Phadruig
for Patricius,
" Barrus
et Barrocus et Find-
writes
barrus, a parentibus vero Lochanus dictus) apud Corcagienses claruit.
" Barrus
et Barrocus et Find-
writes
barrus, a parentibus vero Lochanus dictus) apud Corcagienses claruit.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
After such ablution, she came to life.
The chief then made an
the baronies of Clandonagh and Clarmalagh, 85, n. (e. ) Also vol. v. , pp. 1648, 1649,
place. *
saluting
The chief interpreted this wailing to mean
to St. Barr. 9? It was called 8 Raith-hyrair. *
of this
Then we find a miracle related about a tree bearing nuts during the spring- season, in consequence of a certain powerful man99 requesting our Saint to
offering
particular spot
Queen's County.
88 His festival occurs on the nth of Octo-
ber, where his Acts may be found in the Tenth Volume of this work, Art. i.
8» Surnamed the Great. The Life of this celebrated Pontiff so often mentioned in
be
Ceillier's '• Histoire ;
90 Colgan has the statement, that Mac-
n. (t).
93 The ancient name for St. David's
Church, in Wales.
94 Doubtless this designation is applied to
Pope St. Gregory the Great,
—— connexion with our Irish Saints may
The tribes of Muscraige Breogan
found in Dom
the modern of barony
Remy
des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques,' tome xvii. ,
tory
is
represented by
Clanwilliam, in the south-west of the
County of Tipperary.
96 According to the Codex Kilkenniensis.
Ireland," p. 108.
98 Under this form it is difficult to identify
92 Cliu or Cliu-Mail mhic-Ugaine was a
district in the barony of Coshlea, County of
Limerick, and called after Mai, son to
Ugaine Mor, Monarch of Ireland, from
a. m. 4567 to A. M. 4606. This district was
between the hill of Knockany and the
mountain of Slieve Reagh. See Dr. sight, his daughter that of speech, and his O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," wife to have been restored to life, through vol. i. , pp. 74 to 77 and n. (z. ) and pp. 84, the agency of our Saint. Something similar
p. 128.
corb was the auditor of
latter became Pope. See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," Martii xiv. De S. Talmacho Confessore, n. 4, p. 607.
91 We do not find such a name in our Irish Calendars.
97 Dr. Hanmer " FaUurus says,
Gregory,
before the
(another Legend calleth him Fyachna), a King in Ireland, who did allot him a certain portion of land in his country. "—" Chronicle ot
95
descend from Cairbre Muse, and their terri-
the modern denomination, and it seems to
have been within the limits of Muscraige
Breogain. —
"This man Fattaez another form for
is in the Cork Office, Fyachna— styled Rex,
His son is said to have obtained the gift of
556 LIVES Of THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
worksomemanifestationofDivinepower. Thismanafterwardsengagedin works of penance. St. Barrus also came to him at a subsequent time. They read together the Gospel of St. Matthew, as also the ecclesiastical rules learned and received from Pope Gregory. The friend of our Saint then said, "I now wish to receive from you some recompense for my labour. " St. Barrus promised to grant this request, if it lay within his power. The other
After such conversation had taken place, the holy man, who was Maccuirp, themasterofourSaint,issaidtohavevisitedRome. Hepurposedreceiving
" I wish to obtain from you, that we have our resurrec-
holy man then said
tion in one place, on the Day of General Judgment. " This request was assented to by St. Barr, who declared that they should be buried together.
:
100 To whom, St.
" You shall not receive the grade of Bishop from me, because he who will consecrate you is more worthy than I am. For the Angel of God will consecrate you and St. Barrus as Bishops, in the place of your resurrection. " He, being admonished by these words, returned to Ireland. In the Office, a copy of which had been possessed by the Bollandists, it is said that after per- forming many miracles, our Saint went to Albania,101 where he also wrought many wonders. Here we are told, he had a city and parish presented to him. Again, it is stated, that he went to Rome, where St. Gregory the Pope was prevented from ordaining him bishop, through some divine admonition, while predictingthatBarrwouldbeconsecratedbyChristourLord. Thisaccount
seems to differ somewhat from the former.
If we are to credit accounts left in the old Acts of our Saint, Barr lived
the of from his own master grade Bishop,
Gregory.
Gregory
said
:
with St. the contemporaneous Gregory
102 who ruled over the
Church,
Great,
from 590 to 604. He is also made a contemporary with St. Laserian, bishop
of Leighlin, supposed to have died about 640. In the Life of St. Laserian,1Q3 Bishop of Leighlin, we are informed, that both Saints had an interview, before St. Barr went to Rome. In the Life of St. Mochcemog or Pulcherius,10*
abbot of Laithmore, this Saint is represented as having been a fellow-disciple
106 at
dates of their respective deaths, they seem to have lived contemporaneously
108
our Saint is mentioned as having gone to Britain,
with a St. IQs in the School and Barr,
of St.
This latter Saint died in 601, 7 or 602. Several other fellow-students are
In a Life of St. Barr accompanied by St. Maidoc,
110
and even to have visited Rome,
111
in company
to this statement in the text may be found,
in the Life of St. Laserian, at the 18th of
April.
,0O The Bollandist Suyskens remarks, that
as it had been customary for Irish Saints to visit Rome, this may be admitted in the case of St. Barr. He adds, that possibly, about the close of the sixth or commence- ment of the seventh century, our Saint might have been consecrated by Pope Gregory and sent back to Ireland, to preside over the See
,0,
the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i.
I04 See his Acts at the 13th day of March in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
,os If he be intended to represent the present Saint, we may well doubt the truth of this account, because it is both improbable in itself, and because we find no mention of it in all of St. Fin Barre's Lives,
of Cork. See Acta Sanctorum," lomus
vii. , Septembris xxv. Vita S. Barri, sect, ii. ,
> According to Henschenius.
,o8
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vii. , Septembris xxr. Vita S. Barii, sect, ii. , nn. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, pp. 144, 145.
109 At chapter xxviii.
,10
See his Life, at the 31st of January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. i.
'"The Rev. Dr. Lanigan doubts, that our Saint went to Rome; but he thinks it
n. 27, p. 146.
101 "
See, also, Dr. Hanmer's Chronicle of Ireland," p. 108.
107
Maccurbius, or McCorb, his disciple, is said to have instructed St. Finbar. See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , p. 143.
100
monastery
Comgall,
Bangor.
1Q
named, and are said to have there studied with him. From the recorded
with St. Barr, bishop of Cork.
,o6
See his Life, at the loth of May, in
the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i. " xv
See his Life, at the 18th of April, in
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 557
with St. David.
112
Notwithstanding the omission of such an account in the
Burgundian Manuscript, yet it is stated, that St. Barre and a company of twelve pilgrims went to Rome and other foreign parts, as related in his Life. "* In the Acts of St. David "« of Wales, it is said, that a certain Barr, an Irish
from Rome, visited the aforesaid
5 thinks Colgan
Abbot, returning
this Barr to have been identical with our Saint.
bishop. "
On leaving St. David, he
6 11
borrowed a horse," according to the legend, ? which relates an incident too
ridiculous for serious consideration. 1 ' 8 We are told, that the seniors of St. Barrus sent their disciple, with licence and benediction, to learn a—nd read
1x
under a Roman doctor. Th—
1,2
in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
See his Life, at the 1st day of March,
113 Chap 28 is quoted. See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," Martii i. De S. Suitberto Episcopo Tiesterbandiae Apos- tolo, n. 2, p. 436.
"4 The early Life of St. David by Rice- march has been recast by Giraldus Cam- brensis, and it mentions our Saint, as "abbas Barrochus," by others called St.
Barrus, following the example of the Irish
"S. seu Eulo- Eulangius,
Saints in the Limina visiting
many disciples,
gius, ipsius alioquin S Barrii institutor. ''
Apostolorum and enjoying St. David's conversation either
»
ere
be some truth in this man whom
may somesupposetobeMac-corb havingcomefromRometoIreland
in the Life of St. Senan of Iniscathy, it is said, that even in his day, fifty Roman monks arrived in our country. This, however, was before the time of St. Gregory. Some of these monks are said to have been in St. Finnbarr's establishment, at Cork ; but, this must be regarded as an anachronism. No
such foundation then existed ; yet, Barr's master might have been one of those Roman or Continental monks. 121 It may be possible even, that the relation of master and scholar is here inverted. But, it so happened, that a certain good man bestowed on him I22 some land, whereon he might build a cell in the Lord's name. This was called
120
,23 Here the founder left some disciples who were to build a house and remain in it. Blessing
Culeaysseal.
them, Bairre proceeded on his way, to seek another habitation.
probable, Barr spent some time with St.
David at Menevia in Wales, the latter
having lived late in the sixth century. See
117 This account continues: "Quo con- cesso, ac benedictione obtenta, equum ascen- dit, et sic super mare confidenter et usque adHyberniampervenit. Equumveroprae fatum in servitio fratrum secum retinuit ; sed in memoria miraculi discipuli fecerunt equum aeneum, qui usque hodie apud Cor-
cagiam manet. " It would be a curious
subject for enquiry to ascertain, if ihere be any truth in the latter part of this statement. 1,8 The Bollandist Henschenius, at the 1st day of March, not only regards this legend as fabulous, but he considers it alto- gether unwarranted to make St. David and
St. Barr contemporaries.
119 We may see in a subsequent part of
St. Barr's biography enumerated among his
"
EcclesiasticalHistoryofIreland,"vol. ii. ,
chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , and nn. 56, 57, 58,
pp. 314, 316.
going or returning. See Bishop Forbes' Perhaps, as he bore a Greek or foreign
" Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 276.
115 The statement appears to have had its origin, lrom the Life of St. David, written by Giraldus Cambrensis, in the twelfth or thirteenth century. At the year 630, Ussher
name, Eulangius or Eulogius was identical with this doctor.
120
See this Life, at the 8th of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
121 " It may be objected, that Mac-corb
to be an Irish name. He however have got this name in Ireland, by giving a Gallic turn to his real name, as was often done ; ex. c.
Phadruig for Patricius,
" Barrus
et Barrocus et Find-
writes
barrus, a parentibus vero Lochanus dictus) apud Corcagienses claruit. . . . A Mac-
curbio, Gregorii Papae discipulo, Roma veniente, in Lagenia institutus fuisse dicitur. Quod si verum Davidi Menevensi avvxpovov iuisse ilium, Giraldo Cam—brensi non facile
:
(qui
appears
might
"If
"
fuerit concedendum. " Britannicarum have called him Mac-corb. " See Dr.
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates. " Index Chrono- logicUS, A. D. DCXXX.
1,6 On an old seal, there is a representa-
tion of St. Barr on horseback and — walking
near the waves, while clad in pontificals. Letter of Very Rev. Patrick Hurley, P. P. , dated Inchigecla, Co. Cork, March 15th, 1889.
"
Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 55,
Seachlain for Secundinus, &c. "
supposed to have been the son of a man called Corbus or Corvus, the Irish might
Lanigan's pp. 315, 316.
122
St. or the Roman doctor? Quere, Barry
The context is not sufficiently clear to decide
the precise meaning of this passage.
123 According to the Codex Kilkenniensis.
This place has not been identified.
;
for,
***
558
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September 25.
CHAPTER II.
ST. BAIRRE FOUNDS A SCHOOL FOR RELIGIOUS AT GOUGANE BARRA—NAMES OF HIS DISCIPLES, MEN AND WOMEN—HE IS ADMONISHED BY AN ANGEL TO LEAVE FOR CLOYNE—AFTERWARDS HE GOES TO CORK, WHERE HE ESTABLISHES A FAMOUS SCHOOL AND MONASTERY—NAMES OF HIS CORK SCHOLARS—PERIOD OF HIS EPISCOPACY AND SEE IN THAT CITV—LEGENDS REGARDING HIS CONSECRA-
TION AS BISHOP—DEATH AND BURIAL OF BAIRRE's MASTER MACCUIRP—ORIGIN OF CORK CITY.
1
In a Life of St. Barr, we find it stated, that after certain transactions already
noticed, he came to a Lake, called in the Scottish or Irish dialect
It is said to have been embosomed in a deep hollow and surrounded by highandsteepmountains. Thedistrictaroundwasthenawildsolitude,and it still preserves a nearly similar character. It forms the source of the River Lee, and is now known as Gougane Barra, rendered " Finbar's rock-cleft. "3 Within the basin of that deep lake, and on a small island, he commenced the foundation of a monastery, which soon counted n great number of cells toaccommodatehisnumerouscommunity. * Fromthewest,orfromBantry and
more than a mile in length and a quarter of a mile in breadth approached by a road, from which a rough descent conducts a traveller down to the water's edge. The River Lee rises in 'Fourteen mountain, and rushes for about two miles through a deep and awe-inspiring little valley, surrounded by lofty mountains, into the head of the lake. The mountain which overtops it on the northern shore separates the Counties of Cork and Kerry, and it
becomes an inaccessible barrier, which in winter often sends down u its thousand wild fountains" with grand effect. * We are told, that St. Finn Barr lived as a hermit in a cave or cell, on a small islet of the romantic lake, still
6
called Gougane Barra, towards the close of the sixth century. It is said,
that coming from his home near Bandon, he first fixed his cell at Cool- mountain, at the Carbery side in Inchigeela parish, where there had been a graveyard, now disused, and near it the foundations of a small building, with walls four feet in breadth. 7 However, hearing of the romantic beauties of
Glengarriff, through
the
Pass of — the lake- wildly grand Keimaneigh,
Chapter 11. —'The Life which was in
6 The island in question was that one cele-
at
2 We find in some writers the word
brated in the
of the Cork
is Colgan's possession quoted
Chapter
xx.
glorious lyric
poet,
written Loch-erce or Lough-eire—probably a printer's mistake. By others, this deno- mination is applied to that part of the River Lee, at which Cork now stands.
3 See Dr. P. W.
Historyof Irish NamesofPlaces. ,"partiv. , chap, vi. , p. 446.
4 So far as we can understand the order of narrative in the Codex Kilkenniensis and Bodleian Lives of our saint, there is no mention of Gougane Barra, but Achad Duirbton or Achad Durbcon in Munster seems to have been substituted for it. See
There is a green island in lone Gougane
Barra,
Where Allua of songs rushes forth as an
arrow
In deep-valleyed Desmond—a thousand
wild fountains
Come down to that Lake, from their home
in the mountains. **
Oh ! where is the dwelling in valley or
Highland
So meet for a bard as this lone little
island ! "
Richard Caulfield's Barre," pp. 15, 16.
"
Life of Saint Fin
Joyce's "Origin
and
5 A thunder-storm or the discharge of small cannon calls forth magnificent echoes from the surrounding hills.
—"Poems of J. J. Callanan," p. 65. Cork, 1861. i2mo.
7 For the foregoing, as lor many other particulars regarding Gougane Barra, the
J. J.
"
Callanan
:
—
is
2 Lough-eirc.
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
559
Gougane Barra, he visited the spot, with which he became so enamoured, that he resolved on settling in it, and there establishing his school. 8 The ruins of an ancient and arched cells 9 are there 10 on
11
leading into it from the main-land.
On the Island, holly and ash grow in great luxuriance. Some rude steps lead to a higher position enclosed by a wall, except on the southern side, where there is an opening, which conducts into the enclosure. Before the visitor then rises a cross of late erection, placed on a platform, and approached by steps. It is surrounded by stations fixed on the old walls. " Many legends are current in the neighbourhood regarding St. Finbarr and his sodality. ^ Gathering numerous mountain rills, the River Lee opens into
chapel eight traceable,
that small island, nearly midway in the lake ; a rude artificial causeway
writer is indebted to the Very Rev. Patrick Hurley, P. P. of Inchigeela, in letters dated,
9 These are called chapels by the country
people. Of late, the Via Crucis has been
placed over them, for devotional purposes.
10
minute description of St. Finnbarr's Island
and the in " Bolster's surrounding scenery
Quarterly Magazine," and under the heading of Gougane Barra. See vol. ii. ,MDCCCXXVli. , No. viii. , pp. 332, 333. On the latter page is an engraving which gives a ground plan of the island, with its chapel, cells, cloisters, court, cross, well, causeway, and ash-trees to the water's edge.
1899.
The Rev. T. Olden, in an article on St.
Finn Barr, published in Leslie Stephens'
" of National vol. Dictionary Biography,"
xix. , p. 35, 36, considered that the place of his settlement was Gougane Barra, identical with Lough Eirke. However, he afterwards changed this opinion ; but, as we think, without sufficient reasons to subvert the almost universal popular tradition regarding
the locality. Alluding to the Irish Life of
St. Fin Barre, he writes ;
that St. Barre or Fin Barr, after his educa- a description of the scenery about here, in "
September, *
There is a picturesquely-written and a
Near the entrance is a Holy Well.
" 11
This Life states There are very exquisite illustrations and
tion in Leinster, continued to labour for Mr. and Mrs. Hall's Ireland : its, scenery,
some time in Kilkenny and the Queen's County, and founded twelve churches before
coming to Cork. It was during this period he established the school in question, which
character," &c, vol. i. , pp. 113 to 117.
12
The modern restorations and improve- ments there effected are due to the zeal and good taste of the Very Rev. Patrick Hurley,
P. P. , who has still the features of preserved
the former ancient ruins. A part of the enclosure is now called the Shrine, good Photos of which, with other illustrations of Gougane Barra, may be seen in the useful hand-book issued by the managers of the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway, " The Tourist's Route to Glengariffand Killarney," pp. 25 to 30.
13 One of these legends states, that the saint's servant Linin, while fishing in his Corougheen, was seized by a Peist, which infested the lake. Seeing the bottom of the boat turned upwards, Finbarr suspecting the cause called the inhabitants of the surround- ing district to come armed with pikes and forks. Having prayed, the Peist came bellowing from the bottom of the lake, and then following the course of the river for a mile, he threw up Linin's dead body at a place still called Linin's cascade. Finally the monster was killed by the country people at a place called Inchinaneab or " Inch of the Saints," about 15 miles east- ward. It is said so many were with the saint on that occasion, that having forgot his book which was at Gougane Barra, Bran was sent back for it, and the book was
handed from one to another of those who were present until Finbar received it.
is described as at '
Lough
Eirce, in Eadar-
gabhail. ' The last name, which occurs
frequently in Ireland, is Anglicised Adder-
goole, or Adrigole ; but the only one which answers the conditions required is that in
the south of the Queen's County adjoining Kilkenny. It is situated, as the name implies (eadar), between the fork (gabhal), formed by the junction of two rivers, which here are the Gaul and Erkina, tributaries to the Nore. Between them, near the monas- tery of Aghmacart, on the bank of the Gaul, is a ruin known as the College, near which is a depression, now a marsh, which was evidently once a lake. There is every reason to believe that this is the spot, especially as adjoining it, in the County of Kilkenny, is the parish of Eircke. The writers of the three Latin Lives, published by Dr. Caulfield, though concurring with the Irish Life as to his labours in Leinster, suppress all mention of this school, probably for fear of lessening the importance ol that at Cork, which has in a great measure eclipsed the earlier one. The cave or grotto at Gougane Barra, called in the Irish Life Cuas Barra, was a her- mitage, and there never could have been a school at the place. "—Rev. T. Olden's " History of the Church of Ireland. " Ap- pendix, p. 424.
560 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
that lustrous and deep lake called Lough Allua. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the surrounding country was all a forest, consisting of
large oak, birch, alder, ash, and yew trees of great size. The woods were stored with red and fallow deer, and abounded with great ayries of excellent hawks. On the summits of the mountains around the Lough, eagles and
1
other birds of prey breed and live in great security. * Within two miles of
Gougane Barra, there is a large and curious stone, called by the country-people Clough Barra ; whether it had any connection with our saint is not known,15 yet it is associated with him by tradition.
It is related, that our saint gathered several distinguished scholars around him in those romantic wilds. They probably formed the nucleus of that
16
in or near Cork. It is probable he went to Gougane Barra, towards the close of the sixth century. Disciples flocked to him from all quarters, and to his school, as to a hive of wisdom and a domicile for all Christian virtues. Such had been the number and zeal of those followers, 1 ? that a former desert was soon changed into a populous locality. From the school then instituted, many persons, eminent for learning and sanctity, afterwards issued. The following
larger school attached to the monastery of St. Finn Barr,
Saints mentioned as his
LifeofS—t.
Eulogius Garbhan,»3
are said, in the
Bnrgundian Manuscript
one of Bart's — The
disciples. following
the volume, Art. iii. present
The other is
list different from that given in the text—is thus inserted, from a Life of our saint, in Colgan's possession: "inter quos enituere S. Eulangius seu Eulogius, ipsius alioquin S. Barrii institutor, S. (Jolmanus de Dordhuncon, (aliter, Doiror- Dhuncon,) S. Baitaeenus, (aliter, Baithinus,) S. Nessanus, S. Garbanus, (aliter, Garb- hanus) filius Finbarrii, S. Talmachus, S.
of Lecain in and venerated Meath,
of these holy men
Eolaing
on the 29th of December.
20 Among the many saints called Colman
on the Irish Calendars, we do not find one
thus distinguished ; but, I am informed by
Very Rev. Patrick Hurley, P. P. , that Derry
Dunaoi was the land on the right of the
Pass of Keimaneagh leading to Bantry.
81
disciples
1' tohavelivedtherewithhim
1? Eolang
—
Bairre,
his tutor, and Colman of Derry Dunaoi,
viz,
Latinized
and Donoughmore,
son of 2« Talmhach2' and Findchua26 of Findbar,
14 See Dr. Charles Smith's " Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork," vol. i. , book ii. , chap, ii. , pp. 191,
192.
'5 Letter of the Very Rev. Patrick Hurley,
P. P. , to the writer and dated Inchigeela,
County Cork, March 15th, 1889.
16 See Gibson's "History of the County
and City of Cork," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , n. P- 341.
*7 Colgan enumerates twenty-one of these disciples, in his acts of St. Nessan, at the 17th of March. See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," xvii. Martii, De S. Nessano Praesbytero. This latter saint is regarded as
readings within brackets, are to be found when quoting the same extract in another place. See ibid. , xxvii.
the baronies of Clandonagh and Clarmalagh, 85, n. (e. ) Also vol. v. , pp. 1648, 1649,
place. *
saluting
The chief interpreted this wailing to mean
to St. Barr. 9? It was called 8 Raith-hyrair. *
of this
Then we find a miracle related about a tree bearing nuts during the spring- season, in consequence of a certain powerful man99 requesting our Saint to
offering
particular spot
Queen's County.
88 His festival occurs on the nth of Octo-
ber, where his Acts may be found in the Tenth Volume of this work, Art. i.
8» Surnamed the Great. The Life of this celebrated Pontiff so often mentioned in
be
Ceillier's '• Histoire ;
90 Colgan has the statement, that Mac-
n. (t).
93 The ancient name for St. David's
Church, in Wales.
94 Doubtless this designation is applied to
Pope St. Gregory the Great,
—— connexion with our Irish Saints may
The tribes of Muscraige Breogan
found in Dom
the modern of barony
Remy
des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques,' tome xvii. ,
tory
is
represented by
Clanwilliam, in the south-west of the
County of Tipperary.
96 According to the Codex Kilkenniensis.
Ireland," p. 108.
98 Under this form it is difficult to identify
92 Cliu or Cliu-Mail mhic-Ugaine was a
district in the barony of Coshlea, County of
Limerick, and called after Mai, son to
Ugaine Mor, Monarch of Ireland, from
a. m. 4567 to A. M. 4606. This district was
between the hill of Knockany and the
mountain of Slieve Reagh. See Dr. sight, his daughter that of speech, and his O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," wife to have been restored to life, through vol. i. , pp. 74 to 77 and n. (z. ) and pp. 84, the agency of our Saint. Something similar
p. 128.
corb was the auditor of
latter became Pope. See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," Martii xiv. De S. Talmacho Confessore, n. 4, p. 607.
91 We do not find such a name in our Irish Calendars.
97 Dr. Hanmer " FaUurus says,
Gregory,
before the
(another Legend calleth him Fyachna), a King in Ireland, who did allot him a certain portion of land in his country. "—" Chronicle ot
95
descend from Cairbre Muse, and their terri-
the modern denomination, and it seems to
have been within the limits of Muscraige
Breogain. —
"This man Fattaez another form for
is in the Cork Office, Fyachna— styled Rex,
His son is said to have obtained the gift of
556 LIVES Of THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
worksomemanifestationofDivinepower. Thismanafterwardsengagedin works of penance. St. Barrus also came to him at a subsequent time. They read together the Gospel of St. Matthew, as also the ecclesiastical rules learned and received from Pope Gregory. The friend of our Saint then said, "I now wish to receive from you some recompense for my labour. " St. Barrus promised to grant this request, if it lay within his power. The other
After such conversation had taken place, the holy man, who was Maccuirp, themasterofourSaint,issaidtohavevisitedRome. Hepurposedreceiving
" I wish to obtain from you, that we have our resurrec-
holy man then said
tion in one place, on the Day of General Judgment. " This request was assented to by St. Barr, who declared that they should be buried together.
:
100 To whom, St.
" You shall not receive the grade of Bishop from me, because he who will consecrate you is more worthy than I am. For the Angel of God will consecrate you and St. Barrus as Bishops, in the place of your resurrection. " He, being admonished by these words, returned to Ireland. In the Office, a copy of which had been possessed by the Bollandists, it is said that after per- forming many miracles, our Saint went to Albania,101 where he also wrought many wonders. Here we are told, he had a city and parish presented to him. Again, it is stated, that he went to Rome, where St. Gregory the Pope was prevented from ordaining him bishop, through some divine admonition, while predictingthatBarrwouldbeconsecratedbyChristourLord. Thisaccount
seems to differ somewhat from the former.
If we are to credit accounts left in the old Acts of our Saint, Barr lived
the of from his own master grade Bishop,
Gregory.
Gregory
said
:
with St. the contemporaneous Gregory
102 who ruled over the
Church,
Great,
from 590 to 604. He is also made a contemporary with St. Laserian, bishop
of Leighlin, supposed to have died about 640. In the Life of St. Laserian,1Q3 Bishop of Leighlin, we are informed, that both Saints had an interview, before St. Barr went to Rome. In the Life of St. Mochcemog or Pulcherius,10*
abbot of Laithmore, this Saint is represented as having been a fellow-disciple
106 at
dates of their respective deaths, they seem to have lived contemporaneously
108
our Saint is mentioned as having gone to Britain,
with a St. IQs in the School and Barr,
of St.
This latter Saint died in 601, 7 or 602. Several other fellow-students are
In a Life of St. Barr accompanied by St. Maidoc,
110
and even to have visited Rome,
111
in company
to this statement in the text may be found,
in the Life of St. Laserian, at the 18th of
April.
,0O The Bollandist Suyskens remarks, that
as it had been customary for Irish Saints to visit Rome, this may be admitted in the case of St. Barr. He adds, that possibly, about the close of the sixth or commence- ment of the seventh century, our Saint might have been consecrated by Pope Gregory and sent back to Ireland, to preside over the See
,0,
the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i.
I04 See his Acts at the 13th day of March in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
,os If he be intended to represent the present Saint, we may well doubt the truth of this account, because it is both improbable in itself, and because we find no mention of it in all of St. Fin Barre's Lives,
of Cork. See Acta Sanctorum," lomus
vii. , Septembris xxv. Vita S. Barri, sect, ii. ,
> According to Henschenius.
,o8
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vii. , Septembris xxr. Vita S. Barii, sect, ii. , nn. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, pp. 144, 145.
109 At chapter xxviii.
,10
See his Life, at the 31st of January, in the First Volume of this work, Art. i.
'"The Rev. Dr. Lanigan doubts, that our Saint went to Rome; but he thinks it
n. 27, p. 146.
101 "
See, also, Dr. Hanmer's Chronicle of Ireland," p. 108.
107
Maccurbius, or McCorb, his disciple, is said to have instructed St. Finbar. See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , p. 143.
100
monastery
Comgall,
Bangor.
1Q
named, and are said to have there studied with him. From the recorded
with St. Barr, bishop of Cork.
,o6
See his Life, at the loth of May, in
the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i. " xv
See his Life, at the 18th of April, in
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 557
with St. David.
112
Notwithstanding the omission of such an account in the
Burgundian Manuscript, yet it is stated, that St. Barre and a company of twelve pilgrims went to Rome and other foreign parts, as related in his Life. "* In the Acts of St. David "« of Wales, it is said, that a certain Barr, an Irish
from Rome, visited the aforesaid
5 thinks Colgan
Abbot, returning
this Barr to have been identical with our Saint.
bishop. "
On leaving St. David, he
6 11
borrowed a horse," according to the legend, ? which relates an incident too
ridiculous for serious consideration. 1 ' 8 We are told, that the seniors of St. Barrus sent their disciple, with licence and benediction, to learn a—nd read
1x
under a Roman doctor. Th—
1,2
in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
See his Life, at the 1st day of March,
113 Chap 28 is quoted. See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," Martii i. De S. Suitberto Episcopo Tiesterbandiae Apos- tolo, n. 2, p. 436.
"4 The early Life of St. David by Rice- march has been recast by Giraldus Cam- brensis, and it mentions our Saint, as "abbas Barrochus," by others called St.
Barrus, following the example of the Irish
"S. seu Eulo- Eulangius,
Saints in the Limina visiting
many disciples,
gius, ipsius alioquin S Barrii institutor. ''
Apostolorum and enjoying St. David's conversation either
»
ere
be some truth in this man whom
may somesupposetobeMac-corb havingcomefromRometoIreland
in the Life of St. Senan of Iniscathy, it is said, that even in his day, fifty Roman monks arrived in our country. This, however, was before the time of St. Gregory. Some of these monks are said to have been in St. Finnbarr's establishment, at Cork ; but, this must be regarded as an anachronism. No
such foundation then existed ; yet, Barr's master might have been one of those Roman or Continental monks. 121 It may be possible even, that the relation of master and scholar is here inverted. But, it so happened, that a certain good man bestowed on him I22 some land, whereon he might build a cell in the Lord's name. This was called
120
,23 Here the founder left some disciples who were to build a house and remain in it. Blessing
Culeaysseal.
them, Bairre proceeded on his way, to seek another habitation.
probable, Barr spent some time with St.
David at Menevia in Wales, the latter
having lived late in the sixth century. See
117 This account continues: "Quo con- cesso, ac benedictione obtenta, equum ascen- dit, et sic super mare confidenter et usque adHyberniampervenit. Equumveroprae fatum in servitio fratrum secum retinuit ; sed in memoria miraculi discipuli fecerunt equum aeneum, qui usque hodie apud Cor-
cagiam manet. " It would be a curious
subject for enquiry to ascertain, if ihere be any truth in the latter part of this statement. 1,8 The Bollandist Henschenius, at the 1st day of March, not only regards this legend as fabulous, but he considers it alto- gether unwarranted to make St. David and
St. Barr contemporaries.
119 We may see in a subsequent part of
St. Barr's biography enumerated among his
"
EcclesiasticalHistoryofIreland,"vol. ii. ,
chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , and nn. 56, 57, 58,
pp. 314, 316.
going or returning. See Bishop Forbes' Perhaps, as he bore a Greek or foreign
" Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 276.
115 The statement appears to have had its origin, lrom the Life of St. David, written by Giraldus Cambrensis, in the twelfth or thirteenth century. At the year 630, Ussher
name, Eulangius or Eulogius was identical with this doctor.
120
See this Life, at the 8th of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
121 " It may be objected, that Mac-corb
to be an Irish name. He however have got this name in Ireland, by giving a Gallic turn to his real name, as was often done ; ex. c.
Phadruig for Patricius,
" Barrus
et Barrocus et Find-
writes
barrus, a parentibus vero Lochanus dictus) apud Corcagienses claruit. . . . A Mac-
curbio, Gregorii Papae discipulo, Roma veniente, in Lagenia institutus fuisse dicitur. Quod si verum Davidi Menevensi avvxpovov iuisse ilium, Giraldo Cam—brensi non facile
:
(qui
appears
might
"If
"
fuerit concedendum. " Britannicarum have called him Mac-corb. " See Dr.
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates. " Index Chrono- logicUS, A. D. DCXXX.
1,6 On an old seal, there is a representa-
tion of St. Barr on horseback and — walking
near the waves, while clad in pontificals. Letter of Very Rev. Patrick Hurley, P. P. , dated Inchigecla, Co. Cork, March 15th, 1889.
"
Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , sect, iv. , n. 55,
Seachlain for Secundinus, &c. "
supposed to have been the son of a man called Corbus or Corvus, the Irish might
Lanigan's pp. 315, 316.
122
St. or the Roman doctor? Quere, Barry
The context is not sufficiently clear to decide
the precise meaning of this passage.
123 According to the Codex Kilkenniensis.
This place has not been identified.
;
for,
***
558
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September 25.
CHAPTER II.
ST. BAIRRE FOUNDS A SCHOOL FOR RELIGIOUS AT GOUGANE BARRA—NAMES OF HIS DISCIPLES, MEN AND WOMEN—HE IS ADMONISHED BY AN ANGEL TO LEAVE FOR CLOYNE—AFTERWARDS HE GOES TO CORK, WHERE HE ESTABLISHES A FAMOUS SCHOOL AND MONASTERY—NAMES OF HIS CORK SCHOLARS—PERIOD OF HIS EPISCOPACY AND SEE IN THAT CITV—LEGENDS REGARDING HIS CONSECRA-
TION AS BISHOP—DEATH AND BURIAL OF BAIRRE's MASTER MACCUIRP—ORIGIN OF CORK CITY.
1
In a Life of St. Barr, we find it stated, that after certain transactions already
noticed, he came to a Lake, called in the Scottish or Irish dialect
It is said to have been embosomed in a deep hollow and surrounded by highandsteepmountains. Thedistrictaroundwasthenawildsolitude,and it still preserves a nearly similar character. It forms the source of the River Lee, and is now known as Gougane Barra, rendered " Finbar's rock-cleft. "3 Within the basin of that deep lake, and on a small island, he commenced the foundation of a monastery, which soon counted n great number of cells toaccommodatehisnumerouscommunity. * Fromthewest,orfromBantry and
more than a mile in length and a quarter of a mile in breadth approached by a road, from which a rough descent conducts a traveller down to the water's edge. The River Lee rises in 'Fourteen mountain, and rushes for about two miles through a deep and awe-inspiring little valley, surrounded by lofty mountains, into the head of the lake. The mountain which overtops it on the northern shore separates the Counties of Cork and Kerry, and it
becomes an inaccessible barrier, which in winter often sends down u its thousand wild fountains" with grand effect. * We are told, that St. Finn Barr lived as a hermit in a cave or cell, on a small islet of the romantic lake, still
6
called Gougane Barra, towards the close of the sixth century. It is said,
that coming from his home near Bandon, he first fixed his cell at Cool- mountain, at the Carbery side in Inchigeela parish, where there had been a graveyard, now disused, and near it the foundations of a small building, with walls four feet in breadth. 7 However, hearing of the romantic beauties of
Glengarriff, through
the
Pass of — the lake- wildly grand Keimaneigh,
Chapter 11. —'The Life which was in
6 The island in question was that one cele-
at
2 We find in some writers the word
brated in the
of the Cork
is Colgan's possession quoted
Chapter
xx.
glorious lyric
poet,
written Loch-erce or Lough-eire—probably a printer's mistake. By others, this deno- mination is applied to that part of the River Lee, at which Cork now stands.
3 See Dr. P. W.
Historyof Irish NamesofPlaces. ,"partiv. , chap, vi. , p. 446.
4 So far as we can understand the order of narrative in the Codex Kilkenniensis and Bodleian Lives of our saint, there is no mention of Gougane Barra, but Achad Duirbton or Achad Durbcon in Munster seems to have been substituted for it. See
There is a green island in lone Gougane
Barra,
Where Allua of songs rushes forth as an
arrow
In deep-valleyed Desmond—a thousand
wild fountains
Come down to that Lake, from their home
in the mountains. **
Oh ! where is the dwelling in valley or
Highland
So meet for a bard as this lone little
island ! "
Richard Caulfield's Barre," pp. 15, 16.
"
Life of Saint Fin
Joyce's "Origin
and
5 A thunder-storm or the discharge of small cannon calls forth magnificent echoes from the surrounding hills.
—"Poems of J. J. Callanan," p. 65. Cork, 1861. i2mo.
7 For the foregoing, as lor many other particulars regarding Gougane Barra, the
J. J.
"
Callanan
:
—
is
2 Lough-eirc.
September 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
559
Gougane Barra, he visited the spot, with which he became so enamoured, that he resolved on settling in it, and there establishing his school. 8 The ruins of an ancient and arched cells 9 are there 10 on
11
leading into it from the main-land.
On the Island, holly and ash grow in great luxuriance. Some rude steps lead to a higher position enclosed by a wall, except on the southern side, where there is an opening, which conducts into the enclosure. Before the visitor then rises a cross of late erection, placed on a platform, and approached by steps. It is surrounded by stations fixed on the old walls. " Many legends are current in the neighbourhood regarding St. Finbarr and his sodality. ^ Gathering numerous mountain rills, the River Lee opens into
chapel eight traceable,
that small island, nearly midway in the lake ; a rude artificial causeway
writer is indebted to the Very Rev. Patrick Hurley, P. P. of Inchigeela, in letters dated,
9 These are called chapels by the country
people. Of late, the Via Crucis has been
placed over them, for devotional purposes.
10
minute description of St. Finnbarr's Island
and the in " Bolster's surrounding scenery
Quarterly Magazine," and under the heading of Gougane Barra. See vol. ii. ,MDCCCXXVli. , No. viii. , pp. 332, 333. On the latter page is an engraving which gives a ground plan of the island, with its chapel, cells, cloisters, court, cross, well, causeway, and ash-trees to the water's edge.
1899.
The Rev. T. Olden, in an article on St.
Finn Barr, published in Leslie Stephens'
" of National vol. Dictionary Biography,"
xix. , p. 35, 36, considered that the place of his settlement was Gougane Barra, identical with Lough Eirke. However, he afterwards changed this opinion ; but, as we think, without sufficient reasons to subvert the almost universal popular tradition regarding
the locality. Alluding to the Irish Life of
St. Fin Barre, he writes ;
that St. Barre or Fin Barr, after his educa- a description of the scenery about here, in "
September, *
There is a picturesquely-written and a
Near the entrance is a Holy Well.
" 11
This Life states There are very exquisite illustrations and
tion in Leinster, continued to labour for Mr. and Mrs. Hall's Ireland : its, scenery,
some time in Kilkenny and the Queen's County, and founded twelve churches before
coming to Cork. It was during this period he established the school in question, which
character," &c, vol. i. , pp. 113 to 117.
12
The modern restorations and improve- ments there effected are due to the zeal and good taste of the Very Rev. Patrick Hurley,
P. P. , who has still the features of preserved
the former ancient ruins. A part of the enclosure is now called the Shrine, good Photos of which, with other illustrations of Gougane Barra, may be seen in the useful hand-book issued by the managers of the Cork and Macroom Direct Railway, " The Tourist's Route to Glengariffand Killarney," pp. 25 to 30.
13 One of these legends states, that the saint's servant Linin, while fishing in his Corougheen, was seized by a Peist, which infested the lake. Seeing the bottom of the boat turned upwards, Finbarr suspecting the cause called the inhabitants of the surround- ing district to come armed with pikes and forks. Having prayed, the Peist came bellowing from the bottom of the lake, and then following the course of the river for a mile, he threw up Linin's dead body at a place still called Linin's cascade. Finally the monster was killed by the country people at a place called Inchinaneab or " Inch of the Saints," about 15 miles east- ward. It is said so many were with the saint on that occasion, that having forgot his book which was at Gougane Barra, Bran was sent back for it, and the book was
handed from one to another of those who were present until Finbar received it.
is described as at '
Lough
Eirce, in Eadar-
gabhail. ' The last name, which occurs
frequently in Ireland, is Anglicised Adder-
goole, or Adrigole ; but the only one which answers the conditions required is that in
the south of the Queen's County adjoining Kilkenny. It is situated, as the name implies (eadar), between the fork (gabhal), formed by the junction of two rivers, which here are the Gaul and Erkina, tributaries to the Nore. Between them, near the monas- tery of Aghmacart, on the bank of the Gaul, is a ruin known as the College, near which is a depression, now a marsh, which was evidently once a lake. There is every reason to believe that this is the spot, especially as adjoining it, in the County of Kilkenny, is the parish of Eircke. The writers of the three Latin Lives, published by Dr. Caulfield, though concurring with the Irish Life as to his labours in Leinster, suppress all mention of this school, probably for fear of lessening the importance ol that at Cork, which has in a great measure eclipsed the earlier one. The cave or grotto at Gougane Barra, called in the Irish Life Cuas Barra, was a her- mitage, and there never could have been a school at the place. "—Rev. T. Olden's " History of the Church of Ireland. " Ap- pendix, p. 424.
560 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 25.
that lustrous and deep lake called Lough Allua. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the surrounding country was all a forest, consisting of
large oak, birch, alder, ash, and yew trees of great size. The woods were stored with red and fallow deer, and abounded with great ayries of excellent hawks. On the summits of the mountains around the Lough, eagles and
1
other birds of prey breed and live in great security. * Within two miles of
Gougane Barra, there is a large and curious stone, called by the country-people Clough Barra ; whether it had any connection with our saint is not known,15 yet it is associated with him by tradition.
It is related, that our saint gathered several distinguished scholars around him in those romantic wilds. They probably formed the nucleus of that
16
in or near Cork. It is probable he went to Gougane Barra, towards the close of the sixth century. Disciples flocked to him from all quarters, and to his school, as to a hive of wisdom and a domicile for all Christian virtues. Such had been the number and zeal of those followers, 1 ? that a former desert was soon changed into a populous locality. From the school then instituted, many persons, eminent for learning and sanctity, afterwards issued. The following
larger school attached to the monastery of St. Finn Barr,
Saints mentioned as his
LifeofS—t.
Eulogius Garbhan,»3
are said, in the
Bnrgundian Manuscript
one of Bart's — The
disciples. following
the volume, Art. iii. present
The other is
list different from that given in the text—is thus inserted, from a Life of our saint, in Colgan's possession: "inter quos enituere S. Eulangius seu Eulogius, ipsius alioquin S. Barrii institutor, S. (Jolmanus de Dordhuncon, (aliter, Doiror- Dhuncon,) S. Baitaeenus, (aliter, Baithinus,) S. Nessanus, S. Garbanus, (aliter, Garb- hanus) filius Finbarrii, S. Talmachus, S.
of Lecain in and venerated Meath,
of these holy men
Eolaing
on the 29th of December.
20 Among the many saints called Colman
on the Irish Calendars, we do not find one
thus distinguished ; but, I am informed by
Very Rev. Patrick Hurley, P. P. , that Derry
Dunaoi was the land on the right of the
Pass of Keimaneagh leading to Bantry.
81
disciples
1' tohavelivedtherewithhim
1? Eolang
—
Bairre,
his tutor, and Colman of Derry Dunaoi,
viz,
Latinized
and Donoughmore,
son of 2« Talmhach2' and Findchua26 of Findbar,
14 See Dr. Charles Smith's " Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork," vol. i. , book ii. , chap, ii. , pp. 191,
192.
'5 Letter of the Very Rev. Patrick Hurley,
P. P. , to the writer and dated Inchigeela,
County Cork, March 15th, 1889.
16 See Gibson's "History of the County
and City of Cork," vol. ii. , chap, xiv. , n. P- 341.
*7 Colgan enumerates twenty-one of these disciples, in his acts of St. Nessan, at the 17th of March. See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," xvii. Martii, De S. Nessano Praesbytero. This latter saint is regarded as
readings within brackets, are to be found when quoting the same extract in another place. See ibid. , xxvii.
