THE president's ADDRESS. 19 



In return for this service Findchua was granted a dun, with 

 the privileges that went with the possession of such a fortress, 

 also the King's drinking horn, to be delivered to him every 

 seventh year. 



When war broke out against Leinster, the aid of Findchua 

 was again invoked ; and we are expressly told that he was sent 

 for only because the Druid, whose proper function it was to 

 curse the enemy, was too old to do the job. The King of 

 Leinster was in his dun at Barrow ; Findchua advised him to 

 march against the enemy, and he himself would lead the van. 

 Then a prophetic fury seized on him, " a wave of Godhead " it 

 is termed, and he thundered forth a metrical incantation that 

 began — 



" Follow me, ye men of Leinster." 



Then '' wrath and fierceness " came on the saint. The 

 result was that victory declared for the arms of the men of 

 Leinster. The leader of the enemy, Cennselach, threw him- 

 self on the protection of Findchua, and surrendered to him " his 

 clan, his race, and his posterity." In return for his services, 

 the King of Leinster granted the saint a hundred of every kind 

 of cattle every seventh year. 



We have, in the case of Findchua, not only an instance of 

 getting possession of a dun, but also of becoming the tutelary 

 saint over an entire tribe, — that occupying Wexford. 



Again war broke out, this time between Ulster and Munster, 

 and the King of the latter sent to Findchua for assistance. 

 " Then Findchua drove in his chariot with his staff in hand, 

 without waiting for any of the clerics, until he got to the dun," 

 where the King was. Again he marched at the head of the 

 army, brandishing his crozier, and again victory was with those 

 who trusted in him. For his aid he was granted a cow from 

 every farm, and a milch-cow to the clerk who should carry the 

 crozier in battle, thenceforth, whenever it led to battle. The 

 King of Munster, moreover, agreed to rise up before Findchua's 

 comarb.* 



* " Book of Lismore," page 241. The title given to St. Findchua was " The 

 slaughterous hero," ibid, page 240. 



