788 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acachmy. 



seven years to find where he had gone. They then discovered that 

 he had fled to the county of Donegal, and had taken up his abode in 

 the island of Rathlia O'Birne, o:ff the coast of that county, where he 

 was living in complete seclusion. The cause of his sudden flight, 

 according to the Tripartite, was " shame at a lie told by him." In 

 relating the events of his life the author of the Tripartite follows 

 the account of Tirechan. But there is reason to think he has mis- 

 understood his authority on this point, which is not surprising, as 

 the Irish-Latin of that age does not easily submit to translation. 

 It would appear from Tirechan, not that he told an untruth, but 

 that he was charged with it, and no doubt falsely. The words are, 

 " Quia mendacium ab illo dixerunt," which I take to mean, "They 

 said a falsehood was told by him." This wounded him so deeply that 

 he left the place, and took refuge in a solitude where detraction 

 could not reach him. "When his retreat was discovered, he appears 

 to have been engaged in his art work, and apparently directing some 

 workmen which, perhaps, may be the meaning of the words, "juxta 

 laborem artificiorum." His monks induced him to come away with 

 them, but they were unable to persuade him to return to Elphiri. 

 He stopped at the Church of Racoon in Donegal, one of those 

 churches in which seven bishops resided together. There he died 

 and was buried, and his nephew, Bite, was afterwards laid there 

 with him. So high was the esteem in which he was held at 

 Racoon, that the chieftain of the place made a grant to him and 

 to his monks after him of the grazing of a hundred cows, with 

 their calves, and the grazing of twenty oxen, as an offering in 

 perpetuity. 



In the Hymn of Fiacc there is a passage which seems to have a 

 reference to the charge brought against Assicus — 



Tassach remained after him [i.e. after Patrick] 

 When he had given the commrmion to him. 

 He said that Patrick would soon go [die]. 

 Tassach' s word was not false. 



As though the author meant to vindicate the artist's character, 

 and to affirm that he was a man of truth. 



It should be mentioned that the Martyrology of Donegal, as well as 

 Lanigan, treat this Tassach as distinct from Assic or Assec, but in 

 this they are evidently wrong. Assach becomes Tassach by the 

 prefixing of the pronoun do " thy," as a term of affection. Do. Assach 

 being pronounced Tassach. And St. Patrick's three artists are in- 



