Transcript

Bhí fear ins an áit so comh saibhir le Jew.
Cha rabh eagla air bha[1] Dhia ná bhan Deabhal.
Bhí deartháir bocht aige comh bocht leis an deoir
Is cha dtabharfadh sé screabóg de phreáta dó.
Thiocfadh sé a dh'amharc air go minic:
"Téigh thusa 'un Aifrinn Dé Domhnaigh!"
"Cha dtéimsa 'un Aifrinn ná 'un teampaill,
Níl eagla ormsa bha Dhia ná bhan Deabhal.
Tá airde cruach mhónadh d'ór agam."
Tháinig an bás dá iarraidh.
Tháinig a dheartháir bocht a dh'amharc air.
"Cuirigí fios ar an tsagart."
"Cha chuir(finnse) fios ar an tsagart.
Bhí mise ag an tsagart tá seacht mbliana ó shoin -
Dá ndéanfainnsa an breithiúnas aithrí a chuir sé orm
Cha déanfainnsa obair ar bith ins an áit.
Ach cuirigí fios ar an dochtúir -
Ársóchaidh sé dhomhsa an bhfuil an bás do mo iarraidh."
Na[2] tháinig an dochtúir dúirt sé nach déanfadh sé a'n ndadaí[3] dó,
Go rabh an bás dá iarraidh.
"Cén bheirt sin aige[4] do leaba?"
"Sin m'athair is mo mháthair.
Chonaic mé Ifreann is Flaithiúnas.
Cuirigí fios ar an tsagart."
Tháinig an sagart ansin.
Chuir sé ar siúl na deabhail,
Na deabhail dhubha ina slóití.
D'éag sé i lámha Rí na Glóire.

Translation

There was a man in this place as rich as a Jew.
He feared neither God nor the Devil.
He had a poor brother as poor as a church mouse
And he wouldn't give him a potato skin.
He would come to see him often:
"Go to Mass on Sunday!"
"I won't go to Mass or to church
I fear neither God nor the Devil.
I have the height of a stack of turf in gold."
Death came seeking him.
His poor brother came to look at him.
"Send for the priest."
"I wouldn't call the priest.
I was at the priest seven years ago -
If I did the penance he gave me
I wouldn't do any work in the place.
But send for the doctor -
He'll tell me death is looking for me."
When the doctor came he said he could do nothing for him,
That death was after him.
"Who are those two at your bed?"
"They're my mother and my father.
I saw Hell and Heaven.
Send for the priest."
Then the priest came.
He expelled the devils,
Swarms of black devils.
He died in the hands of the King of Glory.

Footnotes

Commentary

The motif of a deathbed conversion is one that crops up repeatedly in religious lore, and there are several accounts of repentant sinners who turn to religion when facing death. An early example in a Christian context may be seen in the gospel of Luke, where one of the two crucified thieves expresses belief in the future resurrection of Jesus. See Luke 24: 39-43. There are a number of similarly themed medieval exempla, or moral anecdotes, that have entered folk tradition, and may form the basis for this story. One such example may be 4405 Sinner repents on deathbed, whereby a dying man sees devils on his left and heavenly imagery on his right. See Frederic C. Tubach, Index exemplorum (Helsinki, 1981).

This story is transcribed also in Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 242-5. Cf. also Gerard Stockman and Heinrich Wagner, 'Contributions to a study of Tyrone Irish,' Lochlann 3 (1965), 43-235: 216-19.