No More Learning

3 t This was Hatto II. —at first abbot of
July 8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 159
taneously given to those monks, in the shape of lands or other goods, he had no right to take from them. This pronouncement from so powerful a monarch
was a reproof they well understood, and accordingly, if their covetous desires were not repressed, their action to give them effect altogether failed.
The Norman Invasion followed, about 880. Then, Kreuznach and the
palace of the Frankish kings, as also Mainz, Worms, Odernheim, and all the surrounding country, were taken and laid in ashes. About the year 900, still more ferocious hordes of Hungarians broke into the Empire. These laid waste Alsace, Neustria, and more particularly the Rheinland, with a horrid cruelty, the monkish chronicles can hardly find words to depict, in sufficiently lurid colours.
and under another German 2 descen- Emperor,3
After a of long lapse
time,
dants of the aforesaid chiefs, who had importuned Charlemagne, addressed
their complaints to the sovereign, and asserted, that the monks of Disenberg
possessed the lands and properties of their ancestors, and they knew not
by what right. He lent a ready ear to their assertions, and appointed a
commission of enquiry. Understanding what should please the Emperor and the chiefs, the commissioners soon managed to obtain much false and con-
cocted testimony ; while, as might be expected, their interests and prejudices urged them to frame a report, which pronounced, that the monks held lands without Imperial charter or concession. It is stated, that the Bishop of Maintz33 was an accomplice in this proceeding. Accordingly, the courtier
judges unjustly deciding, and the imperial decree having gone forth, the monks of Disenburg were deprived of their lands and finely cultivated farms. 34 Borne down with the weight of this cruel and wicked persecution, as also having their possessions ravaged through the devastation caused by the past and impending wars, while bemoaning their destitute condition, the plundered monks were obliged to leave their beloved monastery and to wander else- where as exiles. To prevent them from ever returning, the aforesaid unjust invaders of their rights levelled their habitations to the ground, excepting only the consecrated church in which the bones of St. Dysibod had been laid after their Translation. Notwithstanding, lest that place should be left without the Divine offices celebrated, one priest was appointed to look after that church and the spiritual interest of those people attending it. Out of its former ample revenues, even he was not awarded a decent allowance for his support. Thus, for a long time, the place seemed abandoned to desolation. This wretched provision for religious services continued, until a certain noble and rich Count of that province and named Liuthard, seeing that steep and charming mountain abandoned as it had been, conceived a desire to do honour to its holy Patron, by making a provision for three priests to reside there. 35 Afterwards, in the year 976,36 a certain Bishop of Maintz, named Willigisus,37 pious, humble and contrite of heart, having made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Dysibod, began to restore the place to something like its formersplendour. Heresolvedtogivebacksomeofthosefarms,whichformerly belonged to the monastery, and which he then held in possession. He had
Fulda—who did not long continue Bishop, as Serarius shows, and who died a. d. 970, according to Marianus Scotus. He was re- markable for his extreme avarice and unpopu-
larity. See "Nouvelle Biographie Gene- rale," tome xxiii. , cols. 541, 542. He is said to have been devoured by rats. This legend
"
is related in Rev. S. Baring-Gould's (Juri-
ous Myths of the Middle Ages," Second Series, pp. 182 to 205.
3* This spoliation took place about the
year 968.
35 To about the year 970, this partial en-
dowment may be referred.
& This is the date given by Marianus
Scotus.
37 See Mabillon's " Annales Ordinis S.
Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. xvi. , sect, xliv. ,
p. 523.
3* Under this year, Trithemius places the
160 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 8.
another project in view, to serve that place. The monastery church of St. Disibod was afterwards erected into a Collegiate Church of Canons, in the diocese of Mentz, and that bishop raised the number of servitors to twelve, so that they should be regarded as an Apostolic College.
But further benefits and glories were destined for Disenberg, when
another prudent and worthy Bishop of Maintz, named Ruthard, resolved to establish the discipline and rule of St. Benedict there. He provided else- where for the secular canons, and thus arranged matters for the mutual satis- faction of both communities. He selected Burchard, Abbot of the great monastery of St. James at Maintz, to become first superior over the new monastery,whichwastobefoundedatDisenberg. Thefirststoneofthe great church ot' this monastery was laid on the 30th of June, and it was built by Archbishop Ruthard, as stated, from a. d. 1108 3 8 to n 12. It was in the form of a cross—the principal entrance to the west—at the east end arose the high altar, with two smaller altars, beside it. 39 These with the transepts formed the cross. The nave contained a double row of pillars, supporting the vaulted r—oof. Towards the north-east side of the great church stood the Mary chapel probably the oldest portion of the ruins. Over against it was a range of buildings, comprehending the refectory and cells of the monks. To find space for these buildings, they had to construct a double vaulting, ontheslopeofthathill,onwhichthebuildingsthemselvesrested. * Beyond the and towards the
north,
was a 1 which the monks passage,* by
church,
came from the cloisters in procession on great occasions. To the right of this are the remains of the 2 that was the Kloster
chapel-house/ Beyond
garden. <3 To the west lay the abbot's apartments. " To the right stood the
high church of the monastery. ^ Before entering at the old door of the monastery, a little chapel is on the outside. *6
The country about here is described as covered with impenetrable forests,
tangled with thorns and brambles, during the early and middle ages. Here and there were desert tracts, while human habitations were far asunder, and travelling through it was difficult. Thus it became a great object with the monksofDisibodenbcrgtofacilitateattendanceatpublicworship. Atwhat seem to be very short intervals, they built little forest chapels, the attendance at which they undertook, as a service in connexion with their order. Those good fathers had many vineyards along the sunny slopes of the Nahe, espe- cially at Monzigen, at Nahrhenn, and at other places. Most probably, these spots owe their strong and lively wines of to-day to the assiduous culture of their vineyards by the monks of Disibodenberg. Brambles, too, were in
restoration, in his "Chronicon Hirsaugien-
"
sis.
39 There were ten altars or chapels round
that church, founded by the nobles and
Ritterschaft of the surrounding country. In return for these foundations, they received
family burial-places in the area of the church, as the many existing gravestones show.
4a In which are gravestones belonging to some of the Abbots.
** In the middle of it was a cistern, into which water was brought by pipes from the Kloster mills higher up the Glan, and at the southern foot of the hill.
44 These commanded from the abbey bal- cony a splendid outlook down the Nathe- thai.
4* There is a little chapel remaining still —
probably the mortuary chapel.
*6 About its origin or purposes no accounts
can be given. The threshold of the old gate is still observable.
*Itisrecorded,theymadefromthesea jelly for table use, as also cordials for the sick.
4" n They drew whatever they could get,
40
Further east are the remains of the abbey
smithy, and of other useful buildings with a
second cistern. The rain-water from the
Kloster buildings was collected into a sub-
terranean vault with a double coating of ce-
ment, and after settling there, it was led into
thiscisternforuse. Somewhatbehindthis
there is a subterranean cell.
41
There are still many gravestones of the
monksall this
along passage.
July 8. ]
LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. 161
8
request. ** Even in such a wilderness, they lvd tithes of certain products. * To their credit be it told, moreover, the Benedictines in Disibodenberg were
cultivators of letters. 4'
While Conon,s° the fourth Abbot ot this new foundation ruled there, a
transference of our saint's relics was resolved on; and accordingly, Dom. Gerard, Abbot of St. Maximinus, and Dom. Bernhelm, the first Abbot of
Spanheim, with all his congregation, having been summoned for the occasion, on the Parasceve of the Pasch, and on the Kalends of April, in the year 1 138, the grave of Disibod was opened, in that old monastery, where his remains had been deposited by Archbishop Willegis. The following year, 11 39, on the Kalends of November, and by the same Abbot Conon, his relics were transferred to the new church, built in Disibodenberg, by Archbishop Ruthard. Four years afterwards, a. d. 1143,51 the new monastery and its principal altar were solemnly dedicated, by Henry, Archbishop of Mentz, in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of His glorious Mother, as also of the Blessed John the Evangelist, and of the Most Holy Father Disibod, confessor and pontiff. On the same day and year, in the vestibule of that monastery, an altar was dedicated by the aforesaid Archbishop, in honour of the Most Vic-
torious Cross and of St. John the Baptist. On the iii. of the October Kalends, the same Prelate had the remains of St. Dysibod collected into two little leaden caskets,52 and he deposited them in a marble sarcophagus," which restedonpillarsbehindthehighaltar. Duringthecenturiesthathaveelapsed since the time of our saint, a large portion of the history of Disibodenberg oscillatesbetweenthenoblesandrittersrobbingthemonasteryofits lands, and their bestowing renewed donations for its support. However, the sar- cophagus of the saint and its caskets have disappeared, while the sacred dust of Disibod has long been blown about the world. For more than three hundred years after the time of St. Disibod, the Benedictines held possession of this monastery at Disenberg ; but, in the fifteenth century, it had fallen into the hands of the Cistercians. 54
The Reformation period of its history is also full of incidents. 55 The Kloster itself was not free from the new heresy. 56 But the commencement
great
the shape of pitch and resin, which were em-
ployed in lighting their churches. They pro- cured beeswax for which they found many ecclesiastical uses, and wild honey, with which
S3 A stone with an inscription formed part
of this sarcophagus.
54 go states John of Trittenheim —born
there 1st of February, 1462, and who died
Abbot of St. — at James,
made
tionery, and also corrected the acidity of their
they
many
kinds of confec-
of " De Viris Illustribus Ordinis S. Benedicti," lib. iii. ,
wines.
4» They boasted of one name, that is not
even yet forgotten, by those who take an in- terest in the history of mediaeval literature, viz. , Petrus a Roberiis, or Peter of Retiborn. While only a common monk of Disiboden- berg, on account of his great learning, he had been elevated by Pope Boniface IX. to the Bishopric of Samaria.
'•He departed this life on the vi. of the
July Nones, A. D. 1155, according to Dode- chinus, and he was succeeded by the Abbot
Helinger, who urged the Abbess Hi Idegarde to write the Acts of St. Disibod.
SI Dodechinus states it, "Hoc anno, In-
v
dictione VI.
s* Dodechinus states: "altero eorum,
scilicet minore, ossa continente, altero ma- jore cinires. "
cap. 288.
ss Johannes Schwebel, the re$>rmer of the
Zweibrucken country, found refuge there, when driven from his native town of Pfors- heim, between Mannheim and Banden. With the celebrated Franz von Sickingen, at Ebernburg, he spent a whole year. There, too, were TJlrich von Hutten, Bucar, Aquila, and CEcolampadius, engaged mainly in study- ingtheBible, bythe light of Luther'snewdoc- trine. Franz sent him with a letter of re- commendation to Duke Ludwig II. , of Zweibrucken. Not long after, the Zweib- rucken Duchy, with its Duke, became Pro- testant.
s6 The whole of the monks left it except the abbot and one monk. In 1559, the abbot surrendered it, with all its belongings, to the
December, 1516
in his
Wurtzburg, 27th work,
102 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 8.
of the Thirty Years' War saw its old possessors reinstated by the Marquis
Spinola. In 1631, the monks were driven out again by the Rheingraf Otto
Ludwig,underthewingofGustavusAdolphus. AtthepeaceofWestphalia, Disibodenberg again reverted to the Catholics.
In their turn, the Cistercians lost possession of Disenberg, and in the seventeenth century, secular Canons are found to be in occupation,5? which
state of in the early and middle things prevailed
period
During the French Revolution, that establishment was consficated to the
Republic, and sold by auction for a few hundred francs, to the ancestors of its present possessors. 5? The ruins of the ancient monastery of Disiboden- berg lie near the little town of Staudernheim, a railway station some forty minutes distant from Kreuznach, and just on the confines of Rhenish Prussia and the Bavarian Palatinate. The line of boundary posts, between the two, crosses that road which leads from Staudernheim, on the Prussian territory, toDisibodenberg,whichisontheBavarianside. Theruinsaresituatedonthe flat top of a hill, which rises out of the level land, and which occupies the angle,formedbytheNahe. Atthispoint,theriverflowsfromwesttoeast, and the Glan, one of its tributaries, flows in a direction, a little to the east of north. The greater part of the flat hill-top must have been occupied by buildings and by courts, during the last century, although we can find few accounts of its condition at the time, probably owing to the fact, that the ecclesiastics who served there lived in quiet and retirement, thus passing an uneventful career. During the troublous times which preceded and followed the French Revolution, the buildings were torn to pieces by the inhabitants of the surrounding district, who made Disibodenberg a quarry for dressed stones. 60 Gradually its buildings came to a state of complete ruin. The cloister bells went partly to Odernheim, and partly, including the great bell cast in 1382, to the church of Meisenheim, in Glanthal. 61 The remains of Disibodenberg are still considerable, and they show, that it must in its prime
62
have been of great extent.
The view from different points around Disenberg is various and charming.
On the north-west, the Nahe pours itself down in picturesque windings through the hills into the valley. From the south, comes the Glan to meet it, at the eastern foot of the hill. Right opposite towers Lemberg in majestic repose—monarch of the landscape—with the hamlet of Duckroth at its feet.
Farther to the north rises the Abbey, there is a magnificent view.
Duke. He dedicated it, together with the Klosters of Hornbach, Wersweiler, and
Offenbach to the public worship in Zweib- rucken, to the establishment of schools at
Hornsbach, and to other like purposes. He was a little more conscientious in dealing
63 Towards the south side of the You look westward into the pleasant
it a favourite place for excursions, among the strangers who come to Kreuznach.
^ The new piers of Staudernheim Bridge
were built out of its spoils. All the houses
at that period in Odernheim, Standernheim,
hands, than were the English, Irish and
Scotch nobles of the Reformation.
"
s? See Mabillon's Annales Ordinis S.
Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. xvi. , sect, xliv. ,
il
This is an old church, where the Stalz- graten of the Rhei and many noble families are buried. It is worth a visit, on account of the tower of its church, which is a beauti-
ful specimen of architecture.
p. 523.
s" See the Bollandists' Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus ii. , Julii viii. De S. Disibodo Epis. et Confess, in Dysenberg, Territorii Mogun- tini, in Germania. Commentarius Praevius,
sect, i,, pp. 581 to 583.
59 These have done a great deal to make
Gangelsberg.
and even as far as Brockelheim, were built with the windfalls of Church property, out of the wrecked Disibodenberg monas-
which the Reformation brought into his tcry.
" 62
of the last 8 century. s
Indeed, the lordly list of its possessions, and the bead-roll of its benefactors for cen- turies, might lead one to expect such a con- dition.
63 On it stood a signal-tower, when this part of the country belonged to the French.
July 8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 163
Nahethal. Staudernheim, with its romantically situated mills, lies below.
Westward 6* and further on the old town of 65 appears Sobernheim, Monzi^en.
On the right bank of the Nahe, and resting on the mountain side, is the hamlet of Middersheim ; and, where the valley closes, Merrheim, not far fromthestatelyruinsoftheSchlossDhaun. Onaclearday,thesecanbe
distinctly back to the
66 and
— These, too, height. carry
made
and their wooded out, crowning
us almost coeval with the In the middle of the valley, on the Nath, are clusteredthemillsandbarnsofSobernheim. Fromanotherpoint,youhave a view up the valley of the Glan, so far as the ancient town of Odernheim.
Nearer still are the old Kloster mills.
Such is the scenery, with which the modern tourist often renders himself familiar, and it is intimately associated with St. Dysibod's name and missionary labours.
Article III. —St. Diarmaid, Bishop of Gleam-Uissean, now Kille-
SHIN, Queen's County. That Gleann-Uissean had been a place of impor-
tance in pagan history is not improbable ; and, at the present time, a remark- able artificial and cone-shaped mound is to be seen on the sloping upland, whichgraduallyascendstothesummitofClogrennanmountain. Itriseson the south side of the road, which leads from the town of Carlow to the collie- ries, in the Queen's County. On the opposite side of the road are the ancient cemetery and ruined church of Killeshin, also rising high over the same road, whichwindsthroughadeepcutbeneath. Atalowerlevelstill,andbound- ing the cemetery on the northern side, is a rapid stream, which falls through a very romantic glen, and in a succession of small cascades, almost buried from view, unless the pilgrim desires to clamber down into that ravine, where the water has hollowed out its course. The situation is still surrounded with natural charms ; but, we know not at what remote date in Christian times, it had been selected as the site for a religious foundation. It seems to be well established, however, that the present holy man, St. Diarmaid, must have pre-
sided as Abbot there, probably before the eighth century. Were we to accept
early Wildgrafen foundation of Disibodenberg.
Nahgangrafen
1 his rule should be referred to the commencement of the sixth
one
century. Still, we cannot discover on what authority Colgan makes this saint the first Abbot over Gleann-Ussein 2 He to
statement,
monastery. seems, however, havefollowedsomegenealogicalorotherhistoricaccount; yet,perhaps,it has been inferred from notices, in two of our earliest preserved calendars. 3 Thus, in the Feilire * of St. iEngus, at the 8th of July, the feast of this saint
64 Around it, tobacco is extensively culti- vated.
2 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," xxvii. Februarii, Vita S. Comgani, and nn. 8, 9, pp. 417, 418.
3 These known as the Martyrology of Tal- lagh and the Feilire of St. ^Engus, coin- nosed originally in the eighth, or at latest early in the ninth century.
4 From the Leabhar Breac copy the fol- owing stanza, translated by Whitley Stokes,
63 The
ing an excellent quality of wine.
vicinity
is well known for
produc-
66 To its feudal lords, in the early middle ages, it gave the title of Wildgrafen. These were distinguished as Comites Salvagii, or Comites Silvestres, meaning "Counts of the Wildwood. "
Article hi. — « That of he
Colgan, sup- LL. D. ,
posing the St. Comgan referred to in the
has been extracted :—
——who died on the
Acts of St. Ita
January, a. d. 569 to have been St. Com- gan, Abbot of Gleann-Ussen. The latter therefore is thought to have died before St. Ita, and it is asserted, that Diermait pre- ceded him, in the government of that monas- tery.
5 Sab-Air
15th
of
brxocan SAepbuAit) cenAch cuifel
La ,OiA|MnAic tjepb Ia|ja^ Stuan gel Sl/itroe h Uiffen.
" Brocan the scribe won a noble victory with- out any fall, with Diarmait a sure flame,
pcjubtiiT)
164 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 8.
Diarmait is commemorated. In the commentary attached, he is called My- Dimdc in Ui-Bairrche, and we are informed, that he was formerly in Glenn Uissen, before Comgan. s Again, we learn that veneration was given, on this
6
day, according to the Martyrology ofTallagh, to Diarmait, of Glinne hUisen.
This place is identical with the present Killeshin, about two miles west of Carlowtown,andintheQueen'sCounty. Ithasbeenstated,thatSt. Diar- maidsprungfromtheraceofCathaoirM6r,oftheLagenians. Hisfatheris named Sibrseus, the son of Dalian, son to Ere, son of Bracan, son to Fieg, son of Daire, surnamed Barrach, who was son to the celebrated Cathair the Great,? who had been monarch of Erinn. The Rev. John Francis Shearman, who with some change of spelling, very closely follows the foregoing genea- logy, gives Diarmaid the alternative name of Momedoc,8 and places him also
Moat of Killeshin, Queens Comity.
before St. Comgan, as Abbot of Glenuissin. We have already alluded to tins place, and to its historic associations, in more than one instance. * I* or a succession of ages, Killeshin had been regarded as a religious centre, and its history can be traced very fairly through the ninth, tenth and eleventh cen- turies, from various entries in our Annals, and which prove it to have been a
sun of Glenn Uissen. "—"Transac- tions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stokes. LL. D. , pp. cix. , ex.
5 See ibid. , p. cxvii.
6 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxviii.
' According to the Genealogic Sanctilogy
of Ireland, Dist. vii. , cap. i.
8 See " Loca Patriciana," No. ix. , No. 10.
The Genealogy of the Ui Bairrche, p. 180. In this Genealogical chart, the Rev. Mr. Shearman has one additional grade in the
of our saint.
9 See the First Volume of this work, at
January 27th, Art. viii. , and the Second
Volume, at February 27th, Art. i.
10 The accompanying sketch by the author,
and drawn on the spot, September, 1889, was taken from an opposite point of view to that presented in a previous illustration, given at the 27th of January. The present sketch represents the large moat in the fore- ground, and beyond the travelled road, the east gable of Killeshin old church in the dis- tance. This sketch has been transferred by William F. Wakeman to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
bright
pedigree
July 8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 165
place of considerable ecclesiastical importance. A city or town appears to have grown around the church ; but, it is difficult now to determine the
monks' quarter, which, however, according to a prevailing Irish usage, was quite convenient to the church. Again, as in so many other instances we have found throughout Ireland, the large circular moat was in close proximity with
10
the religious establishment ;
yet, whether erected for purposes of defence,
or to serve a different end, we have not been able to determine, and an
examination of such an antiquarian problem must continue to exercise the
research and ingenuity of ecclesiastical and secular historical investigators.
It seems very probable, that the St. Diarmaid, commemorated in our Calendars
at this date, had been the original founder of a church and monastery
11
and that he presided over both as the first Abbot. " His period, how- ever, has eluded inquiry ; nor are the incidents of his incumbency known.
here,
Some writers think this saint flourish—ed as
as the sixth — and early century,
that he preceded St. Comgan^ who died before 570 in the
government of Gleann-Ussein monastery. ^ This is also the opinion of
Sirinus, as communicated to the Bollandists, who have notices ofDiermetiiis
of at the 8th of 16 the for St. Diarmaid's
Gleann-Ussein, July. Although day
feast has been assigned to the 8th of July, yet the year when it occurred does
not appear to have transpired. The present saint can hardly be identical
with that Diarmaid, Abbot of Gleann-Uissean, whose death is'recorded, at
the year 874 ;•» unless, indeed, we could imagine some interpolations in the
MartyrologyofTallagh,orintheFeilireofSt. ^Engus. Itisevident,more-
over, that the last-named Diarmaid had not been the first Abbot over Kille-
shin. The fullest and most exact account of this locality and of its history
is that given in the very learned and valuable work of the Most Rev Michael
18
Comerford, at present Coadjutor Bishop of the diocese of Kildare and
1 ^ The earliest annalistic account of this we is at a. d. Leighlin. place, find,
843, when Aedhan of Gleann-Uisean died. * The existing ruins denote that class of structure, known as Irish Romanesque, with incised mouldings on
31
the west door,
vious oratory having been broken down in 1041 by Mac Moylnerao, when
14 See
417, 418.
l
ibid.
Portions of these are set forth in beauti-
Colgan's
(y), 2I
and these date probably to the eleventh century ; the pre-
11
Of late, the ruins have been repaired but hardly well restored, by the Irish Board of Public Works.
and he adds, that this saint must be distin- guished from Diermit of Inisclothran. See
12 We have
dition assigned the foundation of Killeshin to
M'Dermott-r-very significantly referring to Diarmaid.
13 The festival of this holy Abbot is refer- red to the 27th of February, at which date are some observations regarding him, in the Second Volume of this, work, Art. i. Think- ing him to have lived later than a Diarmaid, Abbot of Gleann-Uissean, whose death is set down in Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," at A. D. 874, vol. i. , pp. 520, 521 ; we have deemed that Comgan to have been his successor at no particular date, but possibly in the ninth century. Now, as both the Diarmaid and Comgan of our early Calendars, and mentioned in them, must have flourished before they had been written, both should be assigned to a still earlier date.
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- ? Dr. Lanigan follows such a statement,
sect, and n.
xiv. , p. 76, 244, p. 78,
already
seen, that a local tra-
chap, x. , ibid.
niae," Februarii xxvii. Vita S. Comgani, pp.
"
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. ,
l6 "
These writers add : Utcumque fuerit,
certus est Comgani cultus, ut vide xxvn. Februarii,nonitahujusDiermitii: nisiidem sit cum eo, qui in nostris Sanctorum Hiber- n—orum Catalogis refertur II, et in. Augusti. "
"Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Julii viii. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 533.
1? See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 520, 521.
l8
See "Collections relating to the Dio- ceses of Kildare and Leighlin. '' Third Series, Diocese of Leighlin, pp. 241 to 248. '
I9 Consecrated, New Year's Day, 1889, by Most Rev. Archbishop of Dublin, William J. Walsh, D. D. , in the cathedral of Carlow.
20
See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 464, 465, and n.
ful engravings, in Miss Stokes' "Early Christian Art in Ireland," y. 187.
14
166 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 8.
he seems to have burnt the town in revenge of Fernamor. Afterwards, Gleann-
Uisean, with its yews, was burned, a. d. 1077, Dut the monastery appears to
have survived the many vicissitudes of those years. In the beginning of the
last about 40 feet of the eastern aa had been converted into a century, part
3
modern little church for Protestant services. 3 Under the head of Glenn
Uissen, Duald Mac Firbis enters Diarmuid, bishop of Glenn Uissen, at July
8th, as the date for his festival. 24
Article IV. —St. Summiva, Sunnifa, Sumniva, or Sunneva, an Irish Virgin, Patroness of Bergen, in Norway, and her Companions, Martyrs. Some proofs of Irish Christian influences on the northern coun- tries in Europe are shown from the account, that Summiva or Sunneva, who was born in Ireland, must have visited Norway at a later period. She was probably connected with the Norwegians by descent, or by alliance. In the
Norwegian Calendars, she is variedly called Sunnifa, Summiva, Sumniva,
SunivaandSunneva. ThemonkOddrrecordsher
3
been first published, and at this date. Molanus, Canisius,3 Ferrarius, and
the more recent Martyrologists, borrowed their notices of her, from the fore-
going accounts. Claude Castellan has her name in the General Index * to
his work, the Universal Martyrology. Her history is little known ; but, if we
are to credit the statement of Rev. S. Baring-Gould, there is not the smallest
foundation for this story, it being only a Scandinavian version of the Legend
of St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins. s At the 8th of July, the
6
His name occurs, also, in the Martyrology
There he is
of Gleann Uissein, in Ui-Bairrche. If these entries be correct, he would seem
of 2* at the same date. Donegal,
as
Diarmaid, Bishop, to have united in his person the episcopal and abbatial functions.
legend.
Greven's additions to the Martyrology of Usuard, her name seems to have
Bollandists
have a few brief notices of this holy virgin and of her com-
panions. Thesewritersfound,onconsultingcertainnorthernmuniments,? that under the name of Suniva, herself and her companions had been formerly
8
of St. Sumniva, has " Sociorum," and not '' ''
Sociarum.
4 There he implies a want of certainty, for the introduction of Summiva among his
Martyrs.
5 See "Lives of the Saints," vol.