Loman,37 one of our saint's nephews, and a Bishop of Trim, in Meath, wrote some tract
respecting
his holy uncle, even while the latter was living.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
Dr.
Joachim Lorenzo Villanueva, was published, in the year 1835, in Dublin.
These several versions have been made, from one or other of the ancient manuscripts, already described.
Ware, appeared,
year 1656 ;
another, by
" his letter to Confession,"
or as also the Canons Carotic,
King Coroticus,^3
of two Councils, which he is said to have held, are considered, by some of
the best critics, to have been written by him. A Cottonian Manuscript, in the British Museum, contains the text of the Epistle to Caroticus. ^* It has been published, and even with an English version. ^s Certain Synodal Canons are attributed to St. Patrick's authorship alone f^ and, again, there are others, which are ascribed to St. Patrick, to St. Auxilius, and to St. Iserni- nus. '7 Canons—differing from the foregoing—have been edited, likewise ;
from the Bodleian copy. The " Confes- St. Patrick's Life.
" ^' sion of St. Patrick, she has carefully and
See her admirable and interesting work,
conscientiously edited, while the marginal notes are collations, with five different
copies, viz. : B, representing the Cotton MS. , British Museum, F, denoting copies I or 3, Fell. Bodleian Library, V, signifying Villaneuva, corresponding with the BoUan- dists, and W, standing for Sir James Ware's version.
"The Life of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ire-
'* From a
cop5r, procured by
Father
'3 A of this was Rev. copy published by
Andrew Denis, Atrebas, of the Society of
Jesus, from St. Vedast's Monastery.
•'
'5 In
cio. " Confessio S. Patricii, pp. i to 23. —
Dr. Charles O'Conor, in " Rerum Hiberni-
Opuscula adscripta Sancto Patri-
carum Scriptores," tomus i. Prolegomena, pars, i. , pp. cxvii. to cxx. The editor adds some notes to the foregoing Epistle. The
•^ Compare MS. Bodl. , Rawl. , B. 505. ""
Rev. John Lynch, P. P. of Ballymena, has Lives of the Irish Saints," in Irish. See appended the Confessio," in five chapters, also Dr. O'Conor's Catalogue of Stowe and the'* "Epistola," to his "Life of St.
MSS. and MS. Laud. 95. See Sir Thomas Patrick. "
Duffus Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of ^* There are two other Manuscript copies Materials relating to the History of Great extant. Fell, i, and 3, in the Bodleian
Britain and Ireland to the end of the reign of Henry VII. ," vol. i. , part i. , p. 71.
Library, Oxford.
'7 See " Remm Hibernicarum
" Life of St of
Patrick, Apostle Ireland,"
chap, xi. , pp. 612 to 620. Her text is from the Cotton Manuscript, in the British Museum.
tores," tomus i. cvii. to cxvii.
'^
Scrip- Prolegomena, pars, i. , pp.
This version coincides with the BoUan- dists' one, and he gives various readings, from other Codices, without however indi- cating the sources.
'9 See " The Confession of St. Patrick,
These are found, in an old book of
concerning his Life and Conduct.
"
Trans-
lated from the original Latin, as contained
in an ancient Manuscript, over 1,000 years
old. Dublin, 8vo.
'"' He was then P. P. of St. Michan's
Church, and it was written a short time pre-
vious to his death, and published in 1859. To this had been prefixed, a Dedication to
his parishioners, as likewise a summary of
^s
See Sister Mary Francis Clare Cusack's
Confession" have been
land," chap, xi. , pp. 580 to 611. ^' ''
Her copy of the Confession" is taken
from the Book of Armagh, as transcribed by
the Rev. T. O'Mahony of Trinity College, with various readings, from copies, found in the British Museum, in the BodleianLi brai ies, and in that copy, printed by the Bollandists.
**
Canons, belonging to the Cottonian Library,
"
Tit. Ixvi. See Villanueva's
Ibernorum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. Scholia, n. 2, p. 20.
^'^ See Sir Henry Spelman's "Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Constitutiones in Re Eccle-
siarum Orbis Britannici," published in 1639. These Canons were copied by Wilkins, Ware and Villaneueva. They are taken from a Codex of the Benedictine Library,
and preserved, in the College of Corpus Christi, at Cambridge, Num. 221. The original was found to be defective, however,
Sancti Patricii,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 403
and, by some of the most judicious critics,^^ they have been attributed to St.
Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, while other writers contend, they were drawn up, by a St. Patrick, called the Junior. ^9 Some Synodal Decrees3° are stated
tohavebeenpenned,byoursaint; but,greatdoubtsareentertained,regard- ing their authenticity. 3^ However, Father Joachim Lorenzo Villanueva be- lieved in their genuineness, at least, so far as some are concerned. 3=^ St. Patrick is said to have left behind him certain Proverbs, in the Irish language, which were afterwards rendered into Latin. 33 Another work, attri-
34 as also " De Tri- one,
or " De Epistola,
opening In the Irish language, likewise, there are several prose and poetic tracts, which purport, and are stated, to have been written by St. Patrick. However, we have no sufficient evidence
in some passages, which required great 34 Among the works of St. Cyprian, Jaco- critical care for a restoration. bus Pamelius has printed this Tract ; and,
*®
buted to is a " De Abusionibus him, book,
Sseculi," that the
bus Habitaculis. " 35 It —is
quite apparent, notwithstanding
Charta,
the assertion in the
—Avallonica" Antiquitate
3^
sentence cannot be ascribed to our saint.
Among these may be noted, Arch- it has appeared, also, among the supposi-
bishop Ussher, Sir James Ware, Fresne, Colgan, Martene, D'Achery, Lanigan, &c.
*' According to a theory of some writers, in this case, there might be no contradiction, since they make Palladius, the old Patrick, and the Irish Apostle, the junior Patrick.
3° These were taken, in
tious works of St. Augustine, edited by the
attributed,
Canons, Tit. Ixvi. of the Cottonian collec-
tion. Edmund Martene has edited the
429,
Tribus Habitaculis, coeli, mundi et inferni,"
Frag- ment of an Irish Synodal Decree, thought to have come down from the time of St.
having
This Archbishop Ussher states, and he had
Patrick,
begins with,
Synodus
included, among
Appendix, col. 639.
and which
the works of St. Augustine, as edited by the Benedictine
Ibernensis decrevit," and, seven other
Canons, referring to the payment of Tithes,
part, Augustine,
"i. Dicuntauctoresde-
Ware that it shows,
which
cimas," &c. Both were taken, " ex Cod. Bibliothecse Bigotianse," and they were written more than eight hundred years ago.
"
the original Manuscript. That Treatise has
from the
it possible, may
Monastic
Canterbury, as appears from a prefixed in-
scription. They have been edited, by Sir Patricii, cap. clxxxv. See also, Sir James
Library
of St.
at
to which — sedifica- verbs, Jocelyn alludes,"
in" S. " De lib. James Ware, Opuscula Adscripta Ware, Scriptoribus Hibemias,"
Patricio," p. 87, and, after him, by Wil- kins, in "Concilia Magnse Britannias et Hibemias. " These are preserved, in the old Codex Manuscript of Canons, under the title Ixvi. , and classed, Otho, E. 13. , in the Cottonian collection. This Codex is sup- posed, as dating back to the Anglo-Saxon times. Again, in part, two unauthenticated Patrician Canons are found, in a Cambridge Codex. There are nine Canons, similarly
ii. , cap. i. , p. 102.
35 See ibid. , pp. loi, 102. John Boston,
a Benedictine monk of St. Edmund's Mon- astery, at Bury, who flourished in the be-
ginning of the fifteenth century, under King Henry IV. , and who visited nearly all the chief Libraries of England and Scotland, afterwards wrote a work, " De Scriptoribus
and found in the Codex of in the of Christ year
and " De wrote,
Sir
cannot be the work, either of St. Patrick, or
of St. Augustine ; since, in their times, St. Jerome's version of the Sacred Scriptures had not appeared, and, yet, all the Scrip- tural text, quoted in the Treatise, are taken from his version.
3* See the ScJiolion, subjoined to it, in
cula," &c. Scholia, n. i, p. 146, n. 7, p. 155. Father Joachim Lorenzo Villanueva's
3=^ •' See ibid. , n. i, p. 160, n. i, p. 170, and
begins with,
However,
James
" Anecdotorum," tomus iv. , pp. i, et seq.
3' See Villanueva's " Sancti
They are published, in
Thesaurus Novus
Iber- norum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opus-
on the
Irish Church," Appendix, Nos. vi. , vii. , pp.
di'x to i. , pp. 297
304 to 320.
33 Such is the opinion of Sir James Ware,
in a note to Liber, "De Abusionibus Sseculi," p. 139.
Essays
Early
306.
published the works of St. Patrick, Apostle
of the Irish, in his very voluminous edition,
"Patrilogiae Cursus Com- pletus," &c. , tomus liii.
3? He is assigned a double festival, one on
Patricii,
Sancti Patricii, Ibernorum Apostoli, n. p. 173. See also, on this subject, Rt. Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. Appen-
Rev. Moran's " Bishop
The Abbe has Migne
"De duodecim abusionibus gradibus," tomus vi,, col. 691. Sir James Ware has doubts, as to whether this Treatise should be ascribed or not to St. Patrick ; and, yet, he thinks it be that Irish Book of Pro-
Benedictine Maurists, under this title,
tione plurima plenum. " Sexta Vita S.
"
Patrick, Archbishop of Ibernia, flourished,
Ecclesiasticis.
In this, he stales, that
for its "Tria sunt. " beginning,
also been
Maurists, tomus vi.
404 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
to establish their authenticity, and their consequent value, as biographical authorities ; but, hereafter, more at length, shall we endeavour to examine their nature and origin. Many of these were written, apparently at a remote period. Notwithstanding, than those tracts already indicated, we must receive with greater hesitancy the traditional accounts, which profess to con- nect others, with the genuine writings of our saint.
We can have no reason whatever to doubt, that soon after the departure
of our illustrious St. Patrick from earth, many of his disciples and relations
undertook the appropriate and pleasing duty of recording his miracles, virtues, and actions ; indeed, we have assurances, that such was the case, and, therefore, we must refer to the accounts left, regarding his earlier bio-
graphers. It is stated, that St.
Loman,37 one of our saint's nephews, and a Bishop of Trim, in Meath, wrote some tract respecting his holy uncle, even while the latter was living. Loman flourished about the middle of the fifth
century. St. Secundinus,38 Bishop of Dunshaughlin,39 in Meath, and another of St. Patrick's nephews, composed a hymn, in praise of his uncle. Colgan has published this composition. It has also been generally thought, St. Cianan,4° or Kienan, Bishop of Damhlaig, or Duleek,^' in East Meath, lived about 480, and that he wrote a Life of St. Patrick. It has been asserted, that St. Maol, or Moel,^^ thought by some, to have been one of St. Patrick's nephews, and the first Bishop of Ardagh,43 wrote a book, on the virtues and miracles of his reputed uncle. He departed, towards the close of the fifth century. —It is said, St. Patrick the Younger 44—by some called a nephew of our saint wrote his Acts, and flourished about the same time. St. Benig- nus,45 Archbishop of Armagh, is accounted to have been one of St. Patrick's earliest biographers, as also St. Fiach,'*^ Bishop of Sletty. St. Evin, or Emhin,47 is also considered to have been the writer of his Acts ; yet, it seems probable, these have been interpolated, by later compilers. The Scholiast on St. Fiach's biography is supposed to have \vritten, in the sixth, or, at latest, in the seventh, century. Again, St. Ultan was one of our Apostle's biographers, andhewasBishopofArdbraccan. Hedepartedthislifeonthe4thofSeptem- ber,48 ^ j3 656. '»9 The Annotations, or Life of St. Patrick, by Tirechan,5° had beeninUssher'spossession. HeusedtheseNotes,incompilingthe"Primor- dia. " Tirechan flourished, towards the middle of the seventh century, or before his master's release. The alumnus wrote, perhaps, before this date,
the 17 th of February, and, another, at the Ilth of October.
3^ His feast occurs, at the 27th of Novem- ber.
39 This is now a parish, in the barony of Ratoath, and its bounds are defined, on the
"
Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Meath," Sheets 38, 44. The Town proper is on the latter Sheet,
*^ The parish of Ardagh is in the baronies of Ardagh and Moydow. It is shown, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Longford," Sheets 14, 19, 20. The town proper is on Sheet 19.
'4 He is thought to have retired to Glas- tonbury, after the death of his uncle, St. Patrick, and to have died there. See re- garding him Ussher's " Britannicarum Ec-
*° His festival is held, on the 24th of clesiarum Antiquitates," chap, xvii. , pp.
November.
4' There are two distinct parishes, one
Duleek, in the baronies of Lower and Upper
''
426, 429, 460 to 464.
^s His feast occurs, at the 9th of November. ^6 His festival is held, on the 12th of
October.
*' His feast is on the 22nd of December. ^^ This is also the date for his festival.
4' See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 268, 269.
5= He was a bishop, and by some of our writers, he was classed among the saints. His
feast has been assigned to the 3rd of July, si See " Fac-Similes of National Manu-
Duleek, and this is shown on the
nance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Meath," Sheets 19, 20, 26, 27, 32, 33 ; the other is Duleek Abbey, Upper Duleek barony, shown on Sheets 27, 33.
The tovm of Duleek is on Sheet 27. See ibid.
^
*' niary.
His feast takes place, on the 6th of Feb-
Ord-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 405
as stated in the copy, found in the Book of Armagh,si for, it is there said,s« the author obtained his information, from the book or from the oral instruc- tion of his preceptor, St. Ultan. ss Various other biographers succeeded, but many of their compositions are said to have perished, during the wars of the Danes and Northmen. Indeed, no less than sixty-six different Lives of Ire- land's illustrious Patron had already appeared, before the close of the twelfth century, when Jocelyn composed his Acts. S4
The most complete and useful work for information, regarding this great Apostle's career, will be found, in those seven ancient Lives or Tracts,5s pre- pared for the press, and edited, by the learned Father John Colgan. 5S These we shall endeavour to describe, in their order of position. Our celebrated Irish Hagiologist, no doubt, has fallen into various mistakes, while endeavour- ing to investigate the authorship of St. Patrick's several biographies, as in- cluded in his great collection. 57 Considering his foreign residence and position, with the want of aids subsequently provided, his misconceptions were almost inevitable. So far as possible, we shall make some corrections. The First Life, contained in the collection, has been attributed to St. Fiech, or Fiacc,5S regarded as the disciple of St. Patrick. He was the first Bishop of Sletty, and, afterwards, he was recognized, as chief Bishop of Leinster. He
is said to have written a Hymn, partly panegyrical, and partly historical, in which he briefly relates some principal incidents of St. Patrick's life. This
composition, Colgan translated, from the original Irish, into Latin. He printedbothversions,incollateralcolumns. 59 Amuchmorecorrectversionof
this Hymn has recently appeared,^" with interesting illustrations, by a highly competent translator and writer. ^^ If this Poem be really Fiecc's composi-
tion, it is the oldest monument extant, for the illustrating of St. Patrick's memoirs. ^^ There are thirty-four Irish stanzas, in this Hymn. ^3 Colgan drew
"
his version, from the Franciscan
Liber Hymnorum," ^^ and, he endeavoured
scripts of Ireland," selected and edited under the direction of the Rt. Hon. Edward Sullivan, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, by
J. T. Gilbert, F. S. A. , M. R. I. A.
S'^Atfol. 16.
53 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia-
rum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 426.
S'* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxxxvi.
55 Where the Lives of our saint are noted,
simply and in numerical order, through the course of these chapters, it must be known to the reader, that reference is had to the foregoing volume, its parts, classifications, and paging.
Thaumaturga," published at Louvain, A. D. 1 647) fol-
57 This must be apparent, to the careful Historic investigator, from closely studying
*' "
See the Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
vol. iv. March, 1868. St. Piece's Poem, on
the Life of St. Patrick, pp. 269 to 293.
^^ The xi. Vol. of O'Longan's MSS. , in the R. I. A. , includes St. Fiach's Metrical Life of St. Patrick, 34 verses, at p. 329. Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's small 4to paper MS. (No. 185) in the R. I. A. , con- tains an imperfect Hymn of St. Fiach of
Slatty, in praise of St. Patrick,
^^ I3esides Colgan's edition, we have one, by Rev. Dr. Charles O'Conor, in " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus i. Prole- gomina, part i. , pp. 88 et seq. ; one by Henry Leo, " Commentatio de Carmine Vetusto Hibernico in S. Patricii laudem," Halis Saxonum, 1845 5 ^^^ ^7 Vallancey,
*'
Irish Grammar," Dublin, 1773 ; one by Mr. Patrick Lynch, in the Appendix to his "Life of St.
5* In his celebrated collection, the " Trias
the General Preface to
Thaumaturga," as also the notes and obser-
Patrick," Dublin, 1810,
subsequent
vations, Lives.
he has
Colgan's appended
" Trias to the several
and in
editions ; one by Martin A. O'Brennan in
his " vol. and one Antiquities," i. , p. 484;
by Richard Plunket, with the Irish title,
5* of or "Himhin Bishop Sleibhte, Sletty.
59 See Vita Prima S. Patricii, pp. I to 3, with notes, pp. 4 to 10.
*°A inthe tothe " translation, Appendix
Life of St. Patrick," published by Mr. Patrick Lynch, in Dublin, a. d. 1810, differs, in some points, from that given by Colgan.
Phadruig Absdab," &c. , printed at Dublin, 1791.
'"• This is the copy, now preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin.
^5 The Rev. Dr. Todd unhesitatingly pre- fers Colgan's edition, to any other that has since appeared. Subsequent editions and
in the first edition of his
4o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
torendertheIrishliterallyintoLatin/5 Thepoemitselfisofancientdate, although the remote origin claimed for it, by Colgan, has been questioned. ^^
Itsnarrative,however,issmoothandregular; nordowefindthere,manyof those incredible fictions, that are met with, in more recent Lives of our
saint. ^7
A supposition has been offered, that St. Fiech left some memorials
behind him at Sletty, perhaps, and that from these, by a later writer, the Hymn may have been composed, so as thus to bear his name. ^^ It is not readily proved, that the Hymn could have been of St. Fiach's time ; yet, in reference to it, pending the doubt, we may be permitted to give its received denomina- tion. WithregardtotheScholia,orcommentaries,accompanyingthisHymn, an opinion has been advanced, that they are even referable to the middle, or to an earlier part, of the sixth century. ^9 A very judicious critic7° has asserted, that although some of them indicate high antiquity ; yet, others bear traces of a later composition. 7' On collation, they do not seem to have been prepared, solely by one person. 72 As we read them, at present, those glosses are fairly supposed to have been compiled, from observations of various writers, some more, and some less, ancient. 73 In proportion as we remove from the early date, assigned for the composition of St. Fiech's Hymn, so, in a corresponding degree, must we diminish antiquity for the Scholia. ""- Colgan thinks the commentator flourished, about a. d. 580, or, at least, before the close of the sixth century. He wrote, partly in Irish and
translations have added nothing of value,
philologically or historically, and serving for
its illustration. They are nearly all taken
from Colgan's text and version some with already quoted, at " He
1" As for instance, in Scholion 5, there is a Letha, mentioned in the Hymn, at Strophe 5, thus Englished, in the periodical
; p. 285:
(i. e. arbitrary alterations of the original, and Victor) sent him {i. e. Patrick) across all the translations, the offspring of ignorance, for Alps : over the sea marvellous was his the most part, where they differ from his course, until he staid with Germanus in the edition. See the LeAbhA]\ Imuinn, "The south, in Southern Letha. " Here, this Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of place has been properly explained by Armo- Ireland," Fasciculus ii. , No. xix. The rica, or the maritime part of Gaul, to the Hymn of St. Fiacc, in praise of St. Patrick, N. W. But, in Scolion 11, it is interpreted pp. 287 to 289, with notes. It is only right Latium, i. e. Italy. In the "Irish Ecclesias- to observe, that Dr. Todd seems not to have tical Record," vol. iii. , p. 9, it has been
been aware, that' a really valuable version of
this Hymn, with an Introduction, appeared in the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol.
iv.
Ware, appeared,
year 1656 ;
another, by
" his letter to Confession,"
or as also the Canons Carotic,
King Coroticus,^3
of two Councils, which he is said to have held, are considered, by some of
the best critics, to have been written by him. A Cottonian Manuscript, in the British Museum, contains the text of the Epistle to Caroticus. ^* It has been published, and even with an English version. ^s Certain Synodal Canons are attributed to St. Patrick's authorship alone f^ and, again, there are others, which are ascribed to St. Patrick, to St. Auxilius, and to St. Iserni- nus. '7 Canons—differing from the foregoing—have been edited, likewise ;
from the Bodleian copy. The " Confes- St. Patrick's Life.
" ^' sion of St. Patrick, she has carefully and
See her admirable and interesting work,
conscientiously edited, while the marginal notes are collations, with five different
copies, viz. : B, representing the Cotton MS. , British Museum, F, denoting copies I or 3, Fell. Bodleian Library, V, signifying Villaneuva, corresponding with the BoUan- dists, and W, standing for Sir James Ware's version.
"The Life of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ire-
'* From a
cop5r, procured by
Father
'3 A of this was Rev. copy published by
Andrew Denis, Atrebas, of the Society of
Jesus, from St. Vedast's Monastery.
•'
'5 In
cio. " Confessio S. Patricii, pp. i to 23. —
Dr. Charles O'Conor, in " Rerum Hiberni-
Opuscula adscripta Sancto Patri-
carum Scriptores," tomus i. Prolegomena, pars, i. , pp. cxvii. to cxx. The editor adds some notes to the foregoing Epistle. The
•^ Compare MS. Bodl. , Rawl. , B. 505. ""
Rev. John Lynch, P. P. of Ballymena, has Lives of the Irish Saints," in Irish. See appended the Confessio," in five chapters, also Dr. O'Conor's Catalogue of Stowe and the'* "Epistola," to his "Life of St.
MSS. and MS. Laud. 95. See Sir Thomas Patrick. "
Duffus Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of ^* There are two other Manuscript copies Materials relating to the History of Great extant. Fell, i, and 3, in the Bodleian
Britain and Ireland to the end of the reign of Henry VII. ," vol. i. , part i. , p. 71.
Library, Oxford.
'7 See " Remm Hibernicarum
" Life of St of
Patrick, Apostle Ireland,"
chap, xi. , pp. 612 to 620. Her text is from the Cotton Manuscript, in the British Museum.
tores," tomus i. cvii. to cxvii.
'^
Scrip- Prolegomena, pars, i. , pp.
This version coincides with the BoUan- dists' one, and he gives various readings, from other Codices, without however indi- cating the sources.
'9 See " The Confession of St. Patrick,
These are found, in an old book of
concerning his Life and Conduct.
"
Trans-
lated from the original Latin, as contained
in an ancient Manuscript, over 1,000 years
old. Dublin, 8vo.
'"' He was then P. P. of St. Michan's
Church, and it was written a short time pre-
vious to his death, and published in 1859. To this had been prefixed, a Dedication to
his parishioners, as likewise a summary of
^s
See Sister Mary Francis Clare Cusack's
Confession" have been
land," chap, xi. , pp. 580 to 611. ^' ''
Her copy of the Confession" is taken
from the Book of Armagh, as transcribed by
the Rev. T. O'Mahony of Trinity College, with various readings, from copies, found in the British Museum, in the BodleianLi brai ies, and in that copy, printed by the Bollandists.
**
Canons, belonging to the Cottonian Library,
"
Tit. Ixvi. See Villanueva's
Ibernorum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. Scholia, n. 2, p. 20.
^'^ See Sir Henry Spelman's "Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Constitutiones in Re Eccle-
siarum Orbis Britannici," published in 1639. These Canons were copied by Wilkins, Ware and Villaneueva. They are taken from a Codex of the Benedictine Library,
and preserved, in the College of Corpus Christi, at Cambridge, Num. 221. The original was found to be defective, however,
Sancti Patricii,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 403
and, by some of the most judicious critics,^^ they have been attributed to St.
Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, while other writers contend, they were drawn up, by a St. Patrick, called the Junior. ^9 Some Synodal Decrees3° are stated
tohavebeenpenned,byoursaint; but,greatdoubtsareentertained,regard- ing their authenticity. 3^ However, Father Joachim Lorenzo Villanueva be- lieved in their genuineness, at least, so far as some are concerned. 3=^ St. Patrick is said to have left behind him certain Proverbs, in the Irish language, which were afterwards rendered into Latin. 33 Another work, attri-
34 as also " De Tri- one,
or " De Epistola,
opening In the Irish language, likewise, there are several prose and poetic tracts, which purport, and are stated, to have been written by St. Patrick. However, we have no sufficient evidence
in some passages, which required great 34 Among the works of St. Cyprian, Jaco- critical care for a restoration. bus Pamelius has printed this Tract ; and,
*®
buted to is a " De Abusionibus him, book,
Sseculi," that the
bus Habitaculis. " 35 It —is
quite apparent, notwithstanding
Charta,
the assertion in the
—Avallonica" Antiquitate
3^
sentence cannot be ascribed to our saint.
Among these may be noted, Arch- it has appeared, also, among the supposi-
bishop Ussher, Sir James Ware, Fresne, Colgan, Martene, D'Achery, Lanigan, &c.
*' According to a theory of some writers, in this case, there might be no contradiction, since they make Palladius, the old Patrick, and the Irish Apostle, the junior Patrick.
3° These were taken, in
tious works of St. Augustine, edited by the
attributed,
Canons, Tit. Ixvi. of the Cottonian collec-
tion. Edmund Martene has edited the
429,
Tribus Habitaculis, coeli, mundi et inferni,"
Frag- ment of an Irish Synodal Decree, thought to have come down from the time of St.
having
This Archbishop Ussher states, and he had
Patrick,
begins with,
Synodus
included, among
Appendix, col. 639.
and which
the works of St. Augustine, as edited by the Benedictine
Ibernensis decrevit," and, seven other
Canons, referring to the payment of Tithes,
part, Augustine,
"i. Dicuntauctoresde-
Ware that it shows,
which
cimas," &c. Both were taken, " ex Cod. Bibliothecse Bigotianse," and they were written more than eight hundred years ago.
"
the original Manuscript. That Treatise has
from the
it possible, may
Monastic
Canterbury, as appears from a prefixed in-
scription. They have been edited, by Sir Patricii, cap. clxxxv. See also, Sir James
Library
of St.
at
to which — sedifica- verbs, Jocelyn alludes,"
in" S. " De lib. James Ware, Opuscula Adscripta Ware, Scriptoribus Hibemias,"
Patricio," p. 87, and, after him, by Wil- kins, in "Concilia Magnse Britannias et Hibemias. " These are preserved, in the old Codex Manuscript of Canons, under the title Ixvi. , and classed, Otho, E. 13. , in the Cottonian collection. This Codex is sup- posed, as dating back to the Anglo-Saxon times. Again, in part, two unauthenticated Patrician Canons are found, in a Cambridge Codex. There are nine Canons, similarly
ii. , cap. i. , p. 102.
35 See ibid. , pp. loi, 102. John Boston,
a Benedictine monk of St. Edmund's Mon- astery, at Bury, who flourished in the be-
ginning of the fifteenth century, under King Henry IV. , and who visited nearly all the chief Libraries of England and Scotland, afterwards wrote a work, " De Scriptoribus
and found in the Codex of in the of Christ year
and " De wrote,
Sir
cannot be the work, either of St. Patrick, or
of St. Augustine ; since, in their times, St. Jerome's version of the Sacred Scriptures had not appeared, and, yet, all the Scrip- tural text, quoted in the Treatise, are taken from his version.
3* See the ScJiolion, subjoined to it, in
cula," &c. Scholia, n. i, p. 146, n. 7, p. 155. Father Joachim Lorenzo Villanueva's
3=^ •' See ibid. , n. i, p. 160, n. i, p. 170, and
begins with,
However,
James
" Anecdotorum," tomus iv. , pp. i, et seq.
3' See Villanueva's " Sancti
They are published, in
Thesaurus Novus
Iber- norum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opus-
on the
Irish Church," Appendix, Nos. vi. , vii. , pp.
di'x to i. , pp. 297
304 to 320.
33 Such is the opinion of Sir James Ware,
in a note to Liber, "De Abusionibus Sseculi," p. 139.
Essays
Early
306.
published the works of St. Patrick, Apostle
of the Irish, in his very voluminous edition,
"Patrilogiae Cursus Com- pletus," &c. , tomus liii.
3? He is assigned a double festival, one on
Patricii,
Sancti Patricii, Ibernorum Apostoli, n. p. 173. See also, on this subject, Rt. Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. Appen-
Rev. Moran's " Bishop
The Abbe has Migne
"De duodecim abusionibus gradibus," tomus vi,, col. 691. Sir James Ware has doubts, as to whether this Treatise should be ascribed or not to St. Patrick ; and, yet, he thinks it be that Irish Book of Pro-
Benedictine Maurists, under this title,
tione plurima plenum. " Sexta Vita S.
"
Patrick, Archbishop of Ibernia, flourished,
Ecclesiasticis.
In this, he stales, that
for its "Tria sunt. " beginning,
also been
Maurists, tomus vi.
404 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
to establish their authenticity, and their consequent value, as biographical authorities ; but, hereafter, more at length, shall we endeavour to examine their nature and origin. Many of these were written, apparently at a remote period. Notwithstanding, than those tracts already indicated, we must receive with greater hesitancy the traditional accounts, which profess to con- nect others, with the genuine writings of our saint.
We can have no reason whatever to doubt, that soon after the departure
of our illustrious St. Patrick from earth, many of his disciples and relations
undertook the appropriate and pleasing duty of recording his miracles, virtues, and actions ; indeed, we have assurances, that such was the case, and, therefore, we must refer to the accounts left, regarding his earlier bio-
graphers. It is stated, that St.
Loman,37 one of our saint's nephews, and a Bishop of Trim, in Meath, wrote some tract respecting his holy uncle, even while the latter was living. Loman flourished about the middle of the fifth
century. St. Secundinus,38 Bishop of Dunshaughlin,39 in Meath, and another of St. Patrick's nephews, composed a hymn, in praise of his uncle. Colgan has published this composition. It has also been generally thought, St. Cianan,4° or Kienan, Bishop of Damhlaig, or Duleek,^' in East Meath, lived about 480, and that he wrote a Life of St. Patrick. It has been asserted, that St. Maol, or Moel,^^ thought by some, to have been one of St. Patrick's nephews, and the first Bishop of Ardagh,43 wrote a book, on the virtues and miracles of his reputed uncle. He departed, towards the close of the fifth century. —It is said, St. Patrick the Younger 44—by some called a nephew of our saint wrote his Acts, and flourished about the same time. St. Benig- nus,45 Archbishop of Armagh, is accounted to have been one of St. Patrick's earliest biographers, as also St. Fiach,'*^ Bishop of Sletty. St. Evin, or Emhin,47 is also considered to have been the writer of his Acts ; yet, it seems probable, these have been interpolated, by later compilers. The Scholiast on St. Fiach's biography is supposed to have \vritten, in the sixth, or, at latest, in the seventh, century. Again, St. Ultan was one of our Apostle's biographers, andhewasBishopofArdbraccan. Hedepartedthislifeonthe4thofSeptem- ber,48 ^ j3 656. '»9 The Annotations, or Life of St. Patrick, by Tirechan,5° had beeninUssher'spossession. HeusedtheseNotes,incompilingthe"Primor- dia. " Tirechan flourished, towards the middle of the seventh century, or before his master's release. The alumnus wrote, perhaps, before this date,
the 17 th of February, and, another, at the Ilth of October.
3^ His feast occurs, at the 27th of Novem- ber.
39 This is now a parish, in the barony of Ratoath, and its bounds are defined, on the
"
Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Meath," Sheets 38, 44. The Town proper is on the latter Sheet,
*^ The parish of Ardagh is in the baronies of Ardagh and Moydow. It is shown, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Longford," Sheets 14, 19, 20. The town proper is on Sheet 19.
'4 He is thought to have retired to Glas- tonbury, after the death of his uncle, St. Patrick, and to have died there. See re- garding him Ussher's " Britannicarum Ec-
*° His festival is held, on the 24th of clesiarum Antiquitates," chap, xvii. , pp.
November.
4' There are two distinct parishes, one
Duleek, in the baronies of Lower and Upper
''
426, 429, 460 to 464.
^s His feast occurs, at the 9th of November. ^6 His festival is held, on the 12th of
October.
*' His feast is on the 22nd of December. ^^ This is also the date for his festival.
4' See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 268, 269.
5= He was a bishop, and by some of our writers, he was classed among the saints. His
feast has been assigned to the 3rd of July, si See " Fac-Similes of National Manu-
Duleek, and this is shown on the
nance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Meath," Sheets 19, 20, 26, 27, 32, 33 ; the other is Duleek Abbey, Upper Duleek barony, shown on Sheets 27, 33.
The tovm of Duleek is on Sheet 27. See ibid.
^
*' niary.
His feast takes place, on the 6th of Feb-
Ord-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 405
as stated in the copy, found in the Book of Armagh,si for, it is there said,s« the author obtained his information, from the book or from the oral instruc- tion of his preceptor, St. Ultan. ss Various other biographers succeeded, but many of their compositions are said to have perished, during the wars of the Danes and Northmen. Indeed, no less than sixty-six different Lives of Ire- land's illustrious Patron had already appeared, before the close of the twelfth century, when Jocelyn composed his Acts. S4
The most complete and useful work for information, regarding this great Apostle's career, will be found, in those seven ancient Lives or Tracts,5s pre- pared for the press, and edited, by the learned Father John Colgan. 5S These we shall endeavour to describe, in their order of position. Our celebrated Irish Hagiologist, no doubt, has fallen into various mistakes, while endeavour- ing to investigate the authorship of St. Patrick's several biographies, as in- cluded in his great collection. 57 Considering his foreign residence and position, with the want of aids subsequently provided, his misconceptions were almost inevitable. So far as possible, we shall make some corrections. The First Life, contained in the collection, has been attributed to St. Fiech, or Fiacc,5S regarded as the disciple of St. Patrick. He was the first Bishop of Sletty, and, afterwards, he was recognized, as chief Bishop of Leinster. He
is said to have written a Hymn, partly panegyrical, and partly historical, in which he briefly relates some principal incidents of St. Patrick's life. This
composition, Colgan translated, from the original Irish, into Latin. He printedbothversions,incollateralcolumns. 59 Amuchmorecorrectversionof
this Hymn has recently appeared,^" with interesting illustrations, by a highly competent translator and writer. ^^ If this Poem be really Fiecc's composi-
tion, it is the oldest monument extant, for the illustrating of St. Patrick's memoirs. ^^ There are thirty-four Irish stanzas, in this Hymn. ^3 Colgan drew
"
his version, from the Franciscan
Liber Hymnorum," ^^ and, he endeavoured
scripts of Ireland," selected and edited under the direction of the Rt. Hon. Edward Sullivan, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, by
J. T. Gilbert, F. S. A. , M. R. I. A.
S'^Atfol. 16.
53 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia-
rum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 426.
S'* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxxxvi.
55 Where the Lives of our saint are noted,
simply and in numerical order, through the course of these chapters, it must be known to the reader, that reference is had to the foregoing volume, its parts, classifications, and paging.
Thaumaturga," published at Louvain, A. D. 1 647) fol-
57 This must be apparent, to the careful Historic investigator, from closely studying
*' "
See the Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
vol. iv. March, 1868. St. Piece's Poem, on
the Life of St. Patrick, pp. 269 to 293.
^^ The xi. Vol. of O'Longan's MSS. , in the R. I. A. , includes St. Fiach's Metrical Life of St. Patrick, 34 verses, at p. 329. Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's small 4to paper MS. (No. 185) in the R. I. A. , con- tains an imperfect Hymn of St. Fiach of
Slatty, in praise of St. Patrick,
^^ I3esides Colgan's edition, we have one, by Rev. Dr. Charles O'Conor, in " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus i. Prole- gomina, part i. , pp. 88 et seq. ; one by Henry Leo, " Commentatio de Carmine Vetusto Hibernico in S. Patricii laudem," Halis Saxonum, 1845 5 ^^^ ^7 Vallancey,
*'
Irish Grammar," Dublin, 1773 ; one by Mr. Patrick Lynch, in the Appendix to his "Life of St.
5* In his celebrated collection, the " Trias
the General Preface to
Thaumaturga," as also the notes and obser-
Patrick," Dublin, 1810,
subsequent
vations, Lives.
he has
Colgan's appended
" Trias to the several
and in
editions ; one by Martin A. O'Brennan in
his " vol. and one Antiquities," i. , p. 484;
by Richard Plunket, with the Irish title,
5* of or "Himhin Bishop Sleibhte, Sletty.
59 See Vita Prima S. Patricii, pp. I to 3, with notes, pp. 4 to 10.
*°A inthe tothe " translation, Appendix
Life of St. Patrick," published by Mr. Patrick Lynch, in Dublin, a. d. 1810, differs, in some points, from that given by Colgan.
Phadruig Absdab," &c. , printed at Dublin, 1791.
'"• This is the copy, now preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin.
^5 The Rev. Dr. Todd unhesitatingly pre- fers Colgan's edition, to any other that has since appeared. Subsequent editions and
in the first edition of his
4o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
torendertheIrishliterallyintoLatin/5 Thepoemitselfisofancientdate, although the remote origin claimed for it, by Colgan, has been questioned. ^^
Itsnarrative,however,issmoothandregular; nordowefindthere,manyof those incredible fictions, that are met with, in more recent Lives of our
saint. ^7
A supposition has been offered, that St. Fiech left some memorials
behind him at Sletty, perhaps, and that from these, by a later writer, the Hymn may have been composed, so as thus to bear his name. ^^ It is not readily proved, that the Hymn could have been of St. Fiach's time ; yet, in reference to it, pending the doubt, we may be permitted to give its received denomina- tion. WithregardtotheScholia,orcommentaries,accompanyingthisHymn, an opinion has been advanced, that they are even referable to the middle, or to an earlier part, of the sixth century. ^9 A very judicious critic7° has asserted, that although some of them indicate high antiquity ; yet, others bear traces of a later composition. 7' On collation, they do not seem to have been prepared, solely by one person. 72 As we read them, at present, those glosses are fairly supposed to have been compiled, from observations of various writers, some more, and some less, ancient. 73 In proportion as we remove from the early date, assigned for the composition of St. Fiech's Hymn, so, in a corresponding degree, must we diminish antiquity for the Scholia. ""- Colgan thinks the commentator flourished, about a. d. 580, or, at least, before the close of the sixth century. He wrote, partly in Irish and
translations have added nothing of value,
philologically or historically, and serving for
its illustration. They are nearly all taken
from Colgan's text and version some with already quoted, at " He
1" As for instance, in Scholion 5, there is a Letha, mentioned in the Hymn, at Strophe 5, thus Englished, in the periodical
; p. 285:
(i. e. arbitrary alterations of the original, and Victor) sent him {i. e. Patrick) across all the translations, the offspring of ignorance, for Alps : over the sea marvellous was his the most part, where they differ from his course, until he staid with Germanus in the edition. See the LeAbhA]\ Imuinn, "The south, in Southern Letha. " Here, this Book of Hymns of the Ancient Church of place has been properly explained by Armo- Ireland," Fasciculus ii. , No. xix. The rica, or the maritime part of Gaul, to the Hymn of St. Fiacc, in praise of St. Patrick, N. W. But, in Scolion 11, it is interpreted pp. 287 to 289, with notes. It is only right Latium, i. e. Italy. In the "Irish Ecclesias- to observe, that Dr. Todd seems not to have tical Record," vol. iii. , p. 9, it has been
been aware, that' a really valuable version of
this Hymn, with an Introduction, appeared in the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol.
iv.
