No More Learning

" St.
Colman-Elo required his disciple to partake of generous food, whilst under his care and direction. " This was enjoined, with a view to strengthen his con- stitution for those labours in which he was afterwards desti—ned to engage. "
A—n anecdote is related regarding our saint. He
is said how- incorrectly,
ever, to have been required by St. Cronan, Abbot of Roscrea,^3 to transcribe
for him a book of Gospels. This manuscript had been preserved in a brass
box, richly plated with silver. Thady O'CarroU, chief of Ely O'Carroll, who lived about the middle of the twelfth century, caused it to be gilt. Donald
O'Cuanain, afterwards Bishop of Killaloe, and who is called O'Kenedy by Sir James Ware, renovated this most interesting relic about the year 1220, The MS. and box were preserved in the Abbey of Roscrea, until the dissolution of monasteries took place. Then they came into lay hands. At length they were bought by Henry Monck Mason, Esq. , LL. D. , M. R. I. A. , from Dr. Har- rison, of Nenagh, in Tipperary. From Mr. Mason, Sir William Betham pur- chased them. Mr. Mason exhibited them before the Society of Antiquaries inLondon. Afterwards,onthe24thofMay,1819,helaidthembeforethe Royal Irish Academy. ^^ The scribe Dimma complied with St. Cronan's re- quest, and he fulfilled it after the lapse of forty days. During thi—s time, it is
But,
the writer took neither f—
ood nor rest. this narrative in its cir-
stated,
cumstances sufficiently dubious would appear to have been applicable to some other scribe, 's bearing a similar name to that of our saint. '^
While the compiler of St. Cronan's Life attributes this miracle to the effi- cacy of the merits possessed by the subject of his memoir ; assuming our
9 See notices of this saint at the 26th of
September.
'° In the 19th chapter of St. Colman Elo's
which — to atthe Acts, Colgan promised give
"
the title —" of a rich following : Description
and antient box containing a Latin copy of
the Gospels, which was found in a mountain
in the of andis nowin county Tippei-ary,
—October hemusthavemeant the
Monck
Henry Mason, Esq. ,
26th of
tember our saint is said to have been his
of
LL. D. , M. R. I. A. " This Essay was after-
Sep-
possession
disciple. St. Adamnan, in his
Columba," lib. i. , cap, 5, alhides to this
Colman-Elo. See Dr. Reeves' edition, p.
29. He is there called Columbanus. Joce-
lin, in his Life of St. Patrick, also says that
this same Colman-Elo was Apostolic Legate.
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,"
vi. Januarii, n. 6, p. 17. And "Trias author of this work "signs his name at the
Thaumaturga. xcvi. , p. 87.
'^
" Sexta Vita S. Patricii,
cap.
end of the ^ Dimma Mac
book, Nathi,'
Dimma the son of Nathi. He was a relation of St. Cronan, whose grandfather was also named Nathi. "
For these statements, Colgan cites the nineteenth chapter of Colman-EIo's Acts.
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nige," vi. Januarii. Vita S. Dimani, cap. i. ,
ii. , iii. , p. 16.
'3 See his Life at the 28th of April.
't OnthisoccasionhereadanEssay,under
"^ Such is Dr. correct
"See
Colgan's
Lanigan's
Life of St.
wards published in the transactions of the
Academy. See Sir William Betham's "Irish "
Antiquarian Researches, vol. i. , pp. 43, 44. For some yac-j'/w? '/*' illustrations of this book, the reader is referred to succeeding pages of the work quoted.
'5 According to Sir William Betham, the
tion in his
"
supposi- Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. ii. , chap, xv. , sec. xi. , n. 91, p. 412.
January 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 75
saint to be the writer, Colgan says he is inclined to refer its performance to those virtues and divine favours enjoyed by the Abbot of Roscrea, conjointly withSt. DimanDubh,BishopofConnor. '? Buthetotallyfailsinidentifying the scribe Dimnia with this holy prelate. '^ Nor is it likely he was the Dima towhomSt. Declan'9wassenttobeeducated. ^" Afterasufficienttimespent in the exercise of subordinate monastic duties, our saint was appointed to preside as abbot over a religious establishment. This duty he discharged, with his usual prudence, piety, and learning, as also to the great spiritual pro- gressofhiscommunity. Afterthispromotion,Dimanwascalledtogovern the church and diocese of Connor. St. Lughaidh, Bishop of this See, died A. D. 537,^' but the present holy man does not seem to have become his immediate successor,
4
CHAPTER 11.
THE PASCHAL CONTROVERSY—SUCCESSION OF SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS AT ROME—LETTER
OF THE ROMAN DIGNITARIES TO THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICS—TRUE DATE AND
SUBJECT OF THIS EPISTLE—ADDRESSED, AMONG OTHERS, TO DIMAN, BISHOP, IDENTICAL WITH THE PRESENT SAINT.
During the epoch of this saint, grave controversies had been excited among the Irish, regarding the right date for celebrating' Easter. ' After the death of Pope Honorius I. , a. d. 638,^ the secular powers had created great disturbances at Rome, and the consecration of Pope Severin had been delayed until the 29thofMay,A. D. 640. ThisvirtuousandamiablePontiffgovernedtheChurch only for the brief term of two months and four days. 3 During his Pontificate, however, a letter from the Scottish or Irish ecclesiastics had apparently come under his observation. But as Pope John IV. 4 did not succeed Pope Severin until the month of December 640,5 the duty of replying to it devolved on the Roman clerics, Hilarus, the Archpresbyter, who seems to have been then the Vicar-Capitular, in trust of the Apostolic See, and holding the place for John,
'7 Colgan thinks that Dimma mentioned in St. Cronan's Life must have been identi- cal with our saint, for these following reasons. First. Because St. Cronan and St. Diman
O'Clerys, who quote the Life of St. Declan, chap. 5, for confirmation of it. See " The '
Martyrology of Donegal," pp. 6, 7. Drs. Todd's and Reeves' edition.
Dubh were about the contemporaries
^' See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 178, 179.
year 620. Secondly. Because both these saints lived
Chap. II. —^ About the year 630, a Synod
in parts of the country bordering on Meath and Ely O'Carroll ; and besides, St. Diman —Dubh was descended from a Munster family
Ely also belonging to the southern pro-
vince. Thirdly. The character of singular
learning and wisdom attributed to St. Diman
Dubh, is thought to indicate a skill in writ-
ing equal to that ascribed to the St. Dimma
mentioned in St. Cronan's Life. The Life
of this latter saint, he promised to give, at
the 28th of April. See "Acta Sanctorum
Hibemise," vi. Januarii. Vita S. Dimani, toire Universelle de I'Eglise Catholique,"
cap. iv. , p. 16, and n. 9, p. 17.
'^ His reasons are by no means conclusive,
and they are still further invalidated by our
learning the patronymics of both persons. For a fuller account of this incident here alluded to, the reader is referred to the Life of St. Cronan, Abbot of Roscrea, at the 28th of April.
'9 See the Life of St. Declan at the 24th
of July.
tome x. , liv. , xlviii. , p. 173.
'» Rohrbacherstateshewasconsecratedon
the 24th of December. See ibid. Others have the 31st of December.
^°
This is a groundless conjecture of the
:
had been assembled at Old Leighlin, when
it had become the chief subject for discus-
sion. An account of the proceedings there
will be found under the Life of St. Laserian,
at the i8th of April.
^
See Sir Harris Nicholas' "Chronology of History," p. 209.
3 He was interred, it is said, at St. Peter's, on the 2nd day of August, a. d. 640. He died on the ist. See Rohrbacher's " His-
s He died on the nth of
October,
a. d.
642. See Berti's
"
Ecclesiasticse HistoriEe
Breviarium. " pars prima, vii. ssec, cap. i. ,
p. 171. Rohrbacher has. the 12th of Octo-
ber. See " Histoire Universelle de Catholique," tome x,, liv. , xlix. , p. 185.
I'Eglise
76 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 6.
then a deacon, and elected to fill the office of Sovereign Pontiff. Allied with
him was the latter, who is called Primicerius,^ and holding his position of being el^ct to the Apostolic See, together with another John, Consilarius of the same holy and Apostolic See. 7 According to Ussher, this letter was written about the year 639 f the true date for its writing, however, was the latter part of the year 640.
The beginning of this epistle seems to warn the Irish ecclesiastics against the efforts of some of their countrymen advocating the Jewish method for celebrating this great festival. Towards its conclusion the Irish ecclesiastics
are admonished regarding the Pelagian heresy.
9 This epistle specially ad- dressed Dimaus, a probable form of our saint's name among the Bishops, Abbots, and Priests or Doctors of Ireland, in reference to the important Paschal controversy. The Irish, and more especially those belonging to the northern province, were strenuous advocates for the celebration of Easter, on the Sunday which occurred, according to their calculation, between the 14th and 20th day of the moon. A defender of such practice appears to have been our saint, with those other ecclesiastics, specially named, in this letter.
CHAPTER III.
BRIEF DISSERTATION ON THE 'APPLICABILITY OF THIS ROMAN EPISTLE TO THE IRISH SCOTS AND TO THE IRISH CLERICS MENTIONED IN IT—STATEMENT OF THE MATTER IN DISPUTE—THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICS NAMED WERE CONTEMPORARIES— TESTIMONIES OF BEDE AND BARONIUS—ST. DIMAN'S AUSTERITIES CONTINUED TOWARDS THE END OF HIS LIFE—THE DATE OF HIS DEATH. —CONCLUSION.
Two matters must be established, regarding which there is a divergence of opinion. First, that this epistle in question was addressed to the Irish, or to the Scots of Ireland; and not to the Scots of Albania. ^ Secondly, that the Diman, mentioned in this epistle, was the same person as our saint. The first matter is proved from the Ecclesiastical History of Venerable Bede. For Pope John wrote this letter to^the same Scots to whom Archbishop Laurence wrote another epistle, mentioned by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English Church. ^ Otherwise,thisvenerablehistorianwouldhaveusedmostintricate equivocation in pointing out the authors of a difference, between the Scots and Romans, in the celebration of Easter ; and again, those, to whom Lau- rence wrote, were the principal authors of this difference. That Laurence directed to Scots inhabiting Ireland appears, when speaking of St. Laurence and his epistle already mentioned, Bede says,3 that Laurence not only devoted
*
This word means the chiefperson in any
Ussher.
8
Ussher most probably followed the same computation as Baronius. See his "Annales Ecclesiastici" tomus viii. , A. D. 639, where this epistle is mentioned. Sees, v. , vi. , vii. , pp. 229, 300.
9 In Wilkins' "Concilia Magnse Britan- nise et Hibernige," vol. i. , p. 36, its date is
640. Reg. Saxon. Edbald, 24. Imperat.
place or office.
7 This letter is partly given by Ussher in
his Veterum Epistolarutn Hibernicaruni Syl- loge. £pist. \x. , pp. 22, 22,. It is directed,
"Doctissimis et Sanctissimis, Tomiano, Co- Imnbano, Cromano, Dimao, et Baithano, Episcopis ; Cromano, Ernianoque, Lais- trano, Scellano, et Segeno presbyteris ; Sa- rano, ceterisque doctoribus sen Abbatibus Scotis : Hilarus archipresbyter et servans locum sanctae sedis Apostolicse, Johannes diaconus et in Dei nomine electus, item Johannes primicerius et servans locum sanctse Sedis Apostolicse, et Johannes servus Dei Consiliarius ejusdemApostolicas Sedis. " We must regret the omissions in this im- portant historical document as published by
"
Archiep. Cantuar. Honorii 15. Anno Christi
thus given :
Papse Rom. Johannes IV. 2
Heracl. 30. "' — Chap. III.
'
This position some Scottish writers incorrectly maintain,
^ See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Ang-
lorum," lib. ii. , cap. 4, p. 1 18, Cambridge Edition of 1644. fol.
3 Ibid,
January 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 77
his pastoral solicitude to the Angli and ancient British congregations, but even to the Scots, who inhabited the Island of Hibernia, near Britain. In con- junction with his co-episcopates, Laurence wrote an admonitory letter. He besought the Irish Scots to preserve unity and peace in observing, with other
Catholic churches throughout the world, the Easter festival, as generally kept, and not on that Sunday, which intervened between the 14th and the 20th day ofthemoon. Tothislatterpracticeandtosomeotherdisapprovedmatters of discipline, the Irish and the Britons were addicted.
Here it may clearly be seen, that the same island is called by the names, Hibernia and Scotia. This aforesaid epistle was addressed to the inhabitants of our island. Bede likewise says,^ that the southern part of the Scottish
nation adopted a canonical and Roman rite for the celebration of Easter, by
The
If therefore the people, who dwelt in the southern part of the Island of Hibernia, learned to observe Easter, according to canonical rite in obedience to the Holy See, the people of those northern parts, who refused to observe it thus, were still inhabitants of the same island. In fine, Bede declares,^ that this nation of the Scots in Ireland, which had so long resisted, at length had been induced by St. Adamnan, an Irishman, to celebrate Easter after the canonicalmanner. Itcanbeshown,thatallthosebishopsandabbots,men- tioned in the epistle of the Roman ecclesiastics, flourished in Ireland about a. d. 640, when this epistle had been written. Thus there were eleven named altoge- ther,fivebeingbishops;viz. : Thomianus,7Columbanus,^Cronanus,9Dimanus,"* Baitanus ;" five being Abbots or Priests, viz. Cronanus," Hemanus,'3 Las- rianus,'+ Stellanus,^5 Segianus,'^ and one Saranus,'? who is called a Doctor.
Apostolic admonition. However, the northern part did not receive it. Scottish nation, thus divided into a northern and a southern part, could not have been Britannic Scotia, but Hibernia. This may be collected from these words of Venerable Bede,5 when treating of St. Aidan, an Irishman, he re- marks, that the Northerns of the Scottish Province, and the Picts thought, at this time, they were following the laudable and edifying writings of Anatolius. The Southern Scots of Ireland are praised by Bede, because they had long be- fore conformed to the more universal usage, and had learned to observe the ca- nonical usage for celebrating Easter, as recommended by the Apostolic See.
^ See
*'
Historia Ecclesiastica
Gentis
Cronan, Abbot of Magbile, in Ulster, died A. D. 649, on the 7th of August. '3 St. Her-
nan, son to Colman, Abbas Foragiensis, in Ulster, flourished about A. D. 650, and St. Enian, son to Aldus, flourished in the same province about A. D. 660, and died on the 1 6th of May, according to our Mar-
'"* St. sonto tyrologists. Lasrianus, Nasch,
Abbot,near Loch Laodh in Ulster, flourished about a. d. 650, and he died on the 25th of October. ^5 St. Stellan, Abbot of Inisceltra, in Connaught, flourished about the same
'*
St. Seganius, son of Hua Cuinn, died on the lOth of September, A. D. 662. Likewise a St. Sigenius, son to Fachtna, Abbot of Huen, died on the 12th of August, A. D. 651. ^^ St. Saran O'Critain died A. D. 661. These ac- counts are taken from the Annals already quoted ; and they confirm Colgan's proofs, because it is evident the bearers of those several names lived in the northern part of Ireland, which then only resisted an intro-
ductionoftheRomanrite.
Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. 3, p. 166. 5 Ibid.
*
See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. v. , cap. 16, pp. 432, 433.
7 St. Thomianus, Archbishop of Armagh, who justly occupies a place on this list, died
on the loth of
A. D. 660. ^ St,
January,
Columbanus O'Telduib, Bishop of Clonard, in Meath, died on the 8th of February, A. D.
652. 9 St. Cronan, Bishop of ^ndrum, in Ulster, died A. d. 642. " St. Diman, Bishop of Connor, in Ulster, died on the 6th of
January, A. D. 658. "St. Baitan, the son of Cuanach, Bishop of Tegh-Baoithin, or of Arteach, in Connaught, flourished about A. D. 640. This saint was a disciple of St.
Columba, and contemporary with St. Moch- oemoc, who died a. d. 655, as appears from aLifeofthissameMochoemoc. Theseac-
counts, regarding the Bishops, with the ex- ception of what concerns St. Baitan, are taken from the Annals of Clonmacnoise, of AUSaints,oftheIsland,andofUlster. "St.
time, and he died on the 24th of May.
78 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 6.
The second point remaining to be proved, namely, that our saint is iden- tical with Diman named in the epistle, thus receives its solution. It has been established, that the epistle in question was addressed to the northern Irish ; for Venerable Bede declares'^ that the southern Irish had long before this time conformed to the Roman custom, whilst the northern were in opposition to it. St. Diman, at that time, was Bishop of Connor, in the northern part of Ire- land, in which also flourished those other ten dignitaries named in the epistle. For all were connected with the provinces of Meath, Connaught, or Ulster. These were regarded as appertaining to Ireland's northern part ; our island being then usually divided into north and south. Wherefore, the epistle had been directed to residents in the north. Again, from the Life of St. Colman Elo,'9it had been predicted, that St. Diman should be a futiu-e
aidandprotectortoalltheIrishChurches; andhewasconsideredassuch,
because he defended their customs and ancient rites throughout this con-
troversy.
If any objection be offered, that the persons named in the epistle were
honoured as saints, and hence, that they could not have favoured a schism
which arose, regarding the celebration of Easter, in opposition to customs observed and mandates issued by the Apostolic See ; it may easily be urged, that they, and many other saints, such as St. Columbanus of Luxeu, St. Dagan, St. Aidan, St. Finan, St. Colman of Lindisfame, St. Munna, abbot, besides several other holy men, who are venerated as saints in our Church, yet were not regarded as schismatics, because they followed different rites for the cele- bration of Easter. For, as Bede states,^° and as Baronius observes, at a. d. 634 and 664, they were not accustomed to celebrate Easter on the 14th day of the moon, after the manner of the Jews, and of other heretics, who were condemned by a council assembled at Nice ; but they held this feast on that Sunday which intervened between the 14th day of the moon unto the 20th, inclusively. ^^ Although the Irish were reprehensible in observing Easter after this manner, contrary to rites and mandates of the Apostolic See, and thus it happened, that on some occasions, they celebrated their Pasch on the samedaywiththeJews; yettheChurchjudgeditexpedienttotoleratethis practice for a time,^^ because it was not observed Avith a schismatic intention. It was done through ignorance, and through a desire to adhere to the obser- vances of St. Columba, with other saints and seniors of the Irish Church. Thus the error was a venial one until a. d. 716, when controversy on this sub- ject ceased, in accordance with an Apostolic decree. The Irish then con- formed to the Roman practice, as Baronius informs us. ^3 St. Diman prac- tised many austerities, and particularly towards the close of his career, which was prolonged beyond the usual course of human life. Full of virtues, as of years, he resigned his soul into his Creator's keeping on the 6th day of January. ^^'f He died in the year of Grace 658, according to our ancient annals. 's Popular veneration succeeded. His feast was held with great
'^ See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis An-
glorum," lib. iii. , cap. 3, p. 166.
'9 Cap. xix.
=° See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis An-
^ Baronius " Annales Ecclesiastici," tomus ix. , A. c. 716, sec. xi. , pp. 7, 8.
^3 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibemise," vi.
Januarii, n. 11, pp. 17, 18.
lib. 206. iii.