No More Learning

'9 Among others, by Antonius Possevinus,
"In and "De Apparatu,'' by Trithemius,
Viris Illustribus Ordinis Benedicti. "
*° "
See Venerable Bede's Historia Eccle-
Colgan's
Caue,
Todd's and Dr. Reeves' edition of the
"
probability,
Finan was one of those
" Acta Sanctorum
" At the
" 7th January.
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
' See
nice," ix. Januarii. Vita S. Finani, n. 9, p. 46.
at the 8th of December. See Dr.
of
Thus there is a St. Fionan, bishop, at the
8th of January ; a St. Fionan of Saxonland,
at the 9th of January ; a St. Fionan, son of siastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. 17,
tyrology of Donegal," pp. 418, 419.
Finani, cap. iii. , p. 48.
'^ "
Also Hiberniae," Ap-
Mar-
148 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 9.
After he had gained many Gentiles to the true Faith, and had ruled over
the See of Lindisfarne for about ten years, St. Finan was called away to the
bliss of immortality, in the year 656^' or 659,^* according to some writers. Others again assign his death to 600 or 601. =3 The Irish calendarists place his festival at the 9th of January. =4
Although by birth and descent this saint was Irish; yet the entry of
occurs in the
Marianus O'Gorman likewise commemorates him at the same date.
Saxon, is set down in the Martyrology of Donegal,^? as being venerated on
this day. He was the second Bishop of Lindisfarne,^^ and he is regarded as an Apostle among the Saxons of the midland and north-eastern parts of England. Hence his distinctive appellation.
English and Scotch writers^9 have his feast recorded at the 17th of
February. 3° At this date, the reader will find some additional observations.
However, it is said, neither of the foregoing dates represents the exact day of his death.
For learning, holiness of life, indefatigable zeal and earnestness of purpose, this great missionary was a light to many people, who had heretofore remained in the shadow of Paganism. Over princes and people he exercised great spiritual influence. In the activity of episcopal rule, and in his solicitude for the souls of men, he was a bright example of austerity and self-denial, in public and private life.
Article III. —St. Guaire, Beg, Patron of Aghadowy or Aghadoey,
County of Londonderry. [Probably m the Seventh Century. '] The spirit
of holiness, from an early period, has consecrated many a lonely spot in old Ireland. The situation of that church, belonging to Guaire Beg, of
Achadh-Dubhthaigh, in Magh-Li, is exactly pointed out in our calendars. It arose near the banks of the Bann, on the west side, between Loch-n-Each- dhach* and the sea. This saint belonged to the race of CoUa Uais, monarch of Erin. His feast is registered in the Martyrology of Donegal^ on this day. It is recorded, in the Martyrology of Tallagh3as Guare "bic," for "beg," which means " small " or " little ;" probably in allusion to his stature, or want of distinction. He was son of Lasreu, son of Ferguss, son of Loegare, or
Finan, Saxon,
Martyrology
of
Tallagh,=s
at the of 9th
p. 204, cap. 21, 22, pp. 218 to 222, cap. 25, p. 233. Florence of Worcester, Matthew of Westminster, " Flores Historiarum," A. D. 651, 652, pp. 226 to 228. Nicholas Harps-
p. 45, and nn. 12, 13, p. 46.
's Edited by Rev. Dr, Kelly, p. xii.
"* In the Franciscan copy wc find pri Am
Sax.
feld's " Historia
"
xxxi. Arnold Wion '^ See Father
Anglicana Ecclesiastica, cap. xxviii. ,
by
White's "
p. Apolo-
ssec. vii. ,
"
noise.
" The " Annals of Ulster" and " Annals
Stephen
gia pro Hibemia," cap. v. , p. 66.
Lignum Vitae," lib. ii. , cap. xxi.
" to the " Aimals of Clonmac- According
*» Thus the " """
of the Four Masters. "
edition, vol. i. , n
'3 This diversity of date may have been
Camerarius " De Pietate Scotorum," at the 17th of February,
(q),
—which is a mistake
See Dr. O'Donovan's
pp. 268 to 271.
^ saint the—
In ranking this among disciples
caused by the equivocal statement of Vene-
rable Bede (lib. iii. , cap. 27), that St. Aidan this day. See Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta died, having been a bishop for seventeen Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. x. , p. years. Elsewhere it is insinuated, that he 490. —'
began to govern the See of Lindisfarne A. D. 63s, and that he died A. D. 651. St. Finan's ten years of episcopal rule should therefore extend to A. D. 60 X.
"* See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," ix. Januarii. Vita S. Finani, cap. vii. ,
Art. III.
The
ancient name for
Lough
»7 Edited Drs. Todd and Reeves, ii.
English Martyrology," Dempster, lib. vi. , De Scriptoribus ScotisB,
of St. Coluraba
Colgan
promised to have something about him at "
•
Neagh.
'Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, p. Ii.
3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xii. In the Franciscan copy we read 5tiAi|\e bic
=^ January.
Finan, a
January 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 149
Laeghaire,'^ son to Fiachra Tort, founder of the Hy-Tuirtre, son of CoUa Uais, monarch of Ireland, from a. d. 327 to 33 1. ^ This saint was cousin to another St. Guaire, surnamed Mor. ^ Magh Li was the name of a territory extending from Bir to Camus, on the west side of the River Bann, where the Fir-Lii, a section of Colla Uais' descendants settled at an early period. Under the year of the world 2550, when Parthalon died, it is mentioned in our Annals, as having been one of the Irish plains cleared of wood ; but in what particular year is not recorded. 7 In the seventh century, as we are told, St. Guarius or Goar founded a religious establishment here, as a cell to the priory or abbey erected by him at Agivey. This latter became a grange to the Abbey of St. Mary-de-la-Foutse, or Mecasquin, in 1172. ^ The present saint was venerated in Aghadowy parish, county of Londonderry, and it is not improbable he was the actual founder of its church. 9 For this erection would hardly appear to have been established by a namesake and
relative called Guaire the " Great" or "
of '° From the January.
Big,"
whose feast occurs at the 22nd
this latter saint seems to
for
have been a cousin to the one venerated on this day.
'' "
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xxxi. Januarii. Vita S. Maidoci. Ap-
pendix, cap. iv. , p. 223.
s See Dr. Reeves' edition of Archbishop
of Ireland," vol. i. , pp. 15, 16, for a further
interesting account of this parish.
9 The situation of Aghadowey old church
was probably that of the modern Protestant
genealogy given
both,
Ruins of Agivy Church, Cc. Londonderry.
Those ruins belonging to the old church at Agivy measure 74 feet in length by 28 in width. " About the year 1830, there was a square tower included in the length : it was 40 feet in height. People in the neighbour-
Colton's "Visitation of the Diocese of church in the townland and parish of the
Derry," n. (w), p. 80.
* See his feast at the 27th of January.
7 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 6 to 9. There,
however, it is incorrectly said, that Magh been later in time than the present saint.
"
Lii was in Ui-Mac-Uais-Brcagh ; Breagh there was no such place. (a), ibid.
for in See n.
" The accompanying view is taken from the west, by Mr. Jordan, of Ballymoney, county of Antrim. It is engraved by George A. Hanlon, Dublin.
*See Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary
^"^r
''
same name. See Ordnance Survey Town-
land Maps of the County of Sheet 12.
Londonderry.
'° By one generation he appears to have
150 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. January 9. ]
hood had been previously in the habit of picking out some of its large stones to place at the heads of graves. About the date indicated, a thoughtless boy,
amusing himself by taking out some stones, brought down a part of the wall. He had scarcely escaped from danger, when the tower fell. There is also a tradition, that an old bell, which hung there, had been cast into the Agivy river. On two of its sides, this stream encloses the burial-ground, still much used for interments. " A beautifully-chiselled font, broken in two separate parts, is to be found, and at the head of distinct graves. '3
Article IV. —St. Faelan, or Foilan, Abbot of Cluain-Mhaoscna, PROBABLY Clonmaskill, County OF Westmeath. The annalist of the saints should have at heart the diffusion of knowledge and religion, at least in a degree equal to the cultivators of other sacred studies. A festival, in honour of Foelan Cluana Mdescana,^ is entered for the 9th of January, in the published Martyrology of Tallagh. ^ Some difference of opinion has been entertained regarding his locality. On this day, the Martyrology of Donegal3 registers Faelan, of Cluain-Maosgna,* in Feara-tulach. In the Felire, Leabhar Breac copy, at the 9th of March, a notice occurs, in which it is stated his churchwassaidtohavebeeninUiDortan. s Thislatterplaceisalsocalled Tortan or Ui-Tortain; while a tribe of this denomination, and of the Oirghialla, wasseatednearArdbraccan,inMeath.
^ But,accordingtotheCalendarsof -^ngus, of Marianus O'Gorman, and of Cashel,? his place was in Feara-Tulach, nowFartullagh,abaronyinthecountyofWestmeath. Itispossible,how- ever, that, at one period, the Feara-Tulach territory may have included the present barony of Delvin. Colgan seems to identify the present saint Failan with one, mentioned by Camerarius and other Scottish -WTiters, who is venerated in Scotland. ^ His Acts have been already inserted at this day. We have reason to suspect, however, that the present sa—int was a different person; and if so, it seems likely he had a double festival, one on this day, andoneonthe26thofAugust. 9 IntheFelireofSt. -^ngus,aSt. Faelanis commemoratedatthisday,'°andwithahighdegreeofcommendation. It must be observed, however, that in the towTiland of Clonmaskill, parish of Castletown-delvin, it is not possible to discover any trace of a ruin or its site
'^
Its situation will be found clearly indi- Feilire-Aenguss, at the 8th of July, and cated on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Leabhar na g-Ceart, n. (b), p. 151 ; Dr.
Maps for the County of Londonderry. " Sheet 12.
'3 The font is one foot in diameter, cir-
cular on the—inside, and octagonal externally. '
O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters,"
vol. ii. , n (o), pp. 594, 595.
^ See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nije," xvi. Januarii. VitaS. Foillani. Ap-
Art. IV. After the entry of twelve pendix, cap. i. , p. 104.
foreign names, very
much faded and
nearly
^ See "Acta Sanctonim ix. Hibemise,
Januarii. Vita S. Foilani," pp. 49, 50.
' The reader is referred to notices at that
date,
"The original text of this stanza, from
the Leabhar Breac copy, R. I. A. , and
English translation, have been furnished by Professor O'Looney :
t). u. to. AiItji jeibb co n-^lAine
^]\ rnuifiMj yvo TAAit>if ITAeLAn oeooA •oi5i\Aif febix ptro UicAbAif
B. u. id. "Delightful the hostages in purity
In of the whom I presence king
have mentioned,
Faelan, the godly, the sincere Felix the fair, Vitalis. "
obliterated on the vellum, the Franciscan
copy of the Tallagh Martyrology has the
first entry of an Irish saint at this day, and
thus imperfect, -pebAn CbuAtiA
' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xii.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, p. 11. ^ " Cluain measkna. There is a Clonmas-
kill in Castletowndelvin," MS. note of Wil-
liam M. Hennessy. If this be the place, it
lies in the barony of Delvin, county of Westmeath.
5 The foregoing is the substance of a note added in Wm. M. Hennessy's copy of the
"
Martyrology of Donegal. "
* See
"
Ogygia," pars, iii. ,
O'Flaherty's
Also, the Book of Ball)Tnote, fol.
cap. 60.
229, b. ;
cap, ii. , p. 139, and p. 184, nn. 23, 24;
Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
January 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS,
151
on the Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Westmeath. " Yet there is a graveyard in the adjoining townland of Crownstown.
Article V. —Lomchu, of Kill Lomchon {Probably in the Sixth Century? ^ When St. Patrick was in that district of Munster, known as Ara, he came to a mountain called Teidhil, Near it, two of his disciples fell asleep, and never awoke with life. A church was there erected, and it was afterwards called Killteidhil. ' Although this saint seemed to have been connected with Munster, for one was named Longa^' or Lomchu, and the church in which he was specially venerated received its name, apparently from him ; yet the exact locality has not hitherto been ascertained. However, on this day, in the Martyrology of Donegal,3 and in that of Marianus O'Gor-
man, Lomchu, of Cill-Lomchou, in Ulster, is set doAvn. We merely find the "
name, Lomchon, with the adjunct Sci," entered in the Martyrology of Tallagh,4 on the 9th of January. ^ Very little more seems to be known concerning him. Although he might have died and have been buried in Munster, still his church of Kill-Lomchon may have been in another province.
St. Longa or Lomchuo—supposed to be the present saint—is specially enumerated among the illustrious St. Patrick's disciples. ^
Article VI. —St. Suibhsech or Suabseg, Virgin, of Tirhugh Ba-
rony, County of Donegal. Virgins are purchased from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. Undefiled those virgins follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. ^ Suabseg, a virgin, is mentioned simply in the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ as having been venerated on the 9th of January. Again, Suibhsech, in Tir-Aedha, occurs in the Martyrology of Donegal,3 on this day. The old name of the territory has been converted into the modern denomination of Tirhugh barony, in the county of Donegal. There probably we must look for the exact locality where this saint was venerated as patron.
Article VII. —St. Ciaran, of Ros Cumalcha. Whether or not this St. Ciaran be the son of Tulchan, according to Colgan's alternative con- jecture,' does not seem to be very clear. If so, he was brother to St. Fintan Munna,^ and to his sister St. Conchenna,3 as also probably to St Lugad, abbot of Cluain-Finchoil. + We find mentioned in the Martyrology of Donegal,s on this day, a Ciaran of Ros Cumalcha. A nearly similar entry occurs in the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ at the 9th of January. There he is saidtohavebeenofRuis-Cumulca. 7 Inreferencetoacompleteknowledge of our saints, we may truly observe, that at present we can only see them
"
because here St. Patrick
See sh—eet 14. "
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 267.
'
Art. v. See Colgan's
Trias Thauma- turga. " Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. . cap. xli. , p. 157. Regarding the name of
^
Art. vi. — Apocalypse, xiv. , 4.
this
teimhil," which he interprets, "theCillof
In the Franciscan we find copy
t1iiA.
3 Edited —Drs. Todd and Reeves, by
place, Colgan says,
SuAibpgl
the Shade or
Rest,"
11. error,
3 See
pendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. , iii. , p. 482. St. Conchenna was venerated at the 13th of March.
'^ Venerated at the 2nd of March.
s Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, p. il. * Edited by the Rev. Dr. kelly, p. xii.
7 In the Franciscan copy only Ci<3,|\An
declared they should rest. See nn. 72, 73,
Art. vii.
' a By
" forte rectius Kill-
'Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xii.
p. 186, ibid.
' =*
Venerated at the 21st of October,
"
Colgan could not find any St. Longa in our Calendars.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, p. 11. See also the Calendar appended to the Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore," LL. p. 376.
^Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xii.
5 In the Franciscan copy we find tomchon
Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Ap-
I'd.
*See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," t^ui|' . . . . tcA can be deciphered.
typographical Colgan has the 19th for the 9th of January.
p.
152
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. January io.
as through a glass and dimly, and know them in part f let us trust in the Divine mercy, that hereafter we shall know them, as we ought to be known, and see them face to face.
Article VIII. —St. Baithin. The preservation of a saint's name is too frequently in our calendars the mere representation of a well-spent life. A festival, in honour of Baithin, is recorded in the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ at the pth of January. Nothing more explicit occurs, where Baeithin is simply set down in the Martyrology of Donegal,^ on this day. His place is not recorded.
Article IX. —St. Finia or Fine, Abbess of Kildare. [Eighth Century. '] Because truth and innocence of life distinguish holy virgins, they live without stain before the throne of God. ^ We are informed by Colgan,= that Finia, Abbess of Kildare, died on the 9th of January, a. d. 800. The same year is set down for the death of this Fine, in the Annals of the Four Masters. 3
Although it is not expressly stated, Colgan seems to regard this day as dedicated to her memory.
Article X. —St. Brendin, or Brenainn. He is the true disciple, who, leaving all things to follow Christ, never swerves from a faithful service.
Brendin is mentioned in the Martyrology of Tallagh,' at the 9th of January. " Nor do we find any etymon localizing him, where we read, in the Martyrology of Donegal,3 of Brenainn, as having a feast on this day.