Lomman's brethren were, moreover, Bishop Munis in Forgnidhe in Cuircne—i.e., in the north of Meath, to the south of the Ethne (Inny); Broccaidh in Imlech-Achaidh, in Ciarraighe of Connacht; Broccan in Brechmagh, in Ui-Dorthain; Mughenoc in Cill-Dumagloin, in the south of Bregia. They were the relatives, moreover, who were dear to Patrick by consanguinity, and faith, and baptism, and instruction; and they presented to Patrick whatever they possessed, land and churches, for ever. But, after some time, when Lomman's death drew nigh, Lomman and his foster-son, i.e., Fortchern, went to converse with his brother, i.e., Broccaid, and he committed his church to Patrick and Fortchern; and Fortchern opposed it, that he might not inherit his father's possessions, who gave the place to God and Patrick. But Lomman said, "You shall not receive my benediction unless you assume the abbacy of my church." Fortchern took upon him the abbacy after the death of Lomman, for three days, when he went to Trim; and afterwards gave his church to Cathlai, a pilgrim. These are the offerings of Fedhlimidh, son of Laeghaire, to St. Patrick, and to Lomman, and to Fortchern, viz., Ath-Truim, in the territory of Laeghaire of Bregia, and Imghae, in the territory of Laeghaire of Meath. The way in which all these offerings were presented to Patrick, and to Lomman, and to Fortchernd, per (sic) omnibus regibus majoribus et minoribus usque indiem judicii. Prima feria venit Patricius ad Taltenam, where the regal assembly was, to Cairpre, the son of Niall. It was he who desired the murder of Patrick, and who drove Patrick's people into the river Sele, wherefore Patrick called him the enemy of God, and said to him, "Thy seed shall serve thy brother's seed," and there shall not be salmon in that river, through Patrick's malediction. Patrick went afterwards to Conall, the son of Niall, whose residence was where Donagh-Patrick is this day, who received him with great joy; and Patrick baptized him, and confirmed his royal seat for ever. And Patrick said to him: "Thy brother's seed shall serve thy seed for ever; and strive to exercise charity towards my successors after me, and the sons of thy sons, that they may be perpetual subjects to my sons of faith." Then it was that Conall measured a church for God and Patrick, sixty feet in extent; and Patrick said: "Whichsoever of your race diminishes this church shall not have a long reign, and he shall not be prosperous." They went early on Sunday morning to Rath-Airthir, Cinaed and Dubhdaleithe, the two sons of Cerbhall, son of Maelodhra, son of Aedh-Slaine, when they saw a young man lying down—i.e., the son of Bresal. One of them plunged a sword into him, and then throttled him. The murderer then went past Tailten, up, on his straight road, and the other went to Domnach-Patrick. It was then that Patrick blessed that part of the plain of Tailte, so that dead bodies are never borne off from it.
[A few lines of the MS. at this place are damaged.]
The Pasch being therefore finished, on the next day Patrick came to vadum duarum forcarum (Ath-da-laarg, near Kells; county Meath), and founded a church there, and left the three brothers there with their sister, viz., Cathaceus, and Cathurus, and Catnean; and Catnea, the sister, who used to milk the deer. He went afterwards to Druim Corcortri, and founded a church there, and he left in it Diarmaid, son of Restitutus.
When Patrick was going eastwards to Tara, to Laeghaire (for they had formed a friendship), from Domhnach-Patrick, he blessed Conall, son of Niall. When he was going away, he threw his flagstone (lec) behind him eastwards into the hill, i.e., where ……
[A folio of the original MS. is missing here.]
And Maine knelt to Patrick and performed penance, and Patrick said, "Rex non erit qui te non habebit; and thy injunctions shall be the longest that will live in Erinn. The person whom I have blessed also shall be a king, i.e., Tuathal [Maelgarbh]." And he [Tuathal] assumed the sovereignty afterwards, and banished Diarmaid MacCerbhaill, so that he was on Loch-Ri, and on Derg-Derc, and on Luimnech.
One day as Diarmaid went in his boat past the shore of Cluainmic-Nois, Ciaran heard the noise and motion of the craft, and called him ashore, and Ciaran said, "Come to me, for thou art a king's son, and mark out the Redes tairlim, along with Druimraithe. Ocurrit nobis hic virtus etsi per ancificatione [recte anticipationein].
Another time Patrick heard, through the malice of the vulgar, that Bishop Mel had sinned with his sister, for they were wont to be in the same house, praying to the Lord. When Bishop Mel saw Patrick coming towards him to Ard-Achadh [Ardagh] to reprove him, Bishop Mel went out to a hill to fish in the pools and furrows. When it was told to Patrick that he had caught a salmon in this way, Patrick uttered the famous saying: "Seorsim viri et seorsim foeminae ne occasionem dare intirmis inveniantur et ne nomen Domini per nos blasphemetur, quid absit a nobis," for God does not assist any unjust, false man; i.e., non temptabis Dominum Deum tuum. Bishop Mel's sister then went with fire in her casula, Patrick then knew there was no sin between them, dicens, "Seorsum feminis ne occasione dare infirmis inveniamur et ne non Domini per nos blasfemaretur quod absit a nobis, et sic reliquit eos," i.e., Bri-Leith between them: she in Druim-Cheu to the west of Bri-Leith; he (Bishop Mel) to the east of it, in Ard-Achadh.
Patrick went afterwards into northern Tethbha, i.e., to the territory of Cairbre, where Granard was presented to him by the sons of Cairbre, and he left there Bishop Guessacht, son of Milchu, his foster-brother, and the two sisters Emir, who first put up at Cluain-Bronaigh; and this is the reason why the sides of the churches are joined to each other; and it is the airchinnech (superior) of Granard that always ordains the head nun in Cluain-Bronaigh. The moment that Patrick blessed the veil on the aforesaid virgins, their four feet sank into the rock, and the traces exist in it always. Patrick went afterwards across the water to Magh-Slechta, where the arch-idol of Erinn was, i.e., Cenn Cruach, made of gold and silver, surrounded by twelve other idols formed of bronze. When Patrick saw the idols from the waters called Guthard (i.e., he raised his voice—guth, voice; ard, high), and when he approached it, he lifted his hand to lay the Bachall-Isa on it; but he could not, as the idol inclined over to its right side (for towards the south its face was turned), and the mark of the bachall lives yet in its left side, although the bachall did not leave Patrick's hand. And the ground swallowed the other twelve idols as far as their heads; and they are in that condition in commemoration of the prodigy. And he cursed the demon (idol), and banished him to hell; and he called all the people, with king Laeghaire, who worshipped the idols; and all saw him (the demon), and feared death unless Patrick would banish him to hell. His graif (fibula) fell from Patrick's garment whilst maintaining the conflict and valor against the idol. He cut away all the heath in the place until he found his graif, and no heath grows in that place, nor in the plain besides. And he founded a church in that place, i.e., Domhnach-Maighe-Slecht, and left there Mabran Barbarus, Patrick's relative and prophet, and Patrick's well is there, ubi baptizavit multos. Patrick went afterwards into the territory of Connacht, over Snamhda-en, across the Shannon, where he found a ford, viz.: the land (bed of the river) rose up under Patrick in the ford, and the learned will yet find that esker. And Patrick landed (i.e., on the Connacht side of the Shannon) immediately, and then it was that Buadmael, Patrick's charioteer, died, and was buried there. Cill-Buaidhmael is the name (of the church), and it is appropriate to Patrick. When Laeghaire Mac Neill's druids (i.e., Mael and Caplait, two brothers, who had fostered Laeghaire's two daughters, Ethne the Fair, and Feidelm the Red) heard all that Patrick had done, they brought thick darkness over all Magh-Nai, through the power of the demon, for the space of three days and three nights. Patrick thereupon prayed to God, and bent his knees, and blessed the plain, so that there was darkness for the druids, and light for all others. And he gave thanks to God, and all the darkness was banished from Magh-Ai. And they went past the Shannon to Duma-graidh, where he ordained Ailbhe, a noble priest, who is [commemorated] in Senchua in Ui-Ailella; and Patrick instructed him regarding a stone altar [which was] in the mountain of Ui-Ailella, underground, and four glass Chalices at its four corners: et dixit cavendum ne frangerantur orae fossurae. Inter nepotes etiam Ailello fuit, et baptizavit Maineum sanctum quem ordinavit Episcopus Bronus filius Iccni qui est i Caisel-Irra, servus Dei socius Patricii. Patrick went to Magh-glas, where he founded Cill-mor of Magh-glas; and he left two of his people there, viz., Conleng and Ercleng. Deinde venit in fines Corcu-Achland, to the south of Ui-Ailella, and to the north of Badhghna. There were two brothers there, viz., Id and Hono, who were druids. Hono asked Patrick, "What will you give me for this land?" Patrick answered "Eternity." Hono said, "You possess gold: give it to me for it." Patrick replied, "I have given much, but God will give more." He afterwards found a mass of gold in the place where the pigs had been rooting, and Patrick gave the mass of gold to him (i.e., to Hono) for his land. Tir-in-brotha is its name now. Dixit Patricius, "Nec rex eris nec de semine tuo regnabit in aeternum." Illius vero lacrimis misertus est Patricius, dicens, "Non erit rex quem tua progenies non jurabit," etc., quod impletur. Cenel Maic Erce is the strongest and most powerful [sept] in Connacht, but they do not govern like high-kings. Ona, son of Aengus, son of Ere Derg (Ere the Red), son of Brian, de quo Ui-Honach, presented his house to Patrick; and Imlech-Onon was its name at that time: Ailfinn, moreover, [is its name] this day; from the ail (rock) taken out of the well which was made by Patrick in the fair green, and which is on the brink of the well, the place has been named. Et dixit illi Patricius: "Thy seed shall be blessed, and the palm of laics and clerics shall be of thee for ever, and the inheritance of this place shall belong to them." Et posuit ibi Assicum et Bite filium fratris Assicus (Assici?) et Cipiam matrem Bitei. Episcopus Assicus sanctus episcopus, faber aereus Patricii: and he made altars, and four-cornered book-cases, and four-cornered dishes, in honor of Patrick; and a four-cornered dish of them was in Ard-Macha, and another in Ailfinn, and another in Domnach-mor of Magli-Seola, on the altar of the holy bishop Felanus in Ui-Briuin-Seola, far westwards from Ailfinn. Assicus, however, fled northwards to Sliabh-Liag, in Tir-Boghaine, where he was on an island for seven years. And his monks sought him, and found him, after much trouble, in the mountain glens; and they brought him away with them; and Assicus died with them in the desert, and they buried him in Rath-Cunga, in Seirthe. And the king of that county gave to him, and to his monks after his death, the pasture of one hundred cows with their calves, and twenty oxen, as a perpetual offering; for he said that he would not again go to Magh-Ai, on account of the falsehood which had been said there of him. His remains are in Rath-Cunga, and to Patrick belongs the church, upon which the people of Colum-Cilleand of Ard-Sratha have encroached. Patrick went from Elphin to Dumacha (the mounds) of Ui-Ailella, and built a church there, i.e., Senchell-Dumaighe, and he left Machet in it, and Cetchen, and Rodan, a noble priest, and Mathona, Benen's sister, who received the veil from Patrick and from Rodan, and who was a servitor to them.
When Patrick was at Dumha-graidh, ordaining the great multitude, he smiled. "What is that?" asked Benen. "Bron, and the monk Olcan," said Patrick, "who came towards me along Traig-Eothaili, and my foster-son, Mac-Erca, with them; a wave of the sea made a great dash, and tried to carry off the youth." This was a prophecy. He (Patrick) went through the territory of Ui-Oilella, and founded the church eastwards in Tamhnagh, and it was built by God and men: et ipsa fecit amicitiam ad reliquias Assici Rodani; et successores eorum epulabantur invicem. Post hoc autem possuerunt episcopum Cairellum juxta sanctam Ecclesiam in Tamhnagh, quem ordinaverunt Episcopum Patricii, viz., Bronus et Biteus. Patrick went afterwards to the fountain, i.e., Clibech, on the slopes of Cruachan, at sunrise. The clerics sat down at the fountain. Laeghaire Mac Neill's two daughters, viz., Eithne the Fair, and Feidelm the Red, went early to the fountain to wash their hands, as they were wont to do, when they found the synod of clerics at the well, with white garments, and their books, before them. They wondered at the appearance of the clerics, and imagined they were fir-sidhe, or phantoms. They questioned Patrick. "Whence are you, and whither have you come? Is it from the sidhe? Are you gods?" Patrick said to them, "It would be better for you to believe in God than to ask regarding our race." The elder daughter said, "Who is your God, and in what place is he, in heaven or in earth? is it under the earth, or on the earth, or in seas, or in streams, or in hills, or in valleys? Has He sons and daughters? has He gold and silver? Is there a profusion of every good in his kingdom? Tell us plainly how we shall see Him, and how is He to be loved, and how is He to be found. Is He young or old? or is He ever-living? Is He beautiful, or have many fostered His son, or is His daughter handsome, and dear to men of the world?" St. Patrick, full of the Holy Spirit, responded, "Our God is the God of all, the God of heaven and earth, the God of the seas and rivers, the God of the sun and moon, and all the other planets; the God of the high hills and low valleys; God over heaven, in heaven, and under heaven; and He has a mansion, i.e., heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them. He inspireth all things. He quickeneth all things. He enkindleth all things. He giveth light to the sun, and to the moon. He created fountains in the dry land, and placed dry islands in the sea, and stars to minister to the greater lights. He hath a Son, coeternal and coequal with Himself; and the Son is not younger than the Father, nor is the Father older than the Son. And the Holy Ghost breatheth in them. And the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are not divided. I desire, moreover, to unite you to the Son of the heavenly king, for ye are daughters of an earthly king." And the daughters said, as if with one mouth and one heart, "How shall we come to believe in that king? Teach us duly, that we may see the Lord face to face—teach us, and we will do as you will say to us." Et dixit Patrici: "Do you believe that through baptism the sin of your mother and of your father shall be put away from you?" They answered, "We believe." "Do you believe in repentance after sin?" "Yes." And they were baptized. And Patrick blessed a white veil upon their heads; and they desired to see Christ face to face. And Patrick said to them: "You cannot see Christ except that you first taste death, and unless you receive the body of Christ and His blood." And the daughters replied, saying: "Give us the Communion, that we may be able to see the Prophesied One." And they after this received the Communion, and fell asleep in death, and Patrick placed them under covering, and in one bed [grave]; and their friends made a great lamentation over them. The druids then entered into conflict with Patrick, on account of the daughters having believed, and having gone to heaven, i.e., Mael and Caplait. Caplait came crying against Patrick, for it was he [Caplait] who fostered the second daughter. Patrick preached to him, and he believed, and he cut off his hair. After this the other druid came, i.e., Mael, and said to Patrick: "My brother has believed for thee," said he; "it shall not serve nor strengthen him," said he; "I will again lead him into paganism." And he was thus insulting Patrick; but Patrick preached to him, and the druid believed in God and Patrick. And Patrick shaved him; and hence "Mael is like Caplait" is a proverb; for it was together that they believed. And the day of weeping was finished, and the maidens were interred there; and Sen-Donahnagh of Magh-Ai was presented to Patrick for ever. And others say the relics of the maidens were brought to Ard-Macha, where they await the resurrection.