Patricio
fundata est ; et S.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
Patricii," lib.
ii.
, cap.
vii.
, p.
52.
^7 Jocelyn, and, after him, strangely enough. Archbishop Ussher, state, that St. Patrick built here a noble city. See Sexta
Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxv. , p. loi. Also,
"A. D. 444, Ardmachafundataest. " O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus iv.
*9 See James Stuart's " Historical Me-
moirs of the City of Armagh," chap, i. , p. 82. Colgan says, in his "Trias Thauma-
turga," Septima Appendix ad Acta S. Pa- tricii, pars, i. , p. 291, that this is the most probable date for its erection. Colgan, too, adduces, in favour of this date, a most ex- traordinary argument, viz. , that it is the only one, which will leave room for the in- cumbencies at
" ^^
^ See also the Latin Tripartite Life.
Primordia," cap. xi. , p. 358.
So state the "Annales Ultonien—ses. "
Sen-Patrick.
them. Notwithstanding, Colgan thought, that, in order to provide room for them, it ought to be received. Now, he might have easily discovered, that, were we to admit, with the above Catalogue, those persons to
Dr.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 731
belonging to that See,9° and said to have been taken from the Calendar of
Cashel, was published by Ussher,9' to determine local chronology,? ^ by a relative comparison of succession dates. 93 At the year 445, likewise, it is
supposed, by Harris,''* that Armagh had been founded, by the Irish Apostle ; but, owing to the fact, that the greatest part of Lemster and of Munster had not then been reclaimed from paganism, he had not the power to make it what he desired, viz. , the Metropolitan and Primatial See of all Ireland. ss However, he went to Macha, for the express purpose of establishing his See there,9^ and, as soon as this church had been erected, Armagh became
have been bishops of Armagh, this See should have been founded several years be- fore A. D, 445.
9^ Should we stand by this Catalogue, ac-
cording to the Rev. Dr. I,anigan, it must
follow, that the See of Armagh existed, more than fifteen or sixteen years, before
A. D. 445. Therefore, Dr. Lanigan argues, it should have existed, prior to St. Patrick's
mission, or, at least, more than six years be- fore the time calculated by Ussher.
of the Christian era. The compilers of the Ulster Annals are supposed, to have been Charles Maguire and Roderick Cassidy.
5' See his 875.
*'
ad Acta S. Patricii, pars, ii. , p. 292. The
following is a transcript of this Catalogue :
"
Patricius (annis. ) Secundinus XVI. , Patric, Senior, X. , Benignus X. , Hierlatius XVIIL, CorbmacusXV. , Dubthacus XVI. , Alildus XIII. , Alildus X. , Duachus. Fiach-
Primordia," cap. xvii. , p.
9* In that Catalogue, eighteen years are reckoned for the administration of larlath.
This computation Ussher ingeniously
stretches to the year 483. Wherefore he rius, al. Hifrachrius. Fedlimius XX. , Caer-
places larlath's accession at A. D. 465. Ten
years are assigned to Benignusj the imme-
diate predecessor of larlath ; and thus
Ussher goes back to A. D. 455. Benignus is
placed after Sen-Patrick. According to the
said Catalogue, this latter prelate governed Arectactus I. , Cudiniseus IV. , Connmacus for ten years, and thus we are brought to XIV. , Torpachus I. , Nuadus III. , Mac- A. D, 445. This is then the alleged year for longsechus XIII. , Artrigius II. , Eugenius the foundation of Armagh. All this might Monaster VIIL, F. laraniianus XIV. ,
do very well, did not the catalogue mention
Secundinus, as a predecessor of Sen- Patrick,
and holding the See for fifteen years, or, as
one of Ussher'3 copies had it, for six years. I. , Cathasacius XX. , Muredacius IX. , In Colgan's edition, Secundinus ruled xvi. Dub-daletha XXXIIL, Murecanus III. ,
years. Again, prior to Secundinus, St. Moel-murius XIX. , Amalgadius XXX. ,
Patrick himself presided over that metropo- litan See. To get rid of difficulties, pointed out. Dr. Lanigan maintains,—that neither
Dub-daletha XII. , Cumascacius III. , Moel- isa XXVIL, Domnaldus. " As the Cata- logue ends, with the latter Archbishop, who
a — ruled the See from A. D. Secundinus, nor Sen-Patrick personage 1092
to 1
whose existence he otherwise admitted gan thinks it must have been compiled were ever bishops of Armagh. The imme- within these dates, since the term of his in- diate predecessor of Benignus, he considers cumbency is not completed. Nor is the
to have been the great St. Patrick himself.
Dr. Lanigan agrees with him, as to Secun- dinus, and also as to Sen- Patrick ; not,
number of St. Patrick's years of rule de- termined, and this seems to show, that four of his vicar or "assistant bishops were under him, until his death, assigned to A. D. 493. He does not know, if the omission of dates, for the incumbency of other prelates, were the choice of the writer, or an error of tran-
however, for the purpose of propping any
hypothesis, but because he thinks, there was
no such person, distinct from our great
Apostle. Notwithstanding, some writer^
have imagined, that there was a distinct scribers. The numerals affixed designate personage so called. What then becomes the years of the preceding Archbishops' of the authority of that catalogue ? Ussher
is forced to acknowledge, it is wrong from its very beginning. How then can we de-
pend on its computation for the episcopal years of St. Benignus ? It must be recol- lected, likewise, that in the said catalogue there is no reference whatever to the
government in the See. 5^SeeHarris'Ware,vol. i. , "Bishopsof
years
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," "
p. 5. Also, Nicholson's Irish Historical Library," chap, ii. , p. 14, and Harris'
Ware, vol.
i. , chap, xii. , p. 90.
ii. ,
" Writers of book Ireland,"
53 Colgan has also published it, in his ""
TriasThaumaturga, SeptimaAppendix
lanus X. , Eochodius, Senachus. Maclasrius.
Tomenius XXXV. , Seginus XXVII. , Flan- niusebhla XXVII. , Subneus XV. , Congasa- sius XX. , Kele-petrius VII. , Ferdachricius X. , Foennelachus III. , Dubhdaletha XV. ,
Diermitius IV. , Fethgna XXII. , Anmirius I. , Cathasacius IV. , MoelcovaV. , Maelbri- gidus XXIX. , Joseph IX. , Moel-Patricius
Armagh," p. 19.
95 This is in direct opposition, likewise,
to the statements generally given, in the various Lives of St, Patrick.
106,
Col-
732 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
the ecclesiastical seat of government for all Ireland. 97 That the primatial See of Armagh could not have existed,^^ at an earlier date than 454, or 455,^9 is an opinion entertained by the BolIandists^°° and by Rev. Dr. Lanigan. ^°' Other calculations/"^ especially the placing of Trim church, as an ecclesiastical erection, twenty-five years,^°3 before the foundation of that at Armagh,^"* should bring the latter event, to either a. d. 457,'°^ or 458,^°^ as noted in an extract,^°7 from an unpublished work of Roderick 0'Flaherty,'°^ and intituled,
" Christiana. "^°9 We Ogygia
thatTirechanknew
as to the time, when Armagh had been founded, and that his reason, for specify- ing the twenty-second year prior to it, was chiefly, because such a date corre- sponded with A. D. 433. "° It is computed, by Sir James Ware, that Armagh was founded a. d. 455,"'—although he had previously noted a. d. 445"^—and
for ten governed years by
St.
something
until —became its
Patrick, Benignus bishop. Then,
5* See Ussher's
Primordia," cap. xvii. ,
Mac-jNIagnus accord.
'°* "
p. 859.
97 Giraldus Cambrensis has expressed it
"
Bap- tizatus catervatim populis, et tota jam insula ad fidem Christi conversa, apud Ardmacham sibi sedem eligit ; quam etiam quasi metro- polim constituit et proprium totius Hiberniae
locum. "
9* In blank verse does Aubrey De Vera
Ecclesiastical Plistory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect,
very perspicuously, in a few words :
xiii. , n. 146, p. 318.
'°' This is found, as a manuscript addition
primatias
record " St. Patrick and the Founding of
'°8 Thus, he " Ardmacha metro- writes,
Armagh Cathedral. " See
"
Legends of St.
polis A. 458, a S.
Patricio fundata est ; et S. Benignus ab eo sibi substitutus immedia- tus successor,"
'°9 The Rev. Robert King notes, in his
" Memoir Introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," the foundation of this city, by St. Patrick, at A. c. 457. See p. 68.
"° Hence, Colgan has, in his " Index Chronologicus ad Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
Patrick," pp. 171 to 188.
99 This computation is also that in Harris'
"" Ware,vol. i. , BishopsofArmagh, atSt.
Patrick, p. 21.
'°° See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Februaiii xvii. Commentarius Prasvius ad
Acta S. Patricii, sect, v. , p. 523.
'°' "
See Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap. vL, sect, xiii. , p. 313. '°^ See the Sixth Life, cap. lii. , and the
Tripartite Life, lib. ii. , cap. ii.
'°3 As quoted by Ussher, Tirechan states,
nise," at A. D. 455 :
" Ardmacha extructa, et
that the church at Trim was built the
in sedem totius regni metropolitanam erecta per S. Patricium secundum S. Tirechanum. " '" See his work, on the Bishops of Ire- land, which did not appear, until the year
1665. "^
Ussher, in the Antiquities of Ireland, pub- lished A. D. 1654, cap. 29, and in his Anno- tationes ad S. Patricii Opuscula, published A. D. 1656, at p. 141.
"3 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch-
bishops of Armagh," p. 35. Although Dr. Lanigan does not agree with Ware, as to thelatterassertion; yet,thereisnonecessity
for Harris recurring to any presumed typo- graphical error of Ware, in setting down, A. D. 455. Such supposed mistake is not marked, even in the Errata to his work.
"* tlis feast is to the 9th of No- referred,
vember.
"5 She is thus named, in the Irish Tripar*
twenty-second year—or about A. D. 433—
Following the Ulster Annals and
be- fore the foundation of that at Armagh. See
"Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 854.
'°* It may be worth observing, that even
in Jocelyn's Life of St. Patrick, and in the Third and Fourth Lives, the preaching of our Apostle in Munster is treated of many chapters, before mention is made of his foundations at Armagh, which is not spoken of until towards the close of his southern mission.
"
'"5 See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
"
Four Masters, vol. i, pp. 142, 143. Also,
" Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," vi.
Colgan's
Martii. Vita S. Cadroe, n. 49, p. 503. The Annals of Clonmacnoise and of Senat-
may safely believe,
in 465, or in —the very year of his appointment as his English translator, Harris, states Benignus resigned the See to Iarlath. "3 These accounts lead to some confusion, in seeking to ascertain the exact date, for that impor- tant ecclesiastical foundation.
Among the favourite disciples of St. Patrick, Benignus, "• or Benen, is most particularly noticed. He seems to have been attached to the Apostle, as a constant companion. Daire's daughter, who is named Ercnait,"^ or
"
See Dr. Lanigan's
to Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," at p. 318, in a copy, once belonging to him, and now in the Dublin Society's Library.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 733
Ergnata,"^ greatly admired the personal appearance of St. Benen, and sweet to her were the charming tones of his voice, when engaged chaunting the sacred Psalms, and other Church Offices. Indeed, through their ears, did he devotionally move the souls of all hearers. A wasting disease seized upon Ergnait, so that she is said to have died of it. "7 Benen carried cretra^^^ to her from Patrick, when she suddenly arose alive, and thenceforward she
loved him spiritually. "? After a long life of religious devotion, she died, and she was buried, it is said, at Tamlaght-bo, now Tamlaght, in the parish of Eglish, and lying north-westwards from Armagh. This was the church,
whichshehadfounded. But,theO'Clerys'CalendargivesthisEargnat,^^" Virgin, as belonging to Dun-da-en,"^ in Dal-Araidhe, and now the parish of Duneane, in the county of Antrim,
One time, and apparently, when a British king's daughter"* arrived in Ireland, it is stated, that nine daughters, belonging to the king of the Longo-
bards,"^ even before the time,"9 usually assigned for their occupation of Italy. ^30 It is said, that messengers came from those virgins to St. Patrick, when they were at a place, called Ferta Minor,^3' and to know, if they should proceed to him. Then, Patrick declared to their messengers, that three of the maidens^32 should go to Heaven, and in that place, called Coll-na- ningean,^33 or " The hazel tree of the virgins. " This was near to and on the
or likewise "on a
bards,"3 Lombards, came, pilgrimage,
to St. Patrick. Ac- cording to the opinion of some writers, these adventurers issued forth from their primitive Scandinavian settlements,"^ towards the close of the fourth century. ^26 They migrated to Southern Europe. Although usually applied to Italy, yet Leatha, with ancient Irish authors, signified Letavia, or Armo- rica,"7 on the eastern coast of France. It has been thought, that Brittany or Armorica may have been known, in ancient times, as a seat of the Lom-
tite Life. Her festival is said to have fallen, on the 8th of January.
"* Her name is thus given, in the Latin
Tripartite Life.
"7 This is the account, contained in the
origin. Cluverius, in his " Germania An- tiqua," lib. iii. , cap. xxvi. , pp. I02 et seq,, denies it. About the time of Augustus and
Irish
"^ Such is the Irish Tripartite state-
ment ; but, in the Latin Tripartite, it is said, Benignus carried water, blessed by St. Patrick, and that he sprinkled it over her.
"9 The Latin Tripartite here states, this
narrative was taken from that of an old
author.
Trajan, they are discovered, for the first time, between the Elbe and the Oder. See Gibbon's " of the Decline and Fall
Tripartite
Life.
History
of the Roman Empire," vol. vii. , chap, xlii. ,
'^°
9th of November.
pp. 276, 277.
"* The Lombards, who settled in Italy,
are first mentioned by Prosper Aquitanus, Bishop of Regium, in the year 379.
"7 Sec on this subject, the Scholias of the
old commentator, on St. Fiach's Hymn, as,
also, Colgan's notes 14, 15, on the same.
"Trias Thaumaturga," pp. 4, 8. Likewise,
his note 9, to Probus, lib. i. , cap. xii,, pp.
48, 62.
See their notice of St. Benen, at the
'^'
Signifying, according to Joyce, in his "Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," "the fortress of the two birds. " See part ii. , chap, ix. , p. 247.
"^ About Munessa we have already treated. However, Crumtheris may here be meant. Jocelyn calls her simply the King of Britain's daughter, and he remarks, that nine holy maidens came with her.
'^3 These are said by their historian, Paulus Diaconus, to have been so called, from the length of their beards.
"^ Such as Kranztius.
^-^ Paul Warnefrid, surnamed the Deacon, " De Gestibus Longobardorum," lib. i. ,
'=^
Colgan says, that the connection of the
and Grotius, in his Prolegomina to
*'
Longobard virgins, with the daughter of the British king, gives some countenance to this
conjecture.
'^9 It has been asserted, that the Lombards
were in Leatha, or Italy, during the time of St. Patrick.
^30 According to Baronius, they did not settle there, until A. D. 568. See Baronius'
"Annales Ecclesiastici," tomusvii. , at A. D. 568, num. i. , p. 486.
'31 According to the Fourth Life, chap. Ixxxviii. , p. 46.
'32 Colgan says, perhaps, these were the daughters of Enoch, venerated at the 9th of
His- toria Gothorum," p. 28, assigns them such
73 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
east side of Armagh. The place, called Ferta Minor, has eluded enquiry. About five miles from the city, there is an ancient burial-ground,*34 called Clonfeacle, which adjoins Blackwater Town,*3s ©n the banks of that celebrated river so denominated, in the county of Armagh. That place is traditionally held, to -have been an ancient foundation of St. Patrick. It is said to have borne the denomination of Fertamore,^36 but it hardly had been identical with Ferta Minor. The Irish Tripartite Life informs us, that the Apostle
" Let the other maidens go to Druim-fenneda,^37 and let one of them
said
proceed, so far as that hill in the east. " This mandate was duly obeyed. One of these virgins, who is called Cruimthir, or Crumtheris,'38 went, after-
:
wards, and she occupied Kenngobha,'39 or Cengoba,^^° which the Rev. Dr. Reevesexplainstobe"thehillofgrief"^^i Wearetold,thatitwasastone oratory,*42 and that some of its ruins remained. "^3 St. Patrick saw, with his own eyes, three of this holy number of virgins ascend into Heaven. '•• It is stated, that Benen used to carry fragments of food to Crumtheris every night, by orders from St. Patrick. *45 There, too, the holy bishop planted an apple-tree in Achadh-na-elti,**^ and which he took from a fort, in the north of that
whereshedwelt. it wascalled "the
Hence, Abhall-Phadruic, the orchard of Patrick," ^•z in Cengoba.
place, apple," or
Whether an identical transaction, or otherwise, Jocelyn relates a miracle, similar to that one already recorded, as having taken place at Cill-fiacla, or Kil- feacle,inthecountyofTipperary. Hetellsus,howSt. Patrickandhiscom- panions once went to a river, called Dabhall,'*^ and that, towards the close of day, they set up a tent, on a beautiful meadow, near the brink. Thither, it is said he went, to wash his hands and face in the river ; but, whether owing
to declining years, or through some other cause, a tooth being loose fell into the water. His disciples long sought for it, yet in vain. However, on the night succeeding, a very bright light shone over the water, and attracted them thither, when they found such brightness proceeded from his tooth, which was thus miraculously recovered from the river. Giving praise to God, it
The English
" the of ridge
and for which a house had been
Patrick, that used to be given to Cruim-
"
September. He adds: " Cum nome—n illud
earum patris sit Hibemis familiare. " Ibid. ,
n. 69, p. 50,
'33 From the context, in the Tripartite
Lives, this place does not seem to have been distinct from Ferta Minor.
'34 It was within the territory of Donnagh- Munter-Cullen.
'35 It lies within the parish of Clonfeacle,
in the barony of Armagh. The townland, likewise, is called Lisbotin. Both are shown, on the " Ordnance Sui-vey Townland Maps for the County of Armagh," Sheet 8.
'3* It formed a portion of the primatial lands of Armagh,
memory of the nine pilgrim virgins with Armagh-Breague, in Upper Fews.
^7 Jocelyn, and, after him, strangely enough. Archbishop Ussher, state, that St. Patrick built here a noble city. See Sexta
Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxv. , p. loi. Also,
"A. D. 444, Ardmachafundataest. " O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus iv.
*9 See James Stuart's " Historical Me-
moirs of the City of Armagh," chap, i. , p. 82. Colgan says, in his "Trias Thauma-
turga," Septima Appendix ad Acta S. Pa- tricii, pars, i. , p. 291, that this is the most probable date for its erection. Colgan, too, adduces, in favour of this date, a most ex- traordinary argument, viz. , that it is the only one, which will leave room for the in- cumbencies at
" ^^
^ See also the Latin Tripartite Life.
Primordia," cap. xi. , p. 358.
So state the "Annales Ultonien—ses. "
Sen-Patrick.
them. Notwithstanding, Colgan thought, that, in order to provide room for them, it ought to be received. Now, he might have easily discovered, that, were we to admit, with the above Catalogue, those persons to
Dr.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 731
belonging to that See,9° and said to have been taken from the Calendar of
Cashel, was published by Ussher,9' to determine local chronology,? ^ by a relative comparison of succession dates. 93 At the year 445, likewise, it is
supposed, by Harris,''* that Armagh had been founded, by the Irish Apostle ; but, owing to the fact, that the greatest part of Lemster and of Munster had not then been reclaimed from paganism, he had not the power to make it what he desired, viz. , the Metropolitan and Primatial See of all Ireland. ss However, he went to Macha, for the express purpose of establishing his See there,9^ and, as soon as this church had been erected, Armagh became
have been bishops of Armagh, this See should have been founded several years be- fore A. D, 445.
9^ Should we stand by this Catalogue, ac-
cording to the Rev. Dr. I,anigan, it must
follow, that the See of Armagh existed, more than fifteen or sixteen years, before
A. D. 445. Therefore, Dr. Lanigan argues, it should have existed, prior to St. Patrick's
mission, or, at least, more than six years be- fore the time calculated by Ussher.
of the Christian era. The compilers of the Ulster Annals are supposed, to have been Charles Maguire and Roderick Cassidy.
5' See his 875.
*'
ad Acta S. Patricii, pars, ii. , p. 292. The
following is a transcript of this Catalogue :
"
Patricius (annis. ) Secundinus XVI. , Patric, Senior, X. , Benignus X. , Hierlatius XVIIL, CorbmacusXV. , Dubthacus XVI. , Alildus XIII. , Alildus X. , Duachus. Fiach-
Primordia," cap. xvii. , p.
9* In that Catalogue, eighteen years are reckoned for the administration of larlath.
This computation Ussher ingeniously
stretches to the year 483. Wherefore he rius, al. Hifrachrius. Fedlimius XX. , Caer-
places larlath's accession at A. D. 465. Ten
years are assigned to Benignusj the imme-
diate predecessor of larlath ; and thus
Ussher goes back to A. D. 455. Benignus is
placed after Sen-Patrick. According to the
said Catalogue, this latter prelate governed Arectactus I. , Cudiniseus IV. , Connmacus for ten years, and thus we are brought to XIV. , Torpachus I. , Nuadus III. , Mac- A. D, 445. This is then the alleged year for longsechus XIII. , Artrigius II. , Eugenius the foundation of Armagh. All this might Monaster VIIL, F. laraniianus XIV. ,
do very well, did not the catalogue mention
Secundinus, as a predecessor of Sen- Patrick,
and holding the See for fifteen years, or, as
one of Ussher'3 copies had it, for six years. I. , Cathasacius XX. , Muredacius IX. , In Colgan's edition, Secundinus ruled xvi. Dub-daletha XXXIIL, Murecanus III. ,
years. Again, prior to Secundinus, St. Moel-murius XIX. , Amalgadius XXX. ,
Patrick himself presided over that metropo- litan See. To get rid of difficulties, pointed out. Dr. Lanigan maintains,—that neither
Dub-daletha XII. , Cumascacius III. , Moel- isa XXVIL, Domnaldus. " As the Cata- logue ends, with the latter Archbishop, who
a — ruled the See from A. D. Secundinus, nor Sen-Patrick personage 1092
to 1
whose existence he otherwise admitted gan thinks it must have been compiled were ever bishops of Armagh. The imme- within these dates, since the term of his in- diate predecessor of Benignus, he considers cumbency is not completed. Nor is the
to have been the great St. Patrick himself.
Dr. Lanigan agrees with him, as to Secun- dinus, and also as to Sen- Patrick ; not,
number of St. Patrick's years of rule de- termined, and this seems to show, that four of his vicar or "assistant bishops were under him, until his death, assigned to A. D. 493. He does not know, if the omission of dates, for the incumbency of other prelates, were the choice of the writer, or an error of tran-
however, for the purpose of propping any
hypothesis, but because he thinks, there was
no such person, distinct from our great
Apostle. Notwithstanding, some writer^
have imagined, that there was a distinct scribers. The numerals affixed designate personage so called. What then becomes the years of the preceding Archbishops' of the authority of that catalogue ? Ussher
is forced to acknowledge, it is wrong from its very beginning. How then can we de-
pend on its computation for the episcopal years of St. Benignus ? It must be recol- lected, likewise, that in the said catalogue there is no reference whatever to the
government in the See. 5^SeeHarris'Ware,vol. i. , "Bishopsof
years
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," "
p. 5. Also, Nicholson's Irish Historical Library," chap, ii. , p. 14, and Harris'
Ware, vol.
i. , chap, xii. , p. 90.
ii. ,
" Writers of book Ireland,"
53 Colgan has also published it, in his ""
TriasThaumaturga, SeptimaAppendix
lanus X. , Eochodius, Senachus. Maclasrius.
Tomenius XXXV. , Seginus XXVII. , Flan- niusebhla XXVII. , Subneus XV. , Congasa- sius XX. , Kele-petrius VII. , Ferdachricius X. , Foennelachus III. , Dubhdaletha XV. ,
Diermitius IV. , Fethgna XXII. , Anmirius I. , Cathasacius IV. , MoelcovaV. , Maelbri- gidus XXIX. , Joseph IX. , Moel-Patricius
Armagh," p. 19.
95 This is in direct opposition, likewise,
to the statements generally given, in the various Lives of St, Patrick.
106,
Col-
732 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
the ecclesiastical seat of government for all Ireland. 97 That the primatial See of Armagh could not have existed,^^ at an earlier date than 454, or 455,^9 is an opinion entertained by the BolIandists^°° and by Rev. Dr. Lanigan. ^°' Other calculations/"^ especially the placing of Trim church, as an ecclesiastical erection, twenty-five years,^°3 before the foundation of that at Armagh,^"* should bring the latter event, to either a. d. 457,'°^ or 458,^°^ as noted in an extract,^°7 from an unpublished work of Roderick 0'Flaherty,'°^ and intituled,
" Christiana. "^°9 We Ogygia
thatTirechanknew
as to the time, when Armagh had been founded, and that his reason, for specify- ing the twenty-second year prior to it, was chiefly, because such a date corre- sponded with A. D. 433. "° It is computed, by Sir James Ware, that Armagh was founded a. d. 455,"'—although he had previously noted a. d. 445"^—and
for ten governed years by
St.
something
until —became its
Patrick, Benignus bishop. Then,
5* See Ussher's
Primordia," cap. xvii. ,
Mac-jNIagnus accord.
'°* "
p. 859.
97 Giraldus Cambrensis has expressed it
"
Bap- tizatus catervatim populis, et tota jam insula ad fidem Christi conversa, apud Ardmacham sibi sedem eligit ; quam etiam quasi metro- polim constituit et proprium totius Hiberniae
locum. "
9* In blank verse does Aubrey De Vera
Ecclesiastical Plistory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect,
very perspicuously, in a few words :
xiii. , n. 146, p. 318.
'°' This is found, as a manuscript addition
primatias
record " St. Patrick and the Founding of
'°8 Thus, he " Ardmacha metro- writes,
Armagh Cathedral. " See
"
Legends of St.
polis A. 458, a S.
Patricio fundata est ; et S. Benignus ab eo sibi substitutus immedia- tus successor,"
'°9 The Rev. Robert King notes, in his
" Memoir Introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," the foundation of this city, by St. Patrick, at A. c. 457. See p. 68.
"° Hence, Colgan has, in his " Index Chronologicus ad Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
Patrick," pp. 171 to 188.
99 This computation is also that in Harris'
"" Ware,vol. i. , BishopsofArmagh, atSt.
Patrick, p. 21.
'°° See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Februaiii xvii. Commentarius Prasvius ad
Acta S. Patricii, sect, v. , p. 523.
'°' "
See Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap. vL, sect, xiii. , p. 313. '°^ See the Sixth Life, cap. lii. , and the
Tripartite Life, lib. ii. , cap. ii.
'°3 As quoted by Ussher, Tirechan states,
nise," at A. D. 455 :
" Ardmacha extructa, et
that the church at Trim was built the
in sedem totius regni metropolitanam erecta per S. Patricium secundum S. Tirechanum. " '" See his work, on the Bishops of Ire- land, which did not appear, until the year
1665. "^
Ussher, in the Antiquities of Ireland, pub- lished A. D. 1654, cap. 29, and in his Anno- tationes ad S. Patricii Opuscula, published A. D. 1656, at p. 141.
"3 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch-
bishops of Armagh," p. 35. Although Dr. Lanigan does not agree with Ware, as to thelatterassertion; yet,thereisnonecessity
for Harris recurring to any presumed typo- graphical error of Ware, in setting down, A. D. 455. Such supposed mistake is not marked, even in the Errata to his work.
"* tlis feast is to the 9th of No- referred,
vember.
"5 She is thus named, in the Irish Tripar*
twenty-second year—or about A. D. 433—
Following the Ulster Annals and
be- fore the foundation of that at Armagh. See
"Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 854.
'°* It may be worth observing, that even
in Jocelyn's Life of St. Patrick, and in the Third and Fourth Lives, the preaching of our Apostle in Munster is treated of many chapters, before mention is made of his foundations at Armagh, which is not spoken of until towards the close of his southern mission.
"
'"5 See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
"
Four Masters, vol. i, pp. 142, 143. Also,
" Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," vi.
Colgan's
Martii. Vita S. Cadroe, n. 49, p. 503. The Annals of Clonmacnoise and of Senat-
may safely believe,
in 465, or in —the very year of his appointment as his English translator, Harris, states Benignus resigned the See to Iarlath. "3 These accounts lead to some confusion, in seeking to ascertain the exact date, for that impor- tant ecclesiastical foundation.
Among the favourite disciples of St. Patrick, Benignus, "• or Benen, is most particularly noticed. He seems to have been attached to the Apostle, as a constant companion. Daire's daughter, who is named Ercnait,"^ or
"
See Dr. Lanigan's
to Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," at p. 318, in a copy, once belonging to him, and now in the Dublin Society's Library.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 733
Ergnata,"^ greatly admired the personal appearance of St. Benen, and sweet to her were the charming tones of his voice, when engaged chaunting the sacred Psalms, and other Church Offices. Indeed, through their ears, did he devotionally move the souls of all hearers. A wasting disease seized upon Ergnait, so that she is said to have died of it. "7 Benen carried cretra^^^ to her from Patrick, when she suddenly arose alive, and thenceforward she
loved him spiritually. "? After a long life of religious devotion, she died, and she was buried, it is said, at Tamlaght-bo, now Tamlaght, in the parish of Eglish, and lying north-westwards from Armagh. This was the church,
whichshehadfounded. But,theO'Clerys'CalendargivesthisEargnat,^^" Virgin, as belonging to Dun-da-en,"^ in Dal-Araidhe, and now the parish of Duneane, in the county of Antrim,
One time, and apparently, when a British king's daughter"* arrived in Ireland, it is stated, that nine daughters, belonging to the king of the Longo-
bards,"^ even before the time,"9 usually assigned for their occupation of Italy. ^30 It is said, that messengers came from those virgins to St. Patrick, when they were at a place, called Ferta Minor,^3' and to know, if they should proceed to him. Then, Patrick declared to their messengers, that three of the maidens^32 should go to Heaven, and in that place, called Coll-na- ningean,^33 or " The hazel tree of the virgins. " This was near to and on the
or likewise "on a
bards,"3 Lombards, came, pilgrimage,
to St. Patrick. Ac- cording to the opinion of some writers, these adventurers issued forth from their primitive Scandinavian settlements,"^ towards the close of the fourth century. ^26 They migrated to Southern Europe. Although usually applied to Italy, yet Leatha, with ancient Irish authors, signified Letavia, or Armo- rica,"7 on the eastern coast of France. It has been thought, that Brittany or Armorica may have been known, in ancient times, as a seat of the Lom-
tite Life. Her festival is said to have fallen, on the 8th of January.
"* Her name is thus given, in the Latin
Tripartite Life.
"7 This is the account, contained in the
origin. Cluverius, in his " Germania An- tiqua," lib. iii. , cap. xxvi. , pp. I02 et seq,, denies it. About the time of Augustus and
Irish
"^ Such is the Irish Tripartite state-
ment ; but, in the Latin Tripartite, it is said, Benignus carried water, blessed by St. Patrick, and that he sprinkled it over her.
"9 The Latin Tripartite here states, this
narrative was taken from that of an old
author.
Trajan, they are discovered, for the first time, between the Elbe and the Oder. See Gibbon's " of the Decline and Fall
Tripartite
Life.
History
of the Roman Empire," vol. vii. , chap, xlii. ,
'^°
9th of November.
pp. 276, 277.
"* The Lombards, who settled in Italy,
are first mentioned by Prosper Aquitanus, Bishop of Regium, in the year 379.
"7 Sec on this subject, the Scholias of the
old commentator, on St. Fiach's Hymn, as,
also, Colgan's notes 14, 15, on the same.
"Trias Thaumaturga," pp. 4, 8. Likewise,
his note 9, to Probus, lib. i. , cap. xii,, pp.
48, 62.
See their notice of St. Benen, at the
'^'
Signifying, according to Joyce, in his "Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," "the fortress of the two birds. " See part ii. , chap, ix. , p. 247.
"^ About Munessa we have already treated. However, Crumtheris may here be meant. Jocelyn calls her simply the King of Britain's daughter, and he remarks, that nine holy maidens came with her.
'^3 These are said by their historian, Paulus Diaconus, to have been so called, from the length of their beards.
"^ Such as Kranztius.
^-^ Paul Warnefrid, surnamed the Deacon, " De Gestibus Longobardorum," lib. i. ,
'=^
Colgan says, that the connection of the
and Grotius, in his Prolegomina to
*'
Longobard virgins, with the daughter of the British king, gives some countenance to this
conjecture.
'^9 It has been asserted, that the Lombards
were in Leatha, or Italy, during the time of St. Patrick.
^30 According to Baronius, they did not settle there, until A. D. 568. See Baronius'
"Annales Ecclesiastici," tomusvii. , at A. D. 568, num. i. , p. 486.
'31 According to the Fourth Life, chap. Ixxxviii. , p. 46.
'32 Colgan says, perhaps, these were the daughters of Enoch, venerated at the 9th of
His- toria Gothorum," p. 28, assigns them such
73 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
east side of Armagh. The place, called Ferta Minor, has eluded enquiry. About five miles from the city, there is an ancient burial-ground,*34 called Clonfeacle, which adjoins Blackwater Town,*3s ©n the banks of that celebrated river so denominated, in the county of Armagh. That place is traditionally held, to -have been an ancient foundation of St. Patrick. It is said to have borne the denomination of Fertamore,^36 but it hardly had been identical with Ferta Minor. The Irish Tripartite Life informs us, that the Apostle
" Let the other maidens go to Druim-fenneda,^37 and let one of them
said
proceed, so far as that hill in the east. " This mandate was duly obeyed. One of these virgins, who is called Cruimthir, or Crumtheris,'38 went, after-
:
wards, and she occupied Kenngobha,'39 or Cengoba,^^° which the Rev. Dr. Reevesexplainstobe"thehillofgrief"^^i Wearetold,thatitwasastone oratory,*42 and that some of its ruins remained. "^3 St. Patrick saw, with his own eyes, three of this holy number of virgins ascend into Heaven. '•• It is stated, that Benen used to carry fragments of food to Crumtheris every night, by orders from St. Patrick. *45 There, too, the holy bishop planted an apple-tree in Achadh-na-elti,**^ and which he took from a fort, in the north of that
whereshedwelt. it wascalled "the
Hence, Abhall-Phadruic, the orchard of Patrick," ^•z in Cengoba.
place, apple," or
Whether an identical transaction, or otherwise, Jocelyn relates a miracle, similar to that one already recorded, as having taken place at Cill-fiacla, or Kil- feacle,inthecountyofTipperary. Hetellsus,howSt. Patrickandhiscom- panions once went to a river, called Dabhall,'*^ and that, towards the close of day, they set up a tent, on a beautiful meadow, near the brink. Thither, it is said he went, to wash his hands and face in the river ; but, whether owing
to declining years, or through some other cause, a tooth being loose fell into the water. His disciples long sought for it, yet in vain. However, on the night succeeding, a very bright light shone over the water, and attracted them thither, when they found such brightness proceeded from his tooth, which was thus miraculously recovered from the river. Giving praise to God, it
The English
" the of ridge
and for which a house had been
Patrick, that used to be given to Cruim-
"
September. He adds: " Cum nome—n illud
earum patris sit Hibemis familiare. " Ibid. ,
n. 69, p. 50,
'33 From the context, in the Tripartite
Lives, this place does not seem to have been distinct from Ferta Minor.
'34 It was within the territory of Donnagh- Munter-Cullen.
'35 It lies within the parish of Clonfeacle,
in the barony of Armagh. The townland, likewise, is called Lisbotin. Both are shown, on the " Ordnance Sui-vey Townland Maps for the County of Armagh," Sheet 8.
'3* It formed a portion of the primatial lands of Armagh,
memory of the nine pilgrim virgins with Armagh-Breague, in Upper Fews.
