No More Learning

306 He was monarch for thirty years, from
A. D. 76 to a. d. 106.
307 He ruled, from A. D. 40, for seventeen
years, when he was slain, A. D. 56.
308 He reigned from A. D. 1 5 for twenty-
two years, when he died at Tara, A. D. 36.
3°s He began to reign, in the year of the
world, 5193, according to the Chronology of the Four Masters, and he died in the year of Christ 9, after a rule of sixteen years.
310 He began to reign in the year of the
world 5166, and he died A. M. 5191, after he
had ruled twenty-six years.
3X1 He does not appear to have been dis-
tinguished in our Annals.
for years, and he was slain A. D. 157.
123,
thirty-five
Ugaine
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 277 Glas,334 son of Nuadhat Finnfail,33s son to Giallchaidh,33<5 son of Oilioll
son to Sirna 8 son of Dian,339 son to 40 son of
01chain,337
Rothectac,34
Labhrainne,344 son of Smirgald,34S son of Enbothe,346 son to Tighearnmas,347
sonof 8 sonto FolIach,34
sonof Irial
sonto 1 Eremhon^s
r sonto
Maen,34
2 sonof
Aengus 01mucadha,343
sontoFiacha
Ethnal,349 son of Milidh or Milesius. 352
Faidh,35°
month, when he fell by Enda Dearg, son of Duach.
333 He ruled six years, from a. m. 4291 to
A. M. 2964, when he was slain by Duach Finn.
334 He is only distinguished, among the genealogies of the Irish kings.
335 He was monarch from A. M. 4199, and he ruled forty years, until he was killed by Breas, A. M. 4238.
336 He began to reign, A. M. 4178, and he lived afterwards nine years, to a. m. 4186.
337 He is not otherwise distinguished in
our history.
338 He was monarch of Ireland, from A. M.
4020, and he ruled according to the most re- liable accounts about twenty years, but he is said to have lived one hundred and fifty years, so that he was denominated "the long- lived. " The Four Masters place his death at a. m. 4169.
339 Also called Denius, but he is not cele- brated in our Annals.
340 He is not distinguished in Irish his-
tory.
341 The first year of his reign is dated a. m.
Rearymore, in the old territory of Iregan, in the barony of Tinnahinch, Queen's County. 350 He is called " Irialus Vates," by Dr.
John Lynch, Archdeacon of Tuam, and by Roderick O'Flaherty, by Connell Mageoghe-
gan, he is styled Iriell the Prophet. He is
said, to have reigned ten years, and to have
died a. m. 3520, at Magh-Muaidhe.
351 It is said, he died a. m. 3516, after a
reign of sole sovereignty over Ireland, and which lasted for fifteen years.
352 According to the chronology adopted by the Four Masters in their Annals, the sons of Milidh came to Ireland A. M. 3500, and then founded a dynasty having con- quered the Tuatha-De-Dananns. The fol- lowing year Eremhon and Emher divided the sovereignty of Ireland between them ; but, a dispute arising, a battle followed A. M.
3502, in which Emher was slain. Then,
Eremhon assumed the sovereignty alone, and he ruled for fifteen years subsequently, when he died at Rath Beothaigh, on the River Nore, in Argat-Ross or the Silver Wood, in the territory of Ui-Duach, A. M.
Saeghlach,33
—
Aethnea belonged to the illustrious and princely house of Leinster. 354 She is called, likewise, Derfinnia, surnamed Belfhoda. According to Adamnan,3S5
The — of St. Columba's mother Ethne 353 family pedigree
called some by
3818, and after twenty-five years of rule, he 3516. The reader is invited to compare the
four Masters, Dr. O'Donovan's edition, with
fell by Sedna, A. M. 3842. 342 He is not otherwise
Dr. " Cambrensis John Lynch's
known, except among the genealogies of the Irish kings.
Eversus," cap. viii. , ix. , vol. i. , ii. Rev. Dr. Kelly's edition, and Roderick O'Flaherty's
343 He began to reign a. m. 3773, and after being engaged in several battles, he was slain at that of Carman or Wexford, by the vic-
torious Enna Airgtheach, A. M. 3790.
344 This monarch began his sovereignty a. m. 3728, and being victorious in four
"Ogygia," pars iii. , cap. xvii. to xciii.
353 She is thought by Colgan to have been one of the three female —saints bearing this name, at the 23rd —recte 28th of February, or at the 29th of March, or at the 6th of
different battles, he was killed by Eochaidh July, according to the Martyrologies of Mumho, at Bealgadan, near Kilmallock, Tallagh, of Marianus O'Gorman and of the
a. m. 3751, after a reign of twenty-four O'Clerys.
"
years.
345 His actions in Irish history are un-
History of Ireland,"
known. 346 He
in his—small ' ' Life of St. Columbkille," chap. i. :
" Eithne, a noble, virtuous princess sprung
From Cairberry's renowned and royal line,
Was Deema's daughter : Deema, son of Naio,
And mother to the sainted Columb- kille. "
355 See the Second Preface, in Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life of St. Columba,' pp. 8, 9, and n, (u).
to have been undistin- guished in our Annals.
347 In the year of the world 3579, he fought a battle at Aenach-Macha, near Armagh, in which Conmael, son of Emar fell, after hav- ing ruled thirty years over Ireland. Tigh- earnmasis saidtohavebeensovereignfor seventy-seven years, when he died A. M. 3656 at Magh-Slecht, in Breifne.
348 Except as father to the preceding mon- arch, he seems to have been undistinguished in our Annals.
349 His reign over Ireland is said to have commenced in A. M. 3530, and to have ter- minated A. M. 3549, in a battle atRaeire, now
the Rev. Mr.
by Taaffe,
appears
33i In Dr. Keating's
he quotes an old Irish poem, regarding her pedigree. It is thus rendered into English,
Demand
278 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
her father's name was Mac Nave, in the Scottish or Irish language, which in Latin may be rendered Filius Navis. 3^6 However, we find it stated, also, that her father was Dimma, son to Nave or Noe,35? who was son to Echinus8 or Etine,35^ who was seventh in descent from Cathaeir Mor,36° King of Ireland, in the second century. Some accounts have it, that Ethnea was daughter to Macanava ; others, that she was daughter to Mac Consnamha. 361 However, in one instance, it is certain, that the paternal and maternal pedi- grees of St. Columba have been confounded, 362 owing to the ignorance of a scribe. 363 It is stated,36* that he had a brother, younger than himself, named Jogen,36s or Eogen, or Eugenius, as also three sisters, called respectively
Cumine, Minchloth, and Sinech 366 some of these
; statements, however,
are
morethandoubtful. 36?
A member of the reigning family, and closely allied to that of Dalriada
in Ireland, our saint was eligible to the sovereignty of his own country. His halfuncleMuircertach368 wasonthethroneofIreland,whenColumbawas born, and he lived, also, during the successive reigns of his cousins Ainmire and Baedan, as also of Aedh,369 son to Ainmire. Owing to this circum-
35S In "sonofthe English
Columboe, cap. ii. , 178.
num. 1 to
7, pp. 177,
ship. "
337 This agrees with the Tract, attributed to St. ^Engus the Culdee, on the Mothers of
365 Archbishop Ussher publishes the fol- lowing pedigree of our saint, from a Cot-
"
35» According to a gloss on the "Feilire" junior. Item tres germanse sorores ejus. I. "
the Irish Saints, as found in the Book of Lecain.
tonian Codex :
Fedlimith pater ejus, filius 358 He was son to Ailild the Great, King Ferguso. Aithne mater ipsius, filia Filii of Ireland, according to the same Tract. Navis. Jogen germanus, fiater Columbse
of St. . /Eiigus in the Leabhar Breac," he Cuimmine, mater filiorum Meic Decuil : qui
was son to Coirpre the Poet, son of Ailill the Great, son of Breccan, son to Fiacc, son of Daire Barrach, son to Cathair the Great. See " Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy," Irish Maunscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. xcix.
360 He reigned only (or three years, having ascended the throne A. n. 120, and he was slaina. d. 122,atthebattleofMagh-h-Agha, by Conn of the Hundred Battles. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 102, 103.
361 The O'Clerys state, however, this is not true, and add that several hundred years elapsed, from the birth of Colum Cille to that time when O'Ruairc had his name, from whom descended Mac Consnamha. See
"Martyrology of Donegal," pp. 152, 153, Rev. Drs. Todd's and Reeves' edition.
"2
3
9th of June, his descent is thus given: St. Columba Kille, at first called Cr'. mthann, is said to have been son ofFedhlimid, son to Fergus, son of Conall, son to Corpre, sur- named File, son of Alild the Great, son to Daire Barrigh, son to Caithire the Great.
363 Such is Colgan's opinion, in " Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbia, cap. i. , p. 477.
and on which Colgan has some Dissertations. See ibid. , Secunda Appendix ad Acta S. C>>luniba? , pars ii. , num. . \xciii to xxcvii, pp. 468, 469, and Quarta Appendix ad Acta S.
nominantur Mernooc, et Cascene, et Meldal, et Bran qui sepultus est in Daurucalchaich. II. Alincholeth, mater filiorum Enain : quo- rum unus Colmaan dicebatur. III.
Sineth, mater virorum Mocuceim Cuileaque : quo- rum nomina sunt, Aidanus monachus. qui sepultus est in Hicuilvisci ; et Conrii Mocu- cein, qui sepultus est in Diar-maig ; avia Cocummi Mocucein, qui valde senio fessus pre-bytersanct—usinlonainsulapraesentem finivit vitam. " " Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," cap. xv. , p. 361.
366 According to the scholiast on the "Feilire," in the "Leabhar Breac "copy. See " Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca- demy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. xcix.
367 Depending on statements, contained in the Treatise on the Mothers of the Irish
Saints, and in other writings, Colgan endea- vours to make clearer the text of the Cot- tonian Codex. It is to be regretted, that as in the case ofothers among our early saints, so many writers concerning them have given mere conjectures, which by those succeeding have been accepted as true historical state- ments.
368 Known as Muircheartach Mac Erca, who ruled from a. d. 504 to A. D. 527. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 164 to 177.
Thus, in the Calendar of Cashel, at the
364 On the
an addition to a copy of Adamnan, in a Cot-
tonian Codex, for which TJssher is quoted, &
authority
of what seems to be
He was
and he was killed a. d. 594, in the battle of Dun- bolg. According to other accounts, his death is placed at 598, the date fixed by Tigher- nach. He reigned twenty-seven years over
king
over Ireland,
June 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 279
stance, as also to his piety and abilities, that immense influence which he possessed, in after time, and the consequent celebrity of his conventual establishments^ may fairly be traced.
Immediately before the birth of her son, Ethnea foreboding his future greatness is said to have sought out the retired village of Gartan ;37* and, for all future time, this place has been consecrated in popular regard by the birth of Columba. On the day before that event, a beautiful Angel visited Ethnea, and predicted her safe delivery. Some Irish verses are attributed to St. Mura of Fathain,372 which have been rendered into Latin 373 and English, "4 confirmatory of the statement, that Columba was born at Gartan. A wonderful story is then told, of a large stone, which flpated over Lough Gartan to the place where she lived, and on this it is said she lay, when her child was born. Tradition yet points out the precise locality of St. Columba's birth. It forms one of the most romantic scenes to be found in Ireland, at the present day. It is situated, on the north-western slope of a grandly undu- lating mountain, that rises from the lower shores of Lough Gartan, about eleven miles from the modern town of Letterkenny, in the County of Donegal. There are two lakes at Gartan : the upper one receives the name Lough-a- Gibbon,375 which is separated from the lower and more extensive sheet of water, known as Lough Gartan proper, or Lough Beagh, south. 376 Both lakes are separated by a very narrow neck of land ; and, from every point of view, they break on a tourist's eye, with the most attractive features of moun- tain, lough, and valley scenery. 377 Other plantations and cultivated fields
may be traced over adjoining surfaces, the lough being about two miles in
length, with an ever varying breadth, generally diminishing as we ascend towards the source, whence it has been supplied from the mountain heights ofGlendowan. 37s Gartanis asceneofuncommonbeauty. Thetwodistinct lakes look like sheets of silver. Their banks of soft green turf, fringed with trees, recede in gentle slopes to the grey mountain ; and, far up on one of these slopes stand the remains of an old chapel. 379 This is said to mark that spot, where the saint was born. 38° The exact place where Ethnea dwelt, at the period of St. Columba's birth, was known as Rathen. To the time of O'Donnell, the stone on which Columba was bom seemed marked with a
Ireland. See -ibid. , pp. 206 to 221.
•°
37 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's
"LifeofSt. Columba,"SecundaPnefacio, n. (u), p, 8.
371 The O'Clerys' Calendar states, at the 9th day of June: "As the birth of Colum Cille, had been foretold and prefigured, so it came to pass, for he was born at the time when it was God's will, i. e. , on the 7th day of the month of December, in the year of the age of Christ, 520 ; and the place where he was born was Gartan, in Cinel Conaill. "
372 See an account of him in vol. iii. of this work, at—March 12th, Art. i.
-
This son of beauty was baptized At the godly Tulach-dubhghlaisi. "
373 Thus
:
" Ediderat mundo Gartan, Dubhgh- lassia Christo :
Nutrierat celebrem Killenia fausta
Columbam " .
374 In the following quatrain : —
surrounds it on the land
to eminences removed at a considerable dis- tance.
378 a description from personal observa- tions made, during a visit to Lough Gartan, inJuly, 1868.
37' The accompanying illustration of this
old church is from a sketch made on the
spot by Alexander M'Henry, Esq. , C. E. It has been drawn on the wood, by William F.
Wakeman,andit wasengraved,byMrs. Millard.
"
He was born at Gartan by permis- sionofGod;
He was nursed at Cill-mic Nenain
;
37S This is called Loch-mic-Ciabain, by Prince O'Donnell.
376 gee "The Donegal Highlands," an interesting and correct tourist's book, written
in a pleasing and an intelligible manner by the Rev. John MacDevitt, D. D. —a native
of Glenties, county of Donegal,
377 On the eastern side of Gartan, a beau-
tiful mansion of the Stewarts stands and in a
lordly position, by the shore ; while, an am-
phitheatre of overhanging woods, in rich pro-
fusion,
side, receding
28o LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [June 9.
whichitretainedfromthebirthofourgreatsaint. 381 Toanotherreddish coloured stone, which was long preserved in a gold and silver case at Rathen, great efficacy was attributed. This stone was called in Irish, Cloch ruadh, and it was of a tapering shape, like to a golden apple. It was usual to bear that stone about to houses, where infirm persons were in danger of death, and especially was it in request for women in cases of difficult parturition. 38* Once, it is stated, owing to some profanation of the place, or to some other unexplained cause, it strangely disappeared. At length, it was discovered,
cross,
Gartan Old Church, County of Donegal.
hidden in the cavity of a neighbouring tree, when after some purificatory rite, it was restored to that place, where it had been formerly kept. 383 An old ruinedchurchsurmountsaknollonthemountainsideofGlendowan. Itis said to have been built on or near that spot, where St. Columkille was born. An accomplished Irish writer has declared, that the father of the Culdees could not have first seen the light of day, in a more appropriate place ; for, Lough Gartan is one of the finest among the numerous deep lakes, so fre- quently interspersed through the basin reservoirs of this mountain district. 384 A flat slab, with four cavities on its surface, is still pointed to by the people ; while it is said to have been the bed of Ethne's accouchment, and thus indented when she gave birth to our saint.
380 This church is said to be near Lough-a-
Gibbon, and to have been built by Team-
PP- 392, 393-
383 See ibid. , chap, xxiii. , xxiv. , p. 393. 384 " High or low, small or large," adds
mar O'Freel, who blessed a well and the clay. ""
See Folklore Journal," vol. iii. , p. 275. 3S1 WhenO'Donnell wrote Columba's Life, early in the sixteenth century, this relic was preserved, in the presbytery or church of the
this writer, they form interesting objects for the tourist ; and I am not sure whether, in this way, our Irish lake may not be found as worthy of a visit, as one in Cumberland,
—Rev.
village.
38a See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Caesar Otway's " Sketches in Donegal,"
Vita Quinta S. Columba, lib. i. , cap. xxii. , Letter ii. , p. 50.
It was once much venerated by the
or Scotland, or even Switzerland. "
June 9. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 281
peasantry, who as pilgrims frequented this hallowed birth-place of St.
Columba. Thesevotarieshavebeenlessnumerousinlatter
years. 3
8s How-
ever, on the saint's festival, stations are made, at this spot, by many of the
the " of the Church. " Pigeon
rural population. Indeed, it is traditionally held, that the old ruined chapel
— here—was one of those built yet existing
by Everything around its site is redolent of this great saint. 386
As to the year of St. Columba's birth, there are various opinions, according to the calculations of different—writers. One account has it, in the
to who enters a most laboured year 5i8. According Colgan upon
52i,39
387 a. d. —
s
calculation 388 the most probable date for his birth is a. d. 5iq. 3 9 However,
he is not always to be relied on, for accuracy in his chronological deductions, and here he is evidently at fault. Other writers think the year 520,39° or
J more correct. One of our most learned ecclesiastical historians392 assigns good reasons for determining the latter year, as that in which St. Columba was born. 393 Again, a. d. 522 has been set down for this event. 394 The day on which he was born, the 7th of December,395 nas been observed as the festival of St. Buite, Abbot of Monasterboice. St. Columba was
baptized in the church of Tuiach-dubhglaisse,3c6 sometimes written Turluch-
5
duvglass,397byaclergyman,39 Cruthnechan,399or—Crunachan. 400 Theplace
is nowknownas 01 called Temple Douglas''
in the
4 °3 flows.
that St. Columkille was born at this place,404 which paid an annual subsidy to
question
country people.
simply Dooglas by
through
A local tradition even
A which the rivulet
graveyard Dubh-glass,
there4°2 is situated in a
pretty valley,
385 See B. " Tours in Ulster a J. Doyle's :
Handbook to the Antiquities and Scenery
of the North of Ireland," chap, xvii. , p.
333-
380 k ^ trie fron t; f the glebe, there is a
number of stones running out into the lake in a straight line : these are said to have been
states,
394 to the calculation of Arch- According
bishop Ussher, in "Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," Index Chronologicus, p. 527. Also, by Dr. Ledwich, in his "An- tiquities of Ireland," p. 103.
395 As the O'Clerys state: "On the
seventh day of the month of December, he
the saint's 'stepping-stones;' and, in many was bor—n at Gartan, among the Cinell
other localities, traces of his name are to be found in objects consecrated as being his
St. 370.
Columba,"
Additional Notes
sheet 52.
402 It is under
Conaill. " "Martyrology of Donegal," pp. 150, 151, Drs. Todd's and Reeves' edition.
state in their
O'Clerys calendar,
Tulach-dubhghlasisi, in Cinel Conaill, he was baptized.
397 Rendered"Hillofthedarkstream. "
398 See Rev. Hubert McLoughlin's "Bio- graphical Sketches of Ancient Irish Saints," sect, ii. , p. 15.
399 See an account of him, in Colgan's 388 See " Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta "Acta Sanctorum Hibernite," vii. Martii,
haunts. "—Jbid. , pp. 333, 334.
"
387 See Rev.
tatesCelto-Normanicse," in Extracts from the Annals of Ulster, at p. 57. However, in ExtractsfromthesameAnnals,WilliamF. Skene's " Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History, we have both A. D. 518 and 519 given. See p. 344.
395 The that at
James Johnstone's
Antiqui-
De B. Cruthnechano, sive Caritano, Pras- bytero, p. 600, recte 510.
400 His father is called Kellachan.
401 It is a townland, in the parish of Con- our saint, and 'the O'Clerys, in the wal, in the barony of Kilmacrenan, and de- "Martyrology of Donegal," Rev. Drs. Todd's scribed, on the " Ordnance Survey Town-
and Reeves' edition, pp. 150, 151. See, land Maps for the County of Donegal,"
also, Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life of
Appendix ad Acta S. Columbae, cap. vi. , pp. 484 to 486.
389 See ibid. , num. 18.
390 Such as O'Donnell, in his Irish Life of
"
Sancta," part i.