Lean neath

• neath: (dialect) beneath

• lean neath stone pine the pastor lies: Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Full fathom five thy father lies”

• lean: not fat, lacking in flesh → this phrase represents the season of winter as well as the province of Ulster

Commentary

Lean neath stone pine the pastor lies with his crook;

This phrase identifies the first of Ireland's "five fifths" or provinces, Ulster, which includes Downpatrick, the resting place of Ireland's original pastor St Patrick.

Ireland has only four provinces today – Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht – but in the early Christian centuries there were five provinces or fifths, the Middle Irish word coiced (Modern Irish: cúigiú) meaning both fifth and province. The fifth province was the royal province that included Tara, the seat of the High Kings of Ireland. It corresponds roughly to the modern counties of Meath, Westmeath and Longford, with parts of Dublin, Offaly and Louth, all of which are now considered to be part of Leinster.