Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. 97 



tradunt Beorwaldum vel Brithwaldum : primum vero simpliciter *B. Patricium nostrum ; de quo, 

 ■fin Additionibus ad Guil. Malmesburiensis librum de coenobii illius antiquitate, ita legiraus. 

 Certissimum est, S. Patricium Hiberniensium Apostolum apud nos requiescere, et nostri Monas- 

 terii primum Ahbatemfuisse, tarn ex scripturis antiquis, quam etiam ex ejusdem sancti Chartd. 

 Et post. Glastoniam veniens anno Domini CCCCXLIX. duodecim fratres anachoritici viventes 

 ibidem reperiens congregavit : Abbatisque omnium voluntate et electione, licet invitus suscipiens 

 qfficium, eosdem vitam agere docuit ccenobialem. Per hunc enim religio Monachorum in Glastonia 

 sumpsit exordium ; vitam ducentium monachorum more jEgyptiorum. Nondum enim exortum 

 erat sidus aureum, scilicet pater Benedictus, quod orbem terrce sua doctrind et exemploforet illus- 

 traturum. Et in ipso Malmesburiensis libello. His diebus mortuo Vortigerno, regnabat supra 

 Britones Aurelius Ambrosius : et Saxones invalescebant, et multiplicati sunt valde. Sanctus vero 

 Pairicius Hiberniensium Apostolus, et in insula Avallonia Abbas primus, postquam prcedictos 



fratres regularibus disciplinis convenienter informaverat, et eundem locum terris et possessionibus 

 de dono Regum ac aliorum principum competenter ditaverat ; post annos \X.XIX. ah adventu 

 suo in insulam Avallonice decursos, naturce cessit. Illi S. Benignum successisse affirmat ibidem 

 Guilielmus : ac deinde addit. Successerunt ibidem plures de natione Britonum abhates ; quorum 

 tarn nomina quam gesta et memoriam oblivionis nubilo obducens delevit antiquitas. Ipsam tamen 

 Ecclesiam apud magnates Britonum in maxim,d fuisse veneratione, ostendunt eorum exuvice ibidem 

 requiescentes. Item : Effluxis d, tempore S. Patricii annis CCLXVII. regnante post Kynegilsum 



filio suo Kenwalco, qui et Cenwalli est dictum, primus de ^nglis prcesedit in Glastonia abbas Brit- 

 waldus," — Primordia, pp. 109, 110. 



Thus, then, it might perhaps be assumed with as much certainty as a ques- 

 tion bf such extreme difficulty could permit, that the Sen- Patrick of the Irish, 

 and the Fatricius senior, of Glastonbury, were one and the same, and that Dr. 

 Lanigan was not justified in his conclusions that the notices respecting him, 

 however blended with fable, were modern forgeries and of no authority ; and 

 hence it would follow as a necessary consequence, that if this Patrick be, as Dr. 

 Lanigan states, the real apostle of the Irish, the facts relative to the place and 

 year of his death, and more particularly the 24th of August, the day of his 

 death, on which the authorities all concur, must also be received as facts equally 

 proved. But hence would arise a new question of greater difficulty than the 

 preceding ; for, if Dr. Lanigan be correct in his conclusion that there was no 

 other saint of the name in Ireland, contemporaneous, or nearly so, with Sen- 

 Patrick, it would naturally be asked, — Are all the authorities, Irish as well as 



* " MS. libell. de reliquUs coenobii Glaston. circa temp. R. Henrici III, script. Jolian. Tintnuthensis in Vhk Patricii. 

 Tabula magna Glastoniens. &c. 



t " MS. in Bibliotheca CoUegii S. Trinitatis, Cantabrig." 



VOL. XVIII. n 



