at the dividing line between the
baronies
of
Maryborough East and Stradbally.
Maryborough East and Stradbally.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
8s See at that date, the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i.
86 See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 86, 87.
77 Such is the statement of xiv. , n, 13.
Bale,
centur.
— died on the Inbher-Daeile, 13th day
of
78 See Sir James Ware, " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. hi. , p. 17.
79 By Hanmer, in his "Chronicle of
Ireland," p. 60, and Huntingdon, lib. iii. ,
See Dempster's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iv. , num. 382, p. 209.
September. " Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol.
i. , pp. 256, 257. —
p. 187.
80 "
81 See " De Origine Scotorum," lib. iv. ,
p. 153-
82 "
See Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," xii. Martii. De S. Dagano Abbate et Episcopo, cap. vii. , p. 585.
"3 Abbot and Bishop of Clonenagh. His
festival occurs at the 2ist of October, in the Tenth Volume of this work, Art. i.
s* See Harris' Ware, vol. ii. " Writers of
87 " The Age of Christ, 639, St. Dagan of
88 "
Thus
Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus ii. Tigernachi Annales, p. 194.
8» " Extat Petroburgi libellus de Scpultura Sanctorum Anglorum ; ex quo liquet Cre- danum, Medanum et Dackunum, viros sanctitate vitaeillustreis,et Petroci imxtztoxcs, in Bosmanach fuisse sepultos. "—M Com-
mentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis," auctore Joanne Lelando Londinate, tomus i. , cap. xxxv. , p. 61.
9° In the " Lea—bhar Braec" copy is the following stanza ;
:
Quies Dagain Imbhir Daile. "
324 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 13. at the 13th of September, our Saint is commemorated as u the champion of
battle Dagan of Inber Doele. '
festival of
day Dagan,
,
1
Brief notes by a scholiast are appended. ' The 13th day of September was the date of his festival, as marked in the IrishCalendars. Atthisday,thepublishedMartyrologyofTallagh02notices Dagan Sac. Mac Colmada Inbir doile ; Marianus O'Gorman, 3 and Maguire * also commemorate him likewise, the Calendar of Cashel, ^ and Annals of
;
the Four Masters, so place the date for his death. St. ^Engus calls him,
Dagan, the victorious'6 leader of Inbher-daoile. At this day, he is comme-
morated, in the Martyrology of Castellan. '? Also, corresponding are the Ides of September, when his feast is found entered in the Kalendarium Drummondiense. 98 The day before the Feast of the Cross" in harvest is the
100 as related in an Irish Life of St. Mochoemoc. 101 Colgan has his acts written for the 12th of March, which he asserts corre-
with Calendars in his 102 This latter would seem to have possession.
sponded
been the commemoration of a translation of our Saint's relics, or some other
festival, referring to him. It is not certain, whether our Saint had been first
interred at Inverdaoile, or at Glendalough : for yEngus tells us, that St. Dagan of the former is enumerated among Saints reposing at the latter place. This scatement seems to indicate, either that his remains had been translated from Inverdaoile to Glendalough, or if he had been buried in the first instance, at this latter place, that his body afterwards had been removed to Inver- daoile. 10^ The circumstance of the two different festivals for our Saint
appears adding some weight to the foregoing opinion, and to the statement of^Engus. WerethereonlyonefestivaldayforthisSaint,weshouldstill be inclined to suppose, that he was buried at Glendalough, and venerated at
"OLotn t>nf Archie
Easter in public assemblies ; and his defence of ancestral traditions rendered him con-
spicuous among those of our countrymen, who engaged in similar controversies. In these he also appeared to bear away the palm of victoiy not unfrequently, even
cotneic noebi lar-in cinrit> baige
1)45411 Inber* "Ooebi.
Thus translated by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. :
rYlAj\cif\
11
much of holiness with the — of ; champion
battle, Dagan of Inber Doele," "Trans- actions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol i. , part i. , on the Calendar of Oengus, p. exxxvii.
91 These only inform us, that Dagan, i. e. , "in Dal Mescorb he is. " And again, that Doel is a river in the east of Leinster. See ibid. , pK cxlv.
Declare two and twenty martyrs with although his opinions did not finally
92 Thus :
Inbir doile. "
The Book of Leinster copy has TjAjjAn epr bi mac Colma'OA 1nbir\ T>oiLe.
'*
94 Maguire has, " Daganum itineratorum, de Dalmessincorbiorum in Lagenia. "
95 On this day, the Calendar of Cashel
calls him " Bellatorem, qui et in regione de Dalmacorb in Lagenia. " The name,
however, is suppressed, perhaps through
"
Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 24.
9» TheFeastoftheExaltationoftheHoly
Dr. Kelly's edition, p. xxxiv
93 Marianus O'Gorman has, praeplacidum nobilemque de Inbher-daoile in Orientati Lagenia. "
Cross at Jerusalem, in 335, was celebrated
by the Greeks and Latins as early as the
fifth and sixth centuries. See Rev. Alban
"
Butler's
and other principal Saints," vol. ix. , Sep- tember xiv.
100 Professor O'Looney's translated Life
of St. Mochoemoc, chapter 28, has such a statement.
101
See his Life,at the 13th of March, Art. i. 101 The Martyrologies of Tallagh, Marianus O'Gorman, Maguire and Donegal treat of
St. Dagan, whom they call a bishop, at the 1 2th of March.
the of a transcriber, in oversight
Colgan's copy. This title of "bellator," he would seem to have obtained, owing to his advo- cacy of the Irish practice for celebrating
Daganum
prevail.
96 for So called, probably,
assigned in the previous note.
"
9? Thus :
titulo episcopi colitur in paroecia Dalmas- corb in I^agenia, ubi fuerit abbas monasterii Inber- Daoile, postquam ab infantia instruc- tus erat per S. Mochoemocum. "
98Thus "inHiberniaSanctiConfessoris "Dagan Sac Mac Colmada et Presbyteri Dagain. "—Bishop Forbes'
:
In Hibernia, S. Dagani, qui
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
the reason
September 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 325 Inverdaoile. However, in that admirable but almost unknown poem of John
D'Alton, intituled,
"
Dermid ;
or Erin in the Days of Boru," special allusion
is made to St.
Dagan's cell,
10* the ruins of which he were to be found in says
thevalleyofGlendalough. Ifthisbealocaltradition,itmayhavebeenthe
vault,whereinhisremainshadbeendeposited. Seeminglywithoutashadow
of authority Dempster states, that our Saint was venerated on the 22nd day
of March I05 and Ferrarius in his Catalogue falls into the same error, relying
;
on such a statement. 106 In treating of the Scottish Saints, Camer—arius is at
10 variancewithallotherwriters. ? —saysfirst,
He that St.
Dagamus supposed to represent the present Daganus was venerated on the 29th of May; secondly, that he flourished in Gallouidia ; and thirdly, that from his tender
years, he inbibed the principles of piety in Benchor Monastery, which was celebrated among the Scots. 108 We are told, that the letter m is often con- founded with // in the Scottish lists of saints, and therefore Dagamus is the sameastheDaganusofBeda. TheDunkeld-LitanyhasDagamach. I09
On the southern bank of Three Mile Water—not far from Ennereilly— there is an ancient cemetery, still largely used for interments by the people of the surrounding country, and within it are traces of the old church founda- tions, with two fragments of side-walls still remaining. One of these is clothed with ivy. The river running through a deep glen beneath has en- croached on the cemetery bounds, so as to cause a considerable land-slide of the enclosure. To prevent the repetition of such an accident, in June 1897, a wall was in course of erection beside the water-course, and the grave-yard has been of late enclosed by a stone-wall, at the expense of the rate-payers and by order of the Poor-law guardians. The interior of the old church is greatly crowded with head-stones over the graves. The bank on the opposite side of the stream rises very steeply over the course of the river, and on the summit has a hedge-row crowned with a range of finely grown trees.
Article II. —The Daughters of Colum, of Tech-inghen-Coluim,
in Cremhthann. At the 13th of September, according to the Martyrology 1
of Donegal, veneration was given to the Daughters of Colum, of Tech- inghen-Coluim, in Cremhthanna. We are told, that the territory of Cinel Crimthainn extended around the fortress of Dunamase, and comprised the
103 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi- berniae," xii. Martii. Vita S. Dagani, cap. ix. , p. 586.
104 In the following lines :— "No more shall Glendalough repeat
of David Camerarius, at the 29th of May,
The martial
The warrior's sun of glory's set,
The light of piety is dim, The ivy wraps St. Dagain's cell,
Confessor in Galloidia Scotise provincia. "
Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish
Saints," p, 237.
Io8
However, Colgan remarks, that the celebrated Monastery of Benchor, was situated within Down diocese, in the well- known Ulster province of Ireland, and that before his time no author said there had
been another monastery bearing this name,
105 Thus
"
Clarus habetur anno nor salut.
even
in
time was
any such to
,! Martii. "
" Historia
:
Colgan's
clang,
the choral
hymn,.
That gave a patron to the vale. " —Canto v. , sect, iii. , pp. 123, 124.
DLV, e —utvenusalii anno dcix. die xxn. be found in Scotland. Neither did
. Y I any
Ecclesiastica Gentis writer before Camerarius state, that St. Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iv. , num. 382, Dagan derived the rudiments of piety and
P* 209-
105
According to his careless and loose want of method, Dempster says, that Bede alone speaks of our Saint ; when even him- self relates that Huntingdon and Lesbey in certain passages refer to Dagan.
I0? In the Scottish Entries in the Kalendar
learning from Banghor, that he even set foot in Galloidia, or in fine, that he had been venerated on the 29th day of May.
I09 See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of Scottish Saints," pp. 320, 321.
Article II. —1 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 248, 249.
we find
" :
Sanctus et Dagamus Episcopus —
326 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September13.
2
barony of Maryborough East, in the Queen's County.
a part of Leix. 3 It would seem, that owing to some mistake, the daughters of Colum have been noted in the Martyrology of Tallagh,* on the day follow- ing, as Inghena Coluira i Caillifollomon. s There is a small parish known as
6
Killenny, situated in the barony of Stradbally, Queen's County, and just
adjoiningapartofthebaronyofMaryboroughEast; sothateventhisparish may have constituted a portion of ancient Cinel-Crimthainn of Leix, as already described. There is an old ruined church? covered with ivy, and a
Old Church of Killenny, Queen's County.
8 The latter is and within a hawthorn- cemetery adjoining it. nearly circular,
ditch enclosure. The old name 10 have been somewhat Killenny may
contracted in pronunciation, and in English the equivalent translation seems
to stand " the church of the 11 In the of Marianus Daughters. " Martyrology
2 See " The Topographical Poems of John O'Duhhagain and Giolla na Naomh O'lluidhrin. " Edited by John O'Donovan,
LL. D. , n. 424, Appendix, p. lii.
3 See John O'Donovan's " Leabhar n.
g-Ceart, or Book of Rights," n. (9), p. 216.
at the dividing line between the baronies of
Maryborough East and Stradbally.
8 The rude old church measures 36 feet in
length, by 16 in breadth, interiorly. The south side-wall is almost destroyed. In the middle of the eastern gable there is a small window. The remaining walls are massive, and built, in a great measure, with large hammered stones. A small square recess in the side-wall was probably to the right of the former altar
9 The accompanying illustration, drawn on the wood and engraved by Mr. Gregor Grey, is from a sketch taken on the spot by the
4
5
Edited by the Rev. Mr. Kelly, p. xxxiv.
But, this appears referable to a territory
in Meath, as seen in the subsequent account
ofCoemhan Breac. atthe 14th of September.
6
It is described en the "Ordnance Sur-
vey Townland Maps for the Oueen's County," sheets 9, 13, 14. The townland proper is on the two latter sheets.
7 The old ruins are
near the Great where a rather modern Catholic Church has been erected
They stand, moreover, just
author, July, 1873.
11 A writer on the Irish Ord- employed
Heath of beside them.
it is
pronounced Killinny, by the native peasantry.
quite Maryborough,
10 thus Although
This territory was
written,
September 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 327
O'Gorman, 12 at this date, is entered a festival forColumb's chaste daughters ; while a scholiast states, they were from Tech Ingen Coluimb in Cremthain. These holy daughters of Coluim are noticed in the Life of St. Daigh, which occurs at the 18th of August 13 but their place is said to have been in Ui
;
Crimhthann, in the Barony of Slane, and County of Meath.
ArticleIII. —St. NemanorNaemhanMacUaDuibh.
{Probably
in the Seventh We find entered in the of Tallagh,1 Century^ Martyrology
the feast of Neman Mac h. Duibh, at the 13th of September. Marianus
O'Gorman has a commemoration of this holy servant of God, at this same
date, with the designation of his being prudent, while a commentator calls
Noeman the of Dub. 2 to this man great-grandson According Colgan, holy
accompanied St. Fechin, Abbot of Fore,3 when the latter went to obtain the liberation of one Aid or ^Edus from Blaithmaic and Diermit II. , joint
Sovereigns of Ireland. -* Hence his period must be assigned probably to the Seventh Century. We have recorded in the Martyrology of Donegal,5 the
name Naemhan Mac Ua Duibh, as having a festival, at the 13th of Septem- ber. In the Table appended to this latter record, we meet the Latin word
6
Article IV. —St. Maeltolaigh, of Drumbeg Parish, County of Down. The Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman1 enters the feast of Mael Tolaig, "of the strong effort," at the 13th of September. In the Martyr-
2 it is
Article V. —Reputed Festival of St. Batheneus, Confessor.
1
(sanctanus) introduced, after the entry of his name.
of
Ulster,3 was venerated at the same day. The place is now known, as being included within the present parish of Drumbeg,* intersected by the River Lagan, and situated partly in the County of Down5 and partly in the County ofAntrim. TheProtestantchurchoccupiestheancientsite,onahill,com- monly called the Drum, in the County of Down. 6
ology
Donegal,
mentioned,
that
Maeltolaigh,
Camerarius inserts a festival for St. Batheneus, at the 13th of September.
2
Bollandists,
this saint has been noticed in the Life of the great Abbot of Iona, St.
At this same the date,
quoting
him as an that authority, state,
nance Survey supposes Killenny to have derived its name from a St. Ethne. This, however, does not merit much attention.
12 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' " Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 176, 177.
13 See the Eighth Volume of this work, at
that date, Art. i.
Article hi. —1 Edited
2
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
by
Kelly, p. xxxiv. In the Book of Leinster
64.
s That portion of Drumbeg parish, in the
copy, we read lleniAii mac h 'Ouib. 2"
See Dr. Whitley Stokes' "Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 176, 177.
3 See the Life of this Saint, at the 20th of
January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. ii.
4 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xx.
Januarii. SeetheSecondLifeofSt. Fechin,
chap, xxvii. , p. 136, and n. 16, p. 141.
s Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
Barony of Upper Castlereagh, is described on the Ordnance Survey Townlands Maps
for the County of Down," sheets 9, 15.
6 See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesi- astical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore," n. (e), p. 46, and Appendix LL. ,
248, 249. 62"
See ibid. ) —
pp. 456, 457.
p. 240.
See Acta
tembris xiii. saints, p. 50.
tomus Sanctorum," iv. , Sep-
Among the pretermitted
*
Article iv.
" Felire Hui Gormain," pp. 176, 177.
See Dr. Whitley Stokes'
of Druim in Niadh,
248, 249.
3 A commentator on Marianus O'Gorman
has a similar local identification.
4 That portion of it, in the Barony of Upper Belfast, is described on the " Ord- nance Survey Townland Maps for the County
Rev. Dr. of sheet Antrim,"
p. 380. — Articlev.
'
See Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of David Camerarius. Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
328 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 14.
Columba,3 whose successor he became,* and that both of these holy men had been treated of, at the 9th of June.
Article VI. —Reputed Festival of St. Columban, Abbot of Lure.
Atthe of 1 has anaccount ofa St. 13th September, Saussay
a He flourished in Lesser Britain. See his Life, at the 22nd of November. The Bollandists 4
disciple, an abbot of Lure,2 and a successor of St. Deicolus. 3
allude to him, at the 1 3th of February, and again at this present date. 5
Article VII. —St. Caemnach, The Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman1 enters a feast for Coemnech, at the present date j but there is no other infor- mation afforded regarding him. The simple name Caemnach, without any
2
further designation, appears in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 13th of
September.
Article VIII. —Reputed Festival of Twenty-two Holy Martyrs.
The commemoration of two and twenty unnamed Martyrs of great holiness
occurs at the of in the Feilire of St. 1 We are unable 13th September, ^Engus.
to find a corroborative entry in any known Kalendar, and consequently we cannot more particularly notice them.
jfourteentl) JBap of September,
ARTICLE I. —ST. CORMAC MAC CULLINAN, KING OF MUNSTER AND BISHOP OF CASHEL.
[NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—SOURCES FOR ST. CORMAC MAC CULLENAN'S BIOGRAPHY—HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION—HE BECOMES BISHOP OP CASHEL—DESCRIPTION AND EARLY HISTORY OF CASHEL—CORMAC IS ELEVATED TO THE THRONE OF SOUTH MUNSTER— HIS VISIT TO LORCAN, KING OF THOMOND.
of the most celebrated characters, noted in the civil and ecclesias- tical of Ireland, was the renowned Monarch and St.
ONE
history Bishop, Cormac Mac Cullinan. The possession of the sceptre and the crozier, the
3 See his Life at the 9th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
4 See also the Acts of St. Baithine or Baoethin, at the same date, ibid. , Art. iii.
Article vl—x In his " Martyrologium Gallicanum," in Supplemento.
3
Sutrensis is written, through mistake. Wion puts this word, likewise, for Lutrensis, at the 18th of January.
3 See his Life, at the 18th of January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. i.
* See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Februarii xiii. Prsetermissi et in aliosdiesrejecti,p. 644. Newedition.
"
s Thus :
Britannia (imo Lutrensis in Burgundia) Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of meminerunt hodie Ferrarius in Catalogo Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. Generali et Saussayus in Supplemento. cxxxvii. —
Eumdem rectius in Burgundia annunciat Article i. —Chapter
Columbini abbatis Sutrensis in
the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript
Menardus, Galesinius vero et Dorgainius Columbinum breviter memorant. Redibit memoria Columbini seu Columbani Junioris, ut alias vocatur, quemadmodum observatum est in Prsetermissis 13 Februarii, ad diem, quo cultus ipsius accuratiiis examinari poterit XXI. et xxn. Novembris. "—ibid. , tomus iv.
Septembris xiii. Dies relati, p. 52.
Dr.
" Felire Hui Gormain," pp. 176, 177.
248, 249. — Articleviii
'
See " Transactions of
—
'
See
Whitley
Stokes'
Columban,
Proetermissi et in alios
Article VIL
2 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
1.
'
See
Dr.
September 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 329
wearing of the crown and the mitre, by the same individual, were familiar to Christendom in the persons of a continuous line of Sovereign Pontiffs, who ruled over the Universal Church, and the small States allotted as the Patrimony of St. Peter; nevertheless, a union of temporal and ecclesiastical power in the same hands, and a capability of wielding both for the mutual interest of Church and State, in other instances, were found to be of excep- tional occurrence in most Catholic countries. Such was even the case in Ireland, as may be discovered by the historical student, in reference to the long list of her ecclesiastics. Although in a variety of cases, these were descendants of a royal lineage, and the rightful inheritors of a crown ; as we see recorded in their Lives, they usually preferred renouncing advantages of birthandregalhonours,inthepursuitofamoreworthyambition. However, exceptions were presented to this general state of distinct civil and ecclesias- tical rule, even in our country. Broken into a number of small principalities, and ruled by several petty and virtually independent princes ; the objects, policy and ambition of those, rulers were frequently discordant, as their relations towards each other were often abnormal. Provincial and family feuds were as frequently inherited as excited, by each successive recipient of the sword and the sceptre, and the firm grasp of this latter with clannish rule was a usual result of the vigorous use of the former appendage. Circum- stances over which those rulers seem to have had little control often forced them into positions, irreconcilable with their social position, sound views of policy, and the dictates of their better judgment, as we shall here find exemplified. Thus, it happened, that while the nation itself appeared verging towards a suicidal dismemberment, still owing to God's particular providence, the Church of Ireland interposed a barrier between continual assaults upon social order, and the maintenance of civilization. It would seem, however, that the influence of ecclesiastics was all the more powerful and effectual, when unstained by the sword, or by the attainment of secular sway.
The case of Cormac Mac Cullman is an instance, but by no means a
solitary one, of regal and episcopal rule, even in the particular province, where he was recognised as King and Bishop. One of the first remarkable instances where such powers has been found united in the same person, was in the case of Olchobar, son to Cinaedh, King of Cashel or Munster, and Bishop of Emly. In conjunction with Lorcan, King of Leinster, this prince and prelate gained a signal victory over the Danes at Sciath-Neachtain, near Castledermot, in the year 846. In this battle, Tomhrair, Earl and Tanist to
1
2
Olchobar died in the year 849 . Coenfelad, at the same time King of Cashel
and Bishop over Emly, died in the year 872. 3 Eogan, son to Ceannfaeladh, and abbot ofEmly, died in the year 886, according to the Annals of the Four Masters f . but, as Sir James Ware states, this ecclesiastic, called Prince of Imleach-Ibair or Emly, was slain in the year 889. Tibraid Mac Maelfin, BishoporAbbot,andPrinceofImleach-Ibair,diedintheyear912. 5 Again, with the subject of this present memoir, and his successor on the throne of
O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," 3 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
vol. i. , p. 370, note (b), pp.