Then a dark, wall-like flank of mountain, near 2,000 feet high, comes next,
gloomily
overhanging the northern water of the bay.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
The most
excellent prelate, it is said, taking the Staff
of Jesus into his sacred hand, and elevating
it in a menacing manner, as also having the
favourable assistance of angels, he gathered
together into one place, all the venemous Turned to his offering; and all day he reptiles that were in Ireland, after he had
driven them before him to a most high
mountain, hanging over the sea. This steep had been called then Cruachan-Aigle, and afterwards it was known as Cruach Padruig, that is "St. Patrick's mountain. " Thence
stood
Offering in heart that offering undefiled
Which Abel offered, and Melchisedek, And Abraham, Patriarch of the faithful race, In type, and which, in fulness of the times, The Victim-Priest offered on Calvary,
History Ireland,"
Man with all the other Isles him by
These petitions, which he addressed
he cast the reptiles down from that steep precipice, to be swallowed up by the sea. The local guides still point out Lugnademon
—a ya^vning gap on one side of Crough Patrick, and down which, as the legend tells us, St. Patrick hurled the toads and snakes and evil spirits to the sea. After directing his face towards the Isle of Man, Jocelyn immediately adds, when he has told of St.
Patrick banishing serpents from Ireland,
blessing
converted to Christ, by help of his prayers, he procured them the singular benefit of ex-
emption from reptiles.
*'
Passing northwards, towards the steep mountain of Slieve League, these Demons emerged from the deep, and took up their abode in the savage wilds of Seangleann, on the south-west coast of Donegal. Thence, they were afterwards driven, by St. Colum-
kille. See O'Donnell's or
"
Quinta Vita S.
Columbse," lib. i. , cap. Ixxxviii. , p. 403.
Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. "
^'
This miraculous bell seems to have been preserved in the twelfth century ; for, Jocelyn states, that the saint's bell, being broken on one side by his often using it, was mended by an angel. Jocelyn does not for- get to add, that the mark of the breakage was visible, in his time, although that bell had been repaired.
*^ The result has been thus
corded in "The Striving of St. Patrick—on
Mount Cruachan," by Aubrey De Vere
:
"Then heavenward sped Victor, God's angel, and the man of God
poetically
re-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 601
to God, were accompanied by tears, which fell on his casula, or vesture, during the time of his penitential retirement on Croaghpatrick. His chief
petitions were -^^ first, that every native of Ireland, even at the point of
And, bloodless, offers still in heaven and
earth,
Whose impetration makes the whole Church
one.
So stood he offering till the eve, and still Offer'd; and,asheoffer'd,farinfront Along the serial summit once again
Ran out that beam like fiery pillar prone Or sea-path sunset paved, and by his side That angel stood. Then Patrick, turning not His eyes in prayer upon the west close held,
Accordant with the Gentiles of this world, But as a chosen people wear the crown
Or bear the Cross : and when the end is come, When in God's Mount the Twelve great
Thrones are set.
And round it roll the Rivers Four of fire, And in their circuit meet the Peoples Three Of heaven, and earth, and hell, fulfill'd that
day
Shall be the Saviour's word, what time He
faith, shameless, sink
you can bring seven
' From the Maker of all worlds
stretched
The crozier-staff forth from the
Demanded, What answer
angel spake
' Down laielt in Heaven the
glory-cloud.
bringest
thou ? '
Thus the
And swear to thee, ' When Me walked
they
that with
— :
Nine,
And all the prophets and the apostles knelt. And all the creatures of the hand of God,
Visible, and invisible, down knelt,
While thou thy mighty mass, though altar-
less,
Offer'dst in spirit, and thine offering joined ; And all God's saints on earth, or roused
from sleep
Or on the wayside pausing, knelt, the cause
Judging the Twelve Tribes of Mine Israel
Thy people thou shall judge in righteous-
ness.
Thou therefore kneel, and bless thy land of
Eire. '
Then Patrick knelt, and blessed the land,
Not knowing likewise ;
yearned
the souls
—
See ofSt. to "Legends Patrick," pp. 48
to God :
And lo ! the Lord thy God hath heard thy
prayer,
Since fortitude in prayer—and this thou
(Smiling the Bright One spake) is that which lays
50-
*^ In a very dramatic but legendary
manner have they been recorded, by the author of the Irish Tripartite Life, in the
following narrative. " I will bring so many souls from pain," said the angel, "and as many as would cover so far as your eye couldreachonthesea. " "Thatisnogreat boon forme," said Patrick; "not far can my eye reach over the sea. " "You shall have between sea and land, then," added
the angel. "Is there anything more granted to me besides that ? " asked Patrick. ' ' There
"
is," said the angel ;
every Saturday from the pains of hell for ever. " "If anything be granted to me," observed Patrick, "let me have my twelve men. " "You shall have them," said the
angel, depart
shall not depart," said Patrick,
have been tormented, until I am recom- pensed. Isthereanythingelse,then,tobe granted to me? " asked Patrick. "Yes,"
said the " angel ;
know'st—
Man's hand upon God's sceptre. sought'st
Shall lack not consummation.
Shrivelling in sunshine of its prosperous
years,
Shall cease from
and shamed
though
Back to its native clay ;
God shall the shadow of His hand extend, And through the night of centuries teach to
her
In woe that
song which,
when the nations
"and fromCruachan. " "I
wake,
Shall sound their glad deliverance :
"
because I
alone
This nation, from the blind dividual dust
Of instincts ring wills
shall have seven Thursday, and twelve every Saturday, from
brute, thoughts driftless, war- By thee evoked, and shapen by thy hands,
you
every
To God's fair which image,
not answered " because I depart," Patrick,
have been tormented, until I am recom-
confers alone Manhood on nations, shall to God :,. . . ad
true ;
But nations far in undiscovered seas,
Her stately progeny, while ages waste,
The Kingly ermine of her Faith shall wear. Fleece uncorrupted of the Immaculate
Lamb,
Forever landsremoteshall
: lift to God
/T-fr fanes ; and eagle-nurturing isles hold fast Her hermit cells ; thy nation shall not walk
pensed. Is there anything else granted to ""
Angelic
Orders
Sit with Me on their
everlasting thrones.
but over thine
That thou
Many a race
nor
'
and said,
Praise be to God who hears the sinner's "
prayer. '
pains, and depart from Cruachan. "
"
I will
me? " asked Patrick. There is, answered
''
the great sea to come over Erinn seven years before the Judgment, and depart from the Cruachan. " "I will not depart," said Patrick, "since I have been
the angel ;
until I am " Is there gratified. "
tormented,
anything more you demand? " asked the
angel. "There is," answered Patrick,
6o2 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[March 17.
death, should obtain God's clemency, after Confession and repentance ; secondly, that barbarian invaders should not prevail against the Irish people ; and thirdly, that no Irish person should be found living at the day of Judgment, because the sea should cover all Ireland for four years, previous to the great accounting day. ^5 Whether or not, that curious and rude cell on the summJt ofCroughPatrickdatesbacktoourApostle'stimemaybequestioned; and yet, it has every appearance of the most remote antiquity. At the eastern end of a plateau, on your right hand, as you ascend the usually-travelled course from the sea, are the remains of what once was a small cell, about twelve feet by eight ; the walls have been built without mortar. This build- ing has been sunk, much below the level of the adjoining ground, possibly to get shelter from the blasts and rain of Atlantic storms, that rush with chilling and unchecked sweep upon the towering peak. At the base of the tottering eastern gable are the remains of a bench-like projection, said to have formed the altar; the floor of the church is level with the sunken path, which leads to it.
As you enter, a stone, with an impression on its upper face, is to be seen; this,theytellyou,hasbeenmadebythekneesofSt. Patrick,during long seasons of prayer. Round the flat surface of the top, and quite along itsverge,asunkenwayhasbeendug. Thisisaboutninefeetwide,andstony, the stuff removed to make it has been cast above its outer edge, so as to form a rude parapet behind it, and the steep sides of the mountain, which fall away
abruptly
on all sides. ^^
Opposite your approach
are the walls of what falling
" that Saxons may not occupy Erin, by con- sent or force, whilst I shall be in heaven. "
be about the Mount, and when the three peoples shall be there, viz. , the people of
heaven, the people of earth, and the people of hell, that I myself may be judge over the
"
It shall be granted thee," said the angel ;
*' and depart from the Cruachan. " " I will
not said "since I have depart," Patrick,
been tormented, until I am gratified. Is
" This cannot be obtained from the Lord," said the
there more to me ? " asked " Unless this is obtained from anything granted angel.
"
one who
day to the other shall not suffer pains. "
"The hymn is long and difficult," said
Patrick. "Every one who repeats from to heaven. Patrick went to his offering.
Patrick. "
There is," said the angel ;
every
repeats thy h3min
from one
from this
day
for ever
;
Crist
"
angel.
lim,
came in the now? " asked Patrick.
evening.
me
'
—ilium "—recte Crist
"
How "Thus," answered the angel: "all the creatures, visible and invisible, including the twelve apostles, en- treated, and they have obtained. The Lord said, that there came not, and would not "for I have been tormented, until I am come, after the apostles, a man more illus- trious, were it not for the hardness of the re- quest, which is granted thee. Strike thy bell," said the angel; "thou art com- manded from heaven to fall on thy knees, that it may be a blessing to the people of all Erin, both living and dead. " " A blessing on the bountiful King that gave," said Patrick; "the Ci-uachan shall be left. "
Christ with The to the end, and every one who re-
peats the name, and every one who observes penitence in Erin, their souls shall not go to
"
I will not depart," said Patrick,
hell; and depart from Cruachan, "
said the
gratified. Is there anything more ? " asked Patrick. "Yes," said the angel; "you shall have one man for every hair in your
casula, frompains, onthedayofJudgment. " " Which of the other saints, who labour for
God," said Patrick, "that would not bring
that number to heaven ? that," said Patrick.
"
I shall not accept Wliat will you
then ? " asked the
is," said Patrick; "that I should bring
accept,
angel.
from on the of
hell, Day Judgment,
persons for every hair in this casula. "
seven
"
*s See " Vita S. lib. Quinta Patricii," ii. ,
shall be granted to you," said the angel ; "and depart from this Cruachan. " " I will
"
'
" Here it
See Sister F. Cusack's " Life of St. Pa- Mary
It
cap. XX. , p. 58. Similar practices of lonely re- treats seem to have been usual with saints, in the Western Church. Thus St. Francis of Assisium retired to the mountain Alver- nia, where he fasted forty days, in honour of St. Michael the Archangel, when he was
not depart," said Patrick,
tormented, until t am gratified. "
anything else you demand? " asked the
angel. "There is," said Patrick; "the favoured with the seraphic vision. See day the twelve royal seats shall be on the "Breviarium Romanum," sept, xvii. , lect. Mount, and when the four rivers of fire shall iv. , v. , vi.
for I have been
"
Is there
men of on that Erinn,
day. "
thing
Him, I will not consent to leave this Cruachan,
and even after my death, there shall be a caretaker from me there," answered Patrick. The angel went
angel
trick, Apostle of Ireland," pp. 415 to 417.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 60 •;
they say was St. Patrick's Cell, and behind this, his bed or Labba is shown. Scattered about on the top are various roughly-built places, serving as a shelter to pilgrims, passing the night up there. Only the young and vigorous tourist
will be able to accomplish the toilsome journey, on foot, to this spot ; and, yet, have we seen very old persons there engaged, at their devotional exercises. The ascent to Crough Patrick is now best made from the neighbourhood of
Murrisk Abbey and Crogh Patrick in the Distance, County of Mayo.
Murrisk Abbey,^7 about five miles from Westport, and lying at the base, close
by the surges of the Atlantic. For a time, the tourist follows no beaten way,
heading straight up the mountain's side, with the peak on his right, rather
than in front, and holding this course until he reaches about 1,000 feet, above
the starting-point. He next enters upon the pilgrims' path, which ascends to the shoulder of the hill, a point, perhaps, 1,500 feet above the base. This
path so winds, that faces, which at starting looked landward, are turned
when the is ^^ The top gained.
broad, and has been regularly made, the hillside having been scarped, so as to pro- duce an inclined way, well defined, and about nine feet wide. At the foot of this widened path, we came upon the first station f^ it consists of a cir- cular track, or walk-about hill. Trench-like behind, that portion of space, which is enclosed by the path, is heaped into a kind of mound, topped once by a stone cross, but now surmounted only by piled stones. 9° A long stretch,
oppositely,
^ Roughly speaking, this path is about 200 yards in circumference ; around this the pilgrims go. Fifteen circuits is the appointed number ; but, this is commuted to one, should the pilgrim choose to go upon his knees, instead of his feet.
^^ This was a friary of Augustinian Ere- mites, founded by the O'Malleys. See
"
path
Monasticon Hibemicum," pp.
^ The accompanying illustration has lonely, as in that place she should have the
Archdall's
506, 507-
after a while becomes
been drawn and engraved, by Gregor Grey, from a photograph, taken on the spot, by Frederick H. Mares.
^9 Some little distance, from the first station, is the spot, where a poor woman is buried. She had died, when in the act of " making the stations. " The time she had selected to do so was out of the usual season, and she departed this life, in the midst of snow. She had been buried in a spot so
6o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
rising as if from an alpine pedestal,9i ^^-^ Qf pathway,92 now of gully, choked with stones, takes us after a toilsome climb of two hours to the top. We
reach it on its south-eastern side. It consists of a small plateau, containing about half an acre, and having a lone, wild look ; this is covered with rude- built walls, the ruins of a little church, and pathways deeply sunk below the surface. The extreme point, on which the Oratory is situated, becomes clearly visible now, and when the steep is gained, a sublime spectacle bursts on the view,ifthedayhappentobefine. Thesightistoogreat,toobroad,toovaried, too glorious, to be taken in, at a single glance. We are over two thousand five hundred feet, above the level of the sea. 93 Beyond the awful depths below, and all away to the north and west, lies the still more awful Atlantic. s^ The summit of this lonely mountain was indeed admirably suited for com- muning with the great Being, who had lavished with unsparing hand, the most sublime and varied charms of natural prospects, on a vast range of the most romantic scenery in our island. 95 Gathering mists, save at intervals, shroudedourview,when,atonetime,onthemountaintop. Thescenesbe- neath our feet, and far away as our eyes could reach, were gloriously sublime. Clew Bay is a water-extended and irregular parallelogram of vast range : its upper or eastern end is so thickly studded with islands, that it has been said, one is there for every day in the year. Many of these are cultivated, some are clad with trees, a few are rocky. The seaward faces of all are abruptly steep, and plainly show how hard has been the struggle, between them, and the long inland sweep of the Atlantic waves. At times, the light falls upon the water, so as to make it seem of silvery whiteness, and then the contrast between it and the green-clad islands it surrounds is beautiful beyond all des- cription. Along their western faces, the crests of the white horses of ocean areevertopplingover,inabrokenlineofsnow-whitefoam; and,theislands seem placed by nature, to break the rush of water, like skirmishers in battle flung out along the front, to check a coming onset. Looking, then, as far as we can see, in the direction of the western Atlantic Ocean, the first object to catch the eye is Clare Island. 9^ It is a huge mountain, 1,520 feet in height,
sympathies and prayers of the pilgrims, when passing by her grave.
9° Round this mound, and on the path
the
encompassing it, go pilgrims, if walking, seven times ; if on their knees, but once, and in both cases re-
citing a given form of prayer. Those who choose to make the circuit on their knees, not unfrequently leave the track of blood behind, this way being rough and stony. Close at hand, there is a rude stone shelter, where the blind or otherwise infirm find a scant protection from the weather, during thenight.
"
Calm or convulsed—in breeze, or gale, or storm
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime
— and Darlc-heaving, boundless, endless,
mentioned as
»' See
land," vol. i. , p. 543.
p. 312.
"See "The
Grace O'Malley, a heroine the
— at whose court she w. is Queen Elizabeth,
Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire-
" Ireland," by Lageniensis, pp. 89, 90.
9' This is called the Kessau—n Cruagh, or "the footway of the Reek. " Rev. Caesar Otway's "Tour in Connaught," chap, xiii. ,
Gazetteer of
9* Here, indeed, it may be seen a
"
glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form
9^ The remains one of
Grana Uaile, the—celebrated sea-adventurer
Parliamentary Ireland," vol. i. , p. 543.
presented, are still to be seen, upon
Glasses itself in
tempests ;
in all
time»
this island. The towers, now ruined, and the romantic interview, to which allusion is here made, are most graphically described, in that charming poetic miscellany, intituled, " The Monks of Kilcrea, and other Poems,"
sublime
TheimageofEternity thethrone Of the Invisible. "
—"
Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrim*
age," Canto iv. , stanza clxxxiii.
^5 The writer had an opportunity for wit-
nessing the magnificent panorama from the top of Crough Patrick, during the month of August,i860. Thereaderisreferred,foran
imperfect description of the impression pro-
duced, to a little work,
Legend Lays of
—
among
the castles of
in time of
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 605
and covering about 4,000 acres. It rises, so as to part the waters at the mouth of Clew Bay, into a north and south entrance, and to block, in the middle, a full third of the whole width. In the dim distance beyond, we now faintly see Achill Head ; its beetling cliffs, from a height of 900 feet, look vertically down upon the waves of the Atlantic, breaking upon their base. Nearer, by some fourteen miles, is Achill Beg or Little Achill.
Then a dark, wall-like flank of mountain, near 2,000 feet high, comes next, gloomily overhanging the northern water of the bay. Between this and the next mountain group, called Nephin Beg, which also frowns above the northern margin of the bay, there is a narrow gap, through which we gain a glimpse of Blacksod Bay. The sheen of its waters, we see in patches, dark masses of
long and narrow promontory so break upon it.
The effect of this vista is
magnificent in the extreme. Between that group, called Nephin Beg, many of whose peaks rise over 2,000 feet, and the Croagh Moyle mountains, we
see huge Nephin, towering 2,646 feet over Lough Conn, the lap of whose waters falls along its eastern base. The lake itself is hidden from us, by the hills and mountains, which lie between. South of the Croagh Moyle moun-_ tains lies Castlebar, and the lakes about it : these latter we plainly see. Some miles further south, and just peeping round the north base of Slieve Bohaan, the upper end of Lough Carra comes in view. It lies at the head of that long stretch of inland water, composed of Loughs Corrib and Mask. This chain of lakes is full fifty miles in length. Immediately south of us lie Ben Bury, Ben Creghan, and Ben Gorm, all rising between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above the sea. Beyond their crests, the peaks of the Twelve Pins appear. At the base, or nearly so, of one among these, and hollowed in its sides, there is a dark, deep lake, gloomily shadowed by the mountain, within whose worn and channelled sides, it lies embosomed. Westward, out in the Atlantic, extend Inisdalla, Inisturk, and Caher Islands. These reached, we are back to the point, whence we started, to make a circuit of that vast ampitheatre of moun- tain, lake, plain, and ocean. 97 The legends of St. Patrick's Acts relate, that after his exorcisms, pronounced on Crough Patrick, no demon came to Erinn for seven years, and seven months, and seven days, and seven nights. ^^ The angel subsequently went to protect Patrick, and to advise, that his bell should be sounded. Then, like to a second Moyses,99 Patrick descended from the mountain, when he had sounded his cymbal. Its jubilant tones were heard over all the kingdom. Elevating his hands, he blessed all Ireland, with its inhabitants, and, he commended them to Christ.
Patrick proceeded, afterwards, until he came to Achadh-fobhair, where he celebrated the ordo or solemnity of Easter. ^°° At this place, his charioteer died, and he was buried between Cruachan and the sea. Patrick went, after-
**
na uile, at p. 246, which thus commences stair,
by
*, and under the heading, Gra—n :
Unto a lonely chamber ! bold and brave
" There s—tands a tower by the Atlantic side
from the wave I
See a beautiful description of these
A
Perch'd on a cliff beneath it, yawneth 354, 355. September 2, 1871.
old waves beat
storms and sea-
a North
in 233, pp.
grey
tower, by —
"
'' '°°
Australian,
wide —
A lofty hall
For pirates' galleys ; altho' now you'll
tliat cave,
of yore, a fit retreat
meet
Nought but the seal and wild-gull ;
Life relates, that there were, moreover. ""
keepers of Patrick's people in Erin then living. There is a man from him in Crua- A hundred steps sheer upwards lead chan-Aigle. The sound of his bell was your feet heard, but itself was not to be found. Also,
from
Is he who climbs that all
slippery
57
scenes, given by
No.
^'^ According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
Catholic
"
vol.
See Exodus, xxxii. 15.
After this passage, the Irish Tripartite
Opinion,"
ix. ,
6o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
wards, into the country of the Corca-Themne,'°' and he founded three or four
churches, in this region. Among these, are the churches of Taghkeen^°^ and Kilcommon,'°3 as well as Robeen. '°* AH of these lie near the River Robe. '°5
He baptized many thousand persons there, and he founded his churches, in
the three Tuagha,"^ otherwise called Teora Tuagha. '°7 This was another
name, for the three districts, called Partraighe—now Partry'°s—j^ Mayo. Patrick went then to Tobar'°9-Finnmaighe,"° which seems to have been the
ancient Pagan name for Ballintober, in the barony of Ceara—or Carragh—
of It was told to St. — that the
county Mayo. Patrick, Pagans
honoured this
well,—called slan, or "health-giving," as a God. Besides, the foolish people believed, that a certain dead Magus, or prophet, made it. "' His bones were supposed to lie buried beneath it, and, our saint, miraculously re- moving the covering stone, baptized many there. Among the rest was St. Cannech,'" who was blessed by our holy Apostle, and who from being a monkbecameabishop. HefoundedKealltag,"3orCill-Tog,"*achurch,"5 in the territory of Corco-Themne. When Patrick travelled in the plains of
there is a man from him in Gulban-Guirt, '°3 This is now the head of a parish, in the also known as Beann-Gulban, or Binn-Gul- barony of Kilmaine, shown on Sheets i lo, ban, and now called Benbulbin. This is a III, 118, 119, 122, ibid. The townland remarkable mountain range, in the parish of
Drumcliff, barony of Carbury, and county of Sligo. The third man from him was to the
east of Cluain-Iraird, now Clonard, in the county of Meath. He was believed to have been living, together with his wife. Both were said to have entertained St. Patrick, in the reign of Laeghaire Mac Neill, and it was thought they were, and should continue for ever, of the same age. There was a man from him in Dromanna-Bregh. There is a townland of Drumman, in the parish of Duleek, county of Meath, and within the ancient Bregia ; but, the place, here re- ferred to, was in the north of the county of Meath, and adjoining the county of Cavan. Again, there was another man from him, in Sliabh-Slainge, now Slieve Donard, the highest mountain, in the county of I)o\vn, and on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
This latter man was Domangart, the son of
Eochaidh. It was popularly believed, that he should raise Patrick's relics a little before the judgment. His cell was called Rath- Murbhuiig, at present identified with Maghera, county of Down. It was so called, from the adjoining townlands of Murlough, on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
'°'
Colgan writes, that it was a region in Connaught ; but, he gives no clue, regard- ing its position. It was probably the present parish of Robeen, with some adjoining dis- tricts, in the baronies of Clanmorris and of Kilmaine, county of Mayo, and which formed part of the ancient Ceara.
"^ This is now the head of Tagheen parish, in the barony of Clanmorris. Its extent is defined on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Mayo," Sheets ICO, loi, no, iii. The townlands of Tagheen East and West are shown, on the latter Sheet.
proper is shown, on Sheets in, 119.
^°* This is the head of a parish, in the barony of Kilmaine. Its extent is given, on Sheets 100, no, in, 118, ilnd. , and the
townland proper, on Sheet no.
'°5 See the Fourth Life, chap. Ixi. , p. 43.
'°*
According to the Irish Tripartite. '07 According to the Latin Tripartite.
'°*
Also written Partree. It is a village,
in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra. Fromit, aCatholicparish,inthedioceseof Tuam, takes its name, and there are chapels here, and at Ballybannin. See "The Parliamentary Gazetteer for Ireland," vol. iii. , p. 69.
plain. " This well was four-cornered, and there was a four-cornered stone, over its mouth.
"° The Rev. Dr. Lanigan writes, that
Finmagh was in Mayo. See " Ecclesiasti-
cal History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, v. , sect, v. , n. 43, p. 227. But, for this state-
ment, he assigns no authority.
"
'°9 It means the well of the white
"'
In the Irish Tripartite Life, the follow-
ing Latin extract is added :
"
bibliothecam
sibi in aqua sub petra ut dealbaret ossa sua
semper, quia timuit ignem et zelavit Pat. de
Deo vivo, dicens non vere dictis quia rex
aquarum fons erat hoc necnon cum eis
habuit rex aquarum, et dixit Patricius petram
elevari, et non potuerunt, elevavit autem eam
petram ; Cainnech, quem baptizavit Patri-
cius, et dixit erit semen tuum benedictum
in secula.
"
'" He is thought, by Colgan, to have been the saint, called Coinnech, or Cainneach, venerated at the 23rd of January ; or, perhaps, the St. Cainneach, wliose feast occurs, at the 31st of the same month. But, the latter is called only a priest, and tlie son of Ua Chil.
"3 According to the Latin Tripartite.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 607
Mac-Erca,"S—so called from the tribe of Kinel-Mac-Erca,"7 who descended from Ere the Red,"^ and while passing through the fields, called after Dichuil and Erchuil,"9 he saw a large sepulchre/^" which is stated to have been 30 feet, in length,"' or, according to some exaggerated accounts, it was even 120 feet long. '^=^ The brothers desired, that the dead man might be brought to life, and Patrick thereupon awoke him, who rested in the sepulchre. "3 The holy man then questioned the resuscitated, regarding his name, and
"* According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
The denomination, under either form, now
seems obsolete ; yet, there is a townland
Kiltogorra, in the parish of Cong, and est redemptio, and to that sentence of our
"
ite in ignem aeternum. " nance Survey Townland Maps for the In St. Augustine's work, " De Civitate County of Mayo," Sheet 121. Dei," lib. xxi. , cap. xxiv. , it is said to "S It was in Ceara, now Carra, in Mayo, savour of presumption, if it lie denied, that according to a note, (7), found in Miss those do not remain in perpetual fire, to
barony of Kilmaine, shown on the "Ord- Divine Saviour,
Cusack's "Life of St. Patrick," p. 419.
whom Divine Truth applies the words, " ite
in ignem teternum. " Also, Pope St. Gregory the Great states, that we can no more pray for deceased infidels, than we can for the devil, since they are condemned to the same eternal and irrevocable damnation. Yet, on the
other there are not hand,
"*
According to the Irish Tripatrite.
This district is called Mag-Mac-Erca, in the
Latin Tripartite.
"? These were represented, by Hua-Han- lighe, or O'HanHghe, and by Hua-Branam,
" Trias
or Mac Brennan. See
and weighty testimonies, which record, not alone men dying in their sins to have been resus- citatedandbroughttolife,but,eventohave been saved, afterwards, through baptism and penance. Even have we an account of the soul of a certain Trajan, brought immediately Sheachlann. Kinel-Dofa was on the west of from the pains of hell, and translated to glory, through the merits and intercession of St. Gregory the Great, as related by St. John Damascene, in his Prayer for the Faith- ful Departed, and Petrus Diaconus, the n. (e), pp. 169 to 171. This description Monk, who was nearly coeval with the former, in his Life of St. Gregory. Joannes Diaconus and another ancient author of "Vita S. Gregorii," prefixed to the works of "* He was the grandson of Eochy Muidh- this great saint, and printed at Basle, in mhedhoin, who reigned as Monarch of 1 564, have a like nanative. Alphonsus Cia-
Colgan's Thaumaturga," n. 74, p. 176. The latter werechiefsofCorca-Achlan—. TheO'Hanlys werechiefsofKinel-Dofa,—DofaorDobli-
wanting, many
tha being their progenitor and they were separated by SHeve-Baune, from the Mac Brannans' country, otherwise called Corca-
the Shannon, in the County Roscommon, and to the north of Lough Ree. For further
"
the Four Masters," vol. iii. , at A. D. 1210,
particulars see Dr. O'Donovan's
Annals of
exactly answers the topography of St. Patrick's travels, as given in the Latin Tri-
partite. See lib. ii. , chap, xxvii. , p. 134.
Ireland, from A. D. 358 to 365, according to the "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 124, 125. Dr. O'Donovan's edition.
"' The history of these persons is not further known.
'-°
It seems very probable, indeed, that this funeral monument exceeded consider- ably the dimensions of the man, whom it covered.
"' So it is stated, by the author of the Third Life, cap. Ixvii. , p. 26. Also, in the Fifth Life, lib. ii,, cap. xxi. , pp. 58, 59. Colgan seems to have his suspicions, that the whole of this narrative is fabulous, although affirmed, by so many writers.
conius contends, that the anonymous author
had been a contemporary of St. Gregory. Again, the Blessed Brigit, in her Fourth Book of Revelations, cap. 13, and others, have a similar account. St. Thomas, refer- ring to it, says, that Trajan had been recalled to this life, before he obtained salvation.
'^'
Thus state the authors of the Fourth
quod de facto Traiani, hoc modo potest pro-
babiliter asstimari, quod precibus B. Gregorii
ad vitam fuerit revocatus, et ibi gratiam con-
secutus sit, per quam remissionem peccato-
rum habuit, et per consequens immunitatem
a paena sicut apparet in omnibus illis, qui
fuerant miraculose a mortuis suscitati : quo-
nim plures constat idololatros damnatos
fiiisse. De omnibus enim similiter dici opor-
tet, quod non erant in inferno finaliterdepu-
tati, sed secundum prsesentem justitiam
propriorum meritorum : secundum auteni
superiores causas, quibus prasvidebantur ad
Life, cap. Ixii. , p. 43, and of the Seventh
Life, lib. ii. , cap. Ixxi. , p. 139. Jocelyn
says, that the tomb was " mirse longitu-
dinis"simply. SeeSixthLife,cap. Ixxxi. ,
p. 83.
'^3
who
in a
learned
vitam — erat de eis aliter
Colgan,
theological disquisition, on this narrative, dum," &c.
excellent prelate, it is said, taking the Staff
of Jesus into his sacred hand, and elevating
it in a menacing manner, as also having the
favourable assistance of angels, he gathered
together into one place, all the venemous Turned to his offering; and all day he reptiles that were in Ireland, after he had
driven them before him to a most high
mountain, hanging over the sea. This steep had been called then Cruachan-Aigle, and afterwards it was known as Cruach Padruig, that is "St. Patrick's mountain. " Thence
stood
Offering in heart that offering undefiled
Which Abel offered, and Melchisedek, And Abraham, Patriarch of the faithful race, In type, and which, in fulness of the times, The Victim-Priest offered on Calvary,
History Ireland,"
Man with all the other Isles him by
These petitions, which he addressed
he cast the reptiles down from that steep precipice, to be swallowed up by the sea. The local guides still point out Lugnademon
—a ya^vning gap on one side of Crough Patrick, and down which, as the legend tells us, St. Patrick hurled the toads and snakes and evil spirits to the sea. After directing his face towards the Isle of Man, Jocelyn immediately adds, when he has told of St.
Patrick banishing serpents from Ireland,
blessing
converted to Christ, by help of his prayers, he procured them the singular benefit of ex-
emption from reptiles.
*'
Passing northwards, towards the steep mountain of Slieve League, these Demons emerged from the deep, and took up their abode in the savage wilds of Seangleann, on the south-west coast of Donegal. Thence, they were afterwards driven, by St. Colum-
kille. See O'Donnell's or
"
Quinta Vita S.
Columbse," lib. i. , cap. Ixxxviii. , p. 403.
Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. "
^'
This miraculous bell seems to have been preserved in the twelfth century ; for, Jocelyn states, that the saint's bell, being broken on one side by his often using it, was mended by an angel. Jocelyn does not for- get to add, that the mark of the breakage was visible, in his time, although that bell had been repaired.
*^ The result has been thus
corded in "The Striving of St. Patrick—on
Mount Cruachan," by Aubrey De Vere
:
"Then heavenward sped Victor, God's angel, and the man of God
poetically
re-
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 601
to God, were accompanied by tears, which fell on his casula, or vesture, during the time of his penitential retirement on Croaghpatrick. His chief
petitions were -^^ first, that every native of Ireland, even at the point of
And, bloodless, offers still in heaven and
earth,
Whose impetration makes the whole Church
one.
So stood he offering till the eve, and still Offer'd; and,asheoffer'd,farinfront Along the serial summit once again
Ran out that beam like fiery pillar prone Or sea-path sunset paved, and by his side That angel stood. Then Patrick, turning not His eyes in prayer upon the west close held,
Accordant with the Gentiles of this world, But as a chosen people wear the crown
Or bear the Cross : and when the end is come, When in God's Mount the Twelve great
Thrones are set.
And round it roll the Rivers Four of fire, And in their circuit meet the Peoples Three Of heaven, and earth, and hell, fulfill'd that
day
Shall be the Saviour's word, what time He
faith, shameless, sink
you can bring seven
' From the Maker of all worlds
stretched
The crozier-staff forth from the
Demanded, What answer
angel spake
' Down laielt in Heaven the
glory-cloud.
bringest
thou ? '
Thus the
And swear to thee, ' When Me walked
they
that with
— :
Nine,
And all the prophets and the apostles knelt. And all the creatures of the hand of God,
Visible, and invisible, down knelt,
While thou thy mighty mass, though altar-
less,
Offer'dst in spirit, and thine offering joined ; And all God's saints on earth, or roused
from sleep
Or on the wayside pausing, knelt, the cause
Judging the Twelve Tribes of Mine Israel
Thy people thou shall judge in righteous-
ness.
Thou therefore kneel, and bless thy land of
Eire. '
Then Patrick knelt, and blessed the land,
Not knowing likewise ;
yearned
the souls
—
See ofSt. to "Legends Patrick," pp. 48
to God :
And lo ! the Lord thy God hath heard thy
prayer,
Since fortitude in prayer—and this thou
(Smiling the Bright One spake) is that which lays
50-
*^ In a very dramatic but legendary
manner have they been recorded, by the author of the Irish Tripartite Life, in the
following narrative. " I will bring so many souls from pain," said the angel, "and as many as would cover so far as your eye couldreachonthesea. " "Thatisnogreat boon forme," said Patrick; "not far can my eye reach over the sea. " "You shall have between sea and land, then," added
the angel. "Is there anything more granted to me besides that ? " asked Patrick. ' ' There
"
is," said the angel ;
every Saturday from the pains of hell for ever. " "If anything be granted to me," observed Patrick, "let me have my twelve men. " "You shall have them," said the
angel, depart
shall not depart," said Patrick,
have been tormented, until I am recom- pensed. Isthereanythingelse,then,tobe granted to me? " asked Patrick. "Yes,"
said the " angel ;
know'st—
Man's hand upon God's sceptre. sought'st
Shall lack not consummation.
Shrivelling in sunshine of its prosperous
years,
Shall cease from
and shamed
though
Back to its native clay ;
God shall the shadow of His hand extend, And through the night of centuries teach to
her
In woe that
song which,
when the nations
"and fromCruachan. " "I
wake,
Shall sound their glad deliverance :
"
because I
alone
This nation, from the blind dividual dust
Of instincts ring wills
shall have seven Thursday, and twelve every Saturday, from
brute, thoughts driftless, war- By thee evoked, and shapen by thy hands,
you
every
To God's fair which image,
not answered " because I depart," Patrick,
have been tormented, until I am recom-
confers alone Manhood on nations, shall to God :,. . . ad
true ;
But nations far in undiscovered seas,
Her stately progeny, while ages waste,
The Kingly ermine of her Faith shall wear. Fleece uncorrupted of the Immaculate
Lamb,
Forever landsremoteshall
: lift to God
/T-fr fanes ; and eagle-nurturing isles hold fast Her hermit cells ; thy nation shall not walk
pensed. Is there anything else granted to ""
Angelic
Orders
Sit with Me on their
everlasting thrones.
but over thine
That thou
Many a race
nor
'
and said,
Praise be to God who hears the sinner's "
prayer. '
pains, and depart from Cruachan. "
"
I will
me? " asked Patrick. There is, answered
''
the great sea to come over Erinn seven years before the Judgment, and depart from the Cruachan. " "I will not depart," said Patrick, "since I have been
the angel ;
until I am " Is there gratified. "
tormented,
anything more you demand? " asked the
angel. "There is," answered Patrick,
6o2 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[March 17.
death, should obtain God's clemency, after Confession and repentance ; secondly, that barbarian invaders should not prevail against the Irish people ; and thirdly, that no Irish person should be found living at the day of Judgment, because the sea should cover all Ireland for four years, previous to the great accounting day. ^5 Whether or not, that curious and rude cell on the summJt ofCroughPatrickdatesbacktoourApostle'stimemaybequestioned; and yet, it has every appearance of the most remote antiquity. At the eastern end of a plateau, on your right hand, as you ascend the usually-travelled course from the sea, are the remains of what once was a small cell, about twelve feet by eight ; the walls have been built without mortar. This build- ing has been sunk, much below the level of the adjoining ground, possibly to get shelter from the blasts and rain of Atlantic storms, that rush with chilling and unchecked sweep upon the towering peak. At the base of the tottering eastern gable are the remains of a bench-like projection, said to have formed the altar; the floor of the church is level with the sunken path, which leads to it.
As you enter, a stone, with an impression on its upper face, is to be seen; this,theytellyou,hasbeenmadebythekneesofSt. Patrick,during long seasons of prayer. Round the flat surface of the top, and quite along itsverge,asunkenwayhasbeendug. Thisisaboutninefeetwide,andstony, the stuff removed to make it has been cast above its outer edge, so as to form a rude parapet behind it, and the steep sides of the mountain, which fall away
abruptly
on all sides. ^^
Opposite your approach
are the walls of what falling
" that Saxons may not occupy Erin, by con- sent or force, whilst I shall be in heaven. "
be about the Mount, and when the three peoples shall be there, viz. , the people of
heaven, the people of earth, and the people of hell, that I myself may be judge over the
"
It shall be granted thee," said the angel ;
*' and depart from the Cruachan. " " I will
not said "since I have depart," Patrick,
been tormented, until I am gratified. Is
" This cannot be obtained from the Lord," said the
there more to me ? " asked " Unless this is obtained from anything granted angel.
"
one who
day to the other shall not suffer pains. "
"The hymn is long and difficult," said
Patrick. "Every one who repeats from to heaven. Patrick went to his offering.
Patrick. "
There is," said the angel ;
every
repeats thy h3min
from one
from this
day
for ever
;
Crist
"
angel.
lim,
came in the now? " asked Patrick.
evening.
me
'
—ilium "—recte Crist
"
How "Thus," answered the angel: "all the creatures, visible and invisible, including the twelve apostles, en- treated, and they have obtained. The Lord said, that there came not, and would not "for I have been tormented, until I am come, after the apostles, a man more illus- trious, were it not for the hardness of the re- quest, which is granted thee. Strike thy bell," said the angel; "thou art com- manded from heaven to fall on thy knees, that it may be a blessing to the people of all Erin, both living and dead. " " A blessing on the bountiful King that gave," said Patrick; "the Ci-uachan shall be left. "
Christ with The to the end, and every one who re-
peats the name, and every one who observes penitence in Erin, their souls shall not go to
"
I will not depart," said Patrick,
hell; and depart from Cruachan, "
said the
gratified. Is there anything more ? " asked Patrick. "Yes," said the angel; "you shall have one man for every hair in your
casula, frompains, onthedayofJudgment. " " Which of the other saints, who labour for
God," said Patrick, "that would not bring
that number to heaven ? that," said Patrick.
"
I shall not accept Wliat will you
then ? " asked the
is," said Patrick; "that I should bring
accept,
angel.
from on the of
hell, Day Judgment,
persons for every hair in this casula. "
seven
"
*s See " Vita S. lib. Quinta Patricii," ii. ,
shall be granted to you," said the angel ; "and depart from this Cruachan. " " I will
"
'
" Here it
See Sister F. Cusack's " Life of St. Pa- Mary
It
cap. XX. , p. 58. Similar practices of lonely re- treats seem to have been usual with saints, in the Western Church. Thus St. Francis of Assisium retired to the mountain Alver- nia, where he fasted forty days, in honour of St. Michael the Archangel, when he was
not depart," said Patrick,
tormented, until t am gratified. "
anything else you demand? " asked the
angel. "There is," said Patrick; "the favoured with the seraphic vision. See day the twelve royal seats shall be on the "Breviarium Romanum," sept, xvii. , lect. Mount, and when the four rivers of fire shall iv. , v. , vi.
for I have been
"
Is there
men of on that Erinn,
day. "
thing
Him, I will not consent to leave this Cruachan,
and even after my death, there shall be a caretaker from me there," answered Patrick. The angel went
angel
trick, Apostle of Ireland," pp. 415 to 417.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 60 •;
they say was St. Patrick's Cell, and behind this, his bed or Labba is shown. Scattered about on the top are various roughly-built places, serving as a shelter to pilgrims, passing the night up there. Only the young and vigorous tourist
will be able to accomplish the toilsome journey, on foot, to this spot ; and, yet, have we seen very old persons there engaged, at their devotional exercises. The ascent to Crough Patrick is now best made from the neighbourhood of
Murrisk Abbey and Crogh Patrick in the Distance, County of Mayo.
Murrisk Abbey,^7 about five miles from Westport, and lying at the base, close
by the surges of the Atlantic. For a time, the tourist follows no beaten way,
heading straight up the mountain's side, with the peak on his right, rather
than in front, and holding this course until he reaches about 1,000 feet, above
the starting-point. He next enters upon the pilgrims' path, which ascends to the shoulder of the hill, a point, perhaps, 1,500 feet above the base. This
path so winds, that faces, which at starting looked landward, are turned
when the is ^^ The top gained.
broad, and has been regularly made, the hillside having been scarped, so as to pro- duce an inclined way, well defined, and about nine feet wide. At the foot of this widened path, we came upon the first station f^ it consists of a cir- cular track, or walk-about hill. Trench-like behind, that portion of space, which is enclosed by the path, is heaped into a kind of mound, topped once by a stone cross, but now surmounted only by piled stones. 9° A long stretch,
oppositely,
^ Roughly speaking, this path is about 200 yards in circumference ; around this the pilgrims go. Fifteen circuits is the appointed number ; but, this is commuted to one, should the pilgrim choose to go upon his knees, instead of his feet.
^^ This was a friary of Augustinian Ere- mites, founded by the O'Malleys. See
"
path
Monasticon Hibemicum," pp.
^ The accompanying illustration has lonely, as in that place she should have the
Archdall's
506, 507-
after a while becomes
been drawn and engraved, by Gregor Grey, from a photograph, taken on the spot, by Frederick H. Mares.
^9 Some little distance, from the first station, is the spot, where a poor woman is buried. She had died, when in the act of " making the stations. " The time she had selected to do so was out of the usual season, and she departed this life, in the midst of snow. She had been buried in a spot so
6o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
rising as if from an alpine pedestal,9i ^^-^ Qf pathway,92 now of gully, choked with stones, takes us after a toilsome climb of two hours to the top. We
reach it on its south-eastern side. It consists of a small plateau, containing about half an acre, and having a lone, wild look ; this is covered with rude- built walls, the ruins of a little church, and pathways deeply sunk below the surface. The extreme point, on which the Oratory is situated, becomes clearly visible now, and when the steep is gained, a sublime spectacle bursts on the view,ifthedayhappentobefine. Thesightistoogreat,toobroad,toovaried, too glorious, to be taken in, at a single glance. We are over two thousand five hundred feet, above the level of the sea. 93 Beyond the awful depths below, and all away to the north and west, lies the still more awful Atlantic. s^ The summit of this lonely mountain was indeed admirably suited for com- muning with the great Being, who had lavished with unsparing hand, the most sublime and varied charms of natural prospects, on a vast range of the most romantic scenery in our island. 95 Gathering mists, save at intervals, shroudedourview,when,atonetime,onthemountaintop. Thescenesbe- neath our feet, and far away as our eyes could reach, were gloriously sublime. Clew Bay is a water-extended and irregular parallelogram of vast range : its upper or eastern end is so thickly studded with islands, that it has been said, one is there for every day in the year. Many of these are cultivated, some are clad with trees, a few are rocky. The seaward faces of all are abruptly steep, and plainly show how hard has been the struggle, between them, and the long inland sweep of the Atlantic waves. At times, the light falls upon the water, so as to make it seem of silvery whiteness, and then the contrast between it and the green-clad islands it surrounds is beautiful beyond all des- cription. Along their western faces, the crests of the white horses of ocean areevertopplingover,inabrokenlineofsnow-whitefoam; and,theislands seem placed by nature, to break the rush of water, like skirmishers in battle flung out along the front, to check a coming onset. Looking, then, as far as we can see, in the direction of the western Atlantic Ocean, the first object to catch the eye is Clare Island. 9^ It is a huge mountain, 1,520 feet in height,
sympathies and prayers of the pilgrims, when passing by her grave.
9° Round this mound, and on the path
the
encompassing it, go pilgrims, if walking, seven times ; if on their knees, but once, and in both cases re-
citing a given form of prayer. Those who choose to make the circuit on their knees, not unfrequently leave the track of blood behind, this way being rough and stony. Close at hand, there is a rude stone shelter, where the blind or otherwise infirm find a scant protection from the weather, during thenight.
"
Calm or convulsed—in breeze, or gale, or storm
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime
— and Darlc-heaving, boundless, endless,
mentioned as
»' See
land," vol. i. , p. 543.
p. 312.
"See "The
Grace O'Malley, a heroine the
— at whose court she w. is Queen Elizabeth,
Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire-
" Ireland," by Lageniensis, pp. 89, 90.
9' This is called the Kessau—n Cruagh, or "the footway of the Reek. " Rev. Caesar Otway's "Tour in Connaught," chap, xiii. ,
Gazetteer of
9* Here, indeed, it may be seen a
"
glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form
9^ The remains one of
Grana Uaile, the—celebrated sea-adventurer
Parliamentary Ireland," vol. i. , p. 543.
presented, are still to be seen, upon
Glasses itself in
tempests ;
in all
time»
this island. The towers, now ruined, and the romantic interview, to which allusion is here made, are most graphically described, in that charming poetic miscellany, intituled, " The Monks of Kilcrea, and other Poems,"
sublime
TheimageofEternity thethrone Of the Invisible. "
—"
Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrim*
age," Canto iv. , stanza clxxxiii.
^5 The writer had an opportunity for wit-
nessing the magnificent panorama from the top of Crough Patrick, during the month of August,i860. Thereaderisreferred,foran
imperfect description of the impression pro-
duced, to a little work,
Legend Lays of
—
among
the castles of
in time of
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 605
and covering about 4,000 acres. It rises, so as to part the waters at the mouth of Clew Bay, into a north and south entrance, and to block, in the middle, a full third of the whole width. In the dim distance beyond, we now faintly see Achill Head ; its beetling cliffs, from a height of 900 feet, look vertically down upon the waves of the Atlantic, breaking upon their base. Nearer, by some fourteen miles, is Achill Beg or Little Achill.
Then a dark, wall-like flank of mountain, near 2,000 feet high, comes next, gloomily overhanging the northern water of the bay. Between this and the next mountain group, called Nephin Beg, which also frowns above the northern margin of the bay, there is a narrow gap, through which we gain a glimpse of Blacksod Bay. The sheen of its waters, we see in patches, dark masses of
long and narrow promontory so break upon it.
The effect of this vista is
magnificent in the extreme. Between that group, called Nephin Beg, many of whose peaks rise over 2,000 feet, and the Croagh Moyle mountains, we
see huge Nephin, towering 2,646 feet over Lough Conn, the lap of whose waters falls along its eastern base. The lake itself is hidden from us, by the hills and mountains, which lie between. South of the Croagh Moyle moun-_ tains lies Castlebar, and the lakes about it : these latter we plainly see. Some miles further south, and just peeping round the north base of Slieve Bohaan, the upper end of Lough Carra comes in view. It lies at the head of that long stretch of inland water, composed of Loughs Corrib and Mask. This chain of lakes is full fifty miles in length. Immediately south of us lie Ben Bury, Ben Creghan, and Ben Gorm, all rising between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above the sea. Beyond their crests, the peaks of the Twelve Pins appear. At the base, or nearly so, of one among these, and hollowed in its sides, there is a dark, deep lake, gloomily shadowed by the mountain, within whose worn and channelled sides, it lies embosomed. Westward, out in the Atlantic, extend Inisdalla, Inisturk, and Caher Islands. These reached, we are back to the point, whence we started, to make a circuit of that vast ampitheatre of moun- tain, lake, plain, and ocean. 97 The legends of St. Patrick's Acts relate, that after his exorcisms, pronounced on Crough Patrick, no demon came to Erinn for seven years, and seven months, and seven days, and seven nights. ^^ The angel subsequently went to protect Patrick, and to advise, that his bell should be sounded. Then, like to a second Moyses,99 Patrick descended from the mountain, when he had sounded his cymbal. Its jubilant tones were heard over all the kingdom. Elevating his hands, he blessed all Ireland, with its inhabitants, and, he commended them to Christ.
Patrick proceeded, afterwards, until he came to Achadh-fobhair, where he celebrated the ordo or solemnity of Easter. ^°° At this place, his charioteer died, and he was buried between Cruachan and the sea. Patrick went, after-
**
na uile, at p. 246, which thus commences stair,
by
*, and under the heading, Gra—n :
Unto a lonely chamber ! bold and brave
" There s—tands a tower by the Atlantic side
from the wave I
See a beautiful description of these
A
Perch'd on a cliff beneath it, yawneth 354, 355. September 2, 1871.
old waves beat
storms and sea-
a North
in 233, pp.
grey
tower, by —
"
'' '°°
Australian,
wide —
A lofty hall
For pirates' galleys ; altho' now you'll
tliat cave,
of yore, a fit retreat
meet
Nought but the seal and wild-gull ;
Life relates, that there were, moreover. ""
keepers of Patrick's people in Erin then living. There is a man from him in Crua- A hundred steps sheer upwards lead chan-Aigle. The sound of his bell was your feet heard, but itself was not to be found. Also,
from
Is he who climbs that all
slippery
57
scenes, given by
No.
^'^ According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
Catholic
"
vol.
See Exodus, xxxii. 15.
After this passage, the Irish Tripartite
Opinion,"
ix. ,
6o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
wards, into the country of the Corca-Themne,'°' and he founded three or four
churches, in this region. Among these, are the churches of Taghkeen^°^ and Kilcommon,'°3 as well as Robeen. '°* AH of these lie near the River Robe. '°5
He baptized many thousand persons there, and he founded his churches, in
the three Tuagha,"^ otherwise called Teora Tuagha. '°7 This was another
name, for the three districts, called Partraighe—now Partry'°s—j^ Mayo. Patrick went then to Tobar'°9-Finnmaighe,"° which seems to have been the
ancient Pagan name for Ballintober, in the barony of Ceara—or Carragh—
of It was told to St. — that the
county Mayo. Patrick, Pagans
honoured this
well,—called slan, or "health-giving," as a God. Besides, the foolish people believed, that a certain dead Magus, or prophet, made it. "' His bones were supposed to lie buried beneath it, and, our saint, miraculously re- moving the covering stone, baptized many there. Among the rest was St. Cannech,'" who was blessed by our holy Apostle, and who from being a monkbecameabishop. HefoundedKealltag,"3orCill-Tog,"*achurch,"5 in the territory of Corco-Themne. When Patrick travelled in the plains of
there is a man from him in Gulban-Guirt, '°3 This is now the head of a parish, in the also known as Beann-Gulban, or Binn-Gul- barony of Kilmaine, shown on Sheets i lo, ban, and now called Benbulbin. This is a III, 118, 119, 122, ibid. The townland remarkable mountain range, in the parish of
Drumcliff, barony of Carbury, and county of Sligo. The third man from him was to the
east of Cluain-Iraird, now Clonard, in the county of Meath. He was believed to have been living, together with his wife. Both were said to have entertained St. Patrick, in the reign of Laeghaire Mac Neill, and it was thought they were, and should continue for ever, of the same age. There was a man from him in Dromanna-Bregh. There is a townland of Drumman, in the parish of Duleek, county of Meath, and within the ancient Bregia ; but, the place, here re- ferred to, was in the north of the county of Meath, and adjoining the county of Cavan. Again, there was another man from him, in Sliabh-Slainge, now Slieve Donard, the highest mountain, in the county of I)o\vn, and on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
This latter man was Domangart, the son of
Eochaidh. It was popularly believed, that he should raise Patrick's relics a little before the judgment. His cell was called Rath- Murbhuiig, at present identified with Maghera, county of Down. It was so called, from the adjoining townlands of Murlough, on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
'°'
Colgan writes, that it was a region in Connaught ; but, he gives no clue, regard- ing its position. It was probably the present parish of Robeen, with some adjoining dis- tricts, in the baronies of Clanmorris and of Kilmaine, county of Mayo, and which formed part of the ancient Ceara.
"^ This is now the head of Tagheen parish, in the barony of Clanmorris. Its extent is defined on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Mayo," Sheets ICO, loi, no, iii. The townlands of Tagheen East and West are shown, on the latter Sheet.
proper is shown, on Sheets in, 119.
^°* This is the head of a parish, in the barony of Kilmaine. Its extent is given, on Sheets 100, no, in, 118, ilnd. , and the
townland proper, on Sheet no.
'°5 See the Fourth Life, chap. Ixi. , p. 43.
'°*
According to the Irish Tripartite. '07 According to the Latin Tripartite.
'°*
Also written Partree. It is a village,
in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra. Fromit, aCatholicparish,inthedioceseof Tuam, takes its name, and there are chapels here, and at Ballybannin. See "The Parliamentary Gazetteer for Ireland," vol. iii. , p. 69.
plain. " This well was four-cornered, and there was a four-cornered stone, over its mouth.
"° The Rev. Dr. Lanigan writes, that
Finmagh was in Mayo. See " Ecclesiasti-
cal History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, v. , sect, v. , n. 43, p. 227. But, for this state-
ment, he assigns no authority.
"
'°9 It means the well of the white
"'
In the Irish Tripartite Life, the follow-
ing Latin extract is added :
"
bibliothecam
sibi in aqua sub petra ut dealbaret ossa sua
semper, quia timuit ignem et zelavit Pat. de
Deo vivo, dicens non vere dictis quia rex
aquarum fons erat hoc necnon cum eis
habuit rex aquarum, et dixit Patricius petram
elevari, et non potuerunt, elevavit autem eam
petram ; Cainnech, quem baptizavit Patri-
cius, et dixit erit semen tuum benedictum
in secula.
"
'" He is thought, by Colgan, to have been the saint, called Coinnech, or Cainneach, venerated at the 23rd of January ; or, perhaps, the St. Cainneach, wliose feast occurs, at the 31st of the same month. But, the latter is called only a priest, and tlie son of Ua Chil.
"3 According to the Latin Tripartite.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 607
Mac-Erca,"S—so called from the tribe of Kinel-Mac-Erca,"7 who descended from Ere the Red,"^ and while passing through the fields, called after Dichuil and Erchuil,"9 he saw a large sepulchre/^" which is stated to have been 30 feet, in length,"' or, according to some exaggerated accounts, it was even 120 feet long. '^=^ The brothers desired, that the dead man might be brought to life, and Patrick thereupon awoke him, who rested in the sepulchre. "3 The holy man then questioned the resuscitated, regarding his name, and
"* According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
The denomination, under either form, now
seems obsolete ; yet, there is a townland
Kiltogorra, in the parish of Cong, and est redemptio, and to that sentence of our
"
ite in ignem aeternum. " nance Survey Townland Maps for the In St. Augustine's work, " De Civitate County of Mayo," Sheet 121. Dei," lib. xxi. , cap. xxiv. , it is said to "S It was in Ceara, now Carra, in Mayo, savour of presumption, if it lie denied, that according to a note, (7), found in Miss those do not remain in perpetual fire, to
barony of Kilmaine, shown on the "Ord- Divine Saviour,
Cusack's "Life of St. Patrick," p. 419.
whom Divine Truth applies the words, " ite
in ignem teternum. " Also, Pope St. Gregory the Great states, that we can no more pray for deceased infidels, than we can for the devil, since they are condemned to the same eternal and irrevocable damnation. Yet, on the
other there are not hand,
"*
According to the Irish Tripatrite.
This district is called Mag-Mac-Erca, in the
Latin Tripartite.
"? These were represented, by Hua-Han- lighe, or O'HanHghe, and by Hua-Branam,
" Trias
or Mac Brennan. See
and weighty testimonies, which record, not alone men dying in their sins to have been resus- citatedandbroughttolife,but,eventohave been saved, afterwards, through baptism and penance. Even have we an account of the soul of a certain Trajan, brought immediately Sheachlann. Kinel-Dofa was on the west of from the pains of hell, and translated to glory, through the merits and intercession of St. Gregory the Great, as related by St. John Damascene, in his Prayer for the Faith- ful Departed, and Petrus Diaconus, the n. (e), pp. 169 to 171. This description Monk, who was nearly coeval with the former, in his Life of St. Gregory. Joannes Diaconus and another ancient author of "Vita S. Gregorii," prefixed to the works of "* He was the grandson of Eochy Muidh- this great saint, and printed at Basle, in mhedhoin, who reigned as Monarch of 1 564, have a like nanative. Alphonsus Cia-
Colgan's Thaumaturga," n. 74, p. 176. The latter werechiefsofCorca-Achlan—. TheO'Hanlys werechiefsofKinel-Dofa,—DofaorDobli-
wanting, many
tha being their progenitor and they were separated by SHeve-Baune, from the Mac Brannans' country, otherwise called Corca-
the Shannon, in the County Roscommon, and to the north of Lough Ree. For further
"
the Four Masters," vol. iii. , at A. D. 1210,
particulars see Dr. O'Donovan's
Annals of
exactly answers the topography of St. Patrick's travels, as given in the Latin Tri-
partite. See lib. ii. , chap, xxvii. , p. 134.
Ireland, from A. D. 358 to 365, according to the "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 124, 125. Dr. O'Donovan's edition.
"' The history of these persons is not further known.
'-°
It seems very probable, indeed, that this funeral monument exceeded consider- ably the dimensions of the man, whom it covered.
"' So it is stated, by the author of the Third Life, cap. Ixvii. , p. 26. Also, in the Fifth Life, lib. ii,, cap. xxi. , pp. 58, 59. Colgan seems to have his suspicions, that the whole of this narrative is fabulous, although affirmed, by so many writers.
conius contends, that the anonymous author
had been a contemporary of St. Gregory. Again, the Blessed Brigit, in her Fourth Book of Revelations, cap. 13, and others, have a similar account. St. Thomas, refer- ring to it, says, that Trajan had been recalled to this life, before he obtained salvation.
'^'
Thus state the authors of the Fourth
quod de facto Traiani, hoc modo potest pro-
babiliter asstimari, quod precibus B. Gregorii
ad vitam fuerit revocatus, et ibi gratiam con-
secutus sit, per quam remissionem peccato-
rum habuit, et per consequens immunitatem
a paena sicut apparet in omnibus illis, qui
fuerant miraculose a mortuis suscitati : quo-
nim plures constat idololatros damnatos
fiiisse. De omnibus enim similiter dici opor-
tet, quod non erant in inferno finaliterdepu-
tati, sed secundum prsesentem justitiam
propriorum meritorum : secundum auteni
superiores causas, quibus prasvidebantur ad
Life, cap. Ixii. , p. 43, and of the Seventh
Life, lib. ii. , cap. Ixxi. , p. 139. Jocelyn
says, that the tomb was " mirse longitu-
dinis"simply. SeeSixthLife,cap. Ixxxi. ,
p. 83.
'^3
who
in a
learned
vitam — erat de eis aliter
Colgan,
theological disquisition, on this narrative, dum," &c.
