hat the author of VG borrowed _this particular incident_, as
he borrowed his preface, from a Latin writing. All these Lives are
patchworks, and their component elements are of very different origins
and dates.

_The date of Ciaran's birth_ was 25 February, A.D. 515. The _Annals of
Ulster_ says 511, or "according to another book," 516. The _Annals of
Clonmacnois_ has the correct date, 515.

_The Geographical Names in this Incident._--_Temoria_ (LA) is Tara
(Irish _Teamair_), Co. Meath, the site of the dwelling of the Kings of
Ireland. _Midhe_ (LA) means the province of Meath; LA is, however,
in error in placing the Latronenses therein. The _Connachta_ are the
people who give their name to the province of Connacht. _Mag Ai_,
variously spelt, is the central plain of Co. Roscommon; _Raith
Cremthainn_ ("the fort of Cremthann") was somewhere upon it,
presumably near the royal establishment of Rathcroghan, but the exact
site is unknown. _Isel Chiarain_ (VG), a place reappearing later in
the Life, is unknown, but doubtless it was close to Clonmacnois.
_Cluain maccu Nois_, the "Meadow of the Descendants of Nos," now
Clonmacnois, stands on the right bank of the Shannon about twelve
miles below Athlone. Extensive remains of the monastery founded by
Ciaran are still to be seen there. As for _Tech meic in tSaeir_, "the
house of the wright's son," we might have inferred that this place was
also somewhere near or in Clonmacnois; but a note among the glosses of
the _Martyrology of Oengus_ (under 9th September) says that it was "in
the house of the son of the wright" that Ciaran was _brought up_. It
is therefore to be identified with the mysterious place corruptly
spelt "Templevickinloyhe" (church of the son of the ----?) in the
extract from the _Annals of Clonmacnois_ printed above.[11]

_The Verses in this Section of VG._--The epigram on Ciaran's parents
is found in many MSS. The rendering here given expresses the sense and
reproduces the rhythm of the stanza, but does not attempt to copy the
metre in every detail. This is known as _cro cummaisc etir casbairdne
ocus lethrannaigecht_, and consists of seven-syllable lines with
trisyllabic rhymes, alternating with five-syllable lines having
monosyllabic rhymes. Literally translated the sense would run,
"Darerca my mother / she was not a bad woman // Beoit the wright my
father / of the Latharna of Molt."

The second stanza is misplaced, and should properly have been inserted
in the f