is It was
attached
to the present imposing square tower, a mediaeval structure.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
MICHAN'S PARISH, AND CHURCH, IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DUBLIN.
[PROBABLY IN THE TENTH OR ELEVENTH CENTURY. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION. —ST. MICHAN—UNCERTAINTY REGARDING HIS AGE AND RACE—HIS COMMEMORATION AND HIS CHURCH IN DUBLIN—ORIGIN OF OSMANTOWN—ST. MICHAN'S PARISH DURING THE MIDDLE AGES—VENERATION OF ST. SYTH OR OSYTH.
appears rather strange, that a Saint, intimately connected with a ITcity, which contains so many records of its early history, should have left little trac—e of his own personality to our time. The forms of his name are very various Thus, Michanus, Mighan, Myghan, Michee, and Mahano are found in different mediaeval documents, which have reference to him and to the well-known church and parish of which he is the patron. The name Michanus is entered at this date, in the anonymous calendar, published
by O'Sullivan Beare.
1
For all that is personally known of the present holy
man, we might end the account in a few 2 But the of very paragraphs. history
his parish, and of the churches there dedicated to him, may have some interest for our readers.
Article xi—J See " Transactions of the
Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of
/Engus, by Whitley Stokes, p. cxxv.
2
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Au-
gusti xxiv. De SS. Zenobio, Capitulino, of Arabia. For twenty years she was sterile,
Emerita, ltalica, Item de SS. Juviano et Julio, MM. Antiochice. Cultusexapographis Hieronymianis, pp. 767, 768.
3 The commentaiyon these is written by
Father John P—inius, S. J.
when an angel predicted the birth of Michee, and the boy was afterwards baptized tjy Magonius, Bishop of Alexandria. When he was seventeen years old, Obeth died, then Michee was offered succession over the
of Chananaeum, but this he refused. He then went to the city of Alexandria, where he received the monk's habit from the bishop, and he was initiated to the priest- hood, in the thirtieth year of his age. Then returning to his native country, he was con- secrated bishop, and governed in that capacity for twenty-two years. Afterwards he left that place under angelic guidance, The narrative then continues in the original Latin: "inde perveniens ad ripam Nili fluminis, sociis LX sibi assecutis, fluminis impetum benedictionis oppositione con- stringens, cum omni comitatu suo securus
"
I. See Historise Catholicse
Article
Ibernise Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 50.
'
The Bollandists alluding to him, at the 25th of August, relate, that they had an
"
Vita Sancti Michese," but that it abounded altogether in fables ; and to prove this statement, they adduce some specimens of absurd narratives drawn from it. This tract was contained in a drawer, among other Manuscript Lives of Irish Saints, received from Father Henry Fitz-
simon, and it was marked i|« M. S. 167 A.
apocryphal
That
"
Vita Sancti Micheae" was to be found
at fol. 20 et In the father of St. seq. it,
Michee is stated to have been King over the
Chananseans, and his name was Obeth, the son of Eliud ; while his mother was named
Alipia, and she was daughter to the King
Kingdom
366 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
Whether St. Michan is to be regarded as a Danish or an Irish saint is a matter contested. One of our most learned Irish antiquaries seems inclined to think he was of the former race. 3 If we are to follow the prevailing popular opinion of the inhabitants of Dublin, in the sixteenth century, we are likely to concur in the statement of Rev. Dr. Meredith Hanmer, who calls St. Michan a " Dane and Bishop. " 4 Notwithstanding the latter distinction accorded him, and for which Hanmer appears to have had even documentary warrant, it does not seem likely, that Michan had been advanced to the
episcopal dignity. A very probable opinion may be formed, as the name Michan, in any of its forms, is not found historically to have been at all common in Irish families,5 that the present holy man was of Danish origin, and born in Dublin, which in his time had been colonized by Scandinavians, who had embraced the Christian faith. The period when he flourished is unknown.
His name occurs in the Calendar prefixed to the Martyrology of Christ
Church,Dublin,under25thAugust—viii. Kal. ,Sept. —asS. MicheeConfessoris; while he is described in the Martyrology itself in these terms, and at the
:
" Eodem die ; sancti Michee episcopi, confessoris. "6 However, we
same date
are told, that the insertion of the word episcopi is —in a more recent hand. 7 In
to two ancient Breviaries one—
of these to
the Calendars
St. John's Church, Dublin, the other to Clondalkin and now in Trinity College Library, Dublin, the word "Episcopi" is inserted before "Confessoris. " By some writers, he is regarded, as not having advanced beyond the grade
prefixed
belonging
of priest ; and this opinion is altogether probable, since no record presents his parish in the character of having been a primitive See. St. Michan must have lived in the eleventh or perhaps the preceding century ; but the year for his decease has not been recorded.
The Danes or Ostmen, who had settled in Dublin, and who had surrounded their city with walls, embraced Christianity in the tenth and eleventh centuries. 8 Their conversion from Paganism placed them on more friendly
pertransiit. Deinde ad littus Maris Rubri
cum sociis veniens, secundum illud Israelitici
populi, ab expugnatione Pharaonis per Dominum salvati, sic (sicco) vestigio transi- turn fecit. " The narrative then continues,
that having spent two months at Jerusalem, there he continued to exercise the patriarchal
ministry for seven years. During that time,
he was directed by an angel to Mount Sion,
and there he was shown that tree, from Patrick. " Introduction, sect, i. , p. 2. which the precious wood (of the cross) had
been cut. By order of the angel, he also
cut three baculi from it, and the angel took
a fourth ba. ulus. Subsequently, Michee is
sent to Constantinople, and there he presided
over that church. Again, having spent
seven years there, he passed over the Alps.
Furthermore accompanied byseven thousand
companions he travelled over Gaul, the
angel accompanying him, and coming to
the English sea, he found no ships in which
to crosi ; yet, with his companions, Michee script in the Library of Trinity College, passed over with dry feet. With such
abbreviated notice of the narrative, the
Bollandists derisively close their account,
thinking they had already given more than
sufficient of such absurdities. See
"
Dublin, by John Clarke Crosthwaite, A. M. , &c, with an Introduction, by James Hen- thorne Todd, D. D. , V. P. R. I. A. , pp. 68 and 149.
Acta
1 See Introduction, ibid. , p. Ixx.
Sanctorum," tomus v. , Augusti xxv. Among
the pretermitted Saints, p. 3.
3 Thus William Monck Mason writes
" that parish, north of the Liffey (which was
so certainly appropriated to them that it still retains the name of Ostmanstown,) is dedi- cated to St. Michan, a saint not known in Ireland. "—M The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St.
4 Following this tradition, the Rev. Thomas Walsh makes him a Dane, in his M History of the Irish Hierarchy and Monas- teries of Ireland," p. 645. New York, 1855, 8vo.
5 Unless it may be rendered by the well known Irish name of Meehan.
6 See "The Book of Obits and Martyr- ology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church, Dublin. " Edited from the Original Manu-
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 367
relations with the Irish. Many of the Dublin Ostmen then chose to live on
all that district near the river was known by the denomination of Ostmantown — afterwards corrupted to Oxmantown Green. These residents are thought to havebuilttheChurchofSt. Michan. Thischurchwasdedicatedtohim,on the 14th of May,10 and Dr. Meredith Hanmer places the foundation of St. Michan's Church on the Fair Green or Commune, afterwards called Ostmon- towne Green. This parcel of land is said to have been given by Murchard or
had been observed in Dublin, or at least in that parish of which he was
1 patron.
The parish of St. Michan, during six centuries, was the only parish on
the north side of the River Liffey, and it is supposed to be coeval with the
" earliestparishesintheCityofDublin WithintheWalls. " Abouttheyear
948, a Benedictine Abbey,15 since known as St. Mary's Abbey, was founded
8 For an account of the Ostmen of Dublin and of that " unclean, selfish, cunning and and their conversion to Christianity, the voracious reptile," the RAT, who caused his reader is referred to Charles Halliday's death, see the late Rev. John S. Joly's very
the north side of the Liflfey, about 1095 9 an<3 owing to this circumstance, J
for that 13 The festival of St. Michan purpose.
of
was celebrated always on the 25th of August, and it seems to have been held as a general holy day in that parish, to refrain from servile works. Doubtless religious ceremonies were also prescribed, for its greater solemnity. In the year 1565,1 we have a glimpse of the manner in which St. Michan's feast
Moragh," King
Leinster,
*
16 It was endowed with all the rich and
on the northern bank of the
fertile pasture land, stretching eastwards along the banks of the River Liffey, so far as the Tolka. 1 ? The parish of St. Michan is one of the oldest parishes in Dublin. It extended from the River Liffey northwards, so far as Little Cabra; and from St. Mary's Abbey it reached westward, to Oxmantown Green. 18 In Archbishop Alan's Register, the church is called " Ecclesia
"Scandinavian History of Dublin," Book ii. , chap, vi. , pp. 122 to 142.
9 According to Stanihurst, in his Descrip- tion of Ireland.
10 This statement we find in the calendar of the Obit$ and Martyrology of Christ
interesting brochure on " The Old Bridge of Athlone," Dublin, 1881.
14 This is to be found in the Diary of Sir Peter Lewis, now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, in the Manuscript classed E, Tab. 2, No. 21.
Church
already
referred to, "ii Id Maii,
'5 An account of this interesting
Abbey
Dedicacio Ecclesie Sancti Michee ;
"
but the
and of the Abbey of the Virgin Mary, that
succeeded it, may be found in Archdall's
" 16
Gilbert, Esq. , F. S. A.
dwellings, and for exportation. The Rev. Meredith Hanmer, D. D. , in his "Chronicle of Ireland," tells us under Anno 1095, that "King William Rufus, by licence of Mur-
year has not transpired. See at p. 65. There
is no notice of this feast in the succeeding old Martyrology, but it has been added in the more recent hand.
" It seems most probable that Dermot
MacMorrough or Diarmaid na nGall, who died A. D. 1 171, is here alluded to.
13 See Rev. Dr. Meredith Hanmer's "Chronicle of Ireland," p. 194. Edition of 1809, Dublin, 8vo.
13 Sir Peter Lewis, who was Chantor of
Christ Church Cathedral, and who was also
architect of the great bridge at Athlone, tells us how St. Michan's Day was observed
Monasticon Hibernicum," pp. 132 to 147. The history of this remarkable religious foundation has been amply set forth, in a volume published by the Master of the Rolls, and learnedly edited by John T.
Liffey.
in his time : —" Saturday, 25th August,
Sanct Myghan's Day, hollyday with all my chard, had that frame which made up the
masons, except Donyll Ogge and his boy wroght all this day having stonys in the
churche tyll night, the wages per diem, xijd. " This entry was made in his Diary, in the year 1 565. For several other curious par- ticulars concerning Sir Peter Lewis, whose
effigy in stone formerly adorned the great
roofe of Westminster Hall, where no English Spider webbeth or breedeth to this day," and that M the faire greene or Commune, now called Ostomontowne-Greene, was all wood, and hee that diggeth at this day to any depth shall finde the ground full of great rootes. " See pp. 194, 195, Edition of 1809.
" t8
bridge he finished in les than one year," In some of the City of Dublin mediaeval
1 All the
westward of St. Mary's Abbey contained dense oak forests, the timber of which the Danish inhabitants of Dublin availed themselves for building
ground lying
368 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25
S. Michie,"^ and " Ecclesia S. Micheani. "20 And in the Calendar prefixed
of Christ Church, the
for the dedication of the Church of St. Michan
to the
Martyrology
of —is as the date 14th May assigned
Ecclesise Sancti Michee.
21
In the Repertorium Viride of Archbishop
22 "
Alan, it is likewise noticed as Ecclesia de Sto Mahano. "
By virtue of an act of Parliament, passed in England a. d. 1534, King Henry VIII. was made supreme head of the Church of England upon earth, and the First Fruits of all ecclesiastical promotions were granted to him. A
similar act was passed in the Irish Parliament, a. d. 1537, which ordained that King Henry should be styled supreme head of the Church of Ireland upon earth, and to have the First Fruits, &c, of all ecclesiastical promotions. Also, a law was made, that no person or ecclesiastic should, upon any pretence whatsoever, appeal to Rome, under a heavy penalty. About the same time, the Church of St. Michan became one of the three prebendal churches assigned to Christ Church Cathedral, by Archbishop Brown, the first Pro- testant Archbishop of Dublin. From that period, we have two rival ecclesiastical churches : the Church of Ireland as by law established, yielding her allegiance to the Crown of England; and the Roman Catholic Church, subject to the Roman Pontiff.
Before the year 16 10, St. Michan's Church is represented as being in Ostman or Ormuntown, on the north bank of the river Liffey, and on the
line of the ancient 2* The former church of this city.
very boundary
said to have been a fine building and one of the largest in Dublin.
is It was attached to the present imposing square tower, a mediaeval structure. How- ever, the body of the former church was taken down after the year 1820, and the present erection was substituted. 2* The adjoining cemetery and the vaults beneath the church have been for many years favourite places for burial, especially with the parishioners. In 1659, a Census was taken of St. Michan's Parish, by Sir William Petty, and it was found to contain a popu- lation of only 1,173 souls, although it then embraced a very large area of northern Dublin. However, owing to the salubrity of its air, Oxmantown became one of the most fashionable suburbs near the city, and when new streets were laid out in it, the population soon began to increase. Sir
Humphrey Jervis, a wealthy alderman of Dublin, had acquired a very con- siderable part of St. Mary's Abbey estate, including the ruined Abbey itself,
and he was a public spirited citizen, who resolved on the improvement of
that 3* Towardsthecloseoftheseventeenth severalstreets property. century,
were laid out, and houses were built rapidly, on the northern side of the
26
Liffey ; especially after the building of Essex Bridge across the River, in
Documents, we find allusion to the parish of St. Michan. Thus, wehave reference tocertain tenures there and to their occupants, in 1244, mentioned in the Dublin White Book. At fol. 61 ro. we read, after the enumeration: " Et iste predicte quatuor terre iacent in parochia Sancti Michani, in villa Ostman- norum. "—"Historic and Municipal Docu- ments of Ireland, A. D. 1172 — 1320," p. 477. P'rom the Archives of the City of Dublin,
aa See an account of him, in John D'Alton's
" Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin," pp. 184 to 196.
23 As shown on Speed's Map of Dublin, then published.
•< An illustration of. St. Michan's Church, as it now stands, may be seen in the Dublin Penny Journal of January 4th, 1834. See vol. ii. , No. 79, p. 209.
a 5 However, we are told by Walter Harris, that afterwards he lay in gaol for many years, but the cause for his imprisonment is not stated.
a6
ItwassonamedincomplimenttoArthur Capel, Earl of Essex, and then Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland.
etc. Edited by J. T. Gilbert, London, 1870, 8vo.
*» At a. d. 1530, fol. 75 a.
F. S. A. ,
90 21
Atfol. 147a.
See Rev. Dr. Todd's Introduction, pp. xlvii, and n. (e. ) ibid. Also p. 65.
:
" ii
Id
Maii,
Dedicacio
parish
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
369
i676.
Humphrey Jervis
Hugh Stafford,'*
with
others,
2? Sit
28 and Sir
formed a company, and opened with the erection of Capel Street, so called in honour
of the Viceroy. Several other streets were then formed. 3°
Such was the rapid increase of population on the north side of the city, and so great the extent of St. Michan's parish, that, in order to give church accommodation to the inhabitants, an Act of Parliament was
in the — which two new Protestant — were passed year 1697,3' by parishes
formed out of it
St.
Paul's,
on the west
;
and St.
Mary's,
on the east
the old
parish of St. Michan's being still retained in its almost primitive position.
In the useful comparative and coloured map of the city's increase, published
by Mr. William Wilson in 1798, St. Michan's lay far within the city boundary
of 1 763. 3*
A somewhat remarkable feature attached to the church of St. Michan is,
that its founders dedicated the building to St. Michan, and the south aisle to St. Syth, or Osyth. 33 In the vestry-books of St. Michan's parish it is often referred to as " St. Syth's Aisle. " Here stood the " Counting Table," and doubtless, here also were held the meetings of a guild which was called after hername. St. OsythwasadaughterofRedwald,KingofEastAnglia,who married a king of the East Angles, but the same day she obtained his con- sent to live always a virgin. That king, confirming her in such religious pur- pose,bestowedonherthemanorofChick. Havingmadeavowofvirginity, she retired to Chick, now a parish in the hundred of Tendring, County of Essex. There she founded a church and a nunnery, and she presided over them for several years with great sanctity; but these were afterwards plundered bytheDanes,whobeheadedthefoundressnearanadjacentfountain. 34 This happened about the year 870, during the inroads of Hinguar and Hubba, the barbarous Danish leaders. For fear of the Northmen pirates, her body, after some time, was removed to Ailesbury, and it remained there forty-six years, after which it was brought back to Chick or Chich,35 near Colchester, and which was remarkable for its noble Abbey of Regular Canons in times long
past,
while its name has been derived from St. the 6 This Osyth, patroness. 3
37 Seeaninterestingaccountandaview Church,on10thMay,1891,hesays—"Some
of this bridge in Walter Harris' valuable Ostmen burned and plundered the Church of
work, "The History and Antiquities of St. Osyth, near Colchester, and then started for
Dublin, from the earliest Accounts. " Ap- Ireland, and possibly the voyage was stormy
pendix, sect, xiii. , pp. 474 to 478.
28
After him Jervis-street has been named, and also Jervis-quay, since changed to Lower Ormond-quay.
29 From him Stafford-street took its name.
30 For the dates and original names of many, the reader is referred to an interest- ing and useful book of Rev. Dr. M'Cready, "Dublin Street Names, Dated and Ex- plained. "
31 The 9th year of King William III. Until this time, St. Michan's was the only Dublin parish, on the north side of the River Liffey.
and perilous, and conscience pricked them, and that they dedicated the
south aisle to St. Syth's memory. "
34 See Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of England," vol. iii. , Art.
Osyth, St. , Chich, pp. 489, 490.
3* According to Camden, this place was
called St. Osithe's.
Sith
" Capgrave writeth the life of Saint Sith
(otherwise called Osith) that was brought up 32 See Hely Dutton's observations on Mr. under Modwen, that she was a King's
Archer's "Statistical Survey of the County daughter and borne in England. Leppdoo of Dublin," chap, v. , sect. 2, pp. 109, no, the Carthusian and other forraigne Writers
and annexed maps.
33 An attempt has been made to explain
say little of her saving that the Danes (being Heathens), cut off her head, and that shee took herheadin her armes,carried it uprightly
this two-fold dedication, by the following
conjecture. In a sermon preached by the three furlongs off, knockt at the church Rev. Dr. Robert Walsh in St. Michan's doore (being lockt), with her bloudy hands,
36 At page 97 of Dr. Meredith Hanmer's ""
Chronicle of Ireland (Edition of 1&09J, we f—ind the following notice of Saint
:
*
IA
370 LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 15.
house continued till the dissolution of the monasteries, and it was famous for the possession of relics, which were honoured with the performance of many miracles. The festival of this holy virgin, variedly called Osyth, Syth, Sitha. Scite, is noted on the 13th of May, in some of our Martyrologies37 and Calen- dars. 38 Her festival was celebrated with an Office of Nine Lesson, as we find
in a Manuscript Breviary39 of the fifteenth century, and now preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. In the original hand of this Manuscript is the entry "Scite Virginis, ix. lc. " This Breviary was written in Ireland, as appears from an entry on the first leaf; and there is, therefore, some reason to think, that Sitha may be an Irish saint, although no other native Calendar to which the writer has access contains her name, nor is she mentioned by ^Engus, Colgan, or any other authority. The introduction of her name into the Calendar, as appears from the recent entries in the Christ Church volume, and in the Chain-Book of the Dublin Corporation, must have taken place, at least in the Diocese of Dublin, about the end of the fifteenth
40 century.
1
St. Syth's Guild had been organized at an early period in Dublin,* as we
find allusion to it in several mediaeval documents, and especially in the Old Vestry Book of St. Michan's Parish. From the latter it would appear, that theGuildofSt. SythwasidenticalwiththeCorporationofShoemakers. This
2
guild possessed considerable property* in Oxmantown, on the east side of
Smithfield ; it had two chaplains, also, to attend to its spiritual needs. 43 After the Reformation, the Protestant incumbent of this sub-urban parish was the celebrated Doctor Meredith Hanmer, a Vicar-Choral of Christ Church, Dublin, and a Prebendary of St. Michan's in that Cathedral Church ; he was also Archdeacon of Ross and Treasurer of Watcrford. In 1 571, he compiled a M Chronicle of Ireland," but it is untrustworthy as a history of early times, in many of the statements it contains. The preacher who ministered in St. Michan's, during the Cromwellian period, received his stipend from the
revenues of St. Sythe's guild.
and there fell downe. " Here in a foot-note in the same volume at "g iii Id. Maii. Hanmer adds: "The reader is not bound Marie ad martires. Com Sithe to believe this. " "The Martyrologe of virginis, ix. lee. " See p. 65.
Sarum confoundeth Dorothy, and Saint Sith
thus ; The 15 of Januarie, the feast of Saint Dorothie, otherwise called Saint Sith, is kept. in Ireland, who refused marriage, fled
into a Monastetie, where the devill appeared unto her, and there mine Author left her. "
37 In the introduction to The Obits and
Martyrology of Christ Church, written by tile eminent and Very Rev. Dr. James Hen—-
** Most of foregoing particulars have been gleaned from various sources by the Rev. Dr. W. Reynell, and have been published in
"
the "Irish Builder
Vol. xxxiii. , No. 754. The article is headed St. Sythe, and dated St. Sythe's Day,
1891.
** Some of this is shown on a Map of Tor-
tion of the Lands and Premises, the Pro-
March, 1709, and copied from the vellum original, which is bound up with the Vestry Book. See a trace of this Map in the Dublin Builder of May 15th, 1891.
43 In the Dublin Diocesan Register, we her feast is added by a recent hand:— find that William Howard, M. A. , was
thorn Todd, St. Syth is thus mentioned
" iii Id. Maii (May 13). Eodem die Sancte -angel, Dublin, surveyed by John Gibson,
:
See p. lxi. These words are added in the margin, and in a hand of the sixteenth century, as we are there in-
formed.
perty
Sithe Virginis.
"
38 In the Calendar, also at page 65,
ix. lee"; and in the Calen-
" poration of Dublin, the words Sancta
"
Sitha Virgo occur at 3 Id. Maii, in a
modem hand.
» Classed B. Tab. 3, No. 10.
40 The passage Dr. Todd refers to is found
to the second
"Sithe
licensed — the
by archbishop
Virginis
dar prefixed to the Chain-Book of the Cor-
"
chaplaincy Locus 2di Cappelani Guildi
St, Sythae, in parochire Sti Michani,"—on the nomination of the master, wardens, brothers, and sisters of the same. This entry bears date 19 July, 1640. See Dublin Titles, Book i,
of May 15th, 189 1. See
of the of St. Michael the Arch- parish
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 371
CHAPTER II.
LATER HISTORY OF ST. MICHAN's PARISH—CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT DIVISIONS- CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CHURCHES THERE—MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAN— CONCLUSION.
With the endrmous increase in houses and population which sprung up in those new streets, a proportional increase of Roman Catholic inhabitants took place also ; and a similar division of parishes for the Catholics was deemed
out only a few years previously. The Catholic parish of St. Paul was the first in this new department, and it was bounded on the east by Church-
street . (west side), Glassmanogue to Broadstone ; north, by Little Cabra, and so on to the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park; and on the south by the River Liffey so far as the old bridge at Church-street. About 1708, a new chapel was erected, or rather an old stable was converted into a chapel. * In course of time, however, the chapel was found to be wholly inadequate to accommodate the number of worshippers who fre- quented it, when it was deemed necessary to seek a more convenient and public site, in 1835. 3 In 1729, the boundaries of St. Mary's Catholic Parish, in the city of Dublin, were defined for the Rev. John Linegar, P. P. ,* and they were then very extensive.
[PROBABLY IN THE TENTH OR ELEVENTH CENTURY. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION. —ST. MICHAN—UNCERTAINTY REGARDING HIS AGE AND RACE—HIS COMMEMORATION AND HIS CHURCH IN DUBLIN—ORIGIN OF OSMANTOWN—ST. MICHAN'S PARISH DURING THE MIDDLE AGES—VENERATION OF ST. SYTH OR OSYTH.
appears rather strange, that a Saint, intimately connected with a ITcity, which contains so many records of its early history, should have left little trac—e of his own personality to our time. The forms of his name are very various Thus, Michanus, Mighan, Myghan, Michee, and Mahano are found in different mediaeval documents, which have reference to him and to the well-known church and parish of which he is the patron. The name Michanus is entered at this date, in the anonymous calendar, published
by O'Sullivan Beare.
1
For all that is personally known of the present holy
man, we might end the account in a few 2 But the of very paragraphs. history
his parish, and of the churches there dedicated to him, may have some interest for our readers.
Article xi—J See " Transactions of the
Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of
/Engus, by Whitley Stokes, p. cxxv.
2
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Au-
gusti xxiv. De SS. Zenobio, Capitulino, of Arabia. For twenty years she was sterile,
Emerita, ltalica, Item de SS. Juviano et Julio, MM. Antiochice. Cultusexapographis Hieronymianis, pp. 767, 768.
3 The commentaiyon these is written by
Father John P—inius, S. J.
when an angel predicted the birth of Michee, and the boy was afterwards baptized tjy Magonius, Bishop of Alexandria. When he was seventeen years old, Obeth died, then Michee was offered succession over the
of Chananaeum, but this he refused. He then went to the city of Alexandria, where he received the monk's habit from the bishop, and he was initiated to the priest- hood, in the thirtieth year of his age. Then returning to his native country, he was con- secrated bishop, and governed in that capacity for twenty-two years. Afterwards he left that place under angelic guidance, The narrative then continues in the original Latin: "inde perveniens ad ripam Nili fluminis, sociis LX sibi assecutis, fluminis impetum benedictionis oppositione con- stringens, cum omni comitatu suo securus
"
I. See Historise Catholicse
Article
Ibernise Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 50.
'
The Bollandists alluding to him, at the 25th of August, relate, that they had an
"
Vita Sancti Michese," but that it abounded altogether in fables ; and to prove this statement, they adduce some specimens of absurd narratives drawn from it. This tract was contained in a drawer, among other Manuscript Lives of Irish Saints, received from Father Henry Fitz-
simon, and it was marked i|« M. S. 167 A.
apocryphal
That
"
Vita Sancti Micheae" was to be found
at fol. 20 et In the father of St. seq. it,
Michee is stated to have been King over the
Chananseans, and his name was Obeth, the son of Eliud ; while his mother was named
Alipia, and she was daughter to the King
Kingdom
366 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25.
Whether St. Michan is to be regarded as a Danish or an Irish saint is a matter contested. One of our most learned Irish antiquaries seems inclined to think he was of the former race. 3 If we are to follow the prevailing popular opinion of the inhabitants of Dublin, in the sixteenth century, we are likely to concur in the statement of Rev. Dr. Meredith Hanmer, who calls St. Michan a " Dane and Bishop. " 4 Notwithstanding the latter distinction accorded him, and for which Hanmer appears to have had even documentary warrant, it does not seem likely, that Michan had been advanced to the
episcopal dignity. A very probable opinion may be formed, as the name Michan, in any of its forms, is not found historically to have been at all common in Irish families,5 that the present holy man was of Danish origin, and born in Dublin, which in his time had been colonized by Scandinavians, who had embraced the Christian faith. The period when he flourished is unknown.
His name occurs in the Calendar prefixed to the Martyrology of Christ
Church,Dublin,under25thAugust—viii. Kal. ,Sept. —asS. MicheeConfessoris; while he is described in the Martyrology itself in these terms, and at the
:
" Eodem die ; sancti Michee episcopi, confessoris. "6 However, we
same date
are told, that the insertion of the word episcopi is —in a more recent hand. 7 In
to two ancient Breviaries one—
of these to
the Calendars
St. John's Church, Dublin, the other to Clondalkin and now in Trinity College Library, Dublin, the word "Episcopi" is inserted before "Confessoris. " By some writers, he is regarded, as not having advanced beyond the grade
prefixed
belonging
of priest ; and this opinion is altogether probable, since no record presents his parish in the character of having been a primitive See. St. Michan must have lived in the eleventh or perhaps the preceding century ; but the year for his decease has not been recorded.
The Danes or Ostmen, who had settled in Dublin, and who had surrounded their city with walls, embraced Christianity in the tenth and eleventh centuries. 8 Their conversion from Paganism placed them on more friendly
pertransiit. Deinde ad littus Maris Rubri
cum sociis veniens, secundum illud Israelitici
populi, ab expugnatione Pharaonis per Dominum salvati, sic (sicco) vestigio transi- turn fecit. " The narrative then continues,
that having spent two months at Jerusalem, there he continued to exercise the patriarchal
ministry for seven years. During that time,
he was directed by an angel to Mount Sion,
and there he was shown that tree, from Patrick. " Introduction, sect, i. , p. 2. which the precious wood (of the cross) had
been cut. By order of the angel, he also
cut three baculi from it, and the angel took
a fourth ba. ulus. Subsequently, Michee is
sent to Constantinople, and there he presided
over that church. Again, having spent
seven years there, he passed over the Alps.
Furthermore accompanied byseven thousand
companions he travelled over Gaul, the
angel accompanying him, and coming to
the English sea, he found no ships in which
to crosi ; yet, with his companions, Michee script in the Library of Trinity College, passed over with dry feet. With such
abbreviated notice of the narrative, the
Bollandists derisively close their account,
thinking they had already given more than
sufficient of such absurdities. See
"
Dublin, by John Clarke Crosthwaite, A. M. , &c, with an Introduction, by James Hen- thorne Todd, D. D. , V. P. R. I. A. , pp. 68 and 149.
Acta
1 See Introduction, ibid. , p. Ixx.
Sanctorum," tomus v. , Augusti xxv. Among
the pretermitted Saints, p. 3.
3 Thus William Monck Mason writes
" that parish, north of the Liffey (which was
so certainly appropriated to them that it still retains the name of Ostmanstown,) is dedi- cated to St. Michan, a saint not known in Ireland. "—M The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St.
4 Following this tradition, the Rev. Thomas Walsh makes him a Dane, in his M History of the Irish Hierarchy and Monas- teries of Ireland," p. 645. New York, 1855, 8vo.
5 Unless it may be rendered by the well known Irish name of Meehan.
6 See "The Book of Obits and Martyr- ology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church, Dublin. " Edited from the Original Manu-
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 367
relations with the Irish. Many of the Dublin Ostmen then chose to live on
all that district near the river was known by the denomination of Ostmantown — afterwards corrupted to Oxmantown Green. These residents are thought to havebuilttheChurchofSt. Michan. Thischurchwasdedicatedtohim,on the 14th of May,10 and Dr. Meredith Hanmer places the foundation of St. Michan's Church on the Fair Green or Commune, afterwards called Ostmon- towne Green. This parcel of land is said to have been given by Murchard or
had been observed in Dublin, or at least in that parish of which he was
1 patron.
The parish of St. Michan, during six centuries, was the only parish on
the north side of the River Liffey, and it is supposed to be coeval with the
" earliestparishesintheCityofDublin WithintheWalls. " Abouttheyear
948, a Benedictine Abbey,15 since known as St. Mary's Abbey, was founded
8 For an account of the Ostmen of Dublin and of that " unclean, selfish, cunning and and their conversion to Christianity, the voracious reptile," the RAT, who caused his reader is referred to Charles Halliday's death, see the late Rev. John S. Joly's very
the north side of the Liflfey, about 1095 9 an<3 owing to this circumstance, J
for that 13 The festival of St. Michan purpose.
of
was celebrated always on the 25th of August, and it seems to have been held as a general holy day in that parish, to refrain from servile works. Doubtless religious ceremonies were also prescribed, for its greater solemnity. In the year 1565,1 we have a glimpse of the manner in which St. Michan's feast
Moragh," King
Leinster,
*
16 It was endowed with all the rich and
on the northern bank of the
fertile pasture land, stretching eastwards along the banks of the River Liffey, so far as the Tolka. 1 ? The parish of St. Michan is one of the oldest parishes in Dublin. It extended from the River Liffey northwards, so far as Little Cabra; and from St. Mary's Abbey it reached westward, to Oxmantown Green. 18 In Archbishop Alan's Register, the church is called " Ecclesia
"Scandinavian History of Dublin," Book ii. , chap, vi. , pp. 122 to 142.
9 According to Stanihurst, in his Descrip- tion of Ireland.
10 This statement we find in the calendar of the Obit$ and Martyrology of Christ
interesting brochure on " The Old Bridge of Athlone," Dublin, 1881.
14 This is to be found in the Diary of Sir Peter Lewis, now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, in the Manuscript classed E, Tab. 2, No. 21.
Church
already
referred to, "ii Id Maii,
'5 An account of this interesting
Abbey
Dedicacio Ecclesie Sancti Michee ;
"
but the
and of the Abbey of the Virgin Mary, that
succeeded it, may be found in Archdall's
" 16
Gilbert, Esq. , F. S. A.
dwellings, and for exportation. The Rev. Meredith Hanmer, D. D. , in his "Chronicle of Ireland," tells us under Anno 1095, that "King William Rufus, by licence of Mur-
year has not transpired. See at p. 65. There
is no notice of this feast in the succeeding old Martyrology, but it has been added in the more recent hand.
" It seems most probable that Dermot
MacMorrough or Diarmaid na nGall, who died A. D. 1 171, is here alluded to.
13 See Rev. Dr. Meredith Hanmer's "Chronicle of Ireland," p. 194. Edition of 1809, Dublin, 8vo.
13 Sir Peter Lewis, who was Chantor of
Christ Church Cathedral, and who was also
architect of the great bridge at Athlone, tells us how St. Michan's Day was observed
Monasticon Hibernicum," pp. 132 to 147. The history of this remarkable religious foundation has been amply set forth, in a volume published by the Master of the Rolls, and learnedly edited by John T.
Liffey.
in his time : —" Saturday, 25th August,
Sanct Myghan's Day, hollyday with all my chard, had that frame which made up the
masons, except Donyll Ogge and his boy wroght all this day having stonys in the
churche tyll night, the wages per diem, xijd. " This entry was made in his Diary, in the year 1 565. For several other curious par- ticulars concerning Sir Peter Lewis, whose
effigy in stone formerly adorned the great
roofe of Westminster Hall, where no English Spider webbeth or breedeth to this day," and that M the faire greene or Commune, now called Ostomontowne-Greene, was all wood, and hee that diggeth at this day to any depth shall finde the ground full of great rootes. " See pp. 194, 195, Edition of 1809.
" t8
bridge he finished in les than one year," In some of the City of Dublin mediaeval
1 All the
westward of St. Mary's Abbey contained dense oak forests, the timber of which the Danish inhabitants of Dublin availed themselves for building
ground lying
368 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 25
S. Michie,"^ and " Ecclesia S. Micheani. "20 And in the Calendar prefixed
of Christ Church, the
for the dedication of the Church of St. Michan
to the
Martyrology
of —is as the date 14th May assigned
Ecclesise Sancti Michee.
21
In the Repertorium Viride of Archbishop
22 "
Alan, it is likewise noticed as Ecclesia de Sto Mahano. "
By virtue of an act of Parliament, passed in England a. d. 1534, King Henry VIII. was made supreme head of the Church of England upon earth, and the First Fruits of all ecclesiastical promotions were granted to him. A
similar act was passed in the Irish Parliament, a. d. 1537, which ordained that King Henry should be styled supreme head of the Church of Ireland upon earth, and to have the First Fruits, &c, of all ecclesiastical promotions. Also, a law was made, that no person or ecclesiastic should, upon any pretence whatsoever, appeal to Rome, under a heavy penalty. About the same time, the Church of St. Michan became one of the three prebendal churches assigned to Christ Church Cathedral, by Archbishop Brown, the first Pro- testant Archbishop of Dublin. From that period, we have two rival ecclesiastical churches : the Church of Ireland as by law established, yielding her allegiance to the Crown of England; and the Roman Catholic Church, subject to the Roman Pontiff.
Before the year 16 10, St. Michan's Church is represented as being in Ostman or Ormuntown, on the north bank of the river Liffey, and on the
line of the ancient 2* The former church of this city.
very boundary
said to have been a fine building and one of the largest in Dublin.
is It was attached to the present imposing square tower, a mediaeval structure. How- ever, the body of the former church was taken down after the year 1820, and the present erection was substituted. 2* The adjoining cemetery and the vaults beneath the church have been for many years favourite places for burial, especially with the parishioners. In 1659, a Census was taken of St. Michan's Parish, by Sir William Petty, and it was found to contain a popu- lation of only 1,173 souls, although it then embraced a very large area of northern Dublin. However, owing to the salubrity of its air, Oxmantown became one of the most fashionable suburbs near the city, and when new streets were laid out in it, the population soon began to increase. Sir
Humphrey Jervis, a wealthy alderman of Dublin, had acquired a very con- siderable part of St. Mary's Abbey estate, including the ruined Abbey itself,
and he was a public spirited citizen, who resolved on the improvement of
that 3* Towardsthecloseoftheseventeenth severalstreets property. century,
were laid out, and houses were built rapidly, on the northern side of the
26
Liffey ; especially after the building of Essex Bridge across the River, in
Documents, we find allusion to the parish of St. Michan. Thus, wehave reference tocertain tenures there and to their occupants, in 1244, mentioned in the Dublin White Book. At fol. 61 ro. we read, after the enumeration: " Et iste predicte quatuor terre iacent in parochia Sancti Michani, in villa Ostman- norum. "—"Historic and Municipal Docu- ments of Ireland, A. D. 1172 — 1320," p. 477. P'rom the Archives of the City of Dublin,
aa See an account of him, in John D'Alton's
" Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin," pp. 184 to 196.
23 As shown on Speed's Map of Dublin, then published.
•< An illustration of. St. Michan's Church, as it now stands, may be seen in the Dublin Penny Journal of January 4th, 1834. See vol. ii. , No. 79, p. 209.
a 5 However, we are told by Walter Harris, that afterwards he lay in gaol for many years, but the cause for his imprisonment is not stated.
a6
ItwassonamedincomplimenttoArthur Capel, Earl of Essex, and then Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland.
etc. Edited by J. T. Gilbert, London, 1870, 8vo.
*» At a. d. 1530, fol. 75 a.
F. S. A. ,
90 21
Atfol. 147a.
See Rev. Dr. Todd's Introduction, pp. xlvii, and n. (e. ) ibid. Also p. 65.
:
" ii
Id
Maii,
Dedicacio
parish
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
369
i676.
Humphrey Jervis
Hugh Stafford,'*
with
others,
2? Sit
28 and Sir
formed a company, and opened with the erection of Capel Street, so called in honour
of the Viceroy. Several other streets were then formed. 3°
Such was the rapid increase of population on the north side of the city, and so great the extent of St. Michan's parish, that, in order to give church accommodation to the inhabitants, an Act of Parliament was
in the — which two new Protestant — were passed year 1697,3' by parishes
formed out of it
St.
Paul's,
on the west
;
and St.
Mary's,
on the east
the old
parish of St. Michan's being still retained in its almost primitive position.
In the useful comparative and coloured map of the city's increase, published
by Mr. William Wilson in 1798, St. Michan's lay far within the city boundary
of 1 763. 3*
A somewhat remarkable feature attached to the church of St. Michan is,
that its founders dedicated the building to St. Michan, and the south aisle to St. Syth, or Osyth. 33 In the vestry-books of St. Michan's parish it is often referred to as " St. Syth's Aisle. " Here stood the " Counting Table," and doubtless, here also were held the meetings of a guild which was called after hername. St. OsythwasadaughterofRedwald,KingofEastAnglia,who married a king of the East Angles, but the same day she obtained his con- sent to live always a virgin. That king, confirming her in such religious pur- pose,bestowedonherthemanorofChick. Havingmadeavowofvirginity, she retired to Chick, now a parish in the hundred of Tendring, County of Essex. There she founded a church and a nunnery, and she presided over them for several years with great sanctity; but these were afterwards plundered bytheDanes,whobeheadedthefoundressnearanadjacentfountain. 34 This happened about the year 870, during the inroads of Hinguar and Hubba, the barbarous Danish leaders. For fear of the Northmen pirates, her body, after some time, was removed to Ailesbury, and it remained there forty-six years, after which it was brought back to Chick or Chich,35 near Colchester, and which was remarkable for its noble Abbey of Regular Canons in times long
past,
while its name has been derived from St. the 6 This Osyth, patroness. 3
37 Seeaninterestingaccountandaview Church,on10thMay,1891,hesays—"Some
of this bridge in Walter Harris' valuable Ostmen burned and plundered the Church of
work, "The History and Antiquities of St. Osyth, near Colchester, and then started for
Dublin, from the earliest Accounts. " Ap- Ireland, and possibly the voyage was stormy
pendix, sect, xiii. , pp. 474 to 478.
28
After him Jervis-street has been named, and also Jervis-quay, since changed to Lower Ormond-quay.
29 From him Stafford-street took its name.
30 For the dates and original names of many, the reader is referred to an interest- ing and useful book of Rev. Dr. M'Cready, "Dublin Street Names, Dated and Ex- plained. "
31 The 9th year of King William III. Until this time, St. Michan's was the only Dublin parish, on the north side of the River Liffey.
and perilous, and conscience pricked them, and that they dedicated the
south aisle to St. Syth's memory. "
34 See Samuel Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of England," vol. iii. , Art.
Osyth, St. , Chich, pp. 489, 490.
3* According to Camden, this place was
called St. Osithe's.
Sith
" Capgrave writeth the life of Saint Sith
(otherwise called Osith) that was brought up 32 See Hely Dutton's observations on Mr. under Modwen, that she was a King's
Archer's "Statistical Survey of the County daughter and borne in England. Leppdoo of Dublin," chap, v. , sect. 2, pp. 109, no, the Carthusian and other forraigne Writers
and annexed maps.
33 An attempt has been made to explain
say little of her saving that the Danes (being Heathens), cut off her head, and that shee took herheadin her armes,carried it uprightly
this two-fold dedication, by the following
conjecture. In a sermon preached by the three furlongs off, knockt at the church Rev. Dr. Robert Walsh in St. Michan's doore (being lockt), with her bloudy hands,
36 At page 97 of Dr. Meredith Hanmer's ""
Chronicle of Ireland (Edition of 1&09J, we f—ind the following notice of Saint
:
*
IA
370 LIVES 01 THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 15.
house continued till the dissolution of the monasteries, and it was famous for the possession of relics, which were honoured with the performance of many miracles. The festival of this holy virgin, variedly called Osyth, Syth, Sitha. Scite, is noted on the 13th of May, in some of our Martyrologies37 and Calen- dars. 38 Her festival was celebrated with an Office of Nine Lesson, as we find
in a Manuscript Breviary39 of the fifteenth century, and now preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. In the original hand of this Manuscript is the entry "Scite Virginis, ix. lc. " This Breviary was written in Ireland, as appears from an entry on the first leaf; and there is, therefore, some reason to think, that Sitha may be an Irish saint, although no other native Calendar to which the writer has access contains her name, nor is she mentioned by ^Engus, Colgan, or any other authority. The introduction of her name into the Calendar, as appears from the recent entries in the Christ Church volume, and in the Chain-Book of the Dublin Corporation, must have taken place, at least in the Diocese of Dublin, about the end of the fifteenth
40 century.
1
St. Syth's Guild had been organized at an early period in Dublin,* as we
find allusion to it in several mediaeval documents, and especially in the Old Vestry Book of St. Michan's Parish. From the latter it would appear, that theGuildofSt. SythwasidenticalwiththeCorporationofShoemakers. This
2
guild possessed considerable property* in Oxmantown, on the east side of
Smithfield ; it had two chaplains, also, to attend to its spiritual needs. 43 After the Reformation, the Protestant incumbent of this sub-urban parish was the celebrated Doctor Meredith Hanmer, a Vicar-Choral of Christ Church, Dublin, and a Prebendary of St. Michan's in that Cathedral Church ; he was also Archdeacon of Ross and Treasurer of Watcrford. In 1 571, he compiled a M Chronicle of Ireland," but it is untrustworthy as a history of early times, in many of the statements it contains. The preacher who ministered in St. Michan's, during the Cromwellian period, received his stipend from the
revenues of St. Sythe's guild.
and there fell downe. " Here in a foot-note in the same volume at "g iii Id. Maii. Hanmer adds: "The reader is not bound Marie ad martires. Com Sithe to believe this. " "The Martyrologe of virginis, ix. lee. " See p. 65.
Sarum confoundeth Dorothy, and Saint Sith
thus ; The 15 of Januarie, the feast of Saint Dorothie, otherwise called Saint Sith, is kept. in Ireland, who refused marriage, fled
into a Monastetie, where the devill appeared unto her, and there mine Author left her. "
37 In the introduction to The Obits and
Martyrology of Christ Church, written by tile eminent and Very Rev. Dr. James Hen—-
** Most of foregoing particulars have been gleaned from various sources by the Rev. Dr. W. Reynell, and have been published in
"
the "Irish Builder
Vol. xxxiii. , No. 754. The article is headed St. Sythe, and dated St. Sythe's Day,
1891.
** Some of this is shown on a Map of Tor-
tion of the Lands and Premises, the Pro-
March, 1709, and copied from the vellum original, which is bound up with the Vestry Book. See a trace of this Map in the Dublin Builder of May 15th, 1891.
43 In the Dublin Diocesan Register, we her feast is added by a recent hand:— find that William Howard, M. A. , was
thorn Todd, St. Syth is thus mentioned
" iii Id. Maii (May 13). Eodem die Sancte -angel, Dublin, surveyed by John Gibson,
:
See p. lxi. These words are added in the margin, and in a hand of the sixteenth century, as we are there in-
formed.
perty
Sithe Virginis.
"
38 In the Calendar, also at page 65,
ix. lee"; and in the Calen-
" poration of Dublin, the words Sancta
"
Sitha Virgo occur at 3 Id. Maii, in a
modem hand.
» Classed B. Tab. 3, No. 10.
40 The passage Dr. Todd refers to is found
to the second
"Sithe
licensed — the
by archbishop
Virginis
dar prefixed to the Chain-Book of the Cor-
"
chaplaincy Locus 2di Cappelani Guildi
St, Sythae, in parochire Sti Michani,"—on the nomination of the master, wardens, brothers, and sisters of the same. This entry bears date 19 July, 1640. See Dublin Titles, Book i,
of May 15th, 189 1. See
of the of St. Michael the Arch- parish
August 25. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 371
CHAPTER II.
LATER HISTORY OF ST. MICHAN's PARISH—CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT DIVISIONS- CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CHURCHES THERE—MEMORIALS OF ST. MICHAN— CONCLUSION.
With the endrmous increase in houses and population which sprung up in those new streets, a proportional increase of Roman Catholic inhabitants took place also ; and a similar division of parishes for the Catholics was deemed
out only a few years previously. The Catholic parish of St. Paul was the first in this new department, and it was bounded on the east by Church-
street . (west side), Glassmanogue to Broadstone ; north, by Little Cabra, and so on to the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park; and on the south by the River Liffey so far as the old bridge at Church-street. About 1708, a new chapel was erected, or rather an old stable was converted into a chapel. * In course of time, however, the chapel was found to be wholly inadequate to accommodate the number of worshippers who fre- quented it, when it was deemed necessary to seek a more convenient and public site, in 1835. 3 In 1729, the boundaries of St. Mary's Catholic Parish, in the city of Dublin, were defined for the Rev. John Linegar, P. P. ,* and they were then very extensive.
