Now, in the "Opuscula,"
attributed
to St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
Patrick himself gives us no hint what- everregardingit.
4° HismotherisrelatedtohavebeenthedaughterofOcmuis, or Ocbasius, or Secbasius.
-*^ It is possible, as St.
Patrick, after escaping from servitude, spent some time with St.
Martin, at Tours, an idea of relationship, existing between them, might have originated ; and, as it could not be traced, on the father's side,*^ probably the inference was drawn of its occur- ring in the maternal line.
''^ It is stated, by the very ancient author of the Fourth Life of our saint, that Patrick was reported to have deduced his origin from the Holy Land.
After our Redeemer's Passion, a Roman army, as if to avenge that deed, laid waste the country of Palestine, made the Jews captives,andsold,orotherwisedispersed,them,overtheworld.
Fromsome of these captives, transported to Armorica,44 our Apostle is said to have descended.
45 Allusionismadetothisdispersion,apparently,inoneofhis
epistles. 46 However, his parents afterwards emigrated to Strato Clude, or Strathclyde, in which country the conception and birth of St. Patrick took
the Culdee, on the Mothers of the Irish Saints, some doubt is expressed on this matter, where the Treatise begins, Incipic SencViAf riAOTn e|\en'o •An^'opi', fol. 89 a.
Apostle, nor in Probus. There is no account of St. Patrick's mother, in the Confession, as found in the " Book of Armagh f but,
3^ See The
There, too, she is called Conches, and conum plium quen'OAm pocici
Irish Life. Miss Cusack's "Life of St. Patrick," p. 372.
Tripartite
daughter to Ocbas, of the Gauls or Francks. See p. 375. In the teniiory of Evreux, in
northern France, there was a town, called ConchcB,nowConches. "Howeverboldthe
conjecture may appear," says Dr. Lanigan, relying on his theory of St. Patrick's French descent, "yet it is not unreasonable to
pill 0T)ifp p]\efbyce]M <^tii puic uico b^n- riAuem
rA'be|\nMe mllulAm enim p|\ope h^buic.
—This text being Latin, in the Irish characters from which that of the Bodleian Library,
that his mother, who was called
few vowel — changes
only
suspect,
Cojtchessa, might have got that name from having been a native of Conchas. "
calls St.
Patrick's
39 The Tripartite Life says, "soror, seu
father Calpornus, son of Potitus, a priest,
(son of Odissus), being prefixed in the ori-
ginal, as a comment, at the latter word. See
cognata. " The Irish account calls her "Fac-Similes of National Manuscripts of
"
Siur Martuin ;" but, this leaves the Ireland," edited by John T. Gilbert, part question still ambiguous, as the word ii. , plate LII, and Appendix III. a.
4' See the long dissertation on St Patrick's
make her a sister to St. ISIartin are Sigebert, longed to some part of Gaul. See Ussher's
"Siur," is either "sister," or "kins-
alludes to her, as a " con-
relations in " Trias Colgan's
woman. "
sanguinea," in this connexion. Some writers
have it, that she was a niece, on the mother's iii. , iv. , pp. 224 to 231. All the old Irish side to St. Martin. Those authorities, who writers agree, that St. Patrick's mother be-
"
Jocelyn
Thaumaturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap.
"" in his Chronicon," A. D. 491 ; Florence of
Worcester, at A. D. 394; Harpsfeld, in
Primordia," p. 822.
always been regarded as Britons ; but, St.
Martin of Tours is known to have been Anglorum," num. 21 ; the Breviary of the native of Sabaria, in Pannonia. See "Bre-
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,"
lib. 21 " De i. , cap. ; Pitsseus,
Scriptoribus
a
viarium Romanum," Die xi. Novembris.
'•'^ In the Lives of St. Martin, by Sulpicius Severus, Paulinus and others, we find no mention of brothers or sisters having accom- panied him to Gaul. His father remained a Pagan, while his mother became a Christian, when he quitted the army, and went to visit
Vita
Martini," juxta mare *5 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Lateran Canons and another Breviary of the
Canons Regular, lect. iv. ; as also Sir Henry
vSpelman in his Preface to the Synod of St. "
Concilia Britannica," p. 51.
Patrick,
Most writers, however, only contend for a
"
In Fas- ciculo Temporum ;" Jocelyn ; the Tripar- tite Life ; the Breviary of Armagh, lect. iv. ,
probable relationship, as Werner, ""
and Ussher, In Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 822.
Sulpicius Severus, cap. 4.
B. "
^^ Neitherdo we find it
Fiech's Hymn ; nor do we meet with it, in the Second, Third or Fourth Lives of our
'*4 To this account is Thyrrenum.
mentioned,
in St.
added,
his father is thus noticed
— :
pAC]\em hAbui cAl-poj\tium oia
Oxford, copy. Fell, i, fol. 7, differs
in
"^
St. Patrick's father and grandfather had
his family, settled at Pavia, in Italy. See
474 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
place,47 The pedigree of his father indicates, as much a British, as a Roman, origin -f" and, it is possible to conceive, he may have been one of those naturalized provincials, who served the Empire, in some important military or magisterial position. Those, who enjoyed the rank and privileges of De-
curions,49 were formerly very distinguished in society, and were expected to discharge various highly honourable pubHc and civic duties. 5° The name and distinction are still held to be highly respectable, in many cities of Italy ; and,tobeaDecurioneisconsideredaproofofnoordinarynobility. Itmay seem somewhat strange, however, that such an office could be compatible, with the aggregation of St. Patrick's immediate progenitor to the clerical state. 5^ Yet, provision seems to have been made for clerics escaping penalties imposed, in the time of Theodosius I. ,^^ provided they were ordained, before A. D. 388, or if ordained after such date, that they procured proper substitutes, to serve in the councils. S3 Otherwise, they should surrender their estates to theCuria,atthetimeoftheirordination. 54 Oursaintappearstospeakofthe Romans, as his fellow-citizens jss and, in the old Catalogue of celebrated saints, connected with Ireland, many bishops, belonging to the first order, and contemporaneous with St. Patrick, are stated to have been Romans,s6 as alsothereweresomebelongingtootherdistantnations. Hence,aprobable inference has been drawn, that his family was originally of Roman extraction ; especially, as it would seem, the names of himself, his father, and grand- father, are Latinized, at least in form. However, the subjects of Rome
Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. i. , p. 35, and n. 2, p. 44.
"^ The text of this is thus given, by the
had their institutions well established, in Scotland, before St. Patrick's birth, as Dr. John Stuart informed the writer, in Edin- burgh, during a visit there, in June, 1874.
5° Under the Roman in
empire, provincial
towns, these answered to members of the Roman senate. See that very accurate and beautifully illustrated work. Dyer's "Pom-
author of the Fourth Life :
*'
Quod ex hbris
Epistolarum, quos ipse composuit, intelligi potest ; ubi dicit Nos dispersi sunius in ulti-
masfinesterrarumpropterpeccata nostra, eo
quod praceptuvt Domini non custodivimus,
et mandata ejus non observavinius. " This peii : Its History, Buildings, and Antiqui-
Epistle now seems to be missing ; for, although a passage, somewhat similar, is to be found in the Confession, still the sentence
is altogether differently constructed.
'•^ In the Seventh Life, according to Col-
gan's version, a curious legendary account of
a visit, made by a son of the king of Britain
and by his wife, to St. Patrick's mother, is
related. This, however, appears to be an Bingham's Origines Ecclesiasticse, or the
Antiquities of the Christian Church," book v. , chap. iii.
5^ His reign is set down, as extending from A. D. 379 to the 17th of January, A. D. 395, in John Speed's "History of Great Bri- taine," book vi. , chap. Iii. , pp. 274, 275.
53 The loss of property and rank, how- ever, in the disturbed state of those times, may well account for the freedom or oppor- tunity of Calpumius to enter the clerical
interpolation ; for, we do not find it, in the "
Irish version, in Miss Cussack's Life of St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. " It is too ridiculous, moreover, to be seriously
given ; while, it is to be regretted, so many of our saint's biographers deemed themselves warranted, to insert those foolish popular traditions, concerning him, and current in their time.
** Judging by the names, and from the
earliest named paternal ancestor. The state.
author of the Fourth Life is a word of British origin.
"
that Tabern
5"* See Cod. Theod. Lib. xii. Tit. i. de
Decur. leg. 121-123. Dr. Lanigan states, where St. Patrick mentions his having sold
his nobility, the expression refers to his
having forfeited his rank and estate, when
he entered into Holy Orders.
''
*9
" it would be difficult for the sticklers for
St. Patrick's birth in North Britain, to find
a Curia or Decurions in Kilpatrick, or any
place near it, in the fourth century. " How- ss
ever, there seems to be no very good reason, for doubting such to have been the case, at that period. On the contrary, the Romans
I believe," remarks Dr. Lanigan,
states,
ties," part i. , chap, ii. , p. 33.
5' Constantine the Great had enacted
laws, which prohibited certain persons and classes, from assuming Holy Orders, and
those laws subjected them to penalties, in case they did. Yet, such laws, were not
always enforced, or they were modified, at
various times, by succeeding Emperors. See, ''
Non dico civibus meis, atque civibus sanctorum Romanorum, sed civibus dasmo- niorum. "—Epistola ad Coroticum. See Villanueva's " Sancti Patricii, Ibernorum
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 475
often assumed Latin names f^ but, generally modified, we may assume, from the native dialect, or acquired through some peculiar circumstance, which influenced the change.
The immediate family connexions of St. Patrick are next deserving of some preliminary consideration. s^ It is related, that he had two brothers, named Diaconus Sannanus,59 according to one account,^" and Ructus, accord- ing to another statement f^ and, besides, he is said to have had five sisters. These are called Tigris or Tigrida,^^ Darerca,^3 Liemania,^+ Lupita,^5 and
Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. , viz. , seventeen sons, all of these being either pp, 241, 243. holy bishops, or excellent priests or monks, 515 "Hi omnes episcopi de Romanis, as also five daughters, who as nuns ended
Francis," &c. —See Ussher's " Primordia,'' their days
of
p. 913. Dr. Lanigan considers, that by The names of those bishops were Brocha- placing the Romans before other nationali- dius, Brochanus, Mogenochus, and Luma- ties, it was probably meant, St. Patrick nus, who came from the Britains to Hibernia,
sprung from a Roman family, settled in
Belgic Britain.
" Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect. xvii. , and nn. 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168,
169, 171, 173, pp. 122 to 125.
58 Colgan has endeavoured, with great
care and research, to solve the difficulties, attending this enquiry, in the "Trias Thau- maturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S.
Patricii, cap. iv. , pp. 224 to 231.
59 Otherwise called, in Irish, "OeocliAin
SAnriAr. Ussher supposes him to have been really the brother of the Irish Apostle, called Patrick the Elder, and the father of Patrick Junior, who was the nephew and disciple of our saint, and who, after his uncle's death, went back to Britain, wher—e he departed this life, in turn, at Glascow as the first edition reads—or, at Glastonbury— as a MS. related. There he was honourably
''
in Glasconensi Ecclesia sepultus est honori- fice. " See Sixth Life, cap. clxxxvi. , p. 106. Colgan wishes piously to believe, that it was after his son's birth the title of Deacon San- nan had been applied to him, and he thinks it possible, that this Sannan may be identical
is the only known author, who at-
57 See Dr.
Lanigan's
Jocelyn
buried, in the church. Jocelyn has it,
tributes the number of seventeen sons and
five daughters to Tigrida. Her husband is
named Gollit or Gallus.
^3 According to our Irish Calendarists, Darerca is said to have been the mother of
seventeen sons, and by some, these are all
called bishops, as also of two holy virgin daughters, Achea and Lalloca. Hence, it would seem, that Jocelyn erred in attribut- ingthisfamilyofchildrentoTigrida. But, there is a great difficulty experienced in naming the sons of Darerca : some authors attributing certain names to the parentage of Liemania, or of Tigrida, or of Darerca.
Now, in the "Opuscula," attributed to St. . ^ngus, lib, iv. , cap. vL, fifteen bishops, sons of Darerca are named, viz. , Bishoji Mel, Bishop Melchus, Bishop Munis, Rioch of Inis-bofinde, Crumanius of Leccan, Mid- gna, Mogenocus, Lomanus of Ath-truim. Lurachus Duanaire of Doire-lurain, Loar- nus of Kill-chunna, Kieranus, Carantocus Bishop, Columbus, Brendanus Fine, Bishop Mochallaeus, Brocanus and Brochadius. Be- sides these, two nuns are named, viz. ;
with a St. Seanan, venerated in Cornwall, Echea, and Lalloca of Senlios, behind
and who gave name to a seaport and town
in Cornwall. See n. 13, p. 8, to the ""
Scholia Veteris Scholiastae of St. Fiach.
St. Patrick Junior seems to have been
buried in Glastonbury, and his feast is
usually assigned to the 24th of August.
Badhgna. Some of the foregoing names, Colgan thinks, crept into the original. Thus, Jocelyn makes Saints Loman, Moge- noc, Brocan, and Brochad, the sons of Tigrida, another sister of St. Patrick. Nor does Colgan believe, that Saints Kieran, Brendan, Loam, Lurach, and Columba to be of British race, but rather of Irish, as thesenamesindicate. Othernamesrecorded seem to be British, and, it is remarkable, that one of the sons, Secundinus, said to bo of Restitutus and Liemania, is stated to be of Restitutus and Darerca, in another ac- count. Hence, Colgan supposes, that Lie- mania may have been confounded witii Darerca, who is called the wife of Restitutus, in the Tripartite Life, pars ii. , cap. xxi. Again Darerca's husband is called Conis.
See The latter is to have p. 133. supposed
been a Briton, and to have had for sons,
6°
That of the Scholiast to St. Fiach's
Hymn.
6' That of Probus, in the Fifth Life, lib.
i. , cap. xii. , p. 48. But, Colgan accounts very ingeniously for this mistake of Probus ; for, he seems to have confounded Ructus, with Succat, the original name of St. Patrick, as may be discovered by comparing the allusion in Probus, and the story re- lated, in the Second Life, cap. xvi. , p. 12, in the Fourth Life, cap. xx. , p. 37, and, in the Seventh Life, pars, i. , cap. xxi. , p. 120.
*^ has a most numerous Jocelyn assigned
family of sons and daughters to Tigrida
in the
and who laboured here, on the mission. See the Sixth Life, cap. 1. , p. 76. However,
repute
great sanctity.
476 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
B-ichella. ^^ Three of these sisters, whom he brought with him to Ireland, became nuns, moreover, according to a received tradition. Others assert,^^
however, that St. Patrick had only three sisters, Lupita, Darerca and Tigrida f^ nor can rigid criticism discover a greater number, when rejecting the accounts ofsomewriters,ledawaybymistakencalculations,orclericalerrors. ^ But, we may take it for granted, there are many accounts, not altogether reliable, in the traditions and records, relating to the various members of our saint's
Saints Mel, Munis, and Rioch. Perhaps, the other sons and daughters of the family were the children of Restitutus and Darerca ; although Rioch may not be different from Darioc, or Morioc, one of the sons assigned to Restitutus. Again, Colgan remarks, that besides the fact of no festival being assigned to Liemania, we find a St. Monennia—other- wise called Darerca—whose feast occurs on the 6th of July, and who may have been con- founded with Liemania, in this way. Darerca
to Restitutus of the Lombards, viz. : Secun- dinus, Nectanus, Dabonna, Mogornanus,
Dariocus,Auxilinus,andLugnath. Again, the Tripartite Life adds two others, viz. :
Diermitius, and a Comitius, or Connetus. See pars ii. , cap. vi. and xviii. , pp. 130,
131. Norhaveweanystatement,thathe had been married to any other woman than Liemania, so that if we credit those accounts, we may assume she had been the mother of nine sons.
^sin the "Opuscula," lib. iv. of St. ^ngus the Culdee, num. 4, it is stated : "Lupita soror S. Patricii mater filiorum Hua-baird, nempe Secundini, Nectani, Da- bonnae, Mogornani, Darioci, Auxilii et Lu- gath Prassbyteri. " It is remarkable, however, that no other author makes her the mother of these sons, and in num. 64, of this same
is probably derived from Diar-shearc, signi- """
fying constant or firm love," or from "
Der-shearc, denoting love of tears," indi- cating her true service of God. Now, the letter s, occurring as a middle prefix, not
being pronounced in Irish, Dais-hearc, or Der-herc, may have been rendered into Darerca. The feast of St. Patrick's sister, so named, is entered at the 22nd of March. Different festivals are assigned, for the happy progeny of this saintly woman, and Colgan endeavours to discriminate them, where he treats about the brothers and sisters of St. Patrick, with their holy children.
** There are good reasons for suspecting,
that Liemania and Richella were not St.
Patrick's sisters. Colgan thinks, that Ri-
chella had been substituted for Ri-chenna,
"
royal Cenna," who had been substituted, in turn, for Cenne-naomh, "holyCenne. " Again, at the 19th of May, there is a feast of St. Richella, the Daughter of Attractus. She is mentioned, in the Life of St. Dagaeus, cap. xviii. , and he lived, in the middle of the
sixth century. St. Cenne, the daughter of Euchod, Prince of Orgiell, has a feast, at the 1st of February. She was, indeed, con- temporaneous with St. Patrick, but, it is evident, from her parentage, she could not have been his sister. About Liemania other difficulties arise, especially in trying to dis- cover, who were her children, or if she were at all to be distinguished from Lupita, vene-
ti"act, these words occur :
"
Liemania filia
rated at on the of — could not be but that she was the Armagh, 27th September, sure,
state. The feast if of Liemania is not known,but, in our Calendars, possibly she is alluded to, l)y her Irish form of name, as Lemna, or Lemhna. Different Irish Martyrologies state, that her husband was Restitutus Hua- baird, or Longobardus— referable to his race —and by him she had two holy sons, named
Secundinus and Nectanus. But, an old
Scholiast, on the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the xiv. Kalends of April, or at the 19th
of March, assigns the following seven sons
as some — Martyrologists
of three of St. deacons, nephews
there be one
parent
Patrick, on his sister's side, who are alluded to—but not named—in the Tripartite Life, pars ii. , cap. cxxii. , p. 145.
"' As for instance, Jocelyn and the author of the Tripartite Life.
Calphurni, soror S. Patricii, fuit mater S. Nectani de Kill-vnche. " Again, our Martyr- ologists make Liemania the mother of Nec- tain and of Secundinus, while Lupita is represented, not as a widow, but as a virgin, by our Martyrologists, and by the writers of St. Patrick's Acts.
^ While the Scholiast on St. Fiach omits
St. Richella's name, and substitutes therefor
Cinnenum, alias Cinne-ncemh, Colgan cites an Irish poem, to prove our text enumeration the more correct li—st. The Irish he thus
renders into Latin
"
:
Lupita et Tigris fervida (ut jam numeravi) et Richella ;
Darerca et Liemania togarum dives ; quaj amplexce sunt vitam arctam cum fer- vore ;
Nomina haec sunt clare proposita, soro- rum Patricii magnarum Ecclesiarum
^'^
All of our Irish writers agree, that these
Patroni.
"
Colgan observes, that he found no hagio-
grapher to call her a mother ; and, yet, he
were really the sisters of St. Patrick,
although there is much diversity of opinion,
regarding their respective children.
"^ Tluis Ussher, citing the Annals of Con-
naught at p. S23 of his "Primordia," and
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 477
family. 7° Moreover, we may well doubt the accuracy of those statements, regarding the numerous progeny of St. Patrick's sisters, or their respective children, who are said to have embraced a religious life. Accounts are con-
flicting and contradictory, in too many instances, to warrant very safe con- clusions ; nor, is it easy to reconcile their Patrician relationship, with correct
chronology. Nor can we glean, from the saint's own writings, any positive proof, or reasonable inference, that he had such near relatives, residing with him in Ireland, at that late period of life, when his epistle to Coroticus had been written. When he expresses an anxious desire to see his relatives,? * it seems plain, they must have lived far away from Ireland ; yet, it may be
objectedfairly,thatthiswasonlytrueregardinganumberofthem. Again, when he has declared, he did not know the multitude born of our race or
generation,'! '^ it is certain, he alludes to those converts to Christianity, made through himself or his assistant missionaries. He applies the phrase, in a spiritual, rather than in a carnal, sense. Yet, the ancient mode of calling ladies in religion, sisters, is conjectured to have been one of the most probable reasons to advance, for old writers mistaking such denoted females, living in St. Patrick's time, and for confounding them, with his own natural sisters. Ussher73 and Colgan74 have treated, concerning the Irish Apostle's sisters, and their offspring, who are said to have been with him in Ireland.
The parents of St. Patrick lived together, in great sanctity and perfec- tion. 75 They were found just before God ; they walked in his justifications,
and commandments, without blame. Faith, hope and charity made their
conjugal state a happy one. In process of time, it pleased the Almighty, to bless them with a holy, and an illustrious issue. During the period, he had been borne in his mother's womb, to that of Patrick's birth, miracles are re- corded, as if serving to indicate the wonders of his subsequent career. A stone, on which he is said to have been born, was afterwards held in popular esteem, and persons swearing falsely on it found, that their perjuries were
the Annals of Roscrea, at A. D. 447, states, that a sister of St. Patrick was named Cul- mana, said to have been the mother of St. Secundinus. But, this shows, that Lie- mania, his reputed mother, must have been meant. Hence, Culmain was " sub-
probably
stituted for Liemain.
7° Thus, in addition to what has been Villanueva's " Sancti Patricii, Ibemorum
already stated, it is said a sister, or a female
relation, of St. Patrick, had a son, called St.
Aidus, of Inis-Lothar, his father being Col-
man, of the Hi-Bressail family. See the rum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , pp. 429 to Tripartite Life, pars, iii. , cap. Ixxvi. , p. 431.
163. Colgan arrives at the conclusion, that St. Patrick had only one brother, four sisters, and thirty-one nephews or nieces, consecrated to God, and numbered among the saints.
7' As St. Patrick seems to have been far • advanced iii life, at that time when he wrote the Confession, it is much more probable, that the term parentes, in the passage re- ferred to, is to be understood, not oi parents, in the English sense of the word, but of relatives. . This acceptation of parentes had crept into use, so far back as the time of St.
"
74 gee Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. iv. , pp. 224 to 231.
'3 According to Jocelyn, St. Patrick's mother, Conquessa, was a kinswoman to St. Martin, Bishop of Tours : she was taken away from Gaul, to the northern parts of
Britain, as a slave, and purchased from her father, by Calphurnius. The eldest sister accompanied her, and she was married to a man, who lived in the town of Nempthor. The good morals and beautiful mien of Con-
quessa, it is stated, caused Calphurnius to Jerome. Hence, the Italian parenti, and elevate his slave, to the more honourable
the French /a;Y«^j. Owing to this expres- sion, an etymologist might possibly derive some proof, for our saint's French origin.
distinction of becoming his wife,
'* According to Jocelyn, St. Mel testified, that he had frequently witnessed this miracle.
Hence, Colgan infers, that Jocelyn borrowed
7* He writes
:
" omnes virgines Dei simi«
liter faciunt, non voluntate patrum suorum,
imo persecutiones patiuntur, et improperia falsa a parentibus suis. Et nihilominiis
plus augetur numerus, et de genere nostro qua ibi (Christo) nata; sunt, nescimus nume- —rum earum, praeter viduas et continentes. "
Confessio S.
Patricii, cap. iv. ,
num. 18.
Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," p. 202.
" See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia-
478 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
likely to be detected, in a supernatural manner, for, in such cases, water seemed to flow from its surface,? ^ as if that hard rock was weeping, on account of their tainted testimony. 77
The chronology of St. Patrick's birth, as indeed of the many sub-
sequent events in his career, has given rise to much controversy, and it has been placed at dates of very considerable divergence. 7^ Tiie Annals of Connaught have set it down, so early as a.
epistles. 46 However, his parents afterwards emigrated to Strato Clude, or Strathclyde, in which country the conception and birth of St. Patrick took
the Culdee, on the Mothers of the Irish Saints, some doubt is expressed on this matter, where the Treatise begins, Incipic SencViAf riAOTn e|\en'o •An^'opi', fol. 89 a.
Apostle, nor in Probus. There is no account of St. Patrick's mother, in the Confession, as found in the " Book of Armagh f but,
3^ See The
There, too, she is called Conches, and conum plium quen'OAm pocici
Irish Life. Miss Cusack's "Life of St. Patrick," p. 372.
Tripartite
daughter to Ocbas, of the Gauls or Francks. See p. 375. In the teniiory of Evreux, in
northern France, there was a town, called ConchcB,nowConches. "Howeverboldthe
conjecture may appear," says Dr. Lanigan, relying on his theory of St. Patrick's French descent, "yet it is not unreasonable to
pill 0T)ifp p]\efbyce]M <^tii puic uico b^n- riAuem
rA'be|\nMe mllulAm enim p|\ope h^buic.
—This text being Latin, in the Irish characters from which that of the Bodleian Library,
that his mother, who was called
few vowel — changes
only
suspect,
Cojtchessa, might have got that name from having been a native of Conchas. "
calls St.
Patrick's
39 The Tripartite Life says, "soror, seu
father Calpornus, son of Potitus, a priest,
(son of Odissus), being prefixed in the ori-
ginal, as a comment, at the latter word. See
cognata. " The Irish account calls her "Fac-Similes of National Manuscripts of
"
Siur Martuin ;" but, this leaves the Ireland," edited by John T. Gilbert, part question still ambiguous, as the word ii. , plate LII, and Appendix III. a.
4' See the long dissertation on St Patrick's
make her a sister to St. ISIartin are Sigebert, longed to some part of Gaul. See Ussher's
"Siur," is either "sister," or "kins-
alludes to her, as a " con-
relations in " Trias Colgan's
woman. "
sanguinea," in this connexion. Some writers
have it, that she was a niece, on the mother's iii. , iv. , pp. 224 to 231. All the old Irish side to St. Martin. Those authorities, who writers agree, that St. Patrick's mother be-
"
Jocelyn
Thaumaturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap.
"" in his Chronicon," A. D. 491 ; Florence of
Worcester, at A. D. 394; Harpsfeld, in
Primordia," p. 822.
always been regarded as Britons ; but, St.
Martin of Tours is known to have been Anglorum," num. 21 ; the Breviary of the native of Sabaria, in Pannonia. See "Bre-
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,"
lib. 21 " De i. , cap. ; Pitsseus,
Scriptoribus
a
viarium Romanum," Die xi. Novembris.
'•'^ In the Lives of St. Martin, by Sulpicius Severus, Paulinus and others, we find no mention of brothers or sisters having accom- panied him to Gaul. His father remained a Pagan, while his mother became a Christian, when he quitted the army, and went to visit
Vita
Martini," juxta mare *5 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Lateran Canons and another Breviary of the
Canons Regular, lect. iv. ; as also Sir Henry
vSpelman in his Preface to the Synod of St. "
Concilia Britannica," p. 51.
Patrick,
Most writers, however, only contend for a
"
In Fas- ciculo Temporum ;" Jocelyn ; the Tripar- tite Life ; the Breviary of Armagh, lect. iv. ,
probable relationship, as Werner, ""
and Ussher, In Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 822.
Sulpicius Severus, cap. 4.
B. "
^^ Neitherdo we find it
Fiech's Hymn ; nor do we meet with it, in the Second, Third or Fourth Lives of our
'*4 To this account is Thyrrenum.
mentioned,
in St.
added,
his father is thus noticed
— :
pAC]\em hAbui cAl-poj\tium oia
Oxford, copy. Fell, i, fol. 7, differs
in
"^
St. Patrick's father and grandfather had
his family, settled at Pavia, in Italy. See
474 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
place,47 The pedigree of his father indicates, as much a British, as a Roman, origin -f" and, it is possible to conceive, he may have been one of those naturalized provincials, who served the Empire, in some important military or magisterial position. Those, who enjoyed the rank and privileges of De-
curions,49 were formerly very distinguished in society, and were expected to discharge various highly honourable pubHc and civic duties. 5° The name and distinction are still held to be highly respectable, in many cities of Italy ; and,tobeaDecurioneisconsideredaproofofnoordinarynobility. Itmay seem somewhat strange, however, that such an office could be compatible, with the aggregation of St. Patrick's immediate progenitor to the clerical state. 5^ Yet, provision seems to have been made for clerics escaping penalties imposed, in the time of Theodosius I. ,^^ provided they were ordained, before A. D. 388, or if ordained after such date, that they procured proper substitutes, to serve in the councils. S3 Otherwise, they should surrender their estates to theCuria,atthetimeoftheirordination. 54 Oursaintappearstospeakofthe Romans, as his fellow-citizens jss and, in the old Catalogue of celebrated saints, connected with Ireland, many bishops, belonging to the first order, and contemporaneous with St. Patrick, are stated to have been Romans,s6 as alsothereweresomebelongingtootherdistantnations. Hence,aprobable inference has been drawn, that his family was originally of Roman extraction ; especially, as it would seem, the names of himself, his father, and grand- father, are Latinized, at least in form. However, the subjects of Rome
Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. i. , p. 35, and n. 2, p. 44.
"^ The text of this is thus given, by the
had their institutions well established, in Scotland, before St. Patrick's birth, as Dr. John Stuart informed the writer, in Edin- burgh, during a visit there, in June, 1874.
5° Under the Roman in
empire, provincial
towns, these answered to members of the Roman senate. See that very accurate and beautifully illustrated work. Dyer's "Pom-
author of the Fourth Life :
*'
Quod ex hbris
Epistolarum, quos ipse composuit, intelligi potest ; ubi dicit Nos dispersi sunius in ulti-
masfinesterrarumpropterpeccata nostra, eo
quod praceptuvt Domini non custodivimus,
et mandata ejus non observavinius. " This peii : Its History, Buildings, and Antiqui-
Epistle now seems to be missing ; for, although a passage, somewhat similar, is to be found in the Confession, still the sentence
is altogether differently constructed.
'•^ In the Seventh Life, according to Col-
gan's version, a curious legendary account of
a visit, made by a son of the king of Britain
and by his wife, to St. Patrick's mother, is
related. This, however, appears to be an Bingham's Origines Ecclesiasticse, or the
Antiquities of the Christian Church," book v. , chap. iii.
5^ His reign is set down, as extending from A. D. 379 to the 17th of January, A. D. 395, in John Speed's "History of Great Bri- taine," book vi. , chap. Iii. , pp. 274, 275.
53 The loss of property and rank, how- ever, in the disturbed state of those times, may well account for the freedom or oppor- tunity of Calpumius to enter the clerical
interpolation ; for, we do not find it, in the "
Irish version, in Miss Cussack's Life of St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. " It is too ridiculous, moreover, to be seriously
given ; while, it is to be regretted, so many of our saint's biographers deemed themselves warranted, to insert those foolish popular traditions, concerning him, and current in their time.
** Judging by the names, and from the
earliest named paternal ancestor. The state.
author of the Fourth Life is a word of British origin.
"
that Tabern
5"* See Cod. Theod. Lib. xii. Tit. i. de
Decur. leg. 121-123. Dr. Lanigan states, where St. Patrick mentions his having sold
his nobility, the expression refers to his
having forfeited his rank and estate, when
he entered into Holy Orders.
''
*9
" it would be difficult for the sticklers for
St. Patrick's birth in North Britain, to find
a Curia or Decurions in Kilpatrick, or any
place near it, in the fourth century. " How- ss
ever, there seems to be no very good reason, for doubting such to have been the case, at that period. On the contrary, the Romans
I believe," remarks Dr. Lanigan,
states,
ties," part i. , chap, ii. , p. 33.
5' Constantine the Great had enacted
laws, which prohibited certain persons and classes, from assuming Holy Orders, and
those laws subjected them to penalties, in case they did. Yet, such laws, were not
always enforced, or they were modified, at
various times, by succeeding Emperors. See, ''
Non dico civibus meis, atque civibus sanctorum Romanorum, sed civibus dasmo- niorum. "—Epistola ad Coroticum. See Villanueva's " Sancti Patricii, Ibernorum
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 475
often assumed Latin names f^ but, generally modified, we may assume, from the native dialect, or acquired through some peculiar circumstance, which influenced the change.
The immediate family connexions of St. Patrick are next deserving of some preliminary consideration. s^ It is related, that he had two brothers, named Diaconus Sannanus,59 according to one account,^" and Ructus, accord- ing to another statement f^ and, besides, he is said to have had five sisters. These are called Tigris or Tigrida,^^ Darerca,^3 Liemania,^+ Lupita,^5 and
Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. , viz. , seventeen sons, all of these being either pp, 241, 243. holy bishops, or excellent priests or monks, 515 "Hi omnes episcopi de Romanis, as also five daughters, who as nuns ended
Francis," &c. —See Ussher's " Primordia,'' their days
of
p. 913. Dr. Lanigan considers, that by The names of those bishops were Brocha- placing the Romans before other nationali- dius, Brochanus, Mogenochus, and Luma- ties, it was probably meant, St. Patrick nus, who came from the Britains to Hibernia,
sprung from a Roman family, settled in
Belgic Britain.
" Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iii. , sect. xvii. , and nn. 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168,
169, 171, 173, pp. 122 to 125.
58 Colgan has endeavoured, with great
care and research, to solve the difficulties, attending this enquiry, in the "Trias Thau- maturga. " Quinta Appendix ad Acta S.
Patricii, cap. iv. , pp. 224 to 231.
59 Otherwise called, in Irish, "OeocliAin
SAnriAr. Ussher supposes him to have been really the brother of the Irish Apostle, called Patrick the Elder, and the father of Patrick Junior, who was the nephew and disciple of our saint, and who, after his uncle's death, went back to Britain, wher—e he departed this life, in turn, at Glascow as the first edition reads—or, at Glastonbury— as a MS. related. There he was honourably
''
in Glasconensi Ecclesia sepultus est honori- fice. " See Sixth Life, cap. clxxxvi. , p. 106. Colgan wishes piously to believe, that it was after his son's birth the title of Deacon San- nan had been applied to him, and he thinks it possible, that this Sannan may be identical
is the only known author, who at-
57 See Dr.
Lanigan's
Jocelyn
buried, in the church. Jocelyn has it,
tributes the number of seventeen sons and
five daughters to Tigrida. Her husband is
named Gollit or Gallus.
^3 According to our Irish Calendarists, Darerca is said to have been the mother of
seventeen sons, and by some, these are all
called bishops, as also of two holy virgin daughters, Achea and Lalloca. Hence, it would seem, that Jocelyn erred in attribut- ingthisfamilyofchildrentoTigrida. But, there is a great difficulty experienced in naming the sons of Darerca : some authors attributing certain names to the parentage of Liemania, or of Tigrida, or of Darerca.
Now, in the "Opuscula," attributed to St. . ^ngus, lib, iv. , cap. vL, fifteen bishops, sons of Darerca are named, viz. , Bishoji Mel, Bishop Melchus, Bishop Munis, Rioch of Inis-bofinde, Crumanius of Leccan, Mid- gna, Mogenocus, Lomanus of Ath-truim. Lurachus Duanaire of Doire-lurain, Loar- nus of Kill-chunna, Kieranus, Carantocus Bishop, Columbus, Brendanus Fine, Bishop Mochallaeus, Brocanus and Brochadius. Be- sides these, two nuns are named, viz. ;
with a St. Seanan, venerated in Cornwall, Echea, and Lalloca of Senlios, behind
and who gave name to a seaport and town
in Cornwall. See n. 13, p. 8, to the ""
Scholia Veteris Scholiastae of St. Fiach.
St. Patrick Junior seems to have been
buried in Glastonbury, and his feast is
usually assigned to the 24th of August.
Badhgna. Some of the foregoing names, Colgan thinks, crept into the original. Thus, Jocelyn makes Saints Loman, Moge- noc, Brocan, and Brochad, the sons of Tigrida, another sister of St. Patrick. Nor does Colgan believe, that Saints Kieran, Brendan, Loam, Lurach, and Columba to be of British race, but rather of Irish, as thesenamesindicate. Othernamesrecorded seem to be British, and, it is remarkable, that one of the sons, Secundinus, said to bo of Restitutus and Liemania, is stated to be of Restitutus and Darerca, in another ac- count. Hence, Colgan supposes, that Lie- mania may have been confounded witii Darerca, who is called the wife of Restitutus, in the Tripartite Life, pars ii. , cap. xxi. Again Darerca's husband is called Conis.
See The latter is to have p. 133. supposed
been a Briton, and to have had for sons,
6°
That of the Scholiast to St. Fiach's
Hymn.
6' That of Probus, in the Fifth Life, lib.
i. , cap. xii. , p. 48. But, Colgan accounts very ingeniously for this mistake of Probus ; for, he seems to have confounded Ructus, with Succat, the original name of St. Patrick, as may be discovered by comparing the allusion in Probus, and the story re- lated, in the Second Life, cap. xvi. , p. 12, in the Fourth Life, cap. xx. , p. 37, and, in the Seventh Life, pars, i. , cap. xxi. , p. 120.
*^ has a most numerous Jocelyn assigned
family of sons and daughters to Tigrida
in the
and who laboured here, on the mission. See the Sixth Life, cap. 1. , p. 76. However,
repute
great sanctity.
476 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
B-ichella. ^^ Three of these sisters, whom he brought with him to Ireland, became nuns, moreover, according to a received tradition. Others assert,^^
however, that St. Patrick had only three sisters, Lupita, Darerca and Tigrida f^ nor can rigid criticism discover a greater number, when rejecting the accounts ofsomewriters,ledawaybymistakencalculations,orclericalerrors. ^ But, we may take it for granted, there are many accounts, not altogether reliable, in the traditions and records, relating to the various members of our saint's
Saints Mel, Munis, and Rioch. Perhaps, the other sons and daughters of the family were the children of Restitutus and Darerca ; although Rioch may not be different from Darioc, or Morioc, one of the sons assigned to Restitutus. Again, Colgan remarks, that besides the fact of no festival being assigned to Liemania, we find a St. Monennia—other- wise called Darerca—whose feast occurs on the 6th of July, and who may have been con- founded with Liemania, in this way. Darerca
to Restitutus of the Lombards, viz. : Secun- dinus, Nectanus, Dabonna, Mogornanus,
Dariocus,Auxilinus,andLugnath. Again, the Tripartite Life adds two others, viz. :
Diermitius, and a Comitius, or Connetus. See pars ii. , cap. vi. and xviii. , pp. 130,
131. Norhaveweanystatement,thathe had been married to any other woman than Liemania, so that if we credit those accounts, we may assume she had been the mother of nine sons.
^sin the "Opuscula," lib. iv. of St. ^ngus the Culdee, num. 4, it is stated : "Lupita soror S. Patricii mater filiorum Hua-baird, nempe Secundini, Nectani, Da- bonnae, Mogornani, Darioci, Auxilii et Lu- gath Prassbyteri. " It is remarkable, however, that no other author makes her the mother of these sons, and in num. 64, of this same
is probably derived from Diar-shearc, signi- """
fying constant or firm love," or from "
Der-shearc, denoting love of tears," indi- cating her true service of God. Now, the letter s, occurring as a middle prefix, not
being pronounced in Irish, Dais-hearc, or Der-herc, may have been rendered into Darerca. The feast of St. Patrick's sister, so named, is entered at the 22nd of March. Different festivals are assigned, for the happy progeny of this saintly woman, and Colgan endeavours to discriminate them, where he treats about the brothers and sisters of St. Patrick, with their holy children.
** There are good reasons for suspecting,
that Liemania and Richella were not St.
Patrick's sisters. Colgan thinks, that Ri-
chella had been substituted for Ri-chenna,
"
royal Cenna," who had been substituted, in turn, for Cenne-naomh, "holyCenne. " Again, at the 19th of May, there is a feast of St. Richella, the Daughter of Attractus. She is mentioned, in the Life of St. Dagaeus, cap. xviii. , and he lived, in the middle of the
sixth century. St. Cenne, the daughter of Euchod, Prince of Orgiell, has a feast, at the 1st of February. She was, indeed, con- temporaneous with St. Patrick, but, it is evident, from her parentage, she could not have been his sister. About Liemania other difficulties arise, especially in trying to dis- cover, who were her children, or if she were at all to be distinguished from Lupita, vene-
ti"act, these words occur :
"
Liemania filia
rated at on the of — could not be but that she was the Armagh, 27th September, sure,
state. The feast if of Liemania is not known,but, in our Calendars, possibly she is alluded to, l)y her Irish form of name, as Lemna, or Lemhna. Different Irish Martyrologies state, that her husband was Restitutus Hua- baird, or Longobardus— referable to his race —and by him she had two holy sons, named
Secundinus and Nectanus. But, an old
Scholiast, on the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the xiv. Kalends of April, or at the 19th
of March, assigns the following seven sons
as some — Martyrologists
of three of St. deacons, nephews
there be one
parent
Patrick, on his sister's side, who are alluded to—but not named—in the Tripartite Life, pars ii. , cap. cxxii. , p. 145.
"' As for instance, Jocelyn and the author of the Tripartite Life.
Calphurni, soror S. Patricii, fuit mater S. Nectani de Kill-vnche. " Again, our Martyr- ologists make Liemania the mother of Nec- tain and of Secundinus, while Lupita is represented, not as a widow, but as a virgin, by our Martyrologists, and by the writers of St. Patrick's Acts.
^ While the Scholiast on St. Fiach omits
St. Richella's name, and substitutes therefor
Cinnenum, alias Cinne-ncemh, Colgan cites an Irish poem, to prove our text enumeration the more correct li—st. The Irish he thus
renders into Latin
"
:
Lupita et Tigris fervida (ut jam numeravi) et Richella ;
Darerca et Liemania togarum dives ; quaj amplexce sunt vitam arctam cum fer- vore ;
Nomina haec sunt clare proposita, soro- rum Patricii magnarum Ecclesiarum
^'^
All of our Irish writers agree, that these
Patroni.
"
Colgan observes, that he found no hagio-
grapher to call her a mother ; and, yet, he
were really the sisters of St. Patrick,
although there is much diversity of opinion,
regarding their respective children.
"^ Tluis Ussher, citing the Annals of Con-
naught at p. S23 of his "Primordia," and
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 477
family. 7° Moreover, we may well doubt the accuracy of those statements, regarding the numerous progeny of St. Patrick's sisters, or their respective children, who are said to have embraced a religious life. Accounts are con-
flicting and contradictory, in too many instances, to warrant very safe con- clusions ; nor, is it easy to reconcile their Patrician relationship, with correct
chronology. Nor can we glean, from the saint's own writings, any positive proof, or reasonable inference, that he had such near relatives, residing with him in Ireland, at that late period of life, when his epistle to Coroticus had been written. When he expresses an anxious desire to see his relatives,? * it seems plain, they must have lived far away from Ireland ; yet, it may be
objectedfairly,thatthiswasonlytrueregardinganumberofthem. Again, when he has declared, he did not know the multitude born of our race or
generation,'! '^ it is certain, he alludes to those converts to Christianity, made through himself or his assistant missionaries. He applies the phrase, in a spiritual, rather than in a carnal, sense. Yet, the ancient mode of calling ladies in religion, sisters, is conjectured to have been one of the most probable reasons to advance, for old writers mistaking such denoted females, living in St. Patrick's time, and for confounding them, with his own natural sisters. Ussher73 and Colgan74 have treated, concerning the Irish Apostle's sisters, and their offspring, who are said to have been with him in Ireland.
The parents of St. Patrick lived together, in great sanctity and perfec- tion. 75 They were found just before God ; they walked in his justifications,
and commandments, without blame. Faith, hope and charity made their
conjugal state a happy one. In process of time, it pleased the Almighty, to bless them with a holy, and an illustrious issue. During the period, he had been borne in his mother's womb, to that of Patrick's birth, miracles are re- corded, as if serving to indicate the wonders of his subsequent career. A stone, on which he is said to have been born, was afterwards held in popular esteem, and persons swearing falsely on it found, that their perjuries were
the Annals of Roscrea, at A. D. 447, states, that a sister of St. Patrick was named Cul- mana, said to have been the mother of St. Secundinus. But, this shows, that Lie- mania, his reputed mother, must have been meant. Hence, Culmain was " sub-
probably
stituted for Liemain.
7° Thus, in addition to what has been Villanueva's " Sancti Patricii, Ibemorum
already stated, it is said a sister, or a female
relation, of St. Patrick, had a son, called St.
Aidus, of Inis-Lothar, his father being Col-
man, of the Hi-Bressail family. See the rum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , pp. 429 to Tripartite Life, pars, iii. , cap. Ixxvi. , p. 431.
163. Colgan arrives at the conclusion, that St. Patrick had only one brother, four sisters, and thirty-one nephews or nieces, consecrated to God, and numbered among the saints.
7' As St. Patrick seems to have been far • advanced iii life, at that time when he wrote the Confession, it is much more probable, that the term parentes, in the passage re- ferred to, is to be understood, not oi parents, in the English sense of the word, but of relatives. . This acceptation of parentes had crept into use, so far back as the time of St.
"
74 gee Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. iv. , pp. 224 to 231.
'3 According to Jocelyn, St. Patrick's mother, Conquessa, was a kinswoman to St. Martin, Bishop of Tours : she was taken away from Gaul, to the northern parts of
Britain, as a slave, and purchased from her father, by Calphurnius. The eldest sister accompanied her, and she was married to a man, who lived in the town of Nempthor. The good morals and beautiful mien of Con-
quessa, it is stated, caused Calphurnius to Jerome. Hence, the Italian parenti, and elevate his slave, to the more honourable
the French /a;Y«^j. Owing to this expres- sion, an etymologist might possibly derive some proof, for our saint's French origin.
distinction of becoming his wife,
'* According to Jocelyn, St. Mel testified, that he had frequently witnessed this miracle.
Hence, Colgan infers, that Jocelyn borrowed
7* He writes
:
" omnes virgines Dei simi«
liter faciunt, non voluntate patrum suorum,
imo persecutiones patiuntur, et improperia falsa a parentibus suis. Et nihilominiis
plus augetur numerus, et de genere nostro qua ibi (Christo) nata; sunt, nescimus nume- —rum earum, praeter viduas et continentes. "
Confessio S.
Patricii, cap. iv. ,
num. 18.
Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," p. 202.
" See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia-
478 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
likely to be detected, in a supernatural manner, for, in such cases, water seemed to flow from its surface,? ^ as if that hard rock was weeping, on account of their tainted testimony. 77
The chronology of St. Patrick's birth, as indeed of the many sub-
sequent events in his career, has given rise to much controversy, and it has been placed at dates of very considerable divergence. 7^ Tiie Annals of Connaught have set it down, so early as a.
