Having received the
benediction
of his great master, Columbanus set out for Ireland.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v2
He also includes a ground-plan and restoration of the building.
In addition to the foregoing drawing.
"7 On the outside, this doorway is 6 feet
2,h inches high ; 3 feet 5^ inches broad at
the ground ; and 3 feet 3^ inches at the
top. For further description and more
minute admeasurements, by the late Thomas
O'Conor, reference may be given to the
"Letters containing Information, relating
to the Antiquities of the County of Carlow,
collected during the progress of the Ord-
nance Survey in 1839. " Letter, dated Fionntain i Laoighis," or " The Book of
Leighlin Bridge, June 21st, 1839, pp. 148 to 158.
=^ To this period, it is attributed by Mr.
George V. Du Noyer; although portions were erected, at very different periods.
^9 His feast is thought to have been on the 3rd of June, where further notices of him may be found.
Clonenagh of Fintan, in Leix. " The in- scription over Tybrud Church, which had been founded by the priests, Eugenius Duhy and Geoffry Keating, D. D. , bears date A. D. 1644. At that time, its founders were dead, and had been buried in the ad-
joining churchyard. What became of Dr. Keating's own books or MSB. , we have ao
^° See the Bollandists*
Acta Sancto-
hides to it as
"
Leabhar Cluanah Eidhneach
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 591
by St. Fintan. If indeed our saint wrote any part of it, other portions were undoubtedly compiled by much later writers. When the ancient monastery of Clonenagh fell into ruin,32 as in many similar instances, it may have happened, that various sacred relics and books, belonging to its religious
into the hands of laics. " the Book of Clone- Especially,
community, passed
nagh"—one of its most prized literary treasures—probably became the pro- perty of some comorban or improprietor. From what shall be stated subse- quently, it seems not unlikely, that it had been kept by a family, living on the tribe lands of Leix, for several generations. It is probable, this family resided in or near Clonenagh, and its members were known as the Crosbies or Crossans. " 33 In Queen Elizabeth's time, the large estate of Ballyfin, near Clonenagh, is said to have been granted for services rendered her to Patrick Crosbie,whoserealsurnamewasMac-y-Crossane. 34 Hereceivedthetitle ofSirPatrickCrosby. BallyfinwasgrantedafterwardstoPeriamPole,Esq. , who was a brother to Sir John, and second son of Sir William Pole, of Shute, in Devonshire. The Castle of Ballyfin, erected by the Crosbies, had been pulled down by this grantee, who erected a more modern house on its site. This latter mansion was destroyed by fire, propably towards the close of the seventeenth,orthebeginningoftheeighteenth,century. Hissonafterwards rebuilt it. A statement has been made to the writer, that the ancient Book of St. Fintan was in the library of Ballyfin House,35 some time about the com- mencement of the present century. s^ Moreover, the writer has been in- formed, that the crozier of St. Fintan, with many other relics, said to have
means left for ascertaining.
3- According to Dr. O'Donovan, not a
stone of the primitive ages is left undis- turbed in the ruined church, at Clonenagh, and which was repaired at different periods. The part remaining is 45 feet long and 2 1 feet broad ; but, originally, the church was much longer. See " Letters containing In- foi-mation relative to the Antiquities of the Queen's County, collected during the pro- gress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838," vol. i. , p, 43. On the old Elizabethan Map of Leax and Offaly, preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, the monastery at Clone- nagh seems to Ije represented, at the left side or north of a road, leading from Castle- town to Maryborough.
been recovered ; and how important the " Book of Clonenagh" must prove for the elucidation of past events may be gleaned from Dr. Keating's quotations, especially in reference to the celebrated Synod of Rath- breasail, and its place of meeting.
3^ About the beginning of the year 1869 a respectable young man, Mr. John B. Bray, then clerk in the Hibernian Bank, Castle-
street, Dublin, called upon the writer, and stated he was in possession of traditional information, which should be communicated,
he thought, through some agency, to those who felt a special interest in rescuing the remains of our Irish literature from oblivion. He declared that, several years ago, while visiting the ruins of Clonenagh, near Mount-
—^3The Crossans—rhymers to the O'Moores
rath, in company with
his Mr. father,
their con- whose principal office was to compose versation turned naturally on St. Fintan
O'Donovan, were poets,
Martin
to Dr.
funeral dirges or S chieftains' panegyrics.
More frequently, however, the family bards degenerated into satirists.
3-* His great grandson. Sir John Crosbie, baronet, espoused the Royal cause of Charles I. , and he was attainted afterwards by Act of Parliament. Although King Charles II. became entitled to his great estate in 1663, this attainder was never re- versed.
33
of the latter
according
Bray,
that the — oldest extant
It was said to have been written by St. Fintan. Mr, Martin Bray's father, who also bore the name of Martin, and who died about 1844,
It
Keating, while compiling the Irish History. But, hitherto, neither one nor the other has
is
copy of the " Book of Clonenagh"
the original—was that MS. preserved at Ballyfin. For various reasons, it is not likely to have been the copy, used by Dr.
probable,
if not
town,
and the old ruined monastery. Mr. Martiii
Bray, who had a great taste for Irish anti-
quities, and who was a very intelligent man, then told his son about a remarkable and curious old vellum MS. , whic—h was written in quaint, ancient characters supposed to have been Irish—but which no person knew how to read, although most of the leaves were perfectly legible. This was called " The Book of St. Fintan," and it formerly
at the age of ninety years, saw this MS. in Ballyfin library, in the beginning of this century.
to the monksof
belonged Clonenagh.
592 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [February 17.
belonged formerly to the ol—d churches of ClonenaG^h37 and Cromogue—both withinamileofeachother hadbeenkeptsubsequentlyatBallyfinHouse; but, that these had perished in a fire^^ which broke out, and they are now ir-
recoverably lost. 39 Yet, the " Book of Clonenagh," although missing, may possibly be still in existence \^° whether it had been removed from Ballyfin,
when this estate passed by purchase from the Poles,-*' to the former baronet,
Sir Charles Henry Coote, or whether it yet remains in the house of his son
andsucessor,thepresentSirCharlesHenryCoote,^^seemsdoubtful. About
the year 1850, a fire took place at Ballyfin House, but, no book was then
burned. '«3 Hitherto, all the enquiries made, in reference to St. Fintan's
"
ST. fintan's virtues and accomplishments—he is styled a bishop as well as AN abbot—departure OF TWO BROTHERS AT CLONENAGH—ST. FINTAN RECOM- MENDED BY ST. COLUMKILLE AS A HOLY FATHER CONFESSOR—DEATH OF ST. FINTAN—DAY OF HIS FEAST—VENERATION PAID TO HIS MEMORY—CHURCHES DEDICATED TO HIM—CONCLUSION.
The holy abbot is said to have practised very extraordinary mortifications.
missing book/' have been unavailing.
CHAPTER IV.
37 In "Letters containing Information
relative to the Antiquities of the Queen's
County, collected during the progress of the
Ordnance Survey in 1838," the late Dr.
John O'Donovan has given an interesting
description of Clonenagh parish—commen-
surate with the barony of Maryborough enquiries then made, the housekeeper
West—in a letter, dated Mountrath, No- vember 24th, 1838, vol. i. , pp. 38 to 82.
stated, that some old boxes remained in a store room unexamined, for a great number of years, within her memory. Sir Charles promised that a further search should take placfi, for the missing "Book of Clone- nagh ;" yet, to this present date, no further information, regarding it, has been furnished to the writer.
'*3 This fact was a com- elicited, through
munication, received from the late Lieu- tenant-General Dunne, of Brittis House, and dated March 4th, 1869. He was pre- sent at this fire ; and, hence, we may rea-
38 These must have been lost in that fire
already noticed, and which broke out there, in the latter part of the seventeenth or in
the beginning of the eighteenth century.
39 Such was a statement made by his
father, Mr. Martin Bray, to Mr. John 13.
Bray.
''^ Regarding this matter, the writer pre-
"Note— on the Rev. John O'Hanlon's
Paper On the Missing Book of Clone-
nagh. " By Daniel F. Dowling. This he had constant access, nor did he ever re-
pared a paper, intituled, "The Missing Book
of Clonenagh," which was read April nth,
1870, before the Royal Irish Academy. It
will be found published, in "Proceedings
of the Royal Irish Academy," series ii. ,
vol, i. . No, iv. , pp. 7 to 12. This com- other letters, however, Lieutenant-General munication is followed by another, No, v,
writer, living at Castletown, near Mount- rath, states, that Rev. Valentine Griffith, a former rector of the latter place, is said to have been in possession of the "Book of
Clonenagh," in the beginning of this cen-
tury, and to have left it afterwards to his
son-in-law, Robert Knaggs, M. D, The formed, that he felt certain the ancient
latter gentleman, in June, 1870, was living as an extensive sheep farmer, with his son James, near Melbourne, in Australia. See ibid. , pp. 13, 14.
^' It was sold by their representative, the Earl of Mornington, who died in 1845.
"Book of Clonenagh" had never been in the Coote Library, the books of which had
been purchased or procured by the late and present baronets at various times. Nor
have enquiries, among the PoleJ family, served to elicit more satisfactory intelli-
gence.
* Some time after the papers, to which
allusions are already made, had been read,
the writer had an opportunity for visiting Ballyfin House. Sir Charles H. Coote
then most courteously brought him to in- spect the library and other valuable art treasures, in his fine mansion. In reply to
"
could not have been destroyed by it. In
sonably infer, the
Book of Clonenagh"
Dunne stated, in reply to queries, that from his earliest days, he had a perfect knowledge
of the
collect the late Sir Charles Henry Coote, Bart. , with whom he had been intimate, make any mention of the old MS. in ques- tion. This, however, did not prevent his further enquiries, and in a letter headed "Brittas, March 17th, 1869," I was in-
contents of Ballyfin library, to which
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 593
As a renowned spiritual father, he desired to set a great example to his penitents. Will the sinner, therefore, seek to conceal, or refuse to do penance for, what he has committed in the presence of God, when the justi- fied desire by their austerities to acknowledge themselves sinners, in the sight both of God and m—an ? St. ^ngus the Culdee has thus recorded St. Fintan's mortifications
:
"
Fionntain the generous [Fionntain the generous,]' He never ate during his time
But bread of barley com,
And water of
' earthy clay. "
The O'Clerys notice a very ancient vellum book,3 in which is found the Martyrology of Maelruain of Tamhlacht, and many other things, which treat
concerning the Saints of Erin. 4 This states, that Fionntain, of Cluain-heidh- nech, the chief head of the monks of Erinn, in his manners and life, re- sembled Benedict,^ head of the monks of Europe.
Father Stephen White commemorates Fintan of Clonenagh, as an
^
In most of the Martyrologies, he is called a priest, an abbot, and a confessor ; however, by some writers, St. Fintan is styled bishop. 7 Yet, it is not probable, unless as a chorepiscopus, that he enjoyed such a dignity ; although some of his successors, in Clonenagh monastery, are called bishops. In the Breviary of Aberdeen, he is commemorated as a prior ; and if we are to credit Dempster,^ he was afterwards advanced to the grade of bishop. Yet, as St. Finian or Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, is also venerated on this day, it is quite possible, some confusion may have occurred,
in the attribution of episcopal rank to our saint, as well as to him. 9
Two brothers, who lived from their youth in St. Fintan's monastery,
tenderly loved each other, and being obedient to rule, in all things, they
pleased our Lord, as also their own religious brethren, to the best of their
ability. At length, it happened, that the elder of these brothers had been
seized with a mortal illness, which caused his death. At the time of his
departure, the younger brother chanced to be at work in the woods, with
othermonks. Whenreturning,hesawsomepersonspreparingagrave,in
the ^° and on from he learned all about his cemetery, enquiring them,
brother's death. Full of sorrow, the survivor went to that place, where the abbot and monks were already engaged, singing psalms around the corpse. "
evangelical preacher.
Chapter iv, —^ In a note, Dr. Todd
And strained muddy water. "
3 Allusion is made to the leaves, now in the Franciscan archives, Dublin, and which
The
"" In the Book of Lecan, R,I. A. , Dublin,
at the 17th of February, and in the Festilogy of iEngus, the writer records in the—follow-
ing lines translated by Mr. Crowe
"The day of the feast of Findtan (P5I15)
says at these words, The generous,
metre requires the repetition of these words, which are therefore added in brackets. In lines of this structure, it is the custom of Irish scribes to write the words but once. "
"
4 gee Rev. Dr. Todd's and Reeves'
vigilant
Of the great Clonenagh.
See MenologiumScoticum,"February 1 7th.
On this extract there is a translated com- ment:—
*'^ngus Cecinit : Generous Fintain Never eat during his time
But the bread of blighted barley Vol. II.
9 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Februarii xvii. De S. P'intano Presbytero, &c. Commentarius prsevius, num. I, p. 16.
^° From this, and from many similar
notices, we learn, that our early religious were buried, not within the church, but in
:
"
See Apologia pro Hibernia,"cap. ii. , p. 14, and cap. iv. , p. 38.
7 According to the Bruxelles MS. , the
"
^
2ist of March. ^"
Book of Leinster. " Martyrology of Donegal. "
belonged to the "
s His feast is
kept
in the Church, on the
Manuscript of Florarius and Maurolycus. ^"
the cemetery adjoining.
2 Q
594 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [February17.
The survivor besought our saint, that he might then die, and thus go to Heaven, together with his brother. Saint Fintan answered : "Your brother
hath already departed to God's kingdom, but you live, and cannot go simul- taneously with him to Heaven, unless he rise again to life. Yet, your desire
pleases me, wait awhile, and you shall see your brother living. " St. Fintan then praying, he who had departed returned to life. While yet lying in the
coffin, he spoke with a loud voice, blessing all who were present. He then told his brother, to make haste, and to receive the Holy Sacrifice, for the heavenly choirs, who came to meet his own soul, had returned again with him, to bear that of his younger brother, while he declared that the Almighty had heard the abbot's prayers, in accordance with the wishes of this brother, who desired liow to depart. The younger brother then placed himself, beside the elder, and, having received Holy Viaticum," with the prayers and blessings of the abbot and monks, he breathed forth his pure spirit to God. As their hearts were closely united in love while Hving, so in death these happy souls were not separated. His monks admired the wonders wrought by God, through their saintly Father Fintan. While they adored the Almighty in his wondrous ways, their hearts were strengthened by firm faith in his power, having been spectators of such a great miracle. ^3
A certain religious young man of Leix,^4 and who was named Columbanus,'^ became a disciple to St. Columkille, in the Island of lona. Wishing, how- ever, to revisit his own country, he besought St. Columkille to counsel him, respecting the choice of a spiritual director. '^ The Abbot of lona told him, that he had frequently seen a holy man, whose features he described, stand- ing with angels before God's throne, and that this was Fintan of Clonenagh, whomhisdisciplealreadyknew. Tohim,Columbanuswasdirected.
Having received the benediction of his great master, Columbanus set out for Ireland. On seeing Fintan, he related all that had been said of him, by St. Columkille. However, through humility, Fintan warned the young man, not to relate this occurrence, during his lifetime ; but, from this obligation of secrecy, Colum- banus was soon relieved, for shortly afterwards the death of venerable Fintan took place. '7
When the holy abbot found his end approaching, he called the brethren around him. In their presence, as also in that of some other pious persons, and before a numerous concourse of people, he named Fintan Maeldubh*^ as his successor. '9 Then raising his hand, and imparting the benediction to the people, and having received Holy Communion,^® with sentiments of the most fervent piety, St. -Fintan passed out of this world, to a life of bliss, on the13thoftheMarchCalends,'^^oronthe17thofFebruary. " BishopDe
^^ This appears to have been some form
^s See his Life, at the 15th of May.
'"^ In the Life of St. Fintan, we read,
** Dixit ad B. Columbam, O Sancte Dei,
quomodo in patria mea vivam, et tibi con- fitear peccata mea. " This is a testimony in
favour of auricular confession, as practised in the early Irish Church,
^7 See the BoUandists* "Acta Sancto-
tomus Februarii xvii. De S. iii. ,
of burial service, when a brother had
their
^"
prescribed by departed.
rule,
The words contained in this chapter, confirm and illust—rate thej Catholic prac-
**frater mi festina accipere sanctum sacri-
ficium," and "acceptoque divino viatico,"
tices in early times
be
if or illustration proof
•
wanting.
^3 Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae,"
xvii. Feliruarii. Vita S. Fintani, cap. xxi. ,
p. 353.
** This ancient division of Ireland was
_
situated, in the present Queen's County ; but its boundaries seem to have changed, at different periods. In St. Fintan's time, it was much more extensive, than in later centuries,
rum,"
Fintano Presbytero, &c. , cap. iv. , num. 24, p. 20.
'^
See his Life, at the 20th of October.
*9 This holy man, we are told, was dis«
tinguished more by his virtues, than by his birth.
=° ** The Life of St. Fintan states,
accepto
Dominico sacrificio," &c. , at the thirty-
fourth
chapter.
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 595 Burgo states, that he lived to the age of ninety, and that even t—his he ex-
ceeded. =3 it is read in one — history,
that twelve and six score to years equal
one hundred and thirty-two was the term of St. Fintan's life. Such is the comment found in the Book of Lecan. ^-^
The Roman Martyrology,=s Usuard, Ado, Possuevin, Florarius, the BreviaryofAberdeen,Dempster,Camerarius,^^Rev. AlbanButler,=^7 Bishop Challoner,'^ the Circle of the Seasons,'9 Rev. S. Baring-Gould,3° and other foreign writers, place his feast, at this date. Our earliest and latest Irish Calendars all unite, in placing the festival of the illustrious founder of Clone- nagh, at the 17th of February. Thus St. ^ngus, who lived himself at Clone-
"
nagh, has proclaimed it in his very ancient
Feilire. " 31 The Martyrology
ofTallagh,32likewise,noticeshimasFintanofCluainEidnech,Abbot. The
Martyrology of Donegalss has his pedigree and festival recorded on this day. 34
By a comparatively modern hand, a notice, regarding the festival of St. Fintan, bishop and confessor, with an Office of Nine Lessons, has been in- troduced into the Calendar and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the
Holy Trinity, Dublin,35 at the xiii. of the Kalends of March, correspond-
ingwiththe17thofFebruary. Asimilarentrywillbefound,inaTrinity CollegeManuscript,Dubhn. 36 TheScottishCalendaristsandEcclesiastical Historians have greatly celebrated and venerated this great patriarch of Irish monks. Thus, Camerarius, who makes St. Fintan a Scottish saint, or, at least, one venerated in Scotland, tells us he belonged to the band of Culdee fathers. 37 The Drummond Martyrology assigns his festival to this date. At the 17th of February, we find entered, "S. Fintane pryor in Scotland," in Adam King's Kalendar. 38 At xiii. of the March Kalends, corresponding with the 17th of February, St. Finian, a priest and confessor, a man remark-
=*' " Archdall mistakes this for the 13th of
Leabhar Breac," and translated into Eng- March, in his "Monasticon Hibemicum, lish, has —been furnished by Professor
"
P- 591- O'Looney :
'^^
In giving this date for his death, Dr.
animadverts on Archdall's — p. oc. m. kU Lanigan misap-
cAch co h-ott
prehension, in a characteristic style
** Bravo ! But finding that Colgan modem- ized tliat date into February 17th, he tells us, that Fintan, son of Gabhren, died on
co
tntii|i, n-jtAnb/Mi;
this day, to which he affixes also th—e death **
of his Fintan, son of Crimthann. " Ec- clesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect, xi. , n. 17, p. 232.
;
"3 See " Officia Propria Sanctorum Hi- bemioe. " Officium S. Fintani, noct. ii. , lect. vi. , p. 17.
=4 This manuscript belongs to the Royal Irish Academy.
=s It states, "In Scotia S. Fintani Pres- byteri et Confessoris. "
man and Usuard at this date.
Martyrologies
to
give it,
420, 421.
35 See Clarke Crosthwaite and Dr. John
Introduction, pp. xliii. , xlvii. , Iv. , and pp. 62, 89.
3* It is classed B. i, 4.
37 See "De Duplici Statu veteris simul ac novae Ecclesise, et Infidelium Conver- sione," lib. i. , pars ii. , cap. iii. , sect. 2, p. 149.
3«See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of Scottish Saints, pp. 5, 144.
=7 See
"
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs
and other Principal Saints," vol. ii. , Feb-
ruary xvii.
=^
120 to 124.
See "Britannia Sancta," part i. , pp.
=9 See p. 48.
3° See "Lives of the Saints," vol. ii. ,
February xvii. , pp. 324, 325.
3* The following rann, extracted from the
:
^^
fers Fintan's feast to the Kalends of Feb- St. Fintan of Clonenagh. See ibid. ^ pp.
Yet, without apparent warrant, he re- ruary ; although he acknowledges, the Ro-
chu, fol. II, for further notices concerning
"Oloinchuf
felt cho|\mAiG
La feit pn-ocAin P5I15, CltiAriA e-omch A'obAiU
All men proclaim [even] to the great sea,
The festival of Cormac the chaste With the festival of Findtan the prayer-
ful.
Of Cluain Ednach the great.
3' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xvi.
33 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
50, SI-
34 In the superadded table to this work,
the reader is referred to a Life of St. Fionn-
Todd's edition.
596 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 17.
able for his great virtue, had been commemorated in Scocia, as we learn from
a manuscript folio volume,39 belonging to the University Library of Edin-
burgh,4° and partially published by David Laing, Esq. , F. S. A. , Scot. , with
notice. '*''
The date for St. Fintan's departure has not been exactly ascertained. It
occurred long before the end of the sixth century,^^ according to Colgan's inference. ^ Yet, Dempster^* would foolishly maintain, that he flourished in the ninth or tenth century. -^s Centuries have passed away since his demise, and even since the destruction of his monastery, at Clonenagh ; yet, the
prefatory
New Catholic Church of St. Fintan, Mountrath.
people there have a profound veneration for their patron. St. Fintan's old road, leading on in the direction of St. Fintan's church and well at Cromogue/^
39 It contains no vellum leaves, written in the early part of the sixteenth century, and intituled " Martyrologium secundum vsum Ecclesie Aberdonensis. "
*° It was presented by Laurence Char- teris, Professor of Divinity, in 1677.
or at furthest A. D. 597, dates assigned for St. Columkille's decease.
4* See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. vi. , num. 507, p. 275.
« He says: "Floruit anno Dcccxxi. , vel DCCCCLXXiii. " For this statement, he cites a Scottish Breviary.
^^ All these as also the objects named,
ruins, graveyards, and St. Fintan's Well, at Clonenagh, may be traced on the ** Ord- nance Survey Tovvnland Maps for the Queen's County. " Sheet 17. The town
of Mountrath, about one mile and a-half, west by south from Clonenagh is also de-
41 See "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries —of Scotland. " Sessions
MDCCCLIV. -V. MDCCCLVI. -VII. ,
May 12, 1856, No. v. , pp. 256 to 272.
*" See •' Acta Sanctorum Hibernise,"
xvii. Februarii, n. 26, p. 355.
^3 Yet, from the narrative on which it
rests, there seems no reason for assuming, that St. Fintan died long before a. d. 592,
vol.
ii. ,
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 597
is yet pointed out by the country inhabitants, and it has an associated
legend. '*7
TheIrishclergycelebrateSt. Fintan'sfestivalasadouble. ByaDecree
of the Sacred Congregation of Rites,-*^ on this festival of his, falling on the
17th of February, a Duplex Majus, a Proper Office of Nine Lessons, com- piled by Bishop De Burgo, was to be recited by the secular and regular
clergy, as likewise by the nuns, throughout the kingdom of Ireland. ''? In Clonenagh parish, St. Fintan's festival is yearly commemorated, as one of great devotion, even to the present date ; and, it is remarkable, that from time im- memorial, a fair has been held there, on the patron's day. In the town of Mountrath, within this parish, of late years a fine Gothic parochial Catholic church has been erected, and dedicated under his invocation. This noble structure had been commenced and covered in by a former pastor of the
parish.
In addition to the foregoing drawing.
"7 On the outside, this doorway is 6 feet
2,h inches high ; 3 feet 5^ inches broad at
the ground ; and 3 feet 3^ inches at the
top. For further description and more
minute admeasurements, by the late Thomas
O'Conor, reference may be given to the
"Letters containing Information, relating
to the Antiquities of the County of Carlow,
collected during the progress of the Ord-
nance Survey in 1839. " Letter, dated Fionntain i Laoighis," or " The Book of
Leighlin Bridge, June 21st, 1839, pp. 148 to 158.
=^ To this period, it is attributed by Mr.
George V. Du Noyer; although portions were erected, at very different periods.
^9 His feast is thought to have been on the 3rd of June, where further notices of him may be found.
Clonenagh of Fintan, in Leix. " The in- scription over Tybrud Church, which had been founded by the priests, Eugenius Duhy and Geoffry Keating, D. D. , bears date A. D. 1644. At that time, its founders were dead, and had been buried in the ad-
joining churchyard. What became of Dr. Keating's own books or MSB. , we have ao
^° See the Bollandists*
Acta Sancto-
hides to it as
"
Leabhar Cluanah Eidhneach
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 591
by St. Fintan. If indeed our saint wrote any part of it, other portions were undoubtedly compiled by much later writers. When the ancient monastery of Clonenagh fell into ruin,32 as in many similar instances, it may have happened, that various sacred relics and books, belonging to its religious
into the hands of laics. " the Book of Clone- Especially,
community, passed
nagh"—one of its most prized literary treasures—probably became the pro- perty of some comorban or improprietor. From what shall be stated subse- quently, it seems not unlikely, that it had been kept by a family, living on the tribe lands of Leix, for several generations. It is probable, this family resided in or near Clonenagh, and its members were known as the Crosbies or Crossans. " 33 In Queen Elizabeth's time, the large estate of Ballyfin, near Clonenagh, is said to have been granted for services rendered her to Patrick Crosbie,whoserealsurnamewasMac-y-Crossane. 34 Hereceivedthetitle ofSirPatrickCrosby. BallyfinwasgrantedafterwardstoPeriamPole,Esq. , who was a brother to Sir John, and second son of Sir William Pole, of Shute, in Devonshire. The Castle of Ballyfin, erected by the Crosbies, had been pulled down by this grantee, who erected a more modern house on its site. This latter mansion was destroyed by fire, propably towards the close of the seventeenth,orthebeginningoftheeighteenth,century. Hissonafterwards rebuilt it. A statement has been made to the writer, that the ancient Book of St. Fintan was in the library of Ballyfin House,35 some time about the com- mencement of the present century. s^ Moreover, the writer has been in- formed, that the crozier of St. Fintan, with many other relics, said to have
means left for ascertaining.
3- According to Dr. O'Donovan, not a
stone of the primitive ages is left undis- turbed in the ruined church, at Clonenagh, and which was repaired at different periods. The part remaining is 45 feet long and 2 1 feet broad ; but, originally, the church was much longer. See " Letters containing In- foi-mation relative to the Antiquities of the Queen's County, collected during the pro- gress of the Ordnance Survey in 1838," vol. i. , p, 43. On the old Elizabethan Map of Leax and Offaly, preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, the monastery at Clone- nagh seems to Ije represented, at the left side or north of a road, leading from Castle- town to Maryborough.
been recovered ; and how important the " Book of Clonenagh" must prove for the elucidation of past events may be gleaned from Dr. Keating's quotations, especially in reference to the celebrated Synod of Rath- breasail, and its place of meeting.
3^ About the beginning of the year 1869 a respectable young man, Mr. John B. Bray, then clerk in the Hibernian Bank, Castle-
street, Dublin, called upon the writer, and stated he was in possession of traditional information, which should be communicated,
he thought, through some agency, to those who felt a special interest in rescuing the remains of our Irish literature from oblivion. He declared that, several years ago, while visiting the ruins of Clonenagh, near Mount-
—^3The Crossans—rhymers to the O'Moores
rath, in company with
his Mr. father,
their con- whose principal office was to compose versation turned naturally on St. Fintan
O'Donovan, were poets,
Martin
to Dr.
funeral dirges or S chieftains' panegyrics.
More frequently, however, the family bards degenerated into satirists.
3-* His great grandson. Sir John Crosbie, baronet, espoused the Royal cause of Charles I. , and he was attainted afterwards by Act of Parliament. Although King Charles II. became entitled to his great estate in 1663, this attainder was never re- versed.
33
of the latter
according
Bray,
that the — oldest extant
It was said to have been written by St. Fintan. Mr, Martin Bray's father, who also bore the name of Martin, and who died about 1844,
It
Keating, while compiling the Irish History. But, hitherto, neither one nor the other has
is
copy of the " Book of Clonenagh"
the original—was that MS. preserved at Ballyfin. For various reasons, it is not likely to have been the copy, used by Dr.
probable,
if not
town,
and the old ruined monastery. Mr. Martiii
Bray, who had a great taste for Irish anti-
quities, and who was a very intelligent man, then told his son about a remarkable and curious old vellum MS. , whic—h was written in quaint, ancient characters supposed to have been Irish—but which no person knew how to read, although most of the leaves were perfectly legible. This was called " The Book of St. Fintan," and it formerly
at the age of ninety years, saw this MS. in Ballyfin library, in the beginning of this century.
to the monksof
belonged Clonenagh.
592 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [February 17.
belonged formerly to the ol—d churches of ClonenaG^h37 and Cromogue—both withinamileofeachother hadbeenkeptsubsequentlyatBallyfinHouse; but, that these had perished in a fire^^ which broke out, and they are now ir-
recoverably lost. 39 Yet, the " Book of Clonenagh," although missing, may possibly be still in existence \^° whether it had been removed from Ballyfin,
when this estate passed by purchase from the Poles,-*' to the former baronet,
Sir Charles Henry Coote, or whether it yet remains in the house of his son
andsucessor,thepresentSirCharlesHenryCoote,^^seemsdoubtful. About
the year 1850, a fire took place at Ballyfin House, but, no book was then
burned. '«3 Hitherto, all the enquiries made, in reference to St. Fintan's
"
ST. fintan's virtues and accomplishments—he is styled a bishop as well as AN abbot—departure OF TWO BROTHERS AT CLONENAGH—ST. FINTAN RECOM- MENDED BY ST. COLUMKILLE AS A HOLY FATHER CONFESSOR—DEATH OF ST. FINTAN—DAY OF HIS FEAST—VENERATION PAID TO HIS MEMORY—CHURCHES DEDICATED TO HIM—CONCLUSION.
The holy abbot is said to have practised very extraordinary mortifications.
missing book/' have been unavailing.
CHAPTER IV.
37 In "Letters containing Information
relative to the Antiquities of the Queen's
County, collected during the progress of the
Ordnance Survey in 1838," the late Dr.
John O'Donovan has given an interesting
description of Clonenagh parish—commen-
surate with the barony of Maryborough enquiries then made, the housekeeper
West—in a letter, dated Mountrath, No- vember 24th, 1838, vol. i. , pp. 38 to 82.
stated, that some old boxes remained in a store room unexamined, for a great number of years, within her memory. Sir Charles promised that a further search should take placfi, for the missing "Book of Clone- nagh ;" yet, to this present date, no further information, regarding it, has been furnished to the writer.
'*3 This fact was a com- elicited, through
munication, received from the late Lieu- tenant-General Dunne, of Brittis House, and dated March 4th, 1869. He was pre- sent at this fire ; and, hence, we may rea-
38 These must have been lost in that fire
already noticed, and which broke out there, in the latter part of the seventeenth or in
the beginning of the eighteenth century.
39 Such was a statement made by his
father, Mr. Martin Bray, to Mr. John 13.
Bray.
''^ Regarding this matter, the writer pre-
"Note— on the Rev. John O'Hanlon's
Paper On the Missing Book of Clone-
nagh. " By Daniel F. Dowling. This he had constant access, nor did he ever re-
pared a paper, intituled, "The Missing Book
of Clonenagh," which was read April nth,
1870, before the Royal Irish Academy. It
will be found published, in "Proceedings
of the Royal Irish Academy," series ii. ,
vol, i. . No, iv. , pp. 7 to 12. This com- other letters, however, Lieutenant-General munication is followed by another, No, v,
writer, living at Castletown, near Mount- rath, states, that Rev. Valentine Griffith, a former rector of the latter place, is said to have been in possession of the "Book of
Clonenagh," in the beginning of this cen-
tury, and to have left it afterwards to his
son-in-law, Robert Knaggs, M. D, The formed, that he felt certain the ancient
latter gentleman, in June, 1870, was living as an extensive sheep farmer, with his son James, near Melbourne, in Australia. See ibid. , pp. 13, 14.
^' It was sold by their representative, the Earl of Mornington, who died in 1845.
"Book of Clonenagh" had never been in the Coote Library, the books of which had
been purchased or procured by the late and present baronets at various times. Nor
have enquiries, among the PoleJ family, served to elicit more satisfactory intelli-
gence.
* Some time after the papers, to which
allusions are already made, had been read,
the writer had an opportunity for visiting Ballyfin House. Sir Charles H. Coote
then most courteously brought him to in- spect the library and other valuable art treasures, in his fine mansion. In reply to
"
could not have been destroyed by it. In
sonably infer, the
Book of Clonenagh"
Dunne stated, in reply to queries, that from his earliest days, he had a perfect knowledge
of the
collect the late Sir Charles Henry Coote, Bart. , with whom he had been intimate, make any mention of the old MS. in ques- tion. This, however, did not prevent his further enquiries, and in a letter headed "Brittas, March 17th, 1869," I was in-
contents of Ballyfin library, to which
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 593
As a renowned spiritual father, he desired to set a great example to his penitents. Will the sinner, therefore, seek to conceal, or refuse to do penance for, what he has committed in the presence of God, when the justi- fied desire by their austerities to acknowledge themselves sinners, in the sight both of God and m—an ? St. ^ngus the Culdee has thus recorded St. Fintan's mortifications
:
"
Fionntain the generous [Fionntain the generous,]' He never ate during his time
But bread of barley com,
And water of
' earthy clay. "
The O'Clerys notice a very ancient vellum book,3 in which is found the Martyrology of Maelruain of Tamhlacht, and many other things, which treat
concerning the Saints of Erin. 4 This states, that Fionntain, of Cluain-heidh- nech, the chief head of the monks of Erinn, in his manners and life, re- sembled Benedict,^ head of the monks of Europe.
Father Stephen White commemorates Fintan of Clonenagh, as an
^
In most of the Martyrologies, he is called a priest, an abbot, and a confessor ; however, by some writers, St. Fintan is styled bishop. 7 Yet, it is not probable, unless as a chorepiscopus, that he enjoyed such a dignity ; although some of his successors, in Clonenagh monastery, are called bishops. In the Breviary of Aberdeen, he is commemorated as a prior ; and if we are to credit Dempster,^ he was afterwards advanced to the grade of bishop. Yet, as St. Finian or Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, is also venerated on this day, it is quite possible, some confusion may have occurred,
in the attribution of episcopal rank to our saint, as well as to him. 9
Two brothers, who lived from their youth in St. Fintan's monastery,
tenderly loved each other, and being obedient to rule, in all things, they
pleased our Lord, as also their own religious brethren, to the best of their
ability. At length, it happened, that the elder of these brothers had been
seized with a mortal illness, which caused his death. At the time of his
departure, the younger brother chanced to be at work in the woods, with
othermonks. Whenreturning,hesawsomepersonspreparingagrave,in
the ^° and on from he learned all about his cemetery, enquiring them,
brother's death. Full of sorrow, the survivor went to that place, where the abbot and monks were already engaged, singing psalms around the corpse. "
evangelical preacher.
Chapter iv, —^ In a note, Dr. Todd
And strained muddy water. "
3 Allusion is made to the leaves, now in the Franciscan archives, Dublin, and which
The
"" In the Book of Lecan, R,I. A. , Dublin,
at the 17th of February, and in the Festilogy of iEngus, the writer records in the—follow-
ing lines translated by Mr. Crowe
"The day of the feast of Findtan (P5I15)
says at these words, The generous,
metre requires the repetition of these words, which are therefore added in brackets. In lines of this structure, it is the custom of Irish scribes to write the words but once. "
"
4 gee Rev. Dr. Todd's and Reeves'
vigilant
Of the great Clonenagh.
See MenologiumScoticum,"February 1 7th.
On this extract there is a translated com- ment:—
*'^ngus Cecinit : Generous Fintain Never eat during his time
But the bread of blighted barley Vol. II.
9 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Februarii xvii. De S. P'intano Presbytero, &c. Commentarius prsevius, num. I, p. 16.
^° From this, and from many similar
notices, we learn, that our early religious were buried, not within the church, but in
:
"
See Apologia pro Hibernia,"cap. ii. , p. 14, and cap. iv. , p. 38.
7 According to the Bruxelles MS. , the
"
^
2ist of March. ^"
Book of Leinster. " Martyrology of Donegal. "
belonged to the "
s His feast is
kept
in the Church, on the
Manuscript of Florarius and Maurolycus. ^"
the cemetery adjoining.
2 Q
594 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [February17.
The survivor besought our saint, that he might then die, and thus go to Heaven, together with his brother. Saint Fintan answered : "Your brother
hath already departed to God's kingdom, but you live, and cannot go simul- taneously with him to Heaven, unless he rise again to life. Yet, your desire
pleases me, wait awhile, and you shall see your brother living. " St. Fintan then praying, he who had departed returned to life. While yet lying in the
coffin, he spoke with a loud voice, blessing all who were present. He then told his brother, to make haste, and to receive the Holy Sacrifice, for the heavenly choirs, who came to meet his own soul, had returned again with him, to bear that of his younger brother, while he declared that the Almighty had heard the abbot's prayers, in accordance with the wishes of this brother, who desired liow to depart. The younger brother then placed himself, beside the elder, and, having received Holy Viaticum," with the prayers and blessings of the abbot and monks, he breathed forth his pure spirit to God. As their hearts were closely united in love while Hving, so in death these happy souls were not separated. His monks admired the wonders wrought by God, through their saintly Father Fintan. While they adored the Almighty in his wondrous ways, their hearts were strengthened by firm faith in his power, having been spectators of such a great miracle. ^3
A certain religious young man of Leix,^4 and who was named Columbanus,'^ became a disciple to St. Columkille, in the Island of lona. Wishing, how- ever, to revisit his own country, he besought St. Columkille to counsel him, respecting the choice of a spiritual director. '^ The Abbot of lona told him, that he had frequently seen a holy man, whose features he described, stand- ing with angels before God's throne, and that this was Fintan of Clonenagh, whomhisdisciplealreadyknew. Tohim,Columbanuswasdirected.
Having received the benediction of his great master, Columbanus set out for Ireland. On seeing Fintan, he related all that had been said of him, by St. Columkille. However, through humility, Fintan warned the young man, not to relate this occurrence, during his lifetime ; but, from this obligation of secrecy, Colum- banus was soon relieved, for shortly afterwards the death of venerable Fintan took place. '7
When the holy abbot found his end approaching, he called the brethren around him. In their presence, as also in that of some other pious persons, and before a numerous concourse of people, he named Fintan Maeldubh*^ as his successor. '9 Then raising his hand, and imparting the benediction to the people, and having received Holy Communion,^® with sentiments of the most fervent piety, St. -Fintan passed out of this world, to a life of bliss, on the13thoftheMarchCalends,'^^oronthe17thofFebruary. " BishopDe
^^ This appears to have been some form
^s See his Life, at the 15th of May.
'"^ In the Life of St. Fintan, we read,
** Dixit ad B. Columbam, O Sancte Dei,
quomodo in patria mea vivam, et tibi con- fitear peccata mea. " This is a testimony in
favour of auricular confession, as practised in the early Irish Church,
^7 See the BoUandists* "Acta Sancto-
tomus Februarii xvii. De S. iii. ,
of burial service, when a brother had
their
^"
prescribed by departed.
rule,
The words contained in this chapter, confirm and illust—rate thej Catholic prac-
**frater mi festina accipere sanctum sacri-
ficium," and "acceptoque divino viatico,"
tices in early times
be
if or illustration proof
•
wanting.
^3 Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae,"
xvii. Feliruarii. Vita S. Fintani, cap. xxi. ,
p. 353.
** This ancient division of Ireland was
_
situated, in the present Queen's County ; but its boundaries seem to have changed, at different periods. In St. Fintan's time, it was much more extensive, than in later centuries,
rum,"
Fintano Presbytero, &c. , cap. iv. , num. 24, p. 20.
'^
See his Life, at the 20th of October.
*9 This holy man, we are told, was dis«
tinguished more by his virtues, than by his birth.
=° ** The Life of St. Fintan states,
accepto
Dominico sacrificio," &c. , at the thirty-
fourth
chapter.
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 595 Burgo states, that he lived to the age of ninety, and that even t—his he ex-
ceeded. =3 it is read in one — history,
that twelve and six score to years equal
one hundred and thirty-two was the term of St. Fintan's life. Such is the comment found in the Book of Lecan. ^-^
The Roman Martyrology,=s Usuard, Ado, Possuevin, Florarius, the BreviaryofAberdeen,Dempster,Camerarius,^^Rev. AlbanButler,=^7 Bishop Challoner,'^ the Circle of the Seasons,'9 Rev. S. Baring-Gould,3° and other foreign writers, place his feast, at this date. Our earliest and latest Irish Calendars all unite, in placing the festival of the illustrious founder of Clone- nagh, at the 17th of February. Thus St. ^ngus, who lived himself at Clone-
"
nagh, has proclaimed it in his very ancient
Feilire. " 31 The Martyrology
ofTallagh,32likewise,noticeshimasFintanofCluainEidnech,Abbot. The
Martyrology of Donegalss has his pedigree and festival recorded on this day. 34
By a comparatively modern hand, a notice, regarding the festival of St. Fintan, bishop and confessor, with an Office of Nine Lessons, has been in- troduced into the Calendar and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the
Holy Trinity, Dublin,35 at the xiii. of the Kalends of March, correspond-
ingwiththe17thofFebruary. Asimilarentrywillbefound,inaTrinity CollegeManuscript,Dubhn. 36 TheScottishCalendaristsandEcclesiastical Historians have greatly celebrated and venerated this great patriarch of Irish monks. Thus, Camerarius, who makes St. Fintan a Scottish saint, or, at least, one venerated in Scotland, tells us he belonged to the band of Culdee fathers. 37 The Drummond Martyrology assigns his festival to this date. At the 17th of February, we find entered, "S. Fintane pryor in Scotland," in Adam King's Kalendar. 38 At xiii. of the March Kalends, corresponding with the 17th of February, St. Finian, a priest and confessor, a man remark-
=*' " Archdall mistakes this for the 13th of
Leabhar Breac," and translated into Eng- March, in his "Monasticon Hibemicum, lish, has —been furnished by Professor
"
P- 591- O'Looney :
'^^
In giving this date for his death, Dr.
animadverts on Archdall's — p. oc. m. kU Lanigan misap-
cAch co h-ott
prehension, in a characteristic style
** Bravo ! But finding that Colgan modem- ized tliat date into February 17th, he tells us, that Fintan, son of Gabhren, died on
co
tntii|i, n-jtAnb/Mi;
this day, to which he affixes also th—e death **
of his Fintan, son of Crimthann. " Ec- clesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xii. , sect, xi. , n. 17, p. 232.
;
"3 See " Officia Propria Sanctorum Hi- bemioe. " Officium S. Fintani, noct. ii. , lect. vi. , p. 17.
=4 This manuscript belongs to the Royal Irish Academy.
=s It states, "In Scotia S. Fintani Pres- byteri et Confessoris. "
man and Usuard at this date.
Martyrologies
to
give it,
420, 421.
35 See Clarke Crosthwaite and Dr. John
Introduction, pp. xliii. , xlvii. , Iv. , and pp. 62, 89.
3* It is classed B. i, 4.
37 See "De Duplici Statu veteris simul ac novae Ecclesise, et Infidelium Conver- sione," lib. i. , pars ii. , cap. iii. , sect. 2, p. 149.
3«See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of Scottish Saints, pp. 5, 144.
=7 See
"
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs
and other Principal Saints," vol. ii. , Feb-
ruary xvii.
=^
120 to 124.
See "Britannia Sancta," part i. , pp.
=9 See p. 48.
3° See "Lives of the Saints," vol. ii. ,
February xvii. , pp. 324, 325.
3* The following rann, extracted from the
:
^^
fers Fintan's feast to the Kalends of Feb- St. Fintan of Clonenagh. See ibid. ^ pp.
Yet, without apparent warrant, he re- ruary ; although he acknowledges, the Ro-
chu, fol. II, for further notices concerning
"Oloinchuf
felt cho|\mAiG
La feit pn-ocAin P5I15, CltiAriA e-omch A'obAiU
All men proclaim [even] to the great sea,
The festival of Cormac the chaste With the festival of Findtan the prayer-
ful.
Of Cluain Ednach the great.
3' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xvi.
33 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
50, SI-
34 In the superadded table to this work,
the reader is referred to a Life of St. Fionn-
Todd's edition.
596 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 17.
able for his great virtue, had been commemorated in Scocia, as we learn from
a manuscript folio volume,39 belonging to the University Library of Edin-
burgh,4° and partially published by David Laing, Esq. , F. S. A. , Scot. , with
notice. '*''
The date for St. Fintan's departure has not been exactly ascertained. It
occurred long before the end of the sixth century,^^ according to Colgan's inference. ^ Yet, Dempster^* would foolishly maintain, that he flourished in the ninth or tenth century. -^s Centuries have passed away since his demise, and even since the destruction of his monastery, at Clonenagh ; yet, the
prefatory
New Catholic Church of St. Fintan, Mountrath.
people there have a profound veneration for their patron. St. Fintan's old road, leading on in the direction of St. Fintan's church and well at Cromogue/^
39 It contains no vellum leaves, written in the early part of the sixteenth century, and intituled " Martyrologium secundum vsum Ecclesie Aberdonensis. "
*° It was presented by Laurence Char- teris, Professor of Divinity, in 1677.
or at furthest A. D. 597, dates assigned for St. Columkille's decease.
4* See "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. vi. , num. 507, p. 275.
« He says: "Floruit anno Dcccxxi. , vel DCCCCLXXiii. " For this statement, he cites a Scottish Breviary.
^^ All these as also the objects named,
ruins, graveyards, and St. Fintan's Well, at Clonenagh, may be traced on the ** Ord- nance Survey Tovvnland Maps for the Queen's County. " Sheet 17. The town
of Mountrath, about one mile and a-half, west by south from Clonenagh is also de-
41 See "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries —of Scotland. " Sessions
MDCCCLIV. -V. MDCCCLVI. -VII. ,
May 12, 1856, No. v. , pp. 256 to 272.
*" See •' Acta Sanctorum Hibernise,"
xvii. Februarii, n. 26, p. 355.
^3 Yet, from the narrative on which it
rests, there seems no reason for assuming, that St. Fintan died long before a. d. 592,
vol.
ii. ,
February 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 597
is yet pointed out by the country inhabitants, and it has an associated
legend. '*7
TheIrishclergycelebrateSt. Fintan'sfestivalasadouble. ByaDecree
of the Sacred Congregation of Rites,-*^ on this festival of his, falling on the
17th of February, a Duplex Majus, a Proper Office of Nine Lessons, com- piled by Bishop De Burgo, was to be recited by the secular and regular
clergy, as likewise by the nuns, throughout the kingdom of Ireland. ''? In Clonenagh parish, St. Fintan's festival is yearly commemorated, as one of great devotion, even to the present date ; and, it is remarkable, that from time im- memorial, a fair has been held there, on the patron's day. In the town of Mountrath, within this parish, of late years a fine Gothic parochial Catholic church has been erected, and dedicated under his invocation. This noble structure had been commenced and covered in by a former pastor of the
parish.
