, Eugenius the
foundation
of Armagh.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
Patrick's companions wanted to catch the fawn, which fled to the northern hill f^ but, the saint objected, and he would not permit them to kill it.
*"^ He even took up the fawn with care, and carried itonhisownshoulders.
Theroefollowedhim,likeapetsheep,untilhelaid down that fawn on another eminence, at the north side of Armagh.
^'9 There, according to the statement of those who are familiar with the ground, mira- culous attestations were to be witnessed, in after time.
The particular spot was called Telac-na-liece,7° or Tualach na Leke,7^ afterwards Tullyleckeny.
72 Were we to credit Jocelyn, the glorious bishop, with God's help and favour, began the building of a city,73 remarkable for its situation, greatness and com- pass.
74 He brought, likewise, many principal citizens to inhabit there.
The city itself, in due course, was adorned with fair and decent churches, wherein were ordained, by the saint, clergymen for singing the Divine Office, for the government of souls, and for instructing the people.
There were, besides, monasteries furnished with monks, and with sacred virgins.
Furthermore, we are told, that the next night, after this dotation, the saint saw Angels tracing out the form and compass of a fair city, that was to be built, in that pleasant and beautiful region.
One of the Angels commanded him the
"
Patrick's well," 73 where he should cure certain lepers, sixteen in number, and who were covered over with ugly sores. 7^ The saint did so, accordingly, and he baptized those
succeeding day, to seek a place, called Tobar-Patniic, or
a chapel and an altar. The Primatial throne and stalls are placed in rubrical position, in advance of tlie high altar. The stone pulpit stands against the easternmost pier of nave, on the epistle side, and the baptismal font is placed within a massively-screened en- closure, towards the west, in the north aisle. The foregoing description and details are
Drumcairn, leading to Charlemont. There
is a to\\nland named Longstone, adjoining the right of the lunatic asylum, and a little to the north of Armagh. This may be the
place, here called Telac-na-liece, meaning
furnished,
Armagh, 9th September, 1633. It is now absorbed in
from the Dublin
Freeman s
''- Inan takenat Liquisition,
yt';/r;/ir/, of August 23rd, 1873.
*s In Harris' Ware, it is stated, that
Armagh took its name, from its situation on
an eminence, ? l1, the high field. See vol. i. ,
"Archbishops of Armagh," p. 19, note.
the corporation, and being placed in the same group with the Desert, as parcel of Knockadreeine, the ancient name for that hill, on which now stands the new Catholic Cathedral,
? -^ Alluding to this foundation, Probus
writes, "in quo loco jam civitas est Ard-
mach ubi Sedes et nominata, Episcopatus
regiminis est Ilibernice. " See Quinta Vita
S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. vii. , p. 52.
''The22ndstanzaofSt. Fiech's — Hymn,
^^
Contained in the Book of Armagh, as
quoted by Dr. Reeves, in his "Ancient
Churches of Armagh," p. 7.
^^ Where the Sa'bhall is
in the Irish Tripartite Life of the saint.
is noted The Irish Tripartite Life then adds :
"^
" Prohibuit et Patricius, dixit,
Serviat sibi
postea. "
*9 Regarding this roe or fawn, the follow-
ing legend is given, as a continuation in the
thus alludes to this metropolitan city
:
"
ad pascua, et redibat ad Dediculam, quam
in ^,to nUvdiA ^'il im^c, if ciaii x,o i\e- nAchc GmAin,
Latin Tripartite :
Statis enim horis ibat
cell V>i\w ninroil in6|\ lechjUin-e,
ea fieri curavit vir
ad inslar 1
cex) •oich|\ub UeniAiiA.
—
sanctus, -. . 11.
p^ro
mansuetissmiaj ovis, et prcebebat se mulgen- damancillisChristijuxtadicenda. "
70 According to the Irish Tripartite Life. Likely, it was that hill, a little further north of the new Catholic Cathedral, and over which an old road passed to the Callen or Geary's bridge, between TuUyelmer and
,•- 1 , 1
i? v\, *=
,• •
^^i
Ihus translated mto Lnglish
:
to-day,
"
" '
I].
"
I'^ Ardmagh there is sovereignty: it is lo"g since Emain passed away ;
^ g^^at church is Dun-Lethglasse ; I wish
'
not that Tara should be a desert. "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. ,
the hill of the stones. "
This is the form of name, as contained in the Latin Tripartite Life.
—
March, i868, p. 291.
730 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
lepers in that well. This miracle, coming to the people's knowledge, furnished a main help towards the building of Armagh. At the saint's
request, an Angel moved out of its place a great rock, that was likely to make an entrance into the city very incommodious and difficult. 77 The dimensions St. Patrick measured out for the FertaP'^ were one hundred and
"" forty feet in the Lis, or fort ;"79 twenty feet for the Tigh-mor, or great
"
house ;" and seventeen feet for the cutlle, or
his divines, Daire and his wife, with the nobles of Airther, or Oirthir,^* also known as Orior,^^ came to the hill, in order to inspect this site for the church, to mark out its boundaries, and to have it blessed and consecrated. ^3 The Irish Tripartite Life tells us, regarding the way Patrick measured" that rath, which seems to have surrounded the early church and cemetery at Armagh, An Angel went before him, and Patrick followed with his people, and with other holy men of Erin. The Bachall Isa, or " Staff of Jesus," was held in Patrick's hand, while he was engaged, in that solemn rite of consecration. ^* He said, great should be the crime of anyone, who dared to transgress within thatsanctuary; as,ontheotherhand,theirrewardshouldbegreat,forsuch as fulfilled the will of God, in that holy place. Besides the church here erected, its holy founder established habitations^s and out-offices, for the clergy and religious,**^ destined to serve in or near it. ^7 This foundation of Armagh is placed, so early as a. d. 444,^^ or 445. ^9 A Catalogue of bishops,
allotted for the or " aregal,
We are
houses of the Congbail, or the churches,^° were always built. Patrick and
7S The Third Life calls in latere Ardmachce. "
it, ''/ons
Patricii,
the contained in the " Pontifi- rite, present
cale Romanum," on similar occasions.
? * The Third Life states the number as twelve men, who were healed there, on each Sabbath. See cap. Ixxxiii. , p. 28.
? 7 See Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxiii. , clxiv. , p. loi,
7* No remains of the buildings, at the Fertse Martyrum, are now to be found ; but, the Rev. Di". Reeves, has determined its situation, as having been in Scotch-street, Armagh. It was a nunnery, called Temple- fertagh, and it was suppressed, at the time of the Reformation. See "Ancient Churches of Armagh," p. 5 et seq.
79 This seems to have surrounded all the
buildings.
*° Thus is it explained, eclais, or " eccle*
sia," in an ancient Glossary, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, classed as H. 3. 18, at p. 524.
*• Thus Oirthear, Airthiry, Airthera, Ar-
theria, or Airthear, means "eastern," "
** The district of Orior, "
tensive northern territory.
83 The Rev. Dr. Todd remarks, that this
applies to the first ecclesiastical establish-
ment created by St. Patrick, at Armagh, and not to the Cathedral or religious houses afterwards built there. See " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, iii. , i)p. 476,
477-
•* This ceremonial forcibly reminds us of
^s This is mentioned, by Probus
:
.
" aedi-
Latine,
partis Ultonise. "
Orientale, compairatione citerioris
regio
rum sive Orientalium," lying about Armagh, was in the eastern part of Oirghialla, an ex-
Armagh
oratory. "
informed,
that it was thus the
Artherio-
of Secundiiius and of He proposes this argument, just after having quoted Ussher. This latter writer rejects Secundinus and Sen- Patrick from the list of Armagh prelates ; because, in the hypothesis of 445 having been the true date, there was no place for
kitchen ;" seven feet were
ficavit in eo monasteri—a et habitationes reli- "
giosorum virorum. " Quinta Vita S. Patricii," lib. ii. , cap. vii. , p. 52.
^7 Jocelyn, and, after him, strangely enough. Archbishop Ussher, state, that St. Patrick built here a noble city. See Sexta
Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxv. , p. loi. Also,
"A. D. 444, Ardmachafundataest. " O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus iv.
*9 See James Stuart's " Historical Me-
moirs of the City of Armagh," chap, i. , p. 82. Colgan says, in his "Trias Thauma-
turga," Septima Appendix ad Acta S. Pa- tricii, pars, i. , p. 291, that this is the most probable date for its erection. Colgan, too, adduces, in favour of this date, a most ex- traordinary argument, viz. , that it is the only one, which will leave room for the in- cumbencies at
" ^^
^ See also the Latin Tripartite Life.
Primordia," cap. xi. , p. 358.
So state the "Annales Ultonien—ses. "
Sen-Patrick.
them. Notwithstanding, Colgan thought, that, in order to provide room for them, it ought to be received. Now, he might have easily discovered, that, were we to admit, with the above Catalogue, those persons to
Dr.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 731
belonging to that See,9° and said to have been taken from the Calendar of
Cashel, was published by Ussher,9' to determine local chronology,? ^ by a relative comparison of succession dates. 93 At the year 445, likewise, it is
supposed, by Harris,''* that Armagh had been founded, by the Irish Apostle ; but, owing to the fact, that the greatest part of Lemster and of Munster had not then been reclaimed from paganism, he had not the power to make it what he desired, viz. , the Metropolitan and Primatial See of all Ireland. ss However, he went to Macha, for the express purpose of establishing his See there,9^ and, as soon as this church had been erected, Armagh became
have been bishops of Armagh, this See should have been founded several years be- fore A. D, 445.
9^ Should we stand by this Catalogue, ac-
cording to the Rev. Dr. I,anigan, it must
follow, that the See of Armagh existed, more than fifteen or sixteen years, before
A. D. 445. Therefore, Dr. Lanigan argues, it should have existed, prior to St. Patrick's
mission, or, at least, more than six years be- fore the time calculated by Ussher.
of the Christian era. The compilers of the Ulster Annals are supposed, to have been Charles Maguire and Roderick Cassidy.
5' See his 875.
*'
ad Acta S. Patricii, pars, ii. , p. 292. The
following is a transcript of this Catalogue :
"
Patricius (annis. ) Secundinus XVI. , Patric, Senior, X. , Benignus X. , Hierlatius XVIIL, CorbmacusXV. , Dubthacus XVI. , Alildus XIII. , Alildus X. , Duachus. Fiach-
Primordia," cap. xvii. , p.
9* In that Catalogue, eighteen years are reckoned for the administration of larlath.
This computation Ussher ingeniously
stretches to the year 483. Wherefore he rius, al. Hifrachrius. Fedlimius XX. , Caer-
places larlath's accession at A. D. 465. Ten
years are assigned to Benignusj the imme-
diate predecessor of larlath ; and thus
Ussher goes back to A. D. 455. Benignus is
placed after Sen-Patrick. According to the
said Catalogue, this latter prelate governed Arectactus I. , Cudiniseus IV. , Connmacus for ten years, and thus we are brought to XIV. , Torpachus I. , Nuadus III. , Mac- A. D, 445. This is then the alleged year for longsechus XIII. , Artrigius II.
, Eugenius the foundation of Armagh. All this might Monaster VIIL, F. laraniianus XIV. ,
do very well, did not the catalogue mention
Secundinus, as a predecessor of Sen- Patrick,
and holding the See for fifteen years, or, as
one of Ussher'3 copies had it, for six years. I. , Cathasacius XX. , Muredacius IX. , In Colgan's edition, Secundinus ruled xvi. Dub-daletha XXXIIL, Murecanus III. ,
years. Again, prior to Secundinus, St. Moel-murius XIX. , Amalgadius XXX. ,
Patrick himself presided over that metropo- litan See. To get rid of difficulties, pointed out. Dr. Lanigan maintains,—that neither
Dub-daletha XII. , Cumascacius III. , Moel- isa XXVIL, Domnaldus. " As the Cata- logue ends, with the latter Archbishop, who
a — ruled the See from A. D. Secundinus, nor Sen-Patrick personage 1092
to 1
whose existence he otherwise admitted gan thinks it must have been compiled were ever bishops of Armagh. The imme- within these dates, since the term of his in- diate predecessor of Benignus, he considers cumbency is not completed. Nor is the
to have been the great St. Patrick himself.
Dr. Lanigan agrees with him, as to Secun- dinus, and also as to Sen- Patrick ; not,
number of St. Patrick's years of rule de- termined, and this seems to show, that four of his vicar or "assistant bishops were under him, until his death, assigned to A. D. 493. He does not know, if the omission of dates, for the incumbency of other prelates, were the choice of the writer, or an error of tran-
however, for the purpose of propping any
hypothesis, but because he thinks, there was
no such person, distinct from our great
Apostle. Notwithstanding, some writer^
have imagined, that there was a distinct scribers. The numerals affixed designate personage so called. What then becomes the years of the preceding Archbishops' of the authority of that catalogue ? Ussher
is forced to acknowledge, it is wrong from its very beginning. How then can we de-
pend on its computation for the episcopal years of St. Benignus ? It must be recol- lected, likewise, that in the said catalogue there is no reference whatever to the
government in the See. 5^SeeHarris'Ware,vol. i. , "Bishopsof
years
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," "
p. 5. Also, Nicholson's Irish Historical Library," chap, ii. , p. 14, and Harris'
Ware, vol.
i. , chap, xii. , p. 90.
ii. ,
" Writers of book Ireland,"
53 Colgan has also published it, in his ""
TriasThaumaturga, SeptimaAppendix
lanus X. , Eochodius, Senachus. Maclasrius.
Tomenius XXXV. , Seginus XXVII. , Flan- niusebhla XXVII. , Subneus XV. , Congasa- sius XX. , Kele-petrius VII. , Ferdachricius X. , Foennelachus III. , Dubhdaletha XV. ,
Diermitius IV. , Fethgna XXII. , Anmirius I. , Cathasacius IV. , MoelcovaV. , Maelbri- gidus XXIX. , Joseph IX. , Moel-Patricius
Armagh," p. 19.
95 This is in direct opposition, likewise,
to the statements generally given, in the various Lives of St, Patrick.
106,
Col-
732 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
the ecclesiastical seat of government for all Ireland. 97 That the primatial See of Armagh could not have existed,^^ at an earlier date than 454, or 455,^9 is an opinion entertained by the BolIandists^°° and by Rev. Dr. Lanigan. ^°' Other calculations/"^ especially the placing of Trim church, as an ecclesiastical erection, twenty-five years,^°3 before the foundation of that at Armagh,^"* should bring the latter event, to either a. d. 457,'°^ or 458,^°^ as noted in an extract,^°7 from an unpublished work of Roderick 0'Flaherty,'°^ and intituled,
" Christiana. "^°9 We Ogygia
thatTirechanknew
as to the time, when Armagh had been founded, and that his reason, for specify- ing the twenty-second year prior to it, was chiefly, because such a date corre- sponded with A. D. 433. "° It is computed, by Sir James Ware, that Armagh was founded a. d. 455,"'—although he had previously noted a. d. 445"^—and
for ten governed years by
St.
something
until —became its
Patrick, Benignus bishop. Then,
5* See Ussher's
Primordia," cap. xvii. ,
Mac-jNIagnus accord.
'°* "
p. 859.
97 Giraldus Cambrensis has expressed it
"
Bap- tizatus catervatim populis, et tota jam insula ad fidem Christi conversa, apud Ardmacham sibi sedem eligit ; quam etiam quasi metro- polim constituit et proprium totius Hiberniae
locum. "
9* In blank verse does Aubrey De Vera
Ecclesiastical Plistory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect,
very perspicuously, in a few words :
xiii. , n. 146, p. 318.
'°' This is found, as a manuscript addition
primatias
record " St. Patrick and the Founding of
'°8 Thus, he " Ardmacha metro- writes,
Armagh Cathedral. " See
"
Legends of St.
polis A. 458, a S. Patricio fundata est ; et S. Benignus ab eo sibi substitutus immedia- tus successor,"
'°9 The Rev. Robert King notes, in his
" Memoir Introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," the foundation of this city, by St. Patrick, at A. c. 457. See p. 68.
"° Hence, Colgan has, in his " Index Chronologicus ad Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
Patrick," pp. 171 to 188.
99 This computation is also that in Harris'
"" Ware,vol. i. , BishopsofArmagh, atSt.
Patrick, p. 21.
'°° See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Februaiii xvii. Commentarius Prasvius ad
Acta S. Patricii, sect, v. , p. 523.
'°' "
See Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap. vL, sect, xiii. , p. 313. '°^ See the Sixth Life, cap. lii. , and the
Tripartite Life, lib. ii. , cap. ii.
'°3 As quoted by Ussher, Tirechan states,
nise," at A. D. 455 :
" Ardmacha extructa, et
that the church at Trim was built the
in sedem totius regni metropolitanam erecta per S. Patricium secundum S. Tirechanum. " '" See his work, on the Bishops of Ire- land, which did not appear, until the year
1665. "^
Ussher, in the Antiquities of Ireland, pub- lished A. D. 1654, cap. 29, and in his Anno- tationes ad S. Patricii Opuscula, published A. D. 1656, at p. 141.
"3 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch-
bishops of Armagh," p. 35. Although Dr. Lanigan does not agree with Ware, as to thelatterassertion; yet,thereisnonecessity
for Harris recurring to any presumed typo- graphical error of Ware, in setting down, A. D. 455. Such supposed mistake is not marked, even in the Errata to his work.
"* tlis feast is to the 9th of No- referred,
vember.
"5 She is thus named, in the Irish Tripar*
twenty-second year—or about A. D. 433—
Following the Ulster Annals and
be- fore the foundation of that at Armagh. See
"Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 854.
'°* It may be worth observing, that even
in Jocelyn's Life of St. Patrick, and in the Third and Fourth Lives, the preaching of our Apostle in Munster is treated of many chapters, before mention is made of his foundations at Armagh, which is not spoken of until towards the close of his southern mission.
"
'"5 See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
"
Four Masters, vol. i, pp. 142, 143. Also,
" Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," vi.
Colgan's
Martii. Vita S. Cadroe, n. 49, p. 503. The Annals of Clonmacnoise and of Senat-
may safely believe,
in 465, or in —the very year of his appointment as his English translator, Harris, states Benignus resigned the See to Iarlath. "3 These accounts lead to some confusion, in seeking to ascertain the exact date, for that impor- tant ecclesiastical foundation.
Among the favourite disciples of St. Patrick, Benignus, "• or Benen, is most particularly noticed. He seems to have been attached to the Apostle, as a constant companion. Daire's daughter, who is named Ercnait,"^ or
"
See Dr. Lanigan's
to Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," at p. 318, in a copy, once belonging to him, and now in the Dublin Society's Library.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 733
Ergnata,"^ greatly admired the personal appearance of St. Benen, and sweet to her were the charming tones of his voice, when engaged chaunting the sacred Psalms, and other Church Offices. Indeed, through their ears, did he devotionally move the souls of all hearers. A wasting disease seized upon Ergnait, so that she is said to have died of it. "7 Benen carried cretra^^^ to her from Patrick, when she suddenly arose alive, and thenceforward she
loved him spiritually. "? After a long life of religious devotion, she died, and she was buried, it is said, at Tamlaght-bo, now Tamlaght, in the parish of Eglish, and lying north-westwards from Armagh.
"
Patrick's well," 73 where he should cure certain lepers, sixteen in number, and who were covered over with ugly sores. 7^ The saint did so, accordingly, and he baptized those
succeeding day, to seek a place, called Tobar-Patniic, or
a chapel and an altar. The Primatial throne and stalls are placed in rubrical position, in advance of tlie high altar. The stone pulpit stands against the easternmost pier of nave, on the epistle side, and the baptismal font is placed within a massively-screened en- closure, towards the west, in the north aisle. The foregoing description and details are
Drumcairn, leading to Charlemont. There
is a to\\nland named Longstone, adjoining the right of the lunatic asylum, and a little to the north of Armagh. This may be the
place, here called Telac-na-liece, meaning
furnished,
Armagh, 9th September, 1633. It is now absorbed in
from the Dublin
Freeman s
''- Inan takenat Liquisition,
yt';/r;/ir/, of August 23rd, 1873.
*s In Harris' Ware, it is stated, that
Armagh took its name, from its situation on
an eminence, ? l1, the high field. See vol. i. ,
"Archbishops of Armagh," p. 19, note.
the corporation, and being placed in the same group with the Desert, as parcel of Knockadreeine, the ancient name for that hill, on which now stands the new Catholic Cathedral,
? -^ Alluding to this foundation, Probus
writes, "in quo loco jam civitas est Ard-
mach ubi Sedes et nominata, Episcopatus
regiminis est Ilibernice. " See Quinta Vita
S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. vii. , p. 52.
''The22ndstanzaofSt. Fiech's — Hymn,
^^
Contained in the Book of Armagh, as
quoted by Dr. Reeves, in his "Ancient
Churches of Armagh," p. 7.
^^ Where the Sa'bhall is
in the Irish Tripartite Life of the saint.
is noted The Irish Tripartite Life then adds :
"^
" Prohibuit et Patricius, dixit,
Serviat sibi
postea. "
*9 Regarding this roe or fawn, the follow-
ing legend is given, as a continuation in the
thus alludes to this metropolitan city
:
"
ad pascua, et redibat ad Dediculam, quam
in ^,to nUvdiA ^'il im^c, if ciaii x,o i\e- nAchc GmAin,
Latin Tripartite :
Statis enim horis ibat
cell V>i\w ninroil in6|\ lechjUin-e,
ea fieri curavit vir
ad inslar 1
cex) •oich|\ub UeniAiiA.
—
sanctus, -. . 11.
p^ro
mansuetissmiaj ovis, et prcebebat se mulgen- damancillisChristijuxtadicenda. "
70 According to the Irish Tripartite Life. Likely, it was that hill, a little further north of the new Catholic Cathedral, and over which an old road passed to the Callen or Geary's bridge, between TuUyelmer and
,•- 1 , 1
i? v\, *=
,• •
^^i
Ihus translated mto Lnglish
:
to-day,
"
" '
I].
"
I'^ Ardmagh there is sovereignty: it is lo"g since Emain passed away ;
^ g^^at church is Dun-Lethglasse ; I wish
'
not that Tara should be a desert. "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. ,
the hill of the stones. "
This is the form of name, as contained in the Latin Tripartite Life.
—
March, i868, p. 291.
730 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
lepers in that well. This miracle, coming to the people's knowledge, furnished a main help towards the building of Armagh. At the saint's
request, an Angel moved out of its place a great rock, that was likely to make an entrance into the city very incommodious and difficult. 77 The dimensions St. Patrick measured out for the FertaP'^ were one hundred and
"" forty feet in the Lis, or fort ;"79 twenty feet for the Tigh-mor, or great
"
house ;" and seventeen feet for the cutlle, or
his divines, Daire and his wife, with the nobles of Airther, or Oirthir,^* also known as Orior,^^ came to the hill, in order to inspect this site for the church, to mark out its boundaries, and to have it blessed and consecrated. ^3 The Irish Tripartite Life tells us, regarding the way Patrick measured" that rath, which seems to have surrounded the early church and cemetery at Armagh, An Angel went before him, and Patrick followed with his people, and with other holy men of Erin. The Bachall Isa, or " Staff of Jesus," was held in Patrick's hand, while he was engaged, in that solemn rite of consecration. ^* He said, great should be the crime of anyone, who dared to transgress within thatsanctuary; as,ontheotherhand,theirrewardshouldbegreat,forsuch as fulfilled the will of God, in that holy place. Besides the church here erected, its holy founder established habitations^s and out-offices, for the clergy and religious,**^ destined to serve in or near it. ^7 This foundation of Armagh is placed, so early as a. d. 444,^^ or 445. ^9 A Catalogue of bishops,
allotted for the or " aregal,
We are
houses of the Congbail, or the churches,^° were always built. Patrick and
7S The Third Life calls in latere Ardmachce. "
it, ''/ons
Patricii,
the contained in the " Pontifi- rite, present
cale Romanum," on similar occasions.
? * The Third Life states the number as twelve men, who were healed there, on each Sabbath. See cap. Ixxxiii. , p. 28.
? 7 See Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxiii. , clxiv. , p. loi,
7* No remains of the buildings, at the Fertse Martyrum, are now to be found ; but, the Rev. Di". Reeves, has determined its situation, as having been in Scotch-street, Armagh. It was a nunnery, called Temple- fertagh, and it was suppressed, at the time of the Reformation. See "Ancient Churches of Armagh," p. 5 et seq.
79 This seems to have surrounded all the
buildings.
*° Thus is it explained, eclais, or " eccle*
sia," in an ancient Glossary, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, classed as H. 3. 18, at p. 524.
*• Thus Oirthear, Airthiry, Airthera, Ar-
theria, or Airthear, means "eastern," "
** The district of Orior, "
tensive northern territory.
83 The Rev. Dr. Todd remarks, that this
applies to the first ecclesiastical establish-
ment created by St. Patrick, at Armagh, and not to the Cathedral or religious houses afterwards built there. See " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, iii. , i)p. 476,
477-
•* This ceremonial forcibly reminds us of
^s This is mentioned, by Probus
:
.
" aedi-
Latine,
partis Ultonise. "
Orientale, compairatione citerioris
regio
rum sive Orientalium," lying about Armagh, was in the eastern part of Oirghialla, an ex-
Armagh
oratory. "
informed,
that it was thus the
Artherio-
of Secundiiius and of He proposes this argument, just after having quoted Ussher. This latter writer rejects Secundinus and Sen- Patrick from the list of Armagh prelates ; because, in the hypothesis of 445 having been the true date, there was no place for
kitchen ;" seven feet were
ficavit in eo monasteri—a et habitationes reli- "
giosorum virorum. " Quinta Vita S. Patricii," lib. ii. , cap. vii. , p. 52.
^7 Jocelyn, and, after him, strangely enough. Archbishop Ussher, state, that St. Patrick built here a noble city. See Sexta
Vita S. Patricii, cap. clxv. , p. loi. Also,
"A. D. 444, Ardmachafundataest. " O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus iv.
*9 See James Stuart's " Historical Me-
moirs of the City of Armagh," chap, i. , p. 82. Colgan says, in his "Trias Thauma-
turga," Septima Appendix ad Acta S. Pa- tricii, pars, i. , p. 291, that this is the most probable date for its erection. Colgan, too, adduces, in favour of this date, a most ex- traordinary argument, viz. , that it is the only one, which will leave room for the in- cumbencies at
" ^^
^ See also the Latin Tripartite Life.
Primordia," cap. xi. , p. 358.
So state the "Annales Ultonien—ses. "
Sen-Patrick.
them. Notwithstanding, Colgan thought, that, in order to provide room for them, it ought to be received. Now, he might have easily discovered, that, were we to admit, with the above Catalogue, those persons to
Dr.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 731
belonging to that See,9° and said to have been taken from the Calendar of
Cashel, was published by Ussher,9' to determine local chronology,? ^ by a relative comparison of succession dates. 93 At the year 445, likewise, it is
supposed, by Harris,''* that Armagh had been founded, by the Irish Apostle ; but, owing to the fact, that the greatest part of Lemster and of Munster had not then been reclaimed from paganism, he had not the power to make it what he desired, viz. , the Metropolitan and Primatial See of all Ireland. ss However, he went to Macha, for the express purpose of establishing his See there,9^ and, as soon as this church had been erected, Armagh became
have been bishops of Armagh, this See should have been founded several years be- fore A. D, 445.
9^ Should we stand by this Catalogue, ac-
cording to the Rev. Dr. I,anigan, it must
follow, that the See of Armagh existed, more than fifteen or sixteen years, before
A. D. 445. Therefore, Dr. Lanigan argues, it should have existed, prior to St. Patrick's
mission, or, at least, more than six years be- fore the time calculated by Ussher.
of the Christian era. The compilers of the Ulster Annals are supposed, to have been Charles Maguire and Roderick Cassidy.
5' See his 875.
*'
ad Acta S. Patricii, pars, ii. , p. 292. The
following is a transcript of this Catalogue :
"
Patricius (annis. ) Secundinus XVI. , Patric, Senior, X. , Benignus X. , Hierlatius XVIIL, CorbmacusXV. , Dubthacus XVI. , Alildus XIII. , Alildus X. , Duachus. Fiach-
Primordia," cap. xvii. , p.
9* In that Catalogue, eighteen years are reckoned for the administration of larlath.
This computation Ussher ingeniously
stretches to the year 483. Wherefore he rius, al. Hifrachrius. Fedlimius XX. , Caer-
places larlath's accession at A. D. 465. Ten
years are assigned to Benignusj the imme-
diate predecessor of larlath ; and thus
Ussher goes back to A. D. 455. Benignus is
placed after Sen-Patrick. According to the
said Catalogue, this latter prelate governed Arectactus I. , Cudiniseus IV. , Connmacus for ten years, and thus we are brought to XIV. , Torpachus I. , Nuadus III. , Mac- A. D, 445. This is then the alleged year for longsechus XIII. , Artrigius II.
, Eugenius the foundation of Armagh. All this might Monaster VIIL, F. laraniianus XIV. ,
do very well, did not the catalogue mention
Secundinus, as a predecessor of Sen- Patrick,
and holding the See for fifteen years, or, as
one of Ussher'3 copies had it, for six years. I. , Cathasacius XX. , Muredacius IX. , In Colgan's edition, Secundinus ruled xvi. Dub-daletha XXXIIL, Murecanus III. ,
years. Again, prior to Secundinus, St. Moel-murius XIX. , Amalgadius XXX. ,
Patrick himself presided over that metropo- litan See. To get rid of difficulties, pointed out. Dr. Lanigan maintains,—that neither
Dub-daletha XII. , Cumascacius III. , Moel- isa XXVIL, Domnaldus. " As the Cata- logue ends, with the latter Archbishop, who
a — ruled the See from A. D. Secundinus, nor Sen-Patrick personage 1092
to 1
whose existence he otherwise admitted gan thinks it must have been compiled were ever bishops of Armagh. The imme- within these dates, since the term of his in- diate predecessor of Benignus, he considers cumbency is not completed. Nor is the
to have been the great St. Patrick himself.
Dr. Lanigan agrees with him, as to Secun- dinus, and also as to Sen- Patrick ; not,
number of St. Patrick's years of rule de- termined, and this seems to show, that four of his vicar or "assistant bishops were under him, until his death, assigned to A. D. 493. He does not know, if the omission of dates, for the incumbency of other prelates, were the choice of the writer, or an error of tran-
however, for the purpose of propping any
hypothesis, but because he thinks, there was
no such person, distinct from our great
Apostle. Notwithstanding, some writer^
have imagined, that there was a distinct scribers. The numerals affixed designate personage so called. What then becomes the years of the preceding Archbishops' of the authority of that catalogue ? Ussher
is forced to acknowledge, it is wrong from its very beginning. How then can we de-
pend on its computation for the episcopal years of St. Benignus ? It must be recol- lected, likewise, that in the said catalogue there is no reference whatever to the
government in the See. 5^SeeHarris'Ware,vol. i. , "Bishopsof
years
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," "
p. 5. Also, Nicholson's Irish Historical Library," chap, ii. , p. 14, and Harris'
Ware, vol.
i. , chap, xii. , p. 90.
ii. ,
" Writers of book Ireland,"
53 Colgan has also published it, in his ""
TriasThaumaturga, SeptimaAppendix
lanus X. , Eochodius, Senachus. Maclasrius.
Tomenius XXXV. , Seginus XXVII. , Flan- niusebhla XXVII. , Subneus XV. , Congasa- sius XX. , Kele-petrius VII. , Ferdachricius X. , Foennelachus III. , Dubhdaletha XV. ,
Diermitius IV. , Fethgna XXII. , Anmirius I. , Cathasacius IV. , MoelcovaV. , Maelbri- gidus XXIX. , Joseph IX. , Moel-Patricius
Armagh," p. 19.
95 This is in direct opposition, likewise,
to the statements generally given, in the various Lives of St, Patrick.
106,
Col-
732 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
the ecclesiastical seat of government for all Ireland. 97 That the primatial See of Armagh could not have existed,^^ at an earlier date than 454, or 455,^9 is an opinion entertained by the BolIandists^°° and by Rev. Dr. Lanigan. ^°' Other calculations/"^ especially the placing of Trim church, as an ecclesiastical erection, twenty-five years,^°3 before the foundation of that at Armagh,^"* should bring the latter event, to either a. d. 457,'°^ or 458,^°^ as noted in an extract,^°7 from an unpublished work of Roderick 0'Flaherty,'°^ and intituled,
" Christiana. "^°9 We Ogygia
thatTirechanknew
as to the time, when Armagh had been founded, and that his reason, for specify- ing the twenty-second year prior to it, was chiefly, because such a date corre- sponded with A. D. 433. "° It is computed, by Sir James Ware, that Armagh was founded a. d. 455,"'—although he had previously noted a. d. 445"^—and
for ten governed years by
St.
something
until —became its
Patrick, Benignus bishop. Then,
5* See Ussher's
Primordia," cap. xvii. ,
Mac-jNIagnus accord.
'°* "
p. 859.
97 Giraldus Cambrensis has expressed it
"
Bap- tizatus catervatim populis, et tota jam insula ad fidem Christi conversa, apud Ardmacham sibi sedem eligit ; quam etiam quasi metro- polim constituit et proprium totius Hiberniae
locum. "
9* In blank verse does Aubrey De Vera
Ecclesiastical Plistory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect,
very perspicuously, in a few words :
xiii. , n. 146, p. 318.
'°' This is found, as a manuscript addition
primatias
record " St. Patrick and the Founding of
'°8 Thus, he " Ardmacha metro- writes,
Armagh Cathedral. " See
"
Legends of St.
polis A. 458, a S. Patricio fundata est ; et S. Benignus ab eo sibi substitutus immedia- tus successor,"
'°9 The Rev. Robert King notes, in his
" Memoir Introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," the foundation of this city, by St. Patrick, at A. c. 457. See p. 68.
"° Hence, Colgan has, in his " Index Chronologicus ad Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
Patrick," pp. 171 to 188.
99 This computation is also that in Harris'
"" Ware,vol. i. , BishopsofArmagh, atSt.
Patrick, p. 21.
'°° See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Februaiii xvii. Commentarius Prasvius ad
Acta S. Patricii, sect, v. , p. 523.
'°' "
See Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap. vL, sect, xiii. , p. 313. '°^ See the Sixth Life, cap. lii. , and the
Tripartite Life, lib. ii. , cap. ii.
'°3 As quoted by Ussher, Tirechan states,
nise," at A. D. 455 :
" Ardmacha extructa, et
that the church at Trim was built the
in sedem totius regni metropolitanam erecta per S. Patricium secundum S. Tirechanum. " '" See his work, on the Bishops of Ire- land, which did not appear, until the year
1665. "^
Ussher, in the Antiquities of Ireland, pub- lished A. D. 1654, cap. 29, and in his Anno- tationes ad S. Patricii Opuscula, published A. D. 1656, at p. 141.
"3 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch-
bishops of Armagh," p. 35. Although Dr. Lanigan does not agree with Ware, as to thelatterassertion; yet,thereisnonecessity
for Harris recurring to any presumed typo- graphical error of Ware, in setting down, A. D. 455. Such supposed mistake is not marked, even in the Errata to his work.
"* tlis feast is to the 9th of No- referred,
vember.
"5 She is thus named, in the Irish Tripar*
twenty-second year—or about A. D. 433—
Following the Ulster Annals and
be- fore the foundation of that at Armagh. See
"Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 854.
'°* It may be worth observing, that even
in Jocelyn's Life of St. Patrick, and in the Third and Fourth Lives, the preaching of our Apostle in Munster is treated of many chapters, before mention is made of his foundations at Armagh, which is not spoken of until towards the close of his southern mission.
"
'"5 See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
"
Four Masters, vol. i, pp. 142, 143. Also,
" Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," vi.
Colgan's
Martii. Vita S. Cadroe, n. 49, p. 503. The Annals of Clonmacnoise and of Senat-
may safely believe,
in 465, or in —the very year of his appointment as his English translator, Harris, states Benignus resigned the See to Iarlath. "3 These accounts lead to some confusion, in seeking to ascertain the exact date, for that impor- tant ecclesiastical foundation.
Among the favourite disciples of St. Patrick, Benignus, "• or Benen, is most particularly noticed. He seems to have been attached to the Apostle, as a constant companion. Daire's daughter, who is named Ercnait,"^ or
"
See Dr. Lanigan's
to Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," at p. 318, in a copy, once belonging to him, and now in the Dublin Society's Library.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 733
Ergnata,"^ greatly admired the personal appearance of St. Benen, and sweet to her were the charming tones of his voice, when engaged chaunting the sacred Psalms, and other Church Offices. Indeed, through their ears, did he devotionally move the souls of all hearers. A wasting disease seized upon Ergnait, so that she is said to have died of it. "7 Benen carried cretra^^^ to her from Patrick, when she suddenly arose alive, and thenceforward she
loved him spiritually. "? After a long life of religious devotion, she died, and she was buried, it is said, at Tamlaght-bo, now Tamlaght, in the parish of Eglish, and lying north-westwards from Armagh.
