"
Ecclesiastical
History of
Ireland," vol.
Ireland," vol.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
" Introduction, p.
xxxiii.
Cormac's Glossary, beginning with the word
mmoech. It ends at fol. 86, a. ; after
which is an entry, by Rev. Dr. Todd, u from
which we learn a very remarkable fact,
hitherto, I believe, unnoticed by our his-
torians, that Cormac's Glossary was com-
piled from the notes or glosses, added by written pages, transcribed by Michael Cormac Mac Cuilionan, the celebrated O'Longan, in the year 18 10. It is part of King and Bishop of Cashel, to the miscella- what is commonly called, the LeAbAp neous compilation called the Psalter of
"
Cashel. "
adds Dr. Todd, " there is written, in faint red ink, fAbc CAipl : by which we may
muiriimeA6, or the Book of Munster, pp. I, 2.
In the margin of fol. 117, b. ,"
Dr. O'Donovan's " Leabhar na g-Ceart or the Book of
to about the year 1020. "
2? Our references in the following account
are chiefly to the Volumes of the O'Longan
Manuscripts, now preserved in the Library
of the Royal Irish Academy.
28
2s Vol. xiv. p. 180. 3° Vol. xiv. p. 190.
This is in vol. iii. , which is a fragment of a larger volume, and consisting of 83
September 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 341
on the Final Judgment, ascribed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, King of
Munster. 31 There are metrical
Proverbs,
ascribed to Cormac Mac
Cullinan. 32 There is a poem of nine stanzas, attributed to Cormac Mac
Cullinan,amongtheO'LonganManuscripts. 33 Thereisapoem,inpraiseof
theIslandsofAran,offthecoastsofClareandofGalway. 34 Itappearsto be of some antiquity, but probably it has been incorrectly ascribed to Cormac Mac Cullinan. It consists of sixty-four stanzas. 35 Cormac Mac Cullinan
6
It contains twenty stanzas. A curious Poem is attributed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, on Mogh Ruith, the famous Munster Druid of the third century. It consists of forty-four verses. 37 An ancient Poem, said to have been com- posed by Cormac Mac Cullinan, on the nineteen Sons of Oilill Oluain, and their descendants. 38 There is a Poem, by Cormac Mac Cullinan, on the Keys to various Requirements and Achievements. 39 It consists of twelve quatrains. 4° There is a Poem, ascribed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, which
1
It contains seven quatrains. There is a Manuscript Tract, called The Three Wishes of St. Cormac. Son of Culennan, in the Burgundian Library, at Bruxelles. 43 The large 4to parchment MS. 43 of Messrs. Hodges and Smith's collection, R. I. A. , has a Poem, ascribed to St. Cormac Mac Cuillenan. In a portion of the Martyrology of Donegal, but written in a more recent hand than that of the original, it is said Cormac composed a poem, which is thus Englished at the title, "Arise, O daughter of the
King. 44 There is a poem, attributed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, and said to
is said to have composed a Poem, on the Rights of the Delcassians. 3
contains an Invocation of the Saints for the Four Quarters of the year/
have been written in his fifty-ninth year. The subject is on the propriety of turning his attention from temporal to eternal matters. 45 It has been stated by those writers who have treated about this holy bishop, that he left various bequests to different churches before his death. This document is said to have taken the form of a metrical composition. There is extant a poem, termed Cormac Mac Cullinan's WilU6 It contains
verses. This is said to be a bad copy of the will. There is a poem, said to have been composed by Cormac Mac Cullinan, on his going forth to engage in the fatal
31 This is in vol. liv. , a 4to paper Manu- Michael Oge, about the year 1784. It is a script, written by some member of the folio paper Manuscript containing two
O'Longan family, of Cork, p. 166.
32
Vol. iv„ p. 37.
« Vol. iv. , p. 37.
34 This is found in vol. iv. , a olio paper
Manuscript, written by Michael Oge
hundred and thirty-eight written pages. P.
179.
41 Vol. viii. of the O'Longan MSS. R. I. A. ,
p. 204. The contents of this MS. are chiefly of a religious character. It is a folio
of written transcribed — paper, 273 pages, by
Michael Oge O'Longan, in the year 1795 1805, and 1815. —
42 in the Catalogue vol. iv. , nos. 2324 2340, fol 77.
43 it is marked, No. 223.
44 a note by Dr. Reeves states at this ending of the account, that the whole passage which precedes it within brackets is written in the more recent hand.
4S Vol. liv. , p. 175.
46 This is found in vol. v. , written by Michael
Oge O'Longan, of the Counties of Cork,
in and after the O'Longan, year 1799.
It contains four hundred and seven pages, p. 36. 35 There is another copy in vol xiv. , p.
178. 36
Vol. iii. , Catalogue ot the O'Longan MSS. , belonging to the R. I. A. , p. 21.
37 See the O'Longan Catalogue ot Manuscripts belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, vol. vi. , p. 104.
38 Vol vi. , p. 97.
39 This is found in vol. vi. , fol. paper, written by Michael Oge O'Longan, between the years 1 8 10 and 1822. It contains three hundred and sixty pages. P. 13.
Limerick, and Kerry. It was transcribed, 4° There is another copy of this Poem between the years 1796 and 1818. It has in vol. xiv. , transcribed by Michael 467 numbered pages, with a few at the
O'Longan, son of Peter and father of beginning, not numbered, p. 209.
thirty-two
342 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 14.
Expedition to Leinster. 47 It contains forty-four stanzas. There is a
poem «8 ascribed, with apparent propriety,*? to Cormac Mac Cullinan, among the O'Longan Collection. There, the introduction of the Anglo-Normans
into Erinn, by Dermod Mac Morrough, is foretold, as also their defeat, in
several battles, by Donnell Mor O'Brien, King of Munster. That poem is
addressed to Sealbhach, the priest, and a Secretary to King Cormac. It consists of 72 verses. In the Psalter Mac Richard, Bodleian Library,
Oxford,
there is a 5° the Duties of a and addressed to Poem, regarding King,
Cormac Mac Cuillionan, King and Bishop of Cashel, in the ninth and
beginning of the tenth century. There is an anonymous poem of con- siderable antiquity, and which appears to have been written for some King of Cashel—possibly by or for Cormac Mac Cullinan. 51 It contains one hundred and eight verses. A poem, reciting the names of Irish Saints, and the tribes towhicheachSaintbelonged,isascribedtoCormac,bysomewriters; but,
2
Copies of this poem are in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and other copies were in possession of William Monck Mason, as also of Edward O'Reilly. This latter writer tells us, that one of these poems contains the monarch's will, and
that he forbears giving a particular accouut of each poem, because not serving to illustrate the history or antiquities of Ireland. 53 Bishop Nicholson fell into a strange mistake,5* in ascribing to Cormac Mac Cullinan a poetical tract, which is said to have been composed by Cormac Ulfada, a King of
Ireland in the third century. He confounded this King, who lived in pagan times, with the bishop and King of Cashel. . 55 This mistake has been com- mented on, likewise, by Walter Harris. s6
It is more than questionable, if any of the existing ruins on the Rock of Cashel date back to the time of this holy bishop. Still, popular tradition and
it is more usually attributed to his secretary Sealbhach. 5
fancies57 to insuchabelief. 58 Thebeautifulandwell- delight indulge
poetic
known stone-roofed church called Cormac's Chapel has been popularly but
erroneously ascribed to the king-bishop, Cormac Mac Cullenan. However, it is much later than his time and by more than two centuries. 5 ? Its erection
« See O'Longan's "Catalogue of Irish McMullen, (Una), such traditions are ex- Manuscripts belonging to the Royal Irish pressed. There we find an exquisite
Academy," vol. iv. , p. 38. There is another copy of this in vol. xiv. . p. 181.
48 SeeO'Longan MSS. , vol. viii. , p. 266, R. I. A.
« In Eugene O'Curry's opinion. 50 At folio 72.
51 Vol. xiv. , O'Longan's Manuscripts, p,
76.
5* See
" Majestic pile, whose hoary forehead rises In proud defiance of the storms of time, Great King of ruins, on thy rock-throne
seated
In lonely grandeur, solemn, sad, sublime. The footsteps of a thousand years have
trodden
The changing universe since thou wert
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," Januarii. Supplementum, num. x. ,
Colgan's
young;
53 Edward O'Reilly's Chronological Since through thy sculptured aisles and
p. 5-
Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," vol. i. , part i. , p, 61.
54 In his "Irish Historical Library. "
num. i. ,
55 Dr. Lanigan very truly remarks,
Of — of power destroyed,
'
Appendix,
pp.
66,
67.
"
glory passed away.
Nicholson was—very poorly acquainted with "
Irish history.
" Ecclesiastical History of
Ireland," vol. iii. , chap. xxii. ,sect. vi. , n. 61,
p. 358.
s6 See Harris' Ware,- vol. iii. "The
Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap, i. , p. 5. 57 In a varied and admirable collection of
national poems and versicles, by Mary A.
ssjhe reader is referred to what has been
already stated, on this subject, in the Life of St. Albert, bishop of Cashel, at the 8th day of January, in the First Volume of this
work, Art. i. , chap. i.
59 It has been observed, by Sir Winston
"
that
"Snatches
of St. Song," p. 61,
U. S. A. , 1874.
Louis,
apostrophe to old Cashel : —
lofty arches
In solemn strains Jehovah's praises rung. Thou seemest left, to tell our race to-day
'
September 14. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 343
to Cormac Mac Carthy, who flourished in the twelfth century, who 63—
is
was also King—and it has been stated bishop of Minister, and of the
owing
same tribe as our king-bishop.
63
61
named and s—imilar
Being similarly having powers—remarkable, likewise, for his piety and zeal to promote religion it is
easytoconceive,howbothcouldhavebeenconfounded. Accordingtothe Munster Annals or,
King Cormac's Chapel, Exterior.
nates of Ireland, both lay and ecclesiastical. This pious, brave and liberal prince had con- tinual contention for the sovereignty of Munster during the term of his reign ; and in 1138, he was treacherously murdered by Dermod Sugach O'Conor Kerry, at the instigation of Turlough O'Brien, who was his own son-in-law,
gossip and foster-child.
Both exteriorly and interiorly, Cormac's Chapel is one of the most perfect and interesting ecclesiastical structures of that period now existing within the
Churchill, that the armorial ensign of King of the world 2855, unto the year of Grace Stephen— who ruled in England from a. d. 1660," p. 209, and Kent's "Grammar of 1135 to 1 1 55—had for device Mars, a Heraldry. " Appendix 1. Herlim's Cata- Sagittarius, and Sol. See in the " Divi logues, 1674, P« 4°« There is a curious Britannici : being a Remark upon the Lives representation of the stone over the door- of all the Kings of this Isle, from the year way entering Cormack's Chapel on the
as they are generally called, the Annals
of Innisfallen, Cor- mac, son of Muir-
eadhach, son of Carthach, was de- throned by Tur-
lough O'Conor, King of Ireland, in 1127,63 and obliged to go on a pil-
grimage to Lismore, while his brother Donogh was inau- gurated in his place. To this period, like-
has been ascribed the erec-
tion of Teampull Chormaic, and so named from the founder. 64 How- ever, he was after- wards restored to the throne of Mun-
ster, and in 1134, the same record chronicles the con- secration of Cormac
Mac Carthy at Cashel, by the Archbishop and Bishops of Mun- ster, and the mag-
wise,
344 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 14.
limits of the British empire. In the general plan, it has many points of
resemblance with the earlier stone-roofed churches of the Irish, as in its
simple division into nave and chancel, and in the crofts or apartments placed
over them ; but in other respects, it is unlike them ; and, taken as a whole,
it may be considered unique in Ireland. 6* This building, which is evidently
the earliest ecclesiastical one on the Rock, stands in close proximity to
the Cathedral, which latter has been built against it, with an entrance from
the south transept, the intention being to convert the chapel into a chapter-
66
stone, porch,
lines of each roof have been kept parallel to produce symmetry in the barge-
68
courses.
The southern elevation of the nave is divided into four storevs. 69 The
Rock, on which has been carved, the figure Scriptores," tomus i. Prolegomena, p. of a Centaur and Sagittarius combined, cxliii.
It consists of a nave and chancel, with two quadrangular towers at
house.
the east end of nave ; the latter has a deeply -projecting north porch, and the chancel has a recess or sub-chancel at the east end. Both nave and sub- chancel are roofed with as also the north tower and 6? while the
aiming an arrow at an animal presenting the
appearance of a lion. See "The Irish
62
However, Dr. O'Brien, who correctly
Penny Magazine," vol. i. , No. 24, p. 189.
60 "
translates rxig-efcop mum^m "royal bishop
of Munster," believes that the scribe Dr. George Petrie thus writes: "It Maelbrighde had no other foundation for
will be recollected that in one of the passages already cited—that from the Annals of
styling Cormac Royal Bishop of Munster than because he had repaired the Cathedral Church of Cashel, and two churches at Lismore, and was otherwise reputed a man of a pious and holy life.
InnisfalUn, at the year 1 127—it is stated,
that on his expulsion from the throne of
Cashel in 1127, Cormac was obliged to take
refuge in Lismore, where lie was forced to
receive a bachall, or crozier : but though Four Masters," vol. ii. , pp. 1026, 1027. there is nothing improbable in ihe circum-
stance that a deposed prince, ot his high character for piety, should have received ihe episcopal rank to reconcile him to his 1. 1 lien condition, the statement in the Annals is not sufficient to establish that such was the fact, as the word bachall is used in the Irish authorities not only to denote the crozier of a bishop, abbot, or abbess, but also the penitential staff of a pilgrim. But there is another historical evidence of much higher authority, because a contemporaneous one, which would go far indeed to establish the fact that Cormac had received an episcopal crozier, and enjoyed the dignity of a bishop,
when he was restored to his throne. This
following entries of a manuscript copy of the Gospels written in Ireland, and now preserved
amongst—theHarleianMSS. intheBritish "
Museum n. 1802. " Ecclesiastical Archi-
tecture and Round Towers of Ireland,"
Eirinn, do Reir an Arthar Seathrun Ceiting,
Ollamh re Diadhachta, or the History of Ireland from the Earliest Period to the
English Invasion, by the Rev Geoffrey Keating, D. D. , the consecration of this
chapel took place in 1 134, chap, vii. , p. 605. John OMahony's edition, New York, 1 866, 8vo.
6s See Dr. George Petrie's " Ecclesias-
tical Architecture and Round Towers of
Ireland," part ii. , sect, iii. , subs, i. , p. 292.
66
evidence is found in the last of the
part ii. , sect. , iii. , subs. 1, p. 307. This tecture of Ireland, No. viii. Cashel, pp.
writer afterwards cites the Irish passage of
403 to 417.
08 An admirable of the whole ground plan
group of ruins on the Rock of Cashel is shown in a woodcut, at p. 413, ibid.
69 The architectural notices contained in thetextaremainlytakenfromtheaccurate description of Richard Rolt Brash, in his "Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, to the Close ol the Twelfth Century. " In the seventh chapter of that work referring to
a scribe, who called Cormac
MacCarthaigh
royal bishop of Munster and of all Ireland
in his time, where he asks for a prayer at
the end of St. John's Gospel, as contained
inthatManuscript. Seep. 308.
61
Dr. O'Brien has published the fore- going Irish extract in his Irish Dictionary. Also Dr. Charles O'Conor gives a fac-simile of the original in " Rerum Hibernicarum
63 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
64 According to the Foras Feasa ar
The accompanying illustration from a terior view of Cormac's chapel. —
°7 There are — interesting descriptions
illustrated with admirable drawings
ruins on the Rock of Cashel, in the "Gentle- man's Magazine and Historical Review," by J. H. Parker, vol. ii. , tor October, 1864, new series, vol. xvii. Notes on the Archi-
photograph, drawn on the wood and
engraved by Gregor Grey, presents an ex-
of the
September 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 345
doorway is towards the west end. The jamb consists of an external pillar,
arrangement. This ope is much damaged, and at present it is built up. The left-hand side of the door shows one semicircular-headed panel ; the right- hand side of the door has two panels in like style. They are recessed six inches ; the arches are incised with chevrons, the springs from imposts consisting of a deep square and hollow, enriched by circular billets. These form a string-course.
The second storey is marked by a bold string-course, consisting of a deep square and hollow, over which was formerly an arcade of arched panels, someofthemenclosingwindow-opes; oneofthesepanelsonlyremainsso. The arch is plain, springing from angle-shafts having carved caps, the abacus of which ran along the piers throughout. Two rude rectangular opes have been broken through where formerly panels were, and the work of this portion is much mutilated and altered. The third storey has an arcade of panels, having plain arches springing from narrow piers, furnished with angle-pillars having carved caps, all much mutilated, the abacus, as before, forming imposts. The fourth storey has six columns, and two angle-columns next to the end piers, supporting the ornamental eave-course ; they have also carved caps, and rest upon a bold string-course, consisting of a square, with the ball ornament in a hollow. This is continued round the southern tower. Between the pillars are a series of corbels carved into human heads. 7°
The southern tower is about 68 feet in height, has seven stages marked
by string-courses ; the entasis is very graceful ; the fourth stage has an arcade of semicircular-headed panels, two on the front and one on each side ;
these have angle-shafts with carved caps. At various stages are rectangular slits for the admission of light. The tower finishes at present with a plain parapet of rubble limestone work, evidently of an age much later than the original building. There can be no doubt that it was finished at first with a stone roof in the same manner as the northern tower. The east side being fair with the east gable of nave, the original orna—mental barge of the stone roof has been continued down on the tower wall an admirable contrivance to preserve the symmetry of the roof-gable. The moulded barge finishes on
1
each side with a grotesque head. ?
The south side of chancel has three storeys ; the first is plain, and shows
an over-thickness, above which is an arcade of six semicircular-headed panels,
the arched heads of which finish with a torus moulding, and spring from small
shafts having carved capitals ; the latter remain, the pillars have disappeared. This arcade is returned on the east gable so far as the altar recess. The
upper storey also recedes, and is plain to the eaves, being formed by a deep square and hollow enriched with the hall ornament, and supported at
Cashel,areintroducedthefollowingplates: Tower,withmeasurements. Platexxxiv. , Plate xxxi. , Ground Plan of Cormac's Exterior of South Elevation of Cormac's Chapel, with Plan of Overcroft, and Chapel, with Top of Tower restored. measurements. Plate xxxii. , Section of Plate xxxv. , Details from Cormac's Cormac's Chapel, looking East. Plate
xxxiii. , Jamb of North Porch, Jamb of Chancel Arch, and Window n South
a semi-hexagonal pier, and an inside square pillar and reveal
the shafts of the pillars are gone—the caps and one base remain. The semi-hexagonal piers are carved with incised surface-ornament ; two of the capitals show human heads, the others are mutilated. The arched head is solid, and on it there is carved a nondescript animal in bold relief; it has two orders carved into chevrons, with a bold label, consisting of square and circular billets in a hollow. The arch mouldings spring from an abacus having a similar
Chapel.
7° See ibid. , p. 92.
7l See ibid. , pp. 92, 93.
;
346 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 14.
intervals of about 15 in. by corbels of grotesque animal heads. This eave-
course runs across the east gable, forming a string-course, over which appear two circular opes for lighting the croft over chancel ; they are about 6 in. diameter, and finish with a moulded arris enriched with the ball ornament. Above these in apex of gable is a narrow semicircular-headed ope. 7* The north side of the building is completely blocked up by the chancel of the Cathedral. 73 The north tower is of more massive dimensions than the south, with which it corresponds in the height of its stages and the level of its string-courses. It finishes with a high-pitched pyramidal roof of stone, built of ashlar blocks, and in good preservation. It is not so high to the eaves by one stage as the southern tower. 74
The interior of Cormac's Chapel is not less curious and interesting in its
architectural features. The nave measures thirty feet in length, by eighteen
in breadth. There is a lower storey consisting of a series of rectangular piers
supporting semicircular arches, and forming deeply-recessed panels between ;
the piers have caps, composed of a deep square, with a billet ornament under
same ; the surface of these piers, on front and sides, are richly diapered with
a variety of incised ornament. The face of the walls interiorly is ornamented
with columns and circular ribs under the circular arch. 75 The arches, both
on faces and sofFets, are enriched with chevrons. Above these arches is a
deepstring-course,consistingofasquareandchamfer; restingonthiswe
have at each side an arcade of stout three-quarter columns, having moulded
bases and carved capitals, from which spring the rectangular ribs of the
barrel vault. The capitals have a deep abacus consisting of a square and
chamfer, the bells being carved in a variety of design, no two being similar.
The nave is spanned by a barrel vault, having plain ribs springing from the
capitals of the columns on the flank walls. It was lighted by two window-
opes at the south side, the internal jambs and arches of which remain, but the
external -opes have been cut away, and formed into rude square apertures.
There was also a window-ope in the west gable. These appear to have been
all the original provision made for lighting the nave, which must have been
6
very dark. ?
At the north side of the nave, and close to the east gable, there is a very
elaborate doorway leading into the ground floor of the north tower. It appears to be a feature far in excess of its intended use, being of large size, richly ornamented with several orders of carved arch-members, springing from jamb pillars having carved capitals. The shafts of these are detached, and octagonal in section, each of the sides being hollowed or fluted. The door-ope has been much narrowed by the insertion of chamfered piers of limestone. The exterior moulded arch-member being thrown above the string-course of the lower storey of the arcading, the work over it is stepped. The column of the upper arcade, which comes right over the centre of the
73 For a correct and an interesting wood- cut representing the exterior of Cormac's Chapel, the reader is referred to the work of
effigy of Saint Patrick. " —John O'Mahony's " Sunny Side of Ireland. How to see it, by the Great Southern and Western Rail- way," p. 54.
75 See George Wilkinson's "Practical
Geology and Ancient Architecture of
Ireland," sect, v. , p. 96.
7« Arthur Hill has published in a
"
Ancient Architecture of Ireland," sect, v. ,
p. 96.
73 See Richard Rolt Brash's
George Wilkinson,
Practical Geology and
"
tical Architecture of Ireland, to the Close of the Twelfth Century," chap. vii. Cashel,
p. 93.
74 "In the burial ground outside is the
lamous Cross of Cashel, with a sculptured
Chapel
letterpress architectural description, see A. D.
Cormac's Glossary, beginning with the word
mmoech. It ends at fol. 86, a. ; after
which is an entry, by Rev. Dr. Todd, u from
which we learn a very remarkable fact,
hitherto, I believe, unnoticed by our his-
torians, that Cormac's Glossary was com-
piled from the notes or glosses, added by written pages, transcribed by Michael Cormac Mac Cuilionan, the celebrated O'Longan, in the year 18 10. It is part of King and Bishop of Cashel, to the miscella- what is commonly called, the LeAbAp neous compilation called the Psalter of
"
Cashel. "
adds Dr. Todd, " there is written, in faint red ink, fAbc CAipl : by which we may
muiriimeA6, or the Book of Munster, pp. I, 2.
In the margin of fol. 117, b. ,"
Dr. O'Donovan's " Leabhar na g-Ceart or the Book of
to about the year 1020. "
2? Our references in the following account
are chiefly to the Volumes of the O'Longan
Manuscripts, now preserved in the Library
of the Royal Irish Academy.
28
2s Vol. xiv. p. 180. 3° Vol. xiv. p. 190.
This is in vol. iii. , which is a fragment of a larger volume, and consisting of 83
September 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 341
on the Final Judgment, ascribed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, King of
Munster. 31 There are metrical
Proverbs,
ascribed to Cormac Mac
Cullinan. 32 There is a poem of nine stanzas, attributed to Cormac Mac
Cullinan,amongtheO'LonganManuscripts. 33 Thereisapoem,inpraiseof
theIslandsofAran,offthecoastsofClareandofGalway. 34 Itappearsto be of some antiquity, but probably it has been incorrectly ascribed to Cormac Mac Cullinan. It consists of sixty-four stanzas. 35 Cormac Mac Cullinan
6
It contains twenty stanzas. A curious Poem is attributed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, on Mogh Ruith, the famous Munster Druid of the third century. It consists of forty-four verses. 37 An ancient Poem, said to have been com- posed by Cormac Mac Cullinan, on the nineteen Sons of Oilill Oluain, and their descendants. 38 There is a Poem, by Cormac Mac Cullinan, on the Keys to various Requirements and Achievements. 39 It consists of twelve quatrains. 4° There is a Poem, ascribed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, which
1
It contains seven quatrains. There is a Manuscript Tract, called The Three Wishes of St. Cormac. Son of Culennan, in the Burgundian Library, at Bruxelles. 43 The large 4to parchment MS. 43 of Messrs. Hodges and Smith's collection, R. I. A. , has a Poem, ascribed to St. Cormac Mac Cuillenan. In a portion of the Martyrology of Donegal, but written in a more recent hand than that of the original, it is said Cormac composed a poem, which is thus Englished at the title, "Arise, O daughter of the
King. 44 There is a poem, attributed to Cormac Mac Cullinan, and said to
is said to have composed a Poem, on the Rights of the Delcassians. 3
contains an Invocation of the Saints for the Four Quarters of the year/
have been written in his fifty-ninth year. The subject is on the propriety of turning his attention from temporal to eternal matters. 45 It has been stated by those writers who have treated about this holy bishop, that he left various bequests to different churches before his death. This document is said to have taken the form of a metrical composition. There is extant a poem, termed Cormac Mac Cullinan's WilU6 It contains
verses. This is said to be a bad copy of the will. There is a poem, said to have been composed by Cormac Mac Cullinan, on his going forth to engage in the fatal
31 This is in vol. liv. , a 4to paper Manu- Michael Oge, about the year 1784. It is a script, written by some member of the folio paper Manuscript containing two
O'Longan family, of Cork, p. 166.
32
Vol. iv„ p. 37.
« Vol. iv. , p. 37.
34 This is found in vol. iv. , a olio paper
Manuscript, written by Michael Oge
hundred and thirty-eight written pages. P.
179.
41 Vol. viii. of the O'Longan MSS. R. I. A. ,
p. 204. The contents of this MS. are chiefly of a religious character. It is a folio
of written transcribed — paper, 273 pages, by
Michael Oge O'Longan, in the year 1795 1805, and 1815. —
42 in the Catalogue vol. iv. , nos. 2324 2340, fol 77.
43 it is marked, No. 223.
44 a note by Dr. Reeves states at this ending of the account, that the whole passage which precedes it within brackets is written in the more recent hand.
4S Vol. liv. , p. 175.
46 This is found in vol. v. , written by Michael
Oge O'Longan, of the Counties of Cork,
in and after the O'Longan, year 1799.
It contains four hundred and seven pages, p. 36. 35 There is another copy in vol xiv. , p.
178. 36
Vol. iii. , Catalogue ot the O'Longan MSS. , belonging to the R. I. A. , p. 21.
37 See the O'Longan Catalogue ot Manuscripts belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, vol. vi. , p. 104.
38 Vol vi. , p. 97.
39 This is found in vol. vi. , fol. paper, written by Michael Oge O'Longan, between the years 1 8 10 and 1822. It contains three hundred and sixty pages. P. 13.
Limerick, and Kerry. It was transcribed, 4° There is another copy of this Poem between the years 1796 and 1818. It has in vol. xiv. , transcribed by Michael 467 numbered pages, with a few at the
O'Longan, son of Peter and father of beginning, not numbered, p. 209.
thirty-two
342 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 14.
Expedition to Leinster. 47 It contains forty-four stanzas. There is a
poem «8 ascribed, with apparent propriety,*? to Cormac Mac Cullinan, among the O'Longan Collection. There, the introduction of the Anglo-Normans
into Erinn, by Dermod Mac Morrough, is foretold, as also their defeat, in
several battles, by Donnell Mor O'Brien, King of Munster. That poem is
addressed to Sealbhach, the priest, and a Secretary to King Cormac. It consists of 72 verses. In the Psalter Mac Richard, Bodleian Library,
Oxford,
there is a 5° the Duties of a and addressed to Poem, regarding King,
Cormac Mac Cuillionan, King and Bishop of Cashel, in the ninth and
beginning of the tenth century. There is an anonymous poem of con- siderable antiquity, and which appears to have been written for some King of Cashel—possibly by or for Cormac Mac Cullinan. 51 It contains one hundred and eight verses. A poem, reciting the names of Irish Saints, and the tribes towhicheachSaintbelonged,isascribedtoCormac,bysomewriters; but,
2
Copies of this poem are in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and other copies were in possession of William Monck Mason, as also of Edward O'Reilly. This latter writer tells us, that one of these poems contains the monarch's will, and
that he forbears giving a particular accouut of each poem, because not serving to illustrate the history or antiquities of Ireland. 53 Bishop Nicholson fell into a strange mistake,5* in ascribing to Cormac Mac Cullinan a poetical tract, which is said to have been composed by Cormac Ulfada, a King of
Ireland in the third century. He confounded this King, who lived in pagan times, with the bishop and King of Cashel. . 55 This mistake has been com- mented on, likewise, by Walter Harris. s6
It is more than questionable, if any of the existing ruins on the Rock of Cashel date back to the time of this holy bishop. Still, popular tradition and
it is more usually attributed to his secretary Sealbhach. 5
fancies57 to insuchabelief. 58 Thebeautifulandwell- delight indulge
poetic
known stone-roofed church called Cormac's Chapel has been popularly but
erroneously ascribed to the king-bishop, Cormac Mac Cullenan. However, it is much later than his time and by more than two centuries. 5 ? Its erection
« See O'Longan's "Catalogue of Irish McMullen, (Una), such traditions are ex- Manuscripts belonging to the Royal Irish pressed. There we find an exquisite
Academy," vol. iv. , p. 38. There is another copy of this in vol. xiv. . p. 181.
48 SeeO'Longan MSS. , vol. viii. , p. 266, R. I. A.
« In Eugene O'Curry's opinion. 50 At folio 72.
51 Vol. xiv. , O'Longan's Manuscripts, p,
76.
5* See
" Majestic pile, whose hoary forehead rises In proud defiance of the storms of time, Great King of ruins, on thy rock-throne
seated
In lonely grandeur, solemn, sad, sublime. The footsteps of a thousand years have
trodden
The changing universe since thou wert
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," Januarii. Supplementum, num. x. ,
Colgan's
young;
53 Edward O'Reilly's Chronological Since through thy sculptured aisles and
p. 5-
Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," vol. i. , part i. , p, 61.
54 In his "Irish Historical Library. "
num. i. ,
55 Dr. Lanigan very truly remarks,
Of — of power destroyed,
'
Appendix,
pp.
66,
67.
"
glory passed away.
Nicholson was—very poorly acquainted with "
Irish history.
" Ecclesiastical History of
Ireland," vol. iii. , chap. xxii. ,sect. vi. , n. 61,
p. 358.
s6 See Harris' Ware,- vol. iii. "The
Writers of Ireland," book i. , chap, i. , p. 5. 57 In a varied and admirable collection of
national poems and versicles, by Mary A.
ssjhe reader is referred to what has been
already stated, on this subject, in the Life of St. Albert, bishop of Cashel, at the 8th day of January, in the First Volume of this
work, Art. i. , chap. i.
59 It has been observed, by Sir Winston
"
that
"Snatches
of St. Song," p. 61,
U. S. A. , 1874.
Louis,
apostrophe to old Cashel : —
lofty arches
In solemn strains Jehovah's praises rung. Thou seemest left, to tell our race to-day
'
September 14. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 343
to Cormac Mac Carthy, who flourished in the twelfth century, who 63—
is
was also King—and it has been stated bishop of Minister, and of the
owing
same tribe as our king-bishop.
63
61
named and s—imilar
Being similarly having powers—remarkable, likewise, for his piety and zeal to promote religion it is
easytoconceive,howbothcouldhavebeenconfounded. Accordingtothe Munster Annals or,
King Cormac's Chapel, Exterior.
nates of Ireland, both lay and ecclesiastical. This pious, brave and liberal prince had con- tinual contention for the sovereignty of Munster during the term of his reign ; and in 1138, he was treacherously murdered by Dermod Sugach O'Conor Kerry, at the instigation of Turlough O'Brien, who was his own son-in-law,
gossip and foster-child.
Both exteriorly and interiorly, Cormac's Chapel is one of the most perfect and interesting ecclesiastical structures of that period now existing within the
Churchill, that the armorial ensign of King of the world 2855, unto the year of Grace Stephen— who ruled in England from a. d. 1660," p. 209, and Kent's "Grammar of 1135 to 1 1 55—had for device Mars, a Heraldry. " Appendix 1. Herlim's Cata- Sagittarius, and Sol. See in the " Divi logues, 1674, P« 4°« There is a curious Britannici : being a Remark upon the Lives representation of the stone over the door- of all the Kings of this Isle, from the year way entering Cormack's Chapel on the
as they are generally called, the Annals
of Innisfallen, Cor- mac, son of Muir-
eadhach, son of Carthach, was de- throned by Tur-
lough O'Conor, King of Ireland, in 1127,63 and obliged to go on a pil-
grimage to Lismore, while his brother Donogh was inau- gurated in his place. To this period, like-
has been ascribed the erec-
tion of Teampull Chormaic, and so named from the founder. 64 How- ever, he was after- wards restored to the throne of Mun-
ster, and in 1134, the same record chronicles the con- secration of Cormac
Mac Carthy at Cashel, by the Archbishop and Bishops of Mun- ster, and the mag-
wise,
344 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 14.
limits of the British empire. In the general plan, it has many points of
resemblance with the earlier stone-roofed churches of the Irish, as in its
simple division into nave and chancel, and in the crofts or apartments placed
over them ; but in other respects, it is unlike them ; and, taken as a whole,
it may be considered unique in Ireland. 6* This building, which is evidently
the earliest ecclesiastical one on the Rock, stands in close proximity to
the Cathedral, which latter has been built against it, with an entrance from
the south transept, the intention being to convert the chapel into a chapter-
66
stone, porch,
lines of each roof have been kept parallel to produce symmetry in the barge-
68
courses.
The southern elevation of the nave is divided into four storevs. 69 The
Rock, on which has been carved, the figure Scriptores," tomus i. Prolegomena, p. of a Centaur and Sagittarius combined, cxliii.
It consists of a nave and chancel, with two quadrangular towers at
house.
the east end of nave ; the latter has a deeply -projecting north porch, and the chancel has a recess or sub-chancel at the east end. Both nave and sub- chancel are roofed with as also the north tower and 6? while the
aiming an arrow at an animal presenting the
appearance of a lion. See "The Irish
62
However, Dr. O'Brien, who correctly
Penny Magazine," vol. i. , No. 24, p. 189.
60 "
translates rxig-efcop mum^m "royal bishop
of Munster," believes that the scribe Dr. George Petrie thus writes: "It Maelbrighde had no other foundation for
will be recollected that in one of the passages already cited—that from the Annals of
styling Cormac Royal Bishop of Munster than because he had repaired the Cathedral Church of Cashel, and two churches at Lismore, and was otherwise reputed a man of a pious and holy life.
InnisfalUn, at the year 1 127—it is stated,
that on his expulsion from the throne of
Cashel in 1127, Cormac was obliged to take
refuge in Lismore, where lie was forced to
receive a bachall, or crozier : but though Four Masters," vol. ii. , pp. 1026, 1027. there is nothing improbable in ihe circum-
stance that a deposed prince, ot his high character for piety, should have received ihe episcopal rank to reconcile him to his 1. 1 lien condition, the statement in the Annals is not sufficient to establish that such was the fact, as the word bachall is used in the Irish authorities not only to denote the crozier of a bishop, abbot, or abbess, but also the penitential staff of a pilgrim. But there is another historical evidence of much higher authority, because a contemporaneous one, which would go far indeed to establish the fact that Cormac had received an episcopal crozier, and enjoyed the dignity of a bishop,
when he was restored to his throne. This
following entries of a manuscript copy of the Gospels written in Ireland, and now preserved
amongst—theHarleianMSS. intheBritish "
Museum n. 1802. " Ecclesiastical Archi-
tecture and Round Towers of Ireland,"
Eirinn, do Reir an Arthar Seathrun Ceiting,
Ollamh re Diadhachta, or the History of Ireland from the Earliest Period to the
English Invasion, by the Rev Geoffrey Keating, D. D. , the consecration of this
chapel took place in 1 134, chap, vii. , p. 605. John OMahony's edition, New York, 1 866, 8vo.
6s See Dr. George Petrie's " Ecclesias-
tical Architecture and Round Towers of
Ireland," part ii. , sect, iii. , subs, i. , p. 292.
66
evidence is found in the last of the
part ii. , sect. , iii. , subs. 1, p. 307. This tecture of Ireland, No. viii. Cashel, pp.
writer afterwards cites the Irish passage of
403 to 417.
08 An admirable of the whole ground plan
group of ruins on the Rock of Cashel is shown in a woodcut, at p. 413, ibid.
69 The architectural notices contained in thetextaremainlytakenfromtheaccurate description of Richard Rolt Brash, in his "Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, to the Close ol the Twelfth Century. " In the seventh chapter of that work referring to
a scribe, who called Cormac
MacCarthaigh
royal bishop of Munster and of all Ireland
in his time, where he asks for a prayer at
the end of St. John's Gospel, as contained
inthatManuscript. Seep. 308.
61
Dr. O'Brien has published the fore- going Irish extract in his Irish Dictionary. Also Dr. Charles O'Conor gives a fac-simile of the original in " Rerum Hibernicarum
63 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the
64 According to the Foras Feasa ar
The accompanying illustration from a terior view of Cormac's chapel. —
°7 There are — interesting descriptions
illustrated with admirable drawings
ruins on the Rock of Cashel, in the "Gentle- man's Magazine and Historical Review," by J. H. Parker, vol. ii. , tor October, 1864, new series, vol. xvii. Notes on the Archi-
photograph, drawn on the wood and
engraved by Gregor Grey, presents an ex-
of the
September 14. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 345
doorway is towards the west end. The jamb consists of an external pillar,
arrangement. This ope is much damaged, and at present it is built up. The left-hand side of the door shows one semicircular-headed panel ; the right- hand side of the door has two panels in like style. They are recessed six inches ; the arches are incised with chevrons, the springs from imposts consisting of a deep square and hollow, enriched by circular billets. These form a string-course.
The second storey is marked by a bold string-course, consisting of a deep square and hollow, over which was formerly an arcade of arched panels, someofthemenclosingwindow-opes; oneofthesepanelsonlyremainsso. The arch is plain, springing from angle-shafts having carved caps, the abacus of which ran along the piers throughout. Two rude rectangular opes have been broken through where formerly panels were, and the work of this portion is much mutilated and altered. The third storey has an arcade of panels, having plain arches springing from narrow piers, furnished with angle-pillars having carved caps, all much mutilated, the abacus, as before, forming imposts. The fourth storey has six columns, and two angle-columns next to the end piers, supporting the ornamental eave-course ; they have also carved caps, and rest upon a bold string-course, consisting of a square, with the ball ornament in a hollow. This is continued round the southern tower. Between the pillars are a series of corbels carved into human heads. 7°
The southern tower is about 68 feet in height, has seven stages marked
by string-courses ; the entasis is very graceful ; the fourth stage has an arcade of semicircular-headed panels, two on the front and one on each side ;
these have angle-shafts with carved caps. At various stages are rectangular slits for the admission of light. The tower finishes at present with a plain parapet of rubble limestone work, evidently of an age much later than the original building. There can be no doubt that it was finished at first with a stone roof in the same manner as the northern tower. The east side being fair with the east gable of nave, the original orna—mental barge of the stone roof has been continued down on the tower wall an admirable contrivance to preserve the symmetry of the roof-gable. The moulded barge finishes on
1
each side with a grotesque head. ?
The south side of chancel has three storeys ; the first is plain, and shows
an over-thickness, above which is an arcade of six semicircular-headed panels,
the arched heads of which finish with a torus moulding, and spring from small
shafts having carved capitals ; the latter remain, the pillars have disappeared. This arcade is returned on the east gable so far as the altar recess. The
upper storey also recedes, and is plain to the eaves, being formed by a deep square and hollow enriched with the hall ornament, and supported at
Cashel,areintroducedthefollowingplates: Tower,withmeasurements. Platexxxiv. , Plate xxxi. , Ground Plan of Cormac's Exterior of South Elevation of Cormac's Chapel, with Plan of Overcroft, and Chapel, with Top of Tower restored. measurements. Plate xxxii. , Section of Plate xxxv. , Details from Cormac's Cormac's Chapel, looking East. Plate
xxxiii. , Jamb of North Porch, Jamb of Chancel Arch, and Window n South
a semi-hexagonal pier, and an inside square pillar and reveal
the shafts of the pillars are gone—the caps and one base remain. The semi-hexagonal piers are carved with incised surface-ornament ; two of the capitals show human heads, the others are mutilated. The arched head is solid, and on it there is carved a nondescript animal in bold relief; it has two orders carved into chevrons, with a bold label, consisting of square and circular billets in a hollow. The arch mouldings spring from an abacus having a similar
Chapel.
7° See ibid. , p. 92.
7l See ibid. , pp. 92, 93.
;
346 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 14.
intervals of about 15 in. by corbels of grotesque animal heads. This eave-
course runs across the east gable, forming a string-course, over which appear two circular opes for lighting the croft over chancel ; they are about 6 in. diameter, and finish with a moulded arris enriched with the ball ornament. Above these in apex of gable is a narrow semicircular-headed ope. 7* The north side of the building is completely blocked up by the chancel of the Cathedral. 73 The north tower is of more massive dimensions than the south, with which it corresponds in the height of its stages and the level of its string-courses. It finishes with a high-pitched pyramidal roof of stone, built of ashlar blocks, and in good preservation. It is not so high to the eaves by one stage as the southern tower. 74
The interior of Cormac's Chapel is not less curious and interesting in its
architectural features. The nave measures thirty feet in length, by eighteen
in breadth. There is a lower storey consisting of a series of rectangular piers
supporting semicircular arches, and forming deeply-recessed panels between ;
the piers have caps, composed of a deep square, with a billet ornament under
same ; the surface of these piers, on front and sides, are richly diapered with
a variety of incised ornament. The face of the walls interiorly is ornamented
with columns and circular ribs under the circular arch. 75 The arches, both
on faces and sofFets, are enriched with chevrons. Above these arches is a
deepstring-course,consistingofasquareandchamfer; restingonthiswe
have at each side an arcade of stout three-quarter columns, having moulded
bases and carved capitals, from which spring the rectangular ribs of the
barrel vault. The capitals have a deep abacus consisting of a square and
chamfer, the bells being carved in a variety of design, no two being similar.
The nave is spanned by a barrel vault, having plain ribs springing from the
capitals of the columns on the flank walls. It was lighted by two window-
opes at the south side, the internal jambs and arches of which remain, but the
external -opes have been cut away, and formed into rude square apertures.
There was also a window-ope in the west gable. These appear to have been
all the original provision made for lighting the nave, which must have been
6
very dark. ?
At the north side of the nave, and close to the east gable, there is a very
elaborate doorway leading into the ground floor of the north tower. It appears to be a feature far in excess of its intended use, being of large size, richly ornamented with several orders of carved arch-members, springing from jamb pillars having carved capitals. The shafts of these are detached, and octagonal in section, each of the sides being hollowed or fluted. The door-ope has been much narrowed by the insertion of chamfered piers of limestone. The exterior moulded arch-member being thrown above the string-course of the lower storey of the arcading, the work over it is stepped. The column of the upper arcade, which comes right over the centre of the
73 For a correct and an interesting wood- cut representing the exterior of Cormac's Chapel, the reader is referred to the work of
effigy of Saint Patrick. " —John O'Mahony's " Sunny Side of Ireland. How to see it, by the Great Southern and Western Rail- way," p. 54.
75 See George Wilkinson's "Practical
Geology and Ancient Architecture of
Ireland," sect, v. , p. 96.
7« Arthur Hill has published in a
"
Ancient Architecture of Ireland," sect, v. ,
p. 96.
73 See Richard Rolt Brash's
George Wilkinson,
Practical Geology and
"
tical Architecture of Ireland, to the Close of the Twelfth Century," chap. vii. Cashel,
p. 93.
74 "In the burial ground outside is the
lamous Cross of Cashel, with a sculptured
Chapel
letterpress architectural description, see A. D.
