William Stokes DCL

The Birth and Life of St. Moling William Stokes DCL

Bishop of Ferns, the successor of St. Aidan. Born in Wexford, Ireland, he is also listed as Dairchilla, Molignus, Moling, or Myllin. Moling was a monk at Glendalough and then founded an abbey at Achad Cainigh, which became Teghmollin, or Tech Molin, St. Mullins. He was buried there. There was a landholder hundreded, wonderful, famous, trophied, in the plains of capacious Luachair, with abundance of spoils and kine and droves of cattle. His name was Faelan the Fair, son of Feradach, son of Odran, son of Dega, son of Findlug, from whom are the Hui Dega of Leinster and Ossory. Thrice fifty herdsmen is the number that was keeping his herds and his cattle and his flocks with him. Though many were the herdsmen he had, they could not drive them to their sheds or tend them, because of their multitude. So this is what the herdsmen used to do, put their clothes on their sticks for them (and frighten them), so that they used to go in their running crowds from the smooth plains of the province, towards their sheds and their full cattlefields.