It was most
probably
composed1 after the year 797, the date for the death of Donogh, or Donnchadh, son to Donall.
Life and Works of St Aneguissiums Hagographicus
This holy- servant of Christ was permitted to prove his vocation for a reli gious life, by engaging in the most laborious and meanest offices, connected with the monastery.
These duties, however, he most cheerfully executed, and he devoted unremitting attention to their most careful performance.
He was principally employed at field labour, and in the farm-yard belonging to the monastery ; for we are told, that with the sweat of his brow he was found as a reaper of corn during the harvest, that he bore the sheaves on his back to the barn, that he afterwards threshed out the grain, and winnowed chaff therefrom, placing what had been thus pre pared in sacks.
Like a beast of burden, he carried those sacks on his back, sometimes to the granary, and sometimes to the mill.
This mill and a kiln, he had charge of by Melruan's orders.
1 During all these labours, this devout and humble brother found time to raise his heart and thoughts towards heaven.
This ark of hidden wisdom considered himself, as only fitted to discharge the mean offices, to which of choice he sub jected himself.
These daily toils showed his complete self- abnegation, and his contempt for the opinion of worldlings.
Dur ing his labours this humble monk was scantily clothed.
His countenance was often disguised, owing to the combined effects of sweat and dust, which covered his features.
But, he had neither the vanity nor inclination to appear well-looking in the presence of his brethren.
Nor would he devote any time to the decoration of his person.
He allowed the hair on his head to grow long, tangled and uncombed ; the chaffy dust and straws of the field and barn, he would not even remove from his clothes.
Thus iEngus conceived himself, as putting into practical opera tion the virtues of his monastic profession ; for it was only by these means, he could induce worldlings to believe, that he was the most abject and vile of all creatures, having more the appearance of a monster, than of a human being.
An extra ordinary love of mortification was united with extatic flames of Divine love, in the soul of this great vessel of election ; and hence, he merited the title"of Kele-De,s which he obtained, and which may be rendered, a lover of God".
With an humble spirit, in a mortified body, a light radiated the interior of his soul.
Yet this light was destined to escape from the close sanctuary, within which it had hitherto beamed.
1 See, Professor Eugene O'Curry's Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish Bistort/. Led. xvii. p. 365. The author of this learned work
declares, that he saw the ruins of this mill and kiln, in their primitive dimen sions, and that only a few years have passed by, since these venerable relics have yielded to " the improving hand of modern progress".
2 "Quae vox latine reddita Deicolam, seu Amadaeum designat". Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, xi. Martii. Vila S. Mnyussii, cap. v. p. 580.
St. JEngusius Hagiographus. 11
Meantime, it may be well to relate, that the Almighty was pleased to reward the virtues of his servant, and by the testi mony of a surprising miracle. For, at one time, whilst this holy monk was engaged in a neighbouring wood cutting down branches for the use of his monastery, it happened, that he held
with the left hand a branch, which he wished to separate from the trunk of a tree, and the axe, grasped in his right hand, glanced from the object against which it had been directed. This in cautious stroke resulted in severing the left hand from his body. We are told, the very birds, in the wood, by a sort of preterna tural instinct, had formed an attachment towards St. JEngus, on account of his innocent demeanour. Perhaps, the holy man had often lightened his--out-door labours, by chaunting the psalmody of the Church, probably adapted to verses of his own
Those feathered warblers, the thrushes or black birds --so often celebrated in Ossianic song1--had made the dells and brakes around Glenasmoil and Tallagh resound with dulcet melody, while spring and summer breezes loaded the air with agreeable perfume from mountain herbs and shrubs. Their strains were often stilled, when more solemn and pathetic notes, from " a son of song", agreeably called forth the natural echoes, which resounded through wooded hill-sides and hollows, surrounding
St. Melruan's monastery. Those songsters of the grove and thicket will rest with listening ear, and love to linger near any spot, where the humble field-labourer pours forth the unpreme ditated lay, with a clear and modulated voice. Ifnot disturbed, these woodland minstrels even desire human companionship and vocalism of a perfect character. We cannot doubt, the Chris tian's heart was naturally gentle and toned with refined feeling, ? while the poet's soul and senses were attuned to all the soft and sweet influences of wild scenery and its charming accessories. Sometimes, it is said, even ravens flap their wings with affright, when from a distance they scent human blood. A mysterious sympathy frequently unites irrational to rational creatures. At the moment this accident befel JEngus, birds flocked around, and by their screams and cries, seemed to bewail the pure and angelic man's misfortune. Full of confidence in the power and goodness of God, without hesitation, . /Engus took up the hand which had been lopped off, and at once set in its proper place, at the extremity of his mutilated arm. Instantly, adhered, and recovered its former power, as no accident whatever had be fallen him. Hereupon JSngus poured forth his soul, in praise and thanksgiving, to the great preserver of all creatures. '
See tAoirfie fiArimncTieAcliuA, edited by John O'Daly, n. Trans actions of the Osstanic Society for the year 1856, rol. iv.
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, xi. Martii. Vita S. Aengussii, cap. vi. p. 580.
f
composition.
11
it 1,
p. i.
if
it,
12 TJie Life and Works of
Our popular traditions, especially referring to the saints, often savour of exaggeration. The Irish people have loved and ad mired purity and holiness, while they have implicit faith in the sovereign power of God towards and over his elect. The fore going miracle -- one of the few miracles recorded about our saint, although he is said to have wrought many -- may be classed with our Legenda Sanctorum. Probably, its rationale would accord better with the fact, that St. _33ngus had almost chopped the left hand from his arm, but that he had immediately bandaged and united these members of his body, so nearly dissevered, and yet so fortunately preserved for future use. In the case of wounds, eminent surgeons allow, that very dangerous ones are often healed by prompt attention, and by a recuperative energy found
a of flesh be in the human body itself. If piece
cut away and soon after applied to the place whence taken, both parts will
again unite. By the popular rumour, the cure of St. JEngus
has been pronounced miraculous. However it had been effected,
we cannot fail to recognize the Almighty's bounty towards a favoured servant, who was destined to effect still greater good, and acquire additional merits, before his day of deliverance from earth had arrived.
IV. --Tlie incident which first discovered St. JEngus to the Holy Abbot St. Melruan. -- Friendship thenceforth existing between them. --Literary pursuits of our Saint. --Engages on the Felire or Festology -- Presents a copy of it to Fothadius the Canonist. --Probable date, origin, and object of the Felire.
St. iEngus continued to exercise his usual austerities, and re mained unknown to the monks and to the rest of mankind, for seven whole years. At length, an unusual occurrence betrayed the secret he seemed so anxious to conceal. Whilst ^Engus was at work one day in the monastery barn, a scholar who had not thoroughly prepared his lesson, and who was in conse quence afraid to appear in school, applied for admission and con cealment, at least during that day. When _32ngus learned the cause of this boy's uneasiness, he spoke kindly and with cheer ing assurances : pressing the child to his bosom, he contrived to lull the scholar to sleep. After some time, he was awakened, and desired to repeat his lesson. 1 He proceeded in the task,
1 Dr. Lanigan undertakes to explain the circumstance of this hoy's profi ciency in his lesson, owing to the help he derived from -33ngus. See, Ecclesias tical Htstory of Ireland, vol iii. chap, xx. ? x. p. 246. At note 97 he adds : " It is thus, I think, that the anecdote related in JEngas' Acts ought to be un derstood. The boy's improvement is indeed stated as miraculous, and as a supernatural consequence of his having slept for awhile on the bosom of iEngus. But, it can be well accounted for without recurring to a miracle". Ibid. , p. 248.
totally
St. AZngusius Hagiographus. 13
repeated every word to the end, and this was done witbout hesitation or difficulty. _53ngus exacted from him a promise of silence regarding these circumstances, and recommended him
immediately to seek his teacher. The latter, on examination of his disciple, found him very well prepared on this day -- an occurrence of rare result in the boy's course of training. His master, no less a personage than the Abbot, St. Melruan him self, insisted on learning the cause of his forwardness, at this
particular juncture. Awed by the Abbot's authority and earnest manner, the boy revealed the circumstances of his case, as they had actually occurred. By a sudden inspiration, a belief in the identity of this monk with the missing jEngus of Dysartenos, rushed upon the mind of the superior over the Tallaght com munity. He ran immediately to the barn, and embraced Aengus with most tender affection, lavishing on him reproaches which love and admiration could alone dictate. He was blamed for the long-borne and humiliating, though willing, services ren
dered to the community, and for that false humility, which
deprived it of the learning and experience possessed by so great a master of the spiritual life. Aengus fell on his knees, at the feet of Abbot Melruan, and he begged and obtained pardon for those faults, which merited loving reproaches. From that time forward, they became bosom friends, and unconscious rivals in that holy ambition, by which a true saint is ever prompted. 1
The literary labours, in which St. . JSngus engaged, have given him very great celebrity through after times ; but in all probability he had not then formed the most remote idea, regarding this merited renown. His works are of exceeding
value, not only as having been composed, at a comparatively re mote period; but, because the subjects on which they treat give them a historical value and importance, of which ancient pieces can rarely boast. Fiction is too often blended with fact, in many such tracts, to the great prejudice of their authenticity. Numerous saints, that adorned the early Irish Church, are named in his writings, and are thus preserved, for the veneration of posterity. While his own name has been exalted by his various works, the country that gave him birth derives no small share ofrenown from accounts he has left, respecting her beatified children. Hence, we are enabled to estimate the services of ^Engus to sacred learning and literature, in a new light ; for
The affectionate, kind, and patient teacher was probably exemplified in the case of iEngus ; and hence, the child might have been encouraged to greater mental exercise by his instructions and the method he took in communicating
them.
1Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, xi. Martiu Vita S. JEngussii, cap.
vii. , viii. , ix. , p. S80.
r
14 TJie Life and Works of
happily, in him we have found a true saint to record the actions
of his sanctified compatriots and predecessors.
No sooner had JEngus been called to fill a different sphere of
life in the monastery, from that in which he had been at first exercised, than the unforgotten vision of angels seen in Cool- banagher Church, and the purpose it evoked, came with new force upon his recollection. Inspired by devotional feeling and a poetical genius of no mean order, he took up his pen, and the result was a metrical hymn in the Irish language, known as the " Feilire", or in Latin, as the Festilogium of St ^ngus. 1 In this canticle, he enumerates some of the principal saints, whom he calls Princes of the Saints. The Festilogium is brief, although saints' festivals are assigned to each day of the week, with some allusions to characteristic virtues or actions of each holy individual therein commemorated. There is a com mentary or series of notes found in the copies of this work, yet extant. These comments relate many particulars, regarding saints named in the Festilogium. We are at a loss to discover whether these notes are attributable to the saintly author of the poem itself, or to some scholiast belonging to a later age. The latter supposition, however, is more probable. It is recorded, that iEngus, about the year 804, presented a copy of this work
to the learned lecturer, Fothadius, the Canonist, who returned this compliment by the bestowal of another work, of which he was author. This latter work is said to have been the famous Remonstrance he drew up, as addressed to King Aidus. It inveighs against the employment of ecclesiastics, in military
1 " A copy of his poem, called ' Velire', is preserved in the Leabhar Breac, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy". --Tracts Relating to Ireland, Mmrcheartach MacNeilts Circuit ofIreland, page 32, Mr. O'Vonovan's Note 36, I. A. S. 's Publications.
a The account regarding the expedition of Aedh Oirdnidhe is thus given at the year 799, [rede 804] in 0''Donovan's Annals oj the Four Masters, vol. i. pp. 408 to 411. " Aedh Oirdnidhe assembled a very great army to proceed into Leinster, and devastated Leinster twice in one month. A full muster of the men of Ireland (except the Leinster-men), both laity and clergy, was again made by him [and he marched] until he reached Dun-Cuair, on the confines of Meath and Leinster. Thither came Connmhach, successor of Patrick, having the clergy of Leath-Chuinn along with him. It was not pleasing to the clergy to go upon any expedition; they complained of their grievance to the king, and the king, i. e. , Aedh, said that he would abide by the award of
Fothadh na Canoine ; on which occasion Fothadh passed the decision by which he exempted the clergy of Ireland for ever from expeditions and hostings, when he said :
" The Church of the living God, let her alone, waste her not,
Let her right be apart, as best it ever was.
Every true monk, who is of a pure conscience ;
For the Church to which it is due let him labour like every servant, livery soldier from that out, who is without [religious] rule or obedience
St. ^Engusius Hagiographus. 15
The brevity, which characterises the Feilire, was a conse quence of the object our saint appears to have had in view, whilst engaged in its composition. For, as he had resolved on imitating the practice of God's servant, whose remains were entombed at Coolbanagher, it would be inexpedient to introduce names of all the saints in his Festilogy. He was therefore obliged to confine himself to recording some of the principal ones. A recital of the entire Psalter, with his other daily exer cises, left him no more than sufficient time, for the invocation and praises of saints included in his metrical hymn, which, it is said, formed a part of his diurnal devotions. According to a scholiast's account, left us in a preface to the Feilire, it would appear, that this poem had not been composed, in its completed form and in the same place. Some time must have elapsed from its first writing, to its final revision. 1 We are told, that the
Is permitted to aid the great Aedh, son of Niall.
This is the true rule, neither more nor less,
Let every one serve in his vocation without murmur or complaint.
The Church, etc.
" Aedh Oirdnidhe afterwards went to the King of Leinster, and obtained his full demand from the Leinster men ; and Finsneachta, King of Leinster, gave him hostages and pledges". And at this passage, Mr. O'Donovan remarks, that the decision of Fothadh na Canoine, or Fothad " of the canon", is referred to in a preface to the Felire-Aenguis, preserved in the Leabhar Breac, foL 32. On this occasion Fothadh wrote a poem by way of precept to the king, in which he advises him to exempt the clergy from the obligation of fighting his battles. There is a copy of the entire poem preserved in a vellum manuscript, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2. 18. It is also quoted in the Leabhar-gabhala of the O'Clerys, p. 199. Ibid. n. (e) pp. 409, 410. This decision of Fothadh obtained the name of a Canon ; and after its issue, the clergy were exempted from attending military expeditions.
1 The following is the account given of this poem by Mr. O'Reilly in his Chronological account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers, pp. liii. liv. , when treating of iEngus. " He wrote a Felire, or Hierology, in Irish verse, giving an account of the festivals observed in the Church in his time. The reimsceul, or preliminary discourse, prefixed to this performance, gives the pedigree of the author, through several generations, by which it appears he was descended from Caelbach, King of Ulster, who defeated and killed Muiredhach Tireach, monarch of Ireland, at the battle of Fort Righ, and succeeded him on the throne. The Reimsceul gives the time and place in which the author wrote this poem". After quoting a portion of this reimsceul in Irish, the following
translation is given : " There are four co-necessaries in every learned treatise, i. e. , place, time, person, and cause of writing. Therefore, the placeIof this
piece was first Cul Banagbar, in the plain of Rechet, in the country of
or O'Faly, and its revisal in Tamhlacht ; (now Tallagh near Dublin) or else in Cluain Kidhnach it was begun, and in Cul Banaghar it was finished, and re vised in Tallaght. TEngus, moreover, was son of Oiblein, son ot Fidrai, son of Dermod, son of Ainmirech, son of Cellair, son of . /Enluaigh, son of Caelbaidh,
son of Cruinba-draoi, son of Eochaidh Coba, son of Lughdhach, son of Fiacha Airidh, from whom are the Dal- Araidhe named. It moreover, the time of its writing the time of Conor, son of Aodh Oirdnighe, son of Niall frasaigh, for it was he who took the government of Ireland after Donagh, the son of Donall of Meath, King of Meath for Angus, in the preface to the Felire, mentions the death of Donogh", The Felire written in that kind of verse called by
Failge,
is
;
is,
16 The Life and Works of
poem had been commenced, either at Clonenagh or Oool- banagher, and that it had been revised at Tallaght. From the relation already given, we feel inclined rather to suppose, as the stay of ^ngus at Coolbanagher appears to have been of no great duration, when about to pursue his way towards Tal laght, that his idea of writing the Feilire had been conceived only at the former place, and matured at the latter, where it would seem to have been solely written.
It was most probably composed1 after the year 797, the date for the death of Donogh, or Donnchadh, son to Donall. 2 Such conjecture agrees with
the Irish poets rinn aird, in which every verse ends with a word of two syllables, contains six syllables in the verse, and the entire rann twenty-four.
It begins, " Literal
?
" A copy of the Felire, beautifully written on vellum, is in the collection of the Assistant Secretary [O'Reilly. ] From its orthography, and other internal marks of antiquity, it may be concluded that this MS. was written at least as early as the eleventh century, and is, perhaps, the oldest copy of that work now in existence. There is an entire copy in the Leabhar Breac Mac Aed-
hagain, or Speckled book of Mac Egan, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, and an imperfect copy on vellum in the same library".
1 During the progress of the late Ordnance Survey of Ireland the Felire or Festology of ^Engus came first to be noticed, as a topographical tract of great value. Under the able superintendence of Sir Thomas Larcom and Dr. George Petrie, Eugene O'Curry brought it to bear, with important results, on our local topography, in every part of Ireland. The Rev. Dr. Todd suggested to the Board of Trinity College the engagement of Eugene O'Curry to make a
facsimile copy, for its library, of the Leabhar Mor Duna Doighre? or Leabhar Breac, in which the Festology is contained. On the Ordnance Survey Archae ological Department being dispensed with, Mr. George Smith, an eminent Dublin publisher, engaged Mr. O'Curry to transcribe the Festology, once more, with a view to its publication, " This, however, was not a facsimile copy, which indeed it would be practically useless to print, even if such a thing were possible, because the tract consists, properly, of three parts; namely, the text of the poem, the interlined gloss, and the interlined marginal, topographical, and other notes". These three parts were distinctly copied, all the contrac tions were lengthened out, and the whole disposed and arranged in such a manner as to merit the approval of our most distinguished Irish scholars. This copy was afterwards collated with other MS. in London and Oxford. Yet, the copy thus prepared has not been published ; the transcript and translation into English remained in the possession of Mr. Smith, who, we believe, has since transferred this copy to the Royal Irish Academicians.
! O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters, vol. i. n. (r. ), p. 399, where we read : " O'Flaherty places the accession of Donnchadh in the year 770, and his death in 797, which is the true chronology. He adds: " Quo rege, Anno 795, Dani Scotiae, et Hiberniae oras infestare coparunt". -- Ogygia, p. 433". The
" He pi bAIac tJAinet) C&ioeo m |ii petnAin
1rra -po i\e6c nip'o tiAjv&it, Cjtfrc hi CAlen en&ip".
translation:
#? **? #
" In the congregation of the seed of man, Went the king before us,
Submitted to the noble law
Christ, on the Calends of January".
St. yEngusius Bagiographus. 17
that of Colgan, that the scholia on the Festilogy of . SSngus had been composed at Tallagh in the time of Malruan. 1
V. --Description and analysis of St. Angus' Festology. --He resided at Dysart Bethach at the period of its completion. -- Its
first circulation in the reign ofAidus the Sixth. -- The Martyr- ology of Tallagh, and interesting particulars regarding this composition.
We are indebted to the late distinguished Irish scholar, Pro
fessor Eugene O'Curry, for a particular description and analysis of Angus' metrical Festology or FMird. 2 This composition consists of three distinct parts. The first par! , known as the Invocation, contains five quatrains, which ask grace and sancti- fication from Christ on the poet's work. It is written"in the ancient Conachlann, or what modern Gaelic scholars call chain- verse", in English. By such metrical arrangement, the last words of each quatrain are identical, or nearly so, with the first words of that succeeding. * The second part, as we are told, is
Annals of Ulster, however, assign the death of this monarch to a. d. 796, and
Iam unable to discover any notice regarding Conor, Son of Aodh Oirdnighe, mentioned by the scholiast on Angus' poem,
the Four Masters to a. d. 792.
in any of our early Annals.
1 Of this Feiirim Festology-- sometimes called the Martyrology of Aengus
Ceile De-- six copies, at least, are known to be extant, and four of these are on vellum. Two copies are preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford ; one, if not two, at St. Isidore's College, Home; one in the Burgundian Library, Brus sels ; one, a transcript, made for Dr. Todd, by Professor O'Curry ; and one, found in the celebrated Leabhar Mdr Duna Doighre' -- commonly called the Leabhar Breac--compiled about the year 1400, and now in possession of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. "There is a short history of the author, and the tract prefixed to this copy, which commenced, as such Gaedhlic documents usually do, with giving the name of the author, the time, the place, and the object of the composition. There is, then, a short disquisition on this arrange ment, in which the usages of the philosophers and the order of the creation are referred to as precedents". See Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, Lect. xvii. p. 363.
2 In O'Heilly's Chronological Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers, p. liii. , it receives the designation of a Hierology.
3 An illustration, in the Irish language and character, will be found in Lec tures on the Manuscript Materials ofAncient Irish History, Appendix No. cxiii. p. 610, and which has been published from the original, contained in the Leabhar Breac --a MS. belonging to the Royal Irish Academy. The five stanzas in Irish have been thus rendered into English, by Mr. O'Curry: --
" Sanctify, O Christ 1 my words :-- O Lord of the seven heavens ! Grant me the gift of wisdom,
O Sovereign of the bright sun !
O bright sun, who dost illumine
The heavens with all thy holiness! O King who governest the angels !
O Lord of all the people ! ,
18 The Life and Works of
a poem, by way of preface, and it consists of two hundred and twenty quatrains. But of these only eighty are found prefixed to the main poem, or chief subject matter. The remaining one hundred and forty quatrains are postfixed to the main poem, and these are called the post or second preface, by Mr. O'Curry. We may rather, perhaps, consider them in the light of those verses, which many of our medieval and modern poets designate the " L'Envoy", as the conclusion of a poem. The verses are in a similar character, and follow the like measure, as they are indeed a continuation of the Invocation, The eighty stanzas
prefixed to the main poem, in very beautiful and forcible lan
guage give us a very glowing account regarding the sufferings and tortures of the early Christian martyrs ; how their perse cutors' names have been forgotten, while those of their victims were remembered with honour, veneration, and affection ; how Pilate's wife sinks into oblivion, while the Blessed Virgin Mary has been rememberer! and venerated from earth's uttermost bounds to its centre. Even in Ireland, the enduring supremacy of Christ's Church had been manifested. Tara had been aban doned and become a desert, because its kings were vain-glorious, while Armagh remains the populous seat of dignity, piety, and learning. Cruachain, a former royal residence of the Connaught kings, is deserted, while Clonmacnois resounds with the dashing
of chariots and tramp of multitudes to honour St. Ciaran's shrine. Aillinn's royal palace had passed away, while St. Brigid's church at Kildare retained its dazzling splendour. Ul
0 Lord of the people !
0 King all righteous and good!
May I receive the full benefit Of praising Thy royal hosts.
Thy royal hosts I praise,
Because Thou art my Sovereign ; 1 have disposed my mind
To be constantly beseeching Thee.
1 beseech a favour from Thee,
That I be purified from my sins
Through the peaceful bright- shining flock, The royal host whom I celebrate".
We are informed, that General Vallancey and Theophilus O'Flanagan, having met with this poem -- which is rather a conspicuous one -- in the Leabhar Breac, and finding the name of Christ contractedly written Cli, with a horizontal dash over these two letters, considered they had found an address to the sun. This was a supposed proof of the former worship of that luminary by the ancient Irish. The letters C B were presumed to have been a contraction for Creas, which, from the books of Indian Brahmins and the Sanscrit, Vallancey conjectured to be a name for the sun, common both to Ireland and India. These views of General Vallancey, with a highly poetical translation of Aengus'poem, were embodied in a small printed pamphlet. ? This was addressed "To the Pre sident and Members of the Eoyal Irish Academy, as a proof of the Ancient History of Ireland", by General Vallancey.
St. ^ngusius Hagiographus. 19
ster's royal palace at Emania had disappeared, while the holy
Coemghen's church at Glcann-da-locha remains in full glory.
The monarch Leaghaire's pomp and pride were extinguished, while St. Patrick's name continues to shine with undiminished lustre. Thus, the poet continues to contrast fleeting and for gotten names and reputations of great men and establishments, belonging to the pagan and secular world, with the stability, freshness, and splendour of Christian Churches, and the ever- flourishing names of their illustrious, although often humble founders. The third part is properly the tSlirS or Festological Poem itself, and it is comprised within three hundred and sixty- five quatrains, which, the reader will observe, forms a stanza for each day in the year. The Circumcision ofour Lord is placed at
the head of the Festivals, and with it the FMirS begins. 1 This poem is not wholly confined to notices of the Irish saints. Our great national Apostle, St. Patrick, is commemorated at the 17th of March. 2 And again, at the 13th of April, Bishop Tassagh, one of St. Patrick's favourite companions, is recorded. * Bishop Tassagh was chief manufacturer and ornamenter of croziers, crosses, bells, and shrines, and attended St. Patrick at his death.
The whole of this, which is the chief poem, as also the first preface, is thickly interlined with an ancient gloss and commen tary. These explain difficult or obsolete words and passages. Sometimes, notes may be found on the sites of ancient churches, connected with our Irish saints, who lived to the time of our author. Occasional passages from their Lives and Miracles will be seen. These notes are interspersed over the margin, and
1 In the Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, Appendix No. cxiv. p. 611, may be seen the first stanza of this part of the poem in the Irish language and character, as extracted from the original found in the Leabhar Breac, R. I. A. It has been thus rendered into English by
Mr. O'Curry:--" At the head of the congregated saints, Let the King take the first place :
Unto the noble dispensation did submit Christ --on the calends of January".
* See Ibid. , Appendix, No. cxv. for the Irish stanza thus rendered into
English:--
" The blaze of a splendid sun,
The apostle of stainless Erinn, Patrick-- with his countless thousands, May he shelter our wretchedness".
* See Ibid. , Appendix, No. czvi. , for the Irish stanza, thus rendered into
" The kingly Bishop Tassagh,
Who administered on his arrival,
The body of Christ-- the truly powerful King -- And the Communion to Patrick".
English :--
$0 The Life and Worhs of
they require close and accurate study to connect them with their appropriate textual passages. The three parts, or cantos, into which the entire poem has been divided, may be treated, indeed, as one continuous composition. The last words of the Invocation are the first words to. the first preface of eighty stanzas ; while the last words of this preface are the first words of the main poem ; and again, the last words of this chief poem are the first words of the post or second preface, which consists of one hundred and forty stanzas.
This latter division concludes the work, and in it JEngus recapitulates the subject of his FdlirS, teaching the faithful how to read and use and explaining its arrangement. He declares, though great the number, he has only been able to enumerate the princes of the saints in it. He recommends for pious meditation to the faithful, and indicates spiritual benefits to be gained by reading or reciting it. He says, he had travelled far
and near to collect the names and history of subjects for his praise and invocation. For the foreign saints, he consulted St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and Eusebius. He collected the festivals of our Irish saints from " the countless hosts of the illuminated books of Erinn". He then says, having already mentioned and invoked the saints at their respective festival days, he will now invoke them in classes or bands, under certain heads or leaders. This done in the following order: The elders or ancients, under Noah the prophets under Isaiah the patriarchs under Abraham the apostles and disciples under Peter the wise or learned men under Paul the martyrs under Stephen the spiri tual directors under old Paul the Virgins of the World under the Blessed Virgin Mary; the holy bishops of Rome under Peter; the bishops of Jerusalem under Jacob or James; the bishops of Antioch also under Peter the bishops of Alexandria under Mark division of them under Honorati division of learned men under the gifted Benedict all the innocents who suffered at Bethlehem under Georgius the priests under Aaron the monks under Anthony division of the world's saints under Martin the noble saints of Erinn under St. Patrick the saints of Scotland under St. Colum Cille while the last great division of Eriun's saintly virgins has been placed under holy St. Brigid of Kildare. In an eloquent strain, Aengus then continues to beseech our Saviour's mercy for himself and for all mankind, through the merits and sufferings of those saints he has named
and enumerated. He asks through the merits of their dismem
bered bodies through their bodies pierced with lances
The Felire or Festologies are closely connected with lives of the saints. That of Aengus especially receives the praise of M. do la Viilemarque in the November number of the French periodical, Lt Corrupondant, for 1863.
through
1
;
; a
;
;
;
;
;
is
;
; a
; ;
it
; a
; ;
; ;
;
;
;
it,
St. ^Eugusius Uayiographus. 21
their wounds ; through their groans ; through their relics ; through their blanched countenances ; through their bitter tears ; through all the sacrifices offered of the Saviour's own Body and Blood, as it is in Heaven, upon the holy altars ; through the blood that flowed from the Saviour's own side ; through his sacred Humanity ; and through His Divinity in union with the Holy Spirit and the Heavenly Father. After this long invocation, Aengus says the brethren of his order deemed all his prayers and petitions too little ; whereupon, he resolves to change his course, that no one
may have cause for complaint. Then, he commences another
moving appeal to our Lord lor himself and all men. He be
seeches mercy according to the merciful worldly interposition of Divine clemency in times past. Thus Enoch and Elias had been saved from dangers in this world ; Noah had been saved from the deluge; Abraham had been saved from plagues and from the Chaldeans ; Lot had been saved from the burning city ; Jonas had escaped from the whale ; Isaac had been delivered from his father's hands. He entreats Jesus, through inter cession of his Holy Mother, to save him, as Jacob was saved from the hands of his brother, and as John [Paul] was saved from the viper's venom. He again recurs to examples found in the Old Testament He mentions the saving of David from Goliath's sword ; the saving of Susanna from her dangers ; of Nineveh from destruction; of the Israelites from Mount Gilba [Gilboa]; of Daniel from the lions' den; of Moses from the hands of Faro [Pharaoh] ; of the three youths from the fiery furnace ; of Tobias from his blindness ; of Peter and Paul from the dungeon ; of Job from demoniac tribulations ; of David from Saul; of Joseph from his brothers' hands; of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage ; of Peter from the sea-waves ; of John from the fiery caldron ; of Martin from the priest of the idol. Again, he beseeches Jesus, through intercession of the Heavenly household, to be saved, as St. Patrick had been, from the
drink at Teamhar [Tara], and as St Coemhghin
EKioeisvoine]dhad been at Gleann dalocha [Glendalough], from perils of the mountain. '
St. Aengus, we are told, resided at his church, in a place called Disert Bethech,2 which lay on the northern bank of the river n- Eoir--now the Nore--and a few miles above the present Mon- asterevan, in the Queen's County. This, however, must be an in correct topographical description of the locality. Aengus had then just finished his Festology. A friendship was here formed between our saint and Fothadh the canonist, who showed the poem he had composed for Aedh's decision. Before pre-
1 See Manuscript Materials ofAncient Irish History. Lcct. xvii. pp. 365 to 370. 1 We feel inclined to believe this place was not distinct from Dysart Enos.
S
22 The Life and Works of
senting it to the king, he desired and received the warm ap
proval of his brother poet. 1
" It is said, Aengus Ceile De first published or circulated his
Festology" that year when Aideus the Sixth, surnamed Oirdnidhe, undertook his expedition against the Leinster people, a. d. 804, according to the most correct supposition. At this time, Aedh encamped at Disert Bethech. Fothadius, the Canonist, accompanied him. This learned man is said to have received a present of the Feilire, which had been first shown to him, from our saint's hands. Fothadh solemnly approved and recom mended it for perusal by the faithful. * Thus, it would appear, that the poem nad not been issued, until after the death of holy Abbot Malruan, which took place a. d. 792, according to the best computation. } This fact appears still more evident, as in the Festilogy, the name of Tallagh's venerable superior is found recorded, with a suitable eulogy. Professor O'Curry says, that according to the best accounts, Aengus wrote his poem in or before a. d. 798 ; for, so far as can be ascertained, the name of any saint, who died after such date, cannot be discovered in it. *
According to Colgan, Aengus had resolved upon commenc ing another work, in which should be included the names of saints, omitted in his Feilire, that thus any doubt regarding the veneration due to them, and the intentional omission of their names in his poem, might in a measure be obviated.
In conjunction with St.
1 See, Professor Eugene O'Curry's Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish Bistort/. Led. xvii. p. 365. The author of this learned work
declares, that he saw the ruins of this mill and kiln, in their primitive dimen sions, and that only a few years have passed by, since these venerable relics have yielded to " the improving hand of modern progress".
2 "Quae vox latine reddita Deicolam, seu Amadaeum designat". Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, xi. Martii. Vila S. Mnyussii, cap. v. p. 580.
St. JEngusius Hagiographus. 11
Meantime, it may be well to relate, that the Almighty was pleased to reward the virtues of his servant, and by the testi mony of a surprising miracle. For, at one time, whilst this holy monk was engaged in a neighbouring wood cutting down branches for the use of his monastery, it happened, that he held
with the left hand a branch, which he wished to separate from the trunk of a tree, and the axe, grasped in his right hand, glanced from the object against which it had been directed. This in cautious stroke resulted in severing the left hand from his body. We are told, the very birds, in the wood, by a sort of preterna tural instinct, had formed an attachment towards St. JEngus, on account of his innocent demeanour. Perhaps, the holy man had often lightened his--out-door labours, by chaunting the psalmody of the Church, probably adapted to verses of his own
Those feathered warblers, the thrushes or black birds --so often celebrated in Ossianic song1--had made the dells and brakes around Glenasmoil and Tallagh resound with dulcet melody, while spring and summer breezes loaded the air with agreeable perfume from mountain herbs and shrubs. Their strains were often stilled, when more solemn and pathetic notes, from " a son of song", agreeably called forth the natural echoes, which resounded through wooded hill-sides and hollows, surrounding
St. Melruan's monastery. Those songsters of the grove and thicket will rest with listening ear, and love to linger near any spot, where the humble field-labourer pours forth the unpreme ditated lay, with a clear and modulated voice. Ifnot disturbed, these woodland minstrels even desire human companionship and vocalism of a perfect character. We cannot doubt, the Chris tian's heart was naturally gentle and toned with refined feeling, ? while the poet's soul and senses were attuned to all the soft and sweet influences of wild scenery and its charming accessories. Sometimes, it is said, even ravens flap their wings with affright, when from a distance they scent human blood. A mysterious sympathy frequently unites irrational to rational creatures. At the moment this accident befel JEngus, birds flocked around, and by their screams and cries, seemed to bewail the pure and angelic man's misfortune. Full of confidence in the power and goodness of God, without hesitation, . /Engus took up the hand which had been lopped off, and at once set in its proper place, at the extremity of his mutilated arm. Instantly, adhered, and recovered its former power, as no accident whatever had be fallen him. Hereupon JSngus poured forth his soul, in praise and thanksgiving, to the great preserver of all creatures. '
See tAoirfie fiArimncTieAcliuA, edited by John O'Daly, n. Trans actions of the Osstanic Society for the year 1856, rol. iv.
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, xi. Martii. Vita S. Aengussii, cap. vi. p. 580.
f
composition.
11
it 1,
p. i.
if
it,
12 TJie Life and Works of
Our popular traditions, especially referring to the saints, often savour of exaggeration. The Irish people have loved and ad mired purity and holiness, while they have implicit faith in the sovereign power of God towards and over his elect. The fore going miracle -- one of the few miracles recorded about our saint, although he is said to have wrought many -- may be classed with our Legenda Sanctorum. Probably, its rationale would accord better with the fact, that St. _33ngus had almost chopped the left hand from his arm, but that he had immediately bandaged and united these members of his body, so nearly dissevered, and yet so fortunately preserved for future use. In the case of wounds, eminent surgeons allow, that very dangerous ones are often healed by prompt attention, and by a recuperative energy found
a of flesh be in the human body itself. If piece
cut away and soon after applied to the place whence taken, both parts will
again unite. By the popular rumour, the cure of St. JEngus
has been pronounced miraculous. However it had been effected,
we cannot fail to recognize the Almighty's bounty towards a favoured servant, who was destined to effect still greater good, and acquire additional merits, before his day of deliverance from earth had arrived.
IV. --Tlie incident which first discovered St. JEngus to the Holy Abbot St. Melruan. -- Friendship thenceforth existing between them. --Literary pursuits of our Saint. --Engages on the Felire or Festology -- Presents a copy of it to Fothadius the Canonist. --Probable date, origin, and object of the Felire.
St. iEngus continued to exercise his usual austerities, and re mained unknown to the monks and to the rest of mankind, for seven whole years. At length, an unusual occurrence betrayed the secret he seemed so anxious to conceal. Whilst ^Engus was at work one day in the monastery barn, a scholar who had not thoroughly prepared his lesson, and who was in conse quence afraid to appear in school, applied for admission and con cealment, at least during that day. When _32ngus learned the cause of this boy's uneasiness, he spoke kindly and with cheer ing assurances : pressing the child to his bosom, he contrived to lull the scholar to sleep. After some time, he was awakened, and desired to repeat his lesson. 1 He proceeded in the task,
1 Dr. Lanigan undertakes to explain the circumstance of this hoy's profi ciency in his lesson, owing to the help he derived from -33ngus. See, Ecclesias tical Htstory of Ireland, vol iii. chap, xx. ? x. p. 246. At note 97 he adds : " It is thus, I think, that the anecdote related in JEngas' Acts ought to be un derstood. The boy's improvement is indeed stated as miraculous, and as a supernatural consequence of his having slept for awhile on the bosom of iEngus. But, it can be well accounted for without recurring to a miracle". Ibid. , p. 248.
totally
St. AZngusius Hagiographus. 13
repeated every word to the end, and this was done witbout hesitation or difficulty. _53ngus exacted from him a promise of silence regarding these circumstances, and recommended him
immediately to seek his teacher. The latter, on examination of his disciple, found him very well prepared on this day -- an occurrence of rare result in the boy's course of training. His master, no less a personage than the Abbot, St. Melruan him self, insisted on learning the cause of his forwardness, at this
particular juncture. Awed by the Abbot's authority and earnest manner, the boy revealed the circumstances of his case, as they had actually occurred. By a sudden inspiration, a belief in the identity of this monk with the missing jEngus of Dysartenos, rushed upon the mind of the superior over the Tallaght com munity. He ran immediately to the barn, and embraced Aengus with most tender affection, lavishing on him reproaches which love and admiration could alone dictate. He was blamed for the long-borne and humiliating, though willing, services ren
dered to the community, and for that false humility, which
deprived it of the learning and experience possessed by so great a master of the spiritual life. Aengus fell on his knees, at the feet of Abbot Melruan, and he begged and obtained pardon for those faults, which merited loving reproaches. From that time forward, they became bosom friends, and unconscious rivals in that holy ambition, by which a true saint is ever prompted. 1
The literary labours, in which St. . JSngus engaged, have given him very great celebrity through after times ; but in all probability he had not then formed the most remote idea, regarding this merited renown. His works are of exceeding
value, not only as having been composed, at a comparatively re mote period; but, because the subjects on which they treat give them a historical value and importance, of which ancient pieces can rarely boast. Fiction is too often blended with fact, in many such tracts, to the great prejudice of their authenticity. Numerous saints, that adorned the early Irish Church, are named in his writings, and are thus preserved, for the veneration of posterity. While his own name has been exalted by his various works, the country that gave him birth derives no small share ofrenown from accounts he has left, respecting her beatified children. Hence, we are enabled to estimate the services of ^Engus to sacred learning and literature, in a new light ; for
The affectionate, kind, and patient teacher was probably exemplified in the case of iEngus ; and hence, the child might have been encouraged to greater mental exercise by his instructions and the method he took in communicating
them.
1Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, xi. Martiu Vita S. JEngussii, cap.
vii. , viii. , ix. , p. S80.
r
14 TJie Life and Works of
happily, in him we have found a true saint to record the actions
of his sanctified compatriots and predecessors.
No sooner had JEngus been called to fill a different sphere of
life in the monastery, from that in which he had been at first exercised, than the unforgotten vision of angels seen in Cool- banagher Church, and the purpose it evoked, came with new force upon his recollection. Inspired by devotional feeling and a poetical genius of no mean order, he took up his pen, and the result was a metrical hymn in the Irish language, known as the " Feilire", or in Latin, as the Festilogium of St ^ngus. 1 In this canticle, he enumerates some of the principal saints, whom he calls Princes of the Saints. The Festilogium is brief, although saints' festivals are assigned to each day of the week, with some allusions to characteristic virtues or actions of each holy individual therein commemorated. There is a com mentary or series of notes found in the copies of this work, yet extant. These comments relate many particulars, regarding saints named in the Festilogium. We are at a loss to discover whether these notes are attributable to the saintly author of the poem itself, or to some scholiast belonging to a later age. The latter supposition, however, is more probable. It is recorded, that iEngus, about the year 804, presented a copy of this work
to the learned lecturer, Fothadius, the Canonist, who returned this compliment by the bestowal of another work, of which he was author. This latter work is said to have been the famous Remonstrance he drew up, as addressed to King Aidus. It inveighs against the employment of ecclesiastics, in military
1 " A copy of his poem, called ' Velire', is preserved in the Leabhar Breac, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy". --Tracts Relating to Ireland, Mmrcheartach MacNeilts Circuit ofIreland, page 32, Mr. O'Vonovan's Note 36, I. A. S. 's Publications.
a The account regarding the expedition of Aedh Oirdnidhe is thus given at the year 799, [rede 804] in 0''Donovan's Annals oj the Four Masters, vol. i. pp. 408 to 411. " Aedh Oirdnidhe assembled a very great army to proceed into Leinster, and devastated Leinster twice in one month. A full muster of the men of Ireland (except the Leinster-men), both laity and clergy, was again made by him [and he marched] until he reached Dun-Cuair, on the confines of Meath and Leinster. Thither came Connmhach, successor of Patrick, having the clergy of Leath-Chuinn along with him. It was not pleasing to the clergy to go upon any expedition; they complained of their grievance to the king, and the king, i. e. , Aedh, said that he would abide by the award of
Fothadh na Canoine ; on which occasion Fothadh passed the decision by which he exempted the clergy of Ireland for ever from expeditions and hostings, when he said :
" The Church of the living God, let her alone, waste her not,
Let her right be apart, as best it ever was.
Every true monk, who is of a pure conscience ;
For the Church to which it is due let him labour like every servant, livery soldier from that out, who is without [religious] rule or obedience
St. ^Engusius Hagiographus. 15
The brevity, which characterises the Feilire, was a conse quence of the object our saint appears to have had in view, whilst engaged in its composition. For, as he had resolved on imitating the practice of God's servant, whose remains were entombed at Coolbanagher, it would be inexpedient to introduce names of all the saints in his Festilogy. He was therefore obliged to confine himself to recording some of the principal ones. A recital of the entire Psalter, with his other daily exer cises, left him no more than sufficient time, for the invocation and praises of saints included in his metrical hymn, which, it is said, formed a part of his diurnal devotions. According to a scholiast's account, left us in a preface to the Feilire, it would appear, that this poem had not been composed, in its completed form and in the same place. Some time must have elapsed from its first writing, to its final revision. 1 We are told, that the
Is permitted to aid the great Aedh, son of Niall.
This is the true rule, neither more nor less,
Let every one serve in his vocation without murmur or complaint.
The Church, etc.
" Aedh Oirdnidhe afterwards went to the King of Leinster, and obtained his full demand from the Leinster men ; and Finsneachta, King of Leinster, gave him hostages and pledges". And at this passage, Mr. O'Donovan remarks, that the decision of Fothadh na Canoine, or Fothad " of the canon", is referred to in a preface to the Felire-Aenguis, preserved in the Leabhar Breac, foL 32. On this occasion Fothadh wrote a poem by way of precept to the king, in which he advises him to exempt the clergy from the obligation of fighting his battles. There is a copy of the entire poem preserved in a vellum manuscript, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2. 18. It is also quoted in the Leabhar-gabhala of the O'Clerys, p. 199. Ibid. n. (e) pp. 409, 410. This decision of Fothadh obtained the name of a Canon ; and after its issue, the clergy were exempted from attending military expeditions.
1 The following is the account given of this poem by Mr. O'Reilly in his Chronological account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers, pp. liii. liv. , when treating of iEngus. " He wrote a Felire, or Hierology, in Irish verse, giving an account of the festivals observed in the Church in his time. The reimsceul, or preliminary discourse, prefixed to this performance, gives the pedigree of the author, through several generations, by which it appears he was descended from Caelbach, King of Ulster, who defeated and killed Muiredhach Tireach, monarch of Ireland, at the battle of Fort Righ, and succeeded him on the throne. The Reimsceul gives the time and place in which the author wrote this poem". After quoting a portion of this reimsceul in Irish, the following
translation is given : " There are four co-necessaries in every learned treatise, i. e. , place, time, person, and cause of writing. Therefore, the placeIof this
piece was first Cul Banagbar, in the plain of Rechet, in the country of
or O'Faly, and its revisal in Tamhlacht ; (now Tallagh near Dublin) or else in Cluain Kidhnach it was begun, and in Cul Banaghar it was finished, and re vised in Tallaght. TEngus, moreover, was son of Oiblein, son ot Fidrai, son of Dermod, son of Ainmirech, son of Cellair, son of . /Enluaigh, son of Caelbaidh,
son of Cruinba-draoi, son of Eochaidh Coba, son of Lughdhach, son of Fiacha Airidh, from whom are the Dal- Araidhe named. It moreover, the time of its writing the time of Conor, son of Aodh Oirdnighe, son of Niall frasaigh, for it was he who took the government of Ireland after Donagh, the son of Donall of Meath, King of Meath for Angus, in the preface to the Felire, mentions the death of Donogh", The Felire written in that kind of verse called by
Failge,
is
;
is,
16 The Life and Works of
poem had been commenced, either at Clonenagh or Oool- banagher, and that it had been revised at Tallaght. From the relation already given, we feel inclined rather to suppose, as the stay of ^ngus at Coolbanagher appears to have been of no great duration, when about to pursue his way towards Tal laght, that his idea of writing the Feilire had been conceived only at the former place, and matured at the latter, where it would seem to have been solely written.
It was most probably composed1 after the year 797, the date for the death of Donogh, or Donnchadh, son to Donall. 2 Such conjecture agrees with
the Irish poets rinn aird, in which every verse ends with a word of two syllables, contains six syllables in the verse, and the entire rann twenty-four.
It begins, " Literal
?
" A copy of the Felire, beautifully written on vellum, is in the collection of the Assistant Secretary [O'Reilly. ] From its orthography, and other internal marks of antiquity, it may be concluded that this MS. was written at least as early as the eleventh century, and is, perhaps, the oldest copy of that work now in existence. There is an entire copy in the Leabhar Breac Mac Aed-
hagain, or Speckled book of Mac Egan, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, and an imperfect copy on vellum in the same library".
1 During the progress of the late Ordnance Survey of Ireland the Felire or Festology of ^Engus came first to be noticed, as a topographical tract of great value. Under the able superintendence of Sir Thomas Larcom and Dr. George Petrie, Eugene O'Curry brought it to bear, with important results, on our local topography, in every part of Ireland. The Rev. Dr. Todd suggested to the Board of Trinity College the engagement of Eugene O'Curry to make a
facsimile copy, for its library, of the Leabhar Mor Duna Doighre? or Leabhar Breac, in which the Festology is contained. On the Ordnance Survey Archae ological Department being dispensed with, Mr. George Smith, an eminent Dublin publisher, engaged Mr. O'Curry to transcribe the Festology, once more, with a view to its publication, " This, however, was not a facsimile copy, which indeed it would be practically useless to print, even if such a thing were possible, because the tract consists, properly, of three parts; namely, the text of the poem, the interlined gloss, and the interlined marginal, topographical, and other notes". These three parts were distinctly copied, all the contrac tions were lengthened out, and the whole disposed and arranged in such a manner as to merit the approval of our most distinguished Irish scholars. This copy was afterwards collated with other MS. in London and Oxford. Yet, the copy thus prepared has not been published ; the transcript and translation into English remained in the possession of Mr. Smith, who, we believe, has since transferred this copy to the Royal Irish Academicians.
! O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters, vol. i. n. (r. ), p. 399, where we read : " O'Flaherty places the accession of Donnchadh in the year 770, and his death in 797, which is the true chronology. He adds: " Quo rege, Anno 795, Dani Scotiae, et Hiberniae oras infestare coparunt". -- Ogygia, p. 433". The
" He pi bAIac tJAinet) C&ioeo m |ii petnAin
1rra -po i\e6c nip'o tiAjv&it, Cjtfrc hi CAlen en&ip".
translation:
#? **? #
" In the congregation of the seed of man, Went the king before us,
Submitted to the noble law
Christ, on the Calends of January".
St. yEngusius Bagiographus. 17
that of Colgan, that the scholia on the Festilogy of . SSngus had been composed at Tallagh in the time of Malruan. 1
V. --Description and analysis of St. Angus' Festology. --He resided at Dysart Bethach at the period of its completion. -- Its
first circulation in the reign ofAidus the Sixth. -- The Martyr- ology of Tallagh, and interesting particulars regarding this composition.
We are indebted to the late distinguished Irish scholar, Pro
fessor Eugene O'Curry, for a particular description and analysis of Angus' metrical Festology or FMird. 2 This composition consists of three distinct parts. The first par! , known as the Invocation, contains five quatrains, which ask grace and sancti- fication from Christ on the poet's work. It is written"in the ancient Conachlann, or what modern Gaelic scholars call chain- verse", in English. By such metrical arrangement, the last words of each quatrain are identical, or nearly so, with the first words of that succeeding. * The second part, as we are told, is
Annals of Ulster, however, assign the death of this monarch to a. d. 796, and
Iam unable to discover any notice regarding Conor, Son of Aodh Oirdnighe, mentioned by the scholiast on Angus' poem,
the Four Masters to a. d. 792.
in any of our early Annals.
1 Of this Feiirim Festology-- sometimes called the Martyrology of Aengus
Ceile De-- six copies, at least, are known to be extant, and four of these are on vellum. Two copies are preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford ; one, if not two, at St. Isidore's College, Home; one in the Burgundian Library, Brus sels ; one, a transcript, made for Dr. Todd, by Professor O'Curry ; and one, found in the celebrated Leabhar Mdr Duna Doighre' -- commonly called the Leabhar Breac--compiled about the year 1400, and now in possession of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. "There is a short history of the author, and the tract prefixed to this copy, which commenced, as such Gaedhlic documents usually do, with giving the name of the author, the time, the place, and the object of the composition. There is, then, a short disquisition on this arrange ment, in which the usages of the philosophers and the order of the creation are referred to as precedents". See Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, Lect. xvii. p. 363.
2 In O'Heilly's Chronological Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers, p. liii. , it receives the designation of a Hierology.
3 An illustration, in the Irish language and character, will be found in Lec tures on the Manuscript Materials ofAncient Irish History, Appendix No. cxiii. p. 610, and which has been published from the original, contained in the Leabhar Breac --a MS. belonging to the Royal Irish Academy. The five stanzas in Irish have been thus rendered into English, by Mr. O'Curry: --
" Sanctify, O Christ 1 my words :-- O Lord of the seven heavens ! Grant me the gift of wisdom,
O Sovereign of the bright sun !
O bright sun, who dost illumine
The heavens with all thy holiness! O King who governest the angels !
O Lord of all the people ! ,
18 The Life and Works of
a poem, by way of preface, and it consists of two hundred and twenty quatrains. But of these only eighty are found prefixed to the main poem, or chief subject matter. The remaining one hundred and forty quatrains are postfixed to the main poem, and these are called the post or second preface, by Mr. O'Curry. We may rather, perhaps, consider them in the light of those verses, which many of our medieval and modern poets designate the " L'Envoy", as the conclusion of a poem. The verses are in a similar character, and follow the like measure, as they are indeed a continuation of the Invocation, The eighty stanzas
prefixed to the main poem, in very beautiful and forcible lan
guage give us a very glowing account regarding the sufferings and tortures of the early Christian martyrs ; how their perse cutors' names have been forgotten, while those of their victims were remembered with honour, veneration, and affection ; how Pilate's wife sinks into oblivion, while the Blessed Virgin Mary has been rememberer! and venerated from earth's uttermost bounds to its centre. Even in Ireland, the enduring supremacy of Christ's Church had been manifested. Tara had been aban doned and become a desert, because its kings were vain-glorious, while Armagh remains the populous seat of dignity, piety, and learning. Cruachain, a former royal residence of the Connaught kings, is deserted, while Clonmacnois resounds with the dashing
of chariots and tramp of multitudes to honour St. Ciaran's shrine. Aillinn's royal palace had passed away, while St. Brigid's church at Kildare retained its dazzling splendour. Ul
0 Lord of the people !
0 King all righteous and good!
May I receive the full benefit Of praising Thy royal hosts.
Thy royal hosts I praise,
Because Thou art my Sovereign ; 1 have disposed my mind
To be constantly beseeching Thee.
1 beseech a favour from Thee,
That I be purified from my sins
Through the peaceful bright- shining flock, The royal host whom I celebrate".
We are informed, that General Vallancey and Theophilus O'Flanagan, having met with this poem -- which is rather a conspicuous one -- in the Leabhar Breac, and finding the name of Christ contractedly written Cli, with a horizontal dash over these two letters, considered they had found an address to the sun. This was a supposed proof of the former worship of that luminary by the ancient Irish. The letters C B were presumed to have been a contraction for Creas, which, from the books of Indian Brahmins and the Sanscrit, Vallancey conjectured to be a name for the sun, common both to Ireland and India. These views of General Vallancey, with a highly poetical translation of Aengus'poem, were embodied in a small printed pamphlet. ? This was addressed "To the Pre sident and Members of the Eoyal Irish Academy, as a proof of the Ancient History of Ireland", by General Vallancey.
St. ^ngusius Hagiographus. 19
ster's royal palace at Emania had disappeared, while the holy
Coemghen's church at Glcann-da-locha remains in full glory.
The monarch Leaghaire's pomp and pride were extinguished, while St. Patrick's name continues to shine with undiminished lustre. Thus, the poet continues to contrast fleeting and for gotten names and reputations of great men and establishments, belonging to the pagan and secular world, with the stability, freshness, and splendour of Christian Churches, and the ever- flourishing names of their illustrious, although often humble founders. The third part is properly the tSlirS or Festological Poem itself, and it is comprised within three hundred and sixty- five quatrains, which, the reader will observe, forms a stanza for each day in the year. The Circumcision ofour Lord is placed at
the head of the Festivals, and with it the FMirS begins. 1 This poem is not wholly confined to notices of the Irish saints. Our great national Apostle, St. Patrick, is commemorated at the 17th of March. 2 And again, at the 13th of April, Bishop Tassagh, one of St. Patrick's favourite companions, is recorded. * Bishop Tassagh was chief manufacturer and ornamenter of croziers, crosses, bells, and shrines, and attended St. Patrick at his death.
The whole of this, which is the chief poem, as also the first preface, is thickly interlined with an ancient gloss and commen tary. These explain difficult or obsolete words and passages. Sometimes, notes may be found on the sites of ancient churches, connected with our Irish saints, who lived to the time of our author. Occasional passages from their Lives and Miracles will be seen. These notes are interspersed over the margin, and
1 In the Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History, Appendix No. cxiv. p. 611, may be seen the first stanza of this part of the poem in the Irish language and character, as extracted from the original found in the Leabhar Breac, R. I. A. It has been thus rendered into English by
Mr. O'Curry:--" At the head of the congregated saints, Let the King take the first place :
Unto the noble dispensation did submit Christ --on the calends of January".
* See Ibid. , Appendix, No. cxv. for the Irish stanza thus rendered into
English:--
" The blaze of a splendid sun,
The apostle of stainless Erinn, Patrick-- with his countless thousands, May he shelter our wretchedness".
* See Ibid. , Appendix, No. czvi. , for the Irish stanza, thus rendered into
" The kingly Bishop Tassagh,
Who administered on his arrival,
The body of Christ-- the truly powerful King -- And the Communion to Patrick".
English :--
$0 The Life and Worhs of
they require close and accurate study to connect them with their appropriate textual passages. The three parts, or cantos, into which the entire poem has been divided, may be treated, indeed, as one continuous composition. The last words of the Invocation are the first words to. the first preface of eighty stanzas ; while the last words of this preface are the first words of the main poem ; and again, the last words of this chief poem are the first words of the post or second preface, which consists of one hundred and forty stanzas.
This latter division concludes the work, and in it JEngus recapitulates the subject of his FdlirS, teaching the faithful how to read and use and explaining its arrangement. He declares, though great the number, he has only been able to enumerate the princes of the saints in it. He recommends for pious meditation to the faithful, and indicates spiritual benefits to be gained by reading or reciting it. He says, he had travelled far
and near to collect the names and history of subjects for his praise and invocation. For the foreign saints, he consulted St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and Eusebius. He collected the festivals of our Irish saints from " the countless hosts of the illuminated books of Erinn". He then says, having already mentioned and invoked the saints at their respective festival days, he will now invoke them in classes or bands, under certain heads or leaders. This done in the following order: The elders or ancients, under Noah the prophets under Isaiah the patriarchs under Abraham the apostles and disciples under Peter the wise or learned men under Paul the martyrs under Stephen the spiri tual directors under old Paul the Virgins of the World under the Blessed Virgin Mary; the holy bishops of Rome under Peter; the bishops of Jerusalem under Jacob or James; the bishops of Antioch also under Peter the bishops of Alexandria under Mark division of them under Honorati division of learned men under the gifted Benedict all the innocents who suffered at Bethlehem under Georgius the priests under Aaron the monks under Anthony division of the world's saints under Martin the noble saints of Erinn under St. Patrick the saints of Scotland under St. Colum Cille while the last great division of Eriun's saintly virgins has been placed under holy St. Brigid of Kildare. In an eloquent strain, Aengus then continues to beseech our Saviour's mercy for himself and for all mankind, through the merits and sufferings of those saints he has named
and enumerated. He asks through the merits of their dismem
bered bodies through their bodies pierced with lances
The Felire or Festologies are closely connected with lives of the saints. That of Aengus especially receives the praise of M. do la Viilemarque in the November number of the French periodical, Lt Corrupondant, for 1863.
through
1
;
; a
;
;
;
;
;
is
;
; a
; ;
it
; a
; ;
; ;
;
;
;
it,
St. ^Eugusius Uayiographus. 21
their wounds ; through their groans ; through their relics ; through their blanched countenances ; through their bitter tears ; through all the sacrifices offered of the Saviour's own Body and Blood, as it is in Heaven, upon the holy altars ; through the blood that flowed from the Saviour's own side ; through his sacred Humanity ; and through His Divinity in union with the Holy Spirit and the Heavenly Father. After this long invocation, Aengus says the brethren of his order deemed all his prayers and petitions too little ; whereupon, he resolves to change his course, that no one
may have cause for complaint. Then, he commences another
moving appeal to our Lord lor himself and all men. He be
seeches mercy according to the merciful worldly interposition of Divine clemency in times past. Thus Enoch and Elias had been saved from dangers in this world ; Noah had been saved from the deluge; Abraham had been saved from plagues and from the Chaldeans ; Lot had been saved from the burning city ; Jonas had escaped from the whale ; Isaac had been delivered from his father's hands. He entreats Jesus, through inter cession of his Holy Mother, to save him, as Jacob was saved from the hands of his brother, and as John [Paul] was saved from the viper's venom. He again recurs to examples found in the Old Testament He mentions the saving of David from Goliath's sword ; the saving of Susanna from her dangers ; of Nineveh from destruction; of the Israelites from Mount Gilba [Gilboa]; of Daniel from the lions' den; of Moses from the hands of Faro [Pharaoh] ; of the three youths from the fiery furnace ; of Tobias from his blindness ; of Peter and Paul from the dungeon ; of Job from demoniac tribulations ; of David from Saul; of Joseph from his brothers' hands; of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage ; of Peter from the sea-waves ; of John from the fiery caldron ; of Martin from the priest of the idol. Again, he beseeches Jesus, through intercession of the Heavenly household, to be saved, as St. Patrick had been, from the
drink at Teamhar [Tara], and as St Coemhghin
EKioeisvoine]dhad been at Gleann dalocha [Glendalough], from perils of the mountain. '
St. Aengus, we are told, resided at his church, in a place called Disert Bethech,2 which lay on the northern bank of the river n- Eoir--now the Nore--and a few miles above the present Mon- asterevan, in the Queen's County. This, however, must be an in correct topographical description of the locality. Aengus had then just finished his Festology. A friendship was here formed between our saint and Fothadh the canonist, who showed the poem he had composed for Aedh's decision. Before pre-
1 See Manuscript Materials ofAncient Irish History. Lcct. xvii. pp. 365 to 370. 1 We feel inclined to believe this place was not distinct from Dysart Enos.
S
22 The Life and Works of
senting it to the king, he desired and received the warm ap
proval of his brother poet. 1
" It is said, Aengus Ceile De first published or circulated his
Festology" that year when Aideus the Sixth, surnamed Oirdnidhe, undertook his expedition against the Leinster people, a. d. 804, according to the most correct supposition. At this time, Aedh encamped at Disert Bethech. Fothadius, the Canonist, accompanied him. This learned man is said to have received a present of the Feilire, which had been first shown to him, from our saint's hands. Fothadh solemnly approved and recom mended it for perusal by the faithful. * Thus, it would appear, that the poem nad not been issued, until after the death of holy Abbot Malruan, which took place a. d. 792, according to the best computation. } This fact appears still more evident, as in the Festilogy, the name of Tallagh's venerable superior is found recorded, with a suitable eulogy. Professor O'Curry says, that according to the best accounts, Aengus wrote his poem in or before a. d. 798 ; for, so far as can be ascertained, the name of any saint, who died after such date, cannot be discovered in it. *
According to Colgan, Aengus had resolved upon commenc ing another work, in which should be included the names of saints, omitted in his Feilire, that thus any doubt regarding the veneration due to them, and the intentional omission of their names in his poem, might in a measure be obviated.
In conjunction with St.
