Cú Chuimne

Cú Chuimne (died 747 AD) was a monk of Iona. Cú Chuimne, along with Ruben of Dairinis, was responsible for the great compendium known as Collectio canonum Hibernensis (Irish collection of Canon law).

Little is known of Cú Chuimne. He is credited with composing the hymn Cantemus in omni die. Yet he was well enough known among his contemporaries to inspire the following verses:

Cú Chuimne in youth
read his way through half the truth.
He let the other half lie
while he gave women a try.
Well for him in old age.
He became a holy sage.
He gave women the last laugh.
He read the other half.

Of which Dáibhí Ó Cróinín recently remarked: "We are not told which he preferred."

Sources
  • Die irische Kanonensammlung, ed. Hermann Wasserschleben. Leipzig, 1885.
  • Breen, Aidan. "Some seventh-century Hiberno-Latin texts and their relationships." Peritia 3 (1984)": pp. 204–14.
  • Ó Crónín, Dáibhí. "Hiberno-Latin Literature to 1169." In A New History of Ireland, volume one, 2005.
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