Texts

verse beg. A Brigit cuinnigh / ar Críst an cobair

  • Irish
  • verse

An Irish poem of praise (5 qq) addressed to St Brigit in the life of St Mo Ling that is known as Genemain Moling ocus a bethu (‘The birth and life of Mo Ling’). According to that narrative, Mo Ling recited the poem as a prayer for protection before continuing on a perilous journey and did not encounter an ambush thereafter. It is one of two poems addressed to Brigit in the life, the other beginning A Brigit bennach ar sétt.

First words (verse)
  • A Brigit cuinnigh / ar Críst an cobair
Speaker/Addressee
Speaker: Mo Ling of Ferns
Mo Ling
(d. 697)
Irish saint, abbot and patron saint of Tech Mo Ling (St Mullins, Co. Carlow) and reputed ‘bishop’ of Ferna (Ferns).

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Addressee: Brigit of Kildare
Brigit of Kildare
(c. 439/452–c. 524/526)
patron saint of Kildare, whose cult spread both within and outside of Ireland.

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Manuscripts
f. 56(51)v
beg. ‘A Brigit cuinnigh / ar Críst an cobair’

The prose introduction is found on the recto and runs, in Stokes’s edition: At-racht in clérech iarnabárach do dhol isin coinne, ocus ro gabh eccla mór h-é ríasna rígaibh, co n-dechaidh i muinighin Brighte, co n-dubhairt.

Language
  • Irish
  • No linguistic analysis is known at this point.
Form
verse (primary)
Length
Number of stanzas: 5 qq.

Classification

Subjects

Brigit of Kildare
Brigit of Kildare
(c. 439/452–c. 524/526)
patron saint of Kildare, whose cult spread both within and outside of Ireland.

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Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Stokes, Whitley, The birth and life of St Moling: edited from a manuscript in the Royal Library, Brussels, Specimens of Middle-Irish Literature, 1, London, 1907.  

Revised version of “The birth and life of St Moling”, Revue Celtique 27 (1906): 257–312, incorporating later suggestions and including the poems that were omitted in Revue Celtique.

Internet Archive: <link> Internet Archive – originally from Google Books: <link> CELT – edition: <link> CELT – translation: <link>
44–45
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
March 2023, last updated: June 2023