It is taken from such stories as
those of Dempster and others, concerning that great saint.
those of Dempster and others, concerning that great saint.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
, pp.
471 et seq.
College Library ; but in the present im- perfect state of the Catalogue of MSS. in
library,
"
xxxv. , xxxvi.
13 In this same sense, Thomas Sirin, an
Irish Minorite, in his Dissertation on St.
Columbanus, art. —iii. , § 2, quotes Alcuinus,
,8
See ibid. , Vita Quinta S. Columbw, Lib. lxx. , pp. 400, 401.
,9 The Bollandist editor would not under- take to deny, that a hymn, in praise of our
:
carm. 246, thus Saint,
had been and composed by Columba,
Patricius, Cheranus, Scotorum gbloria „enti5
Atque Co'lumbanus, Comgallus Adamnanus atque
Praclari patres morum, viUeque magistri :
Ilinc'pietas/precibus horum nos adjuvet omnes.
u composed the death of St. Kieran.
MSee " Trias Colgan's
counsels acted on in Ireland through the advice of saints were : First, the cutting
Thaumaturga. " Qnarta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii pars
shert of Ciarain's life ;
ment of Columkille ; and thirdly, the ex- pulsion of Mochuda from Raithin.
ii. , p. 214.
:
—we have not been able to See
that
discover it. "
nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," pp.
presented to the inmates of Clonmacnoise.
But h seems to have been after >
S'
The Aberdeen Breviary, and the fol- lowers of the Benedictine rule, greatly venerating him, likewise seem to con- slder nim as tneir f°uncler and spiritual
father in Ireland.
,
2,It 1S related, that the three worst ,
secondly,
the banish-
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 229
granted by the Almighty, until he fasted with them, and for their intention. Then Odran" of Lettracha Odrain and Mac Ciiilin^ of Lusk, together with an angel, went to tell him for what the saints fasted. Whereupon, he sang a hymn, and left an injunction on his monks, never to promise ought before they knew that purpose had in view. 2* In the Life of St. Kevin,3* we have related some particulars, taken from the old acts of that holy Abbot of Glendalough, and which refer to St. Kyrain's death. Those statements are seemingly regarded as apocryphal, by Baert and Suyskens ; although this latter writer allows some truth may be concealed under a legendary garb. If credit attach to this account, St. Kevin was present at St. Kyran's decease.
According to Tighernach, our saint died a. d. 549, in the thirty-first year of
26
his age.
tradition for many centuries at Clonmacnoise. ? According to the Life of St. Kiaran, he was called to the kingdom of eternal glory, in the thirty-third year of his age. He is compared to Christ in this regard, as also in the cir-
This seems, also, to have been the generally accepted popular 2
cumstance, that he was known as the son of a carpenter.
28
The same short
term of life is to 2 9 The Book of Navan and the Ulster given him, by Colgan.
Annals only allow thirty-three years, as the term of his life : while the former record states, that he only lived one year in his city of Clonmacnoise ; the latter places his death at 548. According to the Ulster Annals, he departed
in the
thirty-fourth year.
3°
The Annals of Cambria 3 1 the death of St. place
The Annals of the Four masters 33 the assign
Kieran at a. d. s 544. 3
departure of St. Kieran to a. d. 548. This was the year of that great mortality
known as the Chron Chonaill 34- and although many of the Irish saints suc- ;
cumbed to it, according to the latter authority, yet Ciarain and Tighearnach
6 who
that in the great pestilence of the Cronchconnuil or Cromchonnail, which
22
October. Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxliv.
23 See his Acts at the 6th of 28 As the husband of the September, Joseph, Mary,
in the present volume, Art. ii. reputed father of Jesus Christ, worked at
24 See "Transactions of the Royal Irish the carpenter's trade, so did Beoiadh, the
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , father of Kieran. This too is noticed by
part i. On the Calendar of Oengus. By the Donegal Martyrologists, who call St.
Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxliv. Joseph Cele muipe. Dr. Reeves remarks
25 Already written, at the 3rd of June. here in a note, that in such compounds as
%See the Sixth Volume of this work, Cele De, Cele-Christ, C£le-Petair, Cele-
Art. i. Clerich, &c, the primary meaning of Cele
26
u"
into Latin, at a. d. 559 : Ciaranus filius Zeuss, in his Grammatica Celtica. " pp.
were the 35 This is also the date exceptions.
given by Colgan,3
states,
His feast occurs on the 2nd of. the Calendar of Oengus. By Whitley
Dr. O'Conor thus renders the Irish entry is "companion. " It is so interpreted by
artificis obit 31 anno retatis suae, hoc est septimo postquam Monasterium, dictum Cluain-mac-Nitais, i. e. Seccess—um filiorum Nobilium, construere coepit. " "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tiger- nachi Annales, p. 138. The Annals of Innisfallen have his death so early as A. D. 538. "Quies Ciarani f—ilii Artificis. " Ex Autographo Bodleiano. Ibid. , p. 6. The Codex Dubliniensis does not give the year of his death, yet notices it as occurring during the reign of King Diarmit, son of Ceribheoil, at p. 16.
22, 23, 245, 371.
29 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernioe. "
Februarii vi. Vita S. Munis Episcopi Forg-
nagiensi, n. 15, p. 267.
3°SeeDr, O'Conor's " Rerum Hiberni-
carum Scriptores," tomus iv. Annales
Ultonienses, p. 19.
3I Edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel,
M. A.
32 See p. 3.
33 They state, on the 9th of September. 34 This is Latinised Flava Ictericia^ or the
yellow jaundice, by Colgan, in "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," p. 831, col. 2.
35 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 184 to 189.
36 See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae. " Januarii xx. Vita S. Mollaggoe seu Molaci,
27 In the scholion to that copy of the "
"Feilire," preserved in the Leabhar
Breac," we are informed, that three and
thirty was his age when he died. See
"
Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On n. 31, p. 150.
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. "
230 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 9.
carried off several of the saints of Ireland, with many other persons, St. Kieranus Cluanensis was one of those victims. However, the Annals of Boyle differ from all the* foregoing accounts, both in stating, that he died so early as 523, and that he attained the age of thirty-six. 37 Sir James Ware agrees with Ussher, regarding the dates for his age and year of departure, but adds, that according to his biographer, the holy abbot only lived one year, as superior over Clonmacnoise, while according to Tighernach, he presitled over it seven years. 38 From which statements, Suyskens infers, that our Saint died a. d. 549, in all probability; nor does he greatly regard what Colgan adduces from the Annals, since almost all other authorities are agreed concerning this epoch ; nor have we any decisive data, for consider- ing it erroneous ; wherefore Suyskens thinks we may regard the sense of the
annalist, who says he died of the plague which occurred in 548, to be, that Kyran had been carried off during its continuance through the following year. 39 A date very generally given for his death is a. d. 549. 4° Having
incorrectly, or without good authority, stated that St. Kieran had preached 1
in Kyntire, Smith tells us,* that he died a. d. 59442 For this, he refers to
Sir James Ware, but without citing any particular page or passage ; how- ever, Ware is altogether silent on these matters. 43 Suyskens thinks it much more probable, that St. Kieran lived to the age of sixty-six, than that he died, at the early age of thirty-three ; since such conjecture seems better to accord with the Acts of other saints cited by him. Is it to be supposed, he enquires, that so young a man could have been founder of the many monasteries, over which it is said* he ruled, if we admit he only lived to be thirty-three years of age. 44 But, even conceding that our Saint's death occurred in 548 or 549, the Bollandist editor cannot unhesitatingly admit some earlier dates, for that short life Kieran is said by Ussher to have lived. 45
An ancient Registry of Clonmacnoise,46 states, that St. Kieran had obtained from the Almighty the favour that no soul belonging to a body
''
37 Thus runs the entry :
Ciaranus filius Artificis —xxxvi etatis sue that Columba, when in his 28th year,
torum," tomus iii. , Septembris ix. See
Acta S. Kieran, sect, vi. , num. 61, 62, p.
4S According to this latter writer, the holy man went to St. Senan when only twenty- one years old. At this early period of life,
An. D. xxiii. subjects appears from his supposing (p. 10)
annon in Xpo quievit. " Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicariim Scriptores," tomus ii. AnnatesBuelliani,p. 4.
38 See "De Scriptoribus Hibernicc," lib. i. , cap. 2.
j9He adds: "Corrigendum itaque est
Martyrologium Parisiense, quod Sancti erection, Suyskens observes, "ostendimus mortem plus integro ssecul—o serius statuit, utriusque fundationem justo serius ab scilicet circa annum 669. " "Acta Sane- Usserio statui. "
382.
40 It is rather remarkable, that Dr. he was made
Lanigan's own history contains a misprint, which makes our saint's death fall in a. d. 459, instead of in 549. The latter date he obviously meant. See ibid. ,\o\. ii. , p. 52.
41 In his " Life of St. Columba. "
42 " Yet to do every man justice, this 594 is perhaps an erratum for 549. But the
fable of Kieran having preached in Kintyre is not so.
It is taken from such stories as
those of Dempster and others, concerning that great saint. See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. ,
chap. xi„ sect, viii. , n. 92, p. 121.
43 " How little Smith had examined these
guestmaster
fourteen, he first entered upon a religious
founded the monastery of Darmagh about the time of Kieran's death. Now the 28th yearofColumba'sagewasA. D. 549,—which was also that in which Kieran died. " Ibi<f.
44
and Clonmacnoise, and the date for their
Speaking about the monasteries, Aingen
of
life, under St. Ninnid at Lough Erne ; then he was under the discipline of St. Endeus at Aran, when dining a tender age he exer- cised the humble office of artificer or labourer ; meanwhile, we are to consider, that before the year 530, he had St. Finnian as a master. That all these offices were exercised, at such early age, and within such a limited number of years, the Bollandist editor does not consider to be probable.
46
Mac Firbis, for the use of Sir James Ware.
This had been transcribed by Dudley
; at the
age
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 23 1
interred at Clonmacnoise should be deprived of salvation. The peasantry in its neighbourhood preserve such a tradition, to the present day. Yet, this pious belief is not to be received in an unqualified sense. It had origin, doubtless, in the merits of their great local patron, St. Kieran. It could only have reference, however, to those souls who departed this life in the state of grace. From another source we learn, that the holy Abbot Kyran was interred in the church he had founded at Clonmacnoise. His monastic establishment there had been ruled over by a succession of venerable Abbots from the time of his decease, through several subsequent centuries. Indeed, it is thought, that their names are in many instances decipherable in the Irish characters which have been found on monumental stones disinterred
Teampul Figneen and Round Tower, Clonmacnoise.
and of unquestionably remote antiquity/? Many chiefs and bishops were likewise interred in this cemetery. It has been stated, that Hebrew as well
as Irish inscriptions were discovered on many of the tombs. Owing to this circumstance of our saint's interment and domicile, the monastery of Clon- macnoise had ever since been reckoned noble and venerable48 Even yet, where only the ruins of former churches and round towers are to be seen,*9
47 The reader is referred to that invaluable,
elegant and profusely illustrated work, edited by Miss Margaret Stokes, ''Christian In-
scriptions in the Irish Language," and especially to volume i. . which principally treats on those found at Clonmacnoise. Many of these were collected and drawn by George Petrie, LL. D. ; and since his time several of the original monuments have
accuracy and completeness of that noble task to which her talents have been devoted, and which to her was truly a labour of love.
48 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. iii. , cap. xvii. , p. 434. The Hollandist editor adds,
"Quamdiu vero sacrum istud depositum ibidem permanserit, non legi : at cum Col-
ganus in Appendice 5 ad Vitam S. Brigidse, disappeared. However, the extraordinary pag. 663 sciibat, Cluain-mic-noisiam ab research and antiquarian knowledge dis- anno 719 usque ad 1155 quater et trigesies played in every page of the work by Miss seucombustamseuspoliatamfuisse. verendum
Stokes, and her accomplishments as an est, ut tarn multiplici cladi superfuerit. '
artist, in the hundreds of drawings it con- tains, place the Irish antiquary and scholar under the greatest obligations to her for the
See De S. Kierano seu Querano, sect, vi. ,
num. 55, 56, 57, p. 381.
45 As in the former volumes, we have had
232
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September g.
the religious pilgrim and intelligent visitor are carried in thought to those ages when that solitary place was distinguished as the chief school for piety,
learning, and art in Ireland. As compared with the larger cathedral, the earlier church of St. Kieran was named the smaller ; and in it a great number of relics had been preserved. s° A piece of bone, said to have belonged to one of St. Kieran's hands, was preserved in the cathedral of
1
Clonmacnoise, in 1242. 5
of St. Kiaran, we find mention made of the " sarcina citha. "52 This was a covering for the Book of Gospels which belonged to him, and which a cow is said to have drawn uninjured from the waters of Lough Ree.
Among the literary productions of St. Columba, Colgan enumerates four hymns composed in the Latin idiom ; and the first of these was written to eulogise St. Kieran's virtues. The only portion of this hymn, which reached the Bollandist Suyskens, has been already given in a note, affixed to the earlier portion of this memoir. We are told, on his hearing about St. Kieran's death, St. Columkille, Abbot of Iona, declared, that it was a providential circumstance, he had been called away from life at an early age ; for, had he lived to an advanced term of years, the envy of many would be excited against him. It is said, that St. Columba composed a Hymn in honour of our saint. This seems to indicate, that he had been at Clonmac- noise, when it was written ; since the successor of Kieran said to him : " O father, this is a beautiful and eulogistic hymn ; what return can we make for its composition? " Columba answered, "Give me two hands full of earth,
than pure gold or precious stones. ' 53 Wherefore, St. Columba, taking this earth from the sepulchre of St. Kieran, returned to his own island of Hy. But, while on his voyage thither, a great sea-storm arose, which carried his ship towards a most dangerous whirlpool, known as Corebreacyn. 54 While drifting towards this whirlpool, so much dreaded by mariners, St. Columba
frequent reference to saints connected with
Clonmacnoise, and have given different illustrations of various ruined churches there ;
subject of his biography was under St.
Kieran's direction at Clonmacnois. All that
can be found regarding Columba's visit there,
refers to his return iiom Iona to Ireland,
many years after Kieran's death. There
can be little doubt, however, that both of
theseSaintswerepersonallyacquainted. In
his Acts of St. Columbkille, Prince O'Don-
nell tells us, that Saint studied with St.
Kieran, in the school or monastery of
Mobby Clairineach. See Dr. Lanigan's
"
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, viii, n. 92,#pp. 120, 121.
54 This is the great whirlpool of the Western Hebrides, to which the poet, Thomas Campbell, makes such happy allu- sion in his beautiful poem, "Gertrude of Wyoming. "
"GreenAlbin whatthoughhenomore !
survey
Thy ships at anchor on the quiet shore,
Thy pellocks rolling from the mountain lay,
Thy lone sepulchral cairn upon tfie moor,
And distant isles that hear the loud — Corbrechtanroar. "
Part stanza v. i. ,
so in the present instance, a view is presented of Teampul Figneen, and the adjoining Round Tower, from a photograph, copied on the wood and engraved by Gregor Grey.
50 See Colgan 's " Acta Sanctorum Iliber- niae," Februarii vi. , Vita S. Munis, cap. ix. , p. 266.
51 This year allusion is made to it, a Chapter
being held at Louth, by Albert of Cologne,
archbishop of Armagh. See Rt. Rev. Richard Mant's "History of the Church of Ireland, from the Reformation to the Revo- lution ; with a preliminary Survey from the Papal Usurpation, in the Twelfth Century, to its legal Abolition in the Sixteenth," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, v. , p. 64.
:
52 It is thus described " quae erat de
pelle facta in qua evangelium positum erat [quae] circa pedem vaccae adhesit et sic vacca in pede cetham traxit secum ad terrain, et inventus est liber
in cetha pellicea putrefacta siccus et aridus atque candidus sine ullo —humore ac si conditus
esset in biblioteca. " Cap. 27,
53 In his "Life of St. Columba," p. 8,
Smith has a fable, which states, that the
evangelii
In Archbishop Marsh's Library manuscript Life
taken from the grave of Father Kieran, because that I desire and love, more ;
fol. aa. 147,
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 233
threw a portion of the earth taken from St. Kieran's tomb into the sea.
Immediately, the waves subsided, the tempest was stilled, and the ship escaped from that menaced danger. Thereupon, St. Columba returned thanks to God, and called his fellow-passengers to witness what a favour had been obtained, through the relics of Blessed Kieran. 55 But with regard to
6
the miracle already recorded, respecting the rescue from shipwreck,* there is
another version, still less probable. It is stated, that while the ship in which Iona's Abbot sailed from Ireland to Britain was about to reach the whirlpool of Core Brecain,57 the bones of Brecan, grandson to Niell the Great, Kini; of
seemed to float on the waves. s8
Columba is said to have offered a prayer, that the soul of Brecan might be released from the pains of purgatory. The saint and his companions were soon afterwards rescued from the dangers of the ocean. 5? Before proceeding to analyse the Chronotaxis, between our Saint's birth and death, the Bollandist editor of his Acts very properly remarks, that those fragmentary accounts previously given must be examined in connexion with the lives of saints there introduced.
In the earliest Irish Martyrologies and Calendars, the feast of St. Kieran of Clonmacnois is to be found recorded, at the 9th of September. He is noticed with distinguished eulogy, in the "Feilire" of St. ^ngus. e° Especially, in that monastery where his life ended, and in the church attached to it, for several succeeding centuries after his death, his festival attracted crowds from all the surrounding districts. 61 In the published
62 it is that Ciaran mac an t-sair was mentioned,
Ireland,
Seeing
these relics of
mortality,
of
venerated, at the 9th of September. ^ In the Calendar, prefixed to the
Martyrology
Tallagh,
55 See
Appendix Secunda ad Acta S, Columbae, pars prima, sect, xiii, pp. 457, 458. This account purports to be taken from the thirty-third chapter of an old Life of St. Kieran. It is not to be found in the Irish Life, contained in the Book of Lismore.
Colgan's
"Trias
Thaumaturga.
"Leabh—ar Breac"
copy,
is the
following
his feast is commemorated on this 6-* day.
of Christ-
The Bollandist Soller considers, it was owing to Usuard's singular diligence,
Martyrology
Church,
"
s6 Given in the Life of St. Columba, by Thus rendered into English by Whitley
Prince O'Donnell, lib. hi. , cap. xxi.
57 This is Latinized Charybdis Brccani, for it was called after Brecan, who had been
drowned there, many years previously.
58 It would seem, the ancient Britons entertained an opinion, that it was a great disgrace or misfortune for the dead to want
the rites of in a "as sepulture grave, they
believed that without it their bodies could enjoy no rest or happiness in a future state. " —Mylius' "History of England," book i. , chap, v. , p. 43. It is probable, this same belief also prevailed among the ancient Irish and Caledonians.
59 "Nulla hie de sepulcrali S. Kiarani pulvere fit mentio, quamvis de eodem naufragii periculo agi videatur : at prior narratio simplicior et vere similior apparet. " —"Acta Sanctorum," tomusiii, Septembris ix. De S. Kierano seu Querano, sect, vi. ,
num. 58, 59, 60. pp. 381, 382.
Stokes, LL. D :—"A great solemnity that filleth the borders, that shaketh swift ships,
the wright's son beyond kings, the fair feast
60
At the 9th of September, in the
represents everyone coming in ships from the head of the lake (Ree) and from below, on the annual recurrence. It is called, likewise, a great festival that fills
territories. See ibid, p. cxliii.
63
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxiii.
6j Also, in the Book of Leinster copy, we read Ciaran fllac 111 Craen. To this is
added : i. e. bpoetmea.
6*
Yet, it is not inserted in the Martyrology itself. See John Clarke Crosthwaite's and Rev. Dr. Todd's edition of " The Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity," Introduction, p. xlix. , and p. 69.
stanza
:
tttO]\ l/ich Imaf qucriA
Cv\och<Mr I0115A IuacVia
UIac 111 c pjeir ^TM^S^ £eil CAiri Chiaruvin ChbuAii-a.
—" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript
of Ciaran of Cluain. "
Series, vol. i. , part i. , p. exxxvii.
6l
This is shown from the scholion on the
" which Feilire,"
234 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS [September9.
College Library ; but in the present im- perfect state of the Catalogue of MSS. in
library,
"
xxxv. , xxxvi.
13 In this same sense, Thomas Sirin, an
Irish Minorite, in his Dissertation on St.
Columbanus, art. —iii. , § 2, quotes Alcuinus,
,8
See ibid. , Vita Quinta S. Columbw, Lib. lxx. , pp. 400, 401.
,9 The Bollandist editor would not under- take to deny, that a hymn, in praise of our
:
carm. 246, thus Saint,
had been and composed by Columba,
Patricius, Cheranus, Scotorum gbloria „enti5
Atque Co'lumbanus, Comgallus Adamnanus atque
Praclari patres morum, viUeque magistri :
Ilinc'pietas/precibus horum nos adjuvet omnes.
u composed the death of St. Kieran.
MSee " Trias Colgan's
counsels acted on in Ireland through the advice of saints were : First, the cutting
Thaumaturga. " Qnarta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii pars
shert of Ciarain's life ;
ment of Columkille ; and thirdly, the ex- pulsion of Mochuda from Raithin.
ii. , p. 214.
:
—we have not been able to See
that
discover it. "
nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," pp.
presented to the inmates of Clonmacnoise.
But h seems to have been after >
S'
The Aberdeen Breviary, and the fol- lowers of the Benedictine rule, greatly venerating him, likewise seem to con- slder nim as tneir f°uncler and spiritual
father in Ireland.
,
2,It 1S related, that the three worst ,
secondly,
the banish-
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 229
granted by the Almighty, until he fasted with them, and for their intention. Then Odran" of Lettracha Odrain and Mac Ciiilin^ of Lusk, together with an angel, went to tell him for what the saints fasted. Whereupon, he sang a hymn, and left an injunction on his monks, never to promise ought before they knew that purpose had in view. 2* In the Life of St. Kevin,3* we have related some particulars, taken from the old acts of that holy Abbot of Glendalough, and which refer to St. Kyrain's death. Those statements are seemingly regarded as apocryphal, by Baert and Suyskens ; although this latter writer allows some truth may be concealed under a legendary garb. If credit attach to this account, St. Kevin was present at St. Kyran's decease.
According to Tighernach, our saint died a. d. 549, in the thirty-first year of
26
his age.
tradition for many centuries at Clonmacnoise. ? According to the Life of St. Kiaran, he was called to the kingdom of eternal glory, in the thirty-third year of his age. He is compared to Christ in this regard, as also in the cir-
This seems, also, to have been the generally accepted popular 2
cumstance, that he was known as the son of a carpenter.
28
The same short
term of life is to 2 9 The Book of Navan and the Ulster given him, by Colgan.
Annals only allow thirty-three years, as the term of his life : while the former record states, that he only lived one year in his city of Clonmacnoise ; the latter places his death at 548. According to the Ulster Annals, he departed
in the
thirty-fourth year.
3°
The Annals of Cambria 3 1 the death of St. place
The Annals of the Four masters 33 the assign
Kieran at a. d. s 544. 3
departure of St. Kieran to a. d. 548. This was the year of that great mortality
known as the Chron Chonaill 34- and although many of the Irish saints suc- ;
cumbed to it, according to the latter authority, yet Ciarain and Tighearnach
6 who
that in the great pestilence of the Cronchconnuil or Cromchonnail, which
22
October. Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxliv.
23 See his Acts at the 6th of 28 As the husband of the September, Joseph, Mary,
in the present volume, Art. ii. reputed father of Jesus Christ, worked at
24 See "Transactions of the Royal Irish the carpenter's trade, so did Beoiadh, the
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , father of Kieran. This too is noticed by
part i. On the Calendar of Oengus. By the Donegal Martyrologists, who call St.
Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. cxliv. Joseph Cele muipe. Dr. Reeves remarks
25 Already written, at the 3rd of June. here in a note, that in such compounds as
%See the Sixth Volume of this work, Cele De, Cele-Christ, C£le-Petair, Cele-
Art. i. Clerich, &c, the primary meaning of Cele
26
u"
into Latin, at a. d. 559 : Ciaranus filius Zeuss, in his Grammatica Celtica. " pp.
were the 35 This is also the date exceptions.
given by Colgan,3
states,
His feast occurs on the 2nd of. the Calendar of Oengus. By Whitley
Dr. O'Conor thus renders the Irish entry is "companion. " It is so interpreted by
artificis obit 31 anno retatis suae, hoc est septimo postquam Monasterium, dictum Cluain-mac-Nitais, i. e. Seccess—um filiorum Nobilium, construere coepit. " "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tiger- nachi Annales, p. 138. The Annals of Innisfallen have his death so early as A. D. 538. "Quies Ciarani f—ilii Artificis. " Ex Autographo Bodleiano. Ibid. , p. 6. The Codex Dubliniensis does not give the year of his death, yet notices it as occurring during the reign of King Diarmit, son of Ceribheoil, at p. 16.
22, 23, 245, 371.
29 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernioe. "
Februarii vi. Vita S. Munis Episcopi Forg-
nagiensi, n. 15, p. 267.
3°SeeDr, O'Conor's " Rerum Hiberni-
carum Scriptores," tomus iv. Annales
Ultonienses, p. 19.
3I Edited by Rev. John Williams ab Ithel,
M. A.
32 See p. 3.
33 They state, on the 9th of September. 34 This is Latinised Flava Ictericia^ or the
yellow jaundice, by Colgan, in "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," p. 831, col. 2.
35 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 184 to 189.
36 See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae. " Januarii xx. Vita S. Mollaggoe seu Molaci,
27 In the scholion to that copy of the "
"Feilire," preserved in the Leabhar
Breac," we are informed, that three and
thirty was his age when he died. See
"
Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On n. 31, p. 150.
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. "
230 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 9.
carried off several of the saints of Ireland, with many other persons, St. Kieranus Cluanensis was one of those victims. However, the Annals of Boyle differ from all the* foregoing accounts, both in stating, that he died so early as 523, and that he attained the age of thirty-six. 37 Sir James Ware agrees with Ussher, regarding the dates for his age and year of departure, but adds, that according to his biographer, the holy abbot only lived one year, as superior over Clonmacnoise, while according to Tighernach, he presitled over it seven years. 38 From which statements, Suyskens infers, that our Saint died a. d. 549, in all probability; nor does he greatly regard what Colgan adduces from the Annals, since almost all other authorities are agreed concerning this epoch ; nor have we any decisive data, for consider- ing it erroneous ; wherefore Suyskens thinks we may regard the sense of the
annalist, who says he died of the plague which occurred in 548, to be, that Kyran had been carried off during its continuance through the following year. 39 A date very generally given for his death is a. d. 549. 4° Having
incorrectly, or without good authority, stated that St. Kieran had preached 1
in Kyntire, Smith tells us,* that he died a. d. 59442 For this, he refers to
Sir James Ware, but without citing any particular page or passage ; how- ever, Ware is altogether silent on these matters. 43 Suyskens thinks it much more probable, that St. Kieran lived to the age of sixty-six, than that he died, at the early age of thirty-three ; since such conjecture seems better to accord with the Acts of other saints cited by him. Is it to be supposed, he enquires, that so young a man could have been founder of the many monasteries, over which it is said* he ruled, if we admit he only lived to be thirty-three years of age. 44 But, even conceding that our Saint's death occurred in 548 or 549, the Bollandist editor cannot unhesitatingly admit some earlier dates, for that short life Kieran is said by Ussher to have lived. 45
An ancient Registry of Clonmacnoise,46 states, that St. Kieran had obtained from the Almighty the favour that no soul belonging to a body
''
37 Thus runs the entry :
Ciaranus filius Artificis —xxxvi etatis sue that Columba, when in his 28th year,
torum," tomus iii. , Septembris ix. See
Acta S. Kieran, sect, vi. , num. 61, 62, p.
4S According to this latter writer, the holy man went to St. Senan when only twenty- one years old. At this early period of life,
An. D. xxiii. subjects appears from his supposing (p. 10)
annon in Xpo quievit. " Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicariim Scriptores," tomus ii. AnnatesBuelliani,p. 4.
38 See "De Scriptoribus Hibernicc," lib. i. , cap. 2.
j9He adds: "Corrigendum itaque est
Martyrologium Parisiense, quod Sancti erection, Suyskens observes, "ostendimus mortem plus integro ssecul—o serius statuit, utriusque fundationem justo serius ab scilicet circa annum 669. " "Acta Sane- Usserio statui. "
382.
40 It is rather remarkable, that Dr. he was made
Lanigan's own history contains a misprint, which makes our saint's death fall in a. d. 459, instead of in 549. The latter date he obviously meant. See ibid. ,\o\. ii. , p. 52.
41 In his " Life of St. Columba. "
42 " Yet to do every man justice, this 594 is perhaps an erratum for 549. But the
fable of Kieran having preached in Kintyre is not so.
It is taken from such stories as
those of Dempster and others, concerning that great saint. See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. ,
chap. xi„ sect, viii. , n. 92, p. 121.
43 " How little Smith had examined these
guestmaster
fourteen, he first entered upon a religious
founded the monastery of Darmagh about the time of Kieran's death. Now the 28th yearofColumba'sagewasA. D. 549,—which was also that in which Kieran died. " Ibi<f.
44
and Clonmacnoise, and the date for their
Speaking about the monasteries, Aingen
of
life, under St. Ninnid at Lough Erne ; then he was under the discipline of St. Endeus at Aran, when dining a tender age he exer- cised the humble office of artificer or labourer ; meanwhile, we are to consider, that before the year 530, he had St. Finnian as a master. That all these offices were exercised, at such early age, and within such a limited number of years, the Bollandist editor does not consider to be probable.
46
Mac Firbis, for the use of Sir James Ware.
This had been transcribed by Dudley
; at the
age
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 23 1
interred at Clonmacnoise should be deprived of salvation. The peasantry in its neighbourhood preserve such a tradition, to the present day. Yet, this pious belief is not to be received in an unqualified sense. It had origin, doubtless, in the merits of their great local patron, St. Kieran. It could only have reference, however, to those souls who departed this life in the state of grace. From another source we learn, that the holy Abbot Kyran was interred in the church he had founded at Clonmacnoise. His monastic establishment there had been ruled over by a succession of venerable Abbots from the time of his decease, through several subsequent centuries. Indeed, it is thought, that their names are in many instances decipherable in the Irish characters which have been found on monumental stones disinterred
Teampul Figneen and Round Tower, Clonmacnoise.
and of unquestionably remote antiquity/? Many chiefs and bishops were likewise interred in this cemetery. It has been stated, that Hebrew as well
as Irish inscriptions were discovered on many of the tombs. Owing to this circumstance of our saint's interment and domicile, the monastery of Clon- macnoise had ever since been reckoned noble and venerable48 Even yet, where only the ruins of former churches and round towers are to be seen,*9
47 The reader is referred to that invaluable,
elegant and profusely illustrated work, edited by Miss Margaret Stokes, ''Christian In-
scriptions in the Irish Language," and especially to volume i. . which principally treats on those found at Clonmacnoise. Many of these were collected and drawn by George Petrie, LL. D. ; and since his time several of the original monuments have
accuracy and completeness of that noble task to which her talents have been devoted, and which to her was truly a labour of love.
48 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. iii. , cap. xvii. , p. 434. The Hollandist editor adds,
"Quamdiu vero sacrum istud depositum ibidem permanserit, non legi : at cum Col-
ganus in Appendice 5 ad Vitam S. Brigidse, disappeared. However, the extraordinary pag. 663 sciibat, Cluain-mic-noisiam ab research and antiquarian knowledge dis- anno 719 usque ad 1155 quater et trigesies played in every page of the work by Miss seucombustamseuspoliatamfuisse. verendum
Stokes, and her accomplishments as an est, ut tarn multiplici cladi superfuerit. '
artist, in the hundreds of drawings it con- tains, place the Irish antiquary and scholar under the greatest obligations to her for the
See De S. Kierano seu Querano, sect, vi. ,
num. 55, 56, 57, p. 381.
45 As in the former volumes, we have had
232
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September g.
the religious pilgrim and intelligent visitor are carried in thought to those ages when that solitary place was distinguished as the chief school for piety,
learning, and art in Ireland. As compared with the larger cathedral, the earlier church of St. Kieran was named the smaller ; and in it a great number of relics had been preserved. s° A piece of bone, said to have belonged to one of St. Kieran's hands, was preserved in the cathedral of
1
Clonmacnoise, in 1242. 5
of St. Kiaran, we find mention made of the " sarcina citha. "52 This was a covering for the Book of Gospels which belonged to him, and which a cow is said to have drawn uninjured from the waters of Lough Ree.
Among the literary productions of St. Columba, Colgan enumerates four hymns composed in the Latin idiom ; and the first of these was written to eulogise St. Kieran's virtues. The only portion of this hymn, which reached the Bollandist Suyskens, has been already given in a note, affixed to the earlier portion of this memoir. We are told, on his hearing about St. Kieran's death, St. Columkille, Abbot of Iona, declared, that it was a providential circumstance, he had been called away from life at an early age ; for, had he lived to an advanced term of years, the envy of many would be excited against him. It is said, that St. Columba composed a Hymn in honour of our saint. This seems to indicate, that he had been at Clonmac- noise, when it was written ; since the successor of Kieran said to him : " O father, this is a beautiful and eulogistic hymn ; what return can we make for its composition? " Columba answered, "Give me two hands full of earth,
than pure gold or precious stones. ' 53 Wherefore, St. Columba, taking this earth from the sepulchre of St. Kieran, returned to his own island of Hy. But, while on his voyage thither, a great sea-storm arose, which carried his ship towards a most dangerous whirlpool, known as Corebreacyn. 54 While drifting towards this whirlpool, so much dreaded by mariners, St. Columba
frequent reference to saints connected with
Clonmacnoise, and have given different illustrations of various ruined churches there ;
subject of his biography was under St.
Kieran's direction at Clonmacnois. All that
can be found regarding Columba's visit there,
refers to his return iiom Iona to Ireland,
many years after Kieran's death. There
can be little doubt, however, that both of
theseSaintswerepersonallyacquainted. In
his Acts of St. Columbkille, Prince O'Don-
nell tells us, that Saint studied with St.
Kieran, in the school or monastery of
Mobby Clairineach. See Dr. Lanigan's
"
Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, xi. , sect, viii, n. 92,#pp. 120, 121.
54 This is the great whirlpool of the Western Hebrides, to which the poet, Thomas Campbell, makes such happy allu- sion in his beautiful poem, "Gertrude of Wyoming. "
"GreenAlbin whatthoughhenomore !
survey
Thy ships at anchor on the quiet shore,
Thy pellocks rolling from the mountain lay,
Thy lone sepulchral cairn upon tfie moor,
And distant isles that hear the loud — Corbrechtanroar. "
Part stanza v. i. ,
so in the present instance, a view is presented of Teampul Figneen, and the adjoining Round Tower, from a photograph, copied on the wood and engraved by Gregor Grey.
50 See Colgan 's " Acta Sanctorum Iliber- niae," Februarii vi. , Vita S. Munis, cap. ix. , p. 266.
51 This year allusion is made to it, a Chapter
being held at Louth, by Albert of Cologne,
archbishop of Armagh. See Rt. Rev. Richard Mant's "History of the Church of Ireland, from the Reformation to the Revo- lution ; with a preliminary Survey from the Papal Usurpation, in the Twelfth Century, to its legal Abolition in the Sixteenth," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, v. , p. 64.
:
52 It is thus described " quae erat de
pelle facta in qua evangelium positum erat [quae] circa pedem vaccae adhesit et sic vacca in pede cetham traxit secum ad terrain, et inventus est liber
in cetha pellicea putrefacta siccus et aridus atque candidus sine ullo —humore ac si conditus
esset in biblioteca. " Cap. 27,
53 In his "Life of St. Columba," p. 8,
Smith has a fable, which states, that the
evangelii
In Archbishop Marsh's Library manuscript Life
taken from the grave of Father Kieran, because that I desire and love, more ;
fol. aa. 147,
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 233
threw a portion of the earth taken from St. Kieran's tomb into the sea.
Immediately, the waves subsided, the tempest was stilled, and the ship escaped from that menaced danger. Thereupon, St. Columba returned thanks to God, and called his fellow-passengers to witness what a favour had been obtained, through the relics of Blessed Kieran. 55 But with regard to
6
the miracle already recorded, respecting the rescue from shipwreck,* there is
another version, still less probable. It is stated, that while the ship in which Iona's Abbot sailed from Ireland to Britain was about to reach the whirlpool of Core Brecain,57 the bones of Brecan, grandson to Niell the Great, Kini; of
seemed to float on the waves. s8
Columba is said to have offered a prayer, that the soul of Brecan might be released from the pains of purgatory. The saint and his companions were soon afterwards rescued from the dangers of the ocean. 5? Before proceeding to analyse the Chronotaxis, between our Saint's birth and death, the Bollandist editor of his Acts very properly remarks, that those fragmentary accounts previously given must be examined in connexion with the lives of saints there introduced.
In the earliest Irish Martyrologies and Calendars, the feast of St. Kieran of Clonmacnois is to be found recorded, at the 9th of September. He is noticed with distinguished eulogy, in the "Feilire" of St. ^ngus. e° Especially, in that monastery where his life ended, and in the church attached to it, for several succeeding centuries after his death, his festival attracted crowds from all the surrounding districts. 61 In the published
62 it is that Ciaran mac an t-sair was mentioned,
Ireland,
Seeing
these relics of
mortality,
of
venerated, at the 9th of September. ^ In the Calendar, prefixed to the
Martyrology
Tallagh,
55 See
Appendix Secunda ad Acta S, Columbae, pars prima, sect, xiii, pp. 457, 458. This account purports to be taken from the thirty-third chapter of an old Life of St. Kieran. It is not to be found in the Irish Life, contained in the Book of Lismore.
Colgan's
"Trias
Thaumaturga.
"Leabh—ar Breac"
copy,
is the
following
his feast is commemorated on this 6-* day.
of Christ-
The Bollandist Soller considers, it was owing to Usuard's singular diligence,
Martyrology
Church,
"
s6 Given in the Life of St. Columba, by Thus rendered into English by Whitley
Prince O'Donnell, lib. hi. , cap. xxi.
57 This is Latinized Charybdis Brccani, for it was called after Brecan, who had been
drowned there, many years previously.
58 It would seem, the ancient Britons entertained an opinion, that it was a great disgrace or misfortune for the dead to want
the rites of in a "as sepulture grave, they
believed that without it their bodies could enjoy no rest or happiness in a future state. " —Mylius' "History of England," book i. , chap, v. , p. 43. It is probable, this same belief also prevailed among the ancient Irish and Caledonians.
59 "Nulla hie de sepulcrali S. Kiarani pulvere fit mentio, quamvis de eodem naufragii periculo agi videatur : at prior narratio simplicior et vere similior apparet. " —"Acta Sanctorum," tomusiii, Septembris ix. De S. Kierano seu Querano, sect, vi. ,
num. 58, 59, 60. pp. 381, 382.
Stokes, LL. D :—"A great solemnity that filleth the borders, that shaketh swift ships,
the wright's son beyond kings, the fair feast
60
At the 9th of September, in the
represents everyone coming in ships from the head of the lake (Ree) and from below, on the annual recurrence. It is called, likewise, a great festival that fills
territories. See ibid, p. cxliii.
63
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxiii.
6j Also, in the Book of Leinster copy, we read Ciaran fllac 111 Craen. To this is
added : i. e. bpoetmea.
6*
Yet, it is not inserted in the Martyrology itself. See John Clarke Crosthwaite's and Rev. Dr. Todd's edition of " The Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity," Introduction, p. xlix. , and p. 69.
stanza
:
tttO]\ l/ich Imaf qucriA
Cv\och<Mr I0115A IuacVia
UIac 111 c pjeir ^TM^S^ £eil CAiri Chiaruvin ChbuAii-a.
—" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript
of Ciaran of Cluain. "
Series, vol. i. , part i. , p. exxxvii.
6l
This is shown from the scholion on the
" which Feilire,"
234 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS [September9.
