398 CORNISH DEDICATIONS. 



Setna must have gone to Kieran of Saighir, for we tind that 

 he succeeded him in the abbacy of that place — probably when 

 Kieran left for Cornwall, or temporarily before Carthagh settled 

 there as permanent ecclesiastical head of the Ossorians. It was 

 whilst he was a member of the Community of Saighir that an 

 incident occurred, which, though fabulous, is not without beauty. 



He had gone on a visit to S. Molua at Clonfert. They sat 

 talking of heavenly matters, and time flew unnoticed, till Setna 

 started up with an exclamation. The sun was declining, and he 

 feared he could not reach Saighir before it fell dark, and there 

 would be risk in crossing the Shannon after nightfall. Then 

 Molua bowed his head in his hands and prayed. Setna started, 

 and the sun did not set till he had reached his monastery. The 

 distance was between fifteen and twenty miles. The story has 

 been developed out of a very simple occurrence. Setna suc- 

 ceeded in crossing the Shannon before the sun was quite 

 withdrawn, and as the season was Midsummer, there was abundant 

 twilight for the rest of his journey, and he got home without 

 accident. 



There are several Setnas in the Irish Calendars. One at 

 Killany in the south is a distinct personage ; but it is not so certain 

 that Setna, the disciple of Senan, was not the deaf and dumb boy 

 set to keep cows on Slieve-Bloom, whom S. Colomba of Tir-da- 

 glas saw, pitied, blessed, and he recovered hearing and speech ; 

 not only so, but also obtained the gift of prophecy. 



In the Eawlinson MSS. in the Bodleian Library (B. 512) is 

 a poetical dialogue between S. Findchu and S. Setna, in which 

 the latter foretells the calamities that will befall Ireland. It can 

 not have been composed before 1350 ; for it fairly correctly gives 

 the succession of events up to that date, after which it goes 

 hopelessly wrong. The conclusion of Setna' s story comes to us 

 from Brittany, whither apparently he went, when Carthagh took 

 the rule at Saighir, and he was dismissed. 



The life given by Albert de Grand is founded on the lections 

 for his feast in the Leon Breviary, and on the Legeudarium of 

 the Church at Folgoat. It is fabricated out of the Life of S. 

 Kieran of Saighir. There was extant no Life of Setna, so the 

 compiler of one for the Breviary deliberately adopted that of S. 



