'] The period in which this
remarkable
saint lived, was fertile in that peculiar sanctity which characterized the Celtic and British races.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v1
^ he was venerated there after been Perhaps having
genuously have owned, that celibacy was secrated," says Dr. Lanigan ; "fori know not at this time enjoined the clergy ; and that in times of confusion certain persons,
that the sixth canon of the synod held by St. Patrick, Auxilius, and Iserninus, a. u. 448,
not consecrated, had, in consequence of
having seized on the church property, got themo>elves called bishops. " See "•Lcclesi-
astical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix , § iii. , n. 40, p. 442.
' There are two Movilles in the province of Ulster. One of these is in the northern
provides,
"
that the wife of a priest should
appear abroad veiled. " See iiarris' Ware,
vol. i. , "ArchbishopsofArmagh,"p. 37.
s His words, in reference to Ailild, are,
"abuxorislege solutus," &c. Colgan—took
it
this phrase from St. Paul, who uscj— ag-
cording to the Vulgate translation where he declares, that, in case of the husband's
called Inishowen while the ;
'death,awoman
quae sub viro est mulier vivente viro, alligata est legi ; si antem mortuus fuerit vir ejus, soluta est lege viri," Rom. vii. , 2. 'thus the words used by Colgan necessarily pre- suppose, in a scholastic sense, the wife's
death.
saint
as it seems to have been a patrimonial in-
heritance.
* See Dr. Reeves' "Ecclesiastical Anti-
quities of Down, Conor and Dromore," Ap- pendix A, p. 157. There, it is calculated, that Moville or Maghbile Monastery had been founded about tne year S4a
* •'
I mean real bishops and regularly con-
may marry again.
present
dwelt, especially
peninsula,
other Moville is in the eastern part oi Down, The latter is more celebrated. Here, too,
"Nam most the likely
January 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. If;
called away from life. s On the death of Duach or Dubtach I. , which took
place in the year 512/" St. Alild I. was appointed to succeed, as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. Our saint sustained the honours of this exalted station for a continuance of thirteen years. " During this period, his merits and virtues were found fuiiy equal to that great trust reposed in his keeping. Full of years and of virtues, he passed out of this life, on the 13th day of January, in the year of salvation, 525. '-
T icdi-al,
He was succeeded in ihe Archiei^scopal See of Armagh, by St. A'. ild II. -p andfromtheconcurrentc ;n:umstancesofbothdistinguishedpersonsbearing the same name, claimiiig tlie same family origin, '4 and coming in an im-
' See ihid. , Appendix IX, p. 376.
'" At this year, we have the following
"
enti'y :
Bishop of Arcl Macha [i\rmagh], resigned his spirit. " . See O'Donovan's "Annals of
the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 168, 169. And in a note, on this entry, Mr. O'Donovan remarks, that Druim-Dearbh was probably identical v/ith Derver, in the county of Louth. See n. (m), ibid.
of Fiachra Casan, son of Colla Dachrioch.
Sec O'Flaherty's Ogygia, iii. , c. 76. On an old ma]:) of a part of Ulster, preserved in the State Paper Office, London, the territory of Clan-brazil is shown as on the south side of Lough Neagh, where the Upper Bann enters that lake,, from which, and from the place given it, we may infer that it was co- extensive with the present barony of Oneil- land East," ibid.
'3 This is attested by the Catalogue of Prelates in this see, and by the Annals of Scnat-mac-Magnus, of Clonmacnoise, and of
"
. Sec Usslier's Catalogue of the Primates
"
Dubhtach, i. e. , of Diuim-Dearbii,
of Armagh in
Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 454.
Britannicaium Ecclcsiarum
" At this year, we have the following ""
the Four Masters. He died in the year entry: Ailill, liishop of Armagh, who 535. See Rev. Robert King's Memoir
was of the Ui Brcasail, died. " . See O'Dono-
Introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," p. 69.
'••The annals and authorities already quoted relate, that Ailill I. died a. d. 525. He and his successor Ailill II. belonged to the race of Bressail, who belonged to the family of Fiatach Finn. \Vherefore the line of Breassail, drawn from the Dalfiatach
van's
"
Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. ,
pp. 172, 173. In note (a), on this entry, Mr. O'Donovan says, in reference to the Ui- Breasail, or Race of Breasal, "These were otherwise called Ui-Breasail-Macha and Clann-Breasail, and derived their name and lineage from Breasal, son of Feidhlim, son
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[January 13.
mediate order as regards succession in the same see, they have been incor- rectly confounded. But the distinction of days, months and years, having reference to their departure from this Hfe, will tend to correct such an error. Our annalists and hagiologists assign the second Alild's death to the ist
of A. D. 's day July, 53 5.
As already observed, those dates referring to the decease of St. Alild I. , are altogether different. '^ The Natalis of Alild I. is held on the Ides or 13th of January, and that of Alild II. , on the ist of July. '? For these statements, we may cite as authorities, the Martyrology of Tallagh,'^ Marianus O'Gorman, the Commentator on St. ^ngus, and the Irish Martyrology of Donegal. '9
Despite a positive assertion of the learned and researchful Colgan, who
appears to have had ample materials before him on which he might ground
an opinion, a learned Irish historian presumes to question the statement, that
AiHld L, Archbishop of Armagh, was the identical person, named Alild of
Magbile. ^° Thelatter-writerasserts,thatinColgan'sactsofoursaint,which
he designates a strange and an incoherent medley," the Irish hagiologist has confounded into one person two saints, who ought to have been regarded as
distinct in identity, and as living at different periods. While allowing Alild of Magbile to have been one of Prince Trichem's sons, and a grandfather to St. Finnian of Magbile, Dr. Lanigan considers this St. Alild to have been
alwaysalayman. FromconfoundingthelatterwithSt. Alild,Archbishopof Armagh, this historian asserts an impression was thence derived that the metropolitan prelate had been married before his ordination. Again Dr. Lanigan maintains, that Alild, Archbishop of Armagh, was not nearly con- nected with Dichuo, St. Patrick's early convert, while the prelate in question was a native of Clanbrassil, this being a district, far distant from Lecale, in
which Dichuo's family resided.
^^
This \\T:iter will not allow there is any
foundation for a statement, that Alild, Archbishop of Armagh, or even Dichuo,
came from a princely extraction. But the argument he principally urges, to
sustain his opinion, is the assumption of Dichuo having had a settled family in the year 432, when in all probability he could not have been less than
forty years of age, and consequently the improbability of his having had a
root, gave name to Clan-bressail, a district '' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. in Ulster. See ibid. The accompanying 14, 15. In the table postfixed to this view of t—he exact site of Armagh's ancient Martyrology, he is likewise styled Eulalius. cathedral the modem—structure is com- See ibid. , pp. 360, 361.
parativelyarecentone hasbeendrawnby William F. Wakeman, and engraved by A. Appleton.
'5 At the year 535, we find it stated,
" of died. He was Oilill, Bishop Armagh,
also of the Ui-Breasail. " See O'Donovan's Masters have (,ap. Tr. Th. , p. 293): 'S.
" Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp.
178, 179. In note (u) to this entry, Mr.
Alildus Ep. Ardmach de gente de Hi-Bres- sail :' i. e. , Clanbrassil, in the county of Ar-
" He is otherwise called Ailill. He succeeded his relative Ailill I.
(at 13th January) strives to reconcile this with his assumption that Alild was son of the great dynast Trichem, by saying, that the Hi-Bressail sept was a mates at Armagh, Ailill I. is said to have branch of the Dalfiatachs. This is a pitiful
O'Donovan's
says,
magh. Colgan
who died in 526. " Ibid.
'* In the different Catalogues of the Pri-
ruled for thirteen, and Ailill II. for ten
years.
'' See " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae," xiii.
Januarii. Vita S. Alelli, cap. vii. , and n. 19, p. 62.
'^Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xii. In the Franciscan copy the reading is ^iLLelo ep.
evasion. If Alild was a son of Trichem,
who was of the great and right line of the
Dalfiatachs, he would not have been placed in the distant and minor branch of the Hi- Bressail. " See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § iii. , n. 38, p. 442.
*° " In the
MenologicGenealogy. " '• "
See Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § iii. , n.
35, p. 441.
" The Doctor adds in a note, "The Four
January 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 189
brother capable of discharging episcopal duties in 513. ^3 The objections of Dr. Lanigan are sufficiently plausible and pertinent, but not entirely convinc- ing nor unanswerable, especially when weighed with received accounts re- garding our saint. '+ According to his usual theory of computation, this historian says, Ailill I. died about, or in the year 526,^5 after having governed Armagh See nearly thirteen years. ^^ The same writer supposes, that Ailill I. , dying so early in the year as the 13th of January, it is very probable, his in- cumbency did not last fully thirteen years, although having its commence- ment in 513. In the body of his text, to Avhich the above observation is ap- pended, the learned Doctor tells us, that the first Alild died on the 13th of January, a. d. 526, after an incumbency of thirteen years. ^7
No doubt much remains to be discovered regarding the Life of St. Alilid I. ,
under these peculiar circumstances; and probably, at some future time, certain involutions of facts now presented may receive adequate solution. For the present, therefore, too much unwarranted assertion or mere speculation might be risked, were the writer of this notice to enter upon further details concern-
ing him, and the contemporary events of his period.
Article II. —Reputed Festival of St. Kentigern, or St. Mungo,
Bishop of Glasgow, Scotland. \Sixth and Seventh Centuries.
'] The period in which this remarkable saint lived, was fertile in that peculiar sanctity which characterized the Celtic and British races. The evangelizer of the Strathclyde Britons, St. Kentigern has left traces of an extraordinary moral influence in after times, among those people who inhabited the mountainous districts of
Cumberland and Wales. ^
Although
conceived in Britain, his mother was
obliged to leave it, and the saint is said to have been a native of Ireland, by
the learned English antiquary, John Leland. = At this date, according to
Thomas Dempster,3 the Scottish writers place Kentigern's festival. * But we prefer reserving for the 13th of November a more detailed account of his
extraordinary virtues and miracles, since that appears to synchronize best with the most respectable chronicles and calendars. The Martyrology of Aberdeen
relates,5 at this date,^ that St. Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow, was venerated
"3 See ibid. , p. 440.
** Especially as furnished by Colgan.
*5 " Usher, Ind. Chron. Ware, &c. The
Irish Annals quoted by Colgan at 13 Jan. have A. D. 525, which was the same as our
"
he seems elsewhere (p. 874) to place it in 527. " See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , §
526. " See
n. 100, p. 462, ibid.
Article II. See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendar of Scottish Saints," p. 362. By this writer his natalis or festival has been assigned to the 13th of November.
Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § vii. , p. 461, and
^'^
See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol, i. , chap, ix. , § vii. , p. 461. "Ailill's incumbency is generally reckoned af thirteen years. It is more probable that the thirteen years were not complete : unless we should suppose that Dubtach, his predecessor, died before the 13th of January, a. d. 513. This, however, can scarcely be admitted ; and from the days on which his memory was revered (See Note 29), it would appear that he died later in the year. " Ibid. , n. loi, p. 462.
=7 See "Ware, Bishops, &c. He assigns the death of Ailild to A. D. 526, as does
Colgan (Tr. Th. , p. 293) who, however, following the old Irish mode of anticipating the vulgar era, calls that year 525. Usher
(Ind. Chron. ) agrees with Ware, although
"
^
See Hall's edition of John Leland's Commentariide Scriptoribus Britannicis,"
xiii. , p. 494, and—n. 194, p. 495, ibid. '
tomus i. , cap. xlvi. , p. 72.
3 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Scotonim," tomus ii. , lib. x. , pp. 406, 407. ^ For this statement, he also cites John Molanus, in his additions to Usuard's Mar- tyrology. The Kalendar of the Aberdeen Breviary likewise places his festival at this date. See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. iii.
s See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," pp. 127, 128.
* In Adam King's Kalendar, there is an
"
entry at the 13th of January.
King Con-Walle. " See ibid. , p. 142.
S. Mungo, Bischop of Glascowe, in Scotland, under
190 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 13.
in Scotia, and he was held in such honour for his unstained purity, for his austerities and charities, enjoying the society of angels, with the grace and
power of working such great miracles, that not only was he reverenced among the Scotch, but even he was regarded as a particular patron by the English and Irish. 7 The Venerable Bede pronounced his eulogy, where he says, as Lucifer among the stars, so did Kentigernus shine among the British saints.
His illustrious contemporary, the Abbot Columba, took a long journey, on accountofSt. Kentigern'sdistinguishedmerits,toseehiminperson. ^ During
this visit, various miracles were wrought. In the anonymous Calendar, pub- lished by O'SuUivan Beare,9 at the 13th of January, this holy bishop is ranked
'*
among our national saints. Henry Fitzsimon, also, in his
rum Sanctorum Ibernise," has Kentigernus Epis. , at the same date. '° Buchan-
nan incorrectly supposes" this holy man to have been one of the early bishops of Scotland consecrated by Palladius.
ArticleHI. —FestivalofSt. —BishopandAbbotofPoitiers. Hilary,
\Fourth Century^ This illustrious saint —one of the lights of the French, andevenoftheuniversalCatholicChurch wasbornatPoitiers,ofahighly-
respectable family. Brought up in the errors of Paganism, his sincere love of truth, and his earnest, well-directed enquiries brought him to embrace the Faith, and to receive baptism. He was chosen Bishop of Poitiers about a. d. 353. He was distinguished for h's great learning, eloquence, genius, and virtues. The Irish, from the very earliest period of their Christian initiation, entertained the highest veneration for this illustrious saint. They even con- trived to spread his fame in Scotland,' and on the Continent of Europe. In the Feilire of St. -^ngus, he is commemorated, and under the denomination of Elair. A comment, annexed to his name, however, exjjlains that the Latinized form is Helarius. " Although in ancient Martyrologies the feast of St. Hilary has been recorded on the 13th of January, and on the ist of November,3 yet in the Roman Breviary, his office is celebrated on the 14th
of January. * His own writings best interpret his spirit. The two books of the two Fortunatuses, written at an early period, are both inaccurate. These
'Inhis
"Menologium Scoticum,"
Thomas
Articlein. —' Thereheis
patron
saint
Dempster enters at this day, the feast of
Kentigarn, Bishop and Confessor of Glascoe,
the son of King Eugene, who converted the Welsh to the faith, and who deserved to be
of Drumblait, where we have Teller's Well.
See "New Statistical Account of Scotland,"
Aberdeen, p. 298, In the parish of Fetlar
and North Yell, in Shetland, we find St.
called their Apostle. See ibid. , p. 190.
The " Scottish Kalendar" of the Prayer
Book for the Church of Scotland in the
time of Charles I. has ''Mungo, bishop," following Irish extract, with its English at this date.
'. See Rev. William Reeves' Adamnan's
"Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes
(m), p. 321.
' . See " Historix Catholicse Ibernice Com-
pendium," tomus i , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 49.
'° The Mart. Angl. and Flor. are quoted
as authorities. The Rev. Alban Butler has
an extended notice of St. Kentigern in
"
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other PrincipalSaints,"Januaryxiii. Thislearned writer seems to have been ignorant of the
saint's nativity having been assigned to Ire- land.
" See " Rerum Scoticarum Ilistoria," lib^ v. , xliv. rex. , p. 132.
i-o. ^tn-bent)A6c
bAlc icje cen Aibjif
Sochnge fochld fUAbAif e^Aip Abo piccAuif.
Hilary's Kirk, above Feal. /(J/fl'. , Shetland,
p. 25.
*
^T.
]\otibiA
Catalogus Aliquo-
Professor O'Looney has furnished the
translation, from the Felire : —
F. id. " Their blessing may I hav^
Powerful their prayer without a$- '
persion,
Eloquent, noble, accomplished, ElairAbbotofPictavis. "
"
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal
Saints," January xiv.
* See " Breviarium Romanum," Die xiv. ,
Pars Hiemalis.
3 See Rev. Alban Butler's
January 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 191
are supposed to have been Italians. The first in point of time probably wrote St. Hilary's life in the first book. The second, Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, it is thought Avro'e the saint's miracles, in the second book. St. Gregory of Tours, Alcuin, Flodoard, Dom Contant, Tillemont, Cellier, Rivet, Rev. Alban Butler, with many other ancient and modern writers, have very fully recorded his acts. Into biographical particulars, the scope of this work will not enable us to enter; but as many ancient ofllices, antiphonaries, and calendars of Ireland have his name inscribed, we could not wholly omit to notice him. When he started from Ireland, St, Fridolin, first visited Poi- tiers. s Thence he passed by the Moselle and Strasburg. He founded churches dedicated to St. Hilary, first at Glarus, which still retains in its name the trace of his presence, and finally at Seckingen, near Basle,^ A circle of churches in that neighbourhood, dedicated to St, Hilary, or to St. Fridolin himself, serves to prove the reality of this story. 7 Not alone in Gaul, but in more distant countries, did St. Hilary labour and suffer much for thefaith; andatlength,hehappilydepartedonthe13thdayofJanuary,a. d. 368, at Poitiers.
Article IV. —St. Mochonna, Bishop of Leamhchoill, said to be the PRESENTLowHiLL,CouNTYOFKILKENNY. Trucsanctityengagestheinte- rest and love of true Christians. Thousands catch some utterance or witness some sign from God's holiest servants. Thus sanctity becomes a great moving power even on earth. Mochonna, Bishop of Leamhchoill, is recorded in the Martyrology of Donegal,' on th:s day. A nearly similar entry is found in the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ on the 13th of January. This place has been identified with Lowhill, in the Queen's County, by William M. Hennessy. 3 Among the townland denominations of Ireland, we have not been able to identify this particular etymon ; but we have been further in- formed by an excellent Irish topographer,-* that the old place must be recognised under the present Loughill, near Ballynakill, in the Queen's County. It lay, however, within the old territory of Idough. There are no less than three Loughills in this part of Kilkenny County, and all within the present barony of Fassadinin. s One is in the parish of Abbeyleix, another in that of Attanagh, and a third in that of Rosconnell. ^ On that part of
Abbeyleix parish, outside the Queen's County, and within the barony of Fassadinin, in the county of Kikenny, may be seen the ornamental grounds around Loughill House. Here an abbey in ruins, and a St. Chadden's Church in ruins, are in close proximity.
genuously have owned, that celibacy was secrated," says Dr. Lanigan ; "fori know not at this time enjoined the clergy ; and that in times of confusion certain persons,
that the sixth canon of the synod held by St. Patrick, Auxilius, and Iserninus, a. u. 448,
not consecrated, had, in consequence of
having seized on the church property, got themo>elves called bishops. " See "•Lcclesi-
astical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix , § iii. , n. 40, p. 442.
' There are two Movilles in the province of Ulster. One of these is in the northern
provides,
"
that the wife of a priest should
appear abroad veiled. " See iiarris' Ware,
vol. i. , "ArchbishopsofArmagh,"p. 37.
s His words, in reference to Ailild, are,
"abuxorislege solutus," &c. Colgan—took
it
this phrase from St. Paul, who uscj— ag-
cording to the Vulgate translation where he declares, that, in case of the husband's
called Inishowen while the ;
'death,awoman
quae sub viro est mulier vivente viro, alligata est legi ; si antem mortuus fuerit vir ejus, soluta est lege viri," Rom. vii. , 2. 'thus the words used by Colgan necessarily pre- suppose, in a scholastic sense, the wife's
death.
saint
as it seems to have been a patrimonial in-
heritance.
* See Dr. Reeves' "Ecclesiastical Anti-
quities of Down, Conor and Dromore," Ap- pendix A, p. 157. There, it is calculated, that Moville or Maghbile Monastery had been founded about tne year S4a
* •'
I mean real bishops and regularly con-
may marry again.
present
dwelt, especially
peninsula,
other Moville is in the eastern part oi Down, The latter is more celebrated. Here, too,
"Nam most the likely
January 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. If;
called away from life. s On the death of Duach or Dubtach I. , which took
place in the year 512/" St. Alild I. was appointed to succeed, as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. Our saint sustained the honours of this exalted station for a continuance of thirteen years. " During this period, his merits and virtues were found fuiiy equal to that great trust reposed in his keeping. Full of years and of virtues, he passed out of this life, on the 13th day of January, in the year of salvation, 525. '-
T icdi-al,
He was succeeded in ihe Archiei^scopal See of Armagh, by St. A'. ild II. -p andfromtheconcurrentc ;n:umstancesofbothdistinguishedpersonsbearing the same name, claimiiig tlie same family origin, '4 and coming in an im-
' See ihid. , Appendix IX, p. 376.
'" At this year, we have the following
"
enti'y :
Bishop of Arcl Macha [i\rmagh], resigned his spirit. " . See O'Donovan's "Annals of
the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 168, 169. And in a note, on this entry, Mr. O'Donovan remarks, that Druim-Dearbh was probably identical v/ith Derver, in the county of Louth. See n. (m), ibid.
of Fiachra Casan, son of Colla Dachrioch.
Sec O'Flaherty's Ogygia, iii. , c. 76. On an old ma]:) of a part of Ulster, preserved in the State Paper Office, London, the territory of Clan-brazil is shown as on the south side of Lough Neagh, where the Upper Bann enters that lake,, from which, and from the place given it, we may infer that it was co- extensive with the present barony of Oneil- land East," ibid.
'3 This is attested by the Catalogue of Prelates in this see, and by the Annals of Scnat-mac-Magnus, of Clonmacnoise, and of
"
. Sec Usslier's Catalogue of the Primates
"
Dubhtach, i. e. , of Diuim-Dearbii,
of Armagh in
Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 454.
Britannicaium Ecclcsiarum
" At this year, we have the following ""
the Four Masters. He died in the year entry: Ailill, liishop of Armagh, who 535. See Rev. Robert King's Memoir
was of the Ui Brcasail, died. " . See O'Dono-
Introductory to the early History of the Primacy of Armagh," p. 69.
'••The annals and authorities already quoted relate, that Ailill I. died a. d. 525. He and his successor Ailill II. belonged to the race of Bressail, who belonged to the family of Fiatach Finn. \Vherefore the line of Breassail, drawn from the Dalfiatach
van's
"
Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. ,
pp. 172, 173. In note (a), on this entry, Mr. O'Donovan says, in reference to the Ui- Breasail, or Race of Breasal, "These were otherwise called Ui-Breasail-Macha and Clann-Breasail, and derived their name and lineage from Breasal, son of Feidhlim, son
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[January 13.
mediate order as regards succession in the same see, they have been incor- rectly confounded. But the distinction of days, months and years, having reference to their departure from this Hfe, will tend to correct such an error. Our annalists and hagiologists assign the second Alild's death to the ist
of A. D. 's day July, 53 5.
As already observed, those dates referring to the decease of St. Alild I. , are altogether different. '^ The Natalis of Alild I. is held on the Ides or 13th of January, and that of Alild II. , on the ist of July. '? For these statements, we may cite as authorities, the Martyrology of Tallagh,'^ Marianus O'Gorman, the Commentator on St. ^ngus, and the Irish Martyrology of Donegal. '9
Despite a positive assertion of the learned and researchful Colgan, who
appears to have had ample materials before him on which he might ground
an opinion, a learned Irish historian presumes to question the statement, that
AiHld L, Archbishop of Armagh, was the identical person, named Alild of
Magbile. ^° Thelatter-writerasserts,thatinColgan'sactsofoursaint,which
he designates a strange and an incoherent medley," the Irish hagiologist has confounded into one person two saints, who ought to have been regarded as
distinct in identity, and as living at different periods. While allowing Alild of Magbile to have been one of Prince Trichem's sons, and a grandfather to St. Finnian of Magbile, Dr. Lanigan considers this St. Alild to have been
alwaysalayman. FromconfoundingthelatterwithSt. Alild,Archbishopof Armagh, this historian asserts an impression was thence derived that the metropolitan prelate had been married before his ordination. Again Dr. Lanigan maintains, that Alild, Archbishop of Armagh, was not nearly con- nected with Dichuo, St. Patrick's early convert, while the prelate in question was a native of Clanbrassil, this being a district, far distant from Lecale, in
which Dichuo's family resided.
^^
This \\T:iter will not allow there is any
foundation for a statement, that Alild, Archbishop of Armagh, or even Dichuo,
came from a princely extraction. But the argument he principally urges, to
sustain his opinion, is the assumption of Dichuo having had a settled family in the year 432, when in all probability he could not have been less than
forty years of age, and consequently the improbability of his having had a
root, gave name to Clan-bressail, a district '' Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. in Ulster. See ibid. The accompanying 14, 15. In the table postfixed to this view of t—he exact site of Armagh's ancient Martyrology, he is likewise styled Eulalius. cathedral the modem—structure is com- See ibid. , pp. 360, 361.
parativelyarecentone hasbeendrawnby William F. Wakeman, and engraved by A. Appleton.
'5 At the year 535, we find it stated,
" of died. He was Oilill, Bishop Armagh,
also of the Ui-Breasail. " See O'Donovan's Masters have (,ap. Tr. Th. , p. 293): 'S.
" Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp.
178, 179. In note (u) to this entry, Mr.
Alildus Ep. Ardmach de gente de Hi-Bres- sail :' i. e. , Clanbrassil, in the county of Ar-
" He is otherwise called Ailill. He succeeded his relative Ailill I.
(at 13th January) strives to reconcile this with his assumption that Alild was son of the great dynast Trichem, by saying, that the Hi-Bressail sept was a mates at Armagh, Ailill I. is said to have branch of the Dalfiatachs. This is a pitiful
O'Donovan's
says,
magh. Colgan
who died in 526. " Ibid.
'* In the different Catalogues of the Pri-
ruled for thirteen, and Ailill II. for ten
years.
'' See " Acta Sanctorum Hibemiae," xiii.
Januarii. Vita S. Alelli, cap. vii. , and n. 19, p. 62.
'^Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xii. In the Franciscan copy the reading is ^iLLelo ep.
evasion. If Alild was a son of Trichem,
who was of the great and right line of the
Dalfiatachs, he would not have been placed in the distant and minor branch of the Hi- Bressail. " See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § iii. , n. 38, p. 442.
*° " In the
MenologicGenealogy. " '• "
See Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical His-
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § iii. , n.
35, p. 441.
" The Doctor adds in a note, "The Four
January 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS, 189
brother capable of discharging episcopal duties in 513. ^3 The objections of Dr. Lanigan are sufficiently plausible and pertinent, but not entirely convinc- ing nor unanswerable, especially when weighed with received accounts re- garding our saint. '+ According to his usual theory of computation, this historian says, Ailill I. died about, or in the year 526,^5 after having governed Armagh See nearly thirteen years. ^^ The same writer supposes, that Ailill I. , dying so early in the year as the 13th of January, it is very probable, his in- cumbency did not last fully thirteen years, although having its commence- ment in 513. In the body of his text, to Avhich the above observation is ap- pended, the learned Doctor tells us, that the first Alild died on the 13th of January, a. d. 526, after an incumbency of thirteen years. ^7
No doubt much remains to be discovered regarding the Life of St. Alilid I. ,
under these peculiar circumstances; and probably, at some future time, certain involutions of facts now presented may receive adequate solution. For the present, therefore, too much unwarranted assertion or mere speculation might be risked, were the writer of this notice to enter upon further details concern-
ing him, and the contemporary events of his period.
Article II. —Reputed Festival of St. Kentigern, or St. Mungo,
Bishop of Glasgow, Scotland. \Sixth and Seventh Centuries.
'] The period in which this remarkable saint lived, was fertile in that peculiar sanctity which characterized the Celtic and British races. The evangelizer of the Strathclyde Britons, St. Kentigern has left traces of an extraordinary moral influence in after times, among those people who inhabited the mountainous districts of
Cumberland and Wales. ^
Although
conceived in Britain, his mother was
obliged to leave it, and the saint is said to have been a native of Ireland, by
the learned English antiquary, John Leland. = At this date, according to
Thomas Dempster,3 the Scottish writers place Kentigern's festival. * But we prefer reserving for the 13th of November a more detailed account of his
extraordinary virtues and miracles, since that appears to synchronize best with the most respectable chronicles and calendars. The Martyrology of Aberdeen
relates,5 at this date,^ that St. Kentigern, Bishop of Glasgow, was venerated
"3 See ibid. , p. 440.
** Especially as furnished by Colgan.
*5 " Usher, Ind. Chron. Ware, &c. The
Irish Annals quoted by Colgan at 13 Jan. have A. D. 525, which was the same as our
"
he seems elsewhere (p. 874) to place it in 527. " See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, ix. , §
526. " See
n. 100, p. 462, ibid.
Article II. See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendar of Scottish Saints," p. 362. By this writer his natalis or festival has been assigned to the 13th of November.
Ecclesiastical History of Ire- land," vol. i. , chap, ix. , § vii. , p. 461, and
^'^
See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol, i. , chap, ix. , § vii. , p. 461. "Ailill's incumbency is generally reckoned af thirteen years. It is more probable that the thirteen years were not complete : unless we should suppose that Dubtach, his predecessor, died before the 13th of January, a. d. 513. This, however, can scarcely be admitted ; and from the days on which his memory was revered (See Note 29), it would appear that he died later in the year. " Ibid. , n. loi, p. 462.
=7 See "Ware, Bishops, &c. He assigns the death of Ailild to A. D. 526, as does
Colgan (Tr. Th. , p. 293) who, however, following the old Irish mode of anticipating the vulgar era, calls that year 525. Usher
(Ind. Chron. ) agrees with Ware, although
"
^
See Hall's edition of John Leland's Commentariide Scriptoribus Britannicis,"
xiii. , p. 494, and—n. 194, p. 495, ibid. '
tomus i. , cap. xlvi. , p. 72.
3 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis
Scotonim," tomus ii. , lib. x. , pp. 406, 407. ^ For this statement, he also cites John Molanus, in his additions to Usuard's Mar- tyrology. The Kalendar of the Aberdeen Breviary likewise places his festival at this date. See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. iii.
s See Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," pp. 127, 128.
* In Adam King's Kalendar, there is an
"
entry at the 13th of January.
King Con-Walle. " See ibid. , p. 142.
S. Mungo, Bischop of Glascowe, in Scotland, under
190 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 13.
in Scotia, and he was held in such honour for his unstained purity, for his austerities and charities, enjoying the society of angels, with the grace and
power of working such great miracles, that not only was he reverenced among the Scotch, but even he was regarded as a particular patron by the English and Irish. 7 The Venerable Bede pronounced his eulogy, where he says, as Lucifer among the stars, so did Kentigernus shine among the British saints.
His illustrious contemporary, the Abbot Columba, took a long journey, on accountofSt. Kentigern'sdistinguishedmerits,toseehiminperson. ^ During
this visit, various miracles were wrought. In the anonymous Calendar, pub- lished by O'SuUivan Beare,9 at the 13th of January, this holy bishop is ranked
'*
among our national saints. Henry Fitzsimon, also, in his
rum Sanctorum Ibernise," has Kentigernus Epis. , at the same date. '° Buchan-
nan incorrectly supposes" this holy man to have been one of the early bishops of Scotland consecrated by Palladius.
ArticleHI. —FestivalofSt. —BishopandAbbotofPoitiers. Hilary,
\Fourth Century^ This illustrious saint —one of the lights of the French, andevenoftheuniversalCatholicChurch wasbornatPoitiers,ofahighly-
respectable family. Brought up in the errors of Paganism, his sincere love of truth, and his earnest, well-directed enquiries brought him to embrace the Faith, and to receive baptism. He was chosen Bishop of Poitiers about a. d. 353. He was distinguished for h's great learning, eloquence, genius, and virtues. The Irish, from the very earliest period of their Christian initiation, entertained the highest veneration for this illustrious saint. They even con- trived to spread his fame in Scotland,' and on the Continent of Europe. In the Feilire of St. -^ngus, he is commemorated, and under the denomination of Elair. A comment, annexed to his name, however, exjjlains that the Latinized form is Helarius. " Although in ancient Martyrologies the feast of St. Hilary has been recorded on the 13th of January, and on the ist of November,3 yet in the Roman Breviary, his office is celebrated on the 14th
of January. * His own writings best interpret his spirit. The two books of the two Fortunatuses, written at an early period, are both inaccurate. These
'Inhis
"Menologium Scoticum,"
Thomas
Articlein. —' Thereheis
patron
saint
Dempster enters at this day, the feast of
Kentigarn, Bishop and Confessor of Glascoe,
the son of King Eugene, who converted the Welsh to the faith, and who deserved to be
of Drumblait, where we have Teller's Well.
See "New Statistical Account of Scotland,"
Aberdeen, p. 298, In the parish of Fetlar
and North Yell, in Shetland, we find St.
called their Apostle. See ibid. , p. 190.
The " Scottish Kalendar" of the Prayer
Book for the Church of Scotland in the
time of Charles I. has ''Mungo, bishop," following Irish extract, with its English at this date.
'. See Rev. William Reeves' Adamnan's
"Life of St. Columba. " Additional Notes
(m), p. 321.
' . See " Historix Catholicse Ibernice Com-
pendium," tomus i , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 49.
'° The Mart. Angl. and Flor. are quoted
as authorities. The Rev. Alban Butler has
an extended notice of St. Kentigern in
"
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other PrincipalSaints,"Januaryxiii. Thislearned writer seems to have been ignorant of the
saint's nativity having been assigned to Ire- land.
" See " Rerum Scoticarum Ilistoria," lib^ v. , xliv. rex. , p. 132.
i-o. ^tn-bent)A6c
bAlc icje cen Aibjif
Sochnge fochld fUAbAif e^Aip Abo piccAuif.
Hilary's Kirk, above Feal. /(J/fl'. , Shetland,
p. 25.
*
^T.
]\otibiA
Catalogus Aliquo-
Professor O'Looney has furnished the
translation, from the Felire : —
F. id. " Their blessing may I hav^
Powerful their prayer without a$- '
persion,
Eloquent, noble, accomplished, ElairAbbotofPictavis. "
"
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other Principal
Saints," January xiv.
* See " Breviarium Romanum," Die xiv. ,
Pars Hiemalis.
3 See Rev. Alban Butler's
January 13. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 191
are supposed to have been Italians. The first in point of time probably wrote St. Hilary's life in the first book. The second, Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, it is thought Avro'e the saint's miracles, in the second book. St. Gregory of Tours, Alcuin, Flodoard, Dom Contant, Tillemont, Cellier, Rivet, Rev. Alban Butler, with many other ancient and modern writers, have very fully recorded his acts. Into biographical particulars, the scope of this work will not enable us to enter; but as many ancient ofllices, antiphonaries, and calendars of Ireland have his name inscribed, we could not wholly omit to notice him. When he started from Ireland, St, Fridolin, first visited Poi- tiers. s Thence he passed by the Moselle and Strasburg. He founded churches dedicated to St. Hilary, first at Glarus, which still retains in its name the trace of his presence, and finally at Seckingen, near Basle,^ A circle of churches in that neighbourhood, dedicated to St, Hilary, or to St. Fridolin himself, serves to prove the reality of this story. 7 Not alone in Gaul, but in more distant countries, did St. Hilary labour and suffer much for thefaith; andatlength,hehappilydepartedonthe13thdayofJanuary,a. d. 368, at Poitiers.
Article IV. —St. Mochonna, Bishop of Leamhchoill, said to be the PRESENTLowHiLL,CouNTYOFKILKENNY. Trucsanctityengagestheinte- rest and love of true Christians. Thousands catch some utterance or witness some sign from God's holiest servants. Thus sanctity becomes a great moving power even on earth. Mochonna, Bishop of Leamhchoill, is recorded in the Martyrology of Donegal,' on th:s day. A nearly similar entry is found in the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ on the 13th of January. This place has been identified with Lowhill, in the Queen's County, by William M. Hennessy. 3 Among the townland denominations of Ireland, we have not been able to identify this particular etymon ; but we have been further in- formed by an excellent Irish topographer,-* that the old place must be recognised under the present Loughill, near Ballynakill, in the Queen's County. It lay, however, within the old territory of Idough. There are no less than three Loughills in this part of Kilkenny County, and all within the present barony of Fassadinin. s One is in the parish of Abbeyleix, another in that of Attanagh, and a third in that of Rosconnell. ^ On that part of
Abbeyleix parish, outside the Queen's County, and within the barony of Fassadinin, in the county of Kikenny, may be seen the ornamental grounds around Loughill House. Here an abbey in ruins, and a St. Chadden's Church in ruins, are in close proximity.
