298 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



without a word of preface, begins the story of the death of Curnan.' Can it 

 be that here also O'Donnell is combining two different stories ? It may seem 

 so ; for though in § 169 the wrong judgement and the violation of sanctuary 

 in the case of Curnan are mentioned as joint causes of the battle, in 

 subsequent sections the latter incident passes out of sight. In § 172 Columba 

 tells his relatives in Ulster of " the wrong judgement passed on him by the 

 King of Ireland," and mentions no other grievance. In § 178 we read of 

 "the book on account of which the battle was fought." In § 182 Columba 

 excuses himself to Cruimthir Fraecli for instigating the battle : " I am not 

 responsible for that, but the unjust judgement passed on me by Diarmaid 

 mac Cerbiiill." And in fact we know that two accounts of the occasion of 

 the battle were given. That it was due to Diarmaid's judgement in favour of 

 Finnian, Keating learned from the Black Book of Molaga ; that it arose out 

 of the violation of sanctuary he read in the Dun Book of Ciarain.' And we 

 have still in oar hands two narratives of the battle, one of which does not 

 refer to Curnan at all,' while the other makes no mention of Finnian's book.* 

 The former may well liave been the story current among the Cinel Conaill 

 and Cinel Eogain ; and thus we might account for its prominence in 

 O'Dounell's Life. But outside Ulster the murder of the King of 

 Connaught's son would certainly be accounted the main cause of the 

 conflict. 



1 f O'Donnell brought together these two stories from different sources,' 



' Colgan conceals the rapidity of the passage from the first to the second story by thus 

 amplifying the words of Columba quoted above : " Datam a rege sententiam ut absouam 

 et aperte iniquam S. Columba iusta censura palam tiixauit, siraul praedicens tantani arbitrii 

 obliquitatem non diu abituram inultam.'' And then he introduces the story of Curnan 

 with " Interea." In his second translation (i. 645) he further adds : "Quod et euentus 

 probauit. Sed antequam ultio quam uir sanctus est minatus sequeretur, intercessit et 

 alia causa quae accelerauit et auxit eandeni." And by way of introduction to § 109 he 

 inserts the following : " Aegre tulit uir sanctus repetitam iniuriam ; aegrius admodum 

 ecclesiasticae immunitatis praeiudicium, unde seu prophetico spiiitu futura praedicens 

 seu iustitiae zelo commeritam ultionem intentans. " A curious example of his method of 

 abridging the verbosity of O'Donnell. 



- Keating, iii. 56 fl'. Kothing seems to be known of the Book of Molaga. The Dun 

 Book of Ciarain is perhaps the >is. in the Library of the Academy known as " Leabhar 

 na hUidhre," though at present it does not appear to contain an account of the battle. 

 A book written at Clonmacnoise would be likely to give the view of the conflict held in 

 Connaught. And since it belonged to O'Donnell's clan (see above, p. 295), it was 

 probably used by him as well as by Keating. 



'Peregr., 1-4. 



* Book of Lismore, f. 94 b (Stokes, p. xxviii). 



° He had early authority for doing .so ; for the following lines quoted by him (§ 139 ; 

 ZCP, V. 6.5), and attributed to Diarmaid, seem to refer to the murder of Curnan as well 

 as to the false judgement : — 



Three things deprived me of luck 



and ousted me from the Kingship of Temair : 



