No More Learning

256* 257. In a note, Dr. Reeves says at
Father Constanti—ne Suyskens, S. J. —
Caolchu : "Opposite this is written in the lish, "noble Androichius with lasting re-
margin by the later hand, Colchus, as the nown. "— Whitley
Latinized form of the name. " The same
Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
2 The Church of Cluain-Airthir—a —
Article VI. —Festival of Felix. In the Martyrology of Marianus
O'Gorman, there is a feast for Felix, at the 24th of September.
1
This is
doubtless the Martyr Felix, commemorated with his companions in suffering
by the Bollandists 2 at this day. A commentary 3 precedes their Acts,*
written by an anonymous author.
Article VII. —Festival of Androchius. The Martyrology of
Marianus O'Gorman records a feast for Androich or Androchius, and with
1
eulogy, at the 24th of September.
Article VIII. —Festival of Thyrsus. In the Martyrology of
Marianus O'Gorman, he enters a feast for Thyrsus or Tirsus, at the 24th of 1
September.
Article IX. —Festival of the Conception of St. John the Baptist. From a very early age in the Irish Church, the great Precursor of ourLordwasheldinthehighestvenerationbytheIrishpeople; notalone
2 Thus : Cailchon Cl ^chip.
3 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' " Felire Hui Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
occurs in a Table subjoined to this Martyr-
ology. See pp. 372, 373. 1
Article vji. *
In these terms:
'"An-
droich saer co sirclu," rendered into Eng-
Dr. Stokes* "Felire Hui
IM
546 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September24.
i'ne Calendar of — exxxix. Oengus, p,
3 In these terms
" Compert Ioain uasail
r
1 hus rendered into English :—
Stabulensi episcopi memoria,
Martenium S. Ruodberti
non sunt ceusendi de
o \-
? °
.
c
Nativity being
24th
:
^
. . n Bauptist,firnaf«emtha. '
held on the
of 1 but that of his June,
the feast of his
Conception having been observed on the present day. In the Feilire of
Article X. —Feast of the Translation of St. Rupert's Relics. Such is the title given to a festival at the 24th of September, in the anony-
St. Rupert, Bishop and Martyr. He does not mention the Translation of the Relics of St. —Rupert, Bishop of Saltzburg ; but the Bollandists—who record this feast have no doubt, that Greven meant no other saint, although
throughanerrortheycallhimMartyr/ QuotingEberhardashisauthority, at the 24th of September, Dempster notices the First Translation of Arch-
bishop Rupert at Saltzburg. * This day the Translation of his relics, which
a it is set down with a of the illustrious ascetic and special eulogy
jEngus
martyr. The Conception of St. John the Baptist is a feast noticed by Marianus O'Gorman at the 24th of September. 3 At this date, also, the Bollandists « remark, that such a festival is to be found in all the ancient Latin Martyrologies, and in many of the more recent ones, while the reader is referred to the Acts of the Saint, which they have given at the 24th of June,5 the day for his chief festival.
mous Calendar of Irish Saints O'Sullivan Beare. 1 published by
had intended, also, to insert some notices, regarding it at the same date. 3 We have already alluded to this Translation, in recording the Acts of St. Chuniald and Gisilar. Already at the 27th of March,3 the reader will find some account of this illustrious prelate. The principal festival of St. Rupert, Bishop of Saltzburg, is kept with the greatest solemnity in Austria and Bavaria on the 25th of September. At this date Greven has a festival for
are
kept
in the church under his name in took 6 Saltzbourg, place.
Articleviii. —'SeeDr. WhitleyStokes'
"Felire Hui Gormain," pp. 182, 183. *
4 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Septembris xxiv. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 659,
s See ibid. , tomus iv. , Junii xxiv. De Sancto Joanne Prodromo et Baptista D. N. Jesu Christi, pp. 687 to 806. Edited by Father Daniel Papebroch, in a series of learned Dissertations.
Articlex. —' See"HistorianCatholicse
Iberniae Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. ,
cap. xi. , p. 51.
be told. Save Jesus, of men he is the
most wonderful that hath been born. "—
"Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,"
Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On translationis, uti etiam fit in Calendario
ARTICLE ix. — See at that date, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. vii.
3
The Leabhar Breac copy reads :—
Compete loriAin uarail
b^upcAifc Af mo rcelaib -Ache1b. uooTJoimb
Iramrui pogenaip.
Thus translated into
English by Whitley
s See " Actuum Sanctorum Catalogus
Stokes, LL. D. : "The Conception of noble
John the Baptist, who is greater than can
qu? e Ms. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. " 3 See at that date the Third Volume of
"The conception of high John the
Baptist, a man who was not received. " Scottish Saints. " " Menologium Scoticum,"
The interpretation of the Scholiast being thathewasmartyrisedbyHerod. SeeDr. Whitley Stokes' "Felire Hui Gormain,"
pp. 182, 183. vol.
this work, Art. ii.
* The Bollandists add " Alii recentiores,
qui S. Ruperti meminerint sine mentione
apud
.
<P*m ^JftTM? &—*? Tl ^ ^ nosad xxvii. Martu. Acta Sanctorum,
tomus
pretermitted feasts, pp. 659, 660.
5 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of
:
xxiv Septembris Among
p. 212. 6SeeRev. AlbanButler's"Livesofthe
Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints,"
iii. ,
March xxvii.
.
Colgan
alio,
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 547
ArticleXL—ReputedFeastofSt. Lolan. Quotingtheauthority
1
of Camerarius, the Bollandists enter Lolan at the 24th of September,' but
refer his festival to the 22nd, where they had already treated more fully about him. 3
Article XII. —Reputed Feast for Barrea, Bishop and Confessor.
At the 24th of September, Dempster has a festival for Barrea, a bishop and confessor in Scotia. 1 This feast seems referable to St. Barr, Bishop and Patron of Cork, who is venerated more properly on the day succeeding.
Ctoentpsffttft JBap nf September,
ARTICLE I. —ST. BAIRRE OR FINBAR, FIRST BISHOP, AND PATRON OF CORK.
[SIXTH AND SEVENTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I .
INTRODUCTION—MATERIALS FOR THE ACTS OF ST. BAIRRE OR FINBAR—HIS RACE AND BIRTH—MIRACLES RECORDED—HIS EARLY INSTRUCTORS—HIS ACTS WHILE REMAINING IN LEINSTER—HIS RETURN TO MUNSTER—MIRACLES WHILE THERE— ST. FINBAR'S CONTEMPORARIES—SAID TO HAVE VISITED ROME.
are three Finbars recorded in the Irish Calendars : —viz. one
THERE
Forbes'
Kalendars of Scottish Saints. "
an and the founder of a Abbot,
monastery
in the isle of
Drimlen,
between Hi-Cinselach and the Decies of Munster, whose memory is cele-
brated July 4th ; another Finbar, abbot of Kilconga, celebrated on the 9th
of September " but the ihird Finbar, the first bishop of Cork, whose festival
j
is recorded at the of is the most celebrated. 2 An admirable 25th September,
gift of working miracles, seldom witnessed or related, the Almighty is said to have bestowed on the latter St. Barrus. His ancient biographers briefly enumerate some of those miracles ; yet, too many of them seem to rest only on popular tradition, and are of a character to create a well-founded suspicion regarding their authenticity.
His name is variously written Barr, Barre, Barra, Barry, Finbarr, Fynbarry and Fynd-Barr. The latter composite appellations are supposed to have been derived from the beautiful colour of his hair. 3 This holy man's name
Article xi. —' At this date he writes :—
"24 Die. Sanctus Lolanus Episcopus et
ConfessorapudDuncanumScotoru—mRegem
magna in auctoritate et gratia. " Bishop
"
Article l—Chapter
—
i. See "Acta
Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of David
Camerarius, p. 240.
2
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. Sep- tembris, xxiv. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 660.
3 See also at that date, in the present
Volume, Art. viii. —
Article xii.
'
" Bishop "
Kalendars of Scottish Saints. " logium Scoticum," p. 212.
Meno-
See Forbes'
Sanctorum Hiberniae," xiii. Martii. Vita S.
Mochoemoci,n. 14,p. 597.
2
He
St. David, published by John Capgrave, and in that written by Giraldus Cambrensis,
as well as by John of Teignmouth. Bibl.
MS. Stowensis, vol. i. , p. 158. See entry "
in John Windale's Irish Researches, or
Antiquarian Gleanings," vol. vi. , p. 763, Cork, i860. MS. in the Royal Irish Aca- demy, Dublin.
3 This also to have been the appears
opinion of Bernard Mede, and as the Bol- landist editor observes, on Fynbarrus : "ea
is mentioned in the ancient Life of
54» LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September25.
is Latinized Barrus, Find-Barrus and Barrocus. * Also, he is styled Barreus,
Barrius, Finbarrus, Fynbarrus, and Fymbareus. Colgan had prepared the ActsofthisSaintforpublication,atthe25thofSeptember. * IntheManu- script, known as Codex Kilkenniensis, and to be seen in Marsh's Library, Dublin, we find a Latin Life of St. Barrus. 6 It is much to be regretted, that this tract abounds in fables, some of which are so scandalous in character,? as to afford great disedification to pious readers. In the MS. Book of Fermoy, there is an Irish Life of St. Barre of Cork ; but it is imperfect.
8
There appears a considerable defect, which had taken place before the folios
were numbered. Four pages at least must be wanting. Some paper copies
of this life are extant. 9 There is a Life of St. Finnbarr, to be found in the
old Irish Manuscript, known as the Book of Lismore.
There is an Irish
10 11 of him among the Burgundian Manuscripts in the Bruxelles Library.
Life
The present writer has been favoured with an Irish copy of the latter,"
transcribed for the Very Rev. Patrick Hurley,^ P. P. of Inchigeela, County
1
of Cork, and this has been literally translated into English, * by Patrick
1
Stanton, Cork, in 1896. In his History of Cork, * Dr. Charles Smith refers
to a Life of St. Finbar among the Manuscripts in Trinity College, Dublin, and which begins with u Sanctus dilectus. " 16 However, Mr. Hitchcock, who held a situation connected with the Library, assured Mr. John Windale of
1
Blair's Castle, Cork, that no such Manuscript was in that Library. 7 Never-
theless, among the Trinity College Manuscripts, Dublin, there is a Vita S. Finbarri. 18 Other Manuscript Lives of St. Finbar are in the Royal Irish
Academy. 10 Among John Windale's Manuscripts, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, there are some notices regarding St. Finbar. 20
vox composita Candidum-verticem Hibernis sonet. "—Vita S. Barri, sect, i. , n. i. , p. 142. 4 See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , pp. 142, 143.
s In the Franciscan Convent, Dublin, in
" Vitse Sanctorum," ex Cod. Inisensi, is yet preserved his copy of this
Vita S. Barri, pp. 124 to 130.
6 At fol. 132.
7 In other Lives of our Saint, these fables
are omitted.
Cork, 1 87 1, 8vo. This book has now be-
come very scarce, and it has been written
by Richard Caulfield, LL. D. , Trinity Col- lege, Dublin.
14 This MS. has been largely availed of in
a
the present biography. It is here quoted as the Bruxelles Manuscript
Life of St. Fin Bairre.
s See " Ancient and Present State of the
County and City of Cork," vol. i. , book ii. , chap, ix. , p. 371, n. 9. A new edition, Cork, 1815, 8vo.
Manuscript,
composing
B
9 See Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. i. , part i. , Irish Manuscript Series, p. 29.
It occurs between fol. 59, and fol. 60.
" 16
10 Rather it must be
in the nature
O'Curry had a copy of St. Finbar's Life in a small paper 410 vol. of about 40 or 50 pages, and that he knew of no other. See
regarded
of a Panegyric or Discourse pronounced on
Eugene
some occasion—perhaps on the anniversary of his Festival.
" It was transcribed by Michael O'Clery from an older vellum MS. book belonging to Daniel Dineen. It was written out 24th of June, 1629, in the Friar's Convent, Cork, and it is now classed among the Burgundian MSS. , vol. iv. , part ii. , p. 16.
John Windale's
M
Irish Researches or Anti-
tion, a small 4to paper MS. , (No. 12,) is 12 It bears for title : beat* baipae found in the K. I. A. , and it contains a Life
o Cor»cai§. It is comprised in twenty-seven of St. Finbarr, Bishop of Cork. Messrs.
chapters.
13 To this rev. gentleman, the author is
indebted for many other useful notes, which serve to illustrate the Life of St. Finbar ;
"
besides for the very interesting
St. Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork," compiled from Records in the British Museum, &c,
Hodges' and Smith's quarto paper MS. , (No. 150), contains a Lile of St. Barr, alias Finbarr, of Cork. Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's small quarto paper MS. , (No. 168), in the R. I. A. , contains a Life of St. Finbar,
Bishop of Cork.
20
Annals of
In Smith's time among the Manuscripts it was numbered 37.
•» Mr. Hitchcock told Mr. Windale, that
quarian Gleanings," vol. vi. Notes on Life of St. Finbar, p. 751. MS. in R. I. A.
18
In the Manuscript, classed E. 3. 11.
fol. 109.
19 In Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's collec-
The Manuscript in question has the
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 549
An Office for our Saint bad been recited in the Cathedral Church of Cork,
some time previous to the 19th of April, 1624," and whilst Irish Catholic affairs
were in a tolerably prosperous state. This Office had nine proper Lessons,
and it is deserving of attention, chiefly because it shows in what veneration
our Saint had been held in that diocese, of which he is the reputed patron.
There is also a proper Mass for the feast of our Saint, set down at the 25th
of 22 and from which some extracts are in the "Acta Sanc- September, given
torum. " WearetoldbytheeditorSuyskens,thatitdoesnotaboundinany of those extravagancies related in the Office. ^ In the Bollandists' "Acta
Sanctorum,* at the 25th of September, Father Constantine Suyskens has edited a Life of this Saint, so far as he had been able to procure materials from various sources. 25 The editor remarks that a Life of our Saint, the commencement of which he quotes, is filled with those fables, common in the Acts of our national Saints, so that it becomes impossible to separate what is truthful from what is false. Moreover, the Bollandists appear to have possessed a Manuscript copy of St. Barr's Life, similar to that in the Codex Kilkenniensis. It belonged to Father Hugh Ward, the celebrated Irish Minorite friar. But, Suyskens did not regard it as worthy of being printed, on account of the many fables it contained. This same Bollandist
father had another Manuscript Life, from the collection of Henry Fitzsimons,
with an additional 26 In this St. Barr is called Macu- copy.
S. J. , together
linus. 2? It would seem, however, that the Life to which he refers was
different, in many respects, from the Manuscript preserved in Marsh's
28 The Bollandist editor would not several fables in the Library. publish
Life to which he had access. Therefore, he is contented with giving a brief summary of it. This appears to have been transcribed literally from an Office of St. Barr. Some later writers have given us lives or memorials of the present Saint. Thus, Archbishop Ussher,29 Sir James Ware,3° and his
12
editor Walter Harris^ also Philip O'Sullivan Beared Roderick 0'Flaherty,33
"
title, Irish Researches," vol. vi. , see p. the Bollandists. Colgan promised to pub-
731. 21
At this date, Bernard Mede, an Irish
lish this Life, at the 25th of September, but he did not live to fulfil that engagement.
2? It would seem to have been a
scribed it for his brother Doctor Gerard of our Saint, pronounced on his feast, from
Minorite would seem to have tran- friar,
panegyric
Mede. Afterwards, this copy found its way to the Bollandist collection of Manuscripts. 22 Taken from " Missae Propriae Sanctorum Patronorum ac Tutelarium Franciseet Hiber- nise," dementis XII. Papae jussu edita,
the exordium quoted by Suyskens: yet we are also informed, it was full of fables, and
not worth publishing.
28 He " habere me Vitam MS. says : ejus
ex Sectionario sive Officio Corcagiensi a Ber- A. D. 1734. It was printed in Paris, and nardo Medo Corcagice descriptam, cu/us
sanctioned by the Archbishop of that city, Charles Gaspar William de Vintimille, as also by Luke, Archbishop of Dublin.
initium est : Erat quidam rex in Hibernia, nomine Tegernacus, qui ancillam habuit pulchram nimis ; a quo edictum exiit per ejus dominium universum, ut nemo predi—c-
23 See, ibid. , sect, i. , nn. 8 to 12, p. 143.
24 See tomus vii. Septembris xxv. De tarn virginem praesumeret deflorare, &c. "
S. Barro vel Finbarro Ep. Corcagiensi in Hibernia, et forte alio Episcopo Cathenensi in Scotia.
25 It is issued in a Commentarius Histo- rico-Criticus, containing four distinct sec- tions, having sixty-one paragraphs, pp. 142
Ibid. , sect, ii. , p. 144.
2? See " Hritannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 493. Also p. 503. 3° See " De Hibernia et Antiquitatibus
to 151. 26
Colgan possessed
a Life of St.
Barr,
of Cork,'' p. 556.
32 See " Historiae Catholicae Iberniae Com-
which from quotations given in "Acta pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 51. 33 "
Sanctorum Hibernias," Suyskens deems to See Ogygia," pais iii. , cap. lxxix have been different from Lives in custody of p. 376.
ejus," cap. xxvi. , pp. 196, 197. 3I See Harris' Ware, vol. i.
"Bishops
550 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September25.
and Bishop Challoner34 mention him. The Rev.