Brecan's village, Arranmore, beyond the Bay of Galway, the remains of two
churches
arc to be found.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v5
Dr.
Kelly, p.
xxiii In the Franciscan copy we have snaiply entered
lib. iv. , cap. xi. , xii. , pp. 50, 57.
Article iv. —' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly,
p. xxii. The Franciscan copy has mochoemi CiiM'oogLA]'.
"^ In the " Leabhar Breac" copy we find the following entry :
j. ^_ ^^^ mochoemi
^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^
AtTO ciiTorcj,n iruAirbu
p^ocepc l^U11l^ ihv,. '^'
'
It is thus translated into English by Dr. Whitley Stokes : —" On May's Kalends my Coemi. (The) birth of Philip who is noblest. Then began what is highest, Jesu's delight- ful preaching. "
^ See "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. , pp. Ixxviii. , Ixxxiii.
cft"^*^'. . 11
5° Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
116, 117.
57 Dr. Todd says, in a note, at this word,
Maoltsneachta. The more recent hand adds "OAi^iem A\Q •oeYvb]\AicAiYV -pAoiAin Acuf 1pii|\1"A, <^ui ecoeni 'oie coLictiT\— perhaps weshould read colunter—VorrT' ®^ cece]\A. " I think he is tlie brother of Faelan and Fursa, who are venerated on the same day at Fossae, &c. " The man here set down for his father is manifestly erroneous.
s^See O'Sullevan Beare's " Historice Ca- tholicse Iberniee Compendium," tomus i. ,
T~v T-jjJ-D
i.
* See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. . Mail Among the pretermitted saints, p. 5.
s See his Life, at the 3rd ofJune. .
44
^ See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xii. Martii. Vita S. Dagani, nn. 4, 5,
6 7 p. 586.
'7 His feast occurs, at the 3rd of Novem-
l)ef_
^ Others call her Coemgel.
9 See Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves'
" Martyrology of Donegal," pp. 116, 117.
'° See " 1 ransactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Iiish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
part i. , p. clxviii.
" In the southern part of the county of
Wicklow.
" See what is said, at notices of St. Caem-
hog, for the 22nd of July, where in the Martyrology of the O'Clerys, he is called brother to Caoimhghin or Kevin, and to Naicaoimh, of Tir-da-glas.
's It is just possible, that the local tradi- tion may have been confused, and that this had been the name for a sister.
'^ See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niiE " xii. Martii. De S. Dagano Abbateet Episcopo, cnp. i. , p. 584.
'S It is in the barony of Ballinacor south,
and county of Wicklow.
'* Archdall has a statement, that St.
Kevin's brother—probably, he says, St.
'^Allusion has been made to her already, at the4th of April, and in a conjectural way, as a sister to St. Kevin, founder of Glenda- lough,
'" Some curiously inscribed stones, at Ballykeen, with illustrations and descriii- tions, have been given by G. H. Kinahan, in " The Journal of ihe Royal and Archaeo- logical Association of Ireland," vol. vi. , part ii. , Fourth Series, No. 57, pp. 224 to 228, and p, 236.
'5 See " Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire- land," vol. i. , p. 175.
" The scenery is here illustrated, in a drawing on the wood, by William F. Wake- man, and engraved, by Mrs. Millard.
^' This locality is described as embracing tlie
"loved domains of peace, The chosen haunt, of music's feathered
throng. "
Dagan—
founded an abbey liere, where Whaley Abbey has been erected on the for- mer site. See " Monasticon Hibernicum," p. 760. However, St. Dagan was not the brother, but the nephew, of St. Kevin.
—
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i.
founderofGlendaloughfasalsotoSt. Coeman? ofAnnatrim. Caeniell,^ daughter to Cennfhionnan, son of Ceis, was mother to both of these holy personagesfwhiletheirfatherwasknownasCoemlog. '° Itisrelated,that they had a sister, variedly called Caemh, Coine, or Coemoca. Even yet, there is a local and very generally received belief," that Kevin, Keen (? Keem) " and Kine '3 were brothers. This opinion is perfectly accordant with our saint's memorials, as also with the genealogies and calendars. We may assume, as they belonged to a Dal-messincorb family,'-* that they were born in ancient Lagenia. It appears possible, that under his brother, St. Kevin, Abbot of Glendalough, Mochoem had been initiated to the profession of a religious life. Certain local traditions seem to have some such origin. This saint the brother of St. Kevin—perhaps effected some foundation near the roman- tic " Meeting of the Waters," in the county of Wicklow, before he removed to Tir-da-glas. This may have been at Kilkine,'5 in the parish of Ballykine,'^ and it seems probable enough, both these places had been named from Mochoem ; although, we have already stated, that a sister, called Caemh, or Coine,'? may have lived there, and possibly may have given denomination to that place. The parish of Ballykine '^ is ecclesiastically treated as one of four denomina-
tions, which constitute the parish of Rathdrum. 's What we are about to record is a story told by the Wicklow peasants, living in the valleys of the AvonmoreandAvonbeg. BeingplacedbyhisbrotherSt. KevinatGlenda- lough to attend solely the sheep, St. Kine had scarcely begun his charge, when he was diverted from the care of the sheep by observing a deer, suckling a babe at the Deer Stone, now hollowed in the centre, and still to be seen at Glen- dalouc^h. Recollecting himself, and finding he had been disobedient, he ran backtocravethepardonofSt. Kevin. Thissaint,asapenance,orderedhim to march backwards with his face to Glendalough, and along the current of the Avonmore, holding a withered holly in his hand, and to continue his route, until the withered holly should grow green again. He came to a place, now called the May Hole, on the ist of May. ^° It is situated, under the finely wooded banks on the river,'' and within a few yards of the " Meeting of the
May I. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
45
Waters," in the celebrated Vale of Ovoca. Then and there, the holly revived. To the present time, on May-day morning, many bathe in this deep part of the river, and hoping ro be cured from every kind of malady. Men and beasts wash or are washed in it.
St. Kine's well is in tlie townland of Ballynacarrig Upper, a mile from Rathdrum, on the old mail-coach road. Near it is a remarkably-shaped stone, and about this a curious legend is told, connecting it with St. Kine. ^^ The place, however, to which Nathchoemhe chiefly belonged is now known as Terryglass, a
parish in the barony of Lower Ormond, county of Tipperary.
The ruins of
Meeting of the Waters, County of Wicklow.
theformerreligiousestablishmentshereremain but,probably,fewportions ;
of the more early erection. The present holy man was born, as seems pro- bable, in the sixth century. At Tir-da-glas, near the Shannon, he is said to have been a disciple to St. Columba,^3 the son of Crimthann, and who was the founder of that monastery. Our saint is called Mochumin or Mochuma,^^ in the Life of St. Fintan,^5 Abbot of Clonenagh, who lived contemporaneously
—" Original Poems and Lyrics," by Stephen Nolan Elrington. The Vale of Ovoca, p. III.
^- On a certain occasion, near this well, St. Kine accosted a Hacketstown man, who was bathing his feet. He was wearied after his
journey, in pursuit of a thief, who had stolen
his cow. St. Kine intimated to the man, that
he was on the right track after the thief, and Abbatis Cluain-Ednech, cap. iii. , p. 350, that he should find the cow had calved on
the stone quite near. The marks of the cow's
feet, of the calfs feet, of the man's feet, and
the feet of a boy he had with him, are to be
seen on this stone, as also the staffs point.
This was the tradition of a respectable and intelligent old woman over eighty, then living near the place, in June, 187 1.
"^3 His feast occurs, at the 13th of De- cember.
'"' Colgan states, that this name differs not from Nathcaeme. See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," Febriiarii xvii. Vita S. Fintani,
and No. 7, 8, pp. 353, 354.
^5 See his Life, at the 17th of February, in
vol. ii. , of this work, chap. i.
^^ See Ussher's " Index Chronologicus,"
at A. D. , DL. , p. 531.
—
46 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i.
with him. St. Mocumin flourished in the year 550. '^ He is said so have succeeded St. Columba,^'' his master—whether immediately or otherwise—as Abbot over Tir-da-glas. The date for St. Nathcliaoimlie's death has been placed, at the ist of May, a. d. 584. ^^ It is stated, that he was there interred. ^9 The festival of Nathcliaoimhe, was celebrated on this day, as we read in the MartyrologyofDonegal. 3°
Article V. St. Brecan, or Bracan, Bishop of Ardbraccan, County of IvIeath, or of Arran Island, County of Galway, or of KiLBRECKAN, CouNTY OF Clare. On the I St of May, the Martyrology of Tallagh' registersthenameofBraccan,designatedBishop. Aconjectureof Duald Mac Firbis makes him descend from the race of Corbmac Cas, son to OilillOlum. Weread,thatvenerationwasgiven,onthisday,accordingto the Martyrology of Donegal,^ to Brecan, Bishop. Some think, remarks the calendarist, that this A\as Brecan of Ara, and of Cill Brecain, in Thomond. This latter place is now known as Kilbreckan,^ barony of Upper Bunratty, and county of Clare. Such is William M. Hennessy's identification. * This holy man is said to have been son to Eochu Balderg,5 or " Eochy of the red spot. "^ This latter deformity of his birth was removed by St. Patrick,7 who baptized his father, Cairthend Blat, or Carthenn Blod, chief of the Ui-Toird- helbaigh, in the parish of Killaloe, county of Clare. It is stated, that he pre- sided at first over Ardbraccan, in the county of Meath. ^ There is a Kill- brickan5nearMountrath,Queen'sCounty aKillbrickan,'°also,intheparish
;
of Earlstown, county of Kilkenny ; there are two places so called, in the
county of Carlow;" there is a Kilbrickan, also, in the county of Galway. " At St.
Brecan's village, Arranmore, beyond the Bay of Galway, the remains of two churches arc to be found. '3 There are nine ruined ones scattered through that island, and three more ancient churches are known to have
=7 His death has been referred, by Arch- ^ See his Life, at the 17th of March, vol. dall, to a. d. 548, or rather to 552. See iii. , chap, xix. , of this work.
"MonasticonHibernicum,"p. 676.
^* See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 210, 211.
*9 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccksia-
rum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 498.
3° Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
^SeeRev. A. Cogan's"DioceseofMeath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , chap, %-ii. . pp. 48, 49.
' It is in the parish of Offerlane, barony of Upperwoods, and it is noticed, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the Queen's County," sheets 17, 23.
'" It is in the barony of Shi'llelogher, and it is noted, on the " Ordnance Survey Town- land Maps for the County of Kilkenny," sheets 26, 27.
" One in the parish of Fennagh, the other is in the parish of Templepeler, both are in the barony of Forth, and they are marked, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Carlow,'" sheet 13.
116, 117. — Article v.
' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxiii. The Franciscan copy enters
bi\Acc<iin epi.
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
116, 117.
3 In the parish of Doora. It is noted, on
the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Clare," sheet 34.
i See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. i. , part i. , pp. 86, 87, and n. 6.
'' In the parish of Kilcummin, and barony of Moycullen. It is shown,*onfthe "Ord- 5 Tiie brother of this Eochy was Aengus, nance Survey Townland Maps for the
the son of Caii thenn Finn, and he is said to County of Galway," sheet 65.
have been father to St. Dimma Dabh, Bis- '^ See Mr. Hills' Article, in the "Gentle- hop of Connor, whose Life will be found, at man's Magazine," part i. , for 1S64. It is the 6th of January.
* In the Irish Tripartite Life, this is stated
to have been a clot of gore, formed on his body.
intituled, " Notes on the Architecture of Ire- land. "
'* The writer was shown, on the occasion of a visit there, a gori, or small garden, by a
May I. ]
47
—
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
existed. It may have happened, that the St. Brecan, there venerated, had a fes- tival for tliis date. Aran, now having its simple, industrious, and fine race of peo- plelivingonasoil,actuallyprocuredfromtheocean,'•» inmanycases,wasonce no better than a wild rock. It is strewed over with those ruins—which may still be seen—of the old hermitages; and, at their best, these could have been but such places as sheep would huddle under, in a storm, and shiver in the cold and wet. 's It seems probable, however, that more than one St. Brecan, or Braccan, must have been connected with the various localities already specified. An old church stood on a hill, to the south of Drumcondra, or Drumconrath/^ in the Deanery of Kells, and county of Meath, at a place calledLoughbraccan. '? Thisoldchurchhasbeendemolished,auditsruins are now inconsiderable. '^ Whether the lake here mentioned took name from the present saint or not, is a matter for conjecture; wliile his time and exact place are yet involved in great obscurity.
Article VI. St. Ossen, or Oissene Fota, Abbot of Clonard, County of Meath. \SrcefUh Cejitury. ^ On the ist of May, the Martyr- ology of Tallagh ' registers, Ossen Mac Maillsnechta. The Bollandists quote the same authority, at this date, for Ossenus filius Moelsneachte ; and they remark, that nothing more occurs to distinguish him from various Irish saints, bearing the same name. ^ St. Ossenius, surnamed the Long,3 probably on account of his uncommon stature, was Abbot of Clonard. We find the name of Oissen, likewise, occurring in the Martyrology of Donegal,"* on this day. The compiler adds, how the Cain Adhamnuain states, of the holy sureties, whom Adamnan s found to free the women from every captivity, and from every distress that fell upon them, was Oisin, son to Glas, Abbot of Cluain-ferta Molua. ^ Yet, as the present Abbot of Clonard is called son to Maillsnechta,
by the Tallagh Martyrology, it seems clear, that the O'Clerys fell into a mis- take, in their conjecture, regarding his father's name. Authorities unite in making this saint preside over the Abbey of Clonard. Yet, it could only have been duringavery brief term; for, his predecessor, St. Colman, bishop and abbot here,diedonthe8thofFebruary. ? HewasthesonofAiteldubh,andhis
peasant, who informed him, that his grand- father brought sea-sand and sea-weed in bas- kets from the sea-shore, which he laid on the naked rocks to form a soil of considerable depth. A good stone house was built by the tenant on that spot, and a wall enclosed the small tenement. For that poor homestead and plot—where not only were the improve- ments, but even the very soil created Ijy the peasant's unaided toil —one pound annually was exacted as a rent. No human ingenuity could procure much more than such a return, from the culture of that got; and, yet, this was only a solitary instance of similar hard cases, which fell under the writer's observa^ tion.
'S See Fronde's "Short Studies," vol. ii. , p. 216.
^^ As specified on William Larkin's " Map of the County of Meath," published in 1812.
Townland Maps for the County of Meath," sheets 3, 6.
'^ See Rev. A. Cogan's " Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. ii. , chap, xvi. , p. 294. —
Article vi. ' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxiii. The Fransciscan copy has it 0|'eiti niAc rUAeLfnechcAi.
' See "Acta Sanctorum," toraus i. Maii i. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 3.
3 See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nice," xxiii. Februarii, Vita S. Finniani, Ap- pendix, cap. v. , p. 406.
* Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 116, 117.
5 See his Life, at the 23rd of September.
* He continues, " I do not find any other Oissene, who is not named from some church, except this, and the Oissene, who is on the 22nd of July. "
' See some notices regarding him, at that '7 There is a townland and parish so day.
named, in the barony of Lower Slane. They '^ See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the are described, on the "Ordnance Survey Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 264, 265.
F, at p. 43. — Article vii.
—;
48 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i.
death is stated to have occurred, in 65 2. ^ The present saint followed him to the tomb, within less than three months, as he died on the ist of May suc- ceeding. 9 The Annals of Clonmacnoise state the year was 651 ; those of the Four Masters, a. d. 652 ; while, those of Ulster place his death under the year 653. '° Colgan conjectures, that the present St. Ossen might be con- founded with St. Ascicus, Bishop;" but, this is manifestly erroneous. From the Irish calendar, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, we only find, at this date, the simple entry of Ossein,'^ without patronymic or place designated.
Article VII. St. Luaithrenn, Virgin or Widow. According to the Martyrology of Donegal,' there was veneration given on this day to Luaithrenn. In the table appended to tliis record, our saint is said to have been a Virgin, or a Widow. ^ Again, in the Introduction to that work, it is stated, there can be no question of a Cill Luaithrenn having been in Lein- ster. 3 Perhaps, we should connect the present saint, with such a locality for, she has a festival disiinct from that of her namesake, the Virgin Luaith- renn, who was venerated, on the 8th of June, and at a place, similarly de- nominated, in Corann, of Connaught. There is a townland and parish called Killurin,* in the barony of Shelmaliere West, county of Wexford, 5 and it pro- bablyderiveditsdenominationfromasaint,bearingsuchaname. Yet,we only find two saints, called Luaithrenn, in our Irish calendars. There is also a place, formerly called Cill lurin, and now known as Killurin,^ a townland in the west of the parish of Geshill, in the King's County. Here stood a castle, which was taken by O'Carroll, and by the Earl of Kildare, in 1532. Nothing but the entrenchments around it now remain. 7 According to popu- lar tradition, three saints, who were sisters, lived near Millstreet,* in the county of Cork. One named Latierna is still venerated in the parish of Drom- tarriff 9 There is a holy well and " pattern," on some day in the month of May. The people suppose, that unless they make their rounds, on that occasion,nogoodluckwillattendthemduringtherestoftheyear. Anotherof those sisters is venerated at Cullen,'° or as pronounced by the Irish-speaking population. Culling. There is a holy well, near tlie site of that old church, to which people come from great distances, to be cured of diseases. There is also an old whitethorn, growing outside the churchyard, and which, tradi- tion says, covers her grave. " Nothing seems to be known, regarding the thirdsister; nordoesitappear,thatthenamesLatiernaandLuaithrennmay be assimilated.
9 See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 14-
"See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 264, 265, and n. (u). Ibid.
"See '"Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, n. 122, p. 114.
" Thus Offein, in Common Place Book
of Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 157.
* It is noted, on the "Ordnance Survey
Townland Maps for the King's County," sheets 24, 25.
' This castle is shown on the old map of Leix and Ophaly, made in the reign of Philip and Maiy. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. v. , pp. 1410, 141 1, and n. (o). Ibid.
* In the parish of Drishane, and barony of West Muskerry, shown on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Cork," sheet 39.
' It is situated in the barony of Duhallow,
' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 116, 117.
lib. iv. , cap. xi. , xii. , pp. 50, 57.
Article iv. —' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly,
p. xxii. The Franciscan copy has mochoemi CiiM'oogLA]'.
"^ In the " Leabhar Breac" copy we find the following entry :
j. ^_ ^^^ mochoemi
^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^
AtTO ciiTorcj,n iruAirbu
p^ocepc l^U11l^ ihv,. '^'
'
It is thus translated into English by Dr. Whitley Stokes : —" On May's Kalends my Coemi. (The) birth of Philip who is noblest. Then began what is highest, Jesu's delight- ful preaching. "
^ See "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. , pp. Ixxviii. , Ixxxiii.
cft"^*^'. . 11
5° Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
116, 117.
57 Dr. Todd says, in a note, at this word,
Maoltsneachta. The more recent hand adds "OAi^iem A\Q •oeYvb]\AicAiYV -pAoiAin Acuf 1pii|\1"A, <^ui ecoeni 'oie coLictiT\— perhaps weshould read colunter—VorrT' ®^ cece]\A. " I think he is tlie brother of Faelan and Fursa, who are venerated on the same day at Fossae, &c. " The man here set down for his father is manifestly erroneous.
s^See O'Sullevan Beare's " Historice Ca- tholicse Iberniee Compendium," tomus i. ,
T~v T-jjJ-D
i.
* See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. . Mail Among the pretermitted saints, p. 5.
s See his Life, at the 3rd ofJune. .
44
^ See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xii. Martii. Vita S. Dagani, nn. 4, 5,
6 7 p. 586.
'7 His feast occurs, at the 3rd of Novem-
l)ef_
^ Others call her Coemgel.
9 See Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves'
" Martyrology of Donegal," pp. 116, 117.
'° See " 1 ransactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Iiish Manuscript Series, vol. i. ,
part i. , p. clxviii.
" In the southern part of the county of
Wicklow.
" See what is said, at notices of St. Caem-
hog, for the 22nd of July, where in the Martyrology of the O'Clerys, he is called brother to Caoimhghin or Kevin, and to Naicaoimh, of Tir-da-glas.
's It is just possible, that the local tradi- tion may have been confused, and that this had been the name for a sister.
'^ See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niiE " xii. Martii. De S. Dagano Abbateet Episcopo, cnp. i. , p. 584.
'S It is in the barony of Ballinacor south,
and county of Wicklow.
'* Archdall has a statement, that St.
Kevin's brother—probably, he says, St.
'^Allusion has been made to her already, at the4th of April, and in a conjectural way, as a sister to St. Kevin, founder of Glenda- lough,
'" Some curiously inscribed stones, at Ballykeen, with illustrations and descriii- tions, have been given by G. H. Kinahan, in " The Journal of ihe Royal and Archaeo- logical Association of Ireland," vol. vi. , part ii. , Fourth Series, No. 57, pp. 224 to 228, and p, 236.
'5 See " Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire- land," vol. i. , p. 175.
" The scenery is here illustrated, in a drawing on the wood, by William F. Wake- man, and engraved, by Mrs. Millard.
^' This locality is described as embracing tlie
"loved domains of peace, The chosen haunt, of music's feathered
throng. "
Dagan—
founded an abbey liere, where Whaley Abbey has been erected on the for- mer site. See " Monasticon Hibernicum," p. 760. However, St. Dagan was not the brother, but the nephew, of St. Kevin.
—
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i.
founderofGlendaloughfasalsotoSt. Coeman? ofAnnatrim. Caeniell,^ daughter to Cennfhionnan, son of Ceis, was mother to both of these holy personagesfwhiletheirfatherwasknownasCoemlog. '° Itisrelated,that they had a sister, variedly called Caemh, Coine, or Coemoca. Even yet, there is a local and very generally received belief," that Kevin, Keen (? Keem) " and Kine '3 were brothers. This opinion is perfectly accordant with our saint's memorials, as also with the genealogies and calendars. We may assume, as they belonged to a Dal-messincorb family,'-* that they were born in ancient Lagenia. It appears possible, that under his brother, St. Kevin, Abbot of Glendalough, Mochoem had been initiated to the profession of a religious life. Certain local traditions seem to have some such origin. This saint the brother of St. Kevin—perhaps effected some foundation near the roman- tic " Meeting of the Waters," in the county of Wicklow, before he removed to Tir-da-glas. This may have been at Kilkine,'5 in the parish of Ballykine,'^ and it seems probable enough, both these places had been named from Mochoem ; although, we have already stated, that a sister, called Caemh, or Coine,'? may have lived there, and possibly may have given denomination to that place. The parish of Ballykine '^ is ecclesiastically treated as one of four denomina-
tions, which constitute the parish of Rathdrum. 's What we are about to record is a story told by the Wicklow peasants, living in the valleys of the AvonmoreandAvonbeg. BeingplacedbyhisbrotherSt. KevinatGlenda- lough to attend solely the sheep, St. Kine had scarcely begun his charge, when he was diverted from the care of the sheep by observing a deer, suckling a babe at the Deer Stone, now hollowed in the centre, and still to be seen at Glen- dalouc^h. Recollecting himself, and finding he had been disobedient, he ran backtocravethepardonofSt. Kevin. Thissaint,asapenance,orderedhim to march backwards with his face to Glendalough, and along the current of the Avonmore, holding a withered holly in his hand, and to continue his route, until the withered holly should grow green again. He came to a place, now called the May Hole, on the ist of May. ^° It is situated, under the finely wooded banks on the river,'' and within a few yards of the " Meeting of the
May I. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
45
Waters," in the celebrated Vale of Ovoca. Then and there, the holly revived. To the present time, on May-day morning, many bathe in this deep part of the river, and hoping ro be cured from every kind of malady. Men and beasts wash or are washed in it.
St. Kine's well is in tlie townland of Ballynacarrig Upper, a mile from Rathdrum, on the old mail-coach road. Near it is a remarkably-shaped stone, and about this a curious legend is told, connecting it with St. Kine. ^^ The place, however, to which Nathchoemhe chiefly belonged is now known as Terryglass, a
parish in the barony of Lower Ormond, county of Tipperary.
The ruins of
Meeting of the Waters, County of Wicklow.
theformerreligiousestablishmentshereremain but,probably,fewportions ;
of the more early erection. The present holy man was born, as seems pro- bable, in the sixth century. At Tir-da-glas, near the Shannon, he is said to have been a disciple to St. Columba,^3 the son of Crimthann, and who was the founder of that monastery. Our saint is called Mochumin or Mochuma,^^ in the Life of St. Fintan,^5 Abbot of Clonenagh, who lived contemporaneously
—" Original Poems and Lyrics," by Stephen Nolan Elrington. The Vale of Ovoca, p. III.
^- On a certain occasion, near this well, St. Kine accosted a Hacketstown man, who was bathing his feet. He was wearied after his
journey, in pursuit of a thief, who had stolen
his cow. St. Kine intimated to the man, that
he was on the right track after the thief, and Abbatis Cluain-Ednech, cap. iii. , p. 350, that he should find the cow had calved on
the stone quite near. The marks of the cow's
feet, of the calfs feet, of the man's feet, and
the feet of a boy he had with him, are to be
seen on this stone, as also the staffs point.
This was the tradition of a respectable and intelligent old woman over eighty, then living near the place, in June, 187 1.
"^3 His feast occurs, at the 13th of De- cember.
'"' Colgan states, that this name differs not from Nathcaeme. See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," Febriiarii xvii. Vita S. Fintani,
and No. 7, 8, pp. 353, 354.
^5 See his Life, at the 17th of February, in
vol. ii. , of this work, chap. i.
^^ See Ussher's " Index Chronologicus,"
at A. D. , DL. , p. 531.
—
46 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i.
with him. St. Mocumin flourished in the year 550. '^ He is said so have succeeded St. Columba,^'' his master—whether immediately or otherwise—as Abbot over Tir-da-glas. The date for St. Nathcliaoimlie's death has been placed, at the ist of May, a. d. 584. ^^ It is stated, that he was there interred. ^9 The festival of Nathcliaoimhe, was celebrated on this day, as we read in the MartyrologyofDonegal. 3°
Article V. St. Brecan, or Bracan, Bishop of Ardbraccan, County of IvIeath, or of Arran Island, County of Galway, or of KiLBRECKAN, CouNTY OF Clare. On the I St of May, the Martyrology of Tallagh' registersthenameofBraccan,designatedBishop. Aconjectureof Duald Mac Firbis makes him descend from the race of Corbmac Cas, son to OilillOlum. Weread,thatvenerationwasgiven,onthisday,accordingto the Martyrology of Donegal,^ to Brecan, Bishop. Some think, remarks the calendarist, that this A\as Brecan of Ara, and of Cill Brecain, in Thomond. This latter place is now known as Kilbreckan,^ barony of Upper Bunratty, and county of Clare. Such is William M. Hennessy's identification. * This holy man is said to have been son to Eochu Balderg,5 or " Eochy of the red spot. "^ This latter deformity of his birth was removed by St. Patrick,7 who baptized his father, Cairthend Blat, or Carthenn Blod, chief of the Ui-Toird- helbaigh, in the parish of Killaloe, county of Clare. It is stated, that he pre- sided at first over Ardbraccan, in the county of Meath. ^ There is a Kill- brickan5nearMountrath,Queen'sCounty aKillbrickan,'°also,intheparish
;
of Earlstown, county of Kilkenny ; there are two places so called, in the
county of Carlow;" there is a Kilbrickan, also, in the county of Galway. " At St.
Brecan's village, Arranmore, beyond the Bay of Galway, the remains of two churches arc to be found. '3 There are nine ruined ones scattered through that island, and three more ancient churches are known to have
=7 His death has been referred, by Arch- ^ See his Life, at the 17th of March, vol. dall, to a. d. 548, or rather to 552. See iii. , chap, xix. , of this work.
"MonasticonHibernicum,"p. 676.
^* See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 210, 211.
*9 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccksia-
rum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 498.
3° Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
^SeeRev. A. Cogan's"DioceseofMeath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , chap, %-ii. . pp. 48, 49.
' It is in the parish of Offerlane, barony of Upperwoods, and it is noticed, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the Queen's County," sheets 17, 23.
'" It is in the barony of Shi'llelogher, and it is noted, on the " Ordnance Survey Town- land Maps for the County of Kilkenny," sheets 26, 27.
" One in the parish of Fennagh, the other is in the parish of Templepeler, both are in the barony of Forth, and they are marked, on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Carlow,'" sheet 13.
116, 117. — Article v.
' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxiii. The Franciscan copy enters
bi\Acc<iin epi.
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
116, 117.
3 In the parish of Doora. It is noted, on
the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Clare," sheet 34.
i See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. i. , part i. , pp. 86, 87, and n. 6.
'' In the parish of Kilcummin, and barony of Moycullen. It is shown,*onfthe "Ord- 5 Tiie brother of this Eochy was Aengus, nance Survey Townland Maps for the
the son of Caii thenn Finn, and he is said to County of Galway," sheet 65.
have been father to St. Dimma Dabh, Bis- '^ See Mr. Hills' Article, in the "Gentle- hop of Connor, whose Life will be found, at man's Magazine," part i. , for 1S64. It is the 6th of January.
* In the Irish Tripartite Life, this is stated
to have been a clot of gore, formed on his body.
intituled, " Notes on the Architecture of Ire- land. "
'* The writer was shown, on the occasion of a visit there, a gori, or small garden, by a
May I. ]
47
—
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
existed. It may have happened, that the St. Brecan, there venerated, had a fes- tival for tliis date. Aran, now having its simple, industrious, and fine race of peo- plelivingonasoil,actuallyprocuredfromtheocean,'•» inmanycases,wasonce no better than a wild rock. It is strewed over with those ruins—which may still be seen—of the old hermitages; and, at their best, these could have been but such places as sheep would huddle under, in a storm, and shiver in the cold and wet. 's It seems probable, however, that more than one St. Brecan, or Braccan, must have been connected with the various localities already specified. An old church stood on a hill, to the south of Drumcondra, or Drumconrath/^ in the Deanery of Kells, and county of Meath, at a place calledLoughbraccan. '? Thisoldchurchhasbeendemolished,auditsruins are now inconsiderable. '^ Whether the lake here mentioned took name from the present saint or not, is a matter for conjecture; wliile his time and exact place are yet involved in great obscurity.
Article VI. St. Ossen, or Oissene Fota, Abbot of Clonard, County of Meath. \SrcefUh Cejitury. ^ On the ist of May, the Martyr- ology of Tallagh ' registers, Ossen Mac Maillsnechta. The Bollandists quote the same authority, at this date, for Ossenus filius Moelsneachte ; and they remark, that nothing more occurs to distinguish him from various Irish saints, bearing the same name. ^ St. Ossenius, surnamed the Long,3 probably on account of his uncommon stature, was Abbot of Clonard. We find the name of Oissen, likewise, occurring in the Martyrology of Donegal,"* on this day. The compiler adds, how the Cain Adhamnuain states, of the holy sureties, whom Adamnan s found to free the women from every captivity, and from every distress that fell upon them, was Oisin, son to Glas, Abbot of Cluain-ferta Molua. ^ Yet, as the present Abbot of Clonard is called son to Maillsnechta,
by the Tallagh Martyrology, it seems clear, that the O'Clerys fell into a mis- take, in their conjecture, regarding his father's name. Authorities unite in making this saint preside over the Abbey of Clonard. Yet, it could only have been duringavery brief term; for, his predecessor, St. Colman, bishop and abbot here,diedonthe8thofFebruary. ? HewasthesonofAiteldubh,andhis
peasant, who informed him, that his grand- father brought sea-sand and sea-weed in bas- kets from the sea-shore, which he laid on the naked rocks to form a soil of considerable depth. A good stone house was built by the tenant on that spot, and a wall enclosed the small tenement. For that poor homestead and plot—where not only were the improve- ments, but even the very soil created Ijy the peasant's unaided toil —one pound annually was exacted as a rent. No human ingenuity could procure much more than such a return, from the culture of that got; and, yet, this was only a solitary instance of similar hard cases, which fell under the writer's observa^ tion.
'S See Fronde's "Short Studies," vol. ii. , p. 216.
^^ As specified on William Larkin's " Map of the County of Meath," published in 1812.
Townland Maps for the County of Meath," sheets 3, 6.
'^ See Rev. A. Cogan's " Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. ii. , chap, xvi. , p. 294. —
Article vi. ' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxiii. The Fransciscan copy has it 0|'eiti niAc rUAeLfnechcAi.
' See "Acta Sanctorum," toraus i. Maii i. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 3.
3 See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nice," xxiii. Februarii, Vita S. Finniani, Ap- pendix, cap. v. , p. 406.
* Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 116, 117.
5 See his Life, at the 23rd of September.
* He continues, " I do not find any other Oissene, who is not named from some church, except this, and the Oissene, who is on the 22nd of July. "
' See some notices regarding him, at that '7 There is a townland and parish so day.
named, in the barony of Lower Slane. They '^ See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the are described, on the "Ordnance Survey Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 264, 265.
F, at p. 43. — Article vii.
—;
48 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May i.
death is stated to have occurred, in 65 2. ^ The present saint followed him to the tomb, within less than three months, as he died on the ist of May suc- ceeding. 9 The Annals of Clonmacnoise state the year was 651 ; those of the Four Masters, a. d. 652 ; while, those of Ulster place his death under the year 653. '° Colgan conjectures, that the present St. Ossen might be con- founded with St. Ascicus, Bishop;" but, this is manifestly erroneous. From the Irish calendar, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, we only find, at this date, the simple entry of Ossein,'^ without patronymic or place designated.
Article VII. St. Luaithrenn, Virgin or Widow. According to the Martyrology of Donegal,' there was veneration given on this day to Luaithrenn. In the table appended to tliis record, our saint is said to have been a Virgin, or a Widow. ^ Again, in the Introduction to that work, it is stated, there can be no question of a Cill Luaithrenn having been in Lein- ster. 3 Perhaps, we should connect the present saint, with such a locality for, she has a festival disiinct from that of her namesake, the Virgin Luaith- renn, who was venerated, on the 8th of June, and at a place, similarly de- nominated, in Corann, of Connaught. There is a townland and parish called Killurin,* in the barony of Shelmaliere West, county of Wexford, 5 and it pro- bablyderiveditsdenominationfromasaint,bearingsuchaname. Yet,we only find two saints, called Luaithrenn, in our Irish calendars. There is also a place, formerly called Cill lurin, and now known as Killurin,^ a townland in the west of the parish of Geshill, in the King's County. Here stood a castle, which was taken by O'Carroll, and by the Earl of Kildare, in 1532. Nothing but the entrenchments around it now remain. 7 According to popu- lar tradition, three saints, who were sisters, lived near Millstreet,* in the county of Cork. One named Latierna is still venerated in the parish of Drom- tarriff 9 There is a holy well and " pattern," on some day in the month of May. The people suppose, that unless they make their rounds, on that occasion,nogoodluckwillattendthemduringtherestoftheyear. Anotherof those sisters is venerated at Cullen,'° or as pronounced by the Irish-speaking population. Culling. There is a holy well, near tlie site of that old church, to which people come from great distances, to be cured of diseases. There is also an old whitethorn, growing outside the churchyard, and which, tradi- tion says, covers her grave. " Nothing seems to be known, regarding the thirdsister; nordoesitappear,thatthenamesLatiernaandLuaithrennmay be assimilated.
9 See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , chap, ii. , p. 14-
"See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 264, 265, and n. (u). Ibid.
"See '"Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, n. 122, p. 114.
" Thus Offein, in Common Place Book
of Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 157.
* It is noted, on the "Ordnance Survey
Townland Maps for the King's County," sheets 24, 25.
' This castle is shown on the old map of Leix and Ophaly, made in the reign of Philip and Maiy. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. v. , pp. 1410, 141 1, and n. (o). Ibid.
* In the parish of Drishane, and barony of West Muskerry, shown on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Cork," sheet 39.
' It is situated in the barony of Duhallow,
' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 116, 117.
