Even have we an account of the soul of a certain Trajan, brought
immediately
Sheachlann.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
Patrick's Cell, and behind this, his bed or Labba is shown.
Scattered about on the top are various roughly-built places, serving as a shelter to pilgrims, passing the night up there.
Only the young and vigorous tourist
will be able to accomplish the toilsome journey, on foot, to this spot ; and, yet, have we seen very old persons there engaged, at their devotional exercises. The ascent to Crough Patrick is now best made from the neighbourhood of
Murrisk Abbey and Crogh Patrick in the Distance, County of Mayo.
Murrisk Abbey,^7 about five miles from Westport, and lying at the base, close
by the surges of the Atlantic. For a time, the tourist follows no beaten way,
heading straight up the mountain's side, with the peak on his right, rather
than in front, and holding this course until he reaches about 1,000 feet, above
the starting-point. He next enters upon the pilgrims' path, which ascends to the shoulder of the hill, a point, perhaps, 1,500 feet above the base. This
path so winds, that faces, which at starting looked landward, are turned
when the is ^^ The top gained.
broad, and has been regularly made, the hillside having been scarped, so as to pro- duce an inclined way, well defined, and about nine feet wide. At the foot of this widened path, we came upon the first station f^ it consists of a cir- cular track, or walk-about hill. Trench-like behind, that portion of space, which is enclosed by the path, is heaped into a kind of mound, topped once by a stone cross, but now surmounted only by piled stones. 9° A long stretch,
oppositely,
^ Roughly speaking, this path is about 200 yards in circumference ; around this the pilgrims go. Fifteen circuits is the appointed number ; but, this is commuted to one, should the pilgrim choose to go upon his knees, instead of his feet.
^^ This was a friary of Augustinian Ere- mites, founded by the O'Malleys. See
"
path
Monasticon Hibemicum," pp.
^ The accompanying illustration has lonely, as in that place she should have the
Archdall's
506, 507-
after a while becomes
been drawn and engraved, by Gregor Grey, from a photograph, taken on the spot, by Frederick H. Mares.
^9 Some little distance, from the first station, is the spot, where a poor woman is buried. She had died, when in the act of " making the stations. " The time she had selected to do so was out of the usual season, and she departed this life, in the midst of snow. She had been buried in a spot so
6o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
rising as if from an alpine pedestal,9i ^^-^ Qf pathway,92 now of gully, choked with stones, takes us after a toilsome climb of two hours to the top. We
reach it on its south-eastern side. It consists of a small plateau, containing about half an acre, and having a lone, wild look ; this is covered with rude- built walls, the ruins of a little church, and pathways deeply sunk below the surface. The extreme point, on which the Oratory is situated, becomes clearly visible now, and when the steep is gained, a sublime spectacle bursts on the view,ifthedayhappentobefine. Thesightistoogreat,toobroad,toovaried, too glorious, to be taken in, at a single glance. We are over two thousand five hundred feet, above the level of the sea. 93 Beyond the awful depths below, and all away to the north and west, lies the still more awful Atlantic. s^ The summit of this lonely mountain was indeed admirably suited for com- muning with the great Being, who had lavished with unsparing hand, the most sublime and varied charms of natural prospects, on a vast range of the most romantic scenery in our island. 95 Gathering mists, save at intervals, shroudedourview,when,atonetime,onthemountaintop. Thescenesbe- neath our feet, and far away as our eyes could reach, were gloriously sublime. Clew Bay is a water-extended and irregular parallelogram of vast range : its upper or eastern end is so thickly studded with islands, that it has been said, one is there for every day in the year. Many of these are cultivated, some are clad with trees, a few are rocky. The seaward faces of all are abruptly steep, and plainly show how hard has been the struggle, between them, and the long inland sweep of the Atlantic waves. At times, the light falls upon the water, so as to make it seem of silvery whiteness, and then the contrast between it and the green-clad islands it surrounds is beautiful beyond all des- cription. Along their western faces, the crests of the white horses of ocean areevertopplingover,inabrokenlineofsnow-whitefoam; and,theislands seem placed by nature, to break the rush of water, like skirmishers in battle flung out along the front, to check a coming onset. Looking, then, as far as we can see, in the direction of the western Atlantic Ocean, the first object to catch the eye is Clare Island. 9^ It is a huge mountain, 1,520 feet in height,
sympathies and prayers of the pilgrims, when passing by her grave.
9° Round this mound, and on the path
the
encompassing it, go pilgrims, if walking, seven times ; if on their knees, but once, and in both cases re-
citing a given form of prayer. Those who choose to make the circuit on their knees, not unfrequently leave the track of blood behind, this way being rough and stony. Close at hand, there is a rude stone shelter, where the blind or otherwise infirm find a scant protection from the weather, during thenight.
"
Calm or convulsed—in breeze, or gale, or storm
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime
— and Darlc-heaving, boundless, endless,
mentioned as
»' See
land," vol. i. , p. 543.
p. 312.
"See "The
Grace O'Malley, a heroine the
— at whose court she w. is Queen Elizabeth,
Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire-
" Ireland," by Lageniensis, pp. 89, 90.
9' This is called the Kessau—n Cruagh, or "the footway of the Reek. " Rev. Caesar Otway's "Tour in Connaught," chap, xiii. ,
Gazetteer of
9* Here, indeed, it may be seen a
"
glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form
9^ The remains one of
Grana Uaile, the—celebrated sea-adventurer
Parliamentary Ireland," vol. i. , p. 543.
presented, are still to be seen, upon
Glasses itself in
tempests ;
in all
time»
this island. The towers, now ruined, and the romantic interview, to which allusion is here made, are most graphically described, in that charming poetic miscellany, intituled, " The Monks of Kilcrea, and other Poems,"
sublime
TheimageofEternity thethrone Of the Invisible. "
—"
Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrim*
age," Canto iv. , stanza clxxxiii.
^5 The writer had an opportunity for wit-
nessing the magnificent panorama from the top of Crough Patrick, during the month of August,i860. Thereaderisreferred,foran
imperfect description of the impression pro-
duced, to a little work,
Legend Lays of
—
among
the castles of
in time of
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 605
and covering about 4,000 acres. It rises, so as to part the waters at the mouth of Clew Bay, into a north and south entrance, and to block, in the middle, a full third of the whole width. In the dim distance beyond, we now faintly see Achill Head ; its beetling cliffs, from a height of 900 feet, look vertically down upon the waves of the Atlantic, breaking upon their base. Nearer, by some fourteen miles, is Achill Beg or Little Achill. Then a dark, wall-like flank of mountain, near 2,000 feet high, comes next, gloomily overhanging the northern water of the bay. Between this and the next mountain group, called Nephin Beg, which also frowns above the northern margin of the bay, there is a narrow gap, through which we gain a glimpse of Blacksod Bay. The sheen of its waters, we see in patches, dark masses of
long and narrow promontory so break upon it.
The effect of this vista is
magnificent in the extreme. Between that group, called Nephin Beg, many of whose peaks rise over 2,000 feet, and the Croagh Moyle mountains, we
see huge Nephin, towering 2,646 feet over Lough Conn, the lap of whose waters falls along its eastern base. The lake itself is hidden from us, by the hills and mountains, which lie between. South of the Croagh Moyle moun-_ tains lies Castlebar, and the lakes about it : these latter we plainly see. Some miles further south, and just peeping round the north base of Slieve Bohaan, the upper end of Lough Carra comes in view. It lies at the head of that long stretch of inland water, composed of Loughs Corrib and Mask. This chain of lakes is full fifty miles in length. Immediately south of us lie Ben Bury, Ben Creghan, and Ben Gorm, all rising between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above the sea. Beyond their crests, the peaks of the Twelve Pins appear. At the base, or nearly so, of one among these, and hollowed in its sides, there is a dark, deep lake, gloomily shadowed by the mountain, within whose worn and channelled sides, it lies embosomed. Westward, out in the Atlantic, extend Inisdalla, Inisturk, and Caher Islands. These reached, we are back to the point, whence we started, to make a circuit of that vast ampitheatre of moun- tain, lake, plain, and ocean. 97 The legends of St. Patrick's Acts relate, that after his exorcisms, pronounced on Crough Patrick, no demon came to Erinn for seven years, and seven months, and seven days, and seven nights. ^^ The angel subsequently went to protect Patrick, and to advise, that his bell should be sounded. Then, like to a second Moyses,99 Patrick descended from the mountain, when he had sounded his cymbal. Its jubilant tones were heard over all the kingdom. Elevating his hands, he blessed all Ireland, with its inhabitants, and, he commended them to Christ.
Patrick proceeded, afterwards, until he came to Achadh-fobhair, where he celebrated the ordo or solemnity of Easter. ^°° At this place, his charioteer died, and he was buried between Cruachan and the sea. Patrick went, after-
**
na uile, at p. 246, which thus commences stair,
by
*, and under the heading, Gra—n :
Unto a lonely chamber ! bold and brave
" There s—tands a tower by the Atlantic side
from the wave I
See a beautiful description of these
A
Perch'd on a cliff beneath it, yawneth 354, 355. September 2, 1871.
old waves beat
storms and sea-
a North
in 233, pp.
grey
tower, by —
"
'' '°°
Australian,
wide —
A lofty hall
For pirates' galleys ; altho' now you'll
tliat cave,
of yore, a fit retreat
meet
Nought but the seal and wild-gull ;
Life relates, that there were, moreover. ""
keepers of Patrick's people in Erin then living. There is a man from him in Crua- A hundred steps sheer upwards lead chan-Aigle. The sound of his bell was your feet heard, but itself was not to be found. Also,
from
Is he who climbs that all
slippery
57
scenes, given by
No.
^'^ According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
Catholic
"
vol.
See Exodus, xxxii. 15.
After this passage, the Irish Tripartite
Opinion,"
ix. ,
6o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
wards, into the country of the Corca-Themne,'°' and he founded three or four
churches, in this region. Among these, are the churches of Taghkeen^°^ and Kilcommon,'°3 as well as Robeen. '°* AH of these lie near the River Robe. '°5
He baptized many thousand persons there, and he founded his churches, in
the three Tuagha,"^ otherwise called Teora Tuagha. '°7 This was another
name, for the three districts, called Partraighe—now Partry'°s—j^ Mayo. Patrick went then to Tobar'°9-Finnmaighe,"° which seems to have been the
ancient Pagan name for Ballintober, in the barony of Ceara—or Carragh—
of It was told to St. — that the
county Mayo. Patrick, Pagans
honoured this
well,—called slan, or "health-giving," as a God. Besides, the foolish people believed, that a certain dead Magus, or prophet, made it. "' His bones were supposed to lie buried beneath it, and, our saint, miraculously re- moving the covering stone, baptized many there. Among the rest was St. Cannech,'" who was blessed by our holy Apostle, and who from being a monkbecameabishop. HefoundedKealltag,"3orCill-Tog,"*achurch,"5 in the territory of Corco-Themne. When Patrick travelled in the plains of
there is a man from him in Gulban-Guirt, '°3 This is now the head of a parish, in the also known as Beann-Gulban, or Binn-Gul- barony of Kilmaine, shown on Sheets i lo, ban, and now called Benbulbin. This is a III, 118, 119, 122, ibid. The townland remarkable mountain range, in the parish of
Drumcliff, barony of Carbury, and county of Sligo. The third man from him was to the
east of Cluain-Iraird, now Clonard, in the county of Meath. He was believed to have been living, together with his wife. Both were said to have entertained St. Patrick, in the reign of Laeghaire Mac Neill, and it was thought they were, and should continue for ever, of the same age. There was a man from him in Dromanna-Bregh. There is a townland of Drumman, in the parish of Duleek, county of Meath, and within the ancient Bregia ; but, the place, here re- ferred to, was in the north of the county of Meath, and adjoining the county of Cavan. Again, there was another man from him, in Sliabh-Slainge, now Slieve Donard, the highest mountain, in the county of I)o\vn, and on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
This latter man was Domangart, the son of
Eochaidh. It was popularly believed, that he should raise Patrick's relics a little before the judgment. His cell was called Rath- Murbhuiig, at present identified with Maghera, county of Down. It was so called, from the adjoining townlands of Murlough, on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
'°'
Colgan writes, that it was a region in Connaught ; but, he gives no clue, regard- ing its position. It was probably the present parish of Robeen, with some adjoining dis- tricts, in the baronies of Clanmorris and of Kilmaine, county of Mayo, and which formed part of the ancient Ceara.
"^ This is now the head of Tagheen parish, in the barony of Clanmorris. Its extent is defined on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Mayo," Sheets ICO, loi, no, iii. The townlands of Tagheen East and West are shown, on the latter Sheet.
proper is shown, on Sheets in, 119.
^°* This is the head of a parish, in the barony of Kilmaine. Its extent is given, on Sheets 100, no, in, 118, ilnd. , and the
townland proper, on Sheet no.
'°5 See the Fourth Life, chap. Ixi. , p. 43.
'°*
According to the Irish Tripartite. '07 According to the Latin Tripartite.
'°*
Also written Partree. It is a village,
in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra. Fromit, aCatholicparish,inthedioceseof Tuam, takes its name, and there are chapels here, and at Ballybannin. See "The Parliamentary Gazetteer for Ireland," vol. iii. , p. 69.
plain. " This well was four-cornered, and there was a four-cornered stone, over its mouth.
"° The Rev. Dr. Lanigan writes, that
Finmagh was in Mayo. See " Ecclesiasti-
cal History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, v. , sect, v. , n. 43, p. 227. But, for this state-
ment, he assigns no authority.
"
'°9 It means the well of the white
"'
In the Irish Tripartite Life, the follow-
ing Latin extract is added :
"
bibliothecam
sibi in aqua sub petra ut dealbaret ossa sua
semper, quia timuit ignem et zelavit Pat. de
Deo vivo, dicens non vere dictis quia rex
aquarum fons erat hoc necnon cum eis
habuit rex aquarum, et dixit Patricius petram
elevari, et non potuerunt, elevavit autem eam
petram ; Cainnech, quem baptizavit Patri-
cius, et dixit erit semen tuum benedictum
in secula.
"
'" He is thought, by Colgan, to have been the saint, called Coinnech, or Cainneach, venerated at the 23rd of January ; or, perhaps, the St. Cainneach, wliose feast occurs, at the 31st of the same month. But, the latter is called only a priest, and tlie son of Ua Chil.
"3 According to the Latin Tripartite.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 607
Mac-Erca,"S—so called from the tribe of Kinel-Mac-Erca,"7 who descended from Ere the Red,"^ and while passing through the fields, called after Dichuil and Erchuil,"9 he saw a large sepulchre/^" which is stated to have been 30 feet, in length,"' or, according to some exaggerated accounts, it was even 120 feet long. '^=^ The brothers desired, that the dead man might be brought to life, and Patrick thereupon awoke him, who rested in the sepulchre. "3 The holy man then questioned the resuscitated, regarding his name, and
"* According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
The denomination, under either form, now
seems obsolete ; yet, there is a townland
Kiltogorra, in the parish of Cong, and est redemptio, and to that sentence of our
"
ite in ignem aeternum. " nance Survey Townland Maps for the In St. Augustine's work, " De Civitate County of Mayo," Sheet 121. Dei," lib. xxi. , cap. xxiv. , it is said to "S It was in Ceara, now Carra, in Mayo, savour of presumption, if it lie denied, that according to a note, (7), found in Miss those do not remain in perpetual fire, to
barony of Kilmaine, shown on the "Ord- Divine Saviour,
Cusack's "Life of St. Patrick," p. 419.
whom Divine Truth applies the words, " ite
in ignem teternum. " Also, Pope St. Gregory the Great states, that we can no more pray for deceased infidels, than we can for the devil, since they are condemned to the same eternal and irrevocable damnation. Yet, on the
other there are not hand,
"*
According to the Irish Tripatrite.
This district is called Mag-Mac-Erca, in the
Latin Tripartite.
"? These were represented, by Hua-Han- lighe, or O'HanHghe, and by Hua-Branam,
" Trias
or Mac Brennan. See
and weighty testimonies, which record, not alone men dying in their sins to have been resus- citatedandbroughttolife,but,eventohave been saved, afterwards, through baptism and penance.
Even have we an account of the soul of a certain Trajan, brought immediately Sheachlann. Kinel-Dofa was on the west of from the pains of hell, and translated to glory, through the merits and intercession of St. Gregory the Great, as related by St. John Damascene, in his Prayer for the Faith- ful Departed, and Petrus Diaconus, the n. (e), pp. 169 to 171. This description Monk, who was nearly coeval with the former, in his Life of St. Gregory. Joannes Diaconus and another ancient author of "Vita S. Gregorii," prefixed to the works of "* He was the grandson of Eochy Muidh- this great saint, and printed at Basle, in mhedhoin, who reigned as Monarch of 1 564, have a like nanative. Alphonsus Cia-
Colgan's Thaumaturga," n. 74, p. 176. The latter werechiefsofCorca-Achlan—. TheO'Hanlys werechiefsofKinel-Dofa,—DofaorDobli-
wanting, many
tha being their progenitor and they were separated by SHeve-Baune, from the Mac Brannans' country, otherwise called Corca-
the Shannon, in the County Roscommon, and to the north of Lough Ree. For further
"
the Four Masters," vol. iii. , at A. D. 1210,
particulars see Dr. O'Donovan's
Annals of
exactly answers the topography of St. Patrick's travels, as given in the Latin Tri-
partite. See lib. ii. , chap, xxvii. , p. 134.
Ireland, from A. D. 358 to 365, according to the "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 124, 125. Dr. O'Donovan's edition.
"' The history of these persons is not further known.
'-°
It seems very probable, indeed, that this funeral monument exceeded consider- ably the dimensions of the man, whom it covered.
"' So it is stated, by the author of the Third Life, cap. Ixvii. , p. 26. Also, in the Fifth Life, lib. ii,, cap. xxi. , pp. 58, 59. Colgan seems to have his suspicions, that the whole of this narrative is fabulous, although affirmed, by so many writers.
conius contends, that the anonymous author
had been a contemporary of St. Gregory. Again, the Blessed Brigit, in her Fourth Book of Revelations, cap. 13, and others, have a similar account. St. Thomas, refer- ring to it, says, that Trajan had been recalled to this life, before he obtained salvation.
'^'
Thus state the authors of the Fourth
quod de facto Traiani, hoc modo potest pro-
babiliter asstimari, quod precibus B. Gregorii
ad vitam fuerit revocatus, et ibi gratiam con-
secutus sit, per quam remissionem peccato-
rum habuit, et per consequens immunitatem
a paena sicut apparet in omnibus illis, qui
fuerant miraculose a mortuis suscitati : quo-
nim plures constat idololatros damnatos
fiiisse. De omnibus enim similiter dici opor-
tet, quod non erant in inferno finaliterdepu-
tati, sed secundum prsesentem justitiam
propriorum meritorum : secundum auteni
superiores causas, quibus prasvidebantur ad
Life, cap. Ixii. , p. 43, and of the Seventh
Life, lib. ii. , cap. Ixxi. , p. 139. Jocelyn
says, that the tomb was " mirse longitu-
dinis"simply. SeeSixthLife,cap. Ixxxi. ,
p. 83.
'^3
who
in a
learned
vitam — erat de eis aliter
Colgan,
theological disquisition, on this narrative, dum," &c. Sententiarum," lib. iv. , states, that to have a pagan thus rescued Dist. xlv. , Qusest. 2, Art. 2. However,
indulges
very
from punishment, resuscitated, and baptized, at first view seems opposed to the declara-
tion of Sacred Scripture, "
"
ab inferno nulla
Thus, he writes
:
' ' Ad quartum dicendum,
revocandi, disponen- "
6o8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[March 17.
how he happened to be there interred. The giant"'^ replied, that he was Cass, the son of Glassi, and that he had been a swineherd to Lugair Iruatae. "5 He declared, that Mac Qonvi? , Jiann had killed him, in the reign of Cairpre
Baronius, in his " Annales Ecclesiastici," at A. D. 604, and Bellarmin, in " De Purga- torio," lib. i. , cap. 8, refute the narrative about Trajan. Still, there are many other recorded examples of men dying in the state of mortal sin, and who were in consequence
condemned to punishment, yet are they said to have been at length brought to life and saved. Thus, St. John Damascene relates, the case of a pagan woman, Falconilla, who
se filium Chais Glarcum nomine, porcarium
quondam Leogarii Regis Hyrotae fuisse, et jam expletis centum aimis, a quodam viro, cui nomen Fytman mac-con sibi insidiante in regno Coirbre jugulatum extitisse. " See
cap. Ixxxi,, pp. S3, 84. Now, the Latin Tripartite Life states, "respondit se Glas- sium esse, Cassii filium, porcariumque quon- dam extitisse Lugarii Regis Norwegiae ; quern satellites Macconii centum ab hinc annis Carbreo Niaffear regnante trucida- runt. " See lib. ii. , cap. Ixxi. , p. 139. Hence, it appears, that several mistakes must have been committed by scribes, in setting down the foregoing particulars, and more
had been brought to life, through the merits "
and prayers of St. Tecla. See Oratio pro
mortuis. " St. Gregory speaks of a very wicked man, who had been drawn by the devils into hell, and yet was he saved by St.
"
Severus. See Dialogorum," lib. i. , cap. especially, in the rendering of names. Col-
12. St. Peter is said to have resurrected a certain heathen, who was related to Caesar.
See Egesyppus, lib. iii. , cap. 2. St. Agnes is related, to have restored to life the prefect's
gan endeavours to solve the difficulties, in
reconciling the diversities of statement, by
observing, that in reference to the Irish word
Fiati, sometimes it is an appellative, mean-
" a
it is sometimes a proper name for a man, but then it is found more generally ^vritten Finn. There are two celebrated Irish heroes, known in history : one, as Mac-con, who in- vaded Ireland, about a. d. 195 or 196, having killed Art, King of Ireland, and son to Conn of the Hundred Battles, —the con- queror was otherwise called Lughaidh ; while, the other wa—s kno^vn, as Cairbre, sumamedNiethfear brothertoAlild,King o—f Connaught, and to Finn, King of Leinster,
and the latter invaded the kingdom of
Meath, or Termoria, som^ years before the birth of Christ, according to our annalists. But, their chronology tallies not with their being contemporaries, nor with the narra- tive, referring only to one hundred years, be- fore St. Patrick's time. Besides, Cairbre, sumamed Neithfear, was neither King of Connaught, where the giant's grave had been discovered, nor was he the King of Ire- land. There was a Cairbre, sumamed Liffechuir, King of Ireland, at a later period, and, who reigned, from A. D. 268 to A. D. 284 ; however, his time will not even aptly syncho- rise. In fine, Colgan suggests, that if for Mothefer, the error of a scribe, we substitute Morethach, a better solution may be ob- tained; since,aMorethach,orMoredliach, sumamed Tireach, King of Ireland, reigned from A. D. 327 to 356. Wherefore, if during any intermediate year of his reign, we sup- pose Fian or Finnan Mac Con to have lived, the period could well be regarded, as about one hundred years, previous to the time of St. Patrick. See nn. 67, 68, pp. 33, 34. Also, Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 108, ill, 118 to
whom the devil had to death, when
put ing,
band" or '* while troup ;"
son,
he desired to offer violence to that holy virgin. See St. Maximus Serm. 2, and St. Ambrosius, Serm. 90. Lethaldus, in his Life of St. Julianus, Bishop of Cenoma, re- lates, that on three different occasions did the holy prelate bring three pagans to life. Colgan concludes, by observing, that in such particular cases, their punishment had been suspended, in consequence of a fore- knowledge, that the saints would intercede for them ; but, such a pardon could not be obtained for souls, absolutely and irrevocably condemned to eternal punishment. Kor can any Catholic pray for deceased infidels, or for those dying in mortal sin, as St. Gregory teaches ; unless, indeed, from Divine Reve- lation, or other special instinct from the —Holy Ghost, a Christian be moved thereto
such only is piously deemed to be the pri"vilege of great saints.
Colgan cites many examples of giants, recorded to be of extraordinary stature, as mentioned in the Old Testament, in Deut.
ii. 13, iii. , Josue xiv. , xv. , I. Kings, xvii. , II. Kings, xxi. , I. Paralip. xx. , and, like- wise, by various ancient writers.
"^ So is it stated, in the Irish Tripartite Life. In the Third Life, this account runs :
'*
military
Ego sum Glas, filius Cais, qui fui porca-
rius Lugair Regis Hyrote et jugulavit me Fian Mac Con in regno Mothfer anno cente-
simo usque hodie. " See cap. Ixvii. , p. 26. The Fifth Life, by Probus, has a differently-
" Ego sum Macmaic
expressed statement
Cais Maicglais, quod potest dici, ego sum
maximus virorum insulanorum, fui porcarius
Ricrote Regis : et jugulavit me dormientem
Femmaic Magus in anno regni Nuotfer, qui
est annus centesimus usque hodie. " See 121, 122 to 125, and accompanying notes, lib. ii. , cap. xxi. , pp. 58, 59. Again, the as likewise, Roderick O'Flaherty's "Ogy- Sixth Life, by Jocelyn, relates, "respondit gia," pars, iii. , cap. xlviii. , pp. 282, 283.
:
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 609
Niafer,"^inthehundredthyear,andthathelaythereuntilthatday. Patrick afterwards baptized him, and he went again into his sepulchre. "^
Notwithstanding our Apostle's continuous labours and occupations, he never ceased from the exercise of prayer and contemplation. He was truly
indefatigable, in journeyings, in preaching, in administering the Sacraments, and in building churches. Whether resting or on his course, at any place, he was accustomed to recite the whole Psaltery, with Hymns and Scriptural
Canticles, as also the sublime Apocalypse of St. John the Evangelist. Three hundred genuflexions did he make each day ; one hundred times, by day, and one hundred times, by night, did he sign himself with the cross. For the sacred emblem of man's Redemption, he had a singular devotion.
wherever he saw the cross
Whether he was in a chariot or on a horse
erected, or knew it to be in his vicinity, the Blessed Patrick would go aside from his path, even although that sacred object were one thousand paces away, from the road. "^ But, his reverence for the Sunday was most remark- able, and he would not travel on that day. "? Whether he reached moun- tains, woods, or plains, in damp or dry weather, there he would remain for two nights. From first Vespers of the Lord's Day, until Tierce on Monday, Patrick would not stir from that place, where he might happen to be. One time, Patrick's charioteer wanted his horses ; but he could not find them, owingtothedarknessofthenight.
will be able to accomplish the toilsome journey, on foot, to this spot ; and, yet, have we seen very old persons there engaged, at their devotional exercises. The ascent to Crough Patrick is now best made from the neighbourhood of
Murrisk Abbey and Crogh Patrick in the Distance, County of Mayo.
Murrisk Abbey,^7 about five miles from Westport, and lying at the base, close
by the surges of the Atlantic. For a time, the tourist follows no beaten way,
heading straight up the mountain's side, with the peak on his right, rather
than in front, and holding this course until he reaches about 1,000 feet, above
the starting-point. He next enters upon the pilgrims' path, which ascends to the shoulder of the hill, a point, perhaps, 1,500 feet above the base. This
path so winds, that faces, which at starting looked landward, are turned
when the is ^^ The top gained.
broad, and has been regularly made, the hillside having been scarped, so as to pro- duce an inclined way, well defined, and about nine feet wide. At the foot of this widened path, we came upon the first station f^ it consists of a cir- cular track, or walk-about hill. Trench-like behind, that portion of space, which is enclosed by the path, is heaped into a kind of mound, topped once by a stone cross, but now surmounted only by piled stones. 9° A long stretch,
oppositely,
^ Roughly speaking, this path is about 200 yards in circumference ; around this the pilgrims go. Fifteen circuits is the appointed number ; but, this is commuted to one, should the pilgrim choose to go upon his knees, instead of his feet.
^^ This was a friary of Augustinian Ere- mites, founded by the O'Malleys. See
"
path
Monasticon Hibemicum," pp.
^ The accompanying illustration has lonely, as in that place she should have the
Archdall's
506, 507-
after a while becomes
been drawn and engraved, by Gregor Grey, from a photograph, taken on the spot, by Frederick H. Mares.
^9 Some little distance, from the first station, is the spot, where a poor woman is buried. She had died, when in the act of " making the stations. " The time she had selected to do so was out of the usual season, and she departed this life, in the midst of snow. She had been buried in a spot so
6o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
rising as if from an alpine pedestal,9i ^^-^ Qf pathway,92 now of gully, choked with stones, takes us after a toilsome climb of two hours to the top. We
reach it on its south-eastern side. It consists of a small plateau, containing about half an acre, and having a lone, wild look ; this is covered with rude- built walls, the ruins of a little church, and pathways deeply sunk below the surface. The extreme point, on which the Oratory is situated, becomes clearly visible now, and when the steep is gained, a sublime spectacle bursts on the view,ifthedayhappentobefine. Thesightistoogreat,toobroad,toovaried, too glorious, to be taken in, at a single glance. We are over two thousand five hundred feet, above the level of the sea. 93 Beyond the awful depths below, and all away to the north and west, lies the still more awful Atlantic. s^ The summit of this lonely mountain was indeed admirably suited for com- muning with the great Being, who had lavished with unsparing hand, the most sublime and varied charms of natural prospects, on a vast range of the most romantic scenery in our island. 95 Gathering mists, save at intervals, shroudedourview,when,atonetime,onthemountaintop. Thescenesbe- neath our feet, and far away as our eyes could reach, were gloriously sublime. Clew Bay is a water-extended and irregular parallelogram of vast range : its upper or eastern end is so thickly studded with islands, that it has been said, one is there for every day in the year. Many of these are cultivated, some are clad with trees, a few are rocky. The seaward faces of all are abruptly steep, and plainly show how hard has been the struggle, between them, and the long inland sweep of the Atlantic waves. At times, the light falls upon the water, so as to make it seem of silvery whiteness, and then the contrast between it and the green-clad islands it surrounds is beautiful beyond all des- cription. Along their western faces, the crests of the white horses of ocean areevertopplingover,inabrokenlineofsnow-whitefoam; and,theislands seem placed by nature, to break the rush of water, like skirmishers in battle flung out along the front, to check a coming onset. Looking, then, as far as we can see, in the direction of the western Atlantic Ocean, the first object to catch the eye is Clare Island. 9^ It is a huge mountain, 1,520 feet in height,
sympathies and prayers of the pilgrims, when passing by her grave.
9° Round this mound, and on the path
the
encompassing it, go pilgrims, if walking, seven times ; if on their knees, but once, and in both cases re-
citing a given form of prayer. Those who choose to make the circuit on their knees, not unfrequently leave the track of blood behind, this way being rough and stony. Close at hand, there is a rude stone shelter, where the blind or otherwise infirm find a scant protection from the weather, during thenight.
"
Calm or convulsed—in breeze, or gale, or storm
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime
— and Darlc-heaving, boundless, endless,
mentioned as
»' See
land," vol. i. , p. 543.
p. 312.
"See "The
Grace O'Malley, a heroine the
— at whose court she w. is Queen Elizabeth,
Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire-
" Ireland," by Lageniensis, pp. 89, 90.
9' This is called the Kessau—n Cruagh, or "the footway of the Reek. " Rev. Caesar Otway's "Tour in Connaught," chap, xiii. ,
Gazetteer of
9* Here, indeed, it may be seen a
"
glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form
9^ The remains one of
Grana Uaile, the—celebrated sea-adventurer
Parliamentary Ireland," vol. i. , p. 543.
presented, are still to be seen, upon
Glasses itself in
tempests ;
in all
time»
this island. The towers, now ruined, and the romantic interview, to which allusion is here made, are most graphically described, in that charming poetic miscellany, intituled, " The Monks of Kilcrea, and other Poems,"
sublime
TheimageofEternity thethrone Of the Invisible. "
—"
Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrim*
age," Canto iv. , stanza clxxxiii.
^5 The writer had an opportunity for wit-
nessing the magnificent panorama from the top of Crough Patrick, during the month of August,i860. Thereaderisreferred,foran
imperfect description of the impression pro-
duced, to a little work,
Legend Lays of
—
among
the castles of
in time of
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 605
and covering about 4,000 acres. It rises, so as to part the waters at the mouth of Clew Bay, into a north and south entrance, and to block, in the middle, a full third of the whole width. In the dim distance beyond, we now faintly see Achill Head ; its beetling cliffs, from a height of 900 feet, look vertically down upon the waves of the Atlantic, breaking upon their base. Nearer, by some fourteen miles, is Achill Beg or Little Achill. Then a dark, wall-like flank of mountain, near 2,000 feet high, comes next, gloomily overhanging the northern water of the bay. Between this and the next mountain group, called Nephin Beg, which also frowns above the northern margin of the bay, there is a narrow gap, through which we gain a glimpse of Blacksod Bay. The sheen of its waters, we see in patches, dark masses of
long and narrow promontory so break upon it.
The effect of this vista is
magnificent in the extreme. Between that group, called Nephin Beg, many of whose peaks rise over 2,000 feet, and the Croagh Moyle mountains, we
see huge Nephin, towering 2,646 feet over Lough Conn, the lap of whose waters falls along its eastern base. The lake itself is hidden from us, by the hills and mountains, which lie between. South of the Croagh Moyle moun-_ tains lies Castlebar, and the lakes about it : these latter we plainly see. Some miles further south, and just peeping round the north base of Slieve Bohaan, the upper end of Lough Carra comes in view. It lies at the head of that long stretch of inland water, composed of Loughs Corrib and Mask. This chain of lakes is full fifty miles in length. Immediately south of us lie Ben Bury, Ben Creghan, and Ben Gorm, all rising between 2,000 and 3,000 feet above the sea. Beyond their crests, the peaks of the Twelve Pins appear. At the base, or nearly so, of one among these, and hollowed in its sides, there is a dark, deep lake, gloomily shadowed by the mountain, within whose worn and channelled sides, it lies embosomed. Westward, out in the Atlantic, extend Inisdalla, Inisturk, and Caher Islands. These reached, we are back to the point, whence we started, to make a circuit of that vast ampitheatre of moun- tain, lake, plain, and ocean. 97 The legends of St. Patrick's Acts relate, that after his exorcisms, pronounced on Crough Patrick, no demon came to Erinn for seven years, and seven months, and seven days, and seven nights. ^^ The angel subsequently went to protect Patrick, and to advise, that his bell should be sounded. Then, like to a second Moyses,99 Patrick descended from the mountain, when he had sounded his cymbal. Its jubilant tones were heard over all the kingdom. Elevating his hands, he blessed all Ireland, with its inhabitants, and, he commended them to Christ.
Patrick proceeded, afterwards, until he came to Achadh-fobhair, where he celebrated the ordo or solemnity of Easter. ^°° At this place, his charioteer died, and he was buried between Cruachan and the sea. Patrick went, after-
**
na uile, at p. 246, which thus commences stair,
by
*, and under the heading, Gra—n :
Unto a lonely chamber ! bold and brave
" There s—tands a tower by the Atlantic side
from the wave I
See a beautiful description of these
A
Perch'd on a cliff beneath it, yawneth 354, 355. September 2, 1871.
old waves beat
storms and sea-
a North
in 233, pp.
grey
tower, by —
"
'' '°°
Australian,
wide —
A lofty hall
For pirates' galleys ; altho' now you'll
tliat cave,
of yore, a fit retreat
meet
Nought but the seal and wild-gull ;
Life relates, that there were, moreover. ""
keepers of Patrick's people in Erin then living. There is a man from him in Crua- A hundred steps sheer upwards lead chan-Aigle. The sound of his bell was your feet heard, but itself was not to be found. Also,
from
Is he who climbs that all
slippery
57
scenes, given by
No.
^'^ According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
Catholic
"
vol.
See Exodus, xxxii. 15.
After this passage, the Irish Tripartite
Opinion,"
ix. ,
6o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
wards, into the country of the Corca-Themne,'°' and he founded three or four
churches, in this region. Among these, are the churches of Taghkeen^°^ and Kilcommon,'°3 as well as Robeen. '°* AH of these lie near the River Robe. '°5
He baptized many thousand persons there, and he founded his churches, in
the three Tuagha,"^ otherwise called Teora Tuagha. '°7 This was another
name, for the three districts, called Partraighe—now Partry'°s—j^ Mayo. Patrick went then to Tobar'°9-Finnmaighe,"° which seems to have been the
ancient Pagan name for Ballintober, in the barony of Ceara—or Carragh—
of It was told to St. — that the
county Mayo. Patrick, Pagans
honoured this
well,—called slan, or "health-giving," as a God. Besides, the foolish people believed, that a certain dead Magus, or prophet, made it. "' His bones were supposed to lie buried beneath it, and, our saint, miraculously re- moving the covering stone, baptized many there. Among the rest was St. Cannech,'" who was blessed by our holy Apostle, and who from being a monkbecameabishop. HefoundedKealltag,"3orCill-Tog,"*achurch,"5 in the territory of Corco-Themne. When Patrick travelled in the plains of
there is a man from him in Gulban-Guirt, '°3 This is now the head of a parish, in the also known as Beann-Gulban, or Binn-Gul- barony of Kilmaine, shown on Sheets i lo, ban, and now called Benbulbin. This is a III, 118, 119, 122, ibid. The townland remarkable mountain range, in the parish of
Drumcliff, barony of Carbury, and county of Sligo. The third man from him was to the
east of Cluain-Iraird, now Clonard, in the county of Meath. He was believed to have been living, together with his wife. Both were said to have entertained St. Patrick, in the reign of Laeghaire Mac Neill, and it was thought they were, and should continue for ever, of the same age. There was a man from him in Dromanna-Bregh. There is a townland of Drumman, in the parish of Duleek, county of Meath, and within the ancient Bregia ; but, the place, here re- ferred to, was in the north of the county of Meath, and adjoining the county of Cavan. Again, there was another man from him, in Sliabh-Slainge, now Slieve Donard, the highest mountain, in the county of I)o\vn, and on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
This latter man was Domangart, the son of
Eochaidh. It was popularly believed, that he should raise Patrick's relics a little before the judgment. His cell was called Rath- Murbhuiig, at present identified with Maghera, county of Down. It was so called, from the adjoining townlands of Murlough, on the margin of the bay of Dundrum.
'°'
Colgan writes, that it was a region in Connaught ; but, he gives no clue, regard- ing its position. It was probably the present parish of Robeen, with some adjoining dis- tricts, in the baronies of Clanmorris and of Kilmaine, county of Mayo, and which formed part of the ancient Ceara.
"^ This is now the head of Tagheen parish, in the barony of Clanmorris. Its extent is defined on the " Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Mayo," Sheets ICO, loi, no, iii. The townlands of Tagheen East and West are shown, on the latter Sheet.
proper is shown, on Sheets in, 119.
^°* This is the head of a parish, in the barony of Kilmaine. Its extent is given, on Sheets 100, no, in, 118, ilnd. , and the
townland proper, on Sheet no.
'°5 See the Fourth Life, chap. Ixi. , p. 43.
'°*
According to the Irish Tripartite. '07 According to the Latin Tripartite.
'°*
Also written Partree. It is a village,
in the parish of Ballyovey, barony of Carra. Fromit, aCatholicparish,inthedioceseof Tuam, takes its name, and there are chapels here, and at Ballybannin. See "The Parliamentary Gazetteer for Ireland," vol. iii. , p. 69.
plain. " This well was four-cornered, and there was a four-cornered stone, over its mouth.
"° The Rev. Dr. Lanigan writes, that
Finmagh was in Mayo. See " Ecclesiasti-
cal History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, v. , sect, v. , n. 43, p. 227. But, for this state-
ment, he assigns no authority.
"
'°9 It means the well of the white
"'
In the Irish Tripartite Life, the follow-
ing Latin extract is added :
"
bibliothecam
sibi in aqua sub petra ut dealbaret ossa sua
semper, quia timuit ignem et zelavit Pat. de
Deo vivo, dicens non vere dictis quia rex
aquarum fons erat hoc necnon cum eis
habuit rex aquarum, et dixit Patricius petram
elevari, et non potuerunt, elevavit autem eam
petram ; Cainnech, quem baptizavit Patri-
cius, et dixit erit semen tuum benedictum
in secula.
"
'" He is thought, by Colgan, to have been the saint, called Coinnech, or Cainneach, venerated at the 23rd of January ; or, perhaps, the St. Cainneach, wliose feast occurs, at the 31st of the same month. But, the latter is called only a priest, and tlie son of Ua Chil.
"3 According to the Latin Tripartite.
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 607
Mac-Erca,"S—so called from the tribe of Kinel-Mac-Erca,"7 who descended from Ere the Red,"^ and while passing through the fields, called after Dichuil and Erchuil,"9 he saw a large sepulchre/^" which is stated to have been 30 feet, in length,"' or, according to some exaggerated accounts, it was even 120 feet long. '^=^ The brothers desired, that the dead man might be brought to life, and Patrick thereupon awoke him, who rested in the sepulchre. "3 The holy man then questioned the resuscitated, regarding his name, and
"* According to the Irish Tripartite Life.
The denomination, under either form, now
seems obsolete ; yet, there is a townland
Kiltogorra, in the parish of Cong, and est redemptio, and to that sentence of our
"
ite in ignem aeternum. " nance Survey Townland Maps for the In St. Augustine's work, " De Civitate County of Mayo," Sheet 121. Dei," lib. xxi. , cap. xxiv. , it is said to "S It was in Ceara, now Carra, in Mayo, savour of presumption, if it lie denied, that according to a note, (7), found in Miss those do not remain in perpetual fire, to
barony of Kilmaine, shown on the "Ord- Divine Saviour,
Cusack's "Life of St. Patrick," p. 419.
whom Divine Truth applies the words, " ite
in ignem teternum. " Also, Pope St. Gregory the Great states, that we can no more pray for deceased infidels, than we can for the devil, since they are condemned to the same eternal and irrevocable damnation. Yet, on the
other there are not hand,
"*
According to the Irish Tripatrite.
This district is called Mag-Mac-Erca, in the
Latin Tripartite.
"? These were represented, by Hua-Han- lighe, or O'HanHghe, and by Hua-Branam,
" Trias
or Mac Brennan. See
and weighty testimonies, which record, not alone men dying in their sins to have been resus- citatedandbroughttolife,but,eventohave been saved, afterwards, through baptism and penance.
Even have we an account of the soul of a certain Trajan, brought immediately Sheachlann. Kinel-Dofa was on the west of from the pains of hell, and translated to glory, through the merits and intercession of St. Gregory the Great, as related by St. John Damascene, in his Prayer for the Faith- ful Departed, and Petrus Diaconus, the n. (e), pp. 169 to 171. This description Monk, who was nearly coeval with the former, in his Life of St. Gregory. Joannes Diaconus and another ancient author of "Vita S. Gregorii," prefixed to the works of "* He was the grandson of Eochy Muidh- this great saint, and printed at Basle, in mhedhoin, who reigned as Monarch of 1 564, have a like nanative. Alphonsus Cia-
Colgan's Thaumaturga," n. 74, p. 176. The latter werechiefsofCorca-Achlan—. TheO'Hanlys werechiefsofKinel-Dofa,—DofaorDobli-
wanting, many
tha being their progenitor and they were separated by SHeve-Baune, from the Mac Brannans' country, otherwise called Corca-
the Shannon, in the County Roscommon, and to the north of Lough Ree. For further
"
the Four Masters," vol. iii. , at A. D. 1210,
particulars see Dr. O'Donovan's
Annals of
exactly answers the topography of St. Patrick's travels, as given in the Latin Tri-
partite. See lib. ii. , chap, xxvii. , p. 134.
Ireland, from A. D. 358 to 365, according to the "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 124, 125. Dr. O'Donovan's edition.
"' The history of these persons is not further known.
'-°
It seems very probable, indeed, that this funeral monument exceeded consider- ably the dimensions of the man, whom it covered.
"' So it is stated, by the author of the Third Life, cap. Ixvii. , p. 26. Also, in the Fifth Life, lib. ii,, cap. xxi. , pp. 58, 59. Colgan seems to have his suspicions, that the whole of this narrative is fabulous, although affirmed, by so many writers.
conius contends, that the anonymous author
had been a contemporary of St. Gregory. Again, the Blessed Brigit, in her Fourth Book of Revelations, cap. 13, and others, have a similar account. St. Thomas, refer- ring to it, says, that Trajan had been recalled to this life, before he obtained salvation.
'^'
Thus state the authors of the Fourth
quod de facto Traiani, hoc modo potest pro-
babiliter asstimari, quod precibus B. Gregorii
ad vitam fuerit revocatus, et ibi gratiam con-
secutus sit, per quam remissionem peccato-
rum habuit, et per consequens immunitatem
a paena sicut apparet in omnibus illis, qui
fuerant miraculose a mortuis suscitati : quo-
nim plures constat idololatros damnatos
fiiisse. De omnibus enim similiter dici opor-
tet, quod non erant in inferno finaliterdepu-
tati, sed secundum prsesentem justitiam
propriorum meritorum : secundum auteni
superiores causas, quibus prasvidebantur ad
Life, cap. Ixii. , p. 43, and of the Seventh
Life, lib. ii. , cap. Ixxi. , p. 139. Jocelyn
says, that the tomb was " mirse longitu-
dinis"simply. SeeSixthLife,cap. Ixxxi. ,
p. 83.
'^3
who
in a
learned
vitam — erat de eis aliter
Colgan,
theological disquisition, on this narrative, dum," &c. Sententiarum," lib. iv. , states, that to have a pagan thus rescued Dist. xlv. , Qusest. 2, Art. 2. However,
indulges
very
from punishment, resuscitated, and baptized, at first view seems opposed to the declara-
tion of Sacred Scripture, "
"
ab inferno nulla
Thus, he writes
:
' ' Ad quartum dicendum,
revocandi, disponen- "
6o8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[March 17.
how he happened to be there interred. The giant"'^ replied, that he was Cass, the son of Glassi, and that he had been a swineherd to Lugair Iruatae. "5 He declared, that Mac Qonvi? , Jiann had killed him, in the reign of Cairpre
Baronius, in his " Annales Ecclesiastici," at A. D. 604, and Bellarmin, in " De Purga- torio," lib. i. , cap. 8, refute the narrative about Trajan. Still, there are many other recorded examples of men dying in the state of mortal sin, and who were in consequence
condemned to punishment, yet are they said to have been at length brought to life and saved. Thus, St. John Damascene relates, the case of a pagan woman, Falconilla, who
se filium Chais Glarcum nomine, porcarium
quondam Leogarii Regis Hyrotae fuisse, et jam expletis centum aimis, a quodam viro, cui nomen Fytman mac-con sibi insidiante in regno Coirbre jugulatum extitisse. " See
cap. Ixxxi,, pp. S3, 84. Now, the Latin Tripartite Life states, "respondit se Glas- sium esse, Cassii filium, porcariumque quon- dam extitisse Lugarii Regis Norwegiae ; quern satellites Macconii centum ab hinc annis Carbreo Niaffear regnante trucida- runt. " See lib. ii. , cap. Ixxi. , p. 139. Hence, it appears, that several mistakes must have been committed by scribes, in setting down the foregoing particulars, and more
had been brought to life, through the merits "
and prayers of St. Tecla. See Oratio pro
mortuis. " St. Gregory speaks of a very wicked man, who had been drawn by the devils into hell, and yet was he saved by St.
"
Severus. See Dialogorum," lib. i. , cap. especially, in the rendering of names. Col-
12. St. Peter is said to have resurrected a certain heathen, who was related to Caesar.
See Egesyppus, lib. iii. , cap. 2. St. Agnes is related, to have restored to life the prefect's
gan endeavours to solve the difficulties, in
reconciling the diversities of statement, by
observing, that in reference to the Irish word
Fiati, sometimes it is an appellative, mean-
" a
it is sometimes a proper name for a man, but then it is found more generally ^vritten Finn. There are two celebrated Irish heroes, known in history : one, as Mac-con, who in- vaded Ireland, about a. d. 195 or 196, having killed Art, King of Ireland, and son to Conn of the Hundred Battles, —the con- queror was otherwise called Lughaidh ; while, the other wa—s kno^vn, as Cairbre, sumamedNiethfear brothertoAlild,King o—f Connaught, and to Finn, King of Leinster,
and the latter invaded the kingdom of
Meath, or Termoria, som^ years before the birth of Christ, according to our annalists. But, their chronology tallies not with their being contemporaries, nor with the narra- tive, referring only to one hundred years, be- fore St. Patrick's time. Besides, Cairbre, sumamed Neithfear, was neither King of Connaught, where the giant's grave had been discovered, nor was he the King of Ire- land. There was a Cairbre, sumamed Liffechuir, King of Ireland, at a later period, and, who reigned, from A. D. 268 to A. D. 284 ; however, his time will not even aptly syncho- rise. In fine, Colgan suggests, that if for Mothefer, the error of a scribe, we substitute Morethach, a better solution may be ob- tained; since,aMorethach,orMoredliach, sumamed Tireach, King of Ireland, reigned from A. D. 327 to 356. Wherefore, if during any intermediate year of his reign, we sup- pose Fian or Finnan Mac Con to have lived, the period could well be regarded, as about one hundred years, previous to the time of St. Patrick. See nn. 67, 68, pp. 33, 34. Also, Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 108, ill, 118 to
whom the devil had to death, when
put ing,
band" or '* while troup ;"
son,
he desired to offer violence to that holy virgin. See St. Maximus Serm. 2, and St. Ambrosius, Serm. 90. Lethaldus, in his Life of St. Julianus, Bishop of Cenoma, re- lates, that on three different occasions did the holy prelate bring three pagans to life. Colgan concludes, by observing, that in such particular cases, their punishment had been suspended, in consequence of a fore- knowledge, that the saints would intercede for them ; but, such a pardon could not be obtained for souls, absolutely and irrevocably condemned to eternal punishment. Kor can any Catholic pray for deceased infidels, or for those dying in mortal sin, as St. Gregory teaches ; unless, indeed, from Divine Reve- lation, or other special instinct from the —Holy Ghost, a Christian be moved thereto
such only is piously deemed to be the pri"vilege of great saints.
Colgan cites many examples of giants, recorded to be of extraordinary stature, as mentioned in the Old Testament, in Deut.
ii. 13, iii. , Josue xiv. , xv. , I. Kings, xvii. , II. Kings, xxi. , I. Paralip. xx. , and, like- wise, by various ancient writers.
"^ So is it stated, in the Irish Tripartite Life. In the Third Life, this account runs :
'*
military
Ego sum Glas, filius Cais, qui fui porca-
rius Lugair Regis Hyrote et jugulavit me Fian Mac Con in regno Mothfer anno cente-
simo usque hodie. " See cap. Ixvii. , p. 26. The Fifth Life, by Probus, has a differently-
" Ego sum Macmaic
expressed statement
Cais Maicglais, quod potest dici, ego sum
maximus virorum insulanorum, fui porcarius
Ricrote Regis : et jugulavit me dormientem
Femmaic Magus in anno regni Nuotfer, qui
est annus centesimus usque hodie. " See 121, 122 to 125, and accompanying notes, lib. ii. , cap. xxi. , pp. 58, 59. Again, the as likewise, Roderick O'Flaherty's "Ogy- Sixth Life, by Jocelyn, relates, "respondit gia," pars, iii. , cap. xlviii. , pp. 282, 283.
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March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 609
Niafer,"^inthehundredthyear,andthathelaythereuntilthatday. Patrick afterwards baptized him, and he went again into his sepulchre. "^
Notwithstanding our Apostle's continuous labours and occupations, he never ceased from the exercise of prayer and contemplation. He was truly
indefatigable, in journeyings, in preaching, in administering the Sacraments, and in building churches. Whether resting or on his course, at any place, he was accustomed to recite the whole Psaltery, with Hymns and Scriptural
Canticles, as also the sublime Apocalypse of St. John the Evangelist. Three hundred genuflexions did he make each day ; one hundred times, by day, and one hundred times, by night, did he sign himself with the cross. For the sacred emblem of man's Redemption, he had a singular devotion.
wherever he saw the cross
Whether he was in a chariot or on a horse
erected, or knew it to be in his vicinity, the Blessed Patrick would go aside from his path, even although that sacred object were one thousand paces away, from the road. "^ But, his reverence for the Sunday was most remark- able, and he would not travel on that day. "? Whether he reached moun- tains, woods, or plains, in damp or dry weather, there he would remain for two nights. From first Vespers of the Lord's Day, until Tierce on Monday, Patrick would not stir from that place, where he might happen to be. One time, Patrick's charioteer wanted his horses ; but he could not find them, owingtothedarknessofthenight.
