° Supposing liim to have joined the Irish
Apostle, as a mere youth, in 433, he could have been entitled to the name of a holy
priest, about A.
Apostle, as a mere youth, in 433, he could have been entitled to the name of a holy
priest, about A.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
Patrick himself alludes to t—hose raiders he
as infamous and — Picts. 47 The Bollandists although not led, apostate
drawing any certain conclusion have a conjecture,'*^ that his name signified, he had been king of Ceretica, the part of Wales,49 now known as Cardigan- shire. Some have thought he was a Cornish ruler. That he reigned in Cornwall would seem probable enough,s° if the martyrdom of St. Fingar and of his companions^' there could be traced to his wicked agency. We are told, that the impious chief mocked the teaching and salutary admonitionsS"
the Christian Rehgion. " Also Harris' siecles, avec une Chronologic et Notes,"
"
tome xvi. , p. 462.
** In terms of loathing yet not calling
mission, the opinion of Archbishop Ussher, 360.
on this point, is not to be allowed. See *^ See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , " A Primer of the History of the Holy Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo, Catholic Church in Ireland," vol. i. , book Apostolo et Primate Hibernise. Prelude to i. , chap, iv. , p. 30. Similar incorrect ideas his Epistle to Coroticus, p. 538.
Ware, vol. i. , pp. 10, II.
Archbishops of Armagh,"
—
39 In quoting Mr. Phelan's book, the
" Case of the Church of Ireland stated by
Declan," the Rev. Robert King asserts,
that regarding St. Patrick's Roman com- Apostle of Ireland," chap, ii. , pp. 359,
pervade his " Memoir introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," Preface, and p. 68,
*° According to the Tripartite Life.
^9 Jocelyn stales, that Cereticus was a native of that part of Brittany, called Wales. It seems probable, that the name Coroticus or Cereticus is the same, being no other than Caraduc. So it appears, as written in the Welsh, or, Caradeuc, as spelled by the
*' Under different forms, this was a veiy
common name, among the ancient Britons.
It was originally the same as that of the Bretons. The name Corotic, Caretic, great Caractacus, or Caratacus, whose ex-
ploits are to be found recorded, in John
" ofGreatBritaine. " The Speed's History
Ceretic, Cerdic, was one usual, among the Britons, not alone in Ceretica, but wherever there were of that race.
people
Fifth BooUe, chap, vi. , pp. 175, 176. A 50 There is a statement in the Life of S—t.
wicked British king. Careticus, is mentioned, as living in the sixth century. See Ranul-
Crantock—
venerated at the i6'hof
phus in his
"
Polychronicon," in Gale's
May that the territory of Ceredig, a king of Cornwall, was in his old age devastated by hordes of Irish. What else could have been expected, but that fierce retribution would be sought by the people, whom he
" at
Scriptores XV. ," p. 225. Cereticus,
another British king, who lived about a. d.
620, is spoken of by Camden, in his
"
Bri-
—col. 862. We find in Bede a tannia,"
had so
that the great Irish Apostle had terrified the soldiers of Ceredig, by denouncing God's
—who flourished towards the latter end of the
"
Hisioria Ecclesias- tica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii. ,
p. 324.
*- He is so designated, by Probus.
<3 So he is called, by Joc^lyn, in the Sixth
Life, cap. cl. , p. 98.
** Thus do we read, in the Third Life :
"Nunciata sunt S. Patricio mala opera cu-
? And grievously wronged seeing
a British
Cerclic likewise prince
seventh century. See
judgments upon them and upon their chief, stigmatizing them as "fellow-citizens of devils, and murderers of the brethren of the Lord," what more likely to have happened, according to the Rev. John Adams, than that Crantock, being fully aware of the enormity of the crimes committed by his father's troops, and of the terror which the saint's scathing denunciation had struck into their hearts, should have fled for niercy to
jusdam regis Britonum, Coritic crudelis, et
immitis tyranni, ut converteret eum ad viam
veritatis. Hie Coritic namque erat perse- St. Patrick, rather than lead those guilty
cutor, et interfector Christianorum, misitque Patricius ad eum epistolam ; sed rex ille deridebat doctiinam Patricii. " See Tertia Vim . S. Patricii," cap. Ixxii. , p. 27.
*5 See Tillemonts " Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Ecclesiabtique des six premiers
soldiers against the avenging host ? See "Journal of the Royal Institution of Corn- wall," 1874. Num. XV. S. Crantock.
5' Their, feast has been assigned, to the 23rd of February.
him an infidel
—
does this Jocelyn mention
king. See Sixth Life, "cap. cl. , p. 98.
7 See Rev. Dr. Todd's " St. Patrick,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 743
of St. Patrick. However this may be, he was a noted marauder, and he is
thought to have conducted an expedition against the Irish,53 landing ap- parently on some part of the southernS4 or eastern coast. Here, his bands
plundered the inhabitants, while they committed still greater excesses and even murders. He brought away numbers of captives, whom he sold to the Picts and Scots jSs and, among the rest were many of St. Patrick's neophytes. From an epistle^^ written to him, by the holy Apostle, we learn, that several of these were foully murdered soon after their baptism,^? and on the very day following their confirmation, while the chrism was yet shining on their foreheads. ss A few words of it give an exact description of that ancient ritualistic practice or discipline, according to which, the sacrament of confir- mation or chrism used to be administered immediately after baptism, by the bishop, in case he were the baptizer, or that he happened to be present on the occasion. 59 We learn, also, that the white garment of newly baptized persons was then in use. ^° Such practices continued, for some hundreds of years, even with regard to infants, Alcuin writes, in illustration of the custom, when treating about infant baptism. ^^ St. Patrick gives the epithet of apos- tates to those Picts,°'' who had purchased the captives ; and, it seems probable enough, that those lawless bands, with some roving Scots, had then penetrated into the southern parts of Britain, for the purpose of gaining booty, towards the middle of the fifth century. ^3 Probably, Coroticus and his followers carried on a trade in making slaves, and in bringing them as captives to Great Britain. The Saxons engaged those troublesome invaders
5^ See Probus, or Quinta Vita S. Patricii,
lib. ii. , cap. xxvii. , p. 59.
53 We find it written : "a latrunculis
of Epiphania, it seems, that this canon must be very ancient ; and. Dr. Lanigan finds no reason for denying, that St. Patrick himself was the author of it.
jubente Corotico," &c. It has been sup-
posed, Corotic in person formed one of the
armed party, that landed in Ireland. See
Tillemont, as ah-eady cited. It is, however, administering baptism, it happened ; or, difficult to determine, from the Epistle, whether it occurred at Easter, Whitsuntide, whetlier he was so, or had only ordered his or the Epiphany. On this last festival, soldiers on that wicked expedition. also, baptism used to be administered
Whether this were the case or not, for the re-
sults he was no doubt responsible. The text
is so obscure, and many parts of it are so cor-
rupt, that minor questions of this kind in Christo confirmari, postera die qua
cannot be easily decided. At any rate, whatever occurred was perpetrated, in con- sequence of his directions.
chrisma neophyti in veste Candida flagrabat
in froute ipsorum. "
^ A similar passage occurs, where we
5* The Rev. Dr. is of Lanigan opinion,
he read: " Maximinus episcopus Baptizavit
landedinMunster,whichSt. Patrickleft, BasiliumetEubulum,etvestivital—bis,atque
A. D.
55 By Scots are here meant those of that
ungens eos sancto chrismate" &c. lochius, Vita S. Basilii, cap. v.
"
^^ Picts had em- Many of the Southern
braced the Christian faith, on the preaching of Ninian. It seems, afterwards, that some of them had apostatized. The Northern Pictscouldnothavebeencalledapostatesin St. Patrick's time. These people were first converted by Columkille, in the sixth century. To the epithet, apostates, the saint adds, that the Picts were most un- worthy and al:)andoned.
*3 To oppose such rovers, Vortigern,
452. ^
Amphi-
who still remained and of pagans,
*' In his " De Officiis,"
nation,
whom, generally speaking, a smaller num-
Treatise,
Sabbato Paschae," we read :
cap.
ber in proportion had been converted, than of the other inhabitant—s.
5" T—his is the best and indeed the only
good authority, with regard to what con- cerns Coroticus.
57 In the Epistle against Coroticus, St. Patrick alludes to rules and ceremonies re- lativetotheadministrationofbaptism. He speaks of the white garment, of chrism, &c. The 19th canon of what is called St. Patrick's Synod runs thus " Octovo die
:
Catechumeni sunt ; postea solemuitatibus Domini baptizantur, id est, Pascha, Pente- coste, et Epiphania. " From the mention
5* We find nothing, that may lead us to ascertain, on which of the solemn times for
solemnly in Ireland.
59 " De sanguine innoceotium Christian-
orum, quos ego numeros Deo genui, atque
de Postea ves- tiatur infans. " * * » " Si vero episco- pus adest, statim confirmari eum oportet
chrismate. "
744 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March i 7.
near Stamford, defeated,^* and obliged them to fly from Southern Britain. ^s Nor do we find the Scots and Picts again united against the Britons, whereas not long after, the Picts became allied to the Saxons. Such historic co- incidences are supposed to establish the genuineness, accuracy, and antiquity of St. Patrick's Epistle ; for, none other than a contemporary could have written with such exactness, and so very conformable to the state of that country and of those times. St. Patrick sent a comminatory epistle, by a holy priest, who had been a disciple from his younger days. ^^ It required the marauders to restore the baptized captives, with a part of their booty. It must not be understood, from a word, used by him in this letter, that />/- fantia^^ really meant, what we usually call infancy^'^ as it has been supposed to be, by the learned author Tillemont. ^9 Some clerics or younger eccle- siastics also accompanied the priest, and these must have been natives of Ireland. It has been conjectured, St. Benignus might have been that holy priest,7° entrusted with St. Patrick's message. ? ' The original letter of St. Patrick seems to have been lost, in the wreck of time ; but, we may infer, that die priest and his attendant ecclesiastics were received contumeliously, for their object could not be attained. Tliis urged the Apostle to address a minatory letter, against Coroticus and his wicked companions. He pro- nounced solemnly a sentence of excommunication against them, thus hoping to reclaim these wicked persons from their evil courses. This denuncia- tion seems to include Coroticus, together with his associates. On that account, St. Patrick gave directions, that the Epistle should be read in the presence, not only of his subjects, but also of Coroticus himself Had he not been a Christian, he could not have been excommunicated. The saint
expresses his wish, that those robbers and murderers, of whom Coroticus wasthechief,mayreturntoGod. ? " Thisplainlyalludestosomeprofession
of Christianity. We are told, by Jocelyn, that instead of repenting, Coroti- cus derided the saint, and became more obstinate in perpetrating mischief
and iniquity. When the saint understood this, he prayed to God, and Jocelyn likewise relates, that Cereticus was chastised by God, in a very remarkable nianner. 73 It may be true, that soon afterwards he disappeared from this
King of Britain, invited over to his aid the
Anglo-Saxons, about A. D. 450. See Ussher's "Index Chronologicus," at A. D. CCCCL.
'* See Venerable Bede's " Historia Ec- clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. i. , cap.
shows, that these were supposed to have arrived, at a certain age of discretion. See Ducange's "Glossarium Medice et Infimse Latinitatis," at the word Infantes.
in some
perplexity, chronological points, relative to St. Patrick, and at that age, at which boys used to be dedicated to the ecclesiastical grade. See "Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Eccle-
siastique," tome xvi. , pp. 462 and 784.
?
° Supposing liim to have joined the Irish
Apostle, as a mere youth, in 433, he could have been entitled to the name of a holy
priest, about A. D. 450.
? ' It is not improbable. Dr. Lanigan
thinks, that Benignus was the person. Were it necessary, we may recur to another
explanation, by sujiposing, that the said priest had been one of those persons, who
had accompanied our Apostle to Ireland, and that he had been under his care when
on the continent,
? ' "
Quod si Deus inspirat illos, et quan- doque Deo resipiscant, et vel sero poeuit- eant," &c,
^3 See Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cl. , p. 98,
XV. , pp. 57 to 59.
'5 See Warrington's
"
History of Wales. " vol. i. , book ii. , pp. 67,68.
** " Et misi epistolam cum sancto presby- tero, quem ego ex infantia docui, cum clericis," &c. This holy priest, thus men- tioned by our saint, might have been four- teen or fifteen years old, when the saint began to instruct him. Yet he might have been called an infans.
'7 Tillemont seems to think, in reference to this expression, that the raid of Coroticus occurred about thirty years, after the land- ing of the Irish Apostle, for the work of his mission.
" We find
boys," or infantes vionasterii,
" choir novices," in monastic establishments. According to
infantes paraphistona, "
statutes of the Benedictine Order, we read, that iffantes were bound to hear the rule
expounded every day. This circumstance
** He found much
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 743
world ; but, much of what St. Patrick's Acts state is evidently tinged with fable. 74
Two Ulstermen, named Dubhan,73 or Dubhanus,? '^ and Dubhaedh,? ?
or Dubhedus,''^ who were brothers,79 stole two of Patrick's horses from
the land, east of Nemhed,^° in reference to Armagh. This place was
afterwards called Tir-Suidhe-Patrick, or ''' the seat of Patrick"—perhaps,
because the Apostle resided there. They carried them off into a moor
or marsh, to the south of Armagh. Dubhan said, that he would not
take what belonged to the tailc£? ui, least he might incur Divine anger, and
receive " I will take, what comes to said Dubhaedh. punishment. me,"
Full of contrition, Dubhan went immediately, and he did penance. " Your comrade's journey is not a fortunate one," said the prophetic Patrick, to whom it was revealed in a vision. Dubhaedh then got a fall, so that his
head was fractured, and he died instantly. Counselled by the Apostle, Dubhan became his disciple, and he was ordained, after having received
proper instruction. Then the holy Patrick said
shall be. " After spending a life of great sanctity, Dubhan^' died, and he was buried at Armagh, in fulfilment of St. P'atrick's prophecy. Again, while Patrick was at Armagh, wheat fell like manna from Heaven, at one time, in a desert place, near a hill. One Setna,^^ son of Dalian, carried to Patrick so mucli of this manna, as could be placed on the back of a horse. He brought it, as a gift, from the hill, named Druim-nuc-Ublae,^3 and said to have been in Crimthainnj^-^ in Oirgiell territory. A grain of that wheat dropped out of the bag, while on the way, when the horse fell, and he could not rise, until moved by a vision of what occurred. Patrick himself came to
prophecy,
sack,
That grain was found, afterwards, and a cross was
" This is the
:
said the saint
his of spirit
that
One day, a religious couple, who are named Berach and Brig, or Briga, brought three pieces of cheese, and butter, as an humble offering for the support of those youths, trained by St, Patrick in learning and piety. This
was graciously received by him. But, a druid came there, whose name is ""
^'
Colgan remarks in a note 109, that a saint of this name, and a Briton, was vene- rated,atthenthofFebruary. Anotherso designated is commemorated, in the Irish Calendars, at the nth of November. At this latter date, Colgan promised to treat about the present holy man. See Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. Ixxxiv. , pji. 164, 165, and pp. 187, 188.
*' TheCalendaroftheO'Clerysmentions, that St. Sedna, of Druim-Mac-Ublai, wa> venerated there, on the 9th of March.
*3 No church bearing this name is to be
found, at present, in the baronies of Slane.
It was plundered, by the foreigners, A. D, 830. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of
the Four Masters," vol. i,, pp. 444, 445, and n. (f. )
*» According to Colgan. See nn. IIO, HI, p. 18S. This district is supposed to have been comprised, within the baronies of
spot.
reason,"
through
" for a where the horse fell. "
of that wheat
dropped
out of the
and on that
grain
erected on the way, southwards, in memory of such a miraculous event. The
"
" heavenly way. " This name, Patrick declared it must bear, through future time.
place was called, also, Slige Neimhead, which meant, the
holy" or
only given as Gall-drui, or foreign druid. " He said to the saint, I will believe in you, if you convert those pieces of cheese into stones. " This
7* Such as Coroticus havin<T been, in punishment for his crimes, changed into a fox. See Septima Vila S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. c, p. 167. Also, Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
" Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. ,
chap, vi. , sect, x. , nn. 99 to 109, pp. 296 to 302. Also, Father Joachim Laurenza Villa-
"
nueva's Sancti Patricii Opuscula," &c.
Appendix V. , pp. 339 to 369.
" According to the Irish Tripartite Life. ? * According to tlie Latin Tripartite Life. ? ' So named, in the Irish Tripartite Life. ^'' Thus called, in the Latin Tripartite.
7» The Latin Tripartite Life calls them
"fratres germani. "
'° Nemed or Neimheadh, means "a
sanctuary," or "glebe land," "a holy wood," or "wood of the sanctuary" or "glebe. " See Dr. Petrie's " Ecclesiastical Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland," part i. , sect, iii. , p. 61.
" Here thy resurrection
spot,
74<5 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
Patrick. " cheese," said the druid, and Patrick did so.
'
servant of God, named Dicuill^s of the Ernaidhe,^^ or prayer-house,' ^^ shall
come here. " The druid then believed in Christ, after witnessing so many
^^
wonder God
convert them into " Convert them into stones
"
again,"
druid,
again complied
performed through
Again,
and Patrick
with his " Con- request.
said the
vert them again," cried the druid, but Patrick then said,
remain as they now are, and in commemoration of this transaction, until a
Patrick flung his little belies into a dense
miracles, and he was baptized.
bush or grove there, as he had a forecast, that Dichuill should find it. birch9° grew througli its handle. This it was that Dicuill found, when after- wardshecametoErnaidhe. Twoofthestones,transformedfromthecheese, were in that place ;9' the third one, moreover, was carried by Dicuill to Lughmagh, when he was abbot there. It was to be seen, afterwards, in Gort-Conaidh,9^ or Gortchonuigh,93 meaning "garden," or "field of'the fire- wood," whither it had been brought. This was the name of a monastery,? * in the barony of Cremorne, and county of Monaghan. Many miracles were wrought, in the place where it was kept, through the merits of St. Patrick. 93
St. Patrick presided over Armagh,9^ for some years ;97 but, it has been
Upper and Lower Slane, in the county of Meath.
^^ Colgan writes, that another Dichuill,
from being an Abbot over Ernatiensis, be-
came Abbot of Louth, a. d. 700. A St. Di- paputo, Colgan understands /«/, or the soft chuill is said to have been venerated, in that
church, on the ist of May.
^° Ernatiensis was the Latinized form of Ernaidhe or Urnaiahe. It is now Angli- cised Urney, Nurney, and Farney. The
present place is conjectured by Colgan, to have been the same as Cluain-Braoin, beside the church of Louth. However, an Inquisi- tion, the 4th James I. , found, that the king was seized of the priory of Louth and its pos- sessions, inter alia, the rectory of Faghart, inchiding with others the tithes of Orney, alias Nurney. There are still some remains of the ancient church, at Urney, in the present small parish of Faughart, a little north of Dundalk, in the county of Louth.
"
Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 614.
*7 In Latin called Oratorium, and in Eng- lish "an oratory. " See, on this subject, the "Acts of Archbishop Cotton in his Metro- politan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry, A. D. Mcccxcvii. " Edited by Rev. William Reeves, D. U. , n. (o), pp. 16, 17.
** See Edmund L. Swift's " Life and
Acts of St. Patrick," &c. , chap, cliv. , pp. 207, 208.
*9 It is called the betechan, and it is said to have been a little iron bell, which was afterwards kept in the Ernaidhe of Dicuill.
>° In the Irish language, it is called bethe.
'' In the Fourth Life, chap. Ixxiv. , p. 44, in the Sixth Life, cap. cxix. , p. 92, and in the Seventh Life, lib. iii. , cap. xiii. , p. 151, a somewhat similar miracle, but a distinct one from the present, is recorded, in which men are said to have been turned into stones. The present miracle seems, how- ever, to have been more obscurely related.
73. P- 34-
9^ So is the name written, in the Irish
See Lewis'
Tripartite Life. There is a townland called Gorteens, in the parish of Donaghmoyne, in
Farney Barony, county of Monaghan. This is likely enough to have been the site for
this ancient monastery'.
93 According to the Latin Tripartite Life. 9^ The " Annals of the Four Masters "
record the death of Flann Feabhla, abbot
of Gort Conaigh, in Mughdhorn-Maighen, at A. D. 735. See Dr. O'Dono van's edition,
vol. i. , pp. 336, 337, and n. (c. )
95 See Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. Ix. , p.
46, and nn. 73, 74, p.
as infamous and — Picts. 47 The Bollandists although not led, apostate
drawing any certain conclusion have a conjecture,'*^ that his name signified, he had been king of Ceretica, the part of Wales,49 now known as Cardigan- shire. Some have thought he was a Cornish ruler. That he reigned in Cornwall would seem probable enough,s° if the martyrdom of St. Fingar and of his companions^' there could be traced to his wicked agency. We are told, that the impious chief mocked the teaching and salutary admonitionsS"
the Christian Rehgion. " Also Harris' siecles, avec une Chronologic et Notes,"
"
tome xvi. , p. 462.
** In terms of loathing yet not calling
mission, the opinion of Archbishop Ussher, 360.
on this point, is not to be allowed. See *^ See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , " A Primer of the History of the Holy Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo, Catholic Church in Ireland," vol. i. , book Apostolo et Primate Hibernise. Prelude to i. , chap, iv. , p. 30. Similar incorrect ideas his Epistle to Coroticus, p. 538.
Ware, vol. i. , pp. 10, II.
Archbishops of Armagh,"
—
39 In quoting Mr. Phelan's book, the
" Case of the Church of Ireland stated by
Declan," the Rev. Robert King asserts,
that regarding St. Patrick's Roman com- Apostle of Ireland," chap, ii. , pp. 359,
pervade his " Memoir introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," Preface, and p. 68,
*° According to the Tripartite Life.
^9 Jocelyn stales, that Cereticus was a native of that part of Brittany, called Wales. It seems probable, that the name Coroticus or Cereticus is the same, being no other than Caraduc. So it appears, as written in the Welsh, or, Caradeuc, as spelled by the
*' Under different forms, this was a veiy
common name, among the ancient Britons.
It was originally the same as that of the Bretons. The name Corotic, Caretic, great Caractacus, or Caratacus, whose ex-
ploits are to be found recorded, in John
" ofGreatBritaine. " The Speed's History
Ceretic, Cerdic, was one usual, among the Britons, not alone in Ceretica, but wherever there were of that race.
people
Fifth BooUe, chap, vi. , pp. 175, 176. A 50 There is a statement in the Life of S—t.
wicked British king. Careticus, is mentioned, as living in the sixth century. See Ranul-
Crantock—
venerated at the i6'hof
phus in his
"
Polychronicon," in Gale's
May that the territory of Ceredig, a king of Cornwall, was in his old age devastated by hordes of Irish. What else could have been expected, but that fierce retribution would be sought by the people, whom he
" at
Scriptores XV. ," p. 225. Cereticus,
another British king, who lived about a. d.
620, is spoken of by Camden, in his
"
Bri-
—col. 862. We find in Bede a tannia,"
had so
that the great Irish Apostle had terrified the soldiers of Ceredig, by denouncing God's
—who flourished towards the latter end of the
"
Hisioria Ecclesias- tica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. xxiii. ,
p. 324.
*- He is so designated, by Probus.
<3 So he is called, by Joc^lyn, in the Sixth
Life, cap. cl. , p. 98.
** Thus do we read, in the Third Life :
"Nunciata sunt S. Patricio mala opera cu-
? And grievously wronged seeing
a British
Cerclic likewise prince
seventh century. See
judgments upon them and upon their chief, stigmatizing them as "fellow-citizens of devils, and murderers of the brethren of the Lord," what more likely to have happened, according to the Rev. John Adams, than that Crantock, being fully aware of the enormity of the crimes committed by his father's troops, and of the terror which the saint's scathing denunciation had struck into their hearts, should have fled for niercy to
jusdam regis Britonum, Coritic crudelis, et
immitis tyranni, ut converteret eum ad viam
veritatis. Hie Coritic namque erat perse- St. Patrick, rather than lead those guilty
cutor, et interfector Christianorum, misitque Patricius ad eum epistolam ; sed rex ille deridebat doctiinam Patricii. " See Tertia Vim . S. Patricii," cap. Ixxii. , p. 27.
*5 See Tillemonts " Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Ecclesiabtique des six premiers
soldiers against the avenging host ? See "Journal of the Royal Institution of Corn- wall," 1874. Num. XV. S. Crantock.
5' Their, feast has been assigned, to the 23rd of February.
him an infidel
—
does this Jocelyn mention
king. See Sixth Life, "cap. cl. , p. 98.
7 See Rev. Dr. Todd's " St. Patrick,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 743
of St. Patrick. However this may be, he was a noted marauder, and he is
thought to have conducted an expedition against the Irish,53 landing ap- parently on some part of the southernS4 or eastern coast. Here, his bands
plundered the inhabitants, while they committed still greater excesses and even murders. He brought away numbers of captives, whom he sold to the Picts and Scots jSs and, among the rest were many of St. Patrick's neophytes. From an epistle^^ written to him, by the holy Apostle, we learn, that several of these were foully murdered soon after their baptism,^? and on the very day following their confirmation, while the chrism was yet shining on their foreheads. ss A few words of it give an exact description of that ancient ritualistic practice or discipline, according to which, the sacrament of confir- mation or chrism used to be administered immediately after baptism, by the bishop, in case he were the baptizer, or that he happened to be present on the occasion. 59 We learn, also, that the white garment of newly baptized persons was then in use. ^° Such practices continued, for some hundreds of years, even with regard to infants, Alcuin writes, in illustration of the custom, when treating about infant baptism. ^^ St. Patrick gives the epithet of apos- tates to those Picts,°'' who had purchased the captives ; and, it seems probable enough, that those lawless bands, with some roving Scots, had then penetrated into the southern parts of Britain, for the purpose of gaining booty, towards the middle of the fifth century. ^3 Probably, Coroticus and his followers carried on a trade in making slaves, and in bringing them as captives to Great Britain. The Saxons engaged those troublesome invaders
5^ See Probus, or Quinta Vita S. Patricii,
lib. ii. , cap. xxvii. , p. 59.
53 We find it written : "a latrunculis
of Epiphania, it seems, that this canon must be very ancient ; and. Dr. Lanigan finds no reason for denying, that St. Patrick himself was the author of it.
jubente Corotico," &c. It has been sup-
posed, Corotic in person formed one of the
armed party, that landed in Ireland. See
Tillemont, as ah-eady cited. It is, however, administering baptism, it happened ; or, difficult to determine, from the Epistle, whether it occurred at Easter, Whitsuntide, whetlier he was so, or had only ordered his or the Epiphany. On this last festival, soldiers on that wicked expedition. also, baptism used to be administered
Whether this were the case or not, for the re-
sults he was no doubt responsible. The text
is so obscure, and many parts of it are so cor-
rupt, that minor questions of this kind in Christo confirmari, postera die qua
cannot be easily decided. At any rate, whatever occurred was perpetrated, in con- sequence of his directions.
chrisma neophyti in veste Candida flagrabat
in froute ipsorum. "
^ A similar passage occurs, where we
5* The Rev. Dr. is of Lanigan opinion,
he read: " Maximinus episcopus Baptizavit
landedinMunster,whichSt. Patrickleft, BasiliumetEubulum,etvestivital—bis,atque
A. D.
55 By Scots are here meant those of that
ungens eos sancto chrismate" &c. lochius, Vita S. Basilii, cap. v.
"
^^ Picts had em- Many of the Southern
braced the Christian faith, on the preaching of Ninian. It seems, afterwards, that some of them had apostatized. The Northern Pictscouldnothavebeencalledapostatesin St. Patrick's time. These people were first converted by Columkille, in the sixth century. To the epithet, apostates, the saint adds, that the Picts were most un- worthy and al:)andoned.
*3 To oppose such rovers, Vortigern,
452. ^
Amphi-
who still remained and of pagans,
*' In his " De Officiis,"
nation,
whom, generally speaking, a smaller num-
Treatise,
Sabbato Paschae," we read :
cap.
ber in proportion had been converted, than of the other inhabitant—s.
5" T—his is the best and indeed the only
good authority, with regard to what con- cerns Coroticus.
57 In the Epistle against Coroticus, St. Patrick alludes to rules and ceremonies re- lativetotheadministrationofbaptism. He speaks of the white garment, of chrism, &c. The 19th canon of what is called St. Patrick's Synod runs thus " Octovo die
:
Catechumeni sunt ; postea solemuitatibus Domini baptizantur, id est, Pascha, Pente- coste, et Epiphania. " From the mention
5* We find nothing, that may lead us to ascertain, on which of the solemn times for
solemnly in Ireland.
59 " De sanguine innoceotium Christian-
orum, quos ego numeros Deo genui, atque
de Postea ves- tiatur infans. " * * » " Si vero episco- pus adest, statim confirmari eum oportet
chrismate. "
744 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March i 7.
near Stamford, defeated,^* and obliged them to fly from Southern Britain. ^s Nor do we find the Scots and Picts again united against the Britons, whereas not long after, the Picts became allied to the Saxons. Such historic co- incidences are supposed to establish the genuineness, accuracy, and antiquity of St. Patrick's Epistle ; for, none other than a contemporary could have written with such exactness, and so very conformable to the state of that country and of those times. St. Patrick sent a comminatory epistle, by a holy priest, who had been a disciple from his younger days. ^^ It required the marauders to restore the baptized captives, with a part of their booty. It must not be understood, from a word, used by him in this letter, that />/- fantia^^ really meant, what we usually call infancy^'^ as it has been supposed to be, by the learned author Tillemont. ^9 Some clerics or younger eccle- siastics also accompanied the priest, and these must have been natives of Ireland. It has been conjectured, St. Benignus might have been that holy priest,7° entrusted with St. Patrick's message. ? ' The original letter of St. Patrick seems to have been lost, in the wreck of time ; but, we may infer, that die priest and his attendant ecclesiastics were received contumeliously, for their object could not be attained. Tliis urged the Apostle to address a minatory letter, against Coroticus and his wicked companions. He pro- nounced solemnly a sentence of excommunication against them, thus hoping to reclaim these wicked persons from their evil courses. This denuncia- tion seems to include Coroticus, together with his associates. On that account, St. Patrick gave directions, that the Epistle should be read in the presence, not only of his subjects, but also of Coroticus himself Had he not been a Christian, he could not have been excommunicated. The saint
expresses his wish, that those robbers and murderers, of whom Coroticus wasthechief,mayreturntoGod. ? " Thisplainlyalludestosomeprofession
of Christianity. We are told, by Jocelyn, that instead of repenting, Coroti- cus derided the saint, and became more obstinate in perpetrating mischief
and iniquity. When the saint understood this, he prayed to God, and Jocelyn likewise relates, that Cereticus was chastised by God, in a very remarkable nianner. 73 It may be true, that soon afterwards he disappeared from this
King of Britain, invited over to his aid the
Anglo-Saxons, about A. D. 450. See Ussher's "Index Chronologicus," at A. D. CCCCL.
'* See Venerable Bede's " Historia Ec- clesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. i. , cap.
shows, that these were supposed to have arrived, at a certain age of discretion. See Ducange's "Glossarium Medice et Infimse Latinitatis," at the word Infantes.
in some
perplexity, chronological points, relative to St. Patrick, and at that age, at which boys used to be dedicated to the ecclesiastical grade. See "Memoirs pour servir a I'Histoire Eccle-
siastique," tome xvi. , pp. 462 and 784.
?
° Supposing liim to have joined the Irish
Apostle, as a mere youth, in 433, he could have been entitled to the name of a holy
priest, about A. D. 450.
? ' It is not improbable. Dr. Lanigan
thinks, that Benignus was the person. Were it necessary, we may recur to another
explanation, by sujiposing, that the said priest had been one of those persons, who
had accompanied our Apostle to Ireland, and that he had been under his care when
on the continent,
? ' "
Quod si Deus inspirat illos, et quan- doque Deo resipiscant, et vel sero poeuit- eant," &c,
^3 See Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cl. , p. 98,
XV. , pp. 57 to 59.
'5 See Warrington's
"
History of Wales. " vol. i. , book ii. , pp. 67,68.
** " Et misi epistolam cum sancto presby- tero, quem ego ex infantia docui, cum clericis," &c. This holy priest, thus men- tioned by our saint, might have been four- teen or fifteen years old, when the saint began to instruct him. Yet he might have been called an infans.
'7 Tillemont seems to think, in reference to this expression, that the raid of Coroticus occurred about thirty years, after the land- ing of the Irish Apostle, for the work of his mission.
" We find
boys," or infantes vionasterii,
" choir novices," in monastic establishments. According to
infantes paraphistona, "
statutes of the Benedictine Order, we read, that iffantes were bound to hear the rule
expounded every day. This circumstance
** He found much
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 743
world ; but, much of what St. Patrick's Acts state is evidently tinged with fable. 74
Two Ulstermen, named Dubhan,73 or Dubhanus,? '^ and Dubhaedh,? ?
or Dubhedus,''^ who were brothers,79 stole two of Patrick's horses from
the land, east of Nemhed,^° in reference to Armagh. This place was
afterwards called Tir-Suidhe-Patrick, or ''' the seat of Patrick"—perhaps,
because the Apostle resided there. They carried them off into a moor
or marsh, to the south of Armagh. Dubhan said, that he would not
take what belonged to the tailc£? ui, least he might incur Divine anger, and
receive " I will take, what comes to said Dubhaedh. punishment. me,"
Full of contrition, Dubhan went immediately, and he did penance. " Your comrade's journey is not a fortunate one," said the prophetic Patrick, to whom it was revealed in a vision. Dubhaedh then got a fall, so that his
head was fractured, and he died instantly. Counselled by the Apostle, Dubhan became his disciple, and he was ordained, after having received
proper instruction. Then the holy Patrick said
shall be. " After spending a life of great sanctity, Dubhan^' died, and he was buried at Armagh, in fulfilment of St. P'atrick's prophecy. Again, while Patrick was at Armagh, wheat fell like manna from Heaven, at one time, in a desert place, near a hill. One Setna,^^ son of Dalian, carried to Patrick so mucli of this manna, as could be placed on the back of a horse. He brought it, as a gift, from the hill, named Druim-nuc-Ublae,^3 and said to have been in Crimthainnj^-^ in Oirgiell territory. A grain of that wheat dropped out of the bag, while on the way, when the horse fell, and he could not rise, until moved by a vision of what occurred. Patrick himself came to
prophecy,
sack,
That grain was found, afterwards, and a cross was
" This is the
:
said the saint
his of spirit
that
One day, a religious couple, who are named Berach and Brig, or Briga, brought three pieces of cheese, and butter, as an humble offering for the support of those youths, trained by St, Patrick in learning and piety. This
was graciously received by him. But, a druid came there, whose name is ""
^'
Colgan remarks in a note 109, that a saint of this name, and a Briton, was vene- rated,atthenthofFebruary. Anotherso designated is commemorated, in the Irish Calendars, at the nth of November. At this latter date, Colgan promised to treat about the present holy man. See Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. Ixxxiv. , pji. 164, 165, and pp. 187, 188.
*' TheCalendaroftheO'Clerysmentions, that St. Sedna, of Druim-Mac-Ublai, wa> venerated there, on the 9th of March.
*3 No church bearing this name is to be
found, at present, in the baronies of Slane.
It was plundered, by the foreigners, A. D, 830. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of
the Four Masters," vol. i,, pp. 444, 445, and n. (f. )
*» According to Colgan. See nn. IIO, HI, p. 18S. This district is supposed to have been comprised, within the baronies of
spot.
reason,"
through
" for a where the horse fell. "
of that wheat
dropped
out of the
and on that
grain
erected on the way, southwards, in memory of such a miraculous event. The
"
" heavenly way. " This name, Patrick declared it must bear, through future time.
place was called, also, Slige Neimhead, which meant, the
holy" or
only given as Gall-drui, or foreign druid. " He said to the saint, I will believe in you, if you convert those pieces of cheese into stones. " This
7* Such as Coroticus havin<T been, in punishment for his crimes, changed into a fox. See Septima Vila S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. c, p. 167. Also, Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
" Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. ,
chap, vi. , sect, x. , nn. 99 to 109, pp. 296 to 302. Also, Father Joachim Laurenza Villa-
"
nueva's Sancti Patricii Opuscula," &c.
Appendix V. , pp. 339 to 369.
" According to the Irish Tripartite Life. ? * According to tlie Latin Tripartite Life. ? ' So named, in the Irish Tripartite Life. ^'' Thus called, in the Latin Tripartite.
7» The Latin Tripartite Life calls them
"fratres germani. "
'° Nemed or Neimheadh, means "a
sanctuary," or "glebe land," "a holy wood," or "wood of the sanctuary" or "glebe. " See Dr. Petrie's " Ecclesiastical Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland," part i. , sect, iii. , p. 61.
" Here thy resurrection
spot,
74<5 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
Patrick. " cheese," said the druid, and Patrick did so.
'
servant of God, named Dicuill^s of the Ernaidhe,^^ or prayer-house,' ^^ shall
come here. " The druid then believed in Christ, after witnessing so many
^^
wonder God
convert them into " Convert them into stones
"
again,"
druid,
again complied
performed through
Again,
and Patrick
with his " Con- request.
said the
vert them again," cried the druid, but Patrick then said,
remain as they now are, and in commemoration of this transaction, until a
Patrick flung his little belies into a dense
miracles, and he was baptized.
bush or grove there, as he had a forecast, that Dichuill should find it. birch9° grew througli its handle. This it was that Dicuill found, when after- wardshecametoErnaidhe. Twoofthestones,transformedfromthecheese, were in that place ;9' the third one, moreover, was carried by Dicuill to Lughmagh, when he was abbot there. It was to be seen, afterwards, in Gort-Conaidh,9^ or Gortchonuigh,93 meaning "garden," or "field of'the fire- wood," whither it had been brought. This was the name of a monastery,? * in the barony of Cremorne, and county of Monaghan. Many miracles were wrought, in the place where it was kept, through the merits of St. Patrick. 93
St. Patrick presided over Armagh,9^ for some years ;97 but, it has been
Upper and Lower Slane, in the county of Meath.
^^ Colgan writes, that another Dichuill,
from being an Abbot over Ernatiensis, be-
came Abbot of Louth, a. d. 700. A St. Di- paputo, Colgan understands /«/, or the soft chuill is said to have been venerated, in that
church, on the ist of May.
^° Ernatiensis was the Latinized form of Ernaidhe or Urnaiahe. It is now Angli- cised Urney, Nurney, and Farney. The
present place is conjectured by Colgan, to have been the same as Cluain-Braoin, beside the church of Louth. However, an Inquisi- tion, the 4th James I. , found, that the king was seized of the priory of Louth and its pos- sessions, inter alia, the rectory of Faghart, inchiding with others the tithes of Orney, alias Nurney. There are still some remains of the ancient church, at Urney, in the present small parish of Faughart, a little north of Dundalk, in the county of Louth.
"
Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 614.
*7 In Latin called Oratorium, and in Eng- lish "an oratory. " See, on this subject, the "Acts of Archbishop Cotton in his Metro- politan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry, A. D. Mcccxcvii. " Edited by Rev. William Reeves, D. U. , n. (o), pp. 16, 17.
** See Edmund L. Swift's " Life and
Acts of St. Patrick," &c. , chap, cliv. , pp. 207, 208.
*9 It is called the betechan, and it is said to have been a little iron bell, which was afterwards kept in the Ernaidhe of Dicuill.
>° In the Irish language, it is called bethe.
'' In the Fourth Life, chap. Ixxiv. , p. 44, in the Sixth Life, cap. cxix. , p. 92, and in the Seventh Life, lib. iii. , cap. xiii. , p. 151, a somewhat similar miracle, but a distinct one from the present, is recorded, in which men are said to have been turned into stones. The present miracle seems, how- ever, to have been more obscurely related.
73. P- 34-
9^ So is the name written, in the Irish
See Lewis'
Tripartite Life. There is a townland called Gorteens, in the parish of Donaghmoyne, in
Farney Barony, county of Monaghan. This is likely enough to have been the site for
this ancient monastery'.
93 According to the Latin Tripartite Life. 9^ The " Annals of the Four Masters "
record the death of Flann Feabhla, abbot
of Gort Conaigh, in Mughdhorn-Maighen, at A. D. 735. See Dr. O'Dono van's edition,
vol. i. , pp. 336, 337, and n. (c. )
95 See Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. Ix. , p.
46, and nn. 73, 74, p.
