[September 23
says an ingenious writer, consists in their having arisen during an imagina- tive age, out of a prevailing and well-founded belief in Adamnan's learning
and mental acquirements.
says an ingenious writer, consists in their having arisen during an imagina- tive age, out of a prevailing and well-founded belief in Adamnan's learning
and mental acquirements.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
In a Latin narrative they present an anomalous appearance.
Above all, the artificial, and often unnatural, interweaving of his words, in long sentences, and the oft-recurring ablative absolute in awkward position, will strike the reader as remarkable features of Adamnan's style,
In the Tripartite Life, it is twice stated, that Adamnan wrote a Life of
Festilogy,' consisting of seven quatrains and a-half, comes under the head of spurious writings ascribed to Adamnan. The poem on the Remis-
sion of the Boromean tribute, containing fifty-two stanzas, though bearing his name, is hardly compatible with his religious character. 97 A work " Historia Hibernorum ab Origine ad sua Tempora," is mentioned by
Ward,98 as also an "Epitome metrica triginta Voluminum Legum Hibernicarum ;"99 but, like the preceding, they are probably some
phrases.
St. Patrick. 95 To him are ascribed certain
verses, attributed to him, as also the Four Masters. 97 His alleged Feilire, or
*
92Wemightaswelldenythegenuineness of Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," because
Segineus (pp. 16, 26) ; 3. By one who con-
versed with those who had heard S. and another from Constantius, without Columba's voice (p. 73); who conversed acknowledgment. withapersonwhorememberedthenight 93SuchasHi,andHininglas. Thusalso on which S. Columba died (p. 238) ; who maic, the genitive of mac.
conversed with the acquaintances of St. 94 Thus, Ferguso, (p. 8) ; Aido, (pp. n, Columba's friends (pp. 50, 85, 237) , who 36, 41, 45, 82, 125) in the genitive ; conversed with a person who had witnessed
the battle of Dun-Ceithim in 629 (p. 95) ;
who knew an early friend of the St. Fintan
who died in 635 (p. 22) ; who conversed Cellach, (p. 65);Colgion and Colgen, gen. with the nephew of his predecessor, Virg-
nous, who died in 623 (p. 225) ; who was
living when the battle of Magh-Rath took
place (p. 200) ; who witnessed the ravages (p. 220) ; Draigniche, gen. of Draignech,
16,26,223tit. ); whoseimmediateprede- cessor was Falbeus, and he a successor of
of the great Pestilence (p. 182) ; who was (PP- 45, 255).
a personal friend of King Aldfrid (p. 185) ; 95 See Colgan s " Trias Thaumaturga," who lived when the house of Gabhran was Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. Ixx. , p. declining (p. 201; ; 4. By one whose name 128, and lib. hi. , cap. xcix. , p. 167.
was Adamnan (pp. 16, 95, 225, 238). Here
is an accumulation of evidence which should
satisty any mind, and the more so, as it is
for the most part undesigned and incidental,
the internal counterpart of the writer's own
declaration ; "Hujus ergo prsemissae narra- the piety of the writer, especially in one
tionis testes, non bini tantum vel terni, secundum legem, sed centenni et amplius
particular passage.
"See " Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti,
&c, Acta, &c. " Dissertatio Historica de
adhuc extant. " (pp. 17, 182).
poems. Tighernach9
an early chapter is borrowed from Gildas,
Comgill, gen. of Comgall, (p. 32) ; Domnill, gen. of Domnall, (p. 201) ; Fechureg, gen. of Fiachrach, (p. 45, 225) ; Cellaig, gen. of
of Colgu, (pp. 65, 82); Ainmurech, gen. of Ainmire (pp. 91, 201) ; Loigse, gen. of Loigis, (p. 210) ; Leathain, gen. of Liathan,
96 At the year 695.
9? See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," at A. D. 742, vol. i. , pp. 342, 343.
98 It evidences the ingenuity rather than
6 cites some
504 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
compilations of more modern date and of no authority, so far as Adamnan's name has been attached to them. In addition to these foregoing works, we are told that he wrote a " Vita St. Bathildis, Clodovsei Francorum Regis
Uxoris. "
100
Besides his
u
Varia Poemata," the Canons of Adamnanus101
are
were said to be extant in the Cotton 102 Library.
reported as
Also, they
existing in Marsh's Library, at St. Sepulchre's, Dublin, in a MS. Book. ,03 He is said to have been the author of some Epistles ; and to have written a
u De Paschate I04 as likewise a Rule for Monks. 10* The legitimo,"
Book,
Rev. Alban Butler informs us, that the Book, which our Saint is said to have
compiled on the right time for keeping Easter, was composed for the use of his monks, and that some time after, it disposed them to forsake their
106
erroneous computation.
the foregoing tracts may be regarded as spurious, or at least, that they are not the composition of our Saint.
CHAPTER III.
THE VISIT OF ADAMNAN TO IRELAND DURING THE REIGN OF FINNACHTA FLEDACH, AND HIS RETURN TO IONA—AGAIN HE RE-VISITS IRELAND—REMISSION OF THE BOROMEAN TRIBUTE—ADAMNAN'S TEMPTATIONS—DEATH OF KING BRUIDE, AND LEGEND OF HIS RESUSCITATION FROM DEATH BV ADAMNAN—THE LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA WRITTEN IN IONA—SUPPOSED SOJOURN OF OUR SAINT IN DERRY—THE GREAT SYNOD AT WHICH FLANN FEBHLA, ABBOT OF ARMAGH, PRESIDED, AND AT WHICH ADAMNAN ASSISTED—HIS DISCIPLINARY RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE IRISH CLERGY AND LAITY.
How long Adamnan remained in Ireland during the reign of Finnachta
1
Fledach has not transpired. Doubtless, one chief object he had in view was
the visitation of the various monasteries subject to his jurisdiction. However,
Patria S. Rumol di, p. 218. Art. iii. , Lovanii, 1662.
,0*Said to be a Manuscript, kept in Lon-
don. An^lia, ibid. Sir James Ware says, he was informed by the Jesuit, Father Stephen White, that this Life was extant in St. Arnulph's Library, belonging to the Benedictine convent in the city of Metz,
in Lorrain.
101 In vol. iv. of the MSS. , belonging to
Sir Simon D'Ews) Contra eos qui Pascha
tempore itlefitimo observabant, i. e. against such who keep the Feast of Easter at an unlawful Time. "—Harris' Ware, vol. ii. " Writers of Ireland," book i. , pp. 46.
"* See ibid. , pp. 45, 46.
Io6
See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. ix. , September 23rd. However, the Rev. Dr. Reeves observes, that he knew not from what source this admirable writer derived
Nevertheless, we can hardly doubt, that some of
the Burgundian Library at Bruxelles, are
two treatises attributed to this saint, viz. , his information to authorize such a I. S. Adamnani Canones, Fol. 78, 2, and atatement.
1
Chapter hi. — This monarch is classed
Extant among the Irish Saints, in our Calendars, porro in libro vetere Canonum in bibliotheca at the 14th of November. "Ce Prince Cottoniana Adomnani Canones, quorum pieux voulant renoncer au monde et se con- primus his verbis sequitur, Maritima sacrer au service de Dieu, entra dans un Monastere vers la douxieW annee de son regne ; mais la necessite des affaires, jointe aux sollicitations des grands, le firent quitter le Couvent avant la fin de son noviciat, pour —reprendre les renes du gouvernement. " L'Abb6 Ma-Geoghegan's " Histoire de l'lrlande ancienne et modeine," tome i. , Seconde Partie, chap.
iii. , p. 316.
S. Adamnanus de Scrinio, Fol. 85.
,0J " Sir James Ware writes ;
animalia ad littora delata, quorum tnortes
nescimus, sumenda sunt sand fide, nisi sint
putrida. " — " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 35.
,03 This is entitled, "Presidents of the See
of Armagh", p. 395.
,0« "Or, fas the Title stands in a Manu-
script Chronicle of the Monastery of St. Edmundsbury, formerly in the custody of
September 2$. ] LIVES OF THJB. IRISH SAINTS. 505
having remained some time in his native country—but at what precise date we —Adamnan returned to It is remarked, that the of
are not assured/
Hy. object his visit appears to have been of special importance, from the particular manner in which it is recorded by the annalists, whose every word is full of meaning. It occurred fourteen years after the death of his predecessor. It would seem, political as well as ecclesiastical matters engaged his attention, at that time. His friend, King Finnachta, the sovereign over Ireland, had incurred the Hy-Nialls' displeasure, if we are to attach credit to certain bardic accounts. Finnachta had impaired the false honours he was expected to
uphold, by remitting the Lagenian tribute, that had been paid annually to each chief of the reigning dynasty. From the title Fledach, or " th—e Festive," which the monarch bore, we—may well suppose that hospitality which in those days meant prodigality had encroached on his limited revenues to the great disappointment and dissatisfaction of his court retainers. These had formed no idea regarding retrenchment, in connection with that sort of
right acquired by position and undisputed powers over a vanquished people. Finnachta's indulgence does not appear to have been extorted by force of
arms, for he had fought and routed the Lagenians. Adamnan is said to have advocated the maintenance of this demand ; and a poem of some length' is
attributed to him, However, the unbecoming and puerile language of that composition proves it to have been not the work of Adamnan. 3 The Irish Lift of our saint says, that a proclamation had been made by Finnachta to the effect, that Columcille's lands should not enjoy the same privileges as those of Patrick, Finnian and Ciaran. On this announcement, Adamnan
:
said M That King's life, who made this proclamation, shall be short he
;
shall fall by fratricide ; and there shall never be a king of his race. " « This prediction might seem to have been fulfilled in the result ; for Finnachta fell in battle, being slain by Aedh, after he had enjoyed the sovereignty of Ireland for twenty years. 5 It is quite probable, that Adamnan zealously exerted
himself to promote the new Easter observance, during this sojourn of his in Ireland. It is also likely, that the subsequent adoption of his wishes on this point had been prepared by his sermons and recommendations at that period.
Again, Adamnan proceeded to Ireland, long after the death of Abbot Failbe. This latter journey may be referred to about the year 692. 6 There is a curious coincidence between his Irish Life and Lessons in the Breviary of Aberdeen, as to certain temptations he encountered, and the manner in which the Demon made his assaults, coming to him in human form, and proposing abstruse and difficult questions. * The philosophy of these legends,
2
Mr. Edward O'Reilly had in his of St. Columba. " Appendix to Preface, pp. possession a copy of this poem, comprising xlviii. , xlix.
defeat of Finachta Fleadhach is assigned to the year 693.
verses. See "
Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 296, 297, this
fifty-two
Writers," p. 1.
3 In this Adamnan calls Finnachta, in
ftij cjtm Iia£ ceti x>ecu, "'the old grey king without teeth. " The bard indulges in
"
—
" Were I a King of reddened spears
the following sentiments
:
p. This is the date also given, in the Annals
Chronological
of Tighernach and in those of Ulster.
7 The Breviary of Aberdeen relates, that a child was found, who " ante Dei virum See the Book of Lecan at fol. 310 b ; Book ductus multa ei probleumata praeposuit. of Invasions, fol. 94 a. Tunc sanctus facto signaculo crucis 4 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life inimicum effugavit, qui in specie infantis
I would humble mine enemies,
" I would exalt my high places,
" My combats should be frequent. "
* In Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
6
Additional Notes to Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba," 378.
See the Chronicon Hyense, in the
5o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September 23
says an ingenious writer, consists in their having arisen during an imagina- tive age, out of a prevailing and well-founded belief in Adamnan's learning
and mental acquirements. Diligence in his sacred calling was one of his
many virtues. With true modesty, he apologises for his literary deficiencies,
in one of his works. 8 He that he was and states, daily occupied by great
almost insurmountable labours, and by a pressure of ecclesiastical business, for the due discharge of which, he felt no ordinary solicitude. His rare humility and genuine piety are manifest, from this and many other passages
foundinhisworks. Alegendalreadygiven,inapreviouspartofthisbiography, and the title of his reputed Feilire, or Festilogy,9 appear to have grown out of his character for filial affection. The energy of his physical and mental powers has left its impress on our insular traditions, as likewise the many journeys which he undertook, and various synods which he convoked.
The death of Bruide, son to Bile, King of Fortrenn, is recorded to have
taken a. d. place
693.
,0 He a contem- reigned twenty-one years," being
porary with Adamnan. This prince was the most valiant of the Pictish
Kings, since the reign of his namesake, who was Maelcom's son. We are 12
that the body of Bruide, son to Bile, King over the Cruthnigh, was
told,
brought to Hy, and that his death was grievous and sorrowful to Adamnan. The latter desired Bruide's corpse should be brought to him into the house that night, when Adamnan watched by it until morning. Next day, when the body began to move and its eyes opened, a certain pious man came to the door of that house. He said: "If Adamnan's object be to raise the dead, I say he should not do so, for it will be a degradation to every cleric,
who shall succeed to his
place,
if he too cannot raise the " There departed. "
is something reasonable in that," said Adamnan " ;
therefore,
as it is more
proper,letusgiveourblessingtoBuidhe'ssoulandtohisbody. " Then,as
we are told, Buidhe resigned his spirit to Heaven again, with the blessing
of Adamnan and of the congregation at Ia. *3 Were we to attach any degree
beatum virum temptare voluit. "—Lect. iii.
The Irish Life states, that the demon came in human form to converse with Adamnan, for the men of Munster com- pelled him by force to come to Adamnan. And he came with many hard questions.
declaravi. llorum ego lectorem admono
experimentorum, ut pro me misello pecatore eorundem craxatore Christum judicem secu- lorum exorare non neglegat. "—Mabillon's " Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti. " ssec. iii. , parsii.
9 Incipit Feilire Adamnain x>\& n)&zh&\\\
(Propr. s. s. , Part. Estiv. , fol. 114. bb). '*
One of the
questions
was, ' Was
it in
[for I0
his hie. mother]
At this year the Annals of Tighernac
"
shape or without shape that the devil
worshipped, and was it through know-
ledge or in ignorance that the devil
worshipped'? " They also relate how the devil was brought to Hy in the shape of a corpse, to be buried, and how it rose up
Bruidhe mac Bile Rex Fortrend
and spoke, putting, as the Life says,
"
many
state :
moritur. "—William F. Skene's '* Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of "the Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History," p. 73.
"According to the Chronicle in the
wonderful
all of which Adamnan resolved. "
Mr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St.
of St. Andrew's.
In the Irish Life of St. Adamnan.
to the — questions congregation,
Registry ,a
lvii lviii
" heWh° Towards' the close of his Treatise, De Lf
Tf
°f Mafy
'
Locis Sanctis,'' Adamnan says: Obsecro
itaque eos quicumque breves legerint libellos, ut pro eodem sancto sacerdote Arculfo
divinam precenter clementiam, qui h*c de Sanctis experimenta locis eorum frequentator libentissime nobis dictavit. Quae et ego quamlibet inter laboriosas et prope insustentabiles sollicitudines consti- utus, vili quamvis sermone discribens
fjJ? ***? „•, eath of Bruide mac Bile,
Rev.
,3 Afterwards Adamnan said : —
Columba. " Appendix to Preface, n. (o), ,,. ,. . . ,^, ,—
" eke
^wonders doth he
Many perform,
^d°maf rul'n aKindom
^f5f£,. 1 hat a ho low stick of withered oak
*s about *« son of the KinS of Alciuaite.
—See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba. " Appendix to Preface &c, p. xliv. , and n. n. (c, d. )
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 507
of credit to the foregoing legend, in connection with the recorded date of King Bruide's death ; it should seem, that scarcely more than the interval of a year ought be allowed for Adamnan's visit to Ireland. However, the account is too absurd to merit any place in historic investigation.
It is supposed, that after his return to Iona, Adamnan wrote his Life of St. Columba. This instructive biography he intended for the edification of his society. It was probably written before another voyage undertaken in the year 696^ or 697,15 when once more he returned to Ireland. He makes no reference to any difference of sentiment between himself and his com- munity regarding Roman observances, in this work ; but he has allusions in it to the Paschal question, when he speaks of a prophecy attributed to St. Columkille at Clonmacnoise, in which it was predicted, that after some time discord should arise Ireland's ecclesiastics on that 16 A
among very subject. writer1 ? of our Saint's memoirs supposes, that he may have referred to the
same matter, where speaking about those, who foolishly and ungratefully abused God's patience among the Picts and Scots of Britain. 18 Yet, the Bollandist editor, Baert, conjectures, that St. Columba's Life had been written, during Adamnan's sojourn in Ireland. He also supposes the brethren at whose instance this Life had been written were not the refractory monks of Hy, but those more docile inmates belonging to Durrow, and to
other houses of his institute in Ireland. : 9 The Life itself,
the fullest internal evidence, that it had been written at Hy, and by a member of that insular community. 20 It is thought to have been composed
and 21 697.
site of that well has been ascertained, and it is near one of the city gates still remaining in Derry. *3 On the 9th of June, 1897 and 1898, a grand
14 According to the Annals of Ulster, at 2° The writer speaks of " nostrum monas-
the interval between Adamnan's visits to Ireland in
Especially in the north-western districts of Ireland, popular traditions were most rife, that Adamnan had sojourned for a time in various localities ; and memorials with which his name has been associated seem to lend probability to those accounts. That he spent some time in Derry, so dear to Columkille, is almost certain, especially as in it had been already established a great monastery of his order. Moreover, in Derry there was formerly a well dedicated to St. Adamnan and we learn how the town had been
during
692
;
burned from it to the burial-ground of St. Martin, in the year 1203. " The
this " Adamnanus ad Hiberniam terium," year :
(lib. "
i. , cap.
30, 37,
lib.
ii. , cap.
pergit, —et dedit Legem Innocentium 45), and of nostra insula," (lib. i. , cap. i. ,
"
populis. " Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hiberni- lib. ii,, cap. 45). He says, that the fame of St.
carum Ultonienses.
tomus iv.
Annales
Columba was not known " in hac exclusively
parva et extrema oceani Britannici commo-
"
19 M This, however," observes Dr. Reeves, is a conclusion drawn from unsound
Scots of Britain. He mentions " Iova
insula," (lib. ii. , cap. 45), without, however,
our being enabled to infer with certainty
from those two particular passages, whether the Life in question was there written,
2I
See Leslie Stephen's "Dictionary of National Biography," vol. i. , Art. Adamnan
or Adomnan, by John T. Gilbert, p. 92.
22 See " Memoir of the and North City
Western Liberties of Londonderry," part ii. , History, sect. i. , p. 23.
Scriptores,"
ratus insula," (lib. hi. , cap. 23). When x6 "
15 According to the Annals of Tighernach. See "Vita S. Columbse," lib. i. , cap. 3.
17 The Rev. Wm. Reeves.
18 See "Vita S. Columbse," lib. ii. , cap. 46.
writing, in his nostris insulis," (lib. ii. ,
premises, for it supposes, as some Irish accounts have done, that Adamnan quarrelled with his people; also that the Irish Columbans yielded, while the Hyen- sian ones held out. The one Adamnan to have been expelled from his pastoral cha—rge; the other is contradicted by Bede. " Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba. " Appendix to Preface, &c, p. 1.
supposes
cap. 46)
he alludes to those of the Picts and
23
William O'Doherty, C. C. , St. Colum's
Owing to the kindness of the Rev.
however,
bears
So8 LIVES OP THE IRISH SAINTS. [September i$.
ceremonial had been carried out at the Long Tower Catholic Church, specially dedicated to St. Columba, in that city, and temporary arches had —been erected at different places along the line of procession through the streets
one of those, the Howard-street Arch, indicating a spot near St. Eunan's Well. ** Our Irish historians inform us, that a convention was assembled in Ireland, at which Adamnan, with the principal part of the Irish clergy,
attended. ** The Acts of that con- vention are said to have been extant in the old Book of Raphoe 6 and that
been taken*? and are
supposed, however,* to have been a dif-
ferent synod from that held at Tara, most probably in the year 697,3* when,
to the Annals of Tigher- nach, Adamnan brought a law with him into Ireland. Flann Febhla, Abbot of Armagh, presided over this synod. 33 Thirty-nine ecclesiastics were present at it ; among
Site of St. Adamnan s Well, Derry.
Church, Derry, a photograph of the adjoin- ing street-site has been obtained by the writer. A representation of it has been drawn on the wood, and engraved by Gregor Grey.
34 A full account of those celebrations
has been compiled by the Rev. William
O'Dohety, C. C. , and issued in an elegantly illustrated volume, intituled " Derry Columbkille ;" and the peculiar device caused that near St. Eunan's Well to be called the Shamrock Arch. It is pictorially
"
and described at
8 It is remarkable, that the Rev. Geoffry
represented
pp. 169, 170.
Keating's
;*
copies of it have
still preserved in Bruxelles*8 and in Dublin. ** It is pro- bable, they were iden- tical with the eight Canons Adamnan's name, and which have been printedbyMartene. 30 It is
1
generally thought that synod was held in a. d. 695. It was attended by or This is
forty bishops
abbots. 3
according
History of Ireland" has no mention of this Synod.
96 The title is, Incipit Cain Adamnain a\i fticc fen tebAifi Raca bochAe, according to this old Book of Raphoe.
37 Oneof these by Brother Michael O'Clery.
28 In the Burgundian Library, the MS. alluded to is classed, No. 2324. The Acts of this Synod were entitled the Cain Adham- nain, or the "Canons of Adamnan," accord*
ing to Colgan.
2» In a belonging to Marsh's manuscript
Library, Dublin, and called Precedents of
bearing
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 5«9 these was Ichtbrocht,34 or Egbert^ supposed to have been the individual,
who the brought
Hyensians
to Paschal
in
6 and
conformity
the presidency of Abbot Dunchadh, who governed their community in
quality of Abbot, from 710 to 7 17. 37 Also there were present Murchon or Murchu Mac Ua Maichtene,38 who wrote a portion of St. Patrick's Memoirs, as contained in the Book of Armagh. 39 It is remarked, that with the excep- tion of Flann Febhla, Abbot over Armagh, and Cennfaeladh,40 Abbot over Bangor, the remainder of the clergy, attending this synod, came from Leinster and the south. Loingsech,41 son to Aengus, monarch of Ireland, and forty- seven chiefs connected with various territories, represented the laity in this great assembly.
In the Tripartite Life, it is twice stated, that Adamnan wrote a Life of
Festilogy,' consisting of seven quatrains and a-half, comes under the head of spurious writings ascribed to Adamnan. The poem on the Remis-
sion of the Boromean tribute, containing fifty-two stanzas, though bearing his name, is hardly compatible with his religious character. 97 A work " Historia Hibernorum ab Origine ad sua Tempora," is mentioned by
Ward,98 as also an "Epitome metrica triginta Voluminum Legum Hibernicarum ;"99 but, like the preceding, they are probably some
phrases.
St. Patrick. 95 To him are ascribed certain
verses, attributed to him, as also the Four Masters. 97 His alleged Feilire, or
*
92Wemightaswelldenythegenuineness of Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," because
Segineus (pp. 16, 26) ; 3. By one who con-
versed with those who had heard S. and another from Constantius, without Columba's voice (p. 73); who conversed acknowledgment. withapersonwhorememberedthenight 93SuchasHi,andHininglas. Thusalso on which S. Columba died (p. 238) ; who maic, the genitive of mac.
conversed with the acquaintances of St. 94 Thus, Ferguso, (p. 8) ; Aido, (pp. n, Columba's friends (pp. 50, 85, 237) , who 36, 41, 45, 82, 125) in the genitive ; conversed with a person who had witnessed
the battle of Dun-Ceithim in 629 (p. 95) ;
who knew an early friend of the St. Fintan
who died in 635 (p. 22) ; who conversed Cellach, (p. 65);Colgion and Colgen, gen. with the nephew of his predecessor, Virg-
nous, who died in 623 (p. 225) ; who was
living when the battle of Magh-Rath took
place (p. 200) ; who witnessed the ravages (p. 220) ; Draigniche, gen. of Draignech,
16,26,223tit. ); whoseimmediateprede- cessor was Falbeus, and he a successor of
of the great Pestilence (p. 182) ; who was (PP- 45, 255).
a personal friend of King Aldfrid (p. 185) ; 95 See Colgan s " Trias Thaumaturga," who lived when the house of Gabhran was Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. Ixx. , p. declining (p. 201; ; 4. By one whose name 128, and lib. hi. , cap. xcix. , p. 167.
was Adamnan (pp. 16, 95, 225, 238). Here
is an accumulation of evidence which should
satisty any mind, and the more so, as it is
for the most part undesigned and incidental,
the internal counterpart of the writer's own
declaration ; "Hujus ergo prsemissae narra- the piety of the writer, especially in one
tionis testes, non bini tantum vel terni, secundum legem, sed centenni et amplius
particular passage.
"See " Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti,
&c, Acta, &c. " Dissertatio Historica de
adhuc extant. " (pp. 17, 182).
poems. Tighernach9
an early chapter is borrowed from Gildas,
Comgill, gen. of Comgall, (p. 32) ; Domnill, gen. of Domnall, (p. 201) ; Fechureg, gen. of Fiachrach, (p. 45, 225) ; Cellaig, gen. of
of Colgu, (pp. 65, 82); Ainmurech, gen. of Ainmire (pp. 91, 201) ; Loigse, gen. of Loigis, (p. 210) ; Leathain, gen. of Liathan,
96 At the year 695.
9? See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," at A. D. 742, vol. i. , pp. 342, 343.
98 It evidences the ingenuity rather than
6 cites some
504 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
compilations of more modern date and of no authority, so far as Adamnan's name has been attached to them. In addition to these foregoing works, we are told that he wrote a " Vita St. Bathildis, Clodovsei Francorum Regis
Uxoris. "
100
Besides his
u
Varia Poemata," the Canons of Adamnanus101
are
were said to be extant in the Cotton 102 Library.
reported as
Also, they
existing in Marsh's Library, at St. Sepulchre's, Dublin, in a MS. Book. ,03 He is said to have been the author of some Epistles ; and to have written a
u De Paschate I04 as likewise a Rule for Monks. 10* The legitimo,"
Book,
Rev. Alban Butler informs us, that the Book, which our Saint is said to have
compiled on the right time for keeping Easter, was composed for the use of his monks, and that some time after, it disposed them to forsake their
106
erroneous computation.
the foregoing tracts may be regarded as spurious, or at least, that they are not the composition of our Saint.
CHAPTER III.
THE VISIT OF ADAMNAN TO IRELAND DURING THE REIGN OF FINNACHTA FLEDACH, AND HIS RETURN TO IONA—AGAIN HE RE-VISITS IRELAND—REMISSION OF THE BOROMEAN TRIBUTE—ADAMNAN'S TEMPTATIONS—DEATH OF KING BRUIDE, AND LEGEND OF HIS RESUSCITATION FROM DEATH BV ADAMNAN—THE LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA WRITTEN IN IONA—SUPPOSED SOJOURN OF OUR SAINT IN DERRY—THE GREAT SYNOD AT WHICH FLANN FEBHLA, ABBOT OF ARMAGH, PRESIDED, AND AT WHICH ADAMNAN ASSISTED—HIS DISCIPLINARY RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE IRISH CLERGY AND LAITY.
How long Adamnan remained in Ireland during the reign of Finnachta
1
Fledach has not transpired. Doubtless, one chief object he had in view was
the visitation of the various monasteries subject to his jurisdiction. However,
Patria S. Rumol di, p. 218. Art. iii. , Lovanii, 1662.
,0*Said to be a Manuscript, kept in Lon-
don. An^lia, ibid. Sir James Ware says, he was informed by the Jesuit, Father Stephen White, that this Life was extant in St. Arnulph's Library, belonging to the Benedictine convent in the city of Metz,
in Lorrain.
101 In vol. iv. of the MSS. , belonging to
Sir Simon D'Ews) Contra eos qui Pascha
tempore itlefitimo observabant, i. e. against such who keep the Feast of Easter at an unlawful Time. "—Harris' Ware, vol. ii. " Writers of Ireland," book i. , pp. 46.
"* See ibid. , pp. 45, 46.
Io6
See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. ix. , September 23rd. However, the Rev. Dr. Reeves observes, that he knew not from what source this admirable writer derived
Nevertheless, we can hardly doubt, that some of
the Burgundian Library at Bruxelles, are
two treatises attributed to this saint, viz. , his information to authorize such a I. S. Adamnani Canones, Fol. 78, 2, and atatement.
1
Chapter hi. — This monarch is classed
Extant among the Irish Saints, in our Calendars, porro in libro vetere Canonum in bibliotheca at the 14th of November. "Ce Prince Cottoniana Adomnani Canones, quorum pieux voulant renoncer au monde et se con- primus his verbis sequitur, Maritima sacrer au service de Dieu, entra dans un Monastere vers la douxieW annee de son regne ; mais la necessite des affaires, jointe aux sollicitations des grands, le firent quitter le Couvent avant la fin de son noviciat, pour —reprendre les renes du gouvernement. " L'Abb6 Ma-Geoghegan's " Histoire de l'lrlande ancienne et modeine," tome i. , Seconde Partie, chap.
iii. , p. 316.
S. Adamnanus de Scrinio, Fol. 85.
,0J " Sir James Ware writes ;
animalia ad littora delata, quorum tnortes
nescimus, sumenda sunt sand fide, nisi sint
putrida. " — " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 35.
,03 This is entitled, "Presidents of the See
of Armagh", p. 395.
,0« "Or, fas the Title stands in a Manu-
script Chronicle of the Monastery of St. Edmundsbury, formerly in the custody of
September 2$. ] LIVES OF THJB. IRISH SAINTS. 505
having remained some time in his native country—but at what precise date we —Adamnan returned to It is remarked, that the of
are not assured/
Hy. object his visit appears to have been of special importance, from the particular manner in which it is recorded by the annalists, whose every word is full of meaning. It occurred fourteen years after the death of his predecessor. It would seem, political as well as ecclesiastical matters engaged his attention, at that time. His friend, King Finnachta, the sovereign over Ireland, had incurred the Hy-Nialls' displeasure, if we are to attach credit to certain bardic accounts. Finnachta had impaired the false honours he was expected to
uphold, by remitting the Lagenian tribute, that had been paid annually to each chief of the reigning dynasty. From the title Fledach, or " th—e Festive," which the monarch bore, we—may well suppose that hospitality which in those days meant prodigality had encroached on his limited revenues to the great disappointment and dissatisfaction of his court retainers. These had formed no idea regarding retrenchment, in connection with that sort of
right acquired by position and undisputed powers over a vanquished people. Finnachta's indulgence does not appear to have been extorted by force of
arms, for he had fought and routed the Lagenians. Adamnan is said to have advocated the maintenance of this demand ; and a poem of some length' is
attributed to him, However, the unbecoming and puerile language of that composition proves it to have been not the work of Adamnan. 3 The Irish Lift of our saint says, that a proclamation had been made by Finnachta to the effect, that Columcille's lands should not enjoy the same privileges as those of Patrick, Finnian and Ciaran. On this announcement, Adamnan
:
said M That King's life, who made this proclamation, shall be short he
;
shall fall by fratricide ; and there shall never be a king of his race. " « This prediction might seem to have been fulfilled in the result ; for Finnachta fell in battle, being slain by Aedh, after he had enjoyed the sovereignty of Ireland for twenty years. 5 It is quite probable, that Adamnan zealously exerted
himself to promote the new Easter observance, during this sojourn of his in Ireland. It is also likely, that the subsequent adoption of his wishes on this point had been prepared by his sermons and recommendations at that period.
Again, Adamnan proceeded to Ireland, long after the death of Abbot Failbe. This latter journey may be referred to about the year 692. 6 There is a curious coincidence between his Irish Life and Lessons in the Breviary of Aberdeen, as to certain temptations he encountered, and the manner in which the Demon made his assaults, coming to him in human form, and proposing abstruse and difficult questions. * The philosophy of these legends,
2
Mr. Edward O'Reilly had in his of St. Columba. " Appendix to Preface, pp. possession a copy of this poem, comprising xlviii. , xlix.
defeat of Finachta Fleadhach is assigned to the year 693.
verses. See "
Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 296, 297, this
fifty-two
Writers," p. 1.
3 In this Adamnan calls Finnachta, in
ftij cjtm Iia£ ceti x>ecu, "'the old grey king without teeth. " The bard indulges in
"
—
" Were I a King of reddened spears
the following sentiments
:
p. This is the date also given, in the Annals
Chronological
of Tighernach and in those of Ulster.
7 The Breviary of Aberdeen relates, that a child was found, who " ante Dei virum See the Book of Lecan at fol. 310 b ; Book ductus multa ei probleumata praeposuit. of Invasions, fol. 94 a. Tunc sanctus facto signaculo crucis 4 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life inimicum effugavit, qui in specie infantis
I would humble mine enemies,
" I would exalt my high places,
" My combats should be frequent. "
* In Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
6
Additional Notes to Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba," 378.
See the Chronicon Hyense, in the
5o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September 23
says an ingenious writer, consists in their having arisen during an imagina- tive age, out of a prevailing and well-founded belief in Adamnan's learning
and mental acquirements. Diligence in his sacred calling was one of his
many virtues. With true modesty, he apologises for his literary deficiencies,
in one of his works. 8 He that he was and states, daily occupied by great
almost insurmountable labours, and by a pressure of ecclesiastical business, for the due discharge of which, he felt no ordinary solicitude. His rare humility and genuine piety are manifest, from this and many other passages
foundinhisworks. Alegendalreadygiven,inapreviouspartofthisbiography, and the title of his reputed Feilire, or Festilogy,9 appear to have grown out of his character for filial affection. The energy of his physical and mental powers has left its impress on our insular traditions, as likewise the many journeys which he undertook, and various synods which he convoked.
The death of Bruide, son to Bile, King of Fortrenn, is recorded to have
taken a. d. place
693.
,0 He a contem- reigned twenty-one years," being
porary with Adamnan. This prince was the most valiant of the Pictish
Kings, since the reign of his namesake, who was Maelcom's son. We are 12
that the body of Bruide, son to Bile, King over the Cruthnigh, was
told,
brought to Hy, and that his death was grievous and sorrowful to Adamnan. The latter desired Bruide's corpse should be brought to him into the house that night, when Adamnan watched by it until morning. Next day, when the body began to move and its eyes opened, a certain pious man came to the door of that house. He said: "If Adamnan's object be to raise the dead, I say he should not do so, for it will be a degradation to every cleric,
who shall succeed to his
place,
if he too cannot raise the " There departed. "
is something reasonable in that," said Adamnan " ;
therefore,
as it is more
proper,letusgiveourblessingtoBuidhe'ssoulandtohisbody. " Then,as
we are told, Buidhe resigned his spirit to Heaven again, with the blessing
of Adamnan and of the congregation at Ia. *3 Were we to attach any degree
beatum virum temptare voluit. "—Lect. iii.
The Irish Life states, that the demon came in human form to converse with Adamnan, for the men of Munster com- pelled him by force to come to Adamnan. And he came with many hard questions.
declaravi. llorum ego lectorem admono
experimentorum, ut pro me misello pecatore eorundem craxatore Christum judicem secu- lorum exorare non neglegat. "—Mabillon's " Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti. " ssec. iii. , parsii.
9 Incipit Feilire Adamnain x>\& n)&zh&\\\
(Propr. s. s. , Part. Estiv. , fol. 114. bb). '*
One of the
questions
was, ' Was
it in
[for I0
his hie. mother]
At this year the Annals of Tighernac
"
shape or without shape that the devil
worshipped, and was it through know-
ledge or in ignorance that the devil
worshipped'? " They also relate how the devil was brought to Hy in the shape of a corpse, to be buried, and how it rose up
Bruidhe mac Bile Rex Fortrend
and spoke, putting, as the Life says,
"
many
state :
moritur. "—William F. Skene's '* Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of "the Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History," p. 73.
"According to the Chronicle in the
wonderful
all of which Adamnan resolved. "
Mr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St.
of St. Andrew's.
In the Irish Life of St. Adamnan.
to the — questions congregation,
Registry ,a
lvii lviii
" heWh° Towards' the close of his Treatise, De Lf
Tf
°f Mafy
'
Locis Sanctis,'' Adamnan says: Obsecro
itaque eos quicumque breves legerint libellos, ut pro eodem sancto sacerdote Arculfo
divinam precenter clementiam, qui h*c de Sanctis experimenta locis eorum frequentator libentissime nobis dictavit. Quae et ego quamlibet inter laboriosas et prope insustentabiles sollicitudines consti- utus, vili quamvis sermone discribens
fjJ? ***? „•, eath of Bruide mac Bile,
Rev.
,3 Afterwards Adamnan said : —
Columba. " Appendix to Preface, n. (o), ,,. ,. . . ,^, ,—
" eke
^wonders doth he
Many perform,
^d°maf rul'n aKindom
^f5f£,. 1 hat a ho low stick of withered oak
*s about *« son of the KinS of Alciuaite.
—See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba. " Appendix to Preface &c, p. xliv. , and n. n. (c, d. )
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 507
of credit to the foregoing legend, in connection with the recorded date of King Bruide's death ; it should seem, that scarcely more than the interval of a year ought be allowed for Adamnan's visit to Ireland. However, the account is too absurd to merit any place in historic investigation.
It is supposed, that after his return to Iona, Adamnan wrote his Life of St. Columba. This instructive biography he intended for the edification of his society. It was probably written before another voyage undertaken in the year 696^ or 697,15 when once more he returned to Ireland. He makes no reference to any difference of sentiment between himself and his com- munity regarding Roman observances, in this work ; but he has allusions in it to the Paschal question, when he speaks of a prophecy attributed to St. Columkille at Clonmacnoise, in which it was predicted, that after some time discord should arise Ireland's ecclesiastics on that 16 A
among very subject. writer1 ? of our Saint's memoirs supposes, that he may have referred to the
same matter, where speaking about those, who foolishly and ungratefully abused God's patience among the Picts and Scots of Britain. 18 Yet, the Bollandist editor, Baert, conjectures, that St. Columba's Life had been written, during Adamnan's sojourn in Ireland. He also supposes the brethren at whose instance this Life had been written were not the refractory monks of Hy, but those more docile inmates belonging to Durrow, and to
other houses of his institute in Ireland. : 9 The Life itself,
the fullest internal evidence, that it had been written at Hy, and by a member of that insular community. 20 It is thought to have been composed
and 21 697.
site of that well has been ascertained, and it is near one of the city gates still remaining in Derry. *3 On the 9th of June, 1897 and 1898, a grand
14 According to the Annals of Ulster, at 2° The writer speaks of " nostrum monas-
the interval between Adamnan's visits to Ireland in
Especially in the north-western districts of Ireland, popular traditions were most rife, that Adamnan had sojourned for a time in various localities ; and memorials with which his name has been associated seem to lend probability to those accounts. That he spent some time in Derry, so dear to Columkille, is almost certain, especially as in it had been already established a great monastery of his order. Moreover, in Derry there was formerly a well dedicated to St. Adamnan and we learn how the town had been
during
692
;
burned from it to the burial-ground of St. Martin, in the year 1203. " The
this " Adamnanus ad Hiberniam terium," year :
(lib. "
i. , cap.
30, 37,
lib.
ii. , cap.
pergit, —et dedit Legem Innocentium 45), and of nostra insula," (lib. i. , cap. i. ,
"
populis. " Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hiberni- lib. ii,, cap. 45). He says, that the fame of St.
carum Ultonienses.
tomus iv.
Annales
Columba was not known " in hac exclusively
parva et extrema oceani Britannici commo-
"
19 M This, however," observes Dr. Reeves, is a conclusion drawn from unsound
Scots of Britain. He mentions " Iova
insula," (lib. ii. , cap. 45), without, however,
our being enabled to infer with certainty
from those two particular passages, whether the Life in question was there written,
2I
See Leslie Stephen's "Dictionary of National Biography," vol. i. , Art. Adamnan
or Adomnan, by John T. Gilbert, p. 92.
22 See " Memoir of the and North City
Western Liberties of Londonderry," part ii. , History, sect. i. , p. 23.
Scriptores,"
ratus insula," (lib. hi. , cap. 23). When x6 "
15 According to the Annals of Tighernach. See "Vita S. Columbse," lib. i. , cap. 3.
17 The Rev. Wm. Reeves.
18 See "Vita S. Columbse," lib. ii. , cap. 46.
writing, in his nostris insulis," (lib. ii. ,
premises, for it supposes, as some Irish accounts have done, that Adamnan quarrelled with his people; also that the Irish Columbans yielded, while the Hyen- sian ones held out. The one Adamnan to have been expelled from his pastoral cha—rge; the other is contradicted by Bede. " Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba. " Appendix to Preface, &c, p. 1.
supposes
cap. 46)
he alludes to those of the Picts and
23
William O'Doherty, C. C. , St. Colum's
Owing to the kindness of the Rev.
however,
bears
So8 LIVES OP THE IRISH SAINTS. [September i$.
ceremonial had been carried out at the Long Tower Catholic Church, specially dedicated to St. Columba, in that city, and temporary arches had —been erected at different places along the line of procession through the streets
one of those, the Howard-street Arch, indicating a spot near St. Eunan's Well. ** Our Irish historians inform us, that a convention was assembled in Ireland, at which Adamnan, with the principal part of the Irish clergy,
attended. ** The Acts of that con- vention are said to have been extant in the old Book of Raphoe 6 and that
been taken*? and are
supposed, however,* to have been a dif-
ferent synod from that held at Tara, most probably in the year 697,3* when,
to the Annals of Tigher- nach, Adamnan brought a law with him into Ireland. Flann Febhla, Abbot of Armagh, presided over this synod. 33 Thirty-nine ecclesiastics were present at it ; among
Site of St. Adamnan s Well, Derry.
Church, Derry, a photograph of the adjoin- ing street-site has been obtained by the writer. A representation of it has been drawn on the wood, and engraved by Gregor Grey.
34 A full account of those celebrations
has been compiled by the Rev. William
O'Dohety, C. C. , and issued in an elegantly illustrated volume, intituled " Derry Columbkille ;" and the peculiar device caused that near St. Eunan's Well to be called the Shamrock Arch. It is pictorially
"
and described at
8 It is remarkable, that the Rev. Geoffry
represented
pp. 169, 170.
Keating's
;*
copies of it have
still preserved in Bruxelles*8 and in Dublin. ** It is pro- bable, they were iden- tical with the eight Canons Adamnan's name, and which have been printedbyMartene. 30 It is
1
generally thought that synod was held in a. d. 695. It was attended by or This is
forty bishops
abbots. 3
according
History of Ireland" has no mention of this Synod.
96 The title is, Incipit Cain Adamnain a\i fticc fen tebAifi Raca bochAe, according to this old Book of Raphoe.
37 Oneof these by Brother Michael O'Clery.
28 In the Burgundian Library, the MS. alluded to is classed, No. 2324. The Acts of this Synod were entitled the Cain Adham- nain, or the "Canons of Adamnan," accord*
ing to Colgan.
2» In a belonging to Marsh's manuscript
Library, Dublin, and called Precedents of
bearing
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 5«9 these was Ichtbrocht,34 or Egbert^ supposed to have been the individual,
who the brought
Hyensians
to Paschal
in
6 and
conformity
the presidency of Abbot Dunchadh, who governed their community in
quality of Abbot, from 710 to 7 17. 37 Also there were present Murchon or Murchu Mac Ua Maichtene,38 who wrote a portion of St. Patrick's Memoirs, as contained in the Book of Armagh. 39 It is remarked, that with the excep- tion of Flann Febhla, Abbot over Armagh, and Cennfaeladh,40 Abbot over Bangor, the remainder of the clergy, attending this synod, came from Leinster and the south. Loingsech,41 son to Aengus, monarch of Ireland, and forty- seven chiefs connected with various territories, represented the laity in this great assembly.
