No More Learning

'
pp. 172, 173.
31 In a note, he remarks j "-We are told,
Ibid. ,
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
southern part of Kilkenny county. ** This is now called Aghavillar,3* the
"
Field of the Pilgrim," 33 where formerly stood a Round Tower, the lower part of which now only remains, and above the foundation it measured fifty feet around. 34 That parish appears to have been dedicated to St. Brendan, specially honoured as Patron of the Dioceses of Ardfert and of Clonfert. There, too,
August i . ]
true orthography of which is said to be Agha-oiller, interpreted
well, in the form of a " 1 6th of May, and down to a very recent periods
CHAPTER III.
his feast was observed, at the
holy
patron,"
on the
DOUBTS EXPRESSED REGARDING THE IDENTITY OF ST. RIOCH, NEPHEW OF ST. PATRICK, BEING THE ST. RIOCH OF INIS-BOFINDE—THE LATTER VISITED BY ST. AID—ANTI- QUITIES ON LOUGH REE—DEATH OF ST. RIOCH—FESTIVALS—VENERATION IN THE CITY OF KILKENNY—CONCLUSION.
Although most usually styled Abbot, Rioch was also a Bishop, according to received accounts. Notwithstanding, as applying to the holy personage
so named, who lived on Lough Ree, the question concerning his discharge of episcopal functions has been contested. It has been stated, moreover,
by Archbishop Ussher, that St. Rioch, Abbot of Inis-Bofinde, was a distinct person from the nephew of St. Patrick, and that the former flourished at
but, this he had opinion
2 The chief
called the nephew of St. Patrick, could not have been a St. Rioch who lived
to the time of St. Aid,3 whom he entertained in his monastery. However, this did not seem a convincing reason with Colgan* to draw a distinction ;
since St. Rioch, the nephew of St. Patrick, was a youth many years after the birth of St. Brigid, about a. d. , 454, and he might have lived on to about the year, 530 or 540, when St. Aid of Slieve Liag flourished, while the latter died a. d. 588. Then, he is called an old man, at the time of his decease.
a later
period,
in one of his portion
1 work;
corrected,
in another
place.
argument
he uses is, that St. Rioch,
that fifty Roman pilgrims arrived in Ireland in quest of retirement and study, and that they were divided into five equal parties, ten each to SS. Finbar, Kiaran, Finnian, Sennan, and Brendan, and from the subsequent mission of some one or more of these pil- grims, the parish of Aughavillar apparently derives its name. "—Ibid. , p. 474.
in the
parish
barony of Knocktopher, shown on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the
County of Kilkenny," Sheet 31.
33 For an account of the Roman and
dan's connection with this ancient locality was akin to that of Rioch with Kilkenny, namely, he opened here an ecclesiastical mission, placed it under the guidance of one or more of his ten pilgrims, and thus the place
""
was called Aughaviller," or the Field of
32 Now a townland and
Lough
Ree, he applies
foreign pilgrims in Ireland, the reader is referred to Dr. George Petrie's "Ecclesi- astical Architecture and Round Towers of Ireland," part ii. , sect, ii. , pp. 137 to 139, and sect, iii. , subs,
Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p.
430.
i. , p. 192.
34 See William Tighe's " Statistical Ob-
509.
3 Said to have been Bishop of Killare, in
Meath, and also a recluse on. Slieve League, in Donegal. His festival occurs, on the 10th of November.
4 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernioe," yi.
servations relative to the County of Kil- kenny, made in the year 1800 and 1801," part iii. , sect. 19, p. 632.
35 According to Mr. Hogan's conjecture it shears- highly, probable, that St. Br«n»
Februarii. De S. Riocho Abbate d—c Inis-
Bofinde, n. 7, p. 268.
the Pilgrim. " — Chapter III.
of Inis-Bofinde, in
to it the account found in Venerable Bede's " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum,"
Alluding to the Island
relating to the Inis-be-finde off the West "
coast of Ireland. See Britannicarum
2
See Addenda quaedam omissa, ibid. , p-.
-
xo LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August i.
Dr. Lanigans seems to adhere to his opinion, that there were two Riochs, the one being a nephew of St. Patrick, and the other a St. Rioch, Abbot of Inis-Bofinde,°who flourished at a later period, and in the sixth century; whereas he remarked, that in all the stories about Rioch, St. Patrick's assumed nephew, and the founder of Innis-bofinde, they are spoken of as one and the
6 OnInis-bofinde—alsowrittenInch-boffin—therearesomevery ancient tombstones, with Celtic crosses engraved on them. ' Also, a Celtic inscription, Oroit do Cormacan, " Pray for Cormacan/f was found on this
same
person.
Reverse View of Old Church on Inishboffin, Lough Ree.
Island, by the Rev. James Graves, B. A. , in 1869. It seems to be well established, however, that a St. Rioch lived here to the time of Bishop Aidus,° son of Brec, who visited him on his Island of Inis-Bofinde. There Aerius was received with great hospitality and reverence, by that saint. 10 Having served up meat, at a great banquet prepared by the Abbot for his guest ; the latter was unwilling to use flesh meat, but on blessing it, bread, fish, and
honey supplied its place, on the table.
s He appears to have used the earlier
edition of Ussher's work.
6"
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan'i Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect, xiii. , n. 177, p. 421.
for
by
The Westmeath Independent, of June 25th,
1887, who has also furnished the writer with some interesting pencil sketches, re- presenting two outside views of St. Rioch's church on the Island of Inch-a-bofinn, the first being a view of the window on the north side, and the second view exhibiting the walls and a gable capped with ivy. . Besides, he has furnished two inside views,
All who were present partook of the
gable and window, on the top of a cellar, and the second being a finely-arched choir- window, the choir itself being recessed within a chancel arch. Thick masses of ivy seem to surmount both.
8 A this name flourished poet bearing
about A. D. 942. lie wrote a Poem on the Circuit of Ireland, which was edited by John O'Donovan, and it was published by the Irish Archaeological Society, among
"Tracts relating to Ireland," vol. i.
» See his Life, at the 10th of November.
10
In the account of this visit, the author of the Life of St. Aidussays : "Monasterium enim clarum in ilia i—nsula est quod ex nomine
7 Article written
Mr. M.
Donegan,
the first giving a view oi the interior of a . insul* nominatur. " Colgan's "Acta Sane-
August i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. zz
food thus furnished, admiring His power, and giving thanks to God, with their sainted guest. " It has been conjectured, that St. Rioch might have
presided over his monastery at Inis-Bofinde, in or about the year 540 ;
although Aidus was Abbot, at that time he visited our saint. " As it seems
to us, the present church of Inishboffin cannot pretend to a very remote
antiquity ; but, it is probable enough, it stands on or near the site of
St. Rioch's former religious establishment. The mullioned window in the
gable is clearly mediaeval ; and, for so small a structure, it is very elegantly
designed. '3 On the outside and at the top of a Gothic pointed window,
there is a mitred head carved, and it is traditionally said to represent St.
1 Rioc,
Island,intheParish'sandBaronyofRathcline,countyofLongford. This Island contains about 291 acres, being still inhabited and cultivated. 16 There,inancienttimes,wasalsoamonastery. Theecclesiasticalruinsare
1 ? Some authorities are of that opinion,
*
About one mile from Inisbofinn and towards the east lies All Saints'
still in a state of good
preservation.
the Island was originally called Inis-Aenghin, and that St. Kieran founded
his first church here, before he removed to Clonmacnoise ;'
8
while others
state, that Inis-Aenghin was always identical with the present Hare Island,
lower down on the Lough. '9 Again, while some are of opinion, that a
convent of Poor Clares was on All Saints' Island ; others maintain, that they
lived at a place called Bethlehem, on the Westmeath side of the lake shore,
and about one mile off from that Island. There is a little and a very old
church in ruins, on All Saints' Island, and it seems old enough to be of the
sixth or seventh 20 We are told, that a descendant of Sir century.
Henry Dillon of Drumrany—who came into Ireland with John, Earl of Morton—
erected an abbey on this Island, and probably on the site of the ancient
21 22 In the year 1272, the Prior Airectac y Fin died.
Abbey of St. Kieran.
There, too, the Annals of All Saints were written, and these were continued
torum Hibernisc," xxviii. Februarii. Vita in the Frontispiece prefixed to the present
S. Aidi Epis. et Confessoris, cap. xxxv. , Volume. They are drawn and engraved
p. 421. by Alfred Oldham from a photograph of J.
11
See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi- T. Hoban, Athlone, and procured through bernise," xxviii. Februarii. Vita S. Aidi the kindness of Very Rev. Thomas Langan,
Epis. et Confessoris, cap. xxxv. , p. 421.
" See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, x. , sect. iii. , p. II.
13 In a former part of this Life, we have
presented an engraving of this church, but this second illustration represents the reverse
view, including the window, and ivy-covered gable. It is also furnished from a photograph
of J. T. Hoban, Athlone, and procured for
the writer, by Very Rev. Thomas Langan,
D. D. It has been drawn by William F. maintains it. Leiter from Very Rev. Thomas Wakeman on the wood, engraved by Mrs.
Millard.
14 Such information was communicated to the writer, by Mr. Michael Donegan.
'5 It is shown, as containing 12,8830. *'• 7A ~ and Very Rev. Dr. Stokes, T. C. D.
" *° on the Ordnance Survey Townland Maps
for the County of Longford," Sheets, 12, 17, 18, 21, 22.
Such
his letter by Very Rev. Thomas Langan, D. D.
16 See "
land," vol. i. , p. 29.
Gazetteer of Ire-
2I See "Peerage of Ireland," Lodge's
vol. i. , p. 146.
" This is noted in the Annals of All
Saints.
Parliamentary
*» They have been lately repaired by the Board of Public Works, and are represented
D. D.
l8 Among those who maintain this opinion
are the Very Rev. John Canon Monaghan, D. D. , P. P. of Banagher, in his "Records relating to the Dioceses of Ardagh and Clon- macnoise," pp. 41, 42; as also, the Very Rev. Father Gilligan, P. P. of Newtown Cashel, within whose parish Inishboffin, All Saints' Island, and Inis—Cleraunn or
Rev.
,9 Such is the opinion of Rt. Rev. John Healy, D. D. , Assistant Bishop of Clonfert,
Quaker's Island are situated while
Father Geoghegan, of Kenagh, likewise
Langan, D. D. , Athlone, to the writer, and dated July 25th, 1890.
is the opinion expressed in
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August i,
by Augustine MacGraidin, a Canon of that house, and who was also Abbot. In the commencement of the fifteenth century, a. d. 1405, he died. 23 An abstract of those Annals is still to be found, among the manuscripts belonging
to Trinity College, Dublin,2* and we are informed, that the work itself is still 2
preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. * After the suppression of religious houses, the Abbey and its possessions were granted to Sir Patrick
Barnwall. 26 The very old church ruins,
remaining
on All Saints' 2 ? show Island,
^^^2
Old Church on Island of All Saints, Lough Ree.
that Cyclopean masonry was used, and a square-headed door is yet to be
of a
28 In the Island is called Irish,
in that
Oilean na Naomh, 29 and it lies within the Parish of Cashel.
seen,
portion
gable remaining.
How long St. Rioch lived on that Island on which he had erected his
monastery is not known. It is generally presumed, however, that his mortal career closed in that house of his foundation. It is stated,30 likewise, that St. Rioch died and was buried in Kilkenny. Over the grave his disciples
23 On the Wednesday next after the Feast of All Saints in that year. He was buried
Townland Maps for the County of Long-
in that
" Writers of Ireland. "
illustration
from a
Abbey.
present
photo-
See Harris' vol. Ware, iii. ,
28 The
graph taken by J. T. Hoban, Atldone, and procured for the writer—through Very Rev. ThomasLangan,D. D. representsthestate of this ruined building as it now appears. The photograph has been copied and drawn by William F. Wakeman on the wood, en- graved by Mrs. Millard.
p. 87.
34 Sir James Ware had a part of those
Annals in manuscript, with some additions made after the death of Augustine Ma- graidain . See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae,"
lib. i. , cap. xi. , p. 75.
25 Such is the statement of Archdall ; but,
I do not find his cited authority of Ware's "
Writers, p. 87, authenticated. See Mo- nasticon Hibernicum, p. 442 and n. (w. )
26
See Harris' Ware, vol. ii, "Anti-
quities of Ireland," chap, xxxviii. , p. 265. ''It is shown on the " Ordnance Survey
Book i. , chap, xii. ,
ford," Sheet 26.
—
29 See "Letters and Extracts containing
Information relative to the Antiquities of
the County of Longford, collected dining the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in
1837. " Letter of John O'Donovan, dated Longford, May 22nd, 1837, p. 53.
30 By Mr. John Hogan.
August i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 13
had erected a church, which was dedicated to his memory. In process of time, that church became a ruin ; but, its site is indicated, on a map of the
1
supposed ancient Parish of St. Rioch. 3
Notwithstanding the year of our saint's death being uncertain, Colgan
infers from the Acts of St. Aedus, that it should appear, he lived after the year 530. 32 Dr. Lanigan supposes, that the St. Rioch, who was con- temporary of Bishop Aedus, and who died, a. d. 589, could not have been St. Mel's brother, nor his companion, when sailing to Ireland, as thought
about a. d, 454. 33
The Martyrology of Salisbury has placed the festival of St. Rioch, at the
6th of February, in common with that of his reputed brothers, Mel,
Melchus and Munis. As we have seen, Colgan publishes their acts at that
day. But, according to other Irish Martyrologists, our saint's festival is assigned to the 1st of August, la the Irish Calendars, our saint has the
of Mo, or "
published edition of the Martyrology of Tallagh, there is no mention of a festival instituted in honour of a saint bearing this name, at the 6th or viii. of the February Ides ; but, at the Kalends or 1st of August,34 we there find the feast of " Morioc, Innse Lugeni. " The Martyrology of Donegal,3s at the same date, records him as Moriog, Bishop, of Inis-Mac-Ualaing, as also the
more recent Calendar. 36 Under the head of Inis-Meic-Ualaing, Duald
8
endearing prefix
my,"
added to his name. In the original
Mac Firbis enters, Moriocc, bishop of Inis-maic-Ualaing,37 at August ist. 3
His name and feast occur, also, in the Scottish Kalendar of Drummond. 39 ""
parish,
called after his name. 4°
On this latter day, also it appears, this saint's patron was formerly
observed, at the site of his old church in Walkin's Green, City of Kil-
kenny. Down to a comparatively recent period, a special veneration was
paid to St. Rioch, as one of the tutelar saints, connected with St. Mary's
"
parish, in that city. His "patron day was observed on the first Sunday of
August, even to so late a period as 1830. It is probable, that observance had been some remnant of St. Rioch's ancient festival, in that old Kilkenny
31 Lithographed by Moore of Cork, de- signed by Mr. John Hogan, on a scale reduced from the Ordnance Survey Maps,
39 Thus at Kal. Augusti : "In Hibernia S—anctorum Confessorum Rioc et Mothuu. "
in Kalendarium Drummondiense, Bishop
""
Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
and published in Transactions of the Kil- kenny and South-East of Ireland Archseo- logical Society," vol. ii. New Series, No-
Forbes' p. 20.
<° Mr. Hogan, who furnishes the foregoing information, also adds in a note: "The 32 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hi- parish festival was called the 'patron,' from the circumstances of the religious cere- monies being performed on that day in honour of the patron of the church or parish. The patron festival (to use a technical term of ecclesiastical phraseology) being always
vember, 1859, No. 24, opposite p. 475.
bemise," vi. Februarii. Vita S. Riochi, p.
268.
33 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's
"
Irish Saints," &c, pp. xi v. , xxx.
35 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
208, 209.
36 In the Irish Calendar, at the Calends or
" 1st day of August, I find, "moruocc efp interne UAbAing. "—Ordnance Survey Office Copy, in the Royal Irish Academy. Com- mon Place Book, F, p. 67.
37 Another name for Inis-Bofin in Lough Ree.
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, viii. , sect.
xiii. , p. 419.
34 See Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Calendar of
'
a double of the first class with an octave/
38 See "
of the Royal Irish
Proceedings
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
part i. , pp. 114, 115.
the public worship was accordingly per- formed with unusual solemnity, and in most
places the day was observed as a 'holiday. ' I have been informed by a native of the
place, that so late as twenty-five years since no person was known to work in the entire
''
parish of Mallardstown on the 25th July,
the patron day. Since the Reformation, the observances of the festival were trans-
'
Sunday within the Octave. ' After much enquiry, I cannot find, that these patrons have been observed elsewhere, than on the sites of ancient parish churches.
ferred to the
John Hogan.
42 It was situated in the High Town.
43
Tiie present parochial boundaries, ably illustrated and accurately pointed out by Mr. Hogan on his accompanying map, show in his opinion, the different compartments, as originally united, and forming one ecclesi-
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August i.
The ancient parish of St. Rioch, in Kilkenny city, is supposed to have
been merged into the present parishes of St. Mary, St. Patrick, St. Canice
and St. 1 The former church of St. Rioch, in that is
John. * parish, supposed
to have been located within the churchyard, still called after him. *
2
It is
supposed, that a local complication and a peculiar dovetailing of modern parishes already designated afford sufficient evidence for showing~a com- paratively recent arrangement, and also the probable extent of St. Rioch's old parish. ** Whether the suppression of St. Rioch's church had been coeval with or subsequent to the abolition of his parish may be questioned ; but, the latter appears more probable, according to Mr. Hogan's opinion. ** When St. Mary's parish church passed out of the hands of Catholics, they shortly afterwards erected a chapel outside the town wall of Kilkenny city. To this modern structure, they carried the traditional observances and rites of their olden church ; and among these may be traced a special veneration for St. Rioch. A full-sized oil painting** of this saint had been preserved in James'-street Chapel, down to the year 1804. Those, who were living to a comparatively recent period, remembered to have seen it, and they described St. Rioch as being represented, seated on a rock, in the midst of a forest and clothed in a loose scarlet robe, with a dog fawning and apparently engaged in licking the sores and bruises of his feet. *6 That painting has been super- seded by another of St. Rioch, and presenting greater artistic pretensions. *? From the description which Mr. Hogan received regarding the first-mentioned picture, he apprehended that the Irish St. Rioch, in the disturbance of the
There is no trace of any such observances at Jerpoint, Kells, Callan, Knocktopher, &g. ,
those being abbatial, not parochial, establish- ments. "—"TheJournal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological So- ciety," 1858-1859. New Series, vol. ii. , part ii. , p 478. \
''
the patron day crowds from remote and
neighbouring parishes visited the church,
*'
This is shown on a map traced by Mr.
found in the vicinity of nearly every ancient parish church. These institutions being
perverted from their original simplicity to purposes of superstition, profanity and dis- sipation, became public nuisances, and they w—ere in consequence generally suppressed. "
" note. Kilkenny," &c, part i. , p. 22,
45 So designated, in Rocque's map of Kil- kenny.
46 Nothing is at present known, regarding
astical district, which may safely be recog- the original history of this picture. It is ni-ed as this saint's ancient parish. The now impossible to determine, whether it
same w—riter allows, that i—t may be a difficult
if nol
may not have been transferred, with other
m Uter
to determine with
things that
have come down to our
impossible
any degree of certainty, the precise period
when . St.