, " Adamnanum, vel Adomnanum potiushunc Hyensem abbatem, septem ante mortem suam annis in Hiberniam iterum perexisse,
Ultonienses
docent Annales.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
i.
6? In allusion to the totality of Greek ton- sure, the Rev. Mr. Reeves subjoins a note, Canons found in the Cotton Library for the in which he tells us, that St. Patrick's ancient tradition in reference to the origin charioteer was called Totus Calvus, in the and introduction of that custom, in these Book of Armagh. This name is glossed terms, " Romani dicunt, quod Petrus CocmiAel (fol. 13 bb), and it is elsewhere
of Leighlin Diocese, at the i8thof April, in See the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i. ,
chap. iii.
65 Archbishop Ussher cites an old book of
primus clericus tonsurando usus est, gestans
in capite imaginem coronae spiniae Christi :
idque quinque de causis. I. Ut adsimilaret
Christi coronam. II. Ut Clerici a laicis in
tonsura et habitu et operibus discernerenter.
III. Ut Sacerdotes veteris Testamenti re-
probarent, in illo loco ubi columba super
caput Christi descendit. IV. Ut derisionis
gannituram in regno Romano propter Ancient Sources by Dubhaltach Mac Dominum sustineient. V. Ut a Simone Firbisigh," edited with a translation and Mago Christianos discerneret, in cujus
capite ctesaiies ab aure ad aurem tonsa anteriore parte ; cum antea Magi in fronte
6? in the the men of Erin year 704,
Venerable Bede, that when Theodore of
Canterbury exchanged the Greek for the
written Bodmailus (fol. ii. ab). See Rev. Dr.
"
Reeves'Adamnan's LifeofSt. Columba. '
Additional Notes, N. n. (k), p. 350. 68 "
Tighernacli writes at a. d. 718: Ton—- sura corona super familiam Iae datur. " Dr. O'Conors " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales.
^ See " Three Fragments, copied from
notes, from a manuscript preserved in the Burgundian Library at Brussels, by John O'Donovan, LL. D. , pp. 1 10 to 113.
520 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 23.
of Patrick ; but others, following the example of Columbkille, celebrated Easter on the fourteenth of the moon of April, on whatever day of the
1
week? the fourteenth should happen to fall,? and had the tonsure of Simon
2
A third
with the followers of Patrick or the
while many evils resulted in the country as a consequence, viz. , a great murrain of cows? * and a very great famine, with many diseases, and the devas- tation of Erin by foreign tribes.
After Adamnan had visited the whole of Ireland, it is stated, that he proceeded to that plain where Gerald of Mayo dwelt,? 3 for the purpose of
6
Gerald is said to have presented Adamnan with a tract of land, through which a clear fountain flowed, and to have recommended his church, so that after his decease, it might be defended from lay exactions. Adamnan promised compliance with
8
i° The Annals of Ulster at 451 have Roman, which was coronal, was styled St.
Magus. ?
party
did not
agree
followers of Columkille 3 so that the ;?
of Erin used to hold
many Synods. Moreover, we are told, that the clergy used to come to the Synods accompanied by the laity, so that battles and deaths occurred between them ;
contracting a religious friendship with that saint. ?
St. Gerald's wishes, and his promise was fulfilled,? ? according to the Life. ?
"Pasca Dni. , viii. Kal. Maii celebratum est. "—Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultoni-
"
enses, p. 3.
April fell on Tuesday. That the 24th of April may fall on Sunday, B. must be the Dominical letter, which does not occur between 449 and 455. "— Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba. " Ap-
pendix to Preface, n. (d. ) p. Iv.
' The Venerable Bede states
Peter's, but the Irish fashion in order to its
In this year the 24th of
u Quern [diem] tamen et antea non semper in luna
Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv.
t For other particulars regarding this
"
Rev. Mr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St.
Columba. " Additional Notes. , n. N. , pp.
:
quarta decima cum judseis, ut quidem re-
bantur, sed in die quidem Dominica, alia
tamen quam decebat hebdomada cele-
brant. "—" Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis script of the ninth century might fall. ''—
impostor and fanatic, the reader is referred
" ? 4 "
to the Cyclopaedia of Biblical Litera- ture," originally edited by Joha Kitto, D. D. ,
F. S. A. Third Edition, greatly enlarged and improved, edited by William Lindsay Alexander, D. D. , F. S. A. , etc. Vol. iii. , pp. 849, 850.
35°. 351-
Known as the Bo-ar mor, or great
cow mortality. "
75 See notices of him, at the 13th of March,
in. . -the Tiiird Volume of this work, Art. iii. 76 According to the Vita S. Geraldi.
77 "The Life of St. Gerald states that he
clergy
was
ously ascribed to Simon Magus ; and when Coelfrid cast this up to Adamnan, the latter, instead of repudiating the name, is repre- sented as acquiescing in the reproach, for his apology was etsi Simonis tonsuram ex consitetudine patria habeam. Another scandal circulated against it was of its intro-
duction into Ireland by the swine-herd of
Laeghaire, the Pagan King, who resisted Patrick. In the St. Gall copy of Adamnan
being brought
into
disrepute,
opprobri-
? J The Tonsure of the Secundus Ordo, came to Ireland accompanied by three
in which the founder of Iona (St. Columba) was reckoned, was ab aure ad aurem, that is, the anterior half of the head was made bare, but the occiput was un- touched. This usage existed in St. Patrick's time, who may have found it in the country ; it was adopted by St. Columba, and con- tinued in his order until 718, when the coronal tonsure was received by the Society of Hy. This occurred two years after the
Paschal change ; for, though Bede refers the joint reformation to 716, the practical adoption of a new style of tonsure would
require a longer preparation than a mere ritual observance. The Greek tonsure was
total, and was styled St. Paul's, and the
brothers, one of whom was Berikertus. He was the St. Beretchert of Tulach-leis, now
Tullylease, in the County of Cork, whose day in the Calendar is Dec. 6, and whose obit is entered in the Four Masters at 839. If this date be correct,—St. Gerald must come down to circ. 800. " Rev. Dr. Reeves'
"
Adamnan's Life of St. Columba. " Ap-
pendix to Preface, n. (b. ), pp. liv. , Iv.
78 It is however possible, that such story rested on an ancient tradition, that St. Adamnan traversed Ireland on ecclesiastical duty, spending some years there, and that
having returned to Iona, after a delay of about seven years, he was shortly afterwards called away from this life.
there is a representation of St. Columba, but it gives him the coronal tonsure, a mistake into which a Continental manu-
September 23] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 5a:
But such a statement is open to the serious objection, that St. Gerald lived to a later period than Adamnan, as may be seen in most of our Annals. 79 Those of
80
Tighernach place the death of St. Gerald at the year 73 2.
that Adamnan spent the last seven years of his life in the presidency of the Saxon Abbey of Mayo. 81 This account is open to exception ; for it is a suspicious circumstance to find Adamnan unable, as Bede states, to make any impression on the Columban communities which were subject to him, yet cordially received in a monastery of settlers, who had left their home and travelled to a strange country, to avoid acquiescence in that very system, which their honoured visitor was now endeavouring to promulgate. It is supposed, by an ingenious writer, that in all probability, Adamnan remained in Ireland from a. d. 697 until the year of his death. 82 The Life of St. Gerald of Mayo, although full of anachronisms, nevertheless contains a curious coinci- dence with the statement just made, since it allows Adamnan a seven years' residenceinIreland. Foranypersonacquaintedwiththeusagesofmonastic communities in the Catholic Church, there is no force in the objection, that Adamnan would not be likely, as the professed advocate of disciplinary innovation, to receive entertainment in a monastery, founded twenty years previously as an asylum for adherents to the old Easter usage. *3 These circumstances appear sufficiently established from Bede; namely, that Adamnan crossed over from Ireland to Hy, during the summer of that year, in which he died, and that for a considerable time previously, our Saint had lived in Ireland. 84 Admitting this foregoing supposition to be correct,
that interval between 697 and 704, which latter was the year of Adamnan's death, is exactly commensurate with such a period. 85
Adamnan remained in Ireland, where he celebrated Easter at a time
the Roman 86 in the 8? In those of the
prescribed by
79 The date of St. Gerald is very uncertain.
"
The Annals of Ulster at 731, have
Maigi heu Saxonum Garralt obiit. "—Dr. O'Conoi's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses,
year 704. parts
differences in question only referred to a matter of discipline, and did not affect the communion of faith. Although, no doubt, serious disturbances may have arisen on occasions, and even between holy men, con-
it as equivalent to Gerailt, pontifex," &c. See "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. ,
p. 324, Such an interpretation would stand, if there were an . i. or i. e. before Gerailt.
"
The passage plainly states that
of Mayo—Saxonum of Gerald died," and this addition of Gerald's na/ne is a pro-
Thus : Poniifex niuighe heo Saxonum 5aj\<mIc obit. "—Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Sctiptores," tomus ii. , Tiger-
lepsis.
80 "
nachi Annates, p. 238. 81 "
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
Anglorum," lib. v. , cap. xv.
85 Archbishop Ussher states ;
"
nioe," xiii, Martii. Vita S. Geraldi Abbatis,
cap. xvi. , p. 602.
82
Ussher says, at the year DCXCVII.
, " Adamnanum, vel Adomnanum potiushunc Hyensem abbatem, septem ante mortem suam annis in Hiberniam iterum perexisse, Ultonienses docent Annales. "—Index Chro-
"
nologicus, Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
Antiquitates," p. 540.
83 This objection is urged by the Rev. Dr.
Reeves ; but, it must be considered, that the
In Maio- nensi vero urbecula, ut Geraldi nomine Deo dicata ad hunc usque diem superest Eccle- sia : ita Adamnani et S. Cormaci tempore centum Saxonicorum Sanctorum habitaculum
cycle,
Pontifex
p. 82. The Four Masters at A. n. 726 cerning merely disciplinary rites and observ-
"
represent this entry by Gerald of Magh-eo
ances ; yet, in the present instance, the well-known prudence and moderation of Adamnan, in his effort to introduce the Roman and English custom, would naturally have tended to make him a welcome guest, amongst a community, many of whose members were of English birth. Conse- quently, these religious would be less dis- posed to present obstacles preventing a custom sanctioned by their fellow-country- men in Britain, and especially, as conformity thereto was becoming very general in the land Gf their adoption.
8< "
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
died. " And their learned editor understands "
the Bishop
ibidem extitisse, libri Ballimotensis collec-
"
tor confirmat. "— Britannicarum Ecclesi-
arum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 499. 86 "
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xix. , sect, iii. , p. 150.
It is also related,
522 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September13.
country and places exempt from the jurisdiction of Hy, his success was very considerable in bringing over the Irish to adopt the Roman Paschal
88 Afterwards he returned to his own island of Iona. 89 endeavoured to persuade his monks there to adopt the Catholic observance ot Easter-tide in their monastery. But he could not succeed in this effort,9°
1
neither there, nor in the houses dependent on its jurisdiction. 9
Before the termination of a. d, 704, he departed from earth to heaven. 9* It is remarked, by Venerable Bede, how it had been wisely ordained by Divine Providence, that a man, so desirous of peace and unity, had been removed to the bliss of eternal life, rather than be compelled to have any difference with those, who would not be convinced by his reasoning, about a necessity for changing their old customs, on the return of the ensuing Easter. 93 Adamnan was the ninth abbot that took the Government of lae
monastery after Columkille, the first founder, and during his administration,
system.
He
and to about the close of the seventh century is left undetermined by Dean Cressy. 94 The Annals of Clon-
thosehouses tohis — wereinthe subject jurisdiction
stateof
highest efficiency
renown. The da—
te for his death
assigned, however,
macnoise place it at a. d. 700 : this is also the date given in the
'*
Chronicum
Scotorum,"95 where he is said to have departed in the seventy-eighth year of his age, and on the ninth of the Kalends of October. Smith was wrong in marking Adamnan's death at 702. 96 He reckoned only one year from that in which he supposed Adamnan was on his last embassy to Aelfrid ; but it is plain from Bede's account of his subsequent proceedings, that a longer time must have elapsed between the said embassy and the death of our saint. 97 The Annals of the Four
8 with those ofUlster,99 record his death, at a. d. 703. WiththisdateagreeFatherThomasInnes,IO°andtheRev. Robert
101
Masters,^
However, the true year for Adamnan's death is a. d. 704.
102
This is It has been followed by most of our modern writers. '°s According to the Chronicon Hyensae, Adamnan, abbot of Iona, died during that year, in the seventy-
106
Keating
lxxvii. anno etatis sue Abbas lae pausat. " — Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum
King.
the
seventh of his age, and in the twenty-fifth year of his incumbency,
year, according
to
Tighernach
I03 and Ussher. 10* Archbishop
87 The reformed Easter fell on the 30th of March, during that year.
88 See Thomas Moore's "
land," vol. i. , chap, xiii. , pp. 285, 286.
tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses,
89 According to Venerable Bede.
Majora," edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. i. , p. 318.
of Ire-
p. 300.
91 See Thomas Moore's "
Holy
book ii. , chap, xi. , p. 341.
History land," vol. i. , chap, xiii. , p. 286,
92 See Thomas "
,02 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , p. 305, n.
,03 " Adamnanus anno 77 aetatis s—uae in
ix. kl. Octobris, Abbas lae obiit. " Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales, pp. 221,222.
,0* "
See BritannicarumEcclesiarumAnti-
Wright's Biographia Britannica Literaria," &c, p. 206.
93 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. v. , cap. xv.
94 See his " Church-History of Brittany," book xx. , chap, xv. , p. 509.
95 See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 114, 115.
96 See the comment on his edition of Bede's History, at lib. v. , cap. 15.
Edition,
" Adomnanus
quitates," Index Chronologicus, p. 541.
105 of
97 See Rev. Dr.
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xix. ,
National vol. i. , Art. Adamnan Biography,"
or Adomnan, by John T. Gilbert, p. 92.
,o6 See Rev. Mr. Reeves' Adamnan's "LifeofSt. Columba. " AdditionalNotes, n. (O), pp. 376 to 378. As the Rev Mr. Reeves allows him to have been born in 624,
sect, iii. , n. ^SeeDr. O'Donovan's
PP* 3°4» 305.
99 write at a. d. They
703.
30, p. 152.
Lanigan's
History
of Ire-
Scriptores," p. 69.
I0° See the " Civil and Ecclesiastical His- 90 See Matthew of Paris, "Chronica tory of Scotland," Chronological Memoirs,
" Ecclesiastical
See Leslie Stephen's "Dictionary
vol.
i. ,
,01
See "Primer of the History of the Catholic Church in Ireland," vol. i. ,
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
523
says,
10? that Adamnan died
It is seventy-seventh year.
that this is a mis-translation instead of the
fourth or as others year,
aged seventy-seven years.
very probable ! o8 The
Annals of Mac Firbis state, that he died a. d. 704, in the eighty-third year of
I0
his age, 9 while Sir James Ware records his death at a. d. 704, in his seventy-
in his 110 The Rev. Alban Butler eightieth.
statement.
At the 23rd of September, in the Leabhar Breac copy of the Festilogy of
state,
says, that his death happened in 705 ; but he cites no authority for such a
iEngus,
there is a
high
encomium 112 for passed upon Adamnan, especially
111
the lasting services he rendered to religion and civilization, in liberating the
women from military service. "3 That is generally allowed, both in the Irish
and Scottish Calendars, to have been the day of his departure from this life.
date, Martyrology Tallagh. commemorating him, at the same day, Marianus O'Gorman alludes to his reform of the old Irish practice regarding the celebration of Easter. 11 * The Martyrology of Donegal II6 at this date has a more than usually long notice of our saint. 11 ? The Irish annalists are all agreed in assigning the
At the same his feast occurs in the of 11 * In
and to have died in 704, our Saint conse-
quently should have attained the eightieth
mother, saw a woman with an iron sickle in her hand, dragging another woman from the opposing battalion, and the sickle fastened to her breast. For at that time men and women alike used to be giving
year of his age.
107 See his " of
History Ireland,"
p. 25, edition of 1723.
Bookii. ,
108
"According to these statements, battle. Then Ronait sat down and said,
Adamnan must have been born not in
(see Note 5 to chap, xviii), but in 627 or
628. "—Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland,'' vol. iii. , chap, xix. , sect, and hosting. ' Then Adamnan promised
iii. , n. 31, pp. 152, 153.
169 See "Three Fragments of Irish An-
nals, copied by Dubhaltach Mac Firbisgh," edited by John O'Donovan, LL. D. , pp. 114, "5-
that. Now a great Convention chanced (to beheld in Ireland, and Adamnan with the choice of Ireland's clerics went to that Con- vention, and therein he freed the women.
"Now— these are the four laws of
Ibid, cxlvii. pp. cxlvi. ,
<VoomnAni <Ab lAe.
"3 These are his lines in Irish metre
Adamnan la ardabb, Cia crabad nar caemfuill, i nAlbain, i nllerind?
Thus translated into English :—
110 See " De Scriptoribus lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 35.
Patrick's not to kill clerics. law,
111
:
"
Hibernian,"
See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
Ireland
Dari the Nun's law, not to kill kine. Adamnan's law, not to kill the women. The law—of Sunday, not to transgress
and other principal Saints," vol. ix. , at the
23rd of September.
6? In allusion to the totality of Greek ton- sure, the Rev. Mr. Reeves subjoins a note, Canons found in the Cotton Library for the in which he tells us, that St. Patrick's ancient tradition in reference to the origin charioteer was called Totus Calvus, in the and introduction of that custom, in these Book of Armagh. This name is glossed terms, " Romani dicunt, quod Petrus CocmiAel (fol. 13 bb), and it is elsewhere
of Leighlin Diocese, at the i8thof April, in See the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i. ,
chap. iii.
65 Archbishop Ussher cites an old book of
primus clericus tonsurando usus est, gestans
in capite imaginem coronae spiniae Christi :
idque quinque de causis. I. Ut adsimilaret
Christi coronam. II. Ut Clerici a laicis in
tonsura et habitu et operibus discernerenter.
III. Ut Sacerdotes veteris Testamenti re-
probarent, in illo loco ubi columba super
caput Christi descendit. IV. Ut derisionis
gannituram in regno Romano propter Ancient Sources by Dubhaltach Mac Dominum sustineient. V. Ut a Simone Firbisigh," edited with a translation and Mago Christianos discerneret, in cujus
capite ctesaiies ab aure ad aurem tonsa anteriore parte ; cum antea Magi in fronte
6? in the the men of Erin year 704,
Venerable Bede, that when Theodore of
Canterbury exchanged the Greek for the
written Bodmailus (fol. ii. ab). See Rev. Dr.
"
Reeves'Adamnan's LifeofSt. Columba. '
Additional Notes, N. n. (k), p. 350. 68 "
Tighernacli writes at a. d. 718: Ton—- sura corona super familiam Iae datur. " Dr. O'Conors " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales.
^ See " Three Fragments, copied from
notes, from a manuscript preserved in the Burgundian Library at Brussels, by John O'Donovan, LL. D. , pp. 1 10 to 113.
520 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 23.
of Patrick ; but others, following the example of Columbkille, celebrated Easter on the fourteenth of the moon of April, on whatever day of the
1
week? the fourteenth should happen to fall,? and had the tonsure of Simon
2
A third
with the followers of Patrick or the
while many evils resulted in the country as a consequence, viz. , a great murrain of cows? * and a very great famine, with many diseases, and the devas- tation of Erin by foreign tribes.
After Adamnan had visited the whole of Ireland, it is stated, that he proceeded to that plain where Gerald of Mayo dwelt,? 3 for the purpose of
6
Gerald is said to have presented Adamnan with a tract of land, through which a clear fountain flowed, and to have recommended his church, so that after his decease, it might be defended from lay exactions. Adamnan promised compliance with
8
i° The Annals of Ulster at 451 have Roman, which was coronal, was styled St.
Magus. ?
party
did not
agree
followers of Columkille 3 so that the ;?
of Erin used to hold
many Synods. Moreover, we are told, that the clergy used to come to the Synods accompanied by the laity, so that battles and deaths occurred between them ;
contracting a religious friendship with that saint. ?
St. Gerald's wishes, and his promise was fulfilled,? ? according to the Life. ?
"Pasca Dni. , viii. Kal. Maii celebratum est. "—Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultoni-
"
enses, p. 3.
April fell on Tuesday. That the 24th of April may fall on Sunday, B. must be the Dominical letter, which does not occur between 449 and 455. "— Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of St. Columba. " Ap-
pendix to Preface, n. (d. ) p. Iv.
' The Venerable Bede states
Peter's, but the Irish fashion in order to its
In this year the 24th of
u Quern [diem] tamen et antea non semper in luna
Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. iv.
t For other particulars regarding this
"
Rev. Mr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St.
Columba. " Additional Notes. , n. N. , pp.
:
quarta decima cum judseis, ut quidem re-
bantur, sed in die quidem Dominica, alia
tamen quam decebat hebdomada cele-
brant. "—" Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis script of the ninth century might fall. ''—
impostor and fanatic, the reader is referred
" ? 4 "
to the Cyclopaedia of Biblical Litera- ture," originally edited by Joha Kitto, D. D. ,
F. S. A. Third Edition, greatly enlarged and improved, edited by William Lindsay Alexander, D. D. , F. S. A. , etc. Vol. iii. , pp. 849, 850.
35°. 351-
Known as the Bo-ar mor, or great
cow mortality. "
75 See notices of him, at the 13th of March,
in. . -the Tiiird Volume of this work, Art. iii. 76 According to the Vita S. Geraldi.
77 "The Life of St. Gerald states that he
clergy
was
ously ascribed to Simon Magus ; and when Coelfrid cast this up to Adamnan, the latter, instead of repudiating the name, is repre- sented as acquiescing in the reproach, for his apology was etsi Simonis tonsuram ex consitetudine patria habeam. Another scandal circulated against it was of its intro-
duction into Ireland by the swine-herd of
Laeghaire, the Pagan King, who resisted Patrick. In the St. Gall copy of Adamnan
being brought
into
disrepute,
opprobri-
? J The Tonsure of the Secundus Ordo, came to Ireland accompanied by three
in which the founder of Iona (St. Columba) was reckoned, was ab aure ad aurem, that is, the anterior half of the head was made bare, but the occiput was un- touched. This usage existed in St. Patrick's time, who may have found it in the country ; it was adopted by St. Columba, and con- tinued in his order until 718, when the coronal tonsure was received by the Society of Hy. This occurred two years after the
Paschal change ; for, though Bede refers the joint reformation to 716, the practical adoption of a new style of tonsure would
require a longer preparation than a mere ritual observance. The Greek tonsure was
total, and was styled St. Paul's, and the
brothers, one of whom was Berikertus. He was the St. Beretchert of Tulach-leis, now
Tullylease, in the County of Cork, whose day in the Calendar is Dec. 6, and whose obit is entered in the Four Masters at 839. If this date be correct,—St. Gerald must come down to circ. 800. " Rev. Dr. Reeves'
"
Adamnan's Life of St. Columba. " Ap-
pendix to Preface, n. (b. ), pp. liv. , Iv.
78 It is however possible, that such story rested on an ancient tradition, that St. Adamnan traversed Ireland on ecclesiastical duty, spending some years there, and that
having returned to Iona, after a delay of about seven years, he was shortly afterwards called away from this life.
there is a representation of St. Columba, but it gives him the coronal tonsure, a mistake into which a Continental manu-
September 23] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 5a:
But such a statement is open to the serious objection, that St. Gerald lived to a later period than Adamnan, as may be seen in most of our Annals. 79 Those of
80
Tighernach place the death of St. Gerald at the year 73 2.
that Adamnan spent the last seven years of his life in the presidency of the Saxon Abbey of Mayo. 81 This account is open to exception ; for it is a suspicious circumstance to find Adamnan unable, as Bede states, to make any impression on the Columban communities which were subject to him, yet cordially received in a monastery of settlers, who had left their home and travelled to a strange country, to avoid acquiescence in that very system, which their honoured visitor was now endeavouring to promulgate. It is supposed, by an ingenious writer, that in all probability, Adamnan remained in Ireland from a. d. 697 until the year of his death. 82 The Life of St. Gerald of Mayo, although full of anachronisms, nevertheless contains a curious coinci- dence with the statement just made, since it allows Adamnan a seven years' residenceinIreland. Foranypersonacquaintedwiththeusagesofmonastic communities in the Catholic Church, there is no force in the objection, that Adamnan would not be likely, as the professed advocate of disciplinary innovation, to receive entertainment in a monastery, founded twenty years previously as an asylum for adherents to the old Easter usage. *3 These circumstances appear sufficiently established from Bede; namely, that Adamnan crossed over from Ireland to Hy, during the summer of that year, in which he died, and that for a considerable time previously, our Saint had lived in Ireland. 84 Admitting this foregoing supposition to be correct,
that interval between 697 and 704, which latter was the year of Adamnan's death, is exactly commensurate with such a period. 85
Adamnan remained in Ireland, where he celebrated Easter at a time
the Roman 86 in the 8? In those of the
prescribed by
79 The date of St. Gerald is very uncertain.
"
The Annals of Ulster at 731, have
Maigi heu Saxonum Garralt obiit. "—Dr. O'Conoi's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses,
year 704. parts
differences in question only referred to a matter of discipline, and did not affect the communion of faith. Although, no doubt, serious disturbances may have arisen on occasions, and even between holy men, con-
it as equivalent to Gerailt, pontifex," &c. See "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. ,
p. 324, Such an interpretation would stand, if there were an . i. or i. e. before Gerailt.
"
The passage plainly states that
of Mayo—Saxonum of Gerald died," and this addition of Gerald's na/ne is a pro-
Thus : Poniifex niuighe heo Saxonum 5aj\<mIc obit. "—Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Sctiptores," tomus ii. , Tiger-
lepsis.
80 "
nachi Annates, p. 238. 81 "
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
Anglorum," lib. v. , cap. xv.
85 Archbishop Ussher states ;
"
nioe," xiii, Martii. Vita S. Geraldi Abbatis,
cap. xvi. , p. 602.
82
Ussher says, at the year DCXCVII.
, " Adamnanum, vel Adomnanum potiushunc Hyensem abbatem, septem ante mortem suam annis in Hiberniam iterum perexisse, Ultonienses docent Annales. "—Index Chro-
"
nologicus, Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
Antiquitates," p. 540.
83 This objection is urged by the Rev. Dr.
Reeves ; but, it must be considered, that the
In Maio- nensi vero urbecula, ut Geraldi nomine Deo dicata ad hunc usque diem superest Eccle- sia : ita Adamnani et S. Cormaci tempore centum Saxonicorum Sanctorum habitaculum
cycle,
Pontifex
p. 82. The Four Masters at A. n. 726 cerning merely disciplinary rites and observ-
"
represent this entry by Gerald of Magh-eo
ances ; yet, in the present instance, the well-known prudence and moderation of Adamnan, in his effort to introduce the Roman and English custom, would naturally have tended to make him a welcome guest, amongst a community, many of whose members were of English birth. Conse- quently, these religious would be less dis- posed to present obstacles preventing a custom sanctioned by their fellow-country- men in Britain, and especially, as conformity thereto was becoming very general in the land Gf their adoption.
8< "
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
died. " And their learned editor understands "
the Bishop
ibidem extitisse, libri Ballimotensis collec-
"
tor confirmat. "— Britannicarum Ecclesi-
arum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 499. 86 "
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xix. , sect, iii. , p. 150.
It is also related,
522 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September13.
country and places exempt from the jurisdiction of Hy, his success was very considerable in bringing over the Irish to adopt the Roman Paschal
88 Afterwards he returned to his own island of Iona. 89 endeavoured to persuade his monks there to adopt the Catholic observance ot Easter-tide in their monastery. But he could not succeed in this effort,9°
1
neither there, nor in the houses dependent on its jurisdiction. 9
Before the termination of a. d, 704, he departed from earth to heaven. 9* It is remarked, by Venerable Bede, how it had been wisely ordained by Divine Providence, that a man, so desirous of peace and unity, had been removed to the bliss of eternal life, rather than be compelled to have any difference with those, who would not be convinced by his reasoning, about a necessity for changing their old customs, on the return of the ensuing Easter. 93 Adamnan was the ninth abbot that took the Government of lae
monastery after Columkille, the first founder, and during his administration,
system.
He
and to about the close of the seventh century is left undetermined by Dean Cressy. 94 The Annals of Clon-
thosehouses tohis — wereinthe subject jurisdiction
stateof
highest efficiency
renown. The da—
te for his death
assigned, however,
macnoise place it at a. d. 700 : this is also the date given in the
'*
Chronicum
Scotorum,"95 where he is said to have departed in the seventy-eighth year of his age, and on the ninth of the Kalends of October. Smith was wrong in marking Adamnan's death at 702. 96 He reckoned only one year from that in which he supposed Adamnan was on his last embassy to Aelfrid ; but it is plain from Bede's account of his subsequent proceedings, that a longer time must have elapsed between the said embassy and the death of our saint. 97 The Annals of the Four
8 with those ofUlster,99 record his death, at a. d. 703. WiththisdateagreeFatherThomasInnes,IO°andtheRev. Robert
101
Masters,^
However, the true year for Adamnan's death is a. d. 704.
102
This is It has been followed by most of our modern writers. '°s According to the Chronicon Hyensae, Adamnan, abbot of Iona, died during that year, in the seventy-
106
Keating
lxxvii. anno etatis sue Abbas lae pausat. " — Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum
King.
the
seventh of his age, and in the twenty-fifth year of his incumbency,
year, according
to
Tighernach
I03 and Ussher. 10* Archbishop
87 The reformed Easter fell on the 30th of March, during that year.
88 See Thomas Moore's "
land," vol. i. , chap, xiii. , pp. 285, 286.
tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses,
89 According to Venerable Bede.
Majora," edited by Henry Richards Luard, M. A. , vol. i. , p. 318.
of Ire-
p. 300.
91 See Thomas Moore's "
Holy
book ii. , chap, xi. , p. 341.
History land," vol. i. , chap, xiii. , p. 286,
92 See Thomas "
,02 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , p. 305, n.
,03 " Adamnanus anno 77 aetatis s—uae in
ix. kl. Octobris, Abbas lae obiit. " Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales, pp. 221,222.
,0* "
See BritannicarumEcclesiarumAnti-
Wright's Biographia Britannica Literaria," &c, p. 206.
93 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. v. , cap. xv.
94 See his " Church-History of Brittany," book xx. , chap, xv. , p. 509.
95 See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 114, 115.
96 See the comment on his edition of Bede's History, at lib. v. , cap. 15.
Edition,
" Adomnanus
quitates," Index Chronologicus, p. 541.
105 of
97 See Rev. Dr.
History of Ireland," vol. iii. , chap, xix. ,
National vol. i. , Art. Adamnan Biography,"
or Adomnan, by John T. Gilbert, p. 92.
,o6 See Rev. Mr. Reeves' Adamnan's "LifeofSt. Columba. " AdditionalNotes, n. (O), pp. 376 to 378. As the Rev Mr. Reeves allows him to have been born in 624,
sect, iii. , n. ^SeeDr. O'Donovan's
PP* 3°4» 305.
99 write at a. d. They
703.
30, p. 152.
Lanigan's
History
of Ire-
Scriptores," p. 69.
I0° See the " Civil and Ecclesiastical His- 90 See Matthew of Paris, "Chronica tory of Scotland," Chronological Memoirs,
" Ecclesiastical
See Leslie Stephen's "Dictionary
vol.
i. ,
,01
See "Primer of the History of the Catholic Church in Ireland," vol. i. ,
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
523
says,
10? that Adamnan died
It is seventy-seventh year.
that this is a mis-translation instead of the
fourth or as others year,
aged seventy-seven years.
very probable ! o8 The
Annals of Mac Firbis state, that he died a. d. 704, in the eighty-third year of
I0
his age, 9 while Sir James Ware records his death at a. d. 704, in his seventy-
in his 110 The Rev. Alban Butler eightieth.
statement.
At the 23rd of September, in the Leabhar Breac copy of the Festilogy of
state,
says, that his death happened in 705 ; but he cites no authority for such a
iEngus,
there is a
high
encomium 112 for passed upon Adamnan, especially
111
the lasting services he rendered to religion and civilization, in liberating the
women from military service. "3 That is generally allowed, both in the Irish
and Scottish Calendars, to have been the day of his departure from this life.
date, Martyrology Tallagh. commemorating him, at the same day, Marianus O'Gorman alludes to his reform of the old Irish practice regarding the celebration of Easter. 11 * The Martyrology of Donegal II6 at this date has a more than usually long notice of our saint. 11 ? The Irish annalists are all agreed in assigning the
At the same his feast occurs in the of 11 * In
and to have died in 704, our Saint conse-
quently should have attained the eightieth
mother, saw a woman with an iron sickle in her hand, dragging another woman from the opposing battalion, and the sickle fastened to her breast. For at that time men and women alike used to be giving
year of his age.
107 See his " of
History Ireland,"
p. 25, edition of 1723.
Bookii. ,
108
"According to these statements, battle. Then Ronait sat down and said,
Adamnan must have been born not in
(see Note 5 to chap, xviii), but in 627 or
628. "—Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland,'' vol. iii. , chap, xix. , sect, and hosting. ' Then Adamnan promised
iii. , n. 31, pp. 152, 153.
169 See "Three Fragments of Irish An-
nals, copied by Dubhaltach Mac Firbisgh," edited by John O'Donovan, LL. D. , pp. 114, "5-
that. Now a great Convention chanced (to beheld in Ireland, and Adamnan with the choice of Ireland's clerics went to that Con- vention, and therein he freed the women.
"Now— these are the four laws of
Ibid, cxlvii. pp. cxlvi. ,
<VoomnAni <Ab lAe.
"3 These are his lines in Irish metre
Adamnan la ardabb, Cia crabad nar caemfuill, i nAlbain, i nllerind?
Thus translated into English :—
110 See " De Scriptoribus lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 35.
Patrick's not to kill clerics. law,
111
:
"
Hibernian,"
See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
Ireland
Dari the Nun's law, not to kill kine. Adamnan's law, not to kill the women. The law—of Sunday, not to transgress
and other principal Saints," vol. ix. , at the
23rd of September.
