1.6–10

Barrind tells of his visit to Mernoc, originally one of his monks, on the Delightful Island (presumed to be off the coast of Donegal).  Mernoc had originally  been solitary, but other monks joined him and there is now a large community.

[7] Fīliolus meus Mernoc: fīliolus is what an abbot calls his subordinate monks. A number of Irish saints are named Mernóc. The most famous, but apparently not this one, was a disciple of St. Columba (521–597 CE) and gave his name to a number of places in Scotland, including Kilmarnock.

prōcūrātor pauperum Chrīstī: i.e., the cellārius (“cellarer”), in charge of feeding the monks, visitors, and the poor.

et voluit esse sōlitārius: he wanted to leave his monastic community and become a hermit.

iuxtā Montem Lapidis: “next to Stone Mountain”; Mons Lapidis is Latin for Sliab Líacc (“Slieve League” in English), a dramatic line of cliffs (601 m) overlooking Donegal Bay.

nōmine Dēliciōsam: Īnsula Dēliciōsa is apparently a translation of Inis Caín, “Fair Island.” It has been identified with the small island of Rathlin O’Birne (Rathlin O’Burne).

[8] nūntiātum est mihi quod ... habuisset: ML can use quod with a verb of perceiving, saying to introduce an indirect statement with a verb in indicative or subjunctive. This use of quod does occur sometimes in CL.

plūrēs monachōs: CL would be multōs monachōs.

habuisset: CL would probably be habēret. ML often uses a pluperfect subjunctive where CL would expect an imperfect.

per illum: = per Mernoc. CL would probably be ab illō, though per + acc. can mean “through” (OLD 13).

perrēxī illūc: "I went there" (LS pergo II).

vīsitāssem: CL would be vīsitārem.

[9] Cumque appropinquāssem iter trium diērum: “when I had approached (the end of) a three-day journey.” The three days may be more symbolic than historical.

in occursum mihi: “so as to come and meet me,” not a CL idiom.

festīnāvit: the subject is Mernoc.

sibi: in CL would be eī, illī, etc., not reflexive.

[10] Nāvigantibus nōbīs: either dative or ablative, though in CL the subject of the ablative absolute would not be related grammatically to the direct object of the main verb.

occurrērunt obviam ... frātrēs: the subject is delayed to the end of the sentence; this would be unusual in CL.

sicut exāmen apum: a comparison of a community of monks to a swarm of bees appears in Rufinus, Historia Monachorum 22.

ex dīversīs cellulīs: Irish monks typically lived in individual cells; see the famous stone cells on the island of Skellig Michael, off the coast of Kerry.