,
found in that " The Fire magnificent poem,
=3 " The bodies of St.
found in that " The Fire magnificent poem,
=3 " The bodies of St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v2
There, on account of its humidity, neither men nor oxen could tread.
Strange to say, the stone glided to that very place, where the animals stood, and without the least fracture, it was brought by oxen and men to the mill.
There it was
exactly fitted, to serve its purpose.
To render this incident more miraculous, the same mill-stone, thus won-
derfully directed by St. Brigid, refused to perform its office, when the grain of a certain neighbouring magus had been brought to the mill, by a rustic. Ignorant regarding its owner, the miller put that grain between the mill- stones ; yet, all his efforts, seconded by water-power and by the pressure of a strong current,s could not grind with the stone, already particularized. At
thinking or inspired, replied with strong faith
:
miraculis & virtutibus beatissimse Matris
Brigidae scribendi vel narrandi terminum
whom these observations would seem appli- cable, it can only be reasonably conjectured, that allusion is made to the contemporaneous abbot over a monastery of religious men, then in Kildare, and who was included among those brethren, to whom our saint's
ponimus : quia dignum aliquid poni in
chartis, quotidie novum semper de ea sola
jam invenissemus. Nonenimmodocessant,
neque cessabunt usque ad finem sceculi talia
miracula per earn a Deo, qualia audistis per life is dedicated. See Colgan's ''Trias earn in vita sua. Per hsec autem pauca qu£e
scripta sunt lecturi, et audituri, qui scitis, qualis et quanti meriti apud Deum omnipo- tentem gloriosissima Virgo fuerit, scire po- testis. "—Quarta Vita S. Brigidse, lib. ii. , cap. xii. , sec. 80. Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Februarii Die i. , p. 171.
="
in
culi principio, brevem fecimus mentionem,"
Thaumaturga. " Secunda Vita S. Brigidse. Prologus and cap. xxxii. , pp. 5^8, 523.
Cogitosus adds,
"de
quo,
hujus opus-
3 it is likely, the Red Hills, near Kildare, are here alluded to, or possibly the Hill of Allen. The old map of Kildare county, published by John Noble and James Keenan in 1752, gives a very curious outline of the Red Hills, as also of the Hill of Allen, within the Isle of Allen, and altogether sur- rounded with bog.
'• See St. Mark ix. , 22.
s Near the town of Kildare runs a consi-
name any person which is to be regretted—to
&c. As — does not Cogitosus expressly
i88 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
length, the astonished spectators discovered, how this grain belonged to a magus, and they no longer doubted, that mill-stone refused to grind this Gentile's com, because of a miraculous efficacy conferred on it, through St. Brigid's merits. When this corn of the magus had been removed, and that of the monastery had been substituted, the mill-stone began to move without any impediment, and in its usual manner. After a certain interval had elapsed, it happened, that the mill itself was burned ; and, it was deemed remarkable, that not only every object therein had been consumed, but even the mill-stone, which corresponded with that one, which had been brought thither,throughSt. Brigid'sspecialinterposition. Thislatterrelicwasfound, however, whole and uninjured, among the smoking ruins, after the fire had been extinguished. Such a circumstance being deemed miraculous, the recovered stone in question was afterwards brought to the monastery, where it was conspicuously placed, near the gate of that interior fort,"^ by which the church was surrounded. 7 Through veneration for St. Brigid, many came to visit it, and the faithful, who touched this relic, were healed of several dis-
eases, which afflicted them. ^
A curious story has been told about a falcon, which was thought to have
frequented Kildare, and to have constantly taken its station on the very top of the ecclesiastical tower,9 from St. Brigid's time to the twelfth century.
Wherefore, the people called it St. Brigid's bird, and held it in great venera- tion. In the presence of some civilians and soldiers, this bird was seen chasing from air to earth some wild birds and water-fowl, over the plain of Kildare. It had been accustomed or trained to this sport. The bird would notallowanyrivaltoremainaboutKildareChurch; yet,atacertainseason of the year, during breeding time, it was accustomed to retreat among the mountains of Glendalough. '° After the usual interval, it returned, nestling
derable stream, which yet affords an excel- similarity in structure seems to point to the lent mill-race at Tully. This probably is same degree of knowledge in the builders," the current to which allusion is made. By vol. i. , p. xviii.
a south-west course it falls into the River Barrow, to the north of Kilberry, where an interesting group of ecclesiastical and civil remains may be seen.
^" See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga.
Vita Secunda S. Brigidse, cap. xxxii. , xxxiii. , xxxiv. , and n. i6, pp. 523, 526.
» Doubtless, the existing round tower is the one alluded to.
" This romantic spot is agreeably alluded
to in the following lines :
'
This was probably a Cashel, which, ow-
ing to the ancient and modem encroach-
ments for roads and buildings surrounding
the present old church and round tower at Kildare, has long since disappeared.
7 Lately has appeared a magnificent illus- trated work, which had long occupied the time
and thoughts of a distinguished and munifi- cent Irish nobleman, whose loss to native art, science and literature has been deservedly lamented. Before death, however, he had made provision for its editorship by a lady, combining in the rarest degree faculties of artistic taste and
are exquisitely produced in photographic autotypes, lithographs, and wood-engrav-
ings, in a style leaving nothing to be desired. Miss Stokes, in her truly learned introduc- lion to "Notes on Irish Architecture," by Edwin, Third Earl of Dunraven, has pointed out the differences existing, to mark the in- dependent purposes for which the Pagan
caisel or stone-fort and the Christian caisel
or enclosure had been erected,
'*
Where, girt by many a mountain
grey,
Rolled in itself unsociably,
The Valley of the Lakes displayed Its shrines, embrowned in thickest
shade
Ofcircling mountains; that appeared, With rude stupendous height, to
antiquarian knowledge. The Pagan and Christian remains of Ireland
Lugduff
*'
while their
forth ;
guard
This hallowed region of repose, Here in dark horror — rose,
pride;
Between them, o'er its rocky bed, By wood embrowned a torrent sped ; While with contrasted brightness fell, From hills, that westward bound the
vale,
Glaneola's cascade
Broccagh his mountain mists sent
The southern sentinel
Beside Towered Derrybawn, in waving
;
—
And North,
;
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 189
in an almost tame state, within the ecclesiastical buildings. The bird re- mained always undisturbed by their pious inmates. At the time of King
John's departure from Ireland, this extraordinary bird of ages, and which had ever been regarded with pride by the Kildare people, was killed by a rustic. He struck it with his staff, whilst incautiously exposed to a fate, for which it seemed unprepared. From this incident, Giraldus Cambrensis draws the common-place moral, that in the most prosperous condition of things, danger may be at hand, and that we should not trust life, which is daily exposed to mischances, however pleasant and agreeable may be our state. "
It seems sufficiently probable, that the remains of the venerable abbess
wereatfirstinterredwithinthechurchofKildare wherehernunsforsome ;
ages, to honour her memory, kept a fire always burning. Hence, that con- vent was called the House of Fire. '^ It is supposed, that about a. d. 835, or
probably before, when Kildare begun to suffer from the hostile Danish in- cursions,'3 the relics of our saint were removed to Down^^for greater security,
and to guard them from Pagan profanation. Here, they were deposed, with those of St. Patrick and of St. Columba. We can have little doubt, they
were for a long time carefully preserved, and greatly honoured by the faithful. Yet, the Northmen frequently attacked, plundered, and burned this town.
These ravages were continued, during the tenth, eleventh, and even the twelfth century. ^5 it seems probable, the harrassed townspeople were obliged, through motives of precaution, to remove and bury in the earth those precious remainsconsignedtotheircharge. Probably,thesecretoftheirentombment
had been confided, only to a few ecclesiastics, and these might have perished, during the tumults of that time. It would appear, that a tradition, regarding where the illustrious saints had been buried, passed out of popular recollec- tion in Down,'^ after the lapse of some centuries. What is still more aston-
ishing, a knowledge, concerning where St. Patrick's, St. Brigid's, and St. Columkille's reHcs had been deposed, was even obliterated, from the minds
of the faithful, and in a city, where those holy persons were ever held in such extraordinary veneration.
About the year 1185,^7 however, the first year of King John's arrival in Ireland,'^ when Malachy 111. ^9 was bishop over Down, this holy man was accustomed to offer up his prayers to God, that a discovery of the above- mentioned saint's relics might be made by him. ^'o It so happened, one night,
But in the east, no envious height ; Shut out the golden flood of light. "
—John D'Alton's ** Dermid or Erin in the ;
Days of Bora. "—Canto v. , sec. xi. , pp. 131, 132.
in one tomb with Patrick ; and where Colum Cille was afterwards interred. See Drs. Todd's and Reeves' " Martyrology of Done- gal," pp. 36, 37.
" See Giraldi Cambrensis **
Opera,"
i. , No. 43, p. 338.
^* An account of this ancient interesting
city, supposed to be the Dunum mentioned by the geographer Ptolomy, is found in
tomus V. Edited by James F. Dimock,
M. A. Topographia Hibernica, dist. ii. ,
cap. xxxvii. , pp. 122, 123.
" See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of
the Saints," vol. ii. February 1st, p. 22. ^3 "Cependant versle miUeu duneuvieme
"
of the County Down. "
siecle un
peuple
sorti des forets de la Scandi-
'^ See I'Abbe " His- Mac-Geoghegan's
toire de I'lrlande Ancienne et Modeme," for an account of his visit, tome iL, partie
navie, les Danois, aborderent en Irlande ;
ils en occuperent une partie sans beaucoup
; laluttecontreeuxdevient de —
i. , 33, chap, pp. 34.
peine cepen- dant vive et obstinee. " Gustave de Beau-
iii. , ''
of
"
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops Down," p. 196.
L'Irlande, Sociale, Politique et Re« ^4 She was buried at Dun, or Downpatrick,
mont's
ligieuse," tome i. Introduction Historique, chap, i. , sec. ii. , p. 8.
=°
Ussher's " De Britannicarum Ecclesiaram Primordiis," cap. xvii. , pp. 889 to 892.
^5 " vol. See The Irish Penny Magazine,"
Walter Harris'
Ancient and Present State
^7 See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's
the Saints," vol. ii. , Febraary 1st, p. 22.
See an account of this discbvery, in
**
Lives of
190 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
while engaged in fervent prayer and within the church of his cathedral city, Malachy saw a ray of light, like a sun-beam, extending itself through the
church.
2^
Finally, it settled over the graves of those inhumed saints. The
bishop was exceedingly rejoiced at this vision, and he prayed more earnestly, that the ray of light might remain, until he had discovered the relics. Then
rising, and having procured necessary implements, he went to the illuminated spot and dug beneath. In fine, he disinterred the bodies of the three saints. The tomb or grave of St. Patrick was fixed in a central cave or compartment, with the remains of St. Bridget and St. Columba, on either side. =' He then withdrew these precious relics, and placed them in three separate coffins. Afterwards, he buried them in that same spot, which he took care to mark with great exactness. Malachy related the particulars of his vision, to John de Courcey, the conqueror of Down. This renowned warrior, being distin- guished for his zeal in the cause of religion, concurred with the bishop, that a message should be despatched to Rome, with an humble supplication, addressedtotheSovereignChiefofthefaithful. UrbanHI. Hissanction, for a solemn translation of those relics, was requested. To this petition, Pope Urban assented, and immediately he despatched Vivian, Cardinal Priest of St. Stephen, as his Legate to Ireland. The public translation of the relics took place, on the 9th of June, 1 186, the festival of St. Columkille. With all due reverence and great solemnity, those remains were removed from
the place of their deposition to a more conspicuous position, assigned for theirreception,withinthecathedralchurch. ^3 Fifteenbishops,manyabbots,
provosts, deans, archdeacons, priors, with other clergy and the laity, assisted on this solemn occasion. ^^
Speaking of Kildare city,^5 in Leinster, which had become so renowned, owing to its connexion with our glorious abbess, Giraldus Cambrensis says,
that foremost, among many miraculous things worthy of record, was St. Brigid's inextinguishable fire. ^^ Not, that this fire itself was incapable of being extinguished, did it obtain any such name, but, because nuns and holy women had so carefully and sedulously supplied fuel to feed its flames, that from St. Brigid's time to the twelfth century, when he wrote, it remained per- petually burning through a long lapse of years. *7 What was still more re-
'S The town of Kildare and its immediate
surroundings, together with St. Brigid's well, near Tully, is shown on the "Ord- nance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Kildare," Sheet 22.
=*
matter in Rev. Sylvester Malone's "Church
See an interesting account of this whole
History of Ireland," chap, iii. , pp. 95 to
97- ""
See Giraldi Cambrensis, Opera," vol. V. Edited by James F. Dimock.
-^
Singularly applicable are the lines,
Topographia Hibernica, pp. 163, 164.
dist.
iii. , cap. xviii.
,
found in that " The Fire magnificent poem,
=3 " The bodies of St. Patrick, St. Columb,
Worshippers," one of Moore's happiest in- spirations, and allegorically referring to Ire- land,
and St. Bridget were translated at Down,
by the Pope's Legate ; and the staff of Jesus was carried in triumph from the Cathedral
of Armagh to Christ Church, Dublin, the
adventurers — that it would
hoping promote
**
—"Lalla Rookh. "
=7 To this remarkable circumstance allu-
sion has been made, and it has been immor-
their interests. " land," vol. i. , p. 42.
**
of Ire-
Taffe's
the vot'ries Still did the mighty flame burn on,
"* This account nearly agrees, in every particular, with one contained in the Office
of this Translation, printed at Paris, A. D. 1620. The Cardinal Legate, however, is named John, in the latter compilation. Ussher calls him Vivian. See, "De Bri- tannicarum Ecclesiarum Primordiis," cap. xvii. , p. 891.
Through chance and change, through good and ill,
Like its own God's eternal will,
Deep, constant, bright, unquenchable. "
History
Though
fled the
priests,
And though for ever past the days When God was worshipp'd in t—he blaze That from its altar shone
gone,
lofty ;
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 191
markable, notwithstanding great heaps of wood, that must have been piled upon it, during such a prolonged interval, the ashes of this fire never in- creased. ^^
What is furthermore remarkable, from the time of St. Brigid and after her
death until the twelfth century, an even number, including twenty nuns, and the abbess, had remained in Kildare nunnery. Each of these religious, in
rotation, nightly watched this inextinguishable fire. having placed wood on its embers, the last nun said
On the twentieth night,
" O Brigid, guard thy Then the nun left that
fires, for this night the duty devolves on thyself. "
pyre, but although the wood might have been all consumed before morning, yetthecoalsremainedaliveandinextinguishable. Acircularhedgeofshrubs orthornssurroundedit, andnomalepersondarepresumetoenterwithinthat sacred enclosure, lest he might provoke Divine vengeance, as had been ex- perienced by a certain rash man, who ventured to transgress this ordinance. Women only were allowed to tend that fire. Even these attendants were not permitted to blow it with their breath ; but, they used boughs of trees as fans forthispurpose. Younggoatscouldnotevenpenetratetheenclosure,through St. Brigid's miraculous intervention. At Kildare, also, were to be seen most beautiful plains, which were called St. Brigid's pastures, and no one dared disturb them with the plough. =9 Besides, it was considered almost miraculous, although animals of all the surrounding districts grazed on these lands,3° from the rising to the setting sun, on the following morning this herbage seemed luxuriant as ever. 3^ The same remarks well apply to the celebrated racing ground of the Curragh,3' in the nineteenth as well as during the twelfth century.
It is mentioned, that a certain archer, belonging to Count Richard's family,
had dared to leap over the hedge, and to blow with his breath St. Brigid's
fire, at Kildare ; but, immediately he leaped back frantic, and whoever accosted him, this archer blew into the person's face, in like manner, while stating, that he had thus profaned the saint's sacred fire. In this demented state, he ran through houses of the whole town. Being seized and bound by his companions, he begged them to conduct him towards the first water they could meet, and here drinking an incredible quantity, he immediately ex- pired. When another man had put his leg over the hedge, surrounding this fire, and had been suddenly drawn back by his companions, both his foot and thigh became withered. So long as he lived, that person remained lame and paralysed. 33 This, however, was not the only instance of Divine judg-
talized, in some beautiful lines, written by
Exigua tantum gelidus ros nocte reponet. "
"the poet of all circles and the idol of his "
—
3' See Giraldi Cambrensis' "Opera," vol.
own. " See Moore's Irish Melodies. "
=^ See Giraldi Cambrensis' "Opera," tomus V. Edited by James F. Dimock, M. A. Topographia Hibernica, dist. ii. ,
Georgicae, lib. ii. , 11. 201, 202.
cap. xxxiv. , pp. 120, 121.
^9 Allusion is no doubt made to the Cur-
ragh, "a fine undulating down, about six miles in length and two in breadth," and it
xxxvi. , pp. I2l, 122.
32 The old map of Kildare county by John
Noble and jAmes Keman presents a picture
of the great racing contest in 1 75 1, on the
— of Kildare, between Black and All Curragh
is
the — exceeding
in the world for softness and elasticity of the
"unequalled, perhaps,
Mrs. Hall's "Ireland: its
Scenery, Character," &c. , vol. ii. , pp. 258, Bajazet. This illustration also shows the
turf. " Mr. and
"Citizen of the
equestrian costume of that period.
v. with
259.
3° —
33 See Giraldi Cambrensis'
Edited by James F. Dimock, M. A. graphia Hibernica, dist. ii. , cap. xlviii. , p.
131.
of Virgil "
:
To these pastures are applied
the lines
"Opera. " Topo-
Et quantum longis carpent armenta die- bus
Black so celebrated
Oliver Golds—
:
Edited by James F. Dimock, M. A.
v.
Topographia Hibernica, dist. ii. , cap. xxxv. ,
in World,"
mith's
letter
192 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 1.
ment, visited on those who profaned St. Brigid's sanctuaries ; for, Earl Strong- bow himself had his death-bed thoughts disturbed, by a recollection of his impieties towards our illustrious saint. 34 Many of the mediaeval traditions, regarding holy Brigid's veneration at Kildare, have not been preserved, save only in an imperfect or in a fragmentary fashion. The inhabitants, however, yet relate some legends concerning her.
In the year 1220, Henry of London,35 Archbishop of Dublin,3^ ordered St. Brigid's fire at Kildare to be extinguished. This is said to have been done, so that all occasion for superstition might be removed. 37
At the time when Richard Stanihursts^ wrote, in the sixteenth century,39
it would seem, that Down had fallen from its more ancient splendour, and
hadsunktotheproportionsofavillage. ^^ TheEnglishMartyrology,'^'which has allusion to the twelfth century translation of the bodies of our three
great patron saints,^^ mentions an inscription, likewise, as having been carved on their tombs. '^3 It relates, that their monument continued in Down,44 to
thetimeofHenryVIII. ,KingofEngland. TothegreatregretoftheIrish CathoHc people, it was destroyed about this latter period. Such desecration occurred during that time, when Lord Leonard Gray was governor over
Ireland,andintheyear1538. 4s Itisstated,however,thatSt. Bridget'shead wassavedbysomeoftheclergy,whocarriedittoNeustadt,inAustria; and thence, in 1587, it was taken to the church of the Jesuits, at Lisbon, to whom the Emperor Rudolf II. gave it. ^^
3-* "The native chronicles stigmatize the Earl Richard as the greatest destroyer of the
and that had come to Ireland laity
tis," &c. , lib. i. , p. 26. Edition Antwerpioe, A. D. M. D. LXXXIIII. , 4t0.
clergy
since the time of the Norse tyrant Turgesius. states,
"
authority Corpus ejus terras mandatum est in
According to them, the fatal ulcer had broken
out in his foot, through the miracles of St.
Brigid, St. Columb-Cille, and of the other
saints,
They averred that, on his death-bed, the Earl imagined that he saw St. Brigid, the
holy Abbess of Kildare, in the act of killing
oppido Dunensi in Ultonia," &c.
4^ As related by Giraldus Cambrensis, in
Topographia Hibernica, dist. iii. , cap. xviii. ,
" vol. v. Edited F. Opera," by James
Dimock, M. A. , pp. 163, 164.
whose sanctuaries he had desecrated.
him,forh—avingprofanedherchurchesin withlargeadditionsandimprovements,by
" Leinster. " Gilbert's History
roysofIreland,"chap,ii. ,p. 41. See,also. Notes to chap, ii. , p. 488, bid. The same circumstance is related in Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iii. , p. 25, at A. D. 1 1 76.
35 See an account of him in Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Archbishops of Dublin," pp. 318 to 320.
3* He occupied this see fropi A. D. 12 13 to 1228,whenhedied,aboutthebeginningof
'*
InburgoDuno,tumulotumulanturinuno, Brigida, Patricius, atque Columba plus. "
July.
37 See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's
"
Lives ot
tiquity had been discovered among the ruins of Down Abbey. Among those were no- ticed, when repairing the old cathedral, be- fore the commencement of this century, an
image of St. Patrick, in basso relievo. This "
the Saints," vol. ii. , February 1st, p. 22.
3^ See an account of him and of his writ- ings in S. Austin AUibone's "Critical Dic- tionary of English Literature and British
and American Authors," &c. , vol. ii. , p. was about two feet and a-half in length, his
3225.
39 This writer was bom in Dublin about
the year 1545 or 1546, and he died at Brus- sels, A. D. 1618. See ibid.
4° Stanihurst adds : "nunc tantum villula,
mitre on his head, and crosier in his hand— ;
the work rudely but not unskilfully done. " Dubourdieu's "Statistical Survey of the County of Down. " Appendix sec. 3, pp. 281, 282.
cum veteris structures
« See " Haverty's
Ancient and Modem,"
*'^
of Ireland,
D.
dae fuerunt sepulta. "
parietinis apparet, — et
xxx. , p. 365. "
qua corpora Dubliniensis,
chap,
"
Richardi Stanihursti De Rebus in Hibernia Ges-
See Rev. S. Lives of Baring-Gould's
in Patricii, Columbae, Brigi-
History
"
^3 The following is found in Camden's
Britannia," newly translated into English :
4' At the 1st of This
of the Vice- Edmund Gibson — :
February.
It is thus rendered into English :—
" One tomb three saints contains ; one vault
below.
Does Brigid^ Patrick and Columba show. "
—
^ We are told, that many remains of an-
Col. 1013. Fol. edition,London,1695.
the Saints," vol. ii.
exactly fitted, to serve its purpose.
To render this incident more miraculous, the same mill-stone, thus won-
derfully directed by St. Brigid, refused to perform its office, when the grain of a certain neighbouring magus had been brought to the mill, by a rustic. Ignorant regarding its owner, the miller put that grain between the mill- stones ; yet, all his efforts, seconded by water-power and by the pressure of a strong current,s could not grind with the stone, already particularized. At
thinking or inspired, replied with strong faith
:
miraculis & virtutibus beatissimse Matris
Brigidae scribendi vel narrandi terminum
whom these observations would seem appli- cable, it can only be reasonably conjectured, that allusion is made to the contemporaneous abbot over a monastery of religious men, then in Kildare, and who was included among those brethren, to whom our saint's
ponimus : quia dignum aliquid poni in
chartis, quotidie novum semper de ea sola
jam invenissemus. Nonenimmodocessant,
neque cessabunt usque ad finem sceculi talia
miracula per earn a Deo, qualia audistis per life is dedicated. See Colgan's ''Trias earn in vita sua. Per hsec autem pauca qu£e
scripta sunt lecturi, et audituri, qui scitis, qualis et quanti meriti apud Deum omnipo- tentem gloriosissima Virgo fuerit, scire po- testis. "—Quarta Vita S. Brigidse, lib. ii. , cap. xii. , sec. 80. Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , Februarii Die i. , p. 171.
="
in
culi principio, brevem fecimus mentionem,"
Thaumaturga. " Secunda Vita S. Brigidse. Prologus and cap. xxxii. , pp. 5^8, 523.
Cogitosus adds,
"de
quo,
hujus opus-
3 it is likely, the Red Hills, near Kildare, are here alluded to, or possibly the Hill of Allen. The old map of Kildare county, published by John Noble and James Keenan in 1752, gives a very curious outline of the Red Hills, as also of the Hill of Allen, within the Isle of Allen, and altogether sur- rounded with bog.
'• See St. Mark ix. , 22.
s Near the town of Kildare runs a consi-
name any person which is to be regretted—to
&c. As — does not Cogitosus expressly
i88 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
length, the astonished spectators discovered, how this grain belonged to a magus, and they no longer doubted, that mill-stone refused to grind this Gentile's com, because of a miraculous efficacy conferred on it, through St. Brigid's merits. When this corn of the magus had been removed, and that of the monastery had been substituted, the mill-stone began to move without any impediment, and in its usual manner. After a certain interval had elapsed, it happened, that the mill itself was burned ; and, it was deemed remarkable, that not only every object therein had been consumed, but even the mill-stone, which corresponded with that one, which had been brought thither,throughSt. Brigid'sspecialinterposition. Thislatterrelicwasfound, however, whole and uninjured, among the smoking ruins, after the fire had been extinguished. Such a circumstance being deemed miraculous, the recovered stone in question was afterwards brought to the monastery, where it was conspicuously placed, near the gate of that interior fort,"^ by which the church was surrounded. 7 Through veneration for St. Brigid, many came to visit it, and the faithful, who touched this relic, were healed of several dis-
eases, which afflicted them. ^
A curious story has been told about a falcon, which was thought to have
frequented Kildare, and to have constantly taken its station on the very top of the ecclesiastical tower,9 from St. Brigid's time to the twelfth century.
Wherefore, the people called it St. Brigid's bird, and held it in great venera- tion. In the presence of some civilians and soldiers, this bird was seen chasing from air to earth some wild birds and water-fowl, over the plain of Kildare. It had been accustomed or trained to this sport. The bird would notallowanyrivaltoremainaboutKildareChurch; yet,atacertainseason of the year, during breeding time, it was accustomed to retreat among the mountains of Glendalough. '° After the usual interval, it returned, nestling
derable stream, which yet affords an excel- similarity in structure seems to point to the lent mill-race at Tully. This probably is same degree of knowledge in the builders," the current to which allusion is made. By vol. i. , p. xviii.
a south-west course it falls into the River Barrow, to the north of Kilberry, where an interesting group of ecclesiastical and civil remains may be seen.
^" See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga.
Vita Secunda S. Brigidse, cap. xxxii. , xxxiii. , xxxiv. , and n. i6, pp. 523, 526.
» Doubtless, the existing round tower is the one alluded to.
" This romantic spot is agreeably alluded
to in the following lines :
'
This was probably a Cashel, which, ow-
ing to the ancient and modem encroach-
ments for roads and buildings surrounding
the present old church and round tower at Kildare, has long since disappeared.
7 Lately has appeared a magnificent illus- trated work, which had long occupied the time
and thoughts of a distinguished and munifi- cent Irish nobleman, whose loss to native art, science and literature has been deservedly lamented. Before death, however, he had made provision for its editorship by a lady, combining in the rarest degree faculties of artistic taste and
are exquisitely produced in photographic autotypes, lithographs, and wood-engrav-
ings, in a style leaving nothing to be desired. Miss Stokes, in her truly learned introduc- lion to "Notes on Irish Architecture," by Edwin, Third Earl of Dunraven, has pointed out the differences existing, to mark the in- dependent purposes for which the Pagan
caisel or stone-fort and the Christian caisel
or enclosure had been erected,
'*
Where, girt by many a mountain
grey,
Rolled in itself unsociably,
The Valley of the Lakes displayed Its shrines, embrowned in thickest
shade
Ofcircling mountains; that appeared, With rude stupendous height, to
antiquarian knowledge. The Pagan and Christian remains of Ireland
Lugduff
*'
while their
forth ;
guard
This hallowed region of repose, Here in dark horror — rose,
pride;
Between them, o'er its rocky bed, By wood embrowned a torrent sped ; While with contrasted brightness fell, From hills, that westward bound the
vale,
Glaneola's cascade
Broccagh his mountain mists sent
The southern sentinel
Beside Towered Derrybawn, in waving
;
—
And North,
;
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 189
in an almost tame state, within the ecclesiastical buildings. The bird re- mained always undisturbed by their pious inmates. At the time of King
John's departure from Ireland, this extraordinary bird of ages, and which had ever been regarded with pride by the Kildare people, was killed by a rustic. He struck it with his staff, whilst incautiously exposed to a fate, for which it seemed unprepared. From this incident, Giraldus Cambrensis draws the common-place moral, that in the most prosperous condition of things, danger may be at hand, and that we should not trust life, which is daily exposed to mischances, however pleasant and agreeable may be our state. "
It seems sufficiently probable, that the remains of the venerable abbess
wereatfirstinterredwithinthechurchofKildare wherehernunsforsome ;
ages, to honour her memory, kept a fire always burning. Hence, that con- vent was called the House of Fire. '^ It is supposed, that about a. d. 835, or
probably before, when Kildare begun to suffer from the hostile Danish in- cursions,'3 the relics of our saint were removed to Down^^for greater security,
and to guard them from Pagan profanation. Here, they were deposed, with those of St. Patrick and of St. Columba. We can have little doubt, they
were for a long time carefully preserved, and greatly honoured by the faithful. Yet, the Northmen frequently attacked, plundered, and burned this town.
These ravages were continued, during the tenth, eleventh, and even the twelfth century. ^5 it seems probable, the harrassed townspeople were obliged, through motives of precaution, to remove and bury in the earth those precious remainsconsignedtotheircharge. Probably,thesecretoftheirentombment
had been confided, only to a few ecclesiastics, and these might have perished, during the tumults of that time. It would appear, that a tradition, regarding where the illustrious saints had been buried, passed out of popular recollec- tion in Down,'^ after the lapse of some centuries. What is still more aston-
ishing, a knowledge, concerning where St. Patrick's, St. Brigid's, and St. Columkille's reHcs had been deposed, was even obliterated, from the minds
of the faithful, and in a city, where those holy persons were ever held in such extraordinary veneration.
About the year 1185,^7 however, the first year of King John's arrival in Ireland,'^ when Malachy 111. ^9 was bishop over Down, this holy man was accustomed to offer up his prayers to God, that a discovery of the above- mentioned saint's relics might be made by him. ^'o It so happened, one night,
But in the east, no envious height ; Shut out the golden flood of light. "
—John D'Alton's ** Dermid or Erin in the ;
Days of Bora. "—Canto v. , sec. xi. , pp. 131, 132.
in one tomb with Patrick ; and where Colum Cille was afterwards interred. See Drs. Todd's and Reeves' " Martyrology of Done- gal," pp. 36, 37.
" See Giraldi Cambrensis **
Opera,"
i. , No. 43, p. 338.
^* An account of this ancient interesting
city, supposed to be the Dunum mentioned by the geographer Ptolomy, is found in
tomus V. Edited by James F. Dimock,
M. A. Topographia Hibernica, dist. ii. ,
cap. xxxvii. , pp. 122, 123.
" See Rev. S. Baring- Gould's "Lives of
the Saints," vol. ii. February 1st, p. 22. ^3 "Cependant versle miUeu duneuvieme
"
of the County Down. "
siecle un
peuple
sorti des forets de la Scandi-
'^ See I'Abbe " His- Mac-Geoghegan's
toire de I'lrlande Ancienne et Modeme," for an account of his visit, tome iL, partie
navie, les Danois, aborderent en Irlande ;
ils en occuperent une partie sans beaucoup
; laluttecontreeuxdevient de —
i. , 33, chap, pp. 34.
peine cepen- dant vive et obstinee. " Gustave de Beau-
iii. , ''
of
"
See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops Down," p. 196.
L'Irlande, Sociale, Politique et Re« ^4 She was buried at Dun, or Downpatrick,
mont's
ligieuse," tome i. Introduction Historique, chap, i. , sec. ii. , p. 8.
=°
Ussher's " De Britannicarum Ecclesiaram Primordiis," cap. xvii. , pp. 889 to 892.
^5 " vol. See The Irish Penny Magazine,"
Walter Harris'
Ancient and Present State
^7 See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's
the Saints," vol. ii. , Febraary 1st, p. 22.
See an account of this discbvery, in
**
Lives of
190 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
while engaged in fervent prayer and within the church of his cathedral city, Malachy saw a ray of light, like a sun-beam, extending itself through the
church.
2^
Finally, it settled over the graves of those inhumed saints. The
bishop was exceedingly rejoiced at this vision, and he prayed more earnestly, that the ray of light might remain, until he had discovered the relics. Then
rising, and having procured necessary implements, he went to the illuminated spot and dug beneath. In fine, he disinterred the bodies of the three saints. The tomb or grave of St. Patrick was fixed in a central cave or compartment, with the remains of St. Bridget and St. Columba, on either side. =' He then withdrew these precious relics, and placed them in three separate coffins. Afterwards, he buried them in that same spot, which he took care to mark with great exactness. Malachy related the particulars of his vision, to John de Courcey, the conqueror of Down. This renowned warrior, being distin- guished for his zeal in the cause of religion, concurred with the bishop, that a message should be despatched to Rome, with an humble supplication, addressedtotheSovereignChiefofthefaithful. UrbanHI. Hissanction, for a solemn translation of those relics, was requested. To this petition, Pope Urban assented, and immediately he despatched Vivian, Cardinal Priest of St. Stephen, as his Legate to Ireland. The public translation of the relics took place, on the 9th of June, 1 186, the festival of St. Columkille. With all due reverence and great solemnity, those remains were removed from
the place of their deposition to a more conspicuous position, assigned for theirreception,withinthecathedralchurch. ^3 Fifteenbishops,manyabbots,
provosts, deans, archdeacons, priors, with other clergy and the laity, assisted on this solemn occasion. ^^
Speaking of Kildare city,^5 in Leinster, which had become so renowned, owing to its connexion with our glorious abbess, Giraldus Cambrensis says,
that foremost, among many miraculous things worthy of record, was St. Brigid's inextinguishable fire. ^^ Not, that this fire itself was incapable of being extinguished, did it obtain any such name, but, because nuns and holy women had so carefully and sedulously supplied fuel to feed its flames, that from St. Brigid's time to the twelfth century, when he wrote, it remained per- petually burning through a long lapse of years. *7 What was still more re-
'S The town of Kildare and its immediate
surroundings, together with St. Brigid's well, near Tully, is shown on the "Ord- nance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Kildare," Sheet 22.
=*
matter in Rev. Sylvester Malone's "Church
See an interesting account of this whole
History of Ireland," chap, iii. , pp. 95 to
97- ""
See Giraldi Cambrensis, Opera," vol. V. Edited by James F. Dimock.
-^
Singularly applicable are the lines,
Topographia Hibernica, pp. 163, 164.
dist.
iii. , cap. xviii.
,
found in that " The Fire magnificent poem,
=3 " The bodies of St. Patrick, St. Columb,
Worshippers," one of Moore's happiest in- spirations, and allegorically referring to Ire- land,
and St. Bridget were translated at Down,
by the Pope's Legate ; and the staff of Jesus was carried in triumph from the Cathedral
of Armagh to Christ Church, Dublin, the
adventurers — that it would
hoping promote
**
—"Lalla Rookh. "
=7 To this remarkable circumstance allu-
sion has been made, and it has been immor-
their interests. " land," vol. i. , p. 42.
**
of Ire-
Taffe's
the vot'ries Still did the mighty flame burn on,
"* This account nearly agrees, in every particular, with one contained in the Office
of this Translation, printed at Paris, A. D. 1620. The Cardinal Legate, however, is named John, in the latter compilation. Ussher calls him Vivian. See, "De Bri- tannicarum Ecclesiarum Primordiis," cap. xvii. , p. 891.
Through chance and change, through good and ill,
Like its own God's eternal will,
Deep, constant, bright, unquenchable. "
History
Though
fled the
priests,
And though for ever past the days When God was worshipp'd in t—he blaze That from its altar shone
gone,
lofty ;
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 191
markable, notwithstanding great heaps of wood, that must have been piled upon it, during such a prolonged interval, the ashes of this fire never in- creased. ^^
What is furthermore remarkable, from the time of St. Brigid and after her
death until the twelfth century, an even number, including twenty nuns, and the abbess, had remained in Kildare nunnery. Each of these religious, in
rotation, nightly watched this inextinguishable fire. having placed wood on its embers, the last nun said
On the twentieth night,
" O Brigid, guard thy Then the nun left that
fires, for this night the duty devolves on thyself. "
pyre, but although the wood might have been all consumed before morning, yetthecoalsremainedaliveandinextinguishable. Acircularhedgeofshrubs orthornssurroundedit, andnomalepersondarepresumetoenterwithinthat sacred enclosure, lest he might provoke Divine vengeance, as had been ex- perienced by a certain rash man, who ventured to transgress this ordinance. Women only were allowed to tend that fire. Even these attendants were not permitted to blow it with their breath ; but, they used boughs of trees as fans forthispurpose. Younggoatscouldnotevenpenetratetheenclosure,through St. Brigid's miraculous intervention. At Kildare, also, were to be seen most beautiful plains, which were called St. Brigid's pastures, and no one dared disturb them with the plough. =9 Besides, it was considered almost miraculous, although animals of all the surrounding districts grazed on these lands,3° from the rising to the setting sun, on the following morning this herbage seemed luxuriant as ever. 3^ The same remarks well apply to the celebrated racing ground of the Curragh,3' in the nineteenth as well as during the twelfth century.
It is mentioned, that a certain archer, belonging to Count Richard's family,
had dared to leap over the hedge, and to blow with his breath St. Brigid's
fire, at Kildare ; but, immediately he leaped back frantic, and whoever accosted him, this archer blew into the person's face, in like manner, while stating, that he had thus profaned the saint's sacred fire. In this demented state, he ran through houses of the whole town. Being seized and bound by his companions, he begged them to conduct him towards the first water they could meet, and here drinking an incredible quantity, he immediately ex- pired. When another man had put his leg over the hedge, surrounding this fire, and had been suddenly drawn back by his companions, both his foot and thigh became withered. So long as he lived, that person remained lame and paralysed. 33 This, however, was not the only instance of Divine judg-
talized, in some beautiful lines, written by
Exigua tantum gelidus ros nocte reponet. "
"the poet of all circles and the idol of his "
—
3' See Giraldi Cambrensis' "Opera," vol.
own. " See Moore's Irish Melodies. "
=^ See Giraldi Cambrensis' "Opera," tomus V. Edited by James F. Dimock, M. A. Topographia Hibernica, dist. ii. ,
Georgicae, lib. ii. , 11. 201, 202.
cap. xxxiv. , pp. 120, 121.
^9 Allusion is no doubt made to the Cur-
ragh, "a fine undulating down, about six miles in length and two in breadth," and it
xxxvi. , pp. I2l, 122.
32 The old map of Kildare county by John
Noble and jAmes Keman presents a picture
of the great racing contest in 1 75 1, on the
— of Kildare, between Black and All Curragh
is
the — exceeding
in the world for softness and elasticity of the
"unequalled, perhaps,
Mrs. Hall's "Ireland: its
Scenery, Character," &c. , vol. ii. , pp. 258, Bajazet. This illustration also shows the
turf. " Mr. and
"Citizen of the
equestrian costume of that period.
v. with
259.
3° —
33 See Giraldi Cambrensis'
Edited by James F. Dimock, M. A. graphia Hibernica, dist. ii. , cap. xlviii. , p.
131.
of Virgil "
:
To these pastures are applied
the lines
"Opera. " Topo-
Et quantum longis carpent armenta die- bus
Black so celebrated
Oliver Golds—
:
Edited by James F. Dimock, M. A.
v.
Topographia Hibernica, dist. ii. , cap. xxxv. ,
in World,"
mith's
letter
192 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February 1.
ment, visited on those who profaned St. Brigid's sanctuaries ; for, Earl Strong- bow himself had his death-bed thoughts disturbed, by a recollection of his impieties towards our illustrious saint. 34 Many of the mediaeval traditions, regarding holy Brigid's veneration at Kildare, have not been preserved, save only in an imperfect or in a fragmentary fashion. The inhabitants, however, yet relate some legends concerning her.
In the year 1220, Henry of London,35 Archbishop of Dublin,3^ ordered St. Brigid's fire at Kildare to be extinguished. This is said to have been done, so that all occasion for superstition might be removed. 37
At the time when Richard Stanihursts^ wrote, in the sixteenth century,39
it would seem, that Down had fallen from its more ancient splendour, and
hadsunktotheproportionsofavillage. ^^ TheEnglishMartyrology,'^'which has allusion to the twelfth century translation of the bodies of our three
great patron saints,^^ mentions an inscription, likewise, as having been carved on their tombs. '^3 It relates, that their monument continued in Down,44 to
thetimeofHenryVIII. ,KingofEngland. TothegreatregretoftheIrish CathoHc people, it was destroyed about this latter period. Such desecration occurred during that time, when Lord Leonard Gray was governor over
Ireland,andintheyear1538. 4s Itisstated,however,thatSt. Bridget'shead wassavedbysomeoftheclergy,whocarriedittoNeustadt,inAustria; and thence, in 1587, it was taken to the church of the Jesuits, at Lisbon, to whom the Emperor Rudolf II. gave it. ^^
3-* "The native chronicles stigmatize the Earl Richard as the greatest destroyer of the
and that had come to Ireland laity
tis," &c. , lib. i. , p. 26. Edition Antwerpioe, A. D. M. D. LXXXIIII. , 4t0.
clergy
since the time of the Norse tyrant Turgesius. states,
"
authority Corpus ejus terras mandatum est in
According to them, the fatal ulcer had broken
out in his foot, through the miracles of St.
Brigid, St. Columb-Cille, and of the other
saints,
They averred that, on his death-bed, the Earl imagined that he saw St. Brigid, the
holy Abbess of Kildare, in the act of killing
oppido Dunensi in Ultonia," &c.
4^ As related by Giraldus Cambrensis, in
Topographia Hibernica, dist. iii. , cap. xviii. ,
" vol. v. Edited F. Opera," by James
Dimock, M. A. , pp. 163, 164.
whose sanctuaries he had desecrated.
him,forh—avingprofanedherchurchesin withlargeadditionsandimprovements,by
" Leinster. " Gilbert's History
roysofIreland,"chap,ii. ,p. 41. See,also. Notes to chap, ii. , p. 488, bid. The same circumstance is related in Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iii. , p. 25, at A. D. 1 1 76.
35 See an account of him in Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Archbishops of Dublin," pp. 318 to 320.
3* He occupied this see fropi A. D. 12 13 to 1228,whenhedied,aboutthebeginningof
'*
InburgoDuno,tumulotumulanturinuno, Brigida, Patricius, atque Columba plus. "
July.
37 See Rev. S. Baring-Gould's
"
Lives ot
tiquity had been discovered among the ruins of Down Abbey. Among those were no- ticed, when repairing the old cathedral, be- fore the commencement of this century, an
image of St. Patrick, in basso relievo. This "
the Saints," vol. ii. , February 1st, p. 22.
3^ See an account of him and of his writ- ings in S. Austin AUibone's "Critical Dic- tionary of English Literature and British
and American Authors," &c. , vol. ii. , p. was about two feet and a-half in length, his
3225.
39 This writer was bom in Dublin about
the year 1545 or 1546, and he died at Brus- sels, A. D. 1618. See ibid.
4° Stanihurst adds : "nunc tantum villula,
mitre on his head, and crosier in his hand— ;
the work rudely but not unskilfully done. " Dubourdieu's "Statistical Survey of the County of Down. " Appendix sec. 3, pp. 281, 282.
cum veteris structures
« See " Haverty's
Ancient and Modem,"
*'^
of Ireland,
D.
dae fuerunt sepulta. "
parietinis apparet, — et
xxx. , p. 365. "
qua corpora Dubliniensis,
chap,
"
Richardi Stanihursti De Rebus in Hibernia Ges-
See Rev. S. Lives of Baring-Gould's
in Patricii, Columbae, Brigi-
History
"
^3 The following is found in Camden's
Britannia," newly translated into English :
4' At the 1st of This
of the Vice- Edmund Gibson — :
February.
It is thus rendered into English :—
" One tomb three saints contains ; one vault
below.
Does Brigid^ Patrick and Columba show. "
—
^ We are told, that many remains of an-
Col. 1013. Fol. edition,London,1695.
the Saints," vol. ii.
