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Editions

• W. Stokes (ed. & tr.), ‘Three Legends from Brussels Ms. 5100-4: I. Coirpre Crom and Maelshechlainn’s Soul’, RC 26 (1905) 360-9.

Manuscripts

• Brussels Ms. 5100-4 (written mostly by Mícheál Ó Cléirigh)
  

Date

• The date for this text is difficult to determine, but it can be no earlier than the latter half of the Middle Irish period.
  

Characters

• Máelsechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid (d. 862): king of Tara from Clann Cholmáin, a branch of the Southern Uí Néill.  (N.B.  His name Máelsechnaill appears in some sources as Máel Sechlainn.)

• Cairpre Crom (d. 899): bishop of Clonmacnoise and a character in a small cycle of stories.  The date of his death is given by Stokes (p. 360) as 899 from the AFM.

Notes

• This text is one of a small number of ghost stories (in the modern sense of the genre) that survive in medieval Irish.  The topic that it deals with--intercessory prayers and acts of charity for the dead--is a common theme in medieval ghost stories composed after the doctrine of Purgatory became widespread.  For more information on this topic, see Jean-Claude Schmitt, Ghosts in the Middle Ages: Living with the Dead in Medieval Society. Translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan (Chicago 1999).

Summary

One night, while Cairpre Crom, the bishop of Clonmacnoise, is praying alone in his cell, he sees a strange black figure approach him (conaca in ndeilbh ina dhochum ’si círdubh).  It is wearing a bright cloak (tí geal) and a shirt that has only one sleeve (léne co lethmuincille).  When asked by the bishop, the figure says that it is a soul that has been blackened by sin and that in life its name was Máelsechnaill, the king of Tara.  The soul goes on to say that his confessor (anmcara) is of no help to him because he too is in Hell (the text never explains why).

The bishop asks the soul why it is wearing a cloak, and the spirit says that it is the reward for a gold ring that he once gave to his confessor, while the shirt with the one sleeve is the reward for an embroidered shirt (léne cumdachta) that he once gave to a poor student.  (In medieval ghost stories, souls in Purgatory are granted certain comforts because of the alms they gave while in the flesh.  That seems to be what is going on here.)

When asked what brought him to Clonmacnoise, the spirit explains that he was being held captive by demons in the air, but when they heard Cairpre chanting his prayers, they scattered off, setting him free, but only for a short time.  He says he must return to their company but would like to offer the bishop some reward in return for the respite he has just enjoyed.  The spirit says he once took a great deal of treasure from the Vikings of Dublin.  He and a single servant (áenghilla) hid it, and then he killed the servant, so it is still safe.  Cairpre, however, refuses to have anything to do with this treasure, and the tormented soul departs.

Soon afterwards, Cairpre gathers the twelve priests of Clonmacnoise and tells them of his encounter.  As a group, they decide that the priests will pray for the soul of Máelsechnaill’s confessor, and the bishop will pray for the soul of the king.  Then, the community embarks on a campaign of alms-giving, fasting, and prayer for the two tormented souls.

Six months later, the soul of Máelsechnaill, looking much better, makes a return visit, and tells the bishop that the efforts of the community of Clonmacnoise are not wasted, but that he and his confessor are not out of torment yet.  With that, the spirit departs.

After another six months, the spirit of Máelsechnaill, looking radiant (solusta), again visits Cairpre.  He tells the bishop that he is heading off to heaven and that his confessor will be joining him there upon the morrow.  When Cairpre asks why the priest is being delayed, Máelsechnaill says that Cairpre’s prayers for him were more efficacious than his colleagues' prayers for the confessor.  With that, the king’s spirit blesses the bishop and departs for heaven.