"Thrice fifty
psalms remember ye.
psalms remember ye.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
In No.
168, small 4to paper, from fol.
145 a.
to fol.
148 b.
there is a Life of St.
Patrick, after Jocelyn, but imperfect, and several blank leavesfollow.
Thiswaswritten,byEugene Cavanagh, in 1817.
Its place in the Aca.
Lib.
is 23.
A.
44.
In No.
179, small 4to paper, there is a sketch of the Life of St.
Patrick, pp.
169 to 194, supposed by Mr.
O'Curry, to have been written by Patrick Den, of Modeligo, in the county of Water- ford, about the year 1800.
Its place in the Aca.
Lib.
is 23.
L.
12.
In No.
185, small
thelanguagepureandclassic. Folios4and 5 are missing, from this tract. Its place in the Aca. Cat. is 23. Q. There is another ancient sermon, on the Life of St. Patrick, in the Leabhar Breac, and differing in some details, from the foregoing. This serves to show, that there was no standard sermon, on our saint, in ancient times. His panegyrics seem to have varied, according to the written evidences used, or the local recollections of each district. In the Leabhar Breac sermon, fol. II to 15, St. Patrick's pedigree is carried to Brilti, from whom Britain derived its name, and, he is said to have been born, at Nemthur, near Alcluaid. The small 4to paper, classed 23. A. 15. , commences, at p. 323, an ancient Life of St. Patrick, begin-
accurate and imperfect, containing only 116 verses, while the beautiful copy on vellum,
in Trinity College Library, contains 136
The Book of Lismore, of which Pro-
420 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
ings of obsolete words, and of old phrases, which, otherwise, might be rather difficult to understand. There is another singular circumstance to be observed, in those various copies of the Life of St. Patrick. Although, in a great measure, they have some similarity, in the quantity and kind of details ; they differ considerably, notwithstanding, in their arrangement and order. They appear, for the most part, as if collected, by various authors, from some general source, but taken at different times and from diverse points of view. Or, perhaps, one person compiled an original, and, in the lapse of ages, local additionswerefrequentlymade. However,forpurposesofhistoricalresearch, they are uninviting. Among the Manuscripts of Trinity College,^^^ of the Catholic University,=30 and of the Franciscan Convent,^3i we possess many Codices, containing different Lives of St. Patrick. Some of these, however, are mostly of a legendary character ; while others are only fragmentary, or con- tain short notices, relating to our saint. Nor do those depositories preserve all the various Manuscripts, which are to be found in Ireland alone ; as even Irish scribes have copied tracts in the vernacular, for their own and for the use of others. Thus, I may be permitted to state, that Mr. Andrew O'Sullivan, of
Cahirciveen,"32 among his collection of seven beautifully transcribed Irish
Manuscripts, had one, containing Lives of the Irish Saints, with Poems and other Tracts, relating to our national hagiology. ^33 in the British Museum
Library,''34 in Lambeth,^35andin the Bodleian Library,^36 at Oxford, there are ning wiih the following Latin sentence, Manuscript, classed E. 3. 28. , includes an
"
magnam. " The Life ends, at p. 356. The as also Fiach's Irish Hymn in praise of St.
Populus qui sedebat in tenebris videt lucem English extract from a Life of St. Patrick,
Patrick, with English notes ; the Manu- script, classed F. 4. 6. , has a Vita S.
Lismore, begin with precisely the same
Latin sentence, and all three proceed with
little difference to the end, except that the
inti"oductory part is abridged, in the present
copy, while the language is much modified
and corrupted. This copy contains some tracts, serving to illustrate St. Patrick's few details, not to be found in the other
Lives of St. Patrick, preserved in the Leab- har Breac, pp. 24 to 29, and, in the Book of
copies. None of them, however, is the Tri-
partite Life, published by Colgan. In the
folio paper, classed 24. D. 4. , from pp. 145
to 148, there are translations, by Edward
O'Reilly, from the Irish Sketch of St.
Patrick's Life, preserved in the ancient Book
of Armagh. The Irish of this translation scholia, as published by Colgan, is to be will be found published, in Sir William Be-
tham's "Irish Antiquarian Researches," part
ii. Appendix, p. xl. to xliii. The Latin Poem
of St. Sechnall on St. Patrick, beginning
found, in the Franciscan copy of the " Liber Hymnorum. "
"
is in the published "Leabhar Breac," atfol.
^3^ This highly intelligent man was over 80 years of age, in July, 1871, when the author had the pleasure of being invited to
inspect his Manuscripts, and to hear from the owner an account, regarding their tran- scribers and contents. About this time, also, the writer met with Mr. J. D. Nagle, an Irish scholar and antiquary of Dingle, who had transcribed some pages of Irish historical Manuscripts.
°33 This large paper Manuscript contained 463 elegantly and closely-written pages, in the Irish character, in the handwriting of AndrewO'Sullivan. ItopenedwithaLife of St. Patrick, and gave a short preparatory account of Calj^hurnius, his father, as also of his mother, and alluding to the saint having been born at Tabernia and Emptor. It con- tained 8 pnges. At some interval removed,
Audite omnes," with an Irish gloss, 238 a to 238 b. According to Mr. O'Curry's
with,
"
Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy," Hodges and Smith's collection has two missing folios of this
Manuscript. See First Series, vol. ii. , pp. 590, 710.
"'^ Thus, the Manuscript, classed B. i. 5. , contains an Office of St. Patrick, at fol. 122 a. ; the Manuscript, classed B. i. 16, has a Vita S. Patricii, Epis. et Confes. , in
"
40 columns, with a tract,
Hibernise," in 24 columns, with at least one leaf, if not more leaves than one, missing, at the end ; the Manuscript, classed C. 4. 3. , contains a Legend of St. Patrick ; tiie
De Purgatorio
Patricii, by Jocelyn ; the Manuscript, classed H. i. 11. , has a Life of St. Patrick,
beginning with, "Populus qui sedebat," &c. ; besides these chief tracts, there are
genealogies, notices in Kalendars, and
Acts.
230 Those Manuscripts, transcribed by
Professor Eugene O'Curry.
^3' Here are yet preserved some of the
original Lives of St. Patrick, with notes, as
printed in the "Trias Thaumaturga. " Also, the original of St. Fiech's Hymn, with the
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 421 Manuscript Lives of St. Patrick. Thus, in the collection of John Leland, the
antiquary,
we
" Ex duobus libris Gul. de Vita S. Meldunensis, quos
find,
Patricii ad Monachos Glassoburgenses scripsit. ^'^; This Tract appears to consist of 8 folios, or pages, and it was procured, from the Canons of Twin-
^lam,
" sive Medinenses in Provincia Avonias littoralis. " The writer
promised
" De Reditu Patricii in Britanniam
latter intended work be extant. ^^s Again, at Cambridge,^39 and in various other places, throughout England,^^° we find various and distinctive memoirs of our saint. Among the Stowe Manuscripts, there is a folio paper Irish
it is not
^3* Besides those elsewhere noticed, we
find described a Vita S. Patricii Episcopi,
MS. Bodl. 285. (2430) ff. 143-149. veil, folio, dble. col. xiii. cent. This is the same
"34 The late Professor Eugene O'Curry
has catalogued the valuable collection of which Ussher refers, Ff. i. 27. 21. Again,
to
there was another brief account of Patrick,
Apostle of Ireland, pp. 60, 61. It also con- tained a Tract, Patrick's Benediction to the Men of Munster.
;" but,
known,
if the
produce,
Irish Manuscripts here preserved. And, from a copy of this Catalogue, now kept in
the Royal Irish Academy, the following several Lives of our saint are thus described :
In the library classification, noted Egerton, 112, there is a paper folio of 1,060 pages, written by Maurice O'Conor ; and, it begins with an Irish Life of St. Patrick, translated from Jocelyn, pp. i to 68. This has allusion
a Vita S. Patricii MS. Bodl. Laud. Misc. 315, (1055) ff. 100 b. —103. veil. 4to. xiii. cent. De S. Patricio MS. Bodl. 336. (2337) f. 78, veil, folio, dble. col. xiv. cent. See Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Materials relating to the His- tory of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. i. , parti. , pp. 66to70.
^37 In vol. ii. , p. 29. No. 5103.
*38 To the foregoing notices, we find
"
to Tiburnia, Empter, and Caliphurnus. The Manuscript was commenced 13th June, 178O) added,
Nescio an quod ille opus forsitan imperfectum reliquerit, an quod Codices in Egerton, 138, there is a small paper 4to, of quos incidi mulili fuerint, quorum duos 127 pages, and it contains, at p. 51, a Glassoburgi inveni, ubi Patricium praedicant Monachi sepultum esse, I'eclamante hoc dis-
on the Belle Rock, in Cork. Again, in
spurious and an imperfect poetic Dialogue,
between Oisin and Patrick. Also, a poem.
Rules for a Life of Piety, as practised by St.
Patrick, and beginning with, C]\1 caoja
pfAilm UiAi-oceA|\ lib.
"Thrice fifty
psalms remember ye. " It begins at p. 74,
and it purports to be taken, from an ancient
Life of St. Patrick. This Manuscript was
written, about the year 1807, chiefly in one
Michael O'Clery's handwriting. Again, in we find a Tract, De S. Patricio, thus Egerton, 154, is a quarto paper MS. of 166 classed : MS. C. C. C. Cant. 145. sm. fol. pages, and it was written by the late Edward vel. xiv. cent. It is in old English, followed O'Reilly of Dublin. It contains the Life of by the account of the Purgatory of St. St. Patrick, in verse, by Fiech, first Bishop Patrick, and nearly the same as Robert of of Sleibhte. At p. 78, it begins with, Gloucester's Life. Again, there is a Vita S. '5enAi|\ pa'0]\aic 111 enicuip, "Patrick Patricii, comprised in 200 chapters, and
was born at Emtor. " Also, in Egerton,
170, there is a paper 4to, of in folios, in
(". . . 7-. cut hands, and it has an Irish Life of Hardy's
St. Patrick, and compiled in modern times,
but from older Lives. Probus and Jocelyn
are quoted in it, at p. 94, fol. 63, and one
Owen McGrath, an Irish Ijard of the four-
teenth century, at p. loo. It begins with,
rials relating to the History of Great Britain
and Ireland," vol. i. , part i. , pp. 68, 69.
'*° There is S. Patricii Libellus, MS. Moore Norwic. Epis. This is mentioned in Montfaucon's " Bibliotheca," and it is pro- bably the same as No. 924 or MS. 55, in
the " Librorum
Catalogi Manuscriptorum
Anglire et Hibernias," &c. Some of Bishop Moore's MSS. are in the Public Library, at
Cambridge. See idicl. , p. Jl.
'*^ Dr. Charles O'Conor, when describing
''
Ecce Sacerdos Magnus qui in diebus suis
Deo. " Then commences in placuit Irish,
aXj fet), &c. It ends, by asking the blessing of God, on the soul of Teige O'SuUevan.
=^35
St. Patrick's Life, is thus mentioned, as a MS. of Lambeth, and classed, 623. ff.
13-15, veil. 4to. See Sir Thomas Duffus the Duke of Buckingham's Manuscripts,
Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Mate- rials relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland, to the end of the Reign of Henry VII. ," vol. i. , part i. , p. 69.
names it, "Leabhar Gabhaltas, et Vita Hi- bernica SS. Patricii, etCalieni, cum Carmini- bus nonuUis S. Columbse. " Although he describes this Manuscript, however, he does
text, as that in the Cambridge Library, to
ticho ex Beda (nisi fallor) Epigrammatibus desumpto
Calpurmis gennit istiim, alma Britannia misit,
Gallia rintrivit, tenet artus Scoitiafelix.
'^^ In addition to what is elsewhere noted,
described in MS. Trin. Coll. Cant. B. 15, 25. veil, folio, XV. cent. See . Sir Thomas Duffus
"
Descriptive Catalogue of Mate-
42: LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
one,^^' in the Irish characterSj^^^ having two leaves lost, at the beginning,=43 and it contains a Life of St. Patrick. In the Library of Middlehill,^44 ^ve also find a Life of St. Patrick. ^'s In the Roman^^fi and Parisian^t? Libraries, other Acts of our saint are deposited. In Florencej^"*^ in the Benedictine Library of Monte Cassino/^^ in the Library of Charleville,^5o as also in the Public Library of Bruxelles,=5i there are Lives of the Irish Apostle. Among the Manuscripts of St. Gall's Monastery, there are, Excerpta ex Vita Patricii ; and,inaddition,thereisaMS. GenealogiaSciPatricii. Severalshortpieces are passed over, for the present, as only relating to some particular phases of the Irish Apostle's career, or, as having only a doubtful application, to the real incidents of his life. Those enumerated IManuscript biographies, or tracts, however, by no means exhaust the list of unpublished materials, for illustrating our saint's Acts ; since the public libraries, at home and abroad, as also private collections, abound in further interesting mementoes concern- ing him, and which might serve the diligent student's purpose, in the matter
ofinvestigating his history.
It formed one of many curious paradoxes of a pseudo-Irish antiquary, the
Rev. Edward Ledwich,^52 to maintain, that St. Patrick was a purely mythical personage, and that he had no real existence. ^53 It seems most incompre-
hensible to understand, how any man, with the slightest pretensions to Irish historical knowledge,^54 could ignore the numerous native writers, from the fifth to the present century, who have treated, about the illustrious Apostle of Ireland, in their respective works. Nor is this all, for even some of the most celebrated Irish, English, Scotch, and foreign writers, at times remote, allude to his life and labours, in terms of the highest commendation. Foremost among these, we may mention, besides the writers already quoted, St.
account of the ferring to St. Patrick's Life.
of
re-
^t' Thus described
genda MS. Montis Cassinensis 406. if. I veil, folio XV. cent. See ibid. , p. 70.
any special
portion
it,
:
—
'^^ This was transcribed, in the reign of Charles I.
^3 The remaining written pages are 492, and it is a transcript from the original of O'Duvegan, a learned Irish antiquary. There is also " Beatha Naomh Pattraic ; or Life of St. Patrick," imperfect 4to paper. Six pages. See Rev. Charles O'Conor's
" Bibliotheca MS. Stowensis," No. xxii. , vol. i. , pp. 115 to 118, and No. xxxiii. , p.
*^° Thus described : Vie de S. Patrice. (This appears to have been written in French. ) MS. Bibl. de la Ville de Charle- ville, 3933, paper, folio. See ibid. , p. 69.
^5' In the "Catalogue des Manuscrits de
la Bibliotheque Royale des Dues de Bour- gogne, pubhe par ordre du Ministre de
ITnterieur," tome i. Resume Historique, Inventaire, No. 2326, in a series of Lives of Irish Saints, is the Life of St. Patrick, be-
^^ to Sir Thomas Belonging
with " sedebat in tene- Populus qui
*s^ See his " of sect, Antiquities Ireland,"
vi. , Of the Introduction of Christianity, and of St. Patrick, pp. 54 to 69.
*23 No doubt, Dr. Ledwich cites an
opinion, to this effect, of one Dr. Ryves, an
Phillipps.
*45 This is a Vita Sancti Patricii, and de-
ginning bris. "
See p. 47.
as a MS. vel. fol. Phillipps, 4705.
scribed,
xii. cent, ex Bibl. Monasterii de Alna. See
Sir Thomas DufTus Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Materials relating to the His- tory of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. i. , part i. , p. 69.
Irish Master in Chancery," A. u. 1618, in his '"f' Thus described : Vita Patricii, MS. work, Regim. Anglic, in liib. , p. 47, et se<j.
Bibl. Petavii in Vaticana, and Qupedam de . Sancto Patricio, Bibl. Reginas Christinoe in
Vaticana. 345. {964. ) 12S2 (1694. ) Also, Vita S. Patricii MS. Vatticellan. H. 7.
See ibid. , p. 70.
^<7 Thus described : Vita S. Patricii. MS.
Bibl. du Roi 1773. "9- o^TM Bethune. veil, xiii. cent. See ibid. , p. 70.
''^^ There is " Anoymi Carmina quredam
Anepigrapha de S. Patricio, Calpurnio, et Cellano. " MS. Laurentianae Mediceas ii. 812. Cod. vi.
thelanguagepureandclassic. Folios4and 5 are missing, from this tract. Its place in the Aca. Cat. is 23. Q. There is another ancient sermon, on the Life of St. Patrick, in the Leabhar Breac, and differing in some details, from the foregoing. This serves to show, that there was no standard sermon, on our saint, in ancient times. His panegyrics seem to have varied, according to the written evidences used, or the local recollections of each district. In the Leabhar Breac sermon, fol. II to 15, St. Patrick's pedigree is carried to Brilti, from whom Britain derived its name, and, he is said to have been born, at Nemthur, near Alcluaid. The small 4to paper, classed 23. A. 15. , commences, at p. 323, an ancient Life of St. Patrick, begin-
accurate and imperfect, containing only 116 verses, while the beautiful copy on vellum,
in Trinity College Library, contains 136
The Book of Lismore, of which Pro-
420 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
ings of obsolete words, and of old phrases, which, otherwise, might be rather difficult to understand. There is another singular circumstance to be observed, in those various copies of the Life of St. Patrick. Although, in a great measure, they have some similarity, in the quantity and kind of details ; they differ considerably, notwithstanding, in their arrangement and order. They appear, for the most part, as if collected, by various authors, from some general source, but taken at different times and from diverse points of view. Or, perhaps, one person compiled an original, and, in the lapse of ages, local additionswerefrequentlymade. However,forpurposesofhistoricalresearch, they are uninviting. Among the Manuscripts of Trinity College,^^^ of the Catholic University,=30 and of the Franciscan Convent,^3i we possess many Codices, containing different Lives of St. Patrick. Some of these, however, are mostly of a legendary character ; while others are only fragmentary, or con- tain short notices, relating to our saint. Nor do those depositories preserve all the various Manuscripts, which are to be found in Ireland alone ; as even Irish scribes have copied tracts in the vernacular, for their own and for the use of others. Thus, I may be permitted to state, that Mr. Andrew O'Sullivan, of
Cahirciveen,"32 among his collection of seven beautifully transcribed Irish
Manuscripts, had one, containing Lives of the Irish Saints, with Poems and other Tracts, relating to our national hagiology. ^33 in the British Museum
Library,''34 in Lambeth,^35andin the Bodleian Library,^36 at Oxford, there are ning wiih the following Latin sentence, Manuscript, classed E. 3. 28. , includes an
"
magnam. " The Life ends, at p. 356. The as also Fiach's Irish Hymn in praise of St.
Populus qui sedebat in tenebris videt lucem English extract from a Life of St. Patrick,
Patrick, with English notes ; the Manu- script, classed F. 4. 6. , has a Vita S.
Lismore, begin with precisely the same
Latin sentence, and all three proceed with
little difference to the end, except that the
inti"oductory part is abridged, in the present
copy, while the language is much modified
and corrupted. This copy contains some tracts, serving to illustrate St. Patrick's few details, not to be found in the other
Lives of St. Patrick, preserved in the Leab- har Breac, pp. 24 to 29, and, in the Book of
copies. None of them, however, is the Tri-
partite Life, published by Colgan. In the
folio paper, classed 24. D. 4. , from pp. 145
to 148, there are translations, by Edward
O'Reilly, from the Irish Sketch of St.
Patrick's Life, preserved in the ancient Book
of Armagh. The Irish of this translation scholia, as published by Colgan, is to be will be found published, in Sir William Be-
tham's "Irish Antiquarian Researches," part
ii. Appendix, p. xl. to xliii. The Latin Poem
of St. Sechnall on St. Patrick, beginning
found, in the Franciscan copy of the " Liber Hymnorum. "
"
is in the published "Leabhar Breac," atfol.
^3^ This highly intelligent man was over 80 years of age, in July, 1871, when the author had the pleasure of being invited to
inspect his Manuscripts, and to hear from the owner an account, regarding their tran- scribers and contents. About this time, also, the writer met with Mr. J. D. Nagle, an Irish scholar and antiquary of Dingle, who had transcribed some pages of Irish historical Manuscripts.
°33 This large paper Manuscript contained 463 elegantly and closely-written pages, in the Irish character, in the handwriting of AndrewO'Sullivan. ItopenedwithaLife of St. Patrick, and gave a short preparatory account of Calj^hurnius, his father, as also of his mother, and alluding to the saint having been born at Tabernia and Emptor. It con- tained 8 pnges. At some interval removed,
Audite omnes," with an Irish gloss, 238 a to 238 b. According to Mr. O'Curry's
with,
"
Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in the Royal Irish Academy," Hodges and Smith's collection has two missing folios of this
Manuscript. See First Series, vol. ii. , pp. 590, 710.
"'^ Thus, the Manuscript, classed B. i. 5. , contains an Office of St. Patrick, at fol. 122 a. ; the Manuscript, classed B. i. 16, has a Vita S. Patricii, Epis. et Confes. , in
"
40 columns, with a tract,
Hibernise," in 24 columns, with at least one leaf, if not more leaves than one, missing, at the end ; the Manuscript, classed C. 4. 3. , contains a Legend of St. Patrick ; tiie
De Purgatorio
Patricii, by Jocelyn ; the Manuscript, classed H. i. 11. , has a Life of St. Patrick,
beginning with, "Populus qui sedebat," &c. ; besides these chief tracts, there are
genealogies, notices in Kalendars, and
Acts.
230 Those Manuscripts, transcribed by
Professor Eugene O'Curry.
^3' Here are yet preserved some of the
original Lives of St. Patrick, with notes, as
printed in the "Trias Thaumaturga. " Also, the original of St. Fiech's Hymn, with the
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 421 Manuscript Lives of St. Patrick. Thus, in the collection of John Leland, the
antiquary,
we
" Ex duobus libris Gul. de Vita S. Meldunensis, quos
find,
Patricii ad Monachos Glassoburgenses scripsit. ^'^; This Tract appears to consist of 8 folios, or pages, and it was procured, from the Canons of Twin-
^lam,
" sive Medinenses in Provincia Avonias littoralis. " The writer
promised
" De Reditu Patricii in Britanniam
latter intended work be extant. ^^s Again, at Cambridge,^39 and in various other places, throughout England,^^° we find various and distinctive memoirs of our saint. Among the Stowe Manuscripts, there is a folio paper Irish
it is not
^3* Besides those elsewhere noticed, we
find described a Vita S. Patricii Episcopi,
MS. Bodl. 285. (2430) ff. 143-149. veil, folio, dble. col. xiii. cent. This is the same
"34 The late Professor Eugene O'Curry
has catalogued the valuable collection of which Ussher refers, Ff. i. 27. 21. Again,
to
there was another brief account of Patrick,
Apostle of Ireland, pp. 60, 61. It also con- tained a Tract, Patrick's Benediction to the Men of Munster.
;" but,
known,
if the
produce,
Irish Manuscripts here preserved. And, from a copy of this Catalogue, now kept in
the Royal Irish Academy, the following several Lives of our saint are thus described :
In the library classification, noted Egerton, 112, there is a paper folio of 1,060 pages, written by Maurice O'Conor ; and, it begins with an Irish Life of St. Patrick, translated from Jocelyn, pp. i to 68. This has allusion
a Vita S. Patricii MS. Bodl. Laud. Misc. 315, (1055) ff. 100 b. —103. veil. 4to. xiii. cent. De S. Patricio MS. Bodl. 336. (2337) f. 78, veil, folio, dble. col. xiv. cent. See Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Materials relating to the His- tory of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. i. , parti. , pp. 66to70.
^37 In vol. ii. , p. 29. No. 5103.
*38 To the foregoing notices, we find
"
to Tiburnia, Empter, and Caliphurnus. The Manuscript was commenced 13th June, 178O) added,
Nescio an quod ille opus forsitan imperfectum reliquerit, an quod Codices in Egerton, 138, there is a small paper 4to, of quos incidi mulili fuerint, quorum duos 127 pages, and it contains, at p. 51, a Glassoburgi inveni, ubi Patricium praedicant Monachi sepultum esse, I'eclamante hoc dis-
on the Belle Rock, in Cork. Again, in
spurious and an imperfect poetic Dialogue,
between Oisin and Patrick. Also, a poem.
Rules for a Life of Piety, as practised by St.
Patrick, and beginning with, C]\1 caoja
pfAilm UiAi-oceA|\ lib.
"Thrice fifty
psalms remember ye. " It begins at p. 74,
and it purports to be taken, from an ancient
Life of St. Patrick. This Manuscript was
written, about the year 1807, chiefly in one
Michael O'Clery's handwriting. Again, in we find a Tract, De S. Patricio, thus Egerton, 154, is a quarto paper MS. of 166 classed : MS. C. C. C. Cant. 145. sm. fol. pages, and it was written by the late Edward vel. xiv. cent. It is in old English, followed O'Reilly of Dublin. It contains the Life of by the account of the Purgatory of St. St. Patrick, in verse, by Fiech, first Bishop Patrick, and nearly the same as Robert of of Sleibhte. At p. 78, it begins with, Gloucester's Life. Again, there is a Vita S. '5enAi|\ pa'0]\aic 111 enicuip, "Patrick Patricii, comprised in 200 chapters, and
was born at Emtor. " Also, in Egerton,
170, there is a paper 4to, of in folios, in
(". . . 7-. cut hands, and it has an Irish Life of Hardy's
St. Patrick, and compiled in modern times,
but from older Lives. Probus and Jocelyn
are quoted in it, at p. 94, fol. 63, and one
Owen McGrath, an Irish Ijard of the four-
teenth century, at p. loo. It begins with,
rials relating to the History of Great Britain
and Ireland," vol. i. , part i. , pp. 68, 69.
'*° There is S. Patricii Libellus, MS. Moore Norwic. Epis. This is mentioned in Montfaucon's " Bibliotheca," and it is pro- bably the same as No. 924 or MS. 55, in
the " Librorum
Catalogi Manuscriptorum
Anglire et Hibernias," &c. Some of Bishop Moore's MSS. are in the Public Library, at
Cambridge. See idicl. , p. Jl.
'*^ Dr. Charles O'Conor, when describing
''
Ecce Sacerdos Magnus qui in diebus suis
Deo. " Then commences in placuit Irish,
aXj fet), &c. It ends, by asking the blessing of God, on the soul of Teige O'SuUevan.
=^35
St. Patrick's Life, is thus mentioned, as a MS. of Lambeth, and classed, 623. ff.
13-15, veil. 4to. See Sir Thomas Duffus the Duke of Buckingham's Manuscripts,
Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Mate- rials relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland, to the end of the Reign of Henry VII. ," vol. i. , part i. , p. 69.
names it, "Leabhar Gabhaltas, et Vita Hi- bernica SS. Patricii, etCalieni, cum Carmini- bus nonuUis S. Columbse. " Although he describes this Manuscript, however, he does
text, as that in the Cambridge Library, to
ticho ex Beda (nisi fallor) Epigrammatibus desumpto
Calpurmis gennit istiim, alma Britannia misit,
Gallia rintrivit, tenet artus Scoitiafelix.
'^^ In addition to what is elsewhere noted,
described in MS. Trin. Coll. Cant. B. 15, 25. veil, folio, XV. cent. See . Sir Thomas Duffus
"
Descriptive Catalogue of Mate-
42: LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
one,^^' in the Irish characterSj^^^ having two leaves lost, at the beginning,=43 and it contains a Life of St. Patrick. In the Library of Middlehill,^44 ^ve also find a Life of St. Patrick. ^'s In the Roman^^fi and Parisian^t? Libraries, other Acts of our saint are deposited. In Florencej^"*^ in the Benedictine Library of Monte Cassino/^^ in the Library of Charleville,^5o as also in the Public Library of Bruxelles,=5i there are Lives of the Irish Apostle. Among the Manuscripts of St. Gall's Monastery, there are, Excerpta ex Vita Patricii ; and,inaddition,thereisaMS. GenealogiaSciPatricii. Severalshortpieces are passed over, for the present, as only relating to some particular phases of the Irish Apostle's career, or, as having only a doubtful application, to the real incidents of his life. Those enumerated IManuscript biographies, or tracts, however, by no means exhaust the list of unpublished materials, for illustrating our saint's Acts ; since the public libraries, at home and abroad, as also private collections, abound in further interesting mementoes concern- ing him, and which might serve the diligent student's purpose, in the matter
ofinvestigating his history.
It formed one of many curious paradoxes of a pseudo-Irish antiquary, the
Rev. Edward Ledwich,^52 to maintain, that St. Patrick was a purely mythical personage, and that he had no real existence. ^53 It seems most incompre-
hensible to understand, how any man, with the slightest pretensions to Irish historical knowledge,^54 could ignore the numerous native writers, from the fifth to the present century, who have treated, about the illustrious Apostle of Ireland, in their respective works. Nor is this all, for even some of the most celebrated Irish, English, Scotch, and foreign writers, at times remote, allude to his life and labours, in terms of the highest commendation. Foremost among these, we may mention, besides the writers already quoted, St.
account of the ferring to St. Patrick's Life.
of
re-
^t' Thus described
genda MS. Montis Cassinensis 406. if. I veil, folio XV. cent. See ibid. , p. 70.
any special
portion
it,
:
—
'^^ This was transcribed, in the reign of Charles I.
^3 The remaining written pages are 492, and it is a transcript from the original of O'Duvegan, a learned Irish antiquary. There is also " Beatha Naomh Pattraic ; or Life of St. Patrick," imperfect 4to paper. Six pages. See Rev. Charles O'Conor's
" Bibliotheca MS. Stowensis," No. xxii. , vol. i. , pp. 115 to 118, and No. xxxiii. , p.
*^° Thus described : Vie de S. Patrice. (This appears to have been written in French. ) MS. Bibl. de la Ville de Charle- ville, 3933, paper, folio. See ibid. , p. 69.
^5' In the "Catalogue des Manuscrits de
la Bibliotheque Royale des Dues de Bour- gogne, pubhe par ordre du Ministre de
ITnterieur," tome i. Resume Historique, Inventaire, No. 2326, in a series of Lives of Irish Saints, is the Life of St. Patrick, be-
^^ to Sir Thomas Belonging
with " sedebat in tene- Populus qui
*s^ See his " of sect, Antiquities Ireland,"
vi. , Of the Introduction of Christianity, and of St. Patrick, pp. 54 to 69.
*23 No doubt, Dr. Ledwich cites an
opinion, to this effect, of one Dr. Ryves, an
Phillipps.
*45 This is a Vita Sancti Patricii, and de-
ginning bris. "
See p. 47.
as a MS. vel. fol. Phillipps, 4705.
scribed,
xii. cent, ex Bibl. Monasterii de Alna. See
Sir Thomas DufTus Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Materials relating to the His- tory of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. i. , part i. , p. 69.
Irish Master in Chancery," A. u. 1618, in his '"f' Thus described : Vita Patricii, MS. work, Regim. Anglic, in liib. , p. 47, et se<j.
Bibl. Petavii in Vaticana, and Qupedam de . Sancto Patricio, Bibl. Reginas Christinoe in
Vaticana. 345. {964. ) 12S2 (1694. ) Also, Vita S. Patricii MS. Vatticellan. H. 7.
See ibid. , p. 70.
^<7 Thus described : Vita S. Patricii. MS.
Bibl. du Roi 1773. "9- o^TM Bethune. veil, xiii. cent. See ibid. , p. 70.
''^^ There is " Anoymi Carmina quredam
Anepigrapha de S. Patricio, Calpurnio, et Cellano. " MS. Laurentianae Mediceas ii. 812. Cod. vi.
