;
great grandson Aengus, 486, is too far in advance of 548 to be the
num.
great grandson Aengus, 486, is too far in advance of 548 to be the
num.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
5 From the middle of the sixth century to his time, the names of his predecessors in the See of Tuam have passed away from our records.
Article VI. —St. Ainmire, or Ainmirech, of Aileach, County of Donegal. Veneration was given$ on this day, ioth of June, to Ainmirech
1
peninsula
in the county of Donegal. The Irish word Ainmire is said to have an identi- cal meaning with the Latin word Animosus. 3 Again, in the Martyrology of
Donegal,* the name Ainmire, of Aileach, is entered at the same date.
Article VII. —Reputed Feast for the Translation of the Relics of St. Patrick, St. Columba and St. Brigid. A Manuscript, classed B 1, 3, has an office for the Translation of the Relics of St. Patrick,
Britannicarum, cap. xvii. , p. 943. 382, 383. , and n. (e), p. 381.
44 SeeGiraldi Cambrensis "Opera," vol. v. ,
of Ailich, according to the Martyrology of Tallagh.
This place, formerly
is nowknownas 2 in the very celebrated, Elagh,
of and Inishowen,
edited by James K. Dimoek, M. A. " Topo-
grapliia Hibernica," Dist. ii. , cap. lii. , liii. , "
p. 134. Also, Expugnatio Hibernica," lib. ii. , cap. xxii. , pp. 354, 355.
See ibid.
s See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
5 See Messingham's Sanctorum," p. 432.
"
Florilogium Insuloe
6
See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese ofMeath,
For an interesting account of the Anti- quities of this place, the reader is referred to the Memoir of the City and North- Western Liberties of Londonderry," Ancient, sect. 2, pp. 217 to 236.
3 One bearing this name is known to have
in written the Acts of St. Brigid. See the
Second Volume of this work, at the istday
of February, Life St. Brigid, chap. i.
4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
164, 165.
Ancient and Modern,"' vol. hi. , chap, lxxiv. ,
pp. 562 to 565.
i Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
164. i65. Article v.
—
Edited by Rev. Dr.
Kelly, p. xxvi.
2 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
166, 167.
3 See O'Donovan's Edition, vol. i. , pp.
part i. , pp. 130,—131.
Article vi. Kelly, p. xxi.
"
'
Edited by Rev. Dr.
June io/j LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
617
St. Columba and St.
at the 10th of 1 It June.
to the
At this same date, the Bollandists have entered the Festival of St. Patrick's Translation in Scotia, on the authority of Greven, Canisius and Ferrarius, while they remark that it was celebrated with an
2
Article VIII. —St. Rethach, Son of Coemhan. In the Martyrolo-
of * and of 2 a festival is recorded at the 10th of
gies Tallagh Donegal, June,
in honour of Rethach, son of Coemhan.
Article IX. —Reputed Festival of Segianus, Presbyter, at Inver-
leith. Atthe10thofJune,ThomasDempsterinhisMenologiumScoto-
1
rum, has a festival for Segianus, a Presbyter, at Inveleith. According to that
writer,PopeHonoriusI. addressedletterstohim,whichservedtobringthe Scots over to celebrating Easter according to the Roman rite. Now, Pope
Brigid, of Trinity College, Dublin.
belongs
Library
Ecclesiastical Office.
Honorius died in the
nus flourished in the year 666.
while states Dempster
elsewhere,
2 that
Martyrology,
Ferrarius adds the
year 638,
Segia- Following Dempster, and citing the Scottish
— of a and of Hector authority Breviary Boetius;
—as observe the Bollandists 3 who these at the 10th although give particulars
ofJune thereisnostatementaboutthetitleofthatBreviary.
Article X. —Festival of the Elevation of the Remains of St. Suitbert, Confessor, at Keiserswerdt, on the Rhine. In some Kalendars appears a Festival, at the 10th of June, to commemorate the Elevation ' of the remains of St. Suitbert or Suibert, Bishop, and Apostle of the Frisons and of the Boructuarians, whose Life has been already written,
2
at the 1st of March, the date for his chief feast.
ArticleXI. —FestivalsofMarkandBarnabas. IntheFestilogy
of St. 1 at the 10th of is entered the celebration of Mark and ^Engus, June,
Barnabas ; but without any scholion annexed, to indicate who these saints had been. Elsewhere, we can find no record of such feasts, at this day.
Article X. — ' It is thus entered " S. Translatio Sanctorum Patricii Columba et Suiberti Confessoris, in Insula-Csesaris,
Article vii. — « Thus noted Brigida, Duplea fin.
:
Ides
iiii. ,
x.
3
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii
the — 262. Among pretermitted feasts, p.
Elevatio," in Fastis Agrippiensibus, in Gele-
nius, and in the Martyrologies of various monasteries. See the Bollandists' "Acta
Article viii. Kelly, p. xxvi.
x. the Among
— Leabhar Breac Article xi. In the
with its English translation: Com>pecAC popAencliAe
3 Edited
ii. , pretermitted saints, p. 262.
Drs. Todd and
—
literis admonitus, Scotos suos, ad pascatis Romano ritu celebrationem adduxit, BT. B. " By these letters, he refers t—o Hector Boetius
* See notices of him, in the Third Volume of this work, at that date, Art. ii.
166, 167. Article ix.
by
Reeves, pp.
Edited by Rev. Dr.
Sanctorum, "tomus
Junii
"
Segiani presbyteri, qui S. Honorii I. PP, copy we have the followin—g Irish stanza,
andtoaScottishBreviary liishop "
Cein
ppimreib ma^vcc mint) er»"upAic LApeiibuA'OAij bAptiAip.
"They met on one road: the chief feast
of Mark a conspicuous diadem,—with the triumphant feast of Barnabas. " "Trans-
'
Thus:
Innerlothrae
Forbes' Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 202.
niAip •oocopApnAic
2
In his "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. xvii. , num. 1048.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii x. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 262.
61 8 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [June 1 1.
Article XII. —Reputed Festival of St. Etto, Bishop. In the Benedictine Kalendar of Dorgan, he has incorrectly entered at this date a
Festival for St. Etto,
who is venerated rather on the 8th of
1
MUCH
Bishop,
July.
Clebent! ) JBay of 3une*
ARTICLE I. —ST. MAC TAIL, OF KILCULLEN, COUNTY OF KILDARE. [FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
obscurity of date and personality hovers over the memorials of the of the Irish Church. It would
present early prelate primitive
seem, according to the account of Rev. John Francis Shearman, there were no less than three bishops, and all denominated Mac Tail, while these are
named in connexion with Kilcullen. 1 these —if severally — Regarding bishops
such there were we have little information, and that is exceedingly unreli- able. ^The Bishop, established by St. Patrick in that See, is thought by some to have been Mac Tail, the son of Dorgan, great-grandson to Aengus Mac
Nadfraich, King
of
Cashel,
who was
a. d.
2 at now Kelles- Cellosnad,
slain,
town, county of Carlow ; but, this chronology should hardly agree with an appointment made by the Apostle of Ireland, as in such case, he should have been bishop for an incredibly long period. Another Bishop of Kilcullen, according to some authorities, was Mac Tail, son of Eochaidh, son to Barr,3 regulus of Leix. The Bishop of Kilcullen, Mac Tail, venerated on this day, is otherwise called * Eogan, son to Corcran. s He is said to have been son
son to Cathair Mor, King of Leinster and monarch of Ireland, who was slain a. d. 177. The truth seems to be, that the genealogists have been astray, in
compiling the pedigree of Mac Tail, Bishop of Kilcullen, nor do we find reason for supposing, that a second bearing that name ever lived there in the station of its Bishop. The eldest son of Cathair Mor is said to have been RossFailghe,fromwhomdescendedtheUiFailghe7 thesecondsonbeing
489,
6 and whose father was Oilill son Mor,
Barrache
of Braccan, son of Fiach, son to Dairre Barrach—founder of that family—and
of of the Monach,
Hy
race,
actions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. xciii. —
'
;
6 "The Saint Genealogy in the ' Book of Lecan,' fol. 196, and the same authority in McFirbis, states that Mac Tail of Cilcul- len was one of the saints of tlie Hy Barrche.
second
The Mac Tail, the grandson of Barr,
Ring of Leix, may have been also a bishop in this See. The third Mac Tail, son of
Article Xll.
See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii x.
Among Article
p. 263.
See Loca Patriciana,"
the — feasts,
pretermitted
"
* I.
the
Dergan, of si.
;
great grandson Aengus, 486, is too far in advance of 548 to be the
num. viii. , pp. 147 to 151.
3 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters,'' vol. i. , pp. 152, 153.
to whom this date as it suits belongs;
is said to have been
He —
of Wicklow.
* By the O'Clerys.
s See "Annals of the Four Masters,"
vol. t. , pp. 186, 187.
Shearman's p. 149.
"
Loca Patriciana," No. viii. ,
bishop
the epoch of the Hy Barrche Mac Tail, it
be rather to him than to the great-grand- may assigned
3
father to Baeithin of Inis-Baeithin, county grandson of King Barr. " Rev. John Francis
7 The O'Conor-Failghe, the O'Dempseys of Clanmalier, and the O'Dunnes of Hy-
June ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 619
Dairre Barracb,8 founder of the Hy Bairrche tribe ; while Cathair Mor had other sons, named Bresal Enechglais,9 Fergus Loscan,10 Fiach Baicheda,
Crimthann,
11 and Oilill Cetach. 12 The sons of Dairre Barrach were x 3 Fiach,
T
Muiredach Snithe and Eochaidh Guinech + while these are said to have
;
settled in the country between the Slaney and the Barrow, whence they were
expelled by the Hy Cinnselagh, when these grew into power. The people of the Cliu and of the Fothartha sided with the Hy Barrche, and many battles
were waged between them in the fifth century. Some of the Hy Barrche were banished long before the death of Crimthan, in the year 484; while repeated acts of violence and injustice, inflicted on the family of Eochaidh Guinech, led to the murder of his own
grandfather
brated the Natalis of St. Mac Tail, who was the son of a
16 if we are tocreditsomeIrishtraditions,'7 whichhowever,cannotberegardedasalto- gether reliable. But, indeed, there is a diversity of opinion as to his family and descent. It would seem, from the Martyrology of Tallagh, that he was at first called Eogan, before he acquired this name of Mac Tail. 18 The schor
liast on St. Oengus '9 states, however, that Eogan the wright, sonofDergan, or Eogan, son of Oengus, was the father of Mac Tail. Others state his proper name to have been of race. 20 The have 21 that
Aengus, Lughaidh's O'Clerys it, hebelongedtotheraceofCore,sonofLughaidh,KingofMunster. Heis said, by these writers, also, to have been brother to Colman, ofCill Cleitighe. This latter place has been identified as Kilclief, where lived two brothers,
and to 22 were sons of a chief of Eogan Niall, Diochu, ofSaul,andall Trichem,
Regan, were branches of this stock.
8 He is said to have lived at Dun Aillinn, now Cnoc Aulinn, where he fostered
Eoghan Mor.
9 From him the Ui Enechglais, in the
southern part of Kildare County in the barony of Arklow, &c.
10 From him descend the Hy-Loscan.
11 From him the Ui Crimthann are de- scended.
" The Ui Cethach are descended from
him, and they possessed Ikeathy in Kildare and Crioch na Gceadachinthe King's County. 13FromhimaredescendedtheUiMael- umha, Mac Gorman, Ui Cearnach or Kear- ney, Ui Tresach or Tracy, Ui Mac Aedha or
Hughes.
14 A celebrated warrior, who had been en-
gaged in various battles.
15 See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
Oengur 44inm baipce Apcup UocopjAb mbo binur"
m&c CaiL he opm AniAch
CepbochAit) pobochbepech.
" Mac Tail of Cell Cuilinn Ceir
Son of Eochaid, of vehement Dair-
chen,
And this is why he is Mac Tail Because he took the wright's tal
(adze).
Oengus was his baptismal name at
first
Untilhetookthe . . . ?
—"
<( Loca —Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 149, and demy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
No. 10. The genealogy of the Ui Bairrche, the Ui Crimthann, and the Ui Cetach, &c, &c, p. 180.
i.
part On the Calendar of Oengus, edited
by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. ci.
18 " Mac Tail Cille Cuilinn qui et Eoghan
16 The scholiast on St. ^Engus' Festilogy prius dictus est. " See Rev. Dr. Kelly's
in the Leabhar Breac states, that because
he was son of a wright or carpenter, he got
the name of Mac " the son of adze. ''
"
Calendar of Irish Saints," &c, p. xxvi. , at the iii. of the Ides, or nth day of June.
copy.
20 The last-named monarch was King of
Munster.
which is
17 These are conveyed in an Irish poem,
19 In the Eeabhar Breac
Tail,
interpreted
and rendered into
ttlAC CAib CluLle CmbnTO Ceip 111ac OcliAch mic T)Aipcrun oem Ocur ifAipe ip tn ac CaiL
-ApcriAl mcre<xij\ oojAbaib.
21 See " The of Martyrology
thus
Dr. Whitley Stokes :—
given
English, by
Donegal, edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
Crimthan. J 5 On this is cele- day
'
Son of Adze' he (was called) thence- forward
wright,
Though he was chaste (and) was a cleric. "
Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca-
166, 167.
22
See an account of him, in the Fourth Volume of this work, at the 29th of April, Art. i.
23 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. "
620 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June u.
Uladh. Classed among the disciples of the great Irish Apostle,** this saint
2
Mactalius is thought to have been identical with the Maceleus, ^ mentioned
among the disciples of St. Patrick, as found in his Life,15 and cited by
Ussher,*
6 and 3? It is that Mac Tail met St. Patrick in
by Colgan. where his branch of the
probable,
Hy
Barrche 28 to have been located. appear
Ulster,
Mac Tail was one of the artificers of St. Patrick, according to some old list of his household. One of the Patriarchs of our Irish Church, St. Iserninus,*9 also called St. Fith or Id, and who is stated to have received orders with the Irish Apostle St. Patrick,30 afterwards devoted himself to the labours ofthe Irish mission. 3 1 He is said to have preached in Ui-Briuin Cualann, and there to have founded Kilcullen. It has been thought, that St. Patrick first placed
a as over Kil- bishop
one of his earliest
cullen^ where he continued in that charge, until about the year 460. We are told, 34 that Sliabh Cuilinn was the ancient name of old Killcullen hill,3s having taken its denomination from a man named Cuilleann. There a monas- tery formerly stood, the church of which being called Cill Cuilinn, "Church of Cuilinn" gave name to the town, known as Old Kilcullen. The present holy man Mac Tail is called Bishop of Kilcullen, which is now a parish in the county of Kildare. He is supposed to have succeeded Isserninus or Fith at Kilcullen, after a. d. 460, when the latter went back to his first flock. 3° We have an account of the ** Maiden Coinengean,''37 or as she is called Cuach,38 having been a pupil or dalthaof Mac Tail of Cillcuillinn, and certain injurious reports were circulated regarding both master and pupil. Whether these reports were correct or otherwise cannot be ascertained ; but, according to what appears to have been legendary, alone, the clergy of Leinster are said to havedenouncedMacTail. 39 Thatparishhasobtaineditsdenominationfrom the circumstance of the parochial church being situated in the town of old Kilcullen. This denomination has been communicated, likewise, to a barony, co-extensive with the parish. A bridge was built over the River Liffey in 1319,
disciples,
Issemin, or
Iserninus,3
by Maurice Jakis, a Canon belonging to the church of Kildare. This structure gavedenominationtothetown,whichisnowknownasKilcullenbridge. Itwas
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 167.
3* We are lokl, that this Maceleusor Mac- talius was also the patron of Dublin, by Thomas O'Conor, in a letter dated Naas, November 14th, 1837. See " Letters con- tabling Information relative to the Antiqui- ties of the County of Kildare, collected dur- ing the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837," vol. i. , p. 195.
as As written by Tirechan.
fessor Rhys' "Lectures on Welch Philogy," p. 26. Second edition.
* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxvi. , and nn. 39, 40, pp. 14, 18, 19.
3 ' It is stated, that he came to Ireland, so early as A. n. 438. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Patnciana," No. viii. , pp. 139, 140.
>' His festival day is unknown.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 265.
w Mr. Thomas O'Conor, in " Letters By
containing Information relative to the Anti- quities of the County of Kildare, collected
16
See Frimordia Ecclesiarum Britannica-
rum," cap. xvii. , p. 950.
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nioe," xx. Februarii. Vita S. Oleani, n. 22,
1 See p. 378.
Colgan's
*
of Man, who was of the Hy Barrche, also
lived in Ulster, where he was perhaps ljorn,
his family having migrated there on account
of persecutions they met in their native
territory in Leinster. See Rev. John hill of old Kilcullen. See ibU. , p. 190. Francis Shearman's "Loca Patriciana,"
Mac-Cuil, the third bishop of the Isle
during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837," vol. i. Letter dated Naas, No-
No. viii. , pp. 149, 150.
"' It is said, this name was derived from
Isarti, a Gaulish word for " iron," and cog- nate to the old Irish tarn, or tarn. See Pro-
*See Rev. John Francis Sheaiman's "Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 148.
vember 14th, 1837, p. 189.
3S The site of the old parochial church is
said to be traceable in the churchyard on the
37 Her feast occurs, at the 29th of April, where some notices of her may be seen, in the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. ii.
June i i . ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 62 1
erected about a mile north-west of this latter place. That bridge, built at the
period just mentioned, is said to have spanned the Liffey in a different place
from where the present Kilcullen bridge at the town crosses it. The decay of
Old Kilcullen may be traced to such circumstance, and now hardly a trace of
the former town appears. Towards the close of the last century to the east of
the Round Tower was the shaft of cross/ comprised in a single stone ten
feet high, and in a garden bounding the north of the churchyard was the
pedestal of another cross. 41 The shaft of the cross remained in the year 1837,
but it exceeded ten feet in height, and the pedestal was then found lying in a
small field to the north of the churchyard. About eleven yards to the north-
west of the tower stood part of a stone cross, about four and a-half feet high,
exhibiting on the side facing the tower the figure of an Abbot or of a Bishop
holding in his left hand a crozier, with a single crook. It was evidently in-
tended to represent a crozier of the primitive ages of Christianity in Ireland ;
and, in his right hand there was a hatchet with a short handle. To the right
of this figure was shown a bell of the primitive angular form, and under it might
be seen a human figure lying on one side, with its head under the hatchet.
On all the other sides were various representations, and similar to those, which
are seen on Irish crosses of the same kind. A pedestal, on which probably
this cross originally stood, lay adjoining a headstone, which was a few yards
distant from it towards the north-east. Beside this pedestal was a tomb-
2
stone/ exhibiting the figure of a warrior clad in mail/3 which tradition says,
represents Rowley or Rowland Eustace. 44 In the churchyard, there is an ancient Round Tower, not exceeding fifty feet in height, with four windows. It did not appear to have been higher in the last century, but a considerable portion of the top is now broken. That part containing the windows has long disappeared, while the structure has been reduced to the height of about
30 feet. This remaining part being in a tottering state has been supported by inserting into its openings small stones bound with cement. According to tradition, and to Archdall/s Old Kilcullen was a large walled town with seven gates. This writer states, that one gate only remained in his time.
Article VI. —St. Ainmire, or Ainmirech, of Aileach, County of Donegal. Veneration was given$ on this day, ioth of June, to Ainmirech
1
peninsula
in the county of Donegal. The Irish word Ainmire is said to have an identi- cal meaning with the Latin word Animosus. 3 Again, in the Martyrology of
Donegal,* the name Ainmire, of Aileach, is entered at the same date.
Article VII. —Reputed Feast for the Translation of the Relics of St. Patrick, St. Columba and St. Brigid. A Manuscript, classed B 1, 3, has an office for the Translation of the Relics of St. Patrick,
Britannicarum, cap. xvii. , p. 943. 382, 383. , and n. (e), p. 381.
44 SeeGiraldi Cambrensis "Opera," vol. v. ,
of Ailich, according to the Martyrology of Tallagh.
This place, formerly
is nowknownas 2 in the very celebrated, Elagh,
of and Inishowen,
edited by James K. Dimoek, M. A. " Topo-
grapliia Hibernica," Dist. ii. , cap. lii. , liii. , "
p. 134. Also, Expugnatio Hibernica," lib. ii. , cap. xxii. , pp. 354, 355.
See ibid.
s See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
5 See Messingham's Sanctorum," p. 432.
"
Florilogium Insuloe
6
See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese ofMeath,
For an interesting account of the Anti- quities of this place, the reader is referred to the Memoir of the City and North- Western Liberties of Londonderry," Ancient, sect. 2, pp. 217 to 236.
3 One bearing this name is known to have
in written the Acts of St. Brigid. See the
Second Volume of this work, at the istday
of February, Life St. Brigid, chap. i.
4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
164, 165.
Ancient and Modern,"' vol. hi. , chap, lxxiv. ,
pp. 562 to 565.
i Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
164. i65. Article v.
—
Edited by Rev. Dr.
Kelly, p. xxvi.
2 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
166, 167.
3 See O'Donovan's Edition, vol. i. , pp.
part i. , pp. 130,—131.
Article vi. Kelly, p. xxi.
"
'
Edited by Rev. Dr.
June io/j LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
617
St. Columba and St.
at the 10th of 1 It June.
to the
At this same date, the Bollandists have entered the Festival of St. Patrick's Translation in Scotia, on the authority of Greven, Canisius and Ferrarius, while they remark that it was celebrated with an
2
Article VIII. —St. Rethach, Son of Coemhan. In the Martyrolo-
of * and of 2 a festival is recorded at the 10th of
gies Tallagh Donegal, June,
in honour of Rethach, son of Coemhan.
Article IX. —Reputed Festival of Segianus, Presbyter, at Inver-
leith. Atthe10thofJune,ThomasDempsterinhisMenologiumScoto-
1
rum, has a festival for Segianus, a Presbyter, at Inveleith. According to that
writer,PopeHonoriusI. addressedletterstohim,whichservedtobringthe Scots over to celebrating Easter according to the Roman rite. Now, Pope
Brigid, of Trinity College, Dublin.
belongs
Library
Ecclesiastical Office.
Honorius died in the
nus flourished in the year 666.
while states Dempster
elsewhere,
2 that
Martyrology,
Ferrarius adds the
year 638,
Segia- Following Dempster, and citing the Scottish
— of a and of Hector authority Breviary Boetius;
—as observe the Bollandists 3 who these at the 10th although give particulars
ofJune thereisnostatementaboutthetitleofthatBreviary.
Article X. —Festival of the Elevation of the Remains of St. Suitbert, Confessor, at Keiserswerdt, on the Rhine. In some Kalendars appears a Festival, at the 10th of June, to commemorate the Elevation ' of the remains of St. Suitbert or Suibert, Bishop, and Apostle of the Frisons and of the Boructuarians, whose Life has been already written,
2
at the 1st of March, the date for his chief feast.
ArticleXI. —FestivalsofMarkandBarnabas. IntheFestilogy
of St. 1 at the 10th of is entered the celebration of Mark and ^Engus, June,
Barnabas ; but without any scholion annexed, to indicate who these saints had been. Elsewhere, we can find no record of such feasts, at this day.
Article X. — ' It is thus entered " S. Translatio Sanctorum Patricii Columba et Suiberti Confessoris, in Insula-Csesaris,
Article vii. — « Thus noted Brigida, Duplea fin.
:
Ides
iiii. ,
x.
3
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii
the — 262. Among pretermitted feasts, p.
Elevatio," in Fastis Agrippiensibus, in Gele-
nius, and in the Martyrologies of various monasteries. See the Bollandists' "Acta
Article viii. Kelly, p. xxvi.
x. the Among
— Leabhar Breac Article xi. In the
with its English translation: Com>pecAC popAencliAe
3 Edited
ii. , pretermitted saints, p. 262.
Drs. Todd and
—
literis admonitus, Scotos suos, ad pascatis Romano ritu celebrationem adduxit, BT. B. " By these letters, he refers t—o Hector Boetius
* See notices of him, in the Third Volume of this work, at that date, Art. ii.
166, 167. Article ix.
by
Reeves, pp.
Edited by Rev. Dr.
Sanctorum, "tomus
Junii
"
Segiani presbyteri, qui S. Honorii I. PP, copy we have the followin—g Irish stanza,
andtoaScottishBreviary liishop "
Cein
ppimreib ma^vcc mint) er»"upAic LApeiibuA'OAij bAptiAip.
"They met on one road: the chief feast
of Mark a conspicuous diadem,—with the triumphant feast of Barnabas. " "Trans-
'
Thus:
Innerlothrae
Forbes' Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 202.
niAip •oocopApnAic
2
In his "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. xvii. , num. 1048.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii x. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 262.
61 8 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [June 1 1.
Article XII. —Reputed Festival of St. Etto, Bishop. In the Benedictine Kalendar of Dorgan, he has incorrectly entered at this date a
Festival for St. Etto,
who is venerated rather on the 8th of
1
MUCH
Bishop,
July.
Clebent! ) JBay of 3une*
ARTICLE I. —ST. MAC TAIL, OF KILCULLEN, COUNTY OF KILDARE. [FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
obscurity of date and personality hovers over the memorials of the of the Irish Church. It would
present early prelate primitive
seem, according to the account of Rev. John Francis Shearman, there were no less than three bishops, and all denominated Mac Tail, while these are
named in connexion with Kilcullen. 1 these —if severally — Regarding bishops
such there were we have little information, and that is exceedingly unreli- able. ^The Bishop, established by St. Patrick in that See, is thought by some to have been Mac Tail, the son of Dorgan, great-grandson to Aengus Mac
Nadfraich, King
of
Cashel,
who was
a. d.
2 at now Kelles- Cellosnad,
slain,
town, county of Carlow ; but, this chronology should hardly agree with an appointment made by the Apostle of Ireland, as in such case, he should have been bishop for an incredibly long period. Another Bishop of Kilcullen, according to some authorities, was Mac Tail, son of Eochaidh, son to Barr,3 regulus of Leix. The Bishop of Kilcullen, Mac Tail, venerated on this day, is otherwise called * Eogan, son to Corcran. s He is said to have been son
son to Cathair Mor, King of Leinster and monarch of Ireland, who was slain a. d. 177. The truth seems to be, that the genealogists have been astray, in
compiling the pedigree of Mac Tail, Bishop of Kilcullen, nor do we find reason for supposing, that a second bearing that name ever lived there in the station of its Bishop. The eldest son of Cathair Mor is said to have been RossFailghe,fromwhomdescendedtheUiFailghe7 thesecondsonbeing
489,
6 and whose father was Oilill son Mor,
Barrache
of Braccan, son of Fiach, son to Dairre Barrach—founder of that family—and
of of the Monach,
Hy
race,
actions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. xciii. —
'
;
6 "The Saint Genealogy in the ' Book of Lecan,' fol. 196, and the same authority in McFirbis, states that Mac Tail of Cilcul- len was one of the saints of tlie Hy Barrche.
second
The Mac Tail, the grandson of Barr,
Ring of Leix, may have been also a bishop in this See. The third Mac Tail, son of
Article Xll.
See the Bollandists' " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii x.
Among Article
p. 263.
See Loca Patriciana,"
the — feasts,
pretermitted
"
* I.
the
Dergan, of si.
;
great grandson Aengus, 486, is too far in advance of 548 to be the
num. viii. , pp. 147 to 151.
3 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters,'' vol. i. , pp. 152, 153.
to whom this date as it suits belongs;
is said to have been
He —
of Wicklow.
* By the O'Clerys.
s See "Annals of the Four Masters,"
vol. t. , pp. 186, 187.
Shearman's p. 149.
"
Loca Patriciana," No. viii. ,
bishop
the epoch of the Hy Barrche Mac Tail, it
be rather to him than to the great-grand- may assigned
3
father to Baeithin of Inis-Baeithin, county grandson of King Barr. " Rev. John Francis
7 The O'Conor-Failghe, the O'Dempseys of Clanmalier, and the O'Dunnes of Hy-
June ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 619
Dairre Barracb,8 founder of the Hy Bairrche tribe ; while Cathair Mor had other sons, named Bresal Enechglais,9 Fergus Loscan,10 Fiach Baicheda,
Crimthann,
11 and Oilill Cetach. 12 The sons of Dairre Barrach were x 3 Fiach,
T
Muiredach Snithe and Eochaidh Guinech + while these are said to have
;
settled in the country between the Slaney and the Barrow, whence they were
expelled by the Hy Cinnselagh, when these grew into power. The people of the Cliu and of the Fothartha sided with the Hy Barrche, and many battles
were waged between them in the fifth century. Some of the Hy Barrche were banished long before the death of Crimthan, in the year 484; while repeated acts of violence and injustice, inflicted on the family of Eochaidh Guinech, led to the murder of his own
grandfather
brated the Natalis of St. Mac Tail, who was the son of a
16 if we are tocreditsomeIrishtraditions,'7 whichhowever,cannotberegardedasalto- gether reliable. But, indeed, there is a diversity of opinion as to his family and descent. It would seem, from the Martyrology of Tallagh, that he was at first called Eogan, before he acquired this name of Mac Tail. 18 The schor
liast on St. Oengus '9 states, however, that Eogan the wright, sonofDergan, or Eogan, son of Oengus, was the father of Mac Tail. Others state his proper name to have been of race. 20 The have 21 that
Aengus, Lughaidh's O'Clerys it, hebelongedtotheraceofCore,sonofLughaidh,KingofMunster. Heis said, by these writers, also, to have been brother to Colman, ofCill Cleitighe. This latter place has been identified as Kilclief, where lived two brothers,
and to 22 were sons of a chief of Eogan Niall, Diochu, ofSaul,andall Trichem,
Regan, were branches of this stock.
8 He is said to have lived at Dun Aillinn, now Cnoc Aulinn, where he fostered
Eoghan Mor.
9 From him the Ui Enechglais, in the
southern part of Kildare County in the barony of Arklow, &c.
10 From him descend the Hy-Loscan.
11 From him the Ui Crimthann are de- scended.
" The Ui Cethach are descended from
him, and they possessed Ikeathy in Kildare and Crioch na Gceadachinthe King's County. 13FromhimaredescendedtheUiMael- umha, Mac Gorman, Ui Cearnach or Kear- ney, Ui Tresach or Tracy, Ui Mac Aedha or
Hughes.
14 A celebrated warrior, who had been en-
gaged in various battles.
15 See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
Oengur 44inm baipce Apcup UocopjAb mbo binur"
m&c CaiL he opm AniAch
CepbochAit) pobochbepech.
" Mac Tail of Cell Cuilinn Ceir
Son of Eochaid, of vehement Dair-
chen,
And this is why he is Mac Tail Because he took the wright's tal
(adze).
Oengus was his baptismal name at
first
Untilhetookthe . . . ?
—"
<( Loca —Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 149, and demy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
No. 10. The genealogy of the Ui Bairrche, the Ui Crimthann, and the Ui Cetach, &c, &c, p. 180.
i.
part On the Calendar of Oengus, edited
by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. ci.
18 " Mac Tail Cille Cuilinn qui et Eoghan
16 The scholiast on St. ^Engus' Festilogy prius dictus est. " See Rev. Dr. Kelly's
in the Leabhar Breac states, that because
he was son of a wright or carpenter, he got
the name of Mac " the son of adze. ''
"
Calendar of Irish Saints," &c, p. xxvi. , at the iii. of the Ides, or nth day of June.
copy.
20 The last-named monarch was King of
Munster.
which is
17 These are conveyed in an Irish poem,
19 In the Eeabhar Breac
Tail,
interpreted
and rendered into
ttlAC CAib CluLle CmbnTO Ceip 111ac OcliAch mic T)Aipcrun oem Ocur ifAipe ip tn ac CaiL
-ApcriAl mcre<xij\ oojAbaib.
21 See " The of Martyrology
thus
Dr. Whitley Stokes :—
given
English, by
Donegal, edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
Crimthan. J 5 On this is cele- day
'
Son of Adze' he (was called) thence- forward
wright,
Though he was chaste (and) was a cleric. "
Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca-
166, 167.
22
See an account of him, in the Fourth Volume of this work, at the 29th of April, Art. i.
23 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. "
620 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June u.
Uladh. Classed among the disciples of the great Irish Apostle,** this saint
2
Mactalius is thought to have been identical with the Maceleus, ^ mentioned
among the disciples of St. Patrick, as found in his Life,15 and cited by
Ussher,*
6 and 3? It is that Mac Tail met St. Patrick in
by Colgan. where his branch of the
probable,
Hy
Barrche 28 to have been located. appear
Ulster,
Mac Tail was one of the artificers of St. Patrick, according to some old list of his household. One of the Patriarchs of our Irish Church, St. Iserninus,*9 also called St. Fith or Id, and who is stated to have received orders with the Irish Apostle St. Patrick,30 afterwards devoted himself to the labours ofthe Irish mission. 3 1 He is said to have preached in Ui-Briuin Cualann, and there to have founded Kilcullen. It has been thought, that St. Patrick first placed
a as over Kil- bishop
one of his earliest
cullen^ where he continued in that charge, until about the year 460. We are told, 34 that Sliabh Cuilinn was the ancient name of old Killcullen hill,3s having taken its denomination from a man named Cuilleann. There a monas- tery formerly stood, the church of which being called Cill Cuilinn, "Church of Cuilinn" gave name to the town, known as Old Kilcullen. The present holy man Mac Tail is called Bishop of Kilcullen, which is now a parish in the county of Kildare. He is supposed to have succeeded Isserninus or Fith at Kilcullen, after a. d. 460, when the latter went back to his first flock. 3° We have an account of the ** Maiden Coinengean,''37 or as she is called Cuach,38 having been a pupil or dalthaof Mac Tail of Cillcuillinn, and certain injurious reports were circulated regarding both master and pupil. Whether these reports were correct or otherwise cannot be ascertained ; but, according to what appears to have been legendary, alone, the clergy of Leinster are said to havedenouncedMacTail. 39 Thatparishhasobtaineditsdenominationfrom the circumstance of the parochial church being situated in the town of old Kilcullen. This denomination has been communicated, likewise, to a barony, co-extensive with the parish. A bridge was built over the River Liffey in 1319,
disciples,
Issemin, or
Iserninus,3
by Maurice Jakis, a Canon belonging to the church of Kildare. This structure gavedenominationtothetown,whichisnowknownasKilcullenbridge. Itwas
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 167.
3* We are lokl, that this Maceleusor Mac- talius was also the patron of Dublin, by Thomas O'Conor, in a letter dated Naas, November 14th, 1837. See " Letters con- tabling Information relative to the Antiqui- ties of the County of Kildare, collected dur- ing the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837," vol. i. , p. 195.
as As written by Tirechan.
fessor Rhys' "Lectures on Welch Philogy," p. 26. Second edition.
* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxvi. , and nn. 39, 40, pp. 14, 18, 19.
3 ' It is stated, that he came to Ireland, so early as A. n. 438. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Patnciana," No. viii. , pp. 139, 140.
>' His festival day is unknown.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 265.
w Mr. Thomas O'Conor, in " Letters By
containing Information relative to the Anti- quities of the County of Kildare, collected
16
See Frimordia Ecclesiarum Britannica-
rum," cap. xvii. , p. 950.
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nioe," xx. Februarii. Vita S. Oleani, n. 22,
1 See p. 378.
Colgan's
*
of Man, who was of the Hy Barrche, also
lived in Ulster, where he was perhaps ljorn,
his family having migrated there on account
of persecutions they met in their native
territory in Leinster. See Rev. John hill of old Kilcullen. See ibU. , p. 190. Francis Shearman's "Loca Patriciana,"
Mac-Cuil, the third bishop of the Isle
during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837," vol. i. Letter dated Naas, No-
No. viii. , pp. 149, 150.
"' It is said, this name was derived from
Isarti, a Gaulish word for " iron," and cog- nate to the old Irish tarn, or tarn. See Pro-
*See Rev. John Francis Sheaiman's "Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 148.
vember 14th, 1837, p. 189.
3S The site of the old parochial church is
said to be traceable in the churchyard on the
37 Her feast occurs, at the 29th of April, where some notices of her may be seen, in the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. ii.
June i i . ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 62 1
erected about a mile north-west of this latter place. That bridge, built at the
period just mentioned, is said to have spanned the Liffey in a different place
from where the present Kilcullen bridge at the town crosses it. The decay of
Old Kilcullen may be traced to such circumstance, and now hardly a trace of
the former town appears. Towards the close of the last century to the east of
the Round Tower was the shaft of cross/ comprised in a single stone ten
feet high, and in a garden bounding the north of the churchyard was the
pedestal of another cross. 41 The shaft of the cross remained in the year 1837,
but it exceeded ten feet in height, and the pedestal was then found lying in a
small field to the north of the churchyard. About eleven yards to the north-
west of the tower stood part of a stone cross, about four and a-half feet high,
exhibiting on the side facing the tower the figure of an Abbot or of a Bishop
holding in his left hand a crozier, with a single crook. It was evidently in-
tended to represent a crozier of the primitive ages of Christianity in Ireland ;
and, in his right hand there was a hatchet with a short handle. To the right
of this figure was shown a bell of the primitive angular form, and under it might
be seen a human figure lying on one side, with its head under the hatchet.
On all the other sides were various representations, and similar to those, which
are seen on Irish crosses of the same kind. A pedestal, on which probably
this cross originally stood, lay adjoining a headstone, which was a few yards
distant from it towards the north-east. Beside this pedestal was a tomb-
2
stone/ exhibiting the figure of a warrior clad in mail/3 which tradition says,
represents Rowley or Rowland Eustace. 44 In the churchyard, there is an ancient Round Tower, not exceeding fifty feet in height, with four windows. It did not appear to have been higher in the last century, but a considerable portion of the top is now broken. That part containing the windows has long disappeared, while the structure has been reduced to the height of about
30 feet. This remaining part being in a tottering state has been supported by inserting into its openings small stones bound with cement. According to tradition, and to Archdall/s Old Kilcullen was a large walled town with seven gates. This writer states, that one gate only remained in his time.
