'°'
His festival is held, on the 2nd of No- vember.
His festival is held, on the 2nd of No- vember.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
°9 Such has been the conclusion arrived at,
by the late Professor O'Curry. See "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. , pp. 279, 280
1° Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
7' In the beginning to these, the Scho- liasts gives us an account of the family, race and virtues of Fiech, as also of the place and time, where and when the Hymn had been composed.
shown, that St. Patrick was a disciple to St. Germanus, when in the North of Italy. The name Letha or Latium is said to have been
applied, by early Irish writers, to Arraorica,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 407
partly in Latin, and the Codex in which his comments are found was very old and worn. He is said to have been well versed in Irish antiquities. 75
Perhaps, the date given by Colgan is of too early a stage ; yet, those notes and the introduction are supposed to have been written, not later than the
eighth century,? ^ from their peculiar idiomatic structure, and from internal evidences of great antiquity. However this may be, the Scholiast states, that
Dumh-gabhla,77 near Sleibhte,^^ was the locality, where Fiech's Hymn had been composed. The time assigned for its composition, moreover, was that ofLugaidh,79sontoLaeghaire,forthenhewaskingoverErinn. Thereason for composing it, also, was to praise St. Patrick. Hence, after his death, as some assert, this Hymn was produced by St. Fiech. ^° The lamented death
of Rev. Dr. Todd,^^ and the suspension of the Irish Archaeological Society's publications, have prevented the appearance of his version of this Hymn, and of its Scholia^ an introduction to both having been left incomplete. ^^
The Second, Third and Fourth Lives of St. Patrick, as published by Col- gan, are filled with fables. Those Acts seem to have been borrowed, one from another, or they are copies of versions, taken from some common source. Occasionally, quotations from St. Patrick's " Confession," with sensible re- marks, appear ; but, it has been thought, that those Lives belong to a more recent period, than that assigned to them. ^3 A St. Patrick, called the junior,^* or some other disciple of the great Irish Apostle, was the author of the Second Life,^^ according to Colgan. ^^ However, it is inferred very justly, that the writer was either an Irishman, or, at least, one versed in the Irish language,^7 that he lived after the death of St. Patrick,^^ and even after the death of his earlier biographer, St. Fiech. ^^ Certain modes of expression have caused Colgan to make mistakes, which have served to confuse his own naturally correct opinions. Those phrases have led him into serious anachronisms. 9° On the whole, however, it may safely be asserted, that obscurity still hangs around the writer, and the exact period when he wrote^
bably because he rendered more clear, what
St. Fiech had left rather unintelligible, and
because he added other particulars. See
^5 it is comprised, in forty-one chapters. The twentieth chapter, however, is defec- tive ; but, its sense may be supplied, from the Third Life, at chapter xvii.
^* "
See Secunda Vita S. Patricii," auc-
tore (ut videtur) S. Patricii Juniore, aliove Magni Patricii Discipulo. Ex MS. Monast. S. Huberti in Ardvenna, pp. il to 20, with notes.
^^ Thus, in cap. xv. , xx. , xxxii. , xxxiv. , he uses Irish words and phrases, with a full
knowledge of their meaning,
^^ At cap. xxii. , he gives the whole chro-
nology of St. Patrick's Acts, before and after he had come to Ireland,
^^ Allusion is made, in the Life, to his relics having been preserved at Sletty.
*'
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"
cap. xvii. , pp. 427 et seq.
7^ This seems, also, to be the opinion of
Father Daniel Papebroke.
77 This denomination is probably obso-
lete,
''^ To this the Scholiast in Colgan adds,
"versus Chorum," or towards the choir.
79 He reigned, from A, D. 479 to a. d. 503, according to Dr. O' Donovan's " Annals of
the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 150 to 165.
See the Prolegomena to this Hymn, in
^'
This sad event took place, June 28th, 1869, at Silverton, near Rathfarnham.
'^^
It ends at p. 304, and it was the last of a sheet, by the author, corrected and signed for the press. The Second Fasciculus was published, in November, 1869.
^3 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiasti- cal History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, iii. , p. 84.
might have been a good Irish scholar.
^° the
"
March, 1 868, pp. 282, 283, and notes.
Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. ,
^'- It seems
9° For instance, when citing a passage of the Second Life, a Bishop Loam, St. Patrick's contemporary, is said to be in Inreathan. See Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxi. , p. 14. But, Colgan did not re- fleet, that such was a mode of writing, frequently occurring in our old ecclesiastical historic tracts. It only relatively meant, that the person's remains there reposed, when thus mentioned. For a
that in the first note to the Third Life, Colgan contradicts, in a measure, this opinion, for there, he makes Patrick junior a Briton. However, he
example, little before, in this same Second Life, Syl- vester and Selonius, two of Palladius' com-
strange,
panions, are reported to have been in Domnach-Ard. See cap. xxiv. , p, 13. It
4o8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [March 17.
The author of the Third Life of St. Patrick, as pubHshed by Colgan,9' is unknown. Yet,ithasbeeninferred,thathewasanIrishman,9'andthathe wrote in Ireland. 93 It is thought, also, that he must have flourished before A. D. 527. 9* However, the proofs advanced do not establish this conjecture. Again, it is supposed, that Jocelyn had this book, as an authority, and that fromit, someofhisstatementshadbeendrawn. Colganhasnoticed,that Jocelyn names Benignus, Mel, Luman, and a disciple, named Patrick, as the authors of four Tracts, on St. Patrick, and which were extant in his time. ^s He infers, likewise, and endeavours to show, from certain data, that Mel, nor Luman, nor Patrick junior, could have composed the Third Life,9^ which, he says, must be ascribed, in his opinion, to Benignus. 97 However, he had no means for proving, that Jocelyn even referred to those various Lives. Nor would it be worthy a sensible critic's attention, to accept implicitly the autho- rity of an injudicious and a credulous writer, in such an enquiry ; especially, when those Tracts furnish abundant internal evidences, to prove they are not
so very ancient. 9^ Now after the death of St. Patrick, Benignus was his suc-
cessor, as Archbishop, in the See of Armagh. He died, as has been sup- posed, in the year 468,99 But, the writer, concerning whom we now treat,
when he wrote the Life of St. '^"^ informs Patrick,
us,
that Apostle already in circulation. In his work, it may be observed, the
writer mentions St. Earc,'°* son of Dego, whose memory, he tells us, had been revered at Slane. Even Colgan himself places the death of this latter
saint, at the year 512. '°^ Hence, we must regard the question, regarding the true authorship of the Third Life, as yet unsettled.
The Fourth Life of St. Patrick has been attributed, by Colgan, to St. Aile-
"
chapters. ^°'* This was taken from an old parchment, belonging to the fine
ran or Eleran, called
the wise. " ^°3 This Life is comprised in ninety-seven
signifies, only, as appears from the sequel, these had been there interred.
bishopofArmagh. whosucceededSt. Patrick, and who sat for ten years, but a relation to
him, as our hagiologist promised to show, in a Life, to be inserted at the 9th of November. The Life of St. Mocteus, and other authori- ties, were to support these assertions. See Tertia Vita S. Patricii, n. i, p. 29.
^s ggg Rgy. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect. iii. , p. 84.
s' See Index Chronologicus, at a. d.
9' See Tertia Vita S. Patricii, pp. 21 to 29. Colgan's notes succeed to p. 35. This Life was taken from an old Manuscript, found at Biburg, in Bavaria, and it was sent to Colgan, by Father Stephen White, S. J. In the first eleven
almost word for word, with the Second Life ; in the succeeding chapters, it differs for the most part. See n. i, p. 29.
9^ Thus he inserts Irish words or phrases, at cap. XX. , XXV. , xxix. , xxxvii. , xl. , xlviii. Again, he alludes to Ireland, as being "hanc insulam," in cap. xxvi.
93 This especially appears, from cap. xciii.
9* This inference, Colgan draws from certain passages, in the Tract, at cap. xliii. , Ixi. , Ixiii.
95 From these writers, Jocelyn professes to have^drawn whatever he deemed worthy of being reproduced by him. SeetheSexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxxxvi. , p. 106, and nn. 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, p. 116,
9* Especially, since these were Britons, and the writer of this Life was an Irishman.
It is comprised, in ninety-four chapters.
97 An objection is proposed, by Colgan, since our Annals state Benignus to have died A. D. 487, that he must have written the Acts of St. Patrick, while the latter was
living. However, Colgan maintains, that the Benignus thus noticed was not the Arch.
chapters,
it agrees,
CCCCLXViil. , in Ussher's
•'
Britannicarum
there were Lives of sixty
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," p. 522. Some
writers state, he died in Armagh, others in
Glastonbury, while the "Annals of Innis-
"
fallen
'°°
make him die in Rome.
See Tertia Vita S. Patricii, cap.
Ixxxvii. , p. 28.
'°'
His festival is held, on the 2nd of No- vember.
'" See Tertia Vita S. Patricii, n. 39, p. 31. Also see Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol i. , pp. 166 to 169.
'°3 Dr, Lanigan has naively remarked, that he should not deserve such an epithet, had he been the compiler of all the fooleries this tract contains. See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect, iii. , p. 83.
'"^ See Quarta Vita S. Patricii, ex Veteri Cod. Pergam. MS. Alnensis Caenobii. S. Elerano Sapiente, Authore (ut videtur), pp. 35 to 47. Colgan's notes extend to p. 50.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
409
MonasteryofAlna,inHaunonia,'°s ithasbeennoticed,thatthisLifemust have been written, after the middle, if not, after the end of the sixth cen-
^°^
it is that it must have been not thought, composed,
and, again,
tury ;
after the commencement of the seventh century. ^°7 The elegance of its
style is also supposed, by Colgan, to be an indication of Eleran having been
the author. Yet, it would seem, the editor had no warranty for this opinion.
He only found a Life of St. Patrick, which could not have been written be-
fore the seventh '°^ St. or who died in century. Now, Aleranus, Eleran,
664,'°9 is said to have written a Life of St. Patrick, "° But, it by no means
follows, that we should regard St. Patrick's Fourth Biography, as the genuine
production of St. Eleran, without more convincing reasons, than Colgan has advanced.
It was very generally supposed, that the work attributed "^ to Probus—
^°^ The evidence for this is assumption
rather weak, however, and it is chiefly founded, on the author's words, that he in- serted no actions or miracles of St. Patrick, in his Life, except what he found to have
Afterwards follows the sentence, Explicit veracium relatione virorum. " See ibid. , Vita S. Patricii Episcopi et Confessoris. " cap. i. , p. 41. Now, Colgan supposes, that
See Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xli. , p. the latter statement can only mean, that the 16. Another conjecture is, that this Life writer must have got his account, from
and which agreed very generally, with the Second Life, he published, to the end of the forty-first chapter. This Second Life, he thinks, may have been left unfinished, or mutilated, at the words, " erit de semine tuo in seternum. "
'°s Another
copy Colgan had,
had been written, while St. Patrick himself
was living ; yet, for special reasons, Colgan does not adopt it. See ibid. , n. 68, p. 20.
those truthful men, who had witnessed the actions of St. Patrick, or who had conversed with witnesses, that had such opportunity ;
been written, or what he had learned, ** "
However, in this Fourth Life, a new and, consequently, that the author's period arrangement of chapters and their subjects cannot be extended, beyond the earlier part intervenes, so that from chapter 1. to of the seventh century. In the Preface to chapter Ixxxv. there are additions, which, his "Trias Thaumaturga," p. iv. , Colgan in the Alna Manuscript, continue to these had already enumerated six or seven writers
"
words, Scio quia sermo bonus apud of St. Patrick's Acts, and who were syn-
Christianos tiX graticum . Graticum exiwa. in chroni, or disciples, viz. : St. Secundinus, St. dato dono, et graticum in sublato, dixit. " Loman, St. Mel, St. Patrick his nephew, There a space is left, and the Acts seem St. Benignus, St. Fiech, and St. Kienan. mutilated. Hence arises the suspicion, that
some librarian may have taken the inter- mediate chapters, from some other, if not from the former. Life, and transferred them to this account. Now, that they might have been thus removed, and added to this possibly imperfect Life, is inferred from the difference in style detected, between the first fifty chapters, which are deemed to be more elegant and idiomatic in Latinity, than those which are presumed to have been added. Colgan ends these observations by
" Sed nostrum non est anti- stating : quia
St. Evin is supposed to have flourished, very near this period. Now St. Ultan, St. Tire- chan, and St. Eleran, lived, in the beginning of the seventh century. As the style of St. Ultan's Life of St. Brigid diff"ers from that of the Fourth Life, and, as St. Tirechan's Life of St. Patrick, where Ussher quotes it, is also quite different, so it is thought, only to St. Eleran their contemporary can the Fourth Life be ascribed. See ibid. , p. vi. Now, he died, at a very advanced age, A. D. 664, as our ancient Annalists relate. See Quarta Vita S. Patricii, n. 2,
"^ There is a MS.
immutare, sed qua licet illustrare ; hi—nc 4705, vel. fol. , xii. cent. , ex Bibl. Monas-
hanc exhibemus, ut in illo Codice jacet. " terii de Alna. See Sir Thomas Duffus
quitates propter
has vel alias
conjecturas
of
copy it, Phillipps,
Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. 1. , Ixxxv. , pp. 41, 46, and n. I, pp. 47, 48.
Hardy's "Descriptive Catalogue of Mate- rials relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. i. , part i. , pp. 67, 69.
"^ This is inferred, because St. Patrick is
related in it, at cap. Ixxix. , to have prophe-
sied, regarding the birth and holiness of St.
Brendan, who died about A. D. 576, of St.
Senan, who died about A. D. 581, and of Exposition of Christ's genealogy, which
St. Columba, who died about A. D. 597. Again, there is an appearance of the author having lived, after the sixth century, because he alludes to St. Baithen, and to his monas- tery, at Inis-Baithen, at cap. xxviii.
Sedulius acknowledges he had inserted in a collection of illustrations on St. Matthew. This has been regarded, as a testimony of its
superior excellence, in that line of writing.
'"
"9 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 276, 277.
"° He also wrote, it is said, an allegorical
By Colgan.
p. 44.
long
410 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
the Fifth Life of our saint, according to Colgan's arrangement "^—had been
composed—in part, at least—during the tenth century. It consists of Two
Books : the First Book contains forty-seven, and the Second, forty-one,
chapters. It has been established, beyond cavil, that this work was com-
posed, in the ninth century. "3 The learned Ussher"* thought it worth
alluding to ; the Bollandists refused to print it, however, considering it
abounded too much in fables. "^ Attributed to him, as the real author, it
was first published, among the works of Venerable Bede. "^ By John
Pitts,"7however,ithadbeenascribedtoGiraldusCambrensis. "^ AManu-
script copy of this Life is extant. "? In it, the Acts of our saint are arranged,
with attention to '^° Probus to have been great regularity. Colgan supposes
identical with Cseineachair,^^^ who was a Lector in the College of Slane, and whose death is recorded, at the year 948, when hewasmurderedby the Danes. "^
Several other writers, such as Sir James Ware,^^3 Bishop Nicolson,"* Rev. Dr.
Lanigan,^^s &c. , incline to Colgan's opinion,"^ in reference to the age when Probuslived. Ithasbeenthought,thatthePaulinus,whomheaddresses,andat whose request the book had been composed, "7 can have been no other than Msel PoiV^^ or Mal-Paulinus,'^9 Bishop and Abbot over Indenen,^3o not far removed from Slane. ^^i He died, a. d. 920. Yet, the Paulinus mentioned was nootherthanthePatriarchofAquilea,whodiedJanuarynth,a. d. 804. Mes- singham places Probus, in the eighth century. ^32 However, in reality he be- longed more to the ninth, and Probus was a native of Ireland ;'33 but, he settled
^" See Quinta Vita S. Patricii, with notes, at pp. 51 to 60. The paging, however, is quite incorrect : the notes follow, at pp. 61
to 64.
"3 Colgan thinks, however, that this work
had been interpolated by others, and that its
text had been corrupted, by ignorant persons. "4 See " Britannicamm Ecclesiarum An-
IV. , p. 38.
'^5 See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect ii. , p. 82.
tiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 426.
"5 Tillemont also condemned it. See Paulinus, to whom Probus dedicated his
" HistoriaEcclesiastica," tomusxvi. , p. 782.
*'*
See the edition of his works, printed at Basil, A. D. 1563, vol.
