Chris¬
tian army of Ireland had no wish or desire to shed
blood on that day. They knew in like manner
that all of Brian's army was not present, and
hence they lost no time but hurried forward to give
battle to the Irish army. As soon as Brian saw
that the battle was to go ahead and that he could
not evade it or defer it, he ordered the Irish army
to engage the enemy.
He leaped into his saddle, and now riding on his
war horse, his blessed cross in his hand, he spoke
to the army, saying. —
"Men of Ireland, you know that this is the day
on which the Savior died on the cross for our sake
and for the sake of the whole world; and, if it be
necessary, I beseech you to die for His sake to-
day. Behold the Scandinavians before you, the
enemies of Jesus Christ, and the enemies of your
Holy religion. Therefore I call on you, men of Erin
to make fight, and to gain a victory today, or to
die on the battle field; fight for Cod's sake;
draw your swords for your religion's sake; thrust
your pikes into the ribs of your enemies for the ho¬
nor of your wives and daughters; fight quickly and
boldly for your Church, your altars, and your
country."
(To be continued)
* In this lecture we interpret Loċ¬
lannaiḋe Scandinavians because they
were partly one nation at that time;
individually, their accepted designa¬
tions are:
Loċlann, Denmark
Fionn-Loċlann, Norway
Sorċa, Sweden
?
?
In its cogency of grammato-idiomatic construc¬
tion, we challenge the speaker of any language to
produce a more happily expressed discourse than
this Lecture of the gifted, learned and patriotic Rev
Father Cuniffe. Our translation is poor, but it has
necessarily to be so in order to keep a "close" li¬
teral translation of the original verbiage; and all
intelligent persons know that, in a close translation,
