No More Learning

in the old Martyrology, ascribed to St. Kelly, p. xviii. In the Franciscan copy,
Bishop Forbes'
Kalenders of
Scottish
Saints," p. 7. Article II.
According
to MSS. S.
Leo-
—
taken from the "Leabhar Breac copy,
'
The following stanza, "
diense S.
with the English translation, has been fur- nished by Professor O'Looney :—
D. 10.
Sei^n lAcop o-p'OAn \mc&. \ biyv uaf ciAibii;'
p^i c^Mi^c CA|\fAiu I'AnAi^ mec neiijAn on Inif.
Proclaim James with dignity, Luke oft over the surgeful seas, With Christ they loved knowledge, The sons of Nessan from the
Island.
^ His chief feast is held, on the ist of
May, "
Jerome, he is classed among martyrs at
Carthage. He was the son of Alpheus, and
of Mary, sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
He was called the Less, to distinguish him
from St. the son of Zebedee and of James,
Salome ; and the latter is noted in some old Calendars, as having had a feast, at this
the entry is similar, Sci eugertii.
^ See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Martii xv. Among the pretermitted saints,
p. 373-
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
76, 77.
Saran,'
every
38o LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 15.
church, which he possessed, except the Eoghan, who comes at this day. " In a subsequent page of the Martyrology of Donegal, Dr. Todd places Cluain Ccelain,s in the county of Tipperary. ^
Article V. —Festival of St. Aldetrude, or Aldeturdis, Virgin AND Abbess of Malbod, or Maubeuge, Belgium. \Sa^enth Century^ Already have we given the Acts of this holy woman, at the 25th of February. In some Manuscript additions to Usuard and Greuen, to be found in the Carthusian Monastery, at Bruxelles, another festival was assigned to her, for the 15th of March, as the BoUandists observe. ^
Article VI. —Reputed Festival of a St, Conl/ETH, or Conleatus,
Bishop of Soder. We find, that Bishop Forbes' has some notices of a'. St. Con-
Iseth, supposed to have been Bishop of Soder, To this same holy person, Demp-
ster seems to allude, when making St. Conleatus, aScot,^ butabishopattached to no fixed See, as was usual, at the time he flourished, about the year 700.
Nothing more, he tells us, is known concerning Conleatus, except what her nephew Cogitosus mentions, regarding his friendship, with the holy Virgin
Brigid,3 Hence, it is evident, he has been most unchronologically con- founded with St. Conleth, Bishop of Kildare, who died early in the sixth century,andwhoseLifewehaverecorded,atthe3rdofMay. Thefeastof St. Conleatus is set down, at this present date, also, by Camerarius,^ who calls him. Bishop of Soder. For the particulars of his Acts are quoted, Alexander Mills, George Newton, the Life of St. Brigid, and other authorities. The BoUandistsS refer to St. Conleatus, at this day.
Article VII. —Reputed Festival of St. Fethno, Fetchuon, Fiech-
NON, Fethuo, Fethchuo, Fiechno or Fetno, Confessor and Missionary
among the Scots and Picts. \Sixih Century^ In the English Martyr- ology, at this date, there is a festival of St. Fethno, Companion of St. Co- lumba,^ as a Missionary among the Picts. ^ We have noticed him already, at the 1 2th of this month.
Article VIII. —Festival of St. Albuinus, Bishop, and Apostle of
Txtringia, Upper Saxony. {Eighth Cejitwy. '] At the 15th of March, Colgan' and the BoUandists'' treat about this celebrated saint, who is found,
in " Scoticum. "3 St. Albuinwasan also, Dempster's Menologium
Irishman,
< In a note here, Dr. Todd says,
''
Ailbhe.
sione," lib. i. , cap. iii. , sect. 2, p. i66.
s See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Martii xv. Among the pretermitted saints,
See, Sept. 12. "
5 It is said to be near Emly, in Professor
" Lectures on the Manu- script Materials of Ancient Irish History,"
Eugene O'Curry's
p. 373. Article Vll.
— *"^"
lect. xviii. , p. 374.
See p. 247, n. 3, in
ofJune.
See the BoUandists'
Acta Sanctorum," Among the preter-
Donegal. " — Article v.
'
Martyrology of See "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus ii. , Martii xv.
mitted — saints, p. 372.
'
Article viii. Hibemise," Martii xv,
tomus
Martii xv.
the Among preter-
"
See
"
Acta Sanctorum
ii. ,
mitted saints, — p. 372,
Commemoratio S.
Article VL
'
See
Kalendars of Scot-
Albuini Episc. Turingorum Apostoli, p.
610.
tish Saints," pp. 236, 311. —
^
"
''He says, "ex Keldeorum genere. "
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomua ii. ,
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , num. 283, p. 166.
3 See her Life, at the 1st of February.
* See "De Statu Hominis Veteris simul ac novae Ecclesiae, et Infidelium Conver-
Martii xv. Among the pretermitted saints,
p. 374.
3 See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 194.
* Ferrarius has it, that he was here an
'
See his Life, at the 9th
March i6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 381
and he became a monk/ in the monastery of lona, in Scotland. Thence he set out for Germany, and filled with a zeal for souls, he there collected many to the fold of Christ. He laboured especially in the province of Thuringia. s Fortified by the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff, at Rome, he was conse- crated Bishop of Frislar,^ a city of Lower Hesse, upon the River Eder, in Germany. His consecration took place in the town of Burbach. In his
adopted country, many virtues and miracles signalized his mission. Dempster will have it, that he wrote Ad Thuringios, lib. i. , and that he flourished in or about A. D. 755. 7 On the vii. day of the November Kalends, his blessed spirit passed away, after a life of great labour. ^ He is regarded as the Apostle of Thuringia, and by Trithemius he is placed among the illustrious men of the Benedictine Order. 9 On this day, there is a festival to his memory, and Bishop Forbes assigns him one, on the 29th of November;^" but, his principal feast is held, on the 26th of October, when more shall be told regardinghim. BishopForbesremarks,thatTrithemius,beingAbbotofthe Scots' Monastery of St. James at Wurzburg, was likely to have ascer—tained the fact, regarding the existence of this saint, whose early Celtic na—me pro- bablyFionan,"ofNovemberthe25th,fromFionn,renderedAlbus maybe hidden under Albinus or Albuinus. "
^\)XttxCCi) IBap of ilaitfii
ARTICLE 1. —ST. FINIAN LOBHAIR, OR THE LEPER, ABBOT OF SWORDS, COUNTY OF DUBLIN.
[SIXTH OR SEVENTH CENTURY. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—ACTS OF ST. FINIAN—HIS FAMILY AND PLACE OF BIRTH—HIS EARLV YEARS, EDUCATION AND ORDINATION—HE FOUNDS A MONASTERY BESIDE A LAKE— AND HE PERFORMS MANY MIRACLES—INNISFALLEN.
Acts of St. Finian, the Leper, which have come down to us, are
THE and in
exceeding meagre unsatisfactory, especially presenting
dates
and names to elucidate the phases of his biography. The places where he
dweltaredisguised,bymisspelling,orbyawantofparticularity; while,com-
ments on our Martyrologists are liable to be inaccurate, and are hardly verified, by reference to the legendary biographical accounts. Much, there- fore, is left for conjecture; and, hence the difficulty of collecting and com-
abbot. He quotes a Scottish Martyrology
"> See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
and Kalendar, and Trithemius, also, but in- Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. i. , num. 36, pp. "
correctly, for this statement. See Cata- 29, 30.
logus Generalis Sanctorum," and additional notes. But among the Abbots of lona, as presented in Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba," there is no such name, as Albuinus. See Additional Notes 0. , pp. 369 to 413.
^
See Arnold Wion's "Lignum Vitas,"
See "Kalendars of Scottish Saints," s This is a Landgraviate of Upper Saxony. pp. 269, 270. Most probably, hov^ever,
Its chief city is Erfurth, or Duringhen.
this is a misprint for the 25th.
® Trithemius Episcopatus ibidem. "
" Seddudum cessavit
" Son of of Fionnlogh,
of Cork.
Brigoon, county
says :
lib. ii. , cap. 42.
9 See " De Viris Ulustribus Ordinis^ S.
Benedicti," lib. iii. , cap. 267, and lib. iv. , cap. 190.
•"
382 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 16.
bining matter, to place the order of asserted narrative, in its true form, or in its best points of view.
It is stated,' that there had been two different Manuscript copies of this
saint's life, in the time of Sir James Ware. They are quite different accounts,
however, as would appear from their introductory sentences. They even
refer to Saints, called Finian, yet to persons wholly distinct. '^ Still, one of these Lives seems to have been a Tract, which the Bollandists obtained from
Father Henry Fitzsimons, and which they published at this day. Although
somewhat qualifiedly praised by the Bollandists, it has been justly condemned by Dr. Lanigan, as a wretched compilation, and filled with fables. It was
probably written by some Englishman, after the Anglo-Saxon settlement, in Ireland,3 as may be gleaned from some of the expressions introduced. Colgans and the Bollandists^ give the Acts of St. Finian Lobhair, at the i6th ofMarch. TheformerwriterjustlyinferstheexistenceofanancientLife, from circumstances related about our saint, in the Martyrology of Salisbury,? which calls him a bishop, and which mentions his having raised three persons to life, matters not alluded to by the Irish Calendarists. This old Life, how- ever, did not come into Colgan's hands. Notices of St. Finian, the Leper, are to be met with in the works of Bishop Challenor^ and of Rev. Alban
as in the '' Memorial of Ancient British '° Butler,9 also, Piety. "
St. Finian was born of an illustrious family, for he belonged to the race
of Cian, son to Oilioll Oluim, according to the O'Clerys, and our genealo- gists. " Thus, he was a son to Conell, or Conald, son to Eochad, son of Thadeus, son of Kien, son of Alild or Olild Oliem, King of Munster.
" The published Acts state, that his mother belonged to the southern part of Ire-
land. According to Dr. Jeoffry Keating,'^ however, he is said to have descendedfromtheposterityofFiachadhMuillethan; but,heseemstohave hadinviewanothersaint,'*yetbearingalikename. TheActsofoursaint, as published by the Bollandists, are silent as to the place of his nativity. If we are to believe some accounts, this saint was a native of Ely O'Carroll, then a part of Munster ; yet, such was not the case, for he seems rather to have been born in that part of Leinster, known as Bregia, on its eastern coast. He received the surname of Lobhar, or " the Leper," from the cir- cumstance of his being afflicted with the leprosy, or with some similar scrofu- lous disorder, during many years of his life. Although the word Lobhar
" See ibid.
—
Smith's "Natural and Civil History of cula tres mortuos ad vitam revocavit. "
I. Article —
'
Chapter Kerry," chap, vi. , p. 127, n. (f. )
See Charles
sanctitatis viri
inter multa mira- qui —
'
I.
One of these Lives is that of St. Finian,
:
of Lough Laoidiiach, or of Kinnety, vene- rated on the 7th of April ; vi^hile the other,
"
Fuit vir vitse venerabilis," &c. , refers to the present saint.
3 See " Ecclesiastical
beginning with,
of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xviii. , sect, iii. , n. 26, p. 85.
"The "
* As for example, when the author speaks
of "Finianus, in Hibemia quidem natus ac
nutritus, sed gentis morum penitus expers. " 5 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," xvi. Martii. De S. Finano cognomento Lepro-
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Martii xvi. ' De Sancto Finiano, Abbate Surdensi in Hibemia. A previous com- mentary of 7 paragrnphs is added to the more ancient Acts, pp. 444 to 447.
so, pp. 627 to 629, *"
History
Menologic Genealogy," cap. xxxvi. , and Selbach, are quoted as authori-
ties.
" Archdall absurdly makes our saint the
sonofthisAlild. See"MonasticonHiber- nicum," p 301.
'^ gee Dermod O'Connor's Keating's
"History of Ireland," book ii. , p. 404. Duffy's edition.
'* Called St. Finan of Druim Abhradh, the son of Garuan, son to Amalgad, son of Ennius, son to Alild, son of Core, son to Lu^jad, son of Alild Flanbegg, son to Fiach
"> "\x\. Hibemia S. Finani Episcopi, sin-
gularis
" Londini 1526.
^
See "Britannia Sancta," part i. , p. 174. 5 See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other principal Saints," vol. iii. , March xvi.
Whitford's
Martyrologium Salisburiense,"
'°
See p. 52.
March i6. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 38;
"
means literally
a person, suffering from a chronic infirmity of body, especially of any ulcerous or scrofulous kind. 'S From our saint's infancy, Divine Grace seemed to surround him, and even to have been communicated to that place, in which he was born ; for, its inhabitants bore witness, that no animals went into it, nor appeared there. In the Bollanclists' Acts, it is stated, in one passage, that Finian went to tlie place of his nativity, which is designated Sord, or
Swords ; and, the territory around this spot is called Ard-Ce—annachte, by Adamnan,'^ owing to the cir—cumstance of Tadhy or Thadeus the reputed great-grandfather of our saint having defeated the Ultonians in the battle of Crinna,'7 and having received for his services a grant of that part of Bregia, extending from Glasnera, near Druim-Inesclann or Dromisken,^^ on the north, to Cnoc Maoildoid, by the River Liffey, on the south. His father being called Cian, and his descendants having occupied this territory, it was called the Cantred of Cianacht. ^9
In the x\cts of our saint, as published by the Bollandists, it is stated, that Finian had been a disciple to St. Columkille, that great Apostle of the Picts. But, Dr. Lanigan conjectures, that our saint had only been educated in some house of the Columbian Order. We are told, indeed, that St. Columba,^° having built Swords Monastery,^' placed, it has been said, Finian over it as abbot. ^^ But, according to Dr. Lanigan,-3 our saint, in all probability, was not born, until after St. Columkille's death. Hence, he adopts an opinion, that Swords Monastery had been founded by St. Finian himself, and not by St. Columba, who is said by O'Donnell to have erected it, before he left Ireland in 563. ^•^ Were it otherwise, Finian must have discharged abbatial duties before or during this year. ^s In opposition to this story, he contends, that it is suffi- cient to observe, St. Finian did not die, until between the years 674and 693. However, such a date is not to be inferred from this saint's Acts ; and, it evidently has reference to a different Finian. ^^ The foundation of Swords most probably took place, as Dr. Lanigan supposes, after the death of Columba, to whose institution, however, it seems to have belonged. ^7 it is
"
Bridget's chapel was on the north side of the town adjoining to the pre- bendaries' glebe and not far from the gates See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's of the old palace ; near to it was an ancient
Muillealhan, according to the
Genealogy," chap, xxxiv.
'= In the Irish
Lol:)har.
'* "
Sanctilogic joining cemetery, was situated on the south side near to the Vicar's manse, on the road
a Leper," yet, it has been used, by the Irish, to denominate
Martyrologies,
we read of to Furrows St. ;
different saints, who had the cognomen
Life of St. Columba," lib. ii. , cap. 4, p. 1 10.
'7 This was fought A. D. 226, according to Dr. O'Donovan's '"Annals of the Four
vol.
cross, called 'Pardon Crosse;' this last chapel was waste in the time of Alan ; the groundwhereontheystood,nowforms —
and n. no to 112. (h), pp.
Mason's " and History
Masters,"
Now, according to this account, Tadgh must have been more remote in relation to our saint, than he is represented to have been in
the Genealogies.
Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St.
'*
This parish, in the barony of Louth, is
Patrick," book i. , chap, x. , sect. II, p. 49. -^ See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, x. , p. 132.
-•'See "Trias Thaumaturga. " Quinta Vita S. Columbce, lib. i. , cap. Ixvii. , p. 400.
Maps
County
of
Louth,"
Sheets
'''= O'Donnell that 11, states,
i. ,
"
for the
12, 15. The town and townland are on Sheets 12, 15.
shown on the
Ordnance Survey Townland
'9 In Irish, Cimoca ceT) Ciaiiacca. See ibid.
=° See his Life, at the of =* That son of 9th June. Finian,
Garuan, mentioned
='
See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba," p. 279.
; yet Harris does, erroneously ascribing it to dedicated to St. Colomb ; there were, be- St. Columba. Archdall has bungled his
sides, within the town, two chapels ; one account of it in a most shameful manner, dedicated to St. Finian, which, with its ad- He says, that it was founded, in 512 by Co-
^'''"The church of Swords was, itself,
part of the oeconomy lands of this parish. "
Columba, having built a church at Swords, consigned it to the care of St. Finian, surnamed the Leper.
by Dr. Jeoffrey Keating.
-i " Ware does not make mention of it
584 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 16.
thought, this monastery must have been founded, at some time, in the
seventh century. Notwithstanding, Dr. Lanigan's opinion, although appa- rently plausible, is founded on the assumption, that the death of our saint should be referred to the close of that age.
When grown to be a boy, Finian was educated by a senior, named Bren-
dan, to whom he had been brought. By him, the child was instructed in the
Christian doctrine, and in a knowledge of literature. Having received his
course of training, with the master's permission, Finian set out for the south
of Ireland, to which part his mother belonged. There, he found the bishop,
called Fathlad, who honourably received him, and finding that Finian was
remarkable for his sanctity and gravity of demeanour, it was deemed right to
promoteoursainttoHolyOrders. Weareeventold,heattainedtotheepis-
copal rank. He was consecrated by Bishop Fathlad, and soon his virtues
andmiraclesrenderedhimveryrenowned. Hehadfrequentangelicvisions,
and colloquies with the heavenly messenger, so that he was thus consoled and
comforted. One St. Finian heard certain " These are day, Angels singing,
they who are come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb," ^^ when he conceived a great desire for the martyr's crown. Acertainwomancametohim,andbroughtwithherasmallboy, who was blind, mute, and a leper, from the time of his birth. For this afflicted creature, Finian prayed to the Almighty, but received for ansvver, that he must bear the leprosy himself, if he willed the child to be healed. Finian cheerfully accepted that condition, when, like holy Job, he was covered with ulcers from the sole of his foot even to the top of his head. ^s At the same time, the boy was healed, and the saint bore his infirmity, not only with patience, but even with joy.
A woman came to him, and brought a boy, at the point of death ; but, our saint prayed, and health was restored to the patient. Next we are in- formed, that Finian sat reading one day by the margin of a lake, into which his book fell, by an accident, and it sank to the bottom. The water was so deep, no one could recover it ; however, after an hour's immersion, it came to the surface, in the presence of many persons there assembled. What was even more wonderful, on being restored to the saint, it seemed to have undergone nodamage. Therehebuiltabasilica,3°andheestablishedacemetery,where miracles were wrought, in favour of some sick persons, during his life, and even at the time his Acts were written. If any person slept in the church, even although its doors were closed, he was found without the building, and on the banks of the lake because Finian had founded God's house for
;
prayer, and not for sleeping. We are not told, in the old Acts of our saint,
where this church and lake were to be found.
However, it seems to have
lumba. Yet this may have been an error of the press, although not marked in his table of errata. For, elsewhere he lays down, that that Columba was bom in 521. But what are we to think of his statement, that Finian died before 563, and his referring to three different pages of the Tr. Th. , in none of which does any such thing occur? In one of those pages (p. 509) Colgan says, that the monastery was founded prior to the year 563, but has nothing there about the time, in which Finian died. Archdall then adds, that others extend Finian's years to 593, or 597, and refers to his Acts. Now in the very page referred to, neither of these dates is mentioned ; but, it is expressly
stated,—that Finian died between 674 and "
693," Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
by Rev. Dr. Lanigan, vol. ii. , chap, xi. ,
sect, x. , p. 132.
'^
See Apocalypse, vii. 14.
=^9 See Job. ii. 7.
3° This name is supposed, by Ducange, to
h—ave been at first applied to the house of a king BastXei^s in Greek. Afterwards, it was ap- plied to the sacred edifice, in which worship and sacrifices were offered to God, the King
of all. See "
"
Glossarium Mediae et Infima;
Latinitatis, tomus i. , sub voce. Basilica, p. 611. In illustration, among other authori- ties, the writer refers to Canones Hibem. , lib. 42, cap. 26.
March i6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 385 been in the south of Ireland, and it may have—been that monastery, said to
have be
—en built St, on Inisfaithlen^' now-
by Finian, usually
written Innis- fallen32 a most romantically-situated island33 in the Lower Lake of Killamey.
Several^Irish^writers ascribe its foundation to the sixth century,34 assuming
Innisfallen, Lower Lake, Killarney.
that the founder had been the disciple of St. Columkille.