religious house now known as Saul. This chief satisfied so well the
inquiries of Laeghaire, son of Niall, King of Erin, concerning the
stranger's movements, that St. Patrick took ship for the mouth of
the Boyne, and made his way straight to the king himself. The
result of his energy was that he met successfully all the opposition
of those who were concerned in the maintenance of old heathen
worship, and brought King Laeghaire to his side.

Then Laeghaire resolved that the old laws of the country as
established by the judges, whose order was named Brehon, should be
revised, and brought into accord with the new teaching. So the
Brehon laws of Ireland were revised, with St. Patrick's assistance,
and there were no ancient customs broken or altered, except those
that could not be harmonised with Christian teaching. The good
sense of St. Patrick enabled this great work to be done without
offence to the people. The collection of laws thus made by the
chief lawyers of the time, with the assistance of St. Patrick, is
known as the "Senchus Mor," and, says an old poem -

"Laeghaire, Corc Dairi, the brave;
Patrick, Beuen, Cairnech, the just;
Rossa, Dubtach, Fergus, the wise;
These are the nine pillars of the Senchus Mor."

This body of laws, traditions, and treatises on law is found in no
manuscript of a date earlier than the fourteenth century. It
includes, therefore, much that is of later date than the fifth
century.

St. Patrick's greatest energies are said to have been put forth in