being bounded on the east by the rocky and shelving banks of the River Moy, and on the other sides by the remains of a stone wall, which defined the limits of the
religious
enclosure, within about four or five acres.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v4
ide to Germany, where many fine houses are built, without eitherstune or brick.
Ledwich probably thought, that the word ""
paries," or parietes," used by Cogitosus, should l;e understood of stone. . See " Trias
Thaumaturga. " Setunda Vita S. Brigida, cap. xxxv. , pp, 523, 524.
< By Ccguosus.
«» That of "parietes tabulati. "
*3 ' • The fact is," as I t. Laiiigan remaiks, " that Cogitosus has not a word about stone in his descri|)tion of the church. " See"Ec- clesiisiical History of Ireland," vol.
S. n. 4, Brigidae,
p. 525.
33 Evidently, such i. > the meaning of Cogi-
sus there says :
puellaris, ,ic si vitis I'uctifcr. idiffusa undique chap, viii. , . sec. ii. , n. 18, p. 380. ramis crescentibus, in tola Hibernlensi iiLsula
Opera," vol. v.
^ See his so-called "
Antiquities
of Ire-
land," p. 166.
^ Yet, in another place, he inquires, why this author of St. Brigid's Acts does not in-
sertspecialparticulars. relalive toSt. Patrick.
i. ,
334
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [April i8.
panegyric, and which can hardly be considered a professed biography of the illustrious virgin. Cogitosus does not even tell us, in what part of Ireland the holy Abbess was born, nor does he enter particularly into historical facts, re- lating to the subject of his praise. With the exception of giving her father's and mother's names, or of mentioning Macchille,t5 from whom she received the veil, as also Conlaeth,** Bishop of Kildare; the author of St. Brigids second Life does not even introduce to our notice any of her contemporaries.
Hence, there is no sufficient reason, why we should expect any special account of St. Patrick,47 from Cogitosus. 48 Colgan thinks it most probable,
he lived before a. d. 580 ;49 he believes, also, there are internal evidences, in the tract itself, to indicate its author having been in the world, not loiig after St. Brigid'sdemise. Oneoftheseproofsisdrawn,fromthatpassageinhispro- logue to her Life, where it is said, that the prelates and abbesses of Kildare were foremost, and ruled in happy succession, over other Irish Bishops and
Abbesses. 5° It is asserted, however, that this is an over-charged statement of Cogitosus, anxious to exalt Kildare, supposed to have been his native dio- cese, and without other corroboration to sustain it. s^ St. Conlaeth departed this hfe in 5 ig. s" To this latter bishop succeeded many others, in ruling over the Metropolitan See of Kildare. As the Leinster Archieplscopate is assumed to have been established, at Sletty, previous to its removal to Kildare ; it is thought, Cogitosus must have written this Life, before a. d. 594, or at least, antecedent to 598. 53 In the former year, we find it recorded, that Aedli, son
to Ainmire, Monarch of Ireland, had been killed, by Bran Dabh, King of
Leinster. 54 This latter, having caused a synod to be convoked, procured
Ferns to be named as a Metropolitan See, for Leinster province,55 and over it,
St Moedoc,5« or Aedhan, was placed. That synod is supposed to have been
convoked,ashorttimeafterthedeathofAedh. Asthislattereventisre-
ferred,tooneorotherofthepreviousdates; so,ithasbeenconjectured,must
the composition of Cogitosus be assigned to a time antecedent, when it was supposed the archiepiscopate had not been transferred from Kildare to Ferns. "
From the former statement, it has been inferred,58 not alone that the Archi- episcopateofLeinsterprovincewasatKildare,inthetimeofCogitosus; but,
44 By referring to the Tract in question.
45 His feast has been referred, to the 20th f Ar,,. ;!
46 Slis Life is given, at the 3rd of May. 47 His feast occurs, at the 17th of March. 48SeeDr Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His-
torv of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ii. , sect, xi. , io
^49 While treating about the Irish writers, Sir Tames Ware refers his period, to the fiJth century See " De Scriptoribus Hi- hr,^i^Mrb i cap. ii. p. II.
I^Howev^r'as to whether or not, all the Abbesses and Nuns of Ireland embraced that nilp established bv St. Brigid, Colgan would n"ot unde take to affirm^ or deny. See
that Synod, in which Moedhog was ap-
pointed Metropolitan for Lemster 1 here, however, Ussher asserts, that the Archi- episcopate of the Leinster province had been removed, not from Kildare, but from Sletty to Ferns. See Index Chronologicus, A. D.
Secunda Vita S. W^fe Rev M T Brenan's " Ecclesiastical
siarura Antiquitates.
i* See 0r. ODonovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters, vol. 1. , pp. 218 to 221.
55 St. Maidoc or Aedhan was appomted to rule over this See, and to assume the archiepiscopal office. See Ussher s ;; Bri- tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, cap.
xvii. , p. 449. , , „ ,
56 The festival of this holy Prelate occurs,
at the 31st of X
J^""f ^''"V'^'^ tTha? more particularly referred to his Life at that
date, as also to another Life of St. Maidoc, Abbot of Clonmore, at the nth of April.
57 This Colgan promised to prove in notes to be attached to the Acts of St. Moling at th«17thofJune,andinthoseofSt. Molua, at the 4th of August. . See '' Trias Thauma-
Trias Thaumaturga. " nriarW nn 7 8 pN2? .
and ^Teibid Rev. C. P, Meehan's edition.
Histoid of iVeland," chap, ii. , p. 36,
5' See Dr. Donovan's "Annalsof the Four M\. tr! "vnl i
S This is the year, assigned by Ussher for
the defeat of Aedh, at the battle of Dun- turga. " Secunda Vita S. Bngidx, nn. 7, 8,
bolg, by Bran Dubh, and for the holding of pp. 518, 525.
dxcviii. , at p. 535-
Bntannicarum Eccle-
,','
April i8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 235
also, from his words, that it might be considered certain, many bishops had succeeded to their pecuHar office there, and before the period when he wrote. » However, the most generally received opinion is, that after Ferns had en- joyed the distinction ofa metropolite's residence for a period, Kildare subse- quentlydisplacedit, owingtothesuperioradvantagesofpositionorimpor- tance. *" This must have been, after the time of St. Maidoc ; yet, the fact seems to be not very clear, as to whether the dignity had been annexed to a
person, or to a locality. ^' In the latter contingency, the chief episcopal rule over Leinster appears to descend from Sletty to Ferns, from Ferns to Kildare, and from Kildare to Dublin. '" There the Leinster Archbishop has since re-
of Kells. *^
O'Gorman alludes to him, and with great commendation. 's
Article III. —St. Lassar, Virgin, daughter of Eoghan, of Maig-
HiN, POSSIBLY MoYNE, IN THE CouNTY OF Mayo. As in the church there
are different gifts, says St. Jerome,' I grant that marriage is one of them, lest I should seem to oppose nature. At the same time consider, that the gift of virginity differs from that of marriage ; for, if the married and virgins had the same reward, the Apostle would not have added, "But each one has his proper gift from God,' one in this manner and another in that," when he had given the precept regarding continence. This holy female appears, in the Martyro- logy of Tallagh,3 at the i8th of April, as Lasar, daughter of Eccain of Maig- hin. From the same authority, the IJollandists enter Lassara filia Egani de Maigin,* Thislocality,perhaps,wasidenticalwiththepresentMoyne,inthe barony of Tirawley, and county of Mayo. A conventual establishment for
religious women may have existed there, previous to the foundation of a Franciscan Monastery, early in the fifteenth century. ' Its ruins are still iu
a good state of preservation,* and they occupy a most picturesque situation,
mained since the fixed,
at the writer is commemorated as a saint, his festival being assigned, to the i8th of April. Thus, besides the Martyrology of Tallagh,'* that of Marianus
the — Synod
In the Irish a
5'ByColgan.
^ Before the Synod of Kells, no less than
fifty-three bishoprics were in Ireland ; and, their respective names are set down in the
Provinciale Ronianum, published by Carolus A. S. Paulo, in the Appendix to his Gec^a- phy. This list is reproduced, in Rev. Joseph
'3 See Rev. Sylvester Malone's "Church History of Ireland," chap, i. , and n. (h), pp. 18, 19,
** It calls him "Cc^tosus Sapiens. "
'' Marianus O'Gorniaii, at the same day,
The Antiquities of the Christian Church,"vol. i. ,
"
See his
Treatise Adver-
Bingham's "Orijjiucs Ecclesiastics
:
. '"Such was the actual position, at the time
Cogitosus wrote, when Kildare was a great
city, and its bishop was a Metropolitan. See
susJovinianum,lib. i. ,cap. iv. ,SanctiHierony-
mi Steidoniensis "Opera Omnia," tomusi. ,
p. I20. Coloniae Agrippinae, l6i6, fol.
'
See i Cor. vii. , 7. 'EditedbyRev. Dr. Kelly,p. xxi. The
Franciscan copy has it tarfAp 1 eccAin o Tniigm, at the same date.
rilis xviii. the Among
p. 521.
5 Erected A. D. 1460. For an account of it.
see Archdall's " Monasticon Hibernicum," p. 507. A view of it will be found, in the "Dublin Penny Journal," vol. iv. . No. 158, p. 9.
' The accompanying illustration from a drawing made by William F. Wakeman,
Book ix. , chap, vi. , sect. 19, p. 394.
"
tiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 449.
Ussher's '"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
Cogitosus strangely
Ap- pretermitted saints,
words be an interpolation of some copyist— that the Prelate of Kildare was always an
Archbishop over the Hibernian Bishops.
Such surely could not have been the case,
even in his time, since Armagh had been re-
guarded always, as the great Irish Primatial See.
" See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum An'. iquitates," cap, xvii. , p. 500.
— in 1 Apostolic Legate, John Papiro, arranged it,
asserts—unless the
« See " Acta tomus ii. , Sanctorum,"
152, Menologies, Cogitosus possibly
" Virtus (? ) Cogitosi justi et veracis
writes
nos defendit. " —
Article ill.
:
236 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 18.
being bounded on the east by the rocky and shelving banks of the River Moy, and on the other sides by the remains of a stone wall, which defined the limits of the religious enclosure, within about four or five acres. The view towards the river conveys the eye over all the Bay of Killala, the Sligo shores of that bay, and the whole expanse of undulated and acclivitous country, to thesky-lineoftheOxMountains. ' Aremarkablesquaretowerrisesonone of the two gable ends, which form the choir and the body of the church. Hexagon arches are turned on consoles, fixed in the gable-ends, from east to
Monastic Remains, at Moyne, County of Mayo.
west, which is a bold execution. About the convent, cloisters, and church,
there is much admired stone-work. ^ The cloisters arebuilton plain pillars,
in couplets. 9 The Martyrology of Donegal,'" registers the name of Lassar,
virgin, and daughter to Eoghan, of Maighin, as having veneration paid her, at this date.
Article IV. —St. Eugene, or Eoghan, Bishop. The Martyrology '
of Tallagh has the entry Eugene, a Bishop, at the i8th of April. Also, at thisdate,andfromthesamesourcetheBollandists' haveEugeniusEpisco-
pus. There appears to have been a saint so denominated, who is mentioned
with Diarmaid and . ^ngus, as also with Brigid, daughter of Dalbronagh, and they are said to have been of the Fotharte tribe, settled in the barony of
and from a sketch taken on the spot, in Au- gust, 1880, has been transferred liy him to the wood, and engraved by Mrs. Millard.
^ See the " Parliameniary Gazetteer of
Ireland," vol ii. , p. 819.
« McPavlan's " Statistical Survey of the
CountyofMayo,"givesadescriptionandde- tails of these ruins.
9 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hibemi-
cum,"p. 507.
'" Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
106, 107. — . •\RTICLE IV.
'
In the Franciscan copy, eujem epf is inserted, in the margin, as if
an after placement. 'See"ActaSanctorum. "tomusii. , Ap-
rilis xviii. Among the pretermitted saints, p. S2I-
April i8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 237
Forth,countyofCarlow. ThosepersonsbelongedtoAchadh-Togartha,in the plain of Airgedross, in the territory of Idoiigh, Ui Duach, or Hy Duach,
represented by the present parish of Odogh, barony of Fassadineen, county of Kilkenny. 3 But, in an Inquisition taken a. d. 1635, the district of Ui- Duach was then regarded as co-extensive with the said barony. '* Whether the Eoghan, thus distinguished, may be identified with the saint of this day, remains to be discovered. In another form, at this date, the Martyrology of Donegal 5 mentions, as having veneration paid him, the name of Eoghan, Bishop.
Article V. —St. Florentin, Confessor. \Tive! fth or Thirteenth Century^ If, as a celebrated poet has declared of Tasso, that his mind " believed the magic wonders which he sung,"' well may the pious Christian seriously admit those many miraculous gifts, which Almighty God bestows on men, through the merits of his great adorers. Colgan, at the 24th of January, gives these following particulars, regarding our saint, with notes added. " He is mentioned, by Dempster. ' By that writer, he is said to have been a son to the king of the Scots ; but, Colgan ajjpears to adduce good reasons for denying tliis position, as he proves, that none of the Scottish kings had a son, bearing such a name, about that time, when Florentin is said to have flourished. However, Colgan would not undertake to give an absolute deci- sion on the point, as to whether or not this saint had been a native of old Scotia, or Ireland, or of the modern Scotia, or Scotland, which, by the ancients, was usually styled Albania. But, for these following reasons, it was thought much more probable, that the holy man had been a native of Ireland. First, from the year iioo to the year 1200, when the saint is said to have flourished, according to the Scottish historians themselves, there was no king or person of royal origin in Britannic Scotia, who had a son named Florentin, orFlorentius. ' Secondly,Irelandwasformerlydividedintomanykingdoms,' and consequently many kings ruled in it, at the time alluded to ; whereas, at the period St. Florentin is said to have flourished, we do not read that many kings reigned simultaneously in Scotland. And, as we have already seen, that St F'lorentin was not a son to any king, who ruled over the kingdom of Scot- land, it is more than probable, he must , have been son to some minor Irish prince. Thirdly, our ancient Irish Annals relate, that many Florentins flourished, about the time, this saint is supposed to have lived f and these
5 See "Proccedingj of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. series, vol. i. , parti. , p. 83, nn. 5,6.
• See MS. , noted, 24 C. 6, R. I. A. , and Dr. O'Donovans " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , A. D. 850, n. (e).
5 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 106, 107.
year 1 125. Then David I. , brother to the
preceding kings, died, in the year 1 1 53. To him was bom one son, named Henry, by his Queen Matilda. Henry died before his father, and leavingthrcesons, viz. : Malcolm, William, and l-)avid. Malcolm, theeldest son, lived in a state of celibacy, during his whole life, and he died in the year 1 165. William,
brother to died in the
Malcolm, year 1214,
leaving two sons, Alexander and John. Hence, St. Florentins could not have been son toanyofthose princes. Nor could lie have been the son to any of the minor Scottish
Article v. —' the Highlands. "
'
See
Collins,
"Ode on
See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernije," xxiv. Januarii. Vita S. Florentini, pp. 157, 158.
' See
"
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis . Sco-
torum," tomus ii. , lib. vi. , num. 509. <"
During this interval, the followin;; kings reigned, of whom history has preserved these facts. In the first place, Kdgar, who com- menced his reign, A. «. Iioi, died without offspring, in the year 1 109. Next, Alexander, the brother of Edgar, died childless, in the
chiefs, so far as Colgan might conjecture. See John Hill Burton's History of . Scot- land," vol. ii. . chap, xiii. , pp. 42 to 69.
s According to St. Bernard's statement, in his Life of St. Malachy-O'Morgair.
» Thus, in the year 1174, the "Annalsof the Four Masters" say: "Flann \i. e. Flo-
ajg
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [April i8.
were illustrious, on account of their learning and holiness of life. ' It is much to be desired, that more detailed particulars regarding him could be procured. Many persons, named Florentin, lived in Ireland, about his period of exist- ence. It is considered, as not improbable, that our saint might have been a son, to one of those petty princes, ruling in our island. The headings of
nineteen chapters, as found in an anonymous Life of this saint, are cited, by
These themes for the aforesaid chapters may thus be translated. 1 The King of Scotia offers the crown to his son, Florentin, and asks his opinionthereon; but,duringthemiddleofthenight,anangelwarnshimto
2. Florentin selects thirty sons of nobles, as the companions of his journey, and to whom he shows the crown. 3. He prays to God, for means to cross the sea, when an angel from heaven brings a cross, on which he journeys. 4. With his companions, sitting on this cross, he sails over the
sea. 5. Having landed, he tells each of his companions to separate, and to serve God, in solitude. 6. Approaching the city of Bonetta,^ he hires hun-
self as swine-herd, for the term of thirty-two years. 7. In that place, where he acted as swine-herd, his fountain and staff remain. 8. He conducts his
swine to the neighbouring Lingonians. 9. He heals blind, lame and deaf. 10. A demon, in the shape of a most beautiful female, offers him a wedding ring, telling him, that he was a son to the Scottish king. 11. He contends three days and three nights with this demon, without cessation. 12. Ihe demon endeavours to deprive him of his senses. 13. Being about to sleep, he put his staff in the ground, and where it took root, a fountain also sprung up. 14. He takes ill, and an angel predicts his departure, revealing what sort of death he should die. 15. He departs, prescribing that he should be buried in the place, to which two bulls should draw his body, when placed on a chariot. 16. His body was brought into a thick wood, and on its approach the trees inclined their tops. 17. They consign his remains to earth, within thisthickwood. 18. Achurchwasfounded,andgreatmiraclesdailytook place. 19. Continuation of these miracles. This saint flourished, about the
year i 200, and his memory was revered in the place of his departure, on the 24th of January, according to Dempster. ' Privately fleeing from Scotland, St. Florentin is said to have gone into the territory of Lotharinga, \yhere he wrouirht many miracles, while endeavouring to convert souls to Christ. '" His remams reoose, in the village of Bonnet," diocese of Toul, and withm the ancient territory of Campania. " A celebrated procession of demented persons,
Dempster.
depart.
rentius] O'Gorman, chief Lecturer of Armagh,
and of all Ireland, a learned sage, and versed
in sacred and profane pliilosophy, after hav-
ine spent twenty-one years of study in France
and England, and twenty other years in di-
rectine and governing the schools of Ireland,
diedhappilyontheWednesdaybeforeEaster, rity, or areason for his statements, bee
"Acta Sanctorum Hiberm^e, novan's Edition, vol. iii. ,pp. 12 to 15, and xxiv. Januarii. Vita b. Horentmi, n. 2,
intheseventiethyearofhisage. "-Dr. O'Do- Colgan's
no^e(v). Ibid. Attheyear, 1195,weread:
"
Florence, the son of Regan O'Mulrony, Bishop of Elphin, died," ibid. , pp. 100, loi. This Florentin derived his origin from the Kings of Connaught. At the year, 1203, we have mention made regarding a "Florence
O'Carolan, Bishop of Tyrone {i. e. of Derry],"
i. o
wWihHoJ wWteinlt "o^v¥Ve,rx t\J *lwo»n"a*,j w. . i. t-. h- others of the
Irish cler^g'y, this year. See ibid. , pp. 134, ,,f
7 Colean, however, would not undertake to say, that any of the foregoing Florentins
p. 158. „, ^ „ . , • . • ^OrBonnet. Thefollowingderivationis
given for this denomination, in M. Bullet s "Memoires surlaLangue Celtique, . toTMei. "Bon, montagne. At en composition J^t
pres," p. 65.
Ledwich probably thought, that the word ""
paries," or parietes," used by Cogitosus, should l;e understood of stone. . See " Trias
Thaumaturga. " Setunda Vita S. Brigida, cap. xxxv. , pp, 523, 524.
< By Ccguosus.
«» That of "parietes tabulati. "
*3 ' • The fact is," as I t. Laiiigan remaiks, " that Cogitosus has not a word about stone in his descri|)tion of the church. " See"Ec- clesiisiical History of Ireland," vol.
S. n. 4, Brigidae,
p. 525.
33 Evidently, such i. > the meaning of Cogi-
sus there says :
puellaris, ,ic si vitis I'uctifcr. idiffusa undique chap, viii. , . sec. ii. , n. 18, p. 380. ramis crescentibus, in tola Hibernlensi iiLsula
Opera," vol. v.
^ See his so-called "
Antiquities
of Ire-
land," p. 166.
^ Yet, in another place, he inquires, why this author of St. Brigid's Acts does not in-
sertspecialparticulars. relalive toSt. Patrick.
i. ,
334
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [April i8.
panegyric, and which can hardly be considered a professed biography of the illustrious virgin. Cogitosus does not even tell us, in what part of Ireland the holy Abbess was born, nor does he enter particularly into historical facts, re- lating to the subject of his praise. With the exception of giving her father's and mother's names, or of mentioning Macchille,t5 from whom she received the veil, as also Conlaeth,** Bishop of Kildare; the author of St. Brigids second Life does not even introduce to our notice any of her contemporaries.
Hence, there is no sufficient reason, why we should expect any special account of St. Patrick,47 from Cogitosus. 48 Colgan thinks it most probable,
he lived before a. d. 580 ;49 he believes, also, there are internal evidences, in the tract itself, to indicate its author having been in the world, not loiig after St. Brigid'sdemise. Oneoftheseproofsisdrawn,fromthatpassageinhispro- logue to her Life, where it is said, that the prelates and abbesses of Kildare were foremost, and ruled in happy succession, over other Irish Bishops and
Abbesses. 5° It is asserted, however, that this is an over-charged statement of Cogitosus, anxious to exalt Kildare, supposed to have been his native dio- cese, and without other corroboration to sustain it. s^ St. Conlaeth departed this hfe in 5 ig. s" To this latter bishop succeeded many others, in ruling over the Metropolitan See of Kildare. As the Leinster Archieplscopate is assumed to have been established, at Sletty, previous to its removal to Kildare ; it is thought, Cogitosus must have written this Life, before a. d. 594, or at least, antecedent to 598. 53 In the former year, we find it recorded, that Aedli, son
to Ainmire, Monarch of Ireland, had been killed, by Bran Dabh, King of
Leinster. 54 This latter, having caused a synod to be convoked, procured
Ferns to be named as a Metropolitan See, for Leinster province,55 and over it,
St Moedoc,5« or Aedhan, was placed. That synod is supposed to have been
convoked,ashorttimeafterthedeathofAedh. Asthislattereventisre-
ferred,tooneorotherofthepreviousdates; so,ithasbeenconjectured,must
the composition of Cogitosus be assigned to a time antecedent, when it was supposed the archiepiscopate had not been transferred from Kildare to Ferns. "
From the former statement, it has been inferred,58 not alone that the Archi- episcopateofLeinsterprovincewasatKildare,inthetimeofCogitosus; but,
44 By referring to the Tract in question.
45 His feast has been referred, to the 20th f Ar,,. ;!
46 Slis Life is given, at the 3rd of May. 47 His feast occurs, at the 17th of March. 48SeeDr Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His-
torv of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ii. , sect, xi. , io
^49 While treating about the Irish writers, Sir Tames Ware refers his period, to the fiJth century See " De Scriptoribus Hi- hr,^i^Mrb i cap. ii. p. II.
I^Howev^r'as to whether or not, all the Abbesses and Nuns of Ireland embraced that nilp established bv St. Brigid, Colgan would n"ot unde take to affirm^ or deny. See
that Synod, in which Moedhog was ap-
pointed Metropolitan for Lemster 1 here, however, Ussher asserts, that the Archi- episcopate of the Leinster province had been removed, not from Kildare, but from Sletty to Ferns. See Index Chronologicus, A. D.
Secunda Vita S. W^fe Rev M T Brenan's " Ecclesiastical
siarura Antiquitates.
i* See 0r. ODonovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters, vol. 1. , pp. 218 to 221.
55 St. Maidoc or Aedhan was appomted to rule over this See, and to assume the archiepiscopal office. See Ussher s ;; Bri- tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, cap.
xvii. , p. 449. , , „ ,
56 The festival of this holy Prelate occurs,
at the 31st of X
J^""f ^''"V'^'^ tTha? more particularly referred to his Life at that
date, as also to another Life of St. Maidoc, Abbot of Clonmore, at the nth of April.
57 This Colgan promised to prove in notes to be attached to the Acts of St. Moling at th«17thofJune,andinthoseofSt. Molua, at the 4th of August. . See '' Trias Thauma-
Trias Thaumaturga. " nriarW nn 7 8 pN2? .
and ^Teibid Rev. C. P, Meehan's edition.
Histoid of iVeland," chap, ii. , p. 36,
5' See Dr. Donovan's "Annalsof the Four M\. tr! "vnl i
S This is the year, assigned by Ussher for
the defeat of Aedh, at the battle of Dun- turga. " Secunda Vita S. Bngidx, nn. 7, 8,
bolg, by Bran Dubh, and for the holding of pp. 518, 525.
dxcviii. , at p. 535-
Bntannicarum Eccle-
,','
April i8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 235
also, from his words, that it might be considered certain, many bishops had succeeded to their pecuHar office there, and before the period when he wrote. » However, the most generally received opinion is, that after Ferns had en- joyed the distinction ofa metropolite's residence for a period, Kildare subse- quentlydisplacedit, owingtothesuperioradvantagesofpositionorimpor- tance. *" This must have been, after the time of St. Maidoc ; yet, the fact seems to be not very clear, as to whether the dignity had been annexed to a
person, or to a locality. ^' In the latter contingency, the chief episcopal rule over Leinster appears to descend from Sletty to Ferns, from Ferns to Kildare, and from Kildare to Dublin. '" There the Leinster Archbishop has since re-
of Kells. *^
O'Gorman alludes to him, and with great commendation. 's
Article III. —St. Lassar, Virgin, daughter of Eoghan, of Maig-
HiN, POSSIBLY MoYNE, IN THE CouNTY OF Mayo. As in the church there
are different gifts, says St. Jerome,' I grant that marriage is one of them, lest I should seem to oppose nature. At the same time consider, that the gift of virginity differs from that of marriage ; for, if the married and virgins had the same reward, the Apostle would not have added, "But each one has his proper gift from God,' one in this manner and another in that," when he had given the precept regarding continence. This holy female appears, in the Martyro- logy of Tallagh,3 at the i8th of April, as Lasar, daughter of Eccain of Maig- hin. From the same authority, the IJollandists enter Lassara filia Egani de Maigin,* Thislocality,perhaps,wasidenticalwiththepresentMoyne,inthe barony of Tirawley, and county of Mayo. A conventual establishment for
religious women may have existed there, previous to the foundation of a Franciscan Monastery, early in the fifteenth century. ' Its ruins are still iu
a good state of preservation,* and they occupy a most picturesque situation,
mained since the fixed,
at the writer is commemorated as a saint, his festival being assigned, to the i8th of April. Thus, besides the Martyrology of Tallagh,'* that of Marianus
the — Synod
In the Irish a
5'ByColgan.
^ Before the Synod of Kells, no less than
fifty-three bishoprics were in Ireland ; and, their respective names are set down in the
Provinciale Ronianum, published by Carolus A. S. Paulo, in the Appendix to his Gec^a- phy. This list is reproduced, in Rev. Joseph
'3 See Rev. Sylvester Malone's "Church History of Ireland," chap, i. , and n. (h), pp. 18, 19,
** It calls him "Cc^tosus Sapiens. "
'' Marianus O'Gorniaii, at the same day,
The Antiquities of the Christian Church,"vol. i. ,
"
See his
Treatise Adver-
Bingham's "Orijjiucs Ecclesiastics
:
. '"Such was the actual position, at the time
Cogitosus wrote, when Kildare was a great
city, and its bishop was a Metropolitan. See
susJovinianum,lib. i. ,cap. iv. ,SanctiHierony-
mi Steidoniensis "Opera Omnia," tomusi. ,
p. I20. Coloniae Agrippinae, l6i6, fol.
'
See i Cor. vii. , 7. 'EditedbyRev. Dr. Kelly,p. xxi. The
Franciscan copy has it tarfAp 1 eccAin o Tniigm, at the same date.
rilis xviii. the Among
p. 521.
5 Erected A. D. 1460. For an account of it.
see Archdall's " Monasticon Hibernicum," p. 507. A view of it will be found, in the "Dublin Penny Journal," vol. iv. . No. 158, p. 9.
' The accompanying illustration from a drawing made by William F. Wakeman,
Book ix. , chap, vi. , sect. 19, p. 394.
"
tiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 449.
Ussher's '"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
Cogitosus strangely
Ap- pretermitted saints,
words be an interpolation of some copyist— that the Prelate of Kildare was always an
Archbishop over the Hibernian Bishops.
Such surely could not have been the case,
even in his time, since Armagh had been re-
guarded always, as the great Irish Primatial See.
" See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum An'. iquitates," cap, xvii. , p. 500.
— in 1 Apostolic Legate, John Papiro, arranged it,
asserts—unless the
« See " Acta tomus ii. , Sanctorum,"
152, Menologies, Cogitosus possibly
" Virtus (? ) Cogitosi justi et veracis
writes
nos defendit. " —
Article ill.
:
236 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 18.
being bounded on the east by the rocky and shelving banks of the River Moy, and on the other sides by the remains of a stone wall, which defined the limits of the religious enclosure, within about four or five acres. The view towards the river conveys the eye over all the Bay of Killala, the Sligo shores of that bay, and the whole expanse of undulated and acclivitous country, to thesky-lineoftheOxMountains. ' Aremarkablesquaretowerrisesonone of the two gable ends, which form the choir and the body of the church. Hexagon arches are turned on consoles, fixed in the gable-ends, from east to
Monastic Remains, at Moyne, County of Mayo.
west, which is a bold execution. About the convent, cloisters, and church,
there is much admired stone-work. ^ The cloisters arebuilton plain pillars,
in couplets. 9 The Martyrology of Donegal,'" registers the name of Lassar,
virgin, and daughter to Eoghan, of Maighin, as having veneration paid her, at this date.
Article IV. —St. Eugene, or Eoghan, Bishop. The Martyrology '
of Tallagh has the entry Eugene, a Bishop, at the i8th of April. Also, at thisdate,andfromthesamesourcetheBollandists' haveEugeniusEpisco-
pus. There appears to have been a saint so denominated, who is mentioned
with Diarmaid and . ^ngus, as also with Brigid, daughter of Dalbronagh, and they are said to have been of the Fotharte tribe, settled in the barony of
and from a sketch taken on the spot, in Au- gust, 1880, has been transferred liy him to the wood, and engraved by Mrs. Millard.
^ See the " Parliameniary Gazetteer of
Ireland," vol ii. , p. 819.
« McPavlan's " Statistical Survey of the
CountyofMayo,"givesadescriptionandde- tails of these ruins.
9 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hibemi-
cum,"p. 507.
'" Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
106, 107. — . •\RTICLE IV.
'
In the Franciscan copy, eujem epf is inserted, in the margin, as if
an after placement. 'See"ActaSanctorum. "tomusii. , Ap-
rilis xviii. Among the pretermitted saints, p. S2I-
April i8. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 237
Forth,countyofCarlow. ThosepersonsbelongedtoAchadh-Togartha,in the plain of Airgedross, in the territory of Idoiigh, Ui Duach, or Hy Duach,
represented by the present parish of Odogh, barony of Fassadineen, county of Kilkenny. 3 But, in an Inquisition taken a. d. 1635, the district of Ui- Duach was then regarded as co-extensive with the said barony. '* Whether the Eoghan, thus distinguished, may be identified with the saint of this day, remains to be discovered. In another form, at this date, the Martyrology of Donegal 5 mentions, as having veneration paid him, the name of Eoghan, Bishop.
Article V. —St. Florentin, Confessor. \Tive! fth or Thirteenth Century^ If, as a celebrated poet has declared of Tasso, that his mind " believed the magic wonders which he sung,"' well may the pious Christian seriously admit those many miraculous gifts, which Almighty God bestows on men, through the merits of his great adorers. Colgan, at the 24th of January, gives these following particulars, regarding our saint, with notes added. " He is mentioned, by Dempster. ' By that writer, he is said to have been a son to the king of the Scots ; but, Colgan ajjpears to adduce good reasons for denying tliis position, as he proves, that none of the Scottish kings had a son, bearing such a name, about that time, when Florentin is said to have flourished. However, Colgan would not undertake to give an absolute deci- sion on the point, as to whether or not this saint had been a native of old Scotia, or Ireland, or of the modern Scotia, or Scotland, which, by the ancients, was usually styled Albania. But, for these following reasons, it was thought much more probable, that the holy man had been a native of Ireland. First, from the year iioo to the year 1200, when the saint is said to have flourished, according to the Scottish historians themselves, there was no king or person of royal origin in Britannic Scotia, who had a son named Florentin, orFlorentius. ' Secondly,Irelandwasformerlydividedintomanykingdoms,' and consequently many kings ruled in it, at the time alluded to ; whereas, at the period St. Florentin is said to have flourished, we do not read that many kings reigned simultaneously in Scotland. And, as we have already seen, that St F'lorentin was not a son to any king, who ruled over the kingdom of Scot- land, it is more than probable, he must , have been son to some minor Irish prince. Thirdly, our ancient Irish Annals relate, that many Florentins flourished, about the time, this saint is supposed to have lived f and these
5 See "Proccedingj of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. series, vol. i. , parti. , p. 83, nn. 5,6.
• See MS. , noted, 24 C. 6, R. I. A. , and Dr. O'Donovans " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , A. D. 850, n. (e).
5 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 106, 107.
year 1 125. Then David I. , brother to the
preceding kings, died, in the year 1 1 53. To him was bom one son, named Henry, by his Queen Matilda. Henry died before his father, and leavingthrcesons, viz. : Malcolm, William, and l-)avid. Malcolm, theeldest son, lived in a state of celibacy, during his whole life, and he died in the year 1 165. William,
brother to died in the
Malcolm, year 1214,
leaving two sons, Alexander and John. Hence, St. Florentins could not have been son toanyofthose princes. Nor could lie have been the son to any of the minor Scottish
Article v. —' the Highlands. "
'
See
Collins,
"Ode on
See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernije," xxiv. Januarii. Vita S. Florentini, pp. 157, 158.
' See
"
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis . Sco-
torum," tomus ii. , lib. vi. , num. 509. <"
During this interval, the followin;; kings reigned, of whom history has preserved these facts. In the first place, Kdgar, who com- menced his reign, A. «. Iioi, died without offspring, in the year 1 109. Next, Alexander, the brother of Edgar, died childless, in the
chiefs, so far as Colgan might conjecture. See John Hill Burton's History of . Scot- land," vol. ii. . chap, xiii. , pp. 42 to 69.
s According to St. Bernard's statement, in his Life of St. Malachy-O'Morgair.
» Thus, in the year 1174, the "Annalsof the Four Masters" say: "Flann \i. e. Flo-
ajg
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [April i8.
were illustrious, on account of their learning and holiness of life. ' It is much to be desired, that more detailed particulars regarding him could be procured. Many persons, named Florentin, lived in Ireland, about his period of exist- ence. It is considered, as not improbable, that our saint might have been a son, to one of those petty princes, ruling in our island. The headings of
nineteen chapters, as found in an anonymous Life of this saint, are cited, by
These themes for the aforesaid chapters may thus be translated. 1 The King of Scotia offers the crown to his son, Florentin, and asks his opinionthereon; but,duringthemiddleofthenight,anangelwarnshimto
2. Florentin selects thirty sons of nobles, as the companions of his journey, and to whom he shows the crown. 3. He prays to God, for means to cross the sea, when an angel from heaven brings a cross, on which he journeys. 4. With his companions, sitting on this cross, he sails over the
sea. 5. Having landed, he tells each of his companions to separate, and to serve God, in solitude. 6. Approaching the city of Bonetta,^ he hires hun-
self as swine-herd, for the term of thirty-two years. 7. In that place, where he acted as swine-herd, his fountain and staff remain. 8. He conducts his
swine to the neighbouring Lingonians. 9. He heals blind, lame and deaf. 10. A demon, in the shape of a most beautiful female, offers him a wedding ring, telling him, that he was a son to the Scottish king. 11. He contends three days and three nights with this demon, without cessation. 12. Ihe demon endeavours to deprive him of his senses. 13. Being about to sleep, he put his staff in the ground, and where it took root, a fountain also sprung up. 14. He takes ill, and an angel predicts his departure, revealing what sort of death he should die. 15. He departs, prescribing that he should be buried in the place, to which two bulls should draw his body, when placed on a chariot. 16. His body was brought into a thick wood, and on its approach the trees inclined their tops. 17. They consign his remains to earth, within thisthickwood. 18. Achurchwasfounded,andgreatmiraclesdailytook place. 19. Continuation of these miracles. This saint flourished, about the
year i 200, and his memory was revered in the place of his departure, on the 24th of January, according to Dempster. ' Privately fleeing from Scotland, St. Florentin is said to have gone into the territory of Lotharinga, \yhere he wrouirht many miracles, while endeavouring to convert souls to Christ. '" His remams reoose, in the village of Bonnet," diocese of Toul, and withm the ancient territory of Campania. " A celebrated procession of demented persons,
Dempster.
depart.
rentius] O'Gorman, chief Lecturer of Armagh,
and of all Ireland, a learned sage, and versed
in sacred and profane pliilosophy, after hav-
ine spent twenty-one years of study in France
and England, and twenty other years in di-
rectine and governing the schools of Ireland,
diedhappilyontheWednesdaybeforeEaster, rity, or areason for his statements, bee
"Acta Sanctorum Hiberm^e, novan's Edition, vol. iii. ,pp. 12 to 15, and xxiv. Januarii. Vita b. Horentmi, n. 2,
intheseventiethyearofhisage. "-Dr. O'Do- Colgan's
no^e(v). Ibid. Attheyear, 1195,weread:
"
Florence, the son of Regan O'Mulrony, Bishop of Elphin, died," ibid. , pp. 100, loi. This Florentin derived his origin from the Kings of Connaught. At the year, 1203, we have mention made regarding a "Florence
O'Carolan, Bishop of Tyrone {i. e. of Derry],"
i. o
wWihHoJ wWteinlt "o^v¥Ve,rx t\J *lwo»n"a*,j w. . i. t-. h- others of the
Irish cler^g'y, this year. See ibid. , pp. 134, ,,f
7 Colean, however, would not undertake to say, that any of the foregoing Florentins
p. 158. „, ^ „ . , • . • ^OrBonnet. Thefollowingderivationis
given for this denomination, in M. Bullet s "Memoires surlaLangue Celtique, . toTMei. "Bon, montagne. At en composition J^t
pres," p. 65.
