Then, without
recognising
his supremacy, St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
Then, allowing he was thirty years of age in 464, Ailbe must have attained his ninety-third year in 527, when he is said to have died.
This hypothesis implies nothing very extraordinary, especially when referring to individuals of religious and abstemious habits, as such persons generally live much longer than people following a different manner of life.
34 There is no possibility for ascertaining by whom St.
Ailbe had been consecrated ; yet, it can scarcely be doubted, that he became a bishop before the year 492, when a violent end befell King ^ngus.
ss Moreover, the period of St.
Ailbe's episcopacy is referred by our most intelligent writers, to the latter part of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century.
Our Saint has always been regarded as one of the Irish fathers of the Church, and he is enumerated first, in the
6
Paschal Epistle of Cummian. 3
tion, that St. Ailbe belonged to an order of Canons Regular. 37 But, it would seem, that he had left behind him some sort of Religious Rule. 38 Colgan mentions, that St. Ailbe was the first abbot and bishop of Emly, which is also called Jobhairand Imleach Jobhuir. 39 But, whether the afore- said Rule for Canons Regular was written by the founder of Emly monastery ornotisamatterwhichcannotbeeasilydeteimined. TheRuleinquestion has not yet been published. 40
Among the disciples of St. Ailbe, we find St. Colman of Dromore41 and
St. Nessan of Mungret42 particularly noted. 43 From these accounts we are
led to suppose, that he kept a famous school, in which they were instructed
in sacred learning, their master being regarded as a wise and religious man.
We are 44 that when St. Patrick was in the of 4s told, territory Hy-Cuanach,
he was at first very much opposed by a dynast, named Olild. But, this chief, his family and subjects are said to have been converted and baptised, after St. Patrick had ordered Ailbe and Ibar to offer their prayers to God. 46
33 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. ,Sep- tembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Epis-
copo Imelacensi, Sylloge Historico-Critica,"
scutellis ; item poma, cervisia, et exalveario m'ellis ad latitudinem policis : id est, aliquot favi. " Num. 37.
sect, ii. , num. 26, 34 See Rev. Dr.
pp. 29, 30.
3* See ibid. , Vita S.
Molaggre,
n.
" Writers of
Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii ,
4° In Harris' Ware, vol.
vii. , p. 347, and nn. 79, 80, p. 349. "
his
" Cum sedent ad
it : mensam,
4S Now the north-eastern Limerick.
of of
in the the County of
herba sive radices,
adferantur in mundis
4<s "
"
Dr.
"
are
aqua lotse,
Here,
says
Lanigan,
they
" Ecclesiastical
27, p. 150.
by Colgan,
There is no good foundation for the asser-
sect.
we are told, ''of his work there is vet remaining—A
35 In the Chronicum Scotorum," the Rule for Monks, in MS. '" See p. 5.
battle of Cill Osnaigh, in Magh Fea, where
he fell, is placed at A. D. 487. See William
M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 30, 31.
36 See Ussher's " Veterum Epistolarum
Hibernicarum Sylloge. " Epistola xi. , p. 33. 37 Such is an account contained in the Paris Missal, to which further allusion shall be
made.
38 This is a statement made
"
Februarii. De S. Dominico. nn.
328. He quotes the following extract from
4I His Life is given at the 7th of June, the day for his feast, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
42 His feast occurs at the 25th of July, where notices of him may be found in the Seventh Volume of this work. Art. ii.
43 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 497.
44 "Trias " See, Colgan's Thauniaturga
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. xxxiii.
in Acta Sanctorum Iliberniye," xiii.
7, 8, p.
barony part
Coonagh,
ii. , Ireland," book i. , chap, ii. ,
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 291
It is stated, that while St. Ailbe had been returning from Cashel to Emly, he was met by Enna or Enda. *? This latter requested our Saint to return
with him, and supplicate King yEngus, to grant him the Island of Arn or Aran/8 Here Enda intended to erect a monastery. Ailbe is reported to have complied with this request, and he obtained for Enda the Island. w When this matter had been brought under his notice, JEngus declared, that he had not before heard about such an island existing within his dominions. We are told, that ^Engus afterwards saw it in a vision. 50 Suyskens did not regard, as worthy of his notice, many miracles attributed to St. Ailbe, and which were found recorded in his old Acts. Nor did he think those fables, found in the Lives of other Irish Saints, regarding him, as deserving more credit. With Papebroke, he is ready to conclude, that St. Ailbe probably came to Ireland, after the great St. Patrick's demise. 51 If we are to credit an old writer of Ailbe's Acts,52 our Saint, after obtaining the gift of Aran Island for his friend, St. Enda, wished to avoid the worldly honours heaped on him by men. Manysuitableplacesofretirementofferingtohisnotice,heresolved to select an Island in the Ocean named Tyle. 53 Here he intended to serve God in perfect solitude. But yEngus, King of Cashel, was inspired by
Heaven to prevent this seclusion. He placed guards on all the sea-coast ports, so that Ailbe could not escape from the people he had regenerated in baptism, and who formed his spiritual charge. 5* The whole of Ireland was blessed by St. Ailbe's evangelical labours, and the Almighty was pleased to bestow on him a most welcome reward. By his example, not less than by his teaching, many of its chiefs and people embraced the faith of Christ. 55 Recognised as another St. Patrick, and regarded as the second Patron of Munster, after the great Irish Apostle, he was acknowledged, moreover, to have become the great ornament of his newly established Church.
It has been supposed,56 nevertheless, that the great Apostle of Ireland,
called bishops ; but, that must be under- est, cum hujus Acta pariter fabulosa sint
stood of their having been so, not at that
time, which was probably A. D. 446, but at a
later period. They were then in a state of
scholarship, and belonged to that class of
young gentlemen, whom their saint was ancients, and as Ussher believes, it was wont to have in his suite as pupils. "
He adds, that Ibar was, in all likelihood, older than Ailbe, having died long before him, viz. , in the year 503. See " Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76, p. 290.
4? His Life has been already given at the 2ist of March, the date for his festival, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
48 It is the largest of the South Isles of Arran, which are three in number, and lie in the mouth of the bay of Galway.
49 It has been called Ara-na naomh, or Aran of the Saints. In Ailbe's Life ;
"
"
identical with the present Iceland, situated on the verge of the Arctic Ocean. It is generally supposed to have been first dis- covered by a Norwegian pirate, named Naodr, about a. d. 860, and to have been colonized by two Norwegian noblemen, Ingulf and Hiorleif. " It is asserted in some of the Icelandic Sagas, that there were actual settlements in the island before this period, and that as early as the fifth century Iceland had —been colonized from
Magna est ilia insula, et est terra Sane-
torum; quia nemo scit numerum Sanctorum
qui sepulti sunt ibi, nisi solus Deus. " See this work, Art. ii. l)r. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of
Ireland," vol. i , chap, viii. , sect, vii. , and
n. 81, pp. 396, 397.
50 See Ussher's
Britannicarum Ecclesi-
bus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 2.
s^By Father Papebroke. See the Ed- s' Suyskens adds : "Quod de erudito landists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Colmano additur, nullius quoque momenti Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo Apos-
arum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
quemadmodum ad diem vii. Junii, ubi edita sunt, dictum est. "
52 AscitedbyArchbishopUssher.
s3 This Island was» called Thule by the
" Gazetteer of the World," vol. vii. , p. 201. See further accounts regarding this Island, in the Acts of St. Buo, Missionary in Iceland, at the 5th of February, in the Second Volume of
Scotland and Ireland.
54 See Ussher's Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
55 See Sir James Ware's " De Scriptori-
292 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
St Patrick, had departed this life when St. Ailbe and St. Declan returned as bishops from Rome. A conjecture has been hazarded5? that after the great Apostle of Ireland had preached the faith throughout that Island, St,
Ailbe and St. Declan, with many others, went to Rome, in order to perfect themselves in sacred learning. After the Saints already mentioned had given proof of their ecclesiastical knowledge and virtue, it has been supposed,
they might have been consecrated Bishops by St. Hilarus, Pope, and after- wards sent by him as missionaries to Ireland. This possibly occurred, when the successor of the great St. Patrick,58 who was also named Sen-Patricius,59 ruled over Armagh See. 60 Consequently, whatever transactions of St. Ailbe with St. Patrick may be found in these old lives are thought referable more
to Sen-Patricius,
'
6
62
The Annals
than to our more celebrated Irish Apostle.
of Connaught refer the death of Sen-Patraic, or Old Patrick, to a. d. , 453 j while the "Ulster Annals," 63 the " Chronicum Scotorum," 6^ and the Four
66
Masters,65 refer it to a. d. 457.
Assuming the episcopal consecration of St. Ailbe and St. Declan at Rome,
and the probability of that dispute with St. Patrick at Cashel, perhaps those
missioners supposed, that his prerogative of Apostle departed with him, and that they were not subject to a bishop, who had not consecrated them.
Wherefore, they refused to acknowledge the primacy of the Bishop of Armagh, although he called himself Comorbhan, or successor to St. Patrick.
Then, without recognising his supremacy, St. Ailbe might have established missions in Munster, or St. Declan possibly preached among the Desii ; until Sen-Patricius, not so much by his authority and rule, as by his piety, humility and other virtues, moved them to submission. To avoid possible schism, to procure the common good and Christian peace, as also because the supremacy of Armagh had been established through the great Irish Apostle's authority,
tolo et Primate Hiberniae. Appendix, sect. i. , num. 8, p. 582.
57 By Father Papebroke, in his Appendix to St. Patrick's Acts, at the 17th of March.
Armagh, which he believes to have been founded about the year 445, by the great
s8 According to Papebroke, this great Senchonanus. "
—
" Trias
saint died, a. d. 461. 'See Chronotaxis Com- mentarii Prsevii.
59 The Very Rev. John Shearman has endeavoured to investigate the history of three Patricks, who were nearly contem- poraneous in Ireland and Great Britain, in
his " Loca Patriciana," part xiii. , pp. 395 et
seq.
60 " In the Psalter of Cashel, Secundin,
by some called Sechnall, St. Patrick's sister's son, is mentioned for his next successor; and Patrick the Elder, by some called Sen- Patrick, or old Patrick, a domestick of our Patrick, is said to have succeeded Secundin. But Secundin was bishop of Dunsbaglin in Meath, where hedied on the27ih of Novem- ber, 448, in the 75th year of his age [or 447, according to the Annals of Inis-fail ; when,
Thaumaturga. " Septima Appendix ad ActaS. Patricii, pars
been the third Archbishop of Armagh ?
65 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the past question, St. Patrick was himself Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 142, 143, and
Archbishop of Armagh], and San-Patrick,
who is confounded wit—h our great Patrick,
n. (e. )
died ten years after. " Harris' Ware, vol. "
at date in the that
i. ,
Archbishops of Armagh," pp. 34, 35.
61
According to Colgan, he bore the name
of St. Patricius Senex or Senior, having probably Rossdala, County of Westmeath, been the third bishop over the see of Art. i.
" •'
St. Patrick.
Vita S. Benigni ejus successors vocatur
Hie enim videtur esse qui in
secunda, and pars tertia, pp. 292, 293.
62 The Acts of both Patricks are so inter-
woven and contemporaneous, that it is very difficult to resolve them.
63 See the AnnalA tlla-oh, or Annals of Ulster, vol. i. , pp. 16, 17, William M. Hen-
edition.
64 See William M. Hennessy's edition,
where at A. D. 457 is chronicled the Repose of Old Saint Patrick, Bishop, i. e. , of the
Church of Glastonbury, pp. 24, 25. It may be asked, had be been previously Arch- bishop of Armagh, and did he afterwards retire to Glastonbury? Or was he a distinct
person from Sen- Patrick, thought to have
nessy's
66
24th of August. See
Eighth Volume of this work, notices of St.
His festival has been assigned to the
Patrick, Abbot and Bishop of Ruis Dela,
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 293
6
a regulation might have been effected, ? whereby the Decies were assigned to
St. Declan, while St. Ailbe was set over the Minister bishops, having certain
exalted and rule metropolitan privileges
his 68 This con- suffragans.
among
jecture is pronounced by Suyskens to be sufficiently probable, as writers
living near the time of both Saints Patricks might confound their respective transactions. As a consequence, they probably attributed to the more renowned Saint, what especially referred to his immediate successor, who bore a like synonym. 7° This would necessarily lead to great confusion, by mixing together dates, acts and names, referring to various Irish Saints similarlynamed. Hence,ifweconsidertwodistinctPatricks,bothofthem Saints, and nearly allied in point of time, while both were bishops over Armagh ; it is thought, that many difficulties to be found connected with St.
Ailbe's acts may be more satisfactorily solved. ?
1
Suyskens agrees with
69
Papebroke, that the arrival of St. Ailbe in Ireland, after St. Patrick's death in
464, may well accord with the foregoing conjectures and reasons. Thus, if
we credit an account, that when a mere boy, St. Ailbe received baptism in 431, he might probably have episcopal consecration and his Irish mission conferred on him, after he had exceeded by a few years the age of thirty. ? 2 However ingenious these conjectures may be, yet they do not avail, to clear up the chronological and circumstantial difficulties that beset our Saint's
biography.
The life of this holy prelate was spent in preparing students for the
sacred minstry, in preaching the Gospel, and in forwarding the best interests of religion. It is probable, that he lived to a ripe old age. 73 Notwith-
67 In Papebroke's opinion. See his Ap- pendix to the Acts of St. Patrick, at the 17th of March. —" Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo Apostolo et Primate Hibernise, Appendix,
owing to the circumstance of another Patrick succeeding him. In the second place, it must be admitted, that with other com- panions he went to Rome, when St. Hilaius was Pope, and that he returned to Ireland invested with the episcopal character. See
sect, i. , num. 8, p. 582.
63 "'
Suyskens thinks, there is sufficient reason for rejecting an account contained in certain old Lives, that the origin of their supposed dispute is to be found, in their having evangelized Ireland before St. Patrick's arrival.
69 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Sep- tembrisxii. DeS. AlbeoseuAilbeo. Sylloge Historica-Critica, sect, ii. , num. 24, p. 29.
70 Such, also, was the opinion of Pape- broke, in his Appendix, sect, i. , num. 7.
'
Acta Sanctorum, tomus iv. , Septembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Episcopo
Imelacensi. Sylloge Historico-Critica, sect. ii. , num. 25, p. 29.
72 According to Suyskens such arguments would seem to accord best with the date assigned for St. Ailbe's death. In fine, he says, when the great St. Patrick had vacated Armagh See, and when after his death, the primatial chair had been occupied by Sen- Pa tricius, many simply called him Patrick, could it not have happened, that St. Ailbe, already consecrated bishop, had come to Ireland, while the latter was Primate ? This might serve to explain, in a more probable manner, those accounts left us in some Lives of our Irish Saints, regarding controversies about the Primacy, which took place be-
71
Suyskens observes, in connexion with
these hints, that in the first place, that as the
Acts relate, St. Ailbe when a boy might
have been instructed in the Christian Faith
and be baptised by Palladius in Ireland, but
that if such a contention be allowed, his ton-
version cannot be placed very long before
the apostleship of St. Patrick in the same tween St. Ailbe and St. Patrick. However,
Ireland. Moreover, since the Irish Annals the Bollandist editor ignores the date of
refer the death of St. Ailbe to a. d. 527, and
Sen- Patrick's death in 457, which was some
before the death of the — years supposed great
St. Patrick in 464, even were we to allow what is by no means certain—that Sen- Patrick had ever ruled over the See of Armagh.
that he must have reached an
age
much
over one hundred years, his baptism by Pal-
ladius is not admissible, especially on the
authority of such fabulous Acts. Besides,
it is to be suspected, that he had not been
born when St. the Irish
"See Harris' " Ware, vol, i. ,
Emly," p. 492.
Patrick,
arrived, and that such account had been
Bishops of
Apostle,
294 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
standing, we are told, that his faculties of mind and strength of body were in no manner impaired. The Annals of Ulster? * and of Innisfallen refer his death to the year 526. 75 The Annals of Ulster repeat this entry, at the years 533 and 541. The O'Clerys refer his death to the same date. ? 6 In Harris' Ware we have the same account. 77 He remarks, that some have put off his death to a. d. , 541. 7 8 This, too, agrees with the statement of the Four Masters. 79 The ' k Chronicum Scotorum " has the rest of Ailbhe of Imlech
80
While taking Ussher's authority for the year of our Saint's death, the Bollandists think it will not well accord with about the year 412, which the same writer gives for Ailbe's arrival in Ireland. In such case, the Saint must have been over 140 years old, when he died. 81 He is said to have been buried in his own church at 8z and the site for his is
yet traditionally held by the people there to have been about six feet in a
line from a Celtic cross of red sand-stone, thought to have been one of the
oldest in Ireland, and even reaching back to the time of St. Ailbe. 8^ It is
within the graveyard, and said to be twenty feet in length, but buried so deep
in the that not more than six feet are now above the 84 In the clay, ground.
church-yard at Emly, this large cross of rough hewn stone, stood about eight feet from the ground, during the last century. Near it was St. Ailbe's well. Both of these objects were held in great veneration by the country people, vvho used to flock annually in vast numbers, to celebrate their
patron's festival, every 12th day of September. ^ St. Ailbe's well is deep and surrounded by a circular-cut stone rim, on which the knee-marks of
devout pilgrims may be seen. There they take their rounds, and pray to the
86
Ibhair at a. d. , 531.
glorious Metropolitan patron saint of Emly. " "8
Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sect, vii. , n. 105, pp. 462, 463.
79 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition of their
Annals, vol. i. , pp. 182, 183.
country : yet they never put their design
in execution ; and the cros—s and well con-
tinue there to this day. " Harris' Ware,
80 See William M. 86 See " of old, and Hennessy's edition, Emly
Septembris. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo following stanza, at this date Episcopo Imalecensi. Sylloge Historico-
Critica, sect, ii. , num. 32, pp. 30, 31.
Bishops of
82 **
See Harris' Ware, vol. i.
"
p. ,
and vol. ii. ,
Ireland," book i. , chap, ii. , p. 6. O OAim Imp •04L415
Emly," 492
;
Writers of
La peiL tAippen I15A15
Emly, grave
In the Feilire 7 of ^Engus, the Festival of St. Ailbe is commemorated,
74 See -ArmAlA tlLAoVi, or Annals of
Ulster, pp. 42, 43, and 44, 45, and 48, 49. William M. Hennessy's edition.
6
Paschal Epistle of Cummian. 3
tion, that St. Ailbe belonged to an order of Canons Regular. 37 But, it would seem, that he had left behind him some sort of Religious Rule. 38 Colgan mentions, that St. Ailbe was the first abbot and bishop of Emly, which is also called Jobhairand Imleach Jobhuir. 39 But, whether the afore- said Rule for Canons Regular was written by the founder of Emly monastery ornotisamatterwhichcannotbeeasilydeteimined. TheRuleinquestion has not yet been published. 40
Among the disciples of St. Ailbe, we find St. Colman of Dromore41 and
St. Nessan of Mungret42 particularly noted. 43 From these accounts we are
led to suppose, that he kept a famous school, in which they were instructed
in sacred learning, their master being regarded as a wise and religious man.
We are 44 that when St. Patrick was in the of 4s told, territory Hy-Cuanach,
he was at first very much opposed by a dynast, named Olild. But, this chief, his family and subjects are said to have been converted and baptised, after St. Patrick had ordered Ailbe and Ibar to offer their prayers to God. 46
33 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. ,Sep- tembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Epis-
copo Imelacensi, Sylloge Historico-Critica,"
scutellis ; item poma, cervisia, et exalveario m'ellis ad latitudinem policis : id est, aliquot favi. " Num. 37.
sect, ii. , num. 26, 34 See Rev. Dr.
pp. 29, 30.
3* See ibid. , Vita S.
Molaggre,
n.
" Writers of
Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii ,
4° In Harris' Ware, vol.
vii. , p. 347, and nn. 79, 80, p. 349. "
his
" Cum sedent ad
it : mensam,
4S Now the north-eastern Limerick.
of of
in the the County of
herba sive radices,
adferantur in mundis
4<s "
"
Dr.
"
are
aqua lotse,
Here,
says
Lanigan,
they
" Ecclesiastical
27, p. 150.
by Colgan,
There is no good foundation for the asser-
sect.
we are told, ''of his work there is vet remaining—A
35 In the Chronicum Scotorum," the Rule for Monks, in MS. '" See p. 5.
battle of Cill Osnaigh, in Magh Fea, where
he fell, is placed at A. D. 487. See William
M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 30, 31.
36 See Ussher's " Veterum Epistolarum
Hibernicarum Sylloge. " Epistola xi. , p. 33. 37 Such is an account contained in the Paris Missal, to which further allusion shall be
made.
38 This is a statement made
"
Februarii. De S. Dominico. nn.
328. He quotes the following extract from
4I His Life is given at the 7th of June, the day for his feast, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
42 His feast occurs at the 25th of July, where notices of him may be found in the Seventh Volume of this work. Art. ii.
43 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 497.
44 "Trias " See, Colgan's Thauniaturga
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. xxxiii.
in Acta Sanctorum Iliberniye," xiii.
7, 8, p.
barony part
Coonagh,
ii. , Ireland," book i. , chap, ii. ,
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 291
It is stated, that while St. Ailbe had been returning from Cashel to Emly, he was met by Enna or Enda. *? This latter requested our Saint to return
with him, and supplicate King yEngus, to grant him the Island of Arn or Aran/8 Here Enda intended to erect a monastery. Ailbe is reported to have complied with this request, and he obtained for Enda the Island. w When this matter had been brought under his notice, JEngus declared, that he had not before heard about such an island existing within his dominions. We are told, that ^Engus afterwards saw it in a vision. 50 Suyskens did not regard, as worthy of his notice, many miracles attributed to St. Ailbe, and which were found recorded in his old Acts. Nor did he think those fables, found in the Lives of other Irish Saints, regarding him, as deserving more credit. With Papebroke, he is ready to conclude, that St. Ailbe probably came to Ireland, after the great St. Patrick's demise. 51 If we are to credit an old writer of Ailbe's Acts,52 our Saint, after obtaining the gift of Aran Island for his friend, St. Enda, wished to avoid the worldly honours heaped on him by men. Manysuitableplacesofretirementofferingtohisnotice,heresolved to select an Island in the Ocean named Tyle. 53 Here he intended to serve God in perfect solitude. But yEngus, King of Cashel, was inspired by
Heaven to prevent this seclusion. He placed guards on all the sea-coast ports, so that Ailbe could not escape from the people he had regenerated in baptism, and who formed his spiritual charge. 5* The whole of Ireland was blessed by St. Ailbe's evangelical labours, and the Almighty was pleased to bestow on him a most welcome reward. By his example, not less than by his teaching, many of its chiefs and people embraced the faith of Christ. 55 Recognised as another St. Patrick, and regarded as the second Patron of Munster, after the great Irish Apostle, he was acknowledged, moreover, to have become the great ornament of his newly established Church.
It has been supposed,56 nevertheless, that the great Apostle of Ireland,
called bishops ; but, that must be under- est, cum hujus Acta pariter fabulosa sint
stood of their having been so, not at that
time, which was probably A. D. 446, but at a
later period. They were then in a state of
scholarship, and belonged to that class of
young gentlemen, whom their saint was ancients, and as Ussher believes, it was wont to have in his suite as pupils. "
He adds, that Ibar was, in all likelihood, older than Ailbe, having died long before him, viz. , in the year 503. See " Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76, p. 290.
4? His Life has been already given at the 2ist of March, the date for his festival, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
48 It is the largest of the South Isles of Arran, which are three in number, and lie in the mouth of the bay of Galway.
49 It has been called Ara-na naomh, or Aran of the Saints. In Ailbe's Life ;
"
"
identical with the present Iceland, situated on the verge of the Arctic Ocean. It is generally supposed to have been first dis- covered by a Norwegian pirate, named Naodr, about a. d. 860, and to have been colonized by two Norwegian noblemen, Ingulf and Hiorleif. " It is asserted in some of the Icelandic Sagas, that there were actual settlements in the island before this period, and that as early as the fifth century Iceland had —been colonized from
Magna est ilia insula, et est terra Sane-
torum; quia nemo scit numerum Sanctorum
qui sepulti sunt ibi, nisi solus Deus. " See this work, Art. ii. l)r. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of
Ireland," vol. i , chap, viii. , sect, vii. , and
n. 81, pp. 396, 397.
50 See Ussher's
Britannicarum Ecclesi-
bus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 2.
s^By Father Papebroke. See the Ed- s' Suyskens adds : "Quod de erudito landists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Colmano additur, nullius quoque momenti Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo Apos-
arum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
quemadmodum ad diem vii. Junii, ubi edita sunt, dictum est. "
52 AscitedbyArchbishopUssher.
s3 This Island was» called Thule by the
" Gazetteer of the World," vol. vii. , p. 201. See further accounts regarding this Island, in the Acts of St. Buo, Missionary in Iceland, at the 5th of February, in the Second Volume of
Scotland and Ireland.
54 See Ussher's Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
55 See Sir James Ware's " De Scriptori-
292 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
St Patrick, had departed this life when St. Ailbe and St. Declan returned as bishops from Rome. A conjecture has been hazarded5? that after the great Apostle of Ireland had preached the faith throughout that Island, St,
Ailbe and St. Declan, with many others, went to Rome, in order to perfect themselves in sacred learning. After the Saints already mentioned had given proof of their ecclesiastical knowledge and virtue, it has been supposed,
they might have been consecrated Bishops by St. Hilarus, Pope, and after- wards sent by him as missionaries to Ireland. This possibly occurred, when the successor of the great St. Patrick,58 who was also named Sen-Patricius,59 ruled over Armagh See. 60 Consequently, whatever transactions of St. Ailbe with St. Patrick may be found in these old lives are thought referable more
to Sen-Patricius,
'
6
62
The Annals
than to our more celebrated Irish Apostle.
of Connaught refer the death of Sen-Patraic, or Old Patrick, to a. d. , 453 j while the "Ulster Annals," 63 the " Chronicum Scotorum," 6^ and the Four
66
Masters,65 refer it to a. d. 457.
Assuming the episcopal consecration of St. Ailbe and St. Declan at Rome,
and the probability of that dispute with St. Patrick at Cashel, perhaps those
missioners supposed, that his prerogative of Apostle departed with him, and that they were not subject to a bishop, who had not consecrated them.
Wherefore, they refused to acknowledge the primacy of the Bishop of Armagh, although he called himself Comorbhan, or successor to St. Patrick.
Then, without recognising his supremacy, St. Ailbe might have established missions in Munster, or St. Declan possibly preached among the Desii ; until Sen-Patricius, not so much by his authority and rule, as by his piety, humility and other virtues, moved them to submission. To avoid possible schism, to procure the common good and Christian peace, as also because the supremacy of Armagh had been established through the great Irish Apostle's authority,
tolo et Primate Hiberniae. Appendix, sect. i. , num. 8, p. 582.
57 By Father Papebroke, in his Appendix to St. Patrick's Acts, at the 17th of March.
Armagh, which he believes to have been founded about the year 445, by the great
s8 According to Papebroke, this great Senchonanus. "
—
" Trias
saint died, a. d. 461. 'See Chronotaxis Com- mentarii Prsevii.
59 The Very Rev. John Shearman has endeavoured to investigate the history of three Patricks, who were nearly contem- poraneous in Ireland and Great Britain, in
his " Loca Patriciana," part xiii. , pp. 395 et
seq.
60 " In the Psalter of Cashel, Secundin,
by some called Sechnall, St. Patrick's sister's son, is mentioned for his next successor; and Patrick the Elder, by some called Sen- Patrick, or old Patrick, a domestick of our Patrick, is said to have succeeded Secundin. But Secundin was bishop of Dunsbaglin in Meath, where hedied on the27ih of Novem- ber, 448, in the 75th year of his age [or 447, according to the Annals of Inis-fail ; when,
Thaumaturga. " Septima Appendix ad ActaS. Patricii, pars
been the third Archbishop of Armagh ?
65 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the past question, St. Patrick was himself Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 142, 143, and
Archbishop of Armagh], and San-Patrick,
who is confounded wit—h our great Patrick,
n. (e. )
died ten years after. " Harris' Ware, vol. "
at date in the that
i. ,
Archbishops of Armagh," pp. 34, 35.
61
According to Colgan, he bore the name
of St. Patricius Senex or Senior, having probably Rossdala, County of Westmeath, been the third bishop over the see of Art. i.
" •'
St. Patrick.
Vita S. Benigni ejus successors vocatur
Hie enim videtur esse qui in
secunda, and pars tertia, pp. 292, 293.
62 The Acts of both Patricks are so inter-
woven and contemporaneous, that it is very difficult to resolve them.
63 See the AnnalA tlla-oh, or Annals of Ulster, vol. i. , pp. 16, 17, William M. Hen-
edition.
64 See William M. Hennessy's edition,
where at A. D. 457 is chronicled the Repose of Old Saint Patrick, Bishop, i. e. , of the
Church of Glastonbury, pp. 24, 25. It may be asked, had be been previously Arch- bishop of Armagh, and did he afterwards retire to Glastonbury? Or was he a distinct
person from Sen- Patrick, thought to have
nessy's
66
24th of August. See
Eighth Volume of this work, notices of St.
His festival has been assigned to the
Patrick, Abbot and Bishop of Ruis Dela,
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 293
6
a regulation might have been effected, ? whereby the Decies were assigned to
St. Declan, while St. Ailbe was set over the Minister bishops, having certain
exalted and rule metropolitan privileges
his 68 This con- suffragans.
among
jecture is pronounced by Suyskens to be sufficiently probable, as writers
living near the time of both Saints Patricks might confound their respective transactions. As a consequence, they probably attributed to the more renowned Saint, what especially referred to his immediate successor, who bore a like synonym. 7° This would necessarily lead to great confusion, by mixing together dates, acts and names, referring to various Irish Saints similarlynamed. Hence,ifweconsidertwodistinctPatricks,bothofthem Saints, and nearly allied in point of time, while both were bishops over Armagh ; it is thought, that many difficulties to be found connected with St.
Ailbe's acts may be more satisfactorily solved. ?
1
Suyskens agrees with
69
Papebroke, that the arrival of St. Ailbe in Ireland, after St. Patrick's death in
464, may well accord with the foregoing conjectures and reasons. Thus, if
we credit an account, that when a mere boy, St. Ailbe received baptism in 431, he might probably have episcopal consecration and his Irish mission conferred on him, after he had exceeded by a few years the age of thirty. ? 2 However ingenious these conjectures may be, yet they do not avail, to clear up the chronological and circumstantial difficulties that beset our Saint's
biography.
The life of this holy prelate was spent in preparing students for the
sacred minstry, in preaching the Gospel, and in forwarding the best interests of religion. It is probable, that he lived to a ripe old age. 73 Notwith-
67 In Papebroke's opinion. See his Ap- pendix to the Acts of St. Patrick, at the 17th of March. —" Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo Apostolo et Primate Hibernise, Appendix,
owing to the circumstance of another Patrick succeeding him. In the second place, it must be admitted, that with other com- panions he went to Rome, when St. Hilaius was Pope, and that he returned to Ireland invested with the episcopal character. See
sect, i. , num. 8, p. 582.
63 "'
Suyskens thinks, there is sufficient reason for rejecting an account contained in certain old Lives, that the origin of their supposed dispute is to be found, in their having evangelized Ireland before St. Patrick's arrival.
69 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Sep- tembrisxii. DeS. AlbeoseuAilbeo. Sylloge Historica-Critica, sect, ii. , num. 24, p. 29.
70 Such, also, was the opinion of Pape- broke, in his Appendix, sect, i. , num. 7.
'
Acta Sanctorum, tomus iv. , Septembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Episcopo
Imelacensi. Sylloge Historico-Critica, sect. ii. , num. 25, p. 29.
72 According to Suyskens such arguments would seem to accord best with the date assigned for St. Ailbe's death. In fine, he says, when the great St. Patrick had vacated Armagh See, and when after his death, the primatial chair had been occupied by Sen- Pa tricius, many simply called him Patrick, could it not have happened, that St. Ailbe, already consecrated bishop, had come to Ireland, while the latter was Primate ? This might serve to explain, in a more probable manner, those accounts left us in some Lives of our Irish Saints, regarding controversies about the Primacy, which took place be-
71
Suyskens observes, in connexion with
these hints, that in the first place, that as the
Acts relate, St. Ailbe when a boy might
have been instructed in the Christian Faith
and be baptised by Palladius in Ireland, but
that if such a contention be allowed, his ton-
version cannot be placed very long before
the apostleship of St. Patrick in the same tween St. Ailbe and St. Patrick. However,
Ireland. Moreover, since the Irish Annals the Bollandist editor ignores the date of
refer the death of St. Ailbe to a. d. 527, and
Sen- Patrick's death in 457, which was some
before the death of the — years supposed great
St. Patrick in 464, even were we to allow what is by no means certain—that Sen- Patrick had ever ruled over the See of Armagh.
that he must have reached an
age
much
over one hundred years, his baptism by Pal-
ladius is not admissible, especially on the
authority of such fabulous Acts. Besides,
it is to be suspected, that he had not been
born when St. the Irish
"See Harris' " Ware, vol, i. ,
Emly," p. 492.
Patrick,
arrived, and that such account had been
Bishops of
Apostle,
294 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
standing, we are told, that his faculties of mind and strength of body were in no manner impaired. The Annals of Ulster? * and of Innisfallen refer his death to the year 526. 75 The Annals of Ulster repeat this entry, at the years 533 and 541. The O'Clerys refer his death to the same date. ? 6 In Harris' Ware we have the same account. 77 He remarks, that some have put off his death to a. d. , 541. 7 8 This, too, agrees with the statement of the Four Masters. 79 The ' k Chronicum Scotorum " has the rest of Ailbhe of Imlech
80
While taking Ussher's authority for the year of our Saint's death, the Bollandists think it will not well accord with about the year 412, which the same writer gives for Ailbe's arrival in Ireland. In such case, the Saint must have been over 140 years old, when he died. 81 He is said to have been buried in his own church at 8z and the site for his is
yet traditionally held by the people there to have been about six feet in a
line from a Celtic cross of red sand-stone, thought to have been one of the
oldest in Ireland, and even reaching back to the time of St. Ailbe. 8^ It is
within the graveyard, and said to be twenty feet in length, but buried so deep
in the that not more than six feet are now above the 84 In the clay, ground.
church-yard at Emly, this large cross of rough hewn stone, stood about eight feet from the ground, during the last century. Near it was St. Ailbe's well. Both of these objects were held in great veneration by the country people, vvho used to flock annually in vast numbers, to celebrate their
patron's festival, every 12th day of September. ^ St. Ailbe's well is deep and surrounded by a circular-cut stone rim, on which the knee-marks of
devout pilgrims may be seen. There they take their rounds, and pray to the
86
Ibhair at a. d. , 531.
glorious Metropolitan patron saint of Emly. " "8
Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , sect, vii. , n. 105, pp. 462, 463.
79 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition of their
Annals, vol. i. , pp. 182, 183.
country : yet they never put their design
in execution ; and the cros—s and well con-
tinue there to this day. " Harris' Ware,
80 See William M. 86 See " of old, and Hennessy's edition, Emly
Septembris. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo following stanza, at this date Episcopo Imalecensi. Sylloge Historico-
Critica, sect, ii. , num. 32, pp. 30, 31.
Bishops of
82 **
See Harris' Ware, vol. i.
"
p. ,
and vol. ii. ,
Ireland," book i. , chap, ii. , p. 6. O OAim Imp •04L415
Emly," 492
;
Writers of
La peiL tAippen I15A15
Emly, grave
In the Feilire 7 of ^Engus, the Festival of St. Ailbe is commemorated,
74 See -ArmAlA tlLAoVi, or Annals of
Ulster, pp. 42, 43, and 44, 45, and 48, 49. William M. Hennessy's edition.
