No More Learning

d. 665. 3 In the Book of Armagh are found Latin annotations on the Life of St. Patrick by Tirechan,4 and which throw some light on the source whence his narrative had been drawn. 5 Like his master
which Moenach then ruled. 1 Tirechan tells us
" He seems to have been
nbout fifty years old, and it may be, that in-
firmity or necessity obliged him to have an assistant.
himself,
l6 to the Annals of According
ofSt. Columba," Additional Notes O, pp.
38210386.
l8
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
13 Thisisthe ofa beginning
ArticleIV. —' See "Acta Colgan's
Sanctorum Hibernise," xx. Januarii, Vita
which Adamnan composed, on placing the bag,
— those containing
reliquaries,
poem
on the back of
Secunda S. 135.
2
Fechini, cap. xiv. , pp. 134,
Cillen
:
" O youth, illustrious is
The bag which thou takest on thy
back," &c.
See Very Rev. James Henthorn Todd's " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, iii. , p. 444.
3 iJis feast occurs, at the 4th of Septem- ber.
elected,
when
Tiger-
M See
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Columlxe, tines on the Manuscript Materials of
Colgan's
"Trias
Thaumaturga,"
4 See Professor " Lec- Eugene O'Curry's
cap. ii. , sect, v. , p. 502.
15 The " Annals of Ulster " have dated
at this
year.
Ancient Irish History," Lect. xvi. , p. 347.
it,
5 Atfol. passage :
ga,
"
we find there the
following
nach.
'? See Rev. William Reeves' Adamnan's
"
pp. 382 to 385.
Life of St. Columba," Additional Notes O,
184, 185.
Tirechan Episcopus
hec
scripsit
July 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 45
Ultan,
thissaintwrotetheActsofSt. intwobooks. 6 Weareinformed Patrick,
in these, that he was a disciple of that holy Bishop, from whose lips or from
whose book, he had composed his own work. He also tells us in it, that he
washimselfabishop,buthedoesnotstatewherehisSeehadbeen. Acopy
of this Life of St. Patrick by Tirechan is extant in the Leabhar Arda Macha,
or the Book of 7 This is Armagh.
Dr. 8 It has Jeoffry Keating.
quoted by
lately engaged the attention of an able and a learned editor,9 so that the read-
ing public shall soon have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with its contents. 10 TheseActswereinpossessionofthelearnedArchbishopUssher, who frequently quotes from them, in his valuable historic work, " De Primor- diis Ecclesiarum Britannicarum. "11 Extracts from them have also been
12
This interest- ing ancient memoir by Tirechan throws very considerable light on the early ecclesiastical history of Ireland, as also on the biography of the Irish Apostle. -3
1
According to the chronology of Tirechan, * he places the death of St. Patrick,
at a. d. 436 from the Passion, or a. d. 469 from the Nativity of Christ. He
states, likewise, that King Loiguire reigned two or five years after the Irish Apostle's decease; while he supposes the total duration of that reign, to have
reproduced, by the learned hagiologist, Father John Colgan.
15 A
hasbeen
16thatthe Abbot of
been
man
his mother. This seems to come within the range of possibility. The times agree very well. Thus, Ultan died a. d. 655, and he was contemporary with
thirty-six years.
conjecture
offered,
present holy
complied
request
by
St.
Fechin,
Fore,
to visit
St. Fechin, who
a. d. 18 The 664.
made
J 7
with a
Ardbrecain. He is thought to have flourished, about the middle of the
seventh 20 Onthe of inthe of 21 century. 3rd July, Martyrology Donegal,
appears within brackets the name of Tirechan. 32
this life, on the 20th of
present saint was a bishop, and he is said to have ruled 10 over the church of
departed
January,
ex ore vel libro Ultani — episcopi, cujus ipse
alumpnus vel discipulus fait. " Ibid. , Ap- pendix, No. cvi. , pp. 607, 608.
6 See Sir James Ware, " De Scriptoribus Hibernise," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 23.
7 This is generally believed to be as old as 807 ; but, Eugene O'Curry deems it to be
11
See
"
the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish
older than the year 727. See
Lectures on
History," Lect. xvi. , p. 343. 8"
In his General History of Ireland. "
9 The Rev. Father Edmund Hogan, S. J. See " Vita Sancti Patricii Hibernorum
Apostoli, Auctore Muirchu Maccumachteni
et Tirechani Collectanea de S. Patricio. "
The portion already published has appeared,
" 16
in the Analecta Bollandiana," tomus i. , Fasc. iv. Edited by Fathers Carolus de Smedt, Gulielmus Van Hooff and Josephus de Backer. Paris and
royal 8vo.
10 This is the more to be desired, as Sir
William Betham has
printed the Book of Armagh, in his " Irish
Antiquarian Researches," part ii. Dublin,
1827, 8vo. It is so full of errors as to be quite useless. See Rev. Dr. Todd's "St.
Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," p. 150, n. I. Also William F. Skene's " Celtic Scot-
land," vol. ii. , p. 14, n. 22.
By Colgan.
17 See his Life in the First Volume of
this work, at January 20th, Art. ii.
18 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 276, 277. 19 As supposed by Colgan.
Bruxelles, 1882,
very inaccurately
Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, pars,
cap. xvii. , pp. 829, 835, 848, 853,
887, 899. Dublin edition, A. D. 1639, 4to. 12 "
See Trias Thaumaturga," Appendix Secundaad Acta S. Patricii, pp. 196, 197.
13 Thus he states
mina in libro scripta Patricio apud Ultanum episcopum Conchuburnensium, Sanctus Ma- gonus qui est clarus, succetus qui est [deus
belli], Patricius, Cothirthiacus quia servivit iiii domibus magorum, et empsit ilium unus ex eis cui nomen erat Miliuc Maccuboin magus.
14 In the Book of Armagh, fol. 9 a, b.
15 See Very Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, ii. , p. 395.
20 See "Trias Colgan's
:
iii. , pp. 217, 218.
21 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
186, 187.
22 A note by Dr. Todd says* at this inser-
:
tion of the name, Tirechan " Added by the
more recent hand. "
" Inverii quatuor no-
46 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
Article V. —St. Dartinne or Tartinna, of Druimard, or of
Cill-aird, in Ui-Garrchon, County of Wicklow. We read in the
1
published Martyrology of Tallagh, that a festival was celebrated at the 3rd
of July, in honour of Dartinne, Virgin. To her is probably applied the
"
followingcomment,whichcloselyfollows:
h Ercain. " In the M Feilire"2 of St. ^Engus, there is a commemoration of Dartinne's excellent feast, at the 3rd of July. In a gloss, 3 she is said to have been a virgin, and to have been of Cill Airnd in Ui-Garrchon—in Leinster. Fro—mthiswearetoinfer,thatshewasthedaughterofGuaire whoeverhe was and that the place she occupied was named Cill Aird, meaning the * church on the height," in the territory of Ui Ercon, otherwise Ui Garchon. * This territory was situated along the eastern sea-shore,s in the centre of the present county of Wicklow, and it seems to have extended over the moun- tains towards the western boundary. Within it rises Sliabh Gadoe, also called Church Mountain, owing to the fact that the ruined walls of an oblong church, on the northern and widest part of the area, are there to be found. The greatest length of this building was thirty-six feet. This appears to have been surrounded by a rude stone enclosure, approaching to an oval form, the
extreme length being 117 feet, and the width 101. 6 In the most elevated part, the breast-work was twelve feet in height, and within it is a holy well,
still frequented by pilgrims. ? The foregoing conclusion as to locality is fairly warranted from the statement, that St. Patrick when he left Naas went into
:
land,"
i. , County
and soon afterwards he
of the 8 Liffey.
from it to the
Here too has been placed 9 one of the Palladian churches at Donard, variously
called Domnach Arda, Domnach Ardec, and Domnach Airte, or " the Church of the High Place," as also Domnach Ardacha, " the Church of the High Field. " 10 This is now the village of Donard, 11 in the barony of Lower Talbots- town. " Onthissiteandintheimmediateneighbourhood,thereareseveral vestiges'pf pagan and of Christian habitations. Here, it is probable, the church known as Cill-Aird was located, and it may be regarded as identical with that very ancient and curious old ruin, which has so remarkable an elevation on
x
the top of Sliebh Gadoe, 3 otherwise called Church Mountain, near Donard.
Hy-Garchon,
passed
plain
Article v. —* Edited Kelly, p. xxviii.
a
lowing stanza, —translated by Dr. Whitley
Stokes, occurs
rrUpcpA Cirtiomf Crvifc rnhAc&ch mbitbe
Camnbpech Comaif Ailbe £eil T)i5|\Aif "Oarvcinrie.
6 Aview and of this ancient work plan
In the "Leabhar Breac" copy the fol-
tannia," vol. iii.
7 See J. N. Brewer's "Beauties of Ire-
"
Christ : Thomas' translation hear thou :
See Very Rev. James Henthorn Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, i. ,
Cyrion's
martyrdom, no paltry prayer to
Dairtinne's excellent feast. "
of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manu-
in the
so named, are described on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Wicklow," sheets 15, 21.
" See an account of this place in the
"Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, "vol. ii. ,
pp. 32, 33.
I3 For an account of this place, the reader
" isreferredtoLeitchRitcluVs Ireland,Pic-
script Series, vol. i. , parti. dar of Oengus, p. cix.
3 See ibid. , p. cxv.
4 This name it seems to have taken from Garchon, who was father to its ruler Nathi, who lived in the time of St. Palladius and ofSt. Patrick.
by
Rev. Dr.
—"Transactions On the Calen-
p. 295,
3.
s See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," turesque and Romantic," chap, xiv. , pp. Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxiv. , xxv„ 259, 260.
p, 13, and nn. 33, 34, 35, p. 18. ** See the account of Mr. Beauford, in
vol.
xviii. , p. 152.
inghenGuaire,*'. <? . , Cilleairdin
may be found in Gough's Camden's
**
Bri-
of
'ByRev. JohnFrancisShearman. See Loca Patriciana," No. iii. , p. 28.
Wicklow, p. 339. See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. xvii. ,
" 10
8
n.
" This town and
townland,
parish
July 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 47
A curious local tradition prevailed, 1 * that the pile of stones collected on Slieve Gadoe in the twelfth century had been designed to build a church, and also to pave a way over this mountain from old Kilcullen in the county of Kil-
dare, to Glendalough in the county of Wicklow; part of this road, having been executed from Glendalough to Glendassan for some miles along the valley, still remains perfect ; however, for some reason, the work was discontinued, while to this day, the materials for the church remain in their pristine state. The district of Hy Garchon is said to have been in the territory of Forthuatha, which it is supposed was another name for Ui Mail, in the barony of Upper
and of Wicklow. 1* In the of 16 Talbotstown, county Martyrology Donegal,
at this same date, her name is entered, Tartinna, of Cill aird, in Ui Garrchon,
1 in Leinster. ?
Article VI. —St. Maelmuire or Marianus Ua Gormain, better known as Marianus O'Gorman, the Irish Martyrologist, Abbot of Knock, near Lughmhagh, now Louth, County of Louth. [Twelfth
Century. '] It is greatly to be regretted, while the present learned and holy man has conferred lasting and deserved fame on those who preceded him, that posterity should have known so little regarding his own personal
history. In the Irish language, the name conferred upon him was Maelmuire, "
which in English may be rendered the servant of Mary. " By Sir James
Ware,1 he is called Murrius O'Gorman. Where he was born or where he had
been educated is involved in mystery ; yet, it seems probable enough, that
he had become a religious in the monastic establishment, which had flourished
at Lughmagh, from the times of St. Patrick 2 and St. Mochta. 3 The latter is
regarded as the special patron of Louth. Marianus O'Gorman was doubtless
greatly distinguished among his contemporaries, and he is said to have been AbbotofKnock,orCnoc-na-Sengan,*nearLouth. ItisnowcalledKnock
Abbey, and the old Irish-speaking people termed it Teampull a Cnuic ; while unbaptized children had been buried on this hill, even when—under cultiva-
tion. This place—formerly called Lughmadh and Lughbadh is now known as Louth, in the county of Louth. Knock na Seangan is said to have been
endowed and founded for Augustinian Canons,* by Donough O'Carroll,
or O'Killedy, Bishop of Clogher. 6 A
Edan
small fragment of the walls remained in 1836. 7 Louth still exhibits various
Prince of Oriel, and
by
O'Kelly
ancient remains \ and among these are curiously fortified mounds, which are
so frequently met with, especially in that part of Ireland. The Fairy Mount 8 and the Mount of Castle Ring are specimens of this class. They were conical in shape, and had concentric circumvallations, evidently intended for defensive
Gough's Camden's " Britannia," vol. iii.
'5 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Leabhar na g
Ceart, or Book of Rights," n. (d), p. 207.
16 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
4 It is said to bear the English signification "Pismires' Hill," and even it has been so
called by the neighbouring people.
5 See Sir James Ware, "De Hibernia et
Antiquitatibus ejus," cap. xxvi.
186, 187.
" Acta Sanctorum
6 See "Trias Colgan's
J 7
See, also, Colgan's
Thaumaturga,"
Hibernke," xxviii. Februarii. Vita S. Aidi
Epis. et Confesso—ris, n. 15, p. 422.
Article vi. " See " De Scriptoribus
Hibernke," lib. i. , cap. viii. , p. 56.
a See the Life of St. Patrick, in the Third Volume of this work, at the 17th of March,
Art. i.
3 His festival occurs, on the 19th of
August.
p. 305.
7 See "Letters containing Information re-
lative to the Antiquities of County of Louth, collected during the Progress of the Ord-
nance Survey in 1835, 1836. " Letter of Patrick O'Keefe, dated Louth, February 7th, 1836, pp. 232, 233.
8 The accompanying illustration, drawn on the wood by William F. Wakeman, has
48 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
purposes. 9 Accordingtoournativerecords,herestoodareligiousestablish- ment, from a remote period, and its superiors are sometimes known as comorbans of St. Patrick or of St. Mochta. 10 About the year 1167, we are informed, that Marianus O'Gorman wrote a Martyrology, in most elegant Irish verse, during the time of Gelasius, Archbishop of Armagh. Sir James Ware" states, that the Martyrology of O'Gorman was published in 1171. However, it must have appeared later, since we find in it the name of St.
The Fairy Mount, at Louth. Gilda-Machaibeo,whodieda. d. ii74. " Marianusspeaksofhimasatower
an ark of wisdom and of 1 ^ with similar science,
of and of piety
meekness,
eulogistic epithets. He extracted a great part of his own Calendar from the
1
Martyrology of Tallagh, usually called that of ^Engus; ^ however, his own is not
to be regarded, as a mere supplement to that Calendar. ^ Marianus O'Gorman does not confine himself to the principal saints of Ireland alone ; but, he takes in promiscuously those of other countries. This Martyrology existed in the time of Colgan, and it was held in universal esteem, owing to the great
beauty Martyrology
style
fidelity
of its
and the yet preserved,
of its 16 The text of this performance.
is
x
at Bruxelles ? it is to be that
been engraved by Mrs. Millard.
» In Thomas Wright's u Louthiana," Sanctorum Hibernicc," i. Januarii, Vita S.
book i. , plates xii. , xiii. , the elevations and ground-plan of those objects mentioned in the text may be seen, as they existed in 1758.
15 See Harris' Ware, vol.
" Writers of
10 In our Irish Annals.
" See "De Scriptoribus Hibernise," nise," i. Januarii. Vita S. Fanchea? , sect, iv. ,
lib.
12 See Rev. Dr.
16 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- P- 5-
i. , cap. viii. , p. 56. Lanigan's
"Ecclesiasticsi History of Ireland," vol. iv. , chap, xxx. ,
17 In the
this copy belonged to the Franciscans.
sect, ii. , p. 251, n. 12, p. 252, ibid.
13 See ibid. , chap, xxix. , sect, vi. , p. 220,
and n. 48, p. 222.
14
This is to be collected from the state- ment of an old scholiast, in a preface to the
18 See " Recherches sur les Calend tiers
Ecclesiastiques," par le R. P. Victor de Buck, S. J. , sect, viii. , p. 19. This posthu- mous publication appeared at Bruxelles, 1877, 8>o.
; but, regretted,
Martyrology itself. See Colgan's "Acta Fanchete, sect, iv. , p. 5.
ii. , Ireland," booki. , chap, ix. , p. 71.
Burgundian Library. Formerly
July 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 49
as yet, this valuable national and ecclesiastic;)] record has not been pub- lished. 18 Our annalists trace a long line of bishops, abbots or priors, in connexion with Louth, down to the sixteenth century, when its possessions were T 9 In the
1181,
to the
July, to Maelmuire 3 3 Ua Gormain, Abbot of Lughmhagh.
Martyrology
of
Donegal,
cum," pp. 469 to 479.
20 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the iii.
Four Masters," vol. iii. , pp. 56, 57. 31 "
* Inhis"
See Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xxiv.
Martii, Appendix ad Vitam S. Mochtei,
cap. v. , p. 737.
21
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.