“Protect my ears so that I do not listen to scandal, so
that I do not listen to the foolishness of the evil world,”
and he continues: “Do not allow me to fall into the
principal sins of the eminent, reputed eight, Christ
come to me, to hunt them, to defeat them.” In this he
follows the teachings of the Penitentials as he does in
his longest poem Ocht n-éric na nDúalachthat treats
the eight vices. Some five or six stanzas are given over
to each vice and to its cure, for example: “Greed—
what it does is/ to force miserliness upon you;/ a crav-
ing for all things,/ pillage, plunder and robbery. The
sole cure is/ contempt for the dark world,/ being in
continual poverty/ without acquiring wealth.”
The renowned bilingual Deus Meus adiuva meis
still used as a hymn in the modern Irish church, a
testament to Máel-Ísu’s talent: “My God help me!/ Son
of God give me your love/ Son of God give me your
love/ My God help me!.”
MUIREANN NÍ BHROLCHÁIN
References and Further Reading
Colgan, John. Acta Sanctorum veteris et majoris Scotiae seu
Hiberniae... Sanctorum Insulae. Vol. 1. Louvain: 1645.
Reprint, Dublin: 1947.
Reeves, William, ed. The Life of Columba, Written by Adamnán.
Dublin: 1857.
Carney, J. “Old Ireland and Her Poetry.” In Old Ireland, edited
by Robert Mac Nally. Dublin: 1965.
Murphy, Gerard. Early Irish Lyrics. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1965. Reprint, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998.
Greene, David, and Frank O’Connor. A Golden Treasury of Irish
Poetry:A.D. 600 to 1200. London: Macmillan, 1967.
Mac Donncha, F. “Medieval Irish Homilies.” In Biblical Stud-
ies: the Medieval Irish Contribution, edited by Martin Mac-
Namara. Dublin: 1976.
Ní Bhrolcháin, Muireann. Maol-Íosa Ó Brolcháin. Maynooth:
An Sagart, 1986.
——— “Maol-Íosa Ó Brolcháin: an Assessment.” Seanchas Ard
Mhacha12 (1986): 43–67.
See alsoArmagh; Bardic Schools, Learned
Families; Lismore, Book of; Lyrics; Metrics;
Penitentials; Poetry; Irish; Uí Néill
MÁEL-MURA OTHNA (D. 887)
Distinguished poet and historian and an ecclesiastic of
Othan (Fahan, Co. Donegal), Máel-Mura Othna
probably belonged to one of the northern Uí Néill
lineages. His personal name suggests a devotion to
Mura, patron saint of the Cenél nÉogain. He joined a
community that had an established tradition of learn-
ing; one of its members, Fothad na canóine (d. 819),
was eminent in canon law. However, Máel-Mura’s rep-
utation as a scholar rests mainly on poetry with his-
torical themes concerned, for the most part, with the
ancestry of the Irish people and the kingship of Ireland.
Of the poems ascribed to Máel-Mura, “Can a
mbunadus na nGáedel?” (“Whence the origin of the
Gael?”) tells of the mythical Gáedel Glas and his
descendant Milesius, ultimate ancestors of the “Gaelic
race,” who supposedly brought their people from
Egypt of the pharaohs via Spain to their “promised
land” of Ireland. The storyline is clearly inspired, as
McCone demonstrates, by the Book of Exodus and
marks an important stage in the cross-fertilization of
ecclesiastical and native learning. Máel-Mura is also
credited with a poem, included in the thirteenth century
Book of Lecan, addressed to the Uí Néill king Flann
Sinna, which charts the kings of Tara from the (prob-
ably mythical) Tuathal Techtmar to Flann.
Máel-Mura died in 887 (AU; AFM). He is styled
rígfili Érenn (chief poet of Ireland) in his obit, while
an appended verse describes him as senchaid(histo-
rian). Certainly the surviving works credited to him
represent a major contribution to the genre of
pseudohistorical literature.
AILBHE MACSHAMHRÁINReferences and Further Reading
Best, R. I., O. Bergin, and M. A. O’Brien, ed. The Book of
Leinster. 6 vols. Vol. 2, p. 333. Dublin: Dublin Institute for
Advanced Studies, 1954—1983.
McCone, Kim R. Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early
Irish Literature, pp. 24, 27, 68. Maynooth: An Sagart, 1990.
See alsoUí Néill, Northern; Lecan, Book of;
Invasion Myth; TaraMÁEL-RUAIN (D. 792)
Máel-Ruain was the leading proponent of the Céli Dé
movement and founder of its most important center,
Tallaght. Contemporary information about Máel-
Ruain’s life is very scant. His name, máel (tonsured
one), and ruain (of Rúadán), suggests that he may have
come from Saint Rúadán’s monastery of Lothra (North
County Tipperary). Máel-Ruain founded the Céli Dé
monastery of Tallaght (old Irish Tamlacht) most prob-
ably in the third quarter of the seventh century.
O’Dwyer has suggested, based upon a line in the Book
of Leinster, that Máel-Ruain was given the site at
Tallaght by the Leinster over king Cellach mac Dunchada
(sl. 776) in the year 774. This claim is not, unfortu-
nately, corroborated by the annals.
As a leader of the Céli Dé, Máel-Ruain had a num-
ber of followers. A tract from the Book of Leinster
known as Oentu Máel-Ruain, “Folk of the Unity of
Máel-Ruain” lists twelve of the most prominent fol-
lowers of his teachings. Although the list is not con-
temporary to Máel-Ruain, it does give some sense of
the influence and range of his teaching. Among theMÁEL-ÍSU UA BROLCHÁIN (D. 1086)