The Orthodox Poet
Dallán Forgaill – 11th February
Eochaid mac Colla, better known as Dallán Forgaill, was born around 560 and was a famous Irish poet. His two most famous works are: Amra Coluim Chille – Elegy of Saint Columba, and Rop Tú Mo Baile – Be Thou My Vision.
He was the son of High King Colla Uais, one of the three Collas, and was born in Ballyconnell, County Cavan. His nickname, Dallán, means ‘Little blind one,’ as he lost his sight early in life. He was a first cousin of St. Máedóc of Ferns and a fourth cousin of St. Tigernach of Clones.
He eventually became Ard Ollamh of Ireland (the top poet), working for King Lóegaire mac Néill. Although he was not a priest, he went on to found several churches in Ireland. He helped found so many churches that in many historical documents he is known as Forgaill Cille, which means ‘Forgaill of the Churches’.
Other than his poetry and friendships with saints, we know very little about him.
Amra Coluim Chille is a panegyric on St. Columba, who died shortly before the work was created. It is considered one of the most important poems from the early Gaelic world by historians and researchers.
The Amra was written in gratitude to Columba for saving the bards from expulsion from the great assembly at Druim Cetta before his death. The bards faced expulsion due to charges of demanding excessive payments.
Diving Healing
Church tradition teaches us that, upon completion of the work, Dallán regained his eyesight. It was a traditional belief in Ireland that anyone who recited the phrases of Columba from memory would receive a happy death, but this became a loophole for people who wanted to find a way to the Kingdom of Heaven by rote learning rather than virtuous living.
Rop Tú Mo Baile is a Christian hymn, still said in Ireland by some who value its meaning. It is a lorica prayer, much like St. Patrick’s Lorica, meaning it is a prayer of protection. In Ireland, prayers of protection were considered very important, and many people would recite them regularly. In the lorica, God is depicted as a High King, and Dallán invokes imagery from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, referring to the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit. Irish people often invoked warlike imagery to explain the spiritual warfare that is the true Orthodox Christian life.
Here is a link to the song being hymned in modern Irish:
Bi Thusa Mo Shuile (Be Thou My Vision) by Talyn Prescott
Here you can read the Lorica in old Irish, modern Irish and English.
Martyrdom
In 640, while visiting his friend St. Conall Cael at his monastery on Inishkeel, County Donegal, Dallán was martyred by invading pirates. Although he was beheaded, it is said that God reattached his head before his burial. He was buried on the island on which he died, Inishkeel, and later his good friend St. Conall Cael would be buried next to him.
