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ARTICLE I. —ST. GORMGAL, OF ARDOILEN, COUNTY OF GALWAY.
[
]
TENTH AND ELE VENTH CENTURIES.
•
practices of penitential customs and a frequenting of the Sacrament of Penance are from curious found in the ancient
THE
literature of Ireland, while the ritual observances of our early Church, as also our Annals, furnish corroborative evidence of such devotional exercises. An Irish manuscript, belonging to the library in Basle, contains a long penitential prayer, the language of which has a striking resemblance with the
2"
See Proceedings of the Royal Irish the 29th of December. To this latter has
proved fragments,
1 and of St. 2 surnamed the Wise. Like all our Aileran,
of St.
ancient prayers, in Irish and in Latin, it is beautifully devotional and suggestive of pious emotions. 3
prayers
Colgu
Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. i. , part. i. pp. 100, 101.
Article vi. —' See O'Sullevan Beare's
"
Historise Catholicse Iberniae Compen-
dium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , xii. , pp. 50, 57.
been most generally ascribed for special distinction "the Wise," as an epithet.
2
Sep "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. ,
" "
"
" " " " " " " " "
3 j t thus begins :—
De conscientia: reatu ante Altare, Domine Deus omnipotens, ego humiliter
te adoro,
Tu es Rex et Dominus Domi- Rcgum
nantium,
iv. p. 311.
Among
the
Au- pretermitted saints,
gusti
3 His Acts are published by the Bollandists,
Tu es Tu es Tu es Tu es Tu es Tu es Tu es Tu es Tu es
arbiter omnis saeculi, redemptor animornm,
at the of
3rd August.
—
or Colga, in the Second Volume of this
work, at the 20th of February, Art. i.
2 There is a St. Airennan, son of Ui Oidibh, venerated at the 1st day of Feb- ruary. See the Second Volume of this work, at that date, Art. vii. Also a St. Airenna, Bishop of Tamlacht, at February loth, see ibid. , Art. vi. There is also an Ereran of Tech-Ereran, Abbot, in our Calen- dars, at the nth of this month. Likewise, an Ereran, lector of Cluainh Eraird, at
Article
'
See an account of St.
liberator
spes laborantium,
paraclitus dolentium, via errantium, magister gentium, creator omnium, amator omnis boni,
i.
Colgu
credentium,
.
"Tu es princeps omnium virtutum, " Tu es amator virginum,
•• Tu es fons sapientium, "Tu es fides credentium, " Tu es lux lucis
August 5. ] LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. 73
An elegant and a pious poem had been composed, and Father John Colgan possessed a copy of this tract, on the Relics and Virtues of St. Gormgal, Abbot of Ardoilen Monastery. 4 It was addressed to the monks of that house, by its author, who is called Corcran. The writer of this tract is supposed to have been Corcran Cleireach, Anchoret, who died at Lismore, a. d. 1040, according to the Annals of the Four Masters. s He is said to have been head of the west of Europe for piety and wisdom. 6 The time in which he lived, his learning, austerity and sanctity, induced Colgan to entertain such an opinion. The latter writer remarks, that although Corcran is merely styled anchoret, in the Annals, yet an insinuation is conveyed, that he was also an abbot. Notwithstanding, a different opinion has been
even a 'monk—although denominated an anchoret but
To the latter observation of Dr. Lanigan, an objection may be raised, that it is not likely a secular priest should be styled an anchoret. That supposition of Colgan is founded on the practice of many abbots, who were accustomed to live a solitary life, not only before but even after the assumption of their office. This can also be instanced, in several examples, taken from our early Ecclesiastical History. The account of St. Fechin,9 who lived some centuries before the time of St. Gormgal, and, it is said, on this very Island, appears to be a case in point. Probably, the very cashel, church, and cloghans usedtherebytheformerservedthepurposesofthepresentsaints. Roderick
10
already 23rd April. There were formerly several penitential stations on this Island ; and the highest of these stations, called Trig, commanded a varied and over land and ocean. 12 We are informed, the old
that as Corcran of Lismore is not — called an abbot, nor entertained,? specially
as
styled an ecdesiastes, as also a chief master or professor in a public school,
8
in all probability, it has been conjectured, he was a secular priest.
where an eyry of hawks used to be found every year, and where there was water at a considerable elevation. This latter was designated Brian Boramy's Well. Allusion of course is made to the celebrated Monarch of Ireland, whose Life and Acts have been recorded, at the of 11
O' Flaherty gives a very interesting account of this island,
by
writer of St. Fechin's Life, that Inis-Jarthuir had been the more ancient
grand prospect
11 Tu es fons sanctitatis, plementum Vitse S. Fechini, n. 13, p. 141. " Tu es gloria Dei Patris in excelsis, 5 See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. ii. ,
" To sedes ad dexteram Dei Patris,
pp. 838, 839.
" 6 "He
In alto throno regnans in saecula, In note (e), Dr. O'Donovan says :
"Ego te peto ut des mihi remissionem was the colleague of Cuan O'Lochain, in
omnium peccatorum meorum, Deus the provisional government of Ireland, aft—er meus Jesu Christe. the death of Maelsechlainn II. , in 1022. "
" Tu es qui neminem vis perire sed omnes vis salvos fieri et ad agnitionem veritatis venire.
" Tu es qui ore tuo sancto et casto dixisti : in quacumque die conversus fuerit peccator, vita vivet et non morietur.
Ibid.
" revertor ad Te Ego
. . .
.
vol. iii. , chap, xxiv. , sect, ii. , n. 16, p. 444. 9 See his Life in the First Volume of this
work, at January xx. , Art. ii.
I0 See " of Chorographical Description
"Ideo confiteor tibi Domine Deus meus, West or H-Iar Connaught. " Edited by
qui solus sine peccato es : et obsecro te, Jesu Christe, Deus misericordiarum per passionem et per effusionem san-
James Hardiman, pp. 114, 115, and nn.
(u, v).
" See the Fourth Volume of this work,
guinis tui, atque per signum ligni at that date, Art. i. I2 u
salutiferi crucis tuae ut concedas mihi See Letters containing Information remissionem omnium peccatorum me- relative to Antiquities of the County of
orum, non secundum meum meritum, Galvvay, collected during the Progress of the sed secundum magna111 misericordiam Irish Ordnance Survey in 1839," vol. iii.
tuam. "
4 See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hi-
bernire," Februarii xx. Alia Vita seu Sup-
John O'Donovan's communication received
July 12th, 1839, and dated from Taylor's Hill, Galway, p. 84.
7 By the Rev. Dr. Lanigan. 8"
See Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
he has been
74 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 5.
name of that island, which was known as Ardoilen in his day. *3 From an
early Christian period, a religious occupation of it had taken place. In his Appendix to the Life of St. Endetis of Arran, 1 * Colgan mistakes this for the
J s
Island of Ara Chaemhain, in the of Bay
although, in the Life of St. Fechin,16 he described it correctly enough, as being an Island of the Ocean, on the western shore of Connaught, and distant a few leagues from Imaidh or Immagia. By this term, we are to understand Omey. It is now
offthecoastofBallynahinchBarony,andintheCountyofGalway. This island contains the ruins of a primitive Irish monastery, erected by St. Fechin, in the seventh century. Some of these appear to have remained there even to our own day. Already, in the Life of St. Fechin, Abbot of Fobhar or 'Fore, County of Westmeath, we have alluded to the interesting group of antiquities still remaining on Ard-Oilean 1? and around these were
;
the remains of an ancient Caoisel, or oblong enclosure, which has been very
minutely described by Mr. John O'Donovan, when he had been engaged on the staff of the Irish Ordnance Survey. He tells us, that there are three door- ways or entrances on the external wall, one door was on the west side, which is 22 inches wide ; but, its height could not well be ascertained without great trouble, and by clearing away the stones. The other was in the south-east corner, which was 2 feet 8 inches, in breadth, while the third was near the north- east corner. It was 6 feet wide on the outside, and 4 feet 3 inches on the inside. Immediately to the south of this passage, there was another Cloghan, which appeared from its foundations to have been 15 feet long and twelve feet broad. In the west wall, and near the south-west corner, there was a gallery in the thickness of the wall and then called the Prison. It measured 3 feet 9 inches, in height; 3 feet 9 inches, in width, and 21 feet 10 inches, in length. It was originally a little higher, but not much, as Mr. O'Donovan guessed by appearances. It was covered overhead with large flags. North-east of that enclosure, and at the distance of a few perches, were traceable the foundations of a round building, then called the Pound, from an idea, that it was used as such, by the saints on that island. It looked to be of an oval form, and it measured in length 27 feet, and, in breadth, 24 feet. The wall was 5 feet 4 inches in thickness, but no idea could be formed from what remained, regarding the sort of a building
18
it was or for what use it had been originally intended.
A community of monks is said to have been on Ard-Oilean, in the tenth
and eleventh centuries. There, they seem to have lived, in houses or cells of a circular or of an oval form, having dome roofs, like those of the ancient
Greek and Irish Sepulchres, without any application to the principles of the arch, and without the use of mortar. The whole was encompassed by a broad
1 wall, composed of large stones, but placed together without cement. ?
13 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi- by Dr. Petrie are also to be found in the bernise," Januarii xx. Alia Vita seu Sup. County of Galway Letters, vol. iii. , pp. plementum Vitse S. Fechini, ex MSS. 81, 82.
Hibernicis, cap. xxii. , p. 135.
14
See his Life at the 20th of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
15 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernian,"
relative to the Antiquities of the County of
Galway, collected during the Progress of
the Irish Ordnance Survey, in 1839," vol.
Martii xxi. Appendix ad Vitam S. Enddri iii. John O'Donovan's communication
Abbatis Araniensis, cap. vii. , p. 715. received 12th July, 1839, and dated from
16
I9
Supplementum Vitse S. Fechini, cap. xxii. , p. See Dr. George l'etne's "Ecclesiastical
135, and n. 13, p. 141. Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland," 17 See chap. i. There also may be seen part ii. , sect, ii. , p. 128. A characteristic an illustration of the ancient church, and the specimen of one of those cells on Ard-Oilean clochans surrounding it. These drawings has been depicted, and described as being
See ibid. , Januarii xx. Alia Vita seu Taylor's Hill, Galway, pp. 83,84.
Galway ;
x8
See "Letters containing Information
August 5. ] LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. 75
fessing
priest.
Yet,
Over those monks, St. Gormgal presided as abbot, while he lived a most
He was considered to be among the most saintly men at his
ascetic life.
time, of whom Ireland could then boast ; while his reputation, as a spiritual director of conscience, ranked him in the first place. Having been a con- temporary with the holy man Corcran already mentioned, it is also probable, that they were intimately acquainted, and united in bonds of a spiritual friendship. This supposition appears most probable, from the fact that Corcran addressed an elegant and a religious poem to the monks of that island, on which our saint lived. Here a community, on the mixed monastic and anchoretical system, seems to have practised the public and private offices of devotion, according to what we know lo have been established in Iona and elsewhere.
Thus, in 634, lived Beccan the Splitarius ; and such in Adamnan's time was Finan the recluse of Durrow, and Fergna of Muirbulemar, in Himba. At Hy, an anchorite held the abbacy in 747 ; ananchoritewasabbotelectin935 andanotherbecamea in 20
; bishop 964. It was probably to enter on such a manner of life, that a contemporary of
our saint, and named Muiredhach Ua Cricain, in 1007, resigned the successor-
21
ship of Columcille.
In all allusions made to him, Gormgal is called an Anmchara, which
23
of mica slate, and square in the interior, nine feet in extent, by seven feet six inches
in height, the door- way being only two feet four inches in width, by three feet six inches
in height. See ibid. , pp. 131, 132.
vol. iv. "A Discourse of the Religion
anciently professed by the Irish and British," chap, v. , p. 288. This tract was first printed
in 1631.
25 See Edition of William M. Hennessy,
pp. 258, 259.
36 The Age of Christ, 1017 [recti 1018).
20
See Dr. O'Donovan's
•'
Annals of the
Four Masters," vols. i. and ii. , at these
esteem he held in the hearts of the
manifests the
confidant and as a wise—adviser. The old Irish term of Anmchara 22 rendered " souls-friend " served to designate those, who are now called confessors, and whose mission it is to receive the confessions of the faithful ; thus healing through the sacrament of penance those spiritual wounds, inflicted on the soul, after baptism. About the end of the ninth century, some laymen in Ireland were found to assert, that the duty of sacramental confession only regarded clerics, while laymen should be exempt from con-
high
as a — faithful, saintly
Ussher that it was a custom of the declares,
sins to a
faithful, in our ancient Irish Church, to confess their sins to the priest, that so they might be made partakers of those benefits conferred by the keys, and for the purpose of quieting their troubled consciences. 8<
The death of Gormgal of the High Island, and Chief Anchorite of Erinn,
has been assigned to the year 1016, in the "Chronicum Scotorum. "25 St.
Gormgal died a. d. 1017, according to the "Annals of the Four Masters," or according to Dr. O'Donovan's corrected computation, in the year 1018. 26 The Annals of Ulster have his death recorded, at the latter date 2 ? and
;
there, too, our saint is styled an anmchara, although this latter word is in- correctly translated " anachoreta," by Rev. Dr. O'Conor, the earlier editor. 28 He probably mistook, in this instance, also, from rendering Ard-ailen, by
The fourth year of Maelseachlainn, Gormgal 21 "
respective dates.
It is stated aja "Oia, "for God," that is, for the sake of uninterrupted devotion.
22
Written AnmcarvA, and it characterized a spiritual director.
23 See Father Stephen White's" Apologia
pro Hibernia," cap. v. , pp. 59, 60.
2* See "The Whole Works of the Most
of Ard-Oilean, chief anmchara of Ireland ; [died]. See vol. ii. , pp. 790, 791, and n. (k).
27 See -Ann^La UlA-oh, or "Annals of Ulster," edited by William M. Hennessy, vol. i. , pp. 540 to 543, and. No. n, ibid.
28 See " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores,"
Rev. James Ussher, D. D. , Lord Archbishop tomus iv. Annales Ultonienses, at AiD. of Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland. " MXVIII.
76 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 5.
the terms " alta rapes," not deeming it to be a local denomination. 2* Our saint appears to have been interred on the island, called Ard-Oilean. 3° The Blessed Corcran, or Corcranus, a writer of the eleventh century, in his Panegyric on St. Gormgal, and on other holy hermits of the same island, declares, that the following saints rest with him and are commemorated on
: this day, in that lone island, viz. —
Maelsuthunius, Celecharius,
Dunadach, Cellachus, Tressachns, Ultan, Mgelmartinus, Corcomachus, Con-
machus,
many
other men. 31 The record of this anchorite is holy holy
with
to be found in our later Calendars. According to Marianus O'Gorman, the
Natalis of St. Gormgal was observed on the 5th of August. ^
2
According to
the Martyrology of Donegal,33 veneration was given to Gormghal,^* at the
5th ofAugust.
It is incalculable what benefits are conferred on the souls of men,
through the ministry of a wise and holy Confessor, so that whenever true penitents have earnest recourse to him, both young and old are grounded in their faith and enlightened by the instructions they receive. In the exercise of such useful functions, St. Gormgal spent a great portion of his time ; and, notwithstanding his seclusion from the world, in that remote island where he dwelt, the faithful were attracted from great distances to refresh their pious sentiments, and to practise a devotion, which becomes one of our most important sacramental duties. In the minds and hearts of his penitents, he instilled those maxims, of which he had been a recipient long before he became the master of a spiritual life. Revealing, as in the presence of God, and at the feet of his minister, those vices and frailties to which human nature is ever subject ; seeking grace and light from on high to amend their future conduct and to have an humble distrust of themselves ; many were the sinners he weaned from the error of their ways, and many were the hearts he gained to love and adore the great Author of our being, in whose keeping alone we can truly rest.
Article II. —St. Oswald, King and Martyr. [Seventh Century. ']
This pious king exchanged an earthly for a heavenly kingdom, a transient for a lasting crown. Around it were wreathed the laurels of a royal martyr. During his comparatively short career upon earth, his virtues were most conspicious, and he adorned that exalted position which he filled. He ruled religiously and justly. A pious man, he was a valiant soldier also, and a wise monarch. Yet, for a time, wickedness prevailed against him ; while in the performance of a noble and patriotic duty, he sacrificed his sceptre and his life. It was Colgan's intention to have published the Acts of St. Oswald, at the 5th of August, as would appear from that List of MSS. published by Charles MacDonnell. 1 One of the earliest and most authentic biographers of that illustrious king and martyr was the Venerable Bede. 2 Several Manu- script Acts of Oswald are still preserved. One of these belonged to D.
29 The eldest representative of the Gain- 32 See ibid. , xx. Februarii, Vita S. Fechini, ness family has taken the title of Lord n. 13, p. 141.
Ard Illaun, from this island.
30 A description of the antiquities on this
"Edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves,
'
at the 20th ofJanuary, when treating about the early
pp. 212, 213.
34 A note by Dr. Todd slatesat
island has been
erections there, by St. Fechin, Abbot of adds, Opiato. Mar. '" "
already given,
:
Fore.
31 See "Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hi-
beini. . y Martii xxi. Appendix ad Acta S. Endei, cap. vii. , p. 715.
Article 11. Headed Cataloges Ac-
tuum Sanctorum quae MS. habentur, Ordine
Mensium et Dierum. "
2"
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Gormghal "After this name, the more recent hand
Dubthacus,
August 5] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 77
Seguicr, Chancellor of France; one was kept in the Monastery of St. Maximin at Treves; another belonged to the Church of St. Saviour, at Utrecht ; while the Bollandists had a distinct Life of him, in manuscript,
andmarkedas
toGamansius. In
uNova
Legenda
belonging
Capgrave's
This holy king's Acts appear,
Anglise," the Acts of St. Oswald are inserted. 3
at this same date, in the u Hystoria Plurimorum Sanctorum," published in
Louvain, a. d. 1485. 4 Through the editor, Father John Pinius, the Bollandists
have presented us with a previous historic Commentary, in six sections, and
fifty-six paragraphs ; while a Life of St. Oswald which follows is comprised
in five chapters and forty-eight paragraphs. 5 The Life was compiled by a monk, named Drogon, who belonged to the Monastery of St. Winocberg, in Flanders, and it seems to have been written at the request of those religious inmates there ; for, they had preserved his relics, from the thirteenth century, with singular veneration. 6 The writer sufficiently indicates, that he drew much of his biographical account from the Venerable Bede. In different hagiographical works, his feast is likewise entered. The Annals of the
Cistercian Monks, contain at August the 5th an account of St. Oswald, king
and martyr. ? l n the " Church History of Brittany," Dean Cressy has given the acts of this religious monarch. 8 At the 5th of August, the account of St.
Oswald, King, appears in the works of Baillet,9 Bishop Challoner10 and Rev.
Alban Butler,
in the Rev. S.
Lives of the English Saints," in Les Petits Bollan-
11" 12
the " Circle of the Seasons. " 15 The Comte de Montalembert, in his charming and celebrated work,16 has also treated about this monarch, in connexion with Anglo-Saxon Church History. The parents of St. Oswald were Ethelfrid, King of Nor- thumbria, called the Ravager, and Acha, daughter to Ella, King of Deira, and sister to the martyred King Edwin. J ? The elder brother of our saint was named Eanfrid, while he had a younger brother, named Oswy, and a sisternamedEbba. Allofthesechildrenwerebroughtupintheerrorsof paganism, and amid the seductions of a court, where religion and morality were unknown. Like a rose growing among thorns, as stated, our saint was born, in the year 604. Of his early years, we have little account. Before we proceed to consider the personal career of the present holy man,
distes,
J 3
and in
Baring-Gould.
1 *
See, likewise,
it will be necessary, however, to premise a few historical notices. The first founder of the great Northumbrian Kingdom, comprising the northern
province of Bernicia, and the southern of Deira, was Ida, who left a son, named Ethelric. This prince and the other children of Ida, named Theodric and Occa, were only able to retain possession of the northern part, known as Bernicia. A warlike ruler, named /Ella or Alia, conquered the southern portion called Deira, comprising the present Yorkshire and Lanca-
Anglorurn," lib. iii. , cap. i. , ii. , iii. , iv. , v. , also, Book xxx, chap, vi. , pp. 801, 802. "
vi. , ix. , x. , xi. , xii. , xiii. The Cambridge 9 See Les Vies des Saints," tome
edition of 1644 is that referred to in this Life.
3 See Vita S. Oswaldi, fol. ccliv. , et seq.
4 See fol. cv. , cvi.
sSee "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Au-
ii. , pp.
79 to 81.
I0 See " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , Au-
gust 5, pp. 65 to 72.
" See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and
other principal Saints," vol. viii. , August v. " See vol. i.
v. 83 103.
Rege
Mart. , pp.
gusti to
I3 See " Vies des Saints," tome ix. , ve d'Aout, p. 304 and n. 1.