Déisi
Encyclopedia
The Déisi were a class of peoples in ancient and medieval Ireland
. The term is Old Irish, and derives from the word déis, meaning "vassal" or "subject"; in its original sense, it designated groups who were vassals or rent-payers to a landowner. Later, it became a proper name for certain sept
s and their own subjects throughout Ireland. The various peoples listed under the heading déis shared the same status in Gaelic Ireland, and had little or no actual kinship, though they were often thought of as genetically related. Déisi groups included the Déisi Muman (the Déisi of Munster), Déisi Temro (of Tara
), Déisi Becc (located in the Kingdom of Mide
) and the Déisi Tuisceart (the Northern Déisi; a sept of which would become famous as the Dál gCais
). During the Early Middle Ages some Déisi groups and subgroups exerted great political influence in various parts of Ireland, and certain written sources suggest a connection to Britain
as well.
, there are certain inscriptional hints that both the Eóganachta
and their Waterford
Déisi vassals may have been of fairly recent Gaulish
origins. The ancestors of the Eóganachta are known as the Deirgtine
and they are also believed to have been active in Roman Britain
, one piece of evidence being the name of their capital Cashel
, thought to be inspired by the Roman castella they observed on raids. The Déisi Muman enjoyed a position in the later Eóganachta overkingdom suggesting of a special relationship. Byrne mentions it was noticed by Eoin MacNeill
that a number of the early names in the Eóganachta pedigrees are found in ogham
s in the Déisi country of Waterford, among them Nia Segamain
(NETASEGAMONAS), after the Gaulish war god Segomo
. According to MacNeill, the Waterford Déisi and the Eóganachta at Cashel "cannot well be disconnected".
The Uí Liatháin
dynasty were western neighbors of the proto-Déisi Muman along the southern Irish coast and raided and colonized parts western Britain. They are the best characterized of the South Irish colonists because of clear references to them by name in both early Irish and early British sources, while a presence of the Déisi Muman cannot actually be confirmed. Also noted are the Laigin
, particularly in North Wales.
. This literary work, first written sometime in the 8th century, is a pseudo-historical foundation legend for the medieval Kingdom of Déisi Muman, which seeks to hide the historical reality that the kingdom's origins lay among the indigenous tributary peoples of Munster. To this end it attributes to "the Déisi" an entirely fictive royal ancestry at Tara. The term "Déisi" is used anachronistically in The Expulsion of the Déisi, since its chronologically confused narrative concerns "events" that long predate the historical development of déisi communities into distinct tribal polities or the creation of the kingdom of Déisi Muman. The epic tells the story of a sept called the Dal Fiachach Suighe
, who are expelled from Tara by their kinsman, Cormac mac Airt
, and forced to wander homeless. After a southward migration and many battles, part of the sept eventually settles in Munster
.
At some point during this migration from Tara to Munster, one branch of the sept, led by Eochaid Allmuir mac Art Corb, sails across the sea to Britain
where, it is said, his descendants later ruled in Demed, the former territory of the Demetae
(modern Dyfed
). The Expulsion of the Déisi is the only direct source for this "event". The historicity of this particular passage of the epic apparently receives partial "confirmation" from a pedigree preserved in the late 10th-century Harleian genealogies
, in which the contemporary kings of Dyfed claim descent from Triphun (fl.
450), a great-grandson of Eochaid Allmuir, although the Harleian genealogy itself presents an entirely different version of Triphun's own ancestry in which he descends from a Roman imperial line traced back to St. Helena, whose alleged British origin the genealogist stresses. This manifest fiction apparently reflects a later attempt to fabricate a more illustrious and/or indigenous lineage for the Dyfed dynasty, especially as other Welsh genealogical material partially confirms the Irish descent of Triphun. If the relocation of some of the "Déisi" to Dyfed is indeed historical, it is unclear whether it entailed a large-scale tribal migration or merely a dynastic transfer, or both as part of a multi-phase population movement. However this movement is characterised, scholarship has demonstrated that it cannot have taken place as early as the date implied in The Expulsion of the Déisi (i.e. shortly after the blinding of Cormac mac Airt, traditionally dated AD 265), but must have begun during the second half of the 4th century at the earliest, while commencement in the sub-Roman period in the early 5th century cannot be excluded. It is further entirely possible that the historians and genealogists of the Déisi Muman were guilty of lifting these "verified" ancestors, who could have originally belonged to another Irish kindred entirely. Genealogical feats of this kind were famously performed by the Déisi Tuisceart or "Dál gCais".
The term déisi is also virtually interchangeable with another Old Irish term, aithechthúatha (meaning "rent-paying tribes", "vassal communities" or "tributary peoples"). From the 18th century it had been suggested that this term might be the origin of the Attacotti
who are reported attacking Roman Britain
in the 360s, although the argument has been doubted on etymological
grounds. This argument has recently been reopened, however, by a proposed equation of déisi – aithechthúatha – Attacotti in a late 4th-century context.
Finally, MacNeill discusses the movements of the Uí Liatháin mentioned above at considerable length, arguing their leadership in the South Irish conquests and founding of the later dynasty of Brycheiniog
, figures in the Welsh genealogies matching Uí Liatháin dynasts in the Irish genealogies. He argues any possible settlement of the Déisi would have been subordinate until the ousting of the Uí Liatháin by the sons of Cunedda
.
several centuries before, and this may in fact have been the inspiration for Dál gCais claims. An earlier and frequently cited argument by John V. Kelleher is that this was a political scheme of the Uí Néill
, Ireland's most dominant dynasty, whom he argues created the Kingdom of Thomond in the 10th century to further weaken the position of the already divided Eóganachta. If true, the Uí Néill were creating who would soon become their greatest military rivals in nearly the last four centuries, threatening Tara as much as Cashel. The Déisi Muman, on the other hand, remained prominent supporters of the Eóganachta throughout their career.
The movement of the Déisi Tuisceart into the modern County Clare
is not documented, but it is commonly associated with the "annex" of the region to Munster after the decline of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne
power in south Connacht
. Byrne suggests this dates from the victory of the king of Cashel, Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib
, over the celebrated king of Connacht Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin
at the Battle of Carn Feradaig in 627.
A famous early 12th-century propaganda text detailing the rise of the Dál gCais is the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib.
Recent studies suggest the Dál gCais have a genetic signature unique to themselves, referred to as Irish Type III. Belonging to Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)
, this subclade R1b1b2a1a1b4h is defined by the presence of the marker R-L226/S168.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The term is Old Irish, and derives from the word déis, meaning "vassal" or "subject"; in its original sense, it designated groups who were vassals or rent-payers to a landowner. Later, it became a proper name for certain sept
Sept
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...
s and their own subjects throughout Ireland. The various peoples listed under the heading déis shared the same status in Gaelic Ireland, and had little or no actual kinship, though they were often thought of as genetically related. Déisi groups included the Déisi Muman (the Déisi of Munster), Déisi Temro (of Tara
Hill of Tara
The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...
), Déisi Becc (located in the Kingdom of Mide
Kingdom of Mide
Mide , spelt Midhe in modern Irish and anglicised as Meath, was a medieval kingdom in Ireland for over 1,000 years. Its name means "middle", denoting the fact that lay in the middle of Ireland....
) and the Déisi Tuisceart (the Northern Déisi; a sept of which would become famous as the Dál gCais
Dál gCais
The Dál gCais were a dynastic group of related septs located in north Munster who rose to political prominence in the 10th century AD in Ireland. They claimed descent from Cormac Cas, or Cas mac Conall Echlúath, hence the term "Dál", meaning "portion" or "share" of Cas...
). During the Early Middle Ages some Déisi groups and subgroups exerted great political influence in various parts of Ireland, and certain written sources suggest a connection to Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
as well.
History and contexts
The early histories of the Déisi groups are obscure. As a class that evolved from peoples tied by social status rather than kinship, groups had largely independent histories in different parts of Ireland. While some medieval texts attempt to give the Déisi an aristocratic origin, these are later fabrications dating to the period after the Déisi had gained political power. Despite their tributary origins, representatives of at least one Déisi population would eventually achieve spectacular success, founding a powerful medieval dynasty which is still in existence.Déisi Muman
The Déisi Muman were a prominent enough power to form their own regional kingdom in Munster from a fairly early date. In a recent title, Paul MacCotter states "The regional kingdom of Déisi Muman must have existed in roughly its present location from a very early period. Ogams dating perhaps from the fifth century record unique first names associated with its kings." According to Francis John ByrneFrancis John Byrne
Francis John Byrne is an Irish historian.Born in Shanghai where his father, a Dundalk man, captained a ship on the Yellow River, Byrne was evacuated with his mother to Australia on the outbreak of World War II...
, there are certain inscriptional hints that both the Eóganachta
Eóganachta
The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...
and their Waterford
County Waterford
*Abbeyside, Affane, Aglish, Annestown, An Rinn, Ardmore*Ballinacourty, Ballinameela, Ballinamult, Ballinroad, Ballybeg, Ballybricken, Ballyduff Lower, Ballyduff Upper, Ballydurn, Ballygunner, Ballylaneen, Ballymacarbry, Ballymacart, Ballynaneashagh, Ballysaggart, Ballytruckle, Bilberry, Bunmahon,...
Déisi vassals may have been of fairly recent Gaulish
Gauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
origins. The ancestors of the Eóganachta are known as the Deirgtine
Deirgtine
The Deirgtine or Clanna Dergthened were the proto-historical ancestors of the historical Eóganachta dynasties of Munster. Their origins are unclear but they may have been of fairly recent Gaulish derivation...
and they are also believed to have been active in Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, one piece of evidence being the name of their capital Cashel
Cashel, County Tipperary
Cashel is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. Its population was 2936 at the 2006 census. The town gives its name to the ecclesiastical province of Cashel. Additionally, the cathedra of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly was originally in the town prior to the English Reformation....
, thought to be inspired by the Roman castella they observed on raids. The Déisi Muman enjoyed a position in the later Eóganachta overkingdom suggesting of a special relationship. Byrne mentions it was noticed by Eoin MacNeill
Eoin MacNeill
Eoin MacNeill was an Irish scholar, nationalist, revolutionary and politician. MacNeill is regarded as the father of the modern study of early Irish medieval history. He was a co-founder of the Gaelic League, to preserve Irish language and culture, going on to establish the Irish Volunteers...
that a number of the early names in the Eóganachta pedigrees are found in ogham
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...
s in the Déisi country of Waterford, among them Nia Segamain
Nia Segamain
Nia Segamain, son of Adamair, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He took power after killing his predecessor, Conall Collamrach. Geoffrey Keating says his mother was the presumed woodland goddess Flidais of the Tuatha Dé Danann, whose magic...
(NETASEGAMONAS), after the Gaulish war god Segomo
Segomo
In Gallo-Roman religion, Segomo was a war god worshipped in Gaul. In Roman times he was equated with Mars and Hercules. He may be related to Cocidius, a similar god worshipped in Britain. He is commonly associated with the eagle or hawk...
. According to MacNeill, the Waterford Déisi and the Eóganachta at Cashel "cannot well be disconnected".
The Uí Liatháin
Uí Liatháin
The Uí Liatháin were an early kingdom of Munster in southern Ireland. They belonged the same kindred as the Uí Fidgenti, and the two are considered together in the earliest sources, for example The Expulsion of the Déisi...
dynasty were western neighbors of the proto-Déisi Muman along the southern Irish coast and raided and colonized parts western Britain. They are the best characterized of the South Irish colonists because of clear references to them by name in both early Irish and early British sources, while a presence of the Déisi Muman cannot actually be confirmed. Also noted are the Laigin
Laigin
The Laigin, modern spelling Laighin , were a population group of early Ireland who gave their name to the province of Leinster...
, particularly in North Wales.
Possible presence in Britain
The Déisi Muman are the subjects of one of the most famous medieval Irish epic tales, The Expulsion of the DéisiThe Expulsion of the Déisi
The Expulsion of the Déisi is a medieval Irish narrative of the Cycles of the Kings. It dates approximately to the 8th century, but survives only in manuscripts of a much later date. It describes the fictional history of the Déisi, a group that had gained political power in parts of Ireland during...
. This literary work, first written sometime in the 8th century, is a pseudo-historical foundation legend for the medieval Kingdom of Déisi Muman, which seeks to hide the historical reality that the kingdom's origins lay among the indigenous tributary peoples of Munster. To this end it attributes to "the Déisi" an entirely fictive royal ancestry at Tara. The term "Déisi" is used anachronistically in The Expulsion of the Déisi, since its chronologically confused narrative concerns "events" that long predate the historical development of déisi communities into distinct tribal polities or the creation of the kingdom of Déisi Muman. The epic tells the story of a sept called the Dal Fiachach Suighe
Dal Fiachrach Suighe
The Dal Fiachrach Suighe were an Irish lineage claiming descent from Fiachra Suighe, the youngest of six sons of Fedlimid Rechtmar. His oldest brother was the legendary High King Conn Cétchathach. Fiachra's great-great-great-great grandsons, the four sons of Art Corb, were expelled from Tara, a...
, who are expelled from Tara by their kinsman, Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt
Cormac mac Airt , also known as Cormac ua Cuinn or Cormac Ulfada , was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland...
, and forced to wander homeless. After a southward migration and many battles, part of the sept eventually settles in Munster
Munster
Munster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the south of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial purposes...
.
At some point during this migration from Tara to Munster, one branch of the sept, led by Eochaid Allmuir mac Art Corb, sails across the sea to Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
where, it is said, his descendants later ruled in Demed, the former territory of the Demetae
Demetae
The Demetae were a Celtic people of Iron Age Britain who inhabited modern Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales, and gave their name to the county of Dyfed.-Classical mention:...
(modern Dyfed
Dyfed
Dyfed is a preserved county of Wales. It was created on 1 April 1974 under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972, and covered approximately the same geographic extent as the ancient Principality of Deheubarth, although excluding the Gower Peninsula and the area west of the River Tawe...
). The Expulsion of the Déisi is the only direct source for this "event". The historicity of this particular passage of the epic apparently receives partial "confirmation" from a pedigree preserved in the late 10th-century Harleian genealogies
Harleian genealogies
The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harleian MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Collection, the manuscript, which also contains the Annales Cambriae and a version of the Historia Brittonum, has been dated to c. 1100, although a date of c.1200...
, in which the contemporary kings of Dyfed claim descent from Triphun (fl.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
450), a great-grandson of Eochaid Allmuir, although the Harleian genealogy itself presents an entirely different version of Triphun's own ancestry in which he descends from a Roman imperial line traced back to St. Helena, whose alleged British origin the genealogist stresses. This manifest fiction apparently reflects a later attempt to fabricate a more illustrious and/or indigenous lineage for the Dyfed dynasty, especially as other Welsh genealogical material partially confirms the Irish descent of Triphun. If the relocation of some of the "Déisi" to Dyfed is indeed historical, it is unclear whether it entailed a large-scale tribal migration or merely a dynastic transfer, or both as part of a multi-phase population movement. However this movement is characterised, scholarship has demonstrated that it cannot have taken place as early as the date implied in The Expulsion of the Déisi (i.e. shortly after the blinding of Cormac mac Airt, traditionally dated AD 265), but must have begun during the second half of the 4th century at the earliest, while commencement in the sub-Roman period in the early 5th century cannot be excluded. It is further entirely possible that the historians and genealogists of the Déisi Muman were guilty of lifting these "verified" ancestors, who could have originally belonged to another Irish kindred entirely. Genealogical feats of this kind were famously performed by the Déisi Tuisceart or "Dál gCais".
The term déisi is also virtually interchangeable with another Old Irish term, aithechthúatha (meaning "rent-paying tribes", "vassal communities" or "tributary peoples"). From the 18th century it had been suggested that this term might be the origin of the Attacotti
Attacotti
Attacotti refers to a people who despoiled Roman Britain between 364 and 368, along with Scotti, Picts, Saxons, Roman military deserters, and the indigenous Britons themselves. The marauders were defeated by Count Theodosius in 368...
who are reported attacking Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
in the 360s, although the argument has been doubted on etymological
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
grounds. This argument has recently been reopened, however, by a proposed equation of déisi – aithechthúatha – Attacotti in a late 4th-century context.
Finally, MacNeill discusses the movements of the Uí Liatháin mentioned above at considerable length, arguing their leadership in the South Irish conquests and founding of the later dynasty of Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog
Brycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it...
, figures in the Welsh genealogies matching Uí Liatháin dynasts in the Irish genealogies. He argues any possible settlement of the Déisi would have been subordinate until the ousting of the Uí Liatháin by the sons of Cunedda
Cunedda
Cunedda ap Edern , was an important early Welsh leader, and the progenitor of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd.-Background and life:The name Cunedda derives from the Brythonic word , meaning good hound. His genealogy is traced back to Padarn Beisrudd, which literally translates as Paternus of the...
.
Déisi Tuisceart
Byrne later discusses how the rise of the Dál gCais sept of Déisi Tuisceart in North Munster at the expense of the Eóganachta was not unlike the rise of that dynasty at the expense of the DáirineDáirine
The Dáirine , later known dynastically as the Corcu Loígde, were the proto-historical rulers of Munster before the rise of the Eóganachta in the 7th century AD. They appear to have derived from the Darini of Ptolemy and to have been related to the Ulaid and Dál Riata of Ulster and Scotland...
several centuries before, and this may in fact have been the inspiration for Dál gCais claims. An earlier and frequently cited argument by John V. Kelleher is that this was a political scheme of the Uí Néill
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....
, Ireland's most dominant dynasty, whom he argues created the Kingdom of Thomond in the 10th century to further weaken the position of the already divided Eóganachta. If true, the Uí Néill were creating who would soon become their greatest military rivals in nearly the last four centuries, threatening Tara as much as Cashel. The Déisi Muman, on the other hand, remained prominent supporters of the Eóganachta throughout their career.
The movement of the Déisi Tuisceart into the modern County Clare
County Clare
-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
is not documented, but it is commonly associated with the "annex" of the region to Munster after the decline of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne
Uí Fiachrach Aidhne
Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne was a kingdom located in what is now the south of Co. Galway.-Legendary origins and geography:...
power in south Connacht
Connacht
Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...
. Byrne suggests this dates from the victory of the king of Cashel, Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib
Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib
Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib was a King of Munster from the Eóganacht Chaisil branch of the Eoganachta. He succeeded Cathal mac Áedo Flaind Chathrach of the Glendamnach branch in 628. He was the younger brother of a previous king Fíngen mac Áedo Duib...
, over the celebrated king of Connacht Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin
Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin
Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin was a king of Connacht. A member of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne and son of king Colmán mac Cobthaig . Guiare ruled at the height of Ui Fiachrach Aidne power in south Connacht.-Early reign:...
at the Battle of Carn Feradaig in 627.
A famous early 12th-century propaganda text detailing the rise of the Dál gCais is the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib.
Recent studies suggest the Dál gCais have a genetic signature unique to themselves, referred to as Irish Type III. Belonging to Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)
Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA)
The point of origin of R1b is thought to lie in Eurasia, most likely in Western Asia. T. Karafet et al. estimated the age of R1, the parent of R1b, as 18,500 years before present....
, this subclade R1b1b2a1a1b4h is defined by the presence of the marker R-L226/S168.
See also
- BruffBruffBruff is a town in east County Limerick, in the midwest of Ireland, located on the old Limerick–Cork road . The town lies on the Morning Star river, with two bridges in the town itself...
- DāsaDasaDasa is a term used with the primary meaning 'enemy', especially relating to tribes identified as the enemies of the Indo-Aryan tribes in the Rigveda....
- a group identified as the enemies of the Aryan tribesRigvedic tribesThe Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rigveda are described as semi-nomadic pastoralists; when not on the move, they were subdivided into temporary settlements . They were headed by a tribal chief assisted by a priestly caste...
in the RigvedaRigvedaThe Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
. - Declán of ArdmoreDeclán of ArdmoreDeclán mac Eircc , Declanus in Latin sources, was an early Irish saint of the Déisi Muman, who was remembered for having converted the Déisi in the late 5th century and for having founded the monastery of Ardmore in what is now Co. Waterford. The principal source for his life and cult is a Latin...
- DesiDesiDesi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...
- Vita tripartita Sancti PatriciiVita tripartita Sancti PatriciiThe Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii is a bilingual Life of Patrick, written partly in Irish and in parts in Latin from the late 9th century. It is the earliest example of a saint's Life written in the Irish language and it was meant to be read in three parts over the three days of the saint's...