No More Learning

"
Article v. —' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly,
p. xiii. '
IngeriA p'^i'O'i'S-
See Dr. Rutty's
Essay towards a Natural
'' See
Academy," Irish MS. Series, vol. i. , part i. , pp. iio, in.
396 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 21.
honour St. Fainche, of Cluana Caoin, in Eoganacht Caisil,' is entered in the Martyrology of Tallaght,^ at the 21st of January. Marianus O'Gorman also thus gives her feast and natahs. 3 Colgan seems to thinks that this St. Fanchea was daughter to ^ngus, the son of Crimthann, and descended from the race of Cailbad. s Fainche and Eghhonna, two virgins, occur in the Martyrology of Donegal^ on this day. They are both said to be of Cluain Caoi, in Eoghanacht of Cashel. 7 There is a Fainche of the race of Laeghaire, son of Niall, add the compilers of this latter calendar. The place
of these \'irgins was sometimes called Cluain-caein-Modimog;^ and according to a gloss on the Feilire-^ngus,9 at the 21st of January, this church was
in the territory of Eoghanacht Chaisil,'° which is the present barony of Middlethird, in the county of Tipperary. " The veneration for St. Fainche
extended to Scotland ; and in the Kalendar of Drummond," her festival is celebrated on the xii. of the February kalends, this day, while another virgin, Femin—of whom nothing seems to be known under such form—is
joined in this record of synhemeral sanctity.
Article VII. —Reputed Festival of St. Finnian, Abbot of Moville, County of Down, called by the Scotch St. Wiminus, Viminus, or ViMius. \Sixth Century? \ This holy man is thought to have been a bishop in Scotland, and to have been venerated on this day. So state Fer- rarius,' King, and Camerarius. Among the saints who were to be considered at a later date, and about whom little had been kno\vn with accuracy, the Bollandistshaveclassedthisdistinguishedman. TheSt. Winnin,orVinnin, venerated in Scotland'^ on this day, has been identified by the Rev. Dr.
Articlevi. —' Seeextractsfrom"Saints of Munster"—Leabhar Breac—in "Tip- perary Extracts," R. I. A. , vol. i. , p.
167.
" Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. In the
Franciscan copy we read pAinche cL CAeiti
puinchefei-om\\UAifbu xXgriA ingeti Ipi.
G. xii. kl. May they be together protecting me
To my king in happy state Fiunche of noblest powers,
Agna, daughter of Jesus.
"° We are told that Eoganacht was a ter- ritory placed near Cashel, and to the north of it, about Thurles, in the county of Tip-
cogAnn cAfiL
3 See Colgan's
"
Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae," i. Januarii. Vita S. Fanchese, n. 25,
p. 4,
* Notwithstanding that, he puts her feast
at the 1 2th of January, but this appears to
be a error for the 21st. This was called — only typographical perary. place Hy-Fogarta,
5 According to the logicum. "
"
Menologium Genea-
being the country of the OTogartys. Smith's Manuscript collections for the County
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
24. 25-
^ This virgin, called Fuinche, is thus dis-
tinguished in the Leabhar Breac, 30 b. , R. I. A.
^
Under any possible form of the name it seems difficult, if not impossible, to identify Cluain Caein Modimog with any denomina- tion on the "Ordnance Survey Townland
of Tipperary, R. I. A. ""
Maps for the County of Tipperary. " Nor Wiminus, a priest in Scotland, at the 28th
can it be identified among the Tipperary Inquisition denominations of the I. O. S.
9 From this metrical calendar, Professor
of May, and the Bollandists could not be sure he was a different saint. See " Ac—ta
Sanctorum Januarii," tomus ii. , p. 337.
has furnished the O'Looney following
ex-
Prffitermissi et in alios dies
tractandtranslationforthisday
—
rejecti. Dempster's "Menologium
I
^. scii. kU TlobAC oen •00m fnAtjut) Com ^Mg i\eim Af oi. icti
lendars of Scottish Saints. "
:
Scoti- and Adam King's Kalen- dars, pp. 190, 142 in Bishop Forbes' "Ka-
See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. ii. , pp. 936, 937, and n. (h), ibid.
" xii. Kal. *' Et apud Hibemiam quoque natale sanctorum virginum Fanche et Fe- mini commemorantur. "—See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of S—cottish Saints," p. 3.
Article vii.
'
The same Ferranus has
"See
cum," p. 190
;
January 22. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 397
Reeves with St. Finnan, the founder of Moville Monastery, in the county of
Ctoentp-'Siewnti laap of Samiarp*
ARTICLE I. —ST. COLMAN, BISHOP AND ABBOT OF LISMORE. [SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. ^
the cultus—of the saints, we render homage and reverence to beings
Down. 3 To his chief
for more extended biographical notices.
INwho exist
who are and beings redeemed, sanctified, perfected, hving
feast,
at the loth of the reader is referred September,
objectively, though no longer in the body. The worship offered, however, is subordinate to the adoration due to God, while even this it strengthens
and promotes. The present saint, called also Choimoc,' to which we
sometimes find the prefixed
" was son to Finnbar. 3 Mo,"^
endearing expletive
He was a member of the Hua Beogna race, that ruled over Ith-Liathain
territory,* in the county of Cork. s This region skirted the sea-coast, be-
tween Youghall and the principal city of that county, and bearing the same name. Here St. Colman was born, some time in the earlier part of the seventh century. Whilst our saint was yet a young man, he took the monastic habit in the celebrated Lismore^ Monastery. There he was dis- tinguished for all those virtues of which he made profession. ''
At this time, and long previous, Lismore,^ delightfully situated on the
3 This saint's name occurs in the " Mar- Cork. Treating of this St. Colman at 22nd "
tyrology of Aberdeen, p. 128, as also in January, Colgan marks its situation in a
the Kalendar to the Breviary of Aberdeen, p. III. Bishop Forbes has a long account of him in his " Kalendars of the Scottish
Saints," pp. 4—63 to 466.
very clear manner, by stating, that it lay between Cork and Youghall. See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. iii. , chap, xix. , sec. i. , n. II, p.
Article
diminutives, from Colum, i. e. , Columba. Hiberniae," xxii. Januarii, n. 2, p. 155.
"
Annals of the Four Masters," will be
'
i. Colmoc and Colman are
146. See, also, Colgan's
"ActaSanctorum
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibernice," xxii. Januarii. Vita S. Colmani, n. 3, p. 155. * Hence the name Mocholmocus or Mo-
colmoc is found applied to this saint
3 The Annals of the Four Masters, of
^
According to General Vallancey, the site of Lisniore in the early ages had been denominated Magh-Sgiath, or " the chosen field," on account of its having been the situation for a dun or fort belonging to the
Ulster, and of Clonmacnoise, with St. Ai- ancient chieftains of the Decies. See "Col- dan's Acts, call this saint the son to Finn- lectanea de Rebus Hibernicis," vol. iii. ,
barr. By St. ^Engus, the Martyrology of P- 377-
Tallagh, and Marianus O'Gorman, he is styled son of the Beonna family.
The history of this district, as given in
"
7 See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae," xxii. Januarii. Vita S. Colmani, cap. i. , ii. , p. 154. So many as twenty ancient churches are said to have stood in Lismore, the cathedral of which had been dedicated
the
found in the
tion relative to the Antiquities of the County of Cork, collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1839-40," vol. ii. , pp. 128 to 132.
5 Ibh-Liathain, or the territory of the O'Lehans, was in the present county of
"
Extracts containing informa-
to St. Carthage. See J. R. O'Flanagan's "
admirable Historical and Picturesque
Guide to the River Blackwater, in Mun-
ster," pp. 47 to 57, for an interesting de- scription and illustrations of Lismore.
'In reference to this ancient episcopal
398 LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 22.
Blackwater,9 was a celebrated asylum of sanctity and learning. It was famous on this account, not only throughout Ireland, but even in Britain, andmoredistantcountriesontheContinent. '" Aninnumerablebodyof monks or scholars filled its cloisters and schools;" while many holy prelates, abbots, and religious received their education and early training, as also laics, under the rectors and masters of this old university city. '^ In the ancient litany of St. ^ngus'3 are likewise invoked eight hundred monks, who settled in Lismore with Mochuda, every third of them a favoured servant of God. '*
St. Hierlog or Jarlug ruled over the see and Monastery of Lismore,'' during the years of our saint's sojourn here, and he died on the i6th day of
January,'^ 698, St. Colman was immediately appointed his successor, both
in the bishopric'? and in the abbey. During the time of his government, desirous of acquiring the knowledge that maketh wise unto salvation, \\ith the learning which was destined to procure them distinction in other walks of life, many eager disciples flocked to Lismore,'" from all parts of the
city, as also to that of Ardmore, which is not far removed, Carve cites those Latin lines of Necha.
" Urbem Lisimor pertansit flumen Avon- mor,
County of Waterford, collected during the
progress of the Ordnance Survey in \o\l"
P- 139-
'*
In the time of St. Mochudda or Car- thage, there are said to have been eight hundred monks in the Monastery of Lis- more ; a third part of this number having been distinguished by their miracles, as related in the Acts of St. Carthage, to be found in the Book of Litanies of Tallagh Church. Colgan refers the reader to an Appendix for the Life of St. Carthage he intended to publish, at the 14th of May. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae," xxiL Januarii, n. 6, p. 165.
— Ardmor cemitubi consitus sequor adit. " "
See Lyra Sive Anacephalaeosis Hi- bemica," p. 49.
9 "As for the natural beauties of Lismore,
they are scarcely to be surpassed. The Blackwater, both above and below the bridge which leads into the town, flows through one of the most verdant of valleys. The banks bounding this valley, are in some
(laces in other '3 See the in Irish with thickly covered, places, Text, characters,
fightlyshadedwithwood.
Nothing,Isay, can surpass in richness and beauty the view
from the bridge, when at evening, the deep woods, and the grey castle, and the still
a correct English translation by a competent Irish scholar, in the "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iii. , pp. 394, 395.
' I'he meaning of this phras—e is well ex- pressed by Ward (loc cit. ): "Quorum
river, are left in the shade ;
while the sim, streaming up the valley, gilds all t—he softer
tertius quisque miraculis illustrabatur. "
"
and swells that lie
"Journey throughout Ireland in 1834," vol. i. , chap, vii. , pp. 164, 165.
'5 In the Annals of the Four quoting
slopes
opposite. " Inglis'
"" Masters at a. d. 698, Colgan writes, S.
Hierologus Episcopus Lismorensis et Abbas decessit die 16 Januarii. See "Acta Sanc- torum Hibemiae," xxii. Januarii, n. 8, p.
155. This entry is altogether differently recorded in Mr. O'Donovan's edition of the
'° " Lismore, long since the muses' darling seat.
Of piety and learning the retreat,
Her aLnui mater shone as bright at
noon,
As Oxford, Cambridge, or the great Sorbonne. "
"John O'Donovan, who examined the antiquities of Lismore in 1841, could find no traces of the twenty churches, said to havebeenformerlyhere. ThepresentCa- thedral was re-edified A. D. 1633, at the expense of the great Earl of Cork, and there was not left a feature of the primitive Irish architecture. Fac-similcs of two old Irish tomos, with inscriptions, are drawn as il-
lustrations, in "Letters Containing Infor- mation relative to the Antiquities of the
"
Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp.
—See "
300, 301. We there read, at a. d. 698,
"Jamla, Abbot of Lismor, died. " This
is not the instance, in which I find dif- only
ferent readings, between the latter edition
and citations from "Annals of the Four
Masters," as quoted by Colgan.
'*
See notices regarding hun at that date. '7 In the Life of St. Flannan, which will be found at the l8th of December, St. Col- man is styled Bishop of Lismore. He is called abbot of the same place, by our
ancient annalists.
'^The united parishes of Lismore and
Moco'. lop are verv extensive. Thev include over 1,293 acres in tiic baronies of Condons
of the South of Ireland," letter xxxix. , p. 394.
Philosophical Survey
January 22. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 399
country. Among other distinguished personages, was the Dalcassian Prince Theodoric or Turlough, King of Thomond. He was held in the greatest esteem by our saint, who predicted what should take place with regard to him and his posterity. On all matters of moment, the abbot was consulted by this illustrious, but humble disciple. '^ Whilst our saint presided over Lis- more, the state of its schools was most flourishing ; and the discipline of its religious establishment was maintained in the most healthful vigour. Its school is said to have attained a higher degree of reputation than any other in Ireland. ^" Besides numerous holy men, who sought a refuge from the world in this retreat for wisdom and sanctity, and who lived in seclusion and penance within its monastery, many others were called forth from its en- closure, to adorn stations of dignity and importance in the Irish Church. Thus, our saint was the spiritual father of many monks, and an instructor of
These exhibited in their lives and actions the excellence of
to receive ihe reward of his labours, but after a short episcopate, and term
of abbatial rule, lasting only four years. He died in the year of our Lord
702,'* on the 22nd day of January. The Martyrology of Tallagh^3 registers him, and under the designation of Mocholmoc, Loismoir, mic h. Beona. The Festilogy of St. ^Engus has a similar record. ^'* The Calendar of Cashel
coincides ;^5 but Colgan has incorrectly stated,^^ it gives our saint another
Varilius without ostentation
Felix who made the melodious
journey.
*5 The Calendar of Cashel " S. Col- says:
manus filius Hua Beogna in Lismora Mo- chuddoe. " ButthesameCalendarofCashel places a festival afterwards at the 25th of
"
many prelates.
to which
At an advanced age, full of virtues and merits, our saint was called away
that and discipline
trainiig,
they
had been ^^ subjected.
and Clangibbon in the county of Cork, and over 62,743 ii^ ^'^^ baronies of Coshmore and Coshbride, in the county of Waterford. Sheets 36, 37 of the "Ordnance Survey Townland" of the former
and Sheets II, 12, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 34 in the latter
county,representthisunion.
county,
'5 For further particulars regarding Theo-
doric, the reader is referred to the Life of July, in this manner: 25 Julii S. Mochol-
St. Flannan, at the i8th of December.
=^° "
See Smith's Antient and Present State
of the County and City of Waterford," chap, iii. , n. 5, p. 28.
mocus, seu Colmanus O Liathain et S. Si- lanus duo Comorbani seu successores S. Mochuddoe Lismorensis. '' Colgan supposes this day last-named, to have been a festival relating to our saint's translation, or to some other commemoration. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernios," xxii. Januarii, n. 12, P- 155-
*'
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xxii. Januarii. Vita S. Colmani,
cap. ii. , iii. , iv. v. , p. 154,
="'
In Mr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four " vol. i. at the Masters, , pp. 304, 305,
"
702, his demise is thus recorded :
son of Finnbhar, Abbot of Lismor, died. " The Annals of Ulster, at the same year, state, "Colman mac Finbair, Abbas Lis- moir, moritur. "
^3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. After the insertion of twenty-four foreign saints at this date, the Franciscan copy enters first among the Irish ones mocholmoc 1.
'* When
mentioning
the death of Colman
h. beonriA.
*^ The following extract and its English
translation —have been furnished by Professor O'Looney:
A. xi. kl/. ecfechc injen cTiomjAitL CotiriAii in AC h-ui beoriA
tiofmoi]\mAC
Lanigan, except
a. xi. kl.
tlA]Mbuf cen t)i5r\A
ITetic ^uAii\ cuA1|^c ceol. t»A.
The death of Comghall's daughter Colman son of Ua Bcona
Colman,
O'Liathain, Colgan does not give its date
norhisexactcommemoration. Colganvery
oddly imagined, that St. Colman of the
22nd January and the Colman venerated on
the 25th July to have been one and the same
person, and that a seond festival, perhaps of
translation, was held in honour of the pre-
sent saint. " I do not know what reason
he could have had for thinking so," adds
Dr. " that the Colman at
25th July was called Mocholmoc, which
name was often given to the older Colman.
But St. Colman have surely every might
beencalledMocholmoc(seenote12). That in said Calendar two distinct Colmans were meant is evident, not only from the difference of the days marked, but still more from the former being surnamed Hua-Beogna, and the latter O'Liathain, the very Colman that died in 726. Whether the 25th of July was his Natalis, i. e. . , the anniversary of his
400 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 22.
festival, which is assigned to the 25th of July. In the Martyrology of Donegal,*^ we find entered on the 22nd day of January, Colraan, i. e. , Mo- cholmogofLes-mdir,sonofUa-Bheonna. MarianusO'Gormarihasalike statement. ^^ His festival was celebrated on this day, at Lismore. ^s As in
tropical climates, when the great luminary has passed the meridian, both land and atmosphere imbibe the sun's rays and become heated to a higher degree for some hours after mid-day ; so, when the great founder of this city had passed away from earth, the lustre of his zeal, fervour, and learning beamed \vith even greater intensity over that region, and among a people once blessed with his living presence.
Article II. —St. Goar, Guarius, or Guaire Mor, of Aghadowv, County of Londonderry. [Probably in the Seventh or Eighth Century. ]
In the days of early youth, most probably this holy man had fought his way into the sanctuary of God as a young priest, and had arrived at distinction
in the Church. We read in the Martyrology of Donegal,* as having been venerated on this day, Guaire Mor, of Achadh Dubhthaigh, now the parish
of Aghadowy^ or Aghadoey, county of Londonderry, on the banks of the
LowerBanna,orRiverBann. HewasthesonofColman,sontoFuactage,
son to Ferguss, son to Leogaire, son to Fiachre, son to Colla Uais, who was
Monarch of Ireland. ^ He is styled abbot of the foregoing place, in the
plain of Li. * The Martyrology of Tallaghts records him on the 22nd of
January, under the simple designation of Guaire. It does not seem pro-
bable this saint was the original founder of the monastery at this place,^ nor
does his of " seem to " elder. " He was first epithet Mor, great," equivalent
cousin, yet removed by a later generation,? to the saint, bearing this same name, whose feast occurs on the 9th of this month ; and our present Guaire Mor probably succeeded the other in order of time. Perhaps, indeed, not- withstanding such a probability, and his apparently junior age, this Guaire Mor may have founded Aghadowey Church singly, or in conjunction with his cousin ; and the term applied to the present saint might indicate superiority, celebrity, or position. Perhaps simply a difference of stature may have caused the distinction in names between Guaire Mor and Guaire Beg. ^
ArticleIII. —St. UmhalghaidorAmhalghaidh. Wehavenothing
death, or a day of commemoration, lean- I. O. S. , the pedigree of this Goar, or Gaurius not decide ; but, considering the usual prac- Magnus, is traced, in some unpaged notes, tice in the calendars, it —is more probable bound towards the end of this volume. In that it was the Natalis. " " Ecclesiastical the order of the note paper marks it is p. 23.
of vol.
History Ireland," iii. , chap, xix. ,
sec. vi. , n. 75, p. 165.
"7 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
24, 25.
''^Marianus O' Gorman says: "S. Col-
manus seu Mocholmocus Lismorensis filius
* See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
niae," xxxi. Januarii. Vita S. Maidoci.
Appendix, cap. iv. , p. 223.
5 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiii. So
likewise is he simply designated in the Fran- ciscan copy,
of
Aghad- by St. (joarus in the seventh century. " See
Beonnae. "
"^Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibemias,"
* We are the told,
nepotis
Abbey
dubthaigh, now Aghadooey, was "founded
xxii. Januarii. p. 154.
Vita S. Colmani, cap. v. ,
"
— Reeves, pp. 24, 25.
Statistical Survey of the County of Londonderry, "chap.
'
Aghadowey parish, in the barony of Coleraine, is represented on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Londonderry. " Sheets 10, li, 12, 18, 19.
In the volume of "Extracts for the Counties of Antrim and Londonderry,"
Article n.
Edited by Drs. Todd and
'
v. , p. 485.
7 See the family pedigree of both dis-
tinctly drawn in Dr. Reeves' Archbishop Colton's "Visitation of the Diocese of
Derry,"n. (w.