Whose soul
penetrating
to Heaven
rejoices with the Angels.
rejoices with the Angels.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
His memory has been preserved there to the present century, and a well, dedi- cated to him, is shown in that locality.
53
The successors of St. Mochta at Louth are called abbots, in the Irish
Annals, until the ninth century. At this period, bishops begin to appear amongthem. 54 However,Colganstates,thataSeewasestablishedatLouth, from the time of our saint ; not alone as appears from his Life, but as shown
from the Register of the Apostolic Camera, in which it is represented as one of the suffragan dioceses, belonging to the Archbishopric of Armagh. He
appends a chronological Catalogue of the many Abbots and Bishops, noted down in reference to this place, and to be met with in the Annals of the Four
Masters, as also other incidents of a local character. Having first noticed the erection of a noble church at Louth, by Bishop Edan O'Kelly, and by Donagh O'Carroll, chief of Orgiel, in 1148,55 when it was consecrated by St.
Malachy O'Morgair,56 Archbishop of Armagh ; he ends this account with an interesting allusion to some relics, which had been there preserved, in the thirteenthcentury,5? andformerlybroughtfromRomebySt. Mochta,accord- ing to the received tradition. 58 The subsequent Annals of this celebrated Priory are interesting, down to the period of the Reformation ? * its Priors were Barons of Parliament ; while its possessions and endowments were very considerable, as shown by the Inquisitions.
46 See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," sect, xii. , n. 125, p. 310.
lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 105.
47 See p. 232.
48 See the Fourth Volume of this work,
55 An endowment of land was attached to it. —This church stood on the hill of Knock formerly known as Cnoc-na-sean- gan—near the town of Louth ; but scarcely
at the nth of April, Art. xii.
49 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of a vestige of it now remains. See Dr.
O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters,"
Capitulum 52 This townland, in a parish bearing the seruatur Lugmagiae per Archiepiscopum
Scottish Saints,'*' p. 196.
i0 In rum. "
"
"
Catalogus
Generalis
Sancto-
vol. and n. ii. , pp. 1082, 1083,
51 See
quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 445.
(s).
56 See his Acts, at the 3rd of November in the Eleventh Volume of this work, Art. i .
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
same name, and in the barony of Castle-
Ardmachanum et Abbates Canonicorum Regularium Hiberniae : in quo elevatae sunt multae Sanctorum reliquke, per S. Moch- teum olim Roma asportatse. "
58 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae," Martii xxiv. Appendix ad Vitam S.
Mochtei, cap. v. , pp. 736, 737.
59 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
cum," pp. 469 to 479.
knock, is shown on the
"
Ordnance Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Dublin," sheet 13. The parish is marked on sheets
13 and 17.
53 See John D'Alton's "History of the
County of Dublin," p. 574.
54 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. ,
57 At A. D. 1242, it is noted :
%V
288 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 19.
Passing away from life, this holy man slept sweetly in the Lord, with other honoured pastors of the Church, who had laboured strenuously to pro- mote God's honour and man's salvation. For this purpose, Mochta left country and kindred. Hence, he is variously called a proselyte, a pilgrim, a stranger, or a convert to the true religion. His actions and words gave edification in the land of his adoption, where many profited through his
labours,zealandedifyingexample. Thissaintwasspeciallyadmiredforhis purity of life and conversation. Therefore, being under angelic tuition while young, the Angels received him with rejoicing, when the term of his earthly career had come to a close.
Article II. —Festival of St. Cummin, or Cumianus, a Bishop, and
a Monk at Bobbio, in Italy.
[Seventh Century. ']
The acts of this holy
man have been
ciently certain, that such was really the feast of this Cumianus ; neither can the present date be assigned for it, unless we interpret a line on his tomb, as
2
specially referring to his death or deposition, but this seems to be the correct
reading. As much as is known about the present history of St. Cummian
hasbeenalreadysetdown. Thepresentday,however,isthoughtbysome to have been that of his death, and as a consequence, for his proper feast. At the 19th of August, the Bollandists3 refer to a Scottish or Irish bishop, said to have been venerated, likewise, at the 9th of June, but whose name is not found inscribed on the regular calendars. They refer, likewise, to a Cemianus, a monk in Scotia,* noted by Ferrarius,* at this day. They incline to an opinion, however, that he may not have been distinct from the present holy man. The Rev. Alban Butler has entered a somewhat lengthened notice of this St. Cummin, or Cumin,6 whom he styles a bishop, in Ireland, at the 19th of August. According to that author, he was son to Fiachna, king of West Munster, and born in the year 592. 7 Then, he is said to have embraced a monastic state early in life, and after some years to have become Abbot of Keltra, an island in Lough Dearg, upon the River Shannon, sixteen miles from Limerick. Moreover, he is held by some writers to have been the same Cumin, who wrote an epistle to Segienus, the fourth Abbot of Hy, who died a. d. 651. That Epislola Paschalis has been preserved for us by Archbishop Usher. 8 The tract manifests not alone a very thorough study of the Sacred Scriptures and of the early Christian Fathers, but a learned knowledge of the cycles and epacts. 9 The leading idea conveyed in it is to induce the monks of Iona, whose authority bore great weight in the Irish and Pictish Churches, to join with the Roman and universal Church, regarding the time for celebrating Easter. Such conformity he urges with strength of reasoning, and with admirable persuasiveness and piety. However this may
already recorded,
at the
9th
of
June.
1 it is not suffi- Yet,
Article ii. —'See the Sixth Volume of this work, at that date, Art. iv.
6 See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other Principal Saints," vol. viii. , August xix.
7 This account appears to have been taken
a
of his epitaph, thus : —
It occurs in the last Latin hexameter line
<t«. « v
xiv. Kal. Septemb. Feet Joannes.
" Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria," &c,
o * -»*. t? ^;» TTM n „*c
This, however, has been read, as referring to the date, placed by the artist for complet- ingorerectingthetomb.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Au- gusti xix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 697.
4 See ibid. t p. 698.
5 In " Generalis Sanctorum. " Catalogus
f ,orn tnat found in Cave's
1
»
Scriptorum
"
seu Comminus—, cognomento Fota, seu Fada%
where at a. d. 640, he is called
Cumianus,
i. e. ,Loftgus. " Vol. i.
ticum, p. 584. 8"
Sseculum Monothela-
See Veterum Epistolarum Hibemica-
rum Sylloge," Epist. xi. , pp. 24 to 35.
9 See Fabricius' "Bibliotheca Mediae et
Infirmoe
Latinitatis,"
vol.
i. ,
lib. iii. ,
p. 1237.
August i 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIA TS. 289
be, the St. Cummin, or Cumianus, venerated on this day, appears to have been consecrated as bishop, in some part of Ireland.
This holy man probably resigned the episcopal dignity, to become a monk at Bobbio. 10 It is now a town of good size, and the capital of a
province so named, in Sardinia. It is romantically situated on the Trebbia River, at the foot of the Apennines, and about forty-five miles north-east
from Genoa. It is also the seat of a
bishop.
11 Sometimes, the wide bed of
the River Trebbia spreads out to a great extent, after floods come down from
the mountains, while, at other times, a tiny stream only flows. The mountain
torrent of Bobbio joins that river, near the town so called. This place has
peculiar claims on the veneration of Irishmen, its history being so intimately
connected with the great St. Columban. 12 The town was situated, within
the ancient of J 3 The banks of the Trebbia are lined with
territory Liguria.
rows of tall poplar trees. The Cathedral and the Church of San Colombano
are the two buildings of greatest interest in Bobbio. A treatise known as
Liber de Pceniteniiarum Mensura J * has been written by one Cummian x s ;
but, whether he is to be regarded as identical with the present holy man or otherwise has not been determined. The present church of St, Columban
The Church of San Columbano, Bobbio.
standsintheupperendofBobbio. Thedesertedmonasticbuildingsare now grouped around it. That church is a Lombardic building, restored in the seventeenth century. What remains of the more ancient buildings are, the bell tower, the subterranean church or crypt, the sacristy, the old refectory, the wood-house and the cellars. Like most of the Lombardic buildings, it
10 "
See Ughelli's Italia Sacra," tomus iv. ,
sea-shore, it presents a southern aspect, and it is now known as the Riviere di Genova.
14 It has been in " Bibliotheca preserved
Patruum," &c, tomus xii. , p. 41.
'5 The reader is referred to what has been
already written regarding it, in the Sixth Volume of this work, at the 9th of June, Art. iv.
16 The accompanying illustration, copied, T
Bobienses Abbates, col. 959.
11 See "Gazetteer of the World," vol.
p. 787.
12
ii. ,
His Life may be read, in the Eleventh Volume of this work, at the 21st of Novem- ber, Art. i.
*3 This extended from the Apennines, in northern Italy, to the Tuscan Sea. On the
290 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 19.
has a porch, the atrium, or Paradise, as it was called. 16 The interior of this
church is very beautiful, and a descent is made to the crypt, by two flights of
stairs passing by the right and left of the choir. They meet on a landing
place under the sanctuary. Thence a broad staircase leads down to the
lower church, called the Tuburio or Scurolo. In the centre of the crypt is
the stone, which formerly covered the grave of St. Cummian. Formerly, it
was laid horizontally on the floor. At present, it is fixed erect into that wall,
which stands to the left of the altar, in cornu evangelii. ^ The inscription on
the stone may be divided into two parts : the first portion, in rude Latin
hexameters, contains a eulogy of the saint ; the second, in three lines, gives
the date for the entombment, called the Deposition, and the name of that
artist who sculptured the work. 18 It would seem from the eighth line of the
inscription, that Cummian spent seventeen years at Bobbio, and not twenty,
as has been stated in the Chronicle ot Bobbio, as well as in the office lesson,
still recited in the diocese. If the period of seventeen years be accepted as
true, then the saint must have been seventy-eight years of age, at the time of
his arrival there, since he reached the extremely advanced term of ninety-five
years when he died. The inscription on St. Cummian's tomb has been
translated into English by Miss Stokes. *9 Again, on the tomb itself, there
is no stop after the word Cumianus, and near the closing line, we should
"
Depositus est hie Dominus Cumianus Episcopus XIV. Kal. Sep- tembris. " Above this tomb, there is a sarcophagus, projecting from the wall, and it is said to contain the bones of the present saint. 20 On affirmation
read,
with kind permission of the authoress, is
taken from the highly-interestingr work of Miss Margaret Stokes, "Six Montns in the
Apennines, or a Pilgrimage in search of Vestiges of the Irish Saints in Italy. " Lon-
don, 1892, 4to. The drawing on wood, by William F. Wakeman, has been engraved by Mrs. Millard.
blessed Cummian are dissolved.
2.
Whose soul penetrating to Heaven
rejoices with the Angels.
3. He was great in dignity, high-born and
x 7 Miss Stokes writes
border below the inscription is turned the wrong way, and the two doves at each side of the monogram of Christ, as they are now placed, rest on their heads with their legs in the air. And as we are now considering this ornamental border, we may further observe, that the said monogram is of a very ancient and primitive form. It is formed of two Greek letters, I Iota, and X Chi, entwined in a circle, so as to resemble a wheel with six rays. From the feet of the doves spring twobranchesofvine,whichintertwinesoas to form a beautiful series of ovals enclosing
fruit and leaves alternating with stars. These branchesmeetattheotherendofthemarble, where they encircle a two-handled chalice. At each end the design is broken, which leads to the conclusion that this was but a portion of a larger monument or sarcophagus, along the ends of which this entwined border was continued. "
18 This inscription has been inaccurately copied, and even set up in type, so as to obscure its meaning. Miss Stokes professes to render the correct reading, from a per- sonal examination* and by taking a copy, in
1889, as now printed in her work.
20
It has been pictured by Miss Stokes,
:
" The ornamental
5. He stayed at Bobbio, constrained by the love of the Lord,
6. Where serving the Rule of the Vener- able Columbanus
7. In watching, fasting, unceasing sedu- lous praying
8. Four Olympiads and the compass of one year,
9. He lived in such happiness we may believe him now to be blessed.
10. Merciful, prudent, pious to the brethren,
peaceful with all men,
1 1 . The years of his life were ninety
12. Andonelustrumandfourmonths.
13. O worthy Father, be a powerful inter-
cessor
14. ForthemostgloriousKingLuitprand, who, to thee
15. Devoted, decorated this precious stone tomb
16. That it might be manifest where the
precious body lies.
17. — here is Lord Cummian Deposited
18. Bishop XIV. Kalends of September. 19. Master John made this. "
19 The following is her version pp. 154
:
1. "Here the sacred members of the 81
to 170 176. 156, pp.
4.
beautiful.
Scotia sent him here to the boundaries
of Italy in his old age.
and the stone seems to be covered with the
peculiar interlaced Celtic style of carving.
See her work, " Six Months in the Apen-
— and to
nines,"
According
to Dr. O'Donovan's "An
August 19. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 291
of the reasonable supposition, that a date on his tomb has reference to the exact day of his death, his principal feast must be assigned to the 19th of August. He is said to have departed this life a. d. 661," or the following
year.
22 him to have been identical with St. This, however, supposes
Cummine Fada a3 but, we are of opinion, that they are both to be dis- ;
tinguished. Another interpretation has been given, however, to the inscrip- tion on the tomb at Bobbio, that a Translation of St. Cumian's Relics took
there on this 19th of August. 25
2-* He is honoured in Ireland and in on the Italy,
place Seasons. "
day.
At this date, his festival is registered, in the " Circle of the
26
Article III. — St. Enan, Patron of Drumrath, County of West- meath. [Sixth Century'. ] The present holy servant of God flourished so
u
early as the sixth century. In the
Feilire" of St. yEngus, the festival for
Enan of Droma Raithne is to be found at the of 1 In entered, 19th August.
a comment, we find an explanation, that Droma Raithne is the same as Druim Fota Talman, in the West of Meath, while he is said to have been Enan, son of Ernin, son of Cael, son of Aed, son of Artchorp, son of
2 The of 3 afestivalin published Martyrology Tallagh registers
Niacorp.
honour of Enan, of Druimraithe, in Westmeath. A similar entry is to be
found in the copy of that Martyrology contained in the Book of Leinster,4 at
the xiv. of the September kalends. At the 19th of August, the Martyrology of Donegal5 also enters the festival for St. Enan of Druimrath. Postfixed to
this Martyrology, there is a similar entry, in which the Martyrologium
Genealogicum is quoted as authority, by the compiler of an alphabetical
table. 6 Our saint is called Henan, in the Life of St. Aidus, of Killare,?
and there are different readings, for the name of this hermit, in the
Codex and in the Salamancan 8 The Bollandists Insulensis, Manuscript.
allude merely to the present St. Henan or Enan, at the 19th of August ;9 promising if further information were to be procured, that allusion should more fully be made to him, at the 18th of September, when, according to some Irish Calendars, he had another festival. It is stated,
that he
belonged
to the race of Eochaidh from whom Finnfua-thairt,
10
nals of the Four Masters," the death of St.
Cummine Foda, son of Fiacha, Bishop o Cluainfearta-Breanainn (Clonfert), is set down at this year, but on the 12th day of November. See vol. i. , pp. 270 to 273, and nn. (a, b. ) ibid.
Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxxiv.
2
See ibid. , p. cxxxii.
3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxii.
4 Thus : enani "O^oivia fUurn.
s Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
224, 225.
82 6 See Dr. William Cave's "Scriptorum
But, in a note, added by Dr. Todd to
Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria," &c,
vol. i. , p. 584.
23 See Archbishop Ussher's " Britanni-
carum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. ,
such statement, he says, in the copy of that
treatise, as found in the Book of Lecan,
there is nothing concerning Enan of Druim-
raithe, in Westmeath. See ibid. , pp. 408, 409.
7 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
and Index
24 According to Dordaigne, in his Me- nia:," xviii. Februarii, Vita S. Aidi Epis. et
p. 503,
Chronologicus, p. 539.
nology. See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xii. Januarii, Vita S. Cummiani, n. 6, p. 59.
2s See Rev. Dr. Alban Butler's " Lives of
the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal
Saints," vol. viii. , August xix.
26
See p. 232. —
Article hi. 'See "Transactions of
the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of
Confessoris, cap. xxxvi. , p. 421.
8
As cited by Colgan ; for he is further-
more styled Dionotus and Dienoc. See
ibid. , n. 27, p. 423.
» See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Au-
gusti xix. Among the Pretermitted Saints,
p. 699.
I0
See the Life of this Saint, in the Second Volume of this work, at the 1st of February, the date for her festival, Art. i.
Brigid
292 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 19
descends. If so, he was son of Ernin, son to Calius, son of Aid, son to Sanius, son of Arturus Corb. " We are informed from other sources, how thissaintlivedthelifeofahermit,andataplace,calledDrumrath. Here
12
he was visited by St. Aidus, or Aedh, surnamed MacBricc, a remarkable
and holy prelate of the ancient Irish Church. He resided at Killare, or Killair, now a village, not far from the celebrated Hill of Uisneach, and
CamdenJ3 tohavebeentheancientLaberus,noted 1* by Ptolemy.
supposed by
The place in which St. Enan or Henan dwelt is now known as Drumrath, or
Drumraney. The Irish denomination of this locality means in English, the Ridge-Rath. 15 It belonged to the Meath diocese, and it is situated in that
16
According to Archdall's state- ment, the place of this saint is identical with Drumraney, which lies about six miles north-eastwards from Athlone, in the Barony of Kilkenny West,
x
County of Westmeath. 7 Others locate it, in the adjoining barony, called
Brawney. 18 When St. Aidus, Bishop of Killare, paid a visit to our saint, at
Druimrath, he had nothing for the prelate's refreshment but herbs and water.
Seeing this condition of affairs, Aidus smiled, and said to the servant of
'*
Enan, Go, brother, and bring us more palatable food. " Returning to a
place indicated, the servant found it filled with all varieties of meat. On
seeing and hearing these events, those who were present, at that time, cried out, " Wonderful is the Lord in His Saints. " T 9 From Killare to Drumrath or Drumrany, the distance is not very considerable ; and, from all we can learn, it is extremely probable, that a holy friendship and an intercourse had beenkeptupbySt. Aidwithhisneighbour,St. Enan. Moreover,itseems not unlikely, that our saint had a small community under his charge, at the
—Seward's '* Hibernica," Topographia
Art. Drumrany.
'9 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xxviii. Februarii, Vita S. Aidi, cap. xxxvi. , p. 421.
20 AftertheAnglo-NormanInvasion. Sir
Henry de Lion, who was Secretary to John, King of Ireland, obtained a large grant of land at Drumrany in the year 1 185 ; it being
part of Westmeath, formerly called Cuircne.
20 We are told, there is a well In this near the holy parish,
latter
churchyard, which is extensive. This well had been dedicated to St. Enan. 21 Our national Hagiologist informs us, that the entertainer of St. Aidus was no other than the present St. Enan, also called Henan. 22 It seems probable, that St. Aedh,23 surnamed Mac Brie, lived atRahugh or Rathugh, a parish
place.
" See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga. " Appendix Quarta ad Acta S. Brigidse, cap. iii. ,
p. 613.
12 He had a double festival : an account
of him may be found at the 28th of February,
intheSecondVolumeofthiswork,Art. viii. his chief festival, however, seems to have been the 10th of November, where more de- tailed particulars are set down.
13 See Camden's " Gough's
;
" Britannia,
of the ancient
of the
vol. iii. Westmeath.
14 See J. N. Brewer's " Beauties of Ire-
land," vol. ii. , p. 249.
15 The term Rath forms or begins the
names of about 700 townlands in Ireland.
The successors of St. Mochta at Louth are called abbots, in the Irish
Annals, until the ninth century. At this period, bishops begin to appear amongthem. 54 However,Colganstates,thataSeewasestablishedatLouth, from the time of our saint ; not alone as appears from his Life, but as shown
from the Register of the Apostolic Camera, in which it is represented as one of the suffragan dioceses, belonging to the Archbishopric of Armagh. He
appends a chronological Catalogue of the many Abbots and Bishops, noted down in reference to this place, and to be met with in the Annals of the Four
Masters, as also other incidents of a local character. Having first noticed the erection of a noble church at Louth, by Bishop Edan O'Kelly, and by Donagh O'Carroll, chief of Orgiel, in 1148,55 when it was consecrated by St.
Malachy O'Morgair,56 Archbishop of Armagh ; he ends this account with an interesting allusion to some relics, which had been there preserved, in the thirteenthcentury,5? andformerlybroughtfromRomebySt. Mochta,accord- ing to the received tradition. 58 The subsequent Annals of this celebrated Priory are interesting, down to the period of the Reformation ? * its Priors were Barons of Parliament ; while its possessions and endowments were very considerable, as shown by the Inquisitions.
46 See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," sect, xii. , n. 125, p. 310.
lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 105.
47 See p. 232.
48 See the Fourth Volume of this work,
55 An endowment of land was attached to it. —This church stood on the hill of Knock formerly known as Cnoc-na-sean- gan—near the town of Louth ; but scarcely
at the nth of April, Art. xii.
49 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of a vestige of it now remains. See Dr.
O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters,"
Capitulum 52 This townland, in a parish bearing the seruatur Lugmagiae per Archiepiscopum
Scottish Saints,'*' p. 196.
i0 In rum. "
"
"
Catalogus
Generalis
Sancto-
vol. and n. ii. , pp. 1082, 1083,
51 See
quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 445.
(s).
56 See his Acts, at the 3rd of November in the Eleventh Volume of this work, Art. i .
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
same name, and in the barony of Castle-
Ardmachanum et Abbates Canonicorum Regularium Hiberniae : in quo elevatae sunt multae Sanctorum reliquke, per S. Moch- teum olim Roma asportatse. "
58 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae," Martii xxiv. Appendix ad Vitam S.
Mochtei, cap. v. , pp. 736, 737.
59 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
cum," pp. 469 to 479.
knock, is shown on the
"
Ordnance Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Dublin," sheet 13. The parish is marked on sheets
13 and 17.
53 See John D'Alton's "History of the
County of Dublin," p. 574.
54 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. ,
57 At A. D. 1242, it is noted :
%V
288 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 19.
Passing away from life, this holy man slept sweetly in the Lord, with other honoured pastors of the Church, who had laboured strenuously to pro- mote God's honour and man's salvation. For this purpose, Mochta left country and kindred. Hence, he is variously called a proselyte, a pilgrim, a stranger, or a convert to the true religion. His actions and words gave edification in the land of his adoption, where many profited through his
labours,zealandedifyingexample. Thissaintwasspeciallyadmiredforhis purity of life and conversation. Therefore, being under angelic tuition while young, the Angels received him with rejoicing, when the term of his earthly career had come to a close.
Article II. —Festival of St. Cummin, or Cumianus, a Bishop, and
a Monk at Bobbio, in Italy.
[Seventh Century. ']
The acts of this holy
man have been
ciently certain, that such was really the feast of this Cumianus ; neither can the present date be assigned for it, unless we interpret a line on his tomb, as
2
specially referring to his death or deposition, but this seems to be the correct
reading. As much as is known about the present history of St. Cummian
hasbeenalreadysetdown. Thepresentday,however,isthoughtbysome to have been that of his death, and as a consequence, for his proper feast. At the 19th of August, the Bollandists3 refer to a Scottish or Irish bishop, said to have been venerated, likewise, at the 9th of June, but whose name is not found inscribed on the regular calendars. They refer, likewise, to a Cemianus, a monk in Scotia,* noted by Ferrarius,* at this day. They incline to an opinion, however, that he may not have been distinct from the present holy man. The Rev. Alban Butler has entered a somewhat lengthened notice of this St. Cummin, or Cumin,6 whom he styles a bishop, in Ireland, at the 19th of August. According to that author, he was son to Fiachna, king of West Munster, and born in the year 592. 7 Then, he is said to have embraced a monastic state early in life, and after some years to have become Abbot of Keltra, an island in Lough Dearg, upon the River Shannon, sixteen miles from Limerick. Moreover, he is held by some writers to have been the same Cumin, who wrote an epistle to Segienus, the fourth Abbot of Hy, who died a. d. 651. That Epislola Paschalis has been preserved for us by Archbishop Usher. 8 The tract manifests not alone a very thorough study of the Sacred Scriptures and of the early Christian Fathers, but a learned knowledge of the cycles and epacts. 9 The leading idea conveyed in it is to induce the monks of Iona, whose authority bore great weight in the Irish and Pictish Churches, to join with the Roman and universal Church, regarding the time for celebrating Easter. Such conformity he urges with strength of reasoning, and with admirable persuasiveness and piety. However this may
already recorded,
at the
9th
of
June.
1 it is not suffi- Yet,
Article ii. —'See the Sixth Volume of this work, at that date, Art. iv.
6 See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other Principal Saints," vol. viii. , August xix.
7 This account appears to have been taken
a
of his epitaph, thus : —
It occurs in the last Latin hexameter line
<t«. « v
xiv. Kal. Septemb. Feet Joannes.
" Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria," &c,
o * -»*. t? ^;» TTM n „*c
This, however, has been read, as referring to the date, placed by the artist for complet- ingorerectingthetomb.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Au- gusti xix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 697.
4 See ibid. t p. 698.
5 In " Generalis Sanctorum. " Catalogus
f ,orn tnat found in Cave's
1
»
Scriptorum
"
seu Comminus—, cognomento Fota, seu Fada%
where at a. d. 640, he is called
Cumianus,
i. e. ,Loftgus. " Vol. i.
ticum, p. 584. 8"
Sseculum Monothela-
See Veterum Epistolarum Hibemica-
rum Sylloge," Epist. xi. , pp. 24 to 35.
9 See Fabricius' "Bibliotheca Mediae et
Infirmoe
Latinitatis,"
vol.
i. ,
lib. iii. ,
p. 1237.
August i 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIA TS. 289
be, the St. Cummin, or Cumianus, venerated on this day, appears to have been consecrated as bishop, in some part of Ireland.
This holy man probably resigned the episcopal dignity, to become a monk at Bobbio. 10 It is now a town of good size, and the capital of a
province so named, in Sardinia. It is romantically situated on the Trebbia River, at the foot of the Apennines, and about forty-five miles north-east
from Genoa. It is also the seat of a
bishop.
11 Sometimes, the wide bed of
the River Trebbia spreads out to a great extent, after floods come down from
the mountains, while, at other times, a tiny stream only flows. The mountain
torrent of Bobbio joins that river, near the town so called. This place has
peculiar claims on the veneration of Irishmen, its history being so intimately
connected with the great St. Columban. 12 The town was situated, within
the ancient of J 3 The banks of the Trebbia are lined with
territory Liguria.
rows of tall poplar trees. The Cathedral and the Church of San Colombano
are the two buildings of greatest interest in Bobbio. A treatise known as
Liber de Pceniteniiarum Mensura J * has been written by one Cummian x s ;
but, whether he is to be regarded as identical with the present holy man or otherwise has not been determined. The present church of St, Columban
The Church of San Columbano, Bobbio.
standsintheupperendofBobbio. Thedesertedmonasticbuildingsare now grouped around it. That church is a Lombardic building, restored in the seventeenth century. What remains of the more ancient buildings are, the bell tower, the subterranean church or crypt, the sacristy, the old refectory, the wood-house and the cellars. Like most of the Lombardic buildings, it
10 "
See Ughelli's Italia Sacra," tomus iv. ,
sea-shore, it presents a southern aspect, and it is now known as the Riviere di Genova.
14 It has been in " Bibliotheca preserved
Patruum," &c, tomus xii. , p. 41.
'5 The reader is referred to what has been
already written regarding it, in the Sixth Volume of this work, at the 9th of June, Art. iv.
16 The accompanying illustration, copied, T
Bobienses Abbates, col. 959.
11 See "Gazetteer of the World," vol.
p. 787.
12
ii. ,
His Life may be read, in the Eleventh Volume of this work, at the 21st of Novem- ber, Art. i.
*3 This extended from the Apennines, in northern Italy, to the Tuscan Sea. On the
290 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 19.
has a porch, the atrium, or Paradise, as it was called. 16 The interior of this
church is very beautiful, and a descent is made to the crypt, by two flights of
stairs passing by the right and left of the choir. They meet on a landing
place under the sanctuary. Thence a broad staircase leads down to the
lower church, called the Tuburio or Scurolo. In the centre of the crypt is
the stone, which formerly covered the grave of St. Cummian. Formerly, it
was laid horizontally on the floor. At present, it is fixed erect into that wall,
which stands to the left of the altar, in cornu evangelii. ^ The inscription on
the stone may be divided into two parts : the first portion, in rude Latin
hexameters, contains a eulogy of the saint ; the second, in three lines, gives
the date for the entombment, called the Deposition, and the name of that
artist who sculptured the work. 18 It would seem from the eighth line of the
inscription, that Cummian spent seventeen years at Bobbio, and not twenty,
as has been stated in the Chronicle ot Bobbio, as well as in the office lesson,
still recited in the diocese. If the period of seventeen years be accepted as
true, then the saint must have been seventy-eight years of age, at the time of
his arrival there, since he reached the extremely advanced term of ninety-five
years when he died. The inscription on St. Cummian's tomb has been
translated into English by Miss Stokes. *9 Again, on the tomb itself, there
is no stop after the word Cumianus, and near the closing line, we should
"
Depositus est hie Dominus Cumianus Episcopus XIV. Kal. Sep- tembris. " Above this tomb, there is a sarcophagus, projecting from the wall, and it is said to contain the bones of the present saint. 20 On affirmation
read,
with kind permission of the authoress, is
taken from the highly-interestingr work of Miss Margaret Stokes, "Six Montns in the
Apennines, or a Pilgrimage in search of Vestiges of the Irish Saints in Italy. " Lon-
don, 1892, 4to. The drawing on wood, by William F. Wakeman, has been engraved by Mrs. Millard.
blessed Cummian are dissolved.
2.
Whose soul penetrating to Heaven
rejoices with the Angels.
3. He was great in dignity, high-born and
x 7 Miss Stokes writes
border below the inscription is turned the wrong way, and the two doves at each side of the monogram of Christ, as they are now placed, rest on their heads with their legs in the air. And as we are now considering this ornamental border, we may further observe, that the said monogram is of a very ancient and primitive form. It is formed of two Greek letters, I Iota, and X Chi, entwined in a circle, so as to resemble a wheel with six rays. From the feet of the doves spring twobranchesofvine,whichintertwinesoas to form a beautiful series of ovals enclosing
fruit and leaves alternating with stars. These branchesmeetattheotherendofthemarble, where they encircle a two-handled chalice. At each end the design is broken, which leads to the conclusion that this was but a portion of a larger monument or sarcophagus, along the ends of which this entwined border was continued. "
18 This inscription has been inaccurately copied, and even set up in type, so as to obscure its meaning. Miss Stokes professes to render the correct reading, from a per- sonal examination* and by taking a copy, in
1889, as now printed in her work.
20
It has been pictured by Miss Stokes,
:
" The ornamental
5. He stayed at Bobbio, constrained by the love of the Lord,
6. Where serving the Rule of the Vener- able Columbanus
7. In watching, fasting, unceasing sedu- lous praying
8. Four Olympiads and the compass of one year,
9. He lived in such happiness we may believe him now to be blessed.
10. Merciful, prudent, pious to the brethren,
peaceful with all men,
1 1 . The years of his life were ninety
12. Andonelustrumandfourmonths.
13. O worthy Father, be a powerful inter-
cessor
14. ForthemostgloriousKingLuitprand, who, to thee
15. Devoted, decorated this precious stone tomb
16. That it might be manifest where the
precious body lies.
17. — here is Lord Cummian Deposited
18. Bishop XIV. Kalends of September. 19. Master John made this. "
19 The following is her version pp. 154
:
1. "Here the sacred members of the 81
to 170 176. 156, pp.
4.
beautiful.
Scotia sent him here to the boundaries
of Italy in his old age.
and the stone seems to be covered with the
peculiar interlaced Celtic style of carving.
See her work, " Six Months in the Apen-
— and to
nines,"
According
to Dr. O'Donovan's "An
August 19. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 291
of the reasonable supposition, that a date on his tomb has reference to the exact day of his death, his principal feast must be assigned to the 19th of August. He is said to have departed this life a. d. 661," or the following
year.
22 him to have been identical with St. This, however, supposes
Cummine Fada a3 but, we are of opinion, that they are both to be dis- ;
tinguished. Another interpretation has been given, however, to the inscrip- tion on the tomb at Bobbio, that a Translation of St. Cumian's Relics took
there on this 19th of August. 25
2-* He is honoured in Ireland and in on the Italy,
place Seasons. "
day.
At this date, his festival is registered, in the " Circle of the
26
Article III. — St. Enan, Patron of Drumrath, County of West- meath. [Sixth Century'. ] The present holy servant of God flourished so
u
early as the sixth century. In the
Feilire" of St. yEngus, the festival for
Enan of Droma Raithne is to be found at the of 1 In entered, 19th August.
a comment, we find an explanation, that Droma Raithne is the same as Druim Fota Talman, in the West of Meath, while he is said to have been Enan, son of Ernin, son of Cael, son of Aed, son of Artchorp, son of
2 The of 3 afestivalin published Martyrology Tallagh registers
Niacorp.
honour of Enan, of Druimraithe, in Westmeath. A similar entry is to be
found in the copy of that Martyrology contained in the Book of Leinster,4 at
the xiv. of the September kalends. At the 19th of August, the Martyrology of Donegal5 also enters the festival for St. Enan of Druimrath. Postfixed to
this Martyrology, there is a similar entry, in which the Martyrologium
Genealogicum is quoted as authority, by the compiler of an alphabetical
table. 6 Our saint is called Henan, in the Life of St. Aidus, of Killare,?
and there are different readings, for the name of this hermit, in the
Codex and in the Salamancan 8 The Bollandists Insulensis, Manuscript.
allude merely to the present St. Henan or Enan, at the 19th of August ;9 promising if further information were to be procured, that allusion should more fully be made to him, at the 18th of September, when, according to some Irish Calendars, he had another festival. It is stated,
that he
belonged
to the race of Eochaidh from whom Finnfua-thairt,
10
nals of the Four Masters," the death of St.
Cummine Foda, son of Fiacha, Bishop o Cluainfearta-Breanainn (Clonfert), is set down at this year, but on the 12th day of November. See vol. i. , pp. 270 to 273, and nn. (a, b. ) ibid.
Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxxiv.
2
See ibid. , p. cxxxii.
3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxii.
4 Thus : enani "O^oivia fUurn.
s Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
224, 225.
82 6 See Dr. William Cave's "Scriptorum
But, in a note, added by Dr. Todd to
Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria," &c,
vol. i. , p. 584.
23 See Archbishop Ussher's " Britanni-
carum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. ,
such statement, he says, in the copy of that
treatise, as found in the Book of Lecan,
there is nothing concerning Enan of Druim-
raithe, in Westmeath. See ibid. , pp. 408, 409.
7 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
and Index
24 According to Dordaigne, in his Me- nia:," xviii. Februarii, Vita S. Aidi Epis. et
p. 503,
Chronologicus, p. 539.
nology. See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xii. Januarii, Vita S. Cummiani, n. 6, p. 59.
2s See Rev. Dr. Alban Butler's " Lives of
the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal
Saints," vol. viii. , August xix.
26
See p. 232. —
Article hi. 'See "Transactions of
the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of
Confessoris, cap. xxxvi. , p. 421.
8
As cited by Colgan ; for he is further-
more styled Dionotus and Dienoc. See
ibid. , n. 27, p. 423.
» See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Au-
gusti xix. Among the Pretermitted Saints,
p. 699.
I0
See the Life of this Saint, in the Second Volume of this work, at the 1st of February, the date for her festival, Art. i.
Brigid
292 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 19
descends. If so, he was son of Ernin, son to Calius, son of Aid, son to Sanius, son of Arturus Corb. " We are informed from other sources, how thissaintlivedthelifeofahermit,andataplace,calledDrumrath. Here
12
he was visited by St. Aidus, or Aedh, surnamed MacBricc, a remarkable
and holy prelate of the ancient Irish Church. He resided at Killare, or Killair, now a village, not far from the celebrated Hill of Uisneach, and
CamdenJ3 tohavebeentheancientLaberus,noted 1* by Ptolemy.
supposed by
The place in which St. Enan or Henan dwelt is now known as Drumrath, or
Drumraney. The Irish denomination of this locality means in English, the Ridge-Rath. 15 It belonged to the Meath diocese, and it is situated in that
16
According to Archdall's state- ment, the place of this saint is identical with Drumraney, which lies about six miles north-eastwards from Athlone, in the Barony of Kilkenny West,
x
County of Westmeath. 7 Others locate it, in the adjoining barony, called
Brawney. 18 When St. Aidus, Bishop of Killare, paid a visit to our saint, at
Druimrath, he had nothing for the prelate's refreshment but herbs and water.
Seeing this condition of affairs, Aidus smiled, and said to the servant of
'*
Enan, Go, brother, and bring us more palatable food. " Returning to a
place indicated, the servant found it filled with all varieties of meat. On
seeing and hearing these events, those who were present, at that time, cried out, " Wonderful is the Lord in His Saints. " T 9 From Killare to Drumrath or Drumrany, the distance is not very considerable ; and, from all we can learn, it is extremely probable, that a holy friendship and an intercourse had beenkeptupbySt. Aidwithhisneighbour,St. Enan. Moreover,itseems not unlikely, that our saint had a small community under his charge, at the
—Seward's '* Hibernica," Topographia
Art. Drumrany.
'9 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xxviii. Februarii, Vita S. Aidi, cap. xxxvi. , p. 421.
20 AftertheAnglo-NormanInvasion. Sir
Henry de Lion, who was Secretary to John, King of Ireland, obtained a large grant of land at Drumrany in the year 1 185 ; it being
part of Westmeath, formerly called Cuircne.
20 We are told, there is a well In this near the holy parish,
latter
churchyard, which is extensive. This well had been dedicated to St. Enan. 21 Our national Hagiologist informs us, that the entertainer of St. Aidus was no other than the present St. Enan, also called Henan. 22 It seems probable, that St. Aedh,23 surnamed Mac Brie, lived atRahugh or Rathugh, a parish
place.
" See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga. " Appendix Quarta ad Acta S. Brigidse, cap. iii. ,
p. 613.
12 He had a double festival : an account
of him may be found at the 28th of February,
intheSecondVolumeofthiswork,Art. viii. his chief festival, however, seems to have been the 10th of November, where more de- tailed particulars are set down.
13 See Camden's " Gough's
;
" Britannia,
of the ancient
of the
vol. iii. Westmeath.
14 See J. N. Brewer's " Beauties of Ire-
land," vol. ii. , p. 249.
15 The term Rath forms or begins the
names of about 700 townlands in Ireland.
