No More Learning

the narrative as it stands. Feeling for his loss most sensibly, our saint at once hastened to the place where the dead man lay, and on bended knees, he thrice recited the Psalter. Then, he touched the body with the cusped
extremity of his cross.
Maol-chabbius to arise.
In a loud voice, he afterwards called on the dead
He immediately came to life, as a consequence of The king felt so grateful for such a favour, that he
Columb's interposition.
selected from his herds and flocks thirty animals, as an offering to the saint.
On his own account, the prince promised, that he and his posterity should present an equal annual number to St. Columb, and to his successors. After
living some years, and enjoying regal honours, this prince departed from life a second time, and with a general opinion he had a most holy end. 81 While Columba lived at Derry, an infant was brought to him for baptism, but water was wanting for that purpose. Yet, impressing a sign of the cross on a steep rock, a fountain of living water poured out, and in this the child was baptized. Afterwards, it was called St. Columb's Well. 82 Many other great miracles he performed, while at Derry; and, there he dwelt for a considerable time.
Long afterwards, the house of his foundation seems to have obtained the denomination " Cella Nigra S. Columba? de Deria," which leads us to infer, that the monks of his order wore a black habit. 83 He built the Duibh- regleas 84 church at Derry, chiefly with the wood of those trees, which grew there, but he did not wish to destroy many of them. 8* It was a truly poetic taste of the saint to admire his trees, and to have a desire to preserve them, as much as possible. He caused this church to be built more long than broad, from north to south; so that, according to the common rite, the build- ing could not be duly orientated. Yet, he placed that altar, on which he celebrated, at the east side of the building. When O'Donnell wrote his Life of St. Columba, traces of the chapel were preserved, to illustrate the unusual characteristics of that 86 In times to Columba's
building. long subsequent
period, the great Cathedral Church or Templemore of Derry was founded; and, from it, the annexed parish was named Templemore. This mediaeval cathe- dral was situated near the Dubh Regies; and, with their accompanying buildings, both were outside the present city walls. 8? When a storm had blown down trees, or when they fell through age, and after a lapse of nine days, the tenth part of such timber was allowed for use of the poor, a third was
82
Vita S. lib. i. , Columbae, cap.
8s See Le Comtede Montalembert's "Les
Moines d'Occident," tome iii. , liv. xi. ,
Quinta
398, and 1111. 49, 50, p. 450.
lvi. ,
p.
There are still shown three distinct
wells at Derry, at present, and all called by
the name of our saint. See " Memoir of the
City and North-Western Liberties of p. 398.
Londonderry," part ii. , sect. I, p. 26.
83 See il Acts of Archbishop Colton in his Metropolitan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry, A. n. , mcccxcvii. " &c, edited by
Rev. William Reeves, p. 56, and n. (r).
84 This was the original church, and after- wards it came into possession of the Regular Canons of the Order of St. Augustine. For anaccount of their various Orders, see " His- toire Complete et Costumes des Ordres Monastiques, Reliyieux et Militaires," &C, par le Pere Helyot, tome ii. , pp. 267 to 338.
Edition of V. Phillipon de la Madelaine, 1839, 8vo.
8? See M Memoir of the City and North*
Western Liberties of Londonderry," part ii. ,
sect. 1, pp. 24. 25.
8S
See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columboe, lib. i. , cap. lvii. , p. 398.
Notwithstanding, we can only resume
chap, i. , p. 117.
*•
See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbia, lib. i. , cap. lvii. ,
89 In an ancient Irish poem, attributed to the saint, and as rendered into English, be
: thus expresses his feelings —
" Were the tribute of Alba mine
From its centre to its border,
I would prefer the site of one house In the middle of fair Derry.
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 305
drawn for the guest-house at the monastery, and the rest he distributed among the inhabitants of Deny. 88 This tradition seems to indicate, that a number of artisans and labourers must have congregated there, in the sixth century, when the colony of monks and seculars formed the nucleus of a town. In after years, Columba's heart ever turned with an indescribable love to this his first foundation, and from the place of his exile would he strain his gaze to catch even a glimpse of the distant hills, that environed his beloved oak-
2 Atthesame
a long lapse, this church should be destroyed, by the English, and that its
stones should be brought to build a secular edifice, at a place called Bun- seantuinne,nearDerry. 93 AlittletimebeforeO'DonnellwroteSt. Columb's
Acts, Nicholas Weston,94 an English Bishop, pulled down the materials, and brought them to build a palace, which, however, he was not suffered to com-
plete, the Almighty thus showing his displeasure, because our saint's church had been so wantonly desecrated. In the place, anciently called Rathbotha, at present Raphoe, is said to have been one of the earliest churches selected
for building or restoration, and Columba also blessed this place. However,
the authority and arguments for such statement seem to be very question- able. '5 Some writers have not hesitated to assert, that St. Columba erected a monastery at this place, and even with less grounds than for the assertion that a church had been built here, before the holy man went into Britain. Here, too, he raised to life a smith, who had been drowned in a millrace. The inhabitants of that place complained, that they had no persons of his trade to furnish them with ploughshares. The saint blessed the hands of
" The reason I love Deny is,
grove
Doire-Calgach.
Lough Foyle, opposite 1
to
Derry,
thetwo knownas Loughs
Enagh. '
time,
he thatafter predicted,
''
"
•
9 " Here the O'Cahans had their chief re- sidence, and from them that whole tract from the Foyle to the Bann was called the Country of O'Kane. In 1555, Calvach O'Donnell demolishedtheircastleof situated on an island of the Eastern Lough. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four
Masters," vol. v. , pp. 1540, 1541, andn. (h). However, it must have been re-edified shortly afterwards ; for, it is shown on Maps of Ulster made during the reigns of Queen ElizabethandJamesI. Atpresentnoruins of it exist.
For its quietness, for its purity, And for its crowds of white angels, From the one end to the other.
The reason why I love Derry is,
For its quietness, for its purity.
Crowded full of heaven's
Is eveiy leaf of the oaks of Derry.
My Derry, my little oak grove, My dwelling, and my little cell, O eternal God, in heaven above, Woe be to him who violates it. "
was venerated, on the 22nd of September. "
—Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St.
288.
Clandermod, in the corps of the Deanery. See "Acts of Archbishop Colton in his Me- tropolitan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry, A. D. , mcccxcvii. ," &c, edited by Rev. William Reeves, D. D. , M. R. I. A. , pp. 28, 29, and n. (b).
91 Colgan says, it was near Enagh, where the O'Cahan's castle stood. If was chapelry of the Derry Diocese, afterwards known as Cluain-enaich, where St. Columba Cregensis
93 This was in an Irish expressed,
Columba. " Additional Notes
G, p.
90 An ancient cemetery, containing the ruins of an ecclesiastical building, marks its site. It is in the townland called Temple- town. In former times, it was a chapel of
poem,
89 On the side of
of
hebuiltachurch,9°ataplacecalledCluan. 9 Itlayabouttwomilestowards the north-east of that city, and on the left side of the Coleraine road, near
angels
Enagh,
See Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbse, n. 51, p. 450.
lamenting the change.
94 Prince O'Donnell's Life has it Boston,
but this we take to have been a misprint, For an account of the Bishop's name given in the text, and who lived in the fifteenth century, the reader is referred to Harris'
x. , and n. 112, pp. 132, 135, 136.
"
9S See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
Bishops of Derry," p. 291.
"
Ecclesiastical HistoryofIreland,"vol. ii. , chap,xi. , sect.
Ware, vol. i. ,
"
Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lviii. ,
»* See Colgan's
Trias Thaumaturga,"
pp. 398, 399.
97 See "The Irish Ecclesiastical Record,
'
U
3o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
one Fergna, who immediately became expert at this trade. 06 St. Columba felt a great desire to extend his institute, already so well established at Derry, throughout other parts of Ireland. He therefore resolved to visit the cities, towns and villages of its various provinces, and to bring under religious influ- ences its people of every rank, age, and condition. His purpose was to per- fect ecclesiastical discipline, where it was flourishing, and to revive religious practices, where they fell into decay ; he resolved to repair old churches and monasteries, wherever these had become ruinous, and to build new ones, where necessary ; he desired to provide suitable church requisites and furni- ture, as also proper persons to be charged with their care. Wherefore, con- signing the charge of his establishment at Derry to one of the elder monks, he proceeded to the southern parts of ancient Meath.
From about the year 546 to 563, St. Columba appears to have laboured in Ireland founding new churches and new monasteries. During this period, he seems to have travelled over the most remote places in our Island. ? Although in his Life of St. Columba, O'Donnell is rather circumstantial about the various incidents of his missionary career in Ireland ; it seems most pro- bable, too, that he fails to observe their exact chronological order. We have endeavoured somewhat to recast the series of acts, and it is our opinion, these following incidents should nearly succeed the former. This indefatigable workman in the Lord's now visited the middle °8 of Ireland.
He came to the district of Teffia, where he obtained from the King Aedh, or
;
vol. ii. A Day at Iona : Saint Columba, p. 120.
Recollections of
obtained a victory over Dairmaid, in a battle fought at Cuil-Uinnsenn, "the Corner or Angle of the Ash Trees," in Teffia. The
Still,
vineyard region
a chieftain named 00 a tract of known as 100 on which
Brendan, land,
he afterwards built the noble monastery of Durrow,
Dairmagh,
situated, in the present
101
We have it on excellent authority, that the name of this place was obtained from the abundant oaks, that grew around it. On the death of Crimthann, the lordship of Teffia de- scended a. d. 553, to his nephew Aedh,Ioa whose father Brendan survived
to have
it was not at the time St. Columba wholly completed,
Barony of Ballycowan, and in the King's County.
he does not
precise year when this foundation took place is not known ; yet, it was pro- bably after a. d. 553, judging by some recorded incidents. However, we know, that it was built some time before Columba set out on his first journey
till l0i
appear
enjoyed
573
but,
to Britain. 10'*
s8 The Umbilicus Hibernian has been vari-
ously placed at Usnagh Hill, at Clonmac- place is now unknown. See Dr. O'Dono-
noise, and at Birr, which belonged to the south-west of the great plain of Meath.
van's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 196, 197, andn. (y).
,03 According to the authority immediately preceding, he died A. D. 573 ; but, again, his or tteArwnAgh, which is found Latinized death is entered, at A. D. 585. See ibid. ,
» He was father to the aforesaid Aedh. ,
100The Irish form ofthis place is 0<M|\ mag,
"Roboris campus. " Adamnan, in his "Life of St. Columba," employs the Latin equiva-
"
lent
49, lib. ii. , cap. 39, lib. iii. , cap. 15; and Roboris Campus at lib. ii. , cap. 2.
102 According to Tighernach Aex>h mac *s This was probably the earliest erection brveanoain rnih CeohcA At)]-o bhaipc period as the " magna domus " was building, OarvmAch x>o Cholum chilX. See Rev. Dr. when St. Columba dwelt in Iona. See O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- Adamnan's "Vita S. Columbae," lib. i. , cap. tores," tomus ii. , Annales Tigernaci, and 29, and lib. iii. , cap. 15.
tomus iv. , Anuaies Ultoniensis. In 556, he ,o6 The present narrative describes S.
Roboreti Campus," at lib. i. , cap. 29,
101 The townland gives name and belongs
to a parish, in the diocese of Meath. This parishofDurrowalsoextendsashortway nominatur. "
into Westmeath. Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. 4.
the The supreme power.
pp. 208, 209, 210, 211. The Annals of Clonmacnoise place his death, at A. D. 588.
104
Speaking of Columba, Bede says : " Fecerat autem, priusquam Brittaniam veniret, monasterium nobile in Hibernia, quod a copia roborum Dearmach lingua Scottorum, —hoc est campus roborum, cog-
" Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 307 settled there. 105 If it could be proved, that Brendan was then lord of Teffia,
Bede should be in 106 for that error,
prince
Aedh could not have the right of donation before that date, which was thir-
teen years subsequent to St. Columba's departure for Britain. This monas- tery was always one of his most cherished retreats, from the strife and tur- moil of this world ; and, it occupied a very central position in Ireland. The monastery and church of St. Columba are no longer there, and hardly a stone remains to mark the ancient site; for, the green grass and the wild shrubs
moved some little dis-
tance from the man-
sion of Lord Norbury,
and it is within an en-
closure, approached
by a gravel walk.
There is still a very
noble specimen of
those ancient Celtic
and sculptured tra-
cery crosses,108 once
so common in Ireland,
to the rere of the Pro-
testant church. It is
still in a very perfect
state of preservation.
Alarge quadrangular stone is to be seen,
and with inclining sides. This formed the pedestal of ano- ther cross. There are two ancient Irish monumental stones
in the churchyard. One of these was erected in memory of
grow
picturesque solitude,
Cross of Durrow, King's County for
Aigidiu.
100 These
personages are sup- posed to have been chiefs. 110 For ages, the graveyard of Durrow has been a favourite place for interments. This monastery was not less famous than that of Derry, and at least for a considerable time, it was better known to foreigners.
"
Columba as
the date of such occurrence with the dency of Alithir, at Clonmacnoise. He did not succeed to that office, until June, 585. Consequently, we must either understand this expression in the sense of confirming, or
suppose an inaccuracy in Bede.
I07 It lies within the beautiful demesne of
fundans," yet seems to couple presi-
Lord Norbury.
108 The illustration of it here
lived till so that his son 576;
aroundtheancient 10? withinthe cemetery,
overthe
enclosure of which, a rather modern Protestant church has been erected. Yet, during his lifetime, and for centuries after his death, that spot was long the abode of learning and of sanctity. There is a holy well—kept in a handsome style— and it was once very much frequented and greatly venerated. This spring is re-
and the other asks a prayer
Cathalan,
presented, was copied from a photograph kindly fur- nished by Rev. Denis Murphy, S. J. , while the subject has been drawn on the wood
by William F. Wakeman, and the engrav- ing was by Mrs. Millard.
109 A fine woodcut illustration of this tomb
308 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[June 9.
Columba blessed the sword of Colman Mor or the
second son of King Diarmaid. 112 It was endued with such virtue, that those who bore or kept it on their persons could not die by a natural death. As an illustration of this, a valetudinarian, who was long languishing in illness, and knowing its properties, asked his sword from Colman. This he obtained, and so long as he wore it, a whole year passed by ; but, although wasted to ex- tremity and suffering great torture he could not die, until his friends deemed it a charity to remove the sword, as his pains were so prolonged. That being done, the infirm man immediately paid the debt of nature. "3 Hard by the
• While here, St.
of therewasa monastery Durrow,
very
the fruit, that those who tasted complained of it. The saint knowing so much
went forth in the harvest to that place where the tree was laden with fruit, and
then elevating his sacred hand, he blessed the tree, saying :
" In the name of
Almighty God, O degenerate tree, let all thy bitterness depart from thee ;
and thy apples that hitherto have been so sour, let them now become most
sweet and pleasant to the taste. " IIS And, without delay, the apples suddenly
became delightfully sweet, to all those who tasted them, as our saint had
116
Being also an accomplished scribe, St. Columkille was greatly distin- guished. Authentic evidences of this fact are yet supposed to remain, in that
celebrated
desired.
111 Great,
fruitful 11* butsoacidwas apple-tree,
of the 11 '' known as the Book of Durrow. " 8 In an Gospels,
copy
entry on the fly-leaf of this Manuscript, it is stated to have been written, by St. Columba ;"* and, if so, from the name it bears, we may infer, that the workmusthavebeen whileheremainedatthis 120 Others
accomplished, place.
suppose, however, that the Codex may not have been of his transcription, but that it was executed in the lifetime of the founder. 121 This volume was originally enclosed within a silver-mounted and ancient cumhdach or shrine, made for it by order of Flann, King of Ireland, who reigned from a. d. 879 to
with the inscription is to be found, in Dr. George Petrie's celebrated work.
sunt. "—Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xiii. Martii, Vita S. Mochoemoci, cap.
xxv. , p. 393.
117 Although a certain notetaker says it
contains the New Testament, it includes only the Four Gospels.
118
In that truly magnificent and large folio illustrated work, intitled "Facsimiles of the Miniatures and Ornaments of Anglo- Saxon and Irish Manuscripts," executed by J. O. Westwood, M. A. Drawn on stone by W. R. Tymms. Chromo-Lithographed by Day and Son, Limited, London. Bernard Quaritch, 15 Piccadilly, mdccclxviii. We find there a very complete description of the Book of Durrow, at pp. 20 to 25, with co- loured plates, i\\, v. , vi. and vii. appended, as illustrations.
"9 Within the course of twelve days, and
in the year 500. However, it will easily be noticed, that the last date is an error, as he was not born for twenty years subse- quent.
130 Durrow seems to have been its place
of keeping, early in the seventeenth cen-
tury.
"' In reference to this matter, Rev. Dr.
Todd has written an interesting article, in the "Irish Ecclesiastical Journal," vol. iv. , p.
37, Sept. 29th, 1846.
110
Round Towers of Ireland, anterior to the
See "Ecclesiastical Architecture and
Anglo-Norman Invasion," part ii. , sec. iii. , subs. 1, p. 331.
111
In the year 552, he was killed in his
chariot byDubhishlat Ilua Treana, one of the "
Cruhhni. See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 188, 189.
1,2 He was ancestor of the Clann Colman of Meath.
113 See Colgan's "Trias Tbaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. Ixi. , pp. 399, 4C0.
1. 4 In Irish aV>aI signifies "an apple tree. ' The parish of Aghowl in Wicklow is so called from acox) AbtA, "field of apple trees. "
1. 5 This account is contained in the Second Life of St. Columba, cap. xx. , p. 327, in Adamnan's Vita S. Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. ii. , p. 350, as also in O'Donnell's Life of the Saint, lib. i , cap. lxii. , p. 400.
1. 6 A like
' Rediens inde sanctus vir ad cellam, vidit
qunndam, arborem plenam fructu, qui erat hominibus inutilis prae amaritudine nimia ; benedixit que signo S. crucis arborem, et fructus ejus illico in dulcedinem conversi
story
is told of St. Mochoemoc
:
'"
It has been entered, in the handwriting
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 309
916. In the time of the Coarb Ferdomhnach, a. d. 1007, this Manuscript
wasstolen,andithasbeensupposedthesilvercoverwasthenlost. Onthefly-
leaf, however, there is found a copy of the inscription that Cumhdach bore. 1 "
A historical and descriptive account of this beautiful work is given, by an
accomplishedart-antiquary. "3 Itconsistsof248vellumleaves,with25lines
in a page, written in single columns,12'* its text being that of the Latin vul-
gate. The Book itself was written in Gaidhelic letters, with a binding of silver
and gems. These are now lost ; but, the Manuscript itself had been pre-
served at Burrow to the time of the Reformation, when in a. d. 1584, it was
I2 6
transferred stoTrinityCollege,Dublin,"whereitisatpresentmostcarefully
kept, and regarded as one of the most precious literary remains now extant in
theLibrary. Theintricatetracery,interlacinginitialletters,dotting,andfigures, are wonderfully distinct, while the rich, vivid and florid colouring is tastefully contrasted, conceived, and executed. It has been supposed, that the Book of Durrow is superior in antiquity to the celebrated Book of Kells, 12 ? and Mr. DigbyWyatt considers, that the former may have been St. Columba's property.
While intent on his ecclesiastical occupations, St. Columba was in a certain
informed that his father Fedlim or him,
of 128 when an part Leinster,
angel
Felmidius, now broken down with weight of years, desired voluntarily to cede
the administration of his 12? and to divide it Tyr-connell principality, among
his brothers, Brendan, Nennid, Loarn and Sedna. 1 ^ On receiving this mes- sage, Columba set out for his father's residence, at Killmacnenain. 1 ^ 1 He was not long there, when at a place called Bothrain, his uncles on the father's side had prepared a grand ceremonial banquet, in commemoration of the heirship and honours that devolved on them.