James
Henthorn
Todd's " St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v7
, p.
8.
tions Lexicon,"—vol. iv. , p. 655. I
8 and
In his "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, other principal Saints," vol. vii. ,
Article II. By Father John Baptist Soller, S. J,
July iii.
42 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
is noticed, likewise, in Les Petits Bollandistes,? at the 3rd of July. This
the Irish seem to have claims for the honour of his stronger
saint, according of Scotia.
to the
Belgian traditions,
king,
King
11 man; but,
was either a
As usual, the Scottish writers contend, that he was their country-
nativity in their country. He is thought to have flourished during the eighth century. Some will have it, that he journeyed to Rome ; yet, although such pilgrimages to the shrines of the Apostles and martyrs there were undertaken by the Irish, Scots and Angles, soon after their conversion to Christianity, there does not appear to have been sufficient warrant for that statement in
referencetoSt. Guthagon. Throughreligiousmotives,however,heentered onapilgrimage,andwithacompanion,namedGillon. TheyarrivedinBel- gium, but at what period is not with certainty known. They rested at a place known as Knocken or Cnokem, which was situated on the maritime shore of Flanders. Nor was it far removed from Oostkerke. This village lay near Burges, on the sea side, between it and Slusa. " There the virtuous life of St. Guthegon gave very great edification to the people of that country. Another companion, Gildulfus, is commemorated with the foregoing, and he spent an eremitical life with them, in Belgium. ^ Here, St. Guthagon led a solitary life, «4 until the time of his death. It is not known for certain, whether he died at Cnokem or at Oostkerke. However, the clergy and people of that district reverently interred his body, according to tradition in the western part of the cemetery of Oostkerke. Those holy men, Saints Guthagon and Gillon, rest at Oist-Kerke, in Flanders. After St. Guthagon's death, miracles were wrought
at his grave. Gerald, Bishop of Tournay, in the year n59, exhumed St. Guthagon's body and placed it in a feretrum. The Abbots of Aldenburg,
DunensandofQuercetanwerepresent. 15 Itwouldseem,thatatasubsequent period, towards the end of a. d. 1444, there was another translation of St.
Guthagon's remains. In the succeeding century, Jean Ver-Meulen relates, that he saw these relics kept within iron gratings in the wall of the church. It has been remarked in our saint's office, that the shrine was hardly kept in a becoming manner. The Calvinists profaned the relics of St. Guthagon after the Reformation,16 and they seem to have utterly destroyed them; nothing having remained but a tooth of the holy man, which had been trans- ferred to the collegiate church of St. Saviour, at Bruges. On the case con-
:
taining it had been inscribed these words " Dens S. Guthagonis. " In the
beginning of the last century, the tooth of St. Guthagon was kept in the church at Oostkerke, and on the 3rd day of eacli July, it was there exposed
9 See "Vies des Saints," tome viii. , iiie Jour de Juillet, p. I.
10
In the ancient Office of St. Guthagon, he is called King of Scotia, as also by other writers.
" Thus, at the 3rd of July, in Adam
King's "Kalendar," he is placed in the first
century, and in the following words " S. :
Guthagon sone to ye King of Scotland con-
fess. banished for ye cathol—ik faith in flan-
Oostkerke stated to Father Soller, that this village was situated " in agio Franconatensi inter Brugas et Slusam, distans ab Utraque sesquimilliari. " Before his time it was a much more important place, while it had two pastors and llnee assistants, with five thou- sand communicants, lie adds, moreover, that he knew three villages bearing the same name in Belgium, "nempe apud Brugas, apud Furnas, et in Brabantia apud Tu-
ders vnder diocletiane, 99. " Bishop Forbes' ""
Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 156.
Also. at the same date, in Thomas Dempster's ""
5 See Mirseus* dici," p. 364.
Scoticum are these words "'"
Menologium
:
185. Belgici Burgun-
Oostkerkae confessoris, Guthagoni
Fasti
et
regis filii, qui divino amore tactus, regnum terre- n—um sprevit, ut cceleste obtineret B. K. ML. "
Ibid. , p. 204.
" A learned nobleman and toparch of
l6 See Bishop Sancta," part ii. , p. 8.
bise. "
I3 See Father Stephen White's Apologia
pro Hibernia," cap. iv. , p. 42.
' 4 See " Circle of the Seasons/' p.
t? Printed a. d. 1509.
10 or son to a
Challenor's "Britannia
July 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 43
for the veneration of the faithful. Formerly, his feast was kept there with
greatsolemnity,andonit therewasanobligationforhearingMass. This, however, had been abrogated, yet a proper office for a Confessor not a Pontiff had been recited, and he was invoked as a minor patron of that place. The feast of this saint is set down at the 3rd of July, in the enlarged edition of
Usuard's Martyrology; also, in a Manuscript Catalogue of the Saints ofScot- x
land ; as likewise, in the Breviary of Aberdeen. ? John Wilson, in his " Martyrologium Anglicanum," sets him down as an Irishman, at this day. The name of Guthagon occurs, at this date, in the anonymous Catalogue, publishedbyO'SullevanBeare,asGuthagonius. MolanusandHenryFitz-
simon set him down, as Rex et Confessor, at the Guthagonus,
18
3rd July. Again,afeasthasbeenassignedtohim,atthe1stofOctober. Thisappears
as having reference to the Translation of his Relics.
Article III. —St. Cilline or Cillen, Droicteach, Abbot of Iona, Scotland. {Eighth Century. '] Among a long line of illustrious abbots who
presided over Iona, the present holy man is classed.
In the Martyrology of
occurs. He
1 at the
is noted in the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, at the
this date, the Bollandistss have noticed him, also, on the foregoing authority and on that of Sirinus. Some notices of him occur, in the work of Bishop Forbes/ ThisdistinguishedsaintderivedhisoriginfromtheraceofConall Cremthainne, son to Niall of the Nine Hostages, of the southern Hy-Neill. This saint's pedigree is thus given in the Naemhsenchas. His father's name was Dicolla, son of Cilline, son to Amalgadh, son of Feradhaigh, son to Feic,* son of Cerbaill, who was son to the aforesaid Conall Cremthainne. 6 He was born in Ireland, probably towards the close of the seventh century. The epithet, suffixed to his original name Cilline, and which was Droicteach, sig- nifying "Bridge-maker," has reference apparently to work of that kind on which he had been engaged, previous to his leaving Ireland for Scotland. It is likely, that he felt a religious inspiration to join the Columban institute in Iona, and there, too, it would seem, that he chose to live as an ancho- rite,? according to the custom of those monks, who desired to observe a very strict discipline. His virtues were so highly esteemed by that community, after the death of St. Cilline Fada, or the Tall Abbot of Iona, whick took place, a. d. 726, Cilline Droicteach was selected as his immediate successor. 8 Meanwhile, Feidhlimid or Failbhe seems to have been elected Abbot of Iona in the year 722, nor do we find that he ceased to enjoy that title, during the administrationofFaelcu,9ofCilleneFada,10 andofCillineDroicteach,until he departed this life at the very advanced age of eighty-seven years, com-
Tallagh,
3rd
of
July,
the
simply entry
of
Cilline,
Abb.
Iae,
18
Catholica Iberniae Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , —xii. , pp. 50, 54.
*
Article hi. Edited by Rev. Dr.
See O'Sullevan Beare's "Historia baill, King of Ireland, who reigned 21 years, and who died a. d. 565.
Kelly, p. xxviii. 2"
Royal Irish Academy.
^ In the Annals of Tighernach and of
Ulster, he is only styled ancorita.
Thus : Kellenus cognomento Droich-
theach, virgo, miles egregius. "
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. ,
Julii iii. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 631.
4 See " Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
p. 301.
5 He was brother to Diannait Mac Cer-
8
In a gloss on his name, in the Calendar
6
According to the Leabhar Lecain, in the
of Marianus O'Gorman, he is expressly styled -Abb 1^e ColAim cible.
9 See an account of him, in the Fourth Volume of this work, at April 3rd, Art. iv.
I0
14th, Art. iii.
of 2 At 3rd July.
For a notice of him, see ibid. , at April
44 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
pleted in 759, and during the administratorship of Slebhine. Whether
Feidhlimid or Failbhe " had been the principal or only a coadjutor Abbot
over Iona cannot be gleaned with any degree of distinctness from the Irish
12
Annals.
It is thought, that owing to the circumstance of Cilline Droicteach
having chosen the rigid rule of an anchorite's state, the active duties of his
presidency, over the monastic institute of Iona, had been in a great measure
discharged by his coadjutor, Fedhlimid. He continued alive, during the pre-
sidency of Cilline Droicteach. The present hoiy man brought to Erin that
shrine of the many relics,^ which Adamnan had collected, to make peace
and friendship between the Cinel-Conaill and the Cinel-Eoghain. This
appears to have occurred in the year 727. The Relics collected by Adamnan
were returned to Iona in 730. The present saint, called Cilleine Droctigh,
anchorite of la, died on the 3rd of July, a. d. 747. I4 Other accounts have
l6 He is to have been the fourteenth abbot of reputed
a. d. J s and
12
See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life
751
752.
Iona, commencing with the great founder, St. Columkille. 1 ? We have him
in the of 18 at this same Martyrology Donegal,
as Cillen
recorded,
Droichtech, Abbot of la Colum Cille.
date,
Article IV. —St. Tirechan, Bishop. {Seventh Century^ It is much to be regretted, that we know very little relating to the personal history of the present distinguished bishop, so much regarded in his day, and who was remarkable, doubtless, for his holiness of life, as for his proficiency in learn- ing. Being one of St. Patrick's early biographers should alone give him a special claim on our veneration. Marianus O'Gorman has an entry of Tire- chan, at the 3rd of July, in his Calendar. It may be supposed, that Tirechan had been a native of Cashel or of its vicinity, if he is to be confounded with a Tirechan who had gone to Rome, and who at the entreaty of his mother was recalled, at a time when St. Fechin, Abbot of Fore, had visited that city, over
2 that he was the dis- ciple of St. Ultan, who wrote the Acts of St. Patrick. He was bishop of Ard- brecain, and he died a. d. 665. 3 In the Book of Armagh are found Latin annotations on the Life of St. Patrick by Tirechan,4 and which throw some light on the source whence his narrative had been drawn. 5 Like his master
which Moenach then ruled. 1 Tirechan tells us
" He seems to have been
nbout fifty years old, and it may be, that in-
firmity or necessity obliged him to have an assistant.
himself,
l6 to the Annals of According
ofSt. Columba," Additional Notes O, pp.
38210386.
l8
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
13 Thisisthe ofa beginning
ArticleIV. —' See "Acta Colgan's
Sanctorum Hibernise," xx. Januarii, Vita
which Adamnan composed, on placing the bag,
— those containing
reliquaries,
poem
on the back of
Secunda S. 135.
2
Fechini, cap. xiv. , pp. 134,
Cillen
:
" O youth, illustrious is
The bag which thou takest on thy
back," &c.
See Very Rev.
James Henthorn Todd's " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, iii. , p. 444.
3 iJis feast occurs, at the 4th of Septem- ber.
elected,
when
Tiger-
M See
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Columlxe, tines on the Manuscript Materials of
Colgan's
"Trias
Thaumaturga,"
4 See Professor " Lec- Eugene O'Curry's
cap. ii. , sect, v. , p. 502.
15 The " Annals of Ulster " have dated
at this
year.
Ancient Irish History," Lect. xvi. , p. 347.
it,
5 Atfol. passage :
ga,
"
we find there the
following
nach.
'? See Rev. William Reeves' Adamnan's
"
pp. 382 to 385.
Life of St. Columba," Additional Notes O,
184, 185.
Tirechan Episcopus
hec
scripsit
July 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 45
Ultan,
thissaintwrotetheActsofSt. intwobooks. 6 Weareinformed Patrick,
in these, that he was a disciple of that holy Bishop, from whose lips or from
whose book, he had composed his own work. He also tells us in it, that he
washimselfabishop,buthedoesnotstatewherehisSeehadbeen. Acopy
of this Life of St. Patrick by Tirechan is extant in the Leabhar Arda Macha,
or the Book of 7 This is Armagh.
Dr. 8 It has Jeoffry Keating.
quoted by
lately engaged the attention of an able and a learned editor,9 so that the read-
ing public shall soon have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with its contents. 10 TheseActswereinpossessionofthelearnedArchbishopUssher, who frequently quotes from them, in his valuable historic work, " De Primor- diis Ecclesiarum Britannicarum. "11 Extracts from them have also been
12
This interest- ing ancient memoir by Tirechan throws very considerable light on the early ecclesiastical history of Ireland, as also on the biography of the Irish Apostle. -3
1
According to the chronology of Tirechan, * he places the death of St. Patrick,
at a. d. 436 from the Passion, or a. d. 469 from the Nativity of Christ. He
states, likewise, that King Loiguire reigned two or five years after the Irish Apostle's decease; while he supposes the total duration of that reign, to have
reproduced, by the learned hagiologist, Father John Colgan.
15 A
hasbeen
16thatthe Abbot of
been
man
his mother. This seems to come within the range of possibility. The times agree very well. Thus, Ultan died a. d. 655, and he was contemporary with
thirty-six years.
conjecture
offered,
present holy
complied
request
by
St.
Fechin,
Fore,
to visit
St. Fechin, who
a. d. 18 The 664.
made
J 7
with a
Ardbrecain. He is thought to have flourished, about the middle of the
seventh 20 Onthe of inthe of 21 century. 3rd July, Martyrology Donegal,
appears within brackets the name of Tirechan. 32
this life, on the 20th of
present saint was a bishop, and he is said to have ruled 10 over the church of
departed
January,
ex ore vel libro Ultani — episcopi, cujus ipse
alumpnus vel discipulus fait. " Ibid. , Ap- pendix, No. cvi. , pp. 607, 608.
6 See Sir James Ware, " De Scriptoribus Hibernise," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 23.
7 This is generally believed to be as old as 807 ; but, Eugene O'Curry deems it to be
11
See
"
the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish
older than the year 727. See
Lectures on
History," Lect. xvi. , p. 343. 8"
In his General History of Ireland. "
9 The Rev. Father Edmund Hogan, S. J. See " Vita Sancti Patricii Hibernorum
Apostoli, Auctore Muirchu Maccumachteni
et Tirechani Collectanea de S. Patricio. "
The portion already published has appeared,
" 16
in the Analecta Bollandiana," tomus i. , Fasc. iv. Edited by Fathers Carolus de Smedt, Gulielmus Van Hooff and Josephus de Backer. Paris and
royal 8vo.
10 This is the more to be desired, as Sir
William Betham has
printed the Book of Armagh, in his " Irish
Antiquarian Researches," part ii. Dublin,
1827, 8vo. It is so full of errors as to be quite useless. See Rev. Dr. Todd's "St.
Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," p. 150, n. I. Also William F. Skene's " Celtic Scot-
land," vol. ii. , p. 14, n. 22.
By Colgan.
17 See his Life in the First Volume of
this work, at January 20th, Art. ii.
18 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 276, 277. 19 As supposed by Colgan.
Bruxelles, 1882,
very inaccurately
Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, pars,
cap. xvii. , pp. 829, 835, 848, 853,
887, 899. Dublin edition, A. D. 1639, 4to. 12 "
See Trias Thaumaturga," Appendix Secundaad Acta S. Patricii, pp. 196, 197.
13 Thus he states
mina in libro scripta Patricio apud Ultanum episcopum Conchuburnensium, Sanctus Ma- gonus qui est clarus, succetus qui est [deus
belli], Patricius, Cothirthiacus quia servivit iiii domibus magorum, et empsit ilium unus ex eis cui nomen erat Miliuc Maccuboin magus.
14 In the Book of Armagh, fol. 9 a, b.
15 See Very Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, ii. , p. 395.
20 See "Trias Colgan's
:
iii. , pp. 217, 218.
21 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
186, 187.
22 A note by Dr. Todd says* at this inser-
:
tion of the name, Tirechan " Added by the
more recent hand. "
" Inverii quatuor no-
46 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
Article V. —St. Dartinne or Tartinna, of Druimard, or of
Cill-aird, in Ui-Garrchon, County of Wicklow. We read in the
1
published Martyrology of Tallagh, that a festival was celebrated at the 3rd
of July, in honour of Dartinne, Virgin. To her is probably applied the
"
followingcomment,whichcloselyfollows:
h Ercain. " In the M Feilire"2 of St. ^Engus, there is a commemoration of Dartinne's excellent feast, at the 3rd of July. In a gloss, 3 she is said to have been a virgin, and to have been of Cill Airnd in Ui-Garrchon—in Leinster. Fro—mthiswearetoinfer,thatshewasthedaughterofGuaire whoeverhe was and that the place she occupied was named Cill Aird, meaning the * church on the height," in the territory of Ui Ercon, otherwise Ui Garchon. * This territory was situated along the eastern sea-shore,s in the centre of the present county of Wicklow, and it seems to have extended over the moun- tains towards the western boundary. Within it rises Sliabh Gadoe, also called Church Mountain, owing to the fact that the ruined walls of an oblong church, on the northern and widest part of the area, are there to be found. The greatest length of this building was thirty-six feet. This appears to have been surrounded by a rude stone enclosure, approaching to an oval form, the
extreme length being 117 feet, and the width 101. 6 In the most elevated part, the breast-work was twelve feet in height, and within it is a holy well,
still frequented by pilgrims. ? The foregoing conclusion as to locality is fairly warranted from the statement, that St. Patrick when he left Naas went into
:
land,"
i. , County
and soon afterwards he
of the 8 Liffey.
from it to the
Here too has been placed 9 one of the Palladian churches at Donard, variously
called Domnach Arda, Domnach Ardec, and Domnach Airte, or " the Church of the High Place," as also Domnach Ardacha, " the Church of the High Field. " 10 This is now the village of Donard, 11 in the barony of Lower Talbots- town. " Onthissiteandintheimmediateneighbourhood,thereareseveral vestiges'pf pagan and of Christian habitations. Here, it is probable, the church known as Cill-Aird was located, and it may be regarded as identical with that very ancient and curious old ruin, which has so remarkable an elevation on
x
the top of Sliebh Gadoe, 3 otherwise called Church Mountain, near Donard.
Hy-Garchon,
passed
plain
Article v. —* Edited Kelly, p. xxviii.
a
lowing stanza, —translated by Dr. Whitley
Stokes, occurs
rrUpcpA Cirtiomf Crvifc rnhAc&ch mbitbe
Camnbpech Comaif Ailbe £eil T)i5|\Aif "Oarvcinrie.
6 Aview and of this ancient work plan
In the "Leabhar Breac" copy the fol-
tannia," vol. iii.
7 See J. N. Brewer's "Beauties of Ire-
"
Christ : Thomas' translation hear thou :
See Very Rev. James Henthorn Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, i. ,
Cyrion's
martyrdom, no paltry prayer to
Dairtinne's excellent feast. "
of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manu-
in the
so named, are described on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Wicklow," sheets 15, 21.
" See an account of this place in the
"Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, "vol. ii. ,
pp. 32, 33.
I3 For an account of this place, the reader
" isreferredtoLeitchRitcluVs Ireland,Pic-
script Series, vol. i. , parti. dar of Oengus, p. cix.
3 See ibid. , p. cxv.
4 This name it seems to have taken from Garchon, who was father to its ruler Nathi, who lived in the time of St. Palladius and ofSt. Patrick.
by
Rev. Dr.
—"Transactions On the Calen-
p. 295,
3.
s See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," turesque and Romantic," chap, xiv. , pp. Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxiv. , xxv„ 259, 260.
tions Lexicon,"—vol. iv. , p. 655. I
8 and
In his "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, other principal Saints," vol. vii. ,
Article II. By Father John Baptist Soller, S. J,
July iii.
42 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
is noticed, likewise, in Les Petits Bollandistes,? at the 3rd of July. This
the Irish seem to have claims for the honour of his stronger
saint, according of Scotia.
to the
Belgian traditions,
king,
King
11 man; but,
was either a
As usual, the Scottish writers contend, that he was their country-
nativity in their country. He is thought to have flourished during the eighth century. Some will have it, that he journeyed to Rome ; yet, although such pilgrimages to the shrines of the Apostles and martyrs there were undertaken by the Irish, Scots and Angles, soon after their conversion to Christianity, there does not appear to have been sufficient warrant for that statement in
referencetoSt. Guthagon. Throughreligiousmotives,however,heentered onapilgrimage,andwithacompanion,namedGillon. TheyarrivedinBel- gium, but at what period is not with certainty known. They rested at a place known as Knocken or Cnokem, which was situated on the maritime shore of Flanders. Nor was it far removed from Oostkerke. This village lay near Burges, on the sea side, between it and Slusa. " There the virtuous life of St. Guthegon gave very great edification to the people of that country. Another companion, Gildulfus, is commemorated with the foregoing, and he spent an eremitical life with them, in Belgium. ^ Here, St. Guthagon led a solitary life, «4 until the time of his death. It is not known for certain, whether he died at Cnokem or at Oostkerke. However, the clergy and people of that district reverently interred his body, according to tradition in the western part of the cemetery of Oostkerke. Those holy men, Saints Guthagon and Gillon, rest at Oist-Kerke, in Flanders. After St. Guthagon's death, miracles were wrought
at his grave. Gerald, Bishop of Tournay, in the year n59, exhumed St. Guthagon's body and placed it in a feretrum. The Abbots of Aldenburg,
DunensandofQuercetanwerepresent. 15 Itwouldseem,thatatasubsequent period, towards the end of a. d. 1444, there was another translation of St.
Guthagon's remains. In the succeeding century, Jean Ver-Meulen relates, that he saw these relics kept within iron gratings in the wall of the church. It has been remarked in our saint's office, that the shrine was hardly kept in a becoming manner. The Calvinists profaned the relics of St. Guthagon after the Reformation,16 and they seem to have utterly destroyed them; nothing having remained but a tooth of the holy man, which had been trans- ferred to the collegiate church of St. Saviour, at Bruges. On the case con-
:
taining it had been inscribed these words " Dens S. Guthagonis. " In the
beginning of the last century, the tooth of St. Guthagon was kept in the church at Oostkerke, and on the 3rd day of eacli July, it was there exposed
9 See "Vies des Saints," tome viii. , iiie Jour de Juillet, p. I.
10
In the ancient Office of St. Guthagon, he is called King of Scotia, as also by other writers.
" Thus, at the 3rd of July, in Adam
King's "Kalendar," he is placed in the first
century, and in the following words " S. :
Guthagon sone to ye King of Scotland con-
fess. banished for ye cathol—ik faith in flan-
Oostkerke stated to Father Soller, that this village was situated " in agio Franconatensi inter Brugas et Slusam, distans ab Utraque sesquimilliari. " Before his time it was a much more important place, while it had two pastors and llnee assistants, with five thou- sand communicants, lie adds, moreover, that he knew three villages bearing the same name in Belgium, "nempe apud Brugas, apud Furnas, et in Brabantia apud Tu-
ders vnder diocletiane, 99. " Bishop Forbes' ""
Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 156.
Also. at the same date, in Thomas Dempster's ""
5 See Mirseus* dici," p. 364.
Scoticum are these words "'"
Menologium
:
185. Belgici Burgun-
Oostkerkae confessoris, Guthagoni
Fasti
et
regis filii, qui divino amore tactus, regnum terre- n—um sprevit, ut cceleste obtineret B. K. ML. "
Ibid. , p. 204.
" A learned nobleman and toparch of
l6 See Bishop Sancta," part ii. , p. 8.
bise. "
I3 See Father Stephen White's Apologia
pro Hibernia," cap. iv. , p. 42.
' 4 See " Circle of the Seasons/' p.
t? Printed a. d. 1509.
10 or son to a
Challenor's "Britannia
July 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 43
for the veneration of the faithful. Formerly, his feast was kept there with
greatsolemnity,andonit therewasanobligationforhearingMass. This, however, had been abrogated, yet a proper office for a Confessor not a Pontiff had been recited, and he was invoked as a minor patron of that place. The feast of this saint is set down at the 3rd of July, in the enlarged edition of
Usuard's Martyrology; also, in a Manuscript Catalogue of the Saints ofScot- x
land ; as likewise, in the Breviary of Aberdeen. ? John Wilson, in his " Martyrologium Anglicanum," sets him down as an Irishman, at this day. The name of Guthagon occurs, at this date, in the anonymous Catalogue, publishedbyO'SullevanBeare,asGuthagonius. MolanusandHenryFitz-
simon set him down, as Rex et Confessor, at the Guthagonus,
18
3rd July. Again,afeasthasbeenassignedtohim,atthe1stofOctober. Thisappears
as having reference to the Translation of his Relics.
Article III. —St. Cilline or Cillen, Droicteach, Abbot of Iona, Scotland. {Eighth Century. '] Among a long line of illustrious abbots who
presided over Iona, the present holy man is classed.
In the Martyrology of
occurs. He
1 at the
is noted in the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, at the
this date, the Bollandistss have noticed him, also, on the foregoing authority and on that of Sirinus. Some notices of him occur, in the work of Bishop Forbes/ ThisdistinguishedsaintderivedhisoriginfromtheraceofConall Cremthainne, son to Niall of the Nine Hostages, of the southern Hy-Neill. This saint's pedigree is thus given in the Naemhsenchas. His father's name was Dicolla, son of Cilline, son to Amalgadh, son of Feradhaigh, son to Feic,* son of Cerbaill, who was son to the aforesaid Conall Cremthainne. 6 He was born in Ireland, probably towards the close of the seventh century. The epithet, suffixed to his original name Cilline, and which was Droicteach, sig- nifying "Bridge-maker," has reference apparently to work of that kind on which he had been engaged, previous to his leaving Ireland for Scotland. It is likely, that he felt a religious inspiration to join the Columban institute in Iona, and there, too, it would seem, that he chose to live as an ancho- rite,? according to the custom of those monks, who desired to observe a very strict discipline. His virtues were so highly esteemed by that community, after the death of St. Cilline Fada, or the Tall Abbot of Iona, whick took place, a. d. 726, Cilline Droicteach was selected as his immediate successor. 8 Meanwhile, Feidhlimid or Failbhe seems to have been elected Abbot of Iona in the year 722, nor do we find that he ceased to enjoy that title, during the administrationofFaelcu,9ofCilleneFada,10 andofCillineDroicteach,until he departed this life at the very advanced age of eighty-seven years, com-
Tallagh,
3rd
of
July,
the
simply entry
of
Cilline,
Abb.
Iae,
18
Catholica Iberniae Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , —xii. , pp. 50, 54.
*
Article hi. Edited by Rev. Dr.
See O'Sullevan Beare's "Historia baill, King of Ireland, who reigned 21 years, and who died a. d. 565.
Kelly, p. xxviii. 2"
Royal Irish Academy.
^ In the Annals of Tighernach and of
Ulster, he is only styled ancorita.
Thus : Kellenus cognomento Droich-
theach, virgo, miles egregius. "
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus i. ,
Julii iii. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 631.
4 See " Kalendars of Scottish Saints,"
p. 301.
5 He was brother to Diannait Mac Cer-
8
In a gloss on his name, in the Calendar
6
According to the Leabhar Lecain, in the
of Marianus O'Gorman, he is expressly styled -Abb 1^e ColAim cible.
9 See an account of him, in the Fourth Volume of this work, at April 3rd, Art. iv.
I0
14th, Art. iii.
of 2 At 3rd July.
For a notice of him, see ibid. , at April
44 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
pleted in 759, and during the administratorship of Slebhine. Whether
Feidhlimid or Failbhe " had been the principal or only a coadjutor Abbot
over Iona cannot be gleaned with any degree of distinctness from the Irish
12
Annals.
It is thought, that owing to the circumstance of Cilline Droicteach
having chosen the rigid rule of an anchorite's state, the active duties of his
presidency, over the monastic institute of Iona, had been in a great measure
discharged by his coadjutor, Fedhlimid. He continued alive, during the pre-
sidency of Cilline Droicteach. The present hoiy man brought to Erin that
shrine of the many relics,^ which Adamnan had collected, to make peace
and friendship between the Cinel-Conaill and the Cinel-Eoghain. This
appears to have occurred in the year 727. The Relics collected by Adamnan
were returned to Iona in 730. The present saint, called Cilleine Droctigh,
anchorite of la, died on the 3rd of July, a. d. 747. I4 Other accounts have
l6 He is to have been the fourteenth abbot of reputed
a. d. J s and
12
See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life
751
752.
Iona, commencing with the great founder, St. Columkille. 1 ? We have him
in the of 18 at this same Martyrology Donegal,
as Cillen
recorded,
Droichtech, Abbot of la Colum Cille.
date,
Article IV. —St. Tirechan, Bishop. {Seventh Century^ It is much to be regretted, that we know very little relating to the personal history of the present distinguished bishop, so much regarded in his day, and who was remarkable, doubtless, for his holiness of life, as for his proficiency in learn- ing. Being one of St. Patrick's early biographers should alone give him a special claim on our veneration. Marianus O'Gorman has an entry of Tire- chan, at the 3rd of July, in his Calendar. It may be supposed, that Tirechan had been a native of Cashel or of its vicinity, if he is to be confounded with a Tirechan who had gone to Rome, and who at the entreaty of his mother was recalled, at a time when St. Fechin, Abbot of Fore, had visited that city, over
2 that he was the dis- ciple of St. Ultan, who wrote the Acts of St. Patrick. He was bishop of Ard- brecain, and he died a. d. 665. 3 In the Book of Armagh are found Latin annotations on the Life of St. Patrick by Tirechan,4 and which throw some light on the source whence his narrative had been drawn. 5 Like his master
which Moenach then ruled. 1 Tirechan tells us
" He seems to have been
nbout fifty years old, and it may be, that in-
firmity or necessity obliged him to have an assistant.
himself,
l6 to the Annals of According
ofSt. Columba," Additional Notes O, pp.
38210386.
l8
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
13 Thisisthe ofa beginning
ArticleIV. —' See "Acta Colgan's
Sanctorum Hibernise," xx. Januarii, Vita
which Adamnan composed, on placing the bag,
— those containing
reliquaries,
poem
on the back of
Secunda S. 135.
2
Fechini, cap. xiv. , pp. 134,
Cillen
:
" O youth, illustrious is
The bag which thou takest on thy
back," &c.
See Very Rev.
James Henthorn Todd's " St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, iii. , p. 444.
3 iJis feast occurs, at the 4th of Septem- ber.
elected,
when
Tiger-
M See
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Columlxe, tines on the Manuscript Materials of
Colgan's
"Trias
Thaumaturga,"
4 See Professor " Lec- Eugene O'Curry's
cap. ii. , sect, v. , p. 502.
15 The " Annals of Ulster " have dated
at this
year.
Ancient Irish History," Lect. xvi. , p. 347.
it,
5 Atfol. passage :
ga,
"
we find there the
following
nach.
'? See Rev. William Reeves' Adamnan's
"
pp. 382 to 385.
Life of St. Columba," Additional Notes O,
184, 185.
Tirechan Episcopus
hec
scripsit
July 3. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 45
Ultan,
thissaintwrotetheActsofSt. intwobooks. 6 Weareinformed Patrick,
in these, that he was a disciple of that holy Bishop, from whose lips or from
whose book, he had composed his own work. He also tells us in it, that he
washimselfabishop,buthedoesnotstatewherehisSeehadbeen. Acopy
of this Life of St. Patrick by Tirechan is extant in the Leabhar Arda Macha,
or the Book of 7 This is Armagh.
Dr. 8 It has Jeoffry Keating.
quoted by
lately engaged the attention of an able and a learned editor,9 so that the read-
ing public shall soon have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with its contents. 10 TheseActswereinpossessionofthelearnedArchbishopUssher, who frequently quotes from them, in his valuable historic work, " De Primor- diis Ecclesiarum Britannicarum. "11 Extracts from them have also been
12
This interest- ing ancient memoir by Tirechan throws very considerable light on the early ecclesiastical history of Ireland, as also on the biography of the Irish Apostle. -3
1
According to the chronology of Tirechan, * he places the death of St. Patrick,
at a. d. 436 from the Passion, or a. d. 469 from the Nativity of Christ. He
states, likewise, that King Loiguire reigned two or five years after the Irish Apostle's decease; while he supposes the total duration of that reign, to have
reproduced, by the learned hagiologist, Father John Colgan.
15 A
hasbeen
16thatthe Abbot of
been
man
his mother. This seems to come within the range of possibility. The times agree very well. Thus, Ultan died a. d. 655, and he was contemporary with
thirty-six years.
conjecture
offered,
present holy
complied
request
by
St.
Fechin,
Fore,
to visit
St. Fechin, who
a. d. 18 The 664.
made
J 7
with a
Ardbrecain. He is thought to have flourished, about the middle of the
seventh 20 Onthe of inthe of 21 century. 3rd July, Martyrology Donegal,
appears within brackets the name of Tirechan. 32
this life, on the 20th of
present saint was a bishop, and he is said to have ruled 10 over the church of
departed
January,
ex ore vel libro Ultani — episcopi, cujus ipse
alumpnus vel discipulus fait. " Ibid. , Ap- pendix, No. cvi. , pp. 607, 608.
6 See Sir James Ware, " De Scriptoribus Hibernise," lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 23.
7 This is generally believed to be as old as 807 ; but, Eugene O'Curry deems it to be
11
See
"
the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish
older than the year 727. See
Lectures on
History," Lect. xvi. , p. 343. 8"
In his General History of Ireland. "
9 The Rev. Father Edmund Hogan, S. J. See " Vita Sancti Patricii Hibernorum
Apostoli, Auctore Muirchu Maccumachteni
et Tirechani Collectanea de S. Patricio. "
The portion already published has appeared,
" 16
in the Analecta Bollandiana," tomus i. , Fasc. iv. Edited by Fathers Carolus de Smedt, Gulielmus Van Hooff and Josephus de Backer. Paris and
royal 8vo.
10 This is the more to be desired, as Sir
William Betham has
printed the Book of Armagh, in his " Irish
Antiquarian Researches," part ii. Dublin,
1827, 8vo. It is so full of errors as to be quite useless. See Rev. Dr. Todd's "St.
Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," p. 150, n. I. Also William F. Skene's " Celtic Scot-
land," vol. ii. , p. 14, n. 22.
By Colgan.
17 See his Life in the First Volume of
this work, at January 20th, Art. ii.
18 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 276, 277. 19 As supposed by Colgan.
Bruxelles, 1882,
very inaccurately
Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, pars,
cap. xvii. , pp. 829, 835, 848, 853,
887, 899. Dublin edition, A. D. 1639, 4to. 12 "
See Trias Thaumaturga," Appendix Secundaad Acta S. Patricii, pp. 196, 197.
13 Thus he states
mina in libro scripta Patricio apud Ultanum episcopum Conchuburnensium, Sanctus Ma- gonus qui est clarus, succetus qui est [deus
belli], Patricius, Cothirthiacus quia servivit iiii domibus magorum, et empsit ilium unus ex eis cui nomen erat Miliuc Maccuboin magus.
14 In the Book of Armagh, fol. 9 a, b.
15 See Very Rev. Dr. James Henthorn Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, ii. , p. 395.
20 See "Trias Colgan's
:
iii. , pp. 217, 218.
21 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
186, 187.
22 A note by Dr. Todd says* at this inser-
:
tion of the name, Tirechan " Added by the
more recent hand. "
" Inverii quatuor no-
46 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 3.
Article V. —St. Dartinne or Tartinna, of Druimard, or of
Cill-aird, in Ui-Garrchon, County of Wicklow. We read in the
1
published Martyrology of Tallagh, that a festival was celebrated at the 3rd
of July, in honour of Dartinne, Virgin. To her is probably applied the
"
followingcomment,whichcloselyfollows:
h Ercain. " In the M Feilire"2 of St. ^Engus, there is a commemoration of Dartinne's excellent feast, at the 3rd of July. In a gloss, 3 she is said to have been a virgin, and to have been of Cill Airnd in Ui-Garrchon—in Leinster. Fro—mthiswearetoinfer,thatshewasthedaughterofGuaire whoeverhe was and that the place she occupied was named Cill Aird, meaning the * church on the height," in the territory of Ui Ercon, otherwise Ui Garchon. * This territory was situated along the eastern sea-shore,s in the centre of the present county of Wicklow, and it seems to have extended over the moun- tains towards the western boundary. Within it rises Sliabh Gadoe, also called Church Mountain, owing to the fact that the ruined walls of an oblong church, on the northern and widest part of the area, are there to be found. The greatest length of this building was thirty-six feet. This appears to have been surrounded by a rude stone enclosure, approaching to an oval form, the
extreme length being 117 feet, and the width 101. 6 In the most elevated part, the breast-work was twelve feet in height, and within it is a holy well,
still frequented by pilgrims. ? The foregoing conclusion as to locality is fairly warranted from the statement, that St. Patrick when he left Naas went into
:
land,"
i. , County
and soon afterwards he
of the 8 Liffey.
from it to the
Here too has been placed 9 one of the Palladian churches at Donard, variously
called Domnach Arda, Domnach Ardec, and Domnach Airte, or " the Church of the High Place," as also Domnach Ardacha, " the Church of the High Field. " 10 This is now the village of Donard, 11 in the barony of Lower Talbots- town. " Onthissiteandintheimmediateneighbourhood,thereareseveral vestiges'pf pagan and of Christian habitations. Here, it is probable, the church known as Cill-Aird was located, and it may be regarded as identical with that very ancient and curious old ruin, which has so remarkable an elevation on
x
the top of Sliebh Gadoe, 3 otherwise called Church Mountain, near Donard.
Hy-Garchon,
passed
plain
Article v. —* Edited Kelly, p. xxviii.
a
lowing stanza, —translated by Dr. Whitley
Stokes, occurs
rrUpcpA Cirtiomf Crvifc rnhAc&ch mbitbe
Camnbpech Comaif Ailbe £eil T)i5|\Aif "Oarvcinrie.
6 Aview and of this ancient work plan
In the "Leabhar Breac" copy the fol-
tannia," vol. iii.
7 See J. N. Brewer's "Beauties of Ire-
"
Christ : Thomas' translation hear thou :
See Very Rev. James Henthorn Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland," chap, i. ,
Cyrion's
martyrdom, no paltry prayer to
Dairtinne's excellent feast. "
of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manu-
in the
so named, are described on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Wicklow," sheets 15, 21.
" See an account of this place in the
"Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, "vol. ii. ,
pp. 32, 33.
I3 For an account of this place, the reader
" isreferredtoLeitchRitcluVs Ireland,Pic-
script Series, vol. i. , parti. dar of Oengus, p. cix.
3 See ibid. , p. cxv.
4 This name it seems to have taken from Garchon, who was father to its ruler Nathi, who lived in the time of St. Palladius and ofSt. Patrick.
by
Rev. Dr.
—"Transactions On the Calen-
p. 295,
3.
s See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," turesque and Romantic," chap, xiv. , pp. Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxiv. , xxv„ 259, 260.
