Benén sang this about the tradition of the Foreigners of Dublin:
- Here is a gay and graceful story,
pleasing to the men of Ireland;
the revenue of Dublin—I shall not conceal it—
as Benén appointed it.- When the Deacon's Grandson of the goodly household
came to Tara in the north,
vigorous Laegaire did not believe
that apostle of the Britons and of Brega.
- That good man, the Deacon's Grandson,
went sunwise around radiant Ireland
until he reached the fortress of the fair Foreigners,
helping the children of the sons of Míl.- The king of stalwart Dublin,
when Patrick came south,
was Ailpín son of Aeol Ádach
of the descendants of Domnall Dubdámach.- On the day that Pátraic of Macha
of the great tributes came to Dublin,
victorious death carried off
the bashful son of Ailpín.- The son of the king of the Foreigners,
uncouth Eochaid, is brought to the Deacon's
Grandson to trouble and ensnare him:
it was an insult to the apostle.- 'If you give him life,
cleric revered and powerful,
I shall bow before you at Coill Chenann,
and the Foreigners of the green land will bow.'- The apostle and the king made
three circuits sunwise,
and the fair warrior, Eochaid,
arose alive.- Then the host bring to him
a screpall for each man,
an ounce of gold, an ounce for each nose thus,
a screpall of gold for each man.- Three ounces of the tax were left
in the gardens of the Foreigners;
Dublin is thrice plundered on account of it
by the Gaedil of the bright shields.
- If this tax is paid me
every year by you from Liamain,
the men of the whole world
will not be able to despoil your fortress.- The fortress you occupy in force
I shall deliver from the black demon:
it will be one of the three
last surviving hearths in Ireland.- I bestow upon all Dublin
supremacy in womanhood for their women,
supremacy for their fair Foreigners,
supremacy in beauty for their daughters.- Supremacy in swimming for their sons,
supremacy in war and in strife,
supremacy for their fosterlings till evening
in sending round the drinking horns.- Supremacy for the king for ever in stalwart Dublin,
supremacy for the hireling, supremacy for the perfect warrior,
of reverence in its churches,
supremacy for dwellings and sacred heights.- The fortress in the north from which I have come,
may its king be without success;
great is his fierceness in a fight,
my curse on Laegaire.'- Therefore the Foreigners will give
no peace to the king of Meath of the long blades,
but there will be strife every year
between Tara and Liamain.- That is the tradition of Dublin,
I tell it to you in return for (payment of your) debts (?);
it will be in books for ever
as it is here in the tradition.