No More Learning

'' 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. d. 50 r. In the Annals of Clon- macnoise, at 504, in the three hundred and third year of his age,9* is placed the death of St. Ibar. This is even exceeded by the O'Clerys, who state, that he was four hundred and four years old, when he resigned his spirit. It is related, by the ancient author of St. Abban's Life, that the relics of Ibar lay inBegErinmonastery. Theretheyweregreatlyhonoured,inhistime,by the ancient Irish ; while frequent miracles were known to have taken place, through his powerful intercession, and for him the Leinster people entertained a profound veneration. 97 The Martyrology of Tallagh places his festival, at the23rdofApril. 95 ^ngustheFestilogistspeaksofhim,atthisdate,andin termsofhigheulogy. s9 IntheIrishCalendar,attheNonesofMayCalends,
^5See"EcclesiasticalHistoryofIreland. " vol. i. , chap, i. , sect. xiii. , p. 2S.
'' At page 17, col. 4, and from a Manu- script, which has since been published in a much larger work, we find a notice in Latin andIrishofBishopIbarofEmly(? ).
^ At Merchants -quay Convent, Dublin.
Academy,"IrishMSS. Series,vol. i. , parti. ,
pp. 90, 91.
95 See "Annales Cambriae," edited by Rev.
John Williams ab Ithel, p. 3. They state, likewise, that he rested in the Lord, in the ccci. yearofhisage. Plinyinthe7thBook and 4Sth chapter of his Natural History states, that many of the Arcadian Kings lived
'' See Rev. M. Comerford's " Collections
relating to the Diocese of Kildare and to the age of 300 years.
Leighlin," vol. i. , p. I, and n. ibid.
9° Dr. O'Connor says, that the great age ascribed to him and to other saints is owing to the error of transcribers in mistaking ciM. I. , thrice fifty, for cpi. c. three hundred. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , p. 162, n. (t).
9' " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- See Colgan's
'° Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical See Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect,
viii. , p. 287.
»' See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiber-
nicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. Annales
Ultonienses, pp. 9, II.
9' O'Flaherty has added thecr/tow 501,
Dung. Annal. S. Ibanis, 500, Ussher. " See "
p. 612.
9^ Dr. edition, at the See the Rev. Kelly's
ix. ofthe Kalends of May(April 23rd), where we find the feast " S. Ibairi Eps. "—"Calen- dar of Irish Saints," &c. , p. xxii. The Fran- ciscan copy, likewise, has Sci lbA]\i frpi.
William M. Hennessy's Clironicon Scoto- rum," n. 10, pp. 34, 35.
93 See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. 1. ,
pp. 162, 163.
' See " Proceedings of the Royal Irish
""
nije, xvi. Martii. Vita S. Abbani, cap. vii. ,
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 463
(April 23rd), his commemoration is recorded. '"" The Kalendar of Drum- moud also has the festival of Ibar bishop and confessor entered, at
the 23rd of April. '"" Henry Fitzsimon places this saint in his Calendar, but he does not assign a date for the festival. '"' The Martyrology of Donegal,'°3 on this day, records the name of lobhar. Bishop. At this date, likewise, his feast occurs in Rev. Alban Butler's work,'"* as also in the "Circle of the Seasons. "'"' Formerly a church, and at present a parish, de-
Old Church in Lady's Island, County Wexford.
dicatedtoSt. Iberius,'"*wasinthetownofWexford. '°7 Thereisaunitedparish, likewise, in the county of Wexford, called St. Mary's or Lady's Island, and St.
» The " Leabhar Breac " verse :
toicliec ejxrtiip ib^i^x Afonc cen-D cecVi ei\if
dn bpeo udfcuiiTO ciMtif In eipinn bio beb^if.
has this
Common Place Book F. , 40, now p.
served at the Royal Irish Academy.
copy
pre-
It is thus rendered into English, by Dr. Ibemiae," in OSullevan Beare's Historise
"
Whitley Stokes:— (The) light of Bishop
Ibar, who struck down every heresy's head, a splendid flame over a sparkling wave, in BeccErin he died. "
Catholicie Ibernise Compendium,"tomusi. , lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 55.
"' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
108, 109.
<•' See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
'°° I decipher these following notices of this
: 1 &. saint —"1ob<sp eanpoc if
6eatl t)e<ic en\e. 1. Inif pt irop muip & muigLahuib CeitifeAUift. Ceitfe bt &\. ieitpe ceT>d<ioif an Ci—n |\o ir<ioi<) A fpiopat) &r\o T)oniini.
and other Saints," vol. principal
iv. , April
500. " Ordnance Survey Office copy. Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 410.
"Thus ix. Kal. Mail. "Et apud Hiber-
niam sanctus episcopus et confessor Ibar hoc
die ad Christum mip-avit. "—Bishop Forbes'
"
Kalendars of Sottish Saints," p. Ii.
"" See " Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum "
23rd.
"s See p. 114.
"* See Rev. John F. Shearman's " Loca
464 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
Ibar. ''* There is an interesting ruined church on Lady's Island, '"s* within the former parish, as also a square to\ver,"° supposed to have occupied the site of a fortressstillmoreancient. "" Onlythewestgableoftheoldchurch,surmounted by a double loop-holed and pointed belfry, is now visible, with a few feet of the side walls. '" The parish of St. Ivor proper,"'3 is bounded on the north
" and
Island ;"s on the soutli by Lady's Island and Lough Togher ; and on the west by Tacumshin parish. "* There are no antiquities in St. Ivor's parish,"' but the ruins of an ancient church,"' which are somewhat older than the
churches, generally to be met with, in the barony of Forth. It consisted of nave and choir: the former measured 27 feet, in length, and 15 feet, 10 inches, in breadth, on the inside ; while the latter was 22 feet, 4 inches, in length, and 14 feet, 4 inches, in breadth. The west gable is perfect, and it contains a quadrangular window, but no belfry, in which particular, it differs from the other ruins of churches, in that barony. "9 There is no well in the parish, at present called after St. - Ivor ; but, Mr. O'Donovan had some reason to believe, that well which now bears the name of St. Catherine formerly bore hisname. Turaseshadbeenperformedatthisholywell,buttheyhavegra- dually grown into disuse, since the commencement of this present century. About the year 1680, there was a chapel dedicated to St. Ibarius, or Ivorius, in the pretty Island of Begg-Erin, opposite to Wexford. It was much fre- quented by pious pilgrims ; while infirm persons derived much consolation from their visits, and it is said many miracles were there wrought. "" About this time, too, a wooden image of St. Iberian, the patron saint, was preserved in this church. To it, Colonel Solomon Richards scoffingly alludes, in a
on the east by the parishes of Kilraan
by Kilscoran parish Lady's
"^ The present St. Iberius' church is now converted into the Protestnnt parochial church, "a plain edifice, with rusticated
"? This is in the barony of Forth, and noted
;
man, June 27th, 1840, for the Irish Ord- feet, 8 inches, in width. The south wall is nance Survey. It is reproduced by him on all destroyed, except a small portion near
the wood, in the current illustration, and it was engraved by Mrs. Millard.
"' A beaiitiiul ink sketch of this has been
the west gable, containing a pointed door- way. This is 5 feet, 7 inches, in height ; and, 3feet,2inches,inbreadth. Thenorthwall and all the choir are destroyed. By com-
preserved by William F. Wakeman. _
III t^ge Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary paring this with oiher cliurches, John
of Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 347-
"" Some observaiious by Mr. O Donovan
will be found, in reference to this parish, in " Letters containing Information rehtive to the Antiquities ol the County ofWexford,
collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 184O," vol. i. , pp. 299 to 301.
"3 The name of this parish is derived from
the celebrated St. Ibhar or Ivar.
'•i In the barony of Forth. It is marked
on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County ofWexford," sheet 48.
"5 See ibid. , sheets 48, 53.
"' See ibid. , sheets 47, 48, 52. S3-
O'Donovan would pronounce it five centu- ries old. See "Letters containing Informa- tion relative to the Antiquities of the County ofWexford, collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. i. , pp. 302, 303, These notices are signed J. O'D. , and they are dated, June 8th, 1S4O. A pencil sketch of . St. Ivor's church is found, among the artist's drawings, for the County Wex- ford.
'TM
See "Journal of the Kilkenny and South-east of 1 reland Archasological Society," New Series, vol. iv. , part i. , pp. 6l, 68. n. (7). ibid.
on the
"
Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Wexford," sheets 48, and surmounted by a small cupola. " 53. St. Iberius, in Wexford town, is on
quoins,
—"Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, "vol.
iii. , p. 541.
'o* In the authorities before John O'Dono-
van, the name of this parish is written St. Iberius; but, it is always pronounced St.
Ivor's, by the people, and he thought, that form ol the name should be better than a false
latinized one.
°! > This was drawn by William F. Wake-
sheet 37.
"* We find a very interesting, but faint
pencil drawing, of this ruin, by William F. Wakeman, in the Oblong Book of Sketches for the County of Wexford, p. 46.
"9Themiddlegableis alsointolerable perservation, and it contains a round choir arch. This is 7 feet, 10 inches, in height, from the present level of the ground, and 6
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 465
curious paper, written at this period. "' From all that can now be known, the present saint—however illustrious in his day—has fallen into the obscuri- ties of our national history.
Article III. —St. Suairleach, Abbot of Magheralin, County of Down. According to one account, this holy man is said to have belonged to the northern province, and to the parish of Magheralin. This lies, partly in the barony of Oneilland East, county of Armagh, but chiefly in that of Lower Iveagh, county of Down. However, the entry in the Martyrology ofTallagh,' at the 23rd of April, for tlie saint of tliis day, is Soardlech ind Edhnen. ' There he seems to be associated in localit)', with the holy man, of whom a notice succeeds. One townland in the parisli of Magheralin is yet called Linn Huachuille, where the old monastery stood. It was so called, from St. Colman, or Mocholmoc, the founder, who died in 699. 3 On this day, the Martyrology of Donegal,* registers a festival in honour of Suairleach, Abbot of Linn Duachaille. According to some accounts,' this holy abbot died, a. d. 770;* while A. D. 774 is set down for that" event, in the Annals of Ulster. '
Subsequently to this date, that place was frequently ravaged by the Danish invaders, as recorded in our chronicles.
Article IV. —St. Maccoige of Indedhinen, probably Indenen, County of Meath. In the Franciscan copy of the Martyrology ofTallagh, atthe23rdofApril,thereisanoticeofMaccoge;' and,asifhewereasso- ciated in locality with the previous saint, at Insi Dednean. At an early period, an abbey was founded here ; but its precise location seems to have puzzled the inquiries of one, among our best local investigators. ^ Maccoige of Indedhinen, 3 is mentioned in the Martyrology of Donegal,* as having been venerated on this day. This place is in all probability identical with Inde-
s situated in the
and not far from
in the
bishops occur, in connection with Indednen ; yet, Maccoige does not appear in our Annals, so that, when the present saint flourished is uncertain.
»" It has been edited and published, by Herbert F. Hore. See Md. , p. 90.
Article ui. — Edited by Rev. Dr.
Kelly, p. xxii.
' In the Franciscan copy, the reading is
Sod1l^lech In'p! T)et)neti. "
notices of this place, vol. i. , chap, xxiv. , pp. 138 to 140.
'Anote,byDr. Reeves, at Indedhinen, states, " This is ihe same name as that which occurs two lines after. Both are written inwe i<>nen in the gloss on Marianus, which also
of
nen,
of Meath* In the year 849, Suairleach of Indednen, with theclergy of Meath, attended a royal meeting, at Armagh. ? Although other notices of abbots and
territory
Bregia,
Slane,
county
3 See Lewis' Topographical Dictionary places int3e<>nen over the name Suair-
of Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 334.
* Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
108, 109.
5 See Rev. William Reeve>' " Ecclesiasti-
cal Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro-
more," n. (I), p. no, and Appendix LL,
p. 377. '"
leach. "
* Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves. See
Appendix to the Introduction, p. xlvii, and p. 109.
'This denomination does not appear in the "General Alphabetical Index to the Town- lands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland. "
' See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
See Dr. O'Donovan's Annals of the
Four vol. Masters,"
i. , pp. 374, 375.
'
. See ibid. , n. — (t).
cum,"
'See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals
Article iv.
' It
p. 540,
Four Masters," —vol. i. , pp. 482, 483.
reads m4cc65e. '"
of the
Rev. Dr. GI
See Rev. A. Cogan's Diocese of Mealh,AncientandModem,"forinteresting
Article v. Edited by
466 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 24.
Article V.