The Celtic Literature Collective

Patrick's Blessings on Munster Betha Phatraic
Lebar Brecc: RIA MS. 23 P 16

Bennacht Dé for Mumain, feraib macaib mnaib,
bennacht for in talmain do-beir tarad daib.
Bennacht for cech n-indbas gignes for a m-brugaib,
cennach fore cobair bennacht Dé for Mumain.

Bennacht for a m-benda, for a lecca lomma,
bennacht for a n-glenda, bennacht for a n-dromma.
Gainem lir fo longaib ropat lín a tellaig,
i fánaib i r-redib i slebtib i m-bendaib.



TRANSLATION:
God's blessing upon Munster,
Men, women, children!
A blessing on the land
Which gives them fruit!

A blessing on every wealth
Which is brought forth on their marches!
No one to be in want of help:
God's blessing upon Munster!

A blessing on their peaks,
On their bare fiagstones,
A blessing on their glens,
A blessing on their ridges!

Like sand of sea under ships
Be the number of their hearths:
On slopes, on plains,
On mountain-sides, on peaks.

SOURCES
Anon. Betha Phatraic. Lebar Brecc, p. 24b-29b, Royal Irish Academy. URL http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G201009/index.html.

Kuno Meyer. Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry. 2nd ed. London : Constable & Co., 1913