Todd, when
treating
of the large 9' See Harris' Ware, vol.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
This was finished in August, 1636.
The great work was carried on
*'
Inventaire" of the Manuscripts preserved in the Duke of Bur- gundy's Library at Brussels, the original of this has been classed as vol. xvi. , Nos. 5095, 5096. It is a small 4to volume, bound in vellum, in the Irish characters. There is a second, but a shorter copy of the Donegal Martyrology—a small duodecimo volume bound in calf—and an autograph of Michael O'Clery in the Brussels Library, and classed vol. xiv. , No. 4639. On the fly-leaf, it is an- nounced to have been compiled and arranged
by Michael O'Clery, at Douay, in 1629. Four pages in Irish follow, and dated Done-
gal, 1628, in the handwriting of Michael O'Clery. This MS. is in the Irish language,
It
difficulty. containsabout250pages. ThisMartyrology is arranged according to the Calendar in the
first instance, and then alphabetically. Testi- //w«w are prefixed, dated A. D. 1636 and 1637.
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy,"vol. iii. ,pp. 486,487. In all probabi- lity, this was the first fair copy of the work
as published. It contains also a preface by
the author, and not yet published. Although not a very early record, this is of immense
value to all students and \vriters of Irish Hagiolog}'. Throughout the published vo- lume, many prophecies, poems and various ancient lives of Irish saints are quoted.
" See an ample description, with Tes' timonia et Approbationes Superiorum in the Introduction to the published copy, pp. ix. to Iv. Also Mr. Bindon's Paper read on
May 24th, 1847, in "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. iii. , pp. 486 to 489.
t- This is the detached tract, containing the ttn/olia, taken from the Book of Lein- ster, and now preserved among the Francis-
can archives, Merchants'-quay, Dublin.
75 As in Drs. Todd's and Reeves' edition
i'' In the Catalogue or
and it can be read without much
of the " of Martyrology
Donegal," pp. 35,
45andpassim.
? * Viz. , lists of Colmans, Finians, Bren-
dans, &c.
" See pp. 23, 27 a. nd passim. This has
been published from the Brussels MS. in
the Book of Hymns, p. 69. It has been
printed, also, by Rev. Dr. Kelly, in his "Calendar of the Irish Saints," pp. xli. , xlii.
7^ In the Preface to this great work, the reader will find the fullest particulars regard- ing the compilers and the progress of their
literary labours .
"9 The second volume of the autograph
exemplar of the Annals of the Four Masters
is in the Barbarini Library, Rome : how it
got there seems to be shrouded in mystery.
"
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy," vol. vi. , pp. 95, 105.
^ O'Clery has entered the dates of all the
years in succession, frequently observing, however, that nothing remarkable occurred. Yet, he seems to have left spaces to fill in anything that might afterwards appear suit- able for insertion.
vantia Laicus in Antiquitatibus Hybemicis undequaque peritissimus opus quadri-parti-
turn, utpote de Historiis antiquis Hyberniae, de Annalibus ejusdem Regni, de Genealo-
giis Regum et Sanctorum Hyberniae im- menso labore, summa fide et maxima indus- tria elucrubravit prout constat ex approba- tionibus nonnullorum Antistitum et testimo- niis prselatorum sui ordinis, necnon syngra- ])hisgiavissimorumhistoricorumhujus regni. Nos eorum authoritati innitentes pr^fatum opus dignissimum judicamus quod publicas lucis fiat et typis mandetur. Actum Dub- linii 5 Februarii Anno reparatse salutis 1636. Fr. Thomas Fleming, Archiepiscopus Dub- liniensis, Hiberniae Primas.
^* This work has been edited by the Rev, James Henthorn Todd.
See
*' It runs in the following terms
Michael Clery Ordinis Minorum de Obser-
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
in their convent. Owing to this circumstance, it has been called the
'*
An- Annals of the Four Masters," because of the number of chief writers engaged on the work. Four copies weremade,onetranscriptofwhichwassenttoLouvain. Ampleandvaluable use was afterwards made of it by Father John Colgan. The work was in two volumes, the latter tome commencing in 1 171 and ending in 16 16. This was translatedintoLatin,andprintedbyCharlesO'Conor. NoEnglishtranslation appeared until 1846, when Bryan Geraghty pubHshed one prepared by Owen Connellan, with notes by Dr. M'Dermott. In 1850 appeared Dr. O'Donovan's magnificenteditionoftheentirework. Wonderfulcorrectness,illustration, as also identification of parties and places mentioned, with indexes, in them- selves monuments of industry, and containing 22,000 headings, arranged so as to form a chronological key to the work,? ^ will for ever cause this edition
to be regarded as a great treasury of national history.
The first folio volume of the original, known as " The Annals of the Four
Masters," in Brother Michael O'Clery's handwriting, is now preserved in the Franciscan Library, Dublin. 79 This is contained in 523 paper leaves, repre- senting double that number of written pages, and the last year entered is 1 169, There are additional leaves prefixed, containing O'Clery's Dedication to Feargal O'Gara, with the Testimonia. Colgan has introduced a few anno- tations in this copy. It differs, too, from Dr. O'Donovan's published edi- tion, in which there are omissions of many earlier specified years, under which no event has been described. ^" There is likewise preserved a vellum Testimonium of the Franciscan Bishop of Dublin, Thomas Fleming, ap- proving of all Michael O'Clery's works. ^'
Another volume, transcribed by this learned lay-brother, was that cele- brated tract, known as the Wars of the Danes. ^' O'Clery wrote his first copy of this work, from the Book of Cuconnacht O'Daly, and in the Franciscan Convent of Multifamham, county of Westraeath, during the month of March,
nals of Donegal. " It has been styled the
"
:
" Frater
xlviii INTRODUCTION.
A. D. 1628. From this copy he transcribed another, in the Convent of Done- gal,duringthemonthofNovember,a. d. 1635. AnotherofO'Clery'sworks
was his " of Difficult Gaelic Glossar}^
Words,'"'
A. D. 1643, ^ short time previous to his lamented death. ^3 He left behind
hnn, likewise, a transcript of Acts of the Irish Saints in the Irish language and character,^"* except a Life of St. Moling, which is in Latin. ^s He also left a thick quarto volume, divided into two parts. The first part contains 105, and the second 246 pages, \vritten on both sides of the paper. ^ It seems likely enough, he had something to do with another MS. ; although no name or date may be found in it. This is a thick quarto, composed of dififerent sized paper. It contains about 270 leaves, with short memoirs and notices of Irish saints in the Latin language ; the arrangement is alphabetical, and thevolumeappearstohavebeenanote-bookofsomehagiographer. ^7 Again, there is a thin quarto volume ; the first part is occupied with a collection of religious poems in the Irish language ; some upon St. Columbanus, and others attributed to him, and to St. Moling, also the rules of the Irish Saints, com- mencing with that of St. Columbanus. This collection was finished in 1630. ^^ As we have already seen, it contains copies of the Festilogy of St. ^^ngus, andoftheMartyrologiesofMarianO'GormanandofTallagh. ^? Allofthe foregoing are kept in the Burgundian Library of Bruxelles.
The Rev. Father Ward had been engaged in preparing materials for his work on the Irish saints, greatly assisted by others, when death surprised
^3 See Father Luke " is not well in
"Wadding's Scrip- writing executed, comparison
tores Ordinis Minorum," pp. 259, 260.
** This is a thick 4to vellum MS. , on
with other MSS. written by Michael O'Clery. His name appears at folio 75, and also at the end of the first part of the volume. . There it is stated, that the MS. was finished
coarse paper, and the penmanship is rudely
executed. Judging from the writing of this
volume, one would not suppose it to be a
compilation of Michael O'Clery ; however, by Brother Michael O'Clery. " His name his name appears as the scribe in several
places ; for instance, at folios 121, 131, and 183. The volume apjiears to have been written during the years 1628 and 1629 ; it contains 270 folios. It is classed, vol. xi. (Nos. 4190—4200. )
^2 It contains no less than twenty-one dif- ferent Acts or Treatises, nearly altogether in Irish, regarding the saints of our country.
^^This MS. is classed vol. iv (2324— 2340). At the beginning of this Codex, the contents of the first part are given in an alphabetical table. At the end of the Codex, there is a table of contents for the second part. With the exception of a list of Fran- ciscan Provincials, in Latin, the contents of
appears in several places of the second part, also, with various dates, in the year 1629. See pp. 7, 22. From these dates it seems, that the second portion of the work had b^en written before the first. From the ap- pearance of the binding, it may be con- cluded, that the collection was bound, after having been written, as the paper in the first half of this volume does not corre- spond with that which is to be seen in the remainder.
*'Vol. xii. (4241. ) At page 99 is a pe-
"
digree of
nus," the sons of Giltanus, "Rex Hiber- nise. "
^ As may be seen at p. 45, where it ends.
this volume are
in the Irish lan- which this MS. is written, is very coarse, and some of the
guage.
The
altogether paper upon
*^ Vol. Nos. xvii. , containing
5103, and 5104.
5101, 5102,
which was at
printed Louvain,
at Donegal, upon the 7th of August, 1631, "
SS. Furseus, Foilanus, et Ulta-
2NTR OD UCTION. xlix him on the Sth of November, a. d. 1635. 9° Yet, a posthumous work of his
" Dissertatio Historica
S. Rumoldi Patria. "9i Several years, afterwards, this Treatise appeared under the following more extended title : "Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti, Archie- piscopi Dubliniensis, Mechliniensium Apostoli, Advocati Sterilium Conju- gum, Agricolarum, Piscatorum, Institorum, et Navigantiura, Acta, Martyrium, Liturgia Antiqua et Patria, ex antiquissimis cum manu, turn prelo editis, harum rerum Scriptoribus, summa fide collecta, Notis illuStrata, et aucta Dis- quisitione Historica, seu Investigatione genuinse Scotiae S. Rumoldi et Con- tribulium Sanctorum. Per R. P. F. Hugonem Vardaeum, Hibernum, olim in Lovaniensi Collegio S. Antonii de Padua, F. F. Minorum Hibernorum strict, obser. Guardianum, S. T. Professorem et Hagiographum. Opus Posthumum, nunc recens a V. A. P. F. Thoma Sirino, ejusdem Ordinis et Collegii Lectore Jubilate recognitum, et in nonnuUis suppletum. In quo obiter ex Scriptoribus antiquis et novis, ac publicis instrumentis demon-
stratur Hibernia ad sseculum quindecimum Christianum vocata Scotia, et Hiberni Scoti ; detegiturque ejusdem Insulse ingens olim multitudo Sanctorum et Cathedralium Ecclesiarum ; Genuina item origo et Anti- quitas Regni cum Pictorum, tum Scotorum in Albania, sive Boreali parte Magnse Britanise passim hodie dicta Scotia, aliaque scitu digna. "? ^ Besides this work, we are informed by Father O'Sheerin, that he had prepared the following Treatises : i. " De Nomenclatura Hibemise. " 2. " De Statu et Processu Veteris in Hibernia Reipubhcae. " 3. "Anagraphe Mirabilium
""
Sancti Patricii. " 4. Investigatio Expeditionis Ursulanse. " 5. Martyro-
logium ex multis Vetustis Festilogiis Latino Hibernicum. "93 In addition to his printed work, the Martyrology94 is said to have been the only treatise to which he put a finishing hand. ^s
The great task of writing the Lives of the Irish Saints now devolved on thetrulylearnedFatherJohnColgan. 96 withtheaidofO'Clery'scollec- tions, and of others, gathered from some foreign monastic houses, he devoted
at in It was appeared Louvain, 1636.
intituled,
de
9° I. uke " '+ See Harris' vol. See Father Wadding's Scrip- Ware,
iii. , p. 115.
93 Y)x.
Todd, when treating of the large 9' See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. " Writers Irish Martyrolog)', now missing, did not seem to suspect that Father Ward might have been its compiler. See Introduction to the " Martyrology of Donegal," edited
tores Ordinis Minorum," p. 179.
of Ireland," book i. , chap, xiv,, p. 114. Harris says he never saw this edition.
9^ This work appeared at Louvain, a. d. 1662, in 4to shape.
by Drs. Todd and l»eeves, p. xvi. , n. i.
9* This illustrious historian was a native of Donegal county, and he had been a secular priest before he entered the Francis- can order. This fact is established from the printed statement, notifying his death to the order, and which is yet preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. After joining the order, he was appointed to teach theo- See p. xxi. Also "Acta Sanctorum. " logy in the Convent of St. Anthony of
Aprilis, tomus ii. , p. 487. Padua, Louvain.
93 This, perhaps, was a complete and very extensive collection, which does not now exist among the Brussels MSS. It seems to be alluded to in the Rev. Dr. Kelly's published version of "The Martyrology of Tallagh," under the entry of St. Donnan of Egha and his fifty-two companions, "quo- rum nomina in majore libro scripsimus. "
INTRonUCTION.
hisentireenergiestoitsaccomplishment. BoUanduswishedhimtopublish the Irish martyrologies first, especially those of Tallaght and of Marian
O'Gorman, next the ancient councils and hymns, together with the annals, so that the learned of other countries might be able to appreciate the credibility of Irish history, and assist him in his labours. In deference to the opinion of his superiors, Colgan, however, fortunately determined on giving the lives first. This was a great advantage for the Hagiology of Ireland, because with information then accessible, he was able to annotate them, and glean by such induction materials for more varied research. Colgans? was well versed in the language and literature of his native country, profoundly read in the civil and ecclesiastical annals of Ireland, while his competency for writing and annotating the Acts of our Irish Saints, his learning, candour, wonderful industry and research, are fully manifested in the two magnificent folio volumes which he published, and which must remain as the imperishable monuments of his zeal, piety, and patriotism.
Colgan gratefully and honestly acknowledges the literary assistance he received from others, in compiling these works. He candidly declares, that a great portion of his labours had been forwarded by Father Hugh Ward, beforethedeathofthislattereminentman. Hehadalreadycollectedand
prepared for the press, nearly all those important and complete lives of saints in Colgan's published volumes. Still, Acts written in Irish, and in other languages, besides lives obtained through various sources, were translated into Latin by Colgan, and by his assistants. Many Franciscan brethren con- siderably lightened his labours, by transcribing and writing. Thus, Owen O'Gallagher, Guardian of the Franciscan Convent, Louvain, translated into Latin the French life of St. Fursey, written by Desmay. Father Brendan O'Connor procured from different Hbraries in France and Italy most useful and necessary Irish documents, serving to illustrate the Acts of our Saints. s^ These were brought to Louvain, where O'Connor laboured assiduously for some years, to aid the noble project Colgan had in view. Afterwards, he went to Ireland, and there, during the tumult of those civil wars then raging, he endeavoured to procure all the documents he could find, and which might enable him to perfect still more the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae," just pre- paring for publication. Father Stephen White, the J esuit, had communicated from his own collection many valuable memoirs of Irish saints, and among others may be mentioned St. Adamnan's Acts of St. Columkille, and St. Ultan's Life of St. Brigid. As Father Ward had a principal share in pre- paring the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae" for the press, Colgan wished to
97 There is a very interesting account of Father John Colgan, by Rev. William Reeves, in the " Ulster Journal of Archteo- logy," vol. i. , under the heading, "Irish
Library," No. I, pp. 295 to 302.
»^ Also, Father Bonaventure O'Docharty
assisted. His death is thus entered in the
Necrology of St. Anthony, "DieagAugusti, l68o, obiit. V. R. Pater Bonaventura
O'Docharty, vir religeosisimus, et qui Acta Sanctorum sub Patribus Colgano et Sirino describebat indeflfesse. "
Tor these and further particulars, the
"
reader is referred to Colgan's
torum Ilibernire," Prsefatio ad Lectorem.
•°° This was quite a distinct one from what we know at present, under the title of
"The Martyrology of Donegal," or the
"Martyrology of Tallagh," or any other of the ancient calendars.
"' See Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee's "Irish Writers of the Seventeenth Century. " Lives of Ward, Colgan, and O'Clery, pp. 62 to
72.
'" See, likewise, Rev. M. J. Brenan's
"Ecclesiastical History of Ireland. " Seven-
teenth century, chap, iii. , pp. 528 to 530. New edition.
INTRODUCTTOy.
give him the credit of its authorship,? ? but, contrary to arguments ad- vanced for this desire, his superiors and friends alleged other reasons, andhewasinducedtoconsenttotheirarrangement. AmongMartyrologies
quoted in his work, he reserved for a separate notice and as a complete pub- lication the calendar '"° which had been composed by Ward. Colgan com-
pleted his editorial labours, by numbering the chapters and arranging the positionofeachsaint'slife; headdedmarginalwithsubsequentnotesand
elucidations, to nearly all those acts, as likewise valuable appendices to many of them. He prepared, likewise, some short notices of saints, whose acts could not be discovered. These were placed at the days, when their festivals occurred, and they had been collected from various sources. '"*
Our great national hagiologist had judiciously resolved to avoid all im- provement or polish of the style, in those old acts of saints he published. Thisresolutionheobservedfortwochiefreasons. First,heconsideredthose lives must be of greater historical authority, if their writers' simple narratives
were solely given, than if a more pretentious style or arrangement were ap- plied to their phrases or sentences, even al hough the ancient compiler vio- lated grammatical rules, and used a faulty Latin constniction. Secondly, he thought the student of history and of Christian antiquities will always be more desirous to obtain an exact and a truthful statement of facts, than merely fanciful and ornate narratives. Hence, when Colgan commenced his work, he eschewed any meretricious style. Although this should procure more
popular approval, yet it might cause, likewise, some interruption of accordant truth, and obscure historic elucidations. Sometimes, he applies to similar examples for corroboration of unusual and wonderful miracles, related in the acts, to confirm the faith of weak believers, or to disarm the animadversions of stem critics, and especially when those accounts were not opposed to Faith or deserving fair censure. Where a few particulars could only be gleaned regarding a saint, he deemed it proper to collect all authentic extracts and references from old writers, in support of what had been advanced. Thus, he intended to show, how holy individuals were not the mythical creatures of modern invention, and that he had advanced nothing on his own authority. His faithful and candid adhesion to such professions and inten- tions must be manifest to all scholars, who take any trouble in studying the substance, arrangement and execution of Colgan's two learned folio tomes.
His general plan is well explained in a preface to the first of these published volumes. ""
Acta Sane-
d
HI INTRODUCTION.
After a circular had been issued to secure subscriptions from the Irish clergy and laity,"'^ towards the expenses of publication, in the year 1645,
"
appeared at Louvain, and from the press of Everard de VVitte,
Acta Sanc-
torum Veteris et Majoris Scotise, seu Hibemise Sanctorum Insulse, Partim ex
variis per Europam MS. Codd. excripta, partim ex antiquis Monumentis et
probatisAuthoribusenitaetcongesta; omniaNotisetAppendicibusillustrata. PerR. P. F. JoannemColganum. InConventuFF. Minor. Hibern. strictior obseru. Louvanii Theologise Lectorem Jubilatum, primum de eisdem Actis juxta ordinem mensium et dierum prodit Tomus Primus, Qui de Sacris An-
tiquitatibus est Tertius, Januarium, Februarium et Martium complectens. " This volume was dedicated to the Most Rev. Hugh Reilly, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of Ireland. In this Dedication, a just tribute is paid to his virtues, as also to the zeal and munificence manifested in behalf of that great work undertaken by the Franciscans. It would appear, that the
Archbishop had given great encouragement to those engaged collecting documents, necessary for writing the Lives of our Irish Saints ; that, by his own example, he had stimulated his suffragan bishops to promote the object Colganhadinview; andthat,infine,hehadsuppliedalargesumofmoney towardsthecostofthispublication. •" Ithadbeenintendedtofurnisha series of volumes on the Sacred Antiquities of Ireland. The "Acta Sanc- torum Hibemise" first published, because it had been the first tome prepared for press, was to be regarded as the third serial volume in order of arrange- ment. Theunpublishedoridealvolume,whichColganintendedtodesignate the first, was to have contained a synopsis, in several divisions, regarding Ireland'sEcclesiasticalAntiquities,"s Althoughhehadbeenurgedbysome, to give this precedence, he preferred a longer delay, that he might be able to
*°*
bestow on it more matured
Two years later, in 1647, from the press of Cornelius Coenesten, at
"
Louvain, issued
Brigidse Trium Veteris et Majoris Scotise, seu Hibetn'ae Sanctoivm Insulae, conimunium Patrononim Acta. A variis, iisque pervetustis, ac Sanctis authoribus scripta, ac studio R. P. F. Joannis Colgani in Conventu FF. Minor. Hibernor. strictior. obseru. Louvanii, S. Theologise Lectoris Jubilati,
«« A copy of thi$ appeal in English is published by an accomplished writer, the Rev. Charles P. Meehan, M. R. I. A. , in an
uncertain whether he should publish it in a separate tome, or include it in the volume. "Trias Thaumaturga. " Not being found in this tome, he must have subsequently en- tertained an intention of publishing it as a
Appendix to his highly interesting historical
work, "The Rise and Fall of the Irish
Franciscan Monasteries, and Memoirs of distinct one.
the Irish Hierarchy in the Seventeenth
Century," pp. 322, 323. This circul. nr is preceded by other valuable notices of the learned Father John Colgan. See Fourth Edition, A. D. 1872.
••*
. See Hid. , chap, v. , p. 169.
'^ In a part of his prefacej Colgan seems
"*
In another part of his preface, Colgan expresses doubt, that the natural term of life allotted to man could enable him to undertake the laborious course of investiga- tion, necessary to produce this preliminary
treatise, and unhappily his lorcbodingi were too early verified.
study.
Triadis Thaumaturgse, seu Divonm Patricii, Coltn-. lse et
INTRODUCTION^. lili
ex variis Bibliothecis collecta, Scholiis et Commentariis illustrata, et pluribus Appendicibus aucta ; complectitur Tomus Secundus Sacrarum ejusdem In-
sulae Antiquitatum, nunc primum in lucem prodiens. " This tome was dedicated to the Most Rev. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin, and Primate of Ireland. '°7 He was a truly learned and virtuous prelate, belong- ing to the Franciscan Order. From the dedication we learn, that notwith- standing Dr. Fleming's private necessities, and the calamitous civil war then raging in Ireland, he not only presented some documents serving for its elucidation, but he likewise supplied pecuniary means, requisite for printing this national Avork. In the preface, Colgan states his reasons for including Acts of St. Patrick, of St. Columba and of St. Brigid, within a separate volume, in this particular instance. He had interrupted that regular order of arrange- ment, which he proposed to observe, according to months and days, regard- ing other saints' festivals. First, because the number and extent of acts, concerning those holy personages, were such, that he doubted, if belonging to any other nation three saints could be found, about whom more rare or even equal virtues and miracles had been recorded. Secondly, because through Divine Providence, those three saints died and were interred in dis- tricts respectively remote, although their bodies were afterwards buried in thesametomb; thus,throughGod'sdecreeitwasordainedthatthose,united in a common grave and in Heaven, should receive a united honour and
veneration on earth. Thirdly, because through the Almighty's inspiration, those same saints were assumed and adopted as common Patrons and Pro-
tectors of Ireland, by the declared will of its clergy and people, sanctioned byauthorityoftheHolySee. "^ Andfourthly,becauseifthelivesofany one among those three saints had been placed in the order of months and days with other Iribh saints' acts, the notices of each distinct one muFt have
occupied too greatly disproportioned a space for that volume, in which it might require to be inserted. A necessity for treating about each of those
saints, at greater length, and for combining their various acts, should require a distinct volume of large size. In publishing their several lives, Colgan tells us,hehadonesufficientmotive,althoughitwasnothissolereason. Amon^ the many editors of the Triad Acts, he was not able to discover any, who had not omitted various matters, orwho had not obscured passages,mcre clearlyand creditably given by other publicists. It might be objected, why he preferred issuing so many different lives of the same saint, to the publication of one life, clear, compendious and complete, embracing substantially all matters dispersed through separate Acts. Indeed, while needless iterations should
'0? The most complete account, we as yet
possess regarding tliis prelate, is that con- tained in the Rt. Rev. Dr. Moran's "His-
tory of the Catholic Archbishops of Dulihn, since the Reformation," vol. i. , chap. x. to chap, xviii. , pp. 294 to 411. The continua- tion of this biography may be expected in
vol. ii. , still unpublished,
"^ This is proved from the Office of their
Translation. insertedby Colgan in his "Trias Thaumaturga. " This Feast, with an Octave, sanctioned by the Sovereign Pontiflf, was celebrated on the fourth of the June Ides, each year.
liv INTRODUCTION,
have been spared the fastidious reader, clearness and brevity must have been substituted, while labour, study and expense must have been lessened. Yet,
to such objections, Colgan well replies, that by publishing those saints' hves, which were of very great antiquity, and full of wondrous miracles, it was re- quisite to produce concurrent and antique reliable evidence, so that their acts and miracles should not be set down as modem fictions. The united testimony of ancient authors, or even of those who wrote at comparatively recent periods, must furnish a degree of credibility, weight and correctness, beyond unauthorized brevity. He wished to discover and assert truth, espe- cially to establish credit for those wonderful actions the saints performed, and to obviate criticism in his day. *°9 Not only the habitual incredulity of persons separated from the Church, but even the comments of CathoUc critics, should be met, not with the assertions of a modern writer, but be op- posed by testimonies, drawn from ancient sources. Hardly equalled in the sacred history of other countries, those virtues and miracles, enumerated in the acts of St. Patrick, of St. Columba, and of St. Brigid, are certainly not surpassed ; and preferring olden evidence to modem style, Colgan stated nothing, save on the authority of witnesses so ancient, that some of these might have seen various wonderful actions related, while others could have derived accounts from persons who were eye-witnesses. Several of those writers were holy and learned men ; so, it cannot justly be supposed, they are chargeable with fictitious inventions or ignorance, regarding those subjects they treated. Neither, on the score of great credulity, should such authors too hastily incur the censure of carping critics.
The different biographers of St. Patrick, of St. Columba, and of St.
*'
Inventaire" of the Manuscripts preserved in the Duke of Bur- gundy's Library at Brussels, the original of this has been classed as vol. xvi. , Nos. 5095, 5096. It is a small 4to volume, bound in vellum, in the Irish characters. There is a second, but a shorter copy of the Donegal Martyrology—a small duodecimo volume bound in calf—and an autograph of Michael O'Clery in the Brussels Library, and classed vol. xiv. , No. 4639. On the fly-leaf, it is an- nounced to have been compiled and arranged
by Michael O'Clery, at Douay, in 1629. Four pages in Irish follow, and dated Done-
gal, 1628, in the handwriting of Michael O'Clery. This MS. is in the Irish language,
It
difficulty. containsabout250pages. ThisMartyrology is arranged according to the Calendar in the
first instance, and then alphabetically. Testi- //w«w are prefixed, dated A. D. 1636 and 1637.
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy,"vol. iii. ,pp. 486,487. In all probabi- lity, this was the first fair copy of the work
as published. It contains also a preface by
the author, and not yet published. Although not a very early record, this is of immense
value to all students and \vriters of Irish Hagiolog}'. Throughout the published vo- lume, many prophecies, poems and various ancient lives of Irish saints are quoted.
" See an ample description, with Tes' timonia et Approbationes Superiorum in the Introduction to the published copy, pp. ix. to Iv. Also Mr. Bindon's Paper read on
May 24th, 1847, in "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. iii. , pp. 486 to 489.
t- This is the detached tract, containing the ttn/olia, taken from the Book of Lein- ster, and now preserved among the Francis-
can archives, Merchants'-quay, Dublin.
75 As in Drs. Todd's and Reeves' edition
i'' In the Catalogue or
and it can be read without much
of the " of Martyrology
Donegal," pp. 35,
45andpassim.
? * Viz. , lists of Colmans, Finians, Bren-
dans, &c.
" See pp. 23, 27 a. nd passim. This has
been published from the Brussels MS. in
the Book of Hymns, p. 69. It has been
printed, also, by Rev. Dr. Kelly, in his "Calendar of the Irish Saints," pp. xli. , xlii.
7^ In the Preface to this great work, the reader will find the fullest particulars regard- ing the compilers and the progress of their
literary labours .
"9 The second volume of the autograph
exemplar of the Annals of the Four Masters
is in the Barbarini Library, Rome : how it
got there seems to be shrouded in mystery.
"
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Aca- demy," vol. vi. , pp. 95, 105.
^ O'Clery has entered the dates of all the
years in succession, frequently observing, however, that nothing remarkable occurred. Yet, he seems to have left spaces to fill in anything that might afterwards appear suit- able for insertion.
vantia Laicus in Antiquitatibus Hybemicis undequaque peritissimus opus quadri-parti-
turn, utpote de Historiis antiquis Hyberniae, de Annalibus ejusdem Regni, de Genealo-
giis Regum et Sanctorum Hyberniae im- menso labore, summa fide et maxima indus- tria elucrubravit prout constat ex approba- tionibus nonnullorum Antistitum et testimo- niis prselatorum sui ordinis, necnon syngra- ])hisgiavissimorumhistoricorumhujus regni. Nos eorum authoritati innitentes pr^fatum opus dignissimum judicamus quod publicas lucis fiat et typis mandetur. Actum Dub- linii 5 Februarii Anno reparatse salutis 1636. Fr. Thomas Fleming, Archiepiscopus Dub- liniensis, Hiberniae Primas.
^* This work has been edited by the Rev, James Henthorn Todd.
See
*' It runs in the following terms
Michael Clery Ordinis Minorum de Obser-
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
in their convent. Owing to this circumstance, it has been called the
'*
An- Annals of the Four Masters," because of the number of chief writers engaged on the work. Four copies weremade,onetranscriptofwhichwassenttoLouvain. Ampleandvaluable use was afterwards made of it by Father John Colgan. The work was in two volumes, the latter tome commencing in 1 171 and ending in 16 16. This was translatedintoLatin,andprintedbyCharlesO'Conor. NoEnglishtranslation appeared until 1846, when Bryan Geraghty pubHshed one prepared by Owen Connellan, with notes by Dr. M'Dermott. In 1850 appeared Dr. O'Donovan's magnificenteditionoftheentirework. Wonderfulcorrectness,illustration, as also identification of parties and places mentioned, with indexes, in them- selves monuments of industry, and containing 22,000 headings, arranged so as to form a chronological key to the work,? ^ will for ever cause this edition
to be regarded as a great treasury of national history.
The first folio volume of the original, known as " The Annals of the Four
Masters," in Brother Michael O'Clery's handwriting, is now preserved in the Franciscan Library, Dublin. 79 This is contained in 523 paper leaves, repre- senting double that number of written pages, and the last year entered is 1 169, There are additional leaves prefixed, containing O'Clery's Dedication to Feargal O'Gara, with the Testimonia. Colgan has introduced a few anno- tations in this copy. It differs, too, from Dr. O'Donovan's published edi- tion, in which there are omissions of many earlier specified years, under which no event has been described. ^" There is likewise preserved a vellum Testimonium of the Franciscan Bishop of Dublin, Thomas Fleming, ap- proving of all Michael O'Clery's works. ^'
Another volume, transcribed by this learned lay-brother, was that cele- brated tract, known as the Wars of the Danes. ^' O'Clery wrote his first copy of this work, from the Book of Cuconnacht O'Daly, and in the Franciscan Convent of Multifamham, county of Westraeath, during the month of March,
nals of Donegal. " It has been styled the
"
:
" Frater
xlviii INTRODUCTION.
A. D. 1628. From this copy he transcribed another, in the Convent of Done- gal,duringthemonthofNovember,a. d. 1635. AnotherofO'Clery'sworks
was his " of Difficult Gaelic Glossar}^
Words,'"'
A. D. 1643, ^ short time previous to his lamented death. ^3 He left behind
hnn, likewise, a transcript of Acts of the Irish Saints in the Irish language and character,^"* except a Life of St. Moling, which is in Latin. ^s He also left a thick quarto volume, divided into two parts. The first part contains 105, and the second 246 pages, \vritten on both sides of the paper. ^ It seems likely enough, he had something to do with another MS. ; although no name or date may be found in it. This is a thick quarto, composed of dififerent sized paper. It contains about 270 leaves, with short memoirs and notices of Irish saints in the Latin language ; the arrangement is alphabetical, and thevolumeappearstohavebeenanote-bookofsomehagiographer. ^7 Again, there is a thin quarto volume ; the first part is occupied with a collection of religious poems in the Irish language ; some upon St. Columbanus, and others attributed to him, and to St. Moling, also the rules of the Irish Saints, com- mencing with that of St. Columbanus. This collection was finished in 1630. ^^ As we have already seen, it contains copies of the Festilogy of St. ^^ngus, andoftheMartyrologiesofMarianO'GormanandofTallagh. ^? Allofthe foregoing are kept in the Burgundian Library of Bruxelles.
The Rev. Father Ward had been engaged in preparing materials for his work on the Irish saints, greatly assisted by others, when death surprised
^3 See Father Luke " is not well in
"Wadding's Scrip- writing executed, comparison
tores Ordinis Minorum," pp. 259, 260.
** This is a thick 4to vellum MS. , on
with other MSS. written by Michael O'Clery. His name appears at folio 75, and also at the end of the first part of the volume. . There it is stated, that the MS. was finished
coarse paper, and the penmanship is rudely
executed. Judging from the writing of this
volume, one would not suppose it to be a
compilation of Michael O'Clery ; however, by Brother Michael O'Clery. " His name his name appears as the scribe in several
places ; for instance, at folios 121, 131, and 183. The volume apjiears to have been written during the years 1628 and 1629 ; it contains 270 folios. It is classed, vol. xi. (Nos. 4190—4200. )
^2 It contains no less than twenty-one dif- ferent Acts or Treatises, nearly altogether in Irish, regarding the saints of our country.
^^This MS. is classed vol. iv (2324— 2340). At the beginning of this Codex, the contents of the first part are given in an alphabetical table. At the end of the Codex, there is a table of contents for the second part. With the exception of a list of Fran- ciscan Provincials, in Latin, the contents of
appears in several places of the second part, also, with various dates, in the year 1629. See pp. 7, 22. From these dates it seems, that the second portion of the work had b^en written before the first. From the ap- pearance of the binding, it may be con- cluded, that the collection was bound, after having been written, as the paper in the first half of this volume does not corre- spond with that which is to be seen in the remainder.
*'Vol. xii. (4241. ) At page 99 is a pe-
"
digree of
nus," the sons of Giltanus, "Rex Hiber- nise. "
^ As may be seen at p. 45, where it ends.
this volume are
in the Irish lan- which this MS. is written, is very coarse, and some of the
guage.
The
altogether paper upon
*^ Vol. Nos. xvii. , containing
5103, and 5104.
5101, 5102,
which was at
printed Louvain,
at Donegal, upon the 7th of August, 1631, "
SS. Furseus, Foilanus, et Ulta-
2NTR OD UCTION. xlix him on the Sth of November, a. d. 1635. 9° Yet, a posthumous work of his
" Dissertatio Historica
S. Rumoldi Patria. "9i Several years, afterwards, this Treatise appeared under the following more extended title : "Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti, Archie- piscopi Dubliniensis, Mechliniensium Apostoli, Advocati Sterilium Conju- gum, Agricolarum, Piscatorum, Institorum, et Navigantiura, Acta, Martyrium, Liturgia Antiqua et Patria, ex antiquissimis cum manu, turn prelo editis, harum rerum Scriptoribus, summa fide collecta, Notis illuStrata, et aucta Dis- quisitione Historica, seu Investigatione genuinse Scotiae S. Rumoldi et Con- tribulium Sanctorum. Per R. P. F. Hugonem Vardaeum, Hibernum, olim in Lovaniensi Collegio S. Antonii de Padua, F. F. Minorum Hibernorum strict, obser. Guardianum, S. T. Professorem et Hagiographum. Opus Posthumum, nunc recens a V. A. P. F. Thoma Sirino, ejusdem Ordinis et Collegii Lectore Jubilate recognitum, et in nonnuUis suppletum. In quo obiter ex Scriptoribus antiquis et novis, ac publicis instrumentis demon-
stratur Hibernia ad sseculum quindecimum Christianum vocata Scotia, et Hiberni Scoti ; detegiturque ejusdem Insulse ingens olim multitudo Sanctorum et Cathedralium Ecclesiarum ; Genuina item origo et Anti- quitas Regni cum Pictorum, tum Scotorum in Albania, sive Boreali parte Magnse Britanise passim hodie dicta Scotia, aliaque scitu digna. "? ^ Besides this work, we are informed by Father O'Sheerin, that he had prepared the following Treatises : i. " De Nomenclatura Hibemise. " 2. " De Statu et Processu Veteris in Hibernia Reipubhcae. " 3. "Anagraphe Mirabilium
""
Sancti Patricii. " 4. Investigatio Expeditionis Ursulanse. " 5. Martyro-
logium ex multis Vetustis Festilogiis Latino Hibernicum. "93 In addition to his printed work, the Martyrology94 is said to have been the only treatise to which he put a finishing hand. ^s
The great task of writing the Lives of the Irish Saints now devolved on thetrulylearnedFatherJohnColgan. 96 withtheaidofO'Clery'scollec- tions, and of others, gathered from some foreign monastic houses, he devoted
at in It was appeared Louvain, 1636.
intituled,
de
9° I. uke " '+ See Harris' vol. See Father Wadding's Scrip- Ware,
iii. , p. 115.
93 Y)x.
Todd, when treating of the large 9' See Harris' Ware, vol. iii. " Writers Irish Martyrolog)', now missing, did not seem to suspect that Father Ward might have been its compiler. See Introduction to the " Martyrology of Donegal," edited
tores Ordinis Minorum," p. 179.
of Ireland," book i. , chap, xiv,, p. 114. Harris says he never saw this edition.
9^ This work appeared at Louvain, a. d. 1662, in 4to shape.
by Drs. Todd and l»eeves, p. xvi. , n. i.
9* This illustrious historian was a native of Donegal county, and he had been a secular priest before he entered the Francis- can order. This fact is established from the printed statement, notifying his death to the order, and which is yet preserved in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin. After joining the order, he was appointed to teach theo- See p. xxi. Also "Acta Sanctorum. " logy in the Convent of St. Anthony of
Aprilis, tomus ii. , p. 487. Padua, Louvain.
93 This, perhaps, was a complete and very extensive collection, which does not now exist among the Brussels MSS. It seems to be alluded to in the Rev. Dr. Kelly's published version of "The Martyrology of Tallagh," under the entry of St. Donnan of Egha and his fifty-two companions, "quo- rum nomina in majore libro scripsimus. "
INTRonUCTION.
hisentireenergiestoitsaccomplishment. BoUanduswishedhimtopublish the Irish martyrologies first, especially those of Tallaght and of Marian
O'Gorman, next the ancient councils and hymns, together with the annals, so that the learned of other countries might be able to appreciate the credibility of Irish history, and assist him in his labours. In deference to the opinion of his superiors, Colgan, however, fortunately determined on giving the lives first. This was a great advantage for the Hagiology of Ireland, because with information then accessible, he was able to annotate them, and glean by such induction materials for more varied research. Colgans? was well versed in the language and literature of his native country, profoundly read in the civil and ecclesiastical annals of Ireland, while his competency for writing and annotating the Acts of our Irish Saints, his learning, candour, wonderful industry and research, are fully manifested in the two magnificent folio volumes which he published, and which must remain as the imperishable monuments of his zeal, piety, and patriotism.
Colgan gratefully and honestly acknowledges the literary assistance he received from others, in compiling these works. He candidly declares, that a great portion of his labours had been forwarded by Father Hugh Ward, beforethedeathofthislattereminentman. Hehadalreadycollectedand
prepared for the press, nearly all those important and complete lives of saints in Colgan's published volumes. Still, Acts written in Irish, and in other languages, besides lives obtained through various sources, were translated into Latin by Colgan, and by his assistants. Many Franciscan brethren con- siderably lightened his labours, by transcribing and writing. Thus, Owen O'Gallagher, Guardian of the Franciscan Convent, Louvain, translated into Latin the French life of St. Fursey, written by Desmay. Father Brendan O'Connor procured from different Hbraries in France and Italy most useful and necessary Irish documents, serving to illustrate the Acts of our Saints. s^ These were brought to Louvain, where O'Connor laboured assiduously for some years, to aid the noble project Colgan had in view. Afterwards, he went to Ireland, and there, during the tumult of those civil wars then raging, he endeavoured to procure all the documents he could find, and which might enable him to perfect still more the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae," just pre- paring for publication. Father Stephen White, the J esuit, had communicated from his own collection many valuable memoirs of Irish saints, and among others may be mentioned St. Adamnan's Acts of St. Columkille, and St. Ultan's Life of St. Brigid. As Father Ward had a principal share in pre- paring the " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae" for the press, Colgan wished to
97 There is a very interesting account of Father John Colgan, by Rev. William Reeves, in the " Ulster Journal of Archteo- logy," vol. i. , under the heading, "Irish
Library," No. I, pp. 295 to 302.
»^ Also, Father Bonaventure O'Docharty
assisted. His death is thus entered in the
Necrology of St. Anthony, "DieagAugusti, l68o, obiit. V. R. Pater Bonaventura
O'Docharty, vir religeosisimus, et qui Acta Sanctorum sub Patribus Colgano et Sirino describebat indeflfesse. "
Tor these and further particulars, the
"
reader is referred to Colgan's
torum Ilibernire," Prsefatio ad Lectorem.
•°° This was quite a distinct one from what we know at present, under the title of
"The Martyrology of Donegal," or the
"Martyrology of Tallagh," or any other of the ancient calendars.
"' See Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee's "Irish Writers of the Seventeenth Century. " Lives of Ward, Colgan, and O'Clery, pp. 62 to
72.
'" See, likewise, Rev. M. J. Brenan's
"Ecclesiastical History of Ireland. " Seven-
teenth century, chap, iii. , pp. 528 to 530. New edition.
INTRODUCTTOy.
give him the credit of its authorship,? ? but, contrary to arguments ad- vanced for this desire, his superiors and friends alleged other reasons, andhewasinducedtoconsenttotheirarrangement. AmongMartyrologies
quoted in his work, he reserved for a separate notice and as a complete pub- lication the calendar '"° which had been composed by Ward. Colgan com-
pleted his editorial labours, by numbering the chapters and arranging the positionofeachsaint'slife; headdedmarginalwithsubsequentnotesand
elucidations, to nearly all those acts, as likewise valuable appendices to many of them. He prepared, likewise, some short notices of saints, whose acts could not be discovered. These were placed at the days, when their festivals occurred, and they had been collected from various sources. '"*
Our great national hagiologist had judiciously resolved to avoid all im- provement or polish of the style, in those old acts of saints he published. Thisresolutionheobservedfortwochiefreasons. First,heconsideredthose lives must be of greater historical authority, if their writers' simple narratives
were solely given, than if a more pretentious style or arrangement were ap- plied to their phrases or sentences, even al hough the ancient compiler vio- lated grammatical rules, and used a faulty Latin constniction. Secondly, he thought the student of history and of Christian antiquities will always be more desirous to obtain an exact and a truthful statement of facts, than merely fanciful and ornate narratives. Hence, when Colgan commenced his work, he eschewed any meretricious style. Although this should procure more
popular approval, yet it might cause, likewise, some interruption of accordant truth, and obscure historic elucidations. Sometimes, he applies to similar examples for corroboration of unusual and wonderful miracles, related in the acts, to confirm the faith of weak believers, or to disarm the animadversions of stem critics, and especially when those accounts were not opposed to Faith or deserving fair censure. Where a few particulars could only be gleaned regarding a saint, he deemed it proper to collect all authentic extracts and references from old writers, in support of what had been advanced. Thus, he intended to show, how holy individuals were not the mythical creatures of modern invention, and that he had advanced nothing on his own authority. His faithful and candid adhesion to such professions and inten- tions must be manifest to all scholars, who take any trouble in studying the substance, arrangement and execution of Colgan's two learned folio tomes.
His general plan is well explained in a preface to the first of these published volumes. ""
Acta Sane-
d
HI INTRODUCTION.
After a circular had been issued to secure subscriptions from the Irish clergy and laity,"'^ towards the expenses of publication, in the year 1645,
"
appeared at Louvain, and from the press of Everard de VVitte,
Acta Sanc-
torum Veteris et Majoris Scotise, seu Hibemise Sanctorum Insulse, Partim ex
variis per Europam MS. Codd. excripta, partim ex antiquis Monumentis et
probatisAuthoribusenitaetcongesta; omniaNotisetAppendicibusillustrata. PerR. P. F. JoannemColganum. InConventuFF. Minor. Hibern. strictior obseru. Louvanii Theologise Lectorem Jubilatum, primum de eisdem Actis juxta ordinem mensium et dierum prodit Tomus Primus, Qui de Sacris An-
tiquitatibus est Tertius, Januarium, Februarium et Martium complectens. " This volume was dedicated to the Most Rev. Hugh Reilly, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of Ireland. In this Dedication, a just tribute is paid to his virtues, as also to the zeal and munificence manifested in behalf of that great work undertaken by the Franciscans. It would appear, that the
Archbishop had given great encouragement to those engaged collecting documents, necessary for writing the Lives of our Irish Saints ; that, by his own example, he had stimulated his suffragan bishops to promote the object Colganhadinview; andthat,infine,hehadsuppliedalargesumofmoney towardsthecostofthispublication. •" Ithadbeenintendedtofurnisha series of volumes on the Sacred Antiquities of Ireland. The "Acta Sanc- torum Hibemise" first published, because it had been the first tome prepared for press, was to be regarded as the third serial volume in order of arrange- ment. Theunpublishedoridealvolume,whichColganintendedtodesignate the first, was to have contained a synopsis, in several divisions, regarding Ireland'sEcclesiasticalAntiquities,"s Althoughhehadbeenurgedbysome, to give this precedence, he preferred a longer delay, that he might be able to
*°*
bestow on it more matured
Two years later, in 1647, from the press of Cornelius Coenesten, at
"
Louvain, issued
Brigidse Trium Veteris et Majoris Scotise, seu Hibetn'ae Sanctoivm Insulae, conimunium Patrononim Acta. A variis, iisque pervetustis, ac Sanctis authoribus scripta, ac studio R. P. F. Joannis Colgani in Conventu FF. Minor. Hibernor. strictior. obseru. Louvanii, S. Theologise Lectoris Jubilati,
«« A copy of thi$ appeal in English is published by an accomplished writer, the Rev. Charles P. Meehan, M. R. I. A. , in an
uncertain whether he should publish it in a separate tome, or include it in the volume. "Trias Thaumaturga. " Not being found in this tome, he must have subsequently en- tertained an intention of publishing it as a
Appendix to his highly interesting historical
work, "The Rise and Fall of the Irish
Franciscan Monasteries, and Memoirs of distinct one.
the Irish Hierarchy in the Seventeenth
Century," pp. 322, 323. This circul. nr is preceded by other valuable notices of the learned Father John Colgan. See Fourth Edition, A. D. 1872.
••*
. See Hid. , chap, v. , p. 169.
'^ In a part of his prefacej Colgan seems
"*
In another part of his preface, Colgan expresses doubt, that the natural term of life allotted to man could enable him to undertake the laborious course of investiga- tion, necessary to produce this preliminary
treatise, and unhappily his lorcbodingi were too early verified.
study.
Triadis Thaumaturgse, seu Divonm Patricii, Coltn-. lse et
INTRODUCTION^. lili
ex variis Bibliothecis collecta, Scholiis et Commentariis illustrata, et pluribus Appendicibus aucta ; complectitur Tomus Secundus Sacrarum ejusdem In-
sulae Antiquitatum, nunc primum in lucem prodiens. " This tome was dedicated to the Most Rev. Thomas Fleming, Archbishop of Dublin, and Primate of Ireland. '°7 He was a truly learned and virtuous prelate, belong- ing to the Franciscan Order. From the dedication we learn, that notwith- standing Dr. Fleming's private necessities, and the calamitous civil war then raging in Ireland, he not only presented some documents serving for its elucidation, but he likewise supplied pecuniary means, requisite for printing this national Avork. In the preface, Colgan states his reasons for including Acts of St. Patrick, of St. Columba and of St. Brigid, within a separate volume, in this particular instance. He had interrupted that regular order of arrange- ment, which he proposed to observe, according to months and days, regard- ing other saints' festivals. First, because the number and extent of acts, concerning those holy personages, were such, that he doubted, if belonging to any other nation three saints could be found, about whom more rare or even equal virtues and miracles had been recorded. Secondly, because through Divine Providence, those three saints died and were interred in dis- tricts respectively remote, although their bodies were afterwards buried in thesametomb; thus,throughGod'sdecreeitwasordainedthatthose,united in a common grave and in Heaven, should receive a united honour and
veneration on earth. Thirdly, because through the Almighty's inspiration, those same saints were assumed and adopted as common Patrons and Pro-
tectors of Ireland, by the declared will of its clergy and people, sanctioned byauthorityoftheHolySee. "^ Andfourthly,becauseifthelivesofany one among those three saints had been placed in the order of months and days with other Iribh saints' acts, the notices of each distinct one muFt have
occupied too greatly disproportioned a space for that volume, in which it might require to be inserted. A necessity for treating about each of those
saints, at greater length, and for combining their various acts, should require a distinct volume of large size. In publishing their several lives, Colgan tells us,hehadonesufficientmotive,althoughitwasnothissolereason. Amon^ the many editors of the Triad Acts, he was not able to discover any, who had not omitted various matters, orwho had not obscured passages,mcre clearlyand creditably given by other publicists. It might be objected, why he preferred issuing so many different lives of the same saint, to the publication of one life, clear, compendious and complete, embracing substantially all matters dispersed through separate Acts. Indeed, while needless iterations should
'0? The most complete account, we as yet
possess regarding tliis prelate, is that con- tained in the Rt. Rev. Dr. Moran's "His-
tory of the Catholic Archbishops of Dulihn, since the Reformation," vol. i. , chap. x. to chap, xviii. , pp. 294 to 411. The continua- tion of this biography may be expected in
vol. ii. , still unpublished,
"^ This is proved from the Office of their
Translation. insertedby Colgan in his "Trias Thaumaturga. " This Feast, with an Octave, sanctioned by the Sovereign Pontiflf, was celebrated on the fourth of the June Ides, each year.
liv INTRODUCTION,
have been spared the fastidious reader, clearness and brevity must have been substituted, while labour, study and expense must have been lessened. Yet,
to such objections, Colgan well replies, that by publishing those saints' hves, which were of very great antiquity, and full of wondrous miracles, it was re- quisite to produce concurrent and antique reliable evidence, so that their acts and miracles should not be set down as modem fictions. The united testimony of ancient authors, or even of those who wrote at comparatively recent periods, must furnish a degree of credibility, weight and correctness, beyond unauthorized brevity. He wished to discover and assert truth, espe- cially to establish credit for those wonderful actions the saints performed, and to obviate criticism in his day. *°9 Not only the habitual incredulity of persons separated from the Church, but even the comments of CathoUc critics, should be met, not with the assertions of a modern writer, but be op- posed by testimonies, drawn from ancient sources. Hardly equalled in the sacred history of other countries, those virtues and miracles, enumerated in the acts of St. Patrick, of St. Columba, and of St. Brigid, are certainly not surpassed ; and preferring olden evidence to modem style, Colgan stated nothing, save on the authority of witnesses so ancient, that some of these might have seen various wonderful actions related, while others could have derived accounts from persons who were eye-witnesses. Several of those writers were holy and learned men ; so, it cannot justly be supposed, they are chargeable with fictitious inventions or ignorance, regarding those subjects they treated. Neither, on the score of great credulity, should such authors too hastily incur the censure of carping critics.
The different biographers of St. Patrick, of St. Columba, and of St.
