3 See
Archdeacon
T.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
i.
, Bishops of
Ecclesiae Hibernicae," vol. iv. , p. 98. ,6 "
See The Topographical Poems of John O'Dubhagain and Giolla na Naomh
O'Huidhrin," edited by John O'Donovan, LL. D , n. 280, p. xxxix.
I7 This also is agreeing with a statement
of the O'Clerys.
August 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 135
18
too hastily assumed that Nathy was a disciple of St. Finian of Clonard. But, he was ordained priest, at or before that time, when the celebrated Abbot of Clonard visited Connaught, as may be read in the published Acts of
20 91
32 seems nearer to the fact. When St. Finian came to that place,
fifth
1? taken from the Salamanca Codex. That visit is Manuscript
St. Finnian,
incorrectly stated to have been made, so early as about the year 530. However, at this date, St. Finian had scarcely begun to teach at Clonard. A short time before St. Finian's demise, which took place in the middle of the
century,
where our saint dwelt, he was admonished by an angel to bu—ild a church, on
3
a suitable and pleasing site. * But, the king of that country called Luigne,
— wasnamed 2* his That even and who Keanfahola, opposed design. dynast
wished to expel the saint from his territory. However, in order to move his obdurate heart, and to bend his will to the obedience of Divine Faith, St. Finian wrought a remarkable miracle, by making a sign of the cross over a very large stone. This immediately split into three distinct parts. At such a miraculous exercise of power, the obdurate and inhospitable king changed from being a wolf in human form to becoming a lamb in gentleness and condescension.
2
Some of our writers ^ make Nathi a disciple of Finnian. However,
Nathi seems to have been a priest, before Finnian had been acquainted with him. About this time, according to the order of narrative in St. Finian's old Life, almost all his celebrated disciples at Clonard had left his school to foundestablishmentsoftheirown. ThedateforthistransactioninLuighne
26
year 550.
the miracle already related,
Keonfahola, on bended knees, offered St. Finnian that site, where such
2
miracles had been wrought. ? It was afterwards called Achad-Chonaire, or
Achonry, being at present a large parochial division, and the seat of an
was about the
St. Finian effected the
conversion — through
2? and at a
anciently said to have been Achad-Chaion. 28 Struck with admiration,
episcopal see, in Sligo county. 3° In the Annals of Ireland, when Latinized, "1
it is invariably called Campus Conarii. "*
Whether the holy Abbot of Clonard erected a church or a monastery
there, does not appear to be well known. He was carried off in that dreadful mortality the Crom Conaill, which broke out in Ireland, towards the middle of the sixth century. This is thought to have been a more aggravated form of that disease known as the Buidhe Chonnaill. Contemporaneous authori.
December—the chief day for his festival— in the Twelfth Volume of this work.
19 See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Finniani seu Fineni, Abbatis de Cluain-Eraird, cap. xxvi. , p. 396.
20
See "Harris' Ware," vol. i. , Bishops of Achonry," p. 658.
21
According to Rev. Dr. Lanigan's cal- culations.
22 "
The "Chronicum Scotorum places it
See edition of William M.
23 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi-
berniav* xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Finiani,
cap, xxvi. , p. 396.
*4 This proper name is found Latinized
2? According to the series of his trans-
actions, as given in his Acts, it appears to be one of the last, and just before the close
at A. D.
tical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. ,
sect, v. , nn. 38, 39, p. 192.
28
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of Achonry," p. 658.
29 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi-
berniae," xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Finniani
seu Fineni, cap. xxvi. , p. 296.
3° See Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect. iii. , n. 40, p. 192.
3I Little information has been given re-
garding the place, by Thomas O'Conor, who wrote the account of it in a dissertation, dated 21 Great Charles-street, October 10th,
551. Hennessey, pp. 50, 51.
"
25 "
wolf-headed. "
caput hipi, or
Among these are Colgan, Ware, and
Harris.
26 To this period Dr. Lanigan assigns it.
1836. See Letters containing Information collected during the Progress of the Ord- nance Survey in 1836," pp. 388, 389.
king's
place called Achad Chonair and
of his life. See Dr. Lanigan's
"
Ecclesias-
ia6 LIVES OF THE WISH SAINTS.
[August 9.
ties not only confirm the authority of our Irish records, but serve to throw more light upon the nature of that pestilent affection. The Welsh Annals in particular are explicit upon this subject. It is in these records called Vail
Velen,** the dark coloured yellowness, or the yellow plague. 33 It is further described in the Book of Llandaff as having been called the yellow pestilence, because it occasioned all persons who were seized by it to be yellow and without blood. It was likewise described by other early Welsh writers as a watery cloud, which passed over the face of the country, descending into its valleys, and affecting whatever living creatures it touched with its pesti- ferous blast, so that they immediately died, or forthwith sickened. 34 This great and widespread pestilence, which marked a special epidemic in the middle of the sixth century, is supposed to have been of the nature of that disease known to the moderns as yellow fever ;35 although, from a description collected36 from the early writers, as it appeared in the Levant, it would seem to be a true bubonic plague ; but, it is not improbable, that the one might have degenerated into the other. Partly contemporaneous with, and succeeding the first Buidhe Chonnail, appeared an epidemic which seems to have been a leprosy. It is denominated in the Irish Annals the samthrusc, literally the mange, or scaly leprosy ; and, in various authorities, it is denominated Samtrusg and Samthrosc. ^ Moreover, Buidhechair was a term employed, expressive of a greenish yellow colour, perhaps arising from
another appearance, which icteritic patients assumed38.
This word is not
even yet altogether lost, but it is still occasionally applied to jaundice.
At Achonry, it is stated that St. Finian placed our saint,39 and probably just before his own death, which has been assigned to a. d. 552. 4° At Achonry, likewise, Nathi discharged the offices of a faithful pastor ; but, in
32 We are informed that " Mailcun rex discovered in Ireland, in the earlier part of Genedotx," or Maelgwyn Gwynedh, King the present century ; but, at present that
of North Wales, died of this plague in a. d. 547, according to the " Annales Cambrise," edited by the Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , Taliesin, one of the
disease is for the most part confined to the
West Indies, or to tropical regions.
36 By Gibbon.
37 All these terms evidently show that one
of the most striking manifestations of the
disease was the colour of the skin. yellow
Referring to this plague, as it affected Europe in the middle of the sixth century,
"
Dr. Short states, that
men looked like charcoal-wood, their coun- tenance was senseless and stern. " We find more difficulty in our analysis of the term Blejed or Bleffrth—applied to it by some annalists—which was in all probability an imported name, and it may be, by a slight transmutation of letters, the Irish acceptation of the Welsh word Cleved—sickness gene-
38 The first date assigned to this epidemic,
which continued for upwards of twenty
years, is A. D. 550.
39See likewise Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum
Hibernire," xx. Januarii. Vita Prima S.
Fechani, cap. iv. , v. , p. 130. Vita Secunda
p. 4. early poets
the — country, represented pestilence
of that
under the form of a woman,
strange creature will come from the marsh of Rhiavedd, to punish the crimes of Mael- gwyn Gwynedh ; its hair, its teeth, and its eyes are yellow, and this will destroy Mael- gwyn Gwynedh. ' St. Teilo fled from Wales on account of this pestilence. From the account relating to him, as from the Cam- brian Annals generally, it would appear that such a disease prevailed fust in Wales, and
was thence carried here by those of that —ation, who departed into distant countries
n
"
to this in all cases of clay,
of them into Ireland. "
33 While inaccurate regarding the date for
its appearance in Wales, Giraldus Cambren-
sis, in his Itinerary of Bishop Baldwin, alludes to this disease as the disorder called
the yellow plague, while by physicians it was termed the Iliac passion.
34 In one of the Welsh Triads translated
in the " Myvyrian Archaeology of Wales," it is referred to as the second great pesti-
lence, or the "yellow plague of Rhos, which was caused by the carcases of the slain. "
35 Some cases of yellow fever have been
some
and,
epidemic disease, the peasantry of Ireland say the person is affected with "the sick- ness. "
saying
" A
rally ;
S. Fechini, cap. vi. , vii. , viii. , p. 134, 40 "
See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's Lives of the Saints," vol. viii. , August 9, p. 107.
bile was redundant,
August 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 117
what special capacity has not been decided. The parish itself is of very considerable extent. * 1 It consists of two pretty equal divisions ; one of moor and mountain ; the other of pasture and of arable land. The latter has in past years gained greatly on the former, owing to the industry of the people. Moreover, a fine limestone subsoil greatly facilitates the work of reclamation and improvement. When Achonry had been constituted an episcopal see, however, appears to be unknown. An early date has been claimed for its erection ; yet, this is rather doubtful. It has been stated, thatlongbeforeAchonrybecamethedesignationofaparish,it gavename to a diocese. 42 Still, the exact time has baffled the enquiries of our ecclesi- astical historians.
CHAPTER II.
ANCIENT REMAINS AT ACHONRY—CONTEMPORARIES OF ST. NATHI—SCHOOL FOUNDED AT ACHONRY—DEATH OF THE SAINT—HIS FESTIVAL AND COMMEMORATION— CONCLUSION.
The earlier records of this very ancient church have not been recovered,
while the list of its more ancient Prelates is sadly imperfect, and from the
sixth to the twelfth century, no account of a bishop presiding over this see
has been given.
1
In the ancient annals of Ireland, the Prelates of Achonry
are called, for the most part, bishops of Luigne, or Leney, as this was the name of that territory or district it included. 2 Moreover, Achonry is not found among the five dioceses assigned by the Synod of Rathbreasil in n18 to the Province of Connaught ; these dioceses being Tuam, Clonfert, Cong, Killala and Ardcarne. Nor does its area appear to be comprehended in any
ofthosedioceses,unlikeElphin,whichis foundpartlyinTuam,andpartly in Ardcarne, though omitted —as a separate diocese. The two dioceses which
bordered on Achonry were
:
first, Ardcarne, from Ardcarne to stretching
Slieve-an-iern, and from Ceis Coriann to Huircuilten, apparently Cul-na-
bragher, in the parish of Ballysodare ; and, secondly, Killala, extending from Nephin to Assaroe, and from Cill Ard Bille to Srath an Fearainn, no doubt,
Srahmore, adjoining Cul-na-bragher. 3
Tradition alone—seems to affirm
It is now
Diocese of Achonry united with that of Killala. It occurs under the name
—n an ancient
Achonry to have bee bishopric.
being
called the
ofAchadhChonaire,inourIrishAnnals. * Thepeoplewereaccustomedto call the cathedral, which —was thought to have been founded here by St.
Nathi, Teampul Achonra5 Teampall being the general name of a church, atwhichthereisaburial. Averysmallpartofthewallsnowremainsatthe Protestant parish church, which stands on its site, and it goes under the name of the Cathedral Church of St. Crumnathy. 6 The saint himself was commonly called Comrah, or Cruimther, the latter being only an addition
41 The Irish-speaking people call this parish parxAifce -Acon^A.
42 See Archdeacon O'Rorke's "History of Sligo: Town and County," vol. ii. , chap.
3 See Archdeacon T. O'Rorke's "History of Sligo : Town and County," vol. ii. , chap. xxiii. , pp. 94, 95.
4 See those of the Four Masters, at the
years 1328, 1398, 1409, 1434, in Dr. John O'Donovan's edition.
5 Written in Irish, UeAtnpAll -dconru*.
xxii. , pp. 92, 93—.
Chapter
ii.
'
See Archdeacon
Cotton's "Fasti Ecclesias Hibernicse," vol.
iv. , pp. 97, 98.
2
See "Harris' Ware," vol. i. , Bishops of Achonry," p. 658. 1
Henry
6
See "Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire-
land," vol. i. , p. 9.
"
What Comrah signifieth I am not so
128 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 9.
of honour to Nathi's name, and signifying in the old Irish the same as Saggart in modern Irish, viz : a Priest. ? At Achonry some ruins are yet visible, and which represent the mediaeval cathedral ; but, the sole remains of it, at present, are the east gable and a gothic window, which contains in the upper arch traces of cut-stone mullions. 8
Ruins of Cathedral Church, Achonry, County of Sligo.
Nathi," where allusion is made to his name, in the Lives of other Saints. 16 Yet, it may be true, that he was a chorepiscopus, or a ru—ral bishop. In a
biography
ofSt. Fechinof
Fore,
heis
styled
"Antistes" theterm
usually
well informed ; but I think it bears the supplied from its waters, being used by
sense of one elected, at least it hath a Reli- gious signification. "—Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
" 8
by William F. Wakeman, on the wood, en- graved by Mrs. Millard.
9 See the "Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire- land," vol. i. , p. 535.
10 See Sir James Ware, " De Hibernia, et
Antiquitatibus ejus, Disquisitiones," &c,
cap. xxvi. , p. 229.
11
Situated about sixteen miles S. W. from Coloony.
Druids. Hence it is called TJobx\r\ a Coipe, i. e. u Fons lebetis. " See " Letters contain- ing Information relative to the Antiquities of the County of Sligo, collectod during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1836. " Thomas O'Conor's Letter, dated 21 Great Charles-street, Dublin, October 10th, 1836, pp. 388, 389.
13 See Michael Oge O'Longan's MS. , vol. vi. , R. I. A. folio paper, containing 360 pp. , at p. 118. This MS. was written in a. d. 1795,
1805, and 18 1 5.
'« Nathi is called only presbyter, in the
Life of Finnian of Clonard ; however, Ware says he cannot believe, but that he was
Bishops of Achonry," p. 658, n.
The accompanying illustration was drawn
,a
was placed convenient to the well, and was
Tradition states, that formerly a cauldron
Also at Court, a village about three miles westofAchonry, are the steeple and some fine ruins of a Franciscan Monastery,? intended for friars of the Third Order, and built by the family of McDonogh, in the first instance thentheO'Haras
;
appear to have been pa-
10
trons.
some ecclesiastical ruins, in the townland of Kil- cummin. There is also a remarkable well in the
be,
that he remained all
In this parish, are
of 11 Tobbarcorry,
village
whichtakesits namefrom
12 spring.
that
There is a monastic
story, referring to fasting and abstinence, and rela- ting to Colum Cille, Comgall, Cainneach and Cruimthear Dathi, or Nathi. x3 By some, it is
thought, that St. Nathy was the first Bishop of
1
Achonry. * Themorepro-
bable opinion appears to
1*
his lifetime a priest. He is usually styled Cruim-
"
ther Nathi, or Priest
p
to 140.
,9 See her chief festival, at the nth of
Kenan himself.
'* Several Irish saints bear this name.
August 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. applied to a bishop ; yet, immediately before, he is simply called
129
or
"
presbyter," a priest. " Moreover, the former title is sometimes found applied to a
priest in old records. '? However, it is an opinion sufficiently well founded,
that between the time of our saint and the twelfth century, there must have
beenbishopsinthedioceseofAchonry; someofwhommostprobablyresided
18
in that place.
It would appear, that our saint was contemporaneous with St. Athracta, ^
for the name of Nathy occurs in her Acts. 20 No other homonymous saint is
22
known to have flourished in the district of 21 where her Lugne,
nunnery wasfounded, andthiscircumstancealoneseemssufficienttoidentifyhim.
It is stated, that Nathi founded a famous school at Achonry. There, the celebrated St. Fechin of Fore23 was educated. Now, as St. Fechin had been a scholar of Nathi, early in the seventh century, and even a priest before his
2
death, the master must have lived to a very great age. * Among St. Nathi's
disciples, it is thought, a St. Kenan, mentioned by Ussher,25 may be enumerated. This holy youth was a native of Connaught, and he was
detained as a hostage for some time by Laeghaire, King of Ireland, in the time of St. Patrick. At the intercession, or owing to the interposition, of a
holybishop,namedKistan,hewasreleased,fromhiscaptivity. Afterwards,
he was trained in good morals and letters, by a religious man, named
Nathanus. In fine, he went to Gaul, and there he became a monk in St.
Martin's monastery, at the city of Tours. 20 When he had been well grounded
in ecclesiastical discipline, he returned to Connaught, where he converted
many to the Christian Faith. Then he went into Leinster, where he built a
church, in a place afterwards called Sylva Kenatii, or " Kenan's Wood. "
There he gained many to Christ. In fine, he went to the Eugenian
2
territory 7 where he destroyed an idol and its altar, and in their places he ,
erectedaChristianChurch. Overthis,heplacedhisdearlybeloveddisciple,
28
St. Comgall.
Reasoning on probable supposition, our great ecclesiastical historian
thinks this saint survived the ordination of his disciple, St. Fechin of Fore. He lived, in the opinion of Dr. Lanigan, at least, to the year 605,
and perhaps to the year 615. The same learned authority supposes him to have attained the age of ninety years, and perhaps even a longer term of
afterwards made bishop of Achonry. See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of Achonry," p. 658.
15 According to Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
16 It is not only in St. Finian's Life, or
relatively in any particular transaction, that
he is called cruimthir, or priest whereas ;
August, in the present Volume, Art. i.
20
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi- berniae," ix. Februarii. Vita S. Attractaj, Virginis, cap. xiii. , p. 280, and n. 18, p. 282.
this is the title, which, as Colgan observes, is "
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xvii. , sect, ix. , p. 39, and n. 124, p. 43.
*3 See his Acts, at the 20th of January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. ii.
n See what is stated, ibid. , chap. i.
2S See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tiquitates. " Addenda quaedam Omissa, p.
"
given to \\\m passim. See Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Fin- niani, n. 29, p. 399.
17 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect.
" Archdeacon O'Rorke, in his learned History of Sligo : Town and County," has left us a very complete account of the
diocese, with notices of the bishops of vi. , p. 342, and n. 65, p. 345.
Achonry from the earliest dates to the pre- 27 So called from King Eugene, whose sent time. See vol. ii. , chap, xxiii. , pp. 92 niece Ethne is said to have been mother of
iv. , n. 37, p. 192. 18
Vol. VIII. —
3.
j
2I Now the barony of Leney, in the County of Sligo.
22 See Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
508.
26 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect,
"
1
130 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August o.
3
9 since there was no sufficient reason to think, that his disciple, Fechin, reached the age it had been calculated that he did. 30 According to the Calendar of Oengus, Nathi was
buried at Achad Cain, or Achonry.
The feast of our saint is kept, according to our Martyrologies and
Calendars, on the 9th day of August ; although, it does not appear in the Roman Martyrology. At this same date, in the published Martyrology of
;
existence, before the period of his death j
" Nathi Achadh Conaire "31 and he bears a
is the
similar title, in a Latin designation in the Book of Leinster copy. 32 At the 9th of August, in the Martyrology33 of Donegal, is recorded Cruimhther 34 Nathi, of Achadh-caoin-Conaire, in Lughne, of Connaught. In the Irish Calendar, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy," at the Fifth of the
Tallaght,
entry,
sac,
Ides—corresponding with the 9th of August—we have another entry of 6
this saint's festival. In the "Circle of the Seasons"-' is his festival, at.
Ecclesiae Hibernicae," vol. iv. , p. 98. ,6 "
See The Topographical Poems of John O'Dubhagain and Giolla na Naomh
O'Huidhrin," edited by John O'Donovan, LL. D , n. 280, p. xxxix.
I7 This also is agreeing with a statement
of the O'Clerys.
August 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 135
18
too hastily assumed that Nathy was a disciple of St. Finian of Clonard. But, he was ordained priest, at or before that time, when the celebrated Abbot of Clonard visited Connaught, as may be read in the published Acts of
20 91
32 seems nearer to the fact. When St. Finian came to that place,
fifth
1? taken from the Salamanca Codex. That visit is Manuscript
St. Finnian,
incorrectly stated to have been made, so early as about the year 530. However, at this date, St. Finian had scarcely begun to teach at Clonard. A short time before St. Finian's demise, which took place in the middle of the
century,
where our saint dwelt, he was admonished by an angel to bu—ild a church, on
3
a suitable and pleasing site. * But, the king of that country called Luigne,
— wasnamed 2* his That even and who Keanfahola, opposed design. dynast
wished to expel the saint from his territory. However, in order to move his obdurate heart, and to bend his will to the obedience of Divine Faith, St. Finian wrought a remarkable miracle, by making a sign of the cross over a very large stone. This immediately split into three distinct parts. At such a miraculous exercise of power, the obdurate and inhospitable king changed from being a wolf in human form to becoming a lamb in gentleness and condescension.
2
Some of our writers ^ make Nathi a disciple of Finnian. However,
Nathi seems to have been a priest, before Finnian had been acquainted with him. About this time, according to the order of narrative in St. Finian's old Life, almost all his celebrated disciples at Clonard had left his school to foundestablishmentsoftheirown. ThedateforthistransactioninLuighne
26
year 550.
the miracle already related,
Keonfahola, on bended knees, offered St. Finnian that site, where such
2
miracles had been wrought. ? It was afterwards called Achad-Chonaire, or
Achonry, being at present a large parochial division, and the seat of an
was about the
St. Finian effected the
conversion — through
2? and at a
anciently said to have been Achad-Chaion. 28 Struck with admiration,
episcopal see, in Sligo county. 3° In the Annals of Ireland, when Latinized, "1
it is invariably called Campus Conarii. "*
Whether the holy Abbot of Clonard erected a church or a monastery
there, does not appear to be well known. He was carried off in that dreadful mortality the Crom Conaill, which broke out in Ireland, towards the middle of the sixth century. This is thought to have been a more aggravated form of that disease known as the Buidhe Chonnaill. Contemporaneous authori.
December—the chief day for his festival— in the Twelfth Volume of this work.
19 See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Finniani seu Fineni, Abbatis de Cluain-Eraird, cap. xxvi. , p. 396.
20
See "Harris' Ware," vol. i. , Bishops of Achonry," p. 658.
21
According to Rev. Dr. Lanigan's cal- culations.
22 "
The "Chronicum Scotorum places it
See edition of William M.
23 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi-
berniav* xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Finiani,
cap, xxvi. , p. 396.
*4 This proper name is found Latinized
2? According to the series of his trans-
actions, as given in his Acts, it appears to be one of the last, and just before the close
at A. D.
tical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. ,
sect, v. , nn. 38, 39, p. 192.
28
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of Achonry," p. 658.
29 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi-
berniae," xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Finniani
seu Fineni, cap. xxvi. , p. 296.
3° See Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect. iii. , n. 40, p. 192.
3I Little information has been given re-
garding the place, by Thomas O'Conor, who wrote the account of it in a dissertation, dated 21 Great Charles-street, October 10th,
551. Hennessey, pp. 50, 51.
"
25 "
wolf-headed. "
caput hipi, or
Among these are Colgan, Ware, and
Harris.
26 To this period Dr. Lanigan assigns it.
1836. See Letters containing Information collected during the Progress of the Ord- nance Survey in 1836," pp. 388, 389.
king's
place called Achad Chonair and
of his life. See Dr. Lanigan's
"
Ecclesias-
ia6 LIVES OF THE WISH SAINTS.
[August 9.
ties not only confirm the authority of our Irish records, but serve to throw more light upon the nature of that pestilent affection. The Welsh Annals in particular are explicit upon this subject. It is in these records called Vail
Velen,** the dark coloured yellowness, or the yellow plague. 33 It is further described in the Book of Llandaff as having been called the yellow pestilence, because it occasioned all persons who were seized by it to be yellow and without blood. It was likewise described by other early Welsh writers as a watery cloud, which passed over the face of the country, descending into its valleys, and affecting whatever living creatures it touched with its pesti- ferous blast, so that they immediately died, or forthwith sickened. 34 This great and widespread pestilence, which marked a special epidemic in the middle of the sixth century, is supposed to have been of the nature of that disease known to the moderns as yellow fever ;35 although, from a description collected36 from the early writers, as it appeared in the Levant, it would seem to be a true bubonic plague ; but, it is not improbable, that the one might have degenerated into the other. Partly contemporaneous with, and succeeding the first Buidhe Chonnail, appeared an epidemic which seems to have been a leprosy. It is denominated in the Irish Annals the samthrusc, literally the mange, or scaly leprosy ; and, in various authorities, it is denominated Samtrusg and Samthrosc. ^ Moreover, Buidhechair was a term employed, expressive of a greenish yellow colour, perhaps arising from
another appearance, which icteritic patients assumed38.
This word is not
even yet altogether lost, but it is still occasionally applied to jaundice.
At Achonry, it is stated that St. Finian placed our saint,39 and probably just before his own death, which has been assigned to a. d. 552. 4° At Achonry, likewise, Nathi discharged the offices of a faithful pastor ; but, in
32 We are informed that " Mailcun rex discovered in Ireland, in the earlier part of Genedotx," or Maelgwyn Gwynedh, King the present century ; but, at present that
of North Wales, died of this plague in a. d. 547, according to the " Annales Cambrise," edited by the Rev. John Williams ab Ithel, M. A. , Taliesin, one of the
disease is for the most part confined to the
West Indies, or to tropical regions.
36 By Gibbon.
37 All these terms evidently show that one
of the most striking manifestations of the
disease was the colour of the skin. yellow
Referring to this plague, as it affected Europe in the middle of the sixth century,
"
Dr. Short states, that
men looked like charcoal-wood, their coun- tenance was senseless and stern. " We find more difficulty in our analysis of the term Blejed or Bleffrth—applied to it by some annalists—which was in all probability an imported name, and it may be, by a slight transmutation of letters, the Irish acceptation of the Welsh word Cleved—sickness gene-
38 The first date assigned to this epidemic,
which continued for upwards of twenty
years, is A. D. 550.
39See likewise Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum
Hibernire," xx. Januarii. Vita Prima S.
Fechani, cap. iv. , v. , p. 130. Vita Secunda
p. 4. early poets
the — country, represented pestilence
of that
under the form of a woman,
strange creature will come from the marsh of Rhiavedd, to punish the crimes of Mael- gwyn Gwynedh ; its hair, its teeth, and its eyes are yellow, and this will destroy Mael- gwyn Gwynedh. ' St. Teilo fled from Wales on account of this pestilence. From the account relating to him, as from the Cam- brian Annals generally, it would appear that such a disease prevailed fust in Wales, and
was thence carried here by those of that —ation, who departed into distant countries
n
"
to this in all cases of clay,
of them into Ireland. "
33 While inaccurate regarding the date for
its appearance in Wales, Giraldus Cambren-
sis, in his Itinerary of Bishop Baldwin, alludes to this disease as the disorder called
the yellow plague, while by physicians it was termed the Iliac passion.
34 In one of the Welsh Triads translated
in the " Myvyrian Archaeology of Wales," it is referred to as the second great pesti-
lence, or the "yellow plague of Rhos, which was caused by the carcases of the slain. "
35 Some cases of yellow fever have been
some
and,
epidemic disease, the peasantry of Ireland say the person is affected with "the sick- ness. "
saying
" A
rally ;
S. Fechini, cap. vi. , vii. , viii. , p. 134, 40 "
See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's Lives of the Saints," vol. viii. , August 9, p. 107.
bile was redundant,
August 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 117
what special capacity has not been decided. The parish itself is of very considerable extent. * 1 It consists of two pretty equal divisions ; one of moor and mountain ; the other of pasture and of arable land. The latter has in past years gained greatly on the former, owing to the industry of the people. Moreover, a fine limestone subsoil greatly facilitates the work of reclamation and improvement. When Achonry had been constituted an episcopal see, however, appears to be unknown. An early date has been claimed for its erection ; yet, this is rather doubtful. It has been stated, thatlongbeforeAchonrybecamethedesignationofaparish,it gavename to a diocese. 42 Still, the exact time has baffled the enquiries of our ecclesi- astical historians.
CHAPTER II.
ANCIENT REMAINS AT ACHONRY—CONTEMPORARIES OF ST. NATHI—SCHOOL FOUNDED AT ACHONRY—DEATH OF THE SAINT—HIS FESTIVAL AND COMMEMORATION— CONCLUSION.
The earlier records of this very ancient church have not been recovered,
while the list of its more ancient Prelates is sadly imperfect, and from the
sixth to the twelfth century, no account of a bishop presiding over this see
has been given.
1
In the ancient annals of Ireland, the Prelates of Achonry
are called, for the most part, bishops of Luigne, or Leney, as this was the name of that territory or district it included. 2 Moreover, Achonry is not found among the five dioceses assigned by the Synod of Rathbreasil in n18 to the Province of Connaught ; these dioceses being Tuam, Clonfert, Cong, Killala and Ardcarne. Nor does its area appear to be comprehended in any
ofthosedioceses,unlikeElphin,whichis foundpartlyinTuam,andpartly in Ardcarne, though omitted —as a separate diocese. The two dioceses which
bordered on Achonry were
:
first, Ardcarne, from Ardcarne to stretching
Slieve-an-iern, and from Ceis Coriann to Huircuilten, apparently Cul-na-
bragher, in the parish of Ballysodare ; and, secondly, Killala, extending from Nephin to Assaroe, and from Cill Ard Bille to Srath an Fearainn, no doubt,
Srahmore, adjoining Cul-na-bragher. 3
Tradition alone—seems to affirm
It is now
Diocese of Achonry united with that of Killala. It occurs under the name
—n an ancient
Achonry to have bee bishopric.
being
called the
ofAchadhChonaire,inourIrishAnnals. * Thepeoplewereaccustomedto call the cathedral, which —was thought to have been founded here by St.
Nathi, Teampul Achonra5 Teampall being the general name of a church, atwhichthereisaburial. Averysmallpartofthewallsnowremainsatthe Protestant parish church, which stands on its site, and it goes under the name of the Cathedral Church of St. Crumnathy. 6 The saint himself was commonly called Comrah, or Cruimther, the latter being only an addition
41 The Irish-speaking people call this parish parxAifce -Acon^A.
42 See Archdeacon O'Rorke's "History of Sligo: Town and County," vol. ii. , chap.
3 See Archdeacon T. O'Rorke's "History of Sligo : Town and County," vol. ii. , chap. xxiii. , pp. 94, 95.
4 See those of the Four Masters, at the
years 1328, 1398, 1409, 1434, in Dr. John O'Donovan's edition.
5 Written in Irish, UeAtnpAll -dconru*.
xxii. , pp. 92, 93—.
Chapter
ii.
'
See Archdeacon
Cotton's "Fasti Ecclesias Hibernicse," vol.
iv. , pp. 97, 98.
2
See "Harris' Ware," vol. i. , Bishops of Achonry," p. 658. 1
Henry
6
See "Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire-
land," vol. i. , p. 9.
"
What Comrah signifieth I am not so
128 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 9.
of honour to Nathi's name, and signifying in the old Irish the same as Saggart in modern Irish, viz : a Priest. ? At Achonry some ruins are yet visible, and which represent the mediaeval cathedral ; but, the sole remains of it, at present, are the east gable and a gothic window, which contains in the upper arch traces of cut-stone mullions. 8
Ruins of Cathedral Church, Achonry, County of Sligo.
Nathi," where allusion is made to his name, in the Lives of other Saints. 16 Yet, it may be true, that he was a chorepiscopus, or a ru—ral bishop. In a
biography
ofSt. Fechinof
Fore,
heis
styled
"Antistes" theterm
usually
well informed ; but I think it bears the supplied from its waters, being used by
sense of one elected, at least it hath a Reli- gious signification. "—Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
" 8
by William F. Wakeman, on the wood, en- graved by Mrs. Millard.
9 See the "Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire- land," vol. i. , p. 535.
10 See Sir James Ware, " De Hibernia, et
Antiquitatibus ejus, Disquisitiones," &c,
cap. xxvi. , p. 229.
11
Situated about sixteen miles S. W. from Coloony.
Druids. Hence it is called TJobx\r\ a Coipe, i. e. u Fons lebetis. " See " Letters contain- ing Information relative to the Antiquities of the County of Sligo, collectod during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1836. " Thomas O'Conor's Letter, dated 21 Great Charles-street, Dublin, October 10th, 1836, pp. 388, 389.
13 See Michael Oge O'Longan's MS. , vol. vi. , R. I. A. folio paper, containing 360 pp. , at p. 118. This MS. was written in a. d. 1795,
1805, and 18 1 5.
'« Nathi is called only presbyter, in the
Life of Finnian of Clonard ; however, Ware says he cannot believe, but that he was
Bishops of Achonry," p. 658, n.
The accompanying illustration was drawn
,a
was placed convenient to the well, and was
Tradition states, that formerly a cauldron
Also at Court, a village about three miles westofAchonry, are the steeple and some fine ruins of a Franciscan Monastery,? intended for friars of the Third Order, and built by the family of McDonogh, in the first instance thentheO'Haras
;
appear to have been pa-
10
trons.
some ecclesiastical ruins, in the townland of Kil- cummin. There is also a remarkable well in the
be,
that he remained all
In this parish, are
of 11 Tobbarcorry,
village
whichtakesits namefrom
12 spring.
that
There is a monastic
story, referring to fasting and abstinence, and rela- ting to Colum Cille, Comgall, Cainneach and Cruimthear Dathi, or Nathi. x3 By some, it is
thought, that St. Nathy was the first Bishop of
1
Achonry. * Themorepro-
bable opinion appears to
1*
his lifetime a priest. He is usually styled Cruim-
"
ther Nathi, or Priest
p
to 140.
,9 See her chief festival, at the nth of
Kenan himself.
'* Several Irish saints bear this name.
August 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. applied to a bishop ; yet, immediately before, he is simply called
129
or
"
presbyter," a priest. " Moreover, the former title is sometimes found applied to a
priest in old records. '? However, it is an opinion sufficiently well founded,
that between the time of our saint and the twelfth century, there must have
beenbishopsinthedioceseofAchonry; someofwhommostprobablyresided
18
in that place.
It would appear, that our saint was contemporaneous with St. Athracta, ^
for the name of Nathy occurs in her Acts. 20 No other homonymous saint is
22
known to have flourished in the district of 21 where her Lugne,
nunnery wasfounded, andthiscircumstancealoneseemssufficienttoidentifyhim.
It is stated, that Nathi founded a famous school at Achonry. There, the celebrated St. Fechin of Fore23 was educated. Now, as St. Fechin had been a scholar of Nathi, early in the seventh century, and even a priest before his
2
death, the master must have lived to a very great age. * Among St. Nathi's
disciples, it is thought, a St. Kenan, mentioned by Ussher,25 may be enumerated. This holy youth was a native of Connaught, and he was
detained as a hostage for some time by Laeghaire, King of Ireland, in the time of St. Patrick. At the intercession, or owing to the interposition, of a
holybishop,namedKistan,hewasreleased,fromhiscaptivity. Afterwards,
he was trained in good morals and letters, by a religious man, named
Nathanus. In fine, he went to Gaul, and there he became a monk in St.
Martin's monastery, at the city of Tours. 20 When he had been well grounded
in ecclesiastical discipline, he returned to Connaught, where he converted
many to the Christian Faith. Then he went into Leinster, where he built a
church, in a place afterwards called Sylva Kenatii, or " Kenan's Wood. "
There he gained many to Christ. In fine, he went to the Eugenian
2
territory 7 where he destroyed an idol and its altar, and in their places he ,
erectedaChristianChurch. Overthis,heplacedhisdearlybeloveddisciple,
28
St. Comgall.
Reasoning on probable supposition, our great ecclesiastical historian
thinks this saint survived the ordination of his disciple, St. Fechin of Fore. He lived, in the opinion of Dr. Lanigan, at least, to the year 605,
and perhaps to the year 615. The same learned authority supposes him to have attained the age of ninety years, and perhaps even a longer term of
afterwards made bishop of Achonry. See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of Achonry," p. 658.
15 According to Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
16 It is not only in St. Finian's Life, or
relatively in any particular transaction, that
he is called cruimthir, or priest whereas ;
August, in the present Volume, Art. i.
20
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi- berniae," ix. Februarii. Vita S. Attractaj, Virginis, cap. xiii. , p. 280, and n. 18, p. 282.
this is the title, which, as Colgan observes, is "
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xvii. , sect, ix. , p. 39, and n. 124, p. 43.
*3 See his Acts, at the 20th of January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. ii.
n See what is stated, ibid. , chap. i.
2S See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tiquitates. " Addenda quaedam Omissa, p.
"
given to \\\m passim. See Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," xxiii. Februarii. Vita S. Fin- niani, n. 29, p. 399.
17 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect.
" Archdeacon O'Rorke, in his learned History of Sligo : Town and County," has left us a very complete account of the
diocese, with notices of the bishops of vi. , p. 342, and n. 65, p. 345.
Achonry from the earliest dates to the pre- 27 So called from King Eugene, whose sent time. See vol. ii. , chap, xxiii. , pp. 92 niece Ethne is said to have been mother of
iv. , n. 37, p. 192. 18
Vol. VIII. —
3.
j
2I Now the barony of Leney, in the County of Sligo.
22 See Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
508.
26 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect,
"
1
130 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August o.
3
9 since there was no sufficient reason to think, that his disciple, Fechin, reached the age it had been calculated that he did. 30 According to the Calendar of Oengus, Nathi was
buried at Achad Cain, or Achonry.
The feast of our saint is kept, according to our Martyrologies and
Calendars, on the 9th day of August ; although, it does not appear in the Roman Martyrology. At this same date, in the published Martyrology of
;
existence, before the period of his death j
" Nathi Achadh Conaire "31 and he bears a
is the
similar title, in a Latin designation in the Book of Leinster copy. 32 At the 9th of August, in the Martyrology33 of Donegal, is recorded Cruimhther 34 Nathi, of Achadh-caoin-Conaire, in Lughne, of Connaught. In the Irish Calendar, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy," at the Fifth of the
Tallaght,
entry,
sac,
Ides—corresponding with the 9th of August—we have another entry of 6
this saint's festival. In the "Circle of the Seasons"-' is his festival, at.
