No More Learning

s See William R. Wilde's "Beauties of the Boyne, and its Tributary, the Black-
of the and its the river. " "Beauties Boyne,
Tributary, the Blackwater," chap, vi. ,
p. 138.
" See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
6
Here there was a church formerly appro-
priated to the Priory of St. John the Baptist, at Kells. The place was sometimes called Trystel-Kieran. See "A Treatise of Ire- land,"byJohnDymmok. EditedbyRev. Richard Butler, p. 48, and n. 3. —
7 A small parish of 714a. 2r. 32p. also
21
According to William R. Wilde, it is "
This account I have received from Rev.
said, by some good Protestant, who, anxious to show his loyalty, as we'll as his detestation of such idolatrous structures,
Tallagh,
666 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 14.
crosses at this church sufficiently indicate its antiquity. " Around one of these, on the north side, and placed in the Blackwater,^ cattle used to be driven
by the country people, who believed that practice should preserve them from distemper. About a furlong's length, towards the west of the old church and cemetery, one of the most beautiful of the Irish holy wells may be seen, and shadedbyahoaryashtree,ofsurpassingsizeandbeauty. Itspringsfromalime rock of considerable extent, and it falls into a small natural basin, at the foot of
1
the tree- This is called St. Kieran's Well. * There is a well, dedicated to St.
«*«£?
^'rt^\a\V
St. Kieran's Well, at Castle-Kieran, near Kells.
Kieran or Ciaran, also at the Downs, about 3^ miles east of Mullingar, in the county of Westmeath. In a little mound above it, there is a sculptured stone, partially embedded in the earth, and with a rude effigy carved upon it. According to a local tradition, a church or monastery formerly was there, but not a vestige of it now remains. 15 The well is walled into a square upright opening, and it is held in great reverence by the people ; but, whether it was
Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (s), p. 374, and n.
(y), p. 512, ibid.
* 3 See Rev. A.
" Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , chap.
powerful in this county, removed the stone from the well, in order to use it as a corner- stone in a residence then erected for
Cogan's
being
them. On the morning after its first removal
it was found by the workmen in its former 14 The accompanying illustration was position at the well, and the masonry which
XXL, pp. 124, 125.
drawn on the spot by William F. Wakeman, and transferred by him to the wood, en- graved by Mrs. Millard.
s The foregoing information the writer has received from Mr. Joseph Glynn—with
had been placed above and around it in the wall of the house was found thrown down. Again was the stone removed, and again
was it, by some unseen force, conveyed to its old resting place. This continued for
a pen-and-ink drawing of the well
—
in a letter
the
despoilers desisted, and it was allowed to
remain undisturbed. This was, as I have heard, about the middle of the last cen- tury. "
dated The Downs, Mullingar, June 26th,
1888. The following local legend, relating
to the sculptured stone, is furnished by the writer: " A certain Cromwellian familyonce
several until at days,
length
sacrilegious
June 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 667
connected with the present St. Kieran, or another bearing the same name, is uncertain, as the patron's feast is not known. The death of our St. Ciaran,
a. d. 16 or a. d. is 770, 778,
The Martyrology of Done-
as the
announced in the Annals of the Four Masters. *?
distinguished
Pious,
14th
of
June,
on the
18 at this same date, the saint as Ciaran of Bealach-duin. The designates
gal,
Bollandists 9 note St. Kieranus, Abbot of Belachduin, at 14th day of June, in their collection. A beautiful legend is current, that formerly the old bells of the church of St. Kieran used to be heard sounding at midnight, on every Christmas Eve. Those 20 who
J
"
ment, according to popular tradition.
miraculous bells
began to chime, and they only ceased at its commence-
live,
assert, they
have heard them frequently
chime most distinctly. During the last century, the former parish priest of
the place used to celebrate midnight Mass within the old ruined church ; but,
this practice has long been discontinued. While flocking to this Mass, ** the
Article IV. —St. Colman mac Luachain. A festival, in honour of
2
Article V. —Reputed Festival of St. Psalmodius. At the 14th
12 June, in the Rev. Alban Butler's work, and in the Circle of the Seasons, we
find a St. Psalmodius, Hermit of Ireland. At this date, likewise, the Bollan- dists 3 have an entry of Psalmodius, whom they make a Hermit, in the country of the Lemovices,'* or Limosin. However, they refer his festival to the
13th of June.
Article VI. —Festival of St. Benedict. In the "Feilire" of St.
Colman mac is inserted in the of 1 at the Luachain, Martyrology Tallagh,
14th has a St. Colman, a Martyr, at the 14th of June. 3 But, the Bollandists,* who record this entry, likewise, think that he brought such a saint into his Calendar at this date,
because he found no other saint to introduce.
of June. In his Scottish Calendar of Saints, Camerarius
^Engus,
1 a St. Benedict was venerated on the 14th of June, and a similar
16 This is the date given for his death, in 4 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta xiv. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 782.
Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, pars iii. , p. 218.
"' See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
They add :
Inan. (r)is theobservation
in reference to this entry—given within Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol.
pp. 384, 385.
brackets
:
" Dr. O'Conor says that this pas-
vi. , June xiv.
2
See p. 166.
3 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii
sage is inserted in a modern hand, in the
autograph copy at Stowe. "
18 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. xiv. Among the pretermitted saints p.
168, 169.
782.
* There were two divisions of these
See "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus
''
Junii xiv. Among the pretermitted saints, people : one division lived in Brittany,
p. 782.
20 This was written in the year 1870. Article iv. —* Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly,
:
France, and their chief city was probably Leon, the other was in Aquitaine, and to these Caesar alludes, in his work " De liello Gallico," lib. vii. , cap. iv. The chief town of the latter tribe was
p xxvii. '"Thusisheentered "
S. Colmanus M. Abbas. De eo varii. " The Bollandists ask,
Limoges.
Article VI. — See "Transactions of
however, " sed quinam isti varii ? "
3 See Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of David Camerarius. Bishop Forbes' " Ka-
lendars of Scottish Saints," p. 238.
the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript
ii. ,
"
Sunt plurimi Colmanni, ex his aliquis refertur xviii. Junii, quo die de eo
silet Camerarius. "
Articlev. —1 See"LivesoftheFathers,
1
Series, vol. i. , part 1.
of Oengus. By Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , P- xcir,
On the Calendar
668 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 15.
entry occurs, in the Calendar of Cashel. Nothing more seems to be known concerning him.
Article VII. —Feast of St. Brendan, Abbot. According to a
Manuscript Usuard, a feast has been assigned to St. Brendan, Abbot—sup-
1 posedtohavebeenthecelebratedNavigator—atthe14thofJune. HisLife
has been ahead)- given, at the 16th day of May. 2 At the present date, how- ever, the Usuard Manuscript Martyrology, enlarged by Greven, as also Mau-
rolycus and other writers, commemorate St. Brendan, Abbot of Clonfert, as the Bollandists state. 3 In the Menologium Scotorum, Dempster has
enteredthisfeast,4 quotingMaurolycus,atthisday. 5
Article VIII. —Reputed Feast of St. Mansuet or Maunsey Bishop of Toul. The additions of Greven to the Martyrology of Usuard,
1
ARTICLE I. — ST. VOUGA, VIE, OR VAUK, BISHOP, IN BRITTANY, FRANCE, AND PATRON OF CARN PARISH, COUNTY OF WEXFORD.
[SIXTH CENTURY. ]
OFa very unsatisfactory character is the information we are permitted to
communicate regarding the present ascetic man, the greater part of whose life and actions appears to have been concealed from men and known only to the Almighty. The notices regarding this saint, which have been compiled by Albert le Grand, were taken from an ancient British Manuscript Chronicle, and from an old legendary parchment manuscript, which had been kept in the monastery of St. Matthew, in the diocese of Leon ; besides, he
at this date, give a festival to the present saint, as the Bollandists observe. HisNatalis is at the 3rd of September, to which day his Acts are deferred.
jftfteentfo Bap of 3une*
made use of certain 1 to the church of collections, belonging
and com-
Leon,
piled in the fifteenth century ; also, an old choral legendary, belonging to the
c—hurch of Leon, and some memoranda from the church of Armagh, in Ireland
—ther Vincent du said to have been authentic, and communicated by Rev. Fa
Val a S. Maria, Vice-Provincial of the Dominicans in Ireland these were em- ployed in drawing up his account. To those notices, Albert le Grand adds vari- ous conjectures of his own. The Bollandists have published Acts of St. Vouga
Articlevii. — SeeBollandists'"Acta
Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Maii xvi. De S.
Brentano seu Brandano, Abbate de Cluain-
fertensi in Ilibemia, cap. ii. , num. 15, rum," tomus ii. , Junii xiv. Among the pre-
p. 603.
2 See the Fifth Volume of this work, at
that date, Art. i.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Junii xiv.
Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 782.
:
4 Thus " Insulis Brandani abbatis. "
termitted — saints, p. 783.
•
These had been
by D. Yvo le Grant! , Canon of Leon, and Rector of Plouneventer and Almoner of Duke Francis II. , who reigned from A. D.
1418 to A. i>. 1488.
2 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Junii
5 See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," —p. 202.
•
Article viii. See "Acta Sancto-
Article
i.
prepared
June 1 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
669
2
orVio, at the 15th of June, in eight paragraphs. These have been collected
from various sources. We are doubtful, if Vouga had been the Irish name for this saint. He flourished, as has been supposed, about the sixth century ;3 but, his parentage and the exact place of his birth have not been recorded. He was a bishop, it is said, before he left the country of his birth, but his name is not to be met with in the records of any Irish See. + A rather late Life of this holy man, and that founded on popular tradition, seems to have been the chief authority for the legends regarding him. 5 We are told, by Albert le Grand, that the venerable man Vouga lived in Ireland, and that owing to his innocence and uprightness he was ordained a priest, becoming a canon in the church of Armagh, and afterwards its Archbishop, and the Primate of Ireland.
toric 6 and grounds,
must be dismissed as and altogether misleading
xv. De S.
seu Vio. Episcopo in Britannia Armorica, pp. 1060. 1061.
3 See Lobineau's " Les Vies des Saints de
Bretngne," tome i. , June 15.
4 The Bollandist editor, Father Baert
thinks it probable St. Vouga was a bishop over some obscure Irish church, and that
the Bretons, to give him greater celebrity, thought he must have deserved to be over Armagh, the Primatial See.
s
See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's
the Saints," vol. vi. , June 15, p. 211.
6 His name is not to be found in any
Vouga,
of
7 This tradition has sprung up from the
circumstance of a rock off the coast being called the Ship, from a fancied resemblance to one ; and then, in course of time, it was supposed to be S. Vie's ship. See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's "Lives of the Saints," vol. vi June 15 p 2X1.
Catalogue
of the
Bishops
Armagh.
"
For these latter statements, however, there are no his-
they
inaccurate. It is related, furthermore, that having received those honours with
great reluctance, he soon desired to be released from such a weight of respon-
sibility, and therefore he importuned God with prayers, that he might be per- mitted to seek some monastery or desert place, where his life should be
wholly devoted to heavenly contemplation. The Almighty heard his petitions. He was inspired to sail over the ocean, and to a country where he was destined to find rest, as also to gather great fruits. Vouga then returned thanks to the
Almighty, for thus manifesting his divine approval.
Leaving his See of
Armagh and its residence by night, he sought the sea coast, where, however,
he found no vessel to carry him away. There were some large rocks beside
the shore, and these were to furnish a means for transit. One of the legends
concerning him states, that he mounted on a huge stone, which he wished to
serve as a ship, and that it should move to whatever place had been allotted
for his residence. He sailed across the sea on it,' until after a voyage of
nearlytwenty-fourhours,hewaswaftedtowardsArmoricBritain. Heentered
the port of Cornuaille, known as Penmarch 8 or Penmarck. Fables have been
added to this 10 which had been undertaken in an ordinary voyage, probably
sailing vessel of the time. The arrival of St. Vouga, with many other holy men, who came from Great Britain, into Brittany, has been ascribed to before 523, while Hormisdas " was Pope, while Justin Augustus presided over the Empire, while Hoel II. ruled in Upper Armorica, and while Jugduvale governed in Lower Armorica. 12 Having left his friends and native country,
8 Now a small village in the department of Finistere, having a good harbour, and an active fishing trade. See " Gazetteer of the
World," vol. x. , p. 836.
9 This is a promontory, at the mouth of
the River Odere.
I0 Thus it is related, that people on the
shore were astonished at the sight of the rock floating towards them with St. Vouga alone on it, and that when he had landed in their
" Lives cf
the rock floated out to sea again, and directed its course back to Hibernia, whence it had come.
" He ruled over the Church from A. D. 514
presence,
to 523. See
Nicolas'
Chrono-
Sir^Harris logy of History, "p. 210.
'
" Albert le Grand—who gives the fore- going data in his text— also adds, that at that period, Jugduvale had fled to Childebert m France. See alsoDom Gui Alexis Lobineau s
" Historie tome 1. , hv. 1. num. deBretagne,"
670 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 15.
Vouga J 3 resolved on leading an eremitical life in Little Britain. He is said to have received a public welcome from the people of Penmarck, 14 who pro- vided for him a place and house in which to reside. There he preached the Word of God, and he worked many miracles. Afterwards, Vouga erected a hermitage for himself, about one-half mile from Penmarck, so that he might devote himself to a contemplative life. However, his reputation for sanctity having spread throughout all that part of the country, the people flocked to him in crowds, to be healed of fevers and other disorders. Among other miracles recorded is one of his having restored a woman to life. 15 Finding that this intercourse with worldings tended to distract his pious meditations, he soon resolved on that He went from Lanveoc to Brest,' 6
Leineven,hesoughtadensewood. Thereheerectedasmalloratorywitha hut near it. Afterwards, he associated with some religious, in the exercise of meritorious works, until it pleased the Almighty to call him away from the labours of this life to his eternal reward. He died it is stated, on the 15th day of June, about the year 585. Particulars regarding his Acts, because they do not appear to rest on very reliable authorities, are omitted, by Bishop Challor. er. 1 ? His disciples buried him under the altar of his chapel. Thither flocked the faithful, afterwards, and many miracles were wrought through his intercession. At length, some wood was cut down, and a church was there
leaving place. butstillhecouldnotfindaplaceforrest; untilpassingthroughthecityof
built,
which was dedicated to him. St. 18 of
This, Tenenanus, Bishop Leon,
erected into a parochial church. There, too, the venerable relics of St. Vouga
were for a time, and until the Invasion of the Normans, 1 ? when preserved long
it was found necessary to remove the greater part of these to a place of greater
security. However, a Missal belonging 10 the holy man was there preserved, and feverish patients often found relief by kissing it. His other relics were brought to a chapel, erected about one mile from Penmarck, on the shore of the sea, and in the diocese of Quimper. 20 At this place, called Treguenec, St. Vie is held in special veneration. There, his relics are said to have been preserved, and the chapel has been dedicated to him. Persons suffering from fevers have often been restored to health through pilgrimages to it, when the saint's intercession was implored. Divers churches are dedicated to him, in Brittany, which proves that he had a public veneration in that province. Thence, too, appears to have spread the fame of his miracles and virtues to Ireland, his native country, and probably it was propagated there by the Anglo-Norman invaders, who first settled in the southeast quarter. In St.
Vogue's townland, Cam parish, barony of Forth, and county of Wexford, we
find, was
therearededicatedtoSt. VaukorVaakachurchandawell. 21 A
patron
called St.
Vouge
of Ireland, Hermit. See
,8 He flourished, about a after century
the death of our saint. He is called, likewise, Tinidor, by Dom Gui Alexis Lobineau, in his "Histoire de Bretagne," tome i. , liv. ii. , num. ccxx. , p. 76.
*» This commenced in Normandy, during
the ninth century,
ao See Les Petits Bollandists' " Vies
formerly
held
there,
on the 20th of 23 January.
It
may
be
possible,
this
xxix. , p. 9.
13 In the " Circle of the Seasons," he is
Sancta," part i. , p.
p. 167.
14 This place lies to the south of Quim-
per.
*s The circumstances connected with this
narrative are evidently fabulous, and they
are probably drawn only from ignorant popu- lar tradition.
,6 Th—is town—formerly an insignificant
village is at present the capital of Brest, an
arrondissement in the department of Finis-
tere. See an account of it, in " Gazetteer of Survey Townland Maps for the County of
" These are shown, on the " Ordnance the World," vol. ii. , pp. 30, 31. Wexford," sheet 53.
I7 See
369.
"
Britannia
des Saints," tome vii. , xve Jour de Juin, p. 24.
June 15. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
671
saint was identical with the St. Vouga, Bishop, venerated at the 15th of June. From its existing features, the ruined church of St. Vauk does not appear to have been very ancient. ^ It rises within a graveyard, at the extreme south- eastern point of Ireland, and standing not far from the sea-shore. In the Gallican Martyrologies, St. Vouga is commemorated at the 15th of June.
St. Vouk's Church, County of Wexford.
His name is missing altogether from our ancient Irish Calendars and records'
to the Rev. Alban
Vio 25 is honoured in Lesser Britain.
on the
of
2*
According
Butler,
15th
June,
St. Vouga or
Article II. —St. Colman, Son of Corodran, of Meelick, County
of Monaghan. In the of 1 there is an Colman Martyrology Tallagh, entry,
Mac Corar dain o Imleach Brean. The place and festival of this saint at
Imlech Brenn is noticed under the parish of Emlagh or Imlagh, also called
Imleach-Fia and Imlach-Beccain, in the barony of Lower Kells, and county of Meath. 2 In the Martyrology of Donegal,3 we find St. Colman, son of
Corodran, of Miliuc, in Dartrighe Coin-insi, was venerated at the 15th of June. TheMeelick,inwhichthissaint'smemoryhadbeencelebrated,may have been situated within the barony of Dartry, in the western part of
Monaghan County. Its ancient denomination was Dartraighe Coininnsi,*
22 See "Letters containing Information
relative to the Antiquities of the County of
Wexford,collectedduringtheProgressofthe
Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. John O'Donovan's communication, written in
June, T840, p. 297.
23 The accompanying illustration has been
drawn on the spot by William F. Wake- man, and by him transferred to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
2s See St. Vauk—, at 20th ofJune.
•
Article ii. Edited by Rev. Dr.
2« See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (z), pp. 510, and other principal Saints," vol. vi. 5»-
Kelly,p. xxvii. 2"
See Rev. A. Cogan's Diocese of
Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , chap,
xxiii. , p. 136. The author appears to suspect identity between both of those places.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
170, 171.
* See Dr.