No More Learning

, July
begins,
Trias Thaumaturga,"
related, by Jocelyn, 1
the great cell," where
:
July 4. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 5 3
of a famous monastery in the Isle of Crimlen, and remarks, that he is not to
beconfoundedwithSt. Finbarr,thefirstbishopofCork. ? TheBollandistsIO
have noticed St. Finnbarr, Abbot of Inis-Doimhle, on the authority of Father
O'Sheerin's Irish Manuscripts ; but, they seem incapable of distinguishing him from another St. Finnbarr, venerated on the 10th or 20th of September.
He flourished probably some time during the sixth century. He was abbot in Inis Doimhle, between Ui Ceiunsealaigh and the Deisi. According to a
learned Irish 11 Inis Doimhle would topographer,
appear
called Inch, situated in the barony of Shelmaliere, and county of Wexford.
There is a parish called Inch, 12 in the south-western extremity of Shelmalier West barony, in the county of Wexford. ^ In the year 1840, some remains of the old church walls placed in this parish were visible, but they had been so entirely covered over with thorns and briars, that the length and breadth
1
of the former building could not be measured. * These ruins had an appear-
ance of great antiquity, and the walls had been altogether built with very
large stones. According to tradition, no interment had taken place there, since the middle of the last century. The present holy man is said to have
founded a monastery, in the Isle of Drumlen, between Hy Kinsellagh and
the Decies of Munster/s according to a Manuscript of John Windale.
16
Ac-
cording to another statement, the Irish Damhly of the old Irish Manuscripts
was no other than the Insula Sancta Clara, now called Cape Clear Island. 1 ?
18 at this same him as Fionn- date, registers
The of Martyrology
Donegal,
bharr, son of Aedh. In the Irish Calendar *9 belonging to the Irish Ordnance
of 20 In July.
" 22 enteredlikewise,inthe CircleoftheSeasons/' atthe4thofJuly.
ArticleIII. —FeastofSt. Martin'sOrdination. IntheearlyIrish
as we find in the "Feilire" 1 of St. and on the of Church, ^Engus, 4U1 July,
9
there is an of St. entry
at the
Survey Records,
Scotland he was venerated, on the same
Fionabar,
but written in the year 1S40, pp. 356, 357. I4OntheeasternbankofOwenduffRiver, in the townland of Kayle, and not far from Julii iv. Among the pretermitted saints, the old church, is Lady's Well. It was concealed in the middle of a shrubbery, in
Colgan's Manuscripts, at the 4th of July arequoted. Seeibid.
10 "
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
p . 4.
Dr. O'Donovan. See his "Annals of
to.
r5 Bibl. MSS. Sowensisis, vol.
Irish Records, vol. vi. , p. 829.
the Four Masters," vol. i. , n.
(1)), p. 380.
i. , p. 158.
12
According to Mr. O'Donovan, the name
Inch is an of or 1 which
l6 Now in the of the preserved Library
Royal Irish Academy.
I7 See Mr. and Mrs. Hall's "Ireland : its
Scenery, Character," &c, vol. i. , pp. 137,
138.
l8 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
186, 187.
I9 Intituled "Common Place Book F,"
and now preserved in the Royal Irish Aca-
demy.
20 Thus : tl ponnAbViAn mac AoxAi mAC
"DaHaim x>o rhliopeocho ponn -oeanbh- nacViAn no bnAcViAfv -oo cloitin mac <Vot)h <\c! ia cIiacVi. &b Infe "O01mhie & leich imchiol na CinnreAlAch. See p. 60.
21TheKalendariumDrummondiensehas:
Anglicizing 1tiif nfe, signifies an island, or the holme of a river. This same gentleman states, that he takes Inch to be the \m\ "Oonfite of the Irish Calendars. These remarks of Mr. O'Dono- van are included within a foregoing letter of Mr. O'Keefe, at p. 356. In the Parish and Barony Name Book for the County of Wexford, Mr. O'Donovan also renders Inch by 1nfe, a holm strath or island, at p. 50.
13 The parish of Inch is bounded on the east and west, by divided portions of Clon- geen parish ; on the north, by Newbawn ; and on the south-west, by Owenduff parish. It is situated about nine miles eastward of NewRoss. See"LetterscontainingInfor- mation relative to the Antiquities of the County Wexford, collected during the
Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840," vol. ii. Mr. O'Keefe's Letter, not dated,
" Et apud Iliber—niam Natale Sancti Con- "
day.
4th
21 The feast of this saint is
to be the now place
fessoris Finbarr. " Bishop F«rbes' Kalen-
dais of Scottish Saints," p. 17.
3a
See p. 186.
54 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 4.
was celebrated the feast of St. Martin's ordination. A comment explains, thatthisreferredtohisreceptionoftheepiscopateatTours,inFrance. 2 The Bollandists3refertohisfestival,likewise,atthisdate; whiletheystyleitthe feast for the Translation of his Relics, relying on an entry in the old Epter- nac Martyrology. 4 Also in the old Martyrology of Corbie, there appears to have been a triple celebration—viz. , of his episcopal Ordination, of a corpo- real Translation of his Relics, and of the Dedication of a church to him—and
all singularly enough coinciding on the 4th of July. s In the Kalendar of 6
Drummond, this triple feast of his Translation, of his Ordination, and of the Dedication of his church is to be found, at this same date. The Translation alone is commemorated in the Kalendar of Hyrdmanistoun,? in the Calendar of Culenros, 8 and in the Kalendar of Arbuthnott. 9 His feast of Translation is also entered, in that Kalendar belonging to the Breviary of Aberdeen. 10
Article IV. —Reputed Feast of St. Siluenieus at Kilreule, in
Scotland. IntheScottish ofThomas 1 thereisnotice Menology Dempster,
of a Canon Silueneius or Silveneus, at Kilrule, on this day. He is said to have received St. Regulus,* when he brought the Relics of St. Andre\v,3 the Apostle. From Dempster, Ferrarius introduced Silveneus to his General Catalogue of Saints, and, it is stated, that he lived about the year 369. The Bollandists 4 have notices to this effect, at the 4th of July, but they seem to attach little importance to the statements of Dempster.
Article V. —Reputed FeastJSt. Modwenna. In the Supplement to
his Univeral as we are informed the Bollandists, 1 Castellan Martyrology, by
has placed the feast of St. Modwenna, at the 4th of July. In the approved Kalendars, her festival has been assigned to the day following.
Article VI. —Translat—ion of the Relics of St—. Ursula. In the
1
Lubeck and Cologne edition as the Bollandists state of Greven's addi-
tions to the Martyrology of Usuard may be found the Translation of some
2
Relics of St. Ursula, virgin and queen, from the city of Cologne, to the
monastery Tuiciense, on the banks of the Rhine, and at the 4th of July.
Article hi. —1 See "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript
"
Article iv. —x See Bishop Forbes' Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 204.
Scries, vol i. , part i. Oengus, p. cix.
On the Calendar of
2 His feast has been referred to the 30th of March, and to the 17th of October.
His festival occurs, on the 30th of No- vember.
3
See ibid. , p. cxv.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
the
* See "Acta tomus Sanctorum,"
Among
It is there entered: Translatio S.
Martini in Turnis. "
5TheBollandistsadd, "etiaminhodierno
Romano. Dempstero placuit scribere : Co- Ionise, Martini Scotorum Patroni translatio. De eadem cgimus in observatione ad Usuar- dum, omnia remittentes ad diem natalem xi. Novembris. "
iv.
pretermitted feasts, p. 4.
Julii *"
—the Among
ii. , pretermitted feasts, p. 4.
6
tish Saints,'' p. 17.
3 To this is added, another Translation of
St. Florentina or Floientia, Virgin and
Martyr, belonging to the company of the
ElevenThousand butwhosechief Virgins,
festival is more properly referable to the 2ist of October.
Article VII. — ' This was an Irish
See Bishop l-'orbes' "Kalendars of Scot-
1 Seeibid. ,
p. 42. Scr ibid. , p. 59.
1
1 See ibid. ,
10 See ibid. , p. 118.
p. 103.
iv. Article v.
ii. , Julii feasts, p. 4.
Article VI. tomus ii. , Julii iv. feasts, p. 4.
Julii
tomus
Sanctorum," Among pretermitted
iv.
the
—
'
See " Acta Sanctorum," Among the pretermitted
'
See "Acta
July 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 55
Article VII. —Reputed Feast of St. Marianus, Confessor and
Abbot, at Ratisbon. {Eleventh Century. '] At this date, July 4th, Camerarius places the festival of St. Marianus, Confessor and Abbot, in the
celebrated Scottish x of Ratisbon in He Monastery Germany. *
is said to have lived in the Caledonian province of Scotia, the chief city of which is called Dumcalidonia, or Dunkeld, and there to have presided over a com-
munityofmonks,andwithagreatreputationforsanctity. However,amore exact criticism has proved him to have been an Irishman from Donegal. 3 There is a memoir of him and of his successors composed by an Irish monk of Ratisbon. * Dempster has an imperfect account of him at this same date,* which he notes as the Feast for his Translation.
Article VIII. —Reputed Translation of St. Rumold's Relics. In the Codex of Usuard at Bruxelles and in the Florarius Sanctorum, the Bollan-
dists *
July. month.
that the Translation of St. Rumold is set down, at the 4th of His Life has been pretty fully treated already, at the 1st of this
jfiftft 2Bap of gulp,
state, 8
ARTICLE I. —ST. MODWEN, MONYNNA, MONINIA, MONENNA, MODUENNA, MODWENNA, MONYMA, MODOVENA, MOWENA, MODVENNA, OR NODWENNA, VIRGIN.
[PROBABLY IN THE NINTH CENTURY^
can scarcely be a doubt, but that the biography of the present
THEREwoman has been confused holy by
different writers. It
certainly
requires a critical examination and correction, if we are to draw any authentic
particulars, which serve to distinguish her individuality, place, and period.
The form of name has been so varied, that a probability arises of more than one pious saint having lived; and the incidents related, in such Acts as remain to us, serve to show a parachronismus in their application to one and the same person.
Again, it seems pretty certain, that her Acts had been written long after the period when she nourished, and which must account for much ignorance on the part of their writers, who were even incapable of separating well known annalistic facts of Irish and English history, or of
Monastery, and founded for Irishmen. s Thus : "B Colonise Martini—Scotorum
a In the " Review " of Edinburgh
translatio. Adelbaud. " Menolo- gium Scoticum. Bishop Forbes' " Kalen-
Sancto-
rum," tomus ii. , Julii iv. Among the pre- termitted saints, p. 2.
2 See in the present volume of this work, Art. i.
Article I. —* Nothing more seems to be knownregardinghim; buthisnameandthe
January, patroni 1861, there is an interesting article on " The
Scottish Religious Houses abroad. "
3 See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 391.
4 This is in the Bollandists' "Acta Sane-
torum, "tomus ii. ,Februariiix. DeB. Mariano Scoto, Abbate Ord. S. Benedicti, et B. Mur- cherato Incluso, Ratisbonse in Bavaria, pp. 365to372.
dars of Scottish S—aints," p. 204. '
Articleviii. See "Acta
56 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 5<
referring these to periods which could not have been contemporaneous with any one living person. Intrinsically, too, they abound in fables or incre- dible narratives, calculated not only to puzzle, but likewise to displease and to disappoint, the studious readers of hagiology.
Several Manuscript Lives of this holy woman are extant, and some of h—er
x
and that by an anonymous writer 3 as found in a Sala-
Acts have been published. Among the latter, are her Life by Concubran
—
an ancient writer 2
mancanManuscript/ GalfridusEdys,otherwiseknownasGeoffrey,amonk
of Burton,5 prepared a Life of St. Modwenna. 6 Among the Clarendon
Manuscripts 7 is contained a Life of St. Modwenna, Virgin. There is
another,8 written by Concubran. 9 Among other records, we find extant a
Tract intituled : S. Modvennae Vita, et Tractatus de Miraculis
ejus.
10 This
Manuscript, written in the thirteenth century, formerly belonged to the Abbey
An of of Burton exists. 11 In the Bodleian ofRevesby. abridgment Geoffrey
Library, Oxford, there is a Manuscript Life of this saint.
12
It was written in
the fifteenth In a Lambeth 1* there are Acts or century. ^ Manuscript,
notices of several saints out of the regular order at the end, and among these
1 is a lengthy Life of St. Modvenna. *
Life of St. Monenna,18 which was written in the seventeenth century. In some
1
of her Acts, she is called indifferently Monynna and Darerca. ^ John
90 at tertio Nonas
Abbess. TheEnglishMartyrologyandHenryFitzsimonhaveModwenna, Virgin, for the same feast-day. The anonymous Calendar published by
Modwenna has been and at written,
16 This : 7 contains poem
great length.
about 10,360 lines. Among the Sloane Manuscripts, there is a paper folio
Capgrave,
also mentions St. and Modwena, Virgin
Julii,
intrinsic statements in the memoir sufficiently demonstrate that he was Imh. This Life n piinted by the Bollandists.
2 He appears to have been the earliest known compiler of St. Modwenna's Life, and from it, as the ba^is, many other Lives were drawn.
"
3 This has been printed in the Acta
"
Sanctorum of the Bollandists, at the 6th
July. torn, ii. , p. 290.
4 It begins with these words: "Virgo
venerabilis nomine Darerca, cognomento
Monynnna," &c.
s Uc was at first prior of Winchester, and
afterwards he was promoted to be abbot of
Burton-upon-Trent, from A. D. 1114 to 1151. AnnalesBurtonapudFell,i. , pp. 248,249.
6 There is a copy among the Cottonian
Itisclashed, — A Manuscripts. Cleopat. ii. ,
small vellum, 4to. Th—is Life Manuscript oftheeleventhcentury properlybelongsto Conchubranus, whose name occurs at the end. There is likewise a S. Modvennoe Vita, per Galfridum Burtoniensem, described
as MS. Mostyn Gloddaeth, p. 5. 7 This is numbered 76.
12
8
in the thirteenth century.
18 It is noted as Vita S. Monennrc, No.
ff. 4788, 1-32.
19 Among the Burgundian Library Manu- scripts, at Bruxelles, there is a Vita S. Monymnse cogn. Darercae, at fol. 79 of vol. xxii.
20 See "Nova Legenda Angliae," fol. cexxxiiii. , cexxxv. , cexxxvi. , cexxxvii. , cexxxviii. , cexxxix. , ccxl.
31 However, this is probably a mistake of
This is numbered 39, and it was written
' See "Catalogi Librorum Manuscripto- rum Anglic et UibernLw"
is classed: MS. Bibl. Reg. 15, B. iv. . ff. 76, 78, veil. 4to.
orthography by substituting an N for an M " Vita S. Modwenna: MS. Lansdowne, as the initial letters.
22 "
436, ft. I26,b-I3l b, veil, folio xiv. cent. See Histories Cntholicac [berniae Com-
In old French verse, the Life of St.
It is noticed as Vita S. Modwenna;. 13 Classed Tanner, 15, f. 423, veil, folio. x « Classed 99, 5, f. 187.
13 This collection is intituled
:
gus Sanctorum in Anglia pausantium et oriundorum, quorum Depositionum diescon- sequenter annotantur, Progreditur juxta or- dinem Mensium adeoque incipiens ab Edwardo Confessore, 8 Kal. Januar. desinit in S. Thoma, Cant. 4to Kal. Januar. "
16 It is classed in the Bodleian Library,
Oxford, Digby, 34, ff. 1-76, vell. Svo. , dble. cols. The Manuscript belongs to the twelfth
century.
'7 It thus commences
:
—
"OezseignurspurDeunuspri, Cummunt li munz eit peri
Ala
Par Jhesu Crist reverti. "
duntil gloire chai,
" Catalo-
July 5. ] LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. 57
O'Sullevan Beare has Nodwenna 21
entered,
at the same date. 22 The Manu-
script from which John Capgrave's Life of this holy woman 2 3 had been
printed is extant among the Cottonian collections. 2'* Besides, in the collec-
tions of F. Maihew,2* some notices of her are to be met with. It appears
Colgan's posthumous list 26 of Irish Saints notes St. Moduenna's Life as pre-
pared for publication, at the 5th of July. The Acts of St. Modwenna, in two
sections and twenty-six paragraphs, are to be found in the great Bollandist
2
collection. 7 ThereFatherJohnPiniusverycriticallyexaminesthelegendary
biographies which had been written, and he shows how impossible it must be to reconcile them with an individual saint, who at one time is stated to have received the veil from St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland in the fifth cen- tury ; also, to have lived in the middle of the seventh century; and, again, to have flourished and built monasteries in England about the middle of the ninthcentury. —Heinclinestotheopinion,thattheremusthavebeenatleast threeMoninnas ifwearetoattachanydegreeofcredittothespecifications set forth in those Acts 28 which have come down to our times. There is a
2
Vita S. Darercse seu Monynnse Virginis by some anonymous writer, 9 and it is
supposed by Father John Pinius to have been written earlier than one attri- butedtoConchubran. Itsnarrativesarebriefer,writteninabetterstyleof
composition, altogether more comformable to credibility, yet does it abound
inanachronisms. Bothagree,however,inmanysta—tements. Thepublished
—uted to Conchubran 3 1 who is to have Life of St. Modwenna,3° attrib thought
2
writtenintheeleventhcentury hasprobablybeeninterpolated;3
various silly popular legends introduced, it is quite evident, that the names of many Irish places are misunderstood and falsely spelled, while it is not likely that any Irish scribe could have fallen into such obvious mistakes. The same
Conchubran is said to have written, moreover, two alphabetical Hymns in praise of the same Moninna. However, Archbishop Ussher and Sir James Ware both maintain, that there were two distinct saints bearing this name; one of these was usually known as Darerca, who flourished in the time of St.
Patrick, and who departed this life at Kilsleve of Kilsleve-Cuilin, in the county of Armagh, on the 3rd of July, A. D. 516 or 518 ; while the other is said to have flourished about the year 640. We are told, likewise, that Con- cubran confounds the actions of both. Some notices of St. Modwena are givenbyBishopChalloner. 3^ St. ModuenaiscalledanobleIrishVirgin,by Rev. Alban Butler, who has an account regarding her, for this day. 3*
pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , xii. , pp.
50, 56.
23 It is intituled : Vita S. Modvennse. 24ItisclassedTiber. E. i. , ff. 199b-204b. 2 5 See " Troprueorum Benedictinorum,"
tomus ii. , pp. 909, 910.
Dierum. "
27 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Julii
v. De S. Moduenna seu Monenna, Monynna Monyma, una an pluribus, pp. 241 to 246.
published in the " Acta Sanctorum," at the
6th of It is there divided into four July.
chapters, consisting of forty-five para-
graphs.
30 This has been taken from the Codex in
the Cottonian Library, and the original was
classed A. 2. It has been pub- Cleopatra
lished the second in order by the Bollan- dists, at the 6th of July, and it has been col- lated with a Life of St. Monynna or Darerca. Besides a Prologue, it is given in eight chapters, consisting of seventy-eight para- graphs,
31 He is supposed to have been a scholas- tic of Gleanussen, who is related to have died there A. D. 1082.
32 His work, according to Sir James Ware,
was written in Three Books. See "De Scrip- "
toribus Hibernke, lib. i. , cap. viii. , p. 57. 33 See " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , at 5th
of July, p. 14.