Richard Caulfield to
illustrate
his version.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
?
a This was a marshy spot, near the mouth of the River Lee.
Afterwards,
it became his own City of Cork. 73 There, the angel told him, should be the
place of his resurrection. Before coming to Cork, however, it is related, that
he had constructed twelve churches ; and yet through his spirit of charity and
humility, he bestowed all of these on other persons. ? 4 A certain plebeian,
named s sonof 6ofUibhMcIar,77camewherethemanof Aed,? Congall,?
Godandhisdisciplesresided. Thisplebeianwasinquestofacow,whichhad strayed from his herd. It so happened, that this cow had brought forth a calf, at the time she was found. This was a matter of surprise to Aed, who asked the holy men what they were doing there. St. Barry answered, " We are here seeking a locality, in which we may pray to God for ourselves and for him, and who would give it to us for God's honour. " This very land having belonged to the man, who came to seek his cow, he felt inspired to
address St. Barr in the following words " O Saint of God, I offer this place
:
to you in God's honour, and take also that cow, which the Lord has sent to
you. " The man and his posterity then received our saint's blessing.
Rejoicing, he returned home. St. Barrus fasted and prayed incessantly for
8
three whole days,? thus wishing to sanctify the spot he had selected for his
habitation. There he afterwards dwelt, and filled the first episcopal see. ? 9 It is related, that Hugh, son of Miandach, came and offered the saint nine wooded tracts of open country, with his own service and that of his children, and Hugh, the son of Comgall, came also to offer himself and children in perpetuity for his service. However, his Guardian Angel again visited Bairre, and asked if he desired thereto remain, when the saint replied if it pleased God it was his wish. Then said the Angel u If you stay here,
:
few pure souls shall pass from it to Heaven. But move aside rather to the
to some accounts, St. Barr sat for seventeen
to others about fifteen miles. 7° We are told, that the Angel of God came to conduct our saint, with his
for seven 6? at years,
Cloyne,
67 The Codex Kilkenniensis Life of St. Fin Barre and the Bodleian have respectively inversions of the narrative; this renders it the more difficult to attempt a chronological order for those incidents recorded in both
versions.
68 "
and even that shortened to one in
years, which is distant from
according
the present name of Cork. "
— syllable Dr. P. W.
Joyce's "Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," part iv. , chap, vi. , p. 446.
73 It is universally called Corcach by those who speak Irish ; and the memory of the old swamp is still preserved in a portion of
The Codex Kilkenniensis, however, has
Spatium enim 17 annorum erat a the city, and at present called the Marsh,
it,
tempore quo beatus Barrus ecclesiam Corcae aedificavit usque ad obitum suum. "—"The Life of St Fin Barre," by Richard Caulfield, p- SI.
69 See Sir James Ware, " De Praesulibus
7<s " De nepotibus in hyer" is added, in the Codex Kilkenniensis. In seeming allu- dium Annalium Ecclesiasticorum Regni sion to this incident, Hanmer calls him, "one Edo, a noble man. "—"Chronicle of
Hiberniae Commentarius," p. 206.
70 See Father Francis Porter's "Compen-
Hiberniae. " Sectiov. , cap. vii. , p. 197.
71 Thus is the name old documents.
"
spelled
in various
Ireland," p.
108.
The swampy place was known for
many hundred years afterwards by the name
of Corcach-mor or Corcach-mor-Mumhan sanctus Barri triduo
[Mooan], the great marsh of Munster ; of Dominum, ut suum locum benedicere dig- which only the first part has been retained, naretur. "
72
See ibid.
74 to the Manu- According Burgundian
script Life of St. Bairre, chap. xii.
75 Other accounts have it, that he was a
chief or nobleman.
77 According to the Bruxelles Manuscript Life of Fin Bairre, chap. xiii.
78 The Bodleian copy states: "Tunc
jejunans,
oravit ad
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 565
waters which are near, with a sufficiency of fertile land, and with the Lord's recommendation it shall be your abode, and many pure lives and learned menshallgofromittoHeaven. " AccordinglytheAngelconductedhimto the place destined for his resurrection, and marked out the site for a church with a
blessing.
We are told, that Bairre erected a monastery and school80 near Loch Erie,
on the south bank of the Lee, having obtained that site from a nobleman
named PM0. 81
stands on
part
According to a local tradition, the Queen's College now
Ratha,°3 Bishop Libheadhan,
Ia,°s Bishop
of that
ground,
83 and it is said83 that the former Gill
Abbey
which was there had been the oldest ecclesiastical foundation in Cork.
However, it is not correct to quote Colgan for the statement, that eight
hundredmonkswereinBarr'smonasteryatLochEirce; asheonlygivesan extract from an old Life of St. Barr, which tells us, that so great was the number of disciples that flocked to his school, and such was the number of
8
their cells, that they turned the desert place into a considerable city. * In the
very old book, which contains the Martyrology of Tamlacht, and the History of the Female Saints, it is said there were seventeen holy bishops and seven hundred prosperous monks, together with Bairre and St. Nessan, at Corcach- Mor of Munster. 8* We find it stated, in the same book, that Bairre, bishop of Minister and of Connacht, bore a likeness, in habits and in life, to Augustin, bishop of the Saxons. 86 There can hardly be a doubt of some
exaggeration, regarding the number of St. Barr's disciples; but we are
8
informed, ? that among them was Fachtna, who took Kill Ria,
88 80 Eltin, son
01 who took Findabair of the Kings, Conner,02 son of Fontcheren, who took Tulaigh
be found at that date in the Sixth Volume ofthiswork; theotherEltinofChennsaile, venerated at the nth of December,
9° This place has not been identified.
9I There are several Saints called Fergus,
Ferghus or Ferghass in the Irish Calendar,
but none of them distinguished as Fergus the Fairspoken, or in connexion with Fin- dabhair of the Kings,
92 No saint bearing this name appears in the Irish Calendars, unless Conodhar, abbot of Fobhar, venerated November 3rd, be a substitute for it.
93 Tulaigh Ratha has not been identified ; although among the townland denominations of Ireland, Tulla, Tullo, Tullach and Tully
of Cobhthach, who took Cill na h-Indse,°° the
Fergus Fairspoken,
* who took Cill
took Cluain Bruiches, ? Fingen08 and Trean,00 who took Donoughmore ,<x>
79 See Archdeacon Cotton's " Fasti Eccle-
six Hibernicse," vol. i. , p. 215.
80 See a Paper on the "Permanent In-
fluence of the Religious Orders," by the Rev. James A. Dwyer, O. P. , in the "Jour- nal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological
Society," vol. iii. , second series, No. 31-33, July-September, 1897, p. 292.
81
dation was made in 606.
According to some historians, this foun-
82
See Gibson's "History of the County and City of Cork," vol. ii. , p. 362.
83 See ibid. , p. 344.
84 See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,'' xiv. Martii. De S. Talmacho Confessore, p. 607.
8
Litany :
Episcopos, cum septingentis servis Dei, terms.
SThus we find it stated from an old Irish
MDeinde invocat
septemdecim
aremostnumerous,
singly,
andas
compound
Corcagiae Magna—sepultos circa Barraeum et "
*4 No such name appears in the Irish Calendar.
9SThisplacehasnotbeenidentified,
^Sineall and Sincheall are mentioned often in the Irish Calendar ; but among them the present Sinnell cannot be dis- covered.
97 This place has not been identified.
98 There is a Finghin, son of Odhran, venerated at the 5th of February in the Irish Calendar.
99 No saint bearing this name is found in
Nessanum,"&c. Ward's Sancti Rumoldi Martyrisinclyti,"&c. DissertatioHistorica de Patria S. Rumoldi, sect. 10, par. 24,
p. 204.
86 His festival is celebrated May 26th.
8
? In the Burgundian Manuscript Life of St. Bairre, chap, xviii.
88 He seems to have been identical with
Fachtna Ria, already mentioned as one of
Bairre's disciples at Gougane Barra.
89 There are two Eltins in the Irish Calen-
dar : one Eltine in Senchua, venerated at the Irish Calendar.
the nth of June, where notices of him may
,89
Among the Irish townland denomina-
of 00 who Sinnel,
566 LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
101 102 IQ3 Mitain, Mucholmoc, son of Gurlin, who took Ross Ailithir, and
Fachtna,10* son of Mongach, besides Colman,I05 Bishop, who took Ceann
Eich,
106
Muadhan.
10?
and Carbry,
108
Bishop, who took Aill Nuaiten.
,09
All of these are said to have presented their churches to God and to Bairre. 110 In another account,111 we find added to his disciples at Cork the names of
112
Mocholmog-Cainich, Silenus, Segenus and Liber Bishop. of the time when he became distinguished. "*
It is related, moreover, that our saint built his monastery about the year 606, at Cork,"3 and this date appears to agree pretty well with the most probable accounts
tions, Donaghmore frequently occurs, but that in the Bodleian Codex ; while the
no one of them seems pointing to the locality mentioned in the text.
Trinity College Manuscript has several read-
ings different from the Codex Kilkenniensis
101 Most probably Muscraige Mitain, now
the barony of Muskerry, in the County of
Cork, is meant, and if so, Donoughmore script of St. Fin Bairre's Life. The follow-
must be sought for within it.
,0"On the Irish Calendar, I only find the
single Mocholmog, of Druim-Mor, bishop, venerated at June 7th.
103 Now Ross, in the County of Cork, and the head of a diocese.
,0 *The Rev. Dr. Lanigan says, that Fachtna flourished, probably before A. D. 570, and that he could not have been a disciple of
"
St. Barr. See Ecclesiastical History of maxima civitas crevit, quae eodem nomine
Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect, iv. , p. 193, and nn. 42, 43, 44, 45, as also, chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 63, p. 317, ibid.
,os On the numerous list of Saints named Colman, in ihe Irish Calendar, and many of these styled bishops, we do not rind one connected with Ceann Eich. However, we may suppose this Colman to have been the
"
son of Lenin:
Colmanus Chain, (alias Mocholonog filius Gillun et Mocholmog Cainnich dicti) dis-
cipuli S. Barri episcopi Corcagiensis ; prior praesertim ; de quo, in S. Brendani filii
vocatur, i. e. Corcach. Et mnlti sancti
fuerunt ibi discipuli ejus, de quibus hiis
Findloga? vita, legimus:
' Erat hie Col-
Colmanus Lenini filius et
Fergus, et s Conaire et Sibunus, Segenus, et Trianus, et Liber episcopus et alii multi. Ipsi propter sanctitatem suam adducti sunt in aliis loci>, et sua loca et seipsos suo sancto magistro Bano obtulerunt. Et loca eorum usque hodie successoiibus sancti Barri ser- viunt. " The Trinity College Codex has the following variations from the foregoing text :
2 3 4Caum- 'Monggich, Gillem, Mocholmog,
manus filius Lenini vita — doctrina
eich, s Conair. All of these
Saints
atque
inter sanctos praecipuus. ' " Archbishop Ussher's Works, vol. vi. Britannicarum
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 535. His feast is held on the 24th of November.
10i
It has not been identified.
,0? We find only two bishops named
Muadan in the Irish Calendar : one of these venerated on the 6th of March at Carn- furbaidhe ; the other in Aireagal-Mhuaidain, at the 30th of August.
,o8
Among the four bishops named Cairpre, in the Irish Calendar, the present Carbry is not noticed.
,0» The place is not known. See the fore- going list in Archbishop Ussher's Works,
foregoing
vol. vi.
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 544.
1,0 to the Bruxelles
According Manuscript
Life of St. Fin Barre, chap, xviii. Although materially agreeing in substance, the texts of the Codex Kilkenniensis Manuscript Life of our Saint is quite a different version from
"*" If we as is suppose,
"
are n—ot named in the Codex Bodleiensis
copy. Ibid. , p. 20. Among the foregoing,
Mr. Caulfield has Mocholmog or Colman Cham rendered "Colman the crooktd," perhaps Colman de Caem-Achaidh, vene- rated at the 31st of March, and he adds, that Segenus is said to have been Abbot of Hy, and to have built a church at Rechrann in Dalriada, in Ultonia. If this be so, he is venerated on the 12th of August. At those respective dates notices of them are to be found respectively in the Third Volume of this work, Art. iii. , and in the Eighth
Volume, Art. iv.
"3 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
cum," p. 62, and note (c), 16, where he cites for authority Conry's MS.
Life. 111
ing extract, with the introduction of the figures, which indicate variations of reading
as found in the Trinity College Codex, have been introduced by Mr.
Richard Caulfield to illustrate his version. See " Life of Saint Fin Bane," pp. 17, 18.
1,2 The Codex Kilkenniensis states: "In illo autem loco Sanctus Barrus usque ad obitum suum mansit, et ibi in honore ejus
That in the Codex Kilkenniensis Manu-
nominibus aliqui nominantur, Factna, filius 12
Mongich, et Mocolmoc filius Gilliani et 3 Mocholmoc, 4 Caunch, et Fachtnanus, et
highly probable, that when founding it he was a bishop, and
add the 17 years of his incumbency, his
—Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
death may be assigned to 623. "
September 25. ] LIVES Of THE IRISH SAINTS. 567
In the ancient acts of Senan, Abbot of Iniscathy, it is said that during the life of this saint, Barr presided over a community of monks at Cork. 115 But, as St. Senan died a. d. 544, Papebroke considers this prefecture to have been placed at too early a date Il6 for he supposes, St. Barr had not then exceeded
;
the period of early youth, even if it be allowed he was born. ? However,
it is reasonably allowed, that St. Barr flourished in the latter part of the sixth
and of the seventh 8 While St. Senanus was at Innis- beginning century. "
carra, near Lua, fifty Roman monks came to him. These he divided into five bands or companies. Ten of those monks he is said to have given to
11 Barreus. ?
Our saint is generally supposed to have become distinguished, about the commencement of the seventh century, when he was raised to the
On account of their sanctity, the disciples of St. Bairre went to other places, which with themselves were offered to their own holy master. At the time the Life of our Saint, as contained in the Codex Kilkenniensis, had been written, these places were subject to St. Barr's successors. This writer's meaning must have been, that those new monasteries were or had beensubjecttotheCorkestablishmentj but,withregardtoallofthembeing subordinate to the latter, we require better authority. Being probably a member of Cork monastery, the writer in question may have been willing to adopt rather hasty and unjustifiable conclusions. "
dreaming
Nessan, patron
of
Mungret,
tomus i. , Martii viii.
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
116
iv. , pp. 313, 314, Although Ware is silent, as to the time when our saint became bishop of Cork, his editor Harris has inserted in the
Fasti Ecclesise Hibernicae,"
121 This is the more if we allow him to have been probable,
episcopacy.
acquainted with St. David of Menevia in Wales, and a contemporary with St. Maidoc of Ferns. 122 UssherI23 and Harris12* state, that he was bishop in the commencement of the seventh century, and that he flourished about the year 630. Smith argues, that if St. Nessan, his disciple, died in the year 551, as the Four Masters allege,125 our saint must have lived almost a hundred years earlier than Sir James Ware allows. 126 However, Smith must have been
ofSt.
identicalwithSt. NessanofCork. Wearetold,thatwiththeaidofmany good men, St. Finnbarr built the old Church of Cork,128 to which he annexed
land," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 68, p. 318.
1,5 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
Vita ex MSS. Hibernicis, cap. hi. , sect. 21, p. 772.
De Sancto Senano
I22
"
Ecclesiastical Episcopo et Abbate in Hibernia. Secunda History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , sect.
Archdeacon Henry Cotton places the
" "—"
episcopate of St. Barr over Cork, a. d. 606
text ot his author
to 623. See vol. i. , p. 215.
"7
Cork," p. 556.
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vii. ,
Septembris xxv. Vita S. Barri, sect, ii. ,
n. 22, p. 145.
1,8
on Finn Barr in Leslie Stephen's "Die-
See the Rev. Thomas Olden's article
53f.
,24 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
Cork," p. 556. 5"
"
tionary of National Biography," vol. xix. , pp. 35, 36.
" See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
119 See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae," Martii viii. Supplementum Vitae S. Senani,cap. xx. ,p. 533(rede529).
Four Masters," vol. i. , and n. (f), pp. 188,
,2e " Some of the monasteries ascribed to
the so-called disciples of Barr might have
been colonies from that of Cork, established
from time to time at various periods after
County and City of Cork," vol. i. , book ii. ,
chap, ix. , p. 362.
12? His feast occurs on the 25th of July, at
which date, notices of him may be found in
his (Barr's) death. "—Rev. Dr. Lanigan's the Seventh Volume of the present work,
"
chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 69, pp. 318, 319.
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , Art. ii.
12? near whowasnot Limerick,
I21 " See Father Francis Porter's
Com- pendium Annalium Ecclesiasticorum Regni
Hibernize," sectio v. , cap. vii. , p. 197.
the beginning of the seventh century. " See vol. i. , Bishops of
"3 " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum See
Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 503, and Index Chronologicus ad ANN. dcxxx. , p.
189.
,26 "
128
In his account of Irish localities,
See AncientandPresentStateofthe
11
Bishops of
568 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
a " faire " Church-yard. "9 There he gathered around him a numerous
company of monks, who according to primitive usage lived in separate cells. He also established a school, which obtained great distinction in his time. Nor are we to take the statement, as quite exact, that St. Barr erected a special cathedral at Cork ; for, it is probable, such a church differed not from his monastic one. There can be little question about his having been consecrated bishop, as many other abbots were ; but, for a long time after his death, we obtain only very uncertain and imperfect accounts concerning the Cork bishops, who were his successors. The school of St. Barr or of his monastery is only particularly alluded to in the tract called his Life. It is
Old Cathedral of Cork.
little spoken of in our more ancient documents. 130 It seems probable that the early cathedral of Cork was of very moderate size, and of primitive construction ; as during the middle ages and down to the last century, the church which served that purpose was one of very humble architectural pretensions. It passed into Protestant possession, and was used for their
I
worship until i725,'3 when it fell into decay and was then taken down, in
order to be rebuilt. An ancient round tower formerly stood in the church- yard, a little detached Jrom the cathedral. The new church was erected on
William
" Here on a
Priests and their in Theology,
Allingham says :
hillock, Bairre, alias Finn Bairre, ' the fair
dices, against
his own
quaint
founded his little church in the seventh History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. ,
'— — Barry probably from his complexion
•
,3°
"
century. "
129 See Dr. Hanmer, who adds to the
sect, iv. , and n. 63, pp. 314 to 317.
131 It is represented in the accompanying illustration, copied from that contained in
foregoing account, "wherein now standeth
a watch Tower builded the Danes. '— by
the
of the Cork Historical
and
"Journal
"Chronicle of Ireland," pp. 108, 109. The Archaeological Society," voi. i. , p. 97, by
Doctor then introduces a Legend, in which Gregor Grey, and by him drawn and very amusingly he displays peculiar preju- engraved on the wood.
terms.
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 569 the site of the former one, and finished in 1735, when it was opened for
2
religious service. ^
According to the legend given in one of our Saint's Lives, St. Bairre went
from Cork to Rome in company with Eolang, Maedhog of Ferns, David of
Cill Muine, and twelve monks, so that he might take the grade of bishop. ^
Gregory, who was successor to Peter at that time, raised his hand over the
head of our saint to confer consecration, when a flame came on it from
Heaven while he was reciting the words of the ritual. Then Gregory said :
" Go to your house, and the Lord himself will read the gradation of Bishop
for you. " This prophecy was fulfilled, when Bairre returned to his own
church. Again it is related, that some time after our Saint settled at Corcaid.
1
St. Maccuirp, 34 the master of Barrus, returned from Rome, and was received
withhonouronhisarrival. HerelatedtothesaintallthingsthatSt. Gregory toldhimwhenatRome. Theseincidentsbeingheardof,severalothersaints came from various churches. On a day appointed, they all entered into a church and prayed, expecting the accomplishment of a Divine mystery. Whileprpying,theAngelsofGoddescendedandappearedtothem. The Angels raised St. Barr and St. Maccuirp aloft with them, and consecrated them as Bishops. Then letting them down near the altar, the manner of their episcopal consecration was manifested. Accompanying such a mira- culous occurrence, we are told, that oil broke forth from the earth near the altar, until it came over the shoes of those there standing. Then, all gave thanks to God for such miraculous events, and glorified those Saints, whom the Angels had thus consecrated. x35 On that very day, St. Barr and St. Maccuirp, as Bishops, with other clerics, marked out the cemetery of St. Barr's Church, which is called Corchadh. They afterwards consecrated it. This they also promised in the Lord's name, that after the Day of Judgment, hell should not close on any person, who should have been interred in it.
When the burial-ground attached to Cork Cathedral had been consecrated, the holy bishop Maccuirp requested that his body should be the first laid in that cemetery. His prayer was heard ; for immediately he was seized with illness. Having happily died, he was the first to be honourably interred within the Cemetery at Corchaige, by the venerable Bishop Barrus and other
holy clergymen.
it became his own City of Cork. 73 There, the angel told him, should be the
place of his resurrection. Before coming to Cork, however, it is related, that
he had constructed twelve churches ; and yet through his spirit of charity and
humility, he bestowed all of these on other persons. ? 4 A certain plebeian,
named s sonof 6ofUibhMcIar,77camewherethemanof Aed,? Congall,?
Godandhisdisciplesresided. Thisplebeianwasinquestofacow,whichhad strayed from his herd. It so happened, that this cow had brought forth a calf, at the time she was found. This was a matter of surprise to Aed, who asked the holy men what they were doing there. St. Barry answered, " We are here seeking a locality, in which we may pray to God for ourselves and for him, and who would give it to us for God's honour. " This very land having belonged to the man, who came to seek his cow, he felt inspired to
address St. Barr in the following words " O Saint of God, I offer this place
:
to you in God's honour, and take also that cow, which the Lord has sent to
you. " The man and his posterity then received our saint's blessing.
Rejoicing, he returned home. St. Barrus fasted and prayed incessantly for
8
three whole days,? thus wishing to sanctify the spot he had selected for his
habitation. There he afterwards dwelt, and filled the first episcopal see. ? 9 It is related, that Hugh, son of Miandach, came and offered the saint nine wooded tracts of open country, with his own service and that of his children, and Hugh, the son of Comgall, came also to offer himself and children in perpetuity for his service. However, his Guardian Angel again visited Bairre, and asked if he desired thereto remain, when the saint replied if it pleased God it was his wish. Then said the Angel u If you stay here,
:
few pure souls shall pass from it to Heaven. But move aside rather to the
to some accounts, St. Barr sat for seventeen
to others about fifteen miles. 7° We are told, that the Angel of God came to conduct our saint, with his
for seven 6? at years,
Cloyne,
67 The Codex Kilkenniensis Life of St. Fin Barre and the Bodleian have respectively inversions of the narrative; this renders it the more difficult to attempt a chronological order for those incidents recorded in both
versions.
68 "
and even that shortened to one in
years, which is distant from
according
the present name of Cork. "
— syllable Dr. P. W.
Joyce's "Origin and History of Irish Names of Places," part iv. , chap, vi. , p. 446.
73 It is universally called Corcach by those who speak Irish ; and the memory of the old swamp is still preserved in a portion of
The Codex Kilkenniensis, however, has
Spatium enim 17 annorum erat a the city, and at present called the Marsh,
it,
tempore quo beatus Barrus ecclesiam Corcae aedificavit usque ad obitum suum. "—"The Life of St Fin Barre," by Richard Caulfield, p- SI.
69 See Sir James Ware, " De Praesulibus
7<s " De nepotibus in hyer" is added, in the Codex Kilkenniensis. In seeming allu- dium Annalium Ecclesiasticorum Regni sion to this incident, Hanmer calls him, "one Edo, a noble man. "—"Chronicle of
Hiberniae Commentarius," p. 206.
70 See Father Francis Porter's "Compen-
Hiberniae. " Sectiov. , cap. vii. , p. 197.
71 Thus is the name old documents.
"
spelled
in various
Ireland," p.
108.
The swampy place was known for
many hundred years afterwards by the name
of Corcach-mor or Corcach-mor-Mumhan sanctus Barri triduo
[Mooan], the great marsh of Munster ; of Dominum, ut suum locum benedicere dig- which only the first part has been retained, naretur. "
72
See ibid.
74 to the Manu- According Burgundian
script Life of St. Bairre, chap. xii.
75 Other accounts have it, that he was a
chief or nobleman.
77 According to the Bruxelles Manuscript Life of Fin Bairre, chap. xiii.
78 The Bodleian copy states: "Tunc
jejunans,
oravit ad
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 565
waters which are near, with a sufficiency of fertile land, and with the Lord's recommendation it shall be your abode, and many pure lives and learned menshallgofromittoHeaven. " AccordinglytheAngelconductedhimto the place destined for his resurrection, and marked out the site for a church with a
blessing.
We are told, that Bairre erected a monastery and school80 near Loch Erie,
on the south bank of the Lee, having obtained that site from a nobleman
named PM0. 81
stands on
part
According to a local tradition, the Queen's College now
Ratha,°3 Bishop Libheadhan,
Ia,°s Bishop
of that
ground,
83 and it is said83 that the former Gill
Abbey
which was there had been the oldest ecclesiastical foundation in Cork.
However, it is not correct to quote Colgan for the statement, that eight
hundredmonkswereinBarr'smonasteryatLochEirce; asheonlygivesan extract from an old Life of St. Barr, which tells us, that so great was the number of disciples that flocked to his school, and such was the number of
8
their cells, that they turned the desert place into a considerable city. * In the
very old book, which contains the Martyrology of Tamlacht, and the History of the Female Saints, it is said there were seventeen holy bishops and seven hundred prosperous monks, together with Bairre and St. Nessan, at Corcach- Mor of Munster. 8* We find it stated, in the same book, that Bairre, bishop of Minister and of Connacht, bore a likeness, in habits and in life, to Augustin, bishop of the Saxons. 86 There can hardly be a doubt of some
exaggeration, regarding the number of St. Barr's disciples; but we are
8
informed, ? that among them was Fachtna, who took Kill Ria,
88 80 Eltin, son
01 who took Findabair of the Kings, Conner,02 son of Fontcheren, who took Tulaigh
be found at that date in the Sixth Volume ofthiswork; theotherEltinofChennsaile, venerated at the nth of December,
9° This place has not been identified.
9I There are several Saints called Fergus,
Ferghus or Ferghass in the Irish Calendar,
but none of them distinguished as Fergus the Fairspoken, or in connexion with Fin- dabhair of the Kings,
92 No saint bearing this name appears in the Irish Calendars, unless Conodhar, abbot of Fobhar, venerated November 3rd, be a substitute for it.
93 Tulaigh Ratha has not been identified ; although among the townland denominations of Ireland, Tulla, Tullo, Tullach and Tully
of Cobhthach, who took Cill na h-Indse,°° the
Fergus Fairspoken,
* who took Cill
took Cluain Bruiches, ? Fingen08 and Trean,00 who took Donoughmore ,<x>
79 See Archdeacon Cotton's " Fasti Eccle-
six Hibernicse," vol. i. , p. 215.
80 See a Paper on the "Permanent In-
fluence of the Religious Orders," by the Rev. James A. Dwyer, O. P. , in the "Jour- nal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological
Society," vol. iii. , second series, No. 31-33, July-September, 1897, p. 292.
81
dation was made in 606.
According to some historians, this foun-
82
See Gibson's "History of the County and City of Cork," vol. ii. , p. 362.
83 See ibid. , p. 344.
84 See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,'' xiv. Martii. De S. Talmacho Confessore, p. 607.
8
Litany :
Episcopos, cum septingentis servis Dei, terms.
SThus we find it stated from an old Irish
MDeinde invocat
septemdecim
aremostnumerous,
singly,
andas
compound
Corcagiae Magna—sepultos circa Barraeum et "
*4 No such name appears in the Irish Calendar.
9SThisplacehasnotbeenidentified,
^Sineall and Sincheall are mentioned often in the Irish Calendar ; but among them the present Sinnell cannot be dis- covered.
97 This place has not been identified.
98 There is a Finghin, son of Odhran, venerated at the 5th of February in the Irish Calendar.
99 No saint bearing this name is found in
Nessanum,"&c. Ward's Sancti Rumoldi Martyrisinclyti,"&c. DissertatioHistorica de Patria S. Rumoldi, sect. 10, par. 24,
p. 204.
86 His festival is celebrated May 26th.
8
? In the Burgundian Manuscript Life of St. Bairre, chap, xviii.
88 He seems to have been identical with
Fachtna Ria, already mentioned as one of
Bairre's disciples at Gougane Barra.
89 There are two Eltins in the Irish Calen-
dar : one Eltine in Senchua, venerated at the Irish Calendar.
the nth of June, where notices of him may
,89
Among the Irish townland denomina-
of 00 who Sinnel,
566 LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
101 102 IQ3 Mitain, Mucholmoc, son of Gurlin, who took Ross Ailithir, and
Fachtna,10* son of Mongach, besides Colman,I05 Bishop, who took Ceann
Eich,
106
Muadhan.
10?
and Carbry,
108
Bishop, who took Aill Nuaiten.
,09
All of these are said to have presented their churches to God and to Bairre. 110 In another account,111 we find added to his disciples at Cork the names of
112
Mocholmog-Cainich, Silenus, Segenus and Liber Bishop. of the time when he became distinguished. "*
It is related, moreover, that our saint built his monastery about the year 606, at Cork,"3 and this date appears to agree pretty well with the most probable accounts
tions, Donaghmore frequently occurs, but that in the Bodleian Codex ; while the
no one of them seems pointing to the locality mentioned in the text.
Trinity College Manuscript has several read-
ings different from the Codex Kilkenniensis
101 Most probably Muscraige Mitain, now
the barony of Muskerry, in the County of
Cork, is meant, and if so, Donoughmore script of St. Fin Bairre's Life. The follow-
must be sought for within it.
,0"On the Irish Calendar, I only find the
single Mocholmog, of Druim-Mor, bishop, venerated at June 7th.
103 Now Ross, in the County of Cork, and the head of a diocese.
,0 *The Rev. Dr. Lanigan says, that Fachtna flourished, probably before A. D. 570, and that he could not have been a disciple of
"
St. Barr. See Ecclesiastical History of maxima civitas crevit, quae eodem nomine
Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect, iv. , p. 193, and nn. 42, 43, 44, 45, as also, chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 63, p. 317, ibid.
,os On the numerous list of Saints named Colman, in ihe Irish Calendar, and many of these styled bishops, we do not rind one connected with Ceann Eich. However, we may suppose this Colman to have been the
"
son of Lenin:
Colmanus Chain, (alias Mocholonog filius Gillun et Mocholmog Cainnich dicti) dis-
cipuli S. Barri episcopi Corcagiensis ; prior praesertim ; de quo, in S. Brendani filii
vocatur, i. e. Corcach. Et mnlti sancti
fuerunt ibi discipuli ejus, de quibus hiis
Findloga? vita, legimus:
' Erat hie Col-
Colmanus Lenini filius et
Fergus, et s Conaire et Sibunus, Segenus, et Trianus, et Liber episcopus et alii multi. Ipsi propter sanctitatem suam adducti sunt in aliis loci>, et sua loca et seipsos suo sancto magistro Bano obtulerunt. Et loca eorum usque hodie successoiibus sancti Barri ser- viunt. " The Trinity College Codex has the following variations from the foregoing text :
2 3 4Caum- 'Monggich, Gillem, Mocholmog,
manus filius Lenini vita — doctrina
eich, s Conair. All of these
Saints
atque
inter sanctos praecipuus. ' " Archbishop Ussher's Works, vol. vi. Britannicarum
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 535. His feast is held on the 24th of November.
10i
It has not been identified.
,0? We find only two bishops named
Muadan in the Irish Calendar : one of these venerated on the 6th of March at Carn- furbaidhe ; the other in Aireagal-Mhuaidain, at the 30th of August.
,o8
Among the four bishops named Cairpre, in the Irish Calendar, the present Carbry is not noticed.
,0» The place is not known. See the fore- going list in Archbishop Ussher's Works,
foregoing
vol. vi.
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 544.
1,0 to the Bruxelles
According Manuscript
Life of St. Fin Barre, chap, xviii. Although materially agreeing in substance, the texts of the Codex Kilkenniensis Manuscript Life of our Saint is quite a different version from
"*" If we as is suppose,
"
are n—ot named in the Codex Bodleiensis
copy. Ibid. , p. 20. Among the foregoing,
Mr. Caulfield has Mocholmog or Colman Cham rendered "Colman the crooktd," perhaps Colman de Caem-Achaidh, vene- rated at the 31st of March, and he adds, that Segenus is said to have been Abbot of Hy, and to have built a church at Rechrann in Dalriada, in Ultonia. If this be so, he is venerated on the 12th of August. At those respective dates notices of them are to be found respectively in the Third Volume of this work, Art. iii. , and in the Eighth
Volume, Art. iv.
"3 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
cum," p. 62, and note (c), 16, where he cites for authority Conry's MS.
Life. 111
ing extract, with the introduction of the figures, which indicate variations of reading
as found in the Trinity College Codex, have been introduced by Mr.
Richard Caulfield to illustrate his version. See " Life of Saint Fin Bane," pp. 17, 18.
1,2 The Codex Kilkenniensis states: "In illo autem loco Sanctus Barrus usque ad obitum suum mansit, et ibi in honore ejus
That in the Codex Kilkenniensis Manu-
nominibus aliqui nominantur, Factna, filius 12
Mongich, et Mocolmoc filius Gilliani et 3 Mocholmoc, 4 Caunch, et Fachtnanus, et
highly probable, that when founding it he was a bishop, and
add the 17 years of his incumbency, his
—Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
death may be assigned to 623. "
September 25. ] LIVES Of THE IRISH SAINTS. 567
In the ancient acts of Senan, Abbot of Iniscathy, it is said that during the life of this saint, Barr presided over a community of monks at Cork. 115 But, as St. Senan died a. d. 544, Papebroke considers this prefecture to have been placed at too early a date Il6 for he supposes, St. Barr had not then exceeded
;
the period of early youth, even if it be allowed he was born. ? However,
it is reasonably allowed, that St. Barr flourished in the latter part of the sixth
and of the seventh 8 While St. Senanus was at Innis- beginning century. "
carra, near Lua, fifty Roman monks came to him. These he divided into five bands or companies. Ten of those monks he is said to have given to
11 Barreus. ?
Our saint is generally supposed to have become distinguished, about the commencement of the seventh century, when he was raised to the
On account of their sanctity, the disciples of St. Bairre went to other places, which with themselves were offered to their own holy master. At the time the Life of our Saint, as contained in the Codex Kilkenniensis, had been written, these places were subject to St. Barr's successors. This writer's meaning must have been, that those new monasteries were or had beensubjecttotheCorkestablishmentj but,withregardtoallofthembeing subordinate to the latter, we require better authority. Being probably a member of Cork monastery, the writer in question may have been willing to adopt rather hasty and unjustifiable conclusions. "
dreaming
Nessan, patron
of
Mungret,
tomus i. , Martii viii.
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
116
iv. , pp. 313, 314, Although Ware is silent, as to the time when our saint became bishop of Cork, his editor Harris has inserted in the
Fasti Ecclesise Hibernicae,"
121 This is the more if we allow him to have been probable,
episcopacy.
acquainted with St. David of Menevia in Wales, and a contemporary with St. Maidoc of Ferns. 122 UssherI23 and Harris12* state, that he was bishop in the commencement of the seventh century, and that he flourished about the year 630. Smith argues, that if St. Nessan, his disciple, died in the year 551, as the Four Masters allege,125 our saint must have lived almost a hundred years earlier than Sir James Ware allows. 126 However, Smith must have been
ofSt.
identicalwithSt. NessanofCork. Wearetold,thatwiththeaidofmany good men, St. Finnbarr built the old Church of Cork,128 to which he annexed
land," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 68, p. 318.
1,5 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
Vita ex MSS. Hibernicis, cap. hi. , sect. 21, p. 772.
De Sancto Senano
I22
"
Ecclesiastical Episcopo et Abbate in Hibernia. Secunda History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , sect.
Archdeacon Henry Cotton places the
" "—"
episcopate of St. Barr over Cork, a. d. 606
text ot his author
to 623. See vol. i. , p. 215.
"7
Cork," p. 556.
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vii. ,
Septembris xxv. Vita S. Barri, sect, ii. ,
n. 22, p. 145.
1,8
on Finn Barr in Leslie Stephen's "Die-
See the Rev. Thomas Olden's article
53f.
,24 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
Cork," p. 556. 5"
"
tionary of National Biography," vol. xix. , pp. 35, 36.
" See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
119 See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae," Martii viii. Supplementum Vitae S. Senani,cap. xx. ,p. 533(rede529).
Four Masters," vol. i. , and n. (f), pp. 188,
,2e " Some of the monasteries ascribed to
the so-called disciples of Barr might have
been colonies from that of Cork, established
from time to time at various periods after
County and City of Cork," vol. i. , book ii. ,
chap, ix. , p. 362.
12? His feast occurs on the 25th of July, at
which date, notices of him may be found in
his (Barr's) death. "—Rev. Dr. Lanigan's the Seventh Volume of the present work,
"
chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 69, pp. 318, 319.
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , Art. ii.
12? near whowasnot Limerick,
I21 " See Father Francis Porter's
Com- pendium Annalium Ecclesiasticorum Regni
Hibernize," sectio v. , cap. vii. , p. 197.
the beginning of the seventh century. " See vol. i. , Bishops of
"3 " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum See
Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 503, and Index Chronologicus ad ANN. dcxxx. , p.
189.
,26 "
128
In his account of Irish localities,
See AncientandPresentStateofthe
11
Bishops of
568 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
a " faire " Church-yard. "9 There he gathered around him a numerous
company of monks, who according to primitive usage lived in separate cells. He also established a school, which obtained great distinction in his time. Nor are we to take the statement, as quite exact, that St. Barr erected a special cathedral at Cork ; for, it is probable, such a church differed not from his monastic one. There can be little question about his having been consecrated bishop, as many other abbots were ; but, for a long time after his death, we obtain only very uncertain and imperfect accounts concerning the Cork bishops, who were his successors. The school of St. Barr or of his monastery is only particularly alluded to in the tract called his Life. It is
Old Cathedral of Cork.
little spoken of in our more ancient documents. 130 It seems probable that the early cathedral of Cork was of very moderate size, and of primitive construction ; as during the middle ages and down to the last century, the church which served that purpose was one of very humble architectural pretensions. It passed into Protestant possession, and was used for their
I
worship until i725,'3 when it fell into decay and was then taken down, in
order to be rebuilt. An ancient round tower formerly stood in the church- yard, a little detached Jrom the cathedral. The new church was erected on
William
" Here on a
Priests and their in Theology,
Allingham says :
hillock, Bairre, alias Finn Bairre, ' the fair
dices, against
his own
quaint
founded his little church in the seventh History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. ,
'— — Barry probably from his complexion
•
,3°
"
century. "
129 See Dr. Hanmer, who adds to the
sect, iv. , and n. 63, pp. 314 to 317.
131 It is represented in the accompanying illustration, copied from that contained in
foregoing account, "wherein now standeth
a watch Tower builded the Danes. '— by
the
of the Cork Historical
and
"Journal
"Chronicle of Ireland," pp. 108, 109. The Archaeological Society," voi. i. , p. 97, by
Doctor then introduces a Legend, in which Gregor Grey, and by him drawn and very amusingly he displays peculiar preju- engraved on the wood.
terms.
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 569 the site of the former one, and finished in 1735, when it was opened for
2
religious service. ^
According to the legend given in one of our Saint's Lives, St. Bairre went
from Cork to Rome in company with Eolang, Maedhog of Ferns, David of
Cill Muine, and twelve monks, so that he might take the grade of bishop. ^
Gregory, who was successor to Peter at that time, raised his hand over the
head of our saint to confer consecration, when a flame came on it from
Heaven while he was reciting the words of the ritual. Then Gregory said :
" Go to your house, and the Lord himself will read the gradation of Bishop
for you. " This prophecy was fulfilled, when Bairre returned to his own
church. Again it is related, that some time after our Saint settled at Corcaid.
1
St. Maccuirp, 34 the master of Barrus, returned from Rome, and was received
withhonouronhisarrival. HerelatedtothesaintallthingsthatSt. Gregory toldhimwhenatRome. Theseincidentsbeingheardof,severalothersaints came from various churches. On a day appointed, they all entered into a church and prayed, expecting the accomplishment of a Divine mystery. Whileprpying,theAngelsofGoddescendedandappearedtothem. The Angels raised St. Barr and St. Maccuirp aloft with them, and consecrated them as Bishops. Then letting them down near the altar, the manner of their episcopal consecration was manifested. Accompanying such a mira- culous occurrence, we are told, that oil broke forth from the earth near the altar, until it came over the shoes of those there standing. Then, all gave thanks to God for such miraculous events, and glorified those Saints, whom the Angels had thus consecrated. x35 On that very day, St. Barr and St. Maccuirp, as Bishops, with other clerics, marked out the cemetery of St. Barr's Church, which is called Corchadh. They afterwards consecrated it. This they also promised in the Lord's name, that after the Day of Judgment, hell should not close on any person, who should have been interred in it.
When the burial-ground attached to Cork Cathedral had been consecrated, the holy bishop Maccuirp requested that his body should be the first laid in that cemetery. His prayer was heard ; for immediately he was seized with illness. Having happily died, he was the first to be honourably interred within the Cemetery at Corchaige, by the venerable Bishop Barrus and other
holy clergymen.
