It  was  doubtless  during  his  leisure  hours,  while  under
Mobhi's  care  at  Glasnevin,  that  Columba  used  to  ramble  out
to  the  Hill  of  Howth,  and  sitting  on  the  brow  of  its  lofty
plifEs,  gaze  in  pensive  mood  over  the  wide  spreading  sea,  and
contemplate,  with  a  poet's  eye,  all  the  stern  grandeur  of  that
iron-bound  coast.  He  fed  his  soul  on  .the  glorious  vision,  and
in  after  years,  when  surrounded  by  the  sterile  rocks  of  lona,
his  sad  thoughts  often  turned  to  those  scenes  of  his  youth,
and  found  expression  in  words  that  cannot  fail  to  touch  a
sympathetic  chord  in  every  heart.
"  Delightful  to  be  on  Benn-Edar
Before  crossing  o'er  the  white  sea,
(To  see)  the  dashing  of  the  waves  against  its  brow,
The  bareness  of  its  shore,  and  its  border.
Delightful  to  be  (once  more)  on  Benn-Edar
After  crossing  the  white-bosomed  sea ;
To  row  one's  little  coracle,
Ochone !  on  its  swift- waved  shore.
Ah,  rapid  the  speed  of  my  coracle ;
And  its  stern  turned  on  Derry ;
I  grieve  at  my  errand  o'er  the  noble  sea.
Travelling  to  Alba  of  the  ravens.
My  foot  in  my  sweet  little  coracle ;

My  sad  heart  still  bleeding ;

Weak  is  the  man  that  cannot  lead,

Totally  blind  are  the  ignorant  (of  God's  will.) "

Columba  had  for  companions  at  Glasnevin  St.  Cannech,
St.  Ciaran,  and  St.  Comgall — and  during  their  entire  lives  a
tender  and  ardent  friendship  united  these  holy  men  together.
A  pestilence  which  broke  out  in  a.d.  544,  and  of  which
St.  Ciaran  appears  to  have  died,  scattered  the  holy  disciples
of  St.  Mobhi's  School ;  so  Columba  resolved  to  return  home
to  his  native  territory.
