The saint's curse In the legend, while Saint Rónán Finn ('Rónán the Fair') was marking
boundaries for a new church, the sound of his bell reached Suibhne's ear. Suibhne, upon learning that this was church-making activity on his grounds, rushed out to expel Rónán from his territory. His wife, Eorann, tried to detain him by grabbing his cloak, which unraveled, leaving Suibhne to exit the house stark naked. Suibhne grabbed Ronan's
psalter and threw it into the lake, and seized the saint by the hand and started to drag him away. But Suibhne was interrupted by a messenger from
Congal Claen requesting aid in the
Battle of Mag Rath (near modern
Moira, AD 637). The next day, the psalter was returned unharmed by an
otter that fetched it from the lake. The saint laid a curse upon Suibhne, condemning him to wander and fly around the world naked, and to meet his death by spear-point. In the ongoing war, St. Rónán had mediated a
truce to last from each evening until morning, but Suibhne habitually broke this by killing during the hours when combat was not permitted. One day, Bishop Rónán and his psalmists were on their round blessing the troops. Suibhne too received the sprinkling of
holy water, but taking this as a taunt, he killed one of the bishop's psalmists with a spear, and cast another at Ronan himself. The weapon pierced a hole in Ronan's bell (hanging on his breast), and the broken-off shaft hurled in the air. At this, Ronan repeated the same curse: that Suibhne will wander like a bird, much as the spear-shaft, perch on tree branches at the sound of the bell, and die by the spear just as he had killed the monk. When battle resumed, the tremendous noise of the armies clashing drove Suibhne insane. His hands were numbed, his weapons fell, and he began to tread ever so lightly as a bird levitating in the air. (It is revealed much later on that like a bird, feathers had grown on him.)
The madness and wandering The deranged Suibhne then left the battlefield, reaching a forest called Ros Bearaigh, in Glenn Earcain and perched on a
yew tree. He was discovered by his kinsman Aongus the Fat, who was making his retreat from battle. Suibhne fled to Cell Riagain in
Tir Conaill, alighting on another tree. There he was surrounded by the forces of
Domnall mac Áedo, which was the side Suibhne and his Dál nAraidi kinsmen were warring against. The victorious Domnall nevertheless praised and pitied Suibhne and offered him gifts, but the madman would not comply. Suibhne went to his home territory of Glenn Bolcáin, wandered seven years throughout Ireland, and returned to Glenn Bolcain, which was where his fortress and dwelling stood, and a celebrated valley of madmen. Suibhne's movement was now being tracked by his kinsman Loingsechan, who had successfully taken the madman into custody three times before. Loingsechan in his
millhouse had the opportunity to capture Suibhne, but the attempt failed, and he had to await another chance. Suibhne then paid a visit to his wife, who was living with another man, a contender for Suibhne's kingship. Eorann maintained she would rather be with Suibhne, but he told her to remain with her new husband. An army stormed in, but Suibhne eluded capture. Suibhne then returned to the yew tree at Ros Bearaigh, the same tree he went to when he first developed his madness, but when Eorann came to deceive and capture him, he moved away to another tree in
Ros Ercain. However, his whereabouts were discovered, and Loingsechan coaxed him out of the tree, tricking him with the false news that his entire family had perished. Loingsechan brought Suibhne back to normal life and restored his sanity, but, while he was recuperating, a local woman called the 'mill-hag' () taunted him into a leaping contest. As they leapt, the noise of a hunting party returned Suibhne to madness. The mill-hag eventually fell from her leap and was dashed to pieces. Since she was Loingsechan's mother-in-law, this meant that Suibhne could not return to Dál nAraidi without facing vengeance. Suibhne subsequently wandered various parts of Ireland, into Scotland and western England. He went from
Roscommon to
Slieve Aughty, Slieve Mis,
Slieve Bloom mountain ranges;
Inismurray island; the Cave of
St. Donnan of
Eigg, an island in the Scottish
Inner Hebrides; then tarried for a month and a half in "Carrick Alastair" (
Ailsa Craig off Scotland). He reached Britain and befriended a Fer Caille (Man of the Wood), who was another madman, and they spent an entire year together. The Briton met his predestined death by drowning in a waterfall.
Death according to prophecy "Fly through the air like the shaft of his spear and that he might die of a spear cast like the cleric whom he had slain." Suibhne then returned to Ireland, to his home dominion of Glen Bocain. He visited his wife Eorann again but refused to go in the house for fear of confinement. Eorann then told him to leave, never to return, because the sight of him was an embarrassment to all. But after a while, Suibhne regained his lucidity and made his resolve to go back to
Dál nAraidi, whatever judgment might befall him.
St. Ronan learned of this and prayed to God to hinder Suibhne. Suibhne was haunted by headless cadavers and detached heads at
Sliabh Fuaid. Eventually, Suibhne arrived at "The House of
St. Moling", i.e. Teach Moling (
St Mullin's in
County Carlow), and Moling harbored him after hearing the madman's story. It might be noted that earlier, Suibhne had sung a stave predicting this place to be the place where he would meet his demise, and likewise, the Saint also knew this to be the madman's resting place. As Suibhne attended Moling's
vespers, the priest instructed a parish woman employed as his cook to provide the madman with a meal (
collation), in the form of daily milk. She did so by emptying milk into a hole she made with her foot in the cow dung. However, her husband (Moling's herder) believed malicious hearsay about the two having a tryst, and in a fit of jealousy, thrust a spear into Suibhne while he was drinking from the hole. Thus Suibhne died in the manner prescribed by Ronan, but received his sacrament from Moling, "as
eric". ==Literary style==