Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tar a Hill. 109 



Rome to receive the apostolic blessing, after having preached unsuccessfully in 

 Ireland many years before the mission of Palladius. 



The next notice bearing on the question is found in the following passage 

 appended to this life, called the Dicta of St. Patrick : but in this passage, which 

 is very obscure, it is merely stated that the saint travelled through Gaul, Italy, 

 and the islands in the Terrhene Sea. It appears, however, to be the ground- 

 work of the amplified details to this effect, found in the later lives. 



" Timorem Dei habui ducem iteneris mei per Gallias atque Italiam, etiam in insolis quae sunt in 

 mari Terreno. De saeculo requissistis ad Paradissum Deo gratias ; aeclessia Scotorum immo 

 Romanorura, ut Christian!, ita ut Romani sitis, ut decantetur vobiscum oportet omni hora orationis 

 vox ilia laudabilis Curie lession, Christe lession, omnis aeclessia quae sequitur me cantet Cyrie 

 lession, Christe lession, Deo gratias." — Fol. 9, p. o, col. 1. 



The next document in the collection is the annotations of Tirechan, which, 

 as the transcriber states, were taken " from the mouth or book of Ultan," who 

 was the first bishop of the Dal- Conchubair, at Ardbraccan, and flourished in the 

 beginning of the seventh century. In this tract, which is a collection of tradi- 

 tional notices, not a regular life of the Apostle, the mission of Patrick, after the 

 death of Palladius, is thus distinctly recorded : 



" Xiii anno Teothosii Imperatoris a Celestino Episcopo, Papa Romae, Patricius Episcopus ad 

 doctrinam Scottorum mittitur ; qui Celestinus xlv episcopus a Petro Apostolo in Urbe Roma. 



" Paladius Episcopus primo mittitur, qui Patricius alio nomine appellabatur ; qui martyrium 

 passus est apud Scottos ut tradunt Sancti antiqui. Deinde Patricius secundus ab anguelo Dei, 

 Victor nomine, et a Celestino Papa mittitur ; cui Hibernia tota credidit ; qui earn pene totam 

 babtizavit."— Fol. 16, p. a, col. 1. 



The next tract is the preface addressed by Maccuthenius, the author of the 

 first life in this volume, as already noticed, to Aldus, Bishop of Sletty, for whom it 

 was written ; and this is followed by a table of the heads of the chapters contained 

 in the first book. This preface and table have been placed out of their proper 

 order, through the ignorance of the transcriber, who was a different scribe from 

 the person who copied the life itself ; and hence Ussher, who had this book in his 

 possession, says on one occasion, — Primordia, p. 818, — that the Life of Patrick, 

 by Maccuthenius, contained only the heads of chapters ; and yet, subsequently 

 seeing his error, although it did not occur to him to state it, he several times refers 

 to the life itself as the work of this author, and on one occasion, p. 832, gives a 

 long extract from it. This apparent inconsistency did not escape the observation 



