[183]. See the “Wonders of Ireland” (Irish Nennius, 195) where a similar account is given; but according to this “the part of it that sinks into the earth will be stone, the part that remains in the water will be iron.” Giraldus writes of a petrifying well (fons) in the north of Ulster, but gives no place name. Opera, V, 86. See also Wright-Halliwell, Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 103. (Latin poem on the wonders of Ireland.)
[184]. Blandina (Bladina, Bladma) is the Slieve Bloom range in central Ireland.
[185]. Giraldus has heard of such springs, but he locates the one in Ulster and the other in Munster. Opera, V, 84. A spring that whitens hair is mentioned in Wright-Halliwell, Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 104, and in the Irish Nennius, 195.
[186]. See Ériu, IV, 6. Kuno Meyer knows of no such story in Irish folklore, but refers to similar tales told of floating islands in Wales and Scotland.
[187]. Inhisgluair, now Inishglory, is on the west coast of Ireland in county Mayo. Giraldus mentions the legend but assigns it to a different locality; see Opera, V, 83 and note. The Irish Nennius (193) adds that the nails and hair grow and that unsalted meat does not decay on the island. The island is also referred to in the Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 103.
[188]. Giraldus refers briefly to this legend. Opera, V, 81. The editor of Giraldus’ writings adds in a note (ibid.): “the isle of the living was three miles from Roscrea, parish of Cobally, in a lake called Loch Cré, now dried up.” Roscrea is near the north edge of Munster not far from the Slieve Bloom mountains. See also the Irish Nennius, 217. Meyer identifies Logri with Loch Ree in west central Ireland. Ériu, IV, 7.
[189]. Probably Lough Erne, though Loch Uair, now Lough Owel, in Westmeath has also been suggested.
[190]. Giraldus calls this island the Purgatory of Saint Patrick; but this famous place was “on an island in Lough Derg, in county Donegal.” Opera, V, 82-83 and note. It seems likely, however, that two different legends have been confused in the Welshman’s account.
[191]. The holy island which is shunned by all females is mentioned by Giraldus (Opera, V, 80-81), but he fails to give the name of either the lake or the island. In the “Wonders of Ireland” (Irish Nennius, 217) this island is also the one on which no one is permitted to die. A similar legend is alluded to in Reliquiae Antiquae, II, 107. Meyer believes that “the Norse version offers a combination or confusion of two different Irish stories, one relating to Diarmait’s churchyard in Inis Clothrann, and the other relating to an island on Loch Cré.” Ériu, IV, 9.
[192]. Glendalough. St. Kevin was the founder of the great abbey of Glendalough. The year of his death is variously given as 617 and 618.