" Bishop
Challenor
treats about this saint.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
253.
' Heiscommemorated,onthisday,in
"See O'SuUevan Beare's "Historiae
CatholicseIberniasCompendium,"tomusi. ,
lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 49, and cap. xii. , p. 56.
Article IV. —'See "Acta
tomus i. , Martii iv. De S. Owino Monacho been
Lichfeldias in Anglia Commentarius histori- cus, pp. 212, 213.
'
See his Life, at the 2nd of March.
3 His Life is included in Jerome Porter's "Flowers of the Lives of the most ilkistrious
Saints of England, Scotland and Ireland. "
* See an account of him in "A Memorial
of Ancient Briti—sh Piety," p. 46.
Article v. 'See "Acta Sanctorum
Hiberniae," iv. Martii. S. Fursei Abbatis
furnished,
by Professor O'Looney
Depositio, pp. 456, 457. *"
5. 1111. n.
*
Stuiiro ce^-An in epouic
1 i\UAini yvig'OA coitroLech Co fluAg Aobul Ainglech tuciuf ieff U)inni\ecli.
Celebrate the passion of the"
bishop,
In Rome, the kingly, the lumi-
nous,
With a mighty angelic host, Lucius the brilliant torch.
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis An- glorum," lib. iii. , cap. xix.
3 See " De Viris Illustribus Ordinis Bene- dictini," lib. iii. , cap. Ixxxvi.
Sanctoram,"
See Bertl's "Ecclesiastics Historise * See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Breviavium. " Pars Prima. Skc. iii. , cap.
nine," xvi. Januarii. Appandix ad Vitam S.
i. , p. 96.
Fursaei, cap. x. , p. 98.
—
stanza, in the "Feilire" of St. ^ngus, and
'
found in the " Leabhar Breac " has copy,
with the —
EngUsh translation,
:
Article vi.
The
following
Irish
March 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 115
the Roman Breviary. 3 His Acts, by the Monk Guaiferius, are set forth in the great Bollandist collection, with some preceding commentaries. *
jfittf) I3ap of ilaitl)*
ARTICLE L—ST. KIERAN, OR CIARAN, FIRST BISHOP OF SAIGIR KING'S COUNTY, AND PATRON OF THE DIOCESE OF OSSORY.
[FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. } CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—THE ACTS OF ST, KIERAN—FAMILY AND BIRTH—HIS DESIRE TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN, AND TO VISIT ROME.
guiding to the light of Faith those who have been immersed for a
have weight, with the unconverted. They perform superstitious practices, frequent their' temples, and, on certain days, have absurd rites and cere-
monies, merely in conformity with prevailing national usages. Their parents were superstitious, their friends and neighbours are likewise so. With diffi- culty can they make up their minds to break that chain which strictly binds them to all these things : it would be a breach of filial or natural piety, to recede from the customs of their forefathers. Considerations like these keep back a great many honest-minded pagans, from embracing the pure Faith, whichleadstothemostadmirablecodeofmorahty. Lefttothemselves,the people are not generally hostile to Christianity. Were they but free in their movements, they would follow the attraction of what they see and under- stand. This would be all the easier, since their trust in spells and idols is of the faintest kind. Yet, those vested interests, which tend to sustain the tottering fabric of unsound and impious institutions, are with difficulty counteracted, because fanaticism and deep-rooted prejudices combine, to
IN timein
long pagan darkness,
conversionswouldbenumerousandmore easily effected, if it were only possible, to remove the moral and material obstacles which obstruct their way. Traditions and ties of race and family
prevent truth from appearing lovely to human minds. For a long time, our "
ancestors were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death," until the people became the Lord's portion and the lot of his inheritance. ' However, Christianity was not unknown, in parts of Ireland, during those years preced-
ing the arrival of St. Patrick,^ according to many respectable authorities. 3 After Ireland's early reign of Druidismand Heathendom, the land, that was desolate and impassable, was to be made glad; the wilderness was to rejoice and flourish like a lily ; the eyes of the blind were to be opened, and the ears of the deaf were to be unstopped ; waters were to break out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness ; the dry land was to become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water ; the redeemed of the Lord were to come into Sionwithgreatpraise,everlastingjoywastobeupontheirheads; theywere to obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and mourning were to flee away ;+ while
3ParsVerna. Dieiv.
* See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , iv.
et
nomy. xxxii. , 9.
= See his Life, at the 17th of March.
3 See "Chronicon," at A. D. Sigebert's
432. This writer died, A. D. 1 1 12. * See Isaias, xxxv.
Martii. De S. Lucio
Papa
Article i. —Chapter i. —. ' Deutero-
301 to 3p8.
Martyre, pp.
11 6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[March 5.
the light of the Gospel was destined to arise and to beam with effulgence over the land.
The primitive form of Irish society appears to have been based, on the clan or sept system ; the chief was regarded as the patriarch, father and defender of an extended family, whose members were generally united by ties of relationship and kindred. s However, there was an Ard-Righ, or chief monarch over Ireland, and under him were subordinate princes, whose powers were well defined, and subject to the chief monarch. One of these ruled over each considerable province or district. The chief was a petty sovereign, within his own territory. Notwithstanding, the chieftains acknow- ledged a qualified allegiance, either directly or indirectly, to the monarch of the Island, According to a very general opinion of our historians, Ireland was governed by a sort of pentarchy, as the chief ruler's authority was supposed to immediately and directly affect four other powerful kings, his suzerains. There can be little doubt, that from a community thus constituted at Saigher, the first preachers of Christianity went forth, among the rude and turbulent tribes of ancient Ossory. Nor is it at all improbable, that on this spot was also erected one of the earliest Christian churches in Ireland. A date, anterior to the advent of St. Patrick, is very generally assigned for the founding of the cell at Saigher, by St. Kieran, or Chiarain, the son of Lug- haidh. ^ Several matters, connected with his transactions and period, have been questioned, notwithstanding, and it shall be our object to give these the fairest consideration, we are able to afford, consistenly with the involved diffi- culties of our theme.
Some Irish Lives of the holy man, who has been so affectionately styled,
" Primogenitus Sanctorum Hibernise," 7 are yet preserved in manuscript. Among these, a Life of St. Kieran of Saigir, in Irish, has been transcribed by Brother Michael O'Clery. ^ Among the Messrs. Hodges and Smith's collec- tion of Irish Manuscripts, in the Royal Irish Academy, is a Lite of St. Kiaran of Saighir. 9 Jn Marsh's Library, Dublin, in the manuscript, called "Codex Kilkenniensis," there is a Lite of St. Kieranus (Ossoriensis). '** Thereis an '* VitaS.
"in a
among Messrs. Hodges and Smith's MSS. , No. 12,'3 in the Royal Irish Academy. Another is to be found, in the Bodleian Library, at Oxtord,'* and it is a vellum folio of the fourteenth century. Colgan furnishes two Lives of this celebrated saint. 's One of these is taken from the manuscript described
Kierani,"
belonging to Trinity College, Dublin. " A Life of St. Kieran is contained,
imperfect
5 See Goldwin Smith's " Irbh History and Irish Character," p. 15.
fol. 139. Again in vol. xxii. , Nos, 7672 to 7674, we find a Vita S. Kierani, fol. 197.
' it is numbered 150, a 410 paper MS,
"Fol, 107 to 110.
" It only gives a few sentences, however, beginning at fol. 71, the succeeding lolios to 91 being defective.
" This is classed E. 3. 11.
'3 A small 4to paper MS.
'* It is classed, Rawl. B. 505, pp. 223 to
227.
'5 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," v.
Martii. Vita S. Kierani Episcopi et Con-
fessoris. Ex Codice Kilkenniensi, pp. 458 to 467. Alia Vita ejusdem seu Lectiones
Officii ejus ex M S. Salmanticensi, pp. 467 to 469, An Appendix, in four chapters, follows, pp. 470 to 473.
•^ The author has obtained the loan of au
English translation, from an Irish version of this Life, made by the well-known Irish
*
Prim's "History of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny," p, 2,
See Rev. James Graves' and John A.
7 In an eloquent sermon, preached, on the Feast of St. Kieran at Saigher, A. D.
1877, the Rev. N. Murphy, C. C. , in vindi-
eating for the patron that foregoing title, adds the following —translation of an Irish stanza in his praise :
"
Kieran, the faithful, noble Coharb,
Tlie senior of the heaven-loving saints of
Erin,
Illustrious, the festival of the royal one, Whose peaceful cathedra is great Sal-
gher. '
•
Bruxelles, classed vol. iv. , Nos. 2324— 2340,
It is in the Burgtmdian Library, at
4to parchu»ent manuscript,
March 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 117
as the Codex Kilkenniensis/^ with a shorter one, extracted from a Salaman- can MS. , and which is said to contain his office lessons, distributed into twelve parts. In the opinion of Colgan, the writer of the longer Life must have been a monk,'? living under St. Kieran's rule. '^ Such a conclusion, however, may not safely be inferred from the evidence cited. The style of this foremost composition indicates a remote age, being remarkable for its concise- ness and simplicity, not less than for its occasional violations of grammatical rules. Colgan inclines to a supposition, that this- Life had been written by St. Evan, who also compiled St. Patrick's Acts, and most of the other Lives, contained in the Codex Kilkenniensis. Such, likewise, seems to have been the opinion of Father Hugh Ward. The first published Life, in Colgan, had been collated with others, not differing much in substance from it ; while the office lessons, which are published, have probably been extracted, from some one or other of the earlier Lives. However, events therein related appear to have been selected from more copious materials, and they are probably written in a more elegant style, than found in the originals. The extant Lives of St. Kieran are unquestionably of great antiquity, and although com- prising much that is fabulous, they do not bear the marks of documents, forged to support a preconceived theory. Perhaps, it is assuming too much in supposing, that they are altogether without foundation ; especially, when we recollect, that they derive support, from almost every historical authority, bearing on the ancient Church History of Ireland. '? For the 3rd of the March Nones, John Capgrave has noted the Acts of St. Piran,='° Bishop and Confessor. ^' In the great Bollandist collection, the Acts of St. Kieran and of St. Carthac, his disciple, bishops and abbots of Saigir, in Ossory, a province of Ireland, are found united, at the 5th day of March.
" Bishop Challenor treats about this saint. ^3 The Rev. Alban Butler^" gives some notices of this St. Kiaran, or as he is also styled, Kenerin, B. C, called by the Britons, Piran. ^s The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has also a Life of St. Kieran or Abbot of ^'^
Piran, Saigir.
scholar, Mr. John O'Daly, of 9 Anglesea- street, Dublin. In some few particulars, it differs from the Life, as published by Col- gan.
'' Thus, he is thought to have lived, be-
But, by
far the most and re- complete
fore the year 550, according to these words
:
James Graves, A. B. , and J. A. Prim, p. 2. ^° The original is in MS. Cott. Tiber E,
i. , ff. 56-58 b.
^' See "Nova Legenda Angliae," fol.
cclxvii. , cclxviii. , cclxix. , cclxx.
*^ See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. ,
Martii v. A previous commentary, in three sections, and afterwards, the Life, taken from the Salamancan MS. of the Irish
"Hie indicat clare author se vixisse inter
Monachos S. Kierani tempore patrati hujus
miraculi, dum dicit quia nemini ex nostris
hoc ifidicavit. " See ibid. , n. 30, p. 465. College of the Jesuits, as published also by
And, also, speaking of this particular pas-
Colgan, together with an Appendix, con- taining additional miracles taken from the
Codex Kilkenniensis, published by Colgan, with some few corrections or additions in the general Appendix : all these matters comprise the Bollandist notices. See pp. 389 to 399, and pp. 901, 902.
^3 See "Britannia Sancta," part i,, pp. 154, 155.
^^ See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. iii. , March v.
*5 These notices profess to be extracted, from Leland's "Collections," published by Hearne, tome iii. , pp. 10, i74,from Ussher, and from John of Tinmouth.
"
indicare & se Monachum S. Kierani fuisse,
sage, Colgan says :
Quibus verbis videtur
& interfuisse, dum ilia, quae refert, gereban- tur. Unde videtur vixisse ante annum 550, ante quem ilia constat gesta fuisse : quo tenipore & S. Evinum vixisse ostendimus in notis ad vitam Tripartitam S. Patricii, num. i. " See ibid. , n. 1. , p. 463.
'^ _
From a passage in the former Life,
cited by Colgan, it is supposed, that its
author had been contemporaneous with our
"
saint.
redibat, quia nemini ex nostris hoc indica- vit. "— Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," V. Martii. Vita S. Kierani ex Codice Kilkenniensi, cap. xxv. , p. 461.
Nos autem latet quomodo ibat aut
'9 See "The of History
March v. , pp.
the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny. " By Rev,
72.
'*
66 to
*? This volume, so creditable to local
See "Lives of the Saints," vol. iii. ,
ii8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 5.
searchful Life of St. Kieran,^^ which has yet appeared, is that so carefully pro- duced, by Mr. John Hogan, of Kilkenny City. Not alone are the Acts of the holy patron rendered interesting and attractive, but the topography of ancient and modem Ossory is graphically sketched and historically illustrated, by the author. The Rev. John Francis Shearman has also very learnedly and laboriously investigated this subject -f" but, forming conclusions, at variance with many of Mr. Hogan's statements. ^9 Dr. Lanigan,3o the BoUan- dists,3^ and many respectable authorities, consider the two Lives of St. Kieran, published by Colgan, as very incorrect and abounding in fables. 3» Such unquestionably, in our opinion, is the case ; however, having no more ancient33 or authentic documents, on which to rely, for particulars of our saint's life, we are mainly compelled to present some of their details, with the substance of certain dissertations, contained in Colgan's Appendix, and in his principal notes. From such of the foregoing materials, as have become
typography, is intituled : "St. Ciaran, tions were made " at a period when gross
Patron of Ossory, a Memoir of his Life and Times, comprising a Preliminary Enquiry
ignorance and laxity of morals were preva- lent. "
33 The are used in following arguments
an His- torical Commentary on the Legend of his Life; someNotesonhisDeath,andonthe Surviving Memorials of his Mission. " By John Hogan, Kilkenny. Printed at the
^(wr/w/Office,A. D. 1876. 8vo.
^ In connexion with the valuable series of
Papers, denominated " Loca Patriciana,"
Series, January, 1877, No. 29. No. xi.
*9 From the initials, J. H. , appended to a
respecting the period of his Birth ;
in "The
' Birand
tiles. '
city of Saighir-Ciaran was demolished and
*
its monastery burned to the ground by The
of the Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland. " See especially vol. iv. Fourth
were theGen- plundered by
published
Journal
Royal
Saighir
In a century later, i. e. A. D. 952, the
men of Munster. ' In twenty years later, ReviewofRev. JohnFrancisShearman's •Sabia,QueenofIreland,foundthecemetery
statement, we may probably regard it as a
reply of Mr. Hogan, published in the Kil-
kenny yourtial of June 13th, 1877. It is
"
of Saighir, an unprotected commons, and procured masons out of Meath to enclose it with walls, to save it from desecration. After this, the church of Saighir never re- gained its former opulence. Now the legend of Ciaran's life was written when the monastery of Saigher had attained the cul-
headed
St. Patrick and St. Kieran. "
Kilkenny Archaeological Society.
30 See " Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, xiv. , p. 29. 3' See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus
in its affluence, and whilst in the undisturbed enjoyment of its primitive institutions. Two years after the first raid of the Danes on Saigher, in a. d. 842, Cormac MacEladach was promoted to the abbacy of that church, he is the only one in the long list of its ecclesiastics to whom the Four
Martii v.
3* The Rev. Mr. Shearman, criticising the
legend of St. Ciaran's Life, writes :
Life or Memoir is so filled ^vith absurd and ridiculous miracles that the Bollandists alto- gether rejected it. We must demur to their judgment, which was to some extent ill- grounded and premature ; apart from the legendary portion of this Life, which indeed may, with advantage, be set aside, there are references to persons who can be identified in the history and genealogies of the period. Of this process the Bollandists, from want of historical materials, were incapable of form- ing a proper estimate, and this document in the form it has reached our time is founded on some very ancient and authentic records. " The writer then ventures a suggestion, that
Masters give the title of scribe
'
Cormac
"it appears to have been recast," for the purpose of sustaining the ante- Patrician
claims, presumably of an earlier Apostolate, for Ciaran, Ibhar, Declan and Ailbhe. See
"Loca Patriciana," No. xi. , pp. 214, 217. In addition, he supposes, that the emenda-
MacEladach, Bishop and Scribe of Saigher,' and to him we can with safety assign the authorship of the legend of Ciaran's Life. If he did compile it he must have done so before his elevaiion to the abbacy, as the Danish raid on the monastery occurred two years previous to that event. It might have been written at an earlier period, but it could not have been done after his time, as at the date of its compilation the monastery was in the most ample enjoyment of its ori- ginal immunities, privileges and material possessions ; and no reference whatever is made to any encroachment on its rights by either foreign or native assailants. Whence we can conclude with certainty that the legend of St. Ciaran's Life was written be-
"
This
i. ,
minating point
the Review, with the initials, J. H. , to establish the probable period for the com-
position of Colgan's First Life : —
" From its intrinsic evidence the Life of
Ciaran must have been compiled before the first assault of the Danes on the monastery of Saigher. In the year 842 we read :
March 5,] LIVES OF THE lEISJI SAIJVTS 119
accessible to the writer, he must endeavour to work out the somewhat per-
plexingsubjectofSt. Kieran'smemoir. Amongothermattersinquestion,
the subject of St. Kieran's ancestry and natal place has divided opinion. 34
However, he is numbered among the twelve principal Irish saints ; and,
according to the most generally received pedigree, he descended from an
illustrious Ossorian family, in the western part of Leinster province. 35
Thus do we find the matter stated. ^^ Kieran was the son of Lughaidh, or
Lugneus, son to Rumond,37 son of Conaill, or Conall, son of Corpre,38 son
of Nia Corb, or Niedcorb, son to Becan,39 son of Eochaid Lamdoit, or
Eochad Lamhdoid, son to Amalgaidh, or Amalgad, son of Loagair or Leog-
haire Birn, who was the son of Aengus Osraighe, or ^nguss, of Ossory. 4<»
According to the O'Clerys, this last-named prince belonged to the posterity of Labhraidh Lore, from whom are the Leinstermen, and who was also of the
seed of Heremon. *' Again, the mother of St. Kieran, variedly named, Ligh- aiuj-t^ Lidania, or Liuenj^a according to the O'Clerys,-! * was the daughter of
fore the first attack of the Danes on Saigher saint's detailed geneology on the father's in A. D, 842, and apparently by Cormac side,
the and scribe of that MacEladach, bishop
church, at the same period. "
s* Maguire tells us, in chap. i. that his
father was Brandubh, the son of Bressal, son
' See Drs, Todd's and Reeves' "
Martyr*
to Bran, &c. However, as
Colgan
remarks,
ology of Donegal," pp. 64, 65.
"^ In the second chapter of Mr. Hogan's
work, the maternal genealogy of St, Ciaran
is " The name of his mother was given,
Liadhan, and she was a native of Corca Laighe," In the Books of Lecan and of
Ballymote, the genealogy of Corca Laighe
is given, with clearness and accuracy. In
the " of the Celtic Dr. Miscellany Society,"
O'Donovan published, with a translation and notes, the genealogy. We learn from this authority, th—e following traditional cir*
cumstances, that
the pedigree thus given refers to another St.
Kiaran, about whom St. ^ngus treats in
"
his
35 Authors differ regarding his father's
Opuscula," lib. ii. , pars, i. , cap. 7.
and and Han- name, pedigree, Capgrave
mer state, that his father was Domnel, and his mother Wingella.
3* In the Biography of Mr. Hogan, we ''
learn, that of the Dal Birn of Ossory was Ciaran. " According to the author, this " confines him to the Royal family of the Ossorian tribe—for the Dal Birn was the tribe name of the MacGillaphaidraig Clan, and came originally from Leorghaine Birn, the second King of Ossory. " The pedigree of Ciaran is preserved in the Book of Lecan, and in the Book of Leinster, with direct descents from Aengus Ossory, through his successors to Lugiiaidh or Luaghe, the father of Ciaran. Mr. Hogan asserts, that this determines with certainty the tribe and the territory of Ciaran's ancestry. We must refer the inquiring and curious reader to Mr. Hogan's work, in order that he may ascer- tain the means, by which the genealogical problem is worked out, and how he deve- lopes those principles and establishes those facts, on which he vindicates the Royal des- cent of the illustrious wonder-worker, the patron saint of Old Ossory. The first
—— was the
chapter is wholly devoted to this portion of "
Mother of Ciaran of Saighir. He was bom
at Finntract-Clere,
And the Angels of God attended upon her.
The orders of Heaven
Baptized him. Here was (dwelling) the chieftain who first believed
In the Cross in Ireland ; for Ciaran had
taken Saighir
Thirty years before Patrick arrived, as the
poet said,
Saighir the cold
Found a city on its brink,
At the end of thirty years
I shall meet there and thou.
It is calculated, by Mr, Hogan, that Lighan was thirty years of age in 373, when Ciaran would be first making his appearance on the scene of life ; and, the last lines of the above rann refer to the meeting between St. Patrick and Ciaran at Saighir in 455, when the latter was eighty years of age. See " St.
Ciaran, Patron of Ossory," chap, ii. , pp. 13. 14.
the subject. See St, Ciaran, Patron of Ossory," chap, i.
"See O'SuUevan Beare's "Historiae
CatholicseIberniasCompendium,"tomusi. ,
lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 49, and cap. xii. , p. 56.
Article IV. —'See "Acta
tomus i. , Martii iv. De S. Owino Monacho been
Lichfeldias in Anglia Commentarius histori- cus, pp. 212, 213.
'
See his Life, at the 2nd of March.
3 His Life is included in Jerome Porter's "Flowers of the Lives of the most ilkistrious
Saints of England, Scotland and Ireland. "
* See an account of him in "A Memorial
of Ancient Briti—sh Piety," p. 46.
Article v. 'See "Acta Sanctorum
Hiberniae," iv. Martii. S. Fursei Abbatis
furnished,
by Professor O'Looney
Depositio, pp. 456, 457. *"
5. 1111. n.
*
Stuiiro ce^-An in epouic
1 i\UAini yvig'OA coitroLech Co fluAg Aobul Ainglech tuciuf ieff U)inni\ecli.
Celebrate the passion of the"
bishop,
In Rome, the kingly, the lumi-
nous,
With a mighty angelic host, Lucius the brilliant torch.
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis An- glorum," lib. iii. , cap. xix.
3 See " De Viris Illustribus Ordinis Bene- dictini," lib. iii. , cap. Ixxxvi.
Sanctoram,"
See Bertl's "Ecclesiastics Historise * See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- Breviavium. " Pars Prima. Skc. iii. , cap.
nine," xvi. Januarii. Appandix ad Vitam S.
i. , p. 96.
Fursaei, cap. x. , p. 98.
—
stanza, in the "Feilire" of St. ^ngus, and
'
found in the " Leabhar Breac " has copy,
with the —
EngUsh translation,
:
Article vi.
The
following
Irish
March 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 115
the Roman Breviary. 3 His Acts, by the Monk Guaiferius, are set forth in the great Bollandist collection, with some preceding commentaries. *
jfittf) I3ap of ilaitl)*
ARTICLE L—ST. KIERAN, OR CIARAN, FIRST BISHOP OF SAIGIR KING'S COUNTY, AND PATRON OF THE DIOCESE OF OSSORY.
[FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. } CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—THE ACTS OF ST, KIERAN—FAMILY AND BIRTH—HIS DESIRE TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN, AND TO VISIT ROME.
guiding to the light of Faith those who have been immersed for a
have weight, with the unconverted. They perform superstitious practices, frequent their' temples, and, on certain days, have absurd rites and cere-
monies, merely in conformity with prevailing national usages. Their parents were superstitious, their friends and neighbours are likewise so. With diffi- culty can they make up their minds to break that chain which strictly binds them to all these things : it would be a breach of filial or natural piety, to recede from the customs of their forefathers. Considerations like these keep back a great many honest-minded pagans, from embracing the pure Faith, whichleadstothemostadmirablecodeofmorahty. Lefttothemselves,the people are not generally hostile to Christianity. Were they but free in their movements, they would follow the attraction of what they see and under- stand. This would be all the easier, since their trust in spells and idols is of the faintest kind. Yet, those vested interests, which tend to sustain the tottering fabric of unsound and impious institutions, are with difficulty counteracted, because fanaticism and deep-rooted prejudices combine, to
IN timein
long pagan darkness,
conversionswouldbenumerousandmore easily effected, if it were only possible, to remove the moral and material obstacles which obstruct their way. Traditions and ties of race and family
prevent truth from appearing lovely to human minds. For a long time, our "
ancestors were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death," until the people became the Lord's portion and the lot of his inheritance. ' However, Christianity was not unknown, in parts of Ireland, during those years preced-
ing the arrival of St. Patrick,^ according to many respectable authorities. 3 After Ireland's early reign of Druidismand Heathendom, the land, that was desolate and impassable, was to be made glad; the wilderness was to rejoice and flourish like a lily ; the eyes of the blind were to be opened, and the ears of the deaf were to be unstopped ; waters were to break out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness ; the dry land was to become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water ; the redeemed of the Lord were to come into Sionwithgreatpraise,everlastingjoywastobeupontheirheads; theywere to obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and mourning were to flee away ;+ while
3ParsVerna. Dieiv.
* See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. , iv.
et
nomy. xxxii. , 9.
= See his Life, at the 17th of March.
3 See "Chronicon," at A. D. Sigebert's
432. This writer died, A. D. 1 1 12. * See Isaias, xxxv.
Martii. De S. Lucio
Papa
Article i. —Chapter i. —. ' Deutero-
301 to 3p8.
Martyre, pp.
11 6 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[March 5.
the light of the Gospel was destined to arise and to beam with effulgence over the land.
The primitive form of Irish society appears to have been based, on the clan or sept system ; the chief was regarded as the patriarch, father and defender of an extended family, whose members were generally united by ties of relationship and kindred. s However, there was an Ard-Righ, or chief monarch over Ireland, and under him were subordinate princes, whose powers were well defined, and subject to the chief monarch. One of these ruled over each considerable province or district. The chief was a petty sovereign, within his own territory. Notwithstanding, the chieftains acknow- ledged a qualified allegiance, either directly or indirectly, to the monarch of the Island, According to a very general opinion of our historians, Ireland was governed by a sort of pentarchy, as the chief ruler's authority was supposed to immediately and directly affect four other powerful kings, his suzerains. There can be little doubt, that from a community thus constituted at Saigher, the first preachers of Christianity went forth, among the rude and turbulent tribes of ancient Ossory. Nor is it at all improbable, that on this spot was also erected one of the earliest Christian churches in Ireland. A date, anterior to the advent of St. Patrick, is very generally assigned for the founding of the cell at Saigher, by St. Kieran, or Chiarain, the son of Lug- haidh. ^ Several matters, connected with his transactions and period, have been questioned, notwithstanding, and it shall be our object to give these the fairest consideration, we are able to afford, consistenly with the involved diffi- culties of our theme.
Some Irish Lives of the holy man, who has been so affectionately styled,
" Primogenitus Sanctorum Hibernise," 7 are yet preserved in manuscript. Among these, a Life of St. Kieran of Saigir, in Irish, has been transcribed by Brother Michael O'Clery. ^ Among the Messrs. Hodges and Smith's collec- tion of Irish Manuscripts, in the Royal Irish Academy, is a Lite of St. Kiaran of Saighir. 9 Jn Marsh's Library, Dublin, in the manuscript, called "Codex Kilkenniensis," there is a Lite of St. Kieranus (Ossoriensis). '** Thereis an '* VitaS.
"in a
among Messrs. Hodges and Smith's MSS. , No. 12,'3 in the Royal Irish Academy. Another is to be found, in the Bodleian Library, at Oxtord,'* and it is a vellum folio of the fourteenth century. Colgan furnishes two Lives of this celebrated saint. 's One of these is taken from the manuscript described
Kierani,"
belonging to Trinity College, Dublin. " A Life of St. Kieran is contained,
imperfect
5 See Goldwin Smith's " Irbh History and Irish Character," p. 15.
fol. 139. Again in vol. xxii. , Nos, 7672 to 7674, we find a Vita S. Kierani, fol. 197.
' it is numbered 150, a 410 paper MS,
"Fol, 107 to 110.
" It only gives a few sentences, however, beginning at fol. 71, the succeeding lolios to 91 being defective.
" This is classed E. 3. 11.
'3 A small 4to paper MS.
'* It is classed, Rawl. B. 505, pp. 223 to
227.
'5 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," v.
Martii. Vita S. Kierani Episcopi et Con-
fessoris. Ex Codice Kilkenniensi, pp. 458 to 467. Alia Vita ejusdem seu Lectiones
Officii ejus ex M S. Salmanticensi, pp. 467 to 469, An Appendix, in four chapters, follows, pp. 470 to 473.
•^ The author has obtained the loan of au
English translation, from an Irish version of this Life, made by the well-known Irish
*
Prim's "History of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny," p, 2,
See Rev. James Graves' and John A.
7 In an eloquent sermon, preached, on the Feast of St. Kieran at Saigher, A. D.
1877, the Rev. N. Murphy, C. C. , in vindi-
eating for the patron that foregoing title, adds the following —translation of an Irish stanza in his praise :
"
Kieran, the faithful, noble Coharb,
Tlie senior of the heaven-loving saints of
Erin,
Illustrious, the festival of the royal one, Whose peaceful cathedra is great Sal-
gher. '
•
Bruxelles, classed vol. iv. , Nos. 2324— 2340,
It is in the Burgtmdian Library, at
4to parchu»ent manuscript,
March 5. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 117
as the Codex Kilkenniensis/^ with a shorter one, extracted from a Salaman- can MS. , and which is said to contain his office lessons, distributed into twelve parts. In the opinion of Colgan, the writer of the longer Life must have been a monk,'? living under St. Kieran's rule. '^ Such a conclusion, however, may not safely be inferred from the evidence cited. The style of this foremost composition indicates a remote age, being remarkable for its concise- ness and simplicity, not less than for its occasional violations of grammatical rules. Colgan inclines to a supposition, that this- Life had been written by St. Evan, who also compiled St. Patrick's Acts, and most of the other Lives, contained in the Codex Kilkenniensis. Such, likewise, seems to have been the opinion of Father Hugh Ward. The first published Life, in Colgan, had been collated with others, not differing much in substance from it ; while the office lessons, which are published, have probably been extracted, from some one or other of the earlier Lives. However, events therein related appear to have been selected from more copious materials, and they are probably written in a more elegant style, than found in the originals. The extant Lives of St. Kieran are unquestionably of great antiquity, and although com- prising much that is fabulous, they do not bear the marks of documents, forged to support a preconceived theory. Perhaps, it is assuming too much in supposing, that they are altogether without foundation ; especially, when we recollect, that they derive support, from almost every historical authority, bearing on the ancient Church History of Ireland. '? For the 3rd of the March Nones, John Capgrave has noted the Acts of St. Piran,='° Bishop and Confessor. ^' In the great Bollandist collection, the Acts of St. Kieran and of St. Carthac, his disciple, bishops and abbots of Saigir, in Ossory, a province of Ireland, are found united, at the 5th day of March.
" Bishop Challenor treats about this saint. ^3 The Rev. Alban Butler^" gives some notices of this St. Kiaran, or as he is also styled, Kenerin, B. C, called by the Britons, Piran. ^s The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has also a Life of St. Kieran or Abbot of ^'^
Piran, Saigir.
scholar, Mr. John O'Daly, of 9 Anglesea- street, Dublin. In some few particulars, it differs from the Life, as published by Col- gan.
'' Thus, he is thought to have lived, be-
But, by
far the most and re- complete
fore the year 550, according to these words
:
James Graves, A. B. , and J. A. Prim, p. 2. ^° The original is in MS. Cott. Tiber E,
i. , ff. 56-58 b.
^' See "Nova Legenda Angliae," fol.
cclxvii. , cclxviii. , cclxix. , cclxx.
*^ See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. ,
Martii v. A previous commentary, in three sections, and afterwards, the Life, taken from the Salamancan MS. of the Irish
"Hie indicat clare author se vixisse inter
Monachos S. Kierani tempore patrati hujus
miraculi, dum dicit quia nemini ex nostris
hoc ifidicavit. " See ibid. , n. 30, p. 465. College of the Jesuits, as published also by
And, also, speaking of this particular pas-
Colgan, together with an Appendix, con- taining additional miracles taken from the
Codex Kilkenniensis, published by Colgan, with some few corrections or additions in the general Appendix : all these matters comprise the Bollandist notices. See pp. 389 to 399, and pp. 901, 902.
^3 See "Britannia Sancta," part i,, pp. 154, 155.
^^ See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. iii. , March v.
*5 These notices profess to be extracted, from Leland's "Collections," published by Hearne, tome iii. , pp. 10, i74,from Ussher, and from John of Tinmouth.
"
indicare & se Monachum S. Kierani fuisse,
sage, Colgan says :
Quibus verbis videtur
& interfuisse, dum ilia, quae refert, gereban- tur. Unde videtur vixisse ante annum 550, ante quem ilia constat gesta fuisse : quo tenipore & S. Evinum vixisse ostendimus in notis ad vitam Tripartitam S. Patricii, num. i. " See ibid. , n. 1. , p. 463.
'^ _
From a passage in the former Life,
cited by Colgan, it is supposed, that its
author had been contemporaneous with our
"
saint.
redibat, quia nemini ex nostris hoc indica- vit. "— Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," V. Martii. Vita S. Kierani ex Codice Kilkenniensi, cap. xxv. , p. 461.
Nos autem latet quomodo ibat aut
'9 See "The of History
March v. , pp.
the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny. " By Rev,
72.
'*
66 to
*? This volume, so creditable to local
See "Lives of the Saints," vol. iii. ,
ii8 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 5.
searchful Life of St. Kieran,^^ which has yet appeared, is that so carefully pro- duced, by Mr. John Hogan, of Kilkenny City. Not alone are the Acts of the holy patron rendered interesting and attractive, but the topography of ancient and modem Ossory is graphically sketched and historically illustrated, by the author. The Rev. John Francis Shearman has also very learnedly and laboriously investigated this subject -f" but, forming conclusions, at variance with many of Mr. Hogan's statements. ^9 Dr. Lanigan,3o the BoUan- dists,3^ and many respectable authorities, consider the two Lives of St. Kieran, published by Colgan, as very incorrect and abounding in fables. 3» Such unquestionably, in our opinion, is the case ; however, having no more ancient33 or authentic documents, on which to rely, for particulars of our saint's life, we are mainly compelled to present some of their details, with the substance of certain dissertations, contained in Colgan's Appendix, and in his principal notes. From such of the foregoing materials, as have become
typography, is intituled : "St. Ciaran, tions were made " at a period when gross
Patron of Ossory, a Memoir of his Life and Times, comprising a Preliminary Enquiry
ignorance and laxity of morals were preva- lent. "
33 The are used in following arguments
an His- torical Commentary on the Legend of his Life; someNotesonhisDeath,andonthe Surviving Memorials of his Mission. " By John Hogan, Kilkenny. Printed at the
^(wr/w/Office,A. D. 1876. 8vo.
^ In connexion with the valuable series of
Papers, denominated " Loca Patriciana,"
Series, January, 1877, No. 29. No. xi.
*9 From the initials, J. H. , appended to a
respecting the period of his Birth ;
in "The
' Birand
tiles. '
city of Saighir-Ciaran was demolished and
*
its monastery burned to the ground by The
of the Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland. " See especially vol. iv. Fourth
were theGen- plundered by
published
Journal
Royal
Saighir
In a century later, i. e. A. D. 952, the
men of Munster. ' In twenty years later, ReviewofRev. JohnFrancisShearman's •Sabia,QueenofIreland,foundthecemetery
statement, we may probably regard it as a
reply of Mr. Hogan, published in the Kil-
kenny yourtial of June 13th, 1877. It is
"
of Saighir, an unprotected commons, and procured masons out of Meath to enclose it with walls, to save it from desecration. After this, the church of Saighir never re- gained its former opulence. Now the legend of Ciaran's life was written when the monastery of Saigher had attained the cul-
headed
St. Patrick and St. Kieran. "
Kilkenny Archaeological Society.
30 See " Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, xiv. , p. 29. 3' See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus
in its affluence, and whilst in the undisturbed enjoyment of its primitive institutions. Two years after the first raid of the Danes on Saigher, in a. d. 842, Cormac MacEladach was promoted to the abbacy of that church, he is the only one in the long list of its ecclesiastics to whom the Four
Martii v.
3* The Rev. Mr. Shearman, criticising the
legend of St. Ciaran's Life, writes :
Life or Memoir is so filled ^vith absurd and ridiculous miracles that the Bollandists alto- gether rejected it. We must demur to their judgment, which was to some extent ill- grounded and premature ; apart from the legendary portion of this Life, which indeed may, with advantage, be set aside, there are references to persons who can be identified in the history and genealogies of the period. Of this process the Bollandists, from want of historical materials, were incapable of form- ing a proper estimate, and this document in the form it has reached our time is founded on some very ancient and authentic records. " The writer then ventures a suggestion, that
Masters give the title of scribe
'
Cormac
"it appears to have been recast," for the purpose of sustaining the ante- Patrician
claims, presumably of an earlier Apostolate, for Ciaran, Ibhar, Declan and Ailbhe. See
"Loca Patriciana," No. xi. , pp. 214, 217. In addition, he supposes, that the emenda-
MacEladach, Bishop and Scribe of Saigher,' and to him we can with safety assign the authorship of the legend of Ciaran's Life. If he did compile it he must have done so before his elevaiion to the abbacy, as the Danish raid on the monastery occurred two years previous to that event. It might have been written at an earlier period, but it could not have been done after his time, as at the date of its compilation the monastery was in the most ample enjoyment of its ori- ginal immunities, privileges and material possessions ; and no reference whatever is made to any encroachment on its rights by either foreign or native assailants. Whence we can conclude with certainty that the legend of St. Ciaran's Life was written be-
"
This
i. ,
minating point
the Review, with the initials, J. H. , to establish the probable period for the com-
position of Colgan's First Life : —
" From its intrinsic evidence the Life of
Ciaran must have been compiled before the first assault of the Danes on the monastery of Saigher. In the year 842 we read :
March 5,] LIVES OF THE lEISJI SAIJVTS 119
accessible to the writer, he must endeavour to work out the somewhat per-
plexingsubjectofSt. Kieran'smemoir. Amongothermattersinquestion,
the subject of St. Kieran's ancestry and natal place has divided opinion. 34
However, he is numbered among the twelve principal Irish saints ; and,
according to the most generally received pedigree, he descended from an
illustrious Ossorian family, in the western part of Leinster province. 35
Thus do we find the matter stated. ^^ Kieran was the son of Lughaidh, or
Lugneus, son to Rumond,37 son of Conaill, or Conall, son of Corpre,38 son
of Nia Corb, or Niedcorb, son to Becan,39 son of Eochaid Lamdoit, or
Eochad Lamhdoid, son to Amalgaidh, or Amalgad, son of Loagair or Leog-
haire Birn, who was the son of Aengus Osraighe, or ^nguss, of Ossory. 4<»
According to the O'Clerys, this last-named prince belonged to the posterity of Labhraidh Lore, from whom are the Leinstermen, and who was also of the
seed of Heremon. *' Again, the mother of St. Kieran, variedly named, Ligh- aiuj-t^ Lidania, or Liuenj^a according to the O'Clerys,-! * was the daughter of
fore the first attack of the Danes on Saigher saint's detailed geneology on the father's in A. D, 842, and apparently by Cormac side,
the and scribe of that MacEladach, bishop
church, at the same period. "
s* Maguire tells us, in chap. i. that his
father was Brandubh, the son of Bressal, son
' See Drs, Todd's and Reeves' "
Martyr*
to Bran, &c. However, as
Colgan
remarks,
ology of Donegal," pp. 64, 65.
"^ In the second chapter of Mr. Hogan's
work, the maternal genealogy of St, Ciaran
is " The name of his mother was given,
Liadhan, and she was a native of Corca Laighe," In the Books of Lecan and of
Ballymote, the genealogy of Corca Laighe
is given, with clearness and accuracy. In
the " of the Celtic Dr. Miscellany Society,"
O'Donovan published, with a translation and notes, the genealogy. We learn from this authority, th—e following traditional cir*
cumstances, that
the pedigree thus given refers to another St.
Kiaran, about whom St. ^ngus treats in
"
his
35 Authors differ regarding his father's
Opuscula," lib. ii. , pars, i. , cap. 7.
and and Han- name, pedigree, Capgrave
mer state, that his father was Domnel, and his mother Wingella.
3* In the Biography of Mr. Hogan, we ''
learn, that of the Dal Birn of Ossory was Ciaran. " According to the author, this " confines him to the Royal family of the Ossorian tribe—for the Dal Birn was the tribe name of the MacGillaphaidraig Clan, and came originally from Leorghaine Birn, the second King of Ossory. " The pedigree of Ciaran is preserved in the Book of Lecan, and in the Book of Leinster, with direct descents from Aengus Ossory, through his successors to Lugiiaidh or Luaghe, the father of Ciaran. Mr. Hogan asserts, that this determines with certainty the tribe and the territory of Ciaran's ancestry. We must refer the inquiring and curious reader to Mr. Hogan's work, in order that he may ascer- tain the means, by which the genealogical problem is worked out, and how he deve- lopes those principles and establishes those facts, on which he vindicates the Royal des- cent of the illustrious wonder-worker, the patron saint of Old Ossory. The first
—— was the
chapter is wholly devoted to this portion of "
Mother of Ciaran of Saighir. He was bom
at Finntract-Clere,
And the Angels of God attended upon her.
The orders of Heaven
Baptized him. Here was (dwelling) the chieftain who first believed
In the Cross in Ireland ; for Ciaran had
taken Saighir
Thirty years before Patrick arrived, as the
poet said,
Saighir the cold
Found a city on its brink,
At the end of thirty years
I shall meet there and thou.
It is calculated, by Mr, Hogan, that Lighan was thirty years of age in 373, when Ciaran would be first making his appearance on the scene of life ; and, the last lines of the above rann refer to the meeting between St. Patrick and Ciaran at Saighir in 455, when the latter was eighty years of age. See " St.
Ciaran, Patron of Ossory," chap, ii. , pp. 13. 14.
the subject. See St, Ciaran, Patron of Ossory," chap, i.
