^ will for ever cause this edition
to be regarded as a great treasury of national history.
to be regarded as a great treasury of national history.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
113.
Paris edition, 1828, 8vo.
59 Afterwards he became Guardian, Vicar, Superior, and Instructor of Novices in the Irish College at Prague. He wrote a small
'*
Historia Martyrii Venerabilis Patris Fratris Patricii Fleming! , Ordinis Fratrum Minorum Stric- tioris Observantiaj Provincise Hibernife Sa- crae Theologis Lectoris, et CoUegii Imma- culatae Conceptionis Bmas Dei genetricis, Fratrum Minorum ejusdem Instituti et Pro- vinciffi Pragse primae Praesidis, ejusque Socii Fratris Matthsei Hoar, Diaconi. " This tract was preserved among the College Ar- chivesatPrague. In1665,itwasfittedfor the press by Anthony Donnelly, and t\^u years later O'Sheerin prefixed it to the
"Collectanea Sacra. " See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. "WritersofIreland,"booki. ,chap. xiv. , p. 113.
intituled,
tisbonae.
tract, under the following title :
xllv INTR OD UCTION.
Ciiau,^° seven rustics armed with clubs rushed suddenly upon the religious, both of whom fell dead beneath their blows. This barbarous murder was perpetratedonthe7thofNovember,1631. ^' Itwasremarked,thatalthough
the atmosphere had been clear and bright before this butchery occurred, at the very moment this outrage was perpetrated, and afterwards to the ninth hour, dense clouds obscured the air, as if in mourning for such a foul deed. So came the end of venerable Father Fleming, renowned for his virtues and learning, but especially distinguished for great zeal in promoting the venera- tion of saints belonging to his native country. He died in the repute of sanctity. Those, who had an opportunity for viewing the body, after his tragic and most holy death, affirmed, that it possessed an almost miraculous beauty and freshness. It appeared, even for an unusual length of time, to have been preserved from the least corrupting taint. Both the bodies of Father Fleming and of the Deacon Matthew Hoar were recovered, and buried within an enclosure in the Monastery Chapel of the Reformed Brothers Minor at Voticium, about four miles distant from the place of that shockingmurder. Anirongrillesurroundedtheplaceoftheirsepulture.
Meantime, the distinguished friend of Fleming, Father Hugh Ward,^^ had proceeded to Louvain in 1623 to teach Theology in the College of St. An- thony. ^-^ A little later he was chosen Guardian of that Convent. ^^ Thus a favourable opportunity was afforded him to promote more effectually the glory of the Irish saints. From various Continental libraries, he soon gathered a great number of their Acts, and he began to collect a fine histo- rical Bibliotheque. But, he knew full well, that Ireland was the great field for research in this line. While Guardian at Louvain, Michael 0'Clery,^5 a man advanced in years, and an excellent Irish scholar and antiquary, who knew no Latin, asked to be received among the lay-brothers of the Franciscan Order. ^^ His request was complied with, and Father Ward clearly compre-
'°See an account of this place in " Ga- zetteer of the World," vol. ii. , pp. 679, 695.
"See Father Luke Wadding's "Scrip-
tores Oriinis Minorutn, Quibui accessit Syl-
labus Illorum, qui ex eodem ordiiie pro
Fide Christi fortiter occubuerunt," p. 272.
''^ He
belonged
family of Donegal, who gave name to Bally- mac- Ward.
gid, and of the Glorious Abbot St. Columb, Patrons of Ireland. " This work appeared at St. Omers in quarto shape, with the letters B. B. —doabtleis a typographical error—at the end of the Dedication. It is chiefly a collection from Cogitosus, Jocelyn, and other writers. It is a very uncritical
to a celebrated bardic
and it has little or no value for historical purposes,
*s This was his name in religion. He was
bom in the year 1575, and was generally remarkable Franciscan in the Irish Eccle- called by his contemporaries Teige na-
"^See a very interesting account of this
"
"
siastical Record, vol. vii. , November, 1870,
Sleibhe, or "Teigheof the Mountain. " See an interesting memoir of himself and hisco- labourers in- " Ecclesiastical Re-
pp. 56 to 77.
*'* A Leinsterman and a Franciscan
the Irish
Friar, Robert Rochiort, who was a Lecturer there,
cord," vol. vii. , March, 1871, pp. 268 to published, a. d. 1625, in English: "The 289.
Life of the Glorious Bishop St. Patrick, Apostle and Primate of Ireland, together with the Lives of the Holy Virgin, St. Brid-
^^ See Rev. Pere Victor De Buck's "L'Ar- cheologie Irlandaise au Couvent de Saint- AutoLne de Padoue a Louvain," § i. , p. 5.
production,
INTR on UCTION.
hended how invaluable must be his services to Irish literature were O'Clery sent over to Ireland, commissioned to search out and transcribe Lives of the Irish Saints, and all other documents connected with the History and Anti-
quities of that kingdom. The requisite permission having been obtained, Brother Michael set out from Louvain for Ireland, where he was en- gaged collecting materials for Irish History, about the long term of fifteen years. Duringthistime,hetranscribed,fromancientIrishMSS. manyLives of Saints, from a number of Genealogies, from some ancient Martyrologies, and from a vast and widely-dispersed collection of other antique documents. With the assistance of associated antiquarians he compiled arranged and en- largedthreedistinctTreatisesonHistory. BycollatingwithotherMSS. ,he expunged various errors, which had crept into the writings of ancient authors. One of his compilations, and in his own handwriting, is now preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. This is a parchment-bound and a small quarto paper MS. of 125 leaves, traced on both sides, in Irish characters, with several pages of Testimonia prefixed. It is intituled on the cover,
" et Sanctorum Hiberniae. "'^? This was transcribed Genealogia Regum,
by Michael O'Clery, a. d. 1630, at the Convent of Athlone, in the Bishopric of
Clonmacnoise,^^ as noted in the Manuscript. These genealogies throughout
are copiously annotated by Colgan ; and from this Codex, he frequently
quotes in his printed hagiographical works.
Another important work engaged the labours of Michael O'Clery, and
this was the " Leabhar Gabhaltas or Book of Conquests," relating the various
settlements, battles and events in Ireland, from the year 278 after the Flood
to A. D. 1 1 71. Greatly aided by Cucogry or Peregrine O'Clery, Conary O'Clery and Peregrine O'Duigenan, in the well-known convent of his order,
"
Calendar of the Saints of Ireland," generally called the
19th of April, 1630. 7^ Until 1847, it was considered to have been irrecover- ablylost. Duringthatyear,itwasdiscoveredintheBurgundianLibrary,Brus-
O'Clery wrote his
" of Martyrology
mentioned It was by Colgan. ^9
so
begun in the Franciscan Convent of Donegal,7° and there finished on the
Donegal,"
frequently
*? The latter of these is sometimes called,
" Sanctogenesim. " But most generally does Colgan—who often quotes it—term it the
written, rather than any other merely per- sonal or descriptive, and deducible from its
authorship, in which so many persons had been concerned.
"Sanctilogium Genealogicum. " It treats
concerning the genealogies of Irish saints,
distributed under twenty-seven classes or rendered literary assistance to the fore-
going writers, by adding saints who lived in distant countries, but who had been con- nected with Ireland, and about whom foreign authors treated.
*^ See a more detailed account of this MS.
in Professor O'Curry's "Lectures on the "t^eb^e riA riAoniTi ne-t\ennAcVi. Marty-
chapters. Through a long series of proge- niters, O'Clery refers each saint to the first family stock or ancestor, whence he or she had descended.
Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish Hi. s- tory," Lect. viii. , pp. 162 to 16S.
*9 He preferred giving it this name for a title, after the place in which it had been
rologium Dungallense, seu Calendarium Sanctorum Hibernife, coUegit et digessit Fr. Michael O'Clery, Ord. Fr. Min. Stric-
tioris Observantia;.
7° Some fathers of this house, likewise,
^i As published, the first title stands,
"
INTR OD UCTION.
sels ; and the Belgian Government having lent it to Dr. Todd, a transcript was made by O'Curry, and translated into English by Dr. O'Donovan. This
was published by the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society in 1864, under theableeditorshipofDrs. ToddandReeves. ^^ Itisaveryfineandanac-
curate edition, with copious notes and appendices. 73 These have greatly enhanced the value of this work in a historical and typographical point of
view. The Martyrology of O'Gorman had been used frequently by O'Clery, while compiling the Donegal Martyrology. Certain names given without any local designation are from O'Gorman, as also some which have short topographical notices . Of these, many—if not all—are taken from the scholia. The " Old " or " Very Ancient Vellum Book/'74 so often referred to in the
published Martyrology of Donegal, was a Fasciculus, containing some ""
Tracts on Irish Hagiology. In certain places,7S this ancient old Book is said to have contained the Martyrology of Moelruain of Tamlacht, and saints of the same name,^^ with names of the mothers of saints. It contained, like- wise, the comparison of Irish saints^^ with those of the Universal Church, who were supposed to have been of similar habits and life.
In the beginning of 1632, under the patronage of Fergall O'Gara, lord of Magh O'Gara and Coolavin, in the county of Sligo, for which county he was member of Parliament, O'Clery and his co-labourers already named began a compilation of the Annals of Ireland, from authentic records they had col- lected. This was finished in August, 1636. The great work was carried on
*'
Inventaire" of the Manuscripts preserved in the Duke of Bur- gundy's Library at Brussels, the original of this has been classed as vol. xvi. , Nos. 5095, 5096. It is a small 4to volume, bound in vellum, in the Irish characters. There is a second, but a shorter copy of the Donegal Martyrology—a small duodecimo volume bound in calf—and an autograph of Michael O'Clery in the Brussels Library, and classed vol. xiv. , No. 4639. On the fly-leaf, it is an- nounced to have been compiled and arranged
by Michael O'Clery, at Douay, in 1629. Four pages in Irish follow, and dated Done-
gal, 1628, in the handwriting of Michael O'Clery. This MS. is in the Irish language,
It
difficulty. containsabout250pages. ThisMartyrology is arranged according to the Calendar in the
first instance, and then alphabetically. Testi- //w«w are prefixed, dated A. D. 1636 and 1637.
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy,"vol. iii. ,pp. 486,487. In all probabi- lity, this was the first fair copy of the work
as published. It contains also a preface by
the author, and not yet published. Although not a very early record, this is of immense
value to all students and \vriters of Irish Hagiolog}'. Throughout the published vo- lume, many prophecies, poems and various ancient lives of Irish saints are quoted.
" See an ample description, with Tes' timonia et Approbationes Superiorum in the Introduction to the published copy, pp. ix. to Iv. Also Mr. Bindon's Paper read on
May 24th, 1847, in "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. iii. , pp. 486 to 489.
t- This is the detached tract, containing the ttn/olia, taken from the Book of Lein- ster, and now preserved among the Francis-
can archives, Merchants'-quay, Dublin.
75 As in Drs. Todd's and Reeves' edition
i'' In the Catalogue or
and it can be read without much
of the " of Martyrology
Donegal," pp. 35,
45andpassim.
? * Viz. , lists of Colmans, Finians, Bren-
dans, &c.
" See pp. 23, 27 a. nd passim. This has
been published from the Brussels MS. in
the Book of Hymns, p. 69. It has been
printed, also, by Rev. Dr. Kelly, in his "Calendar of the Irish Saints," pp. xli. , xlii.
7^ In the Preface to this great work, the reader will find the fullest particulars regard- ing the compilers and the progress of their
literary labours .
"9 The second volume of the autograph
exemplar of the Annals of the Four Masters
is in the Barbarini Library, Rome : how it
got there seems to be shrouded in mystery.
"
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy," vol. vi. , pp. 95, 105.
^ O'Clery has entered the dates of all the
years in succession, frequently observing, however, that nothing remarkable occurred. Yet, he seems to have left spaces to fill in anything that might afterwards appear suit- able for insertion.
vantia Laicus in Antiquitatibus Hybemicis undequaque peritissimus opus quadri-parti-
turn, utpote de Historiis antiquis Hyberniae, de Annalibus ejusdem Regni, de Genealo-
giis Regum et Sanctorum Hyberniae im- menso labore, summa fide et maxima indus- tria elucrubravit prout constat ex approba- tionibus nonnullorum Antistitum et testimo- niis prselatorum sui ordinis, necnon syngra- ])hisgiavissimorumhistoricorumhujus regni. Nos eorum authoritati innitentes pr^fatum opus dignissimum judicamus quod publicas lucis fiat et typis mandetur. Actum Dub- linii 5 Februarii Anno reparatse salutis 1636. Fr. Thomas Fleming, Archiepiscopus Dub- liniensis, Hiberniae Primas.
^* This work has been edited by the Rev, James Henthorn Todd.
See
*' It runs in the following terms
Michael Clery Ordinis Minorum de Obser-
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
in their convent. Owing to this circumstance, it has been called the
'*
An- Annals of the Four Masters," because of the number of chief writers engaged on the work. Four copies weremade,onetranscriptofwhichwassenttoLouvain. Ampleandvaluable use was afterwards made of it by Father John Colgan. The work was in two volumes, the latter tome commencing in 1 171 and ending in 16 16. This was translatedintoLatin,andprintedbyCharlesO'Conor. NoEnglishtranslation appeared until 1846, when Bryan Geraghty pubHshed one prepared by Owen Connellan, with notes by Dr. M'Dermott. In 1850 appeared Dr. O'Donovan's magnificenteditionoftheentirework. Wonderfulcorrectness,illustration, as also identification of parties and places mentioned, with indexes, in them- selves monuments of industry, and containing 22,000 headings, arranged so as to form a chronological key to the work,?
^ will for ever cause this edition
to be regarded as a great treasury of national history.
The first folio volume of the original, known as " The Annals of the Four
Masters," in Brother Michael O'Clery's handwriting, is now preserved in the Franciscan Library, Dublin. 79 This is contained in 523 paper leaves, repre- senting double that number of written pages, and the last year entered is 1 169, There are additional leaves prefixed, containing O'Clery's Dedication to Feargal O'Gara, with the Testimonia. Colgan has introduced a few anno- tations in this copy. It differs, too, from Dr. O'Donovan's published edi- tion, in which there are omissions of many earlier specified years, under which no event has been described. ^" There is likewise preserved a vellum Testimonium of the Franciscan Bishop of Dublin, Thomas Fleming, ap- proving of all Michael O'Clery's works. ^'
Another volume, transcribed by this learned lay-brother, was that cele- brated tract, known as the Wars of the Danes. ^' O'Clery wrote his first copy of this work, from the Book of Cuconnacht O'Daly, and in the Franciscan Convent of Multifamham, county of Westraeath, during the month of March,
nals of Donegal. " It has been styled the
"
:
" Frater
xlviii INTRODUCTION.
A. D. 1628. From this copy he transcribed another, in the Convent of Done- gal,duringthemonthofNovember,a. d. 1635. AnotherofO'Clery'sworks
was his " of Difficult Gaelic Glossar}^
Words,'"'
A. D. 1643, ^ short time previous to his lamented death. ^3 He left behind
hnn, likewise, a transcript of Acts of the Irish Saints in the Irish language and character,^"* except a Life of St. Moling, which is in Latin. ^s He also left a thick quarto volume, divided into two parts. The first part contains 105, and the second 246 pages, \vritten on both sides of the paper. ^ It seems likely enough, he had something to do with another MS. ; although no name or date may be found in it. This is a thick quarto, composed of dififerent sized paper. It contains about 270 leaves, with short memoirs and notices of Irish saints in the Latin language ; the arrangement is alphabetical, and thevolumeappearstohavebeenanote-bookofsomehagiographer. ^7 Again, there is a thin quarto volume ; the first part is occupied with a collection of religious poems in the Irish language ; some upon St. Columbanus, and others attributed to him, and to St. Moling, also the rules of the Irish Saints, com- mencing with that of St. Columbanus. This collection was finished in 1630. ^^ As we have already seen, it contains copies of the Festilogy of St. ^^ngus, andoftheMartyrologiesofMarianO'GormanandofTallagh. ^? Allofthe foregoing are kept in the Burgundian Library of Bruxelles.
The Rev. Father Ward had been engaged in preparing materials for his work on the Irish saints, greatly assisted by others, when death surprised
^3 See Father Luke " is not well in
"Wadding's Scrip- writing executed, comparison
tores Ordinis Minorum," pp. 259, 260.
** This is a thick 4to vellum MS. , on
with other MSS. written by Michael O'Clery. His name appears at folio 75, and also at the end of the first part of the volume. . There it is stated, that the MS. was finished
coarse paper, and the penmanship is rudely
executed. Judging from the writing of this
volume, one would not suppose it to be a
compilation of Michael O'Clery ; however, by Brother Michael O'Clery. " His name his name appears as the scribe in several
places ; for instance, at folios 121, 131, and 183. The volume apjiears to have been written during the years 1628 and 1629 ; it contains 270 folios. It is classed, vol. xi. (Nos. 4190—4200. )
^2 It contains no less than twenty-one dif- ferent Acts or Treatises, nearly altogether in Irish, regarding the saints of our country.
^^This MS. is classed vol. iv (2324— 2340). At the beginning of this Codex, the contents of the first part are given in an alphabetical table. At the end of the Codex, there is a table of contents for the second part. With the exception of a list of Fran- ciscan Provincials, in Latin, the contents of
appears in several places of the second part, also, with various dates, in the year 1629. See pp. 7, 22. From these dates it seems, that the second portion of the work had b^en written before the first. From the ap- pearance of the binding, it may be con- cluded, that the collection was bound, after having been written, as the paper in the first half of this volume does not corre- spond with that which is to be seen in the remainder.
*'Vol. xii. (4241. ) At page 99 is a pe-
"
digree of
nus," the sons of Giltanus, "Rex Hiber- nise. "
^ As may be seen at p. 45, where it ends.
this volume are
in the Irish lan- which this MS. is written, is very coarse, and some of the
guage.
The
altogether paper upon
*^ Vol. Nos. xvii. , containing
5103, and 5104.
5101, 5102,
which was at
printed Louvain,
at Donegal, upon the 7th of August, 1631, "
SS. Furseus, Foilanus, et Ulta-
2NTR OD UCTION. xlix him on the Sth of November, a. d. 1635. 9° Yet, a posthumous work of his
" Dissertatio Historica
S. Rumoldi Patria. "9i Several years, afterwards, this Treatise appeared under the following more extended title : "Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti, Archie- piscopi Dubliniensis, Mechliniensium Apostoli, Advocati Sterilium Conju- gum, Agricolarum, Piscatorum, Institorum, et Navigantiura, Acta, Martyrium, Liturgia Antiqua et Patria, ex antiquissimis cum manu, turn prelo editis, harum rerum Scriptoribus, summa fide collecta, Notis illuStrata, et aucta Dis- quisitione Historica, seu Investigatione genuinse Scotiae S. Rumoldi et Con- tribulium Sanctorum. Per R. P. F. Hugonem Vardaeum, Hibernum, olim in Lovaniensi Collegio S. Antonii de Padua, F. F. Minorum Hibernorum strict, obser. Guardianum, S. T. Professorem et Hagiographum. Opus Posthumum, nunc recens a V. A. P. F. Thoma Sirino, ejusdem Ordinis et Collegii Lectore Jubilate recognitum, et in nonnuUis suppletum. In quo obiter ex Scriptoribus antiquis et novis, ac publicis instrumentis demon-
stratur Hibernia ad sseculum quindecimum Christianum vocata Scotia, et Hiberni Scoti ; detegiturque ejusdem Insulse ingens olim multitudo Sanctorum et Cathedralium Ecclesiarum ; Genuina item origo et Anti- quitas Regni cum Pictorum, tum Scotorum in Albania, sive Boreali parte Magnse Britanise passim hodie dicta Scotia, aliaque scitu digna. "? ^ Besides this work, we are informed by Father O'Sheerin, that he had prepared the following Treatises : i. " De Nomenclatura Hibemise. " 2. " De Statu et Processu Veteris in Hibernia Reipubhcae. " 3. "Anagraphe Mirabilium
""
Sancti Patricii. " 4. Investigatio Expeditionis Ursulanse. " 5. Martyro-
logium ex multis Vetustis Festilogiis Latino Hibernicum. "93 In addition to his printed work, the Martyrology94 is said to have been the only treatise to which he put a finishing hand. ^s
The great task of writing the Lives of the Irish Saints now devolved on thetrulylearnedFatherJohnColgan. 96 withtheaidofO'Clery'scollec- tions, and of others, gathered from some foreign monastic houses, he devoted
at in It was appeared Louvain, 1636.
intituled,
de
9° I. uke " '+ See Harris' vol. See Father Wadding's Scrip- Ware,
iii. , p. 115.
93 Y)x. Todd, when treating of the large 9' See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. " Writers Irish Martyrolog)', now missing, did not seem to suspect that Father Ward might have been its compiler. See Introduction to the " Martyrology of Donegal," edited
tores Ordinis Minorum," p. 179.
of Ireland," book i. , chap, xiv,, p. 114. Harris says he never saw this edition.
9^ This work appeared at Louvain, a. d. 1662, in 4to shape.
by Drs. Todd and l»eeves, p. xvi. , n. i.
9* This illustrious historian was a native of Donegal county, and he had been a secular priest before he entered the Francis- can order. This fact is established from the printed statement, notifying his death to the order, and which is yet preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. After joining the order, he was appointed to teach theo- See p. xxi. Also "Acta Sanctorum. " logy in the Convent of St. Anthony of
Aprilis, tomus ii. , p. 487. Padua, Louvain.
93 This, perhaps, was a complete and very extensive collection, which does not now exist among the Brussels MSS. It seems to be alluded to in the Rev. Dr. Kelly's published version of "The Martyrology of Tallagh," under the entry of St. Donnan of Egha and his fifty-two companions, "quo- rum nomina in majore libro scripsimus. "
INTRonUCTION.
hisentireenergiestoitsaccomplishment. BoUanduswishedhimtopublish the Irish martyrologies first, especially those of Tallaght and of Marian
O'Gorman, next the ancient councils and hymns, together with the annals, so that the learned of other countries might be able to appreciate the credibility of Irish history, and assist him in his labours. In deference to the opinion of his superiors, Colgan, however, fortunately determined on giving the lives first. This was a great advantage for the Hagiology of Ireland, because with information then accessible, he was able to annotate them, and glean by such induction materials for more varied research. Colgans? was well versed in the language and literature of his native country, profoundly read in the civil and ecclesiastical annals of Ireland, while his competency for writing and annotating the Acts of our Irish Saints, his learning, candour, wonderful industry and research, are fully manifested in the two magnificent folio volumes which he published, and which must remain as the imperishable monuments of his zeal, piety, and patriotism.
Colgan gratefully and honestly acknowledges the literary assistance he received from others, in compiling these works. He candidly declares, that a great portion of his labours had been forwarded by Father Hugh Ward, beforethedeathofthislattereminentman. Hehadalreadycollectedand
prepared for the press, nearly all those important and complete lives of saints in Colgan's published volumes. Still, Acts written in Irish, and in other languages, besides lives obtained through various sources, were translated into Latin by Colgan, and by his assistants. Many Franciscan brethren con- siderably lightened his labours, by transcribing and writing. Thus, Owen O'Gallagher, Guardian of the Franciscan Convent, Louvain, translated into Latin the French life of St. Fursey, written by Desmay. Father Brendan O'Connor procured from different Hbraries in France and Italy most useful and necessary Irish documents, serving to illustrate the Acts of our Saints. s^ These were brought to Louvain, where O'Connor laboured assiduously for some years, to aid the noble project Colgan had in view. Afterwards, he went to Ireland, and there, during the tumult of those civil wars then raging, he endeavoured to procure all the documents he could find, and which might enable him to perfect still more the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae," just pre- paring for publication. Father Stephen White, the J esuit, had communicated from his own collection many valuable memoirs of Irish saints, and among others may be mentioned St. Adamnan's Acts of St. Columkille, and St. Ultan's Life of St. Brigid. As Father Ward had a principal share in pre- paring the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae" for the press, Colgan wished to
97 There is a very interesting account of Father John Colgan, by Rev. William Reeves, in the " Ulster Journal of Archteo- logy," vol. i. , under the heading, "Irish
Library," No. I, pp. 295 to 302.
»^ Also, Father Bonaventure O'Docharty
assisted. His death is thus entered in the
Necrology of St. Anthony, "DieagAugusti, l68o, obiit. V. R. Pater Bonaventura
O'Docharty, vir religeosisimus, et qui Acta Sanctorum sub Patribus Colgano et Sirino describebat indeflfesse. "
Tor these and further particulars, the
"
reader is referred to Colgan's
torum Ilibernire," Prsefatio ad Lectorem.
•°° This was quite a distinct one from what we know at present, under the title of
"The Martyrology of Donegal," or the
"Martyrology of Tallagh," or any other of the ancient calendars.
"' See Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee's "Irish Writers of the Seventeenth Century. " Lives of Ward, Colgan, and O'Clery, pp. 62 to
72.
'" See, likewise, Rev. M. J. Brenan's
"Ecclesiastical History of Ireland. " Seven-
teenth century, chap, iii. , pp. 528 to 530. New edition.
INTRODUCTTOy.
59 Afterwards he became Guardian, Vicar, Superior, and Instructor of Novices in the Irish College at Prague. He wrote a small
'*
Historia Martyrii Venerabilis Patris Fratris Patricii Fleming! , Ordinis Fratrum Minorum Stric- tioris Observantiaj Provincise Hibernife Sa- crae Theologis Lectoris, et CoUegii Imma- culatae Conceptionis Bmas Dei genetricis, Fratrum Minorum ejusdem Instituti et Pro- vinciffi Pragse primae Praesidis, ejusque Socii Fratris Matthsei Hoar, Diaconi. " This tract was preserved among the College Ar- chivesatPrague. In1665,itwasfittedfor the press by Anthony Donnelly, and t\^u years later O'Sheerin prefixed it to the
"Collectanea Sacra. " See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. "WritersofIreland,"booki. ,chap. xiv. , p. 113.
intituled,
tisbonae.
tract, under the following title :
xllv INTR OD UCTION.
Ciiau,^° seven rustics armed with clubs rushed suddenly upon the religious, both of whom fell dead beneath their blows. This barbarous murder was perpetratedonthe7thofNovember,1631. ^' Itwasremarked,thatalthough
the atmosphere had been clear and bright before this butchery occurred, at the very moment this outrage was perpetrated, and afterwards to the ninth hour, dense clouds obscured the air, as if in mourning for such a foul deed. So came the end of venerable Father Fleming, renowned for his virtues and learning, but especially distinguished for great zeal in promoting the venera- tion of saints belonging to his native country. He died in the repute of sanctity. Those, who had an opportunity for viewing the body, after his tragic and most holy death, affirmed, that it possessed an almost miraculous beauty and freshness. It appeared, even for an unusual length of time, to have been preserved from the least corrupting taint. Both the bodies of Father Fleming and of the Deacon Matthew Hoar were recovered, and buried within an enclosure in the Monastery Chapel of the Reformed Brothers Minor at Voticium, about four miles distant from the place of that shockingmurder. Anirongrillesurroundedtheplaceoftheirsepulture.
Meantime, the distinguished friend of Fleming, Father Hugh Ward,^^ had proceeded to Louvain in 1623 to teach Theology in the College of St. An- thony. ^-^ A little later he was chosen Guardian of that Convent. ^^ Thus a favourable opportunity was afforded him to promote more effectually the glory of the Irish saints. From various Continental libraries, he soon gathered a great number of their Acts, and he began to collect a fine histo- rical Bibliotheque. But, he knew full well, that Ireland was the great field for research in this line. While Guardian at Louvain, Michael 0'Clery,^5 a man advanced in years, and an excellent Irish scholar and antiquary, who knew no Latin, asked to be received among the lay-brothers of the Franciscan Order. ^^ His request was complied with, and Father Ward clearly compre-
'°See an account of this place in " Ga- zetteer of the World," vol. ii. , pp. 679, 695.
"See Father Luke Wadding's "Scrip-
tores Oriinis Minorutn, Quibui accessit Syl-
labus Illorum, qui ex eodem ordiiie pro
Fide Christi fortiter occubuerunt," p. 272.
''^ He
belonged
family of Donegal, who gave name to Bally- mac- Ward.
gid, and of the Glorious Abbot St. Columb, Patrons of Ireland. " This work appeared at St. Omers in quarto shape, with the letters B. B. —doabtleis a typographical error—at the end of the Dedication. It is chiefly a collection from Cogitosus, Jocelyn, and other writers. It is a very uncritical
to a celebrated bardic
and it has little or no value for historical purposes,
*s This was his name in religion. He was
bom in the year 1575, and was generally remarkable Franciscan in the Irish Eccle- called by his contemporaries Teige na-
"^See a very interesting account of this
"
"
siastical Record, vol. vii. , November, 1870,
Sleibhe, or "Teigheof the Mountain. " See an interesting memoir of himself and hisco- labourers in- " Ecclesiastical Re-
pp. 56 to 77.
*'* A Leinsterman and a Franciscan
the Irish
Friar, Robert Rochiort, who was a Lecturer there,
cord," vol. vii. , March, 1871, pp. 268 to published, a. d. 1625, in English: "The 289.
Life of the Glorious Bishop St. Patrick, Apostle and Primate of Ireland, together with the Lives of the Holy Virgin, St. Brid-
^^ See Rev. Pere Victor De Buck's "L'Ar- cheologie Irlandaise au Couvent de Saint- AutoLne de Padoue a Louvain," § i. , p. 5.
production,
INTR on UCTION.
hended how invaluable must be his services to Irish literature were O'Clery sent over to Ireland, commissioned to search out and transcribe Lives of the Irish Saints, and all other documents connected with the History and Anti-
quities of that kingdom. The requisite permission having been obtained, Brother Michael set out from Louvain for Ireland, where he was en- gaged collecting materials for Irish History, about the long term of fifteen years. Duringthistime,hetranscribed,fromancientIrishMSS. manyLives of Saints, from a number of Genealogies, from some ancient Martyrologies, and from a vast and widely-dispersed collection of other antique documents. With the assistance of associated antiquarians he compiled arranged and en- largedthreedistinctTreatisesonHistory. BycollatingwithotherMSS. ,he expunged various errors, which had crept into the writings of ancient authors. One of his compilations, and in his own handwriting, is now preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. This is a parchment-bound and a small quarto paper MS. of 125 leaves, traced on both sides, in Irish characters, with several pages of Testimonia prefixed. It is intituled on the cover,
" et Sanctorum Hiberniae. "'^? This was transcribed Genealogia Regum,
by Michael O'Clery, a. d. 1630, at the Convent of Athlone, in the Bishopric of
Clonmacnoise,^^ as noted in the Manuscript. These genealogies throughout
are copiously annotated by Colgan ; and from this Codex, he frequently
quotes in his printed hagiographical works.
Another important work engaged the labours of Michael O'Clery, and
this was the " Leabhar Gabhaltas or Book of Conquests," relating the various
settlements, battles and events in Ireland, from the year 278 after the Flood
to A. D. 1 1 71. Greatly aided by Cucogry or Peregrine O'Clery, Conary O'Clery and Peregrine O'Duigenan, in the well-known convent of his order,
"
Calendar of the Saints of Ireland," generally called the
19th of April, 1630. 7^ Until 1847, it was considered to have been irrecover- ablylost. Duringthatyear,itwasdiscoveredintheBurgundianLibrary,Brus-
O'Clery wrote his
" of Martyrology
mentioned It was by Colgan. ^9
so
begun in the Franciscan Convent of Donegal,7° and there finished on the
Donegal,"
frequently
*? The latter of these is sometimes called,
" Sanctogenesim. " But most generally does Colgan—who often quotes it—term it the
written, rather than any other merely per- sonal or descriptive, and deducible from its
authorship, in which so many persons had been concerned.
"Sanctilogium Genealogicum. " It treats
concerning the genealogies of Irish saints,
distributed under twenty-seven classes or rendered literary assistance to the fore-
going writers, by adding saints who lived in distant countries, but who had been con- nected with Ireland, and about whom foreign authors treated.
*^ See a more detailed account of this MS.
in Professor O'Curry's "Lectures on the "t^eb^e riA riAoniTi ne-t\ennAcVi. Marty-
chapters. Through a long series of proge- niters, O'Clery refers each saint to the first family stock or ancestor, whence he or she had descended.
Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish Hi. s- tory," Lect. viii. , pp. 162 to 16S.
*9 He preferred giving it this name for a title, after the place in which it had been
rologium Dungallense, seu Calendarium Sanctorum Hibernife, coUegit et digessit Fr. Michael O'Clery, Ord. Fr. Min. Stric-
tioris Observantia;.
7° Some fathers of this house, likewise,
^i As published, the first title stands,
"
INTR OD UCTION.
sels ; and the Belgian Government having lent it to Dr. Todd, a transcript was made by O'Curry, and translated into English by Dr. O'Donovan. This
was published by the Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society in 1864, under theableeditorshipofDrs. ToddandReeves. ^^ Itisaveryfineandanac-
curate edition, with copious notes and appendices. 73 These have greatly enhanced the value of this work in a historical and typographical point of
view. The Martyrology of O'Gorman had been used frequently by O'Clery, while compiling the Donegal Martyrology. Certain names given without any local designation are from O'Gorman, as also some which have short topographical notices . Of these, many—if not all—are taken from the scholia. The " Old " or " Very Ancient Vellum Book/'74 so often referred to in the
published Martyrology of Donegal, was a Fasciculus, containing some ""
Tracts on Irish Hagiology. In certain places,7S this ancient old Book is said to have contained the Martyrology of Moelruain of Tamlacht, and saints of the same name,^^ with names of the mothers of saints. It contained, like- wise, the comparison of Irish saints^^ with those of the Universal Church, who were supposed to have been of similar habits and life.
In the beginning of 1632, under the patronage of Fergall O'Gara, lord of Magh O'Gara and Coolavin, in the county of Sligo, for which county he was member of Parliament, O'Clery and his co-labourers already named began a compilation of the Annals of Ireland, from authentic records they had col- lected. This was finished in August, 1636. The great work was carried on
*'
Inventaire" of the Manuscripts preserved in the Duke of Bur- gundy's Library at Brussels, the original of this has been classed as vol. xvi. , Nos. 5095, 5096. It is a small 4to volume, bound in vellum, in the Irish characters. There is a second, but a shorter copy of the Donegal Martyrology—a small duodecimo volume bound in calf—and an autograph of Michael O'Clery in the Brussels Library, and classed vol. xiv. , No. 4639. On the fly-leaf, it is an- nounced to have been compiled and arranged
by Michael O'Clery, at Douay, in 1629. Four pages in Irish follow, and dated Done-
gal, 1628, in the handwriting of Michael O'Clery. This MS. is in the Irish language,
It
difficulty. containsabout250pages. ThisMartyrology is arranged according to the Calendar in the
first instance, and then alphabetically. Testi- //w«w are prefixed, dated A. D. 1636 and 1637.
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy,"vol. iii. ,pp. 486,487. In all probabi- lity, this was the first fair copy of the work
as published. It contains also a preface by
the author, and not yet published. Although not a very early record, this is of immense
value to all students and \vriters of Irish Hagiolog}'. Throughout the published vo- lume, many prophecies, poems and various ancient lives of Irish saints are quoted.
" See an ample description, with Tes' timonia et Approbationes Superiorum in the Introduction to the published copy, pp. ix. to Iv. Also Mr. Bindon's Paper read on
May 24th, 1847, in "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. iii. , pp. 486 to 489.
t- This is the detached tract, containing the ttn/olia, taken from the Book of Lein- ster, and now preserved among the Francis-
can archives, Merchants'-quay, Dublin.
75 As in Drs. Todd's and Reeves' edition
i'' In the Catalogue or
and it can be read without much
of the " of Martyrology
Donegal," pp. 35,
45andpassim.
? * Viz. , lists of Colmans, Finians, Bren-
dans, &c.
" See pp. 23, 27 a. nd passim. This has
been published from the Brussels MS. in
the Book of Hymns, p. 69. It has been
printed, also, by Rev. Dr. Kelly, in his "Calendar of the Irish Saints," pp. xli. , xlii.
7^ In the Preface to this great work, the reader will find the fullest particulars regard- ing the compilers and the progress of their
literary labours .
"9 The second volume of the autograph
exemplar of the Annals of the Four Masters
is in the Barbarini Library, Rome : how it
got there seems to be shrouded in mystery.
"
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy," vol. vi. , pp. 95, 105.
^ O'Clery has entered the dates of all the
years in succession, frequently observing, however, that nothing remarkable occurred. Yet, he seems to have left spaces to fill in anything that might afterwards appear suit- able for insertion.
vantia Laicus in Antiquitatibus Hybemicis undequaque peritissimus opus quadri-parti-
turn, utpote de Historiis antiquis Hyberniae, de Annalibus ejusdem Regni, de Genealo-
giis Regum et Sanctorum Hyberniae im- menso labore, summa fide et maxima indus- tria elucrubravit prout constat ex approba- tionibus nonnullorum Antistitum et testimo- niis prselatorum sui ordinis, necnon syngra- ])hisgiavissimorumhistoricorumhujus regni. Nos eorum authoritati innitentes pr^fatum opus dignissimum judicamus quod publicas lucis fiat et typis mandetur. Actum Dub- linii 5 Februarii Anno reparatse salutis 1636. Fr. Thomas Fleming, Archiepiscopus Dub- liniensis, Hiberniae Primas.
^* This work has been edited by the Rev, James Henthorn Todd.
See
*' It runs in the following terms
Michael Clery Ordinis Minorum de Obser-
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
in their convent. Owing to this circumstance, it has been called the
'*
An- Annals of the Four Masters," because of the number of chief writers engaged on the work. Four copies weremade,onetranscriptofwhichwassenttoLouvain. Ampleandvaluable use was afterwards made of it by Father John Colgan. The work was in two volumes, the latter tome commencing in 1 171 and ending in 16 16. This was translatedintoLatin,andprintedbyCharlesO'Conor. NoEnglishtranslation appeared until 1846, when Bryan Geraghty pubHshed one prepared by Owen Connellan, with notes by Dr. M'Dermott. In 1850 appeared Dr. O'Donovan's magnificenteditionoftheentirework. Wonderfulcorrectness,illustration, as also identification of parties and places mentioned, with indexes, in them- selves monuments of industry, and containing 22,000 headings, arranged so as to form a chronological key to the work,?
^ will for ever cause this edition
to be regarded as a great treasury of national history.
The first folio volume of the original, known as " The Annals of the Four
Masters," in Brother Michael O'Clery's handwriting, is now preserved in the Franciscan Library, Dublin. 79 This is contained in 523 paper leaves, repre- senting double that number of written pages, and the last year entered is 1 169, There are additional leaves prefixed, containing O'Clery's Dedication to Feargal O'Gara, with the Testimonia. Colgan has introduced a few anno- tations in this copy. It differs, too, from Dr. O'Donovan's published edi- tion, in which there are omissions of many earlier specified years, under which no event has been described. ^" There is likewise preserved a vellum Testimonium of the Franciscan Bishop of Dublin, Thomas Fleming, ap- proving of all Michael O'Clery's works. ^'
Another volume, transcribed by this learned lay-brother, was that cele- brated tract, known as the Wars of the Danes. ^' O'Clery wrote his first copy of this work, from the Book of Cuconnacht O'Daly, and in the Franciscan Convent of Multifamham, county of Westraeath, during the month of March,
nals of Donegal. " It has been styled the
"
:
" Frater
xlviii INTRODUCTION.
A. D. 1628. From this copy he transcribed another, in the Convent of Done- gal,duringthemonthofNovember,a. d. 1635. AnotherofO'Clery'sworks
was his " of Difficult Gaelic Glossar}^
Words,'"'
A. D. 1643, ^ short time previous to his lamented death. ^3 He left behind
hnn, likewise, a transcript of Acts of the Irish Saints in the Irish language and character,^"* except a Life of St. Moling, which is in Latin. ^s He also left a thick quarto volume, divided into two parts. The first part contains 105, and the second 246 pages, \vritten on both sides of the paper. ^ It seems likely enough, he had something to do with another MS. ; although no name or date may be found in it. This is a thick quarto, composed of dififerent sized paper. It contains about 270 leaves, with short memoirs and notices of Irish saints in the Latin language ; the arrangement is alphabetical, and thevolumeappearstohavebeenanote-bookofsomehagiographer. ^7 Again, there is a thin quarto volume ; the first part is occupied with a collection of religious poems in the Irish language ; some upon St. Columbanus, and others attributed to him, and to St. Moling, also the rules of the Irish Saints, com- mencing with that of St. Columbanus. This collection was finished in 1630. ^^ As we have already seen, it contains copies of the Festilogy of St. ^^ngus, andoftheMartyrologiesofMarianO'GormanandofTallagh. ^? Allofthe foregoing are kept in the Burgundian Library of Bruxelles.
The Rev. Father Ward had been engaged in preparing materials for his work on the Irish saints, greatly assisted by others, when death surprised
^3 See Father Luke " is not well in
"Wadding's Scrip- writing executed, comparison
tores Ordinis Minorum," pp. 259, 260.
** This is a thick 4to vellum MS. , on
with other MSS. written by Michael O'Clery. His name appears at folio 75, and also at the end of the first part of the volume. . There it is stated, that the MS. was finished
coarse paper, and the penmanship is rudely
executed. Judging from the writing of this
volume, one would not suppose it to be a
compilation of Michael O'Clery ; however, by Brother Michael O'Clery. " His name his name appears as the scribe in several
places ; for instance, at folios 121, 131, and 183. The volume apjiears to have been written during the years 1628 and 1629 ; it contains 270 folios. It is classed, vol. xi. (Nos. 4190—4200. )
^2 It contains no less than twenty-one dif- ferent Acts or Treatises, nearly altogether in Irish, regarding the saints of our country.
^^This MS. is classed vol. iv (2324— 2340). At the beginning of this Codex, the contents of the first part are given in an alphabetical table. At the end of the Codex, there is a table of contents for the second part. With the exception of a list of Fran- ciscan Provincials, in Latin, the contents of
appears in several places of the second part, also, with various dates, in the year 1629. See pp. 7, 22. From these dates it seems, that the second portion of the work had b^en written before the first. From the ap- pearance of the binding, it may be con- cluded, that the collection was bound, after having been written, as the paper in the first half of this volume does not corre- spond with that which is to be seen in the remainder.
*'Vol. xii. (4241. ) At page 99 is a pe-
"
digree of
nus," the sons of Giltanus, "Rex Hiber- nise. "
^ As may be seen at p. 45, where it ends.
this volume are
in the Irish lan- which this MS. is written, is very coarse, and some of the
guage.
The
altogether paper upon
*^ Vol. Nos. xvii. , containing
5103, and 5104.
5101, 5102,
which was at
printed Louvain,
at Donegal, upon the 7th of August, 1631, "
SS. Furseus, Foilanus, et Ulta-
2NTR OD UCTION. xlix him on the Sth of November, a. d. 1635. 9° Yet, a posthumous work of his
" Dissertatio Historica
S. Rumoldi Patria. "9i Several years, afterwards, this Treatise appeared under the following more extended title : "Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti, Archie- piscopi Dubliniensis, Mechliniensium Apostoli, Advocati Sterilium Conju- gum, Agricolarum, Piscatorum, Institorum, et Navigantiura, Acta, Martyrium, Liturgia Antiqua et Patria, ex antiquissimis cum manu, turn prelo editis, harum rerum Scriptoribus, summa fide collecta, Notis illuStrata, et aucta Dis- quisitione Historica, seu Investigatione genuinse Scotiae S. Rumoldi et Con- tribulium Sanctorum. Per R. P. F. Hugonem Vardaeum, Hibernum, olim in Lovaniensi Collegio S. Antonii de Padua, F. F. Minorum Hibernorum strict, obser. Guardianum, S. T. Professorem et Hagiographum. Opus Posthumum, nunc recens a V. A. P. F. Thoma Sirino, ejusdem Ordinis et Collegii Lectore Jubilate recognitum, et in nonnuUis suppletum. In quo obiter ex Scriptoribus antiquis et novis, ac publicis instrumentis demon-
stratur Hibernia ad sseculum quindecimum Christianum vocata Scotia, et Hiberni Scoti ; detegiturque ejusdem Insulse ingens olim multitudo Sanctorum et Cathedralium Ecclesiarum ; Genuina item origo et Anti- quitas Regni cum Pictorum, tum Scotorum in Albania, sive Boreali parte Magnse Britanise passim hodie dicta Scotia, aliaque scitu digna. "? ^ Besides this work, we are informed by Father O'Sheerin, that he had prepared the following Treatises : i. " De Nomenclatura Hibemise. " 2. " De Statu et Processu Veteris in Hibernia Reipubhcae. " 3. "Anagraphe Mirabilium
""
Sancti Patricii. " 4. Investigatio Expeditionis Ursulanse. " 5. Martyro-
logium ex multis Vetustis Festilogiis Latino Hibernicum. "93 In addition to his printed work, the Martyrology94 is said to have been the only treatise to which he put a finishing hand. ^s
The great task of writing the Lives of the Irish Saints now devolved on thetrulylearnedFatherJohnColgan. 96 withtheaidofO'Clery'scollec- tions, and of others, gathered from some foreign monastic houses, he devoted
at in It was appeared Louvain, 1636.
intituled,
de
9° I. uke " '+ See Harris' vol. See Father Wadding's Scrip- Ware,
iii. , p. 115.
93 Y)x. Todd, when treating of the large 9' See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. " Writers Irish Martyrolog)', now missing, did not seem to suspect that Father Ward might have been its compiler. See Introduction to the " Martyrology of Donegal," edited
tores Ordinis Minorum," p. 179.
of Ireland," book i. , chap, xiv,, p. 114. Harris says he never saw this edition.
9^ This work appeared at Louvain, a. d. 1662, in 4to shape.
by Drs. Todd and l»eeves, p. xvi. , n. i.
9* This illustrious historian was a native of Donegal county, and he had been a secular priest before he entered the Francis- can order. This fact is established from the printed statement, notifying his death to the order, and which is yet preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. After joining the order, he was appointed to teach theo- See p. xxi. Also "Acta Sanctorum. " logy in the Convent of St. Anthony of
Aprilis, tomus ii. , p. 487. Padua, Louvain.
93 This, perhaps, was a complete and very extensive collection, which does not now exist among the Brussels MSS. It seems to be alluded to in the Rev. Dr. Kelly's published version of "The Martyrology of Tallagh," under the entry of St. Donnan of Egha and his fifty-two companions, "quo- rum nomina in majore libro scripsimus. "
INTRonUCTION.
hisentireenergiestoitsaccomplishment. BoUanduswishedhimtopublish the Irish martyrologies first, especially those of Tallaght and of Marian
O'Gorman, next the ancient councils and hymns, together with the annals, so that the learned of other countries might be able to appreciate the credibility of Irish history, and assist him in his labours. In deference to the opinion of his superiors, Colgan, however, fortunately determined on giving the lives first. This was a great advantage for the Hagiology of Ireland, because with information then accessible, he was able to annotate them, and glean by such induction materials for more varied research. Colgans? was well versed in the language and literature of his native country, profoundly read in the civil and ecclesiastical annals of Ireland, while his competency for writing and annotating the Acts of our Irish Saints, his learning, candour, wonderful industry and research, are fully manifested in the two magnificent folio volumes which he published, and which must remain as the imperishable monuments of his zeal, piety, and patriotism.
Colgan gratefully and honestly acknowledges the literary assistance he received from others, in compiling these works. He candidly declares, that a great portion of his labours had been forwarded by Father Hugh Ward, beforethedeathofthislattereminentman. Hehadalreadycollectedand
prepared for the press, nearly all those important and complete lives of saints in Colgan's published volumes. Still, Acts written in Irish, and in other languages, besides lives obtained through various sources, were translated into Latin by Colgan, and by his assistants. Many Franciscan brethren con- siderably lightened his labours, by transcribing and writing. Thus, Owen O'Gallagher, Guardian of the Franciscan Convent, Louvain, translated into Latin the French life of St. Fursey, written by Desmay. Father Brendan O'Connor procured from different Hbraries in France and Italy most useful and necessary Irish documents, serving to illustrate the Acts of our Saints. s^ These were brought to Louvain, where O'Connor laboured assiduously for some years, to aid the noble project Colgan had in view. Afterwards, he went to Ireland, and there, during the tumult of those civil wars then raging, he endeavoured to procure all the documents he could find, and which might enable him to perfect still more the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae," just pre- paring for publication. Father Stephen White, the J esuit, had communicated from his own collection many valuable memoirs of Irish saints, and among others may be mentioned St. Adamnan's Acts of St. Columkille, and St. Ultan's Life of St. Brigid. As Father Ward had a principal share in pre- paring the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae" for the press, Colgan wished to
97 There is a very interesting account of Father John Colgan, by Rev. William Reeves, in the " Ulster Journal of Archteo- logy," vol. i. , under the heading, "Irish
Library," No. I, pp. 295 to 302.
»^ Also, Father Bonaventure O'Docharty
assisted. His death is thus entered in the
Necrology of St. Anthony, "DieagAugusti, l68o, obiit. V. R. Pater Bonaventura
O'Docharty, vir religeosisimus, et qui Acta Sanctorum sub Patribus Colgano et Sirino describebat indeflfesse. "
Tor these and further particulars, the
"
reader is referred to Colgan's
torum Ilibernire," Prsefatio ad Lectorem.
•°° This was quite a distinct one from what we know at present, under the title of
"The Martyrology of Donegal," or the
"Martyrology of Tallagh," or any other of the ancient calendars.
"' See Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee's "Irish Writers of the Seventeenth Century. " Lives of Ward, Colgan, and O'Clery, pp. 62 to
72.
'" See, likewise, Rev. M. J. Brenan's
"Ecclesiastical History of Ireland. " Seven-
teenth century, chap, iii. , pp. 528 to 530. New edition.
INTRODUCTTOy.
