No More Learning

54 This is the great whirlpool of the Western Hebrides, to which the poet, Thomas Campbell, makes such happy allu- sion in his beautiful poem, "Gertrude of Wyoming. "
"GreenAlbin whatthoughhenomore !
survey
Thy ships at anchor on the quiet shore,
Thy pellocks rolling from the mountain lay,
Thy lone sepulchral cairn upon tfie moor,
And distant isles that hear the loud — Corbrechtanroar. "
Part stanza v. i. ,
so in the present instance, a view is presented of Teampul Figneen, and the adjoining Round Tower, from a photograph, copied on the wood and engraved by Gregor Grey.
50 See Colgan 's " Acta Sanctorum Iliber- niae," Februarii vi. , Vita S. Munis, cap. ix. , p. 266.
51 This year allusion is made to it, a Chapter
being held at Louth, by Albert of Cologne,
archbishop of Armagh. See Rt. Rev. Richard Mant's "History of the Church of Ireland, from the Reformation to the Revo- lution ; with a preliminary Survey from the Papal Usurpation, in the Twelfth Century, to its legal Abolition in the Sixteenth," vol. i. , chap, i. , sect, v. , p. 64.
:
52 It is thus described " quae erat de
pelle facta in qua evangelium positum erat [quae] circa pedem vaccae adhesit et sic vacca in pede cetham traxit secum ad terrain, et inventus est liber
in cetha pellicea putrefacta siccus et aridus atque candidus sine ullo —humore ac si conditus
esset in biblioteca. " Cap. 27,
53 In his "Life of St. Columba," p. 8,
Smith has a fable, which states, that the
evangelii
In Archbishop Marsh's Library manuscript Life
taken from the grave of Father Kieran, because that I desire and love, more ;
fol. aa. 147,
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 233
threw a portion of the earth taken from St. Kieran's tomb into the sea.
Immediately, the waves subsided, the tempest was stilled, and the ship escaped from that menaced danger. Thereupon, St. Columba returned thanks to God, and called his fellow-passengers to witness what a favour had been obtained, through the relics of Blessed Kieran. 55 But with regard to
6
the miracle already recorded, respecting the rescue from shipwreck,* there is
another version, still less probable. It is stated, that while the ship in which Iona's Abbot sailed from Ireland to Britain was about to reach the whirlpool of Core Brecain,57 the bones of Brecan, grandson to Niell the Great, Kini; of
seemed to float on the waves. s8
Columba is said to have offered a prayer, that the soul of Brecan might be released from the pains of purgatory. The saint and his companions were soon afterwards rescued from the dangers of the ocean. 5? Before proceeding to analyse the Chronotaxis, between our Saint's birth and death, the Bollandist editor of his Acts very properly remarks, that those fragmentary accounts previously given must be examined in connexion with the lives of saints there introduced.
In the earliest Irish Martyrologies and Calendars, the feast of St. Kieran of Clonmacnois is to be found recorded, at the 9th of September. He is noticed with distinguished eulogy, in the "Feilire" of St. ^ngus. e° Especially, in that monastery where his life ended, and in the church attached to it, for several succeeding centuries after his death, his festival attracted crowds from all the surrounding districts. 61 In the published
62 it is that Ciaran mac an t-sair was mentioned,
Ireland,
Seeing
these relics of
mortality,
of
venerated, at the 9th of September. ^ In the Calendar, prefixed to the
Martyrology
Tallagh,
55 See
Appendix Secunda ad Acta S, Columbae, pars prima, sect, xiii, pp. 457, 458. This account purports to be taken from the thirty-third chapter of an old Life of St. Kieran. It is not to be found in the Irish Life, contained in the Book of Lismore.
Colgan's
"Trias
Thaumaturga.
"Leabh—ar Breac"
copy,
is the
following
his feast is commemorated on this 6-* day.
of Christ-
The Bollandist Soller considers, it was owing to Usuard's singular diligence,
Martyrology
Church,
"
s6 Given in the Life of St. Columba, by Thus rendered into English by Whitley
Prince O'Donnell, lib. hi. , cap. xxi.
57 This is Latinized Charybdis Brccani, for it was called after Brecan, who had been
drowned there, many years previously.
58 It would seem, the ancient Britons entertained an opinion, that it was a great disgrace or misfortune for the dead to want
the rites of in a "as sepulture grave, they
believed that without it their bodies could enjoy no rest or happiness in a future state. " —Mylius' "History of England," book i. , chap, v. , p. 43. It is probable, this same belief also prevailed among the ancient Irish and Caledonians.
59 "Nulla hie de sepulcrali S. Kiarani pulvere fit mentio, quamvis de eodem naufragii periculo agi videatur : at prior narratio simplicior et vere similior apparet. " —"Acta Sanctorum," tomusiii, Septembris ix. De S. Kierano seu Querano, sect, vi. ,
num. 58, 59, 60. pp. 381, 382.
Stokes, LL. D :—"A great solemnity that filleth the borders, that shaketh swift ships,
the wright's son beyond kings, the fair feast
60
At the 9th of September, in the
represents everyone coming in ships from the head of the lake (Ree) and from below, on the annual recurrence. It is called, likewise, a great festival that fills
territories. See ibid, p. cxliii.
63
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxiii.
6j Also, in the Book of Leinster copy, we read Ciaran fllac 111 Craen. To this is
added : i. e. bpoetmea.
6*
Yet, it is not inserted in the Martyrology itself. See John Clarke Crosthwaite's and Rev. Dr. Todd's edition of " The Book of Obits and Martyrology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity," Introduction, p. xlix. , and p. 69.
stanza
:
tttO]\ l/ich Imaf qucriA
Cv\och<Mr I0115A IuacVia
UIac 111 c pjeir ^TM^S^ £eil CAiri Chiaruvin ChbuAii-a.
—" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript
of Ciaran of Cluain. "
Series, vol. i. , part i. , p. exxxvii.
6l
This is shown from the scholion on the
" which Feilire,"
234 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS [September9.
6
that this Saint obtained a place in sacred records s as there had been no
j
mention made concerning him, in the more antient Martyrologies. In the
Florarian Manuscript, belonging to the Bollandists, at the ninth of September,
there is a notice' relating to St. Kyran, with an eulogy borrowed from the
words of St. Paul. 66 The Martyrology of St. Jerome, belonging to*
6 68
Reichenaw, ? also mentions our Saint. In the anonymous List of our
Saints, as published by O'Sullivan Beare, and at the same date, we meet
Queranus/9 His festival is recorded, in the Roman Martyrology,70 at the 9thdayofSeptember. TheMartyrologyofAberdeencommemoratesour Saint, at the 9th of September. ? 1 Heis recorded at the same date in the Martyrology of Donegal,72 at still greater length, as Ciaran, Son of the Carpenter, and Abbot of Cluain-mic Nois.
In Scotland, as in Ireland, the present Saint was held in especial venera- tion, under the names of Ciaranus, Kyranus or Queranus. 73 His festival is recorded at the 9th of September, in the Kalendar of Drummond,7* in the Martyrology of Aberdeen,7* in Adam King's Kalendar76 and in Thomas
,
Dempster's Menologium Scoticum. 77 This veneration of our Saint in Scot- land is to be accounted for probably and chiefly owing to the circumstance of his having been known to the great St. Columkille. 78 In the vicinity of Campbelltown, in Kintyre, there is a remarkable cave, in which St. Ciaran is said to have lived. It still bears his name in the traditions of the country. 70 Many churches were dedicated to our Saint in various places throughout Scot- land. Mr. Chalmers names several of them. 80 He tells us, that an islet bears
81
St. Kiaran's name, on the coast of Lorn, a maritime district in Argyllshire, which got its name from Loarn, one of the three brothers, sons of Ere, who immigrated from the Irish Dalriada, towards the end of the fifth century, and founded the Scottish Monarchy. 82 Chalmers shows, that the Saint in question was Kieran of Clonmacnoise, from the circumstance of his festival having been held on the 9th of September. This is also confirmed
65 In the genuine text of Usuard, we read: " In Scotia Querani abbatis. "
74 Thus " Pvodem die in Hibernia Natale :
—Sancti Presbyteri et eximii Abbatis Ciarani. "
66
Ephesians, chap, iii. , 17, 18, 19. It
: reads as follows "
Ibid. , p. 24.
"Thus: "v. Idus Septembris.
—
In
In Scotia, natale sancti I lie Vir Sanctus, in caritate radicatus et fundatus didicit, quae latitudo, quae longitudo et sublimitas et profundjum ; scire etiam superemintem sciential caritatem Christi,impletus in omnem
Dei plenitudinem. "
67 A town in Suabia, Germany.
Yybernia Sancti Kyrani viri Dei cujus vita —Claris miraculis in Christi ecclesia refulsit. "
Ibid. , p. 134.
Querani abbatis.
68 This has been
an appendix, after the seventh tome for the month of June. At the v. of the September Ides, omitting the place of his veneration and
Ibid. , p. 211.
78 See " Trias Thaumaturga. " Colgan's
Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. Columba,
secunda pars, num. 4, pp. 471. 472.
79 The most ancientchurch at Campbeltown was dedicated to St. Ciaran, and hence it had the name of Kil-Kerran. From him also was derived the name of Kil-Kerran, in
Ayrshire.
80 See "Caledonia," vol. i , book ii. , chap,
vii. , p. 317, 318
61
his title of Abbot, we read Kerani Confess. "
:
" Alibi, Sancti
published by
Soller, as
69 See Historian Catholicae Iberniae Com-
pendium," tomus i. , lib- iv. , cap. xi. , i* 51. 7° Thus: In Scotia Sancti Querani abbatis. "
— "In Ybernia Sancti Kyrani viri Dei cuius vita C—laris miraculis in Christi ecclesia refulsit. "
71 It says at v. ldus Septembris
:
of the of Proceedings Society Antiquaries
of Scotland," vol. ii. , p. 267.
t Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
240, 241.
73 See Dr. Forbes' " Kalendar of Scottish
Saints," pp. 377, 435-
The parishes comprised in it are Lis*- more and Appin, Ardchattan and Muckairn, Kilmore and and
76 Thus :
"
S. Queranus abot in Scotland
vnder King Ethus. "—Ibid. , p. 161. —
:
"
77 Thus abbatis. "
In Scotia Querani
Kilbride, Glenorchy Innishail, Kilbrandon and Kilchattan, Kil- chrenan and Dalavich, Kininver and
Kilmelfort.
82 See Francis II. Groome's "Ordnance
Gazetteer of Scotland," vol. i. , p. 558.
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
235
by Keith. 8 3 He was venerated at Strathmore in Caithness.
8
Feteresso, * and near it in Glenbervie, where was his well ;
8 86
s
ran, in Kintyre
;
at Kilcheran, in Lismore
87 in Kilchoman
Kilkeran, parish, Islay ;
at 8* in the Island of Lewis,80
and at Dalkerran or -
1
Dailly parish, Ayrshire. ' Apparently
,/J in
this saint is confounded with his namesake, whose festival occurs on the
festival, he could have cleared up the matter better—than has been done.
5th
of March,
by
Dempster. '
further, by stating,
man venerated pilgrimages
to have been
l)alquherran.
Thomas
that St. Kieran, a holy bishop, lived chiefly in the Western Isles of Scot- land^ and that after a holy life he suffered martyrdom, having been slain by robbers.
* But such accounts are manifestly absurd, and Colgan shows, that the statements of both Camerarius and Dempster are false. 95 However, if Colgan had been aware of the great veneration paid to St. Kieran in that country, and of the 9th of September having been the true date for the
06
of France we find a Saint
most an Irish- probably
Louis XVIII. , in 1814. 97 We cannot be sure, however, that he was identical with the Patron of Clonmacnoise.
8 IntheDioceseofArdaghandClonmacnoise,aProperOffice9 hasbeen
composed by its former venerated Bishop, Most Rev. Bartholomew Wood- lock, for the Patron Saint Kiaran ; while it is there recited on his chief
festival, by authority and prescription of the Holy See. 99 Among the proper Masses for Holy French and Irish Patrons, and in a Missal edited by order of Pope Clement XII. , we find a festival strangely prescribed for a Kiaran on the xi. of September. 100 Suyskens says, he would be inclined to identify this Saint, with the Kieran of whom we treat, but for a dubious phrase, about his belonging to Foilen Monastery ; since it nowhere appears, that the monastery styled Cluanense or Angicnse, of which our saint was
founder and abbot, had ever been known by this denomination of Foilense. There are circumstances, however, that might induce a suspicion of their
the e —astern
parts
Quiran
to his shrine
before the time of the French Republic, and even after the Restoration of
86 See
vol. ii. , p. 163.
Parochiales
"
" He
have learned from the
"Origines
Scoriae,"
|g
might
sup-
:
appear
customary,
83 See his " List of Bishops," p. 233.
84 "The plain but very ancient church, St. Caran's, at Feteresso hamlet, is still repre- sented by its walls or shell, and by its large kirkya—rd,oneofStonehaven'sthreecemete- ries. " Francis H. Groome's "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland," vol. i. , p. 18.
85 See " Parochiales vol. Origines Scotia? ,''
ii. , p. 12, and "Old Statistical Account of Scotland," vol. x. , pp. 534, 535.
660, which is not true of either Kieran, who lived more than a century earlier.
93 See " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. x,, num. 774, p. 420. 94 How Dempster gleaned his information is not revealed, since he adds :" Nee plura
ejus acta supersunt, ita et scripta in teriere. " 9S See Acta Sanctorum Hibernian," Manii
v. Appendix ad Vitam S- Kierani, cap i. , p. 470,
87 See " New Statistical Account of Scot- land," vol. vii. Argyle, p. 647.
plement to Kieran's Acts quoted by himself
(ib. , p. 266) that his name was exceedingly
celebrated in Scotland "Nomen per Hiber- ;
88 See
niam et Abaniam celeberimum. "—
Origines ii. , p. 387.
Parochiales
Scoriae,"
vol.
Dr. Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
89 See "The
and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland," vol. i. , p. 115.
x. , sect, xi. , n. 61. 187, p.
Topographical, Statistical,
land,"
ii. , chap,
entitled, "Waterloo, suite du consent de 90 See " New Statistical Account of 1813," sect, viii. , pp. 100, 101. Troisieme
Scotland," vol. v. Ayrshire. At Kilkerran edition.
are the ruins of a former strong castle, ^InNineLessons.
p. 384. 9» Obtained through application of Dr. 91 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Woodlock.
ScottishSaints,"
90 He is said to have flourished in the year
,00Thus "InfestoSancti abbatis : Kirani,
Foilensis et patroni. "
p. 436.
Barvas,
3 He went still
Lanig. ui's
"
longe
Also, at
at Kilker-
; at Kilchieran or
vol.
97 See an interesting narrative in French,
In
236
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[September 9.
101
The Bollandist editor of our Saint's Acts
which explain the Mass of our Saint, as printed in that Missal, to which allusionhasbeenalreadymade. TheeditoroftheaforesaidMissalcertifies in his preface, that no saints, except those well known, and of no doubtful
102
reputation, were to be found in it.
quite evident, that by the Kieran there mentioned, we must understand the AbbotofClonmacnoise. 103 Heofferssomeconjectures,whichdonotappear to be very conclusive, to account for a festival to St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise
identity.
gives
several
extracts,
being placed
had been celebrated with an office, comprising nine lessons. 106
Both in ancient and modern times, churches and chapels have been built—in
Ireland to honour this saint. A — in Aran was dedicated to St. Kieran chapel
most likely the present holy Abbot and it stood on the site of a church whichhadbeendemolished. ThislatterwascalledMainisterConnachtach
or the 10? It is Connaught Monastery.
a
Macateer, in the parish of Ardnurcher, situated partly in the barony of
Kilcoursey, but chiefly in that of Moycashel, County Westmeath, had been y
founded by this saint. It was named after him Teampull mhic a t saoir, "the Church of the Son of the Artificer. " The ruin yet stands on a town- land, to which it gives name. Hence, our St. Kieran is supposed to have
108
been the ancient Patron Saint of Ardnurcher. TempleKieran,intheCountyofMeath. Itissaidtohavebeendedicated to a St. Kieran,100 but whether or not to the present one seems to be unknown. This old church was pulled down, and a Protestant edifice had
of 104 He
Irish and Scotch saints, and authors who sought for, in the fact, that as the 9th of
101 On
examining
that a reason be may
various
have treated on the holy man of Ireland and September had been dedicated to St.
Scotland, Suyskens declares he found no one named Kirianus Foilensis abbas, or bearing any similar title, in whose honour the Mass already mentioned could have been com- piled. First, a manuscript copy of the Aber- deen Breviary, possessed by the Bollandists, mentions Queranus, at no other day but the 9th of September. Secondly, Augustinus Lubinus has a
Osmanna, an Irish Virgin, who spent her last days in Gaul, having been venerated in Ireland and France ; it is thought she could not properly be disturbed from that place. And again, in the Roman Missal,—used by the Irish, as the 9th of February (? ) rather the 10th of September— had been pre-occu- pied by a double office for St. Nicholas of
catalogues
supposes
According to Father Suyskens, it is
at the nth of 10* We find too that his festival ios September.
said,
church,
called
Temple
u Erat abbas Tolentino, and as the nth of this day
peculiar entry :
Foilensis in Scotia," in his Geographical month had been left vacant, it might have
Tablet to the Roman Martyrology. Again, been thought a suitable day to be assigned Camerarius, in " De Scotorum Pietate," for St. Kieran's festival. See " Acta
lib. iii. , and who, among the Martyrologists Sanctorum," tomus iii. Septembris ix. De alone commemorates Kieran, at the nth of S. Kierano seu Querano, Abbate Cluain- September, seems to admit that he was mic-noisensi, Commentarius Ilistoricus,
sect. 1, num. 3, 4, 5, 6, p. 371.
identical with that saint, referred by others to the 9th of September. These ar% the words of Camerarius " Sanctus
I0
5At the 9th of September.
: Queranus abbas Foilensis in Scotia. De ipso vide
Trinity College, Dublin, classed B. 3, 12, contains a notice of it in the Calendar, at v. Ides of Septem-
ber : "Kerani. Conf. ix. Lect. "
107 According to Archbishop Keely's List
of Churches at 21st of March. See Colgan's
"1
Acta Sanctorum Hibernian' Vita S.
Endei, Appendix, cap. 7, p. 715.
108 See Rev. A. "Diocese of Cogan's
Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. ii. , chap. xix. ,p. 497.
Martyrologium Romanum, ad ix. Septem- bris, Wionem lib. iii-, Lignum Vitas Usuar- dum et alios. "
102 He writes, that all saints were ex- cluded from it, "quas celebrant prgeconiis et laudibus efferunt ipsa Martyrologia, et
memoriam celebrate usus fuit quorum olim,
ut attestatur turn Usuardi Martyrologium, turn Historia Bedse, turn denique Eccle- siarum aut Ordinum et Congregationum Missalia antiqua aeque ac recentiora. "
109 Possibly to St. Ciaran of Castlekieran, who was venerated at the 14th of June, where an account of him be found in the Sixth
103 The referring to him.
after
Usuard,
seem
may Volume of this work, Art. iii.
Martyrologists,
106 The in Manuscript
There is a place called
September 9. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 237
been erected on its site. 110 The ruins were situated in the parish of Loghan,
and there was a termon -cross at the
111 Another old church, now in
place.
ruins, and situated in the barony of Demifore, County of Meath, seems to
have been dedicated to this St. Kieran. It was called Loughcrew. 112 At Castledaly, near Moate, County of Westmeath, a new church, under the title and patronage of St. Kieran of Clonmacnoise was solemly dedicated to Catholic worship with the full and impressive ritual prescribed by the Church for such occasions On Wednesday, February *i 6th, 1876. The parish of Moate, in which the new edifice is situated, is nearly one of the
in the diocese of and Clonmacnoise. 1 ^ The Church con- Ardagh
largest
sists of a single nave with a heptagonal apse, in the gothic style. "4
The servants of God, by their daily and hourly toil in His service, resemble the builders of lofty structures, who, placing tier of masonry above tier, and on a solid foundation, gradually advance above earth's level towards the upper skies. So, their industry attains nearer its object by
constancy and perseverance. Within a short period, our Saint wrought incessantly, and therefore gradually became more perfect, as he advanced towards the limit of life. The spiritual edifice he erected was not on sand ; neither were the winds or torrents of temptation able to destroy his work. From the interest attaching to his name and memory, we may regard him as having neglected no portion of his allotted labours in the Irish Church ; and therefore his virtues and merits were rewarded with the meed of his people's approbation and reverence. As his works were still better approved by his Divine Master, this Saint has accordingly secured a distinguished place among the host of heavenly citizens.
Article II. —St. Osmana, or St. Osmanna, Virgin, Abbey of St.
Denis, France. What has often happened in the case of many venerated
saints, having their true acts mingled with obscurities, uncertainties and fables,
must be predicated of St. Osmanna ; for, although some old Lives of her are
extant, they are negligently and injudiciously composed, while they are of a character not to merit implicit belief. Of those, a Life written by some
anonymous author, and apparently founded on accounts still more ancient, is to be found in a Manuscript, belonging to the church of St. Denis, near Paris ; but, it is imperfect or unreadable in some passages. St. Osmana is
1
entered in the Calendars, at the 1st of April; but this festival only has
reference to a Translation of her relics. Again, at the 25th of August, a
feast is said to have been assigned her, in a Breviary of St. Denis, near
2
Paris, by Breulius. This holy virgin has been celebrated by many writers.
Her earliest known manuscript Acts appear to be those found in the former Benedictine Library at St. Denis, near Paris ; but, in some passages, they are illegible or imperfecta Another manuscript Life of St. Osmanna was
110
See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese of After the first Gospel this learned and
Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. ii. , chap. xv. , p. 242. Also, chap, xvi. , p. 281.
eloquent prelate preached the dedication sermon. A very full report of it and the proceedings is contained in the Free/nan's
of —
journal Thursday, February 17th, 1876.
111 112
See
113 This church owes its erection to Very
Rev. Canon Kearney, P. P. of Moate.