No More Learning

One of the eight Ecclesiastical and Religious Rules established in Erinn, and the sixth in chronological order, was that of St. Maelruain. It is known as the general Rule of the Celidhe' D£, vulgarly called the Culdees. It contains a minute series of regulations for their lives, their prayers, their preachings, their conversations, their confessions, their communions, their ablutions, their fastings, their abstinences, their relaxations, their sleep, their celebrations of
A copy of this is contained in a prose tract
2
appear to be older than the twelfth or thirteenth century. 3 It may be
regarded as a modernized, or perhaps amplified, version of a much earlier document. The length of the Tract admits great variety in the subjects of which it treats, while its contents are greatly deficient in arrangement, and
Mass and their other duties. 21
of nine small 22 quarto pages.
The " Rule for the Celi De" was
composed by St. Maelruan, and it is said, about the year 780. However, we are inclined to think, that the date must be placed, at an earlier period. The original of this is not known to exist, and the version of it which remains does not
in many passages they are obscure. 2* Reeves, D. D. , Evidences, G, pp. 82, 83.
It is said, that Moelruain originally
18
them, in an Irish Poem of twelve quatrains in Leabhar Breac, fol. 261, beginning with the heading Do Cell "Oe, no x>i clej\ech
pecterw.
*9 And this is verified by the poem com-
"
mencing with The hillock," of which
At least, such is the description given of
Cat thy, D. D. , who kindly furnished English translations of the Irish text from the Book of Leinster for the writer, states, there is no reason for calling the authenticity of Cormac Mac Cuillenan's poem in question. At the bottom of that page in which it is, a modern version is given in the handwriting of
Michael the chief of the Four O'Cleiy,
Masters, in whose possession the Manuscript once had been.
Cormac Mac Culenain " sang :
Hillock, green-topped," etc. See Dr. Robert Atkin- son's edition of the Book of Leinster, p. 370^. Moreover, we are told, that Cormac Mac Culena—in sang (in the poem mentioned, inter
M See Professor
Eugene O'Curry's
" Lec-
alia)
tures on the Manuscript Materials of
Ancient Irish History," Lect. xviii. , p. 375.
ibid.
23 This is inferred from its orthography
and grammatical structure.
*•» See "The Culdees of the British
Islands, as they appear in History," &c. By Very Rev. William Reeves, D. D. , part ii. , sect, ii. , p. 7.
as A version of this Rule to prose purports
be its translation in the Leabhar Breac, at
fol. 9. It begins with these words : Incipic
TI1A541I, na Celco tVOe, o ffloelpUAin cearuc.
: "
Maelruain, Mea'tuile, glorious in deed, Maelantiad of Dairinis,
The three Elands, Maeldithrub zeal-
ous,
Dimman, Dalbach, Feidlimid.
Diarmuid, Eochaid, sublime the tale,
And Ua
Oengus Oibleim,
The folk of that unity all
(Are) round Maelruain, round Mael- tuile. "
—Ibid. , p. 370^.
20
The Very Rev. Bartholomew Mac
18
observing
July 7. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. io-
composedhisRulefortheCeleDeinmetre. 25 Thishasbeenrenderedinto Irish prose, and it has been printed, with an English translation, by Dr. John O'Donovan,26towhichnotesareannexed,byRev. Dr. Reeves. TheRule of St. Maelruain was remarkably rigorous. Meat was not eaten, nor was ale drank,byhismonks,duringtheirAbbot'sowntime2? although,bothappear
to have been allowed—subject to certain conditions—in that copy of the Rule, which has come down to us. It is interesting to know, what formed the chief articles of food in the monastic establishment, at this early period. The dietary of the Tallagh community seems to have consisted of bread, thick milk, honey, skimmed milk, beer, butter, kale, biestings, curds, fish, cheese, eggs, apples, leeks, cheese-whey, and gruel, for these are specially mentioned, as being in daily use. There seems to have been a relaxation at Easter, when eggs, lard and the flesh of wild deer and wild hogs, with other flesh-meats, in case of sickness or scarcity of other nutriment, were allowed. There was a fast every month among the congregation of Maelruan, on half a meal of bread, and on half a meal of diluted whey. This Rule has precepts
for bishops, pastors, confessors, virgins in religion, and lay people. It con- tains several regulations, connected with the sacrament of penance. It regards
"
any divulging
confession,
say,
;
so as to " this is what the mandid," as a
of
very heinous crime. It is added, that this is not penanced in the land of Erinn. "28 Ontheeveofthechief all is "because
festivals, feasting prohibited,
of going under the hand to-morrow. "2^ Frequent confession is also incul-
cated. "^ Yet, it is not profitable, when the transgressions are frequent. We are informed again, that it is not necessary to delay in case of minute confessions thoughts and idle notions, and abuse and anger, until Sunday, but to confess them immediately as they occur. He who makes his confession to a soul-friend—if he perform the penance according to his directions—need not confess them to another soul-friend, but only what has subsequently occurred. Some instructions are for of the confessor. 3 1
given, also, guidance
It is right to refuse the confession of a person, who does not perform penance according to the soul-friend's direction, unless there happens to be a soul- friend near, who is considered more learned in rules, in the ways of the scripture, and in the practices of the saints. Let the penitent heed what he receives from the learned soul-friend, whom he first met, to whomsover he may reveal his confession each time, and let penance be enjoined him, according to the rules of frequent confession. In fine, it is also decreed, that the bishop, who confers noble orders upon any one, who is not instructed in religion and reading and rules, as also regarding the proper remedy for all sins
26 Both are to be found in "The Culdees would be too long to wait till the Sunday
of the British Islands, as they appear in following, for the person who habitually goes History," &c. By Very Rev. William to hand every Sunday, because these two
Reeves, D. D. Evidences, H, pp. 84 to 97.
days were always special with them at Mass. "
:
3I After this form Difficult, indeed, is
the duty of the soul-friend, because if he give the proper remedy, it is oftener violated than observed; but, if the soul-friend does not
27 See "
Proceedings
of the Irish Royal
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
part i. , pp. 128, 129.
28
29 To these words Dr. Reeves adds the fol-
AccordingtotheO'Curry'sMSS. , sect. 60.
lowing note :
"
The priest raises his hand in
several are satisfied with making the con-
fession, without doing the penance, but it is
better to proclaim their welfare to them,
though they do not respond to the penance enjoined by the confessor. Another soul-
friend may be gone to, if necessary, after the permission of the first soul-friend has been obtained.
32 See Reeves' work "On the Culdees. "
the absolution, whence the modern expres- "
sion, T>ul fa iAim fa^ai^c going under the hand of the priest," denotes going to confession. " See "The Culdees of the British Islands," &c, Evidences H. , p. 84.
30 This Rule enacts : "When they do not
go to hand (meaning to confession) on Sun^ day, they go on the Thursday after ; it
give it,
its
liability
falls himself; because upon
ic6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[July 7.
in general, is an enemy to God and to man ; for, that bishop has offered an insult to Christ and to his Church, and hence he shall do penance for six
32 years.
CHAPTER III.
EULOGIES AND SAYINGS OF ST. MAKLRUAIN—ONLY ABBOT AT TALLAGH—HISTORIC NOTICES OF THE PLACE—DEATH AND BURIAL OF THE HOLY ABBOT THERE- LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS—CONCLUSION.
In the Prologue to the " Feilire" of St. ^ngus, St. Maelruain is styled "the
religious migrations from Ireland to the Continent, which prevailed in the eighth and following centuries. 3
That St. Maelruain had only been regarded as abbot,* and not as bishop,s
in Tallagh, seems most probable, from the fact, that his apparently immediate
6
successorthere,Airerain, surnamedtheWise,? isonlystyledanAbbotofthat
Sun of the South Plain of Meath. ''' 1 In the Book of 2 there is Leinster,
great
an incident of his history related, from which the holy Abbot concludes, that it is better for a man to give his offering to the Lord than to earthly men. Into the version of St. Maelruain's Rule, which has been published, is ad- mitted the following account, that what Moelruain heard from learned men concerning the desertion of the land was : That Patrick, and the faithful whom he brought into Erin, will be repulsive in Heaven to any man who deserts his land, except so far as to remove from the east of it to the west, and from the north to the south. This seems to have reference to the great
place. However, it cannot be denied, that even in the time of Maelruain therewasabishopatTallagh andweknow,thatataperiod,notlongsub-
—— united in his own person the offices of bishop and abbot. 9 Nay more ; it is almost certain, that St. Maelruain himself would not assume the functions of
;
sequent, there had been a St. Eochaidh 8 successor of Maelruain who
the episcopate through humility, while he enjoined on Eochaidh the duty of
receiving consecration, to serve the purposes of the community, according to the custom of that time.
it —he is entered as a bishop. This addition to his name was probably a late interpolation,
6
l in
Chapter hi. See "Transactions of Martyrclogy, the "Book of Leinster,"
the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript edited by Robert Atkinson, M. A. , LL. D. , Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of the following entry at iii. Idus Februarii,
The "cumhal " in the Latin documents is expressed by " ancilla. " Its literal meaning
is "bondmaid," whose equivalent was
reckoned at three cows. See Dr. O'Dono-
van's LeAbharv ha 5-CeArtf;, or "Book of
Rights," p. 139, —n. (n). 7 Thus we find in that copy of the Tallagh
^Engus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. xx.
"
Airerain Sapientis et Abbatis Tamlactan
2
LL. D. , fol. 286a.
lagh,
bishop,
Edited by Robert Atkinson, M. A. ,
post Maelruain. " Seep. 356. 8"
See "The Culdees of the British Islands,
as they appear in History," &c. By Very Rev. WilliamReeves,D. D. Evidences,H, p. 91, and note.
4
Kl. Eochaid Eps. — Februarii,
See ibid. , p. 356^'.
et abb. Tamlac. "
3
In the list of the community-folk of
9 His feast occurs at the 28th January, where some notices of him occur, in Firsl Tal- Volume v. —how-
he is not called a
Poem of Cormac Mac Cuillenan.
nor in the
ever, we did not ass—
ign his place which
5 However, in Rev. Dr. Kelly's version of
corded in Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the Four Masters," at A. D. 807, recle 8 1 2, vol. i. f pp. 418, 419.
the "Martyrologyof Tallagh"—whichwefind to have been drawn from the earliest copy of
See an account of him, in the Second V—olumeofthiswork,atthe10thofFebruary
the date for his feast, Art. i.
Thus entered, at the 28th of January : iii.
of this work, Art. There,
undoubtedly was here whilejhis deatli is re- "
July 7. ] LIVES 0* 1HE IRISH SAINTS.
107
It has been assumed, that Tallagh had been a rural episcopal See,
10
even
from the time of St. Maelruan, and also because in our Annals and Calendars
there are obituary notices of its bishops j" but, the fact does not appear to
be well established. The oldest records extant represent it as a rectory
belonging to the Archbishop of Dublin. In the thirteenth century, Henry de
Loundres I2 annexed it to the Deanery of St. Patrick's, to maintain the
dignity of the Dean, who as head of the Chapter was subject to the greatest
1 * The
built on the same site. 15
Protestant church x * is at least the third
church,
expense.
present
It was parallel to the former one, while the latter
stood on the rude remains of one older still. In mediaeval records, Tallagh
is written Taulagh, and sometimes Tavelach. The church here was also
called Taulaght-Maelruny—a corruption from the patron's name—while the
chapels of Killohan l6 and St. Bride x ? were subservient to it. Besides the
tithes, the Dean of St. Patrick's formerly possessed the right of presentation
to the 18 A stone font is in the —at
vicarage. large graveyard Tallagh ;
to the shrine of St. pronunciation wereaccustomedtowashtheirfeetinit.
and, such was the local
it is
said,
that— pilgrims
Mollrooney
Near
in the same parish, there is a townland still denominated Kilnamanagh 9 or "theChurchoftheMonks. " ItwasprobablyadependencyontheMonas- tery founded by St. Maelruain. Not far from the site of St. Maelruain's old foundation was the former palace of the Archbishops of Dublin. * This mediaeval and semi-baronial structure, from the pictures of it which remain, was a large castellated mansion, having several massive square towers and thick external walls, pierced with many narrow loop-hole windows. 21 It was even inhabited to a comparatively recent period. However, having become ruinous, and inconvenient for the usages of modern social life, the Arch-
bishop'spalacewasunroofedin1825.
Afterwards,thissitebecamethepro- perty of a lay gentleman, who repaired and converted a portion of its ruins into a modern mansion. Subsequently, he transferred the title and possession to the fathers of the Dominican Order. Soon again was a noble building
erected for their religious establishment. At present, a spacious Dominican
Convent occupies the site once covered by the archiepiscopal palace. Of the latter—in the true architectural taste and spirit of restoration—the former bell-tower has been preserved, and it still serves its original purpose. In the garden attached, there is an immense walnut tree, which is said to have been
10
Previous to a. d. 1 152. See John of St. Joseph, Bishop of Tallagh, Art. iv.
D'Alton's "
l6 It was situated without the cross-lands of the Archbishop in the townland of Old- This seems to have been in accordance, bawn, but it has been waste since A. D.
lin," p. 761.
11
History
of the
County
of Dub-
with that monastic discipline observed at
Iona, and probably in other places through- out Ireland, where bishops were attached
only to their respective religious houses, and for the purpose of ordaining the subjects of those houses.
1 532.
12 He flourished in the thirteenth
and presided over the See of Dublin, from vey Townland Maps for the County of
century, A. D. l2l3to 1228. See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
to
" of Archbishops
2° A of this medioeval mansion picture
Dublin," pp. 318
13 See "The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St.
Patrick, near Dublin," by William Monck Mason, Esq. , book i. , chap, v. , p. 26.
14 It was erected in 1829.
15 An engraving of the Protestant Church at Tallagh may be seen in the First Volume of this work, at the 5th of January, the feast
320.
may be seen, in vol. i. , p. 201, of new edition of Rev. Mervyn Archdall's "Monasticon Hi- bernicum," edited by Right Rev. Patrick F. Moran, D. D. , Lord Bishop of Ossory, &c, at present Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney.
'7 ruins.
This chapel nearer the Dodder is now in
l8
These privileges were confirmed to him by a Bull of Pope Gregory IX. , in the first year of his pontificate, A. D. 1227.
J 9 It is described on the " Ordnance Sur- Dublin," sheets 21, 22.
Dublin, 1873, et se1-> 4to«
2t The accompanying illustration, copied from a faithful drawing of the original by
Tallagh,
and
x
to8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[July 7.
planted by the hand of St. Madman himself. 22 Not far from it, there is a
promenade, called the Friars' Walk. The enclosed grounds are admirably
secluded from the high road, while they present a true picture of monastic retirement.
The course of St. Maelruain having been usefully and religiously run, the time for his eternal reward began to open before him. We cannot doubt, but his departure was a sore bereavement to his community, in whose spiritual welfare he had always taken so deep an interest. In view of his approaching end, it seems likely, he made provision for their future wants, and on his
Ancient Palace of the Archbishop of Dublin, at Tallaght.
death-bed blessed them and their place. It has been stated, in the "Annals oftheFourMasters,"23 thatSt. Maelruain,BishopofTamhlachtMaelruain, died, on the 7th of July, a. d. 787. Yet, under the head of Tamlacht, Duald
Mac Firbis enters, Maolruain, bishop of Tamlacht, at a. d. 789,^ and at the
2
7th of July. According to the Annals of Ulster, * Maelruain of Tamlacht, a
bishop and soldier of Christ, slept in peace, in the year 791.
O'Donovan states, that the true date for his death is a. d.
However, Dr.
2? St. Maelruain was interred in his at
of his grave is yet pointed out by the people of that village.
stated,
William F. Wakeman, has been transferred
by him also to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
22 An illustration of this tree forms the
attached to the First Volume of this work. These larger illustrations have been designed to commemorate scenes, in connexion with the compilation of Irish Hagiology ; and accordingly, as affixed to the present volume, Trinity College, Dublin, has a special interest for having a close and an intimate relation with the learned Arch-
bishop Ussher, Sir James Ware, the Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, who have laboured
so well in the field of Irish Hagiology and
Ecclesiastical History.
23 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 392, 393-
* See " of the Irish Proceedings Royal
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. , pp. 128, 129.
25 See -AniialA Ul<voh. Edited with a
Translation and Notes, by William M.
Frontispiece,
792. cemetery Tallagh,
already
Ilennessy, M. R. I. A. , vol. i. , pp. 270, 271. 26 "
See Annals of the Four Masters,"
vol. i. , pp. 392, 393.
27 See the First Volume of this work, at
the 5th of January, Art. iv.
26
As
and the site
For the spot,
July 7. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 109 extraordinary veneration is manifested ; nor will the people suffer any corpse
to be interred too near it. His festival was
tion appears to have come down from remote times.
kept
was long commemorated by the people with processions.
7th
This commemora-
2? that at the of veneration was to Maol- Tallagh records, 7th July, given
ruain, Bishop of Tamlachta. This name appears in the Martyrology of Donegal,30 nlso, at the same date, as Maelruain, Bishop of Tamlacht, in Leinster. Tamlacht, says the Calendarist, lies between Ath-cliath and Cill- dara ; but it should have been observed, not in a direct line. Even, St. Maelruain was venerated in Scotland, as we find him entered at the 7th of
intheKalendarofDrummond31 fromwhichwefurther thathis ; learn,
July,
life was distinguished, not alone by his virtues, but by miracles. After his death,
as we learn from the
"
Feilire," which was soon composed by his contempo-
rary St. ^ngus, the people began to frequent his tomb,32 and after pious service there, with purity, was " healed every heart's sigh. " 33 A pattern was
kept up at Tallagh, on the 7th of July, by the people of the town, and they were accustomed to call it St. Mollrooney's day. 3* They had an incorrect
idea of the patron saint,35 according to the popular tradition.
Many centuries have passed since holy men first lived, prayed, and studied at
Tallagh;andalthoughtimehaswroughtmanychangesforits records,thepresent age witnesses asuccession of religious men, and a learned band of ecclesiastical scholars there, serving to maintain its former glories. The Catholic prelates of Dublin formerly made it a place for repose and retreat. Their fine man- sion has been levelled, and hardly a vestige of it now remains. However, at the present time, the Dominican fathers 36 have their convent and their novi- ciate, on its site ; and, as of old, it is still a house for monastic seclusion and discipline, as also a school for imparting instruction to those youthful aspi- rants, who desire the perfect state, and who have resolved to perpetuate in the present age the blessings of bye-gone centuries. The very graves 3 ? there are
28
See Ordnance Survey Volume of festival. To these we have already alluded,
""
Extracts for the County of Dublin, p.
131, now preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy.
in the First Volume of this work, at January 5th, Art. iv.
35 Probably owing to their mode of pro- nouncing this saint's name, the people sup- posed St. Maelruan was a female, and they show an object called her griddle and her
29 Edited by Rey. Dr. Kelly, p. xxviii.
His feast is also, at this date, in the Martyr-
ology of Christ Church, Dublin, edited by
John Clarke Crosthwaite, A. M. , and Rev. cake, in the churchyard. This information
Dr. James Henthorn Todd, p. 134.
30 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
the writer has received from W. D. Hand- cock, Esq. , in a letter, headed 52 Dame- street, Dublin, 26th of November, 1874.
36 In connexion with their and in a order,
work of this nature, it may not be well to
188, 189.
31 Thus at Nonae
!
Hiber- niam Natale Sancti Confessoris Maelruain cujus V—ita Virtutibus et Miraculis plena re-
Julise, "Apud
omit allusion to a distinguished and truly fulsit. " Bishop Forbes' Kalendars of learned member, who has bequeathed to
"
Scottish Saints," p. 17.
3a The original word in the Leabhar Breac
them and to Ireland a record of undoubted historical value. We mean the " Hibernia
copy is ocAleAchc,
"
his own tomb," as dis-
Dominicana," and its
Father Thomas De
also Bishop of Ossory, towards the middle of the last century. Coloniae Agrippinse, a. d.
1762, et seq. , 4to.
3? Among these is to be seen that of the
eloquent and admired preacher of the Domi- nican Order, whose career is so minutely
and elaborately compiled, in the interesting " Life of the Very Rev. Thomas N. Burke,
O. P. , by William J. Fitz- Patrick, F. S. A. ,
— from the CAmhleAchc or " tinguished plague
"
"Supplementum," by
tomb
antithesis and play upon the word, as the ingenious and critically learned Irish scholar,
Very Rev. Bartholomew M'Carthy, D. D. , has pointed out me.
33
See "Transactions of the Royal Irish
an elegant and imaginative poetic
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus. By
Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. xx.
34 Certain
practised, on the yearly recurrence of the
&c. Two volum—es.
religious
London, 1885,
celebrations
were
8vo. These were a great and
Article ii.
*
on the
of 28 and it July,
The Martyrology of
Burgo, O. P. ,
who was
i io LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [J uly 7.
notforgotten,andwithareverentcuriositytheyareoftenvisited. Thatfinearchi- tectural group of buildings, which now adorns Tallaght, also forms an admir- able exemplar of the ecclesiastical renaissance, which has been so energetically achieved, while secular enterprise has been so restricted and oppressed, under the peculiar political and social conditions that obstruct the happiness andprosperityof Ireland.
Article II. —St. Willibald, First Bishop and Patron of Aich-
stadt, Germany. \_Eighth Century. '] Although we have a very genuine Life—and even written by a contemporary and a relative—of this saint, yet, it is to be regretted, that no definite statement in it conveys an idea of where Willibaldwasborn,orconcerninghisdescentandrace. Thisisallthemore remarkable, that his parents are never named in it, although frequent occasions occur for referring to them. Considerable doubt attaches, therefore, to the present holy bishop's place of nativity. While some writers consider him to have belonged to the people called Suevi x others make him a Scot or a
; Hibernian,andothersanEnglishman. ThemostancientwriterofhisActs,2
a nun, as also a relation and a contemporary of his own, does not record the countryofhisbirth;3 althoughfromtheallusionmadetohisearlyeducation and family we might be inclined to consider him an Englishman. It is to be observed, that the nun of Heidenheim, who wrote his Acts, belonged to the community of his sister St. Walburge, and she had the relation of his travels and much of his life from the mouth of St.