" From being closely sur- rounded by fine full-grown timber, no part of the ruins now appear, until
suddenly
the eastern window is' disclosed to the view.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
Sept.
Sancti Aidani Epis.
et Conf.
ix.
, Lect.
per constit.
A MS.
in T.
C.
D.
, classed B.
3.
9, registers August 31st, Kal.
ii.
, Sept.
Sancti Aidani
Epis, et Conf. commemoratio iii. Lect.
,2» See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 269.
,30 Thus: "In Brittania Natale Sancti Con-
Scriptorum
Illustrium
Majoris
ovibus, Monachus. "—" Martyrologium Romanum,"
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xv. , sec. xiv. , n. 115, p. 426.
X,B
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxih. "» Thus : -Ae-oAm epip 1np me^ocoic. ,ao Inis Medcoit is now either Fame or
Lindisfarne, in England.
"'
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. i. . part i. . pp. 116, 117.
128 120
Scriptoribus. "
ii. ,
Episcopi
Sanctus Cutbertus ovium pastor in cerium ferri vidisset, relictis factus est
fessoris et Episcopi Edain. " See ibid. , p. 23. '3. in the Kalendar of the Aberdeen '" He is under Inis Cathaigh, also, as Breviary, he is thus noticed : 31st Pridie
writings.
told, by 11 * that St. Aidan wrote
at 122 Father I23 inserts him August 31st. Henry Fitzsimon,
of 8 Tallagh" registers
August 3 1 . ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 505
and
2 of Aberdeen.
in the Kalendar of Adam
T 33
King,
David Camerarius, his feast has been placed at the 30th day of August 3S ;
but, this seems to have been a mistake of entry for the present date.
The wealth of the Church in those Ages of Faith, when our Saint lived, was in its extent, in the mode of its acquisition, and in the rule of its dis- pensation, consistent with that spiritual poverty, which belongs to the attainment of beatitude. Nor must we terminate our inquiries, respecting those who lived in external poverty or riches, without an examination from other sides, in what manner men living in those ages corresponded with an injunction from the Mount, following the first counsel that Christ gave. '36 Their humility and the manners which it originated are well illustrated, in the life of St. Aidan, and in the actions of his royal patrons, Oswald and Oswey. The apostolic spirit of St. Aidan seemed to be infused into the
souls of his successors in Northumbria ;*37 for by many of these, Christianity
was not only diffused over that Kingdom, but it spread to other places, as to
Mercia^8 and Essex. Even to the northern banks of the Thames, evangelists,
who derived their orders immediately or more remotely from St. Columba's
foundation at Iona, were found preaching the Gospel of Christ to the Anglo-
Saxon f 39 The that the native schools of Ireland sent forth people. fact,
teachers who enriched, not only the British Islands, but even distant king- doms on the Continent, with the fruits of their learning and zeal, has long been known to historians. It has also been well established, that monasteries founded by such missionaries continued to be fed from their native sources for many centuries. Hitherto it has been hardly recognized, that in the remote recesses of the Apennines and of the Alps, in the Tyrol, throughout the various German States, and along the banks of the distant Danube, there still exist material remains and perponal relics of those devoted men. It is to be hoped, however, that the ages of investigation and enlightenment, now so happily progressive, shall soon bring to light the religious, social and literary services Ireland rendered to past and to future times by anticipation, and at periods when darkness and barbarism overspread the whole of
Europe.
Article II. —St. Senan, Sessan, or Sessen, of Ath-omna, possibly Portumna,CountyofGalway. AfeastforSt. SenanofAtha-omnaoccurs
Also,
in the " Menologium Scoticum," of Dempster,^ and at the 31st of August, his festival is recorded. Among the Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of
T
p.
.
Martyrology^
Kal. Oct. —"AidaniEpiscopietConfessoris,"
Anglorum Apostolus ex Hoy insula una Hebridum ad Anglos ad Christi fidcm conuertendos missus. " See ibid. , p. 240.
I36 See Kenelm H. Digby's "Mores Catho- situs Sancti Aydani primi Lindisfernensis lici ; or, Ages of Faith," vol. i. , book i. ,
episcopi et confessaris cuius animam Sanctus chap, iii. , p. 39.
120. ibid.
132 The Martyrology of Aberdeen says at
Pridie Kl. Septembris—" In Britannia tran-
Cuthbertus vidit in celis ab angelis deferri. " ""
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. ii. , p. 267.
133 Thus : "S. Aidane bischop of nor- thumberland scotisman vnder king donald," See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 160.
134 Thus " In Northumbria Aidani Apos- :
toli, Lindisfarnensis archiepiscopi, qui re- gulam Benedictinam reformavit et S. Heinam primam conuentualem suae patriae monialem velavit VV. BT. " See ibid. , p. 210.
135 Thus " Die. Sanctus Aidanus siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. : 30
Confessor, Lindisfernensis Episcopus et xxi. , xxii. , xxiv.
137 See Rev. James Craigie Robertson's
History of the Christian Church, from the Election of Pope Gregory the Great to the Concordat of Worms," a. d. 590—1 122, vol. ii. , chap, iii. , p. 63.
I38 The first missionary bishop among the Mercians and Midland Angles was St. Dima or Dioma, whose Acts are given in the Second Volume of this work, at the 22nd of February, the date for his festival, Art. ix.
I39 See Venerable Bede's "Historia Eccle-
5°6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 31.
1
in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, on this day, as also in that copy
to be found in the Book of Leinster. 2 Ath-Omna means the " Ford of the
Oak " and it may have been the ancient denomination of Port-Omna, now ;
Portumna,3 on the River Shannon, in the Barony of Longford and County of Galway. It is within the parish of Lickmolassy. * The place is of great antiquity, and a town is said to have been there for many centuries before Ireland
became subject to the control of the sister kingdom. It is probable there had been a
Portumna previous to the
arrival of the Anglo-Normans
in Ireland. 5 It was a place
of no small importance in
former times, as being
the principal pass whereby the people of Minister and
communicated with each other. At present, a noble bridge of many arches there spans the River Shan- non. Within the demesne of the Marquis of Clanrick- ard, south of the town, the Cistercian monks of Dun- brody6 had a chapel dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, which depended on their
Monastery in the County of Wexford. 7 A ruin which now
adjoins the north transept of the Dominican Convent, sub-
sequently erected, is supposed by some antiquaries to re- present the Church of the
Ruins of the Dominican Convent, Portumna. County Cistercian Abbey. In the of Galway. south transept, there is a beautiful window, but its rich tracery, as indeed all of the walls, is covered with ivy. The most satisfactory views of the ruins are from the interior. 8 At what time the Cistercians
»
Article 11. — Edited by Rev. Dr. year 1 175, by Hervaeus de Montmarisco,
Kelly, p. xxxiii.
*
Thus : Senan acha otrma.
3 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (s. ) pp. 351, 352. This townland contains 783a. 2r. I7p. , be- sides Portumna Demesne, containing 1,400a. or. I9p.
Marshal of King Henry II. of England, and Seneschal to Richard, Count of Pembroke.
He gavethe lands of Ardfithein, Crosgormok, &c, to God. the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Benedict, and to the monks of Bildewas in England, to build an Abbey there. It was further endowed by Richard, surnamed
4 This parish contains 12,112a. 2r. 36p. in Strongbow. It enjoyed many privileges
and immunities from the Roman Pontiffs. In fine, it became dependent on the Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, a cer-
area ; but this includes 57a. 3r. 27p. of the
River Shannon, and 2,167a. or. 28p. of
Lough Derg. It is described on Sheets 1 1 7,
118, 126, 127, of the "Ordnance Survey tain fine having been paid to the Abbot of Townland Maps for the County of Galway.
5 See the "Parliamentary Gazetteer of
Ireland. " vol. iii. , pp. 89. 90.
Cisterciensia Hibernise," pp. 7°> 7 1 *
7 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
6
This foundation took place about the
religious
establishment at
Connaught
Bildewas. See Sir James Ware's " Coenobia
cum,"p. 295.
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 507
abandoned this place is unknown j but it is thought to have been surrendered
to the Dominicans, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, with the consent of
theCisterciansatDimbrody. ThegrantwasmadetothembyO'Madden,
dynast of the surrounding territory. 9 Having had their possessions confirmed
and
being nearly all up to their original height, except those of the tower. This was sprung from four elegant pointed arches, three of which still remain. One of the two which connected the nave and chancel has been totally taken down, and the other, which is of elegantly cut stone, is built up. The entrance is in the west end, and by a small door-way, over which thereisapointedarchedwindow. Fromthistothefarthestendofthechoir
by
Pope
V. ,
bearing
Martin
a Bull of
the Dominicans erected a friary and church there, and it was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the original patron saints. A short time after granting the aforesaid Bull, Pope Martin V. gave indulgences to all those who contributed towards the erection.
" From being closely sur- rounded by fine full-grown timber, no part of the ruins now appear, until suddenly the eastern window is' disclosed to the view. A much fre- quented grave-yard surrounds the ruins. The friary church is cruciform, and in the Gothic style. It is still in fairly good repair, the walls
The choir is 21 feet in
1
thought, by Colgan, * that he may not have been a different person from
St. Sezin/s Bishop and Abbot, as also Patron of the Church and Parish of Guic Sezni, Leon, in Brittany. We fail, however, to find the evidence, which might warrant such a supposition. The name Sessan, of Ath-omna, is
or chancel the distance is more than 100 feet.
and the side walls about 16 feet in
house is built against the north wall of the ruins, and it was entered by a small door from the choir, but that is now built up. The present Saint probably lived at an early period of the Christian Church in Ireland. He is classed among the -disciples of holy Patrick, the Irish Apostle. Although called Seseneus, his right name is Sessenus. ^ His feast is set down, at this date, and he is called Sesan by Marianus O'Gorman. It is
width,
height.
in the
all known concerning him.
of
Donegal,
16 at the
of This is August.
registered
Martyrology
31st
Article III. —Deacon Aedh, or Aidus, of Cuil Maine, now Clonmanv, County of Donegal. In the published Martyrology of
1 we find that veneration was
8
a photograph, translerred to the wood by ,
at the
of to Aedh August
Tallagh,
given
31st
The accompanying illustration is from
text is also given ibid. , num. iv , pp. 306, 307.
,2
William F. Wakeman. by Mrs. Millard.
I3 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 268.
9 The O'Maddens were
lords of
The engraving is
formerly
the present barony of Longford, in the sect, xxxii. , num. v. , p. 307.
County of Galway. By a scion of that an-
cient family, Dr. Thomas More Madden,
several interesting references are made in a
work lately published, "Genealogical,
Historical, and Family Records of the Martii vi. , Vita S. Sezini, Episcopi Confess.
O'Maddens of Hy-Many and their Descend- ants. " Dublin, 1894, 8vo.
10 The text of this Bull is set forth in
"
et Patroni Tutelaris Parochiae de Guic
Sezni In Urbe Leonensi, n. i. , p. 478.
IS See his Acts, in the Third Volume of
this work, at the 6th of March, Art. ii.
Bishop de Burgo's
cap. ix. , sect. xxxii. , num.
Hibernia Dominicana,"
ii. , p. 304.
" This Bull is dated: "Datum Romse 230,231. —
apud Sanctos Apostolos ix. Kal. Decern- Article III. bris, Pontificatus nostri AnnoDecimo. " The Kelly, p. xxxiii.
*
Edited by Rev. Dr.
date the 8th of 10 October, 1426,
12 The or
vestry chapter-
During the last century this portion of the building had been used as the Protes- tant Church for Portumna. See Bishop de
" Hibernia Dominicana," ix. , Burgo's cap.
I4 Seev "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise,"
l6
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
S o8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3 i. Mac Maine. His place, however, is not there particularized. A similar
Lothar,
Irish tion. This
10 this does not rest on solid founda-
is to be found, in the Book of Leinster 2 such copy. Following
entry
authorities, we should be inclined to infer, that the father of Aedh was
namedMaine. HesprungfromtheraceofCollaUais,MonarchofErin, according to the O'Clerys. This must be the same Saint, whose festival has been already recorded, at the ioth of July. 3 When St. Patrick * was in the extreme North of Ireland, he visited the district of Bredach, where he met three of his nephews, by a sister. These, too, were deacons. There the saint rested on a Sunday, and laid out the foundations of a church, called Domhnach bile, afterwards known as Moville, in the present County of Donegal. s Cuil-MainewastheancientnameoftheparishofClonmany,in the north-west of the barony of Inishowen, and in the County of Donegal. It is said, St. Patrick had a nephew, or a relative, called Aidus, Aedan, or Aedh. 7 However, it seems no easy matter to define his identity ; although his father is stated to have been a nobleman, named Colman, son of Aidus, and of the Hi-Bressail race. In after time, the former Aedh became cele- brated for sanctity, and he was regarded as the patron of an island, called Inis-
8 where he was venerated. However, as the date for his festival has not been noted, among the many Irish saints bearing a similar name in our calendars, it is only necessary to state from the particulars recorded, he must bedistinguishedfromthepresentSt. Aidus,saidtobeofCuil-Maine. This ancient denomination has been resolved into Clonmany9 in Donegal. Colgan
advances the possibility of the present Aedus having been a nephew of the
any Martyrology Donegal,
Article IV. —Reputed Translation of St. Ctjimian's Relics, at
Bobbio, in Italy. Already have we related nearly all that can be known,
June, and again at the 19th of August ; both of which days are assigned to him as festivals. However, still much doubt remains, in regard to the identity and acts of that St. Cumian, who was the Bishop buried at Bobbio, in Italy. We have alluded, at the latter date, to that town, and given an illustration of St. Columbano's Church, in which the remains of the illustrious founder and patron, St. Columbanus,3 and also of St. Cummian, are laid at rest, in their respective tombs. When St. Columbanus was obliged to leave Bregentz, his protector, Theodobert, King of Austrasie, having been vanquished in the
Apostle, yet, opinion
holy
great
same date, as Deacon Aedh, of Cuil-Maine.
man is recorded in the
of
11 at this
with any degree of certainty, in reference to St. Cummianus, at the 9th of 12
2 Thus : &vo mac ttlAine.
3 See the Seventh Volume of this work*, at that date, for a notice of him, Art. iii.
4 See the Third Volume of this work, at the 17th of March, Art. i. The Life of St. Patrick, Apostle and Chief 1'atron of Ire- land, chap. xiv.
rated, on the 8th day of March. See ibid. ,
nn. 104, 105,
9 This parish has an area of 23,375 acres.
Much of the interior surface is mountainous,
and it towers aloft in abrupt accuminated
"
ascents. See Gazetteer of the World," vol.
"Trias
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. Vita Patricii, nn. 176, 177, p. 181.
5 See exxii. , p. 145.
Thaumaturga,"
Thaumaturga," Septima Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
Colgan's
6
See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iv. , n. (k), p. 1249.
7 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. lxxvi. ,p. 163.
8 This place has not been identified ; yet
Colgan conjectures it may be the same as Cluain-Lothuir, where St. Curcagia is vene-
230, 231. — Article iv.
ii. , p. 593.
,0 See "Trias
"
p.
187.
See the Sixth Volume of this work, at that date, Art. iv.
'
See the present Volume, at that day. Art. ii.
3 His festival is held on the 21st Novem- ber, at which date his Acts are to be found in the Eleventh Volume of this work, Art. i.
2
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 5°9
decisive battle of Tolbiac, a. d. 612, by his brother Thierry, the holy Abbot took his course across the Alps, with a single disciple named Attala/
and sought refuge with Agilulphe, King of the Lombards. From him, St. Columban obtained a grant ot the district named Bobbio, not far from that site where Hannibal had formerly encamped on the River Trebbia, and had vanquished the Romans in battle. At that place, in a gorge of the Apen- nines between Milan and Genoa, there had been an old church dedicated to St. Peter,s Prince of the Apostles. The great Irish missionary charged
The Bridge and Town of Bobbio, Italy.
himself with the work of restoration, and beside it he commenced the foundation of his celebrated monastery, where religion and learning alike flourished for many succeeding centuries. 6 As in the case of nearly all such
monastic establishments, a town grew up around that abbey, at the present time comprising fully 4,000 inhabitants. ? The approach to it is by a noble bridge of several arches, which span the River Trebbia. 8 * The monastery
4 He was venerated on the 10th of March
as a saint, and is said by Miss Margaret Stokes to have followed St. Columban from Ireland. See "Six Months in the Apen- nines," p. 168. However, Jonas, who has written the Life of Attala, states that he was a noble by birth, and that he belonged to theKingdomofBurgundy. Seeanoticeof him in the Third Volume of this work, at
the loth of March, Art. xviii.
5 His chief festival occurs on the 29th of
has given a catalogue of seven hundred
manuscripts kept there in the tenth century. There, too, was found that famous Palimp- sest, on which Cardinal Mai has deciphered the work of Cicero, " De Republica. "
7 See "Gazetteer of the World," vol. ii. ,
P- 787- 8Theaccompanyingillustrationisfroma
drawing on the spot by Miss Margaret Stokes, and most kindly lent to the writer
for the purpose of having it copied on the
wood by William F. Wakeman. The 6 The school and library at Bobbio were engraving is by Mrs. Millard. The draw-
June.
regarded as among the most celebrated
during the Middle Ages. The latter con-
ing by Miss Stokes has been engraved on a much larger scale in her highly interesting and valuable work, "Six Months in the
tained a great number of manuscripts,
traced, no doubt, by Irish scribes, and Apennines ; or, a Pilgrimage in Search of having the peculiar interlaced Celtic forms Vestiges of the Irish Saints in Italy," at on several of the initial letters. Muratori p. 191. London, 1892, 4to.
5 io LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 31.
was suppressed, under the French domination of Italy, in 1803, and its
literary treasures were dispersed. Some of the Bobbio Manuscripts were
transferred to the Ambrosian Library in Milan ; others were conveyed to the
Benedictine Monastery of Monte Casino, where a great number of them are
now preserved. 9 It need scarcely be added, that those depositories contain
a vast store of information, historic and otherwise, not yet published. The
Church of St. Columban still exists, and serves for all parochial purposes, at
Bobbio.
Epis, et Conf. commemoratio iii. Lect.
,2» See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 269.
,30 Thus: "In Brittania Natale Sancti Con-
Scriptorum
Illustrium
Majoris
ovibus, Monachus. "—" Martyrologium Romanum,"
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xv. , sec. xiv. , n. 115, p. 426.
X,B
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxih. "» Thus : -Ae-oAm epip 1np me^ocoic. ,ao Inis Medcoit is now either Fame or
Lindisfarne, in England.
"'
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. i. . part i. . pp. 116, 117.
128 120
Scriptoribus. "
ii. ,
Episcopi
Sanctus Cutbertus ovium pastor in cerium ferri vidisset, relictis factus est
fessoris et Episcopi Edain. " See ibid. , p. 23. '3. in the Kalendar of the Aberdeen '" He is under Inis Cathaigh, also, as Breviary, he is thus noticed : 31st Pridie
writings.
told, by 11 * that St. Aidan wrote
at 122 Father I23 inserts him August 31st. Henry Fitzsimon,
of 8 Tallagh" registers
August 3 1 . ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 505
and
2 of Aberdeen.
in the Kalendar of Adam
T 33
King,
David Camerarius, his feast has been placed at the 30th day of August 3S ;
but, this seems to have been a mistake of entry for the present date.
The wealth of the Church in those Ages of Faith, when our Saint lived, was in its extent, in the mode of its acquisition, and in the rule of its dis- pensation, consistent with that spiritual poverty, which belongs to the attainment of beatitude. Nor must we terminate our inquiries, respecting those who lived in external poverty or riches, without an examination from other sides, in what manner men living in those ages corresponded with an injunction from the Mount, following the first counsel that Christ gave. '36 Their humility and the manners which it originated are well illustrated, in the life of St. Aidan, and in the actions of his royal patrons, Oswald and Oswey. The apostolic spirit of St. Aidan seemed to be infused into the
souls of his successors in Northumbria ;*37 for by many of these, Christianity
was not only diffused over that Kingdom, but it spread to other places, as to
Mercia^8 and Essex. Even to the northern banks of the Thames, evangelists,
who derived their orders immediately or more remotely from St. Columba's
foundation at Iona, were found preaching the Gospel of Christ to the Anglo-
Saxon f 39 The that the native schools of Ireland sent forth people. fact,
teachers who enriched, not only the British Islands, but even distant king- doms on the Continent, with the fruits of their learning and zeal, has long been known to historians. It has also been well established, that monasteries founded by such missionaries continued to be fed from their native sources for many centuries. Hitherto it has been hardly recognized, that in the remote recesses of the Apennines and of the Alps, in the Tyrol, throughout the various German States, and along the banks of the distant Danube, there still exist material remains and perponal relics of those devoted men. It is to be hoped, however, that the ages of investigation and enlightenment, now so happily progressive, shall soon bring to light the religious, social and literary services Ireland rendered to past and to future times by anticipation, and at periods when darkness and barbarism overspread the whole of
Europe.
Article II. —St. Senan, Sessan, or Sessen, of Ath-omna, possibly Portumna,CountyofGalway. AfeastforSt. SenanofAtha-omnaoccurs
Also,
in the " Menologium Scoticum," of Dempster,^ and at the 31st of August, his festival is recorded. Among the Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of
T
p.
.
Martyrology^
Kal. Oct. —"AidaniEpiscopietConfessoris,"
Anglorum Apostolus ex Hoy insula una Hebridum ad Anglos ad Christi fidcm conuertendos missus. " See ibid. , p. 240.
I36 See Kenelm H. Digby's "Mores Catho- situs Sancti Aydani primi Lindisfernensis lici ; or, Ages of Faith," vol. i. , book i. ,
episcopi et confessaris cuius animam Sanctus chap, iii. , p. 39.
120. ibid.
132 The Martyrology of Aberdeen says at
Pridie Kl. Septembris—" In Britannia tran-
Cuthbertus vidit in celis ab angelis deferri. " ""
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. ii. , p. 267.
133 Thus : "S. Aidane bischop of nor- thumberland scotisman vnder king donald," See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 160.
134 Thus " In Northumbria Aidani Apos- :
toli, Lindisfarnensis archiepiscopi, qui re- gulam Benedictinam reformavit et S. Heinam primam conuentualem suae patriae monialem velavit VV. BT. " See ibid. , p. 210.
135 Thus " Die. Sanctus Aidanus siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. : 30
Confessor, Lindisfernensis Episcopus et xxi. , xxii. , xxiv.
137 See Rev. James Craigie Robertson's
History of the Christian Church, from the Election of Pope Gregory the Great to the Concordat of Worms," a. d. 590—1 122, vol. ii. , chap, iii. , p. 63.
I38 The first missionary bishop among the Mercians and Midland Angles was St. Dima or Dioma, whose Acts are given in the Second Volume of this work, at the 22nd of February, the date for his festival, Art. ix.
I39 See Venerable Bede's "Historia Eccle-
5°6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 31.
1
in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, on this day, as also in that copy
to be found in the Book of Leinster. 2 Ath-Omna means the " Ford of the
Oak " and it may have been the ancient denomination of Port-Omna, now ;
Portumna,3 on the River Shannon, in the Barony of Longford and County of Galway. It is within the parish of Lickmolassy. * The place is of great antiquity, and a town is said to have been there for many centuries before Ireland
became subject to the control of the sister kingdom. It is probable there had been a
Portumna previous to the
arrival of the Anglo-Normans
in Ireland. 5 It was a place
of no small importance in
former times, as being
the principal pass whereby the people of Minister and
communicated with each other. At present, a noble bridge of many arches there spans the River Shan- non. Within the demesne of the Marquis of Clanrick- ard, south of the town, the Cistercian monks of Dun- brody6 had a chapel dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, which depended on their
Monastery in the County of Wexford. 7 A ruin which now
adjoins the north transept of the Dominican Convent, sub-
sequently erected, is supposed by some antiquaries to re- present the Church of the
Ruins of the Dominican Convent, Portumna. County Cistercian Abbey. In the of Galway. south transept, there is a beautiful window, but its rich tracery, as indeed all of the walls, is covered with ivy. The most satisfactory views of the ruins are from the interior. 8 At what time the Cistercians
»
Article 11. — Edited by Rev. Dr. year 1 175, by Hervaeus de Montmarisco,
Kelly, p. xxxiii.
*
Thus : Senan acha otrma.
3 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (s. ) pp. 351, 352. This townland contains 783a. 2r. I7p. , be- sides Portumna Demesne, containing 1,400a. or. I9p.
Marshal of King Henry II. of England, and Seneschal to Richard, Count of Pembroke.
He gavethe lands of Ardfithein, Crosgormok, &c, to God. the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Benedict, and to the monks of Bildewas in England, to build an Abbey there. It was further endowed by Richard, surnamed
4 This parish contains 12,112a. 2r. 36p. in Strongbow. It enjoyed many privileges
and immunities from the Roman Pontiffs. In fine, it became dependent on the Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, a cer-
area ; but this includes 57a. 3r. 27p. of the
River Shannon, and 2,167a. or. 28p. of
Lough Derg. It is described on Sheets 1 1 7,
118, 126, 127, of the "Ordnance Survey tain fine having been paid to the Abbot of Townland Maps for the County of Galway.
5 See the "Parliamentary Gazetteer of
Ireland. " vol. iii. , pp. 89. 90.
Cisterciensia Hibernise," pp. 7°> 7 1 *
7 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
6
This foundation took place about the
religious
establishment at
Connaught
Bildewas. See Sir James Ware's " Coenobia
cum,"p. 295.
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 507
abandoned this place is unknown j but it is thought to have been surrendered
to the Dominicans, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, with the consent of
theCisterciansatDimbrody. ThegrantwasmadetothembyO'Madden,
dynast of the surrounding territory. 9 Having had their possessions confirmed
and
being nearly all up to their original height, except those of the tower. This was sprung from four elegant pointed arches, three of which still remain. One of the two which connected the nave and chancel has been totally taken down, and the other, which is of elegantly cut stone, is built up. The entrance is in the west end, and by a small door-way, over which thereisapointedarchedwindow. Fromthistothefarthestendofthechoir
by
Pope
V. ,
bearing
Martin
a Bull of
the Dominicans erected a friary and church there, and it was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the original patron saints. A short time after granting the aforesaid Bull, Pope Martin V. gave indulgences to all those who contributed towards the erection.
" From being closely sur- rounded by fine full-grown timber, no part of the ruins now appear, until suddenly the eastern window is' disclosed to the view. A much fre- quented grave-yard surrounds the ruins. The friary church is cruciform, and in the Gothic style. It is still in fairly good repair, the walls
The choir is 21 feet in
1
thought, by Colgan, * that he may not have been a different person from
St. Sezin/s Bishop and Abbot, as also Patron of the Church and Parish of Guic Sezni, Leon, in Brittany. We fail, however, to find the evidence, which might warrant such a supposition. The name Sessan, of Ath-omna, is
or chancel the distance is more than 100 feet.
and the side walls about 16 feet in
house is built against the north wall of the ruins, and it was entered by a small door from the choir, but that is now built up. The present Saint probably lived at an early period of the Christian Church in Ireland. He is classed among the -disciples of holy Patrick, the Irish Apostle. Although called Seseneus, his right name is Sessenus. ^ His feast is set down, at this date, and he is called Sesan by Marianus O'Gorman. It is
width,
height.
in the
all known concerning him.
of
Donegal,
16 at the
of This is August.
registered
Martyrology
31st
Article III. —Deacon Aedh, or Aidus, of Cuil Maine, now Clonmanv, County of Donegal. In the published Martyrology of
1 we find that veneration was
8
a photograph, translerred to the wood by ,
at the
of to Aedh August
Tallagh,
given
31st
The accompanying illustration is from
text is also given ibid. , num. iv , pp. 306, 307.
,2
William F. Wakeman. by Mrs. Millard.
I3 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 268.
9 The O'Maddens were
lords of
The engraving is
formerly
the present barony of Longford, in the sect, xxxii. , num. v. , p. 307.
County of Galway. By a scion of that an-
cient family, Dr. Thomas More Madden,
several interesting references are made in a
work lately published, "Genealogical,
Historical, and Family Records of the Martii vi. , Vita S. Sezini, Episcopi Confess.
O'Maddens of Hy-Many and their Descend- ants. " Dublin, 1894, 8vo.
10 The text of this Bull is set forth in
"
et Patroni Tutelaris Parochiae de Guic
Sezni In Urbe Leonensi, n. i. , p. 478.
IS See his Acts, in the Third Volume of
this work, at the 6th of March, Art. ii.
Bishop de Burgo's
cap. ix. , sect. xxxii. , num.
Hibernia Dominicana,"
ii. , p. 304.
" This Bull is dated: "Datum Romse 230,231. —
apud Sanctos Apostolos ix. Kal. Decern- Article III. bris, Pontificatus nostri AnnoDecimo. " The Kelly, p. xxxiii.
*
Edited by Rev. Dr.
date the 8th of 10 October, 1426,
12 The or
vestry chapter-
During the last century this portion of the building had been used as the Protes- tant Church for Portumna. See Bishop de
" Hibernia Dominicana," ix. , Burgo's cap.
I4 Seev "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise,"
l6
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
S o8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 3 i. Mac Maine. His place, however, is not there particularized. A similar
Lothar,
Irish tion. This
10 this does not rest on solid founda-
is to be found, in the Book of Leinster 2 such copy. Following
entry
authorities, we should be inclined to infer, that the father of Aedh was
namedMaine. HesprungfromtheraceofCollaUais,MonarchofErin, according to the O'Clerys. This must be the same Saint, whose festival has been already recorded, at the ioth of July. 3 When St. Patrick * was in the extreme North of Ireland, he visited the district of Bredach, where he met three of his nephews, by a sister. These, too, were deacons. There the saint rested on a Sunday, and laid out the foundations of a church, called Domhnach bile, afterwards known as Moville, in the present County of Donegal. s Cuil-MainewastheancientnameoftheparishofClonmany,in the north-west of the barony of Inishowen, and in the County of Donegal. It is said, St. Patrick had a nephew, or a relative, called Aidus, Aedan, or Aedh. 7 However, it seems no easy matter to define his identity ; although his father is stated to have been a nobleman, named Colman, son of Aidus, and of the Hi-Bressail race. In after time, the former Aedh became cele- brated for sanctity, and he was regarded as the patron of an island, called Inis-
8 where he was venerated. However, as the date for his festival has not been noted, among the many Irish saints bearing a similar name in our calendars, it is only necessary to state from the particulars recorded, he must bedistinguishedfromthepresentSt. Aidus,saidtobeofCuil-Maine. This ancient denomination has been resolved into Clonmany9 in Donegal. Colgan
advances the possibility of the present Aedus having been a nephew of the
any Martyrology Donegal,
Article IV. —Reputed Translation of St. Ctjimian's Relics, at
Bobbio, in Italy. Already have we related nearly all that can be known,
June, and again at the 19th of August ; both of which days are assigned to him as festivals. However, still much doubt remains, in regard to the identity and acts of that St. Cumian, who was the Bishop buried at Bobbio, in Italy. We have alluded, at the latter date, to that town, and given an illustration of St. Columbano's Church, in which the remains of the illustrious founder and patron, St. Columbanus,3 and also of St. Cummian, are laid at rest, in their respective tombs. When St. Columbanus was obliged to leave Bregentz, his protector, Theodobert, King of Austrasie, having been vanquished in the
Apostle, yet, opinion
holy
great
same date, as Deacon Aedh, of Cuil-Maine.
man is recorded in the
of
11 at this
with any degree of certainty, in reference to St. Cummianus, at the 9th of 12
2 Thus : &vo mac ttlAine.
3 See the Seventh Volume of this work*, at that date, for a notice of him, Art. iii.
4 See the Third Volume of this work, at the 17th of March, Art. i. The Life of St. Patrick, Apostle and Chief 1'atron of Ire- land, chap. xiv.
rated, on the 8th day of March. See ibid. ,
nn. 104, 105,
9 This parish has an area of 23,375 acres.
Much of the interior surface is mountainous,
and it towers aloft in abrupt accuminated
"
ascents. See Gazetteer of the World," vol.
"Trias
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. Vita Patricii, nn. 176, 177, p. 181.
5 See exxii. , p. 145.
Thaumaturga,"
Thaumaturga," Septima Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
Colgan's
6
See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iv. , n. (k), p. 1249.
7 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. lxxvi. ,p. 163.
8 This place has not been identified ; yet
Colgan conjectures it may be the same as Cluain-Lothuir, where St. Curcagia is vene-
230, 231. — Article iv.
ii. , p. 593.
,0 See "Trias
"
p.
187.
See the Sixth Volume of this work, at that date, Art. iv.
'
See the present Volume, at that day. Art. ii.
3 His festival is held on the 21st Novem- ber, at which date his Acts are to be found in the Eleventh Volume of this work, Art. i.
2
August 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 5°9
decisive battle of Tolbiac, a. d. 612, by his brother Thierry, the holy Abbot took his course across the Alps, with a single disciple named Attala/
and sought refuge with Agilulphe, King of the Lombards. From him, St. Columban obtained a grant ot the district named Bobbio, not far from that site where Hannibal had formerly encamped on the River Trebbia, and had vanquished the Romans in battle. At that place, in a gorge of the Apen- nines between Milan and Genoa, there had been an old church dedicated to St. Peter,s Prince of the Apostles. The great Irish missionary charged
The Bridge and Town of Bobbio, Italy.
himself with the work of restoration, and beside it he commenced the foundation of his celebrated monastery, where religion and learning alike flourished for many succeeding centuries. 6 As in the case of nearly all such
monastic establishments, a town grew up around that abbey, at the present time comprising fully 4,000 inhabitants. ? The approach to it is by a noble bridge of several arches, which span the River Trebbia. 8 * The monastery
4 He was venerated on the 10th of March
as a saint, and is said by Miss Margaret Stokes to have followed St. Columban from Ireland. See "Six Months in the Apen- nines," p. 168. However, Jonas, who has written the Life of Attala, states that he was a noble by birth, and that he belonged to theKingdomofBurgundy. Seeanoticeof him in the Third Volume of this work, at
the loth of March, Art. xviii.
5 His chief festival occurs on the 29th of
has given a catalogue of seven hundred
manuscripts kept there in the tenth century. There, too, was found that famous Palimp- sest, on which Cardinal Mai has deciphered the work of Cicero, " De Republica. "
7 See "Gazetteer of the World," vol. ii. ,
P- 787- 8Theaccompanyingillustrationisfroma
drawing on the spot by Miss Margaret Stokes, and most kindly lent to the writer
for the purpose of having it copied on the
wood by William F. Wakeman. The 6 The school and library at Bobbio were engraving is by Mrs. Millard. The draw-
June.
regarded as among the most celebrated
during the Middle Ages. The latter con-
ing by Miss Stokes has been engraved on a much larger scale in her highly interesting and valuable work, "Six Months in the
tained a great number of manuscripts,
traced, no doubt, by Irish scribes, and Apennines ; or, a Pilgrimage in Search of having the peculiar interlaced Celtic forms Vestiges of the Irish Saints in Italy," at on several of the initial letters. Muratori p. 191. London, 1892, 4to.
5 io LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 31.
was suppressed, under the French domination of Italy, in 1803, and its
literary treasures were dispersed. Some of the Bobbio Manuscripts were
transferred to the Ambrosian Library in Milan ; others were conveyed to the
Benedictine Monastery of Monte Casino, where a great number of them are
now preserved. 9 It need scarcely be added, that those depositories contain
a vast store of information, historic and otherwise, not yet published. The
Church of St. Columban still exists, and serves for all parochial purposes, at
Bobbio.
