The  Danes,  too,  at  this  time,  hungry  for  pillage  and
slaughter,  were  liovering  around  the  coasts  of  Ireland. They
had  as  yet  made  no  descent  on  Armagh,  but  they  bad  at
several  points  round  the  coast,  especially  on  the  islands,  as
at  Rathlin  in  a.d. 794,  and  Innismurray,  off  the  coast  of
Sligo,  in  A.D. 804,  and  at  lona  wber'  sixty  of  the  clcrn-y
and  laity  were  slain  by  the  foreigners. It  was  of  the  highest

1  "  The  penmanship  is,"  says  Bishop  Keeves,  "  of  extreme  elegance,  and
is  admirable  throughout  for  its  distinctness  and  uniformity."

'  "  Ferdomnach  hunoUbrum,  dictante  Torbach,  herede  PatrioU  scripsit."
The  only  word  somewhat  illegible  is  "  Torbach."


THE  SCHOOL  OF  ARMAGH. 123

importance,  therefore,  just  at  this  time,  to  secure  a  copy  of
this  ancient  book. We  know,  too,  from  several  marginal
entries,  that  it  had  in  some  places  become  so  illegible
from  age  and  use  that  the  "  choice  scribe  "  had  great  difficulty
in  ascertaining  the  genuine  text,  so  that  v,e  are  justified  in
inferring  that  even  in  a.d. 807  it  was  a  very  old  book,  highly
prized  in  the  Church  of  Armagh. The  sketch  of  the  life  of
St. Patrick  given  in  this  book  purports  to  he  taken  down  by
Bishop  Tirechan  from  St. Ultan,  who  so  early  as  a.d. 650
was  Bishop  of  Ardbraccan,  in  Meath,  and  partly  also  from
the  dictation  of  Muirchu  Maccu  Mactheni,  at  the  request  of
his  preceptor,  Aedh,  Bishop  of  Sletty. It  is  not  too  much
then  to  say  that  the  Life  of  St. Patrick  "in  the  Book  of
Armagh,  is  perhaps  the  oldest  and  certainly  the  most  authentic
document  ot'  its  kind  io  existence  in  Ireland. The  hand-
writing of  the  book,  too,  is  uniform  throughout,  and  very
beautiful,  showing  that  Ferdomnach  was,  indeed,  as  he  is
called  in  the  Annals,  a  "  choice  scribe."

Some  leaves  are  wanting  in  thfe  beginning,  but  they  do
not  seem  to  be  of  great  importance. We  have,  first  of  all,
the  short  life  of  St. Patrick,  and  annotations  thereon  in
Latin  and  Irish — the  Irish  is  now,  perhaps,  the  very  oldest
form  of  the  language  to  be  found  anywhere. We  have  next
a  treatise  on  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Church  of
Armagh  ;  then  the  Confession  of  St. 