To the latter he
presented
the copy of a Hymn, he had composed, in the praise of God.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v6
He predicted the same regarding Cruachain, Daillind, and Emhain Macha.
All this as foretold was
12 subsequentlyrealized. ?
When Columba was returning with his monks at one time after prayers, they noticed his sad appearance, and they enquired its cause. Then, in a prophe-
ticspiritheanswered "MyIrishpeoplearetomeacauseforsorrow,since
:
in time to come, they shall wage war on each other, shall injure, hate, and wickedly slay, shall shed innocent blood, shall oppress the poor, and violate churchesandholyplaces; forthesecrimes,theyshallexciteandincurthe angerofGodandofhissaints,whosechurchestheyprofaned. Wherefore,to avenge such evils, God shall arm against them the forces and courage of foreigners, so that they shall be driven from their own seats and houses to the mountains, rough places, marshes, and deserts, unfit and inconvenient for human habitation. However, I feel abundantly consoled, because taught by such calamities, our people shall be converted to God, and shall recover their love of justice and right, they shall venerate the saints, and they shall invio- lably observe their church privileges.
day
a fish I23 of size, which was astonishing
the 12* Almighty.
"'
See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
residence most convenient or agreeable, but
usually within his own hereditary principa- lity. The kings of the northern Hy-Neill usually resided at their ancient fortress of Aileach, in the barony of Inishowen, near
for him
Some time before the desertion of Temoria,12* or Tara, Columba had a
" Life of St. Columba," Additional Notes G,
pp. 280, 281.
i22 We are told by Colgan, that the River
Sele, as referred to in the Quarta Vita S.
Patricii, cap. li. , p. 42, and in the Septima Derry ; and those of the southern Hy-Niall,
Vita S. Patricii, pars ii. , cap. iv. , p. 129, was identical with the Abha-dhubh, i. e. , Jluvius niger, now the Blackwater River in Meath. See "Trias Thaumaturga," n. 14,
P- 173-
123 In Adamnan's Life of our saint it is
termed an essoc. By this is understood, a
salmon or a pike, by some ; but, Colgan deems it to be an eel, and derivable from the Irish term efcoti, applied to the latter fish.
"* See ibid. , Quarta Vita S. Columbae,
at first lived at Dun-Torgeis, near Castle- pollard in Westmeath, and afterwards at Dun-na-Sgiath, at the north-western margin of Loch Annin, now Lough Ennell, near Mullingar. Seeidid. ,n. (p).
"'See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. i. , cap. lxxxiv. , p. 402.
ib. 3*3-
and n.
" When that which 19, p. cup,
ii. , cap. xix. , p. 354,
for others the Had brimm'd full of bitterness,
125 This is usually placed at A. D. 554, when the last feast of Teamhair was cele-
brated, by Diarmaid, King of Ireland. See
drench'd her own
And the world she had trampled on
" Masters," vol. i. , pp. 190, 191.
Dr. O'Donovan's
Annals of the Four
heard without
The howl in her halls, and the cry
136
monarch of Ireland chose for himself the
pity from her ships.
Alter this desertion of Tara, each
prepared
by
In fine, the Almighty shall regard the
128 This passage will forcibly recall those lines, in that beautiful lyric, and the political
: meaning they convey, in "The Parallel" —
proud Golden City
lips,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 323 multiplied wickedness, and the cup brimful of impiety, heaped up by their
conquerors
persecutors ;
then,
turn,
hatreds,
you very certain,
tain Columba
that
life shall be even so much
"
,2S
and
bounds of Ireland, while the Irish, through the intercession of their own
12
saints, shall recover laws and usages, they had previously lost. " ? Another
time, travelling towards Temoria,T3° our saint met a certain holy prophet, called Bee, the son of De. ' 31 On account of his spirit of prophecy and pre-
dictions, he was very dear to and familiar with Diennit, son to Kerval, King
of Ireland. After mutual salutations, and speaking on the subject of pro-
phecy, Columba asked Bee, if he knew the term of his own life, or the hour
of his death ? Bee " I well know for now seven of life re- replied : it, years my
main. " Then,Columbasaid,thatmanypiousworkscouldbeperformedin a briefer time, and he asked again, if Bee were certain, he had so long a term to survive. Hesitating a little, Bee replied, that he should recall what lie said, and that he had only seven months to live. Then, asked Columba, " Are
in
quarrels, and wars, shall succeed, and the foreigners shall be driven from the
your
fession of my past sins, to give me communion, and to prepare me for my last end. This request Columba complied with, and on that very day, St. Bee
132 mac De went to Heaven. —
Truly, holy Father," said Bee, "all your former predictions regarding me must be fulfilled, and I have been deceived regarding myself, as now I know I have only seven hours to live. Wherefore, I earnestly entreat you, to hear the con-
Acer—
I33
our saint is said to have visited St. Fintan of Dunbleisque, and to have
Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. lxxxv. ,
Art. at the of the date for i. , 3rd January,
pp. 402, 403.
*3°Inthe" foundin Tigernachi Annales,"
Rev. Dr. O'Connor's "Rerum Hibernicarum
131 In the Leabhar Breac, he is represented as poet and counsellor to Diarmait Mac
his festival.
I35 "
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum
Hiber-
tomus the last convention at ii. ,
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. ii. ,
Scriptores,"
Temoria, is placed at a. d. 560. See p. 141.
Thaumaturga,"
mutual dissensions,
but nevertheless he cannot well be identified with 13*
bestowed upon the latter a city called Kill-maitoge, with the services, which
its inhabitants owed to the 1 ^ This church is 136 possessor. placed, by Colgan,
in the Diocese of Meath, although in another passage, he does not undertake to define the locality. Once St. Columba visited St. Mochuda,13? at Rathin, and he predicted, that the latter should be thence banished by the King of Ireland, moved to this course through persuasion of some among the clergy of Leth-Cuinn, who envied the holy man. Moreover, on this occasion, Mochuda learned where he was to fix a future habitation and to lay down the burden of his flesh. Columba answered " At the course of the River
:
Nimhe, where formerly from the summit of Sliabh-Cuach, you saw the choir of Angels, there shall be your residence, there shall you build a temple, which you shall mark with a golden seal, and there being settled, you shall spend
the life God has given you until changed for life eternal.
''
All this happened,
" When the curse Heaven keeps for the haughty came over
Her merchants rapacious, her rulers
unjust,
And, a ruin, at last, for the earth-
worm to cover,
The Lady of kingdoms lay low in the dust. "
—Moore's "Irish Melodies. "
Cerbaill, King of Ireland, and there too are introduced Tracts referring to his conversa- tion with St. Columkille and to his Prophe- cies.
I32 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxxvii. ,
p. 403.
133 Probably, he who was Abbot of Tyr-da-
glass, venerated on the 13th of December.
I3«
129 See " Trias Colgan's
See his Life in vol. i. of this work,
prolonged? "
Vita S. Fintani, xiii. , nise," Januarii iii. , cap.
p.
12.
I36 See "Trias
p. 494-
,3' See his Life, chap, iii. , in the Fifth
Volume of this work, at May 14th, Art. i.
324
LIVES OF THE IRISH SA7ATS. [June 9.
for Blathmac, son to Aldus Slane, King of Ireland, banished St. Mochudda from Rathain. 's8 At Rathin, St. Columba proposed to build a cell, and with such intent, he collected three loads of osiers. 1 ^ However, he had a pro- phetic revelation, that Rathin was destined for St. Carthacus,,4°whowas sub- sequentlytoarrivethereandtobuildhiscell. Forhimtheloadsoftwigswere lelt, and with these the fust missionary station at that place was constructed.
St. Boethin once had a dream which he related to St. Columba. He declared, that in a certain city, he seemed to behold three seats : one seat of gold, one of silver, and one of glass, and that the latter appeared to be nearer to Christ.
"
Having asked Columba's explanation, the saint said,
typifies the golden virtue of charity which distinguished Kieran, 141 son of the carpenter ; the silver one signifies your own pure, sincere and solid piety ; while the glass one, which can easily be broken and which can with difficulty be repaired, most resembles me a frail sinner, whom constant intercourse with menrendersliabletobeinjured,ifnotbroken. " Thiswassaidthrougha
spiritofprofoundhumility; yet,sayshisbiographerO'Donnell,Columbmight claim the seat of glass, on another title, inasmuch as it reflected the virtues
of the saint and the vices of others, so that the rays derived from the sun of
transferredtothesoulsofhis 1'*2 OnceColumba neighbours.
were
was asked by Andadh, son to Duibhinfius, to tell him when his life should end. Columba however replied, that he sought for information more curi- ously than usefully, for to God only was known the time and juncture ; nor did he wish mortals to equal his knowledge, and that it was more becoming they should learn what the Almighty commanded, than curiously to enquire what he had decreed regarding them ; that God wisely concealed from men the exact and near hour of death, not only for their own spiritual profit and good, but lest they should cease, through fear of it, to engage in meritorious works, in study and in the social duties of life, thus causing great public loss ; that if
justice
easily
they foresaw its delay, they would be more ready immediately to plunge into crimes, and to defer their repentance to the last moment ; he also declared, that although more familiar with the Almighty himself than were most secu- lars, he never desired to know in advance the hour for his own death ; and, in fine, he was satisfied to know most certainly, that the hour which was uncer- tain to man, was thoroughly known to God. Moreover, as compared with eternity, the term of man in life is but as a point, so that every moment should be spent in the discharge of good works, and as the Saviour admonishes, in the practice of unwearied piety. To these remarks, so full of wisdom, Andadh obediently submitted. 143 In like manner, when persons living piously asked him sometimes to predict regarding their state of predes- tination, or the term they had to live, he declared, that it was not well for
even good men to be assured of their future happiness, lest they might become too elated, or relax in their good works, or indulge in faults. Yet, often he threatened sinners with impending death or damnation, so that when the love
138 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbx, lib. i. , cap. lxxx. , p. 402.
QuintaVita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxxi. , p. 402.
I43
See ibid. , cap. lxxxii. , p. 402. I44 See ibid. , cap. lxxxiii. , p. 402. 145 The Irish name Cl/UAin true
'39 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , xiv. Maii. De S. Carthaco seu
Mochudda, Episcopo et Abbate Lismo- interpreted, by some writers, Meadow of
riensi, in Hibernia, p. 381.
140 See the Life of St. Carthage or Moch-
udda, on his feast, May 14th, in the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i. , chap. ii.
141 SeehisLife,onthe9thofSeptember.
"
son of Nos," derived from Nos, son of
142 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga,"
barony of Garrycastle in King's County theabbeywassituated.
*46 His Irish was Wac An patronymic
That one made of gold
Fiadach, one of the Dealbhna-Eathra, the
tribe in whose district
—now known as t—he
tloif,
is
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 325
of virtue did not urge them to refrain from vice, the fear of punishment might induce them to a better state. 144
Already Clonmacnoise I4S had been founded, a. d. 548, or about that time, by St. Ciaran. 146 His chief patron was King Diarmait, who granted the site with its endowments. The saint died, however, on the 9th day of Septem- ber, a. d. 549, only in the thirty-fourth year of his age. 147 He was esteemed one of Ireland's chief saints,'48 and his monastery soon rose to the highest degreeofimportance. WhileintheprovinceofMeath,itisrelated,thatSt. Columba travelled in the direction of Clonmacnoise, to St. Kieran.
To the latter he presented the copy of a Hymn, he had composed, in the praise of God. Hiscustomwastospendhisfewleisuremomentsincomposinglittle effusions in praise of the Almighty, when freed from the recital of the Divine Office and other pious exercises, and when he relaxed from holy meditation. These hymns and tracts were written partly in the Latin, and partly in the Irish language. I4 9 Once, while St. Columba was engaged writing a Book of Gospels, St. Kieran, son of the artisan, being asked to do so, promised he
" And
whose
afterwards became well known throughout Ireland, for his knowledge of the
Sacred and for his of miracles. I52 Various successive amend- Scriptures, gift
ments had been made on the Continent, in the Rule for celebrating Easter, about St. Columba's time. These regulations left the British churches considerably in arrear ; partly owing to their unwillingness to abandon ancient institutions,
subsequently prevailed for so many years, and especially among the Irish Churches, concerning the differences of time for the proper celebration of Easter. St. Columba could hardly have been ignorant of the discrepancy, between the Irish and the Continental churches ; yet, he evinced no desire to alter the existing practice, as lie found it in Ireland. Suchwas the respect for liis memory, in after times, that the bare fact of his observing the old rule operated, during more than a century, as a great obstacle to the adoption of the Roman Easter in the monastery of Hy and in its dependencies 155
much "promise on the part of God, that the middle parts of Ireland shall rejoice in your name and pay tribute t—o your monastery. "150 While at the monastery
would the middle complete
part.
I,"
said Columba
very
pleased,
of — a certain Clonmacnoise, boy
held to be bythemonks earnestlydesiredtoobtainSt. Columba'sblessing;but,through bashfulness,hedidnotdaretoaskforit. However,heapproached,andinafur- tivemanner,hetookathreadortwofromthehemofoursaint'sgarment. He was rudely repelled by the monks, who were near; but the saint, knowing well his interior dispositions, not only imparted his blessing, buteven predicted be- fore all who were present, that the boy should be celebrated, in after time, for his holinessandknowledge. ThischildwasErnan,151sonofCressen,andwho
and
greatly and inordinately addicted to their national usages. 154 In Clonmac- noise, St. Columkille prophesied regarding those future dissensions, which
owing partly
to the circumstance
alleged
"
c-fAoir, Latinized Filius Artificis. "
147 See his Life, at the 9th of September.
148 In Cummian's Paschal he is
"Lite of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. iii. , pp. 23 to 26.
of the Irish. See Ussher's
Veterum Epis-
xi. , p. 33.
149 bee Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,
Vita S. pp. 400, 401.
lib.
" cap. lxx. ,
'S5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 3, n.
Quinta
Columba? ,
i. ,
150 See ibid. , cap. lxxxviii. , p. 403.
,S1 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
(1), p. 26.
Epistle,
I52 See
Colgan's
" Trias
Thauiraturga,"
"
called Queranus Coloniensis,"and it ranks Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxi. ,
"" him, likewise, among the Patres priores
p. 401.
I53 Especially by St. Wilfrid.
"
I54 See Venerable Bede's Hhtoria Eccle-
s'astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xxv.
"
tolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge," Epistola
proficiencyiwas
very
slender
••
of the 1 " that were Irish, they
326
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
CHAPTER V.
HE LITERARY WORKS OF ST. COLUMBA—THE VARIOUS SUBJECTS HE TREATED IN PROSE AND VERSE—HIS PROPHECIES—TRAVELS OF ST. COLUMB THROUGH LEINSTER, AND THE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS THERE FOUNDED BY HIM.
The mental and bodily industry and love for labour of St. Columba were extraordinary. His missionary works were hardly ever interrupted. He never could spend even one hour, without study, or prayer, or writing, or some
other
of his genuine productions are now probably unknown or lost. However, although various prophetical and other Poems 2 are ascribed to St. Cohim- kille, their authorship or invention does not appear to date back to his period. 3 Like all true missionaries, now as then, Columba spoke and wrote in the vernacular of his country, while his cultivated taste and his innate genius added to its literature. According to a quatrain,'* quoted in the old Irish Life, 5 he had an intense relish for the promotion of religious and national feeling with literature, not alone in his own but even in the Latin language. Most of his Tracts are inspired by a deep and sublime sentiment of devotion ; while several serve to show, likewise, that his patriotic feelings were of a warm and of an intense nature. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive, how there can be any true piety, zeal, or charity, where love of one's country and of one's own people is stilled and unstimulating in the human heart.
TheRoyalIrishAcademy'sLibrarycontains6 severalpoeticpieces,attri- buted to St. Columkille. In like manner, the Manuscript Room of Trinity
College Library. Dublin, preserves some compositions, ascribed to him. Over thirty Poems in the Irish language, and supposed to have been written
by him, were in possession of Edward O'Reilly, the subjects being miscel- laneous, but the chief part were religious. He had also Prophecies, which, if written by Columba in any form, must have been interpolated and cor-
rupted, by
modern writers. ? The Bodleian 8 at Library,
Oxford,^
and the
Chapter v. — 1 us by Adamnan.
Such is the account left
5 In the "Leabhar
Breac,"
and this has
2
See for some of these Messrs. Hodges'
been translated into English, by William
Maunsell Hennessey, Esq. , M. R. I. A. It is
published as Appendix I, with annotations,
in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland : a
History of Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , pp. 467
to 507. This is evidently a Panegyric, ad-
dressed to a congregation, and probably
composed for some Festival of our saint.
6
Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's small 8vo paper MS. , No. 145, in the Royal Irish Aca- demy, contains some poems ascribed to St Columkille. Also, a MS. classed No. 46, 4; and No. 6, 5 ; as likewise, No. 27.
and Smith's collection of Manuscripts be-
longing to the Royal Irish Academy, Folio Paper MS. , No. 221. Also a 4to Paper MS. , No. 27.
3 Thus, a Manuscript, belonging to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and classed Laud, 615, contains 136 Irish Poems, for the most part ascribed to St. Columba. See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes F, n. (a),
P- 265.
« Thus has the stanza been rendered into
English :—
Thrice fifty noble lays the Apostle made,
Whose miracles are more numerous
than grass ;
Some in Latin, which were beguil-
•ng :
Some in Gaelic, fair the tale. "
7 See "
Four Hundred Irish Writers," &c, p. xxxviii.
8 «'
In his Scottish Historical Library,"
Bishop Nicolson mentions his works in Irish verse, as being found among the Laud Manuscripts, and marked in the Catalogue, toin. i. , part i. , num. 784. See chap, vi. , p. 65 n. 19.
"
1 St. Cohimkille is the reputed author of various Prose
holy occupation.
Tracts, Poems and Prophecies, in the Irish and Latin languages, and copies of which are still preserved in public libraries, at home and abroad. Several
Chronological
Account of
nearly
June 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
327
BurgundianLibrary,atBruxelles,havecopiesofhisPoems, Thefollowing compositions have been ascribed to him ; however, we are not obliged to accept them very generally as his genuine works. Neither can we presume to fix the dates, for their issue, in all cases ; but, from the subjects treated and the circumstances and occasions to which they refer, we may well con- sider —precluding the idea of their being spurious—several of them must have been composed before he left Ireland for Alba. Those relating to a subse- quent period of his life, as indicated by their subjects and circumstances, are reserved for further notice. Besides that Monastic Rule to which we have already alluded, but of which a copy has not yet been recovered, or authenti- cated ;'° we must here present a list of those compositions, which are set down to his credit, and, in many instances, we may fairly accept the con- tinuous traditions of Ireland, as lending great weight to their genuineness. To St. Columkille has been attributed a Life of St. Patrick," from which have beendrawnlateraccountsofourgreatNationalApostle. " Alludingtothat Life, Colgan thinks it was written in one Book, if not in a greater number. ^ However, it is said,'4 that our saint was among the first to compile and nar- rate the Miracles of St. Patrick. *5 He is said, also, to have composed a
in 16 which is a Hymn Irish,
panegyric
ofSt. as it was a short Brigid;'? and,
one,ColganhastranslateditintoLatin18 whichhehaspublished. Heisre- ,
puted to have written this Hymn, about a. d. 563, on his passage over to Britain.
As St. Columba delighted in singing the Divine praises, we are not to be sui prised, that his inspired soul was poured out in the composition of several
"
sublime and devotional canticles. In the
served three distinct Latin Hymns,20 attributed to him, and these are regarded by many—and from a remote time—as his genuine effusions. These are classed thus in traditional order. I. A Latin Hymn of St. Columba,21 intituled
9 'Among the Manuscripts, Laud. D. 17,
are to be found his Exhortation to Princes
and his Prophecies, as also some account of
his own Life. See Bishop Nicolson's "Irish position to St. Columba. However, the
Historical Library, "chap, iv. , p. 34, andn. 4. 10 We do not here refer to the Rule of St. Colum Cille, which contains precepts for the regulation of the life and time of religious, preferring solitude to living in community. Of this a summary is given in Eugene O'Curry's "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History," Lect. xviii. , p. 374. Also Appendix, No. 612. A translation of it into English may be found, in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. , Appendix II. ,
Irish Life of St. Brigid, attribute its com- scholiast has doubts, as to whether it may
cxviii. , p.
pp. 508, 509. ""
,8 See "Trias
Septima p. 128.
12
Vita S.
Patricii,
lib.
i. , cap. lxix.
12 subsequentlyrealized. ?
When Columba was returning with his monks at one time after prayers, they noticed his sad appearance, and they enquired its cause. Then, in a prophe-
ticspiritheanswered "MyIrishpeoplearetomeacauseforsorrow,since
:
in time to come, they shall wage war on each other, shall injure, hate, and wickedly slay, shall shed innocent blood, shall oppress the poor, and violate churchesandholyplaces; forthesecrimes,theyshallexciteandincurthe angerofGodandofhissaints,whosechurchestheyprofaned. Wherefore,to avenge such evils, God shall arm against them the forces and courage of foreigners, so that they shall be driven from their own seats and houses to the mountains, rough places, marshes, and deserts, unfit and inconvenient for human habitation. However, I feel abundantly consoled, because taught by such calamities, our people shall be converted to God, and shall recover their love of justice and right, they shall venerate the saints, and they shall invio- lably observe their church privileges.
day
a fish I23 of size, which was astonishing
the 12* Almighty.
"'
See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
residence most convenient or agreeable, but
usually within his own hereditary principa- lity. The kings of the northern Hy-Neill usually resided at their ancient fortress of Aileach, in the barony of Inishowen, near
for him
Some time before the desertion of Temoria,12* or Tara, Columba had a
" Life of St. Columba," Additional Notes G,
pp. 280, 281.
i22 We are told by Colgan, that the River
Sele, as referred to in the Quarta Vita S.
Patricii, cap. li. , p. 42, and in the Septima Derry ; and those of the southern Hy-Niall,
Vita S. Patricii, pars ii. , cap. iv. , p. 129, was identical with the Abha-dhubh, i. e. , Jluvius niger, now the Blackwater River in Meath. See "Trias Thaumaturga," n. 14,
P- 173-
123 In Adamnan's Life of our saint it is
termed an essoc. By this is understood, a
salmon or a pike, by some ; but, Colgan deems it to be an eel, and derivable from the Irish term efcoti, applied to the latter fish.
"* See ibid. , Quarta Vita S. Columbae,
at first lived at Dun-Torgeis, near Castle- pollard in Westmeath, and afterwards at Dun-na-Sgiath, at the north-western margin of Loch Annin, now Lough Ennell, near Mullingar. Seeidid. ,n. (p).
"'See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. i. , cap. lxxxiv. , p. 402.
ib. 3*3-
and n.
" When that which 19, p. cup,
ii. , cap. xix. , p. 354,
for others the Had brimm'd full of bitterness,
125 This is usually placed at A. D. 554, when the last feast of Teamhair was cele-
brated, by Diarmaid, King of Ireland. See
drench'd her own
And the world she had trampled on
" Masters," vol. i. , pp. 190, 191.
Dr. O'Donovan's
Annals of the Four
heard without
The howl in her halls, and the cry
136
monarch of Ireland chose for himself the
pity from her ships.
Alter this desertion of Tara, each
prepared
by
In fine, the Almighty shall regard the
128 This passage will forcibly recall those lines, in that beautiful lyric, and the political
: meaning they convey, in "The Parallel" —
proud Golden City
lips,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 323 multiplied wickedness, and the cup brimful of impiety, heaped up by their
conquerors
persecutors ;
then,
turn,
hatreds,
you very certain,
tain Columba
that
life shall be even so much
"
,2S
and
bounds of Ireland, while the Irish, through the intercession of their own
12
saints, shall recover laws and usages, they had previously lost. " ? Another
time, travelling towards Temoria,T3° our saint met a certain holy prophet, called Bee, the son of De. ' 31 On account of his spirit of prophecy and pre-
dictions, he was very dear to and familiar with Diennit, son to Kerval, King
of Ireland. After mutual salutations, and speaking on the subject of pro-
phecy, Columba asked Bee, if he knew the term of his own life, or the hour
of his death ? Bee " I well know for now seven of life re- replied : it, years my
main. " Then,Columbasaid,thatmanypiousworkscouldbeperformedin a briefer time, and he asked again, if Bee were certain, he had so long a term to survive. Hesitating a little, Bee replied, that he should recall what lie said, and that he had only seven months to live. Then, asked Columba, " Are
in
quarrels, and wars, shall succeed, and the foreigners shall be driven from the
your
fession of my past sins, to give me communion, and to prepare me for my last end. This request Columba complied with, and on that very day, St. Bee
132 mac De went to Heaven. —
Truly, holy Father," said Bee, "all your former predictions regarding me must be fulfilled, and I have been deceived regarding myself, as now I know I have only seven hours to live. Wherefore, I earnestly entreat you, to hear the con-
Acer—
I33
our saint is said to have visited St. Fintan of Dunbleisque, and to have
Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. lxxxv. ,
Art. at the of the date for i. , 3rd January,
pp. 402, 403.
*3°Inthe" foundin Tigernachi Annales,"
Rev. Dr. O'Connor's "Rerum Hibernicarum
131 In the Leabhar Breac, he is represented as poet and counsellor to Diarmait Mac
his festival.
I35 "
See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum
Hiber-
tomus the last convention at ii. ,
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. ii. ,
Scriptores,"
Temoria, is placed at a. d. 560. See p. 141.
Thaumaturga,"
mutual dissensions,
but nevertheless he cannot well be identified with 13*
bestowed upon the latter a city called Kill-maitoge, with the services, which
its inhabitants owed to the 1 ^ This church is 136 possessor. placed, by Colgan,
in the Diocese of Meath, although in another passage, he does not undertake to define the locality. Once St. Columba visited St. Mochuda,13? at Rathin, and he predicted, that the latter should be thence banished by the King of Ireland, moved to this course through persuasion of some among the clergy of Leth-Cuinn, who envied the holy man. Moreover, on this occasion, Mochuda learned where he was to fix a future habitation and to lay down the burden of his flesh. Columba answered " At the course of the River
:
Nimhe, where formerly from the summit of Sliabh-Cuach, you saw the choir of Angels, there shall be your residence, there shall you build a temple, which you shall mark with a golden seal, and there being settled, you shall spend
the life God has given you until changed for life eternal.
''
All this happened,
" When the curse Heaven keeps for the haughty came over
Her merchants rapacious, her rulers
unjust,
And, a ruin, at last, for the earth-
worm to cover,
The Lady of kingdoms lay low in the dust. "
—Moore's "Irish Melodies. "
Cerbaill, King of Ireland, and there too are introduced Tracts referring to his conversa- tion with St. Columkille and to his Prophe- cies.
I32 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxxvii. ,
p. 403.
133 Probably, he who was Abbot of Tyr-da-
glass, venerated on the 13th of December.
I3«
129 See " Trias Colgan's
See his Life in vol. i. of this work,
prolonged? "
Vita S. Fintani, xiii. , nise," Januarii iii. , cap.
p.
12.
I36 See "Trias
p. 494-
,3' See his Life, chap, iii. , in the Fifth
Volume of this work, at May 14th, Art. i.
324
LIVES OF THE IRISH SA7ATS. [June 9.
for Blathmac, son to Aldus Slane, King of Ireland, banished St. Mochudda from Rathain. 's8 At Rathin, St. Columba proposed to build a cell, and with such intent, he collected three loads of osiers. 1 ^ However, he had a pro- phetic revelation, that Rathin was destined for St. Carthacus,,4°whowas sub- sequentlytoarrivethereandtobuildhiscell. Forhimtheloadsoftwigswere lelt, and with these the fust missionary station at that place was constructed.
St. Boethin once had a dream which he related to St. Columba. He declared, that in a certain city, he seemed to behold three seats : one seat of gold, one of silver, and one of glass, and that the latter appeared to be nearer to Christ.
"
Having asked Columba's explanation, the saint said,
typifies the golden virtue of charity which distinguished Kieran, 141 son of the carpenter ; the silver one signifies your own pure, sincere and solid piety ; while the glass one, which can easily be broken and which can with difficulty be repaired, most resembles me a frail sinner, whom constant intercourse with menrendersliabletobeinjured,ifnotbroken. " Thiswassaidthrougha
spiritofprofoundhumility; yet,sayshisbiographerO'Donnell,Columbmight claim the seat of glass, on another title, inasmuch as it reflected the virtues
of the saint and the vices of others, so that the rays derived from the sun of
transferredtothesoulsofhis 1'*2 OnceColumba neighbours.
were
was asked by Andadh, son to Duibhinfius, to tell him when his life should end. Columba however replied, that he sought for information more curi- ously than usefully, for to God only was known the time and juncture ; nor did he wish mortals to equal his knowledge, and that it was more becoming they should learn what the Almighty commanded, than curiously to enquire what he had decreed regarding them ; that God wisely concealed from men the exact and near hour of death, not only for their own spiritual profit and good, but lest they should cease, through fear of it, to engage in meritorious works, in study and in the social duties of life, thus causing great public loss ; that if
justice
easily
they foresaw its delay, they would be more ready immediately to plunge into crimes, and to defer their repentance to the last moment ; he also declared, that although more familiar with the Almighty himself than were most secu- lars, he never desired to know in advance the hour for his own death ; and, in fine, he was satisfied to know most certainly, that the hour which was uncer- tain to man, was thoroughly known to God. Moreover, as compared with eternity, the term of man in life is but as a point, so that every moment should be spent in the discharge of good works, and as the Saviour admonishes, in the practice of unwearied piety. To these remarks, so full of wisdom, Andadh obediently submitted. 143 In like manner, when persons living piously asked him sometimes to predict regarding their state of predes- tination, or the term they had to live, he declared, that it was not well for
even good men to be assured of their future happiness, lest they might become too elated, or relax in their good works, or indulge in faults. Yet, often he threatened sinners with impending death or damnation, so that when the love
138 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbx, lib. i. , cap. lxxx. , p. 402.
QuintaVita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxxi. , p. 402.
I43
See ibid. , cap. lxxxii. , p. 402. I44 See ibid. , cap. lxxxiii. , p. 402. 145 The Irish name Cl/UAin true
'39 See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , xiv. Maii. De S. Carthaco seu
Mochudda, Episcopo et Abbate Lismo- interpreted, by some writers, Meadow of
riensi, in Hibernia, p. 381.
140 See the Life of St. Carthage or Moch-
udda, on his feast, May 14th, in the Fifth Volume of this work, Art. i. , chap. ii.
141 SeehisLife,onthe9thofSeptember.
"
son of Nos," derived from Nos, son of
142 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga,"
barony of Garrycastle in King's County theabbeywassituated.
*46 His Irish was Wac An patronymic
That one made of gold
Fiadach, one of the Dealbhna-Eathra, the
tribe in whose district
—now known as t—he
tloif,
is
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 325
of virtue did not urge them to refrain from vice, the fear of punishment might induce them to a better state. 144
Already Clonmacnoise I4S had been founded, a. d. 548, or about that time, by St. Ciaran. 146 His chief patron was King Diarmait, who granted the site with its endowments. The saint died, however, on the 9th day of Septem- ber, a. d. 549, only in the thirty-fourth year of his age. 147 He was esteemed one of Ireland's chief saints,'48 and his monastery soon rose to the highest degreeofimportance. WhileintheprovinceofMeath,itisrelated,thatSt. Columba travelled in the direction of Clonmacnoise, to St. Kieran.
To the latter he presented the copy of a Hymn, he had composed, in the praise of God. Hiscustomwastospendhisfewleisuremomentsincomposinglittle effusions in praise of the Almighty, when freed from the recital of the Divine Office and other pious exercises, and when he relaxed from holy meditation. These hymns and tracts were written partly in the Latin, and partly in the Irish language. I4 9 Once, while St. Columba was engaged writing a Book of Gospels, St. Kieran, son of the artisan, being asked to do so, promised he
" And
whose
afterwards became well known throughout Ireland, for his knowledge of the
Sacred and for his of miracles. I52 Various successive amend- Scriptures, gift
ments had been made on the Continent, in the Rule for celebrating Easter, about St. Columba's time. These regulations left the British churches considerably in arrear ; partly owing to their unwillingness to abandon ancient institutions,
subsequently prevailed for so many years, and especially among the Irish Churches, concerning the differences of time for the proper celebration of Easter. St. Columba could hardly have been ignorant of the discrepancy, between the Irish and the Continental churches ; yet, he evinced no desire to alter the existing practice, as lie found it in Ireland. Suchwas the respect for liis memory, in after times, that the bare fact of his observing the old rule operated, during more than a century, as a great obstacle to the adoption of the Roman Easter in the monastery of Hy and in its dependencies 155
much "promise on the part of God, that the middle parts of Ireland shall rejoice in your name and pay tribute t—o your monastery. "150 While at the monastery
would the middle complete
part.
I,"
said Columba
very
pleased,
of — a certain Clonmacnoise, boy
held to be bythemonks earnestlydesiredtoobtainSt. Columba'sblessing;but,through bashfulness,hedidnotdaretoaskforit. However,heapproached,andinafur- tivemanner,hetookathreadortwofromthehemofoursaint'sgarment. He was rudely repelled by the monks, who were near; but the saint, knowing well his interior dispositions, not only imparted his blessing, buteven predicted be- fore all who were present, that the boy should be celebrated, in after time, for his holinessandknowledge. ThischildwasErnan,151sonofCressen,andwho
and
greatly and inordinately addicted to their national usages. 154 In Clonmac- noise, St. Columkille prophesied regarding those future dissensions, which
owing partly
to the circumstance
alleged
"
c-fAoir, Latinized Filius Artificis. "
147 See his Life, at the 9th of September.
148 In Cummian's Paschal he is
"Lite of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. iii. , pp. 23 to 26.
of the Irish. See Ussher's
Veterum Epis-
xi. , p. 33.
149 bee Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,
Vita S. pp. 400, 401.
lib.
" cap. lxx. ,
'S5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's Life of St. Columba," lib. i. , cap. 3, n.
Quinta
Columba? ,
i. ,
150 See ibid. , cap. lxxxviii. , p. 403.
,S1 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
(1), p. 26.
Epistle,
I52 See
Colgan's
" Trias
Thauiraturga,"
"
called Queranus Coloniensis,"and it ranks Quinta Vita S. Columbse, lib. i. , cap. lxxi. ,
"" him, likewise, among the Patres priores
p. 401.
I53 Especially by St. Wilfrid.
"
I54 See Venerable Bede's Hhtoria Eccle-
s'astica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. xxv.
"
tolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge," Epistola
proficiencyiwas
very
slender
••
of the 1 " that were Irish, they
326
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
CHAPTER V.
HE LITERARY WORKS OF ST. COLUMBA—THE VARIOUS SUBJECTS HE TREATED IN PROSE AND VERSE—HIS PROPHECIES—TRAVELS OF ST. COLUMB THROUGH LEINSTER, AND THE RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS THERE FOUNDED BY HIM.
The mental and bodily industry and love for labour of St. Columba were extraordinary. His missionary works were hardly ever interrupted. He never could spend even one hour, without study, or prayer, or writing, or some
other
of his genuine productions are now probably unknown or lost. However, although various prophetical and other Poems 2 are ascribed to St. Cohim- kille, their authorship or invention does not appear to date back to his period. 3 Like all true missionaries, now as then, Columba spoke and wrote in the vernacular of his country, while his cultivated taste and his innate genius added to its literature. According to a quatrain,'* quoted in the old Irish Life, 5 he had an intense relish for the promotion of religious and national feeling with literature, not alone in his own but even in the Latin language. Most of his Tracts are inspired by a deep and sublime sentiment of devotion ; while several serve to show, likewise, that his patriotic feelings were of a warm and of an intense nature. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive, how there can be any true piety, zeal, or charity, where love of one's country and of one's own people is stilled and unstimulating in the human heart.
TheRoyalIrishAcademy'sLibrarycontains6 severalpoeticpieces,attri- buted to St. Columkille. In like manner, the Manuscript Room of Trinity
College Library. Dublin, preserves some compositions, ascribed to him. Over thirty Poems in the Irish language, and supposed to have been written
by him, were in possession of Edward O'Reilly, the subjects being miscel- laneous, but the chief part were religious. He had also Prophecies, which, if written by Columba in any form, must have been interpolated and cor-
rupted, by
modern writers. ? The Bodleian 8 at Library,
Oxford,^
and the
Chapter v. — 1 us by Adamnan.
Such is the account left
5 In the "Leabhar
Breac,"
and this has
2
See for some of these Messrs. Hodges'
been translated into English, by William
Maunsell Hennessey, Esq. , M. R. I. A. It is
published as Appendix I, with annotations,
in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland : a
History of Ancient Alban," vol. ii. , pp. 467
to 507. This is evidently a Panegyric, ad-
dressed to a congregation, and probably
composed for some Festival of our saint.
6
Messrs. Hodges' and Smith's small 8vo paper MS. , No. 145, in the Royal Irish Aca- demy, contains some poems ascribed to St Columkille. Also, a MS. classed No. 46, 4; and No. 6, 5 ; as likewise, No. 27.
and Smith's collection of Manuscripts be-
longing to the Royal Irish Academy, Folio Paper MS. , No. 221. Also a 4to Paper MS. , No. 27.
3 Thus, a Manuscript, belonging to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and classed Laud, 615, contains 136 Irish Poems, for the most part ascribed to St. Columba. See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes F, n. (a),
P- 265.
« Thus has the stanza been rendered into
English :—
Thrice fifty noble lays the Apostle made,
Whose miracles are more numerous
than grass ;
Some in Latin, which were beguil-
•ng :
Some in Gaelic, fair the tale. "
7 See "
Four Hundred Irish Writers," &c, p. xxxviii.
8 «'
In his Scottish Historical Library,"
Bishop Nicolson mentions his works in Irish verse, as being found among the Laud Manuscripts, and marked in the Catalogue, toin. i. , part i. , num. 784. See chap, vi. , p. 65 n. 19.
"
1 St. Cohimkille is the reputed author of various Prose
holy occupation.
Tracts, Poems and Prophecies, in the Irish and Latin languages, and copies of which are still preserved in public libraries, at home and abroad. Several
Chronological
Account of
nearly
June 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
327
BurgundianLibrary,atBruxelles,havecopiesofhisPoems, Thefollowing compositions have been ascribed to him ; however, we are not obliged to accept them very generally as his genuine works. Neither can we presume to fix the dates, for their issue, in all cases ; but, from the subjects treated and the circumstances and occasions to which they refer, we may well con- sider —precluding the idea of their being spurious—several of them must have been composed before he left Ireland for Alba. Those relating to a subse- quent period of his life, as indicated by their subjects and circumstances, are reserved for further notice. Besides that Monastic Rule to which we have already alluded, but of which a copy has not yet been recovered, or authenti- cated ;'° we must here present a list of those compositions, which are set down to his credit, and, in many instances, we may fairly accept the con- tinuous traditions of Ireland, as lending great weight to their genuineness. To St. Columkille has been attributed a Life of St. Patrick," from which have beendrawnlateraccountsofourgreatNationalApostle. " Alludingtothat Life, Colgan thinks it was written in one Book, if not in a greater number. ^ However, it is said,'4 that our saint was among the first to compile and nar- rate the Miracles of St. Patrick. *5 He is said, also, to have composed a
in 16 which is a Hymn Irish,
panegyric
ofSt. as it was a short Brigid;'? and,
one,ColganhastranslateditintoLatin18 whichhehaspublished. Heisre- ,
puted to have written this Hymn, about a. d. 563, on his passage over to Britain.
As St. Columba delighted in singing the Divine praises, we are not to be sui prised, that his inspired soul was poured out in the composition of several
"
sublime and devotional canticles. In the
served three distinct Latin Hymns,20 attributed to him, and these are regarded by many—and from a remote time—as his genuine effusions. These are classed thus in traditional order. I. A Latin Hymn of St. Columba,21 intituled
9 'Among the Manuscripts, Laud. D. 17,
are to be found his Exhortation to Princes
and his Prophecies, as also some account of
his own Life. See Bishop Nicolson's "Irish position to St. Columba. However, the
Historical Library, "chap, iv. , p. 34, andn. 4. 10 We do not here refer to the Rule of St. Colum Cille, which contains precepts for the regulation of the life and time of religious, preferring solitude to living in community. Of this a summary is given in Eugene O'Curry's "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History," Lect. xviii. , p. 374. Also Appendix, No. 612. A translation of it into English may be found, in William F. Skene's "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii. , Appendix II. ,
Irish Life of St. Brigid, attribute its com- scholiast has doubts, as to whether it may
cxviii. , p.
pp. 508, 509. ""
,8 See "Trias
Septima p. 128.
12
Vita S.
Patricii,
lib.
i. , cap. lxix.
