The Life of St. Declan of Ardmore
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Rev. P. Power >> The Life of St. Declan of Ardmore
42. On another occasion there approached a foreign fleet towards
Declan's city and this was their design--to destroy and to plunder it
of persons and of cattle, because they (the foreigners) were people
hostile to the faith. Many members of the community ran with great
haste to tell Declan of the fleet which threatened the town and to
request him to beg the assistance of God against the invaders.
Declan knew the man amongst his own disciples who was holiest and
most abounding in grace, scil., Ultan, already mentioned, and him he
ordered to pray to God against the fleet. Ultan had pity on the
Christian people and he went instantly, at the command of Declan, in
front of the fleet and he held his left hand against it, and, on the
spot, the sea swallowed them like sacks full of lead, and the drowned
sailors were changed into large rocks which stand not far from the
mouth of the haven where they are visible (standing) high out of the
sea from that time till now. All Christians who witnessed this
rejoiced and were glad and they gave great praise and glory to God
and to Declan their own patron who caused the working of this miracle
and of many other miracles besides. Next there arose a contention
between Ultan and Declan concerning this miracle, for Ultan
attributed it to Declan and Declan credited it to Ultan; and it has
become a proverb since in Ireland when people hear of danger or
jeopardy:--"The left hand of Ultan against you (the danger)." Ultan
became, after the death of Declan, a miracle-working abbot of many
other holy monks.
43. The holy and glorious archbishop, i.e. Patrick, sent one of his
own followers to Declan with power and authority (delegation) from
the archbishop. And proceeding through the southern part of Decies
he was drowned in a river [the Lickey] there, two miles from the city
of Declan. When Declan heard this he was grieved and he said:
"Indeed it grieves me that a servant of God and of Patrick who sent
him to visit me, having travelled all over Ireland, should be drowned
in a river of my own territory. Get my chariot for me that I may go
in haste to see his corpse, so that Patrick may come to hear of the
worry and the grief I have undergone because of his disciple's
death." The body had been recovered before the arrival of Declan by
others who were close at hand and it had been placed on a bier to be
carried to Ciaran for interment. Declan however met them on the way,
when he ordered the body to be laid down on the ground. They
supposed he was about to recite the Office for the Dead. He (Declan)
advanced to the place where the bier was and lifted the sheet
covering the face. It (the face) looked dark and deformed as is
usual in the case of the drowned. He prayed to God and shed tears,
but no one heard aught of what he said. After this he commanded:--"In
the name of the Trinity, in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost whose religious yoke I bear myself, arise to us for
God has given your life to me." He (the dead man) rose up
immediately at the command and he greeted Declan and all the others.
Whereupon Declan and his disciples received him with honour. At
first he was not completely cured but (was) like one convalescent
until (complete) health returned to him by degrees again. He however
accompanied Declan and remained some time with him and there was much
rejoicing in Declan's city on account of the miracle and his
(Declan's) name and fame extended over the country generally. This
disciple of Patrick was named Ballin; he returned with great joy and
he told him (Patrick) that Declan had raised him from the dead. To
many others likewise he related what had happened to him. Patrick,
in presence of many persons, hearing of the miracle gave glory and
thanks to God and the name of Declan was magnified.
44. With this extraordinary miracle wrought by Declan we wish to
conclude our discourse. The number of miracles he wrought, but which
are not written here, you are to judge and gather from what we have
written. And we wish moreover that you would understand that he
healed the infirm, that he gave sight to the eyes of the blind,
cleansed lepers, and gave "their walk" to cripples; that he obtained
hearing for the deaf, and that he healed many and various diseases in
many different places throughout Ireland--(things) which are not
written here because of their length and because they are so numerous
to record, for fear it should tire readers to hear so much said of
one particular person. On that account we shall pass them by.
45. When Declan realised that his last days were at hand and that
the time remaining to him was very short he summoned to him his own
spiritual son, scil., MacLiag (residing) in the monastery which is on
the eastern side of the Decies close to the Leinstermen in order
that, at the hour of death, he might receive the Body and Blood of
Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from his hands. Thereupon he
foretold to his disciples the day of his death and he commanded them
to bring him to his own city, for it was not there he dwelt at the
time but in a small venerable cell which he had ordered to be built
for him between the hill called Ardmore Declain and the ocean--in a
narrow place at the brink of the sea by which there flows down from
the hill above a small shining stream about which are trees and
bushes all around, and it is called Disert Declain. Thence to the
city it is a short mile and the reason why Declan used go there was
to avoid turmoil and noise so that he might be able to read and pray
and fast there. Indeed it was not easy for him to stay even there
because of the multitude of disciples and paupers and pilgrims and
beggars who followed him thither. Declan was however generous and
very sympathetic and on that account it is recorded by tradition that
a great following (of poor, &c.), generally accompanied him and that
moreover the little cell was very dear to him for the reason we have
given, and many devout people have made it their practice to dwell
therein.
46. When Declan fell ill and became weak in body, but still strong
in hope and faith and love of God, he returned to his own city--his
people and disciples and clergy surrounding him. He discoursed to
them on the commands of God and he enjoined on them to live holily
after his death, to be submissive to authority and to follow as
closely as possible the way he had marked out and to preserve his
city in a state of piety and under religious rule. And when they had
all heard the discourse it grieved them greatly to perceive, from
what he had said, he realised that in a short time he would go away
to heaven from them. But they were consoled by his gentle words and
then there came to him the holy man, to wit, MacLiag, at his own
request, already referred to. He [Declan] received the Body and
Blood of Christ and the Sacraments of the Church from his [MacLiag's]
hand--surrounded by holy men and his disciples, and he blessed his
people and his dependents and his poor, and he kissed them in token
of love and peace. Thus, having banished images and the sacrifices
to idols, having converted multitudes to the true faith, having
established monasteries and ecclesiastical orders in various places,
having spent his whole life profitably and holily, this glorious
bishop went with the angels to heaven on the ninth day of the Kalends
of August and his body was blessed and honoured with Masses and
chanting by holy men and by the people of the Decies and by his own
monks and disciples collected from every quarter at the time of his
death. He was buried with honour in his own city--in Declan's
High-Place--in the tomb which by direction of an angel he had himself
indicated--which moreover has wrought wonders and holy signs from
that time to now. He departed to the Unity of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost in Saecula Saeculorum; Amen. FINIS.
The poor brother, Michael O'Clery originally copied this life of
Declan in Cashel, from the book of Eochy O'Heffernan. The date,
A.D., at which that ancient book of Eochy was written is 1582. And
the same life has now been re-written in the Convent of the Friars at
Druiske, the date, A.D., 27th February, 1629.
And this Life of St. Declan was transcribed electronically for the
public domain by Dennis McCarthy, a layman, in the city of Atlanta in
Georgia of the United States of America. He copied this life from
the 1914 translation from the Irish to the English tongue by Rev. P.
Power of University College, Cork. Dennis has completed this work on
February 27 in the year of Our Lord 1997, and prayerfully dedicated
it to the memory of his deceased siblings.
NOTE
The Irish text of the "rann" from paragraph 26 reads:
Ailbe umal; Patraicc Muman, mo gacrath,
Declan, Patraicc na nDeisi: na Deisi ag Declan gan brat.
And the Latin rendering:
Albeus est humilis dixit Caephurnia proles;
Patriciusque esto hinc Ailbee Momonia.
Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto;
Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos.
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| MAP OF IRELAND |
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
The source for this text includes an introduction, Irish text &
English translation on facing pages, and notes. The introduction and
the notes are quite lengthy and should take longer to transcribe than
the English text. Except for the part of the introduction specific
to the "Life of Declan" and a few notes transplanted in brackets to
the body of the text I have not transcribed them. Due to inexperience
with the Irish language and its alphabet/font I have decided not to
attempt to transcribe the Irish text. Hopefully someone with the
appropriate talent and interest will undertake that task some day.
I have corrected the errata as indicated in the source and a few
obvious printer errors. Please note that this text is full of
variant spellings of names and words sometimes inconsistently
applied.