CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
RITUAL AND THE DRUIDS
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Anne Ross
T
he Lives of the Irish Saints are written in Latin and in early medieval Irish. The
latter are of special interest in that they seem to utilize local oral tradition in order
to elucidate and illuminate their subject. Many miracles are attributed to the early
Irish saints, and powers which vied with those of the druids in magic and cunning.
For example, the druids were accredited with the ability to transform themselves, or
others, into the form of certain animals; the saints on occasion manifest similar
powers. At times natural phenomena obeyed the dictates of the druids - winds, fires,
mists yielded to their commands. The same magical powers were brought into play by
their saintly successors. Many such miracles are associated with the late sixth-century
Irish saint Mochuda, who had his religious foundation at Rahan, County Offaly. The
following example comes from his Irish Life, or Betha:
On a certain day in early springtime there came to tempt him a Druid (draoi),
who said to him 'In the name of your God cause this apple-tree branch to
produce foliage.' Mochuda knew that it was in contempt of the divine power
the Druid proposed this, and the branch put forth leaves on the instant. The
Druid demanded 'In the name of your God put blossom on it.' Mochuda made
the sign of the Cross over the branch and it blossomed presently. The Druid
persisted 'What profits blossom without fruit?' For the third time Mochuda
blessed the branch, and the fruit, fully ripe, fell to the earth. The Druid picked
up an apple off the ground and, examining it, he understood it was quite sour,
whereupon he objected. 'Such miracles as these are worthless, since the fruit is
left uneatable.' Mochuda blessed the apples, and they became as sweet as
honey. And in punishment for his opposition the Druid was deprived of his
eyesight for a year. He went away, and at the end of the year he came back to
Mochuda and did penance, whereupon he received his sight back again, and he
returned home rejoicing.
(Power 1914: 93)
The choice of an apple branch with which to test the magical powers of the saint
was not random. The apple tree, according to the native tradition, grew prolifically
in the Celtic Otherworld, putting forth leaves, blossom and fruit without cessation.
In the story of Cormac's Adventures in the Land of Promise (translated in Dunn