Co- lumba on Saturday, "hac sequenti media venerabili
Dominica
nocte patrum gradier viam.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
Dr.
Reeves' Adamnan's 76 See Father John Mabillon's " Annales "Life of St.
Columba," lib.
iii.
, cap.
23,
Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. ix. , sect,xix. ,p. 249.
77 These particulars Adamnan learned
pp. 228 to 235, with nn. (a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h,i,a,b,c,d,e,f, g,h,i,k,1,m,n,o,p, q, a, b, c, d).
"Post annos
from some who were
have been the case, for St. Columba died in 597, while Adamnan was born in 624, less than thirty years after the founder's de- cease.
8l Venerable Bede
79 See William F. Skene's
"
Celtic Scot-
circiter
tanniam pnedicaturus adiit. " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv. , p. 169.
triginta
— Bri- quo ipse
•'
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9. Among the earliest we find on record, it is stated, that he departed
that his dea—th must be referred to some other 86 In early biographers, year.
542
event.
this
life,
year
6 and
seventy-seventh yearof
83 The consideration of St. Columba's birth-year, which we have already treated about, has of course relation also to the year
of his departure, and to the question of his exact age.
84 Father John Colgan has devoted eigh-
teen paragraphs, including a chronological table reaching from a. d. 591 to A. D. 606, to
investigate the exact day and year of St. Columba's death. See "Trias Thauma-
turga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. vi. , pp. 484 to 486.
85 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 214 t0 2I 7> and n. (y).
86 Colgan seems to have laboured under
the false impression, that St. Columba de-
parted this life on a Saturday, and verging towards its close ; while it is evident Irom an attentive study of Cummian's and Adam- nan's narrative, Sunday morning after mid- night had come, when the holy Abbot had prepared to recite the Office of Matins and Lauds, which it seems was the established usage at Iona. The supposition, that Tighernach was right, in stating the night of Pentecost was that of St. Columba's depar- ture, caused the error of Colgan and of other writers who followed him as an authority on this matter.
8? See the Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum
Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , An-
nales Ultonienses, whereat a. d. 594, they
state ° Quies Coluim cille v. Id. Jun. :
"
cille moritur," at p. 5.
92 "
There the entry is, Kal. iv. Quies of
Colum Cille, on the night of Whit Sunday, the 5th of the Ides ofJune, in the 35th year
of his peregrination, and the 77th, truly, of his age. See pp. 64, 65.
93 Edited by Rev. Joseph Rawson Lumby.
B. D. , vol. v. , pp. 394, 395.
94 See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiber-
nicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales, where at A. D. 596, we have the
anno etatis sue lxxvi.
B as the Sunday-letter, and indicates 595, the
very year in their margin.
89 A curious perversity prevails through
88 Their
signature
is vii. , which
gives
the Rev. Dr. and the chroni- Reeves,
of our Lord 8* to the Annals of Clonmac- 590, according
83 in the
noise; while it was in 592, according to the Annals of the Four Masters. 85 However, as the 9th of June fell on the Monday of this year, and as the festival of Easter fell on the 6th of April, while that of Pentecost Sunday was on the 25th of May, it may be inferred from the data given by St. Columba's
—he Annals of Ulster8?
594, t although they
seem to mean the
following
88 the rest of St. Coluim cille, at the place
of his
It appears to be evident, that this record of the event had been advisedly framed f$ but it is hard to conceive on what principle they refer to it so early a year. 9°Ina. d. 595,accordingtothe"AnnalesCambrias,"? 1 the"Chronicum Scotorum,"? 2 the Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis,? 3 the deathofSt. Columkilleoccurred. Intheyear596,accordingtoTigernach,? 4 and on the night of Pentecost Sunday,? 5 in the thirty-fifth year of his pilgrim-
year
age,?
age.
seventy-sixth year
his 7 St. Columkille'sdecease is
age,? recorded;
the Annals of Ulster to a. d. 1015, when supposing Whit Sunday to have been on
their calculations are righted.
9° " In it," remarks the Rev. Dr. Reeves,
" Easter fell on the 3rd of April, and Whit-
Sunday on the 22nd of May, and the 9th of
June was Thursday.
91 As edited by the Rev. John Williams
the 2nd, which it most probably was, the saint's decease was inside the week, and was thus within the octave of Whitsuntide ; for the festival of Trinity Sunday was not yet instituted, and Easter and Pentecost were the two great ecclesiastical seasons of the year. "
ab Ithel, M. A. , where it is noted
"
Colutn-
"
nocte Dominica Pentecostes v. Id. Junii,
anno peregrinacionis sue xxxv. , etatis vero lxxvii. ," p. 159.
95 In the year 596, Pentecost Sunday fell on the loth of June. If the Whitsun enter into this calculation, as the Rev. Dr. Reeves observes, the year of our saint's death must beassigned to a. d. 596, while Adamnan's mode of computation must be inverted. In such case, likewise, the midnight between Saturday and Sunday must be attracted to the former, in order to fit the obit into the 9th, while at the same time, an opposite pro- cess must be adopted, in order to identify that occurrence with the ensuing Pentecost of 597-
90 As Columba's removal to Britain is said
to have been at Whitsuntide, " Prima nox
ejus in Albain in Pentecosten," according to
the Annals of Innisfallen, at A. D. 555 ; it is
possible, an even period might have been
assigned to the term of his pilgrimage, sug-
following record :
Quies Coluimcille in
gests
cler was probably desirous of squaring the matter, by placing his obit at the same fes- tival. " It is further to be observed that,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 543
Saturday
it he attended the nocturnal
day IQs that
authority,
of 108 which fell on a June,
of our Lord IO° This date 597.
literary
midnight
desiderata, no work is more r—
08
00
100 and Rev. Dr.
the Naemhsenchas,
the Martyrologium Anglicanum,
while an ancient Irish Life,
01
Hermannus Contractus,'
O'Conor,103 have followed that computation. However, as we learn on good
10* that was the last of St. Columba's and that on
life,
he rose for matins, which was the second serviceappertaining to the Dominical Office; that just as the brethren had assembled to recite the Vespertinal Mass of Sunday,106 and while it was still dark in the oratory, his attendant being obliged to feel after him was unable to discern his position and condition
until lanterns were brought ; that this portion of the twenty-four hours was !
vigils ;
shortly
after
midnight,
called the night of Sunday : °7 from all the foregoing considerations, the evidence is conclusive, that the holy Abbot died on a Sunday, on the 9th day
in the
Sunday,
agrees, also, with the chronological notices of his biographer Adamnan, who
year
inferentially places the birth of St. Columba in the year 52 1 ; while in his forty-
second 110 he over to Britain, a. d. and year, passed 563,
97 Tigernach assigns St. Columba's birth
to A. D. 520, and therefore it seems incon-
sistent with his date of death, at a. d. 596, to
allow him seventy-seven years of life. " It
has been very much the habit to extol this
chronicler as a most accurate chronologist,"
observes the Rev. Dr. Reeves, "but it is to
be remembered that the years printed in the
margin by O'Conor are 0' Conor's (nun, not
Tighernach's. He generally adjusts them missam ingreditur ecclesiam. " The meaning by adding one to the years set down for the here seems to be, that vespers had been at a parallel entries in the Annals of Ulster. very late hour on that Sunday (? Saturday) This is very often done in opposition to the evening, or that Matins and Lauds author's own notation. In the whole range for the—day following had then to be
of Irish
imperatively demanded than a faithful ex-
hibition of Tighernach's text. In O'Conor, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass afterwards,
it is so currupt, so interpolated, so blundered,
at an early hour. The Rev. Dr. Reeves re-
unsafe to trust the text, while it is certain mischief to follow the
translation. "
98 A copy of this is contained in the
:
marks " Adamnan reckons his from
that it is
extremely
day sunset to sunset, and thus we find him, on
fiepov, and making the night of a festival "Leabhar Breac," and in the "Book of precede the day. " Examples are given
Lismore," as also in a Manuscript of the
Advocates' Library. It has been literally
translated into English, by William Maun-
sell Hennessey, and this translation has
been published in William F. Skene's Rev. Dr. Reeves adds " Now the Regular
"
Celtic Scotland : a History of Ancient letter of the ninth of June is f ; therefore 1*"
Alban," vol. ii. See Appendix, No. i. , p. 507. 99 In this Manuscript, under the saint's name, we find Cr\i cetit;cAi'6ir' CoiAinciU/i : a gen, a bAcliif, a b&y, thus translated, " Three Pentecosts [quinquagesimas] of Colam-cille : his birth, his baptism, and his death. " According to the Calendar of Marianus O'Gorman, St. Columb was born
on the 7th of December.
100 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta
Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, cap. vi. , p. 486.
was the Sunday letter of the year. But 597 is the only year at this period to which F belongs, that is, whose first of January fell on Tuesday.
108 The feast of St. Columba's successor at Iona, the Abbot Baithen, occurs on this day, likewise, and Adamnan notes the co- incidence, in his " Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 45, p. 182.
109 The Rev. Dr. Reeves has very ably de- monstrated this to have been the true year of the holy Abbot's death, in his edition of Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba," Addi- tional ; Notes L, pp. 309 to 312, with the accompanying notes.
110 And the second after the battle year
Cuildreibhne;
101 102
In his Chronicle, at A. D. 596.
At the 9th of June.
103 See " Rerum Hibernicarum Scripto-
tomus
,0* That of Adamnan, and from him the
res,"
i. , Prolegomina,p. 139.
"
106 It is thus expressed by Adamnan : Sanctus ad vespertinalem Doniinicae noctis
Father John Colgan, Ioa
succeeding proofs have been taken, while the particulars have been given in the pre- ceding part of the present chapter.
105 Adamnan relates the saying of St.
Co- lumba on Saturday, "hac sequenti media venerabili Dominica nocte patrum gradier viam. "
ecited most after
having completed
probably
and with a view of celebrating the
more than one occasion, employing vuxOv-
from his "Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 45, p. 181, lib. hi. , cap. 11, p. 210, cap. 12, p. 211, and cap. 23, pp. 230, 233.
107 In summing up these particulars, the :
544 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
thirty-four years of his pilgrimage, it must be concluded, that he departed from life, a. d. 597, giving seventy-six years for his age. This calculation fairly accords, likewise, with the account of Venerable Bede,111 who placing St. Columba's removal to Scotland at 565, and who, giving him thirty-two years of pilgrimage there, brings his death to a. d. 597, when he was about
the uncertainty being in his estimation, as to whether it happened before or after the midnight of Sunday. "3 To this latter year, some of the best modern
writers, such as Sir James Ware" 4 Roderick O'Flaherty, 115 Bishop
6 11 II8 Challoner," Rev. Dr. Lanigan, ? the Rev. Alban Butler, Les Petits
112
as to the year of St. Columba's decease, he seems doubtful as to the day
of seventy-seven years age.
While the learned
Ussher — Archbishop agrees
1 '? Rev. Dr. and William F. Reeves,
120 the
Skene, assign departure
The year 598 is assigned by
Bollandistes,
of the holy founder of Iona from this life.
I2I
122
I23 and
Father
byMatthewof Paris,
12* for that of his death. In
by I25 have
very generally adopted, by writers who have
says : Quod si ineunte IX die Junii is decesserit, ad annum dxcvii. cum Beda ; rin desinente ad annum dxcvi. cum Her- manno mors ejus erit referenda : pro quo etiam Tigernaci faciunt Annales ; in quibus Quit's ColumcilU in nocte Do—minica: Pettte- COSttt c0ntij4is. se memoratur. " " Britannica- rum Eccle»iarum Antiquitates," cap. xv. , p. 363. See also his Index Chronologicus, at A. d. , dxcvii. , p. 534.
Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. ii. , p. 15.
"5 See •'
Ogygia,"
learnedly investigated the matter. 113He "
123
"4 See "De
Baert, S. J. ,
who edited the Acts of our
Scotia;
gus Chronologo-Genealogicus, pp. 474, 475.
116 See "A Memorial of British
p. 89.
Commentarius
"' See " Ecclesiastical of
History Ireland,"
vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect, xiv. , p. 245, and nn. 230, 231, pp. 247, 248.
1,8
See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June ix. The Rev. Alban Butler mistakes, how- ever, in making Saturday fall on the 9th of June, in A. D. 597.
"'See "Vies des Saints," tome vi. ,
120
Ancient Alban," vol.
194.
"; See Rev. Dr.
Lanigan's
ix de Jour
35 peregrinationis suae, aetatis 76 . " Codex Harleianus.
,2 "
9 Thus in Reran) Hibernicarum Scrip-
tores," tomus ii. , Annales Innisfallenses,
we have in the Bodleian " Nativitas copy,
Regum
ii. , Junii
Prxsbytero Abbate, Ad Yitam prolixiorem
byMatthewofWestminster,
Sigibert,
John Mabillon,
the illustrious Cenobiarch terminated his precious life. Most probably, how- ever, the truest calculation is, that Columba died very early on Sunday morn-
the
of
a. d.
120
At this
he should have been in the
9th
His death has been
597. 12
1. 1 *' See
June,
time,
? according to the Annals of Innisfallen,
ing,
eighty-sixth year of his age,
lished by Rev. Dr. O'Conor, 120 but in which we find no record of his demise.
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,"lib. iii. , cap. iv. , pp. 168, 169.
banus, doctor Scotorum et Pictorum, obiit, qui posteris suis multa sanctkatis documenta
1. 2
This computation seems to have been
—"Chronica edited reliquit. " Majora," by
Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. i. , p. 257.
He appears to have copied the exact
words of Matthew of Paris already given, in
"Floies Historiarum," p. 203.
•See "Annales Ordinis S. Benedict! ,"
tomus i. , lib. ix. , sect, xix. , p. 249.
'• "
assigned
to a. d.
606, by
Catalo-
saint, in the BdUaodJsts' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus ix. De Sancto Columba
I'iety,"
pr&vius,
pp. 193,
Juin, p. 542.
See "Celtic Scotland: a History of Columbae chill, at a. d. 511, p. 5.
P- 143-
"l In his Chronicle of that
'• :
where he
writes
termDoctor Scotorum obiit.
ii. ,
Sepultus Duni in Hibcrnia, vt ex vulgato epithaphio
— fidem intirmamhoc manifestum, cvjus opere
date, S. Columbanus Abbas et
"Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum/' tomus i. , lib. iii. , num. 249, p. 150. Father John Colgan thus pleasantly
:
Priesby- probani. " At Anno Gratis dxcviii. , Matthew of
Paris " Eodem anno Sanctus Colum- says:
lands him on the horns of a dilemma " Sed.
599,
the
O'Clerys
it,
that
128
Thomas 1 ^ without Dempster,
1:5 In the Mai tyrology of Donegal they state : "It was A. D. 599, when he resigned his spirit. " See edition of Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 152, 153.
Ii6
See the remarks of Father Francis
sect, iii. ,
" Ecclesiasti- cal Ili. -tory of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. ,
sect, xiv. , and n. 231, pp. 245, 24S.
'•8 " They state at a. d. 597:
Quies Co- lumbkille nocte Dominica 5 Idas Junii, ann—o
book Xi° Hewrites "ObiitannoDCVI. ii. , chap, iv. , :
as pub-
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 545
giving the sightest reason or authority for this invention. He departed from 1
this iife, in the seventy-sixth year of hisage,^ according to accounts very gene- rally received ; while several writers state, that he was seventy-seven, at the time of his death. ^2 The O'Clerys thus sum up their estimate of his labours, and the close of his career. He did more service in Albain, for the love of the Lord, than in Erin, though he did much good there also ; for, it was he that brought the people *33 from the darkness of paganism and sin, to the light of faith and of good deeds. He spent thirty-four years of his life, in that country, serving God, until he went to Heaven, on Sunday night exactly, after completing his seventy-sixth year. *34
All the Church Calendars and Martyrologies, both native and foreign, are
agreed, that the chief festival of St. Columkille belongs to the 9th of June, the
T6
day of his death. 3S Thus, Venerable Bede, in his Martyrology,^ the Calendar
of Cashel,and Usuard, venerate him. '37 St. Columba left behind an imperish- able memory, in theaffections and veneration of thepeople, whom he firstbrought overtotheChristianfaith. '38 InthemostancientofourIrishCalendarsextant, and ascribed to St. ^Engus the Culdee,^ at the 9th of June, he is commemo- rated with distinction. Columbse Cille is the simple record found in theMartyr-
ology of-Tallagh, I4°at this date.
Marianus 0'Gorman,Cathald Maguire, and
The
at v. Idas Junij. In Scotia Sancti Columbe presbyteri et confessoris
141
Notker Balbulus, —likewise
I42
Hermann Greuen 1 *4 as in the j also,
Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad ActaS.
magne et mirande viri. "
of Martyrology Salisbury,
by
si illud sit manifestum, cur quseso ejus fiJem infirmam probauerit? vel si infirma sit, cur
Columbse, cap. 4, p. 483.
135 At the 9th of v. Idus, June
S. Columbia Confessoris. "
"
vocatur manifesta ? "
translated from Extracts, compiled by the
In Scotia
res
131 The following accounts of him are
ments
ipsa
— and found in various Irish docu- O'Clerys,
et Confessoris; magnae et admi- randas virtutis viri. "
138 See William F. Skene's "Celtic Scot- land : a History of Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , book ii. , chap, iv. , p. 143.
""
139 In the Leabhar Breac copy, we find
at this date, the following stanza, which has been tran—slated into English, by Dr. Whitley
:
" Three years was he without light,
Colum in his Duibh-regles.
lie went with angels out of his earthly
prison
After six years and seventy. "
See "The Martyrology of Donegal," edited by Rev.
Ordinis S. Benedicti," tomus i. , lib. ix. , sect,xix. ,p. 249.
77 These particulars Adamnan learned
pp. 228 to 235, with nn. (a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h,i,a,b,c,d,e,f, g,h,i,k,1,m,n,o,p, q, a, b, c, d).
"Post annos
from some who were
have been the case, for St. Columba died in 597, while Adamnan was born in 624, less than thirty years after the founder's de- cease.
8l Venerable Bede
79 See William F. Skene's
"
Celtic Scot-
circiter
tanniam pnedicaturus adiit. " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv. , p. 169.
triginta
— Bri- quo ipse
•'
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9. Among the earliest we find on record, it is stated, that he departed
that his dea—th must be referred to some other 86 In early biographers, year.
542
event.
this
life,
year
6 and
seventy-seventh yearof
83 The consideration of St. Columba's birth-year, which we have already treated about, has of course relation also to the year
of his departure, and to the question of his exact age.
84 Father John Colgan has devoted eigh-
teen paragraphs, including a chronological table reaching from a. d. 591 to A. D. 606, to
investigate the exact day and year of St. Columba's death. See "Trias Thauma-
turga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. vi. , pp. 484 to 486.
85 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 214 t0 2I 7> and n. (y).
86 Colgan seems to have laboured under
the false impression, that St. Columba de-
parted this life on a Saturday, and verging towards its close ; while it is evident Irom an attentive study of Cummian's and Adam- nan's narrative, Sunday morning after mid- night had come, when the holy Abbot had prepared to recite the Office of Matins and Lauds, which it seems was the established usage at Iona. The supposition, that Tighernach was right, in stating the night of Pentecost was that of St. Columba's depar- ture, caused the error of Colgan and of other writers who followed him as an authority on this matter.
8? See the Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum
Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , An-
nales Ultonienses, whereat a. d. 594, they
state ° Quies Coluim cille v. Id. Jun. :
"
cille moritur," at p. 5.
92 "
There the entry is, Kal. iv. Quies of
Colum Cille, on the night of Whit Sunday, the 5th of the Ides ofJune, in the 35th year
of his peregrination, and the 77th, truly, of his age. See pp. 64, 65.
93 Edited by Rev. Joseph Rawson Lumby.
B. D. , vol. v. , pp. 394, 395.
94 See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiber-
nicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales, where at A. D. 596, we have the
anno etatis sue lxxvi.
B as the Sunday-letter, and indicates 595, the
very year in their margin.
89 A curious perversity prevails through
88 Their
signature
is vii. , which
gives
the Rev. Dr. and the chroni- Reeves,
of our Lord 8* to the Annals of Clonmac- 590, according
83 in the
noise; while it was in 592, according to the Annals of the Four Masters. 85 However, as the 9th of June fell on the Monday of this year, and as the festival of Easter fell on the 6th of April, while that of Pentecost Sunday was on the 25th of May, it may be inferred from the data given by St. Columba's
—he Annals of Ulster8?
594, t although they
seem to mean the
following
88 the rest of St. Coluim cille, at the place
of his
It appears to be evident, that this record of the event had been advisedly framed f$ but it is hard to conceive on what principle they refer to it so early a year. 9°Ina. d. 595,accordingtothe"AnnalesCambrias,"? 1 the"Chronicum Scotorum,"? 2 the Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden Monachi Cestrensis,? 3 the deathofSt. Columkilleoccurred. Intheyear596,accordingtoTigernach,? 4 and on the night of Pentecost Sunday,? 5 in the thirty-fifth year of his pilgrim-
year
age,?
age.
seventy-sixth year
his 7 St. Columkille'sdecease is
age,? recorded;
the Annals of Ulster to a. d. 1015, when supposing Whit Sunday to have been on
their calculations are righted.
9° " In it," remarks the Rev. Dr. Reeves,
" Easter fell on the 3rd of April, and Whit-
Sunday on the 22nd of May, and the 9th of
June was Thursday.
91 As edited by the Rev. John Williams
the 2nd, which it most probably was, the saint's decease was inside the week, and was thus within the octave of Whitsuntide ; for the festival of Trinity Sunday was not yet instituted, and Easter and Pentecost were the two great ecclesiastical seasons of the year. "
ab Ithel, M. A. , where it is noted
"
Colutn-
"
nocte Dominica Pentecostes v. Id. Junii,
anno peregrinacionis sue xxxv. , etatis vero lxxvii. ," p. 159.
95 In the year 596, Pentecost Sunday fell on the loth of June. If the Whitsun enter into this calculation, as the Rev. Dr. Reeves observes, the year of our saint's death must beassigned to a. d. 596, while Adamnan's mode of computation must be inverted. In such case, likewise, the midnight between Saturday and Sunday must be attracted to the former, in order to fit the obit into the 9th, while at the same time, an opposite pro- cess must be adopted, in order to identify that occurrence with the ensuing Pentecost of 597-
90 As Columba's removal to Britain is said
to have been at Whitsuntide, " Prima nox
ejus in Albain in Pentecosten," according to
the Annals of Innisfallen, at A. D. 555 ; it is
possible, an even period might have been
assigned to the term of his pilgrimage, sug-
following record :
Quies Coluimcille in
gests
cler was probably desirous of squaring the matter, by placing his obit at the same fes- tival. " It is further to be observed that,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 543
Saturday
it he attended the nocturnal
day IQs that
authority,
of 108 which fell on a June,
of our Lord IO° This date 597.
literary
midnight
desiderata, no work is more r—
08
00
100 and Rev. Dr.
the Naemhsenchas,
the Martyrologium Anglicanum,
while an ancient Irish Life,
01
Hermannus Contractus,'
O'Conor,103 have followed that computation. However, as we learn on good
10* that was the last of St. Columba's and that on
life,
he rose for matins, which was the second serviceappertaining to the Dominical Office; that just as the brethren had assembled to recite the Vespertinal Mass of Sunday,106 and while it was still dark in the oratory, his attendant being obliged to feel after him was unable to discern his position and condition
until lanterns were brought ; that this portion of the twenty-four hours was !
vigils ;
shortly
after
midnight,
called the night of Sunday : °7 from all the foregoing considerations, the evidence is conclusive, that the holy Abbot died on a Sunday, on the 9th day
in the
Sunday,
agrees, also, with the chronological notices of his biographer Adamnan, who
year
inferentially places the birth of St. Columba in the year 52 1 ; while in his forty-
second 110 he over to Britain, a. d. and year, passed 563,
97 Tigernach assigns St. Columba's birth
to A. D. 520, and therefore it seems incon-
sistent with his date of death, at a. d. 596, to
allow him seventy-seven years of life. " It
has been very much the habit to extol this
chronicler as a most accurate chronologist,"
observes the Rev. Dr. Reeves, "but it is to
be remembered that the years printed in the
margin by O'Conor are 0' Conor's (nun, not
Tighernach's. He generally adjusts them missam ingreditur ecclesiam. " The meaning by adding one to the years set down for the here seems to be, that vespers had been at a parallel entries in the Annals of Ulster. very late hour on that Sunday (? Saturday) This is very often done in opposition to the evening, or that Matins and Lauds author's own notation. In the whole range for the—day following had then to be
of Irish
imperatively demanded than a faithful ex-
hibition of Tighernach's text. In O'Conor, Holy Sacrifice of the Mass afterwards,
it is so currupt, so interpolated, so blundered,
at an early hour. The Rev. Dr. Reeves re-
unsafe to trust the text, while it is certain mischief to follow the
translation. "
98 A copy of this is contained in the
:
marks " Adamnan reckons his from
that it is
extremely
day sunset to sunset, and thus we find him, on
fiepov, and making the night of a festival "Leabhar Breac," and in the "Book of precede the day. " Examples are given
Lismore," as also in a Manuscript of the
Advocates' Library. It has been literally
translated into English, by William Maun-
sell Hennessey, and this translation has
been published in William F. Skene's Rev. Dr. Reeves adds " Now the Regular
"
Celtic Scotland : a History of Ancient letter of the ninth of June is f ; therefore 1*"
Alban," vol. ii. See Appendix, No. i. , p. 507. 99 In this Manuscript, under the saint's name, we find Cr\i cetit;cAi'6ir' CoiAinciU/i : a gen, a bAcliif, a b&y, thus translated, " Three Pentecosts [quinquagesimas] of Colam-cille : his birth, his baptism, and his death. " According to the Calendar of Marianus O'Gorman, St. Columb was born
on the 7th of December.
100 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta
Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, cap. vi. , p. 486.
was the Sunday letter of the year. But 597 is the only year at this period to which F belongs, that is, whose first of January fell on Tuesday.
108 The feast of St. Columba's successor at Iona, the Abbot Baithen, occurs on this day, likewise, and Adamnan notes the co- incidence, in his " Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 45, p. 182.
109 The Rev. Dr. Reeves has very ably de- monstrated this to have been the true year of the holy Abbot's death, in his edition of Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba," Addi- tional ; Notes L, pp. 309 to 312, with the accompanying notes.
110 And the second after the battle year
Cuildreibhne;
101 102
In his Chronicle, at A. D. 596.
At the 9th of June.
103 See " Rerum Hibernicarum Scripto-
tomus
,0* That of Adamnan, and from him the
res,"
i. , Prolegomina,p. 139.
"
106 It is thus expressed by Adamnan : Sanctus ad vespertinalem Doniinicae noctis
Father John Colgan, Ioa
succeeding proofs have been taken, while the particulars have been given in the pre- ceding part of the present chapter.
105 Adamnan relates the saying of St.
Co- lumba on Saturday, "hac sequenti media venerabili Dominica nocte patrum gradier viam. "
ecited most after
having completed
probably
and with a view of celebrating the
more than one occasion, employing vuxOv-
from his "Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 45, p. 181, lib. hi. , cap. 11, p. 210, cap. 12, p. 211, and cap. 23, pp. 230, 233.
107 In summing up these particulars, the :
544 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
thirty-four years of his pilgrimage, it must be concluded, that he departed from life, a. d. 597, giving seventy-six years for his age. This calculation fairly accords, likewise, with the account of Venerable Bede,111 who placing St. Columba's removal to Scotland at 565, and who, giving him thirty-two years of pilgrimage there, brings his death to a. d. 597, when he was about
the uncertainty being in his estimation, as to whether it happened before or after the midnight of Sunday. "3 To this latter year, some of the best modern
writers, such as Sir James Ware" 4 Roderick O'Flaherty, 115 Bishop
6 11 II8 Challoner," Rev. Dr. Lanigan, ? the Rev. Alban Butler, Les Petits
112
as to the year of St. Columba's decease, he seems doubtful as to the day
of seventy-seven years age.
While the learned
Ussher — Archbishop agrees
1 '? Rev. Dr. and William F. Reeves,
120 the
Skene, assign departure
The year 598 is assigned by
Bollandistes,
of the holy founder of Iona from this life.
I2I
122
I23 and
Father
byMatthewof Paris,
12* for that of his death. In
by I25 have
very generally adopted, by writers who have
says : Quod si ineunte IX die Junii is decesserit, ad annum dxcvii. cum Beda ; rin desinente ad annum dxcvi. cum Her- manno mors ejus erit referenda : pro quo etiam Tigernaci faciunt Annales ; in quibus Quit's ColumcilU in nocte Do—minica: Pettte- COSttt c0ntij4is. se memoratur. " " Britannica- rum Eccle»iarum Antiquitates," cap. xv. , p. 363. See also his Index Chronologicus, at A. d. , dxcvii. , p. 534.
Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. ii. , p. 15.
"5 See •'
Ogygia,"
learnedly investigated the matter. 113He "
123
"4 See "De
Baert, S. J. ,
who edited the Acts of our
Scotia;
gus Chronologo-Genealogicus, pp. 474, 475.
116 See "A Memorial of British
p. 89.
Commentarius
"' See " Ecclesiastical of
History Ireland,"
vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect, xiv. , p. 245, and nn. 230, 231, pp. 247, 248.
1,8
See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. vi. , June ix. The Rev. Alban Butler mistakes, how- ever, in making Saturday fall on the 9th of June, in A. D. 597.
"'See "Vies des Saints," tome vi. ,
120
Ancient Alban," vol.
194.
"; See Rev. Dr.
Lanigan's
ix de Jour
35 peregrinationis suae, aetatis 76 . " Codex Harleianus.
,2 "
9 Thus in Reran) Hibernicarum Scrip-
tores," tomus ii. , Annales Innisfallenses,
we have in the Bodleian " Nativitas copy,
Regum
ii. , Junii
Prxsbytero Abbate, Ad Yitam prolixiorem
byMatthewofWestminster,
Sigibert,
John Mabillon,
the illustrious Cenobiarch terminated his precious life. Most probably, how- ever, the truest calculation is, that Columba died very early on Sunday morn-
the
of
a. d.
120
At this
he should have been in the
9th
His death has been
597. 12
1. 1 *' See
June,
time,
? according to the Annals of Innisfallen,
ing,
eighty-sixth year of his age,
lished by Rev. Dr. O'Conor, 120 but in which we find no record of his demise.
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,"lib. iii. , cap. iv. , pp. 168, 169.
banus, doctor Scotorum et Pictorum, obiit, qui posteris suis multa sanctkatis documenta
1. 2
This computation seems to have been
—"Chronica edited reliquit. " Majora," by
Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. i. , p. 257.
He appears to have copied the exact
words of Matthew of Paris already given, in
"Floies Historiarum," p. 203.
•See "Annales Ordinis S. Benedict! ,"
tomus i. , lib. ix. , sect, xix. , p. 249.
'• "
assigned
to a. d.
606, by
Catalo-
saint, in the BdUaodJsts' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus ix. De Sancto Columba
I'iety,"
pr&vius,
pp. 193,
Juin, p. 542.
See "Celtic Scotland: a History of Columbae chill, at a. d. 511, p. 5.
P- 143-
"l In his Chronicle of that
'• :
where he
writes
termDoctor Scotorum obiit.
ii. ,
Sepultus Duni in Hibcrnia, vt ex vulgato epithaphio
— fidem intirmamhoc manifestum, cvjus opere
date, S. Columbanus Abbas et
"Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum/' tomus i. , lib. iii. , num. 249, p. 150. Father John Colgan thus pleasantly
:
Priesby- probani. " At Anno Gratis dxcviii. , Matthew of
Paris " Eodem anno Sanctus Colum- says:
lands him on the horns of a dilemma " Sed.
599,
the
O'Clerys
it,
that
128
Thomas 1 ^ without Dempster,
1:5 In the Mai tyrology of Donegal they state : "It was A. D. 599, when he resigned his spirit. " See edition of Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 152, 153.
Ii6
See the remarks of Father Francis
sect, iii. ,
" Ecclesiasti- cal Ili. -tory of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. ,
sect, xiv. , and n. 231, pp. 245, 24S.
'•8 " They state at a. d. 597:
Quies Co- lumbkille nocte Dominica 5 Idas Junii, ann—o
book Xi° Hewrites "ObiitannoDCVI. ii. , chap, iv. , :
as pub-
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 545
giving the sightest reason or authority for this invention. He departed from 1
this iife, in the seventy-sixth year of hisage,^ according to accounts very gene- rally received ; while several writers state, that he was seventy-seven, at the time of his death. ^2 The O'Clerys thus sum up their estimate of his labours, and the close of his career. He did more service in Albain, for the love of the Lord, than in Erin, though he did much good there also ; for, it was he that brought the people *33 from the darkness of paganism and sin, to the light of faith and of good deeds. He spent thirty-four years of his life, in that country, serving God, until he went to Heaven, on Sunday night exactly, after completing his seventy-sixth year. *34
All the Church Calendars and Martyrologies, both native and foreign, are
agreed, that the chief festival of St. Columkille belongs to the 9th of June, the
T6
day of his death. 3S Thus, Venerable Bede, in his Martyrology,^ the Calendar
of Cashel,and Usuard, venerate him. '37 St. Columba left behind an imperish- able memory, in theaffections and veneration of thepeople, whom he firstbrought overtotheChristianfaith. '38 InthemostancientofourIrishCalendarsextant, and ascribed to St. ^Engus the Culdee,^ at the 9th of June, he is commemo- rated with distinction. Columbse Cille is the simple record found in theMartyr-
ology of-Tallagh, I4°at this date.
Marianus 0'Gorman,Cathald Maguire, and
The
at v. Idas Junij. In Scotia Sancti Columbe presbyteri et confessoris
141
Notker Balbulus, —likewise
I42
Hermann Greuen 1 *4 as in the j also,
Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad ActaS.
magne et mirande viri. "
of Martyrology Salisbury,
by
si illud sit manifestum, cur quseso ejus fiJem infirmam probauerit? vel si infirma sit, cur
Columbse, cap. 4, p. 483.
135 At the 9th of v. Idus, June
S. Columbia Confessoris. "
"
vocatur manifesta ? "
translated from Extracts, compiled by the
In Scotia
res
131 The following accounts of him are
ments
ipsa
— and found in various Irish docu- O'Clerys,
et Confessoris; magnae et admi- randas virtutis viri. "
138 See William F. Skene's "Celtic Scot- land : a History of Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , book ii. , chap, iv. , p. 143.
""
139 In the Leabhar Breac copy, we find
at this date, the following stanza, which has been tran—slated into English, by Dr. Whitley
:
" Three years was he without light,
Colum in his Duibh-regles.
lie went with angels out of his earthly
prison
After six years and seventy. "
See "The Martyrology of Donegal," edited by Rev.
