" "New
Statistical
Account of festation in Rev.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
Kieran of Saighir had rods
and hay prepared for the construction of his
primitive cell.
248 He is said to have gathered three bun-
lapide,
composuit neighbourhood Deiry.
dies of rods to build a cell in Rathin, which afterwards he abandoned in favour of St. Carthage.
2'9 "Itwasbuilt,smallperhapsandrude, of suc—h materials as were most readily to be had. " C. Innes' "Sketches of Early Scotch History and Social Progress," chap, i. , p. 3.
"
occasion he sent his monks into a wood to cut watling for a church for him in Daire. " The title, however, of the chapter in Adam-
nan is opposed to such a supposition,
253 It is likely he lived in Mull,—or on some other island distinct from Iona especially as the materials were brought in a boat, Nor does it appear from any known record, that Columba had any tenants other than his
monks inhabiting Hy. 254Thesewereforthehurdlework,of
which the walls of houses, both secular and
ecclesiastical, were constructed. This, too, was a phase of primitive architectural m te rial among the Celts.
Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 3, and
252 Possibly the name is formed from ""
quandam ca-
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
omnipotence ; his com, although now sown twelve days after the month of
sowing the corn. In the middle of June, it grew so fast, and ripened so soon, that, to the great astonishment of all the neighbours, Findchan cut it down
in the beginning ofAugust. 25?
CHAPTER XI.
shall be
countryman, out of obedience to the saint, began ploughing the land, and
June
has
commenced,
reaped
in the
beginning
THE CHIEF MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENT WAS FIXED AT IONA—MONASTERY OF ST. COLUMBA ON THE ISLAND OF HINBA—INAUGURATION OF KING AIDAN AT IONA—
— COLUMBA'S FOUNDATIONS ON ETHICA OR TIREE—BAITHAN'S PRESIDENCY—ADVEN- TURES—ST. COLUMBA PREDICTS THE ARRIVAL OF A PENITENT IN IONA—MONAS-
ETHICA—ANECDOTES OF COLUMBA'S OCCASIONAL RESIDENCE THERE—HIS VISIONS
TIC ESTABLISHMENT IN THE ISLAND OF SKYE.
The centre and chief station of religion among the Scots and Picts was Iona ; while it was the principal source, whence nearly all the churches and monas- teries of these people had t»een derived and propagated. Thence also
emanated that ecclesiastical authority, by which they were governed.
1
In
spirituals, the parent institution not only enjoyed a first place over all the monasteries of Columba's order, both among the Scots and Picts ; but, it
2
servedasaheadstationorcitadel, exercisinganextensivecontroloverthe
people at large. 3 In successive ages, this authority was gradually circum- scribed. The original grant of Hy, whether Scottish or Pictish, or both, was soon followed by the erection of other houses, extended to the adjacent islands. * The names of these,5 which were severally blessed with St.
6 Columba's exertions, are particularly mentioned, such as Ethica, Elena,7
8 and 10 In these he erected churches and formed Hinba, Oronsay9 Skye.
religious communities. With indefatigable zeal, he visited them frequently,
preaching the Gospel, and supplying them with religious teachers.
The history of St. Columba's proceedings in the Hebrides or Western Islands is known, chiefly from those recorded incidents, w—hich are connected severally with them. At Hinba, Himba,11 or Hymba sometimes called
255 According to Adainnan
:
" Suos misit
auspices of the local chiefs. "—"History of
Paganism in Caledonia, with an examina- tion into the influence of Asiatic Philosophy,
and the gradual development of Christianity in Pictavia," book iii. , chap, vi. , sect, v. , p. 256.
4 Thus, the founde—r speaks of the " marini nostri juris vituli. " Adamnan's Vita S.
monachos ut de alicujus plebeii agellulo vir- garum facicu—los ad hospitium afferrent con- struendum. " Lib. ii. , cap. 3.
256 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Vita S. Columbse, lib. ii. , cap. iii. , p. 351.
257 In the neighbourhood of Iona, barley is occasionally sown early in July ; but, the usual time for sowing is June, and of reaping
Columbse, lib. i. , cap. 41.
s Columba's s—uccessor forbids a stay
"
in
of — nostris insulis. " early part September.
the
Chapter xi. See Rev. Thomas
"
Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. , sect, xxxi. , p. 173.
* See Rev. Ur. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " It is called "caput et arx. " AdditionalNotesN,pp. 341,368.
ap- pears to have been the custom to found monasteries on the model of that of Iona in the various centres of population, under the
Ibid. , lib. i. , 2. cap.
Innes'
Father Innes supposed the Terra Ethica to have meant the Shetland Islands. . It was however Tiree Island.
*6
3 Dr. Thomas A. Wise observes " It :
8 Not identified,
9 Near Colonsay Island,
,0 The largest Island of all the Hebrides, " If Himba, the reading in the Lives by
of 2^6 This August.
1 Supposed to have been Elachnave or "
Eileann naomh, Holy Island," and lying north-westofScarba.
[June 9.
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 425
Hinbina Insula I2—he founded a monastery, apparently soon after he had established on a firm basis his parent establishment. This Island has not yet been clearly identified,13 and unfortunately, the clues to it as afforded by
Adamnan are
1
* It
may reasonably
be 15 to have lain conjectured,
flame,
29 like a and as if burning pillar,
rising
from Columba's head. This
very slight.
northofandnotfardistantfrom TheIsland Hy.
6 or 1? Cannay,
Canna,'
which bears some resemblance in name, lies about four miles north-west of Rum. 18 Its church, of which the ruins and a small cross existed in 1772,
was named from St. Columba. J 9 The parsonage of the island belonged to
2° and the
to the
21 On various
the abbot of
and at different
it seems to have been a favourite place for his retreats and meditations,
which were so often interrupted at Iona. When visited by four holy founders
Hy, periods,
vicarage
bishop.
occasions,
Cummian, John of Tinmuth, and O'Don-
and in some MSS. of Adamnan, be correct, the name may have its origin in the old Irish word 1mbAC (Imbah), which Cor- mac explains, . 1. OciAti bdc . 1. imnr\ [mare] ut est rnuir\ ecir\ ©runt* ocup -AlbAin vel aliud quodcunque mare (gloss, in voc. ) :
cap. 18, and n. (a), p. 222.
16 Father Innes " It is like Himba says :
was what is since called Ouyst, or the long Island. " See " Civil and Ecclesiastical His- tory of Scotland," book ii. , sect, xxxix. ,
p. 189.
17 See an account of it in Thomas Pen-
nant's "Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides, mdcclxii. " part i. , pp. 311 to 317.
nell,
that is "a surrounding sea. " See John "
O'Donovan's Iri>hGrammar,"p. 274.
St. Columba lived on the Island of Hinba 22
; while,
of monasteries in viz. , 23 Cainnech,24 Brendan of 2*
Ireland, Comgall, Clonfert, and Cormac Hua Liathain,26 he happened to be there. These holy men with one accord choose, that St. Columba should consecrate the sacred
2
mysteries of the Eucharist in his church. ? Yielding to their pious desire, St.
Columba at once entered it with them on a 28 While Sunday.
celebrating Mass at their request, and in their presence, Brendan saw a very bright
12 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
" 18
Life of St. Columba," lib, i. , cap. 21, lib. ii. , cap. 24, and lib. hi. , cap. 5, 17, 18, 23, sect. 4.
See ibid. , pp. 317 to 324.
19 See Martin's " Western Isles of Scot-
13 However, William F. Skene thinks this
name indicates that group called the Gar-
veloch Isles, situated in the centre of the
great channel, which separates the Island of
Mull from the mainland of Lorn, and also
styled the lmbach, or "sea-surrounded. "
The most westernly ofthe four Islands which "Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 21, pp. constitute this group, is denominated Elach-
nave and Eilean na Naomh, or " Island of
"
5o, 51.
23 Abbot of Bangor. His feast occurs at
It is a grassy Island rising to a
Saints. "
considerable
a small and sheltered bay, on the lower ground, facing which are a fountain, called
St. Columcille's Well, and the foundations
of what must have been a monastic estab- lishment,nearw—hicharetheremainsoftwo June.
"-"
bee-hive cells. " William F. Skene's Cel- 1 See Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga,"
height,
Kilkenny.
and has at the west side
He was vene- rated on the nth of October.
tic Scotland : a History of Ancient Alban, vol. ii. , book ii. , chap, iv. , pp. 128, 129.
"
Prima Vita S. Columba? , cap. xii. , p. 322; Secunda Vita S. Columba? , cap. xii. , and nn. n, 12, 13, p. 331; Tertia Vita S. Co-
lumba? , cap. xxxvii, p. 334 ; Quarta Vita S. Columba? , lib. iii. , cap. xvii. , p. 367, and n. (! 9)> P- 386 ; Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib.
14 A conjecture has been offered, that previously to the occupation ofthe western Islands by the Scandinavians, Oransay separated from Colonsay by flood tide only, if not both of these Islands, at least the
ii. , cap. cvi. , p. 428. " 28
larger on—e seems to have been called See an account of this miraculous mani- Hymba.
" "New Statistical Account of festation in Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Scotland," vol. vii. , part ii. , p. 544.
15 From Adamnan's " Life of St. Colum-
ba," lib. iii. , cap. 5, and n. (b), p. 197 ; also
"Life of St. Columba," lib. iii. , cap. 17,
pp. 219 to 222.
35 It is said to have shone like a comet.
land," p. 275.
29 See "Origines Parochiales Scotise,"
vol. ii. , and part i. , p. 339; also " Collec- tanea de Rebus Albanicis," pp. 2, 3.
21
2-
the 10th of May. 24 Patron of
See "Old Statistical Survey of Scot- land," vol. xvii. , pp. 272, 283.
See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
25 See his Life, at the 16th of May, in the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i.
26
His festival was kept, on the 21st of
426 LIVES OF THE IRISHSAINTS. [June 9.
continued from the time of the consecration,30 until the termination of the sacred mysteries. 3' Afterwards, St. Brendan related what he had witnessed to the Abbots Comgall and Cainnech, all of whom had continual intercourse with each other. 32 The frequency of their churches in the west of Scotland indicates the connexion which existed between them and that region. 33 It was there, also, on other occasions, he had some extraordinary visions and visitations from Heaven. 34 Indeed, one of his biographers does not hesitate to say, that he had mental intuition of all that was taking place on earth, while he was living. 35
Again we are informed, that our saint came to the Hinbinan 3° Island, 37 on a certain occasion. He gave orders, on that same day, for some indul- gence 38 in food to the penitents ;39 as it was usual in Columba's religious establishments, to relax the strictness of dietary discipline, on the arrival of a distinguished visitor/ Among these penitents in that place, there was a certain Neman,*1 son of Cathir. Though ordered by the saint, he would not accept such little indulgence. This was a singularity in devotion, which Columba by no means approved ; and, he very justly desired, that this man should conform, in a spirit of monastic obedience, to the general usages of
their institute. The saint addressed him with these words " O Neman,
:
will you not accept any indulgence in food from me or from Baithen ? time
2 shallbe,whenyouwilleatmare'sflesh,* andbeconcealedinthewoodswith
robbers. "43 Accordingly, that person returning to the world was afterwards
39 This was a practice usual in the early
"
30 Such allusions as the present are valua- ble, not alone as recording particulars of our saint's biography, but also, as revealing clearly the doctrinal and ritual observance of that
monasteries. See Venerable Bede's
toria Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. ii.
early period.
31 The First Life of St. Columba, as pub-
"
His-
40 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 21 , 26,
lished by Colgan, has this miraculous mani- festation as taking place after the recitation of the Gospel, which is also reconcilable with the account in the text.
32 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Life of St. Columba," n. (g), p. 222.
p. 51, n. (b), p. 55, n. (c).
41 Others of this name are mentioned, at
lib. i. , cap. 39, lib. ii. , cap. 4, of Adamnan's
Biography.
42 From the Manuscript Canons attributed
to St. Adamnan, and extant in Marsh's Library, as also from other authentic laws of the Irish Church, it appears, that certain meats were prohibited as unclean. Many of them are deiailed in Cummian's Peniten- tial. Some of those laws were founded on misapprehension regarding the temporary decree of the Council of Jerusalem, ordering
1'
33 This is specially shown, by consulting the volumes, known as Old and New Statis-
tical Account of Scotland, as also that ad- "
mirable topographical work OHgines Parochiales Scotise. "
"
34 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Life of St. Columba," lib. iii. , cap. 5, pp.
197, 198, and cap. 18, pp. 222, 223.
35 " Totum etiam mundum velut sub uno solis radio collectum, sinu mentis mirabi liter laxato manifestum perspiciens, speculnba- tur. "—Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Christians to abstain
"
from things strangled
Prima Vita S. ColumbDe, cap. xxviii. , jurious to health or connected with supersti- p. 324. tion, which the Church sought to extin- 36 Adamnan frequently puts the name of guish. In the Missal of St. Columbanus,
islands in the adjective form with insula. Thus he deals with Ethica, Iona, Malea.
37 The name Hinl a occurs in Adamnan's "Vita S. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 45, lib. ii. , cap. 24, lib. iii. , cap. 5, 17, 18, 23.
38 Yet, his own fasts were of a most rigor- ous character, and they were even increased in austerity, when he found a poor woman
there is a form of blessing for a vessel, into which anything unclean had fallen. This may be seen in " Musseum Italicum," vol. i. , P- 390.
43 A similar sentence was pronounced by St. Enna against a hypocritical layman, who refused to accept the hospitality offered by Crumther Coelan Echinis
ceteris fratribus cibum in charitate minis- tratum noluisti sumere, de carnibus eqiu, quern furaberis, manducabis, atque manuu-
living on still more wretched food. See "
Rev. S. Baring-Gould's Lives of the Saints," vol. vi. , pp. 121, 122.
and from blood,'' Ac;s xv. The cause for
the ;e and other prohibitions, it is impossi-
ble at this time to ascertain
probably some
;
meats were known by experience to be in-
:
" Tu qui cum
!
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 427
found in the wood with robbers, and eating that kind of flesh mentioned, and off a wooden hurdle. 4 * Thus was the saint's prediction accomplished.
In the year 574,4S according to the generally received j. chronology, died Conall, 46 sonof Comgall, King over Scottish Dalriada. While St. Columba lived in the Island of Himba, he fell into an ecstasy one night. 4 '' Then he saw an Angel of our Lord sent to him from Heaven. This Angel held in his hand a glass book,48 containing the ceremonies for installing kings,4 ^ which he offered to our saint, while commanding him to read it. This was intended to inculcate his obedience to the decrees of Heaven. Now, according to the law of Tanistry,s° Eogan, the cousin of Conall, and son of Gabhran who was slain by KingBrude,51 should succeed to the throne, in the natural course of events.
s2 as
ing out his hands, the Angel struck our saint with a whip. Afterwards, a black print or weal remained on Columba' s side all the remaining days of his
St. Columba could not be induced to
although it was commended and commanded in the book, because the saint better loved Iogenanus 54 or Eoghan,ss Aydan's brother. Suddenly stretch-
However,
inaugurate Aydan
king,S3
life. That Angel added further
:
" Know for certain, that I have been sent
to you by the Lord, to cause you, according as it is set down in this book, to
inaugurate Aydan as king. If you do not obey, I will strike you again. ">6
This Angel appeared for three successive nights, with a similar admonition
repeated. Thereupon, our saint obeyed the injunction of our Lord. To accomplish that end, Columba embarked for Hy, where he crowned Aydan king. This monarch came thither, about that same time ; and, the chonology fixed for his consecration as King of Scotland has been assigned to the year 574. " The object of Columba, in using that solemn rite, 58 was to place Aidan in the rank of an independent sovereign, and to induce the Pictish monarch
cando — " Acta Sanc- jugulaberis. " Colgan's
torum Hibernise," xxi. Martii. Vita S. Endei, cap. xxvi. , p. 709.
44 Hence, Anglice, Griddle, adds the Rev.
51 In the 560. See ibid. year
s2 He was the son of Gabhiain.
his mother, Aidan was connected with the Britons of Strathclyde ; and, for a few years,
:
Dr. Reeves " Alio die cum faber monas- he had played his part in the British wars.
terii non esset prope, S. Comgallus uni de
fratribus dixit: vade frater in officinam
fabri, e—t fac nobis craticulam ad assandos
pisces. " Fleming's "Collectanea Sacra," about A. D. 570, and he ruled for thirty-four
"
Rerum Scoti- carum Historic, lib. v. , p. 144.
s* This is the diminutive form of the name as found in Adamnan.
55 His death is recorded in "Annales Ultonienses," at A. n. 594, and in "Tiger- nachi Annales," atA. D. 596. See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum
Scripto-
res," tomus ii. , p. 159, and iv. p. 32.
56 See " Trias Vita Colgan's Thaumaturga,"
Vita S. Comgalli, cap. 33, p. 31CM. years, dying A. n. 604. See ""
45 See William F. Skene's Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and other Early Memorials of Scottish History," sect, viii. , p. 67.
46 He reigned sixteen year? , according to the Additions in Annals of Tigernach. See Rev.
and hay prepared for the construction of his
primitive cell.
248 He is said to have gathered three bun-
lapide,
composuit neighbourhood Deiry.
dies of rods to build a cell in Rathin, which afterwards he abandoned in favour of St. Carthage.
2'9 "Itwasbuilt,smallperhapsandrude, of suc—h materials as were most readily to be had. " C. Innes' "Sketches of Early Scotch History and Social Progress," chap, i. , p. 3.
"
occasion he sent his monks into a wood to cut watling for a church for him in Daire. " The title, however, of the chapter in Adam-
nan is opposed to such a supposition,
253 It is likely he lived in Mull,—or on some other island distinct from Iona especially as the materials were brought in a boat, Nor does it appear from any known record, that Columba had any tenants other than his
monks inhabiting Hy. 254Thesewereforthehurdlework,of
which the walls of houses, both secular and
ecclesiastical, were constructed. This, too, was a phase of primitive architectural m te rial among the Celts.
Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 3, and
252 Possibly the name is formed from ""
quandam ca-
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
omnipotence ; his com, although now sown twelve days after the month of
sowing the corn. In the middle of June, it grew so fast, and ripened so soon, that, to the great astonishment of all the neighbours, Findchan cut it down
in the beginning ofAugust. 25?
CHAPTER XI.
shall be
countryman, out of obedience to the saint, began ploughing the land, and
June
has
commenced,
reaped
in the
beginning
THE CHIEF MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENT WAS FIXED AT IONA—MONASTERY OF ST. COLUMBA ON THE ISLAND OF HINBA—INAUGURATION OF KING AIDAN AT IONA—
— COLUMBA'S FOUNDATIONS ON ETHICA OR TIREE—BAITHAN'S PRESIDENCY—ADVEN- TURES—ST. COLUMBA PREDICTS THE ARRIVAL OF A PENITENT IN IONA—MONAS-
ETHICA—ANECDOTES OF COLUMBA'S OCCASIONAL RESIDENCE THERE—HIS VISIONS
TIC ESTABLISHMENT IN THE ISLAND OF SKYE.
The centre and chief station of religion among the Scots and Picts was Iona ; while it was the principal source, whence nearly all the churches and monas- teries of these people had t»een derived and propagated. Thence also
emanated that ecclesiastical authority, by which they were governed.
1
In
spirituals, the parent institution not only enjoyed a first place over all the monasteries of Columba's order, both among the Scots and Picts ; but, it
2
servedasaheadstationorcitadel, exercisinganextensivecontroloverthe
people at large. 3 In successive ages, this authority was gradually circum- scribed. The original grant of Hy, whether Scottish or Pictish, or both, was soon followed by the erection of other houses, extended to the adjacent islands. * The names of these,5 which were severally blessed with St.
6 Columba's exertions, are particularly mentioned, such as Ethica, Elena,7
8 and 10 In these he erected churches and formed Hinba, Oronsay9 Skye.
religious communities. With indefatigable zeal, he visited them frequently,
preaching the Gospel, and supplying them with religious teachers.
The history of St. Columba's proceedings in the Hebrides or Western Islands is known, chiefly from those recorded incidents, w—hich are connected severally with them. At Hinba, Himba,11 or Hymba sometimes called
255 According to Adainnan
:
" Suos misit
auspices of the local chiefs. "—"History of
Paganism in Caledonia, with an examina- tion into the influence of Asiatic Philosophy,
and the gradual development of Christianity in Pictavia," book iii. , chap, vi. , sect, v. , p. 256.
4 Thus, the founde—r speaks of the " marini nostri juris vituli. " Adamnan's Vita S.
monachos ut de alicujus plebeii agellulo vir- garum facicu—los ad hospitium afferrent con- struendum. " Lib. ii. , cap. 3.
256 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Vita S. Columbse, lib. ii. , cap. iii. , p. 351.
257 In the neighbourhood of Iona, barley is occasionally sown early in July ; but, the usual time for sowing is June, and of reaping
Columbse, lib. i. , cap. 41.
s Columba's s—uccessor forbids a stay
"
in
of — nostris insulis. " early part September.
the
Chapter xi. See Rev. Thomas
"
Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," book ii. , sect, xxxi. , p. 173.
* See Rev. Ur. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " It is called "caput et arx. " AdditionalNotesN,pp. 341,368.
ap- pears to have been the custom to found monasteries on the model of that of Iona in the various centres of population, under the
Ibid. , lib. i. , 2. cap.
Innes'
Father Innes supposed the Terra Ethica to have meant the Shetland Islands. . It was however Tiree Island.
*6
3 Dr. Thomas A. Wise observes " It :
8 Not identified,
9 Near Colonsay Island,
,0 The largest Island of all the Hebrides, " If Himba, the reading in the Lives by
of 2^6 This August.
1 Supposed to have been Elachnave or "
Eileann naomh, Holy Island," and lying north-westofScarba.
[June 9.
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 425
Hinbina Insula I2—he founded a monastery, apparently soon after he had established on a firm basis his parent establishment. This Island has not yet been clearly identified,13 and unfortunately, the clues to it as afforded by
Adamnan are
1
* It
may reasonably
be 15 to have lain conjectured,
flame,
29 like a and as if burning pillar,
rising
from Columba's head. This
very slight.
northofandnotfardistantfrom TheIsland Hy.
6 or 1? Cannay,
Canna,'
which bears some resemblance in name, lies about four miles north-west of Rum. 18 Its church, of which the ruins and a small cross existed in 1772,
was named from St. Columba. J 9 The parsonage of the island belonged to
2° and the
to the
21 On various
the abbot of
and at different
it seems to have been a favourite place for his retreats and meditations,
which were so often interrupted at Iona. When visited by four holy founders
Hy, periods,
vicarage
bishop.
occasions,
Cummian, John of Tinmuth, and O'Don-
and in some MSS. of Adamnan, be correct, the name may have its origin in the old Irish word 1mbAC (Imbah), which Cor- mac explains, . 1. OciAti bdc . 1. imnr\ [mare] ut est rnuir\ ecir\ ©runt* ocup -AlbAin vel aliud quodcunque mare (gloss, in voc. ) :
cap. 18, and n. (a), p. 222.
16 Father Innes " It is like Himba says :
was what is since called Ouyst, or the long Island. " See " Civil and Ecclesiastical His- tory of Scotland," book ii. , sect, xxxix. ,
p. 189.
17 See an account of it in Thomas Pen-
nant's "Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides, mdcclxii. " part i. , pp. 311 to 317.
nell,
that is "a surrounding sea. " See John "
O'Donovan's Iri>hGrammar,"p. 274.
St. Columba lived on the Island of Hinba 22
; while,
of monasteries in viz. , 23 Cainnech,24 Brendan of 2*
Ireland, Comgall, Clonfert, and Cormac Hua Liathain,26 he happened to be there. These holy men with one accord choose, that St. Columba should consecrate the sacred
2
mysteries of the Eucharist in his church. ? Yielding to their pious desire, St.
Columba at once entered it with them on a 28 While Sunday.
celebrating Mass at their request, and in their presence, Brendan saw a very bright
12 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
" 18
Life of St. Columba," lib, i. , cap. 21, lib. ii. , cap. 24, and lib. hi. , cap. 5, 17, 18, 23, sect. 4.
See ibid. , pp. 317 to 324.
19 See Martin's " Western Isles of Scot-
13 However, William F. Skene thinks this
name indicates that group called the Gar-
veloch Isles, situated in the centre of the
great channel, which separates the Island of
Mull from the mainland of Lorn, and also
styled the lmbach, or "sea-surrounded. "
The most westernly ofthe four Islands which "Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 21, pp. constitute this group, is denominated Elach-
nave and Eilean na Naomh, or " Island of
"
5o, 51.
23 Abbot of Bangor. His feast occurs at
It is a grassy Island rising to a
Saints. "
considerable
a small and sheltered bay, on the lower ground, facing which are a fountain, called
St. Columcille's Well, and the foundations
of what must have been a monastic estab- lishment,nearw—hicharetheremainsoftwo June.
"-"
bee-hive cells. " William F. Skene's Cel- 1 See Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga,"
height,
Kilkenny.
and has at the west side
He was vene- rated on the nth of October.
tic Scotland : a History of Ancient Alban, vol. ii. , book ii. , chap, iv. , pp. 128, 129.
"
Prima Vita S. Columba? , cap. xii. , p. 322; Secunda Vita S. Columba? , cap. xii. , and nn. n, 12, 13, p. 331; Tertia Vita S. Co-
lumba? , cap. xxxvii, p. 334 ; Quarta Vita S. Columba? , lib. iii. , cap. xvii. , p. 367, and n. (! 9)> P- 386 ; Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib.
14 A conjecture has been offered, that previously to the occupation ofthe western Islands by the Scandinavians, Oransay separated from Colonsay by flood tide only, if not both of these Islands, at least the
ii. , cap. cvi. , p. 428. " 28
larger on—e seems to have been called See an account of this miraculous mani- Hymba.
" "New Statistical Account of festation in Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Scotland," vol. vii. , part ii. , p. 544.
15 From Adamnan's " Life of St. Colum-
ba," lib. iii. , cap. 5, and n. (b), p. 197 ; also
"Life of St. Columba," lib. iii. , cap. 17,
pp. 219 to 222.
35 It is said to have shone like a comet.
land," p. 275.
29 See "Origines Parochiales Scotise,"
vol. ii. , and part i. , p. 339; also " Collec- tanea de Rebus Albanicis," pp. 2, 3.
21
2-
the 10th of May. 24 Patron of
See "Old Statistical Survey of Scot- land," vol. xvii. , pp. 272, 283.
See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
25 See his Life, at the 16th of May, in the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i.
26
His festival was kept, on the 21st of
426 LIVES OF THE IRISHSAINTS. [June 9.
continued from the time of the consecration,30 until the termination of the sacred mysteries. 3' Afterwards, St. Brendan related what he had witnessed to the Abbots Comgall and Cainnech, all of whom had continual intercourse with each other. 32 The frequency of their churches in the west of Scotland indicates the connexion which existed between them and that region. 33 It was there, also, on other occasions, he had some extraordinary visions and visitations from Heaven. 34 Indeed, one of his biographers does not hesitate to say, that he had mental intuition of all that was taking place on earth, while he was living. 35
Again we are informed, that our saint came to the Hinbinan 3° Island, 37 on a certain occasion. He gave orders, on that same day, for some indul- gence 38 in food to the penitents ;39 as it was usual in Columba's religious establishments, to relax the strictness of dietary discipline, on the arrival of a distinguished visitor/ Among these penitents in that place, there was a certain Neman,*1 son of Cathir. Though ordered by the saint, he would not accept such little indulgence. This was a singularity in devotion, which Columba by no means approved ; and, he very justly desired, that this man should conform, in a spirit of monastic obedience, to the general usages of
their institute. The saint addressed him with these words " O Neman,
:
will you not accept any indulgence in food from me or from Baithen ? time
2 shallbe,whenyouwilleatmare'sflesh,* andbeconcealedinthewoodswith
robbers. "43 Accordingly, that person returning to the world was afterwards
39 This was a practice usual in the early
"
30 Such allusions as the present are valua- ble, not alone as recording particulars of our saint's biography, but also, as revealing clearly the doctrinal and ritual observance of that
monasteries. See Venerable Bede's
toria Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. ii.
early period.
31 The First Life of St. Columba, as pub-
"
His-
40 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 21 , 26,
lished by Colgan, has this miraculous mani- festation as taking place after the recitation of the Gospel, which is also reconcilable with the account in the text.
32 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Life of St. Columba," n. (g), p. 222.
p. 51, n. (b), p. 55, n. (c).
41 Others of this name are mentioned, at
lib. i. , cap. 39, lib. ii. , cap. 4, of Adamnan's
Biography.
42 From the Manuscript Canons attributed
to St. Adamnan, and extant in Marsh's Library, as also from other authentic laws of the Irish Church, it appears, that certain meats were prohibited as unclean. Many of them are deiailed in Cummian's Peniten- tial. Some of those laws were founded on misapprehension regarding the temporary decree of the Council of Jerusalem, ordering
1'
33 This is specially shown, by consulting the volumes, known as Old and New Statis-
tical Account of Scotland, as also that ad- "
mirable topographical work OHgines Parochiales Scotise. "
"
34 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
Life of St. Columba," lib. iii. , cap. 5, pp.
197, 198, and cap. 18, pp. 222, 223.
35 " Totum etiam mundum velut sub uno solis radio collectum, sinu mentis mirabi liter laxato manifestum perspiciens, speculnba- tur. "—Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Christians to abstain
"
from things strangled
Prima Vita S. ColumbDe, cap. xxviii. , jurious to health or connected with supersti- p. 324. tion, which the Church sought to extin- 36 Adamnan frequently puts the name of guish. In the Missal of St. Columbanus,
islands in the adjective form with insula. Thus he deals with Ethica, Iona, Malea.
37 The name Hinl a occurs in Adamnan's "Vita S. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 45, lib. ii. , cap. 24, lib. iii. , cap. 5, 17, 18, 23.
38 Yet, his own fasts were of a most rigor- ous character, and they were even increased in austerity, when he found a poor woman
there is a form of blessing for a vessel, into which anything unclean had fallen. This may be seen in " Musseum Italicum," vol. i. , P- 390.
43 A similar sentence was pronounced by St. Enna against a hypocritical layman, who refused to accept the hospitality offered by Crumther Coelan Echinis
ceteris fratribus cibum in charitate minis- tratum noluisti sumere, de carnibus eqiu, quern furaberis, manducabis, atque manuu-
living on still more wretched food. See "
Rev. S. Baring-Gould's Lives of the Saints," vol. vi. , pp. 121, 122.
and from blood,'' Ac;s xv. The cause for
the ;e and other prohibitions, it is impossi-
ble at this time to ascertain
probably some
;
meats were known by experience to be in-
:
" Tu qui cum
!
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 427
found in the wood with robbers, and eating that kind of flesh mentioned, and off a wooden hurdle. 4 * Thus was the saint's prediction accomplished.
In the year 574,4S according to the generally received j. chronology, died Conall, 46 sonof Comgall, King over Scottish Dalriada. While St. Columba lived in the Island of Himba, he fell into an ecstasy one night. 4 '' Then he saw an Angel of our Lord sent to him from Heaven. This Angel held in his hand a glass book,48 containing the ceremonies for installing kings,4 ^ which he offered to our saint, while commanding him to read it. This was intended to inculcate his obedience to the decrees of Heaven. Now, according to the law of Tanistry,s° Eogan, the cousin of Conall, and son of Gabhran who was slain by KingBrude,51 should succeed to the throne, in the natural course of events.
s2 as
ing out his hands, the Angel struck our saint with a whip. Afterwards, a black print or weal remained on Columba' s side all the remaining days of his
St. Columba could not be induced to
although it was commended and commanded in the book, because the saint better loved Iogenanus 54 or Eoghan,ss Aydan's brother. Suddenly stretch-
However,
inaugurate Aydan
king,S3
life. That Angel added further
:
" Know for certain, that I have been sent
to you by the Lord, to cause you, according as it is set down in this book, to
inaugurate Aydan as king. If you do not obey, I will strike you again. ">6
This Angel appeared for three successive nights, with a similar admonition
repeated. Thereupon, our saint obeyed the injunction of our Lord. To accomplish that end, Columba embarked for Hy, where he crowned Aydan king. This monarch came thither, about that same time ; and, the chonology fixed for his consecration as King of Scotland has been assigned to the year 574. " The object of Columba, in using that solemn rite, 58 was to place Aidan in the rank of an independent sovereign, and to induce the Pictish monarch
cando — " Acta Sanc- jugulaberis. " Colgan's
torum Hibernise," xxi. Martii. Vita S. Endei, cap. xxvi. , p. 709.
44 Hence, Anglice, Griddle, adds the Rev.
51 In the 560. See ibid. year
s2 He was the son of Gabhiain.
his mother, Aidan was connected with the Britons of Strathclyde ; and, for a few years,
:
Dr. Reeves " Alio die cum faber monas- he had played his part in the British wars.
terii non esset prope, S. Comgallus uni de
fratribus dixit: vade frater in officinam
fabri, e—t fac nobis craticulam ad assandos
pisces. " Fleming's "Collectanea Sacra," about A. D. 570, and he ruled for thirty-four
"
Rerum Scoti- carum Historic, lib. v. , p. 144.
s* This is the diminutive form of the name as found in Adamnan.
55 His death is recorded in "Annales Ultonienses," at A. n. 594, and in "Tiger- nachi Annales," atA. D. 596. See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum
Scripto-
res," tomus ii. , p. 159, and iv. p. 32.
56 See " Trias Vita Colgan's Thaumaturga,"
Vita S. Comgalli, cap. 33, p. 31CM. years, dying A. n. 604. See ""
45 See William F. Skene's Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and other Early Memorials of Scottish History," sect, viii. , p. 67.
46 He reigned sixteen year? , according to the Additions in Annals of Tigernach. See Rev.
