No More Learning

' See his Life, at the 9th of June.
3 Li the Irish Calendar, belonging to the
Irish Ordnance Survey, and at the vi. of the
p. 408.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
:
ing entry
:
no, III. — Article viii.
Edited by Drs. Todd
—
Ihe Franciscan copy has
•
Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Ap-
the
Among pretermitted saints,
Edited Rev. Dr. by
r
Article VIII. —St. Domnall. According to the Martyrologies of Marianus O'Gorman, and of Donegal,; tlie name of Domnall was venerated on this da)'. As we have no other indication to distinguish him, it may be doubted, if he be the blind Domhnaldiis restored to sight by St. Patrick. Allu- sion is made to him, as Doranallus by the Bollandists. ^ Jocelyn tell us, that a certain man, named Domnhaldus, who was blind even from his birlh, hear- ing the saint passing by, placed himself in the way. He trusted, that through St. Patrick, he should receive the light so much desired. But, as darkness was before his steps, and light was withdrawn from his eyes, while running forward, he fell, and when he would have arisen, no one was there who helped him with a hand. Then a certain priest, in company with the saint, when s£e- ing him fall, laughed, and mocked the mischance of the blind man. St. Patrick observing this was offended, and lest any among his disciples should so again presume, he checked the foolishness of the scorner with reproof, and
April 26. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 505
with " punishment, saying,
I
unto thee, since in the name of
my
however, to determine who was that St. Domnall, the disciple of St. Patrick, and whose feast belongs, perhaps, to the 26th of April. One Domnal was a fos- terer of Corbmac, son to Prince Enda, a convert. This Domnal was a disciple of St. Patrick. 5 A Domnal was bishop of Aleach mor, which place the monks of Clonmacnoiseafterwardspossessed. * Subsequently,heiscalledthesonof Crimthann. 7 Heisdistinguishedfromtwoothernamesakes,viz. ,Domnall, sonofColgne,ofTulach-liag,andDomnald,ofCuil-Chonalta. ' Again,the BoUandists have remarked,^ that Colgan did not doubt, but that St. Daniel, a British bishop,'" was identical with the St. Domnallus venerated, on this (lay, or with two other saints bearing a similar name, and noticed in our calendars.
Article IX. —St. Began, or Beccan of Clonard, County of Meath. In the Martyrology of Tallagh,' at the 26th of April, we find the namewrittenBeccan,Cluanaaird. ThesameauthorityisquotedbytheBol- landists, for their insertion of Becanus Cluanfensis. ' His death is recorded, at the —in the Annals of the Four Masters. 3 Archdall
say
God, the eyes of this man, which are closedjin darkness, shall now be opened, thyeyes,whichareopenonlytoevil,shallnowbeclosed. " Thishesaid,and making the sign of the cross, he removed darkness from the blind man, and lightwentfromthepriest,whomadeaneviluseofit. 3 Strangetosay,inthe Tripartite Life, this blind man is called Roan, the son of Conchnamha, and Rath Roan was the place, where the miracle took place. * Colgan finds it difficult,
year 687,
and Reeves, pp. no, III.
" See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Ap-
rilis xxvi. Among the pretermitted saints,
p. 408.
i See Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," p. 408.
"
Sexia Vita S. P. Atricii, cap. cxxiv. , p. 93.
* See ibid. Septima Vita S. Patricu, lib.
ii. , cap. Ixxxi. , Ixxxii. , pp. 140, I41.
5 See "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima
Vita S. Patiicii, lib ii. , cap. xviii. , p. 131.
rilis xxvi. Among the pretermitted saints,
°
him, in this See, and he thinks Domnal musthavebeena chorepiscopuj. Seeibid. ,
nn- 52. 53. 54. P- '75-
' See ibid. , cap. cxxvi. , p. 146. There he
cording to the English Martyrolojjy. AttTlCLE ix. —' Edited by Rev, Dr. Kelly, p. xxii. In the Franciscan copy, we have en-
tcred, at this day, beccani CLuAin. 'See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus
p. 408.
^ See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 294, 295.
Col^jan
cannot find any bishop besides
Ap-
Verily
—no doubt through error states, that he died on the i6th of April. * It is likely to have been a typographical mistake, for the 26th. On this day, the Martyrology
is called Bishop of Aileach Airtich.
' See ibid.
'See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Ap-
'"
Venerated at the 1st of December, ac-
iii. ,
rilis xxvi. Among the pretermitted saints,
5o6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 27.
of Donegal ' records, that veneration was paid to Becan, of Cluain, a contrac- tion for Clonard.
Article X. —St. Cas, of Bennchar, or Bangor, County of Down.
We find an entry, in tlie Martyrology of Tallagli;' at tills date, regarding Cas of Bennchair. The Bollantlists record Cassius Benchorensis, at the 26tli of April. " We know not wiiether he attained any superior position, in tiiis cele- brated monastery. The Martyrology of Donegal 3 mentions, tliat Cas, of Bennchar,hadafestivalontliisday. IntheIrishCalendar,containedinthe Connnon Place Book F, we have his name also entered. '* In that calendar, moreover, compiled by tiie Rev. William Reeves,' his name occurs.
Article XI. —Festival of Isaac. In the Franciscan copy of the Tal- laghMartyrology,atthevi. oftheMayKalends—April26th—thereis entered a festival for Isaac," and he is placed among the Irish Saints.
Article XII. —Festival of St. Cyril, Martyr at Axiopolis, in
LowerMysia,orBulgaria. TheFeastofSt. Cyrilhadbeenobserved,in
""
the early Irish Church, as we learn from the Feilire of St. . ^Engus,' at the
26th of April. The Bollandists have some brief notices of this holy Martyr,
at the same date. ' He suffered at Axiopolis, on the banks of the River
Danube, in Bulgaria. With this agree the old Epternac Hieronymian
Martyrology, and a Manuscript Martyrology, belonging to Rheinaw, near Constance, in Suevia. 3 This martyrdom must have occurred, in the earlier ages
ofChristianity; but,theperiodisnotspecified.
Ctorntp. -Sfbfntlj Bap of ^pn'I,
ARTICLE I. —ST. ASCICUS, BISHOP AND PATRON OF ELPHIN, COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON.
[FIFTH CENTURY. l
seems to be known regarding this holy man, although he must
have been celebrated in his time. The Bollandists have a doubtful LITTLE '
notice of St. Ascycus—who may have been identical with St. Assanus—for,
*See"MonasticonHibernicum,"p. 520.
5 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. no, III.
Ar riCLE X. —' Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly,
p. xxii. In the Franciscan copy, we read
CAiff bencliaip. 'See"ActaSanctorum,"tomusiii. , Ap-
Articlexii. —• Inthe"LeabharBreac" copy, we find : —
CnMtt,u|- CAin ambro
Cei"Aii" ^01 ^itini
T)o canAit) aitle CiMi'C
C0J-I. U45A-obuLtmbi.
Thus translated by Dr. Whitley Stokes :—
" a fair suffered full sharp Cyrilliis capiive
spear-points: to Christ he sings praise, with a vast host around him. "
'"
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Ap-
rilis xxvi. De Sa cto Cyrillo, Martyrs Axiopoli in Mysia Inferiore, p. 415.
3
tilis xxvi.
p. 408.
3 Edited
no, III.
Among the pretermitted saints,
by
Drs. Todd and Reeves,
pp.
It is kept at present, in the Library of the Royal
<Thus, CAi-bednricliaip. Irish Academy.
5 See
"
Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, »
Connor and Dromore," Appendix LI. . , p.
See ibid. —
377-
Article xi. — Thus noted ifAAc.
i.
See p. 41.
"Acta
tomus ill. , Aprilis xxvii. Among the preter-
Article
'
See
Sanctonim,"
April 27. ] LIVES OF THE TRISH SAINTS. 507
both of these holy men have been commemorated, at the 27th of April.
Whatever we find recorded about St. Asacus or . '\siciis is generally drawn
from the various accounts, contained in the Acts of Ireland's great Apostle. "
A considerable share of obscurity surrounds the parentage and natal spot of
St. Ascicus. He appears to have been a married man, however, and Cipia is
thouglit to have been his wife, at the time of St. Patrick's arrival in Con-
naught. 3 Therefore might we conjecture, he was born early in the fifth cen-
tury. Both he and Cipia were parents of Bishop Bite. * The Life of St.
Patrick by JoceIyn,5 and that of the Tripartite,* give the most details we find
regarding Ascicus. He appears to have been one of St.
Patrick's ^ earliest
disciples, after his arrival in Ireland, and on assuming the Apostleship of that
country. He is also regarded, as having worked in brass, and probably, he was a designer of ornament, in connexion with his artistic pursuits.
From a passage found in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Dr. Lanigan insinuates,' that Ascicus was placed as a priest at Elphin, by the Irish Apostle,andnotmanyyearsafterthecommencementofhismission. While Ussher places the journey of St. Patrick to the western province, in the year 434,9 St. Patrick did not set out for Connaught, in Rev. Dr. Lanigan's opinion, before the year 435. '° Some short time after this date, he is said to have
visited the Royal residence of Cruachan, now Croghan, near Elphin. Then, St. Patrick came into the territory of Corca Ochland," originally extending from Slieve Baune to Tirellil," in the county of Sligo. '^ According to the Tripartite L'fe of St. Patrick, a Magus, named Ono, or Hono,'* lived at a mountain, called Bagna, or Badhghna,"' and now known as Slieve Baune, a mountainous range, in the Barony of Ballintobber North, in the county of Roscommon. '* A piece of landat this latter place was bestowed by Ono ' for a church, which St. Patrick then built. From the name of the donor, perhaps ElphinformerlyborethedesignationofImleachOnoorOna. There,St. Patrick
mitted saints, p. 475.
•
Some notices of Ascius occur, in Philip O'SulIevan's Decades S. Patricii.
3 The reader is referred to what has been
already written, in vol. iii. of this work, Life
of St. Patrick, chap. xi.
"
This lies between the country belonging to the posterity of Olikla, and the mountain called Baghna, joining the latter on the south side, and the former on the north.
" This shows the antiquity of the passage,
in St. Patrick sTripnrtite- Life, for at a very
early ptrio<l, the ClanMulrony conquered the race of Oilioll, and extended their terri. toiies to the very limits of Moy Naoi, and deprived the race of Eric the Red of all the rich plain known as Moylurg.
'J See Coigan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap.
xxxvii. , 134. " p.
He had a brother, called Id, or Ida, and they arc said to have been sons of ii^ngus, son of Ere Uerg or Ere the Red.
' The Abbe Mageoghegan—not knowing
where either the mountain —or the Baghna
country of Tir Oilill was situ. ited places
Corcathlann where he should have placed
Airteach, which is historically wrong ; for, Airteach w. ts a celelirated territory, in the time of St. Patrick, . nnd it retained its name, down to the reiyn of James I. , as it does even to this day.
'"See John O'Donovan's "Tribes and
Cu'. toms of Hy-Many," n. (h), p. 90.
' From him, the place and a family were
afterwards known as the Hy-Onach.
'•See Coigan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
*
This is very clearly asserted, in the Tri-
partite Life of -St. Patrick, Part ii. , and chap.
xxxiz. , as published by Colgan ; although, the latter believes, that Ascicus was only his spiritual father, or master. See "Trias Thaumaturga,"
5 He is classed among St. Patrick's disci- ples, ill iltid. , Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 266.
' See Md. Sepiima Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap. xxxvii. , xxxviii. , xxxix. , xl. , pp. 134, 135, and nn. 74, 75. 76, 77, 78, 79, p. 176.
' See Sexta Vita S. Patricii.
cviii. , pp. 89, 90, with nn. 121, 122, p. 1 14.
'
Inhis 'E^;clesia^tlcal History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sec', v. , p. 340.
"
'
Pairicius relicto charissimo suo
Con. illo (sic enim Jocelinus cap. 35 et 138 eum nominat) ex Midico in Connaci. im I'er suscepit," &c. —" Biitannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," Index Chronolo<^icus, A. D. ccccxxxiv. , p. 517.
'" See " Ecclesi. istic. ll History of Ireland,' vol. i, chap, v. , sect, ix. , p. 240, and n. 75, pp. 242, 243.
cap. cvi. ,cvii. ,
So8
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[April 27.
met with two brothers, who were of noble origin, and who were Druids by profession ; the one was named Ida, and the other was called Ono. "' When this latter saw, that it was the intention of the man of God to erect a church within his territory, he asked what St. Patrick would pay him for the land, which he showed. The holy man ansivered, that he would repay him, by giving in exchange a celestial country for that terrestrial one. However, Ono, who was the slave of avarice, esteemed this exchange as of small value, and he refused consent to the wishes of God's servant, unless he should first receive
gold.
holy Apostle declared, that he already expended whatever gold he had hitherto received, on the erection of churches, and in supplying the necessities of the poor ; but, he promised, that the Lord, from whom he had received all things,
would bestow even greater things upon him, when necessity required it. In a miraculous manner, the gold was procured in a large mass, and from a field where swine had been rooting. In after time, that spot was called Tir Brotha, Latinized " terra massse. ""' As Ono had thus tempted the Lord, and as he had preferred fleeting gold to eternal riches, St. Patrick said to him, " None of your seed shall ever reign. " At this pronouncement, feeling very great compunction and shedding tears, Ono asked pardon for his offence, and pro- mised satisfaction. Then, St. Patrick commiserating his tears said, "There shall not be a king in Connacia, whom your progeny will not assist and pro- mote to the throne. "^" To make some atonement for his first refusal, Ono not only returned the purchase-money to St. Patrick, but even gave his own fort or house, his farm and possessions, to build and found a church. This after- wardsbecametheheadofanEpiscopalSee. ItsfirstnamewasImleachOna, but at this day, on account of the church built there by St. Patrick, it is called Ail
Jinn. Thischurchobtainedthatname,becauseattheplacewhereitwaserected,
In this, the Druid said, that St. Patrick abounded. Whereupon, the
there is a clear fountain. This was produced from the earth, at night, by St. ""
Patrick, and it was called Fionn, i. e. lucid" or clear," while at its brink was
a great stone ; for ail, in the ancient Irish language, means " a stone," or " a rock. " Hence, Ail-finn signifies the "stone of the lucid fountain. "^' Patrick
then blessed Ono and his posterity, on account of his penance and liberality. He promised, and, in promising, he had the power of an oracle, foretelling for
certain, that from Ono's seed many more men, distinguished in the arts of war and in the sacred pursuits of peace, should be descended. " That former name
of Imleach Ona,'3 which belonged to Elphin=4 in pagan times, is still pre- servedinEmlagh. Thisisatownland,situatednotfarfromthetown.
St. Patrick erected a church or a religious house at Elphin ; and, subse-
foregoing passages, that St. Berach—now called St. Barry—was descended from that Ercus, and also the O'Hanlys and O'Bran- nans, who were formerly noi>le and power- ful families in that tract of country, and for this reason, they are called Kinel ilac Erca, i. e. , the race of the sons of Ercus. See Col- gan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita
Septima xxxvii. , p. 134.
Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap.
'9 So was it called, when the author of the
Tripartite ibid.
Life of St. Patrick wrote. See
"" The author of the Tripartite Life re-
marks, that experience proved this prophecy
to be fulfilled, as the Kinel-Mac-Earca pre-
vailed in power and strength among the Con- S. Patricii, pars, ii. , chap, xxxvii. , and n.
nacians, but kings are not taken from among them. By his son Aengus, Uno was grand- son to the aforesaid Krcus, siirnamed Ruber. He was son of Brian, and from liim tlie country of Hy-Onach and the family of the same name took name and origin. Parallel with the two latter semences the following observation of Mr. O'Uonovan is written on the margin of his letter in the Roscommon
74. "PP- 134. 176. " It is Laiinized,
" All this is certainly an inter-
polation. " Colgan adds, in a note to the prised Elphin, with several of the Carrows
collection :
saxum lucidi fontis," in the Tripartite Li''e, published by Colgan,
pars, ii. , cap. xxxviii. , p. 134.
^^
See Jocelyn's Life of St. Patrick, chap, cviii. , p. 90.
"3 This name must have been originally,
in the opinion of Mr. O'Donovan, that of a Bade Biatach, or one thirtieth part of a Trio- cha clicad, or B. irony, and it must have com-
.
April 27. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 509
quently, it became the seat of a bishop. 's Over this church, Ascicus was placed, most probably as a priest, at first, and subsequently, he became its
One account has it, that a falsehood had been told by Ascicus, and that it caused his retirement from the See. '? Citing a passage from some ancient author, the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick only states, that St. Patrick placed Ascicus, at Elphin. '' Nothing is recorded, however, to indi- cate, that he was then its bishop. Ascicus was summoned from Elphin, it is conjectured, to assist in making utensils, for the use of St.
of Priest. Being called in the Tripartite Life, the faber aeris of St. Patrick, the Rev. Dr. Lanigan supposes, that after the foundation of Armagh, and when St. Patrick had acquired a permanent residence, he had occasion for our saint's services, as a worker in brass. He then infers, tliat Ascicus was not made a bishop over Elphin, until after he had ceased to work at Armagh. He must necessarily have resided in his diocese, it is argued, to discharge well the episcopal functions. According to some accounts,'? he was conse- crated bishop, by St. Patrick, although we cannot find, at what particular time.