Carthach, Saint, Bishop of Lismore, active 570-637 -- Legends
Mochuda proceeded till he reached the river Nemh at a ford called
Ath-Mheadhon [Affane] which no one could cross except a swimmer or a very
strong person at low water in a dry season of summer heat, for the tide
flows against the stream far as Lismore, five miles further up. On this
particular occasion it happened to be high tide. The two first of
Mochuda's people to reach the ford were the monks Molua and Colman,
while Mochuda himself came last. They turned round to him and said that
it was not possible to cross the river till the ebb. Mochuda answered:
--"Advance through the water before the others in the name of your Lord
Jesus Christ for He is the way the truth and the life" [John 14:6]. As
soon as they heard this command of Mochuda's Molua said to Colman,
"Which of the two will you hold back--the stream above or the sea
below?" Colman answered:--"Let each restrain that which is nearest to
him"--for Molua was on the upper, or stream, side and Colman on the
lower, or sea, side. Molua said to Colman--"Forbid you the sea side to
flow naturally and I shall forbid the stream side." Then with great
faith they proceeded to cross the river; they signed the river with the
sign of Christ's cross and the waters stood on either hand and apart, so
that the dry earth appeared between. The side banks of water rose high
because there was no passage up or down, so that the ridges were very
elevated on both the sea and stream sides. The waters remained thus
till such time as all Mochuda's people had crossed. Mochuda himself was
the last to pass over and the path across was so level that it offered
no obstacle to foot-passengers or chariots but was like a level plain so
that they crossed dryshod, as the Jordan fell back for Josue the son of
Nun [Josue 3:17]. Soon as Mochuda had crossed over he blessed the waters
and commanded them to resume their natural course. On the reuniting
again of the waters they made a noise like thunder, and the name of the
place is The Place of Benedictions, from the blessings of Mochuda and
his people.
Next the glorious bishop, Mochuda, proceeded to the place promised to
him by God and the prophets, which place is the plain called
Magh-Sciath. Mochuda, with the holy men, blessed the place and
dedicated there the site of a church in circular form. There came to
them a holy woman named Caimell who had a cell there and she asked,
"What do you propose doing here, ye servants of God?" "We propose,"
answered Mochuda, "building here a little 'Lios' [enclosure] around our
possession." Caimell observed, "Not a little Lios will it be but a
great ['mor'] one (Lis-mor)." "True indeed, virgin," responded Mochuda,
"Lismore will be its name for ever." The virgin offered herself and her
cell to God and Mochuda for ever, where the convent of women is now
established in the city of Lismore.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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