9< His fes- tival is on the 23rd of April,
according
to Duald Mac Firbis.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v4
, p.
342-
5i '• This is the Ibar Bishop
5* See "Trias Colgan's
Ivor) who made the great opposition to Patrick and left the flige-OA lariAand the cuiLeDA p^lAa at Armagh. Patrick was enraged at this, and said to Ivar, 'thou shalt not be in Erin. ' Ivar answered and said to him, ' in what- ever place I shall be, I shall call it Erin. '
Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. Ixxxiii, p. 84.
tracery.
A stone, apparently next in size,
5' According to the Glossographer, in the " Leabhar Breac. "
'" Allusion is made here to the leaves taken from the Book of Leinster.
' See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish MSB. Series, vol. i. , part
i. , pp. 90, 91.
^'
That is Beg Ere.
'3 Also, ibU. , pp. 108, 109.
'• " He might have been old enough
about the year 446 to be a bishop ; but, had he been then one, we would rather imagine that St. Patrick would have assigned to him a district, in which he might exercise his
functi—ons,thankeephimalongwithhim- "
self. " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76, p. 290.
'5 See ' Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76,
is marked i foot 10 inches in length. "
5S . See Cough's Camden's Britannia," p. 290.
** "
vol. iii. , P- 547- See Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta "^
' 56 See De Hibernia et Antiquitatibus Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. ,
p. 265. " 57 See " Letters containmg Information '' See Dr. Lanigan's
ejus," cap. X. , p. 53. ^ ,
.
relative to the Antiquities of the County of History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, Wexford, collected during the progress of xiii. , pp. 28, 29.
Ireland,
Ecclesiastical
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 461
become a bishop, so early as people generally imagine ; although, it is thought, there can be no doubt of his having been consecrated as such, before St. Patrick's death,^ in all probabiHty, he having been old enough to assume thatdignity,priortoa. d. 46s. *' VVearetold,thatonaccountofhislearning, and the place where St. Ibar, called also Ivore, lived, some authors entitle himDoctorBegerensis. '° Acelebratedschoolwasestablished,inconnection with this monastery, and to which disciples '' flocked from al parts of Ireland, andevenfrommoredistantcountries. Nolessthanonehundredandfiftyare statedtohavelivedunderIbar'srule. ''^ Theyear420issaidtohavebeenthat," during which our saint's mission took place in Ireland. ''' Without giving us his authority for the statement, Archdall states, that Ibar presided over the school of Beg-Erin, so early as that year. 73 However, the probability is, that this school was established, at a much later period. In the Life of St. Abban,'* it is stated, that his uncle St. Ibar dwelt more in Beg-Erin, than in other parts
of Ireland, and for a special reason, because this was his favourite place of
retreat. 77 It appears, that he had many monks, clerics, and religious females, under his direction,? ^ and in different places throughout our Island. " There is extant, some account of a ring, which had been stolen away from Ibar's monastery, by a robber named Tor lieb, but subsequently it was restored. *" Among many pupils of our saint was included his nephew, Abban, son of Ibar's sister Mella ;'" for whom her holy brother prayed, at the time she gave birth to her son. However, Colgan was not able to prove, that Mella was sister to Ibar, as stated in the Life. Yet, he would fain keep up the assumption of Abban having been nephew to St. Ibar, and he strives to show that Maguire was mistaken. It is thought, St. Ibar was not he who baptized St. Fillan,*' Abbot in Scotland, but rather some other person bearing a similar name. '^ For particulars of St. Abban's connection with his renowned uncle, the reader is referred to the Life*'* of this Abbot of Magharnoidhe. In this rather unauthentic biography, it is said, that St. Ibar set out on a pilgrimage to Rome, and arrived in Britain ; although it is asserted,*5 without any qualification, that there is no mention of his journeying to Rome, or to any other place out
" But, Henschenn repudiates the idea, tiquilates," Index Chronologicus, p. 515. that St. Ibar could have lived so early as "See . Archdall's "Monasiicon iliberni-
before the time of St. Patrick. See "Acta
Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Aprilis xxiii. De '" Given by Colgan, at the l6th of
Sancto Ibaro Episcopo Hiberno, num. 4, p. 174.
March,
" See chapter vii.
'^ See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
nise," xxix. Januarii. Vita S. Gildse Bado- nici, n. 13, p. 190.
"
Also, Vita S. Abbani, cap. vii. , ibid. , xvi. Martii, p. 612.
*" See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum
HibemicarumScriptores,"tomus iv. ,Annales Ultonienses, p. 9, n. 5.
*' to in According Maguire, Colgan's
"Acta Sanctorum Hibernia," xvi. Martii,
chap, xiv. , and xx. , and of St. Ailbe, chap. Appendix ad Acta S. Abbani, cap. iii. , p.
'' See Dr.
Lanigan's
" Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, v. ,
PP- 334. 335-
'" " .
See Monasticon Hibemicum, or the
Monasiical History of Ireland," &c. , p. 17,
by Captain Stevens, thecontinuatorofDugdale. London,1722,
This work was written
8vo.
'' In the Life of St.
Modwena, chap, ii. , and iv. ; as also, in the Lives of St. Declan,
vii. , and of St. Patrick, by Jocelyn, chap. Ixxxiii.
'^ Such is the number assigned to him, in
626.
" His feast occurs at the 9th of January,
Sanctorum," Appendix, p. 991.
'5 By Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
ascribed to St. — and set Litany ^ngus,
where his Life is given,
°^ See the BoUandists' "Acta
that
forth in the following words
quagenos sanctissimos Monachos qui sub
disciplina S. Ibari instruct! sunt, per Jesum also, Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Christum invoco in auxilium meum. "
" Ter
"According to Ussher.
< See " Bntannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tomus iii , xxiii. , Aprilis
:
quin-
cum," p. 733.
*< Written fortheJ7th of October. See, "
niae,'' xvi. Martii. Vila S. Abbani, cap. iii. , iv,, vi. , vii. , ix. ,xii. , xiv. , xvi. , pp. 6lOto 615.
462 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
of Ireland. ^^ Besides this account, we have a notice of a Bishop Ibar,^7 who after all may not be distinguished from the present holy man. This is in those ten Folia, extracted from the " Book of Leinster," and now kept in the Franciscan archives. ^^ Among tlie Bishops of Kildare was one called Ivor, thought by some to have been identical with the present holy man. ^9 In the Life of St. Declan, it is related, that for a time, I bar resisted the authority of St. Patrick, our Irish Apostle ; refusing to be (subject to him, as he did not wishtoreceiveaPatronofIreland,fromaforeignnation. Thisintemperate
display of nationality, at first gave rise to some differences among both of
these holy personages ; but, afterwards, it is said, that through Angelic per- suasion,peaceandfriendshipwereestablishedbetweenthem. Atthattime,
when St. Patrick was in the territory, known as Ara-chliach, he was violently opposed by the Dynast, Olild of Hy-Cuanach. The Irish Apostle ordered St. Ailbe and St. Ibar to offer up their prayers to God ; in consequence of which, that chief, his family, and his subjects, were converted to the true faith. 9° The Annals of Ulster 9' record St. Ibar's death, at a. d. 499, 500,9= and 503. Under the year 500, on the 9th of the Kalends of May, and at the age of 303 years, is Bishop Ibar's death recorded, in the " Chronicum Scoto- rum. " According to the Annals of the Four Masters,93 St. Ibar died in the
twenty-second year of Lughaidh's reign, on the 23rd day of April, and in the year of Christ 500. The same authority tells us, that he reached the extra- ordinary age of three hundred and four years. He died a. c. 5oo.
9< His fes- tival is on the 23rd of April, according to Duald Mac Firbis. His death is recorded in the Annals of Cambria,9s at a. d. 50 r. In the Annals of Clon- macnoise, at 504, in the three hundred and third year of his age,9* is placed the death of St. Ibar. This is even exceeded by the O'Clerys, who state, that he was four hundred and four years old, when he resigned his spirit. It is related, by the ancient author of St. Abban's Life, that the relics of Ibar lay inBegErinmonastery. Theretheyweregreatlyhonoured,inhistime,by the ancient Irish ; while frequent miracles were known to have taken place, through his powerful intercession, and for him the Leinster people entertained a profound veneration. 97 The Martyrology of Tallagh places his festival, at the23rdofApril. 95 ^ngustheFestilogistspeaksofhim,atthisdate,andin termsofhigheulogy. s9 IntheIrishCalendar,attheNonesofMayCalends,
^5See"EcclesiasticalHistoryofIreland. " vol. i. , chap, i. , sect. xiii. , p. 2S.
'' At page 17, col. 4, and from a Manu- script, which has since been published in a much larger work, we find a notice in Latin andIrishofBishopIbarofEmly(? ).
^ At Merchants -quay Convent, Dublin.
Academy,"IrishMSS. Series,vol. i. , parti. ,
pp. 90, 91.
95 See "Annales Cambriae," edited by Rev.
John Williams ab Ithel, p. 3. They state, likewise, that he rested in the Lord, in the ccci. yearofhisage. Plinyinthe7thBook and 4Sth chapter of his Natural History states, that many of the Arcadian Kings lived
'' See Rev. M. Comerford's " Collections
relating to the Diocese of Kildare and to the age of 300 years.
Leighlin," vol. i. , p. I, and n. ibid.
9° Dr. O'Connor says, that the great age ascribed to him and to other saints is owing to the error of transcribers in mistaking ciM. I. , thrice fifty, for cpi. c. three hundred. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , p. 162, n. (t).
9' " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- See Colgan's
'° Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical See Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect,
viii. , p. 287.
»' See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiber-
nicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. Annales
Ultonienses, pp. 9, II.
9' O'Flaherty has added thecr/tow 501,
Dung. Annal. S. Ibanis, 500, Ussher. " See "
p. 612.
9^ Dr. edition, at the See the Rev. Kelly's
ix. ofthe Kalends of May(April 23rd), where we find the feast " S. Ibairi Eps. "—"Calen- dar of Irish Saints," &c. , p. xxii. The Fran- ciscan copy, likewise, has Sci lbA]\i frpi.
William M. Hennessy's Clironicon Scoto- rum," n. 10, pp. 34, 35.
93 See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. 1. ,
pp. 162, 163.
' See " Proceedings of the Royal Irish
""
nije, xvi. Martii. Vita S. Abbani, cap. vii. ,
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 463
(April 23rd), his commemoration is recorded. '"" The Kalendar of Drum- moud also has the festival of Ibar bishop and confessor entered, at
the 23rd of April. '"" Henry Fitzsimon places this saint in his Calendar, but he does not assign a date for the festival. '"' The Martyrology of Donegal,'°3 on this day, records the name of lobhar. Bishop. At this date, likewise, his feast occurs in Rev. Alban Butler's work,'"* as also in the "Circle of the Seasons. "'"' Formerly a church, and at present a parish, de-
Old Church in Lady's Island, County Wexford.
dicatedtoSt. Iberius,'"*wasinthetownofWexford. '°7 Thereisaunitedparish, likewise, in the county of Wexford, called St. Mary's or Lady's Island, and St.
» The " Leabhar Breac " verse :
toicliec ejxrtiip ib^i^x Afonc cen-D cecVi ei\if
dn bpeo udfcuiiTO ciMtif In eipinn bio beb^if.
has this
Common Place Book F. , 40, now p.
served at the Royal Irish Academy.
copy
pre-
It is thus rendered into English, by Dr. Ibemiae," in OSullevan Beare's Historise
"
Whitley Stokes:— (The) light of Bishop
Ibar, who struck down every heresy's head, a splendid flame over a sparkling wave, in BeccErin he died. "
Catholicie Ibernise Compendium,"tomusi. , lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 55.
"' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
108, 109.
<•' See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
'°° I decipher these following notices of this
: 1 &. saint —"1ob<sp eanpoc if
6eatl t)e<ic en\e. 1. Inif pt irop muip & muigLahuib CeitifeAUift. Ceitfe bt &\. ieitpe ceT>d<ioif an Ci—n |\o ir<ioi<) A fpiopat) &r\o T)oniini.
and other Saints," vol. principal
iv. , April
500. " Ordnance Survey Office copy. Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 410.
"Thus ix. Kal. Mail. "Et apud Hiber-
niam sanctus episcopus et confessor Ibar hoc
die ad Christum mip-avit. "—Bishop Forbes'
"
Kalendars of Sottish Saints," p. Ii.
"" See " Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum "
23rd.
"s See p. 114.
"* See Rev. John F. Shearman's " Loca
464 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
Ibar. ''* There is an interesting ruined church on Lady's Island, '"s* within the former parish, as also a square to\ver,"° supposed to have occupied the site of a fortressstillmoreancient. "" Onlythewestgableoftheoldchurch,surmounted by a double loop-holed and pointed belfry, is now visible, with a few feet of the side walls. '" The parish of St. Ivor proper,"'3 is bounded on the north
" and
Island ;"s on the soutli by Lady's Island and Lough Togher ; and on the west by Tacumshin parish. "* There are no antiquities in St. Ivor's parish,"' but the ruins of an ancient church,"' which are somewhat older than the
churches, generally to be met with, in the barony of Forth. It consisted of nave and choir: the former measured 27 feet, in length, and 15 feet, 10 inches, in breadth, on the inside ; while the latter was 22 feet, 4 inches, in length, and 14 feet, 4 inches, in breadth. The west gable is perfect, and it contains a quadrangular window, but no belfry, in which particular, it differs from the other ruins of churches, in that barony. "9 There is no well in the parish, at present called after St. - Ivor ; but, Mr. O'Donovan had some reason to believe, that well which now bears the name of St. Catherine formerly bore hisname. Turaseshadbeenperformedatthisholywell,buttheyhavegra- dually grown into disuse, since the commencement of this present century. About the year 1680, there was a chapel dedicated to St. Ibarius, or Ivorius, in the pretty Island of Begg-Erin, opposite to Wexford. It was much fre- quented by pious pilgrims ; while infirm persons derived much consolation from their visits, and it is said many miracles were there wrought. "" About this time, too, a wooden image of St. Iberian, the patron saint, was preserved in this church. To it, Colonel Solomon Richards scoffingly alludes, in a
on the east by the parishes of Kilraan
by Kilscoran parish Lady's
"^ The present St. Iberius' church is now converted into the Protestnnt parochial church, "a plain edifice, with rusticated
"? This is in the barony of Forth, and noted
;
man, June 27th, 1840, for the Irish Ord- feet, 8 inches, in width. The south wall is nance Survey. It is reproduced by him on all destroyed, except a small portion near
the wood, in the current illustration, and it was engraved by Mrs. Millard.
"' A beaiitiiul ink sketch of this has been
the west gable, containing a pointed door- way. This is 5 feet, 7 inches, in height ; and, 3feet,2inches,inbreadth. Thenorthwall and all the choir are destroyed. By com-
preserved by William F. Wakeman. _
III t^ge Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary paring this with oiher cliurches, John
of Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 347-
"" Some observaiious by Mr. O Donovan
will be found, in reference to this parish, in " Letters containing Information rehtive to the Antiquities ol the County ofWexford,
collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 184O," vol. i. , pp. 299 to 301.
"3 The name of this parish is derived from
the celebrated St. Ibhar or Ivar.
'•i In the barony of Forth. It is marked
on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County ofWexford," sheet 48.
"5 See ibid. , sheets 48, 53.
"' See ibid. , sheets 47, 48, 52. S3-
O'Donovan would pronounce it five centu- ries old.
5i '• This is the Ibar Bishop
5* See "Trias Colgan's
Ivor) who made the great opposition to Patrick and left the flige-OA lariAand the cuiLeDA p^lAa at Armagh. Patrick was enraged at this, and said to Ivar, 'thou shalt not be in Erin. ' Ivar answered and said to him, ' in what- ever place I shall be, I shall call it Erin. '
Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. Ixxxiii, p. 84.
tracery.
A stone, apparently next in size,
5' According to the Glossographer, in the " Leabhar Breac. "
'" Allusion is made here to the leaves taken from the Book of Leinster.
' See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish MSB. Series, vol. i. , part
i. , pp. 90, 91.
^'
That is Beg Ere.
'3 Also, ibU. , pp. 108, 109.
'• " He might have been old enough
about the year 446 to be a bishop ; but, had he been then one, we would rather imagine that St. Patrick would have assigned to him a district, in which he might exercise his
functi—ons,thankeephimalongwithhim- "
self. " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76, p. 290.
'5 See ' Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76,
is marked i foot 10 inches in length. "
5S . See Cough's Camden's Britannia," p. 290.
** "
vol. iii. , P- 547- See Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta "^
' 56 See De Hibernia et Antiquitatibus Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. ,
p. 265. " 57 See " Letters containmg Information '' See Dr. Lanigan's
ejus," cap. X. , p. 53. ^ ,
.
relative to the Antiquities of the County of History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, Wexford, collected during the progress of xiii. , pp. 28, 29.
Ireland,
Ecclesiastical
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 461
become a bishop, so early as people generally imagine ; although, it is thought, there can be no doubt of his having been consecrated as such, before St. Patrick's death,^ in all probabiHty, he having been old enough to assume thatdignity,priortoa. d. 46s. *' VVearetold,thatonaccountofhislearning, and the place where St. Ibar, called also Ivore, lived, some authors entitle himDoctorBegerensis. '° Acelebratedschoolwasestablished,inconnection with this monastery, and to which disciples '' flocked from al parts of Ireland, andevenfrommoredistantcountries. Nolessthanonehundredandfiftyare statedtohavelivedunderIbar'srule. ''^ Theyear420issaidtohavebeenthat," during which our saint's mission took place in Ireland. ''' Without giving us his authority for the statement, Archdall states, that Ibar presided over the school of Beg-Erin, so early as that year. 73 However, the probability is, that this school was established, at a much later period. In the Life of St. Abban,'* it is stated, that his uncle St. Ibar dwelt more in Beg-Erin, than in other parts
of Ireland, and for a special reason, because this was his favourite place of
retreat. 77 It appears, that he had many monks, clerics, and religious females, under his direction,? ^ and in different places throughout our Island. " There is extant, some account of a ring, which had been stolen away from Ibar's monastery, by a robber named Tor lieb, but subsequently it was restored. *" Among many pupils of our saint was included his nephew, Abban, son of Ibar's sister Mella ;'" for whom her holy brother prayed, at the time she gave birth to her son. However, Colgan was not able to prove, that Mella was sister to Ibar, as stated in the Life. Yet, he would fain keep up the assumption of Abban having been nephew to St. Ibar, and he strives to show that Maguire was mistaken. It is thought, St. Ibar was not he who baptized St. Fillan,*' Abbot in Scotland, but rather some other person bearing a similar name. '^ For particulars of St. Abban's connection with his renowned uncle, the reader is referred to the Life*'* of this Abbot of Magharnoidhe. In this rather unauthentic biography, it is said, that St. Ibar set out on a pilgrimage to Rome, and arrived in Britain ; although it is asserted,*5 without any qualification, that there is no mention of his journeying to Rome, or to any other place out
" But, Henschenn repudiates the idea, tiquilates," Index Chronologicus, p. 515. that St. Ibar could have lived so early as "See . Archdall's "Monasiicon iliberni-
before the time of St. Patrick. See "Acta
Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Aprilis xxiii. De '" Given by Colgan, at the l6th of
Sancto Ibaro Episcopo Hiberno, num. 4, p. 174.
March,
" See chapter vii.
'^ See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
nise," xxix. Januarii. Vita S. Gildse Bado- nici, n. 13, p. 190.
"
Also, Vita S. Abbani, cap. vii. , ibid. , xvi. Martii, p. 612.
*" See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum
HibemicarumScriptores,"tomus iv. ,Annales Ultonienses, p. 9, n. 5.
*' to in According Maguire, Colgan's
"Acta Sanctorum Hibernia," xvi. Martii,
chap, xiv. , and xx. , and of St. Ailbe, chap. Appendix ad Acta S. Abbani, cap. iii. , p.
'' See Dr.
Lanigan's
" Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, v. ,
PP- 334. 335-
'" " .
See Monasticon Hibemicum, or the
Monasiical History of Ireland," &c. , p. 17,
by Captain Stevens, thecontinuatorofDugdale. London,1722,
This work was written
8vo.
'' In the Life of St.
Modwena, chap, ii. , and iv. ; as also, in the Lives of St. Declan,
vii. , and of St. Patrick, by Jocelyn, chap. Ixxxiii.
'^ Such is the number assigned to him, in
626.
" His feast occurs at the 9th of January,
Sanctorum," Appendix, p. 991.
'5 By Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
ascribed to St. — and set Litany ^ngus,
where his Life is given,
°^ See the BoUandists' "Acta
that
forth in the following words
quagenos sanctissimos Monachos qui sub
disciplina S. Ibari instruct! sunt, per Jesum also, Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Christum invoco in auxilium meum. "
" Ter
"According to Ussher.
< See " Bntannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tomus iii , xxiii. , Aprilis
:
quin-
cum," p. 733.
*< Written fortheJ7th of October. See, "
niae,'' xvi. Martii. Vila S. Abbani, cap. iii. , iv,, vi. , vii. , ix. ,xii. , xiv. , xvi. , pp. 6lOto 615.
462 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
of Ireland. ^^ Besides this account, we have a notice of a Bishop Ibar,^7 who after all may not be distinguished from the present holy man. This is in those ten Folia, extracted from the " Book of Leinster," and now kept in the Franciscan archives. ^^ Among tlie Bishops of Kildare was one called Ivor, thought by some to have been identical with the present holy man. ^9 In the Life of St. Declan, it is related, that for a time, I bar resisted the authority of St. Patrick, our Irish Apostle ; refusing to be (subject to him, as he did not wishtoreceiveaPatronofIreland,fromaforeignnation. Thisintemperate
display of nationality, at first gave rise to some differences among both of
these holy personages ; but, afterwards, it is said, that through Angelic per- suasion,peaceandfriendshipwereestablishedbetweenthem. Atthattime,
when St. Patrick was in the territory, known as Ara-chliach, he was violently opposed by the Dynast, Olild of Hy-Cuanach. The Irish Apostle ordered St. Ailbe and St. Ibar to offer up their prayers to God ; in consequence of which, that chief, his family, and his subjects, were converted to the true faith. 9° The Annals of Ulster 9' record St. Ibar's death, at a. d. 499, 500,9= and 503. Under the year 500, on the 9th of the Kalends of May, and at the age of 303 years, is Bishop Ibar's death recorded, in the " Chronicum Scoto- rum. " According to the Annals of the Four Masters,93 St. Ibar died in the
twenty-second year of Lughaidh's reign, on the 23rd day of April, and in the year of Christ 500. The same authority tells us, that he reached the extra- ordinary age of three hundred and four years. He died a. c. 5oo.
9< His fes- tival is on the 23rd of April, according to Duald Mac Firbis. His death is recorded in the Annals of Cambria,9s at a. d. 50 r. In the Annals of Clon- macnoise, at 504, in the three hundred and third year of his age,9* is placed the death of St. Ibar. This is even exceeded by the O'Clerys, who state, that he was four hundred and four years old, when he resigned his spirit. It is related, by the ancient author of St. Abban's Life, that the relics of Ibar lay inBegErinmonastery. Theretheyweregreatlyhonoured,inhistime,by the ancient Irish ; while frequent miracles were known to have taken place, through his powerful intercession, and for him the Leinster people entertained a profound veneration. 97 The Martyrology of Tallagh places his festival, at the23rdofApril. 95 ^ngustheFestilogistspeaksofhim,atthisdate,andin termsofhigheulogy. s9 IntheIrishCalendar,attheNonesofMayCalends,
^5See"EcclesiasticalHistoryofIreland. " vol. i. , chap, i. , sect. xiii. , p. 2S.
'' At page 17, col. 4, and from a Manu- script, which has since been published in a much larger work, we find a notice in Latin andIrishofBishopIbarofEmly(? ).
^ At Merchants -quay Convent, Dublin.
Academy,"IrishMSS. Series,vol. i. , parti. ,
pp. 90, 91.
95 See "Annales Cambriae," edited by Rev.
John Williams ab Ithel, p. 3. They state, likewise, that he rested in the Lord, in the ccci. yearofhisage. Plinyinthe7thBook and 4Sth chapter of his Natural History states, that many of the Arcadian Kings lived
'' See Rev. M. Comerford's " Collections
relating to the Diocese of Kildare and to the age of 300 years.
Leighlin," vol. i. , p. I, and n. ibid.
9° Dr. O'Connor says, that the great age ascribed to him and to other saints is owing to the error of transcribers in mistaking ciM. I. , thrice fifty, for cpi. c. three hundred. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , p. 162, n. (t).
9' " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- See Colgan's
'° Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical See Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect,
viii. , p. 287.
»' See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiber-
nicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. Annales
Ultonienses, pp. 9, II.
9' O'Flaherty has added thecr/tow 501,
Dung. Annal. S. Ibanis, 500, Ussher. " See "
p. 612.
9^ Dr. edition, at the See the Rev. Kelly's
ix. ofthe Kalends of May(April 23rd), where we find the feast " S. Ibairi Eps. "—"Calen- dar of Irish Saints," &c. , p. xxii. The Fran- ciscan copy, likewise, has Sci lbA]\i frpi.
William M. Hennessy's Clironicon Scoto- rum," n. 10, pp. 34, 35.
93 See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. 1. ,
pp. 162, 163.
' See " Proceedings of the Royal Irish
""
nije, xvi. Martii. Vita S. Abbani, cap. vii. ,
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 463
(April 23rd), his commemoration is recorded. '"" The Kalendar of Drum- moud also has the festival of Ibar bishop and confessor entered, at
the 23rd of April. '"" Henry Fitzsimon places this saint in his Calendar, but he does not assign a date for the festival. '"' The Martyrology of Donegal,'°3 on this day, records the name of lobhar. Bishop. At this date, likewise, his feast occurs in Rev. Alban Butler's work,'"* as also in the "Circle of the Seasons. "'"' Formerly a church, and at present a parish, de-
Old Church in Lady's Island, County Wexford.
dicatedtoSt. Iberius,'"*wasinthetownofWexford. '°7 Thereisaunitedparish, likewise, in the county of Wexford, called St. Mary's or Lady's Island, and St.
» The " Leabhar Breac " verse :
toicliec ejxrtiip ib^i^x Afonc cen-D cecVi ei\if
dn bpeo udfcuiiTO ciMtif In eipinn bio beb^if.
has this
Common Place Book F. , 40, now p.
served at the Royal Irish Academy.
copy
pre-
It is thus rendered into English, by Dr. Ibemiae," in OSullevan Beare's Historise
"
Whitley Stokes:— (The) light of Bishop
Ibar, who struck down every heresy's head, a splendid flame over a sparkling wave, in BeccErin he died. "
Catholicie Ibernise Compendium,"tomusi. , lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 55.
"' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
108, 109.
<•' See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
'°° I decipher these following notices of this
: 1 &. saint —"1ob<sp eanpoc if
6eatl t)e<ic en\e. 1. Inif pt irop muip & muigLahuib CeitifeAUift. Ceitfe bt &\. ieitpe ceT>d<ioif an Ci—n |\o ir<ioi<) A fpiopat) &r\o T)oniini.
and other Saints," vol. principal
iv. , April
500. " Ordnance Survey Office copy. Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 410.
"Thus ix. Kal. Mail. "Et apud Hiber-
niam sanctus episcopus et confessor Ibar hoc
die ad Christum mip-avit. "—Bishop Forbes'
"
Kalendars of Sottish Saints," p. Ii.
"" See " Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum "
23rd.
"s See p. 114.
"* See Rev. John F. Shearman's " Loca
464 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
Ibar. ''* There is an interesting ruined church on Lady's Island, '"s* within the former parish, as also a square to\ver,"° supposed to have occupied the site of a fortressstillmoreancient. "" Onlythewestgableoftheoldchurch,surmounted by a double loop-holed and pointed belfry, is now visible, with a few feet of the side walls. '" The parish of St. Ivor proper,"'3 is bounded on the north
" and
Island ;"s on the soutli by Lady's Island and Lough Togher ; and on the west by Tacumshin parish. "* There are no antiquities in St. Ivor's parish,"' but the ruins of an ancient church,"' which are somewhat older than the
churches, generally to be met with, in the barony of Forth. It consisted of nave and choir: the former measured 27 feet, in length, and 15 feet, 10 inches, in breadth, on the inside ; while the latter was 22 feet, 4 inches, in length, and 14 feet, 4 inches, in breadth. The west gable is perfect, and it contains a quadrangular window, but no belfry, in which particular, it differs from the other ruins of churches, in that barony. "9 There is no well in the parish, at present called after St. - Ivor ; but, Mr. O'Donovan had some reason to believe, that well which now bears the name of St. Catherine formerly bore hisname. Turaseshadbeenperformedatthisholywell,buttheyhavegra- dually grown into disuse, since the commencement of this present century. About the year 1680, there was a chapel dedicated to St. Ibarius, or Ivorius, in the pretty Island of Begg-Erin, opposite to Wexford. It was much fre- quented by pious pilgrims ; while infirm persons derived much consolation from their visits, and it is said many miracles were there wrought. "" About this time, too, a wooden image of St. Iberian, the patron saint, was preserved in this church. To it, Colonel Solomon Richards scoffingly alludes, in a
on the east by the parishes of Kilraan
by Kilscoran parish Lady's
"^ The present St. Iberius' church is now converted into the Protestnnt parochial church, "a plain edifice, with rusticated
"? This is in the barony of Forth, and noted
;
man, June 27th, 1840, for the Irish Ord- feet, 8 inches, in width. The south wall is nance Survey. It is reproduced by him on all destroyed, except a small portion near
the wood, in the current illustration, and it was engraved by Mrs. Millard.
"' A beaiitiiul ink sketch of this has been
the west gable, containing a pointed door- way. This is 5 feet, 7 inches, in height ; and, 3feet,2inches,inbreadth. Thenorthwall and all the choir are destroyed. By com-
preserved by William F. Wakeman. _
III t^ge Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary paring this with oiher cliurches, John
of Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 347-
"" Some observaiious by Mr. O Donovan
will be found, in reference to this parish, in " Letters containing Information rehtive to the Antiquities ol the County ofWexford,
collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 184O," vol. i. , pp. 299 to 301.
"3 The name of this parish is derived from
the celebrated St. Ibhar or Ivar.
'•i In the barony of Forth. It is marked
on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County ofWexford," sheet 48.
"5 See ibid. , sheets 48, 53.
"' See ibid. , sheets 47, 48, 52. S3-
O'Donovan would pronounce it five centu- ries old.
