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Sét no·tíag,
téiti Críst;
crích i mbéo,
bith cen tríst.

(path * that I go
Christ * goes;
land * in * which I am
let it be * without * curse)

The path I walk,
Christ walks;
The land I am in,
let it not be blighted.

This is the first stanza of a poem attributed to Colum Cille, edited by James Carney in "Three Old Irish accentual poems" in Ériu, xxii (1971).

Is bé carnae cluas cáich.

(is * woman * of flesh * hearing/ear * of everyone)

Everyone's hearing is a whore.

This colorful legal maxim warns that hearsay evidence is unreliable. It is found in Berrad Airechta §59 (CIH ii 596.14). Robin Stacey ("Lawyers and Laymen", Cardiff, 1986; p. 220) has translated the immediate text as follows:

"Why is a report that is heard [about an event which occurred] in the absence [of the ... witness] a dead opinion? For everyone's hearing is a whore, so that a report that is heard is invalid, whether the matter concerning which a rumour is heard be true or untrue."

Is bun baisi ai cin toga.
Is gnim for gaineam toga gin asta.
Is uball a nairear fasta gin cuindrech.

(is * base * of foolishness * lawsuit * without * agreement
is * deed * on * sand * agreement * without * binding
is * apple * in * borderland * binding * without * power)

This triad of alliterating lines is found in CIH 1921.41f (= Trinity College MS H 3.17, p 433). Neil McLeod rid the five-line grouping in the MS of two interloping lines, and provided the following translation, which tracks much of the structure of the original:

The pit of stupidity is a claim without an agreement.
A structure on sand is an agreement without a guarantee.
An apple out-of-reach is a guarantee without any power.

This is a more standardized spelling of the same lines:

Is bun baíse áe cen toga.
Is gním for gainem toga cen astud.
Is uball i n-airer astud cen cuindrech.

Tussu d'éc, missi d'anad,
sírdursan ar sírscarad.

(you * to die * I * to remain
eternal sadness * our * eternal separation)

For you to die, for me to remain,
The everlasting sadness of our separation.

This is the second half of a stanza in which Cú Chulainn laments the death of his foster brother Fer Diad, who was manipulated into facing him in single combat by Medb and Ailill. This is the full stanza, from the LL Táin:

A Fir Diad, ardotchlóe brath,
dursan do dál dédenach,
tussu d'éc, missi d'anad,
sírdursan ar sírscarad.

Ciaran Carson's translation is:

Ah, Fer Diad, you were betrayed.
Our last meeting led to this,
my everlasting sorrow
that I live while you are dead.

Íarus fis, túathus cath, airthius bláth, teissius séis.

(in the west * knowledge * in the north * battle * in the east * blossom * in the south * melody)

Knowledge in the west, battle in the north, prosperity in the east, music in the south.

This proverb, found in "Suidigud Tellaich Temra" in Ériu 4, assigns characteristic traits to the four provinces of Ireland. The first two parts are also found in Sanas Cormaic (#789), which is dated to around 900 A.D. A fifth and final line is "fortius flaith", which R. I. Best took to mean "kingship in the centre". It may be worth noting that the enumeration begins with the west, the direction of the setting sun and thus of night. The Celts are reputed to have begun their reckoning of a day at sundown and of a year at the beginning of the dark days of winter. The naming of the provinces in the proverb then proceeds in a sunwise (clockwise) fashion, which is traditionally the auspicious direction.

Fochen aí,
ilchrothach,
ilgnúisech,
ilbrechtach,
bé shóer shonaisc.

(welcome * poetic art
many-shaped
many-faced
many-hued
lady * noble * well-linked)

Welcome, poetry,
multiform,
multifaceted,
multihued,
noble, well-linked lady.

This is the beginning of a run of rosc and heightened prose formally addressed to "aí" (poetic inspiration, poetic art, poetic composition) found in CIH (1128.20ff). The word "ilbrechtach" can mean either "variegated" or "having many spells or incantations". The next section, which emphasizes that poetry does not come free, begins "Ar dligid túarastal" = "For she is entitled to recompense". See also "Ro-cúala ní tabair eochu ar dúana..." in this collection.

Ba h-álgen curmthigi is ba dúr debtha.

((he) was * gentle * of ale-house * and * (he) was * hard * of * strife)

He was a gentle man in the ale house and a tough one in battle.

This description of the ideal prince, which has the feel of a cliché, is found in "Tochmarc Ferbae" (LL 33716-7).

A eoin re n-ossaib!

(o * bird * in front of * deer)

O bird before deer!

The insult here, besides simply calling someone a bird, may lie in the parody of the usual heroic image of the bull or boar leading the herd. Cú Chulainn says, for example, in the LL Táin:

"Dodechad ré n-ócaib
im t[h]orc trethan trétaig
re cathaib re cétaib."

I came in front of warriors
as a bold herd-rich boar
before battalions, before hundreds.

See also "A chacc cuirre uidre ittige!" in this collection.

A chacc cuirre uidre ittige!

(o * shit * of crane * grey-brown * winged)

O shit of a flapping dun-colored crane!

The adjectives that make this a truly baroque insult in Irish probably can't be carried over into English successfully. Our closest equivalent would be a blunt "You crane shit!" The word "corr" (genitive "cuirre") can mean either "crane" or "heron" in Old Irish. The insult is one of five, directed in rapid succession against someone named Bressal or Brénnan in a quatrain edited by Kuno Meyer in "Mittelirische Verslehren" (IT iii 102 §189) and then in "Bruchstücke der älteren Lyrik Irlands". The latter edition is:

A mâelscolb do messair,
a eclas crainn, a chacc cuirre uidre ittige,
a eôin re n-ossaib,
a fhertas a broinn bicire, a Brênaind!

A chride ind eoin ittig!

(o * heart * of the * bird * winged)

O heart of a fluttering bird!

Or, in more colloquial terms, "You chicken-hearted coward!" Fer Diad hurls this insult at Cú Chulainn as they prepare to meet in single combat in the LL Táin.