No More Learning

" Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
tes. " Addenda qujedam omissa, p. 507.
" See Bishop Challoner's " Britannia Sancta,'' part i. , p. 253.
'i " What was her name is of very little consequence ; and it is sufficient to know, that there is no authority worth attending to
'" See St. written at Brigid's Life,
the 1st
been a s;sier of
Ibar. " Dr. I<anigan's Ecclesiastical His- i. , p. 334.
for the— of her
story having
"'See Clemens
Alexandrinus, Stomat. lib.
"
Antiquita-
Denis Florence
of February.
"' SeehisLife,atthe3rdofMay.
"See Kev. John Francis Shearman's
" Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , pp 407, 408. '' Such was the statement of Himenis the
Sophist aptiU I'hotiiim, p. 1 136.
4S8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
oracles in those countries through which he passed,'5 and to have dedicated
to the Hyperborean Apollo the gold in foreign lands, after returning to his own country. '' One of our Irish historians '? deems it probable, that Abaris was an Irishman, and a Druid, as the name was a common one, and peculiar in Ireland. Thus, Heber, HeberScot, Heber Fion, and others are known ; while Abarus andIbarusweretheLatinizedforms. Hence,heseemstoinsinuate,theHyper- borean mentioned may have been identical with the present Abarus, or Ibarus, who instructed his countrymen in Christianity, before the great St. Patrick's mission in our Island. ^^ These conjectures, however, seem rather vague and visionary for most historic enquirers. In the life of our saint, '9 it is said, that when he was an adult, and advanced to the order of priesthood, being dis-
tinguished for the sanctity of his life, he was sent to preach the Gospel in Ireland. 3° One account has it, that a St. Ibar was instrumental in the con- version of the twelve sons of Barr, a dynast of Leix. 3' Perhaps, he was not different from the present St. Ibar, who is said to have been united in bonds offriendship,withSaintsAilbeS''andDeclan. 33 Withthemhewasengaged, in propagating the Gospel throughout Ireland, before St. Patrick's arrival. According to an inedited Life of St. Brigid,^'* an Ibar is called Bishop, and he is stated to have remained in the plain of Gessyll, before St. Patrick's mission opened in Ireland. In Conchubran's Life of St. Monenna, or Modwenna,35 Virgin, this author says in his first book, that St. Ibar dwelt in those Islands beyond Ireland, and situated in the western ocean. Three of these were dis- tinguished by the same name. From such circumstance, we may fairly suppose, that allusion has been made to the Islands of Arran. 3* However, on such matters, we are not assured with certainty, although Tirechan 3? numbers IbaramongtheholyprelatesordainedbySt. Patrick. Fromhim,Ibarreceived
averted a grievous pestilence, which prevailed over Ireland, and especially within the territories of Colman, King of Meath. 39 Ibar travelled to the bounds
of Leinster,'»° and towards the southern part of this province, named Hy-Kin- selleagh, where hearing of an Island, out in the sea,'*' and called Beg Erin,'*'
a mission, to preach the Gospel in Ireland, as is supposed.
in converting a great number of persons to the Christian faith, and in causing them to lead regular and virtuous lives. At the command of St. Patrick, it is said, Saints Elbeus and Hibarus not only restored a youth to life, but even to his former beauty and health. s^ By his prayers, also, he is said to have
°2 Appollonius, Admirabl. Hist. , sect. 4. " lamblichus, Vita Pythagorei, cap. xix. '' See Dr. Sylvester O'Halloran.
" See Dr. Sylvester O'tlalloran's "Intro-
ductiontotheStudyoftheHistoryandAn- tiquities of Ireland," part i. , chap, ix. , pp. 90,91.
3' In Vita S. Patricii.
'8 See the BoUandists' " Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Aprilis xxiii. De Sancto Ibaro
Episcopo Hibemo, num. 3, p. 174.
39 See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia
Sancta," part i. , p. 254.
<" See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia-
°' As quoted by Archbishop Ussher.
^According to Rev. Alban Butler, he oniissa, p. 508.
preached in Meath and Leinster.
3' According to the Genealogies found in the Book of Lecain, and translated by the
Rev. P. M'Loughlin, whose Manuscript is now in the Royal Irish Academy.
3' His feast occurs, at the 12th of Sep- tember.
33 His festival occurs, at the 24th of July.
3* Formerly possessed by Archbishop Ussher.
35 At the 5th of July, her fea<t is held.
3' See Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," cap. xvi. , p. 414.
< See " Letters containing Information re- lative to the Antiquities of the County of Wexford, collected during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. , p. 329. These notices are signed, J. O'D. , and are dated, June 8th, 1840.
<° " Mitto quod de annulo Templi Ibari, a
quodam Germanice hera et \insii;ni praedone cui Tor-Hch, ed est, Javem avians, nomen fuisse dicitur, ex Be^-Erin insula post Ibari mortem ablato, acdeinde restitute, in Vita
rum Antiquitates. " Addenda quoedam
habetur traditum. "—Ussher's
" tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates. " Ad-
ipsius
Bri-
He succeeded
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 459
not far from the coast, he took possession, and founded thereon a famous monastery. Thisislandwassituatedontheestuary,northofWexfordhar- bour,s It lay off the eastern shore, and in a county bearing the same name,** in the province of Leinster. ^s It, and the associated islands, at present, are surrounded by reclaimed land. *' It was anciently called Inis-Fail. *' Neither
Town of Wexford, from the Ferry Bank.
Father Colgan nor Dr. O'Donovan appears to have known this circumstance. The settlement of St. Ibar, in this place, is thought to have been after he left
Kildare. *' The history of Beg Eri " is interesting ; and, it has been given by Mr. O'Donovan, with his own comments. '" After alluding to the old church
of Ardcavan,'" we are informed, that hot far from this church, but belonging to the parish of Ardcolumb, is situated the celebrated Island of Beg-Eire, or
denda quaedam omissa, p. 509.
*' The accompanying illustration presents a view of the town of Wexford, as seen from the Ferry Bank. It was drawn on the wood, from a photograph, by William F. Wake- man, and it was engraved by Mrs. Mil- lard.
' This was a discovery made by Eugene O'Curiy. See " Lectures on the Alanuscript
" It is stated, that in Cough's Camden's "
<° See Rev. John F. Shearman's " Loca "
Patriciana, No. viii. , p. 408.
'" In 1840, it belonged to an attorney,
named Cooper.
5° See the "Letters containing Information
relative to the Antiquities of the County of Wexford, collected during the progress of
the Ordnance Survey in 1840, vol. i. , pp. , 329, 330- These notices are signed, J. O'D. , and dated, June 8th, 1840. Various extracts are then inserted in this volume, referring to Beg-Erin, and these extend from p. 331 to p. 346.
5' Where St. Caomhan was venerated, on the 1 2th ofJune.
"Britannia," Begeri is rendered, the little land in the water," a derivation which Mr. O'Donovan remarks, "deservesto be laughed at. " Yet, this reference I cannot find there.
5 According to the O'Clerys.
* See a detailed and a most interesting
description of this locality, by Ceorge H. Kinehan, M. R. I. A. , in the "Journal of the Historical and Archjeological Association of Ireland," vol. ii. , Fourth Series, July, 1873, No. 15, pp. 435,436.
Materials of Ancient Irish History, dix No. ii. , p. 480, n. 22.
"
Appen-
460 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
as the Latin writers style it Parva Hibernia, i. e. , Little Ireland. s' The name of this island is accounted for in a story, inserted by a commentator, on the Festilogy of St. ^ngus. 53 Some of the antiquities here have received illustra- tion from Mr. Wakcman's S't Among the western islands around
pencil. itisstated,'5PtolemyplacestheIslandEdri,byPlinycalledAndros. The
learned Sir James Ware believes it to be the same as Beg-Eri. s* However,
Ware is thought to be wrong in hazarding this conjecture. The" Edri deser- tum " of Ptolemy is the Edair of the Irish, which is now called the Hill of
Howth,57 according Mr. O'Donovan. In his Life of St. Patrick, Jocelyn introduces this St. Hibarus, as a bishop. s' A curious statement is made, that St. Ibar left the roads full, and the kitchens empty, at Armagh. 59 A very ancient vellum book,'° containing the Martyrology of Maelruain of Tamli- lacht, and the synonymous saints of Erin, states, that Bishop lobhar had a similarity of manners and of life with John the Baptist. In Duald Mac Firbis, we find entered, under the head of Beg-Eri,*' and Ere-Beg,'= Bishop Ibhar, who was in Erinn as a bishop, before Patrick came as a bishop into it. He dwelt in an island—in the sea near to Leinster—and, which is named Beg- Eri,'3 as we are further informed. Although he admits, that both Ailbe and Ibar are called Bishops, in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, about the year 446 ;^-t yet, Dr. Lanigan imagines, that this tide solely applies to a subsequent period of their lives, as they were then in a state of scholarship, and belong- ing to a class of young gentlemen, whom St. Patrick was wont to have in his suite as pupils. 's This assumption, however, is wholly gratuitous. Of a like character is an assertion, that Ibar was a disciple of St. Patrick, being mentioned as such in some of his Lives in Tirechan's list, and in a supposi- tion, that Colgan contradicts himself,** by reckoning Ibar among the Irish
Apostle's disciples. *' The fact of our saint being called a disciple does not necessarily imply, that he received his ecclesiastical training, under the Irish
Apostle. Built upon the latter assumption, also, is the statement, that Ibar had not
5' See John O'Donovan's Letter of June 8th, 1840.
(now
Unde Bec-Eri nominata est. "
5* Three ancient stones, found on the
island of Beg-Erin, are represented, in the Oblong Book of Sketches for the County of Wexford, p. 3. These are also found, on another sheet more highly finished in ink, and ready for the engraver. On each of these stones, delineations of crosses are in- scribed. On the longest of these three stones, whichis2feet9inchesinlengtli,thereisan addition to the lower shaft of this cross,
. which represents some interlaced antique
the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. , p.
342-
5i '• This is the Ibar Bishop
5* See "Trias Colgan's
Ivor) who made the great opposition to Patrick and left the flige-OA lariAand the cuiLeDA p^lAa at Armagh. Patrick was enraged at this, and said to Ivar, 'thou shalt not be in Erin. ' Ivar answered and said to him, ' in what- ever place I shall be, I shall call it Erin. '
Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. Ixxxiii, p. 84.
tracery.
A stone, apparently next in size,
5' According to the Glossographer, in the " Leabhar Breac. "
'" Allusion is made here to the leaves taken from the Book of Leinster.
' See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish MSB. Series, vol. i. , part
i. , pp. 90, 91.
^'
That is Beg Ere.
'3 Also, ibU. , pp. 108, 109.
'• " He might have been old enough
about the year 446 to be a bishop ; but, had he been then one, we would rather imagine that St. Patrick would have assigned to him a district, in which he might exercise his
functi—ons,thankeephimalongwithhim- "
self. " Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76, p. 290.
'5 See ' Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76,
is marked i foot 10 inches in length. "
5S . See Cough's Camden's Britannia," p. 290.
** "
vol. iii. , P- 547- See Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta "^
' 56 See De Hibernia et Antiquitatibus Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. ,
p. 265. " 57 See " Letters containmg Information '' See Dr. Lanigan's
ejus," cap. X. , p. 53. ^ ,
.
relative to the Antiquities of the County of History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, Wexford, collected during the progress of xiii. , pp. 28, 29.
Ireland,
Ecclesiastical
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 461
become a bishop, so early as people generally imagine ; although, it is thought, there can be no doubt of his having been consecrated as such, before St. Patrick's death,^ in all probabiHty, he having been old enough to assume thatdignity,priortoa. d. 46s. *' VVearetold,thatonaccountofhislearning, and the place where St. Ibar, called also Ivore, lived, some authors entitle himDoctorBegerensis. '° Acelebratedschoolwasestablished,inconnection with this monastery, and to which disciples '' flocked from al parts of Ireland, andevenfrommoredistantcountries. Nolessthanonehundredandfiftyare statedtohavelivedunderIbar'srule. ''^ Theyear420issaidtohavebeenthat," during which our saint's mission took place in Ireland. ''' Without giving us his authority for the statement, Archdall states, that Ibar presided over the school of Beg-Erin, so early as that year. 73 However, the probability is, that this school was established, at a much later period. In the Life of St. Abban,'* it is stated, that his uncle St. Ibar dwelt more in Beg-Erin, than in other parts
of Ireland, and for a special reason, because this was his favourite place of
retreat. 77 It appears, that he had many monks, clerics, and religious females, under his direction,? ^ and in different places throughout our Island. " There is extant, some account of a ring, which had been stolen away from Ibar's monastery, by a robber named Tor lieb, but subsequently it was restored. *" Among many pupils of our saint was included his nephew, Abban, son of Ibar's sister Mella ;'" for whom her holy brother prayed, at the time she gave birth to her son. However, Colgan was not able to prove, that Mella was sister to Ibar, as stated in the Life. Yet, he would fain keep up the assumption of Abban having been nephew to St. Ibar, and he strives to show that Maguire was mistaken. It is thought, St. Ibar was not he who baptized St. Fillan,*' Abbot in Scotland, but rather some other person bearing a similar name. '^ For particulars of St. Abban's connection with his renowned uncle, the reader is referred to the Life*'* of this Abbot of Magharnoidhe. In this rather unauthentic biography, it is said, that St. Ibar set out on a pilgrimage to Rome, and arrived in Britain ; although it is asserted,*5 without any qualification, that there is no mention of his journeying to Rome, or to any other place out
" But, Henschenn repudiates the idea, tiquilates," Index Chronologicus, p. 515. that St. Ibar could have lived so early as "See . Archdall's "Monasiicon iliberni-
before the time of St. Patrick. See "Acta
Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Aprilis xxiii. De '" Given by Colgan, at the l6th of
Sancto Ibaro Episcopo Hiberno, num. 4, p. 174.
March,
" See chapter vii.
'^ See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
nise," xxix. Januarii. Vita S. Gildse Bado- nici, n. 13, p. 190.
"
Also, Vita S. Abbani, cap. vii. , ibid. , xvi. Martii, p. 612.
*" See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum
HibemicarumScriptores,"tomus iv. ,Annales Ultonienses, p. 9, n. 5.
*' to in According Maguire, Colgan's
"Acta Sanctorum Hibernia," xvi. Martii,
chap, xiv. , and xx. , and of St. Ailbe, chap. Appendix ad Acta S. Abbani, cap. iii. , p.
'' See Dr.
Lanigan's
" Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, v. ,
PP- 334. 335-
'" " .
See Monasticon Hibemicum, or the
Monasiical History of Ireland," &c. , p. 17,
by Captain Stevens, thecontinuatorofDugdale. London,1722,
This work was written
8vo.
'' In the Life of St.
Modwena, chap, ii. , and iv. ; as also, in the Lives of St. Declan,
vii. , and of St. Patrick, by Jocelyn, chap. Ixxxiii.
'^ Such is the number assigned to him, in
626.
" His feast occurs at the 9th of January,
Sanctorum," Appendix, p. 991.
'5 By Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
ascribed to St. — and set Litany ^ngus,
where his Life is given,
°^ See the BoUandists' "Acta
that
forth in the following words
quagenos sanctissimos Monachos qui sub
disciplina S. Ibari instruct! sunt, per Jesum also, Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Christum invoco in auxilium meum. "
" Ter
"According to Ussher.
< See " Bntannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
tomus iii , xxiii. , Aprilis
:
quin-
cum," p. 733.
*< Written fortheJ7th of October. See, "
niae,'' xvi. Martii. Vila S. Abbani, cap. iii. , iv,, vi. , vii. , ix. ,xii. , xiv. , xvi. , pp. 6lOto 615.
462 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
of Ireland. ^^ Besides this account, we have a notice of a Bishop Ibar,^7 who after all may not be distinguished from the present holy man. This is in those ten Folia, extracted from the " Book of Leinster," and now kept in the Franciscan archives. ^^ Among tlie Bishops of Kildare was one called Ivor, thought by some to have been identical with the present holy man. ^9 In the Life of St. Declan, it is related, that for a time, I bar resisted the authority of St. Patrick, our Irish Apostle ; refusing to be (subject to him, as he did not wishtoreceiveaPatronofIreland,fromaforeignnation. Thisintemperate
display of nationality, at first gave rise to some differences among both of
these holy personages ; but, afterwards, it is said, that through Angelic per- suasion,peaceandfriendshipwereestablishedbetweenthem. Atthattime,
when St. Patrick was in the territory, known as Ara-chliach, he was violently opposed by the Dynast, Olild of Hy-Cuanach. The Irish Apostle ordered St. Ailbe and St. Ibar to offer up their prayers to God ; in consequence of which, that chief, his family, and his subjects, were converted to the true faith. 9° The Annals of Ulster 9' record St. Ibar's death, at a. d. 499, 500,9= and 503. Under the year 500, on the 9th of the Kalends of May, and at the age of 303 years, is Bishop Ibar's death recorded, in the " Chronicum Scoto- rum. " According to the Annals of the Four Masters,93 St. Ibar died in the
twenty-second year of Lughaidh's reign, on the 23rd day of April, and in the year of Christ 500. The same authority tells us, that he reached the extra- ordinary age of three hundred and four years. He died a. c. 5oo. 9< His fes- tival is on the 23rd of April, according to Duald Mac Firbis. His death is recorded in the Annals of Cambria,9s at a.