This place is said to have been
occupied
by the Romans, at an early
date, and it is also uncertain, when the religious community of monks had been first established here ; but, Bangor Iscoed appears to have been erected into an episcopal See, about a.
date, and it is also uncertain, when the religious community of monks had been first established here ; but, Bangor Iscoed appears to have been erected into an episcopal See, about a.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
iv.
, pp.
722, 723.
34 See ibid. , n. (m).
"
3S See Colgan's
Septima Vita S. Patricii, n. 221, p. 183.
36 Variously called in English records
Anderken and Sluthenderkeys.
37 See Miss M. F. Cusack's "Life of St.
Patrick, Apostle of Ireland. " Note by William M. Hennessy 9, p. 443.
38 See fol. 142. a. b. ; and also MacFirbis' Genealogical MSS. , p. 513.
cxxxiii. , pp. 146, 147.
*° See John O'Donovan's teAbhap tiA
There is also a small Island,
Trias Thaumaturga/j
39 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
5-CeA^c, pp. 172, 173. , and n. (s), ibid.
4I See Rev. William Reeves' account in "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor
and Dromore," n. (u), p. 1$.
^ See "Ordnance Survey Townland
4 i4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 29.
to be represented by the present Castle Espie, the ruins of which—lying in a large rath on the western shore of Strangford Lough—are in a townland4* bearing the same name, and it has always been ecclesiastical property/6 It seems sufficiently probable, that while St. Vinnoc had been connected with Teaghnetha or Tynan, he had charge, moreover, of Rath-Easpuic-Innic, which gave him claim to be regarded as one of our primitive Irish bishops.
In identifying Hua Dercachein with the valley of the Braid, in the County of Antrim, Colgan has fallen into an error. *? It seems rather to have been a tract in the northern part of the County Down, or on the con- fines of Down and Antrim/8 The Mac Giolla Muire, Anglicized Gillimury, were chiefs of that tribe/9 After the English invasion, their territory was much circumscribed by the Whites and Savages, and afterwards by the O'Neills of Clannaboy and the Mac Artains. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Mac Gilmories or Gilmores were stout opposers of the English. * The O'Guillemers appear to have been chief settlers here, and in the Great Ardes, to the close of the sixteenth century, according to an old
1
However, notwithstanding the foregoing false conjectures as to locality, St. Vinnoc was venerated on the 29th of August, at a church belonging to
the Diocese of Armagh, commonly called Tuighnean, but more correctly
2
Such is the identification of Marianus O'Gorman, in con- nection with his entry of St. Uinnic in the Calendar. The published Martyr- ology of Donegal registers a festival in honor of Uindic, of Tuighnetha,**
at this same date. Moreover, Uindic, Bishop of Rath-Easpuic-Innic, has been placed, by Rev. William Reeves, among the Saints of Down, Connor and Dromore, in that Calendar which he has compiled for these Dioceses. ss The day for his festival, is the 29th of August.
It is only by the perfect study of ourselves, we are enabled fully to recognise our own weakness ; and such meditation was ever the care of the holyonesonearth. Thusdidthepresentsaintlearntruewisdom,andwith it he was deeply imbued with the spirit of profound humility. Our exact knowledge of the nothingness and vanity of self-esteem inspires us all the more to trust in the Almighty alone, to supply by His graces what is still wanting to render us more perfect, and to purge from our' souls the mean- ness of pride by constant cultivation of salutary thoughts, which regard our total dependence on Him.
Article II. —Feast of Nine Hundred Martyrs. Remarking on the
Manuscript Description of Ireland written in 1598. 5
Teagh-neatha. 5
perishable
natureof
regal
and
earthly grandeur,
an
early English poet
1 considers
kill, barony of Lower Castlereagh, and it is
"
described on the
land Maps for the County of Down," Sheets 10, 11.
46 See Miss M. F. Cusack's " Life of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," William M. Hennessy's note 9, p. 443.
4 ? " Hodic voca. iur Brafge-Dercan : e*tque
vallis in Baronia /Endromensi Diocesis
Connerensis, olim dicta Glann Fada na Tertia Vita S. Patricii, n. 69, p. 34. Feine, i. e. vallis longa Feniorum. "—
Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, n.
Ordnance Survey Town-
Prene, Archbishop of Armagh, from A. D. 1459 to 1443. Patricius Palladius O'Gilmore was chief parishioner of Bredac in 1442.
so See Sir James Ware's "Annals of Ire-
land," at A. D. 1407.
P This is quoted in Dubourdieu's " Sta-
" Trias
53 Edited by Drs. ToJd and Reeves, pp.
a note by O'Donovan states, Tiugh- See Rev. William Reeve's Ecclesi- netha : i. e. Tynan, Co. Armagh. "
astical Antiquities of Down, Connor and 55 See " Ecclesiastical Antiquities of
Dromore," Appendix GG. , n. (a), p. 339. Down, Connor and Dromore. '' Appendix,
221, p. 183.
48 "
49
According to the Registry oi John LL. with n, (b), pp. 379, 380.
tistical Survey of the County Antrim," chap, iv. , sect. 5, p. 629.
52 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
228, 229.
5* "
August 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 4i5
the glories of birth and state as only shadows and unsubstantial frivolities.
Military heroes, too, may triumph over other men, but they must stoop to conquer themselves, sooner or later. Little reason have those conquerors to boast of their mighty achievements, for the garland soon withers on their brows. Perhaps again, on the blood-stained field, the victor himself must lie as a victim. 2 While the human sacrifices made by man's ambition offend the God of humanity, who abhors violence and bloodshed ; the blood of His martyrs rises as incense before His throne, and endears for ever the memory of His faithful and devoted champions. On the 29th of August,
"
nine hundred with virginity," according to the " Feilire" of St. ^Engus. 3 This festival is also found recorded in many ancient Martyrologies ; yet, not in the same manner,
nor on the same day. * In the Martyrology of Florentinius, on the 29th of August, their feast is coupled with that of the Natalis of St. John the Baptist^ and to the entry a comment is added. 6 However, the name of that place where they suffered is not given in the foreign Martyrologies, so far as can be known. 7 The Bollandists8 enter their festival, at the 29th of August, with some notices by Father John Pinius, S. J. This martyrdom seems referable possibly to an event which happened in Wales, and which is thus related by Venerable Bede. 9 Having stated, that with the assistance of King Ethelbert, St. Augustine, the Apostle of the Southern Saxons, drew to a conference the British bishops or doctors,10 and to a place thenceforward known at Augustine's Ac or Oak, on the borders of the Wiccii
the early Irish Church celebrated a feast for
Article ii. —'
James Shirley,
who flou-
eadem die tomus iv.
rished in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies. His poems were published in London,
1846, 8vo. A more complete edition of his Dramatic Works and Poems, edited by A. Dyce, appeared in six 8vo. volumes, London, 1833.
2
often flatters hu—man ambition, truly does the
sunt. "
—"
Spicilegium,"
Moralizing on the delusive fame that so
s Thus " In Provincia Palestina civitate :
Sebastia natalis sancti Joannis Baptistse, et
aliorum natalis sanctorum CM Martyrum,
qui eadem die passi sunt. "
6"
This states : Ita sancti Martyres non-
genti cum celebritate S. Joa. Baptistse con- nectuntur, ut non modo eodem die, sed eodem etiam loco videantur adscribi. Tan- tam ccelitam turbam hie silet Martyrol. Corbiense, quod earn sequenti die recenseat. Non tacuit tamen Martyrol. vetustissimum, et cum passione quidem S. Joannis Baptistae copulavit ; non tamen locum signavit, quern Martyr. Corbeiense incertum notat alibi
poet conclude
:
"All heads must come To the cold tomb ;
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. "
3 In the " Leabhar Breac copy is the (? aliorum) sequenti die. Reliqua edita
at that date The — following entry, English
eosdem Martyrologia prsetereunt. "
7 in Thus, at this date, Greven,
translation is by Whitley Stokes, LL. I).
:
his ad-
-Aipieit) CefAt) 1ohAin
ditions to Usuard, states merely: "Item
sanctorum Martyrum nongentorum, qui eo- dem die passi sunt. "
bit)
L-d . ix. cec conu-ap
LAf|Aer54b<Mb hell.
t)AubcAifc
coLej\i
"Announce the Passion of John Baptist, a
flame with piety, with nine hun—dred with
virginity, at Elijah's ascension. " "Trans- Venerable Bede," edited by Rev. J. A. actionsoftheRoyalIrishAcademy,"voli. , Giles,D. C. L. ,vol. ii. "HistoriaEcclesias- part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, tica Gentis Anglorum," lib. ii. , cap. ii. , p. cxxvi. A comment is added on the word
Heli or Elijah, thus: ". i. propheta . i. dormitio
wise, as stated in the Annals of Waverley :
helesi hie . i. in hoc die . i. eliuatio eius in —"
paradisum. " Ibid. , p. exxxv.
4 In a Martyrology, to which the name of
St. Jerome is prefixed, and which DAchery declares to be very ancient, this feast has
been assigned to the 30th of August, in these words, "Et alibi, natalis Sanctorum Non-
Augustinus, episcopus Anglorum habita synodo cum Britorum et Scotorum episcopis, quia sacerdotes et monachos invenit adver- saries sequitatis, quos voluit habere socios praedicationis, terruit e—os vaticinio futurae super eos calamitatis. " "Annales Monas-
gentorum Martyrum, qui
pa=si
8 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Au- gusti xxix. De SS. Nongentis Martyribus, ex Martyrologiis Hieronymianis, p. 513.
9 See "The Miscellaneous Works of
pp. 172 to 179.
10
With these were associated Scots, like-
4 i6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 29.
andWestSaxons; hevainlyendeavouredtopersuadethem,thattheyshould observe Easter after the Roman usage, and abandon their own traditions, as also he wished them to join with him in missionary enterprise among the
Saxons. They refused these proposals. Whereupon, St. Augustine declared, in case the Britons would not preach the way of life to the English nation, that at the hands of the Saxons they should themselves suffer death. This conference was held about the year 603 ; and that prophecy seemed
11 tobefulfilledin613,whenthewarlikeKingofNorthumbria,Ethelfrid, raised
a large army, and marched at their head against the Britons or Welsh, towards
the of 12called the nowChester. At city Carlegion, by English Legacestir,
*4
If then they cry to their God against us, although they do not bear arms, yet in truth they fight against us, because they oppose us by their prayers. " He then ordered them to be attacked first. Brocmail and his soldiers, left to defend them, sought safety for themselves in flight, leaving the monks unarmed and exposed to the swords of their enemies. About twelve hundred of those who came to pray are said to have been pitilessly slain, and only fifty of the number escaped the swords of the conqueror. Ethelfrid also destroyed the rest of
their
army, yet
was taken, and thence marching forward, Bangor Iscoed was utterly demolished. The scattered ruins demonstrated to subsequent generations
16
the extent of that celebrated monastery.
This place is said to have been occupied by the Romans, at an early
date, and it is also uncertain, when the religious community of monks had been first established here ; but, Bangor Iscoed appears to have been erected into an episcopal See, about a. d. 550, when Deiniol or Daniel, abbot of the monastery, then became its first bishop. He is stated to have built a
that time, it was reported, that in the Monastery of Bangor Iscoed,13 there was so great a number of monks, that it was divided into seven parts, and none of these contained less than three hundred men, all living by the labour of their and a " or was over each division.
Many of those monks came with the Welsh soldiers, and they fasted for three days. Under the protection ofa chief named Brocmail, they withdrew from the field of battle, to offer up their prayers to God for the success of their countrymen. On his approach, King Ethelfrid14 observed this unarmed band, and being
hands, prsepositus" prefect
informed regarding the occasion of their coming, he said,
not without considerable loss of his own forces. j s Chester
terii de Waverleia," p. 149, in the Annales
Monastici," vol. ii. , edited by Henry Richards
Luard, M. A.
,x
potitus est. "—" Chronica," edited by Wm. cupidissimus, qui plus omnibus Anglorum '
In his account of the Northumbrian
Kings, Roger de Hovenden states : '"Octavus
in regno claruit Ethelnidus fortissimus
regum, qui viginti et octo annis regno mus et paganus ferocissimus ac gloriae
Stubbs, M. A. , vol. i. , Pars Prior, p. 3, primatibus gentem vastabat Britonum, &c.
London, 1868, 8vo, —" Speculum Historiale de Gestis Regum 12 "
shire. The foundation of the religious insti-
tule there has been ascribed to Lucius, King
of Britain, under whose auspices Christianity was firmly established among the Britons.
'* By Richard of Chichester he is styled "Athelfridus Northumbrorum Rex fortissi-
In Latin Civitas Legionum," or City Angliae," vol. i. , lib. ii. , cap. xiii. , p. 84.
of the Legions. By the Britons this city was *
Edited by John E. B. Mayor, M. A.
'5 Venerable Bede adds: " com- Sicque
pletum est praesagium sanctipontificis Augus- tini, quamvis ipso jam multo ante tempore ad coelestia regna sublato, ut etiam temporalis interitus ultionem sentirent perfidi, quod oblata sibi perpetuse salutis consilia spre- verant. "
,s
See Rev. Dr. Lingard's "History of England," vol. i. , chap, i;. , p. 82.
called
'3 This is a parish in the union of Wrex-
ham, in the hundred of Bromfield, County of Denbigh, and in the township of Bangor, in
the hundred of Mallor, County of Flint, North Wales. This is generally thought to have been the Borium or Bonium of Antonine. ItreceivedtheadjunctofIscoedtodistinguish it from the City of Bangor, in Carnarvon-
Caerlleon-ar-Ddyvrdwy.
August 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 4i7
college there, for the instruction of youth. Others mention, that Dunothus, abbot of Bangor Iscoed, founded a small establishment on or near the site of
the 1 ' and present Cathedral,
in it monks taken from that
Thither, it is stated, the fifty- monks, who saved themselves from that slaughter by flight into the mountains, afterwards returned, and founded with other religious brethren an establishment called Ban-cor, the present city of Bangor, so delightfully situated in a picturesque valley, bounded on the south
view has been drawn William by
Hingeston, B. A. 22
approved
F. Wakeman, on the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
to the calen- Their festival is entered at the 29th
18 See Samuel Lewis' "
Dictionary of Wales," vol. i. , pp. 59 to 66.
'9 Their chief is named Scromail (Broc- mail), who escaped thence with some fifty. See edition of Benjamin Thorpe, vol. i. , p. 38, and vol. ii. , pp. 18, 19.
20 Edited the Rev. Williams ab by John
Ithel, M. A. , Rector of Llanymowddwy, Merionethshire.
" Edited by the Rev. Francis Charles
dars.
of August.
placed
monastery.
Bangor Cathedral, Wales.
by lofty and precipitous rocks, and having at the eastern extremity a fine opening towards the adjacent straits of Menai, and commanding an extensive view of the beautiful bay of Beaumaris, bordered on the opposite side by the rocky shores of Anglesey and the town of Beaumaris. 18 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which places the massacre at a. d. 606, states, that the number of priests slain at Chester was two hundred. 1 ^ In the " Annales Cambriae," 20 however, there is no record given of that massacre ; neither is it mentioned
" 21
in John Capgrave's Chronicle of England. " According to other accounts,
no less than nine hundred22 monks of Bangor monastery are said, on
one day, to have obtained the crown of martyrdom, at the hands of
Pagan spoilers. It was probably the case, that other spectators of the fight with them were included in the slaughter.
Some writers have doubtless grossly exaggerated the number of monks
** The accompanying illustration from an
Topographical
23 Thus
Ralph Higden,
"Nongentos," according
monk of Chester, Ibi enim circiter mille ducentos monachos de monasterio Bangornensi, qui pro militibus suis orandum juxta urbem venerant, interfecit, solis quinquaginta cu—m
duce Brocinayl de acie fugientibus. "
" Mona- Polychronicon," Ranulphi Higden
chi Cestrensis : edited by Rev. Joseph Rawson Lumby, B. D. , vol. v. , lib. v. , cap. x. , p. 420.
states:
"
ID
4 i8 LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 29
that were slain on this occasion, by estimating it at twelve hundred,23 or thereabouts. 2* This statement is adopted by Henry of Huntingdon in his
Bardsay. However, Brochwael, the Prince of Powys, roused to desperation, collected a great army, and to his standard flocked the men of Cornwall and Siluria, while the King of North Wales entered into the —alliance. Thus strengthened, another —battle was fought, in which Ethelfred known by his soubriquet the Ravager is said to have been routed, with the loss of ten thousand men. 26 The festival for Nine Hundred
of Marianus O'Gorman.
Article III. —Anniversary of Saint Adamnan's or Eunan's reputed Translation to Heaven. The 29th of August, a Festival assigned for the Decollation of St. John the Baptist, is reputed also to have been a feast for the temporary translation of St. Adamnan's soul to heaven. Such is a statement contained in the Vision of Adamnan. 1 For a further account of this celebrated Abbot, the reader is referred to his Acts, which
2
will be given, at the 23rd of September, the date for his chief Festival.
Article IV. —Festival for the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. In the ancient Irish Church, St. John the Baptist was specially venerated. Thus we find from the Metrical Calendar of St. ^ngus, that
u Historia
2* The
been deserted after this massacre, the poor remnant of monks fleeing to
Anglorum. "
monastery
of is said to have Bangor (Iscoed)
Martyrs
the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 29th of August; and this entry appears to have been drawn from the previous statements of the Feilire Aenguis, and
not
was the Feast of his 1 also in Nativity celebrated; but,
2 at the
the
was kept. ""
34 This is the statement in the " Chronia
3 Thus :—
t)iclient)At) eoin mniAin ahi TYUcipun'OA (sic) mApAib
Sebafcen iprcpibchA peAl -Amm inphicnA4rdi<von4iceT>.
mApobuAilco mApobich niAnocuAjA'o cen-o m pAch -Am ac fAmLA puAipc inliA n-biA ApbpuAch AmpA cobpAch.
ill 11 a T>omAm Ache mAt> bee x>ib
1cenit> bpAch[A] bpeoi-o LabpA ppiu nococechcA m-oegAi-o £chcA eoin.
" of Matthew of " viros cir- Paris,
Majora
citer mille ducentos," &c, vol. i. , p. 260. Edition of Henry Richards Luard, M. A.
25 See lib. iii. , sect. 16, pp. 78, 79. Edited by Thomas Arnold, M. A.
36 See Charles Wilkins' M Wales, Past and Present," chap, viii. , p. 55.
"
37 A note by Dr. Todd says at Martyrs :
This addition is in the more recent hand. The 900 martyrs are commemorated on this day in the Felire of Aengus and in Mar. O'Gorman. "
28 Edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp. 228, 229. — Article hi.
Art. i. , at that — day.
*
In Irish, pip 4t)AmnAn. See the Ninth Volume of this work,
4 The
is his version — :
On the 24th of June. See Transactions of the Rnynl Irish Academy," vol. i. , part i. On the Ca. cndar
ofOengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxxvi.
beheading of John the loveable,
Article iv.
1
3"
28
only u
Feilire,"
the Feilire," contained in the Leabhar Breac," we are furnished with a eulogy in Irish verse of this great Saint. 3 This has been literally translated into English, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. * There are likewise some curious
present day,
the Festival of his Decollation or
Martyrdom From further comments on such entry, as found in that copy of
11
following
The splendid,
in Arabia Sebasten,—the course is written—
The name of the village where he was buried.
2? is recorded in
August 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 419
Irish traditions, which refer to the time, and to the place where St. John the Baptist suffered,5 as also to the place where he was buried,6 and besides to those places, which are said to have contained his relics. ? Moreover, there are allusions to the old popular belief about the Besom which is to come out of Fanait, and to cleanse Ireland, in vengeance for the slaying of John the
Baptist.
8 This is to
plague supposed precede
the end of the world and St. ;
Colum Cille,9 Aireran of the Wisdom,10
11 and
12 are credited 1 * and Greek Men- ologies, as the Bollandists remark, notice on the 29th of August the Festival for the Decollation of St. John the Baptist. For particulars regarding him, they refer to what had been previously stated, at his chief Feast occurring on
with it. The Roman
prophecies regarding
the 24th of June. 14
" There has not been struck, there has
"
not been slain, — Therehasnotbeenaxe-hewn hard
—
His like—pleasant the flood—
the cause
Nor will there be on (this) marvellous
Earth till
The world's women, save few of them,
In the fire of Doom shall burn Speech with them is unmeet After the slaughter of John. "
Doom(sday).
5 The commentator on the " Feilire " of "
yEngus
in the ' ' Leahbar Breac remarks,
that John the Baptist was so called, because
he was the first to perform the ceremony of
Baptism, or because he baptised Christ.
Then he adds: "unde decollatio eius uere
hie fuit, sed inuentio capitis eius in secunda
uice quoniam in autumno passus est sed in
uere id est ante pascha in edisa ciuitate
fenicae provinciae et in sequente pascha post
annum Christi passus est et eliuatio eleae
profetae et dormitatio Helesiae profetae 7.
decc. martires cum eo. "
6"
come out of Fanait. " ""
Hie Johannis sepultus est in Sebastia.
LoriT) 1 CAch Loipcper
And
poet is presented :
TjpAic
Cen chomAin,o cen
]\onicc fACAjVbAic.
— •
again,
the — following
SAliufA ceArro courtai5 ftochuirroig ceAtro mic SAcViAip
Com OAupcAir-c •oajjm. AC *>o "Oia Ho-onacc m SebApciA.
It is thus rendered into English by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. :—
11 Saliusa (Salome), strong with foot, Asked the head of Zacharias' son :
John Baptist, a good son of God, Wasburiedin Sebastia. "
7 The Latin scholiast already alluded to
''
Inuentio corporis eius hie memora- tur non decolatio eius uere uel decolatio ut in martyrologio est. decolatio sanctissimi Joannis bauptistae qui prinio in Samaria sepultus est. sed nunc in Alexandria reliquiae eius absque capite reseruantur. caput hautem de Jerussolimis ad Phcenicise urbem delatum est. "
* It is stated, that the Besom of Fanait is
states :
" rann from an Irish
Sippefp
eirutro Anirvoerr
:
Moling
Riagail Martyrology
to come in the spring season, and on a Tues- day after Easter at the time of Terce.
9Tohimisattributedthe "Like saying,
the grazing of two horses in a yolk will be the dilligence with which it will cleanse Ireland. "
10 He is said to have " Two predicted :
alehouses shall be in one burgh side by side : he that shall go out of one house into the other will not find anyone before him alive in the house into which he shall go, and afterwards he will not find anyone alive in the house out of which he shall go, such will be the swiftness with which the Besom shall
Three days and three nights and a year will this plague be in Ire- land. When a boat shall be clearly seen on Loch Rudraige from the door of the refec-
tory, then will come the Besom out of Fanait. "
hi peiL eoin uicjta cpeff
12 follows
Riagail said :
This— is rendered in Irish verse as :
It is thus translated into English
" On John's festival will come an
onslaught
Which wHl search Ireland from the
south-east :
A fierce Dragon that will burn every-
one it reaches,
Without communion, without sacri-
fice. "
13 At the 29th of June (Quarta Kal. Sept. )
the following entry is to be found in the
" Romanum" "Decollatio Martyrologium :
sancti Joannis Baptistae, quern Herodcs circa festum Paschse decollari praecepit : cujus tamen memoria hac die solemniter colitur, quando ejus venerandum caput secundo in- ventumfuit: quodposteaRomamtranslatum, in Ecclesia sancti Silv^stri ad Campum Mar—- tium summa populi devotione asservatur. " Editio novissima, Romae, 1878, p. 126.
34 See ibid. , n. (m).
"
3S See Colgan's
Septima Vita S. Patricii, n. 221, p. 183.
36 Variously called in English records
Anderken and Sluthenderkeys.
37 See Miss M. F. Cusack's "Life of St.
Patrick, Apostle of Ireland. " Note by William M. Hennessy 9, p. 443.
38 See fol. 142. a. b. ; and also MacFirbis' Genealogical MSS. , p. 513.
cxxxiii. , pp. 146, 147.
*° See John O'Donovan's teAbhap tiA
There is also a small Island,
Trias Thaumaturga/j
39 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
5-CeA^c, pp. 172, 173. , and n. (s), ibid.
4I See Rev. William Reeves' account in "Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor
and Dromore," n. (u), p. 1$.
^ See "Ordnance Survey Townland
4 i4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 29.
to be represented by the present Castle Espie, the ruins of which—lying in a large rath on the western shore of Strangford Lough—are in a townland4* bearing the same name, and it has always been ecclesiastical property/6 It seems sufficiently probable, that while St. Vinnoc had been connected with Teaghnetha or Tynan, he had charge, moreover, of Rath-Easpuic-Innic, which gave him claim to be regarded as one of our primitive Irish bishops.
In identifying Hua Dercachein with the valley of the Braid, in the County of Antrim, Colgan has fallen into an error. *? It seems rather to have been a tract in the northern part of the County Down, or on the con- fines of Down and Antrim/8 The Mac Giolla Muire, Anglicized Gillimury, were chiefs of that tribe/9 After the English invasion, their territory was much circumscribed by the Whites and Savages, and afterwards by the O'Neills of Clannaboy and the Mac Artains. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Mac Gilmories or Gilmores were stout opposers of the English. * The O'Guillemers appear to have been chief settlers here, and in the Great Ardes, to the close of the sixteenth century, according to an old
1
However, notwithstanding the foregoing false conjectures as to locality, St. Vinnoc was venerated on the 29th of August, at a church belonging to
the Diocese of Armagh, commonly called Tuighnean, but more correctly
2
Such is the identification of Marianus O'Gorman, in con- nection with his entry of St. Uinnic in the Calendar. The published Martyr- ology of Donegal registers a festival in honor of Uindic, of Tuighnetha,**
at this same date. Moreover, Uindic, Bishop of Rath-Easpuic-Innic, has been placed, by Rev. William Reeves, among the Saints of Down, Connor and Dromore, in that Calendar which he has compiled for these Dioceses. ss The day for his festival, is the 29th of August.
It is only by the perfect study of ourselves, we are enabled fully to recognise our own weakness ; and such meditation was ever the care of the holyonesonearth. Thusdidthepresentsaintlearntruewisdom,andwith it he was deeply imbued with the spirit of profound humility. Our exact knowledge of the nothingness and vanity of self-esteem inspires us all the more to trust in the Almighty alone, to supply by His graces what is still wanting to render us more perfect, and to purge from our' souls the mean- ness of pride by constant cultivation of salutary thoughts, which regard our total dependence on Him.
Article II. —Feast of Nine Hundred Martyrs. Remarking on the
Manuscript Description of Ireland written in 1598. 5
Teagh-neatha. 5
perishable
natureof
regal
and
earthly grandeur,
an
early English poet
1 considers
kill, barony of Lower Castlereagh, and it is
"
described on the
land Maps for the County of Down," Sheets 10, 11.
46 See Miss M. F. Cusack's " Life of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," William M. Hennessy's note 9, p. 443.
4 ? " Hodic voca. iur Brafge-Dercan : e*tque
vallis in Baronia /Endromensi Diocesis
Connerensis, olim dicta Glann Fada na Tertia Vita S. Patricii, n. 69, p. 34. Feine, i. e. vallis longa Feniorum. "—
Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, n.
Ordnance Survey Town-
Prene, Archbishop of Armagh, from A. D. 1459 to 1443. Patricius Palladius O'Gilmore was chief parishioner of Bredac in 1442.
so See Sir James Ware's "Annals of Ire-
land," at A. D. 1407.
P This is quoted in Dubourdieu's " Sta-
" Trias
53 Edited by Drs. ToJd and Reeves, pp.
a note by O'Donovan states, Tiugh- See Rev. William Reeve's Ecclesi- netha : i. e. Tynan, Co. Armagh. "
astical Antiquities of Down, Connor and 55 See " Ecclesiastical Antiquities of
Dromore," Appendix GG. , n. (a), p. 339. Down, Connor and Dromore. '' Appendix,
221, p. 183.
48 "
49
According to the Registry oi John LL. with n, (b), pp. 379, 380.
tistical Survey of the County Antrim," chap, iv. , sect. 5, p. 629.
52 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
228, 229.
5* "
August 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 4i5
the glories of birth and state as only shadows and unsubstantial frivolities.
Military heroes, too, may triumph over other men, but they must stoop to conquer themselves, sooner or later. Little reason have those conquerors to boast of their mighty achievements, for the garland soon withers on their brows. Perhaps again, on the blood-stained field, the victor himself must lie as a victim. 2 While the human sacrifices made by man's ambition offend the God of humanity, who abhors violence and bloodshed ; the blood of His martyrs rises as incense before His throne, and endears for ever the memory of His faithful and devoted champions. On the 29th of August,
"
nine hundred with virginity," according to the " Feilire" of St. ^Engus. 3 This festival is also found recorded in many ancient Martyrologies ; yet, not in the same manner,
nor on the same day. * In the Martyrology of Florentinius, on the 29th of August, their feast is coupled with that of the Natalis of St. John the Baptist^ and to the entry a comment is added. 6 However, the name of that place where they suffered is not given in the foreign Martyrologies, so far as can be known. 7 The Bollandists8 enter their festival, at the 29th of August, with some notices by Father John Pinius, S. J. This martyrdom seems referable possibly to an event which happened in Wales, and which is thus related by Venerable Bede. 9 Having stated, that with the assistance of King Ethelbert, St. Augustine, the Apostle of the Southern Saxons, drew to a conference the British bishops or doctors,10 and to a place thenceforward known at Augustine's Ac or Oak, on the borders of the Wiccii
the early Irish Church celebrated a feast for
Article ii. —'
James Shirley,
who flou-
eadem die tomus iv.
rished in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies. His poems were published in London,
1846, 8vo. A more complete edition of his Dramatic Works and Poems, edited by A. Dyce, appeared in six 8vo. volumes, London, 1833.
2
often flatters hu—man ambition, truly does the
sunt. "
—"
Spicilegium,"
Moralizing on the delusive fame that so
s Thus " In Provincia Palestina civitate :
Sebastia natalis sancti Joannis Baptistse, et
aliorum natalis sanctorum CM Martyrum,
qui eadem die passi sunt. "
6"
This states : Ita sancti Martyres non-
genti cum celebritate S. Joa. Baptistse con- nectuntur, ut non modo eodem die, sed eodem etiam loco videantur adscribi. Tan- tam ccelitam turbam hie silet Martyrol. Corbiense, quod earn sequenti die recenseat. Non tacuit tamen Martyrol. vetustissimum, et cum passione quidem S. Joannis Baptistae copulavit ; non tamen locum signavit, quern Martyr. Corbeiense incertum notat alibi
poet conclude
:
"All heads must come To the cold tomb ;
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. "
3 In the " Leabhar Breac copy is the (? aliorum) sequenti die. Reliqua edita
at that date The — following entry, English
eosdem Martyrologia prsetereunt. "
7 in Thus, at this date, Greven,
translation is by Whitley Stokes, LL. I).
:
his ad-
-Aipieit) CefAt) 1ohAin
ditions to Usuard, states merely: "Item
sanctorum Martyrum nongentorum, qui eo- dem die passi sunt. "
bit)
L-d . ix. cec conu-ap
LAf|Aer54b<Mb hell.
t)AubcAifc
coLej\i
"Announce the Passion of John Baptist, a
flame with piety, with nine hun—dred with
virginity, at Elijah's ascension. " "Trans- Venerable Bede," edited by Rev. J. A. actionsoftheRoyalIrishAcademy,"voli. , Giles,D. C. L. ,vol. ii. "HistoriaEcclesias- part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, tica Gentis Anglorum," lib. ii. , cap. ii. , p. cxxvi. A comment is added on the word
Heli or Elijah, thus: ". i. propheta . i. dormitio
wise, as stated in the Annals of Waverley :
helesi hie . i. in hoc die . i. eliuatio eius in —"
paradisum. " Ibid. , p. exxxv.
4 In a Martyrology, to which the name of
St. Jerome is prefixed, and which DAchery declares to be very ancient, this feast has
been assigned to the 30th of August, in these words, "Et alibi, natalis Sanctorum Non-
Augustinus, episcopus Anglorum habita synodo cum Britorum et Scotorum episcopis, quia sacerdotes et monachos invenit adver- saries sequitatis, quos voluit habere socios praedicationis, terruit e—os vaticinio futurae super eos calamitatis. " "Annales Monas-
gentorum Martyrum, qui
pa=si
8 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Au- gusti xxix. De SS. Nongentis Martyribus, ex Martyrologiis Hieronymianis, p. 513.
9 See "The Miscellaneous Works of
pp. 172 to 179.
10
With these were associated Scots, like-
4 i6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 29.
andWestSaxons; hevainlyendeavouredtopersuadethem,thattheyshould observe Easter after the Roman usage, and abandon their own traditions, as also he wished them to join with him in missionary enterprise among the
Saxons. They refused these proposals. Whereupon, St. Augustine declared, in case the Britons would not preach the way of life to the English nation, that at the hands of the Saxons they should themselves suffer death. This conference was held about the year 603 ; and that prophecy seemed
11 tobefulfilledin613,whenthewarlikeKingofNorthumbria,Ethelfrid, raised
a large army, and marched at their head against the Britons or Welsh, towards
the of 12called the nowChester. At city Carlegion, by English Legacestir,
*4
If then they cry to their God against us, although they do not bear arms, yet in truth they fight against us, because they oppose us by their prayers. " He then ordered them to be attacked first. Brocmail and his soldiers, left to defend them, sought safety for themselves in flight, leaving the monks unarmed and exposed to the swords of their enemies. About twelve hundred of those who came to pray are said to have been pitilessly slain, and only fifty of the number escaped the swords of the conqueror. Ethelfrid also destroyed the rest of
their
army, yet
was taken, and thence marching forward, Bangor Iscoed was utterly demolished. The scattered ruins demonstrated to subsequent generations
16
the extent of that celebrated monastery.
This place is said to have been occupied by the Romans, at an early
date, and it is also uncertain, when the religious community of monks had been first established here ; but, Bangor Iscoed appears to have been erected into an episcopal See, about a. d. 550, when Deiniol or Daniel, abbot of the monastery, then became its first bishop. He is stated to have built a
that time, it was reported, that in the Monastery of Bangor Iscoed,13 there was so great a number of monks, that it was divided into seven parts, and none of these contained less than three hundred men, all living by the labour of their and a " or was over each division.
Many of those monks came with the Welsh soldiers, and they fasted for three days. Under the protection ofa chief named Brocmail, they withdrew from the field of battle, to offer up their prayers to God for the success of their countrymen. On his approach, King Ethelfrid14 observed this unarmed band, and being
hands, prsepositus" prefect
informed regarding the occasion of their coming, he said,
not without considerable loss of his own forces. j s Chester
terii de Waverleia," p. 149, in the Annales
Monastici," vol. ii. , edited by Henry Richards
Luard, M. A.
,x
potitus est. "—" Chronica," edited by Wm. cupidissimus, qui plus omnibus Anglorum '
In his account of the Northumbrian
Kings, Roger de Hovenden states : '"Octavus
in regno claruit Ethelnidus fortissimus
regum, qui viginti et octo annis regno mus et paganus ferocissimus ac gloriae
Stubbs, M. A. , vol. i. , Pars Prior, p. 3, primatibus gentem vastabat Britonum, &c.
London, 1868, 8vo, —" Speculum Historiale de Gestis Regum 12 "
shire. The foundation of the religious insti-
tule there has been ascribed to Lucius, King
of Britain, under whose auspices Christianity was firmly established among the Britons.
'* By Richard of Chichester he is styled "Athelfridus Northumbrorum Rex fortissi-
In Latin Civitas Legionum," or City Angliae," vol. i. , lib. ii. , cap. xiii. , p. 84.
of the Legions. By the Britons this city was *
Edited by John E. B. Mayor, M. A.
'5 Venerable Bede adds: " com- Sicque
pletum est praesagium sanctipontificis Augus- tini, quamvis ipso jam multo ante tempore ad coelestia regna sublato, ut etiam temporalis interitus ultionem sentirent perfidi, quod oblata sibi perpetuse salutis consilia spre- verant. "
,s
See Rev. Dr. Lingard's "History of England," vol. i. , chap, i;. , p. 82.
called
'3 This is a parish in the union of Wrex-
ham, in the hundred of Bromfield, County of Denbigh, and in the township of Bangor, in
the hundred of Mallor, County of Flint, North Wales. This is generally thought to have been the Borium or Bonium of Antonine. ItreceivedtheadjunctofIscoedtodistinguish it from the City of Bangor, in Carnarvon-
Caerlleon-ar-Ddyvrdwy.
August 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 4i7
college there, for the instruction of youth. Others mention, that Dunothus, abbot of Bangor Iscoed, founded a small establishment on or near the site of
the 1 ' and present Cathedral,
in it monks taken from that
Thither, it is stated, the fifty- monks, who saved themselves from that slaughter by flight into the mountains, afterwards returned, and founded with other religious brethren an establishment called Ban-cor, the present city of Bangor, so delightfully situated in a picturesque valley, bounded on the south
view has been drawn William by
Hingeston, B. A. 22
approved
F. Wakeman, on the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
to the calen- Their festival is entered at the 29th
18 See Samuel Lewis' "
Dictionary of Wales," vol. i. , pp. 59 to 66.
'9 Their chief is named Scromail (Broc- mail), who escaped thence with some fifty. See edition of Benjamin Thorpe, vol. i. , p. 38, and vol. ii. , pp. 18, 19.
20 Edited the Rev. Williams ab by John
Ithel, M. A. , Rector of Llanymowddwy, Merionethshire.
" Edited by the Rev. Francis Charles
dars.
of August.
placed
monastery.
Bangor Cathedral, Wales.
by lofty and precipitous rocks, and having at the eastern extremity a fine opening towards the adjacent straits of Menai, and commanding an extensive view of the beautiful bay of Beaumaris, bordered on the opposite side by the rocky shores of Anglesey and the town of Beaumaris. 18 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which places the massacre at a. d. 606, states, that the number of priests slain at Chester was two hundred. 1 ^ In the " Annales Cambriae," 20 however, there is no record given of that massacre ; neither is it mentioned
" 21
in John Capgrave's Chronicle of England. " According to other accounts,
no less than nine hundred22 monks of Bangor monastery are said, on
one day, to have obtained the crown of martyrdom, at the hands of
Pagan spoilers. It was probably the case, that other spectators of the fight with them were included in the slaughter.
Some writers have doubtless grossly exaggerated the number of monks
** The accompanying illustration from an
Topographical
23 Thus
Ralph Higden,
"Nongentos," according
monk of Chester, Ibi enim circiter mille ducentos monachos de monasterio Bangornensi, qui pro militibus suis orandum juxta urbem venerant, interfecit, solis quinquaginta cu—m
duce Brocinayl de acie fugientibus. "
" Mona- Polychronicon," Ranulphi Higden
chi Cestrensis : edited by Rev. Joseph Rawson Lumby, B. D. , vol. v. , lib. v. , cap. x. , p. 420.
states:
"
ID
4 i8 LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 29
that were slain on this occasion, by estimating it at twelve hundred,23 or thereabouts. 2* This statement is adopted by Henry of Huntingdon in his
Bardsay. However, Brochwael, the Prince of Powys, roused to desperation, collected a great army, and to his standard flocked the men of Cornwall and Siluria, while the King of North Wales entered into the —alliance. Thus strengthened, another —battle was fought, in which Ethelfred known by his soubriquet the Ravager is said to have been routed, with the loss of ten thousand men. 26 The festival for Nine Hundred
of Marianus O'Gorman.
Article III. —Anniversary of Saint Adamnan's or Eunan's reputed Translation to Heaven. The 29th of August, a Festival assigned for the Decollation of St. John the Baptist, is reputed also to have been a feast for the temporary translation of St. Adamnan's soul to heaven. Such is a statement contained in the Vision of Adamnan. 1 For a further account of this celebrated Abbot, the reader is referred to his Acts, which
2
will be given, at the 23rd of September, the date for his chief Festival.
Article IV. —Festival for the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. In the ancient Irish Church, St. John the Baptist was specially venerated. Thus we find from the Metrical Calendar of St. ^ngus, that
u Historia
2* The
been deserted after this massacre, the poor remnant of monks fleeing to
Anglorum. "
monastery
of is said to have Bangor (Iscoed)
Martyrs
the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 29th of August; and this entry appears to have been drawn from the previous statements of the Feilire Aenguis, and
not
was the Feast of his 1 also in Nativity celebrated; but,
2 at the
the
was kept. ""
34 This is the statement in the " Chronia
3 Thus :—
t)iclient)At) eoin mniAin ahi TYUcipun'OA (sic) mApAib
Sebafcen iprcpibchA peAl -Amm inphicnA4rdi<von4iceT>.
mApobuAilco mApobich niAnocuAjA'o cen-o m pAch -Am ac fAmLA puAipc inliA n-biA ApbpuAch AmpA cobpAch.
ill 11 a T>omAm Ache mAt> bee x>ib
1cenit> bpAch[A] bpeoi-o LabpA ppiu nococechcA m-oegAi-o £chcA eoin.
" of Matthew of " viros cir- Paris,
Majora
citer mille ducentos," &c, vol. i. , p. 260. Edition of Henry Richards Luard, M. A.
25 See lib. iii. , sect. 16, pp. 78, 79. Edited by Thomas Arnold, M. A.
36 See Charles Wilkins' M Wales, Past and Present," chap, viii. , p. 55.
"
37 A note by Dr. Todd says at Martyrs :
This addition is in the more recent hand. The 900 martyrs are commemorated on this day in the Felire of Aengus and in Mar. O'Gorman. "
28 Edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp. 228, 229. — Article hi.
Art. i. , at that — day.
*
In Irish, pip 4t)AmnAn. See the Ninth Volume of this work,
4 The
is his version — :
On the 24th of June. See Transactions of the Rnynl Irish Academy," vol. i. , part i. On the Ca. cndar
ofOengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxxvi.
beheading of John the loveable,
Article iv.
1
3"
28
only u
Feilire,"
the Feilire," contained in the Leabhar Breac," we are furnished with a eulogy in Irish verse of this great Saint. 3 This has been literally translated into English, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. * There are likewise some curious
present day,
the Festival of his Decollation or
Martyrdom From further comments on such entry, as found in that copy of
11
following
The splendid,
in Arabia Sebasten,—the course is written—
The name of the village where he was buried.
2? is recorded in
August 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 419
Irish traditions, which refer to the time, and to the place where St. John the Baptist suffered,5 as also to the place where he was buried,6 and besides to those places, which are said to have contained his relics. ? Moreover, there are allusions to the old popular belief about the Besom which is to come out of Fanait, and to cleanse Ireland, in vengeance for the slaying of John the
Baptist.
8 This is to
plague supposed precede
the end of the world and St. ;
Colum Cille,9 Aireran of the Wisdom,10
11 and
12 are credited 1 * and Greek Men- ologies, as the Bollandists remark, notice on the 29th of August the Festival for the Decollation of St. John the Baptist. For particulars regarding him, they refer to what had been previously stated, at his chief Feast occurring on
with it. The Roman
prophecies regarding
the 24th of June. 14
" There has not been struck, there has
"
not been slain, — Therehasnotbeenaxe-hewn hard
—
His like—pleasant the flood—
the cause
Nor will there be on (this) marvellous
Earth till
The world's women, save few of them,
In the fire of Doom shall burn Speech with them is unmeet After the slaughter of John. "
Doom(sday).
5 The commentator on the " Feilire " of "
yEngus
in the ' ' Leahbar Breac remarks,
that John the Baptist was so called, because
he was the first to perform the ceremony of
Baptism, or because he baptised Christ.
Then he adds: "unde decollatio eius uere
hie fuit, sed inuentio capitis eius in secunda
uice quoniam in autumno passus est sed in
uere id est ante pascha in edisa ciuitate
fenicae provinciae et in sequente pascha post
annum Christi passus est et eliuatio eleae
profetae et dormitatio Helesiae profetae 7.
decc. martires cum eo. "
6"
come out of Fanait. " ""
Hie Johannis sepultus est in Sebastia.
LoriT) 1 CAch Loipcper
And
poet is presented :
TjpAic
Cen chomAin,o cen
]\onicc fACAjVbAic.
— •
again,
the — following
SAliufA ceArro courtai5 ftochuirroig ceAtro mic SAcViAip
Com OAupcAir-c •oajjm. AC *>o "Oia Ho-onacc m SebApciA.
It is thus rendered into English by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. :—
11 Saliusa (Salome), strong with foot, Asked the head of Zacharias' son :
John Baptist, a good son of God, Wasburiedin Sebastia. "
7 The Latin scholiast already alluded to
''
Inuentio corporis eius hie memora- tur non decolatio eius uere uel decolatio ut in martyrologio est. decolatio sanctissimi Joannis bauptistae qui prinio in Samaria sepultus est. sed nunc in Alexandria reliquiae eius absque capite reseruantur. caput hautem de Jerussolimis ad Phcenicise urbem delatum est. "
* It is stated, that the Besom of Fanait is
states :
" rann from an Irish
Sippefp
eirutro Anirvoerr
:
Moling
Riagail Martyrology
to come in the spring season, and on a Tues- day after Easter at the time of Terce.
9Tohimisattributedthe "Like saying,
the grazing of two horses in a yolk will be the dilligence with which it will cleanse Ireland. "
10 He is said to have " Two predicted :
alehouses shall be in one burgh side by side : he that shall go out of one house into the other will not find anyone before him alive in the house into which he shall go, and afterwards he will not find anyone alive in the house out of which he shall go, such will be the swiftness with which the Besom shall
Three days and three nights and a year will this plague be in Ire- land. When a boat shall be clearly seen on Loch Rudraige from the door of the refec-
tory, then will come the Besom out of Fanait. "
hi peiL eoin uicjta cpeff
12 follows
Riagail said :
This— is rendered in Irish verse as :
It is thus translated into English
" On John's festival will come an
onslaught
Which wHl search Ireland from the
south-east :
A fierce Dragon that will burn every-
one it reaches,
Without communion, without sacri-
fice. "
13 At the 29th of June (Quarta Kal. Sept. )
the following entry is to be found in the
" Romanum" "Decollatio Martyrologium :
sancti Joannis Baptistae, quern Herodcs circa festum Paschse decollari praecepit : cujus tamen memoria hac die solemniter colitur, quando ejus venerandum caput secundo in- ventumfuit: quodposteaRomamtranslatum, in Ecclesia sancti Silv^stri ad Campum Mar—- tium summa populi devotione asservatur. " Editio novissima, Romae, 1878, p. 126.
