Legendary fictions of the Irish Celts

292 Fictions of the Irish Celts.
death in the smaller isle, and hence it is called the ' Isle
of the Living.' Sometimes, however, they are grievously
afflicted and brought to the last gasp by a mortal distemper
; and when all hope is gone, and they feel that
nothing of living life remains, . . . they get themselves
carried in a boat to the larger island, where they yield up
the ghost the moment they reach the shore."
This lake was known by the name of Lough Cre.
The place once occupied by itself and its banks is now
called Monincha (Bog of the Island). It lies near
Roscrea. According to the same judicious writer, after
the Isles of Arran had been blessed by St. Brendain, no
corpse suffered decomposition there, nor rat could live.
So the inhabitants had the privilege of pointing out their
great-grandfathers, with their lineaments still recognisable
—a questionable benefit; and if an ill-advised person
brought over a rat from the neighbouring Galwegian
continent, and gave him his liberty, he incontinently ran
direct to the sea ; if stopped and detained, he died on
the instant. Irish writers, later in time than Giraldus,
convicted him of error as to the antiseptic qualities of
Arran of the Saints, but claimed them for Inis na Gloire,
off the coast of Erris. However, the learned and credulous
Roderic O'Flaherty, zealous as he was of the fame
of that sacred island, pronounced the report altogether
untrue.
With the following precious pieces of information,
obtained from Giraldus, we close this section of our
researches :
—
" There is a well in Munster, and whoever is washed
with its water becomes instantly gray. There is another
well in Ulster, and whoever bathes in it never becomes
gray. In Connaught there is a well salubrious for human
uses, but whose very taste poisons flocks, and herds, and
beasts of burden, and all sorts of animals. The pebbly