" The situation is a
beautiful
one, and in a field, adjoining the River Liffey.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
This, however, seems to be a most unwarranted statement, and Venerable
Bede expressly alludes to Rathmelfigi as having been a monastery in Ireland. See
"
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. 27, p. 241,
"See " Scoti- Dempster's Menologium
cum," in Bishop Forbes* "Kalendars of
"
See his Ufe at the 30th of April.
" Son of " of Chilian,"
January 21. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 389
After St. Cadroe and St. Malcallan had made their respective professions, the good lady, Herswindes, desired and obtained their return to Thierasche. There St. Malcallan was constituted abbot over St. Michael's Monastery. This -her husband, Count Eilbert, had founded in that forest. The Count establishedanothergreatmonastery,atWazor,upontheRiverMeuse. It lay between Dinant-and Huy. This he gave to the same saint. Both of these abbeys Malcallan governed for some time, in such manner as to unite most perfectly the care of his own sanctification with the perfection of that religious community committed to his charge. ''' At last, finding it too great a burthen to govern, at once, two distant monasteries, he resigned that of Wazor to St. Cathroe. Then Malcallan lived retiringly in St. Michael's Monastery,atTherasche. Somehaveaffirmed,thatSt. Malcallanwasabbot overSt. Michael'sAbbeyatVerdun. ^^ Butthisisamistakeofmanywriters whofollowedthe"MartyrologiumAnglicanum. "^3 Therewasnoabbeyof St. Michael at that place,^* as shown by Menard, who properly observes, that his veneration at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel was not in . Verdun. =5 Thus Ferrarius states,*^ and he adds, moreover, that in Lotha- ringia, this Abbey of St. Michael, over which Makalin had been abbot, was placed. ^7 Saussay and Wion made a similar mistake. '^
About the year 975, St. Cadroe is said to have died, when the govern- ment of his community devolved once more on St. Maccallin. It is generally believed, he was the third abbot over Wasor, in the order of succession. ='9 His elevation and enthronement were attained with the common assent of the Bishop of Metz, and of all his own subjects. 3° He obtained the rule of souls and the care of those pertaining to him in the Basilica of St. Michael. 3' At Therasche this holy abbot went to bliss in the year 978,3^ as Flodouardus, a contemporaneous writer, records : "The man of God, Malcallan, an Irishman by nation, on the eve of St. Vincent, the deacon and martyr, left this transi- torylife, whichhehated;andhappilybegantolivewiththeLord,whomin his lifetime he had continually served. As to his body, it lies buried in the
ChurchofBlessedMichaeltheArchangel. Thisabbey,duringthetimeof his corporal stay in the world, he had piously governed. 33 His obsequies
" See Father Stephen White's " Apolo-
gia pro Hibernia," cap. iv. , p. 41.
'* Hugh Menard accounts for this error,
Church of Verdun," Flodoardus, and Wion. But the Bollandists assert, that neither in the Breviary nor Missal of Verdun, nor in
by stating, that finding tiie words "Vir Wion, is the name of Makalin to be found.
Camerarius has incorrectly cited the Records
of Verdun, for his account of St. Malallinus,
"
at the 4th of October. See Acta Sanc-
torum Januarii," tomus ii. , sec. vi. , p. 386.
Domini" applied to this saint in old MSS. , ""
Virduni must have been substituted by a transcriber.
^3 In the edition of Pithseus. See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , xxi. Januarii. De B. Maccalino, Abbatein
*^In the to his " supplement
gium Gallicanum. "
Martyrolo-
*' Such is the statement of Amoldus Ras- """
Belgica, sec. vi. , p. 386.
"••This is evident from the Chronicon sius, in his additions to tlie Natales of
Valciodorense," and from the acts of the saints connected with it. See D'Acherius, "Spicelegium, sive coUectio aliquot Veterum Scriptorum," tomus vii.
^5 The Bollandists give an account of the foundations here, and show how the present saint had been in no manner connected with them. See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , xxi. Januarii, sees. vi. to xii. -, pp. 386, 387.
** In " Novo Sanctorum Catalogo. " For
this, he quotes the English Martyrology and Flodoard.
'7 Here be cites the " Kalendar of the
Molanus, at the 30th of April,
sojt js added in the Chronicle, "aLeo-
diensi benedicitur. " 3tSostatestheChronicleofWasor. See
the "Acta Sanctorum Januarii," tomus ii. , xxi. Januarii, sec. iii. , p. 386.
^ While agreeing in statement, as to the
"
Chronicon Val- ciodorense says his departure happened A. D. 990. The English Mavtyrology has it A. D. 978. Ferrarius states he flourished in
this year.
^3 gee Andrew Du Chesne's "Historise
place where he died, the "
390 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. (January 21.
were honourably and religiously performed ; while in aftertime, he was re- garded as a saint, and his memory was held in great popular veneration.
St. Malcallan's Abbey of St Michael is well known to have been in
Thierasche or Tierarche,^* a province of Belgic Gaul, on the confines of Haynault. It was situated within the diocese of Laon, on the River Aisia,35 over the village of Hiersson. There this holy abbot's festival is duly cele- brated on the 2ist of January,36 which the Calendarists have allowed to be the date for his festival. 37 Thus, Dorgain^^ and Hugh Menard^s place it, in the Martyrology of their order. Truly might this venerable missionary
exclaimwith " holy David,
Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off : my path and my line Thou hast searched out. "*" That the Almighty approved his course of life upon earth has been manifested, in the fruits his labours procured, and in that hallowed memory bequeathed to the inhabitants of those places he had adorned and blessed before he was
called away to Heaven.
Article II. —St. Briga or Brigid, of Kilbride, in the Diocese OF Lismore, County of Waterford, and of Kilbride, or Brides- church, CouN'i"Y Kildare. {Possibly in the Fifth or Sixth Century. '] Uncertainty in the discriminating of those homonymous saints and their places, found so frequently recurring in our calendars, and which even dis- concerted the researches of writers, who flourished centuries back, must bear with still greater weight on the efforts of modem investigators. I'herefore must these necessarily give forth uncertain sounds, while conjecture can only supply the place of historic evidence. A saint called Briga, the daughter of Congall,' is thought to have been " sinchrona" with her great namesake, the renowned Abbess of Kildare. In the Calendar of Cashel, at the 21st of January, she is called St. Brigid of Killbrige," in Lismore diocese. This old church of Kilbride, in the county of Waterford, consisted of a nave and choir, but all its walls had been destroyed in 1841,3 down to the foundations, with exception of a middle gable. The nave was 30 feet in length by 18 in breadth, and the choir was 14 by 13 feet. The choir arch is 8 feet in height, 6 feet 7 inches in width. The walls, 3 feet 5 inches in thickness, were built of large and small grit-stones. The graveyard had been tilled at the time mentioned. Again it is said, that the present saint's church was situated near the town of Kildare. '* In the Third and Fifth Lives of St. Brigid of Kildare this present holy virgin is called Briga. According to the latter of these authorities, she is said to have lived in the Leinster province, and to have been mother, or superioress, over a monastery and its nuns, who were servants of Christ. From such accounts, Colgan says it is possible she may have been that virgin whose memory was venerated in the Liffy plain,
proved hast known my sitting down and my rising up.
Scriptores Francorum Cooetanei," tomus ii. 3< In the life of St. Usmar, it is called
Theoracia.
33 Now the rOise.
3* Camerarius, however, places it at the
4th of October, and apparently without any guarantee for his statement.
Brigid," cap. 36, alluded to by Father John Colgan.
Lord,
Thouhas
meandknownme Thou ;
"
37 See Wion, Fitzsimon, Ferrarius, and ters containing information relative to the
other hagiological writers.
"
39 Lib. i. , Observationes, p. 186.
Antiquities of the County of Waterford, collected during the progress of the Ordnance
Surrey in 1841," p. 36.
* For this statement vire are referred to the
"VitaS. Albei," cap. 33.
38 See the num. "
Martyrologium
Benedicti-
*°
Article n. —'In the Irish "Life of St.
Psalm, cxxxviii. , i, 2, 3.
'
Middlethird, is marked on the "Ordnance
The parish of Kilbride, in the barony of
Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Waterford. " Sheets 17, 26.
3 See lohn O'Donovan's account in
Let-
January 21. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 391
which lies near Kildare. s A corresponding church denomination is found on the immediate banks of the river, from which this plain has been called- Mr. P. O'Keeffe, who was here in 1837, conjectures that Brideschurch^ was, perhaps, an English translation of the old Irish name,? although no person could be found who recollected Kilbride as the denomination for this parish. ' There was a faint tradition, however, that the patroness was St. Bridget. The particular saint of this name, and her festival day, are left unstated. ? Brides- church ruins have been measured by the writer. '" These left represent a
[St. Bride's Church, County Kildare.
nave and choir. " Interiorly, the former was 47 feet in length by 21 in breadth; the latter was 26 feet in length by 21 in breadth. The limestone walls are over 2 ^ feet in thickness. Some headstones are yet in the grave- yard,which,however,hasbeendisusedforinterments. Itisunenclosed,and it seems to be very ancient. The church was built, most probably, on the site of an older one. Only the foundations, for the most part, are to be
s This is probably the modem parish, in
to the Antiquities of the County of Kildare, collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837," vol. i. , p. 139.
" In March, 1874.
" the end Only
the barony of Clane, county of Kildare, and now Anglicized Bridechurch. This has the River Liffy for its eastern boundary. The situation seems to suit the
of choir, and gable
description very well, and there are ruins of an ancient dhurch within the parish. See Lewis' " To- pographical Dictionary of Ireland," vol. i. ,
parts
wall now remain. The pointed window of
pp. 223, 224.
^
'I'he church ruins and graveyard are seen on land, marked "glebe. " See "Ord- nance Survey Townland Maps for the CountyofKildare. " Sheet19.
7 CiLL TD-pigne.
the cho r is preserved. 1 hrough the kind- ness of Miss Dobbyn, whose lands adjoin the old church site, the writer was fortunate enough to procure a sketch, taken twenty- five years previously, by a Mr. Jeremiah Smith. This has been copied and drawn on the wood by William F. Wakeman, and en- graved by George A. Hanlon, as an illus- trationforthe memoir. Atthetime
the manner here represented. Large elder trees grew wiiiiin the ruin, and even some of these have since disappeared.
* onthe"Ordnance Represented
present
it had been first traced, the walls stood in
Survey Townland Maps for the County of Kildare. "
Sheets 13, 14, 18, 19.
in
"
Letters containing information rektive
9 Nothing of further importance is given
392 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 21.
traced at present.
" The situation is a beautiful one, and in a field, adjoining the River Liffey. On the 9th of March, a St. Brigid is venerated, according
to the Martyrologies of Tallagh and of Marianus O'Gorman, and she may havebeenacontemporarywiththegreatSt. Brigid,AbbessofKildare. But Colgan thinks it more probable that the virgin visited at Kilbride was identical with St. Brigid, or Briga, venerated at this day, according to the Calendar of Cashel. '3 From the circumstance recorded of St. Briga having invited the illustrious Abbess of Kildare to her home, she appears to have lived on terms of intimacy with this latter, who wrought one of her many miracles here. This is found related in the acts of St. Brigid, the great patroness of Ireland. '-^ Yet, a difficulty is presented, where an account is given of certain transactions occurring in the plain of Theba, or Theabtha,'s and when it is stated,herfriendtheholyvirginBrigalivedalsointhatdistrict. '^ Forthere, as we are told, St. Brigid was asked to visit another pious virgin, called Briga,'7 and at the house of this latter. The Abbess of Kildare accepted such invitation at the time, as she had on similar occasions ; and when ar- rivedatthehouse,shewasreceived\vithgreatjoyandhonour. According totheusualcustomoftreatingguests,herfeetwerewashed; andthewater having been removed, it was afterwards applied by a nun, whose feet had long been crippled with gout. ^^ Having washed them with this water, the infirm sister's feet were healed, and almost before they could be wiped. Saint Brigid afterwards spent a considerable time there, and in conference with the nuns, while treating on various spiritual topics. But the arch-tempter from the beginning, who envied the innocence of our first parents in the garden of Paradise,'? found means to enter St. Briga's establishment, at a time, too, when the hostess and her illustrious guest were seated at table. His presence was first revealed to St. Brigid, who fixed her eyes steadily on him for a time. Then communicating what she had seen to her entertainer, and signing the eyes of the latter with a sign of the cross, Briga beheld a deformed monster. -" The holy Abbess of Kildare commanded him to speak, and to make known the purport of his unwelcome visit. The Devil replied :
" Not far from the Sallins station, on the Great Southern and Western Railway, which passes closely by, the ruins of Brideschurch may be seen, on the north side, and near the Leinster Aqueduct of the Grand Canal, over the Liffey river.
*' O I cannot avoid holy virgin,
nor can I
you observe God's precepts and are affable to the poor and lowly. " He dien
as
speaking,
avowed a desire to cause the spiritual death of a nun, who had yielded to his
S. Brigidae deKillbrige in Dioe- cesi Lismorensi et prope etiam Killdariam '3 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," est ejus ecclesia. " See "Trias Thauma- Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, cap. xxx. , and n. 18. turga," Vita Tertia S. Brigidas, n. 18, p. Vita Quinta S. BrigidiB, cap. xlv. , xlvi. Ap- 543, and Quinta Vita S. Brigidae, cap. adv. ,
pendix Quarta ad Acta S. Brigidae, cap. i. , PP- 53°) 543' 578. 612.
'* See her life at the ist of February.
'5 Sometimes Latinized " Teffia. " In St. Patrick's time it formed the north-west por- tion of ancient Midhe or Meath.
** to St. Third Life, According Brigid's
as published by Colgan.
'7 In the Life of St. Brigid, by Laurence
of Durham, it is said of her: "Erat in
prsefata Lageniensium provincia mater an- cillarum Christi nomine Briga," &c Where-
fore, in the opinion of Colgan, she must have been either St. Brigid, who was vene-
rated hi the Liffy's plain, near Kildare, at
p. 578, ibid.
'^In the Sixth or Metrical Life of St.
Brigid, attributed by Colgan to St. Chselian, of Inniscaltra, this circumstance forms the subject of a distinct relation, and as if not specially connected with Kilbride.
'' Genesis iii.
"""Virginis obtusos benedixit Brigida visus :
Viderat ac timuit, vtiltum latitare vo- — lebat. "
Sexta Vita S. Brigidns, § xiv. , p. 584. Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " In this life the place where these incidents are re- ferred to is not mentioned.
nuary, as
disobey your orders,
the 9th of March, according to Marianus
Gorman and the Martyrology of Tallaght ; or perhaps a St. Brigid, of whom the Mar-
tyrologyof Cashel treats, at the 2 1st of Ja-
"
January 21. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 39:5
temptations. He even told the name of this nun to the holy abbess, when
the latter, charitably calling her, and signing her eyes with a sign of the cross, desired her to behold the monster. The nun was terrified at this sight, and
shedding abundance of tears, promised to be more circumspect for the fu- ture. Brigid felt great compassion for this penitent, and banished the demon
from their presence. Thus, on occasion of her visit, St. Brigid procured the corporal restoration of one, and the spiritual liberation of another, belonging to that sisterhood. Supposing the foregoing transactions to have occurred
at Kilbride, or Brideschurch, in the county Kildare, it follows that the present St. Briga—if we have rightly assigned her festival to this date—must have been a special favourite and companion of the illustrious abbess, whose " in the earlier
period fully extolled by her biographers.
of the Irish have been so wonder- church,
magnalia,"
,
Article III. —St. Seighin, of Cill-Seighin. \Possibly in the Fifth
Century^ The unknown workers for God's kingdom in our early Christian
history are not the less interesting, as subjects for investigation ; but it is to be lamented, in the words of an estimable and a talented ecclesiastic, that while we are taught at school the histories of Rome, Greece, and England, the history of Ireland is altogether ignored. ' This is more especially the case with regard to our Irish ecclesiastical history ; and although it may seem a paradox to conceited or half-educated historical students, yet it is an un- questionable fact, that the histories, not only of the first-named countries, but of most nations in the world, require a vast amount of illustration, which can only be developed by bringing fully to light, and from comparative ob- scurity, what is still quite possible to be cleared up from hitherto unpublished Irish records. At the 21st of January, Segain Cille Segain is found in the Martyrology of Tallaght. ^ Again do we meet Seighin, of Gill Seighin, en- tered in the Martyrology of Donegal3 for this day. A great difficulty exists in identifying this holy man and his place. * Colgan hazards a conjecture,
that he may be that Siggeus who is classed among the disciples of St. Patrick. s
Colgan, however, suggests the possibility of the proper reading being Sigenus. *^ There was a Kilshanny, alias Kilsonna, a religious establishment in the ba-
ronyofCorcunroe,inthecountyofClare•^ andagaintherewerereligious institutes at Kilshane, in the county of Limerick. ^ This latter place seems more euphonic with the present saint's name, and with that of his church,
This is the name of a townland of Ardcame parish, in the diocese of Elphin, and where the bishop of this see is said formerly to have had his palace. It lay in the barony
Articlehi. —' SeeRev.
James Gaffney's "Ancient Irish Church," chap, i. , p. 2. Our schools of the Christian Brothers are
happily exceptions to a very prevalent rule.
of Roscommon. See the Franciscan copy, after the entry of Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four
=* Edited Rev. Dr. xiii. In of by Kelly, p.
forty-two foreign saints, the first Irish saint at the present date is SejAin cibie TejAin.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
24, 25.
* There is a Cil. 1 Seyccn^n, now Angli-
cized Kilshesnan. It is an old church in
Fiachrach," printed for the Irish Archoeo-
logical Society in 1844. There was also a
" De Primordiis Ecclesiarum Bri-
in a townland of the same in name,
Ussher,
riiins,
the parish of Killosser, barony of Gallen, and county of Mayo. Its situation is indi- cated on the map to Dr. O'Donovan's "
tannicaram," p. 950. *""
Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of Hy-
See Trias Thaumaturga. Quinta Ap- pendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 268.
'See Archdall's " Monasticon Hibemi-
cum," p. 53. ^
Ibid. , p. 425.
CiLL now SeffiTi,
Anglicized
Kilteashin.
and
Masters," vol. iii. , n. (m), p. 308, n. (e), p. 348, and n. (s), p. 304, ibid. Neither of these places, however, is probably intended to apply in connection with the present saint,
s in Tirechan's list, as found given in
Boyle,
county
394 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 21.
than the denominations, Kilshesnan of Mayo County,^ Kilteashin of Ros- common County, or Kilshanny, alias Kilsonna, of Clare County. An old
church and graveyard are in the town of Ballingarry, county of Limerick, and separated from the modern Protestant church by a stone wall. Traces
of the foundations are only visible at present, the gable having fallen about 1810. But on the townland of Killshane,'° near Ballingarry, are the ruins of an abbey," within a disused graveyard. The abbey consisted of nave and choir, separated by a tower about 60 feet in height. The choir was 33 JE^ feet
long, by 18 feet 8 inches in breadth. The nave was 39 feet in length by 19 feet 1 1 inches in width. A square tower springs from two pointed arches, about 15 feet high, 7 feet in width, and 3^ feet in thickness : these arches are 4^ feet from each other. The whole building was in a very ruinous con- ditionin1840. " ItseemspossibleenoughthatKilshanetownlandhadbeen formerly more extensive, and it may have taken in the present site of the parish church at Ballingarry.
Article IV. —Flann Mac Laich, or Mac Lughdach, Bishop of FiNGLAS,Cou—ntyofDublin. Aconsiderableshareofmisunderstanding
while even — prevailed distinguished
from the small, rapid, and tortuous
bright stream" that runs through a sort
rent-rolls contain them. The
moslunaccountablymistakes, when he writes: "The festival of St. Cainneach, of this
is set down in ' and Feilire-^nguis,'
of each locality could have given those deno- minations to the surveyors, in nearly all cases, were pains taken to collect them. At present, all Irish archjeologists are aware regarding the vast number of historically sites and names omitted from
place,
in O'Clery's 'Irish Calendar,' at 15th of
interesting
those maps hitherto engraved.
day
O'Clery's
Calendar," belong-
This townland, in the parish of Ballin- garry, and barony of Upper Connello, is
noted on the " Ordnance
Survey Maps
for
the County of Limerick. " Sheets 29, 37. ""
On the former are marked Abbey Ruins.
"According to Fitzgerald and McGregor,
peasantry
Irish historians and
in reference to the special Patron Saint of
has
appear to have fallen into errors'
Finglas. ^ The original name of this village seems to have been derived
"
of beside the — Towards the close of the ravine, present cemetery.
patron, called Cainnigh or Canice. He is generally thought to have been the patron saint of Ossory,3 as no other one bearing such a name can be found in connection with this spot. Whether or not a monastery had been founded by Cainneach, while under the tuition of Mobhi Clairenech, abbot, ofGlasnevin,andwhodiedin544,*canscarcelybedetermined. Itseems
'The Kilshesnan of Mayo cannot be iden- tified on the Mayo Ordnance Survey Maps. It is to be regretted, that so many local names cannot be found on these maps, al- though doubtless the landholders' leases and
'°
i
beginning
century
. ^ngusa"
as we find in the " Feilire
of the ninth
this place had been denominated Finnghlais-Cainnigh, after some earlier
—n the
Survey in 1840," vol. ii. , pp. 60 to 77. John O'Donovan adds occasional annotations.
Article iv. —'Thus Dr. O'Donovan
May. "—See
'*
Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (i. ), p. 361. He must have con- founded St. Cainneach with another saint, whose festival is set down for this same
the of the " of published copy Martyrology
Donegal," her name was written simply as "Cainneoc," without any further designa- tion. See pp. 128, 129.
" Irish
in
ing to the Royal Irish Academy, as " Cain- neoc, virgin, daughter of Bersu, of tiie [race] of Niall ol the Nine Hostages. " In
" In the gloss to that copy ofthe " Felire," " ''
the abbey near Ballingarry belonged to the Franciscans. See Ilistory, Topography, and Antiquities of the County and City of Limerick," vol. i. , p. 574.
"Mr. P. O'Keeffe gives an interesting and a detailed description of this parish in
"
Letters containing information relative to the Antiquities of the County of Limerick, collected during the progress of the Ordnance
preserved in the Leabhar-Breac," Find- glais is described as "i taebh Atha Cliath," ? '. «', "by the side of Dublin. "— See Dr. O' Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (i), p. 361.
3 See his life, elsewhere written, at the llth of October,
^SeeDrs.
Bede expressly alludes to Rathmelfigi as having been a monastery in Ireland. See
"
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," lib. iii. , cap. 27, p. 241,
"See " Scoti- Dempster's Menologium
cum," in Bishop Forbes* "Kalendars of
"
See his Ufe at the 30th of April.
" Son of " of Chilian,"
January 21. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 389
After St. Cadroe and St. Malcallan had made their respective professions, the good lady, Herswindes, desired and obtained their return to Thierasche. There St. Malcallan was constituted abbot over St. Michael's Monastery. This -her husband, Count Eilbert, had founded in that forest. The Count establishedanothergreatmonastery,atWazor,upontheRiverMeuse. It lay between Dinant-and Huy. This he gave to the same saint. Both of these abbeys Malcallan governed for some time, in such manner as to unite most perfectly the care of his own sanctification with the perfection of that religious community committed to his charge. ''' At last, finding it too great a burthen to govern, at once, two distant monasteries, he resigned that of Wazor to St. Cathroe. Then Malcallan lived retiringly in St. Michael's Monastery,atTherasche. Somehaveaffirmed,thatSt. Malcallanwasabbot overSt. Michael'sAbbeyatVerdun. ^^ Butthisisamistakeofmanywriters whofollowedthe"MartyrologiumAnglicanum. "^3 Therewasnoabbeyof St. Michael at that place,^* as shown by Menard, who properly observes, that his veneration at the Church of St. Michael the Archangel was not in . Verdun. =5 Thus Ferrarius states,*^ and he adds, moreover, that in Lotha- ringia, this Abbey of St. Michael, over which Makalin had been abbot, was placed. ^7 Saussay and Wion made a similar mistake. '^
About the year 975, St. Cadroe is said to have died, when the govern- ment of his community devolved once more on St. Maccallin. It is generally believed, he was the third abbot over Wasor, in the order of succession. ='9 His elevation and enthronement were attained with the common assent of the Bishop of Metz, and of all his own subjects. 3° He obtained the rule of souls and the care of those pertaining to him in the Basilica of St. Michael. 3' At Therasche this holy abbot went to bliss in the year 978,3^ as Flodouardus, a contemporaneous writer, records : "The man of God, Malcallan, an Irishman by nation, on the eve of St. Vincent, the deacon and martyr, left this transi- torylife, whichhehated;andhappilybegantolivewiththeLord,whomin his lifetime he had continually served. As to his body, it lies buried in the
ChurchofBlessedMichaeltheArchangel. Thisabbey,duringthetimeof his corporal stay in the world, he had piously governed. 33 His obsequies
" See Father Stephen White's " Apolo-
gia pro Hibernia," cap. iv. , p. 41.
'* Hugh Menard accounts for this error,
Church of Verdun," Flodoardus, and Wion. But the Bollandists assert, that neither in the Breviary nor Missal of Verdun, nor in
by stating, that finding tiie words "Vir Wion, is the name of Makalin to be found.
Camerarius has incorrectly cited the Records
of Verdun, for his account of St. Malallinus,
"
at the 4th of October. See Acta Sanc-
torum Januarii," tomus ii. , sec. vi. , p. 386.
Domini" applied to this saint in old MSS. , ""
Virduni must have been substituted by a transcriber.
^3 In the edition of Pithseus. See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , xxi. Januarii. De B. Maccalino, Abbatein
*^In the to his " supplement
gium Gallicanum. "
Martyrolo-
*' Such is the statement of Amoldus Ras- """
Belgica, sec. vi. , p. 386.
"••This is evident from the Chronicon sius, in his additions to tlie Natales of
Valciodorense," and from the acts of the saints connected with it. See D'Acherius, "Spicelegium, sive coUectio aliquot Veterum Scriptorum," tomus vii.
^5 The Bollandists give an account of the foundations here, and show how the present saint had been in no manner connected with them. See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , xxi. Januarii, sees. vi. to xii. -, pp. 386, 387.
** In " Novo Sanctorum Catalogo. " For
this, he quotes the English Martyrology and Flodoard.
'7 Here be cites the " Kalendar of the
Molanus, at the 30th of April,
sojt js added in the Chronicle, "aLeo-
diensi benedicitur. " 3tSostatestheChronicleofWasor. See
the "Acta Sanctorum Januarii," tomus ii. , xxi. Januarii, sec. iii. , p. 386.
^ While agreeing in statement, as to the
"
Chronicon Val- ciodorense says his departure happened A. D. 990. The English Mavtyrology has it A. D. 978. Ferrarius states he flourished in
this year.
^3 gee Andrew Du Chesne's "Historise
place where he died, the "
390 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. (January 21.
were honourably and religiously performed ; while in aftertime, he was re- garded as a saint, and his memory was held in great popular veneration.
St. Malcallan's Abbey of St Michael is well known to have been in
Thierasche or Tierarche,^* a province of Belgic Gaul, on the confines of Haynault. It was situated within the diocese of Laon, on the River Aisia,35 over the village of Hiersson. There this holy abbot's festival is duly cele- brated on the 2ist of January,36 which the Calendarists have allowed to be the date for his festival. 37 Thus, Dorgain^^ and Hugh Menard^s place it, in the Martyrology of their order. Truly might this venerable missionary
exclaimwith " holy David,
Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off : my path and my line Thou hast searched out. "*" That the Almighty approved his course of life upon earth has been manifested, in the fruits his labours procured, and in that hallowed memory bequeathed to the inhabitants of those places he had adorned and blessed before he was
called away to Heaven.
Article II. —St. Briga or Brigid, of Kilbride, in the Diocese OF Lismore, County of Waterford, and of Kilbride, or Brides- church, CouN'i"Y Kildare. {Possibly in the Fifth or Sixth Century. '] Uncertainty in the discriminating of those homonymous saints and their places, found so frequently recurring in our calendars, and which even dis- concerted the researches of writers, who flourished centuries back, must bear with still greater weight on the efforts of modem investigators. I'herefore must these necessarily give forth uncertain sounds, while conjecture can only supply the place of historic evidence. A saint called Briga, the daughter of Congall,' is thought to have been " sinchrona" with her great namesake, the renowned Abbess of Kildare. In the Calendar of Cashel, at the 21st of January, she is called St. Brigid of Killbrige," in Lismore diocese. This old church of Kilbride, in the county of Waterford, consisted of a nave and choir, but all its walls had been destroyed in 1841,3 down to the foundations, with exception of a middle gable. The nave was 30 feet in length by 18 in breadth, and the choir was 14 by 13 feet. The choir arch is 8 feet in height, 6 feet 7 inches in width. The walls, 3 feet 5 inches in thickness, were built of large and small grit-stones. The graveyard had been tilled at the time mentioned. Again it is said, that the present saint's church was situated near the town of Kildare. '* In the Third and Fifth Lives of St. Brigid of Kildare this present holy virgin is called Briga. According to the latter of these authorities, she is said to have lived in the Leinster province, and to have been mother, or superioress, over a monastery and its nuns, who were servants of Christ. From such accounts, Colgan says it is possible she may have been that virgin whose memory was venerated in the Liffy plain,
proved hast known my sitting down and my rising up.
Scriptores Francorum Cooetanei," tomus ii. 3< In the life of St. Usmar, it is called
Theoracia.
33 Now the rOise.
3* Camerarius, however, places it at the
4th of October, and apparently without any guarantee for his statement.
Brigid," cap. 36, alluded to by Father John Colgan.
Lord,
Thouhas
meandknownme Thou ;
"
37 See Wion, Fitzsimon, Ferrarius, and ters containing information relative to the
other hagiological writers.
"
39 Lib. i. , Observationes, p. 186.
Antiquities of the County of Waterford, collected during the progress of the Ordnance
Surrey in 1841," p. 36.
* For this statement vire are referred to the
"VitaS. Albei," cap. 33.
38 See the num. "
Martyrologium
Benedicti-
*°
Article n. —'In the Irish "Life of St.
Psalm, cxxxviii. , i, 2, 3.
'
Middlethird, is marked on the "Ordnance
The parish of Kilbride, in the barony of
Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Waterford. " Sheets 17, 26.
3 See lohn O'Donovan's account in
Let-
January 21. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 391
which lies near Kildare. s A corresponding church denomination is found on the immediate banks of the river, from which this plain has been called- Mr. P. O'Keeffe, who was here in 1837, conjectures that Brideschurch^ was, perhaps, an English translation of the old Irish name,? although no person could be found who recollected Kilbride as the denomination for this parish. ' There was a faint tradition, however, that the patroness was St. Bridget. The particular saint of this name, and her festival day, are left unstated. ? Brides- church ruins have been measured by the writer. '" These left represent a
[St. Bride's Church, County Kildare.
nave and choir. " Interiorly, the former was 47 feet in length by 21 in breadth; the latter was 26 feet in length by 21 in breadth. The limestone walls are over 2 ^ feet in thickness. Some headstones are yet in the grave- yard,which,however,hasbeendisusedforinterments. Itisunenclosed,and it seems to be very ancient. The church was built, most probably, on the site of an older one. Only the foundations, for the most part, are to be
s This is probably the modem parish, in
to the Antiquities of the County of Kildare, collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837," vol. i. , p. 139.
" In March, 1874.
" the end Only
the barony of Clane, county of Kildare, and now Anglicized Bridechurch. This has the River Liffy for its eastern boundary. The situation seems to suit the
of choir, and gable
description very well, and there are ruins of an ancient dhurch within the parish. See Lewis' " To- pographical Dictionary of Ireland," vol. i. ,
parts
wall now remain. The pointed window of
pp. 223, 224.
^
'I'he church ruins and graveyard are seen on land, marked "glebe. " See "Ord- nance Survey Townland Maps for the CountyofKildare. " Sheet19.
7 CiLL TD-pigne.
the cho r is preserved. 1 hrough the kind- ness of Miss Dobbyn, whose lands adjoin the old church site, the writer was fortunate enough to procure a sketch, taken twenty- five years previously, by a Mr. Jeremiah Smith. This has been copied and drawn on the wood by William F. Wakeman, and en- graved by George A. Hanlon, as an illus- trationforthe memoir. Atthetime
the manner here represented. Large elder trees grew wiiiiin the ruin, and even some of these have since disappeared.
* onthe"Ordnance Represented
present
it had been first traced, the walls stood in
Survey Townland Maps for the County of Kildare. "
Sheets 13, 14, 18, 19.
in
"
Letters containing information rektive
9 Nothing of further importance is given
392 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 21.
traced at present.
" The situation is a beautiful one, and in a field, adjoining the River Liffey. On the 9th of March, a St. Brigid is venerated, according
to the Martyrologies of Tallagh and of Marianus O'Gorman, and she may havebeenacontemporarywiththegreatSt. Brigid,AbbessofKildare. But Colgan thinks it more probable that the virgin visited at Kilbride was identical with St. Brigid, or Briga, venerated at this day, according to the Calendar of Cashel. '3 From the circumstance recorded of St. Briga having invited the illustrious Abbess of Kildare to her home, she appears to have lived on terms of intimacy with this latter, who wrought one of her many miracles here. This is found related in the acts of St. Brigid, the great patroness of Ireland. '-^ Yet, a difficulty is presented, where an account is given of certain transactions occurring in the plain of Theba, or Theabtha,'s and when it is stated,herfriendtheholyvirginBrigalivedalsointhatdistrict. '^ Forthere, as we are told, St. Brigid was asked to visit another pious virgin, called Briga,'7 and at the house of this latter. The Abbess of Kildare accepted such invitation at the time, as she had on similar occasions ; and when ar- rivedatthehouse,shewasreceived\vithgreatjoyandhonour. According totheusualcustomoftreatingguests,herfeetwerewashed; andthewater having been removed, it was afterwards applied by a nun, whose feet had long been crippled with gout. ^^ Having washed them with this water, the infirm sister's feet were healed, and almost before they could be wiped. Saint Brigid afterwards spent a considerable time there, and in conference with the nuns, while treating on various spiritual topics. But the arch-tempter from the beginning, who envied the innocence of our first parents in the garden of Paradise,'? found means to enter St. Briga's establishment, at a time, too, when the hostess and her illustrious guest were seated at table. His presence was first revealed to St. Brigid, who fixed her eyes steadily on him for a time. Then communicating what she had seen to her entertainer, and signing the eyes of the latter with a sign of the cross, Briga beheld a deformed monster. -" The holy Abbess of Kildare commanded him to speak, and to make known the purport of his unwelcome visit. The Devil replied :
" Not far from the Sallins station, on the Great Southern and Western Railway, which passes closely by, the ruins of Brideschurch may be seen, on the north side, and near the Leinster Aqueduct of the Grand Canal, over the Liffey river.
*' O I cannot avoid holy virgin,
nor can I
you observe God's precepts and are affable to the poor and lowly. " He dien
as
speaking,
avowed a desire to cause the spiritual death of a nun, who had yielded to his
S. Brigidae deKillbrige in Dioe- cesi Lismorensi et prope etiam Killdariam '3 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," est ejus ecclesia. " See "Trias Thauma- Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, cap. xxx. , and n. 18. turga," Vita Tertia S. Brigidas, n. 18, p. Vita Quinta S. BrigidiB, cap. xlv. , xlvi. Ap- 543, and Quinta Vita S. Brigidae, cap. adv. ,
pendix Quarta ad Acta S. Brigidae, cap. i. , PP- 53°) 543' 578. 612.
'* See her life at the ist of February.
'5 Sometimes Latinized " Teffia. " In St. Patrick's time it formed the north-west por- tion of ancient Midhe or Meath.
** to St. Third Life, According Brigid's
as published by Colgan.
'7 In the Life of St. Brigid, by Laurence
of Durham, it is said of her: "Erat in
prsefata Lageniensium provincia mater an- cillarum Christi nomine Briga," &c Where-
fore, in the opinion of Colgan, she must have been either St. Brigid, who was vene-
rated hi the Liffy's plain, near Kildare, at
p. 578, ibid.
'^In the Sixth or Metrical Life of St.
Brigid, attributed by Colgan to St. Chselian, of Inniscaltra, this circumstance forms the subject of a distinct relation, and as if not specially connected with Kilbride.
'' Genesis iii.
"""Virginis obtusos benedixit Brigida visus :
Viderat ac timuit, vtiltum latitare vo- — lebat. "
Sexta Vita S. Brigidns, § xiv. , p. 584. Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga. " In this life the place where these incidents are re- ferred to is not mentioned.
nuary, as
disobey your orders,
the 9th of March, according to Marianus
Gorman and the Martyrology of Tallaght ; or perhaps a St. Brigid, of whom the Mar-
tyrologyof Cashel treats, at the 2 1st of Ja-
"
January 21. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 39:5
temptations. He even told the name of this nun to the holy abbess, when
the latter, charitably calling her, and signing her eyes with a sign of the cross, desired her to behold the monster. The nun was terrified at this sight, and
shedding abundance of tears, promised to be more circumspect for the fu- ture. Brigid felt great compassion for this penitent, and banished the demon
from their presence. Thus, on occasion of her visit, St. Brigid procured the corporal restoration of one, and the spiritual liberation of another, belonging to that sisterhood. Supposing the foregoing transactions to have occurred
at Kilbride, or Brideschurch, in the county Kildare, it follows that the present St. Briga—if we have rightly assigned her festival to this date—must have been a special favourite and companion of the illustrious abbess, whose " in the earlier
period fully extolled by her biographers.
of the Irish have been so wonder- church,
magnalia,"
,
Article III. —St. Seighin, of Cill-Seighin. \Possibly in the Fifth
Century^ The unknown workers for God's kingdom in our early Christian
history are not the less interesting, as subjects for investigation ; but it is to be lamented, in the words of an estimable and a talented ecclesiastic, that while we are taught at school the histories of Rome, Greece, and England, the history of Ireland is altogether ignored. ' This is more especially the case with regard to our Irish ecclesiastical history ; and although it may seem a paradox to conceited or half-educated historical students, yet it is an un- questionable fact, that the histories, not only of the first-named countries, but of most nations in the world, require a vast amount of illustration, which can only be developed by bringing fully to light, and from comparative ob- scurity, what is still quite possible to be cleared up from hitherto unpublished Irish records. At the 21st of January, Segain Cille Segain is found in the Martyrology of Tallaght. ^ Again do we meet Seighin, of Gill Seighin, en- tered in the Martyrology of Donegal3 for this day. A great difficulty exists in identifying this holy man and his place. * Colgan hazards a conjecture,
that he may be that Siggeus who is classed among the disciples of St. Patrick. s
Colgan, however, suggests the possibility of the proper reading being Sigenus. *^ There was a Kilshanny, alias Kilsonna, a religious establishment in the ba-
ronyofCorcunroe,inthecountyofClare•^ andagaintherewerereligious institutes at Kilshane, in the county of Limerick. ^ This latter place seems more euphonic with the present saint's name, and with that of his church,
This is the name of a townland of Ardcame parish, in the diocese of Elphin, and where the bishop of this see is said formerly to have had his palace. It lay in the barony
Articlehi. —' SeeRev.
James Gaffney's "Ancient Irish Church," chap, i. , p. 2. Our schools of the Christian Brothers are
happily exceptions to a very prevalent rule.
of Roscommon. See the Franciscan copy, after the entry of Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four
=* Edited Rev. Dr. xiii. In of by Kelly, p.
forty-two foreign saints, the first Irish saint at the present date is SejAin cibie TejAin.
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
24, 25.
* There is a Cil. 1 Seyccn^n, now Angli-
cized Kilshesnan. It is an old church in
Fiachrach," printed for the Irish Archoeo-
logical Society in 1844. There was also a
" De Primordiis Ecclesiarum Bri-
in a townland of the same in name,
Ussher,
riiins,
the parish of Killosser, barony of Gallen, and county of Mayo. Its situation is indi- cated on the map to Dr. O'Donovan's "
tannicaram," p. 950. *""
Genealogies, Tribes, and Customs of Hy-
See Trias Thaumaturga. Quinta Ap- pendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 268.
'See Archdall's " Monasticon Hibemi-
cum," p. 53. ^
Ibid. , p. 425.
CiLL now SeffiTi,
Anglicized
Kilteashin.
and
Masters," vol. iii. , n. (m), p. 308, n. (e), p. 348, and n. (s), p. 304, ibid. Neither of these places, however, is probably intended to apply in connection with the present saint,
s in Tirechan's list, as found given in
Boyle,
county
394 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 21.
than the denominations, Kilshesnan of Mayo County,^ Kilteashin of Ros- common County, or Kilshanny, alias Kilsonna, of Clare County. An old
church and graveyard are in the town of Ballingarry, county of Limerick, and separated from the modern Protestant church by a stone wall. Traces
of the foundations are only visible at present, the gable having fallen about 1810. But on the townland of Killshane,'° near Ballingarry, are the ruins of an abbey," within a disused graveyard. The abbey consisted of nave and choir, separated by a tower about 60 feet in height. The choir was 33 JE^ feet
long, by 18 feet 8 inches in breadth. The nave was 39 feet in length by 19 feet 1 1 inches in width. A square tower springs from two pointed arches, about 15 feet high, 7 feet in width, and 3^ feet in thickness : these arches are 4^ feet from each other. The whole building was in a very ruinous con- ditionin1840. " ItseemspossibleenoughthatKilshanetownlandhadbeen formerly more extensive, and it may have taken in the present site of the parish church at Ballingarry.
Article IV. —Flann Mac Laich, or Mac Lughdach, Bishop of FiNGLAS,Cou—ntyofDublin. Aconsiderableshareofmisunderstanding
while even — prevailed distinguished
from the small, rapid, and tortuous
bright stream" that runs through a sort
rent-rolls contain them. The
moslunaccountablymistakes, when he writes: "The festival of St. Cainneach, of this
is set down in ' and Feilire-^nguis,'
of each locality could have given those deno- minations to the surveyors, in nearly all cases, were pains taken to collect them. At present, all Irish archjeologists are aware regarding the vast number of historically sites and names omitted from
place,
in O'Clery's 'Irish Calendar,' at 15th of
interesting
those maps hitherto engraved.
day
O'Clery's
Calendar," belong-
This townland, in the parish of Ballin- garry, and barony of Upper Connello, is
noted on the " Ordnance
Survey Maps
for
the County of Limerick. " Sheets 29, 37. ""
On the former are marked Abbey Ruins.
"According to Fitzgerald and McGregor,
peasantry
Irish historians and
in reference to the special Patron Saint of
has
appear to have fallen into errors'
Finglas. ^ The original name of this village seems to have been derived
"
of beside the — Towards the close of the ravine, present cemetery.
patron, called Cainnigh or Canice. He is generally thought to have been the patron saint of Ossory,3 as no other one bearing such a name can be found in connection with this spot. Whether or not a monastery had been founded by Cainneach, while under the tuition of Mobhi Clairenech, abbot, ofGlasnevin,andwhodiedin544,*canscarcelybedetermined. Itseems
'The Kilshesnan of Mayo cannot be iden- tified on the Mayo Ordnance Survey Maps. It is to be regretted, that so many local names cannot be found on these maps, al- though doubtless the landholders' leases and
'°
i
beginning
century
. ^ngusa"
as we find in the " Feilire
of the ninth
this place had been denominated Finnghlais-Cainnigh, after some earlier
—n the
Survey in 1840," vol. ii. , pp. 60 to 77. John O'Donovan adds occasional annotations.
Article iv. —'Thus Dr. O'Donovan
May. "—See
'*
Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (i. ), p. 361. He must have con- founded St. Cainneach with another saint, whose festival is set down for this same
the of the " of published copy Martyrology
Donegal," her name was written simply as "Cainneoc," without any further designa- tion. See pp. 128, 129.
" Irish
in
ing to the Royal Irish Academy, as " Cain- neoc, virgin, daughter of Bersu, of tiie [race] of Niall ol the Nine Hostages. " In
" In the gloss to that copy ofthe " Felire," " ''
the abbey near Ballingarry belonged to the Franciscans. See Ilistory, Topography, and Antiquities of the County and City of Limerick," vol. i. , p. 574.
"Mr. P. O'Keeffe gives an interesting and a detailed description of this parish in
"
Letters containing information relative to the Antiquities of the County of Limerick, collected during the progress of the Ordnance
preserved in the Leabhar-Breac," Find- glais is described as "i taebh Atha Cliath," ? '. «', "by the side of Dublin. "— See Dr. O' Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , n. (i), p. 361.
3 See his life, elsewhere written, at the llth of October,
^SeeDrs.
