John M'Call has kindly made out written mAO'oos itiac eogAin of Clonmore for me the
following
pedigree from Dr.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v4
After his death, his sepulchre was illustrated by mira- cles," as Marianus Scotus relates.
The latter pious Irishman had set out from Cologne, on Monday after the Octave of Easter, a.
d.
1059, with a view of becoming an iiiclusus, at Fulda.
He resolved to visit Paderbom, on the way ; and, he tells us, that then, in the very cell, where Blessed Patem lived, he prayed on that same mat, which had escaped the flames.
By the constant tradition and piety of the people of Paderbom, St.
Paternus had been re- garded from times remote, as one of the tutelary patrons of their city.
His name is recorded, by many ^vrite^s and calendarists ; such as, by Trithemius, VVion, Dorgan, Menard, Bucelin, Ferarius, Wilson, Camerarius, Dempster, andSimonMartin.
Yet,theknowledgeofPatem'splaceofsepulchrehad passed away from the menwry of the people, nor were his miracles distinctly remembered, in the latter times.
Citing Arnold Wion, Dempster notices " the present saint, in his Calendar, at this date, and as belonging to Scotland.
'3 In terms of high commendation, St.
Peter Damien,''* a contemporary, men- tions this saint, in that apologetical Epistle he wrote, and (which referred toresigningtheEpiscopaloffice.
Hisreflectionsarechieflyonthesubjectof Patem's devotion to duty, and on his leaving to the disposition of Divine Providencehisownlife,whileagreatpubliccalamitywasimpending.
The result of his trust, as the holy Cardinal observes, should cause us to fear, rather than question, the judgments of God.
While it can scarcely be doubt- ful, that a prophet, who had a knowledge of the approaching destruction of a burning city, should have no revelation regarding his own death; the human mind may well cease to wonder, at the depths and mystery of the Almighty's terrible punishments inflicted on men, and in which so holy a ser- vantpaidtheforfeitofhislife, whilesomanywereguiltyofcrimes,notex- piated by a tme change of heart.
Article VII. —St. Waldetrude's Coxjntess, and Wife of St. Vincent, of Castrilocus. \Snenth Century^ The feast ofSt. Waldetmde, Patroness of Mons, has been placed by Convxus, and in a Manuscript Bene- dictine Martyrology,' at tiic 10th of April. Notices of this holy woman will be found, on the day previous.
» Allusion is made to this occurrence, in Sigebert's Chronicle, as also in the "Specu- lum Historiale" of Viiicentius Bellovacensis, lib. XXV. , cap. xxxv.
functL"—Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scoitish Saints, p. 196.
'* His festival is kept, on the 23rd of Feb-
ruary. For the particulars of his Life, the
'"See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia reader may study "Storia di S. Pier Da-
Sancta," part i. , p. 217. miano e del suo Tempo," per Alfonso
"
work,"DeVirisIllustribusOrdinisS. Bene- Firenze,1862,l2m—o.
This IS stated, by Trithemius, in his Capecelatro, Prete dell" Oratorio di Napoli.
dicti," lib. iii. , cap. 324.
" In " Menologium Scotorum. "
•
Article vii. See the Bollandists'
"Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Aprilis x. Among the pretermitted Saints, p. 856.
"
nomento Inclusi, miraculoso exitu per-
'' Thus,
Fuldae Paterni monachi cog-
ip4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April ii. Article VIII. —Feast of St. Apollonius, Martyr, at Alexandria,
of St.
suffering
at the loth of April. This holy priest, with other courageous companions in martyrdom, suffered for the faith of Christ, and an account of them will be
found, in the Bollandists' great work,= at the same date.
Article IX. —Feast of St. Maidoc, Abbot of Fiddown, County OF Kilkenny. \Sixth Century. '] The festival of St. Maidoc, Abbot of Fid- down,iscelebratedonthisday,accordingtotheCalendarofCashel. Allu- sionhasbeenmadetohimalready,atthe23rdofMarch. HisActswillbe found, at the i8th of May ; while the 13th of August is stated, to have been another of his festivals.
(01ei)tnt() ©ap of apn'I.
ARTICLE I. —ST. MAEDHOG AEDHAN, OR MOGUE, ABBOT OF CLUAIN- MOR-MAEDHOG, NOW CLONMORE, COUNTY OF CARLOW.
{SIXTH CENTURY. ] CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—ENQUIRY ABOUT THE RACE AND BIRTH OF ST. MAEDHOG—HE ESTABLISHES A RELIGIOUS HOUSE AT CLONMORE—DESCRIPTION OF THIS PLACE— CAUSES LEADING TO THE BATTLE OF DUNBOLG.
the present holy Abbot's memory had been revered and cele-
The Feilire of St. ' records the cross or . ^ngns
Apollonius,
THAT at an
in the Irish
circumstances. His recorded name of Maidoc, or Moedoc," was originally
Aedhan ;= in Latin, itjwas JEdxavLS, and it has been Anglicised into . ^dan. TheIrishdiminutivewasAedh-og; and,byprefixingMo,ormy,wehaveMo- Aedh-og, or my young Aedh, hence comes Moedhog, or Mogue. Again, Momoedoc, Mionn Gaoidhel, or " my Maidoc, sacred pledge of the Irish," were words of endearment, applied to saints bearing this name. But, when
Article
vm. — • In the "Leabhar
Article i. —Chapter i. —' So is he
brated, early period,
is
Church, evident from various
Breac " Stokes :—
ClAOcll ApoLloin q\tiiitic1iii\ ^X^pciMfc coetnchAn foUiich Oi\on' eo <sinm fubaich Cuinna i«5t>A pomAich.
we find the
with the English translation of Whitley
the
Marianus O'Gorman, and of Maguire.
topy,
following entry,
called, by
Martyrologies of Tallagh, of
' Priest
sures are bartered. From Ross E6, delight- ful name, Cuanna royal, excellent. "
Apollonius'
cross for Christ's trea-
'See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Ap-
rilis X. De Sanctis Martyribus Alexandrinis votional prefix occurs in connexion with Apollonio Presb. Grano, Hilario, Donate, Aedh-og, I have not met it in connexion Concesso, Saturnino, pp, 862, 863. with Aedhan. I caimot tell the reason, but
' It is said to " signify
fire," by Mr. John M'Call. The distinguished Irish scholar, William M. Hennessy, M. R. I. A. , has in- formed the writer, that the patron of Clon- more was called Aedan, the diminutive of
or "
Aedh-og
appears in the compound form Maedhog,
Mo- " little the " mo " Aedh-og, my Aedh,"
forming the devotional prefix "my. " In a letter, he remarks : "Though Aedh-og and Aedhan are equivalent, and though the de-
Aedh and that ;
young Aedh,"
April ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 105
treating about another very distinguished saint, so called,^ we have already morefullydweltontheforegoingvariedetymons; and,wehavedrawnatten- tion to certain narratives, which may have a more direct reference to the personal history of the present holy man. However, as there were three saints,* bearing the name of Aedhan, or Maedoc, and who were very nearly contemporaries, in the absence of more ancient records, there can be no more embarrassing task for a student of Irish hagiology, than to fix their respective actions. 5 Colgan apparently had a Life of Abbot St. Maidoc, of Clonmore, ready for publication, at this day;* and, he promised, that at the nth of
The received opinion is, that St. Aedhan, or Moedoc, of Clonmore," was descended from Dunlang, who was King of Leinster, at the close of the third century. " In the old Book of the Borumha Laighean, the present holy man is called Aidus, son to Eugenius :" in the Life of St. Comgall,'3 he is named . iEdinus, i. e. , Aidanus, or . ^danus : by the' Martyrologies of Tallagh, Marianus O'Gorman and Maguire, he is called Maidoc. '* The Menologic
Genealogy of the Irish Saints enters his pedigree, in the foregoing sense;''
muchshouldbediscussed
notice his festival, as occurring at this date, in the Martyrology of Tallagh j but, they have evidently misprinted his name,' which was to be met with in the original.
April,
concerning
merely
I assnme that it was not so used, because it should fonn a word such as Maedhan or Maothan, the meaning of which could not be characteristic of the qualities of a saint in
ix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 2.
' These are the words " Mardocus Hua Dnnlange in Cluain-Mor. "
" This is expressly stated, in Whitley Stokes' " Calendar of Oengus," by the Com- mentator remarking, at the name Cluain-Mor
the olden time. "
planations given "
He then refers to the ex- in Edward O'Reilly's
Maedoc, "
at the word : At the same time, I to admit, that I have found the
;
Moedoc hua
7 nihe moedoc fema," thus translated,
Irish-English Dictionary," maotan. Headds "
i.
Dunlaing dolaignib "
i. e. not "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. " Irish Manuscript
series, part i. , p. xlix.
" Thus do I find his pedigree traced, in
No. 7, The Genealogy of the Ui Dunlaing,
the Ui Brian Cualann, and the Ui Mail, &c. ,
by Rev. Francis Shearman. Here, deem- John
ing him to be identical with Aedh, Bishop, January, in the First Volume of this i. e. Aedan mac ua Dunlaing of Glendalach,
think it
name written Aedh, but it is in a Poem and names are sometimes written in Poems, in a mutilated way, owing to the necessities of metre. "—Letter, dated 71 Pembroke- road, 24th September, 1882.
Maedoc hua — of Leinster, and Dunlaing
right
' See the Lrfe of St. Aedan or Maidoc,
Patron and of Ferns, of • Bishop County
Wexford, chap, i. , and notes, at the 31st of
work.
* These are distinguished, as the Abbot
Maedhoc Mac Mame, the reputed founder of Clonmore, and firit Bishop of Ferns ; the second, Aedhan Mac Setna of Ferns, the so- called second bishop of this See ; and the third, Bishop Aedhan Ua Dulaing, son to Eoghan, and a new candidate for the honour of having been the founder of Clonmore.
5 Such are the observations of Mr. John
M'Caul, Patrick-street, Dublin, who has kindly furnished me with the result of his in-
venerated at the 7th of April, and living a. d. 598, he is reckoned to have been the sixty- seventh in descent from Mileadh, and to have been son of Eoghan, son to Bruighde, son of Nadboidhb, son of loUain, King of Leinster («><-« 460), son to Dunlang, King of Leinster [circa 450), son to Faelan, son of Oiiill, son to Dunlang, King of Leinster. Re- ference is made to the " Book of Leinster," fol. 245 ; but, it is remarked, that one or two generations are wanting, in the foregoing
which are the present Memoir.
largely
availed of in
"He "
is noted as, S. MaidocusdeClauin-
mor Moedhoc, filius Eugenii, filii Brudge, de
Acta Sanctonmi Hiberniae," xxxi. Januarii, Vita S. Maidoci. , Appendix, cap. i. , p, 221, and, also, n. 12, p. 277.
"3 At cap. liii. , in the Irish Life, His feast occurs, at the loth of May.
'< See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernis," viii. Februarii. , De S. Onchuone, n. II. , p. 277.
vestigations,
' See "
quae MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
' See "Acta Sanctorum Hiliemiae," Feb- niriiviii. , De S. Onchuone Confessore, ex variis. , cap. viii. , and n. 11, p. 277. There, Colgan remarks, that he descended from the royal race of l. einster.
" See "Acta Sanctorum,"tomns ii. , Aprilis
Catalogus
Actuum Sanctorum
Bressalii Belach, II. de April. , quo
him. ' TheBollandists'
Maedoc of Ferns. "
enumeration. See
'"
Loca Patriciana," p. 138.
stirpe
Menolog. Geneal. , cap. 20. " See Colgan's
"
:
io6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April ii.
and, his family descent is to be found, likewise, in Dudley MacFirbis' Ge- nealogies. '* His genealogy as given here varies a little, from that found in the Martyrology of Tallagh,'? which makes Moedoc of Clonmore belong to the race of Dunlaing,'^ who was the son of Enna Nia; but, the difference is not great, as Bressail Belacli and Enna Nia were brothers, and both were the sons of Fiacha Baiceadha, son to Cathair Mor. 's The Martyrology of Donegalconfirmsthisaccount. Brig,daughterofCobthach,sontoCrim- thand, son of Enna Cendselach, is said to have been mother of Segine,^° of
Bishop Aedhan,^' and of Aedh, son to Ainmire, King of Ireland. ^" Maed- hog, and Aedh, son of Ainmire, monarch of Erin, had the same mother,'^ as the Borumha ^t states. Likewise, it is said, that St. Etchen, orjEcian,'^5 -was a
son of Briga,=' the mother of Aedh, son of Ainmire, monarch of Ireland, by Maine Eiges,'? her former husband,''^ and consequently that monarch was halfb—rothertoSt. Etchen. 's Wefind,3°both—MaineEigesandBrigatraced
3'
back but with some discrepancies detected eleven generations to Cucorb,
King of Leinster, the sixteenth in descent from Ugaine Mor. s^ Thus, the present St. Maedhog is said to have been half brother to Aid, son of Ain-
's In the "Naomshancus," at p. 727, is '' Mr.
John M'Call has kindly made out written mAO'oos itiac eogAin of Clonmore for me the following pedigree from Dr.
(nth April).
'' See Eugene O'Curry's copy, belonging
to the Royal Irish Academy.
'' The Bdlandists add : As Irish Saints
are recorded, in the Martyrology of Tal- lagh.
'* He was King of Leinster, a. d. 241.
' He was Monarch of Ireland, A. D. 174. °° Venerated, it is thought, atjanuary 21st,
where a notice will be found, but where a difference of conjecture has been hazarded.
' The present saint, it is presumed.
" Letter of William M. Hennessy, to the
writer, and dated 71 Pembroke-road, 24th of September, 1882.
°3 " b|M5 injen chobc^ig, inic Cnitn-
chAinw, inic ent)A Cinj-eAlAig, tnAcliAip Tegine, epf. -AeOAiTi Agujx A. eo&. tnic <Jin-
Book of Lecan, fol.
a. i. , MS. note of William M. Hennessy, at this passage, in his copy of the Donegal
Martyrology.
"< In a note to the Donegal Martyrology,
" The tract so-called, which is a history of the Boromean Tribute. "
'5 The nth of February has been usually assigned for his feast.
'" The pedigree of this noble matron is
thus traced, by Mr. John M'Call, correcting some differences observed by Rev. Dr. Todd, in his "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," Introduction, Appendix A, Table v. , pp.
Todd's Table, with some added notes of his own. The figures represent the generations
inij\e6, i\i5 ej\enn. "
103,
^* See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
Dr. Todd
says
:
254,255. Thefiguresrepresent—
—
calculated line from Mileadh
:
He was father to 86 Cobtach crom, Oilill, second son, Cobtach, ofArdlatrin, the father of 87 Briga mother of 88 Maidoc or Edan, 88 Bishop of Cluanmor Maedoc, of 88 Etchen, of Cluainfad, A. D. 577, and of 88 Seighan, of
Kilseighan.
the Rev. J. F. Shearman's list, than in Dr.
Todd's, thus occasioning seven missing links in the genealogy of Maidoc mac Maine, on the paternal side, and two more still as com- pared with the different calculations.
Dr. Todd's
84 Enna
the saints were evi- there are two more ICinsellach was father of 85 Crinthann, who generations in Aedan mac ua Dunlaing's, was baptized by St. Patrick, A. D. 448, and than in Briga's line. This latter nobly whose wife was Mell. He was killed 484. born lady was Maedoc's mother. Again, there are two more in Briga's line, in
as removed from Mileadh
:
—60 Mor, Ugaine
King of Ireland, father of 61 Laoghaire Lore,
king from 3649, A. M. to 3665. Here 2$
generations are wanting : O'Flaherty re-
duces them to 15. 76 Cucorb, King of
Leinsier from n3 A. D. to 119, and Ethna
his wife. Their son was 77 Messincorb father
to 78 Eochaid Lamderg, father of 79 Fothad,
father to 80 Eochaid Lamdoit. Some gene-
rations are wanting here, between Garchon, about A. D. 209 and Fincad, slain at the first battle of Graine, A. D. 484. 81 Fothad was father to 82 F'ergus Lamderg, father of 83 Maine Mac Eiges the poet. His sons were 84 Maedoc of Clonmore, 84 Etchen of Cluainlota, and 84 Seighan of Killseighan.
nis," Februarii xi. De S. Etchaenio Epis- copo Cluainfodensi, ex variis, cap. i. , and nn. Ito8,pp. 304to306.
°9 Are Maine Eiges, and Eugene, St. Miadoc of Clonmore 's fatlier, one and the same person, and were the two saints, bro- thers? or was their mother Briga married the third time, and were they only uterine brothers ? is a query proposed by Mr. M'Call.
3° In Rev. Dr. Todd's "Life of St.
Patrick," Appendix A to Introduction, Table
v. , and pp. 253 to 255.
3'
At the best, these genealogies are very
thus, dently contemporaries,
imperfect
though
April ii. ] LIVES QF THE IRISH SAINTS. 107
mire, monarch of Ireland. 33 From this instance, and from otherfcases re- corded, it would seem, that brothers bearing a similar name were to be found
frequently in the same family.
The birth of our saint took place, probably before the middle of the sixth
century,buttheyearisnotknown. Somedifficultieshavearisen,toascer-
Uin, if a St. Aedh,3-» Oengen, or Oilean, called also Maedoc Ua Dunlaing of theIsland,35couldnothavebeenidenticalwiththepresentSt. Maedoc. If resolved in the affirmative, this latter may be considered to have had a spe- cial connexion with Glendalough, and to have had distinct festivals, one at April 7th, the other, at the present date.
11>
Clonmore Cemetery, County of Carlow.
This holy . Abbot's chief house was situated, it is thought, at
the present Clonmore, in the Barony of Rathvilly, and County of Carlow,3* The exact year when it was founded has not been ascer- tained ; and now, there are no vestiges left of the ancient building.
^ He was King of Ireland from A. M. 3619
to 3649.
^^ See Dr. O'Donovan's summarized state-
ment from the Boromha Laighean, in note (h) to "Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland," by the Four Masters, vol. i. , p. 218.
^ His feast has been entered already, at
the 7th of April. According to Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Pairiciana,' No.
7. Cathaoir Mor, King of Lcinster, from A. D. 173 to 177, and the 55th in descent from Mileadh, was his ancestor ; thus is the line
:
the Boromha Tribute to be exacted from the Leinstermen. Me was father of 60 Oilill, father to 61 Faelan, father of 62 Dunlaing K. L. ,whodiedbeforeA. D. 460. Hiswife was Cuach from the Hy-Bairclie. Their son was 63 lollam, baptized at Naas. by St. Patrick. loliam was father to 64 Nadboid, father of 65 Bruighde, father of 66 Eoghan (third son), father to 67 Aedan mac Ua Dun- laing of Glendalough ,vwtns A. D. 598, at the timeoftheBattleofDunbolg. See"The Genealogy of the Ui Dunlaing, the Ui
traced —55
Briuin
138- 35
and
the Ui
of Fiacha Baicheda, father to 57 Bresal Belach,
father of Enna 5S
father to Dun- 59
to have been the Island of Our Saviour, at Glendalough.
Cathaoir Mor, father
56
Cualann,
Mail," &c. , p.
Nia,
laing K. L. 298, who slew the royal maidens at the Claenifert of Tara, and who first caused
Conjectured
3* Mr. M'Call, very doubtful on the sub-
io8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April ii.
Its site, near the village, was in, or very near, a much-frequented graveyard,3' whichliesaboutsevenmilessouthfromBaltinglass,countyofWicklow. At
present, near the village of Clonmore,3* in the townland and parish so named, are the graveyard and some interesting remains, which had connexion with our saint's former monastery ;39 although we find it stated, that the traditions of this place rather connect it with St. Maidoc, venerated on the 31st of January. Atpresent,besidethegraveyardrunsapublicroad,leadingfrom the village to the old castle t" of Clonmore,*' and this road was sunk through the very centre of the old graveyard, in a manner most hurtful to the Chris- tian feeling of the old Catholic inhabitants, and very unnecessarily from an engineering point of view. On the south side of this road is the principal cemetery,''^ used by the people, and in the centre appears the broken shaft of an ancient granite cross, nearly six feet in height. Beside it, concealed among thick black-thorn bushes, is the circularly formed head, but rather in a mutilated condition. s On the opposite side of the road, there is another large granite cross, 't't not far from the Protestant church. This monument is shown as St. Mogue's cross. According to tradition, the whole valley, extending from Clonmore •'s to Aghold,''* in former
was called "
"Meadow;" while a portion of Clonmore townland, to the westward
times,
Mogue's great glen,"
or " lawn," or Mogue's big
" it is to decide, nearly impossible
quities
of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 76. These
ject, says,
whether it was the old Maidoc, son of Maine Eiges, the half-brother to Aedh, son of Ain- mire, or his new rival. Maidoc Ui Dun- laing, son of Eoghan, Bishop of Glendalough, founded this celebrated monastery. But, unless there was some other saint of the name 'of the race of Dunlaing,' there are strong proofs extant of this latter being the true founder ; and, therefore, the two entries
were taken from sketches by Lieutenant
Daniel Grose in 1792 ; nor do the features of
the old castle present much change to the
present time.
*' In St. Broccan's Poem, called l&txM riA techc, or Lay of the Graves, as found in the "Book of Leinster," fol. 24 a 2 ofthe old pagination, the poet says, he had not heard mentioned in any place a cluain like the
in the Martyrologies, the one '
'
Aedh of the
holy cemetery of Aedh Find
— :
of Glendalough, at April 7th, and
Island
the other ' Aedhan of Clonmore,' at April nth, may have reference to the one party, Maedoc of Clonmore. "
3' It was formerly known as the Relic Aingel of the oratory, in Cluain Mor Maedoc, as we learn, from a gloss to the Feilire of St.
^ngus, at the 8lh of February, regarding St. Onchuo, 01 Ternoc (thy Ernoc), in the Leabhar Breac. There, too, we find the comment, Cepnoc cpen Acti<si\bA, meaning
1]" ctuAin itninep niem i\elic -deXJA pnt), ^e^\> A'oj:'ei'Oim
InniAin inAT) ei)-ei\5i 1 ^\X mAi\C|\A fi'oem fi h-efedn
Tloe pchic ci\umchij\e coic tniti moir>A fopx)^,
Ac moe-ooc Vi. fi-tJonlAinge acac & fepcA.
It is thu—s translated, by William M.
" his Ternog, strong
to Hennessy
Whiiley Stokes.
3^ In the barony of Rathvilly. It is shown,
on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Carlow," sheet 9.
3' There is a description of this parish, by Patrick O'Keefe, in a letter, da'. ed Tullow,
"
Letters relat- ing to the Antiquities of the County of Car- low, containing Information collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in
1839," pp. 372 to 390.
for a of this old castle. 335, description
August 7th, 1829, among the
"' " See Ryan's
«The accompanying engraving by Mrs.
Millard, from a drawing, taken by the writer,
in was transferred to the wood August, 1882,
by William F. Wakeman.
« An old inhabitant of Clonmore, in 1839,
and
ofthe County of Carlow," chap, xxxi. , p.
profit," according
:
' ' And a cluain like the holy cemetery of Aedh-find, as I relate,
A delightful place of resurrection, in which are the relics of Erin's saints. Nine score presbyters, five thousand
manly nobles,
With Moedoc, descendant of Dun-
History
Antiquities
that she remembered of some remains of an old church near it. Ac- Clonmore Castle, in Francis Grose's " Anti- cording to her account, two gables stood,
*'—
There are two line copperplate engra- O'Keefe,
ings an interior and an exterior
view
— told Patrick
lang,
are their
graves. "
April ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 109
ofthehighroad,andsouthoftheoldcastleandcemetery-ground,is called, atthepresentday,theBigMeadow. OntheOrdnanceSurveyMaps,itis
even thus designated.
The celebrated ruler of Hy-Kinsellagh, named Brandubh, son to Ethah or
Eochaidh, had killed Cumuscach, son to Aedh, at Dunbucat, now Dunboyke, a townland in Hollywood parish, barony of Lower Talbotstown, and county of Wicklow,<7 about a. d. 596. *' To this event, and to the results which fol- lowed, allusion has been already made, in the Life of St. Maidoc,*' Patron and Bishop of Ferns ;5° yet, the old writer seems to have made some errone- ous historic statements, so that we may doubt, if his sources of information
were accurate in other particulars. Perhaps, even, the St. Maidoc, Bishop of Ferns, may have been mistaken,^' in the course of his biographer's narrative, for St. Maidoc, Abbot of Clonmore. And, the allusion to this latter holy
"
person, as a
warlike kinsman," in the Feilire of St. . ^ngus, appears to
strengthen such supposition.
Our Irish Annals relate, that Aedh, son to Ainmire, who was King of
Ireland, had collected a great army, which he led against Brandubh, more
immediatelytoavengethedeathofhisson,Cuasg,orCumuscach;5» and,in
all likelihood, to curb the power of a provincial king, so great as a warrior,
in his day. To this expedition and its results, we shall more particularly
refer, in the subsequent chapter, since its historic importance gives it a spe- cial celebrity in our Irish Annals.
CHAPTER II.
ST. MAEDOC PLACES DICHOLLA GAIRBH OVER CLONMORE MONASTERY—INVASION OP LEINSTER BY KING AEDH—ST. MAEDOC TAKES SIDES WITH THE LEINSTERMEN AND WITH THEIR KING BRANDUBH—STRATAGEM WHICH DECIDES THE BATTLE OF DUNBOLG, IN THEIR FAVOUR—RESULTS OF AND DATE FOR THIS REMARKABLE EVENT.
OverClonmore,St. MaidochadplacedoneDichoUaGairbh,'asabbot; and,
with his the founder was • at the time of Aedh's invasion. disciple, staying,
the victory for Brandubh, at the battle of Dunbolg, A. D. 594; but, Mr. John M'Call has observed to the writer, that St. Maidoc, Abbot of Clonmore, was the true participant, The Book of the Boru and the Annals of the Four Masters, however, have called the latter a bishop, and this probably led Dr. O'Donovanastray; although,hemighthave noticed, that the former authority distinctly calb the holy man the monarch's "half- brother," and besides, St. Maidoc of Ferns was a Conacian.
Article VII. —St. Waldetrude's Coxjntess, and Wife of St. Vincent, of Castrilocus. \Snenth Century^ The feast ofSt. Waldetmde, Patroness of Mons, has been placed by Convxus, and in a Manuscript Bene- dictine Martyrology,' at tiic 10th of April. Notices of this holy woman will be found, on the day previous.
» Allusion is made to this occurrence, in Sigebert's Chronicle, as also in the "Specu- lum Historiale" of Viiicentius Bellovacensis, lib. XXV. , cap. xxxv.
functL"—Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scoitish Saints, p. 196.
'* His festival is kept, on the 23rd of Feb-
ruary. For the particulars of his Life, the
'"See Bishop Challoner's "Britannia reader may study "Storia di S. Pier Da-
Sancta," part i. , p. 217. miano e del suo Tempo," per Alfonso
"
work,"DeVirisIllustribusOrdinisS. Bene- Firenze,1862,l2m—o.
This IS stated, by Trithemius, in his Capecelatro, Prete dell" Oratorio di Napoli.
dicti," lib. iii. , cap. 324.
" In " Menologium Scotorum. "
•
Article vii. See the Bollandists'
"Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Aprilis x. Among the pretermitted Saints, p. 856.
"
nomento Inclusi, miraculoso exitu per-
'' Thus,
Fuldae Paterni monachi cog-
ip4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April ii. Article VIII. —Feast of St. Apollonius, Martyr, at Alexandria,
of St.
suffering
at the loth of April. This holy priest, with other courageous companions in martyrdom, suffered for the faith of Christ, and an account of them will be
found, in the Bollandists' great work,= at the same date.
Article IX. —Feast of St. Maidoc, Abbot of Fiddown, County OF Kilkenny. \Sixth Century. '] The festival of St. Maidoc, Abbot of Fid- down,iscelebratedonthisday,accordingtotheCalendarofCashel. Allu- sionhasbeenmadetohimalready,atthe23rdofMarch. HisActswillbe found, at the i8th of May ; while the 13th of August is stated, to have been another of his festivals.
(01ei)tnt() ©ap of apn'I.
ARTICLE I. —ST. MAEDHOG AEDHAN, OR MOGUE, ABBOT OF CLUAIN- MOR-MAEDHOG, NOW CLONMORE, COUNTY OF CARLOW.
{SIXTH CENTURY. ] CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—ENQUIRY ABOUT THE RACE AND BIRTH OF ST. MAEDHOG—HE ESTABLISHES A RELIGIOUS HOUSE AT CLONMORE—DESCRIPTION OF THIS PLACE— CAUSES LEADING TO THE BATTLE OF DUNBOLG.
the present holy Abbot's memory had been revered and cele-
The Feilire of St. ' records the cross or . ^ngns
Apollonius,
THAT at an
in the Irish
circumstances. His recorded name of Maidoc, or Moedoc," was originally
Aedhan ;= in Latin, itjwas JEdxavLS, and it has been Anglicised into . ^dan. TheIrishdiminutivewasAedh-og; and,byprefixingMo,ormy,wehaveMo- Aedh-og, or my young Aedh, hence comes Moedhog, or Mogue. Again, Momoedoc, Mionn Gaoidhel, or " my Maidoc, sacred pledge of the Irish," were words of endearment, applied to saints bearing this name. But, when
Article
vm. — • In the "Leabhar
Article i. —Chapter i. —' So is he
brated, early period,
is
Church, evident from various
Breac " Stokes :—
ClAOcll ApoLloin q\tiiitic1iii\ ^X^pciMfc coetnchAn foUiich Oi\on' eo <sinm fubaich Cuinna i«5t>A pomAich.
we find the
with the English translation of Whitley
the
Marianus O'Gorman, and of Maguire.
topy,
following entry,
called, by
Martyrologies of Tallagh, of
' Priest
sures are bartered. From Ross E6, delight- ful name, Cuanna royal, excellent. "
Apollonius'
cross for Christ's trea-
'See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Ap-
rilis X. De Sanctis Martyribus Alexandrinis votional prefix occurs in connexion with Apollonio Presb. Grano, Hilario, Donate, Aedh-og, I have not met it in connexion Concesso, Saturnino, pp, 862, 863. with Aedhan. I caimot tell the reason, but
' It is said to " signify
fire," by Mr. John M'Call. The distinguished Irish scholar, William M. Hennessy, M. R. I. A. , has in- formed the writer, that the patron of Clon- more was called Aedan, the diminutive of
or "
Aedh-og
appears in the compound form Maedhog,
Mo- " little the " mo " Aedh-og, my Aedh,"
forming the devotional prefix "my. " In a letter, he remarks : "Though Aedh-og and Aedhan are equivalent, and though the de-
Aedh and that ;
young Aedh,"
April ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 105
treating about another very distinguished saint, so called,^ we have already morefullydweltontheforegoingvariedetymons; and,wehavedrawnatten- tion to certain narratives, which may have a more direct reference to the personal history of the present holy man. However, as there were three saints,* bearing the name of Aedhan, or Maedoc, and who were very nearly contemporaries, in the absence of more ancient records, there can be no more embarrassing task for a student of Irish hagiology, than to fix their respective actions. 5 Colgan apparently had a Life of Abbot St. Maidoc, of Clonmore, ready for publication, at this day;* and, he promised, that at the nth of
The received opinion is, that St. Aedhan, or Moedoc, of Clonmore," was descended from Dunlang, who was King of Leinster, at the close of the third century. " In the old Book of the Borumha Laighean, the present holy man is called Aidus, son to Eugenius :" in the Life of St. Comgall,'3 he is named . iEdinus, i. e. , Aidanus, or . ^danus : by the' Martyrologies of Tallagh, Marianus O'Gorman and Maguire, he is called Maidoc. '* The Menologic
Genealogy of the Irish Saints enters his pedigree, in the foregoing sense;''
muchshouldbediscussed
notice his festival, as occurring at this date, in the Martyrology of Tallagh j but, they have evidently misprinted his name,' which was to be met with in the original.
April,
concerning
merely
I assnme that it was not so used, because it should fonn a word such as Maedhan or Maothan, the meaning of which could not be characteristic of the qualities of a saint in
ix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 2.
' These are the words " Mardocus Hua Dnnlange in Cluain-Mor. "
" This is expressly stated, in Whitley Stokes' " Calendar of Oengus," by the Com- mentator remarking, at the name Cluain-Mor
the olden time. "
planations given "
He then refers to the ex- in Edward O'Reilly's
Maedoc, "
at the word : At the same time, I to admit, that I have found the
;
Moedoc hua
7 nihe moedoc fema," thus translated,
Irish-English Dictionary," maotan. Headds "
i.
Dunlaing dolaignib "
i. e. not "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. " Irish Manuscript
series, part i. , p. xlix.
" Thus do I find his pedigree traced, in
No. 7, The Genealogy of the Ui Dunlaing,
the Ui Brian Cualann, and the Ui Mail, &c. ,
by Rev. Francis Shearman. Here, deem- John
ing him to be identical with Aedh, Bishop, January, in the First Volume of this i. e. Aedan mac ua Dunlaing of Glendalach,
think it
name written Aedh, but it is in a Poem and names are sometimes written in Poems, in a mutilated way, owing to the necessities of metre. "—Letter, dated 71 Pembroke- road, 24th September, 1882.
Maedoc hua — of Leinster, and Dunlaing
right
' See the Lrfe of St. Aedan or Maidoc,
Patron and of Ferns, of • Bishop County
Wexford, chap, i. , and notes, at the 31st of
work.
* These are distinguished, as the Abbot
Maedhoc Mac Mame, the reputed founder of Clonmore, and firit Bishop of Ferns ; the second, Aedhan Mac Setna of Ferns, the so- called second bishop of this See ; and the third, Bishop Aedhan Ua Dulaing, son to Eoghan, and a new candidate for the honour of having been the founder of Clonmore.
5 Such are the observations of Mr. John
M'Caul, Patrick-street, Dublin, who has kindly furnished me with the result of his in-
venerated at the 7th of April, and living a. d. 598, he is reckoned to have been the sixty- seventh in descent from Mileadh, and to have been son of Eoghan, son to Bruighde, son of Nadboidhb, son of loUain, King of Leinster («><-« 460), son to Dunlang, King of Leinster [circa 450), son to Faelan, son of Oiiill, son to Dunlang, King of Leinster. Re- ference is made to the " Book of Leinster," fol. 245 ; but, it is remarked, that one or two generations are wanting, in the foregoing
which are the present Memoir.
largely
availed of in
"He "
is noted as, S. MaidocusdeClauin-
mor Moedhoc, filius Eugenii, filii Brudge, de
Acta Sanctonmi Hiberniae," xxxi. Januarii, Vita S. Maidoci. , Appendix, cap. i. , p, 221, and, also, n. 12, p. 277.
"3 At cap. liii. , in the Irish Life, His feast occurs, at the loth of May.
'< See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernis," viii. Februarii. , De S. Onchuone, n. II. , p. 277.
vestigations,
' See "
quae MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
' See "Acta Sanctorum Hiliemiae," Feb- niriiviii. , De S. Onchuone Confessore, ex variis. , cap. viii. , and n. 11, p. 277. There, Colgan remarks, that he descended from the royal race of l. einster.
" See "Acta Sanctorum,"tomns ii. , Aprilis
Catalogus
Actuum Sanctorum
Bressalii Belach, II. de April. , quo
him. ' TheBollandists'
Maedoc of Ferns. "
enumeration. See
'"
Loca Patriciana," p. 138.
stirpe
Menolog. Geneal. , cap. 20. " See Colgan's
"
:
io6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April ii.
and, his family descent is to be found, likewise, in Dudley MacFirbis' Ge- nealogies. '* His genealogy as given here varies a little, from that found in the Martyrology of Tallagh,'? which makes Moedoc of Clonmore belong to the race of Dunlaing,'^ who was the son of Enna Nia; but, the difference is not great, as Bressail Belacli and Enna Nia were brothers, and both were the sons of Fiacha Baiceadha, son to Cathair Mor. 's The Martyrology of Donegalconfirmsthisaccount. Brig,daughterofCobthach,sontoCrim- thand, son of Enna Cendselach, is said to have been mother of Segine,^° of
Bishop Aedhan,^' and of Aedh, son to Ainmire, King of Ireland. ^" Maed- hog, and Aedh, son of Ainmire, monarch of Erin, had the same mother,'^ as the Borumha ^t states. Likewise, it is said, that St. Etchen, orjEcian,'^5 -was a
son of Briga,=' the mother of Aedh, son of Ainmire, monarch of Ireland, by Maine Eiges,'? her former husband,''^ and consequently that monarch was halfb—rothertoSt. Etchen. 's Wefind,3°both—MaineEigesandBrigatraced
3'
back but with some discrepancies detected eleven generations to Cucorb,
King of Leinster, the sixteenth in descent from Ugaine Mor. s^ Thus, the present St. Maedhog is said to have been half brother to Aid, son of Ain-
's In the "Naomshancus," at p. 727, is '' Mr.
John M'Call has kindly made out written mAO'oos itiac eogAin of Clonmore for me the following pedigree from Dr.
(nth April).
'' See Eugene O'Curry's copy, belonging
to the Royal Irish Academy.
'' The Bdlandists add : As Irish Saints
are recorded, in the Martyrology of Tal- lagh.
'* He was King of Leinster, a. d. 241.
' He was Monarch of Ireland, A. D. 174. °° Venerated, it is thought, atjanuary 21st,
where a notice will be found, but where a difference of conjecture has been hazarded.
' The present saint, it is presumed.
" Letter of William M. Hennessy, to the
writer, and dated 71 Pembroke-road, 24th of September, 1882.
°3 " b|M5 injen chobc^ig, inic Cnitn-
chAinw, inic ent)A Cinj-eAlAig, tnAcliAip Tegine, epf. -AeOAiTi Agujx A. eo&. tnic <Jin-
Book of Lecan, fol.
a. i. , MS. note of William M. Hennessy, at this passage, in his copy of the Donegal
Martyrology.
"< In a note to the Donegal Martyrology,
" The tract so-called, which is a history of the Boromean Tribute. "
'5 The nth of February has been usually assigned for his feast.
'" The pedigree of this noble matron is
thus traced, by Mr. John M'Call, correcting some differences observed by Rev. Dr. Todd, in his "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," Introduction, Appendix A, Table v. , pp.
Todd's Table, with some added notes of his own. The figures represent the generations
inij\e6, i\i5 ej\enn. "
103,
^* See " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Colgan's
Dr. Todd
says
:
254,255. Thefiguresrepresent—
—
calculated line from Mileadh
:
He was father to 86 Cobtach crom, Oilill, second son, Cobtach, ofArdlatrin, the father of 87 Briga mother of 88 Maidoc or Edan, 88 Bishop of Cluanmor Maedoc, of 88 Etchen, of Cluainfad, A. D. 577, and of 88 Seighan, of
Kilseighan.
the Rev. J. F. Shearman's list, than in Dr.
Todd's, thus occasioning seven missing links in the genealogy of Maidoc mac Maine, on the paternal side, and two more still as com- pared with the different calculations.
Dr. Todd's
84 Enna
the saints were evi- there are two more ICinsellach was father of 85 Crinthann, who generations in Aedan mac ua Dunlaing's, was baptized by St. Patrick, A. D. 448, and than in Briga's line. This latter nobly whose wife was Mell. He was killed 484. born lady was Maedoc's mother. Again, there are two more in Briga's line, in
as removed from Mileadh
:
—60 Mor, Ugaine
King of Ireland, father of 61 Laoghaire Lore,
king from 3649, A. M. to 3665. Here 2$
generations are wanting : O'Flaherty re-
duces them to 15. 76 Cucorb, King of
Leinsier from n3 A. D. to 119, and Ethna
his wife. Their son was 77 Messincorb father
to 78 Eochaid Lamderg, father of 79 Fothad,
father to 80 Eochaid Lamdoit. Some gene-
rations are wanting here, between Garchon, about A. D. 209 and Fincad, slain at the first battle of Graine, A. D. 484. 81 Fothad was father to 82 F'ergus Lamderg, father of 83 Maine Mac Eiges the poet. His sons were 84 Maedoc of Clonmore, 84 Etchen of Cluainlota, and 84 Seighan of Killseighan.
nis," Februarii xi. De S. Etchaenio Epis- copo Cluainfodensi, ex variis, cap. i. , and nn. Ito8,pp. 304to306.
°9 Are Maine Eiges, and Eugene, St. Miadoc of Clonmore 's fatlier, one and the same person, and were the two saints, bro- thers? or was their mother Briga married the third time, and were they only uterine brothers ? is a query proposed by Mr. M'Call.
3° In Rev. Dr. Todd's "Life of St.
Patrick," Appendix A to Introduction, Table
v. , and pp. 253 to 255.
3'
At the best, these genealogies are very
thus, dently contemporaries,
imperfect
though
April ii. ] LIVES QF THE IRISH SAINTS. 107
mire, monarch of Ireland. 33 From this instance, and from otherfcases re- corded, it would seem, that brothers bearing a similar name were to be found
frequently in the same family.
The birth of our saint took place, probably before the middle of the sixth
century,buttheyearisnotknown. Somedifficultieshavearisen,toascer-
Uin, if a St. Aedh,3-» Oengen, or Oilean, called also Maedoc Ua Dunlaing of theIsland,35couldnothavebeenidenticalwiththepresentSt. Maedoc. If resolved in the affirmative, this latter may be considered to have had a spe- cial connexion with Glendalough, and to have had distinct festivals, one at April 7th, the other, at the present date.
11>
Clonmore Cemetery, County of Carlow.
This holy . Abbot's chief house was situated, it is thought, at
the present Clonmore, in the Barony of Rathvilly, and County of Carlow,3* The exact year when it was founded has not been ascer- tained ; and now, there are no vestiges left of the ancient building.
^ He was King of Ireland from A. M. 3619
to 3649.
^^ See Dr. O'Donovan's summarized state-
ment from the Boromha Laighean, in note (h) to "Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland," by the Four Masters, vol. i. , p. 218.
^ His feast has been entered already, at
the 7th of April. According to Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Pairiciana,' No.
7. Cathaoir Mor, King of Lcinster, from A. D. 173 to 177, and the 55th in descent from Mileadh, was his ancestor ; thus is the line
:
the Boromha Tribute to be exacted from the Leinstermen. Me was father of 60 Oilill, father to 61 Faelan, father of 62 Dunlaing K. L. ,whodiedbeforeA. D. 460. Hiswife was Cuach from the Hy-Bairclie. Their son was 63 lollam, baptized at Naas. by St. Patrick. loliam was father to 64 Nadboid, father of 65 Bruighde, father of 66 Eoghan (third son), father to 67 Aedan mac Ua Dun- laing of Glendalough ,vwtns A. D. 598, at the timeoftheBattleofDunbolg. See"The Genealogy of the Ui Dunlaing, the Ui
traced —55
Briuin
138- 35
and
the Ui
of Fiacha Baicheda, father to 57 Bresal Belach,
father of Enna 5S
father to Dun- 59
to have been the Island of Our Saviour, at Glendalough.
Cathaoir Mor, father
56
Cualann,
Mail," &c. , p.
Nia,
laing K. L. 298, who slew the royal maidens at the Claenifert of Tara, and who first caused
Conjectured
3* Mr. M'Call, very doubtful on the sub-
io8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April ii.
Its site, near the village, was in, or very near, a much-frequented graveyard,3' whichliesaboutsevenmilessouthfromBaltinglass,countyofWicklow. At
present, near the village of Clonmore,3* in the townland and parish so named, are the graveyard and some interesting remains, which had connexion with our saint's former monastery ;39 although we find it stated, that the traditions of this place rather connect it with St. Maidoc, venerated on the 31st of January. Atpresent,besidethegraveyardrunsapublicroad,leadingfrom the village to the old castle t" of Clonmore,*' and this road was sunk through the very centre of the old graveyard, in a manner most hurtful to the Chris- tian feeling of the old Catholic inhabitants, and very unnecessarily from an engineering point of view. On the south side of this road is the principal cemetery,''^ used by the people, and in the centre appears the broken shaft of an ancient granite cross, nearly six feet in height. Beside it, concealed among thick black-thorn bushes, is the circularly formed head, but rather in a mutilated condition. s On the opposite side of the road, there is another large granite cross, 't't not far from the Protestant church. This monument is shown as St. Mogue's cross. According to tradition, the whole valley, extending from Clonmore •'s to Aghold,''* in former
was called "
"Meadow;" while a portion of Clonmore townland, to the westward
times,
Mogue's great glen,"
or " lawn," or Mogue's big
" it is to decide, nearly impossible
quities
of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 76. These
ject, says,
whether it was the old Maidoc, son of Maine Eiges, the half-brother to Aedh, son of Ain- mire, or his new rival. Maidoc Ui Dun- laing, son of Eoghan, Bishop of Glendalough, founded this celebrated monastery. But, unless there was some other saint of the name 'of the race of Dunlaing,' there are strong proofs extant of this latter being the true founder ; and, therefore, the two entries
were taken from sketches by Lieutenant
Daniel Grose in 1792 ; nor do the features of
the old castle present much change to the
present time.
*' In St. Broccan's Poem, called l&txM riA techc, or Lay of the Graves, as found in the "Book of Leinster," fol. 24 a 2 ofthe old pagination, the poet says, he had not heard mentioned in any place a cluain like the
in the Martyrologies, the one '
'
Aedh of the
holy cemetery of Aedh Find
— :
of Glendalough, at April 7th, and
Island
the other ' Aedhan of Clonmore,' at April nth, may have reference to the one party, Maedoc of Clonmore. "
3' It was formerly known as the Relic Aingel of the oratory, in Cluain Mor Maedoc, as we learn, from a gloss to the Feilire of St.
^ngus, at the 8lh of February, regarding St. Onchuo, 01 Ternoc (thy Ernoc), in the Leabhar Breac. There, too, we find the comment, Cepnoc cpen Acti<si\bA, meaning
1]" ctuAin itninep niem i\elic -deXJA pnt), ^e^\> A'oj:'ei'Oim
InniAin inAT) ei)-ei\5i 1 ^\X mAi\C|\A fi'oem fi h-efedn
Tloe pchic ci\umchij\e coic tniti moir>A fopx)^,
Ac moe-ooc Vi. fi-tJonlAinge acac & fepcA.
It is thu—s translated, by William M.
" his Ternog, strong
to Hennessy
Whiiley Stokes.
3^ In the barony of Rathvilly. It is shown,
on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Carlow," sheet 9.
3' There is a description of this parish, by Patrick O'Keefe, in a letter, da'. ed Tullow,
"
Letters relat- ing to the Antiquities of the County of Car- low, containing Information collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in
1839," pp. 372 to 390.
for a of this old castle. 335, description
August 7th, 1829, among the
"' " See Ryan's
«The accompanying engraving by Mrs.
Millard, from a drawing, taken by the writer,
in was transferred to the wood August, 1882,
by William F. Wakeman.
« An old inhabitant of Clonmore, in 1839,
and
ofthe County of Carlow," chap, xxxi. , p.
profit," according
:
' ' And a cluain like the holy cemetery of Aedh-find, as I relate,
A delightful place of resurrection, in which are the relics of Erin's saints. Nine score presbyters, five thousand
manly nobles,
With Moedoc, descendant of Dun-
History
Antiquities
that she remembered of some remains of an old church near it. Ac- Clonmore Castle, in Francis Grose's " Anti- cording to her account, two gables stood,
*'—
There are two line copperplate engra- O'Keefe,
ings an interior and an exterior
view
— told Patrick
lang,
are their
graves. "
April ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 109
ofthehighroad,andsouthoftheoldcastleandcemetery-ground,is called, atthepresentday,theBigMeadow. OntheOrdnanceSurveyMaps,itis
even thus designated.
The celebrated ruler of Hy-Kinsellagh, named Brandubh, son to Ethah or
Eochaidh, had killed Cumuscach, son to Aedh, at Dunbucat, now Dunboyke, a townland in Hollywood parish, barony of Lower Talbotstown, and county of Wicklow,<7 about a. d. 596. *' To this event, and to the results which fol- lowed, allusion has been already made, in the Life of St. Maidoc,*' Patron and Bishop of Ferns ;5° yet, the old writer seems to have made some errone- ous historic statements, so that we may doubt, if his sources of information
were accurate in other particulars. Perhaps, even, the St. Maidoc, Bishop of Ferns, may have been mistaken,^' in the course of his biographer's narrative, for St. Maidoc, Abbot of Clonmore. And, the allusion to this latter holy
"
person, as a
warlike kinsman," in the Feilire of St. . ^ngus, appears to
strengthen such supposition.
Our Irish Annals relate, that Aedh, son to Ainmire, who was King of
Ireland, had collected a great army, which he led against Brandubh, more
immediatelytoavengethedeathofhisson,Cuasg,orCumuscach;5» and,in
all likelihood, to curb the power of a provincial king, so great as a warrior,
in his day. To this expedition and its results, we shall more particularly
refer, in the subsequent chapter, since its historic importance gives it a spe- cial celebrity in our Irish Annals.
CHAPTER II.
ST. MAEDOC PLACES DICHOLLA GAIRBH OVER CLONMORE MONASTERY—INVASION OP LEINSTER BY KING AEDH—ST. MAEDOC TAKES SIDES WITH THE LEINSTERMEN AND WITH THEIR KING BRANDUBH—STRATAGEM WHICH DECIDES THE BATTLE OF DUNBOLG, IN THEIR FAVOUR—RESULTS OF AND DATE FOR THIS REMARKABLE EVENT.
OverClonmore,St. MaidochadplacedoneDichoUaGairbh,'asabbot; and,
with his the founder was • at the time of Aedh's invasion. disciple, staying,
the victory for Brandubh, at the battle of Dunbolg, A. D. 594; but, Mr. John M'Call has observed to the writer, that St. Maidoc, Abbot of Clonmore, was the true participant, The Book of the Boru and the Annals of the Four Masters, however, have called the latter a bishop, and this probably led Dr. O'Donovanastray; although,hemighthave noticed, that the former authority distinctly calb the holy man the monarch's "half- brother," and besides, St. Maidoc of Ferns was a Conacian.
