No More Learning

,
chap, i. , p. 152.
twenty years ago, I caught the tenant of
Devenish building a barn with the fragments of the east window of the monastery, and
pulling dow—n parts that were comparatively
uninjured. " Report of the Commissioners testant Reformation in England and appointed to inquire into the Facts relating Ireland," vol. ii. , County Fermanagh.
Chapter
'See the "Chronicum
sect,
3 See his Life, at the 16th of May, in the
ii. , chap, xii. ,
ix. ,
5 William Cobbett thus writes : "An abbey, built in Daimb-inis about the year 563, by St. Lase—rian : it stood until the
"
general plunder. " History of the Pro-
U
306 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
Many holy men, and among others St. Aidus of Killare, 6 visited him in his retirement. We are told in the legendary Life of St. Aidus, that when this Saint came to Devenish, he found St. Laisrean at work with his monks. The visitor then asked what he could do to assist them. St. Laisrean told him to move a tree of great size and age from its position in the earth, when he ordered the tree in the name of Christ to be uprooted. On the instant, it was miraculously raised from the earth into air, and carried off into the sea. Allwhowitnessedthismiracle
which was the school at Damhinis. There he learned fully the arts of
writing, and he acquired a knowledge of polite learning, while he became celebrated for his skill as an artist in metal work, 10 before he became bishop
over Iniskeen, in the County of Louth. So that we may conclude, a school of repute had been established on the island, so early as the sixth century. There the very crypt or cell inhabited by St. Molaise is said to be still standing, but unroofed. Its walls are of massive solidity, and traces of the covering-roof remain.
It has been stated, that St. Molaisse or Laiserian made a pilgrimage to the Eternal City, after he became Abbot over Devenish. However, the learned Dr. Lanigan thinks, that the journey Laiserian is said to have made to Rome rests on no sure foundation, and that he was probably confounded with his namesake of LeighUn. " We have already seen, that St. Moedoc, Bishop of Ferns and St. Molaise of Devenish were intimates and friends. After their first separation in Ulster, it is said, St. Molaise, before he under- took that journey to Rome, resolved on visiting his beloved acquaintance at Ferns. Then a pact of amity was again confirmed, not only between the principals, but also between the members, of their respective communities, and this bond of union, it was agreed, should be perpetual. From Rome, our saint had resolved to bring back some clay and relics to hallow his
13
cemetery at Devenish.
An ancient hymn states, that St. Molaisse shone forth as a bright lamp,
illustrating all Ireland by his sanctity and learning. He drew up a Rule for the instruction and guidance of his religious, over whom he presided as Abbot. Under his training, the monks aspired to the most sublime practices of devotion. The Life of Ciaran x 3 of Cluain
gave
that St. Daigh or Dagcus said to have been a nephew of our Saint
8
—
thankstoGod. ? Wehave — already seen,
was also a pupil of St. Laisrian and of his brother, a Deacon, who taught in the schoolatDamh-inis. WiththatDeaconanduncle,theboypaidavisitto St. Mochta, of Louth,9 and afterwards, having had his future sanctity and eminence predicted by that patriarch, both returned to the lesser monastery,
1 * that the Order of Molaissi was one of the eight Orders that were in Erinj's but perhaps, adds the calendarist, it speaks of some other saint bearing the same name.
6
February, in the Second Volume of this work, Art. viii. Further particulars regard- ing him are reserved for the 10th of Novem-
ber.
7 SeeColgan's " Acta Sanctorum Iliber-
niae. ' xxviii. Februarii. Vita S. Aidi, cap.
See an account of him, at the 28th of
"Venerated on the 18th of April, where
his Life is given, in the Fourth Volume of
this work, Art. i.
'2
See an article, written by His Eminence Cardinal Patrick F. Motan, Archbishop of Sydney, in the First Series of the "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. vii. ,
xxvii. , p. 421. 8'
See his Life, at the 18th of August, in the Eighth Volume of this work, Ait. i.
9Seehis attheic/. hof in Life, August,
the Eighth Volume of this work, Art. i.
10
See chapter i. , in the Life of St. Daigh, at the 18th of August.
p. 318.
3 See his Life, at the 9th day of this
month, in the present volume, Art. i.
I4 to the" of According Martyrology
Donegal," edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves.
l> Chapter XLVii. is quoted.
states,
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 307
"
Patrick of the Fort of Macha loves," relates that Molaissi desired to be in a stone prison, and also to keep a house of hospitality for every one in Erin. 16 These abodes of hospitality were usually known as the guest-houses, attached to nearly all thecelebratedmonasteriesinIreland. Generallyspeaking,amoregenerous refreshment was served up in them for the pilgrims and travellers, who were accustomed to visit those places held in such popular veneration, than was allowedforrefectionofthemonks. Onacertainoccasion,asMolaisseand his monks were taking their scanty meal, the refectory in which they were caught fire. The monks rose suddenly to fly from the house, on seeing it lighted with red glowing flames. Their Superior requested them to remain, to go on their knees, and to pray, while he did the same, while reaching forth his hand towards the fire. Then the ridge-pole of the house fell in, and the fire did them no further injury. Afterwards, he permitted the monks to rise from their posture of prayer. St. Laisrean, it is stated, converted to the faith a certain Conall or Colman Derig, a King of Ulster, who had been
struckwithblindness. ^ Ofhimwefindnofurtherhistoricaccount,
So highly esteemed was Saint Molaise or Laisren both for his piety and
18
Cuimin of Coindeire, in the poem which begins,
learning, that he is said to have been created Bishop of Clogher,
next in succession to Crimir-Rodan. It has been stated, moreover, that he administered the ecclesiastical affairs of that diocese, with prudence and edification. x 9 With other men, our saint is 20 as one of the
Twelve Apostles of Erin, and he is named, as having assisted at
Congal's feast. He is said to have been present at the Banquet of Dun-na
n-Gedh. However, either the narrator was a very inaccurate historian,
or the transcribers have corrupted his text. The present holy Abbot
is numbered among the Irish Saints of the second class, as noted in the
ancient Irish 21 the Irish saints, no fewer than eleven Catalogue. Among
bear the name of Laisrian or Molaisse. St. Laserian, the patron of Leighlin, and the present holy man, were the most eminent among these. An Alpha- betical Latin Hymn, addressed to Laserian or Molaisse, of Daimh-innis or
"
Devenish, is to be found in the Liber Hymnorum," a Manuscript preserved
in Trinity College, Dublin. 22 This was first published in the '* Irish Eccle- "
holy represented
siastical Record 23 of 1869, and it has been again printed with some inaccuracies. 2* The latest issue of it is that by the Henry Bradshaw
"
,6 Thus he says : —
Molaisi of the Lake, loves
To be in a prison of ha*d stone,
To have a house of guests for the men of
accession of Laisrean, which should have been prior to a. d. 570. See " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap. xii. . sect.
i. , and n. 5. , pp. 183 to 185.
^ In Dr. O' Donovan's translation of the
"
ancient historical tale of the
Without refusal, without a particle of Dun na n gedh and the Battle of Magh churlishness. " Rath. " The entire difficulty could be got
Erin,
Banquet of
'7 See Challoner's "Britannia and the word co— Bishopbyinsertingtnharba
*'. <? . ,
Sancta," part ii. , pp. 128, 129. representative or successor before the
18
over
for — by substituting bishops Apostles,
According to Sir James Ware, in his names of these Saints. The probability,
Lists of the Bishops of Clogher, taken from the Register of that See.
19 However, the Rev. Dr. Lanigan denies Ware's statement, concerning St. Molaise having been a Bishop over Clogher. He says, that even supposing Laisrean had been bishop there, it cannot be believed, that nine prelates of that see lived between Tigernach, who died a. d. 549, and the pretended
however, is that the anachronism —is an
original blunder of the writer himself. "
pp. 27, 28, n.
2I "
See
See Ussher's Britannicarum Ecclesi- arum Antiquitates, cap. xvii. , p. 474.
22
It is classed E. 4. 2.
23 See vol. v. , p. 224.
24 In Dreves' *' Analecta," vol. xix. , p.
222.
coming
3o8
LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
Society, LL. l). 2?
J.
Bernard, D. D,
Atkinson,
2* under the of editorship
26 and R.
H.
This Hymn28 is probably derived from an Office for the Feast of
St. Molaise, of which a fragment is extant as a marginal note in the 2
Martyrology of Donegal, at the 12th of September. 9
After a life usefully and religiously spent, St. Molaisse was called away to
receive the crown of his labours and virtues, on the 12th day of September. He was buried, in the cemetery, on the Island of Devenish. His stone coffin30 is said to have been found, embedded in the earth, near one of the ruins. The lid, which had been long taken for the shaft of an antique cross, layattheeasternsideofwhatiscalledtheLowerChurch. Tothenorthof the oratory, within a small quadrangular enclosure, which appears to have been the aherla, or Saint's burial-place, was to be seen that very rude stone coffin, now broken into pieces. 3 1 The material is sandstone, and the bottom seems to hav—e been
of three —stones. 32 The lid has been composed separate
33
style, a very correct idea might be formed regarding the date of the
sarcophagus.
The festival of St. Molaisse is kept on the day of his death. For a long
time, it had been religiously observed by those, who dwelt in the vicinity of Lough Erne. During the last century, and in the beginning of the present,
"
25 See the Irish Liber Hymnorum," 29 See ibid. , vol. ii , pp. 220, 221.
carried away a fact greatly to be regretted
as by an examination of its
edited from the MSS. , with Translations,
Notes and Glossary, vol. i. , p. 158. London,
1898, 8vo.
26
Fellow of Trinity College, and Arch- bishop King's Lecturer in Divinity in the University of Dublin.
2? Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Dublin.
28 The following is the text :—
Abbas probatus omnino Benedictus a domino
Cum caritatis fructibus Doctor seclesiasticus
Elect us dei anthleta Fidelis sine macula Gregis pastor subagrinus Humilis supplex submissus Jeiunus largissimus
Kastus cum rectis moribus Lucerna erit in tota Macculasrius Hibernia Nadfraich et sanctus filius Optimus dei filius Probatus sapiens peritus Quern coronavit dominus Kequiescit post obitum Securus in perpetuum Tenebrarum rectoiibus Uictis atque principibus Xristo cum suis omnibus Ymnum canit celestibus Zelus in quo fait missus dei prae particibus.
Oratio.
Per meritum Macculasri summi sacerdotis adiuna nos Christe saluator mundi qui regnas.
30 This stone-coffin measured about six
feet, two inches in length, exteriorly, and in-
teriorly, five feet, six inches, by one foot, ten inches.
31 Mr. Wakeman ascertained, that a stone
bearing an extremely rude effigy, and now used as a headstone in the upper cemetery, was popularly believed to have been the lid of this coffin.
32 One end has been hollowed to meet the contour of the head and shoulders of a very small person ; but altogether, the work
presents a particularly mediaeval look. Of those objects drawings have been furnished by Mr. Wakeman, with the article to which jrilusion has been already made.
33 The bed of St.
Molaisi was shown as a small square enclosure of walls, but now broken, at the time of our visit to Devenish, in July, 1869. About eighteen or nineteen years previously, a certain Vandal, named Robert Watkin, »broke this tomb—then perfect— as we were told by the guide. A week afterwards, he shot off his own thumb by an accident, but this was attributed to the Saint's displeasure : he got into prison three several times, proved most unfortunate in all his dealings, and in fine, he emigrated to Ameriea. During the wintei of 1865- 66, three English soldiers, stationed at Enniskillen, and belonging to the 93rd
Regiment, visited the Island. While one of these looked on passively, the others broke St. Molaise's tomb, in two distinct places. Soon afterwards, one of the wreckers named Davis, was drowned in the Lake, with two other soldiers. It was not known, if either or both of his companions had shared his watery grave, after that wanton and base act.
September12! LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS.
309
countless numbers repaired to the Island to practise various devotions on St. Molaise's festival day. The local guide pointed out another object of interest, viz. the exact spot on the North side facing down towards the Lough, where St. Molaise's well flowed, although it was then covered up with stones. Stations were formerly carriecl on near it. There is a tradition, that in the oldentimeDevenishwasconnectedwiththemainlandbyacauseway. A portion of this work appears to remain, and upon it there is a very well defined crannogue, or artificial Island. Except in very dry summers, this islet is covered with water. 3* The exact year of St. Molaisse's death has not been determined. However, the Annals of Boyle place it so early as a. d. 35
some
years, we are told, that he went to Heaven, a. d. 563, according to the Annals of Ulster, and again this record assigns it to 570,37 which other writers adopt. Again, the year 571 is thought to be the latest date that can be noted for his departure. 38 Some authorities name the 13th of April, 571, as the day for his departure. 39 In the " Feilire " of ^Engus, at the 12th of September,4° there is an encomiastic notice of Laisren, called the beautiful, of multitudinous Damh-inis. There is a comment, having an Irish verse attributed to him/1 The published Martyrology of Tallagh42 records a festival, at the 12th of September, in honour of Molaissi Daimhinsi, i. e. MacNatifraich. It is also entered in the Book of Leinster copy. *3 In the Irish poetical Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman,4* which has been edited by Whitley Stokes, D. C. L. ,4* and which contains several Biblical, Continental,
544.
By
authors,
it is referred to
563. 3
completing thirty
34 The foregoing description has been 42 Edited by Rev Dr. Kelly, p. xxxiv. written by W. F. Wakeman, for the " Irish 43 Thus molAr'p true ruopnaich T>&m Chronicle," of May 29th, 1869. This mp.
accomplished artist and antiquary enters upon a more minute and complete descrip-
tion of those antique objects in his elegantly written and illustrated Guide Book,
intituled "Lough Erne, Enniskillen, Belleek, Ballyshannon and Bundoran," &c. First Excursion, pp. 39 to 52.
35 " An— dxliv. K. Molasi Daminsi a
Apostles, monastery belonging
to the
quievit. " Annales Buelliani, in Df. "
Canons Regular of St. Augustine at Knock, close to the town of Louth. The place was otherwise called Cnoc na Sengan or Hill of the Pismires. He composed his Martyrology while Roderick O'Conor was King of Ire- land, whileGelasiusorGillamacLiacwas Archbishop of Armagh, and while Aed hua Caillaidhi was bishop of Oriel, i. e. , the
O'Conor's Rerurh Hibernicarum Scrip- tores," vol. ii. , p. 4.
36 See Dr. O' Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol i. , pp. 202, 203.
37 See the Annals of Ulster.
38 See the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. vii. , p. 363.
39 See Harris' Ware, vol.
**
of
Counties of and Louth, Armagh
i. ,
Bishops
present
Monaghan, as stated in the Preface. Where-
Clogher," p. 178.
40 See " Transactions of the Royal Irish fore, we may conclude from the dates
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , given in our Annals for their several reigns, part i. , on the Calendar of Oengus, by that Marianus must have written between
Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxxxiii.
a. d. 1 1 66 and 1174. Colgan thinks about
the year 1 167. See " Acta Sanctorum Hi-
bernise," Januarii i. , p. 5.
4srhe " Felire Hui Gormain," or the
Martyrology of Gorman, edited from a Manuscript in the Royal Library, Brussels,
with a Preface, Translation, Notes and Indices. It has been issued, by the Henry
Bradshaw Society for editing rare Liturgical Texts. Published in London, 1895, 8vo.
It contains a Preface, explanatory of the
41 The following English translation is by
:
Dr. Whitley Stokes " Laisren, i. e. ,
Molaise, son of Natfraech of—Dam-inis on
Lough Erne. Molaise sang :
" Well found was the land we found— Abroad lough (was) its mountain-field,
Acommoncemeteryfor Irishmen, God the Father's own d—omain. "
*
Ibid. , p. exlv.
s After
44 All that is really known of Marianus
O'Gorman — commemorated as an Irish
Saint at July 3rd in the Martyrology of
Donegal—
is derived from the Preface to his Martyrology, and from it we learn, that his Irish name was Mael-Maire hua Gormain, Abbot of Cnoc na n-Apstol, or Hill of the
3io LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
Anglo-Saxon, British and Aremorican Saints, besides the Irish Saints,*6 Lasrian
is commemorated with a eulogy for his meekness,*? in that Irish metre, called
the Rindard mor, or Great Rindard. The Martyrology of Marianus
O'Gorman48 professes to enlarge the number of Irish Saints in the Calendars
of Tallaght and of Oengus, and to arrange the festivals of a great number of
them in those days on which the Church celebrates their festivals. The only
copy of this composition known to exist was that transcribed by Brother
Michael 0'0ery,49 about the year 1630, in the Franciscan Convent of
Donegal. s° We find him mentioned, at still greater length, in the Martyrology
1 atthesame as sonof Abbotof date, Molaissi, Nadfraech,
of
Daimhinis. s2
and holiday of Molaissi, in his own parish, and termon, at Bealach Ui Michein. 5* This exact locality is not easily ascertainable at the present
text, pp. vii. to lii. , by the learned editor, Mariani Gormani et Tamlactense et
Donegal,*
On the 15th day53 of this same month is celebrated the festival
and also, pp. 1 to 411.
46 This Martyrology commemorates two
Saints—Gilla mac Liacc at March 27th,
who died in 1 173, and Gilla mo Chaidbeo
at March 31st, who died in 1174; so that
either the statements in the Preface appear
not to be correct, or the commemorations
just mentioned were added after the conclu-
sion of the poem. They may have been
subsequent emendations by the author him-
self. In 1 181, according to the Annals of
the Four Masters, Maelmuire Hua Dunain, Connor and Dromore. Heretofore, the Abbot of Cnoc na Sengan in Louth, died ; present writer was obliged to take his and Colgan supposes him to have been references to Marianus O'Gorman chiefly identical with Marianus O'Gorman, and from the works of Colgan.
Rev. Dr. Lanigan agrees with him in con- 50 The frontispiece engraving to the jecture. See "'Ecclesiastical History of present volume represents the ruins of that,
Ireland," vol. iv. , chap, xxx. , sect, ii. ,
p. 251.
4? With the other Saints noticed at the
12thof — heisthusextolledinthe September,
convent, as they now stand, near the sea-
shore, adjoining the town of Donegal.
s1 EditedbyRev. Drs. ToddandReeves,
pp. 244,245.
52
in the Table, it is said, that at Daimhinis there was a secular priory of Colidei, belonging to the great church, or cat—hedral
—ch of St. Molash so it of the parish chur
" over the word
Note which makes it the 16th day. " by
Dr. Todd.
54 fratrem Michen, "As brother Juxta
Michen says," is appended to the foregoing account . The following note is written here
:
in the more recent hand " Antiphona
communis. Vir Dei dum veil mm vitje
populo prcedicaret, vfsusesta terra paululum sublimari, et in cere pendere, et mirati sunt universi. Adesto nobis qutesumus Domine,
Irish stanza
In a
comment,
at mention of his name,
"
:
Iuentus soer, Sirius, .
mac Natfraich ro fromad,
Lasrian cain cen chinaid,
Mace Lasre, Fled fuillem, do rindnim coa ragam
Ailbe
Imlig
Ibair. "
53 The
It is thus rendered into English —
15th day,
ceui5e<v6, is written as a gloss, feipoTD,
"
:
Noble Juventius, S*irius ; Natfraech's son, who was proven. Gentle, crimeless Lasrian. Mac Lasre, Fled, an increase. To the starry heaven whither we shall go (belongs) Ailbe of Imlech Ibair. " See pp. 174, 175.
48 It is a paper Manuscript in the ut beati Lasreani confessoris tui atque Bibli—otheque Royale, Brussels, marked ibbatis interventu ab omni inquinatione
bound in vellum with a piece of calf-skin stitched on the back, which is inscribed thus : Martyrologia et
mundemur corporis et per
This is evidently taken from some ancient office for St. Molaisse, who is also called, S. Laserian, or Lastianus. The foregoing remarks are found in a note, inserted by Dr. Todd.
5100 4. It
is mentis Christum. "
Carmina hibernica, and on the left cover is the following note in a seventeenth century hand : Continens Martyrologia S. /Engussij
Genealogias Sanctorum et plura alia Opus- cula. It is a thin 4to, almost wholly in the
handwriting of Michael O'Clery, and it con- tains 214 leaves.
49 However, through a loan of the Belgian Government to the Very Rev. Dr. James
Henthorn Todd, of T. C. D. , a transcript by Eugene O'Curry was made from it. After the death of Dr. Todd, that transcript came into the possession of Right Rev. William Reeves, late Protestant Bishop of Down,
was in old times and a vicarage
of the same church. See ibid. , pp. 452, 453.
September LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 12. ]
'
time,amongthemoderntownlanddenominationsinIreland. St. Molaisewas Patron Saint to the O'Flannagan family of Tuath-Ratha, or Toora. ss There is a curious account of the tribes of Dartry in the time of Molaisse. 56 In an Irish PoemS7 introduced into the Rife of St. Molaise, the tributes and contri- butions from the Chiefs and people of Toora are set forth and in full, as also # the spiritual and temporal benefits which they in turn were to receive from him. They are told that if they undertake a just battle, and carry the Gospel of Molaise before them as their standard, they shall be victorious. At the time of the suppression of religious houses, 58 the possessions of Devenish are specified in a particular manner. 59 The veneration of this holy Abbot reached the South of Ireland. The old church in the Parish of Kilmolash,60
"
countyofVVaterford,means thechurchofSt. Molash,"thecelebratedSaint
61
The tourist and antiquary more frequently visit the early scene of
Molaissi's holy retirement, in the present age, than the pilgrim, who cannot find the long-displaced Saint's cell or shrine. But, for all persons of true feeling and taste, an indescribable charm is produced in the soul, and awakened in the recollection of all who resort to the island. The scenery is gloriously grand, and yet softly diversified, around the former home of this holy abbot. As we take a tourist's leave of the place, numberless islands seem to float over the wide surface of that placid lake, with its waters spreading out to the blue outline of mountains and swelling slopes on the distant horizon.
Article III. —St. Mac Lasre or Maclaisre, Archbishop and
Abbot of Armagh, County of Armagh. [Sixth and Seventh Centuries. ']
Although bearing the patronymic, which was tlie same name, and having a festival on the same day, the present must be distinguished from the former
1
saint. At the 12th of September, in the Martyrologies of Tallagh, and of
Marianus O'Gorman,2 we find the entry of Mac Lasre's feast. The name may be interpreted the son of Laisre. He was born sometime in the sixth century. The calendarist of the O'Clerys thinks he descends from the race of Eoghan, son to Niall ; or, it is added, that he may belong to the race of Corbmac Cas, son to Oilioll Olum. Already we have noticed the festival of a St. Maclaisre, Abbot of Bangor, at the 16th of May,3 and whose death is recorded in the Annals of Ulster at a. d. 645 4 but he seems to have been
;
of Devenish in Lough Erne.
55 See " of of Waterford, collected the Pro-
Eugene O'Curry's Catalogues MSS. , in the Royal Irish Academy," series i. , vol.