No More Learning

611.
« Ihe Fortune of Dichu is
538 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [Apru. ip.
Kilclief. 9 These were of the race of Fiatach Finn, the ancestor of the Dal Fiatach, a strictly Ultonian tribe. The patrimony of Dichuo seems to have been near tl)e southern shore of Lough Cuan, now Lough Strangford, and wliere a small river, formerly called the Slaney, enters into the sea. There, he had a swineherd employed, who, on the arrival of St. Patrick and of Jiis companions, gave the alarm to his master. He thought these strangers were to be regarded as thieves or pirates. Jocelyn relates, that when St. Patrick first opened his Irish mission in the north, which is generally thought to have been A. D. 432, a certain man named Dichu, who was powerful of strength, gigantic of stature, and savage of mind, '° occupied the district in that quarter. " where the Irish Apostle landed in Ulidia. Dichuo " brought dogs to attack the voyagers, but he was unable to succeed in his purpose. As when the prophet sent from Juda to Bethal was opposed by the king sacrificing to idols, and when Jereboam stretciied forth his hand against the man of God, the king's hand withered, so that he was not able to again withdraw it, until the prophet interposed in his behalf ;'3 so, it would seem, such a miracle took ])lace, in the case of Dichuo. St. Patrick and his companions are said, by Probus, to have landed, at an island, called Milclion;''* but, this seems to be a mistake for Mag-Inis, a low-lying island in the district known as Leth- Cathuil, or Lecale. 's Tliis chieftain brandished his sword intending to destroy the saint. But, the Lord interposed his protecting anin, all Dichu's strength withered, and he entirely stiffened, so that he could move, neither his foot to go forwards, nor liis hands to strike. Experiencing such a miracle, suddenly Dichuo changed into another man ; and from being proud becoming humble, his fierceness was changed into mildness, from an infidel, he became a be- liever, with all his household, at the preaching of St. Patrick, and lie was baptized in the Christian faith. "^ As his soul was then loosed from the chains of sin, so were his limbs loosed from their heaviness, and all their strength was restored unto them. Thus, he who had been the first and principal opposer of the Faith in Ireland, became its first professor, and even to his latest age, he continued its most devoted follower.
To atone for his former obstinacy, Dichu presented a place, called
Sabhal, now Saul,"' where St. Patrick might erect a church. To this
proposal, the great Irish Apostle most willingly assented. Dichu requested it might be erected in a direction, lying north and south. "' On account of some peculiarity in its position, or use, the name Sab- hall, which means "a barn," was probably applied to the original church. '9
5 All their churches were witliiiiTrichem's "See Miss Corner's of Julia "History
territory, as we are told, by Rev. Dr. Irehnd," p. 16.
Reeves, in Note i, to the "Martyrology of
lJonegal,"at April 29th, p. 114. However, we doubt, if-iU tlieir places may be converted into churches, with which they had been connected.
'"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , p. 72.
" His castle is said to have been where
Saul is now built, a village about two miles
from Downpatrick.
" CSullivan Bcare, in his Decades on St.
Patrick, has an account of Dichuo, lib. i. , cap. vii. , and lil). iii. , cap. i.
'3 See iii. Kings xiii. , i to 6.
'* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. . cap. xxviii. , p. 49-
'= See ibiJ. , n. 30, p. 63.
'' Tlie monastic remains there, about the middle of the last century, are very interest- inyly described, by Walter Harris, in his "Ancient and Present State of the County of Down. " cliap. i. , sect, ii. , pp. 39, 40.
'"Jocelyn confesses his inability to dis-
over tlie re. is^in for such a request; but, he
conjectures, it might have the mystic mean-
ing. that those persons who had been then
adiiicted to the worship of idols might be
persuaded from the northern coldness of un-
belief, to the meridian fervour of the faith
and to the charily of Christ. In the twelfth
century, this church was called Sabhall Pha-
druiijh. that is, the Uarn of P. itrick. See
"
Trias Thiiumaturya," Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , p. 72.
Colgan's
'» See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesiasti-
April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. S39
This church of Saul was the first founded, by St. Patrick ; its ground was the first consecrated and offered in Ulster, for a religious purpose ; while its donor Dichu was the first convert known, in that part of Ireland. •" The year 432 is said to have been that for its first ecclesiastical appropriation ;" and, it was probably erected, under tlie personal super\ision of St. Patrick and by his band of missionaries. After the foundation of this first Irish church, St. Patrick went northwards, to visit his former master Milcho, or Miliuc ; but, he failed in effecting a conversion, and afterwards, he came back to the house of Dichu, in the plain of Inish. '^ In that beautiful country around, St. Patrick wrought many miracles, and preaclied the Gospel, while he received many professions of the true Faith from the inhabitants. The monarch of Ireland, King Leoghaire,'3 detained two of Dichuo's sons as hostages at that time, and he decreed, that they should be put to death, because their father had given sanctuary and protection to St. Patrick. However, owing to the holy prayers of the Irish . Apostle, both of those young nobles obtained their freedom. We have no furdier account of Dicluio, in the various Lives of St. Patrick ; but, it is reasonable to conjecture, that tlie local dynast passed his days at or near Saul, where it seems probable he died and was buried. In process of time, St. Patrick built there a suitable monastery, to which he introduced monks, who had passed their novititate under him. For their use, not long afterwards, and through his prayers, St. Patrick produced a fountain out of the earth. Over that
to be Abbot. When the holy Apostle had returned from his mission probably in the south of Ireland —he dwelt with Dunnius ' not a few days. ^5 The feast of St. Patrick's disciple Dichuo has been assigned, to the 29th of April, by Father John Colgan. '* At this date, also, he had intended to dilate on Dichuo's Acts. ^7 St. Dicha is set down in Henry Fitzsimon's List of Irish Saints, but the date for his festival is not recorded. '* On the 29th day of April was venerated, Diochu, of Sabhall, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal. "' It is likely, says the calendarist, that this is the Dichu, son of Trichera, descended from the race of Fiatach Finn, monarch of Erin ; and that it was he, who gave Sabhell, to Patrick ; and that it was on him Patrick bestowed the famous blessing, by which he promised Dichu the kingdom of heaven. 3° As if doubting his own identification, the author then adds : there
cal Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro- *< It is thought by Colgan, that this holy more," p. 40, n. (I). Also, Appendix man may have tjeen the Moduinus of Maria-
of Saul did he his St. — monastery appoint disciple, Dunnius,
O, pp. 220 to 223, and Appendix LL, p. 377.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumattirg. i," Vita Tripartita, orSeptima Vita S. Pairicii, pars. I, cap. xlvii. , p. 124.
"See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum -Antiquitates," Index Chronoloyicus, A. D ccccxxxil.
nus O'Gorman, who places his feast, at the 29th of May.
'5 gge Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vila S. Patricil, cap. xxxii. , p. 72, and n. 33, p. no.
"See;iS/'(/. , QiiintaAppendixadActaS. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 265.
"
Iris, because this district was not an I^l. ind
sirictly so called, but rather a peninsula, of
exceeding great fertility, and washed by the
surrounding sea. See Colgan's "Tiias lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 53.
It has been Latinised insula Campis-
47, p. 19. ^"
Thaumaturga," Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. XXX. , p. 14, and n. 51, p. 19.
'3 According to some accounts, this mon- arch is said to have embr. iced Christianity,
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, ]. p.
114, 115.
'° In the quatrain, which may be founiMu
the Life of Patrick, a—nd as translated into
after the preaching of St. Patrick at Taia
it is written
"The blessing of God on Dichu,
Wlio gave me the Sabhall ; He shall be thereafter
Heavenly, splendid, most famous," &c.
while others niainiain. lie apo-tatized, after
receiving biptism. See Rev. Dr. Thom. is
Leiand's " of vol. i. Pre- History Ireland,"
liminary Discourse, p. xx.
;
English,
;
^' See
ji>/(/. ,
Secunda Vita S. Patricii, n.
See Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum
—O'SuUivan IJcare's "Ilistorite Catholicae Iberniie Compendium," tomus i. ,
Ibeniiic. "
most
540 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 29.
is a Modichu, we are told, descended from the race of Brian, son of Eochaidh Muighmbedlioin. It may be, that he is identical with this Dichu, as some, saytheO'Clerys,understand. Thislatteropinion,however,seemsinadmis- sible, for that Modichu was brother to St. Bairre,^' of Cork, and son of Aimer- gerr, who was ninth in descent from Brian, son of Eochaidh Muighmedhain, and who was the founder of a distinguished Connacian family. 3» On the other hand, it may be questionable, if Uichuo has been ranked among the saints of our earliest calendars ; although, his conversion and subsequent life, accord- ing to nearly all the ancient Lives of St. Patrick, give him a claim on our
consideration, as a special benefactor of Christianity in our Island, and as the the true and loyal friend of her great Apostle.
Article II. —St. Cuach, or Coiningean, Virgin, of Fionnmagh Church, and said to have been of Killeen Cormac, County KiLDARE. \_Fiflh or Sixth Centuryi\ The real history of St. Cuach, or St. Coiningean, it is now difficult to ascertain. We find recorded, in the Martyr- ology of Tallagh,' at the 29th of April, Coningen . i. Cuach . i. Ci Finn Maighi.
The Bollandists ' have, at this date, Coningenia seu Cuacha in Lagenia. The glossographer to the Calendar of St. ^ngus has an alternative conjecture, thatConingenmayhavebeenCondingenofthefamilyofMochuda3 ofLis-
more, and belonging to the Deciesof Munster, descending from the Coningnig, a tribe to the north of Sliab Cua, whose place was Ard Finain ; but, he thinks it truer, that Coningen was a girl, otherwise called Conach, of Cell Finnmaige. * We are informed, that the maiden Coninghen or Cuach was uterinesistertoCaerahin,? ofAnatriminOssory,andtoSt. Attracta. * Her mother was Caemell, daughter to Cenendan or Cen Finnan, son of Cesi, son to Lughair, of the Ui Lugair. By her first husband, Talan, Caemell became mother to the foregoing saints. Her second husband is said to have been CaemlogoftheDalmessincorb,bywhomshehadCaemghinorKevin? of Glendalough, and Naithcheam,^ or Mochoema Mac Ui Lughair, said to have been the Abbot and founder of Terryglass,! * in the county of Tipperary. '° Coeningean is described more particularly, elsewhere, and she is said to have been a daughter toa King of Leinster. " A curious tradition regarding her was, that she had a great nail on her finger, like to a wolf's nail, and this is stated, by the scholiast on the Feilire of St. ^ngus. " In a note on the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, her place is described,'3 as being in Fionn-maighe, in Ui Feneclais in Fortuatha in Laighen. Cille-Fionn Maigh, ortheChurchofFionn-magh,is saidtohavebeenintheterritoryoftheFot- harts, or within the immigrants' districts. The Leinster Fothuartha were in the
3" Venerated at the 25th of September.
3" . See note (i) by Rev. Dr. Reeves, to the " Martyrology of Donegal," at April 29th,
' Venerated at the 3i-d of November.
'Her feast occurs, at the 9th of Feb-
ruary.
^ See his Life, at the of
3rd June.
p. 114. Article ii.
xxii.
—
In the Franciscan
^ His feast
Kelly, p.
find Comnjen . 1. Cuach niAige.
copy,
we
' Edited
the Rev. Dr.
to the 1st of
' According to most accounts, St. Coiumba, the son of Crintliam, whose feast was kept
rilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints,
p. 6ll.
3 His Life occurs, at the 14th of May. •See "Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. The Calendar of Oengus, edited l)y Whitley
Stokes, LL. D. , p. Ixxvii.
"
this monastery. See Archdall's Monasti-
"
con Hibernicum, p. 676.
'"
See Rev. John Francis Shearman's Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , n. 2, p. 150.
by
belongs
May.
°See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. , Ap- on tlie 13th of December, was founder of
"
"
According to the gloss of the Leabhar Breac.
" The Leabhar Breac version.
April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 54f
mountainous region of Wicklow, and in the bordering territories. If we are to accept as a historic indication, that tradition which has been recorded in reference to St. Coiningean, she must have lived contemporaneously with St. Mactail, or St. Mactalius, an early Bishop of Kilcullen, who flourished towards the close of tlie fifth and the beginning of the sixth century. He is found classed, among St. Patrick's disciples ; however, he must have been very young, when the Irish Apostle died,'* for Mactail lived until the nth of June,'5 A. D. 548. "* and he could not have been bishop in Kilcullen, until after the deathofSt. Iserninus,in468. '' Mostprobably,hedidnotimmediatelysuc-
Kilciillen Round ToWBr and Crosses, Countjr of Kildsire.
ceed, after that See became vacant. '* At this place, an ecclesiastical estab- lishment was founded, it is stated, during the lifetime of the illustrious Apostle
of Ireland ; while, at the present day, a fine round tower,"' partially destroyed at the top, and some interesting relics of the past,'° are to be seen. These
'5 In a note, Dr. Todd says, at this word,
Cciningtan. The more recent hand inserts
"^pj-nie CuAc Cille ponnniAige « nwib
yrenectai|- a. bVopcuAtuib lai^en. Mar. "
'5 See notices of him, at that date.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Seciinda Vita S. Patricii, nn. 39, 40, p. ig.
•^ According to the '* . \nnales Ultonien- ses," which no—te at this yer, "Liseranus Eps. moritur. " Rer. Dr. O'Conor's "Re- rumHibernicarumScriptores,"tomusiv. , p. $. A mistake occurs, Liseranus is put for
Isemius, as it is rightly fonnd in Cudex Clar.
19, and, the learned editor shows this, in n. 7.
Ibid.
'' "
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
of vol. i. , sect. History Ireland," chap, viii. ,
ii-. P- 377-
'' There is an interesting engraving, which
" See Rev. iJr.
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, i. , sect, xiii. , p. 70, and n. 224, p. 73.
Lanigan's
" Ecclesiastical
represents
.
the shaft of an ancient cros;, at
Kilcullen, in an unpublished work, "Thirty-
six Etchings of Iiish Antiquities," No. 6.
Of this work, only fifteen co])ics were
printed, in 4to, A. D. 1830.
"^
In August, 1883, the writer drew a sketcli of this round tower, as here repre- sented, with fragments of old cresses in
542 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [Aprii, 29.
are placed within the ancient graveyard, and this crowns a beautiful eminence, from which fine views of the adjacent country can be obtained. Coiningean must have flourislied, at an early period; since, we are told, she was a pupil or daltha to Mac Tail, of Cill Cuillinn. It was on her account, the clergy of Leinster denounced Mac Tail. This appears, from the gloss of iEnghus ;" and both the original Irish and its English translation have been given, by Dr. Wliitley Stokes, in his version of the calendar of Oengus. ^^ However, it
niay well be supposed, that the charges jjreferred against Mactail were
unfounded; and, moreover, when hispupil had been instructed in the duties of a
religious life, she ruled over a pious community of women. Her church, called
Cill Finn Miughi, is said to have been in the vicinity of Killeen Cormac ; but,
while it is not easy to identify it, among many of the church sites about Nar-
raghmore,^3 the Rev. John Fran< is Shearman ''^ thinks it may be the cemetery,
now called Kyle, near Blackrath, midway between Killeen Cormac and
Narraghmore. According to the Feilire of ^ngus,=s this virgin was buried
in the Dionnlatha of Cinel Lugair : by a learned investigator^' of Irish anti-
quities, it is identified with Killeen Cormac, an old graveyard, in the county of
Kildare. '? We are told, that some churches in Leinster formerly bore the
name of this saint, and that Kilcoagh, a townland on the side of a hill over
Donard. got its name from an old church, now nearly defaced, and dedicated
to hcr. =^ It was formerly called "Cell Chuachi. 'S She is said,3° also, to
have been the patroness of Kilcock, in the present county of Kildare, and to
have been not distinguishable from Cuach,3' the virgin of Cill Cuaich, in
Cairbre ua Ciardha. 3' According to the Martyrology of Donegal,33 venera-
tionwasgiven,onthisday,toCoiningean. Herfestivalwasalsocelebrated,
in Scotland ; for, in the Kalendar of Drummond, at the 29th of April,3't her
Natalis is noted. We regret that other renseignemenis are wanting, to give a more reliable account of this pious maiden.
ArticleIII. —St. Fia>chan,orP'iachna. Wehavenomeanslefttoascer- t lin the identity of the present holy man, whose name seems to be resolvable into Fiachan, Fiechnan, Fechno, or Fiachna. There appear to be only two saints bearing this name, in the Irisli calendar, viz. , the present holy man, and one as we have already noticed, as having been venerated, at the 30th of
the foreground. Subsequently it
ferred to the wood, William F. by
Wakeniaii, and it was engraved by Mrs. Millard.
jEngus is in the original hand, according to the Rev. Dr. Todd's note 6.
" See ' Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i,, p. Ixxvii.
'3 This parish is partly in the Baronies of Narragh and Reban West, and shown, on
" See Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Patriciana," No. iv. , p. 47.
"> This is mentioned in a Concessio made
to the Abbey of Glendalough, in 1173, the twentieth year of Henry II. s reign.
3° By Rev. John Francis Shearman.
was tr. ins-
ciana," No. i. , pp. 349, 350, and notes ibid.
" of the Historical and Arch- Journal Koyal
jeological Association of Ireland," Fourth " This reference to the gloss or scholia on . Series, vol. ii. , No. 14, April, 1873.
3i Her feast is already set down, at the 8th the "Ordnance . Survey Townland Maps ofjanu. iry.
for the County of Kildare," sheet 31 ; and
partly in the Baronies of Narragh and Reban
32 gee " Loca Patriciana," No. iv. , pp. 47, 48, and No. viii. , n. 2, p. 150.
33 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
112,113.
34xhusiii. Kl. "ApudHiberniamnalale
Sanctorum— Confessorum Coningin et
East, show'i on sheets 31, 32, 35, 36, ibid. "
°<See LocaPatriciana,"No. iv. ,p. 48. '5IntheLeabharBreac,R. I. A.
'^
Rev. John Francis Shearman, who was formerly C. C. of Howth, and who isnow P. P. ofMoone.