No More Learning

3 A note by Dr. Todd, at Brocadh, states, "The more recent hand adds br»o§An, mac
tuj'oAc (Brogan, son of Lughaidh), Mart. Taml. "
4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
In the Book of Leinster copy, we read :
218, 219. " Article viii. — x He thus relates :
In
Hibernia
passio quadraginta
monachorum
coenobii Magiensis, Ordinis Cistertiensis,
qui simul cum suo abbate pro fide feliciter occubuerunt. Nam cum hseretici in eorum
monasterium armata manu
x
irruerent, ipsi
Article x. — ' Seethe
Second
Volume
given.
ante venerabile Sacramentum hostem expec-
tantes, intrepidi eorum se gladiis objecerunt, seque invicem ad mortem pro Christi amore tolerandam invitantes, capitis obtruncatione vitam finierunt. Sed eodem die, resumptis miraculose capitibus, Vesperas in honorem Deiparse Virginis in choro suaviter cecine-
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Augusti xiv. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 145.
3 She reigned ever England and Ireland, from November 17th, 1558, to the 24th of March, 1603.
4 In the " Analecta Sacra Nova et Mire,
de Rebus Catholicorvm in Hibernia, pro
Fide et Religione gestis," and published at first in 1617, although numerous instances are adduced in proof, yet there is no men- tion made of such martyrdom. See new edition of that work, by Most Rev. Patrick
F. — of
Moran, Bishop Ossory.
Articleix.
tomus iii. , Augusti xiv. mitted saints, p. 145.
"ActaSanctorum," Among the preter-
See
present date,
2 o8 LIVES OP THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August. 15.
ArticleXI. —FeastofSt. Fortunatus,MartyrinSyria. Inthe
u"1
Feilire of St. ^Engus, at the 14th of August, the feast of St. Fortunatus, a
martyr in Syria, is announced. With other companions in martyrdom, the Bollandists, at this same date, present us with a few notices of them, as found
a
jftfteentl) 23ap of august.
ARTICLE I. —ST. MACCARTHEN, BISHOP OF CLOGHER, COUNTY OF TYRONE.
[FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—AUTHORITIES FOR HIS ACTS—FAMILY AND DESCENT OF ST. MACCARTHEN—A DISCIPLE OF ST. PATRICK—A CONSTANT COMPANION OF THE IRISH APOSTLE—PROPHECY OF ST. PATRICK IN REFERENCE TO THE SEES OF CLOGHER AND OF DOMNACH-MOR MUIGETOCHUIR.
bishop in the Church is a direct and lineal descendant from the
in ancient Martyrologies.
EVERY thus
Apostles, establishing
and
the
his glorious office. Hovv numerous have been the labourers thus established
in the Lord's vineyard, and how extended the fields on which they have
wrought, may be gleaned from general ecclesiastical History. Restricting our regards to Ireland alone, we find along list of holy chief pastors to adorn her annals. Like the Apostles, all virtuous missionaries cast away not only the open but the occult occasions of sin, thus doing nothing unworthy of their ministry, and rejecting everthing that might bring with it disgrace or the ruin ofsouls. Moreover,theyengagedonactivedutiestoprocuretheirownandthe salvation of others, while leading most exemplary lives. Such models for admiration and imitation have nourished in the primitive Christian times, while in all our Irish dioceses, as patrons, many bishops and saints are still
venerated, as in the present instance.
of this work, at that date, Art. xi.
3 In his Menologium Scotorum, he writes: "Xiv. In Noithumbria Beati Bettae gentis Apostoli, qui cum S. Aidano e Scotia veniens innumeram muhitudinem pio labore convertit ct Fenda ie^e praesente baptizavit.
B. F. "—Bishop Scottish Saints," p. 208.
Forbes' "Kalendars of into _
3 He also has a feast for this saint, at the nth of February. See " De Duplici Statu Hominis, veteris simul ac novae Ecclesia;, et Infidelium Conversione," lib. i. , pars, ii. , cap. iii. , sect. 2, p. 147.
* See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
Augusii xiv. Among the pretermitted
saints, p. 145.
Article XI. — 1 See "Transactions of
the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manu- script Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calen- dar of Oengus, p. cxxiii.
Tlimopjreit ariAicriiriec ppmAchaip Apnachap
—
3
teaching
missionary
character of
x
The " Feilire " of St. y£ngus having no festival, at the 24th of March,
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Augustixiv. DeSS. MM. Fortunato,Euse- bio, Titulo et Conditore, in Syria, p. 149.
Article — — copy
Chapter
at this date the following Rann, rendered
I.
contained in the "Lcabhar Breac," we find
English prose by LL. D. :—
Whitley
Stokes,
CofLog jug r\Ati clochap yenx)* chnich cam CAchafx.
"On a great feast is her commemoration, our Father's true Mother. With a king's
host—right splendid assembly—
Fer-da- chrich (' man of two districts') a fair shield? "
"
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy,"
Irish Manuscript series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, pp, cxxiii. , cxxiv.
i. 'In that
August 15. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 209
in any way relating to St. Maccarthenn—yet, at the 15 th of August commemo- rates with eulogy Fer-da-chrich—the title usually applied to the Patron Saint of Clogher diocese. The scholiast has affixed an explanatory comment,2 to the entry. At the 24th of March, Father John Colgan published a fragmen- tary Life of St. Maccarthen, from a Salamancan Manuscript. 3
Archbishop Ussher had seen a copy of our saint's Acts, different, perhaps, from the muti- lated one, which fell into Colgan's hands, as that learned British Church historian cites passages from it, which are not found in his copy. * Still nothing prevents our assuming, they may both have been copies of an identical work, especially as the acephalous and incomplete Acts given by Colgan have nothing referring to particulars extracted by Ussher. Yet, these we must suppose essential, to complete even the most meagre biography of our saint.
There is an acephalous Latin Life of St. Mac Cartininus among the Burgun-
dian Library Manuscripts, at Bruxelles. s This has lately been published, by Fathers Carolus de Smedt and Joseph de Backer,6 under the auspices of the Rt. Hon. John Patrick Marquis of Bute. It was Colgan's intention also to have published these Acts of St. Maccarthinin, at the 15th of August, as we learn from the posthumous list of Manuscripts published by Charles M'Donnell, Esq. ? The Bollandists 8 have given us Acts 9 of this saint, at the present date. A brief and previous commentary is added with notes postfixed.
In the works of 10 of Rev. Alban Bishop Challoner,
11 of
and of Rev. S. Baring-Gould,^ some notices of this saint may
12 likewise be found.
The following lengthened genealogy of St. Maccarthen of Clogher, called
Lugid, son to Laren, son to Loga, son to Cultre, son to Cluan, son to Conle, son to Alild, son to Corpre, son to Lugad, son to Med, son to Dubius, son to Robric, son to Tressac, son to Lugna, son to Mattha, son to Fethlim, son to Salius, son to Clothad, son to Clothal, son to Roe, son to Carthac,
mad, son to Irial, son to Degad, son to Reosorcha, son to Roe- dorcha, son to Mured, son to Ammasius, son to Singitt, son to Inbotha,
Bollandistes,
also is taken from an ancient 1 * From Aidus, Manuscript authority,
it weare informed that St. Maccarthen, or Aidus, Bishop of Clogher, was the son of Caerthen, son to Cannech, son to Fethlim, son to Eochad, son to Clothchuo, son to Cared, son to Fieg, son to Mail, son to Carthac, son to Larius, son to
son to son to Clithram,
1* son to
Bressal, son to Almon, son to Moethgelt, son to Rohiel, son to Cer-
2
Thus at Ferdachrich : . 1. Abb 'OAinitt'ori.
Augusti xv. De S. Maccarthenno Ep. Conf. Clochorae in Iiibernia, pp. 208 to 210.
» These are taken from the Salamanca Manuscript.
I0
See "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , p. 83.
£e]\ x>& cpich . 1. cAicVifep no CAcnAjvoA. The following is the English translation
given : "i. e. , abbot of Dairinis, fer da chrich, i. e. , a champion or enthroned. "— Ibid. , p. cxxxi.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," Mar- tii xxiv. De S. Macaerthenno Epis. Clochorensi. Ex Variis. To this has been subjoined an Appendix, in four chapters, pp. 737 to 742.
4 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 445.
5 It is in vol. xxii. , and it commences at fol. 190.
6
In "Acta Sanctorum Hibernke," ex Codice Salmanticensi, cols. 799 to 804.
7 See "Catalogus Actuum Sanctorum qu* MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
"See " Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints," vol. viii. , August xv.
See "Acta tomus Sanctorum,"
iii. ,
mon. l6
See Colgan's
"Acta lliber- Sanctorum
Eochad,
Mured,
son
to Cared
Butler,
Les Petits
"See " Les Vies des Saints," tome ix. ,
xv« Jour d'Aout, p. 545.
I3 See "Lives of the Saints," vol. viii. ,
August 15, p. 148.
I4 Known as the Sanctilogium Genealogi-
cum.
*S According to the O'Clerys, the pedi-
gree of Aedh, Bishop Mac Cairthinn, of Clochar, is traced to 'Eochaidh, son of Muiredach, and from Eochaidh to Here-
2io LIVES 0E THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 15,
son to Tigernmas, son to Follac, son to Ethriel, son to Iriel, son to Erimon,
son to Milesius, the
Spaniard.
16 The Calendar and Psalter of Cashel trace
the genealogy of this saint, in a shorter manner, and with some slight varia-
tions. This they appear to do, by omitting some links in the generations
and progenitors of our saint, as found in the foregoing line, and by inserting
others omitted. Thus, the Calendar of Cashel makes our saint the son of Cannech, omitting Caerthen, the name of his father, as given in the Sancti-
logium Genealogicum, and it makes Clodhchuo, the fourth immediate pro- genitor of Maccarthen, instead of the fifth, as given in this last-named work. '7 Then Clodhchuo is said to have been the son of Ared, son to Mailed, son to Bressal, son to Buan of Clogher, descended from the sons of Damenius, inOrgiell. ThePsalterofCashelagreeswiththeSanctilogiumGenealogicum, in the names and order of our saint's ancestors, back to the same Clothchuo, who is then said to have been son of Ared, son to Mailed, son of Bressal, son
the name of Maccarthen is identical with Mac Carron, so common in the neighbourhoodofErrigalTruagh. Thisopinionhasbeenadopted,also,in an Essay on St. Maccarthin, delivered by Rev. Philip Connolly, P. P. ,
to &c, of Dai Buain Arad or Ararenses. 18 Buain,
to
the Calendar and Psalter of Cashel authorities for the pedigree of this saint. ? Besides, Ussher quotes an ancient Life of our saint, in which he is said to have been descended from the noble family of the Aradenses. ao This holy man's name is generally found written, in all our ancient records, Epscop Mac Cairthin or Mac Cairthind. " It has long since been suggested," that
"
hUS 1H lhe Insh TriPartite Life of rF 'i
Clogher,
rated on the 15th of August—may be found in the Third Volume of this work, at the
a. d. m —
over the church denied,
2 * in Inish- following grounds : first,
of 2?
nise," xxiv.
Martii, Appendix ad Acta S. Macaerthenni, cap. ii. , p. 740.
* See ibid. , pp. 740, 741.
18
This family is supposed to have derived its name from Ared, mentioned by theCalen- dar and Psalter of Cashel, as father to Clodh- chuo.
" The reason chiefly given is because St. Maccarthen's own race has been traced back to the aforesaid Buan. He is also of opinion, that either Carthac or Larius, men- tioned in the Sanctilogium Genealogicum, had been the father to that Buan. This he shows 111 lus Appendix to our saint's Life, ibid. , cap. ii. , p. 741.
20
See Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," cap. xvn. , p. 445.
placed
Domnach-mor-Muige-tochuir,
St. Patrick, translated into English, by Wilham M. Hennessy, and published by M.
17th of March, Art. i. , and in the Life of St. Patrick, chap, xiv. , as also at the 24th of March, in the same volume, Art. x. This is indeed a very probable supposition, and it is the more entitled to as
I . Cusack in
"
The Life of St. Patrick,
Apostlcof Ireland," part ii. , pp. 431, 438,451.
32 the late Rev. Mr. M
By Very 'Loughran,
P. P. , of Tempo. A learned correspondent
respect, Colgan himself was a native of Donagh, or Carn-
adds: "A glance
at an Irish will grammar
donagh, as it is more generally called. For a long time, this was a separate episcopal seat, although it has long since been united with the See of Deny, being now one of its There are several
chow that at with an a unaccented as the at
in wassail (Wossail), and that t aspirated or
th is pronounced as /;, and that a aspirated
at the end of a word is not sounded, but that it only lengthens the sound of the pre-
parishes.
monuments and antiquarian relics here, which are very fully described in the " Life
St. Maccarthen's church. In the of Martyrology
Clogher, 1873,
Tallagh, at the Ninth Kalends of April
this saint'sfeastis Esp. MacCairtind. 23
brother, who likewise had been called Maccarthen,2* and he is said to have been
owen. 26 This has been
however,
on the
Colgan appears
prefer 1
of March—the
of Oursaintisrelatedtohavehada
the
24th
entry
ceding vowel diphthong. "—Letter of Rev. Daniel O'Connor, dated October, 1874.
" Calendar of the
3* This account has been taken from the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick ; also known as the Septima Vita S. Patricii, in Colgan's
"Trias Thaumaturga. " See pars, ii. , cap. cxxi. , cxxiii. , p. 145.
2S See ibid. , nn. 173, 174, p. 181.
n See Rev. Dr.
Kelly's Irish Saints," p. xix.
26 An account of this saint—thought by Colgan to have had his festival on the 24th of March, and by him also conjectured to have been thus distinguished from his brother St. Maccarthen, Bishop of vene-
interesting
August 15. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 211
because there is but one Maccarthen or Carthen in Tirechan's list ; also, in
28 thefragmentoftheLifeofMaccarthenofClogher, thereisnoallusiontoa
brother Maccarthen j nor does Ussher,2? who had a Life of him, mention any suchbrother^ Thesenegativereasonsarebynomeansconclusive,foritmay be urged, that Tirechan did not give all St. Patrick's disciples in his list, but only some of the most remarkable among them ; Colgan's Life of our saint isamerefragment; and,moreover,itdoesnottreatontheprincipalportion of Maccarthen's Acts, when he was in the vigour of manhood, or in his early youth ; besides, Ussher does not profess to treat fully, on the several his- tories of different Irish saints, but only adducing short extracts from some of their Lives in his possession, and that merely for historic illustration.
However this may be, Aidus, the son of Coelbadius, is said to have founded a church at Domhnach-mor-muighe Tachair, which was within his own patri- mony, and to St. Patrick he left the regulations affecting it. In the disposi-
tions and arrangements of that church, the Irish Apostle spent forty days, and therein he left as bishop St. Macarthen, one of his own disciples. It is stated, likewise, that the present Protestant church now occupies the site of
1
that one originally erected in the time of St. Patrick^ and now known as
Donagh or Carndonagh.
WehavenoaccountleftusgivingthenameofSt. Maccarthen'smother.
We are told,' that his first and real name had been Aid, Aed,32 Aedus or Aidus; yet,thisappellationwhichhereceivedatbaptismwasmergedafter-
wards into Macarten or Maccaerthen, which
signified
" son of Caerthen. "
He is also called Kerthen or Carthen. 33 But, such an error is supposed to
have occurred, by omitting the prefix, Mac, which should have completed
his patronymic and popular name. His Christian baptism took place, according to the Irish Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, when the latter had been engaged on his mission, at Druim-Dara or Druim-lias,34 in the territory of Callraidhe, and at that time the place was presented to St. Patrick for ever, and there he left St. Benen, his dalta or foster-child. 35 It seems probable, that on the occasion, Aed travelled thither from the Northern parts of Ireland, attracted by the fame of our Irish Apostle, whose convert he then became. Afterwards, Aed became one of his most devoted and faithful followers.
The Tripartite Life of St. Patrick would seem to imply, that the two
of John Colgan, O. S. F. ," by the Rev. James M'Laughlin, P. P. , Termon Mongan, chap. ii. , pp. 174, 175, published in the "Fran- ciscan Tertiary" for October, 1 892, No. 6.
a bishop, for he lived until A. D. 506. "— Rev. Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, ii. , n. 14,
p. 264.
3X See the valuable local historical and
27 By Rev. Dr. Lanigan.
28 Published by Colgan, at tfie 24th of descriptive work " Inis-Owen and Tir-
March.
39 In his " De Britannicarvm Ecclesiarvm
Primordiis," cap. xvii. , p. 856.
30 The succeeding assumption is purely gratuitous, nor is it even adduced with an
connell : Notes, Antiquarian and Topogra-
of as stated appearance probability,
Series, sect, xi. , p. 44.
32 According to the Register of Clogher, as stated by Sir James Ware,
33 See "Trias By Jocelyn. Colgan's
Thaumaturga. " Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cxliii. , p. 96.
34 Now Drumlease, in the barony of Dromahaire, in the County of Leitrim.
33 See " The Life of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," by Miss M. F. Cusack, part ii. , p. 431.
36 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars ii. , cap. cxxiii. , p. 145.
3? When treating of St. Maccarthen, at. the
the "The good people of that church in Inish-owen wished, I dare say, to claim the honour of its having been governed by the celebrated prelate of Clogher ; but the compilers of the Tripartite, finding this could not accord with the circumstance of his life, and striving to patch up the business, introduced the second Maccarthen. And we may observe that the real Maccarthen was most probably too young, at the period we are treating of, to be
learned Irish ecclesiastical historian.
by
" William First phical, by James Doherty,
LIVES OE THE IRISH SAINTS.
Maccarthens, who were brothers, had been consecrated bishops, by St.
with that in glorious Apostle
Certain writers maintain, that our saint had been engaged for some time, as a regionary bishop ; he not being attached to any fixed See, and travelling much in company with St. Patrick. This mistake seems to have arisen from the narrative, which intro- duces us to the occasion for their first meeting in Connaught, and which then anticipates in statement our saint's episcopal consecration. Elsewhere, we are likely to find a truer account, that having served the Irish Apostle for a considerable time as his disciple, and in the capacity of a priest, he was
afterwards elevated to the episcopal rank.
The Acts or circumstances connected with St. Macarthen's childhood and
early education are not recorded. Some are of opinion, that our saint had been
a disciple to St. Patrick, before this latter holy personage had come into Ireland, to preach the Christian religion, and that when St. Patrick arrived on the shores of his native country, this intimacy must have had its first origin. Indeed, the conjecture does not appear consonant with the particulars related in his Acts. We are told, in our Irish Apostle's Life, that he visited Rome on one or two occasions, after he had here announced the Gospel. It may be, that Maccarthenn—the name by which he is best known—had accompanied him thither ; and such a journey might have been misconceived, so as that it had been assigned to an earlier period of his life. One account has it, that he accompanied St. Patrick from Italy "to Ireland, having been his constant companion. 37 Notwithstanding such statement, and the fact, that our saint had been advanced in years, when St. Patrick set him over the church of Clogher, nothing very certain can be determined on this point. However,
Maccarthenn was a very constant companion of the Irish Apostle, while the
latter was on his travels 8 and, we are led to that engaged missionary ;3 infer,
soon after he began to preach the Gospel in Ireland, the two sons of Carthenn must have become his disciples, since during his stay in Connaught they have been represented officiating as bishops.
So far as we can understand the very confused account regarding our
saint,39 contained in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,* we are informed, that
while St. Patrick was in that 1 Enda or who was son to province,* Enna,
Niall the Great, came to welcome him on his arrival, at a place called AileachAirtich. 42 St. Patrickaskedhimforasiteonwhichtobuildachurch, over which he intended to place one of his disciples. This chieftain returned an evasive answer, by enquiring, if local clergy could not be found for that particular district. On the day following, Enda returned bringing with him his son Eochacius,*3 or Eochan, surnamed Luscus, in order that he might be
24th of March, the Martyrology of Salis- 4I It must be observed, that in the Tripar- bury makes such a statement. See Colgan's tite Life, as in several other Acts of St.
Patrick 6 and, that laboured ;3 they
zealously gaining over their countrymen to the Faith.
"Acta Sanctorum Hibernire," xxiv. Martii.
De S. Macaerthenno Epis. Clochorensi. Ex
variis, cap. iii. , p. 737.
38 See Bishop Challenor's " Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , p. 83.
39 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaluiga,"
Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars ii. , cap. exxiii. , pp. 145, 146, and 1111. 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, p. 181.
40 The reader is referred to the Life of St.
Patrick, chap, xiv. , xvi.