Ailbe had been consecrated ; yet, it can
scarcely
be doubted, that he became a bishop before the year 492, when a violent end befell King ^ngus.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
St.
Patrick ; while others state, he had been ordained priest, and subsequently consecrated bishop, for the work of the ministry.
It is said, that King ^Engus and St.
Patrick greatly rejoiced at Ailbe's arrival, in the royal city of Cashel ; and while our saint remained there with other holy men, many Christian laws,13 regarding ecclesiastical rule and discipline, were framed.
These tended much, as we are told, towards a future propagation of the faith.
T * The meeting of St.
Patrick and St.
Ailbe is referred by Ussher, to the year 449.
15 Although at first, not in accord with the Irish Apostle, it is said that Ailbe, Declan, Ibar and Kieran were afterwards his friends.
Among them, we are told, that St.
Ailbe went to the City of Cashel, where he met St.
Patrick.
Whileinthebeginningdisinclinedtosubmitinthepresenceof King ^Engus ; nevertheless, Ailbe afterwards made obeisance to the Irish Apostle, acknowledging him as a master with all humility.
By a truly learned historian of the Irish Church, it is thought to be quite improbable, that any question ever arose between them about the matter of disputed precedence or 16 It is
Patricks Jocelyn, also, especially calls those saints his disciples.
how the
and St. Patrick, resolved, that the See of Ailbe should be fixed at Imleach-
jurisdiction.
related,
King
of Cashel, with all his
people,
Jubhair,
1 ? now known as of St. Patrick Emly. Moreover,byappointment
in the Kilkenny MS. , belonging to the
Patricii, Ibernorum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. , might engage the investigator of this subject,
*< Yet, if such events took place, we may
Bollandists. Yet, Suyskens observes :
"
Sed
ex eod«m apographo cum duobus aliis collato
contrarium evincitur. " "
7 See Trias Thaumaturga. ," Quinta Ap- regard it as very strange, that they are not
pendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. p. recorded in any of St. Patrick's Lives,
265. which are accessible. ? ]
Tirechan, as quoted by Sir James Ware. s See Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- 9 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," quitates," Index Chronolcgicus, p. 517.
Septima p. 156-
Vita S.
Patricii,
lib.
iii. , cap. xxxiii. ,
l0 See Dr. " Ecclesiastical Ilis- Lanigan's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, vii. , pp. 283, 284.
'7 Rendered into English, by Dr. O'Dono-
the Helm or Strath of the Yew. "— "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , p. 182, n. (c). In Latin documents, this see is usually called Imelaca. It also bears the names Emely and Imleca-Ibar. See
10
See ibid. , Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap.
1 xxxiii. , p. 84. ""
11 See, Opuscula adscripta S. Patricio," Annotationes.
12 "
See Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates, cap. xvii. , pp. 451, 452.
13 Whether any of these are to be found
in the work, so learnedly edited by Father
van,
Joachim Laurence Villaneueva,
"
Sancti
"
Antiquitates, cap. xvii. , p. 450.
Ussher's
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
288 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 12.
and King iEngus or ^Eneas, son to Natfraich, the church and city of St. Ailbe are stated to have been regarded as Archiepiscopal for all Minister. 18
Near a lake, which is now nearly dried up, St. Ailbe built his Cathedral Church. Incourseoftime,ImleachorEmlygrewuptobeafamouscity;but, at present, it has declined in population, and is only a small village. The site of the old cathedral was within the graveyard, and on it a Protestant
church had been built, in the year 1825, which replaced a mediaeval 1
structure. ? At this time, great Vandalism had been practised ; and several
Old Cathedral Church, Emly.
old monuments were mutilated ; while, in the surrounding walls of the en-
closure are some extremely ancient sculpturings, including the mitred head
of a and the heads of two 20 bishop priests.
Formerly the lake covered 200 acres or more of what is now excellent
pasturage. A ferry was kept there, so that people might be conveyed over that lake to the church. Although drained almost dry in the year 171 7 or
Such statements are to be found, in the Acts of St. Declan.
19 A pencil sketch of this building, and
while it stood, was taken by a member of a
Protestant family, who have since become shamrocks, all built into the walls, and Catholics. A true copy of the original was
drawn by an English convert lady, in 1847,
at Aix-les-Bains, in Savoy, and presented
to the Very Rev. Maurice Canon Power,
the present Parish Priest of Emly, who
kindly lent it to the writer, for the purpose
of giving the illustration here presented. It
was drawn on the wood and engraved by
21 there was a Lane, called "Lane of the Cot or Bothar-y-Coit, i. e. ,
1718,
Boat,"andthisledfromEmlytothelowbottoms,coveredbywater. Long after the ferry-boat ceased plying, and even when the lake had been com- pletely drained, a Crown-Rent was charged for such obsolete service. 22 The
18
Gregor Grey. It represents the church as it appeared, about the year 1650.
20 " Inserted in the walls are portions of ancient tombstones, carvings, sculpturings,
utilised by the Vandals without decency or
—" of and as it respect. " Emly Old, Emly
is," p. 6.
31
By Robert Reeves, Esq.
""About the year 1703," writes Harris,
" some people digging turf in the neighbour-
ing bog, discovered a large post standing in the ground, and an iron ring fixed in it
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 289
country around is very fertile, and the scenery beautiful. Formerly this see
was rich in landed possessions. Emly lies within the County of Tipperary, 2
in South Munster, near the River Glason. 3 It is doubtful, however, whether
this city was ever properly regarded as an archiepiscopal see. That it was an ancient episcopal town seems certain ; but, with the exception of Cashel, no other Munster city at any time enjoyed such rank. 2* Yet, we occasionally
2* Although there would seem to have been some sort of pre-eminence annexed
find a prelate of Emly dignified in old records with the title of Archbishop.
to Emly, as it had been a bishop's see, the first erected in Munster ;
26
still, there is no clear evidence of any jurisdiction attaching to an archbishopric
established in its favour.
Before the rise of Cashel city, Emly had been regarded as the most
respectable see in Munster. It is thought to have been founded by the 2
great Irish Apostle and by King ^Engus. ? Ailbe has always been recognised as its first bishop; and, he is said to have been actively engaged, while a
prelate, in forwarding the interests of religion throughout Munster, during a8 29"
the reign of King ^Engus. Moreover, it is asserted, that the Law of "
Ailbe was embraced in Munster. It has been stated by Sir James Ware, 3°
that a " Monastica," written our Saint, had been Manuscript Regula by
extant in the seventeenth century. Among our Irish Manuscripts, in the Royal Irish Academy, there is in verse A Rule of Ailbhe Imbleach or St
1
It is probable, St. Ailbe could not have been a bishop before the middle of the fifth century, as he lived on to the year 527. He must have been very young, therefore, when St. Patrick took him in charge, which we cannot suppose to have been
Ailbe of Emly, instructing Eoghan, the son of Saran. 3
prior to his arrival in Munster. 3
2
which was
fastening the ferry-boat to. " Harris'
seliensium et Tuamensium Vitse," Dublinii, 1626, sm. 4to.
Ware, vol. i. , 490.
"
Bishops of Emly," pp. 489,
27 Sir James Ware, quoting the old author of the Life of St. Declan, has the following
" Rex iEngusa et Sanctus
to be —there for supposed placed
p.
I.
23 According to Gough's Camden's " Bri- tannia," vol. iii. , County of Tipperary, p.
statement
Patricius cum omni populo ordinaverunt archiepiscopatum Momonise in civitate et in
520.
24 See
book ii.
clergy of Cashel had been obliged in the
ninth century to quit that city and seek a
refuge from the Danish persecution of Tur-
gesius, in the fastness of Emly, where they
remained for a time ; therefore it had been
supposed, by Keating, that Emly had or Ulster Annals, at the year 792. See Wil-
become an archiepiscopal see.
25 In an ancient Life of St. Pulcherius, we
find that in the sixth or seventh century an
archbishop of Emly is there mentioned.
Among the Emly episcopacy is also men-
tioned Maelbrigid, Archbishop of Munster,
who died A. D. 895. See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
" 26
i. 2. i. , cap. , p.
31 It contains 216 verses, and is to be found
among the O'Longan MSS. , vol. xiv. , p. 186.
"
sede S. tunc ab eisdem archie-
of
Because the archbishop and piscopus ordinatus est. "
Keating's
History
Ireland,"
Albei, qui —"De
Bishops of Emly," p. 492.
Sir James Ware, treating about the
32 "If it be true that Ailbe studied under a Bishop Hilarius on the Continent, the most " Cum probable conjecture is that he was Hilarius Casselia per annos cccclx. S. Albei et of Aries. Besides other circumstances there successorum Episcoporum Emelacensium touched upon, the time answers very well ;
Cormacus filius Culinani (iam regno Casseliensi potitus)
Casseliae novam Ecclesiam Cathedralem Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
Archbishops of Cashel, writes
:
jurisdictioni subfuisset
for Ailbe
to Hilarius, who lived until the year 449. "
;
have been sent about — might 446
History erexit : ubi ipse "Episcopi munus (quod of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n.
mireris) obivit. "— Archi Episcoporum Cas- 76, p. 290.
:
Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 2. 28 "
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, vii. , pp, 347, 348.
29 By the compiler of tbe -AnnAlA uLvoh,
liam M. Hennessy's edition, vol. i. , pp. 272, 273-
3° See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib.
Scriptoribus
T
2Q0 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
The Bollandists have imagined, that our saint became a bishop so early
as 464,33 but Dr. Lanigan regards the computation on which they founded such a date as extremely doubtful. Nevertheless, considering that he might have been under the Irish Apostle's tuition so early as 445, and that he was then ten years old, it cannot be denied, Ailbe might have attained episcopal
rank about 465. For, being a man of extraordinary merit, we may suppose his promotion took place, when the canonical age admitted it. Then, allowing he was thirty years of age in 464, Ailbe must have attained his ninety-third year in 527, when he is said to have died. This hypothesis implies nothing very extraordinary, especially when referring to individuals of religious and abstemious habits, as such persons generally live much longer than people following a different manner of life. 34 There is no possibility for ascertaining by whom St.
Ailbe had been consecrated ; yet, it can scarcely be doubted, that he became a bishop before the year 492, when a violent end befell King ^ngus. ss Moreover, the period of St. Ailbe's episcopacy is referred by our most intelligent writers, to the latter part of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century. Our Saint has always been regarded as one of the Irish fathers of the Church, and he is enumerated first, in the
6
Paschal Epistle of Cummian. 3
tion, that St. Ailbe belonged to an order of Canons Regular. 37 But, it would seem, that he had left behind him some sort of Religious Rule. 38 Colgan mentions, that St. Ailbe was the first abbot and bishop of Emly, which is also called Jobhairand Imleach Jobhuir. 39 But, whether the afore- said Rule for Canons Regular was written by the founder of Emly monastery ornotisamatterwhichcannotbeeasilydeteimined. TheRuleinquestion has not yet been published. 40
Among the disciples of St. Ailbe, we find St. Colman of Dromore41 and
St. Nessan of Mungret42 particularly noted. 43 From these accounts we are
led to suppose, that he kept a famous school, in which they were instructed
in sacred learning, their master being regarded as a wise and religious man.
We are 44 that when St. Patrick was in the of 4s told, territory Hy-Cuanach,
he was at first very much opposed by a dynast, named Olild. But, this chief, his family and subjects are said to have been converted and baptised, after St. Patrick had ordered Ailbe and Ibar to offer their prayers to God. 46
33 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. ,Sep- tembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Epis-
copo Imelacensi, Sylloge Historico-Critica,"
scutellis ; item poma, cervisia, et exalveario m'ellis ad latitudinem policis : id est, aliquot favi. " Num. 37.
sect, ii. , num. 26, 34 See Rev. Dr.
pp. 29, 30.
3* See ibid. , Vita S.
Molaggre,
n.
" Writers of
Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii ,
4° In Harris' Ware, vol.
vii. , p. 347, and nn. 79, 80, p. 349. "
his
" Cum sedent ad
it : mensam,
4S Now the north-eastern Limerick.
of of
in the the County of
herba sive radices,
adferantur in mundis
4<s "
"
Dr.
"
are
aqua lotse,
Here,
says
Lanigan,
they
" Ecclesiastical
27, p. 150.
by Colgan,
There is no good foundation for the asser-
sect.
we are told, ''of his work there is vet remaining—A
35 In the Chronicum Scotorum," the Rule for Monks, in MS. '" See p. 5.
battle of Cill Osnaigh, in Magh Fea, where
he fell, is placed at A. D. 487. See William
M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 30, 31.
36 See Ussher's " Veterum Epistolarum
Hibernicarum Sylloge. " Epistola xi. , p. 33. 37 Such is an account contained in the Paris Missal, to which further allusion shall be
made.
38 This is a statement made
"
Februarii. De S. Dominico. nn.
328. He quotes the following extract from
4I His Life is given at the 7th of June, the day for his feast, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
42 His feast occurs at the 25th of July, where notices of him may be found in the Seventh Volume of this work. Art. ii.
43 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 497.
44 "Trias " See, Colgan's Thauniaturga
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. xxxiii.
in Acta Sanctorum Iliberniye," xiii.
7, 8, p.
barony part
Coonagh,
ii. , Ireland," book i. , chap, ii. ,
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 291
It is stated, that while St. Ailbe had been returning from Cashel to Emly, he was met by Enna or Enda. *? This latter requested our Saint to return
with him, and supplicate King yEngus, to grant him the Island of Arn or Aran/8 Here Enda intended to erect a monastery. Ailbe is reported to have complied with this request, and he obtained for Enda the Island. w When this matter had been brought under his notice, JEngus declared, that he had not before heard about such an island existing within his dominions. We are told, that ^Engus afterwards saw it in a vision. 50 Suyskens did not regard, as worthy of his notice, many miracles attributed to St. Ailbe, and which were found recorded in his old Acts. Nor did he think those fables, found in the Lives of other Irish Saints, regarding him, as deserving more credit. With Papebroke, he is ready to conclude, that St. Ailbe probably came to Ireland, after the great St. Patrick's demise. 51 If we are to credit an old writer of Ailbe's Acts,52 our Saint, after obtaining the gift of Aran Island for his friend, St. Enda, wished to avoid the worldly honours heaped on him by men. Manysuitableplacesofretirementofferingtohisnotice,heresolved to select an Island in the Ocean named Tyle. 53 Here he intended to serve God in perfect solitude. But yEngus, King of Cashel, was inspired by
Heaven to prevent this seclusion. He placed guards on all the sea-coast ports, so that Ailbe could not escape from the people he had regenerated in baptism, and who formed his spiritual charge. 5* The whole of Ireland was blessed by St. Ailbe's evangelical labours, and the Almighty was pleased to bestow on him a most welcome reward. By his example, not less than by his teaching, many of its chiefs and people embraced the faith of Christ. 55 Recognised as another St. Patrick, and regarded as the second Patron of Munster, after the great Irish Apostle, he was acknowledged, moreover, to have become the great ornament of his newly established Church.
It has been supposed,56 nevertheless, that the great Apostle of Ireland,
called bishops ; but, that must be under- est, cum hujus Acta pariter fabulosa sint
stood of their having been so, not at that
time, which was probably A. D. 446, but at a
later period. They were then in a state of
scholarship, and belonged to that class of
young gentlemen, whom their saint was ancients, and as Ussher believes, it was wont to have in his suite as pupils. "
He adds, that Ibar was, in all likelihood, older than Ailbe, having died long before him, viz. , in the year 503. See " Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76, p. 290.
4? His Life has been already given at the 2ist of March, the date for his festival, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
48 It is the largest of the South Isles of Arran, which are three in number, and lie in the mouth of the bay of Galway.
49 It has been called Ara-na naomh, or Aran of the Saints. In Ailbe's Life ;
"
"
identical with the present Iceland, situated on the verge of the Arctic Ocean. It is generally supposed to have been first dis- covered by a Norwegian pirate, named Naodr, about a. d. 860, and to have been colonized by two Norwegian noblemen, Ingulf and Hiorleif. " It is asserted in some of the Icelandic Sagas, that there were actual settlements in the island before this period, and that as early as the fifth century Iceland had —been colonized from
Magna est ilia insula, et est terra Sane-
torum; quia nemo scit numerum Sanctorum
qui sepulti sunt ibi, nisi solus Deus. " See this work, Art. ii. l)r. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of
Ireland," vol. i , chap, viii. , sect, vii. , and
n. 81, pp. 396, 397.
50 See Ussher's
Britannicarum Ecclesi-
bus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 2.
s^By Father Papebroke. See the Ed- s' Suyskens adds : "Quod de erudito landists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Colmano additur, nullius quoque momenti Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo Apos-
arum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
quemadmodum ad diem vii. Junii, ubi edita sunt, dictum est. "
52 AscitedbyArchbishopUssher.
s3 This Island was» called Thule by the
" Gazetteer of the World," vol. vii. , p. 201. See further accounts regarding this Island, in the Acts of St. Buo, Missionary in Iceland, at the 5th of February, in the Second Volume of
Scotland and Ireland.
54 See Ussher's Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
55 See Sir James Ware's " De Scriptori-
292 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
St Patrick, had departed this life when St. Ailbe and St. Declan returned as bishops from Rome. A conjecture has been hazarded5? that after the great Apostle of Ireland had preached the faith throughout that Island, St,
Ailbe and St. Declan, with many others, went to Rome, in order to perfect themselves in sacred learning. After the Saints already mentioned had given proof of their ecclesiastical knowledge and virtue, it has been supposed,
they might have been consecrated Bishops by St. Hilarus, Pope, and after- wards sent by him as missionaries to Ireland. This possibly occurred, when the successor of the great St. Patrick,58 who was also named Sen-Patricius,59 ruled over Armagh See. 60 Consequently, whatever transactions of St. Ailbe with St. Patrick may be found in these old lives are thought referable more
to Sen-Patricius,
'
6
62
The Annals
than to our more celebrated Irish Apostle.
of Connaught refer the death of Sen-Patraic, or Old Patrick, to a. d. , 453 j while the "Ulster Annals," 63 the " Chronicum Scotorum," 6^ and the Four
66
Masters,65 refer it to a. d. 457.
Assuming the episcopal consecration of St. Ailbe and St. Declan at Rome,
and the probability of that dispute with St. Patrick at Cashel, perhaps those
missioners supposed, that his prerogative of Apostle departed with him, and that they were not subject to a bishop, who had not consecrated them.
Wherefore, they refused to acknowledge the primacy of the Bishop of Armagh, although he called himself Comorbhan, or successor to St. Patrick. Then, without recognising his supremacy, St. Ailbe might have established missions in Munster, or St. Declan possibly preached among the Desii ; until Sen-Patricius, not so much by his authority and rule, as by his piety, humility and other virtues, moved them to submission. To avoid possible schism, to procure the common good and Christian peace, as also because the supremacy of Armagh had been established through the great Irish Apostle's authority,
tolo et Primate Hiberniae.
Patricks Jocelyn, also, especially calls those saints his disciples.
how the
and St. Patrick, resolved, that the See of Ailbe should be fixed at Imleach-
jurisdiction.
related,
King
of Cashel, with all his
people,
Jubhair,
1 ? now known as of St. Patrick Emly. Moreover,byappointment
in the Kilkenny MS. , belonging to the
Patricii, Ibernorum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opuscula," &c. , might engage the investigator of this subject,
*< Yet, if such events took place, we may
Bollandists. Yet, Suyskens observes :
"
Sed
ex eod«m apographo cum duobus aliis collato
contrarium evincitur. " "
7 See Trias Thaumaturga. ," Quinta Ap- regard it as very strange, that they are not
pendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxiii. p. recorded in any of St. Patrick's Lives,
265. which are accessible. ? ]
Tirechan, as quoted by Sir James Ware. s See Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- 9 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," quitates," Index Chronolcgicus, p. 517.
Septima p. 156-
Vita S.
Patricii,
lib.
iii. , cap. xxxiii. ,
l0 See Dr. " Ecclesiastical Ilis- Lanigan's
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, vii. , pp. 283, 284.
'7 Rendered into English, by Dr. O'Dono-
the Helm or Strath of the Yew. "— "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , p. 182, n. (c). In Latin documents, this see is usually called Imelaca. It also bears the names Emely and Imleca-Ibar. See
10
See ibid. , Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap.
1 xxxiii. , p. 84. ""
11 See, Opuscula adscripta S. Patricio," Annotationes.
12 "
See Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates, cap. xvii. , pp. 451, 452.
13 Whether any of these are to be found
in the work, so learnedly edited by Father
van,
Joachim Laurence Villaneueva,
"
Sancti
"
Antiquitates, cap. xvii. , p. 450.
Ussher's
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
288 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 12.
and King iEngus or ^Eneas, son to Natfraich, the church and city of St. Ailbe are stated to have been regarded as Archiepiscopal for all Minister. 18
Near a lake, which is now nearly dried up, St. Ailbe built his Cathedral Church. Incourseoftime,ImleachorEmlygrewuptobeafamouscity;but, at present, it has declined in population, and is only a small village. The site of the old cathedral was within the graveyard, and on it a Protestant
church had been built, in the year 1825, which replaced a mediaeval 1
structure. ? At this time, great Vandalism had been practised ; and several
Old Cathedral Church, Emly.
old monuments were mutilated ; while, in the surrounding walls of the en-
closure are some extremely ancient sculpturings, including the mitred head
of a and the heads of two 20 bishop priests.
Formerly the lake covered 200 acres or more of what is now excellent
pasturage. A ferry was kept there, so that people might be conveyed over that lake to the church. Although drained almost dry in the year 171 7 or
Such statements are to be found, in the Acts of St. Declan.
19 A pencil sketch of this building, and
while it stood, was taken by a member of a
Protestant family, who have since become shamrocks, all built into the walls, and Catholics. A true copy of the original was
drawn by an English convert lady, in 1847,
at Aix-les-Bains, in Savoy, and presented
to the Very Rev. Maurice Canon Power,
the present Parish Priest of Emly, who
kindly lent it to the writer, for the purpose
of giving the illustration here presented. It
was drawn on the wood and engraved by
21 there was a Lane, called "Lane of the Cot or Bothar-y-Coit, i. e. ,
1718,
Boat,"andthisledfromEmlytothelowbottoms,coveredbywater. Long after the ferry-boat ceased plying, and even when the lake had been com- pletely drained, a Crown-Rent was charged for such obsolete service. 22 The
18
Gregor Grey. It represents the church as it appeared, about the year 1650.
20 " Inserted in the walls are portions of ancient tombstones, carvings, sculpturings,
utilised by the Vandals without decency or
—" of and as it respect. " Emly Old, Emly
is," p. 6.
31
By Robert Reeves, Esq.
""About the year 1703," writes Harris,
" some people digging turf in the neighbour-
ing bog, discovered a large post standing in the ground, and an iron ring fixed in it
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 289
country around is very fertile, and the scenery beautiful. Formerly this see
was rich in landed possessions. Emly lies within the County of Tipperary, 2
in South Munster, near the River Glason. 3 It is doubtful, however, whether
this city was ever properly regarded as an archiepiscopal see. That it was an ancient episcopal town seems certain ; but, with the exception of Cashel, no other Munster city at any time enjoyed such rank. 2* Yet, we occasionally
2* Although there would seem to have been some sort of pre-eminence annexed
find a prelate of Emly dignified in old records with the title of Archbishop.
to Emly, as it had been a bishop's see, the first erected in Munster ;
26
still, there is no clear evidence of any jurisdiction attaching to an archbishopric
established in its favour.
Before the rise of Cashel city, Emly had been regarded as the most
respectable see in Munster. It is thought to have been founded by the 2
great Irish Apostle and by King ^Engus. ? Ailbe has always been recognised as its first bishop; and, he is said to have been actively engaged, while a
prelate, in forwarding the interests of religion throughout Munster, during a8 29"
the reign of King ^Engus. Moreover, it is asserted, that the Law of "
Ailbe was embraced in Munster. It has been stated by Sir James Ware, 3°
that a " Monastica," written our Saint, had been Manuscript Regula by
extant in the seventeenth century. Among our Irish Manuscripts, in the Royal Irish Academy, there is in verse A Rule of Ailbhe Imbleach or St
1
It is probable, St. Ailbe could not have been a bishop before the middle of the fifth century, as he lived on to the year 527. He must have been very young, therefore, when St. Patrick took him in charge, which we cannot suppose to have been
Ailbe of Emly, instructing Eoghan, the son of Saran. 3
prior to his arrival in Munster. 3
2
which was
fastening the ferry-boat to. " Harris'
seliensium et Tuamensium Vitse," Dublinii, 1626, sm. 4to.
Ware, vol. i. , 490.
"
Bishops of Emly," pp. 489,
27 Sir James Ware, quoting the old author of the Life of St. Declan, has the following
" Rex iEngusa et Sanctus
to be —there for supposed placed
p.
I.
23 According to Gough's Camden's " Bri- tannia," vol. iii. , County of Tipperary, p.
statement
Patricius cum omni populo ordinaverunt archiepiscopatum Momonise in civitate et in
520.
24 See
book ii.
clergy of Cashel had been obliged in the
ninth century to quit that city and seek a
refuge from the Danish persecution of Tur-
gesius, in the fastness of Emly, where they
remained for a time ; therefore it had been
supposed, by Keating, that Emly had or Ulster Annals, at the year 792. See Wil-
become an archiepiscopal see.
25 In an ancient Life of St. Pulcherius, we
find that in the sixth or seventh century an
archbishop of Emly is there mentioned.
Among the Emly episcopacy is also men-
tioned Maelbrigid, Archbishop of Munster,
who died A. D. 895. See Harris' Ware, vol. i. ,
" 26
i. 2. i. , cap. , p.
31 It contains 216 verses, and is to be found
among the O'Longan MSS. , vol. xiv. , p. 186.
"
sede S. tunc ab eisdem archie-
of
Because the archbishop and piscopus ordinatus est. "
Keating's
History
Ireland,"
Albei, qui —"De
Bishops of Emly," p. 492.
Sir James Ware, treating about the
32 "If it be true that Ailbe studied under a Bishop Hilarius on the Continent, the most " Cum probable conjecture is that he was Hilarius Casselia per annos cccclx. S. Albei et of Aries. Besides other circumstances there successorum Episcoporum Emelacensium touched upon, the time answers very well ;
Cormacus filius Culinani (iam regno Casseliensi potitus)
Casseliae novam Ecclesiam Cathedralem Rev. Dr. " Ecclesiastical Lanigan's
Archbishops of Cashel, writes
:
jurisdictioni subfuisset
for Ailbe
to Hilarius, who lived until the year 449. "
;
have been sent about — might 446
History erexit : ubi ipse "Episcopi munus (quod of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n.
mireris) obivit. "— Archi Episcoporum Cas- 76, p. 290.
:
Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 2. 28 "
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , sect, vii. , pp, 347, 348.
29 By the compiler of tbe -AnnAlA uLvoh,
liam M. Hennessy's edition, vol. i. , pp. 272, 273-
3° See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib.
Scriptoribus
T
2Q0 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
The Bollandists have imagined, that our saint became a bishop so early
as 464,33 but Dr. Lanigan regards the computation on which they founded such a date as extremely doubtful. Nevertheless, considering that he might have been under the Irish Apostle's tuition so early as 445, and that he was then ten years old, it cannot be denied, Ailbe might have attained episcopal
rank about 465. For, being a man of extraordinary merit, we may suppose his promotion took place, when the canonical age admitted it. Then, allowing he was thirty years of age in 464, Ailbe must have attained his ninety-third year in 527, when he is said to have died. This hypothesis implies nothing very extraordinary, especially when referring to individuals of religious and abstemious habits, as such persons generally live much longer than people following a different manner of life. 34 There is no possibility for ascertaining by whom St.
Ailbe had been consecrated ; yet, it can scarcely be doubted, that he became a bishop before the year 492, when a violent end befell King ^ngus. ss Moreover, the period of St. Ailbe's episcopacy is referred by our most intelligent writers, to the latter part of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century. Our Saint has always been regarded as one of the Irish fathers of the Church, and he is enumerated first, in the
6
Paschal Epistle of Cummian. 3
tion, that St. Ailbe belonged to an order of Canons Regular. 37 But, it would seem, that he had left behind him some sort of Religious Rule. 38 Colgan mentions, that St. Ailbe was the first abbot and bishop of Emly, which is also called Jobhairand Imleach Jobhuir. 39 But, whether the afore- said Rule for Canons Regular was written by the founder of Emly monastery ornotisamatterwhichcannotbeeasilydeteimined. TheRuleinquestion has not yet been published. 40
Among the disciples of St. Ailbe, we find St. Colman of Dromore41 and
St. Nessan of Mungret42 particularly noted. 43 From these accounts we are
led to suppose, that he kept a famous school, in which they were instructed
in sacred learning, their master being regarded as a wise and religious man.
We are 44 that when St. Patrick was in the of 4s told, territory Hy-Cuanach,
he was at first very much opposed by a dynast, named Olild. But, this chief, his family and subjects are said to have been converted and baptised, after St. Patrick had ordered Ailbe and Ibar to offer their prayers to God. 46
33 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. ,Sep- tembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Epis-
copo Imelacensi, Sylloge Historico-Critica,"
scutellis ; item poma, cervisia, et exalveario m'ellis ad latitudinem policis : id est, aliquot favi. " Num. 37.
sect, ii. , num. 26, 34 See Rev. Dr.
pp. 29, 30.
3* See ibid. , Vita S.
Molaggre,
n.
" Writers of
Lanigan's
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vii ,
4° In Harris' Ware, vol.
vii. , p. 347, and nn. 79, 80, p. 349. "
his
" Cum sedent ad
it : mensam,
4S Now the north-eastern Limerick.
of of
in the the County of
herba sive radices,
adferantur in mundis
4<s "
"
Dr.
"
are
aqua lotse,
Here,
says
Lanigan,
they
" Ecclesiastical
27, p. 150.
by Colgan,
There is no good foundation for the asser-
sect.
we are told, ''of his work there is vet remaining—A
35 In the Chronicum Scotorum," the Rule for Monks, in MS. '" See p. 5.
battle of Cill Osnaigh, in Magh Fea, where
he fell, is placed at A. D. 487. See William
M. Hennessy's edition, pp. 30, 31.
36 See Ussher's " Veterum Epistolarum
Hibernicarum Sylloge. " Epistola xi. , p. 33. 37 Such is an account contained in the Paris Missal, to which further allusion shall be
made.
38 This is a statement made
"
Februarii. De S. Dominico. nn.
328. He quotes the following extract from
4I His Life is given at the 7th of June, the day for his feast, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. i.
42 His feast occurs at the 25th of July, where notices of him may be found in the Seventh Volume of this work. Art. ii.
43 See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 497.
44 "Trias " See, Colgan's Thauniaturga
Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. xxxiii.
in Acta Sanctorum Iliberniye," xiii.
7, 8, p.
barony part
Coonagh,
ii. , Ireland," book i. , chap, ii. ,
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 291
It is stated, that while St. Ailbe had been returning from Cashel to Emly, he was met by Enna or Enda. *? This latter requested our Saint to return
with him, and supplicate King yEngus, to grant him the Island of Arn or Aran/8 Here Enda intended to erect a monastery. Ailbe is reported to have complied with this request, and he obtained for Enda the Island. w When this matter had been brought under his notice, JEngus declared, that he had not before heard about such an island existing within his dominions. We are told, that ^Engus afterwards saw it in a vision. 50 Suyskens did not regard, as worthy of his notice, many miracles attributed to St. Ailbe, and which were found recorded in his old Acts. Nor did he think those fables, found in the Lives of other Irish Saints, regarding him, as deserving more credit. With Papebroke, he is ready to conclude, that St. Ailbe probably came to Ireland, after the great St. Patrick's demise. 51 If we are to credit an old writer of Ailbe's Acts,52 our Saint, after obtaining the gift of Aran Island for his friend, St. Enda, wished to avoid the worldly honours heaped on him by men. Manysuitableplacesofretirementofferingtohisnotice,heresolved to select an Island in the Ocean named Tyle. 53 Here he intended to serve God in perfect solitude. But yEngus, King of Cashel, was inspired by
Heaven to prevent this seclusion. He placed guards on all the sea-coast ports, so that Ailbe could not escape from the people he had regenerated in baptism, and who formed his spiritual charge. 5* The whole of Ireland was blessed by St. Ailbe's evangelical labours, and the Almighty was pleased to bestow on him a most welcome reward. By his example, not less than by his teaching, many of its chiefs and people embraced the faith of Christ. 55 Recognised as another St. Patrick, and regarded as the second Patron of Munster, after the great Irish Apostle, he was acknowledged, moreover, to have become the great ornament of his newly established Church.
It has been supposed,56 nevertheless, that the great Apostle of Ireland,
called bishops ; but, that must be under- est, cum hujus Acta pariter fabulosa sint
stood of their having been so, not at that
time, which was probably A. D. 446, but at a
later period. They were then in a state of
scholarship, and belonged to that class of
young gentlemen, whom their saint was ancients, and as Ussher believes, it was wont to have in his suite as pupils. "
He adds, that Ibar was, in all likelihood, older than Ailbe, having died long before him, viz. , in the year 503. See " Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sect, viii. , n. 76, p. 290.
4? His Life has been already given at the 2ist of March, the date for his festival, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
48 It is the largest of the South Isles of Arran, which are three in number, and lie in the mouth of the bay of Galway.
49 It has been called Ara-na naomh, or Aran of the Saints. In Ailbe's Life ;
"
"
identical with the present Iceland, situated on the verge of the Arctic Ocean. It is generally supposed to have been first dis- covered by a Norwegian pirate, named Naodr, about a. d. 860, and to have been colonized by two Norwegian noblemen, Ingulf and Hiorleif. " It is asserted in some of the Icelandic Sagas, that there were actual settlements in the island before this period, and that as early as the fifth century Iceland had —been colonized from
Magna est ilia insula, et est terra Sane-
torum; quia nemo scit numerum Sanctorum
qui sepulti sunt ibi, nisi solus Deus. " See this work, Art. ii. l)r. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of
Ireland," vol. i , chap, viii. , sect, vii. , and
n. 81, pp. 396, 397.
50 See Ussher's
Britannicarum Ecclesi-
bus Hiberniae," lib. i. , cap. i. , p. 2.
s^By Father Papebroke. See the Ed- s' Suyskens adds : "Quod de erudito landists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Colmano additur, nullius quoque momenti Martii xvii. De S. Patricio Episcopo Apos-
arum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
quemadmodum ad diem vii. Junii, ubi edita sunt, dictum est. "
52 AscitedbyArchbishopUssher.
s3 This Island was» called Thule by the
" Gazetteer of the World," vol. vii. , p. 201. See further accounts regarding this Island, in the Acts of St. Buo, Missionary in Iceland, at the 5th of February, in the Second Volume of
Scotland and Ireland.
54 See Ussher's Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 451.
55 See Sir James Ware's " De Scriptori-
292 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
St Patrick, had departed this life when St. Ailbe and St. Declan returned as bishops from Rome. A conjecture has been hazarded5? that after the great Apostle of Ireland had preached the faith throughout that Island, St,
Ailbe and St. Declan, with many others, went to Rome, in order to perfect themselves in sacred learning. After the Saints already mentioned had given proof of their ecclesiastical knowledge and virtue, it has been supposed,
they might have been consecrated Bishops by St. Hilarus, Pope, and after- wards sent by him as missionaries to Ireland. This possibly occurred, when the successor of the great St. Patrick,58 who was also named Sen-Patricius,59 ruled over Armagh See. 60 Consequently, whatever transactions of St. Ailbe with St. Patrick may be found in these old lives are thought referable more
to Sen-Patricius,
'
6
62
The Annals
than to our more celebrated Irish Apostle.
of Connaught refer the death of Sen-Patraic, or Old Patrick, to a. d. , 453 j while the "Ulster Annals," 63 the " Chronicum Scotorum," 6^ and the Four
66
Masters,65 refer it to a. d. 457.
Assuming the episcopal consecration of St. Ailbe and St. Declan at Rome,
and the probability of that dispute with St. Patrick at Cashel, perhaps those
missioners supposed, that his prerogative of Apostle departed with him, and that they were not subject to a bishop, who had not consecrated them.
Wherefore, they refused to acknowledge the primacy of the Bishop of Armagh, although he called himself Comorbhan, or successor to St. Patrick. Then, without recognising his supremacy, St. Ailbe might have established missions in Munster, or St. Declan possibly preached among the Desii ; until Sen-Patricius, not so much by his authority and rule, as by his piety, humility and other virtues, moved them to submission. To avoid possible schism, to procure the common good and Christian peace, as also because the supremacy of Armagh had been established through the great Irish Apostle's authority,
tolo et Primate Hiberniae.
