No More Learning

paper "On Some Ecclesiastical Bells," &c.
576 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 31.
located, about a furlong north of the graveyard. 9^ We are informed, that an abbey of St. Maidockhad been founded for Canons Regular of St. Augustine,
in the sixth century at Bolhendesart, anciently called Desert Nairbre, in Waterford county. 97 A monaster)'- is said to have existed at Conry, a parish inthebaronyofRathconrath,andcountyofWestmeath. Theoldchurch there measures fifty-nine feet, by eighteen feet two inches ; and its old bells are said to have been found here some years ago, but they were sold to some antiquaryorsocietyinDublin. Anoldhorizontalstoneliesinthecemetery, under which, it is said, seven bishops, whose names are not known, lie buried. The parish is supposed to have been dedicated to the present saint,
as the holy well of St. Mogue is in its neighbourhood. ? ^ It is thought, that Templeshambo was probably Mogue's first foimdation among the many churches he erected in Hy-Kinsellagh, and he seems to be regarded as its
patron. 99 Fethard church, in the county of Wexford, is dedicated to St. Mogue or Edan of Ferns. Although the walls of the present Protestant church are very ancient, yet not a trace of architectural detail is left. There is to be found a fine square font carved on one side. '°°
Among Irish saints of the Third Class is ranked Blessed Maidoc or
^°='
of which he is It is there commemorated, as a
Aidan. '°' His feast is specially celebrated inFerns' diocese, chief patron, on the 31st day of January.
Double of the First Class, with an octave.
His memory was preserved in
'°3 in olden times, but likewise the two ancient Breffnies held him to be their tutelar patron. '°+ He was particularly venerated in the parishes of Drumlane^°5 and of Templeport,'°^ Cavan county,'°7 and, as many think, in the parish of Ross- inver, Leitrim county. The Irish Church commemorates this day as a Double Festival; and in various ancient national and other MSS. extant, this holy man, called a bishop and a confessor, had an office to his me- Hanmer confounds our illustrious
the not highest veneration,
only|throughout Hy-Kinsellagh territory,
mory, comprising Nine Lessons. ^°^
9* In 1840, the extensive graveyard, which was attached to that old church had been much used for burials ; but a single vestige of the ancient building was not visible.
57 See Smith's " Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Waterford," chap, iii. , p. 92.
cated to him here is St. Aidan's Academy,
Enniscorthy.
'°3 it appears to have fallen within that
district, defined as Brigantis, among the curious old coloured maps of Ptolemy, and
9* See Rev.
Ancient and Modem," vol. ii. , chap, xviii. , pp. 424 and 427, with n.
99 In the " Book of Lecan," belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, fol. 58, we find a list of the saints of Ireland. Its author- ship is attributed to Selbach, secretary to the King St. Cormac Mac CuUenan. Thus do we receiv—e the Irish stanza, rendered
into English ""
Nathi, grandson of eloquent Suanach, Cummin, gentle for petitioning,
Witha
'°*
Southof is Brackley Lough
:
Descriptions
of the
antiquarian objects
A. Cogan's "DioceseofMeath,
colophon,
N. Denis de Locis ac Mirabilibus Mundi. "
noble
Noble Aedan in Seanbotha. "
gentle,
of — throng, just voices,
Temple- Moguis Island, with the ruins of his ancient church. See Rev. William Reeves' "On some Ecclesi-
"Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. vii. , p. 400.
"^ Letter from Rev. James Graves, A. B. ,
headed Dunyard, Fethard, County Wexford,
port Lake,
where is St.
June 8th, 1872.
"'" "
Ordnance Survey Townland Maps
See the Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. vii. , p. 403.
""Amongthereligiousinstitutions dedi*
'"^See
especially on that noted, Prima Europe Tabula. Seethelargequartoedition,witha
" Ptolemaei accedit Geographia,
This fine specimen of early typography was printed at Rome, A. D. 1490. An earlier edition was issued in the same city, A. D.
1478. These Maps are supposed to have been the earliest engraved on metal,
" vol. vii. , p. 401.
'°5
'°* See the
Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
here remaining, and illustrative plates, are to
be found in the Ulster Journal of Archse-
ology," vol. v. , pp. no, et seq.
astical Bells," etc. "Proceedings: of the Royal Irish Academy," vol. viii.
for the County of Cavan," Sheet 13. '^^Asevidenceofthisstatement,wehave
January 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 577
bishop, under his name of ^danus/°9 with the founder of Lindisfarne. Ancient and modern Kalendars and histories agree in assigning the fes- tivalofSt. AidanorMaidoctothe31stdayofJanuary. "° ThentheRoman andBritishMartyrologiesnoticehim. Thus,asMedogus,ishecountedin that anonymous catalogue of Irish Saints' names, published by O'Sullevan Beare. '" In the Martyrology of Tallagh,"^ "Aedh Eps. Ferna" is his distinctive appellation. In the " Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Dublin,""3 this saint is found com- memorated at the ii. Kal. Feb. , or the 31st of January. "^ In the Feilire of St. yfCngus,"5 this illustrious prelate is ranked foremost at this date, and with two other Irish saints, he is specially commemorated. "^ The Calendar of Cashel, Marianus O'Gorman, "7 Charles Maguire, the Irish Life of St. Moedoc, the Carthusian Martyrology,"^ the Irish Calendar in the Royal Irish Academy,"9 Ferrarius. "° with all our ancient annalists and modern writers, concur in assigning the festival of this blessed servant of God to the 31st of January. TheFrenchhagiographer,Chatelain,andtheRev. AlbanButler,"'^ erroneously refer to him the Acts of St. Mo-maedhog, who, under the name ofSt. De,iscommemoratedonthei8thofMay,"^inLowerBrittany. "3 The
only to cite a MS. belonging to T. C. D. , and classed B. i, 3, which contains at January 31st this notice, Kal. ii. , Feb. SanctiEdani, Episcopi et Confessoris, ix. Lect. Duplex,
And Moelanfaid of memorable name
Proclaim with great vigour
Barr Find with the host of "
January.
"* The following English translation, we
A MS. in T. C. D. , classed B. 3, 12,
fin.
contains a notice at January 31st, Kal. ii. , Feb. , Adani, Epis, et Conf. ix. Lect. A MS. inT. C. D. , classed B. 3. 12. contains anoticeat January3ist. Kal. ii. Feb. , Sancti Edani, Epis. et Conf. ix. Lect. Again, in another MS. , we read at January 31st, Kal. ii. , Feb. , Sancti Edani Ibernensi Epis. et Conf. Duplex fest. ix. Lect. Like-
—
" Name Aedh, the powerful, of Ferna,
Maelanfaid, a name before us ;
They give with very great Brigh,
— A bright summit to the host of January. "
Vol. vii. , p. 404.
wise, we find in a Scotch Martyrology,
''
"7
In his Metrical Calendar, at the 31st
Lect. S. Modoci Epis. et Conf. " "Ka- ""
of January, the fol—lowing English version of his text, is left us:
lendarium Aberdonense. See
of L-eland," p. 127.
"°See the " Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
vol. vii. , pp. 403, 404.
'"See "Historise Catholicse Ibernias
Compendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. ,
p. 49.
'" Edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xiv. "3 See the edition of John Clarke Cros-
vol.
'°9 See Dr. Meredith Hanmer's ' ' Chronicle
Maedhoc, To my fair Mocumma a co-share.
Episcopatus Aberdonensis,"
ii. , p. 3.
thwaite and Dr. Todd. Introduction, pp. xlvii. and n (v. ), liii.
* « * «- 41 « m
O all ye saints of January,
— Come to the sustaining of our souls. "
See ibid.
"* "
See also notes to the Usuardi Marty-
rologium," in the Abbe Migne's edition of
" Cursus Completus Patrilogise," p. 718.
"9 And its copy, "Common Place Book F," of the Irish Ordnance Survey. See
p. 16.
"°See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nise," xxxi. Januarii. Vita S. Maidoci, n. 54, p. 220.
"'See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
and other Principal Saints," vol. i. , xxxi.
January.
'^^
In like manner, Ferrarius has a festival for him, under the name of St. Medothus, at the 14th of March, and another for him, under the name of St. Modocus, on the 7th
"His office was celebrated as a Double Festival, with nine lessons. See p. 61, and as a bishop and confessor, ibid. , and p. 84.
"S The following stanza from the Irish version in the Leabhar Breac, with its Eng- lish translation, has been kindly supplied by Professor Bryan O'Looney, M. R. I. A.
C, 11. kl.
sLuint) Aex) ^oi\c]\en TTe^wiA moeLAn^TAi'o Ainm |\eTnAin beriAic CO m-biMj \. o inoi^ bA^|\ pnt) po^\ ftuAg enAi]A.
C. ii. kl. "Celebrate Aedh over powerful
Ferna (Ferns) Vol. I. —No. io.
S. Aidani. Prsemium, sect. 4, p. 11 11.
'^3 See the Cistercian Monk's " Lives of the Irish Saints, extracted from the writings
2 P
Registrum
" The end of the month to
ix,
find in the "Irish Ecclesiastical Record:"
of September. See the Bollandists'
"
Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , xxxi. Januarii. Vita
578 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [January 31
festival of our saint in Wales had been duly commemorated at the 31st of January. "* The people of that principality"^ have a lively recollection of
this holy man,"*^ whom they call Aeddan Foeddog. "^ He is represented as a son of Caw. "^ It seems, probably owing to his connexion with St David, "9 that the clergy of Menevia claimed Ferns^^o as a suffragan bishopric of St. David's. '31 The Welsh were fond of using the name of ^dan or Maidoc or Madoc,'3» and many celebrated characters among them bore this Christian appellation. '33 Traces of his memory are also retained in Pembrokeshire. '34 There he is the reputed founder of Llanhuadain, or Llawhaden, in that county ;^3S while the churches of Nolton and West-Haroldston are ascribed to him, under the name of Madog. 's^
We have no record of his visiting Scotland, although his memory was vividlypreservedinthatcountry. IntheBreviaryofAberdeen,'37St. Aedan of Ferns is called Modoc, and he is commemorated there with a short notice and collect. In the Kalendar'38 of that ancient see,'39 his feast is likewise
"" 9,11. (a). '3' See Ussher's Works," vol v. , Bri-
of the Rev. Alban Butler," etc. ,
»^See Rees' "Essays on the Welsh tannicanmi Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap.
p.
"5 John of Teignmouth and his copyist, Capgrave, state that at St. Divid's Church,
Menevia, Moedok was singularly honoured. "* See Ussher's " Works," vol. vi. " Bri- tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates," cap.
xvii. , p. 536.
"' The Wexford people, in like manner,
had a great veneration for St. David, "as the teacher of their patron, Saint Mogue. "
Saints," p. 228.
v. , p. 113:
'32 See the Rev. William Warrington's
"History of Wales," vol. i. , book iv. , p. 305 ; book v. , pp. 409 to 413 ; book vi. , pp. 469 to 485, and 505, 506, and vol. ii. , book ix. , pp. 332 to 340.
'33 ihe son of Owen Gwynedd, prince of Korth Wales in the twelfth century. Ma- doc is said to have embarked with a few
"
he traversed the ocean, until he arrived by ac- cident upon the coast of America. " See ibid. y vol. i. , book vi. , pp. 505, 506. The adventures of this Welsh prince are most imaginatively wedded to verse, in Robert
"
Madoc. "
'3'* This division of Wales lies nearest to Ireland. It contains seven hundreds and 145 parishes. See a description of this shire in F. Ennis' " Complete System of ModemGeography,"etc Wales,pp. 615,
616. Dublin, 1816, 4to.
'35 See Rees' "Essay on the Welsh
Saints,"p. 227. Thecivilandecclesiastical antiquities of Llanhauaden are described very
''
Cambrian Travel- lers' Guide, in every Direction," etc. , cols.
955. 956.
'3* See "Irish Ecclesiastical Record,"
vol. vii. , p. 401. Nolton is very fully de-
"
scribed in the
in every Direction," col. 1245. The parish of Harroklston West is situated six miles westofHaverfordWest. Itspopulationis limited. See "Gazetteer of the World," vol. vi. , p. 819.
"
'37 In the
31st, he is mentioned as " Sanctus Modocus epyscopus et confessor eximius apud Kil- modok. "
'3' He wa§ venerated as a bishop and con- fessor, with an office of ix. Lessons. See in Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 112.
'39 See "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. ii. , p. 261,
See J. T. Gilbert's
History of the Vice-
the learned writer in the "
"
ships, and leaving Ireland to the north,
roy? of Ireland," chap, i. , p. 19.
"'This is clearly a mistake, and must
only be attributable to some Welsh roman-
cist, anxious to appropriate for his province the renown of this saint's nativity. In the Life of St. Gildas, at the 29th of this month, as we have already seen, this latter is stated tohavebeenthesonofCaw. Seechap. i.
'^In the gloss to the " Feilire " of St.
iEngus, at the 31st of January, in the "Leab- har Breac," we learn, that from the time of David no flesh meat was allowed into the refectory of Cill-Muine, until it was brought thither by the Comorb of Moedhoc of Ferns. It was contrary to rule, however, that he who did so should have joint-seat with David, or continue in the abbacy of Cill-Muine, or that his feet should touch the floor of its refectory
"
so long as he lived. See Irish Ecclesias-
ticalRecord,"vol. vii. , p. 395.
'30 But is alleged, that incidents related
rather reverse the order of facts. In allu- ""
sion to the Feilire gloss, already quoted,
"
Irish Ecclesiasti- cal Recorl avers: "That Menevia was suffragan to Ferns would assuredly be far more consonant with the facts above stated ; for these manifestly imply that, after the death of St. David, special reverence was shown by his monastery to his loved dis- ciple, St. Aid. in, and that also the succes- sors of our saint in the see of Ferns received particular honour in Menevia, being reputed the heirs or—comharbs of its holy founder,
St. David. " Ibid,, pp. 395, 396.
Southey's fine poem, called
circumstantially, in the
Cambrian Travellers' Guide,
Proprium Sanctorum," at Jan.
January 31. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. , 579
entered. '*** The present St. Modock, or perhaps some other of the name, bishop, who was venerated at Kihuodock, in Scotland, on this day, appears
to have been unconsciously appropriated'*' as a Scotsman by birth, because his feast has been thus set down in some of the Scottish calendars. Kilma-
docK, or Kilmodoc,'** where a church and monastery dedicated to St. Ma-
docus stood, is now quite demolished. This is a large parish in Menteith, in the south of Perthshire, north-west of Stirling. Its name is believed to signify the Chapel of St. Madock, Madocus, or Modocus, one of the Culdees. '*3 A manse and glebe are still there, while most of the ancient families bury in
A great error has been committed by a writer, who styles Gallic missionary,"'*^ Balmadies, an estate in the south- east end of Rescobie parish, in Forfarshire, is perhaps called after St. Mai-
doc. '*^ The cemetery is at Chapeltown. '*? Perhaps a very smal—l parish,
the graveyard. '** the patron here a
"
—e, which lies south-east of Perth St. Madoes,'*^ in the Carse of Gowri
as it
or, iscommonlycalled,Semmidores,'*? maybelongtothepatronsaintofKilma- dock. The name is written in early records St. Madois, and is commonly
"
dores. " There is an ancient monument here called the St. Madois Stone, of
called Semmiedores in the district, where are
the stannin stanes o' Semmie-
which a is in " The drawing given
Sculptured
Stones of Scotland. "'s°
Still,
probably,itreferstoSt. Madianus,thecompanionofSt. Boniface. 'S' King's=»
very strangely and incorrectly places Blessed Maidoc's existence, in the early
part of the fourth century. 'S3 Dempster is equally at fault, by adding some
particulars to his account of Medothus. 's* These never had any real exis- tence but in his own imagination. In a like manner, at the 31st of January, Camerarius relates, that St. Modoc, bishop and confessor, was distinguished for the sanctity of his life, and f—or his miracles, in that part of Scotland, which
'ss
from him was called Kilmodok a place sacred to Modoc. The Kalendar
where entries from the Aberdeen Martyr- land," vol. xiv. , p. 602. "New Statistic*
ology are to be found.
9 '^°See likewise the Martyrology of 607.
Aberdeen. " Ibid. , p. 128.
'*' See Rev. Thomas Innes' "Civil and
Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, A. D. Lxxx—Dcccxviii. " Book ii. , p. 161. This is one—and not the least valuable—among the many admirable historic volumes of the Spaulding Club, —in Scotland. Prom the
to — when the Club was for- year 1S40 1871
mally dissolved thirty-eight 4to volumes had been published. An account of these
will be found in the concluding volume,
land," vol. iii.