[The learned O'Curry, in his eighteenth lecture on the MSS.
materials of Irish History, when enumerating the Ecclesiastical
manuscripts, gives the second place to the ancient monastic rules.
He says (page 373-4):

"The second class of these religious remains consists of the
Ecclesiastical and MONASTIC RULES. Of these we have ancient copies
of eight in Dublin; of which six are in verse, and two in prose;
seven in vellum MSS., and one on paper.

"Of the authenticity of these ancient pieces there can be no
reasonable doubt; the language, the style, and the matter, are
quite in accordance with the times of the authors. It is hardly
necessary to say that they all recite and inculcate the precise
doctrines and discipline of the Catholic Church in Erinn, even as
it is at this day.

"It would, as you must at once see, be quite inconsistent with the
plan of these introductory Lectures to enter into details of
compositions of this kind; and I shall therefore content myself by
placing before you a simple list of them in the chronological order
of their authors, and with a very few observations on their
character by way of explanation.

"The fifth in chronological order is the Rule of St. _Carthach_,
who was familiarly called _Mochuda_. He was the founder of the
ancient ecclesiastical city of _Raithin_ [near Tullamore, in the
present King's County], and of the famous city of _Lis Mor_
[Lismore, in the present county of Waterford]; he died at the
latter place on the 14th day of May, in the year 636.

"This is a poem of 580 lines, divided into sections, each addressed
to a different object or person. The first division consists of
eight stanzas or 32 lines, inculcating the love of God and our
neighbour, and the strict observance of the commandments of God,
which are set out generally both in word and in spirit. The second
section consists of nine stanzas, or 36 lines, on the office and
duties of a bishop. The third section consists of twenty stanzas,
or 80 lines, on the office and duties of the abbot of a church. The
fourth section consists of seven stanzas, or 28 lines, on the
office and duties of a priest. The fifth section consists of
twenty-two stanzas, or 88 lines, minutely describing the office and
duties of a father confessor, as we