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TÍRECHÁN
A bishop, and author of a Latin memoir of St. Patrick,
Tírechán flourished in the second half of the seventh
century. The nature of his episcopacy is not known,
although he may have ruled a diocese in his native
territory. A native of Tirawley, a region of northwest
Mayo in the province of Connacht, he belonged to its
ruling family, the Uí Amolngado, a collateral branch
of the Uí Fiachrach, the most influential dynastic fam-
ily in Connacht during his time. He was also a descen-
dant of Amolgnid—a son of Nath Í, King of Connacht
and putatively king of Tara, in succession to the famous
Niall Noígiallach, eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill.
His connections with this dynasty, whose seat was in
Meath, may explain how he became the fosterling and
pupil of Bishop Ultán of Ardbraccan (Co. Meath) in
the middle years of the seventh century.
Tírechán’s memoir is preserved with other docu-
ments relating to St. Patrick in a single manuscript, the
Book of Armagh. Although the memoir cannot be
closely dated, its reference to recent plagues (nouissi-
mas plagas)—if it means those of 664–666, 680, and
683—would suggest a date around 690. Lacking a
formal title, it has been variously labeled by modern
scholars as a Collectanea,a Memoranda, and anItin-
erarium. The first term recognizes that it was compiled
from a variety of sources, oral and written; the second
that it may have been intended as a record of events
relating to St. Patrick’s mission; and the third that its
narrative is framed as a circular journey which takes
Patrick from Meath westward to Connacht and back.
In its present form the work is structurally awkward,
perhaps even defective: It is preceded and followed by
supplementary notes; its division into two books may
be the work of a later redactor rather than Tírechán;
and it ends abruptly with the mention of a visit by
Patrick to Cashel, in the southern province of Munster.
Nor should it be regarded as in any sense a Life of
Patrick. Following a brief synopsis of Patrick’s early
career, the work focuses entirely on events that alleg-
edly took place during the year or two after his arrival
in Ireland, and it presents Meath (rather than Armagh)
as Patrick’s headquarters. Tírechán evidently com-
pressed several journeys into a single one, as evidenced
by inconsistencies in his narrative that imply at least
three forays by the saint into Connacht. While it is
possible that some of Tírechán’s information reflects
genuine traditions about Patrick’s activities and foun-
dations in the fifth century, most of his material
belongs to the seventh century.
Despite these deficiencies, his work is one of the
most important historical sources for early medieval
Ireland, specifically for the seventh century, and for
the west of Ireland, which is otherwise poorly repre-
sented in contemporary sources. Tírechán provides
invaluable (and detailed) information about the polit-
ical and ecclesiastical landscape of northern Connacht
(including a host of personal and place names), though
he is not so good in regard to central and south
Connacht. These latter areas presumably did not have
traditions about Patrick, or else did not welcome
inquiries that might make them liable to claims of
allegiance from the Patrician community.
Tírechán says that he was inspired to compose the
memoir by his mentor, Bishop Ultán, who provided
him with a book in his possession about Patrick.
Another source that he mentions is a plana historia
(straightforward narrative) of the saint’s life, perhaps
a primitive Life based on Patrick’s own autobiogra-
phy, the Confessio. Tírechán drew on oral sources,
notably information relayed to him by Ultán and by
the senior clergy of Meath. He also visited quite a
number of the foundations that he attributes to Patrick,
such as Armagh, Tara, Baslick, and Cruachu. He
seems to assume familiarity on the part of his readers
with the general story of Patrick’s life, as for example
in his reference to the inhabitants of the Wood of
Fochluth (§15.5) who appealed to Patrick in a dream
to come and convert them, an episode described in
theConfessio.
Tírechán’s work seems to have been assembled
without much concern for literary style or structure.
Indeed, it has been characterized as “the raw material
on which the hagiographer could, later, work.” While
using the narrative framework of the circuit—borrowed
from secular Irish tales—it relies for the substance of
its story on a tedious pattern whereby Patrick arrives
in a certain district, converts the local magnates, and
receives from them land for a foundation, which his
successors maintain to the present day. Syntactically,
the narrative is sustained by means of the connective
et, perhaps under the influence of a similar device in
Old-Irish storytelling. Indeed, Tírechán’s Latin is
strongly influenced by Irish syntax and idiom. Yet his
work contains occasional passages of striking beauty,TÍRECHÁN