No More Learning

3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
—
copy ^er»5«f mac 5u<M]\e.
Kelly, p. xxxiv.
Edited
p. xxxiv. Also, in that copy contained in
2
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
'Edited by Rev. Dr. In the Book of Leinster
244,245. — Article x.
'
Rev. Dr.
242, 243. —
Article vii. 'Edited by Rev. Dr.
Kelly, p. xxxiv. In the cony contained in the Book of Leinster, the reading seems to be Oor\n.
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 244,245.
2 Edited 242, 243.
by
Drs. Todd and
Reeves, pp.
2 in the See,
Art i.
present
volume, at that
date,
Martyrology
of Donegal1
Article ix. Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxiv.
by the Hook of Leinster Lucill.
Kelly,
2
—'See "Acta
Article xi. Sanctorum,"
tomus hi. , Septembris x. Among the pre- termitted feasts, p. 481.
270 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [Septemberii.
Article XII. —Reputed Feast of Gisilarius, a Priest. In that catalogue of Irish saints, compiled by Father Henry Fitzsimon, he has noted at this day, Gislarius, a Priest. Professing to quote the Carthusian Martyr-
1 at the ioth of
Gisibarius, a priest, who had been sent by St. Rudbert into Britain, to labour there with some holy men in the Lord's vineyard. In a Life of St. Rupert, published by Canisius, there is an allusion to him. The Bollandists— who are doubtful regarding his ctdtus as a saint—notice him at the ioth of
September, and state, that he is praised in the Subense Martyrologium.
Article XIII. —Reputed Festival of St Bertellinus. At the ioth of September, Colgan intended to insert the Acts of St. Bertellinus, in
previous day,
ology,
September,
Thomas notices 2 in Boiaria Dempster
his collection. 1 We have
treated about him, on the which seems properly to be regarded as his chief festival.
OEIfbfntl) IBap of September
Boiaria Gisibarii presbyteri, qui a S. Rud- berto in Britanuiam missus, cum Sanctorum virorum qui in vinea domini laborarent, sup- plemento rediit. "—Bishop Forbes' " Kalen- dars of Scottish Saints," p. 211.
3 See the "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
Article i. —' See "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Secunda S. Patricii, n. 54, p. 20.
2
Her Feast is celebrated, on the 22nd of March, where notices are to be found, in the Third Volume of this work, and at that date, Art. ii.
3 See the " of Donegal," pp. Martyrology
244, 245.
x. feasts, p. 482.
Among
the
Septembris
pretermitted
already
ARTICLE I. —ST. LOARN OR LOARNN, BISHOP OF BRIGHT, COUNTY OF DOWN.
[FIFTH CENTURY. ]
early Pastors and teachers were truly Apostolic men. The
OUR as a adviser and director of his
spiritual father, ghostly people,
always attracted his flock to the practice of virtues, which he preached, not
less by word, than by example. Even after death, his influences remain,
and affect religiously generations that survive. Colgan promised to treat about St. Loam, on the day for his festival, which by Marianus O'Gorman
1
This intention he did not live to accomplish, and we are not aware, that any special acts of St. Loam now exist. According to the O'Clerys, the present holy man was the
son of Darerca,2 sister of St. Patricks and consequently he was a nephew of the great Irish Apostle. However, we cannot place too much reliance on this statement. But few particulars have been preserved, in reference to
" Articlexii. —MartyrologiumCarthu- Articlexiil—See CatologusActuum
sianum aut Canisii, Adami Vvalasseris. Sanctorum qua? MS. habentur, ordine Men- a Thus in Menologium Scoticum : "In sium et Dierum. "
and others has been placed, at the i ith of September.
'
September ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 271
him. Incidentally we are told, in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,* that when the Irish Apostle was in the North of Ireland, and returning from his unsuccessful visit to his old master Milcho at Slemish, he went to Saul, and thence set out southwards towards the residence of a chief named Ros,s who was brother to his first convert, Dichu. That Ross or Rus lived in -Derlus,
6
8
Apostle's mission. The ancient fort of Ros, known as Durlas, formerly an
earthen rath, probably stood where the Castle of Bright 9 may now be seen.
10 in the of Down, was formerly known as County
Whether Loam lived there at that time or not seems doubtful ; but, it is probable, that soon after the conversion of Ros, he was appointed to rule there in the capacity of a chorepiscopus. This saint is classed among the disciples of St. Patrick -p and, it is likely, he was a convert to the Faith, at an early stage of the Irish
to the south of Dun-leth-glaise, now Downpatrick.
The of parish
Bright,
Brettain or Brettan. In old documents, this place is variously called Brict,
Brich, Brett, Bratten, Brettain, and Brichten. 11 Weare informed,12 that the townland, in which the Protestant church of Bright was situated, is named Ballintubber—the town of the Well—from a remarkable spring a quarter of a mile to the north of the church, and which is supposed to have been the ancient holy well, where Ros-mic-Trichim had been baptised. This church was built in 1745,13 by the distinguished Protestant Dean of Down, Dr. Patrick Delany,14 and the friend of the still more celebrated Dean of St.
of
April.
See an account of him at that
18
Dr.
Swift. rs St. over it, in the
who was
Loam,
capacity
Colgan very incorrectly infers, that the author of St. Patrick's
Jonathan presided
contemporaneous
Patrick's,
with St. Patrick,
of Bright stood beside the ancient fort called Derlus, ? where, it seems probable, the Anglo-Normans of Lecale afterwards erected the Castle of
Bright.
Tripartite Life must have lived contemporaneously with this saint, from an equivocal phrase introduced. 10 Archdall has it, that Loarne was bishop or
hereafter stated, was transmitted in a letter
from the Very Rev. James O'Laverty, P. P. , of Holywood, to the writer, and dated July 21st, 1898.
,4 His talents and character are general
best set forth in that most interesting work of his wife, edited by Lady LLanover, in six 8vo volumes : three appearing in 1861, and
torical account of the Diccese of Down and
Connor," vol. i. Parish of Bright, pp. 147, respondence of Mary Granville, Mrs.
4 See the Life of St. Patrick in the Third Volume of this work, at the 17th of March, Art. i.
5 He is venerated as a Saint, on the 7th
date, in the Fourth Volume of this work,
Art. ii.
6"
See Very Rev. James O'Laverty's His-
148.
7 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii, p. 265.
Delany.
'SHis Life has been written by many
authors, Rev. Dr. Sheridan, Sir Walter Scott, William Monck Mason, Forster Craig, &c.
8
According to Dr. O'Donovan, this may
" l6 be translated a strong fort," and he tells
us the word is Anglicised in Thurles.
9 See Very Rev. James O'Laverty's "His- torical Account of the Diocese of Down and
Connor," vol. i. Parish of Bright, p. 148.
See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Secunda S. Patricii, cap. xxxi. , p. 14. *? Treating about Derlus, the Irish Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, states, that there is a small city (cathair, i. e. , civitas,
but also meaning a bishop's see) there this
qui
pp. 383, 384.
l8 See Rev. " His- Very James O'Laverty's
torical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor," vol. i. Parish of Bright, p. 148.
10
See "Ordnance Survey Townland
Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore," p. 35, and n. (v).
"
day, i. e. , Brettain,
of Down" sheet
Loam &c. See Miss M. F. Cusack's " Life of St. Patrick,"
for the
11 See Rev. Wm. Reeves' "Ecclesiastical
ubi est
Maps
County
45.
Episcopus increpare Patricium,"
" His- torical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor," vol. i. Parish of Bright, pp. 148,
149-
J 3 This statement, with several particulars
12 See Rev. Very
James O'Laverty's
of a
bishop. 1
16 The church
three in 1862, the Autobiography and Cor-
aususest
I9 The words are "ubi est
Loarn. " See " Trias Thaumaturga," Sep-
Episcopus
2 7 2 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September ii.
20
abbot at Bretain.
related regarding St. Loam, who was present at the grave of St. Patrick, when the top, belonging to a boy who was there playing with other boys, rolled into a hole made in the holy man's sepulchre. One of these playmates endeavoured to draw forth the top, but found his hand firmly held. St. Loarn was sent for and he came to the spot. Then addressing
:
St. Patrick, he cried out " Why, O holy senior, do you hold the hand of
this innocent child? " Immediately the boy's hand was loosed from this thrall. 21 The modern Protestant church of Bright occupies the original site of the ancient structure, and near it are the ruins of an old castle. The church itself was a dependency on the See of Down before the Anglo- Norman Invasion; and about a. d. 1178 John De Courcey confirmed its possessions to Malachy, Bishop of that See. Shortly afterwards, under the name of Brichten, Malachy annexed it to the Abbey of St. Patrick, of which he was ex officio abbot. 22 The church and the grave-yard surrounding it are situated on a high natural bank of earth, from which the descent is very rapidonthenorthandsouthsides; buttheothersidesareonalevelwith the adjacent fields. 2 3 The church-yard is about an acre in extent. A fosse, about twenty feet broad and ten or twelve feet deep, was on the northern side.
24 This fosse extended from the western termination of the high bank to the end of that same bank. On the south side and with the banks, it enclosed about two and a half Irish acres. 25 Some notices of this church occur in our mediaeval rolls and annals. 26 In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV. ,2? the Church of Brich was valued at Eight Marks ; or rather in that of
In the Acts of our national Apostle, a curious legend is
Clement V. ,28 and carried out a. d.
Ireland, by Edward Bruce, the Scots and Irish 3° burned the Church of Bright, it being full of persons of both sexes at the time. 31 After the Dissolution, the tithes of Bright were leased in 1583 to the Earl of Kildare. In 1609, Bright alias Beaten was annexed, by charter, to the Deanery of Down. In 1622, its church was returned by the Protestant Bishop as in ruins. These were removed when the Protestant church was built. In the
29
adjoining fields stone-lined graves are frequently found. 3
the Invasion of
According to the
Pope
1306.
During
tima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. Hi. , p. enclosed a little town and formed its de-
125. See also, nn. 1, 37, pp. 169, 172, fences.
26 "
wheremoreissaidaboutthissaint. SeeRev. WilliamReeves' Ecclesiasti-
20 "
See Monasticon Hibernicum," p. in. cal Antiquities of Down, Connor, and
21 "
See Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," Dromore," n. (v. ) p. 35, Appendix A. , p.
Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxi. , p. 14. 142, and Appendix LL. , p. 380.
3 Me from a. d. 1288 to a. d.
Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap, xxxvii. , p. 39. ? reigned
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. Hi. , 1292. See Sir Nicholas Harris' Chrono-
p. 125. 22 See
logy of History," p. 202.
" His- 2§ He ruled from A. D. to 1 See James O'Laverty's 1305 3 14.
Rev.
torical Notices of the Diocese of Down and ibid.
Very
Connor," vol. i. Parish of Bright, pp. 149,
150.
"3 On the adjoining farm, now in tlieoccu-
Rev.
24 About the year 1840, the Very Rev.
James O'Laverty's father opened this fosse, and found it completely filled with the shells of fish, which should have proved ex- cellent for top-dressing land, but he had not material for filling up the hollow, which must have resulted fiom their removal.
25 The cliffs and fosse seem to have
2' A full account of this Taxation will be
found in the Preface to the work of Rev.
William Reeves, already quoted,
3° to Annals. He According Pembridge's
calls it Bright.
3« See Jacobi Grace, Kilkenniensis, "An-
nales Hibernian," edited by the Rev. Richard Butler, M. R. I. A. , pp. 76, 77, and n. (c).
3 * See Very Rev. James O'Laverty's "Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor," vol. i. Parish of Bright, p. 150.
of his brother the Edward, Very
pation
James O'Laverty was born.
2
"
September ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 273
Martyrology of Donegal,33 a festival was celebrated at the nth of September, in honour of Loarnn, Bishop of Cill Chunna. The only modern parish denomination we find resembling Cill Chunna is the present Kilcooney, in the barony of Clare and County of Galway ;34 yet, it does not seem this had any special connection with the present Saint. In a passage of the Martyrology of Donegal,35 St. Loarn is called Bishop of Inrec Nechtain. 36
8
This is civitatula "39 or little city, and it has been identified with Breatain or Bright. 4^ The site of 'his ancient church is now occupied by the Protestant house of worship. 4I According to Colgan's conjecture, in all probability, St. Loarn did not survive beyond the middle of the sixth
;
century, or the year 540 42 but as we have already seen, his opinion rests on
the false supposition, that the second writer of St. Patrick's Life ^ lived
contemporaneously with Loarn. However, it seems likely enough, this holy man lived into the earlier part of the sixth century. At the iii. of the September Ides—corresponding with the present date—his feast is entered by Marianus O'Gorman, and in the local Calendar, compiled by the Rev. "William Reeves. 44
However, the correct reading is Inrechan,37 or Inreathan. 3
described as a
"
Article II. —St. Sillan or Siollan, of Imleach Cassain, in Cuailgne,orofImleach-caoin,inTir-Aedha. Thisholymanlivedat an early period. He is commemorated in the " Feilire " of St. yEngus, at the nth of
added a foolish and incredible
and with legend
September,
also recorded in the Martyrology of Tallagh,3 at the nth of September^ —in
honour of Si—
llan in of The district of
Imlig Cassain,
now Cooley was a mountainous tract in the north of Louth County.
Cuailgni.
Although now in the Leinster province, it once formed a part of Uladh. s
33 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 244, 245.
34 See "General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland," p. 930.
bar- Ppochi lAqumui h& conimuT> 3al4ir\
Sillan fAim cech lobxvip -An Imliuch cAm canxvip.
It is thus rendered into English by Whitley
:
Stokes,LL. D "ThepassionofProtusand
33 See Drs. Todd and Reeves' 434, 435-
edition, pp.
36 The Twelfth Chapter of St. Patrick's
Life, as found in the Codex Alnensis, is
incorrectly quoted as authority for this
statement ; but, in a subjoined note, Dr.
Todd remarks, that the right reference is, not Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. On the cap. 12, hut cap 37.
Colgan's
Thaumaturga,"
" Trias
CalendarofOengus,p. cxxxvii.
3? See
Vita Quarta S. Patricii. cap. xxxvii, p. 39.
38
See ibid. Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxi. , p. 14.
39 See ibid.
40
See ibid. , nn. 53, 54, p. 19.
41 See Rev. James O'Laverty's " Histori-
2
It states, that in Sillan's eyebrow was a poisonous hair, and that whoever saw it first each day died, until Molaissi of Leighlin took out that hair, when he died imme- diately afterwards. It is also stated, that every wretched man in a heavy disease desired to see the hair, so that he might die
cal Account of the Diocese of Down and at once. The comment adds, that the Connor," vol. i. Parish of Bright, p. 147. present saint was Sillan of Imbliuch Cassain
42 See '-Trias Thaumaturga," Secunda of Cualinge. See ibid. , pp. cxliv. , cxlv. Vita S. Patricii, nn. 53, 54, p. 20. 3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxiv. In
43
See ibid. Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. the Book of Leinster copy is SilUvm m xxxvii, and nn. 30, 31, pp. 39, 49. Imlich Car-fAin in Cu^lingi.
44 See "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of 4 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Down, Connor, and Dromore," Appendix nise. " xv. Februarii. Vita S. Berachi. Sup-
LL. p. 380.
plementum, n. 6, p. 348.
Article 11. —'In the —
'iLeabhar Breac"
" O'Dubhagain
copy is the following stanza
:
1 the scholiast has praise. However,
2 in reference to him. A festival is
Hyacinthus which was with abundance of sorrow. Sillan the psalm ofevery sick ma—n in fair Imblinch (Cassain) is sung. "
" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,"
5
See
Topographical Poems of John and Gilla nanaomh O'Huidh-
Cuailge
S
274 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September ii.
Imleach Cassain's modern equivalent must be sought for in some townland denomination not far from Carlingford Lough or Dundalk Bay. By Marianus O'Gorman, the festival of Sillan has been set down at the nth of September. At the same date, in the of 6 his name also as
Martyrology Donegal, appears, Siollan, of Imleach Cassain,in Cuailgni; or of Imlach-caoin,in Tir Aedha, and, ' he is said to have been interred or honoured, at Inis Cameda, in Loch Eirne. Tir Aedha is now commensurate with the barony of Tirhugh, in the southern part of Donegal County, and there Imleach-caoin was situated, state the O'Clerys. The ancient name of Inish Coimeda may not at present
be easily discovered, among the many modern designations that are applied to the numerous islands, which dot the surface of the beautiful Lough
Erne. Veneration for this saint prevailed in Scotland, and his name is
registered in the Kalendarium Drummondiense,8 at the iii. of the September Ides, corresponding with the nth of the month.
Article III.