No More Learning

Patrick by JoceIyn,5 and that of the Tripartite,* give the most details we find
regarding Ascicus. He appears to have been one of St. Patrick's ^ earliest
disciples, after his arrival in Ireland, and on assuming the Apostleship of that
country. He is also regarded, as having worked in brass, and probably, he was a designer of ornament, in connexion with his artistic pursuits.
From a passage found in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Dr. Lanigan insinuates,' that Ascicus was placed as a priest at Elphin, by the Irish Apostle,andnotmanyyearsafterthecommencementofhismission. While Ussher places the journey of St. Patrick to the western province, in the year 434,9 St. Patrick did not set out for Connaught, in Rev. Dr. Lanigan's opinion, before the year 435. '° Some short time after this date, he is said to have
visited the Royal residence of Cruachan, now Croghan, near Elphin. Then, St. Patrick came into the territory of Corca Ochland," originally extending from Slieve Baune to Tirellil," in the county of Sligo. '^ According to the Tripartite L'fe of St. Patrick, a Magus, named Ono, or Hono,'* lived at a mountain, called Bagna, or Badhghna,"' and now known as Slieve Baune, a mountainous range, in the Barony of Ballintobber North, in the county of Roscommon. '* A piece of landat this latter place was bestowed by Ono ' for a church, which St. Patrick then built. From the name of the donor, perhaps ElphinformerlyborethedesignationofImleachOnoorOna. There,St. Patrick
mitted saints, p. 475.
•
Some notices of Ascius occur, in Philip O'SulIevan's Decades S. Patricii.
3 The reader is referred to what has been
already written, in vol. iii. of this work, Life
of St. Patrick, chap. xi.
"
This lies between the country belonging to the posterity of Olikla, and the mountain called Baghna, joining the latter on the south side, and the former on the north.
" This shows the antiquity of the passage,
in St. Patrick sTripnrtite- Life, for at a very
early ptrio<l, the ClanMulrony conquered the race of Oilioll, and extended their terri. toiies to the very limits of Moy Naoi, and deprived the race of Eric the Red of all the rich plain known as Moylurg.
'J See Coigan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap.
xxxvii. , 134. " p.
He had a brother, called Id, or Ida, and they arc said to have been sons of ii^ngus, son of Ere Uerg or Ere the Red.
' The Abbe Mageoghegan—not knowing
where either the mountain —or the Baghna
country of Tir Oilill was situ. ited places
Corcathlann where he should have placed
Airteach, which is historically wrong ; for, Airteach w. ts a celelirated territory, in the time of St. Patrick, . nnd it retained its name, down to the reiyn of James I. , as it does even to this day.
'"See John O'Donovan's "Tribes and
Cu'. toms of Hy-Many," n. (h), p. 90.
' From him, the place and a family were
afterwards known as the Hy-Onach.
'•See Coigan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
*
This is very clearly asserted, in the Tri-
partite Life of -St. Patrick, Part ii. , and chap.
xxxiz. , as published by Colgan ; although, the latter believes, that Ascicus was only his spiritual father, or master. See "Trias Thaumaturga,"
5 He is classed among St. Patrick's disci- ples, ill iltid. , Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 266.
' See Md. Sepiima Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap. xxxvii. , xxxviii. , xxxix. , xl. , pp. 134, 135, and nn. 74, 75. 76, 77, 78, 79, p. 176.
' See Sexta Vita S. Patricii.
cviii. , pp. 89, 90, with nn. 121, 122, p. 1 14.
'
Inhis 'E^;clesia^tlcal History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sec', v. , p. 340.
"
'
Pairicius relicto charissimo suo
Con. illo (sic enim Jocelinus cap. 35 et 138 eum nominat) ex Midico in Connaci. im I'er suscepit," &c. —" Biitannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," Index Chronolo<^icus, A. D. ccccxxxiv. , p. 517.
'" See " Ecclesi. istic. ll History of Ireland,' vol. i, chap, v. , sect, ix. , p. 240, and n. 75, pp. 242, 243.
cap. cvi. ,cvii. ,
So8
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[April 27.
met with two brothers, who were of noble origin, and who were Druids by profession ; the one was named Ida, and the other was called Ono. "' When this latter saw, that it was the intention of the man of God to erect a church within his territory, he asked what St. Patrick would pay him for the land, which he showed. The holy man ansivered, that he would repay him, by giving in exchange a celestial country for that terrestrial one. However, Ono, who was the slave of avarice, esteemed this exchange as of small value, and he refused consent to the wishes of God's servant, unless he should first receive
gold.
holy Apostle declared, that he already expended whatever gold he had hitherto received, on the erection of churches, and in supplying the necessities of the poor ; but, he promised, that the Lord, from whom he had received all things,
would bestow even greater things upon him, when necessity required it. In a miraculous manner, the gold was procured in a large mass, and from a field where swine had been rooting. In after time, that spot was called Tir Brotha, Latinized " terra massse. ""' As Ono had thus tempted the Lord, and as he had preferred fleeting gold to eternal riches, St. Patrick said to him, " None of your seed shall ever reign. " At this pronouncement, feeling very great compunction and shedding tears, Ono asked pardon for his offence, and pro- mised satisfaction. Then, St. Patrick commiserating his tears said, "There shall not be a king in Connacia, whom your progeny will not assist and pro- mote to the throne. "^" To make some atonement for his first refusal, Ono not only returned the purchase-money to St. Patrick, but even gave his own fort or house, his farm and possessions, to build and found a church. This after- wardsbecametheheadofanEpiscopalSee. ItsfirstnamewasImleachOna, but at this day, on account of the church built there by St. Patrick, it is called Ail
Jinn. Thischurchobtainedthatname,becauseattheplacewhereitwaserected,
In this, the Druid said, that St. Patrick abounded. Whereupon, the
there is a clear fountain. This was produced from the earth, at night, by St. ""
Patrick, and it was called Fionn, i. e. lucid" or clear," while at its brink was
a great stone ; for ail, in the ancient Irish language, means " a stone," or " a rock. " Hence, Ail-finn signifies the "stone of the lucid fountain. "^' Patrick
then blessed Ono and his posterity, on account of his penance and liberality. He promised, and, in promising, he had the power of an oracle, foretelling for
certain, that from Ono's seed many more men, distinguished in the arts of war and in the sacred pursuits of peace, should be descended. " That former name
of Imleach Ona,'3 which belonged to Elphin=4 in pagan times, is still pre- servedinEmlagh. Thisisatownland,situatednotfarfromthetown.
St. Patrick erected a church or a religious house at Elphin ; and, subse-
foregoing passages, that St. Berach—now called St. Barry—was descended from that Ercus, and also the O'Hanlys and O'Bran- nans, who were formerly noi>le and power- ful families in that tract of country, and for this reason, they are called Kinel ilac Erca, i. e. , the race of the sons of Ercus. See Col- gan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita
Septima xxxvii. , p. 134.
Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap.
'9 So was it called, when the author of the
Tripartite ibid.
Life of St. Patrick wrote. See
"" The author of the Tripartite Life re-
marks, that experience proved this prophecy
to be fulfilled, as the Kinel-Mac-Earca pre-
vailed in power and strength among the Con- S. Patricii, pars, ii. , chap, xxxvii. , and n.
nacians, but kings are not taken from among them. By his son Aengus, Uno was grand- son to the aforesaid Krcus, siirnamed Ruber. He was son of Brian, and from liim tlie country of Hy-Onach and the family of the same name took name and origin. Parallel with the two latter semences the following observation of Mr. O'Uonovan is written on the margin of his letter in the Roscommon
74. "PP- 134. 176. " It is Laiinized,
" All this is certainly an inter-
polation. " Colgan adds, in a note to the prised Elphin, with several of the Carrows
collection :
saxum lucidi fontis," in the Tripartite Li''e, published by Colgan,
pars, ii. , cap. xxxviii. , p. 134.
^^
See Jocelyn's Life of St. Patrick, chap, cviii. , p. 90.
"3 This name must have been originally,
in the opinion of Mr. O'Donovan, that of a Bade Biatach, or one thirtieth part of a Trio- cha clicad, or B. irony, and it must have com-
.
April 27. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 509
quently, it became the seat of a bishop. 's Over this church, Ascicus was placed, most probably as a priest, at first, and subsequently, he became its
One account has it, that a falsehood had been told by Ascicus, and that it caused his retirement from the See. '? Citing a passage from some ancient author, the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick only states, that St. Patrick placed Ascicus, at Elphin. '' Nothing is recorded, however, to indi- cate, that he was then its bishop. Ascicus was summoned from Elphin, it is conjectured, to assist in making utensils, for the use of St.
of Priest. Being called in the Tripartite Life, the faber aeris of St. Patrick, the Rev. Dr. Lanigan supposes, that after the foundation of Armagh, and when St. Patrick had acquired a permanent residence, he had occasion for our saint's services, as a worker in brass. He then infers, tliat Ascicus was not made a bishop over Elphin, until after he had ceased to work at Armagh. He must necessarily have resided in his diocese, it is argued, to discharge well the episcopal functions.
According to some accounts,'? he was conse- crated bishop, by St. Patrick, although we cannot find, at what particular time.
Tradition has it, that St. Ascicus was the first Bishop of Elphin, and
he is now venerated as the Patron of that diocese. He is thought to have
flourished, at a very early period ; but, whether his elevation to that See
occurred, during the lifetime of St. Patrick, 3° or after his death, cannot be dis-
tinctly ascertained. The present parish of Elphin is situated in Roscommon
barony,andinthecountybearingthatsamename. '" Notavestigeofany ancient building can now be traced in Elphin. Even the Ailfitin, or " stone
of the clear fountain," has disappeared ; yet, it is curious, that when it was bro- ken, the Ail stood several perches from the present St. Patrick's well at Elphin.
This spring is now directly opposite the cathedral. It is enclosed, and it sup- plies the town with fine water ; but, its original purity has suffered considera- bly from sewers, which pass very close to it under the street. Mr. O'Donovan inclines rather to believe, that this clear fountain, called lionn, and the pillar
and Cartrons. There is no lownland at pre-
sent I. Trger than a quarter of an original
Baile Bi. iiach, and the number of greater
them are only Lecariows and Cartrons. tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, v. , sect, ix. ,
Bishop. ''
Patrick's church at Armagh, and when he had not passed the grade ""
If the topographer does not bear this in mind, he will often fall into mistake. See
pp. 240 to 244, with nn. 75 to 86.
'^ Such is the statement contained in the
"
Letters containing Information relative to
Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cvii. , p. 89. '* "
the Antiquities ol the County of Roscom- mon, collected during the Progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1837-S," vol. ii. , p. 41. Mr. O'Donovan's Letter, dated Alfin, August 8th, 1837.
** The antiquities in the parish of Elphin,
besides the —cathedral church, and
See Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical His- tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, v. , n. 50, pp. 342, 343.
Killoy-
nagher were 1. Cloonroughan, a chapel or and at the 17th of March. It is however,
cell belonging to friars of the third order of St. Francis. 2. Templemoyle, in the town- land of Kilnanooan, which is the ruin of a small chapel, called an abbey in the Name Bookofthe Irish OrdnanceSurvey and
doubtful whethe—r he was one during the
common,
^ All that remains therefore of the vingnA
;3- Laghtcausk, another ruin of a chapel. See
north, by theparishesofShanl<ill, Killmacumsy,Creeve, Aughrim, ClooncnfT, and part of Creeve ; on the east, by the parish of Kiltrustan ; on the south, by the parishes of Ogulla, Kilcooley, and part of Ogulla ; and, on the west, by the parish of Kilcorkey. See Index Map to the Ordnance Survey of the County of Ros-
ibid. , p. 40.
'5 In his time, Colgan remarks, that
Alfinn to his day was an Episcopal See of ample exient in Connaughi, and that Boetius Egan, belonging to our order of Friars minor of the strict observance, was a man venerable for his merits, and at that day, he was there as bishop. See " Trias Thauma-
turga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars, ii. , cap. xxxviii. , n. 75, p. 176.
^ See Dr. " Ecclesiastical His- Lanigan's
"' This is stated by Jocelyn. See Colgan's "Trias Thaumattirga," Sexta Vita S. Patiicii, cap. cvii. , p. 89.
in vol. iii. of this
Life, work, "
*> gee his
^' is bounded on the Elphin parish
Rev. Dr. "Ec- Lanigan's
saint's lifetime. "
clesinstical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, vi. , p. 340.
510 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 27.
stone, called Ail, had been long venerated by the gentiles in Ireland, before St. Patrick built his cathedral opposite to llieni. The arx or fort of the noble Druid Ono is also levelled to the ground, altliough the spot it occupied was remembered in local traditions. 3= The castle 33 of Elpliin stood where the pound was afterwards built, and its site is shown in Castle-street. The Dominican Abbey stood not far to the north, in the land now called Abbey Cartron. 34 In 1683,35 the town of Elphin is stated to have been such another as Roscommon : and, an idle legend is given, to account for the origin of its name,3* said to have been derived from a remarkable stone,37 which has been long since broken and removed. There was a tradition, that if it were dis-
placed, water siiould issue from that spot it occupied and inundate the town. ''
It is suggested,39 our saint could not have been bishop of Elphin, about a. d.
437,accordingtotheTripartitechronology; but,thatanepiscopalseminaryor a monastic college had been early established here, is an oiiinion entertained. Over this commimity, Ascicus is said to have presided,•° but when, or for what period, has not been stated. Through the desire of leading a more penitential life, the saint withdrew from his Bishopric, and retired to Siiebhliag mountain, now Slieve-league,'*' inTir-Boghaine,*^ which is within the county of Donegal. There he lived on an island,<3 called Rathlin O'Birne, for seven years. His monks sought him, for a long time, and they found him, alter much trouble, hiding in the mountain glens. Because of the evil sayings circulated, and to which allusion •'• has been already made, his disciples could not prevail on him to remain in his See. Yet, he went with them into a solitary and desert place, where his death afterwards occurred. The year of his demise, how- ever, has not come down to us. He was buried at Rathcunga, in Seirthe. ^* Tyrhugh barony,<* in the county of Donegal,'7 contained Magh-Seiridh, the plain to which allusion has been made. '*' There, St. Piitrick is said to have erectedachurch. « Itssitemaystillbetraced,andwhereitseemsprobable,
of Elfin is the well Fionn, now called after St. Patrick. See Mr. O'Donovan's l. euer,
«°See Archdall's "Monasticon Hiberni- cum," p. 609.
" This is a precipitous mountain, rising over the Atlantic Ocean, in the parish of
d. Tted Elphin, August 1st, 1S37, in "Letters
containing InTormiition relative to the Anti-
quities of the County of Roscommon, Gleiicolumkille. It commands in cleat
weather a view of Croagh Patrick, on the south-west.
'' It is now the barony of Banagh, and it lies in the west of the county of Donegal.
found, that there was no evidence to point fifty acres. Although lying adjacent to the out the very spot on which it stood. See parish ol Glencolitmkille, it has been eccle-
collected duringthe progress of the Ordnance
Survey in 1837-8,' vol. ii. , pp. 2 to 9. 3^Tlie field, lying to the east of it, wascalled the castle garden, in all leases granted by the
Bishops, to the f. irmers who lioM it.
3* Af'er caieful enquiry, Mr. O' Donovan ca Is that island Rochuil. It cont-tins about
ibid. John O'Dunovan's Letter, dnted Alfin,
August Sih, 1837, vol. li. , pp. 40 to 42.
3= Mr. John Keogh wrote an account of
siastically placed in the parish of Kilbarron, upwards of twenty miles distant, owing to some old connection of all the religious houses in Kilbarron, where St. Columba
Elphin for this year.
3' According to John Keogh: "The fotindedthischuicli,andneartoBally. -hannon.
name is said to be drawn from a stone said to be remaining there as a monument which hath the form of the letter /, and is reported to have been cast in that place, by the great Irish champion Phuon M. ic Coole. Where- upon from L anil Piiuon the place took its
*" According to Jocelyn's Vita S. Patricii, cap. cvi. , p. 8g.
•5 This IS the "Rath-Cunga, in Campo- Sereth," mentioned by Tirechan, in his Life of St Patrick.
" Formerly Tir-Aodha territory.
*' See Rev. Dr. Lan ' ' Ecclesiastical gan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect,
first and then cor- 3' it stood in the very middle of the tnwn.
denomination ruptly Elphin. "
Elphuon
3'
stone fell in his own time, and that it stood O'Dugain and of Giolla na Naoimh over the well of Elphin. O'Huidhrin," edited by Dr. O'Donovan,
Roderick O'Flaherty states, that this
" By Rev. Dr. Lanigan. p. zxx.
<3 The Book oT Armagh, in narrating this,
vi. , pp. 340, 341. *" •'
. "iee The topographical Poems of John
April 27. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 511
his monks resolved to spend their days with St. Ascicus, so long as he con- tinued in this life. Here, also, tiiere is a conical hill, locally known by the name of Racoon, the apex of which is entrenciied like a rath, and it contains an ancient cemeterv. This is now used, but only for the interment of unbap- tized children. It lies within tlie townland Ballymagroarty, in the parish of Drumhome. 5° The king of that country gave to St. Ascicus, and to his monks after his death, the pasture of one hundred cows, with their calves, and also twenty oxen, as a perpetual offering. After their master's death, the monks built a monastery at Rath Cunga, wherein they served Almighty God, in jus- tice and in sanctity. '' The church built there was regarded as belonging to St. Patrick, the master and patron of Ascicus. s' It lay within the diocese of
Raphoe, and within the territory of Tyrconnell. 'J
The present holy Bishop must have died, before the close of the
fifth century, in Dr. Lanigan's opinion ; and, he throws out a conjec- ture, that this saint may have been identical with Assanus, whose feast
is assigned to the 27th of April. 5« His disciples buried St. Assicus, in Rath-Cunga,55 and there, too, his remains were honourably pre-
served. On this day, also, our saint is honoured, as patron of Elphin dio- cese, and there his festival is celebrated as a Double of the first-class, with an octave. It is a Duplex Major, for the rest of Ireland. The remains of St. Ascicus were preserved in Rath-Cunga, when the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick had been written. To the Irish Apostle, also, belongs that church, upon which thepeopleofColum-CilleandofArd-Srathas*hadthenencroached. Itissome- what strange, that there is no mention of a festival in honour of St. Ascicus, in
the published edition of Tallagh Martyrology, at the 27th of April. " This elicits the observation,'' that we can hardly help suspecting, that Assicus and ThassachusS' of Rathcolpa,*° now Raholp. county of Down, were one and the same. '' It is remarked, by Colgan,*' that the Natalis of Ascicus cannot be found in the Irish Martyrologies, although the name be thus written in the ActsofSt. Patrick. But,heconjectures,thatasoursaintwasamanofgreat sanctity, his name ought not be omitted from the calendars, and it is most pro- bably found under some different spelling. He supposes, that our saint was identical with that Assanus, whose feast occurs, at the 27th of April, according to Marianus O'Gorman and to the Martyrology of Donegal ; or perhaps, he was the Ossin venerated, at the istof May, or at the iQth of July. Father Henry
"
5° See Rev. Dr. Keeves' Adamnan's Life of . St. Columba," n. (e). p 38.
''See Co'gan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
" See " Tiias Colgan's
&c.