,
suis ;
"
while on the last line is the Irish
to
4 In three sections and thirty paragraphs.
suis ;
"
while on the last line is the Irish
to
4 In three sections and thirty paragraphs.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
Saints," p. 207. 3 The reader is referred to that date, in
9 Art. i.
Article xxi. —'See "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus i. Augusti i. Among the preter- mitted Feasts, p. 5.
regarding Comgan or Comdhan, Abbot of Gleann-Ussen, or Killeshin, Queen's County. Art. i.
4 Called Ene by Cathal Maguire.
August 2. ] LIVES 0* THE IRISH SAINTS. 29
kille,5 and they had six holy sons ; namely, Comgan,6 Mernoc or Ernaty
Moelchuo,8 Mirilis,9 Moeldubh,10 and Teldubh. " Other writers add to these
Laisren12and x3 but,indeed,theoldauthoritiesare and Bran; very confusing
contradictory, so far as can be judged from what Colgan lias collected
them. 1 * In the Tract on the Mothers of the Irish Saints, Cuman, the sister of St. Columba, is mentioned as having been mother of the two sons of Degill, i. e„ Mernoc and Caisene ; while another ancient Tract calls her Cuimne, mother of the sons, Meic Decuil, and who are named respectively Mernoc, Cascene, Meldal and Bran, who was buried in Dairu Calchaich, and these were cousins to St. Columkille. 15 About the Comgan, stated to have been the nephew of St. Columba, we do not meet with any further record regarding him. Neither can we be assured, that he is to be found classed among the Irish saints, although there are Comgans or Comdhans so enume- rated. However, this may possibly be the St. Comgan, son of Degill and a nephew of Columkille, by his sister Cumenia. 16 Nor do we even know on
regarding
what authority, this Comgan has been placed among the disciples of his 1
celebrated uncle. In the Martyrology of Donegal, ? at the 2nd day of August, there is a notice of St. Comhdhain's festival. More than this it should be useless for us to state.
Article II. —St. Fechine, or Feichin, a Priest. The name of
St. Fechine, Priest, in the appears
of 1 at the 2nd of Tallagh,
Martyrology
August. Marianus O'Gorman has the Natalis of a saint this same day ; and,
he is probably the one called Fethchu in the Irish language, and Fethchuo
2 Heiscalleda
we have no further definite information regarding him. Also in the Mar-
tyrology of Donegal,3 we have the festival of Feichin entered, at the 2nd of
August. In another Irish Calendar/ this holy man is called a Sagarth, "
in to Latin, according
Colgan.
Presbyter, '
but this beyond
meaning a Priest. " This description probably designates the degree of Holy Orders he attained in the Irish Church.
s See his Life at the 9th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work. Art. i. , chap. i.
6
tohavebeenvene- rated on the 27th of February, where an account may be found at that date, in the Second Volume of this work, Art. i. ; however,. Colgan thinks his feast referable to the present day, or to the 13th of October. 7 Colgan is doubtful as to whether his feast should be referred to January 17th, or to August 5th, or to December 23rd, where saints bearing a similar name are found in
our Calendars.
8 As Moelchuo and Moelan are synonymous
names, Colgan is at a loss to place his feast on the 4th of January, or on the 17th
of May.
9 In the Irish Calendars, Colgan can find
no saint corresponding with this name.
I3 A St. Bran Beg, of Claonadh, in Hi- Foelan, is venerated on the 1 8th of May.
Supposed by Maguire
Thaumaturga. " Quarta
10 A saint
at the church of Cluain-Chonaire, at the 1 8th of December.
u Colgan can find no saint of this name in the Irish Calendars.
. " A St. Laisren is venerated on the I2th
of August, on the 16th of September, and on the 25th of October.
J
589.
3 Edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp. 208, 209.
* Thus, in that Irish Calendar, preserved
in the Royal Irish Academy, we find t? eicm SAgarvcenteredatthisdate. SeeOrdnance Survey Common Place Book F. , p. 67.
bearing
this name is venerated
Scotorum et Pictorum n. 6, Apostolo,
p.
MSee "Trias
Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. ii. , pp. 477 to 479.
"
15 See Rev. William Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes,
A. , pp. 246, 247.
I0 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. x. , p. 489.
I? Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
l
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxi. In the Book of Leinster copy we find entered fechine fAC, for this
day.
2 See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernioe," xii.
Martii. De S. Fetchuone Sive Fiechnone,
20S, 209. — Article ii.
30 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 2.
Article III. —St. Cobhran or Cobran, of Cluana Cuanlach, or of Cluain-Cuallachta. St. Cobran, of Cluana Cuanlach, is venerated on
this as stated in the day,
of Tallagh. 1 If we the first adopted
Martyrology
reading so far as the name of his place is concerned, perhaps Cuanlach might
be resolved into Loch Cuan, the ancient name for Strangford Lough ; yet, it seems correctly to have been Cluain Cuallacta, and we know of no place in Ireland, with which it can be identified. A saint of this name is found, and whose pedigree is given by Colgan, who thinks he may be identical with the presentholyman. * HewasknownasCobhran,thesonofEnan,andthe nephew of St. Columba,* through Minchotha, who was sister to the latter, and the mother of Cobhran. A festival in honour of Cobhran, of Cluain Cuallachta,* was celebrated at the 2nd of August, according to the Mar-
tyrology of the 0'Clerys. s
Article IV. —St. Lonan, Son of Laisre. The Martyrologies of
such a date. Yet, as he is mentioned at August 2nd, the 20th of this same month is probably an error of some transcriber. *
Article V. —Festival of St. Theodota and her three Sons, Martyrs in Bithynia. In the " Feilire " x of St. y£ngus, at the 2nd of August, there is a commemoration of St. Theodota and of her three children. Explanatory of this festival, the commentator has a notice, that Theodota suffered in Betania or Bithynia, having been cast into a fire with her three children. 2 The Bollandists have published two ancient tracts,* which give the particulars of their glorious martyrdom, together with a previous com-
2 record a festival at the 2nd of to honour August,
l and of
Lonan,sonofLaisre. Inthetableappendedtothislatterrecord,thecompiler sets down a Lonan, son of Laisre, at the 20th of August; but, the com- mentator remarks under it, that he is not mentioned in the Martyrology at
Tallagh
Donegal
in which there is a critical examination s the ancient regarding
rentary,*
tadition in reference to them.
^lUcl? 7 ^ entlT
2
See "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. 111. , p. 480. See also cap. x. , p. 488.
3 See his Life, in the Sixth Volume of this work, at the 9th of June. Art. i.
4 A note by Dr. Todd says at Cuallachta. "The second hand adds after this 'Ethel- valdus. Mar. This is evidently Ethel- wald, Bishop of Winechester, commemorated in the Roman Mart, on the first of August. "
s Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
LL. D. :—
. mAch mm pn
UeococA mbuiDfln
„. _»,, -, Li. . . , . „*«Ju. -i ''
"With that great mother, Theodota, that dear one, went, besides that victory, those three dear children. "—" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manu- script Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calen- dar of Oengus, p. cxxii.
2 On the line L6caj\ L&pn mbu<iiT> y\n
is the comment, " i. martin [urn] qua passa [leg. quod passus? ] mocaba cum uii. filiis
Article in. — ' Edited
Dr. Kelly, p. xxxi. At this date in ^the Book of
208, 209. Article iv.
—
The Book of Leinster copy
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 208, 209.
3 See ibid. , pp. 434, 435.
Article v. —' In the "Leabhar Bieac" copy of the Royal Irish Academy, whence the following stanza is drawn, with a translation
scholion "i. tri meic The— othota,"
or cxxvii.
'Edited
has also lonan mac tar-pe, at this date.
Kelly, p. xxxi.
threesonsofTheodota. " Ibid. p.
3 See " Acta Sanctorum. " Tomus i. Augusti ii. De S. Theodata acTribus Filiis Martyribus Nicseae in Bithynia. Item de alia Synonyma cum vii. Filiis Qtsereae in
3
by
Rev.
by Whitley Stokes,
by
Rev. Dr.
"i. e.
,
suis ;
"
while on the last line is the Irish
to
4 In three sections and thirty paragraphs.
Mauritania, pp. 147
> Written by Father John Pinius, S. J.
154.
August 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 31
Cfitrtj Bap of august
ARTICLE I. —ST. TREA, VIRGIN, OF ARDTREA, COUNTY OF LONDON- DERRY.
[FIFTH CENTURY. ]
our corporal eyes were always jealously guarded in this world, where sin IF and disedification so fatally abound, the eyes of our minds should be
riveted all the more on visions of inexpressible delights. The present holy virgin seems to have formed by Divine inspiration a resolution, to close one dangerous avenue of the senses against all attractive objects hurtful to the human soul, and thus to preserve her innate modesty, by averting her eyes from gratifications, excited most frequently through a spirit of vain curiosity. She had truly learned to believe, that such self-denial could alone effectively guard her purity of thought and disposition, when she had bent her inclinations
to embrace the religious habit and state.
This pious maiden nourished after the time, when St. Patrick commenced
his great mission in the north of Ireland. We have seen already, that a St. Trega or Trea, Virgin, was venerated at Ardtrea, on a different day from the
1 A arise, as to whether there had been a double question may
present.
festival instituted to honour the same saint. However, on the 8th of July, there is record of a feast for St. Trega, virgin and patroness of Ardtrea Parish, near Lough Neagh. We find, however, that St. Trea inghen
Chairthind, or *f the daughter of Carthenn," is recorded in the published Mar- 2
tyrology of Tallagh, at the 3rd of August^ without stating the locality to
which she belonged.
When blessed Patrick * had entered the northern parts of the Ulster
province, he met with opposition from a dynast in the region of Hy Tuirtre. s He had journeyed by Fersait Tuama, until he rested at a very beautiful locality called Finnabhuir. 6 The place formerly called Fersait Tuama,? is now known as Toome, near where the River Bann escapes from Lough Neagh and enters Lough Beg, at the division line between the present CountiesofLondonderryandofAntrim. Thebeautifuldistrictalludedto as Finnabhuir had the wide-spreading Lough Neagh 8 on the east and Slieve
10
Gulling a high ridge of mountain, on the west side. It so happened, that
two brothers, one named Carthenn the Elder or il
and the other known as Carthenn, the younger or " minor," had lived in this district. The former a wicked man and addicted to the errors of Paganism had banished
Article i. — See some notices of her, at the 8th of July, in the Seventh Volume of thiswork. Art. v.
2 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxi.
3 In the Book of Leinster copy we read fcr\eA in Cmkz\ux\x), at the iii. of the Nones. 4 See his Life, at the 17th of March, in the
Third Volume of this work. Art. i.
s The Rev. Dr. Reeves has a given very
complete topographical and historical de- scription of this ancient territory in the
major,"
297, with accompanying notes,
6 This is translated "the white plain,"
andthereareseveralotherplaceshavinga like denomination in various parts of Ireland. 7 This is Anglicized "the crossing of Tuaim," most likely by ferry-boats in former time, at or near the spot where Toome bridge
now stands.
8 Called Eathach in the Tripartite Life. ^Called Callan, in the Tripartite Life. It
is situated in the south-east of Loughinsholin
Barony, County of Derry.
,0 seems to have inverted the order Colgan
11
Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor
and Dromore. " BB. , Appendix
pp. 292
to
32 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3
his younger brother from that place, in which he exercised complete control.
From this district he wished, likewise, that St. Patrick should be ejected.
The holy man, like the Apostles, when persecuted in one city left for another,
and shaking the dust from of his feet against the tyrannical dynast, predicted that he should fall from power, and serve, with his posterity, under the future
rule of the younger Carthenn. He, on the contrary, was virtuous, kindly, and disposed to receive the doctrine of Christ, so that St. Patrick baptized himself, his wife and family. After this time, Carthenn's wife, Mugania, appears to have given birth to a daughter, destined to a life of grace from St. Patrick's prophecy regarding her. She was named Trea or Treha at the baptismal font ;" but, it is not stated, that she had been baptized by St. Patrick.
Through her father, she descended from the race of Colla Uais, monarch of Erinn. " From what has been already stated, it should seem, that she was born about the middle of the fifth century. That she grew up in grace and in the practice of all virtues, is generally conceded. She is classed,
among the many holy virgins St. Patrick veiled,13 during the progress of his 1
great missionary career. * In accordance with his prediction, when St. Trea began to grow up into girlhood, she felt a strong desire to chose the Son of
God for her future spouse. The Apostle had already declared, that she
should be a woman of great innocence of life, and that her vesture and
dowry should come to her with the veil received at his hands. Therefore,
when she the illustrious saint for this 1 * and stood before sought purpose,
him,' 6 an angel was seen descending from Heaven, and placing a veil on her head. It completely covered her eyes. St. Patrick then attempted to lift
it, so that she might the better see, but the holy virgin exclaimed, " O pious father, why cannot the veil remain as it has been placed, in its right position ? "
the
thus and its remain,
" It can
man
Thus were her eyes and ears remarkably guarded, lest, through such entrances,
1 any dangerous occasion of sin might bring death to ber immortal soul. ?
We have no further account of the place where she dwelt in the religious state ; but, it is most likely within her ancestral territory, and on the height, which now takes its name from her. This Ardtrea was situated near Lough
Neagh and Lough Beg. It now forms an extensive rural parish, lying chiefly
18
Wherefore,
mode of being worn shall be pleasing to your spouse. "
veil were glued to the noble lady's face, the writer of the Tripartite Life and Jocelyn remark most poetically and approvingly, that it covered her dove- like eyes and her soft cheeks, through the whole remaining term of her life.
holy
replied,
very properly
within the barony of Loughinsholin,
County of Londonderry, and partly
came to a marsh, which prevented her further approach, although she saw St. Patrick far away. Anxiou# and fatigued, she sat down on the border of this marsh.
St. Patrick divining her purpose prayed to God, when the obstacle before her was re- moved. She and her companions then came to him with dry feet,
,6
At this time she had only completed her tenth year, according to Joceline.
*7 See Colgan's "Trial Thaumaturga. " Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. lxxxviii. , p. 85, and Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. cxxxix. , p. 148.
,8
This part, containing i8,6i6« 3/-. 11/. , is shown on the "Ordnance Survey Town-
land Map for the County of Londonderry," Sheets 42, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49.
of position in the case of Lough Eathach and the mountain of Callann in his trans- lation.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. lxxxviii. , p. 85, and Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap.
Ogygia,"
13 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 269.
M See theLife of St. Patrick, in the Third
Volume of this work, at March 17th. Art. i. ,
chap. xv.
's
According to his usual Custom, JOccliue amplifies on the earlier simple accounts to introduce a legend. On her way, St. Trea
cxxxviii. to cxl. p. 148.
,J "
Sce Roderick O'Klaherty's pars, iii. , cap. lxxvi , p. 362.
As if the cenohite's
"
August 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 33
withinthebaronyofUpperDungannon,^CountyofTyrone. Herethere was an ancient church, which appears to have been formerly under the
2°
jurisdiction of the Primate of Armagh ;
middle ages, as a benefice and a rectory belonging to that Diocese. 31 The ancient church is said to have been near the site of the Protestant church,32 erected in 1830, a small but neat building in the early English style, the principalentrancebeingacompositionofelegantdesign. ^ Someantiquities
'N\*S^
Ardtrea Protestant Church, County of Tyrone.
have been found in this parish. The land is chiefly arable, and this is fertile and well cultivated, while tracts of bog are found in various places. The
scenery is pleasing, and with various undulations, the surface slopes gently downwardstoLoughNeagh. 24 InwhatparticularconditionSt. Trealivedhere
has not been specified ; but, it is probable enough, she was head of a religious
community. Nor does the date of her departure from life appear in our
annals. In the of 2^ at this same we find her Martyrology Donegal, day,
19 This portion, consisting of 2,283a. 2r. 23/. , is shown on the " Ordanance Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Tyrone," Sheets, 30, 39.
20
there was a Herenach for this church, and in the year 1435, the Registry of Primate Swaye records an ordination by
John, Bishop of Connor, at the parish church of St. Feghin, of Termonfeghin. On that
occasion, among others ordained, William
O'Kinnay was admitted to the order of
sub-deacon, and he was Herenagh of Ardtrea.
21 See " Acts of Archbishop Colton in his
Metropolitan Visitation of the Diocese of
Deny, a. d. mcccxcvii. ," edited by the
22 The accompanying illustration, drawn from a photograph, has been transferred by William F. Wakeman to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
23 See Lewis' Dictionary "Topographical
of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 59.
24 In the Parish of Ardtrea, there is a dis-
trict known as Munterevlin, and called from the Devlin family, formerly most numerous on the western shores of Lough Neagh. See " Letters containing Information relative to the Antiquities of the County of London- derry, collected during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1834," John O'Dono- van's Letter dated Moneymore, Saturday, September 27th, 1834, p. 243.
2s Edited Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, by
pp. 210, 211.
Formerly
Rev. William
• Notes, e. p. 118.
D. D. Additional
Reeves,
it having been regarded during the
34 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3.
name entered as Trea, Virgin, daughter to Cairthenn, of Ard Trea. Whether the 3rd of August, or the 8th of July, be the commemoration for her death, has not been recorded.
Article II. —St. Dairbhile or Derbhiledh, descendant of Eochaidh Muighmedhoin. [Sixth Century. ] It is mentioned in the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, as likewise by the Commentator on yEngus, that the feast of a St. Derbile occurs on the 3rd of August.
1
According to the Genealogies of the Irish Saints, Derbhilia was the daughter
of Cormac, son to Breech, son of Eochad, son to David,2 son of Fiach, ancestor of the Hua Fiachrach. 3 St. Derbilia seems to have flourished in
the sixth century, and she lived a religious life, in Erris,* a remote part of the County of Mayo. She was contemporaneous with the great St. Colum-
kille 5 theusualnumberof ; for, by allowing
thirty years
taking her as the fourth in descent from King Dathi, she must have flourished
about that period. She belonged, also, to the Second Class of Irish Saints. 6 She appears to have sought out one of the most remote parts of Ireland for the site of her retreat ; while she is supposed to have erected an oratory, within that double peninsula off the extreme north-west coast of the County of Mayo, and where connected by an isthmus with the mainland the town of Belmullet 7 stands. This peninsula, known as the Mullet, extends from Erris Head on the north, to the entrance of Blacksod Bay on the south ; it being washed on the west and north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by Broad Haven and Blacksod Bay, and on the south by the entrance to Blacksod Bay and the Sound of Achill. 8 It is a region rarely visited by the tourist or general traveller. There, it is supposed St. Dairbhile established herself, about the middle of the sixth century ; and, tradition has it, that she founded there a religious institution. Her antique church is yet to be seen within the Mullet, a district little explored, and in the extensive barony of Erris. 9 It is remarkable for the Cyclopean character of its masonry ; and it is of an oblong shape, about forty feet in length, by sixteen in breadth. It is lighted on the east end by a small, unadorned, and semicircular-headed window, splaying considerably on the inside. The walls are constructed wholly of gneiss or stratified granite, while they are two feet and seven inches in thickness.
