292 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



established is that C, which is earlier than ^} may be dated with high proba- 

 bility not later than the middle of the seventh century, and that it had some 

 connexion with lona. 



It might be expected that palaeography would give us some help towards 

 a more exact determination of the date; but in the present state of our 

 knowledge it is almost impossible to infer from the script of an Irish 

 manuscript the century to which it belongs. The palaeographical features 

 of C seem to point to the sixth or seventh century. But it cannot 

 be said that the script gives absolutely decisive evidence." If in the 

 end we conclude that the manuscript was written in the second half of the 

 sixth century, it will be on the ground of testimony of a different order, the 

 value of which we must now attempt to estimate. 



The Battle of Cul Dremhne. 



It has been said, with truth, that " the grand repertory of all later and 

 questionable additions to the biography of St. Columba is the elaborate Life 

 by Manus O'Donuell, chief of Tyrconnell, compiled in the year 15.32."^ It is 

 my duty to relate the most remarkable, and most often quoted, of O'Donnell's 

 stories. But in so doing I shall make use of the translation published in 

 the Zeitschrift fur C'eltische Philolorjie'^ instead of the faulty Latin rendering 

 of Colgan,' which has been relied on by the majority of writers on 

 St. Columba.' Colgau professes to abridge the original ;' and in some places 

 he abridges overmuch, but he also at times enlarges, without informing his 

 readers that he has done so.'' O'Donnell's narrative is as follows : — 



§ 168. Once upon a time Colum Cille visited Finnian (Findein) of Druini Finn {Droma 

 Find). He asked the latter for the loan of a book, which he obtained. And Office and 

 Mass'-' being over, he was wont to remain after the rest of the community in the church 



*See p. 288. If the immediate exemplar of C (7) was the manuscript brought into 

 Nortliuinbria from lona, it is certain that C was \vritten before that event. But if not 7, 

 but one of its descendants, was the imported Ms., it may still be argued that C was at 

 least as early as that manuscript, and a fortiori as early as /3. 



- The question is discussed by Professor Lindsay in Appendix II. 



^ Skene, p. 80. 



J ZCP, iii. 516 ff. ; iv. 276 ii'. ; v. 26 «. ; ix. 242 fl'. ; x. 228 ff. This edition has unhappUy 

 not yet been completed. The story with tt-hich we are concerned is told in §§ 168-182, 

 edited and translated by A. Kelleher (ZCP, ix. 258-273). 



^ Colgan, ii. 388 £1'. Thei'e is another rendering of parts of the story in vol. i, \y. 644 ff. 



° An exception is Professor O' Curry ("Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History," 

 re-issue 1878, p. 328 ff.). But O'Curry does not follow O'Donnell very closely. 



'' p. 388 : " Quinta Vita S. Columbae, ex ea quam Magnus O Donellus . . . descripsit, 

 succintius excerpta," &c. 



^ F.(j., § 168 (Colgan's lib. ii, co. 1, 2) is araplitied towards the end. There are also 

 some mistranslations which have misled later writers. 



'■' Mr Kelleher has "Mass and Office." 



