An interesting annalistic account of Abbots and Bishops,
belonging
to the
ancient church of Nendrum, may be found in the learned work of Dr.
ancient church of Nendrum, may be found in the learned work of Dr.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
William Reeves, D.
D.
found, in the eastern and maritime parts of
Ulster. Ibid. , xiii. Januarii. De S. Alello
seu Alildo Archiep. Ard. , n. 2, p. 62.
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 494.
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," xii. Januarii. De S. Cumiano Epis- copo Bobii sepulto, n. 6, p. 59. Again, Colgan remarks, elsewhere, that Moville,
78 See his Life, at the 10th of ber.
7' See
Colgan's
Septem-
" Historical
77
Account of the Diocese of Down and receiving instruction from Bishop Colman in
ferred to the " Paper read before the Down in Britannia sacris disciplinis plenius eru- and Connor and Dromore Church Architec- diendus postea commendatus, Romam de- ture Society," published in Belfast, 1845, mum perrexit," &c. See Works of Arch-
"
and in which, for the first time, the site of bishop Ussher, vol. vi. ,
Britannicarum
79 St. Finnian of Maghbile, in the county of Down, is thought to have founded his Kilclief, Down and Antrim are all to be establishment there, not later than the year
?
3
See Harris Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of
2t >-
There are some writers, such as Colgan
Down,"p. 194.
73 In his Index Clironologicus, at the
"
year 520, Ussher says, Ccelanus sive
Kelanus Abbas Noendrumensis, postea
-5-, 80
Dunensi—s ordinatus Episcopus, in Hibernia "
and O'Connor, who supposed, that this saint
was identical with St. Frigidian, Bishop of
Lucca in Italy. According to Colgan, St.
Frigidian or Finnian died, about the year 595. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernian," xviii, Martii. Vita S. Fridiani, Appendix, cap. vi. ,p. 650. See,also,theActsofthis St. Frigidian, at the iSth of November.
floriut. " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tiquitates," p. 527.
7* See Kev. Dr. Reeves' "Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore,"
Appendix A, p. 144.
» To the Acts of St. Ccelan, Ussher refers
in the passage : "quern actorum ipsius de-
81
Archbishop Ussher mentions Coelan as
Kelanum et Coelanum nominat
atque ex abbata Duncnsem postea in—Ultonia factum fuisse episcopum significat. " W01 ka
of Archbishop Ussher, vol. vi. , "Britanni- 438.
scriptor
;
Ireland, St. Finnian afterwards "a Coelano Noendrumensi Abbate Nennioni sedis quae Magnum vocabatur Monasterium Episcopo
540, and to have died in the year 576. See
Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, x. , sect, vi. , pp.
still an Abbot in 520. See his Index Chro-
nologicus.
83 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
niae," Martii i. De S. Moinenno, sive Mon-Nennio, Episcopo Cluanferiensi, p.
June 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
777
year 576, he must have obtained an extraordinary longevity, if we could sup- pose him the pupil of a master, who departed some eighty years before that
8* St.
is called, St. Maeineann, Bishop of Clonfert, died on the 1st of March, a. d.
date. totheAnnalsoftheFour According
Masters,
Nennio, or,
as
he
86 As we do not find that he attained a it is very extraordinary age,
570.
equally improbable that our saint could have directed St. Finnian to a school,
which, in all probability, was not established for many years subsequent to the year 497. It is likely enough, that St. Cailin or Coelan had been Abbot of Nendrum, after the death ofMochaoi. Perhaps, the former might have been a
ofthelattersaint. TheRev. Dr. 8? whomakesoursaintabbot Lanigan,
disciple
of Antrim,88 confounds here this latter place with Nendrum, as he does in a
8
varietyofotherinstances,? throughouthi—swork; yet,veryproperly,hedistin-
guishes between Mochay and Cailan9° the latter supposed by Sir James Ware91 tohavebeenfirstbishopofDown,? 2 afterSt. Patrick. However,the Rev. Dr. Lanigan undoubtedly is in error, when he makes both of them for- mer residents of modern Antrim,93 which must be distinguished carefully from
83 The Rev. Dr. Lanigan thinks, that this
could not have occurred earlier than a. d.
520. See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect, xiv. , n. 189, of the century. See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
p. 424.
84 Nennio of Britain is supposed, by
Colgan, to have been identical with Mon- Nennius of Clonfert.
85 See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. i. , pp. 206, 207.
"
Bishops of Down," p. 194.
86
See his Acts at the 1st of March, in
92 " Cailan is called also Coelan, and had been abbot at Antrim, perhaps under St. Mochay. Colgan does not, as far as I can discover, speak of Coelan as a bishop. He seems not to have had his Acts, which Ussher refers to as indicating that from
Colgan's
being
Down. Yet,therearestrongreasonsforbe- lieving that he was not at any time a bishop ; one of which is that we find him when far advanced in life, still styled merely abbot of Antrim. Or, if he became bishop of Down,
" Acta Sanctorum Hibernise,"
pp.
abbot at Antrim he became of bishop
437 to 439. Also the account of St. Moinend
or Maoineann, Bishop of Clonfert, at the 1st
of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. v.
8? It has been conjectured, also, that
Mochay s See was not Antrim, but Dun- he must have been promoted when very old,
drum,inthecountyofDown. Thiscannot be reconciled with his being constantly known by the name of Mochay Aendruim, that is, as Dr. Lanigan found it generally explained, Antrim.
88 Sir James Ware—has it, also, "Antrim an-
tiquitus ^Endrum. " " De Hibemia et Anti-
quitatibus ejus," cap. xxvi. , p. 183.
89 See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
and undoubtedly not before some time in the sixthcentury. Yet,whetherbishopornot,he may be justly reckoned among the eminent
men ofthe fifth century, althoug—hhe may have liveduntilabouttheyear540. " "Ecclesias-
tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect, xiv. , pp. 422, 423.
93 With our present more enlarged know-
is to ledgeofancientIrishplaces,k amusing
land," vol. i. , chap, v. , sect, hi. , p. 217. follow the rather confident manner, in which
Also, chap, vii. , sect, vii. , p. 346, and n. 74, pp. 348, 349. Also, chap, viii. , sect. ix. , p. 403, and sect, xiv. , n. 187, pp. 423, 424.
he seeks to identify Antrim with Nendrum. Ussher evidently could not find out the latter place, since he has a query at Noendrumensis. —"AnEdrumensis. " See"DeBritannica- rum Ecclesiarum Primordis, "cap. x vii. , p. 954-
9"t Theparticle11a,of,asRev. Dr. Lanigan explains, is frequently prefixed to the names of places, when persons belonging to them
90 According to Archbishop Ussher, Coe-
lan was no higher than abbot of Nendruim,
when Colman of Dromore became his pupil.
See Ussher's " De Britannicarum Ecclesia-
rum Primordis. " Addenda et emendanda, are spoken of ; and if folLowed by a word
p. 1065. The Rev. Dr. Lanigan re- marks : "If Colman lived so late as
some writers thought, Coelan could not have been a bishop until about the middle of the sixth century. But we shall soon see that Colman lived many years ear-
—"
beginning with a vowel, it is contracted into
n. Not knowing this, or not reflecting on it, Harris has given at Monasteries a Nen-
drum or Noendrum, in Down, as Cailan's monastery, and he has been followed by Archdall, who says, that it is now unknown.
remarks Dr. that Lanigan,
Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. ,
It is no wonder,
it should be so, whereas it never existed.
lier than is usually supposed. " sect, xiv. , n. 190.
55
In more
than one
place, Archbishop
91 It has been surmised, also, that he had
been a contemporary with Macnisse, and that he was raised to that See about the end
778 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 23.
Nendurm,94 Latinized Noendrumensis,°5 and Aondromensis, or Aendrumen-
sis. Again, the same writer falls into an error, when he makes the
°6 of the Islands—off the coast of Down—to be identical with largest Copland
Neddrum," instead of Mahee Island, situated in Strangford Lough.
St. Mochaoi lived to a venerable age. He departed this life on the 23rd
to the Annals of Innisfallen in the 8 his year 490 ;°
of
death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster at 493 ;99 and again, from a different
day
June, according
authority,
at the I02
IO° Some such as the year 498. authorities,
O'Clerys
IQI and
Colgan assign
IQ3 his at 496. Tighernach places death,
his demise to a. d.
497; while, he relates the death of another Mochua, * belonging to Nen-
644.
as a relic.
An interesting annalistic account of Abbots and Bishops, belonging to the
ancient church of Nendrum, may be found in the learned work of Dr. Reeves, to which reference has been already made. The last entry in these Annals is at a. d. 974. Nendrum monastery is supposed to have been pillaged and demolished by the Danes, at a period shortly subsequent, as ships conveying
these marauders were continually floating in Strangford Lough. Long before this time, it would seem to have had some tributary relation to the See of Down. It rendered each year to this See a subsidy commemorative of the lowly office of swine-herd, from which St. Mochay had been raised by St. Patrick. 106 Nendrum is mentioned as a possession, belonging to the See of Down, in 1 178, when its name is next found on record. At that date, John de Courcy assigns it to monks of an English Abbey dedicated to St. Bega io7
10
told,
called baculus volans, or " the flying staff," had been preserved in this church,
drum,
and who died a. d.
We are
I0s that the staff of St.
Mochaoi,
or Bees lo8 of
Coupland.
100 The feast of our saint was in the long kept,
Ussher alludes to Caylanus or CcelanusNen- drumensis abbas. See " De Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Primordis," xvii. , ;
Secunda Vita S. Patricii, n. 5, p. 20.
,03 In these terms: A. c. 497, mochae n OenT>r»oni4 " Mo Mochae of
cap. p. 954 and also Addenda et emendanda, p. 1065. Colgan mentions him by the name of
quietnc. Nendrum rested. ''
,04 "There is a curious tradition of St. "Coelanus abbas Aondromensis," and Mochay, the founder of Nendrum, that he would fain reckon him among the disci- was charmed by a bird for 150 years, and pies of St. Patrick. See " Trias Thauma- that at the expiration of that time he re- visited the church he had founded, but the new generation did not know him. Could the rationale of this legend be, that this Mochua, who died 147 years later, was mis- taken for his predecessor, and thus the ab- for con- surd story be forged? Jocelin calls Moc- —
turga," Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 269,
96 Called Big Isle, and supposed incor- rectly by Rev. Dr. Lanigan to have been anciently denominated Neddrum.
He takes Allemand to task,
97
founding Noendrum with Neddrum, and haoi, the founder of this church, Mochua. "
thence taking occasion to criticize Ussher, Rev. Dr. Reeves'
"
Ecclesiastical Antiqui-
for having placed a monastery at Neddrum, ties of Down, Connor and Dromore," where there was none until late in the Appendix A, p. 149.
twelfth
98 See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hi-
bernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , p. 4.
99 See ilnd. , tomus iv. , p. 9.
100 See ibid. , tomus ii. , Tigernachi Anna-
*°5 See "Trias Colgan's
century.
Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxvii. , p. 73.
les, p. 125.
101 They state, at the year 496, that hoc est, Dunensi pendere consuevit. "
""
he Mochaoi, Abbot of Aendruim, died on t—
twenty-third day of the month of June. " Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four
Masters," vol. i. , pp. 158 to 161. See, also, n. (h), p. 159, ibid.
102 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernirc," xxix. Januarii, Vita S. Gildse Badonice, n. 13, p. 189. In the "Trias Thaumaturga," however, his death is assigned 10494. ^ee
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Tri- partita S. Patricii, pars, i. , cap. liii. , p. 125. *°7 St. Bees had its name from Ben, a holy woman from Ireland, who is said to have founded here, about the year of our Lord 650, a small monastery, where after- wards, a church was built in memory of
sia
annuatim Ecclesiai — poicum Patricians? ,
her. lo8
See Nicolson's and Burn's "History
lo6 "
Quia S. Patricius hunc sanctissimum
virum, primo a subulci officio ad pastoralem
dignitatem evexit, hinc praedicta ejusEccle-
June 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
779
churchofNendrum,onthedayofhisdeath. Inthe of 110 Martyrology Tallagh,
at the 23rd of June, the simple entry, Mochoe, Priest and Abbot of Noen-
droma, occurs. Also, in the of 111 at the same his Martyrology Donegal, date,
name appears as Mochai, Abbot of n-Aondruim, in Uladh. We are told, that Caollan was his first name. Again, it is said, that Bronach, daughter of Milicic, son to Buan, and with whom Patrick was in captivity, had been his mother.
The infused spirit of Christianity for our early pagan converts was destined like light to expel darkness. It soon began to effect great results, which reflected brilliancy on religion, on civilization, and on education. Putting
altogether aside the moral and intellectual aspects of the question, we may confine our observations to, the action which the Church has, since its founda- tion, taken in these important matters. The Catholic Church can well be defended from the imputations, which have been recklessly heaped upon her of having neglected the education of those, whose fostering mother she should have been, and of stunting the growth or development of intellect and science. Had it not been for the different orders of monks and the estab- lishment of monasteries, the greater part of ancient literature must inevitably have perished before the invention of printing. In the case of the present saint's religious monastery, we know not how many ancient Manuscripts perished, when it disappeared from history. Had it not been for the care of the monks, in preserving what remained of ancient literature, for their inces- sant toil and trouble in collating and copying out various manuscripts, and for their zeal in the forming of libraries, we might have been now living in an age, darker far than those generally known as the Dark Ages. By forcible examples, that strong connection, which always existed between reli- gion, literature, and education, maintains the necessity for preserving such connection, as we have received it from our fathers in the Faith.
Article II. —St. Foelaine, or Faelan, and the Daughters of
Moinan. SuchisanentryfoundintheMartyrologyofTallagh,atthe23rd
of 1 more is known, this St. Fcelaine and Moinan's June. Nothing regarding
daughters. There is a St. Brigid, said to have been daughter to Monan or 2
Moenan,accordingto^EngustheCuldee,andDr. JeoffryKeating. Whether she was one of the daughters to the Moinan here mentioned must —be
—tain. 3 In the latest of our great Calendars altogether conjectural and uncer
these thatcompiledbytheO'Clerys wehavenoentryregarding religious
ladies,whoarenotedonthe23rdofJune. But,atthissamedate,inthe Martyrologies of Marianus O'Gorman, and of Donegal,* merely the name Faelan or Foilan occurs. 5
Article III. —The Children of Senchan. In the Martyrology of
Donegal,
1 a festival intended to honour the children of Senchan is set down,
and Antiquities of the Counties of West- morelandandCumberland,"vol. ii. , p. 40. See, also, Tanner's "Notitia Monastica,"
p. 73
l °9 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' " Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore," Appendix A, pp. 148 to 151, and notes (q, r, s, t), ibid. Also F, n. (v), p. 190, ibid.
110 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxvii.
111
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 176, 177.
Article ii — ' See Rev. Dr. Kelly s
.
tion of Keating's
land," part ii. , he has it
ter of Momhain," p. 389. Duffy's edition.
3 "Trias See Colgan's
"
2
xxvu.
CalendarofIrishSaints,"p.
In Dermod O'Connor s English
"
transla- General History of Ire-
Thaumatuiga, Appendix Quarta ad Acta S. Bngidae, cap. fc,
p. 611.
4 Edited
178, 179-
by
Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp.
"
Bridget, the daugh-
78o LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [June 23.
at the 23rd of June. Among the saints of Scotland, we find enumerated the fourteen sons of Senchan or Clann Senchan, for this same date. 2
Article IV. —The Children of Senan. We read in the Martyr-
1
ology of Donegal, that the children of Senan were venerated, at the 23rd of
June. We think, however, that this is only another form for a previous entry.
ArticleV. —ReputedFeastofSt. GillenusScotus. Atthisdate, a festival has been assigned to a St. Gillenus called a Scot, by John Major,
who
quoting
the same
authority,
but
incorrectly,
Camerarius
states,
states,
1 that he was noted for his virtues and miracles in Gaul.
Again, 2 that St. Gille- nus had been a companion of St. Columban. The Bollandists,3 at the 23rd of June, notice this saint, but think he was Gislenus,* who was by birth an Athenian, and who rendered a town of Hannonia famous, owing to his
connexion with it.
Article VI. —Reputed Festival of St. Hildulph, Bishop of Treves, and of SS. Argobast, Florentius, Fidelis and Adeodatus, Companions.
In the Scottish of Thomas Menology
Dempster,
Hildulph, Bishop of Treves, and of his companions, as named, at the 23rd of
2 The Bollandists 3 also notice this but defer June. commemoration,
giving his Acts to the nth of July. We are told by Surius,* that when Dagobert
ruled over the kingdom of the Franks, St. Florentius with the Blessed Argo- bast,Theodatus,andHildulphcamefromScotiatoAlsace. ThomasDemp- ster has some other notices in his Scottish History. 5
Article VII. —Reputed Feast of St. Adalbert. At the 23rd of June, Colgan intended to publish Acts of St. Adalbertus or Adalbert, as would appear from the posthumous list. 1 Elsewhere, we find no mention of him, at the present date. See his Acts, at the 25th of this month.
5 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
October, —
Article vi. ' Thus: "Treueris Ilil-
dulphi Archiepiscopi SS. Argobasti et Flo-
niae,"
xvi. De Inventione S. Januarii.
Foillani Ep. et M. , Appendix, cap. i. ,
p. 104. — rentii, Fidelis et Adeodati, socii, VV. "
and Reeves, pp.
found, in the eastern and maritime parts of
Ulster. Ibid. , xiii. Januarii. De S. Alello
seu Alildo Archiep. Ard. , n. 2, p. 62.
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 494.
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," xii. Januarii. De S. Cumiano Epis- copo Bobii sepulto, n. 6, p. 59. Again, Colgan remarks, elsewhere, that Moville,
78 See his Life, at the 10th of ber.
7' See
Colgan's
Septem-
" Historical
77
Account of the Diocese of Down and receiving instruction from Bishop Colman in
ferred to the " Paper read before the Down in Britannia sacris disciplinis plenius eru- and Connor and Dromore Church Architec- diendus postea commendatus, Romam de- ture Society," published in Belfast, 1845, mum perrexit," &c. See Works of Arch-
"
and in which, for the first time, the site of bishop Ussher, vol. vi. ,
Britannicarum
79 St. Finnian of Maghbile, in the county of Down, is thought to have founded his Kilclief, Down and Antrim are all to be establishment there, not later than the year
?
3
See Harris Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of
2t >-
There are some writers, such as Colgan
Down,"p. 194.
73 In his Index Clironologicus, at the
"
year 520, Ussher says, Ccelanus sive
Kelanus Abbas Noendrumensis, postea
-5-, 80
Dunensi—s ordinatus Episcopus, in Hibernia "
and O'Connor, who supposed, that this saint
was identical with St. Frigidian, Bishop of
Lucca in Italy. According to Colgan, St.
Frigidian or Finnian died, about the year 595. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernian," xviii, Martii. Vita S. Fridiani, Appendix, cap. vi. ,p. 650. See,also,theActsofthis St. Frigidian, at the iSth of November.
floriut. " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tiquitates," p. 527.
7* See Kev. Dr. Reeves' "Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore,"
Appendix A, p. 144.
» To the Acts of St. Ccelan, Ussher refers
in the passage : "quern actorum ipsius de-
81
Archbishop Ussher mentions Coelan as
Kelanum et Coelanum nominat
atque ex abbata Duncnsem postea in—Ultonia factum fuisse episcopum significat. " W01 ka
of Archbishop Ussher, vol. vi. , "Britanni- 438.
scriptor
;
Ireland, St. Finnian afterwards "a Coelano Noendrumensi Abbate Nennioni sedis quae Magnum vocabatur Monasterium Episcopo
540, and to have died in the year 576. See
Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, x. , sect, vi. , pp.
still an Abbot in 520. See his Index Chro-
nologicus.
83 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
niae," Martii i. De S. Moinenno, sive Mon-Nennio, Episcopo Cluanferiensi, p.
June 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
777
year 576, he must have obtained an extraordinary longevity, if we could sup- pose him the pupil of a master, who departed some eighty years before that
8* St.
is called, St. Maeineann, Bishop of Clonfert, died on the 1st of March, a. d.
date. totheAnnalsoftheFour According
Masters,
Nennio, or,
as
he
86 As we do not find that he attained a it is very extraordinary age,
570.
equally improbable that our saint could have directed St. Finnian to a school,
which, in all probability, was not established for many years subsequent to the year 497. It is likely enough, that St. Cailin or Coelan had been Abbot of Nendrum, after the death ofMochaoi. Perhaps, the former might have been a
ofthelattersaint. TheRev. Dr. 8? whomakesoursaintabbot Lanigan,
disciple
of Antrim,88 confounds here this latter place with Nendrum, as he does in a
8
varietyofotherinstances,? throughouthi—swork; yet,veryproperly,hedistin-
guishes between Mochay and Cailan9° the latter supposed by Sir James Ware91 tohavebeenfirstbishopofDown,? 2 afterSt. Patrick. However,the Rev. Dr. Lanigan undoubtedly is in error, when he makes both of them for- mer residents of modern Antrim,93 which must be distinguished carefully from
83 The Rev. Dr. Lanigan thinks, that this
could not have occurred earlier than a. d.
520. See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect, xiv. , n. 189, of the century. See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
p. 424.
84 Nennio of Britain is supposed, by
Colgan, to have been identical with Mon- Nennius of Clonfert.
85 See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. i. , pp. 206, 207.
"
Bishops of Down," p. 194.
86
See his Acts at the 1st of March, in
92 " Cailan is called also Coelan, and had been abbot at Antrim, perhaps under St. Mochay. Colgan does not, as far as I can discover, speak of Coelan as a bishop. He seems not to have had his Acts, which Ussher refers to as indicating that from
Colgan's
being
Down. Yet,therearestrongreasonsforbe- lieving that he was not at any time a bishop ; one of which is that we find him when far advanced in life, still styled merely abbot of Antrim. Or, if he became bishop of Down,
" Acta Sanctorum Hibernise,"
pp.
abbot at Antrim he became of bishop
437 to 439. Also the account of St. Moinend
or Maoineann, Bishop of Clonfert, at the 1st
of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. v.
8? It has been conjectured, also, that
Mochay s See was not Antrim, but Dun- he must have been promoted when very old,
drum,inthecountyofDown. Thiscannot be reconciled with his being constantly known by the name of Mochay Aendruim, that is, as Dr. Lanigan found it generally explained, Antrim.
88 Sir James Ware—has it, also, "Antrim an-
tiquitus ^Endrum. " " De Hibemia et Anti-
quitatibus ejus," cap. xxvi. , p. 183.
89 See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
and undoubtedly not before some time in the sixthcentury. Yet,whetherbishopornot,he may be justly reckoned among the eminent
men ofthe fifth century, althoug—hhe may have liveduntilabouttheyear540. " "Ecclesias-
tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect, xiv. , pp. 422, 423.
93 With our present more enlarged know-
is to ledgeofancientIrishplaces,k amusing
land," vol. i. , chap, v. , sect, hi. , p. 217. follow the rather confident manner, in which
Also, chap, vii. , sect, vii. , p. 346, and n. 74, pp. 348, 349. Also, chap, viii. , sect. ix. , p. 403, and sect, xiv. , n. 187, pp. 423, 424.
he seeks to identify Antrim with Nendrum. Ussher evidently could not find out the latter place, since he has a query at Noendrumensis. —"AnEdrumensis. " See"DeBritannica- rum Ecclesiarum Primordis, "cap. x vii. , p. 954-
9"t Theparticle11a,of,asRev. Dr. Lanigan explains, is frequently prefixed to the names of places, when persons belonging to them
90 According to Archbishop Ussher, Coe-
lan was no higher than abbot of Nendruim,
when Colman of Dromore became his pupil.
See Ussher's " De Britannicarum Ecclesia-
rum Primordis. " Addenda et emendanda, are spoken of ; and if folLowed by a word
p. 1065. The Rev. Dr. Lanigan re- marks : "If Colman lived so late as
some writers thought, Coelan could not have been a bishop until about the middle of the sixth century. But we shall soon see that Colman lived many years ear-
—"
beginning with a vowel, it is contracted into
n. Not knowing this, or not reflecting on it, Harris has given at Monasteries a Nen-
drum or Noendrum, in Down, as Cailan's monastery, and he has been followed by Archdall, who says, that it is now unknown.
remarks Dr. that Lanigan,
Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. ,
It is no wonder,
it should be so, whereas it never existed.
lier than is usually supposed. " sect, xiv. , n. 190.
55
In more
than one
place, Archbishop
91 It has been surmised, also, that he had
been a contemporary with Macnisse, and that he was raised to that See about the end
778 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 23.
Nendurm,94 Latinized Noendrumensis,°5 and Aondromensis, or Aendrumen-
sis. Again, the same writer falls into an error, when he makes the
°6 of the Islands—off the coast of Down—to be identical with largest Copland
Neddrum," instead of Mahee Island, situated in Strangford Lough.
St. Mochaoi lived to a venerable age. He departed this life on the 23rd
to the Annals of Innisfallen in the 8 his year 490 ;°
of
death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster at 493 ;99 and again, from a different
day
June, according
authority,
at the I02
IO° Some such as the year 498. authorities,
O'Clerys
IQI and
Colgan assign
IQ3 his at 496. Tighernach places death,
his demise to a. d.
497; while, he relates the death of another Mochua, * belonging to Nen-
644.
as a relic.
An interesting annalistic account of Abbots and Bishops, belonging to the
ancient church of Nendrum, may be found in the learned work of Dr. Reeves, to which reference has been already made. The last entry in these Annals is at a. d. 974. Nendrum monastery is supposed to have been pillaged and demolished by the Danes, at a period shortly subsequent, as ships conveying
these marauders were continually floating in Strangford Lough. Long before this time, it would seem to have had some tributary relation to the See of Down. It rendered each year to this See a subsidy commemorative of the lowly office of swine-herd, from which St. Mochay had been raised by St. Patrick. 106 Nendrum is mentioned as a possession, belonging to the See of Down, in 1 178, when its name is next found on record. At that date, John de Courcy assigns it to monks of an English Abbey dedicated to St. Bega io7
10
told,
called baculus volans, or " the flying staff," had been preserved in this church,
drum,
and who died a. d.
We are
I0s that the staff of St.
Mochaoi,
or Bees lo8 of
Coupland.
100 The feast of our saint was in the long kept,
Ussher alludes to Caylanus or CcelanusNen- drumensis abbas. See " De Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Primordis," xvii. , ;
Secunda Vita S. Patricii, n. 5, p. 20.
,03 In these terms: A. c. 497, mochae n OenT>r»oni4 " Mo Mochae of
cap. p. 954 and also Addenda et emendanda, p. 1065. Colgan mentions him by the name of
quietnc. Nendrum rested. ''
,04 "There is a curious tradition of St. "Coelanus abbas Aondromensis," and Mochay, the founder of Nendrum, that he would fain reckon him among the disci- was charmed by a bird for 150 years, and pies of St. Patrick. See " Trias Thauma- that at the expiration of that time he re- visited the church he had founded, but the new generation did not know him. Could the rationale of this legend be, that this Mochua, who died 147 years later, was mis- taken for his predecessor, and thus the ab- for con- surd story be forged? Jocelin calls Moc- —
turga," Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 269,
96 Called Big Isle, and supposed incor- rectly by Rev. Dr. Lanigan to have been anciently denominated Neddrum.
He takes Allemand to task,
97
founding Noendrum with Neddrum, and haoi, the founder of this church, Mochua. "
thence taking occasion to criticize Ussher, Rev. Dr. Reeves'
"
Ecclesiastical Antiqui-
for having placed a monastery at Neddrum, ties of Down, Connor and Dromore," where there was none until late in the Appendix A, p. 149.
twelfth
98 See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hi-
bernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , p. 4.
99 See ilnd. , tomus iv. , p. 9.
100 See ibid. , tomus ii. , Tigernachi Anna-
*°5 See "Trias Colgan's
century.
Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxvii. , p. 73.
les, p. 125.
101 They state, at the year 496, that hoc est, Dunensi pendere consuevit. "
""
he Mochaoi, Abbot of Aendruim, died on t—
twenty-third day of the month of June. " Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four
Masters," vol. i. , pp. 158 to 161. See, also, n. (h), p. 159, ibid.
102 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernirc," xxix. Januarii, Vita S. Gildse Badonice, n. 13, p. 189. In the "Trias Thaumaturga," however, his death is assigned 10494. ^ee
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Tri- partita S. Patricii, pars, i. , cap. liii. , p. 125. *°7 St. Bees had its name from Ben, a holy woman from Ireland, who is said to have founded here, about the year of our Lord 650, a small monastery, where after- wards, a church was built in memory of
sia
annuatim Ecclesiai — poicum Patricians? ,
her. lo8
See Nicolson's and Burn's "History
lo6 "
Quia S. Patricius hunc sanctissimum
virum, primo a subulci officio ad pastoralem
dignitatem evexit, hinc praedicta ejusEccle-
June 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
779
churchofNendrum,onthedayofhisdeath. Inthe of 110 Martyrology Tallagh,
at the 23rd of June, the simple entry, Mochoe, Priest and Abbot of Noen-
droma, occurs. Also, in the of 111 at the same his Martyrology Donegal, date,
name appears as Mochai, Abbot of n-Aondruim, in Uladh. We are told, that Caollan was his first name. Again, it is said, that Bronach, daughter of Milicic, son to Buan, and with whom Patrick was in captivity, had been his mother.
The infused spirit of Christianity for our early pagan converts was destined like light to expel darkness. It soon began to effect great results, which reflected brilliancy on religion, on civilization, and on education. Putting
altogether aside the moral and intellectual aspects of the question, we may confine our observations to, the action which the Church has, since its founda- tion, taken in these important matters. The Catholic Church can well be defended from the imputations, which have been recklessly heaped upon her of having neglected the education of those, whose fostering mother she should have been, and of stunting the growth or development of intellect and science. Had it not been for the different orders of monks and the estab- lishment of monasteries, the greater part of ancient literature must inevitably have perished before the invention of printing. In the case of the present saint's religious monastery, we know not how many ancient Manuscripts perished, when it disappeared from history. Had it not been for the care of the monks, in preserving what remained of ancient literature, for their inces- sant toil and trouble in collating and copying out various manuscripts, and for their zeal in the forming of libraries, we might have been now living in an age, darker far than those generally known as the Dark Ages. By forcible examples, that strong connection, which always existed between reli- gion, literature, and education, maintains the necessity for preserving such connection, as we have received it from our fathers in the Faith.
Article II. —St. Foelaine, or Faelan, and the Daughters of
Moinan. SuchisanentryfoundintheMartyrologyofTallagh,atthe23rd
of 1 more is known, this St. Fcelaine and Moinan's June. Nothing regarding
daughters. There is a St. Brigid, said to have been daughter to Monan or 2
Moenan,accordingto^EngustheCuldee,andDr. JeoffryKeating. Whether she was one of the daughters to the Moinan here mentioned must —be
—tain. 3 In the latest of our great Calendars altogether conjectural and uncer
these thatcompiledbytheO'Clerys wehavenoentryregarding religious
ladies,whoarenotedonthe23rdofJune. But,atthissamedate,inthe Martyrologies of Marianus O'Gorman, and of Donegal,* merely the name Faelan or Foilan occurs. 5
Article III. —The Children of Senchan. In the Martyrology of
Donegal,
1 a festival intended to honour the children of Senchan is set down,
and Antiquities of the Counties of West- morelandandCumberland,"vol. ii. , p. 40. See, also, Tanner's "Notitia Monastica,"
p. 73
l °9 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' " Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore," Appendix A, pp. 148 to 151, and notes (q, r, s, t), ibid. Also F, n. (v), p. 190, ibid.
110 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxvii.
111
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 176, 177.
Article ii — ' See Rev. Dr. Kelly s
.
tion of Keating's
land," part ii. , he has it
ter of Momhain," p. 389. Duffy's edition.
3 "Trias See Colgan's
"
2
xxvu.
CalendarofIrishSaints,"p.
In Dermod O'Connor s English
"
transla- General History of Ire-
Thaumatuiga, Appendix Quarta ad Acta S. Bngidae, cap. fc,
p. 611.
4 Edited
178, 179-
by
Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp.
"
Bridget, the daugh-
78o LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [June 23.
at the 23rd of June. Among the saints of Scotland, we find enumerated the fourteen sons of Senchan or Clann Senchan, for this same date. 2
Article IV. —The Children of Senan. We read in the Martyr-
1
ology of Donegal, that the children of Senan were venerated, at the 23rd of
June. We think, however, that this is only another form for a previous entry.
ArticleV. —ReputedFeastofSt. GillenusScotus. Atthisdate, a festival has been assigned to a St. Gillenus called a Scot, by John Major,
who
quoting
the same
authority,
but
incorrectly,
Camerarius
states,
states,
1 that he was noted for his virtues and miracles in Gaul.
Again, 2 that St. Gille- nus had been a companion of St. Columban. The Bollandists,3 at the 23rd of June, notice this saint, but think he was Gislenus,* who was by birth an Athenian, and who rendered a town of Hannonia famous, owing to his
connexion with it.
Article VI. —Reputed Festival of St. Hildulph, Bishop of Treves, and of SS. Argobast, Florentius, Fidelis and Adeodatus, Companions.
In the Scottish of Thomas Menology
Dempster,
Hildulph, Bishop of Treves, and of his companions, as named, at the 23rd of
2 The Bollandists 3 also notice this but defer June. commemoration,
giving his Acts to the nth of July. We are told by Surius,* that when Dagobert
ruled over the kingdom of the Franks, St. Florentius with the Blessed Argo- bast,Theodatus,andHildulphcamefromScotiatoAlsace. ThomasDemp- ster has some other notices in his Scottish History. 5
Article VII. —Reputed Feast of St. Adalbert. At the 23rd of June, Colgan intended to publish Acts of St. Adalbertus or Adalbert, as would appear from the posthumous list. 1 Elsewhere, we find no mention of him, at the present date. See his Acts, at the 25th of this month.
5 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
October, —
Article vi. ' Thus: "Treueris Ilil-
dulphi Archiepiscopi SS. Argobasti et Flo-
niae,"
xvi. De Inventione S. Januarii.
Foillani Ep. et M. , Appendix, cap. i. ,
p. 104. — rentii, Fidelis et Adeodati, socii, VV. "
and Reeves, pp.
