No More Learning

Mauritania, pp. 147
> Written by Father John Pinius, S. J.
154.
August 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 31
Cfitrtj Bap of august
ARTICLE I. —ST. TREA, VIRGIN, OF ARDTREA, COUNTY OF LONDON- DERRY.
[FIFTH CENTURY. ]
our corporal eyes were always jealously guarded in this world, where sin IF and disedification so fatally abound, the eyes of our minds should be
riveted all the more on visions of inexpressible delights. The present holy virgin seems to have formed by Divine inspiration a resolution, to close one dangerous avenue of the senses against all attractive objects hurtful to the human soul, and thus to preserve her innate modesty, by averting her eyes from gratifications, excited most frequently through a spirit of vain curiosity. She had truly learned to believe, that such self-denial could alone effectively guard her purity of thought and disposition, when she had bent her inclinations
to embrace the religious habit and state.
This pious maiden nourished after the time, when St. Patrick commenced
his great mission in the north of Ireland. We have seen already, that a St. Trega or Trea, Virgin, was venerated at Ardtrea, on a different day from the
1 A arise, as to whether there had been a double question may
present.
festival instituted to honour the same saint. However, on the 8th of July, there is record of a feast for St. Trega, virgin and patroness of Ardtrea Parish, near Lough Neagh. We find, however, that St. Trea inghen
Chairthind, or *f the daughter of Carthenn," is recorded in the published Mar- 2
tyrology of Tallagh, at the 3rd of August^ without stating the locality to
which she belonged.
When blessed Patrick * had entered the northern parts of the Ulster
province, he met with opposition from a dynast in the region of Hy Tuirtre. s He had journeyed by Fersait Tuama, until he rested at a very beautiful locality called Finnabhuir. 6 The place formerly called Fersait Tuama,? is now known as Toome, near where the River Bann escapes from Lough Neagh and enters Lough Beg, at the division line between the present CountiesofLondonderryandofAntrim. Thebeautifuldistrictalludedto as Finnabhuir had the wide-spreading Lough Neagh 8 on the east and Slieve
10
Gulling a high ridge of mountain, on the west side. It so happened, that
two brothers, one named Carthenn the Elder or il
and the other known as Carthenn, the younger or " minor," had lived in this district. The former a wicked man and addicted to the errors of Paganism had banished
Article i. — See some notices of her, at the 8th of July, in the Seventh Volume of thiswork. Art. v.
2 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxi.
3 In the Book of Leinster copy we read fcr\eA in Cmkz\ux\x), at the iii. of the Nones. 4 See his Life, at the 17th of March, in the
Third Volume of this work. Art. i.
s The Rev. Dr. Reeves has a given very
complete topographical and historical de- scription of this ancient territory in the
major,"
297, with accompanying notes,
6 This is translated "the white plain,"
andthereareseveralotherplaceshavinga like denomination in various parts of Ireland. 7 This is Anglicized "the crossing of Tuaim," most likely by ferry-boats in former time, at or near the spot where Toome bridge
now stands.
8 Called Eathach in the Tripartite Life. ^Called Callan, in the Tripartite Life. It
is situated in the south-east of Loughinsholin
Barony, County of Derry.
,0 seems to have inverted the order Colgan
11
Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor
and Dromore. " BB. , Appendix
pp. 292
to
32 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3
his younger brother from that place, in which he exercised complete control.
From this district he wished, likewise, that St. Patrick should be ejected.
The holy man, like the Apostles, when persecuted in one city left for another,
and shaking the dust from of his feet against the tyrannical dynast, predicted that he should fall from power, and serve, with his posterity, under the future
rule of the younger Carthenn. He, on the contrary, was virtuous, kindly, and disposed to receive the doctrine of Christ, so that St. Patrick baptized himself, his wife and family. After this time, Carthenn's wife, Mugania, appears to have given birth to a daughter, destined to a life of grace from St. Patrick's prophecy regarding her. She was named Trea or Treha at the baptismal font ;" but, it is not stated, that she had been baptized by St. Patrick.
Through her father, she descended from the race of Colla Uais, monarch of Erinn. " From what has been already stated, it should seem, that she was born about the middle of the fifth century. That she grew up in grace and in the practice of all virtues, is generally conceded. She is classed,
among the many holy virgins St. Patrick veiled,13 during the progress of his 1
great missionary career. * In accordance with his prediction, when St. Trea began to grow up into girlhood, she felt a strong desire to chose the Son of
God for her future spouse. The Apostle had already declared, that she
should be a woman of great innocence of life, and that her vesture and
dowry should come to her with the veil received at his hands. Therefore,
when she the illustrious saint for this 1 * and stood before sought purpose,
him,' 6 an angel was seen descending from Heaven, and placing a veil on her head. It completely covered her eyes. St. Patrick then attempted to lift
it, so that she might the better see, but the holy virgin exclaimed, " O pious father, why cannot the veil remain as it has been placed, in its right position ? "
the
thus and its remain,
" It can
man
Thus were her eyes and ears remarkably guarded, lest, through such entrances,
1 any dangerous occasion of sin might bring death to ber immortal soul. ?
We have no further account of the place where she dwelt in the religious state ; but, it is most likely within her ancestral territory, and on the height, which now takes its name from her. This Ardtrea was situated near Lough
Neagh and Lough Beg. It now forms an extensive rural parish, lying chiefly
18
Wherefore,
mode of being worn shall be pleasing to your spouse. "
veil were glued to the noble lady's face, the writer of the Tripartite Life and Jocelyn remark most poetically and approvingly, that it covered her dove- like eyes and her soft cheeks, through the whole remaining term of her life.
holy
replied,
very properly
within the barony of Loughinsholin,
County of Londonderry, and partly
came to a marsh, which prevented her further approach, although she saw St. Patrick far away. Anxiou# and fatigued, she sat down on the border of this marsh.
St. Patrick divining her purpose prayed to God, when the obstacle before her was re- moved. She and her companions then came to him with dry feet,
,6
At this time she had only completed her tenth year, according to Joceline.
*7 See Colgan's "Trial Thaumaturga. " Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. lxxxviii. , p. 85, and Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. cxxxix. , p. 148.
,8
This part, containing i8,6i6« 3/-. 11/. , is shown on the "Ordnance Survey Town-
land Map for the County of Londonderry," Sheets 42, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49.
of position in the case of Lough Eathach and the mountain of Callann in his trans- lation.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. lxxxviii. , p. 85, and Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap.
Ogygia,"
13 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 269.
M See theLife of St. Patrick, in the Third
Volume of this work, at March 17th. Art. i. ,
chap. xv.
's
According to his usual Custom, JOccliue amplifies on the earlier simple accounts to introduce a legend. On her way, St. Trea
cxxxviii. to cxl. p. 148.
,J "
Sce Roderick O'Klaherty's pars, iii. , cap. lxxvi , p. 362.
As if the cenohite's
"
August 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 33
withinthebaronyofUpperDungannon,^CountyofTyrone. Herethere was an ancient church, which appears to have been formerly under the
2°
jurisdiction of the Primate of Armagh ;
middle ages, as a benefice and a rectory belonging to that Diocese. 31 The ancient church is said to have been near the site of the Protestant church,32 erected in 1830, a small but neat building in the early English style, the principalentrancebeingacompositionofelegantdesign. ^ Someantiquities
'N\*S^
Ardtrea Protestant Church, County of Tyrone.
have been found in this parish. The land is chiefly arable, and this is fertile and well cultivated, while tracts of bog are found in various places. The
scenery is pleasing, and with various undulations, the surface slopes gently downwardstoLoughNeagh. 24 InwhatparticularconditionSt. Trealivedhere
has not been specified ; but, it is probable enough, she was head of a religious
community. Nor does the date of her departure from life appear in our
annals. In the of 2^ at this same we find her Martyrology Donegal, day,
19 This portion, consisting of 2,283a. 2r. 23/. , is shown on the " Ordanance Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Tyrone," Sheets, 30, 39.
20
there was a Herenach for this church, and in the year 1435, the Registry of Primate Swaye records an ordination by
John, Bishop of Connor, at the parish church of St. Feghin, of Termonfeghin. On that
occasion, among others ordained, William
O'Kinnay was admitted to the order of
sub-deacon, and he was Herenagh of Ardtrea.
21 See " Acts of Archbishop Colton in his
Metropolitan Visitation of the Diocese of
Deny, a. d. mcccxcvii. ," edited by the
22 The accompanying illustration, drawn from a photograph, has been transferred by William F. Wakeman to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
23 See Lewis' Dictionary "Topographical
of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 59.
24 In the Parish of Ardtrea, there is a dis-
trict known as Munterevlin, and called from the Devlin family, formerly most numerous on the western shores of Lough Neagh. See " Letters containing Information relative to the Antiquities of the County of London- derry, collected during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1834," John O'Dono- van's Letter dated Moneymore, Saturday, September 27th, 1834, p. 243.
2s Edited Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, by
pp. 210, 211.
Formerly
Rev. William
• Notes, e. p. 118.
D. D. Additional
Reeves,
it having been regarded during the
34 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3.
name entered as Trea, Virgin, daughter to Cairthenn, of Ard Trea. Whether the 3rd of August, or the 8th of July, be the commemoration for her death, has not been recorded.
Article II. —St. Dairbhile or Derbhiledh, descendant of Eochaidh Muighmedhoin. [Sixth Century. ] It is mentioned in the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, as likewise by the Commentator on yEngus, that the feast of a St. Derbile occurs on the 3rd of August.
1
According to the Genealogies of the Irish Saints, Derbhilia was the daughter
of Cormac, son to Breech, son of Eochad, son to David,2 son of Fiach, ancestor of the Hua Fiachrach. 3 St. Derbilia seems to have flourished in
the sixth century, and she lived a religious life, in Erris,* a remote part of the County of Mayo. She was contemporaneous with the great St. Colum-
kille 5 theusualnumberof ; for, by allowing
thirty years
taking her as the fourth in descent from King Dathi, she must have flourished
about that period. She belonged, also, to the Second Class of Irish Saints. 6 She appears to have sought out one of the most remote parts of Ireland for the site of her retreat ; while she is supposed to have erected an oratory, within that double peninsula off the extreme north-west coast of the County of Mayo, and where connected by an isthmus with the mainland the town of Belmullet 7 stands. This peninsula, known as the Mullet, extends from Erris Head on the north, to the entrance of Blacksod Bay on the south ; it being washed on the west and north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by Broad Haven and Blacksod Bay, and on the south by the entrance to Blacksod Bay and the Sound of Achill. 8 It is a region rarely visited by the tourist or general traveller. There, it is supposed St. Dairbhile established herself, about the middle of the sixth century ; and, tradition has it, that she founded there a religious institution. Her antique church is yet to be seen within the Mullet, a district little explored, and in the extensive barony of Erris. 9 It is remarkable for the Cyclopean character of its masonry ; and it is of an oblong shape, about forty feet in length, by sixteen in breadth. It is lighted on the east end by a small, unadorned, and semicircular-headed window, splaying considerably on the inside. The walls are constructed wholly of gneiss or stratified granite, while they are two feet and seven inches in thickness.
A doorway in the western wall measures about four feet ten inches in height ; while it is only two feet in width, at the spring of the arch, and two feet four inches at the base. The lintel or arch-stone, now greatly time-worn, has a rude architrave in low relief, on either face. A very beautiful illustration of the circular-headed doorway of this church may be
« ArticleII. —Chapterix.
a Otherwise called Dathy, king of Ireland, who was killed a. d. 428, according to W. H.
work,atthe9thdayofJune. Art. i.
6 See Dr. George Petrie's " Ecclesiastical Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland,"
Part ii. , sect, i. , subs. 2. , p. 322.
7 The town and townland of Belmullet lie
Hennessy's 20, 31.
"
Chronicum Scotorum," pp.
3 See "
bernix," Februarii iii. S. Colmani, p. 248.
4 This district has been well described by
"
Letters relating to the Antiquities of the County of Mayo, con- taming Information collected during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838,"
vol. 1. Letter, dated Westport, June 29th,
John O'Donovan, in
l8
37t039(
s5^? ! ;5c i -r ! l e: axtwi r ui See his Life, in the Sixth Volume of this
Colgan's
within the of parish
Kilcommon,
they are
Acta
Appendix ad Acta
Sanctorum
Hi-
and
shown, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland
Maps for the County of Mayo," Sheets 10,17. 8 See the Parliamentary Gazetted of Ire-
land," vol. ii. , p. 827.
« It contains 232,888c 3r. 15/. , and it is
defined on the " Ordnance Survey Town- land Maps for the County of Mayo," Sheets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, II, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, l%2°>23' 24' 25' 26* 27' 33' 34' 35' 36' 43, 44, 45, 55, 56, 57.
toa and generation,
August 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 35
seen, in the celebrated work of Dr. Petrie. 10 Interlaced tracery is to be found on one of the stones, within the doorway, but at present it is greatly worn. AfterthefamousconventionatDrumceathadbeenover,St. Columba travelled southwards, and at Easdara, now Ballysadare, he convened a synod, in 585, to which many of the Irish saints were drawn, as well from a sense of religious obligation, as to pay their respects to the great Apostle of the Picts and Scots. " To this we have already alluded, in the notices given of St. Farannan ;" and, it seems to have been an event of great historic and ecclesiastical importance, at that time, when it had been con- vened. Ballysadare, or the Town of the Waterfall of the Oak, takes its name from the waterfall, or rather the series of waterfalls, over which the
1
River Uncion discharges its waters into the sea, * southwards from the town
of Sligo. Before the rise of Ballysadare, the spot on which it stood was
called simply Easdara, or the Cataract of the Oak, without the prefix Bal, 1
meaning a town. * There, a great number of bishops, abbots, priests and religious assembled, together with a vast concourse of lay persons. The names of many distinguished visitors have been recorded. Colgan seems to identify this saint with the Derbilia of Irras, who assisted at that great synod
held at Easdra, towards the close of the sixth
departed this life has not been ascertained, but it was probably towards the close of the sixth or the beginning of the seventh century. She seems to have died in the house of her foundation, and within the Mullet. In the
attached to she was interred. 16 cemetery it,
century.
We read in the
Martyrology
of
1 ? that veneration was
who sprung from the race of Fiachra, son of Eochaidh Muighmedhoin. According. to some, the present saint is not different from a St. Darbile, who
18
is venerated on the 26th of October, and if such be the case, she had a
double festival.
Article III. —The Daughter of Fachtna, of Ernaidhe, said to be Urney, in the Countv of Tyrone. Fairest and most full of consolation to the perfect religious is that morning, when she consecrates her love to Him, who will jealously demand its faithful observance. We find in the
1
Martyrology of Donegal, that a festival was celebrated to honour the
daughterofFechtna,belongingtoErnaidhe,atthe3rdofAugust. Another rendering of her name is Facundide, as found at the alphabetical entries in
Donegal.
given
at the
3rd
of
August
to
Derbhiledh,
a table
superadded
to that
Martyiology.
2 In William M.
Hennessy's copy
10 '* See
The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, anterior to the Anglo-Norman
of the cataract of Darra,' an Eiremonian
druid, who was slain in the river, by Lewis Invasion. " Part. ii. sect, iii. , subs. 2, p. the Long-handed. "—-Archdeacon O'Rorke's
" History, Antiquities, and Present State of
the Parishes of and Kilvarnet, Ballysadare
in the County of Sligo," chap, i. , p. 1.
,4 See ibid, p. 2.
I5 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae. " xv.
Februarii. Vita S. Farannani Confessoris,
,6 "
See Dr. George Petrie's Ecclesiastical
Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland," Part ii. , sect, iii. , subs. 2, p. 322.
"' Edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 210, 211.
l8
See notices—of her, at that date, Article ill. 'Edited by Rev. Drs. Todd
and Reeves, pp. 210, 211.
s
321.
11 See Archdeacon O'Rorke's "
History of Sligo: Town and Country," vol. ii. ,
chap, xxxiii. , p. 329.
" In the Second Volume of this Work, at
the 15th of February, chap. ii. Art. ii.
13 "
Daire, or oak, forms part of the name, because, according to some, the bridge or pass over the river, in olden times, was made
by intertwining the boughs and branches of the oak trees that grew on the opposite banks ; or according to others, because both sides of the cataract produced superior timber of that species. There are some, however. who maintain a different etymology of the word, and assert that it signifies 'the town
n. 38, p. 340.
See ibid. , pp. 430, 431.
1* When she
36 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3.
of the work, that place with which the present saint is represented as having been connected, has been identified as Urney, in the County of Tyrone.
Article IV. —Reputed Festival for St. Fiacre, Hermit. The Cologne edition of Usuard has placed at this date a feast for St. Fiacre, Hermit. The Bollandists x also notice it, but they state, that no authority appears for any such feast, except at the 30th of August. At that day, further notices of him may be found.
ArticleV. —ReputedFeastforSt. DomitiusorDermitius. The
x
English Martyrology of John Wilson has a commemoration for the festival
of St. Domitius, at this date, and Father Henry Fitzsimon places St. Der-
2
mitius, at the 3rd of August, as if this were his chief feast, but not closely
observing the distinction. In like manner, Ferrarius in his General Catalogue of the Saints sets down, at this day, a festival for Domitius, a monk and a holy disciple of St. Columba, in Scotia. He seems to have been no other, than that Domitius already alluded to, at the 21st of April. 3 His name, however,shouldratherbeDermitius,DiormitiusorDiermitius;« yet,itisnot
known with certainty, at what particular day this favourite disciple of St.
Columba s had been venerated. In the Life of that
allusion has been often made to Diermitius, who was one of the twelve monks accompanying him from Ireland to Iona. The Bollandists 6 have some notices of Domitius or Dermitius, at this day, without however assigning his festival to it. Dermitius is also mentioned in that anonymous Calendar of Irish Saints, published by O'Sullevan Beared at this date.
ArticleVI. —ReputedFeastofaSt. Mansuetus. Intheanonymous Calendar of Irish Saints, published by O'Sullevan Beare,1 there is a St. Mansuetusentered,atthe3rdofAugust. TheBollandists2 remark;likewise, that in some Calendars of Irish Saints which they possessed, an entry of some Mansuetus was found, at this same date, but without giving any further information. We are told by Rev. Dr. Todd, that the more recent hand in the Martyrology of Donegal 3 adds after the notice of St. Feidlimidh, Bishop and Patron of Kilmore, and in Roman characters, " S. Mansuetus, episcopus et apostolus, Tullensis, Petri discipulus. " This entry, at the 3rd of August, has probably been made by mistake, instead of at September 3rd, on which day he is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology. The saint in question is St. Maunsey, Bishop of Toul, in France, and for further accounts of him, the reader is referred to this latter date.
Article iv. —l See " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus i. the Augustiiii. Among preter-
work. Art. i.
6 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus
mitted saints, p. 198.
i. , Among the pretermitted saints,
" Historic Catholics Ibernioe Compendium," tomus i. lib. iv , cap. xi. ,
'
Article v.
— Wilson a
places marginal
Augusti i. p. 197.
asterisk to indicate that he was doubtful re-
garding the day for his feast.
3
In Vita S. Columba: is referred to, as also the English Martyrology.
3
See the Fourth Volume of this work, at that date. Art. vii.
4 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. x. , num. 45, p. 489.
5 See the Life of St. Columba, at the 9th day of June, in the Sixth Volume of this
7 See
xii. , pp. 50, 53. — Article vi.
great archimandrite,
See Historic Catholicas Ibernia; Compendium," tomus i. , lib.
iv. , cap. xi. , p. 50.
* See ''Acta Sanctorum," tomus i.
Augusti iii. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 197.
3 Edited by Rev. Drs.