oracles in those
countries
through which he passed,'5 and to have dedicated
to the Hyperborean Apollo the gold in foreign lands, after returning to his own country.
to the Hyperborean Apollo the gold in foreign lands, after returning to his own country.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v4
•'s This great ruler was styled the " Irish Alfred," the " Solomon of the West," with other appreciative titles of distinction, which were conferred on him, for the signal virtues and merits of a great and noble character.
As a valiant leader of high intellectual eminence, he found in Ireland a
defective political organization, turbulence and divisions, among chiefs and tribes, with a weak executive, in no sense having clearly-defined national objects and interests in view. He wished to establish a new principle of elective cr of hereditary sovereignty, in the centre of the Island, and vested in his own family. He desired to unite, in common efforts for his country's well- fare, the chieftains and people of his own race ; and, as he found the Scan- dinavians already settled in Ireland, he laboured to enlist their services, and to concilate their obedience as subjects, while he endeavoured to roll back the tide of foreign invasion. But, the destructive battle at Clontarf proved disastrous to all his projects. The death of the statesman King, and of his son and grandson, on the same day,, and in the same field, prevented the
perpetuation of the great principle of unity, upon which he intended to have reformed and controlled the old Irish Monarchy. However, the power of com-
bination was then destroyed ; for, a new dynasty is rarely the work of one able nian,<9* since practical and politic successors are required, to frame well the es-
of a — left more or less
parts nile, incomplete,
at his death. No such men
sential
survived this day one almost as fatal in its results to the victors as to the vanqui—shed. It is stated, that several of the s—aints and righteous ones of
^s?
Erinn among the rest the prophet Berchan had predicted the death of
Brian, and the calamities that should ensue, in consequence of his fall.
So far as we can judge, by the incidents of this great Monarch's career, he had almost insuperable difficulties to surmount. —The pertinacity with which he
invasions of the Northmen or Danes a and — repelled belligerent piratical
*»5 See Cogi-oVi 5<seT)Viel, Re S^^^'^K chap, cxv. , pp. , 202 to 205.
race, then greatly dreaded as the unprincipled ravagers of Europe
was a theme for national and very general rejoicing. To Christians of every clime,
*** See Thomas M'Gee's " D'Aicy
*" I" th^ Co5«t>1i jaetjViei Ue SAtlAib)! , some quatrains of an Irish poem attributed to him are and these have been
Popu- lar History of Ireland, vol. i. . Book ii. ,
quoted,
translated into English, by the editor. See
chap, vii. , pp. 102 to 104.
chap, cxvi. , pp. 204, 205.
4s6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
the great battle at Clontarf must be of peculiar significance, as actually relat-
ing to the last fight between Christianity and paganism for foothold, and within a land, so eminently distinguished in the annals of civilization. After
this great victory, the power of the Danes in Ireland, and the designs of the Norsemen on that country, were broken. Still the country was not entirely freefromtheirattacks,untilaftertheendoftheeleventhcentury. Fromthatday of Clontarf, the long-cherished Northern idea regarding a conquest of Ireland seems to have been abandoned by that indomitable people, who were satisfied to remain as colonists. Having embraced Christianity, they lived unmolested in the chief maritime cities of our nation. The services of this Imperator to Ireland were even greater, as a civil administrator than as a military hero, owing to his sagacity and comprehensive projects. In the arts of peace, he was eminently successful. So alert, so vigilant and pervading, was the policy of Bryan, that ancient and venerable institutions were restored, and most gene- rally reformed ; laws which had been instituted for the protection of life and property, and which, in the general disorder, had been disregarded, or had become obsolete, were restored and vigorously enforced. '*'^ But here, we have toestimatechieflythereligiousaspectofanoblecharacter. Hismunificence in founding churches and monasteries, his justice in ruling, and tlie private virtues of his spotless life, made him be regarded, as the model for a saintly king; and, as such, he deserves to live in the recollection of all his country- men, an example of greatness and of goodness.
Article II. —St. Ibar, or Ivor, Bishop of Beg Erin, County of
Wexford. {Supposed to have lived in the liflh and Sixth Centuries. '] The
extension of Christianity to our Island could not have materially differed in
system, from that usually pursued in heathen lands, at the present day. The
missionary perhaps, had special graces bestowed on him to labour for souls, and such was doubtless the case with St. Ibar. ' As our materials for his bio-
graphy are imperfect, we must rest satisfied with some reconstructed skeleton of dates and extracts from various sources, which can scarcely serve fully to develop the life-like form and character of this ancient Irish patriarch. However, one of the most celebrated fathers of the early Irish Church was St. Ibar, or Ivor, regarded as bishop of Beg Erin. ' Ussher appears to have had a Life of this saint in his possession. From this he quotes, in the omissions to his great work, "Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"3 as found in the addenda. ItwastheintentionofColgan•topublishaLifeofthisearlyIrish missionary ; and, some short Acts of St. Ibar have been written, by the Bol- landists,5 who state, they had a Life of him, but that it abounded in fables. Bishop Chalioner has some account of this saint. ^ In Rev. Alban Butler's
*^ Yet, he was merciful. " King Brian
" Besides his place so named, near Wex-
all his outlaws the same fault,
ford — there is another town,
thrice
but if they misbehaved themselves oftener, then he let ihem be judged by the law ; and from this one — mark what a
denomination,
forgave
he must
have been. " George Webbe Dasent's land Maps for the County of Wexford,"
"
may king
See "Ordnance Town- ofBantry. Survey
Story of Burnt Njal," vol. ii. , chap, cliii. , sheets 29, 30, 34, 35. 3"
p. 324. — See p. 507, Pag. 410, lin. 2S, fast Article ii. 'In patents of King [leginusjai/flir, et Vita ipsius Ibari," &c.
James I. , we find this saint is called St. < See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernia;,"Januarii Ivory. See An Account of the Barony of xxix. Vita S. Gildse Badonici, n. 13, p.
Fortii, in the County of Wexford, written at the close of the seventeenih century, edited
Series, vol. iv. , part i. , p. 68, n. 7. See Britannia Sancta," part i. , at
Herbert F. Hore, in " and Proceedings
190.
5 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
by
Papers of the Kilkenny and South-east of
xxiii. De Sancto Ibaro
Iliberno, pp. 173, 174, as also Appendix,
Ireland Archaeological Society," New p. 991. '"
into
Loftus in the paiish of Old Ross, and barony
Begerin distinguished
Lloyd
Aprilis
Episcopo
and
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 457
""
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints is entered
a few brief notices of St. Ibar, or Ivor, Bishop in Ireland,' as also in Rev. S. Baring Gould's collection,^ and in Rev. John F. Shearman's work. 9 According to the O'Clerys, he sprung from the race of Conall
Cearnach,
while Lassar, of the Deisi, ofBregia, was his mother. '°
Again,
we learn from a different source, that our saint, called Ibarus or Ivorus,
was son of a father, named Lugna, and of a mother, named Daferia. " He
was born in the Ulster province, and in a portion of it, called Cruintain;"
over which Colman, son of Neman, reigned, at the time. In,other documents,
Abban's mother is called Cooinecfi Abbadli. ^i The sister of Bishop lobhar,
i. e. , Milla, was the mother of Abban, as found in the Life of Abban,'-* accord-
ing to the O'Clerys. He is called the elder Abban,'5;ind thought to have been
distinguishedfromajuniorAbban; althoughtheirActsaresupposedtohave
been confounded. His sister Mella is said to have married Cormac, King of Leinster. '^ His birth has been placed under the year 388, in the Index Chro-
noiogicus,'? appended to Archbishop Ussher's work. This, however, is very generallyallowedtohavebeentooearlyadateforhisbirth. Wearetold,that
Ibar gave indications of great sanctity, and from his earliest youth. "* He was instructedinsacredlearning,byanAbbotnamedS:. Motta. Suchbeingthe case, it has been remarked, that this Motta must be regarded, as a different per- sonfromSt. Mochteus,adiscipleofSt. Patrick,andtheBishopofLouth. 's By other writers, it is thought, Ibar was retained by the Irish Apostle in a kind of training, for some years before he was placed in a permanent position ; that he was a religious instructor and guardian of St. Brigid's'"" community ; and that he preceded St. Conleath," in such a capacity, between a. d. 480 and 490. " A celebrated andanaccomplished man, named Abaris, and surnamed the Hyper- borean, is said to have come from a northern country to visit Greece. Though he appeared a barbarian in dress, yet he spoke Greek with so much facility and correctness, that he might be supposed an orator from the midst of the Lyceum. '3 He is said to have been given to divination,'" to have written
April 23, pp. 253, 254.
' See vol. iv. , at April 23rd.
'See "Lives of the Saints," vol. iv. , April
23rd, p. 310.
' " Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , pp. 406 to
Irish Manuscript . Series, vol. i. , p. Ixxvi.
" Speaking of this Daferia, the Life of St.
tory of Ireland," vol, iii. , chap, xvii. ,sect. iv. , n. 45, pp. 17, 18.
" Ciiaptcr i.
'5 See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
"Loca Patrioana," No. viii. , p. 408, and n. I. Ibid.
" From this union, St. Abbot of Abban,
Mayharnoiue, in the territory of Kenselach, it is stated sprung. See Bi:>hop Challoner's " Britannia Sancta," part i. , p. 253.
" See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," p. 513.
410.
'" The
in the " Leabhar • Breac" has it, that lubar wasson of Cucorb, son to Coirpre, son of Niall, son to Echaid, from whom the Ui-Echach of Ulster de- scended. This, he tells us, is foimd in the history of St. Columkille. See Whitley Stokes On the Calendar of CEngus, in "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,"
glossographer
"
et eidem pcperit Mellam po-tea regiiiam —
'' " Not in pleasure's fairy bowers,
Da lying with the deadly flowers, Passed with him the flying hours. "
Ibar, quoted by Ussher, continues :
qux
Lagincnsium nuptam Cormaco Kegi, qui pater fuit S. . \bbani Confcssons, et Abbatis —c^nobii . Magarnoide m rcgiune Kensellach. "
M'Carthy's "Underglimp- ses and other Poems," p. 156.
' See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," Addenda quaedam omissa, p. 507.
" Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
tes. " Addenda qujedam omissa, p. 507.
" See Bishop Challoner's " Britannia Sancta,'' part i. , p. 253.
'i " What was her name is of very little consequence ; and it is sufficient to know, that there is no authority worth attending to
'" See St. written at Brigid's Life,
the 1st
been a s;sier of
Ibar. " Dr. I<anigan's Ecclesiastical His- i. , p. 334.
for the— of her
story having
"'See Clemens
Alexandrinus, Stomat. lib.
"
Antiquita-
Denis Florence
of February.
"' SeehisLife,atthe3rdofMay.
"See Kev. John Francis Shearman's
" Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , pp 407, 408. '' Such was the statement of Himenis the
Sophist aptiU I'hotiiim, p. 1 136.
4S8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
oracles in those countries through which he passed,'5 and to have dedicated
to the Hyperborean Apollo the gold in foreign lands, after returning to his own country. '' One of our Irish historians '? deems it probable, that Abaris was an Irishman, and a Druid, as the name was a common one, and peculiar in Ireland. Thus, Heber, HeberScot, Heber Fion, and others are known ; while Abarus andIbarusweretheLatinizedforms. Hence,heseemstoinsinuate,theHyper- borean mentioned may have been identical with the present Abarus, or Ibarus, who instructed his countrymen in Christianity, before the great St. Patrick's mission in our Island. ^^ These conjectures, however, seem rather vague and visionary for most historic enquirers. In the life of our saint, '9 it is said, that when he was an adult, and advanced to the order of priesthood, being dis-
tinguished for the sanctity of his life, he was sent to preach the Gospel in Ireland. 3° One account has it, that a St. Ibar was instrumental in the con- version of the twelve sons of Barr, a dynast of Leix. 3' Perhaps, he was not different from the present St. Ibar, who is said to have been united in bonds offriendship,withSaintsAilbeS''andDeclan. 33 Withthemhewasengaged, in propagating the Gospel throughout Ireland, before St. Patrick's arrival. According to an inedited Life of St. Brigid,^'* an Ibar is called Bishop, and he is stated to have remained in the plain of Gessyll, before St. Patrick's mission opened in Ireland. In Conchubran's Life of St. Monenna, or Modwenna,35 Virgin, this author says in his first book, that St. Ibar dwelt in those Islands beyond Ireland, and situated in the western ocean. Three of these were dis- tinguished by the same name. From such circumstance, we may fairly suppose, that allusion has been made to the Islands of Arran. 3* However, on such matters, we are not assured with certainty, although Tirechan 3? numbers IbaramongtheholyprelatesordainedbySt. Patrick. Fromhim,Ibarreceived
averted a grievous pestilence, which prevailed over Ireland, and especially within the territories of Colman, King of Meath. 39 Ibar travelled to the bounds
of Leinster,'»° and towards the southern part of this province, named Hy-Kin- selleagh, where hearing of an Island, out in the sea,'*' and called Beg Erin,'*'
a mission, to preach the Gospel in Ireland, as is supposed.
in converting a great number of persons to the Christian faith, and in causing them to lead regular and virtuous lives. At the command of St. Patrick, it is said, Saints Elbeus and Hibarus not only restored a youth to life, but even to his former beauty and health. s^ By his prayers, also, he is said to have
°2 Appollonius, Admirabl. Hist. , sect. 4. " lamblichus, Vita Pythagorei, cap. xix. '' See Dr. Sylvester O'Halloran.
" See Dr. Sylvester O'tlalloran's "Intro-
ductiontotheStudyoftheHistoryandAn- tiquities of Ireland," part i. , chap, ix. , pp. 90,91.
3' In Vita S. Patricii.
'8 See the BoUandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Aprilis xxiii. De Sancto Ibaro
Episcopo Hibemo, num. 3, p. 174.
39 See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia
Sancta," part i. , p. 254.
<" See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia-
°' As quoted by Archbishop Ussher.
^According to Rev. Alban Butler, he oniissa, p. 508.
preached in Meath and Leinster.
3' According to the Genealogies found in the Book of Lecain, and translated by the
Rev. P. M'Loughlin, whose Manuscript is now in the Royal Irish Academy.
3' His feast occurs, at the 12th of Sep- tember.
33 His festival occurs, at the 24th of July.
3* Formerly possessed by Archbishop Ussher.
35 At the 5th of July, her fea<t is held.
3' See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," cap. xvi. , p. 414.
< See " Letters containing Information re- lative to the Antiquities of the County of Wexford, collected during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. , p. 329. These notices are signed, J. O'D. , and are dated, June 8th, 1840.
<° " Mitto quod de annulo Templi Ibari, a
quodam Germanice hera et \insii;ni praedone cui Tor-Hch, ed est, Javem avians, nomen fuisse dicitur, ex Be^-Erin insula post Ibari mortem ablato, acdeinde restitute, in Vita
rum Antiquitates. " Addenda quoedam
habetur traditum. "—Ussher's
" tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates. " Ad-
ipsius
Bri-
He succeeded
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 459
not far from the coast, he took possession, and founded thereon a famous monastery. Thisislandwassituatedontheestuary,northofWexfordhar- bour,s It lay off the eastern shore, and in a county bearing the same name,** in the province of Leinster. ^s It, and the associated islands, at present, are surrounded by reclaimed land. *' It was anciently called Inis-Fail. *' Neither
Town of Wexford, from the Ferry Bank.
Father Colgan nor Dr. O'Donovan appears to have known this circumstance. The settlement of St. Ibar, in this place, is thought to have been after he left
Kildare. *' The history of Beg Eri " is interesting ; and, it has been given by Mr. O'Donovan, with his own comments. '" After alluding to the old church
of Ardcavan,'" we are informed, that hot far from this church, but belonging to the parish of Ardcolumb, is situated the celebrated Island of Beg-Eire, or
denda quaedam omissa, p. 509.
*' The accompanying illustration presents a view of the town of Wexford, as seen from the Ferry Bank. It was drawn on the wood, from a photograph, by William F. Wake- man, and it was engraved by Mrs. Mil- lard.
' This was a discovery made by Eugene O'Curiy. See " Lectures on the Alanuscript
" It is stated, that in Cough's Camden's "
<° See Rev. John F. Shearman's " Loca "
Patriciana, No. viii. , p. 408.
'" In 1840, it belonged to an attorney,
named Cooper.
5° See the "Letters containing Information
relative to the Antiquities of the County of Wexford, collected during the progress of
the Ordnance Survey in 1840, vol. i. , pp. , 329, 330- These notices are signed, J. O'D. , and dated, June 8th, 1840. Various extracts are then inserted in this volume, referring to Beg-Erin, and these extend from p. 331 to p. 346.
5' Where St. Caomhan was venerated, on the 1 2th ofJune.
"Britannia," Begeri is rendered, the little land in the water," a derivation which Mr. O'Donovan remarks, "deservesto be laughed at. " Yet, this reference I cannot find there.
5 According to the O'Clerys.
* See a detailed and a most interesting
description of this locality, by Ceorge H. Kinehan, M. R. I. A. , in the "Journal of the Historical and Archjeological Association of Ireland," vol. ii. , Fourth Series, July, 1873, No. 15, pp. 435,436.
Materials of Ancient Irish History, dix No. ii. , p. 480, n. 22.
"
Appen-
460 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
as the Latin writers style it Parva Hibernia, i. e. , Little Ireland. s' The name of this island is accounted for in a story, inserted by a commentator, on the Festilogy of St. ^ngus. 53 Some of the antiquities here have received illustra- tion from Mr. Wakcman's S't Among the western islands around
pencil. itisstated,'5PtolemyplacestheIslandEdri,byPlinycalledAndros. The
learned Sir James Ware believes it to be the same as Beg-Eri. s* However,
Ware is thought to be wrong in hazarding this conjecture. The" Edri deser- tum " of Ptolemy is the Edair of the Irish, which is now called the Hill of
Howth,57 according Mr. O'Donovan. In his Life of St. Patrick, Jocelyn introduces this St. Hibarus, as a bishop. s' A curious statement is made, that St. Ibar left the roads full, and the kitchens empty, at Armagh. 59 A very ancient vellum book,'° containing the Martyrology of Maelruain of Tamli- lacht, and the synonymous saints of Erin, states, that Bishop lobhar had a similarity of manners and of life with John the Baptist. In Duald Mac Firbis, we find entered, under the head of Beg-Eri,*' and Ere-Beg,'= Bishop Ibhar, who was in Erinn as a bishop, before Patrick came as a bishop into it. He dwelt in an island—in the sea near to Leinster—and, which is named Beg- Eri,'3 as we are further informed. Although he admits, that both Ailbe and Ibar are called Bishops, in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, about the year 446 ;^-t yet, Dr. Lanigan imagines, that this tide solely applies to a subsequent period of their lives, as they were then in a state of scholarship, and belong- ing to a class of young gentlemen, whom St. Patrick was wont to have in his suite as pupils. 's This assumption, however, is wholly gratuitous. Of a like character is an assertion, that Ibar was a disciple of St. Patrick, being mentioned as such in some of his Lives in Tirechan's list, and in a supposi- tion, that Colgan contradicts himself,** by reckoning Ibar among the Irish
Apostle's disciples. *' The fact of our saint being called a disciple does not necessarily imply, that he received his ecclesiastical training, under the Irish
Apostle. Built upon the latter assumption, also, is the statement, that Ibar had not
5' See John O'Donovan's Letter of June 8th, 1840.
(now
Unde Bec-Eri nominata est. "
5* Three ancient stones, found on the
island of Beg-Erin, are represented, in the Oblong Book of Sketches for the County of Wexford, p. 3. These are also found, on another sheet more highly finished in ink, and ready for the engraver. On each of these stones, delineations of crosses are in- scribed. On the longest of these three stones, whichis2feet9inchesinlengtli,thereisan addition to the lower shaft of this cross,
. which represents some interlaced antique
the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. , p. 342-
5i '• This is the Ibar Bishop
5* See "Trias Colgan's
Ivor) who made the great opposition to Patrick and left the flige-OA lariAand the cuiLeDA p^lAa at Armagh. Patrick was enraged at this, and said to Ivar, 'thou shalt not be in Erin. ' Ivar answered and said to him, ' in what- ever place I shall be, I shall call it Erin. '
Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. Ixxxiii, p. 84.
tracery.
A stone, apparently next in size,
5' According to the Glossographer, in the " Leabhar Breac. "
'" Allusion is made here to the leaves taken from the Book of Leinster.
' See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish MSB. Series, vol. i. , part
i. , pp. 90, 91.
^'
That is Beg Ere.
'3 Also, ibU. , pp. 108, 109.
'• " He might have been old enough
about the year 446 to be a bishop ; but, had he been then one, we would rather imagine that St. Patrick would have assigned to him a district, in which he might exercise his
functi—ons,thankeephimalongwithhim- "
self. " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. i. , chap, vi.
As a valiant leader of high intellectual eminence, he found in Ireland a
defective political organization, turbulence and divisions, among chiefs and tribes, with a weak executive, in no sense having clearly-defined national objects and interests in view. He wished to establish a new principle of elective cr of hereditary sovereignty, in the centre of the Island, and vested in his own family. He desired to unite, in common efforts for his country's well- fare, the chieftains and people of his own race ; and, as he found the Scan- dinavians already settled in Ireland, he laboured to enlist their services, and to concilate their obedience as subjects, while he endeavoured to roll back the tide of foreign invasion. But, the destructive battle at Clontarf proved disastrous to all his projects. The death of the statesman King, and of his son and grandson, on the same day,, and in the same field, prevented the
perpetuation of the great principle of unity, upon which he intended to have reformed and controlled the old Irish Monarchy. However, the power of com-
bination was then destroyed ; for, a new dynasty is rarely the work of one able nian,<9* since practical and politic successors are required, to frame well the es-
of a — left more or less
parts nile, incomplete,
at his death. No such men
sential
survived this day one almost as fatal in its results to the victors as to the vanqui—shed. It is stated, that several of the s—aints and righteous ones of
^s?
Erinn among the rest the prophet Berchan had predicted the death of
Brian, and the calamities that should ensue, in consequence of his fall.
So far as we can judge, by the incidents of this great Monarch's career, he had almost insuperable difficulties to surmount. —The pertinacity with which he
invasions of the Northmen or Danes a and — repelled belligerent piratical
*»5 See Cogi-oVi 5<seT)Viel, Re S^^^'^K chap, cxv. , pp. , 202 to 205.
race, then greatly dreaded as the unprincipled ravagers of Europe
was a theme for national and very general rejoicing. To Christians of every clime,
*** See Thomas M'Gee's " D'Aicy
*" I" th^ Co5«t>1i jaetjViei Ue SAtlAib)! , some quatrains of an Irish poem attributed to him are and these have been
Popu- lar History of Ireland, vol. i. . Book ii. ,
quoted,
translated into English, by the editor. See
chap, vii. , pp. 102 to 104.
chap, cxvi. , pp. 204, 205.
4s6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
the great battle at Clontarf must be of peculiar significance, as actually relat-
ing to the last fight between Christianity and paganism for foothold, and within a land, so eminently distinguished in the annals of civilization. After
this great victory, the power of the Danes in Ireland, and the designs of the Norsemen on that country, were broken. Still the country was not entirely freefromtheirattacks,untilaftertheendoftheeleventhcentury. Fromthatday of Clontarf, the long-cherished Northern idea regarding a conquest of Ireland seems to have been abandoned by that indomitable people, who were satisfied to remain as colonists. Having embraced Christianity, they lived unmolested in the chief maritime cities of our nation. The services of this Imperator to Ireland were even greater, as a civil administrator than as a military hero, owing to his sagacity and comprehensive projects. In the arts of peace, he was eminently successful. So alert, so vigilant and pervading, was the policy of Bryan, that ancient and venerable institutions were restored, and most gene- rally reformed ; laws which had been instituted for the protection of life and property, and which, in the general disorder, had been disregarded, or had become obsolete, were restored and vigorously enforced. '*'^ But here, we have toestimatechieflythereligiousaspectofanoblecharacter. Hismunificence in founding churches and monasteries, his justice in ruling, and tlie private virtues of his spotless life, made him be regarded, as the model for a saintly king; and, as such, he deserves to live in the recollection of all his country- men, an example of greatness and of goodness.
Article II. —St. Ibar, or Ivor, Bishop of Beg Erin, County of
Wexford. {Supposed to have lived in the liflh and Sixth Centuries. '] The
extension of Christianity to our Island could not have materially differed in
system, from that usually pursued in heathen lands, at the present day. The
missionary perhaps, had special graces bestowed on him to labour for souls, and such was doubtless the case with St. Ibar. ' As our materials for his bio-
graphy are imperfect, we must rest satisfied with some reconstructed skeleton of dates and extracts from various sources, which can scarcely serve fully to develop the life-like form and character of this ancient Irish patriarch. However, one of the most celebrated fathers of the early Irish Church was St. Ibar, or Ivor, regarded as bishop of Beg Erin. ' Ussher appears to have had a Life of this saint in his possession. From this he quotes, in the omissions to his great work, "Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"3 as found in the addenda. ItwastheintentionofColgan•topublishaLifeofthisearlyIrish missionary ; and, some short Acts of St. Ibar have been written, by the Bol- landists,5 who state, they had a Life of him, but that it abounded in fables. Bishop Chalioner has some account of this saint. ^ In Rev. Alban Butler's
*^ Yet, he was merciful. " King Brian
" Besides his place so named, near Wex-
all his outlaws the same fault,
ford — there is another town,
thrice
but if they misbehaved themselves oftener, then he let ihem be judged by the law ; and from this one — mark what a
denomination,
forgave
he must
have been. " George Webbe Dasent's land Maps for the County of Wexford,"
"
may king
See "Ordnance Town- ofBantry. Survey
Story of Burnt Njal," vol. ii. , chap, cliii. , sheets 29, 30, 34, 35. 3"
p. 324. — See p. 507, Pag. 410, lin. 2S, fast Article ii. 'In patents of King [leginusjai/flir, et Vita ipsius Ibari," &c.
James I. , we find this saint is called St. < See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernia;,"Januarii Ivory. See An Account of the Barony of xxix. Vita S. Gildse Badonici, n. 13, p.
Fortii, in the County of Wexford, written at the close of the seventeenih century, edited
Series, vol. iv. , part i. , p. 68, n. 7. See Britannia Sancta," part i. , at
Herbert F. Hore, in " and Proceedings
190.
5 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
by
Papers of the Kilkenny and South-east of
xxiii. De Sancto Ibaro
Iliberno, pp. 173, 174, as also Appendix,
Ireland Archaeological Society," New p. 991. '"
into
Loftus in the paiish of Old Ross, and barony
Begerin distinguished
Lloyd
Aprilis
Episcopo
and
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 457
""
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints is entered
a few brief notices of St. Ibar, or Ivor, Bishop in Ireland,' as also in Rev. S. Baring Gould's collection,^ and in Rev. John F. Shearman's work. 9 According to the O'Clerys, he sprung from the race of Conall
Cearnach,
while Lassar, of the Deisi, ofBregia, was his mother. '°
Again,
we learn from a different source, that our saint, called Ibarus or Ivorus,
was son of a father, named Lugna, and of a mother, named Daferia. " He
was born in the Ulster province, and in a portion of it, called Cruintain;"
over which Colman, son of Neman, reigned, at the time. In,other documents,
Abban's mother is called Cooinecfi Abbadli. ^i The sister of Bishop lobhar,
i. e. , Milla, was the mother of Abban, as found in the Life of Abban,'-* accord-
ing to the O'Clerys. He is called the elder Abban,'5;ind thought to have been
distinguishedfromajuniorAbban; althoughtheirActsaresupposedtohave
been confounded. His sister Mella is said to have married Cormac, King of Leinster. '^ His birth has been placed under the year 388, in the Index Chro-
noiogicus,'? appended to Archbishop Ussher's work. This, however, is very generallyallowedtohavebeentooearlyadateforhisbirth. Wearetold,that
Ibar gave indications of great sanctity, and from his earliest youth. "* He was instructedinsacredlearning,byanAbbotnamedS:. Motta. Suchbeingthe case, it has been remarked, that this Motta must be regarded, as a different per- sonfromSt. Mochteus,adiscipleofSt. Patrick,andtheBishopofLouth. 's By other writers, it is thought, Ibar was retained by the Irish Apostle in a kind of training, for some years before he was placed in a permanent position ; that he was a religious instructor and guardian of St. Brigid's'"" community ; and that he preceded St. Conleath," in such a capacity, between a. d. 480 and 490. " A celebrated andanaccomplished man, named Abaris, and surnamed the Hyper- borean, is said to have come from a northern country to visit Greece. Though he appeared a barbarian in dress, yet he spoke Greek with so much facility and correctness, that he might be supposed an orator from the midst of the Lyceum. '3 He is said to have been given to divination,'" to have written
April 23, pp. 253, 254.
' See vol. iv. , at April 23rd.
'See "Lives of the Saints," vol. iv. , April
23rd, p. 310.
' " Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , pp. 406 to
Irish Manuscript . Series, vol. i. , p. Ixxvi.
" Speaking of this Daferia, the Life of St.
tory of Ireland," vol, iii. , chap, xvii. ,sect. iv. , n. 45, pp. 17, 18.
" Ciiaptcr i.
'5 See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
"Loca Patrioana," No. viii. , p. 408, and n. I. Ibid.
" From this union, St. Abbot of Abban,
Mayharnoiue, in the territory of Kenselach, it is stated sprung. See Bi:>hop Challoner's " Britannia Sancta," part i. , p. 253.
" See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," p. 513.
410.
'" The
in the " Leabhar • Breac" has it, that lubar wasson of Cucorb, son to Coirpre, son of Niall, son to Echaid, from whom the Ui-Echach of Ulster de- scended. This, he tells us, is foimd in the history of St. Columkille. See Whitley Stokes On the Calendar of CEngus, in "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,"
glossographer
"
et eidem pcperit Mellam po-tea regiiiam —
'' " Not in pleasure's fairy bowers,
Da lying with the deadly flowers, Passed with him the flying hours. "
Ibar, quoted by Ussher, continues :
qux
Lagincnsium nuptam Cormaco Kegi, qui pater fuit S. . \bbani Confcssons, et Abbatis —c^nobii . Magarnoide m rcgiune Kensellach. "
M'Carthy's "Underglimp- ses and other Poems," p. 156.
' See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," Addenda quaedam omissa, p. 507.
" Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
tes. " Addenda qujedam omissa, p. 507.
" See Bishop Challoner's " Britannia Sancta,'' part i. , p. 253.
'i " What was her name is of very little consequence ; and it is sufficient to know, that there is no authority worth attending to
'" See St. written at Brigid's Life,
the 1st
been a s;sier of
Ibar. " Dr. I<anigan's Ecclesiastical His- i. , p. 334.
for the— of her
story having
"'See Clemens
Alexandrinus, Stomat. lib.
"
Antiquita-
Denis Florence
of February.
"' SeehisLife,atthe3rdofMay.
"See Kev. John Francis Shearman's
" Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , pp 407, 408. '' Such was the statement of Himenis the
Sophist aptiU I'hotiiim, p. 1 136.
4S8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
oracles in those countries through which he passed,'5 and to have dedicated
to the Hyperborean Apollo the gold in foreign lands, after returning to his own country. '' One of our Irish historians '? deems it probable, that Abaris was an Irishman, and a Druid, as the name was a common one, and peculiar in Ireland. Thus, Heber, HeberScot, Heber Fion, and others are known ; while Abarus andIbarusweretheLatinizedforms. Hence,heseemstoinsinuate,theHyper- borean mentioned may have been identical with the present Abarus, or Ibarus, who instructed his countrymen in Christianity, before the great St. Patrick's mission in our Island. ^^ These conjectures, however, seem rather vague and visionary for most historic enquirers. In the life of our saint, '9 it is said, that when he was an adult, and advanced to the order of priesthood, being dis-
tinguished for the sanctity of his life, he was sent to preach the Gospel in Ireland. 3° One account has it, that a St. Ibar was instrumental in the con- version of the twelve sons of Barr, a dynast of Leix. 3' Perhaps, he was not different from the present St. Ibar, who is said to have been united in bonds offriendship,withSaintsAilbeS''andDeclan. 33 Withthemhewasengaged, in propagating the Gospel throughout Ireland, before St. Patrick's arrival. According to an inedited Life of St. Brigid,^'* an Ibar is called Bishop, and he is stated to have remained in the plain of Gessyll, before St. Patrick's mission opened in Ireland. In Conchubran's Life of St. Monenna, or Modwenna,35 Virgin, this author says in his first book, that St. Ibar dwelt in those Islands beyond Ireland, and situated in the western ocean. Three of these were dis- tinguished by the same name. From such circumstance, we may fairly suppose, that allusion has been made to the Islands of Arran. 3* However, on such matters, we are not assured with certainty, although Tirechan 3? numbers IbaramongtheholyprelatesordainedbySt. Patrick. Fromhim,Ibarreceived
averted a grievous pestilence, which prevailed over Ireland, and especially within the territories of Colman, King of Meath. 39 Ibar travelled to the bounds
of Leinster,'»° and towards the southern part of this province, named Hy-Kin- selleagh, where hearing of an Island, out in the sea,'*' and called Beg Erin,'*'
a mission, to preach the Gospel in Ireland, as is supposed.
in converting a great number of persons to the Christian faith, and in causing them to lead regular and virtuous lives. At the command of St. Patrick, it is said, Saints Elbeus and Hibarus not only restored a youth to life, but even to his former beauty and health. s^ By his prayers, also, he is said to have
°2 Appollonius, Admirabl. Hist. , sect. 4. " lamblichus, Vita Pythagorei, cap. xix. '' See Dr. Sylvester O'Halloran.
" See Dr. Sylvester O'tlalloran's "Intro-
ductiontotheStudyoftheHistoryandAn- tiquities of Ireland," part i. , chap, ix. , pp. 90,91.
3' In Vita S. Patricii.
'8 See the BoUandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Aprilis xxiii. De Sancto Ibaro
Episcopo Hibemo, num. 3, p. 174.
39 See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia
Sancta," part i. , p. 254.
<" See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia-
°' As quoted by Archbishop Ussher.
^According to Rev. Alban Butler, he oniissa, p. 508.
preached in Meath and Leinster.
3' According to the Genealogies found in the Book of Lecain, and translated by the
Rev. P. M'Loughlin, whose Manuscript is now in the Royal Irish Academy.
3' His feast occurs, at the 12th of Sep- tember.
33 His festival occurs, at the 24th of July.
3* Formerly possessed by Archbishop Ussher.
35 At the 5th of July, her fea<t is held.
3' See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," cap. xvi. , p. 414.
< See " Letters containing Information re- lative to the Antiquities of the County of Wexford, collected during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. , p. 329. These notices are signed, J. O'D. , and are dated, June 8th, 1840.
<° " Mitto quod de annulo Templi Ibari, a
quodam Germanice hera et \insii;ni praedone cui Tor-Hch, ed est, Javem avians, nomen fuisse dicitur, ex Be^-Erin insula post Ibari mortem ablato, acdeinde restitute, in Vita
rum Antiquitates. " Addenda quoedam
habetur traditum. "—Ussher's
" tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates. " Ad-
ipsius
Bri-
He succeeded
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 459
not far from the coast, he took possession, and founded thereon a famous monastery. Thisislandwassituatedontheestuary,northofWexfordhar- bour,s It lay off the eastern shore, and in a county bearing the same name,** in the province of Leinster. ^s It, and the associated islands, at present, are surrounded by reclaimed land. *' It was anciently called Inis-Fail. *' Neither
Town of Wexford, from the Ferry Bank.
Father Colgan nor Dr. O'Donovan appears to have known this circumstance. The settlement of St. Ibar, in this place, is thought to have been after he left
Kildare. *' The history of Beg Eri " is interesting ; and, it has been given by Mr. O'Donovan, with his own comments. '" After alluding to the old church
of Ardcavan,'" we are informed, that hot far from this church, but belonging to the parish of Ardcolumb, is situated the celebrated Island of Beg-Eire, or
denda quaedam omissa, p. 509.
*' The accompanying illustration presents a view of the town of Wexford, as seen from the Ferry Bank. It was drawn on the wood, from a photograph, by William F. Wake- man, and it was engraved by Mrs. Mil- lard.
' This was a discovery made by Eugene O'Curiy. See " Lectures on the Alanuscript
" It is stated, that in Cough's Camden's "
<° See Rev. John F. Shearman's " Loca "
Patriciana, No. viii. , p. 408.
'" In 1840, it belonged to an attorney,
named Cooper.
5° See the "Letters containing Information
relative to the Antiquities of the County of Wexford, collected during the progress of
the Ordnance Survey in 1840, vol. i. , pp. , 329, 330- These notices are signed, J. O'D. , and dated, June 8th, 1840. Various extracts are then inserted in this volume, referring to Beg-Erin, and these extend from p. 331 to p. 346.
5' Where St. Caomhan was venerated, on the 1 2th ofJune.
"Britannia," Begeri is rendered, the little land in the water," a derivation which Mr. O'Donovan remarks, "deservesto be laughed at. " Yet, this reference I cannot find there.
5 According to the O'Clerys.
* See a detailed and a most interesting
description of this locality, by Ceorge H. Kinehan, M. R. I. A. , in the "Journal of the Historical and Archjeological Association of Ireland," vol. ii. , Fourth Series, July, 1873, No. 15, pp. 435,436.
Materials of Ancient Irish History, dix No. ii. , p. 480, n. 22.
"
Appen-
460 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
as the Latin writers style it Parva Hibernia, i. e. , Little Ireland. s' The name of this island is accounted for in a story, inserted by a commentator, on the Festilogy of St. ^ngus. 53 Some of the antiquities here have received illustra- tion from Mr. Wakcman's S't Among the western islands around
pencil. itisstated,'5PtolemyplacestheIslandEdri,byPlinycalledAndros. The
learned Sir James Ware believes it to be the same as Beg-Eri. s* However,
Ware is thought to be wrong in hazarding this conjecture. The" Edri deser- tum " of Ptolemy is the Edair of the Irish, which is now called the Hill of
Howth,57 according Mr. O'Donovan. In his Life of St. Patrick, Jocelyn introduces this St. Hibarus, as a bishop. s' A curious statement is made, that St. Ibar left the roads full, and the kitchens empty, at Armagh. 59 A very ancient vellum book,'° containing the Martyrology of Maelruain of Tamli- lacht, and the synonymous saints of Erin, states, that Bishop lobhar had a similarity of manners and of life with John the Baptist. In Duald Mac Firbis, we find entered, under the head of Beg-Eri,*' and Ere-Beg,'= Bishop Ibhar, who was in Erinn as a bishop, before Patrick came as a bishop into it. He dwelt in an island—in the sea near to Leinster—and, which is named Beg- Eri,'3 as we are further informed. Although he admits, that both Ailbe and Ibar are called Bishops, in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, about the year 446 ;^-t yet, Dr. Lanigan imagines, that this tide solely applies to a subsequent period of their lives, as they were then in a state of scholarship, and belong- ing to a class of young gentlemen, whom St. Patrick was wont to have in his suite as pupils. 's This assumption, however, is wholly gratuitous. Of a like character is an assertion, that Ibar was a disciple of St. Patrick, being mentioned as such in some of his Lives in Tirechan's list, and in a supposi- tion, that Colgan contradicts himself,** by reckoning Ibar among the Irish
Apostle's disciples. *' The fact of our saint being called a disciple does not necessarily imply, that he received his ecclesiastical training, under the Irish
Apostle. Built upon the latter assumption, also, is the statement, that Ibar had not
5' See John O'Donovan's Letter of June 8th, 1840.
(now
Unde Bec-Eri nominata est. "
5* Three ancient stones, found on the
island of Beg-Erin, are represented, in the Oblong Book of Sketches for the County of Wexford, p. 3. These are also found, on another sheet more highly finished in ink, and ready for the engraver. On each of these stones, delineations of crosses are in- scribed. On the longest of these three stones, whichis2feet9inchesinlengtli,thereisan addition to the lower shaft of this cross,
. which represents some interlaced antique
the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. , p. 342-
5i '• This is the Ibar Bishop
5* See "Trias Colgan's
Ivor) who made the great opposition to Patrick and left the flige-OA lariAand the cuiLeDA p^lAa at Armagh. Patrick was enraged at this, and said to Ivar, 'thou shalt not be in Erin. ' Ivar answered and said to him, ' in what- ever place I shall be, I shall call it Erin. '
Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. Ixxxiii, p. 84.
tracery.
A stone, apparently next in size,
5' According to the Glossographer, in the " Leabhar Breac. "
'" Allusion is made here to the leaves taken from the Book of Leinster.
' See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish MSB. Series, vol. i. , part
i. , pp. 90, 91.
^'
That is Beg Ere.
'3 Also, ibU. , pp. 108, 109.
'• " He might have been old enough
about the year 446 to be a bishop ; but, had he been then one, we would rather imagine that St. Patrick would have assigned to him a district, in which he might exercise his
functi—ons,thankeephimalongwithhim- "
self. " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. i. , chap, vi.
