Ben in cluiccín for Domnall...

Ben in cluiccín for Domnall,
ná rup comlann a blíadain.

(strike * the * little bell * on * Domnall /
not * may be * complete * his * year)

Ring the little bell against Domnall!
May he not complete his year!

This curse, portending death within the year to Domnall, is half of a stanza put in the mouth of the cleric Adomnán, in the narrative introduction to "Cáin Adomnáin". According to the story, when Adomnán promulgated his "Law of the Innocents" in the 7th century, a number of kings took exception to the protections he granted in it to women, and they tried to kill him. He countered their swords with his "little bell", which he used to curse them. This is one of the curses, which he instructed his young attendant to carry out with the bell on his behalf. A similar formula from the same text is "Ben clucc ar Cellach Carmain, co raib i talmain ría ciunn blíadna!" (Ring the bell against Cellach Carmain, that he may be in the earth before the year's end!)