s There
had been a religious establishment and a See at Ferns, in the county of Wexford, from an early period.
had been a religious establishment and a See at Ferns, in the county of Wexford, from an early period.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v7
^ It is noticed, in the Martyrology of
having
carved crosses on 12
them. This
1 -* that Beoghain, Abbot of Magh-bile, or Moville, had veneration given him, at the present date. In that Calendar, compiled by the Rev. Dr. Reeves,^ he is
Lutt, a virgin, of Tigh Luta, in Fotharta Mora; Where that district or place wassituateddoesnotseemtobeknown. ThepeoplecalledFothartawere descendants of Eochadh Finn Fuathart, brother to Conn of the Hundred Battles, and who settled in Leinster Here they acquired lands in the coun- ties of Carlow and of Waterford. The of Fothart —
monly called Fothart an Chairn, now Carnsore Point, took the name of
O'Lorcain, or Larkin, but shortly after the Anglo-Norman invasion, the O'Lorcains were dispossessed. 3 There were other territories of the name in Leinster, such as Fothart Airbreach, around the Hill of Cruachan Bri Eile, now Croghan, in the north-east of ihe King's County ; and Fothart Oirthir Life, in the present county of Wicklow. *
—com-
was so fromCillOsnadha,nowKellistown. ItwasmorefrequentlyknownasFotharta Fea, from the plain of Magh Fea, in which that church was situated. 2 The O'Nuallains, Anglice, O'Nolans or Nowlans, were the chief inhabitants of this district. The chief family of the Fotharta, in the county of Wexford, com-
prised in the present barony of Forth, in the county of Carlow
called
10 See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesias-
tical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro-
more," p. 14, n. (r).
. " The oldest tombstone ever come across
by the present gravedigger in his excava- tions, was dated 1114.
12
The greater number of these slabs have been carefully preserved. Seethe "Irish Builder," vol. xxxi. , No. 709, July 1st, 1S89.
13 In it is to be seen the grave of the Rev.
Archibald Warwick, who was executed for
participation in the Rebellion of 1798. He was the Presbyterian Minister of Newtown-
I4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
202, 203.
'5 In his "Ecclesiastical Antiquities
Down, Connor and Dromore," Appendix
Ardes. See
Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 810.
Gazetteer of
4 See
Article hi. 'Edited by Rev. Dr.
"Parliamentary
n. — 221. ibid. , (y), p.
territory Osnadhaigh
'
LL, p. 379. — Article ii.
* Edited Drs. Todd by
and Reeves, pp. 202, 203.
2
Reference is made to the Book of Bally- mote, fol. 77 b, a Manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy's Library, and to Keating's History of Ireland, at the reiyn of Oiliiol Molt.
3 See John O'Donovan's " Leabhar-na- g-Ceart, or Book of Right," n. (j), p. 211.
Donegal,
400 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 27.
Article III. —St. Lasrain or Lassar, of Tipra Roisrain. The '
MartyrologyofTallagh registersafestivalinhonourofLasrain,*ofTipratoss, at the 27th of July. Tiprat or Tipra is usually derived from the Irish word,
Tubber, meaning a " well" or "a fountain. " Many townland denominations, simply or in composition, proceed from this natural feature of almost every landscape to be seen in "Erin of the Streams. " At the 27th of July, the Martyrology of Donegal* commemorates Lassar of Tipra Rosrain.
Article IV. —Reputed Feast of St. Luican, Parish of Kill-Lucain.
of Westmeath, there is a Killukin, in—the barony of Boyle, and another Killukin 2 in the barony of Roscommon both in the county of Roscommon. The Rev. Alban Butler, 3 and the Circle of the Seasons/ record at the 27th of July the name of St. Luican, Confessor in Ireland. He is said to have been the titular saint of a parish called Kill-Luicain, but which of the fore- going parishes so named is not further indicated.
Article V. —St. Brenainn, of Fore, County of Westmeath.
Wereadinthe of 1 that of hada Martyrology Donegal, Brenainn, Fobhar,
Besides, the parish of Killucan, in the baronies of Delvin and Farbill, county 1
festival at the
of 2 His 27th July.
place
is now known as of Fighan Fore,
or
St. Fowre, a parish in the barony of Demifore, and county of Westmeath.
The founder of its monastery, St. Feichin, died of the great plague, a. d. 664,
so that the present saint must have flourished after this time; yet, we find no record of his having presided over that monastery, at any exact date. 3 That ancient town is situated near Lough Lene, a beautiful sheet of water, studded with small islands, and surrounded by rising grounds. * Several antique remains are to be found in this parish, and especially those of an ecclesiastical character. * After the destruction—probably by fire—of the old buildings here, Walter De Lacy refounded the abbey, under the invocation of St Fechin and of St. Taurin, for monks belonging to the order of St. Benedict.
6
Article VI. —Reputed Feast of St. Diraidh. A festival is entered
1
at the 27th of July, in the Martyrology of Donegal, to honour Diraidh
2
[Bishop of Ferna]. Or, as the O'Clerys state, this may be Diraidh, of
These he brought from the Abbey of St. Taurin, in Evereux, Normandy.
Kelly, p. xxx.
2 In Irish usually written nobapor nob-
paiT).
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
202, 203.
ARTICLE iv. — This contains 4,831a. or.
chap. Ixxiv. , n. , p. 562.
3 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nine," xx. Januarii. Vita S. Fechini, Appen- dix, cap. iii. , pp. 143, 144.
4
See Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 616.
5 Its is well set forth in Rev. history
Mervyn Archdall's "Monasticon Hiberni- cum, pp. 711 to 715.
See ilnd. , p. 713. See likewise, Rev.
ip. ,
'
and it is shown, on the "Ordnance
Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Roscommon," sheets 10, 11. 26
This contains 5,956a. 3r. 3p. , and it is shown, on sheets 22, 23, 28, 29, ibid.
3 See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. vii. , July xxvii.
"
cient and Modern," vol. iii. , chap. Ixxiv. ,
4 See p. 209. Article v. —1
Edited by Drs. Todd and
and Reeves, pp. 204, 205.
2 The Rev. Dr. Todd states at this word
Bishop: "The note within brackets is added by the second hand ; it is evidently from the gloss in Mar. O'Gorman. "
Reeves, pp. 202, 203. 2"
See Rev. Anthony Cogan's Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. iii. ,
Anthony Cogan's
Diocese of Meath, An-
pp. 566 to 568. — Article vi.
'
Edited
Drs. Todd
by
JULY 27. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 401
Eadardruim, son to the King of Britain, i. e. , Brecan, son of Bracha [meoc3], brother to Dabheog,4 of Tearmonn. Dina, daughter to the King of—Saxon- land, was his mother. To—the latter opinion, the compiler of a table post- fixed to this Martyrology would seem to incline, at an entry of the name Diraid, of Eadardruim, for he remarks, the King of Britain, i. e. , Brachan, son
Abbey of Ferns, County of Wexford.
Martyrology of Tal- lagh, there is no entry of Diraidh, either at the 27th of July, or as mistakenly supposed, at the 27th of August. In Scotland, St. Dirad was also commemo-
rated, at the 27th of July.
10
3 Brachameoc. "This name is Bracha in the Manuscript. The last syllable has been supplied by Mr. Curry, as having been evi- dently intended. "—Note by Rev. Dr. Todd.
7 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 294, 295, and n. (h), ibid. In the note, Dr. O'Donovan states,
this saint at 4 There are two saints this the of — rather it should be at
entered in the Martyrology of Donegal one ;
is venerated at the 1st day of January, and the other at the 22nd of July. To the former allusion is made in the foregoing passage.
;
for I find there is no entry of Diraidh's fes-
tival in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the
27th of August.
8 Thus anno 'ootn. : "Oiajvai'o epr\ Ve-^wiA
690. See Common Place Book F, p. 66. 9 See Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Calendar of Irish
Saints," pp. xxx. , xxxiii.
10 Thus is the feast entered in one of the
5 See ibid. , 402, pp.
403.
6 The accompanying illustration of Ferns
abbey, in its present ruined state, was drawn on the spot, by William F. Wakeman, and
him transferred to the Mrs. Millard.
by
wood, engraved by
" ;
bearing name, 27th August
that O'Clery's Calendar enters
the
27th July
Kalendars
vi. Kal. Aug. Apud Hiber- IC
of Brachameog, was his father.
s There
had been a religious establishment and a See at Ferns, in the county of Wexford, from an early period. Even still, there are some interestingruins
6
seems to be known,
however, regarding the Bishop of Ferns, called Diraith, except that his death is re- corded at a. d. 688, intheAnnalso(CIon- macnoise at a. d.
;
690, in the Annals of
the Four Masters; and
at 692, according to the Ulster Annals. 7 In the Irish Calendar belonging to the Ord- nance Survey, and now preserved in the Royai Irish Academy, thereisarecordofDia-
8
raidh, at the sixth of
the August Kalends,
corresponding with the27thofJuly. Inthe
to be found.
Little
vi. of the Kalends— August
402 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 27.
Article VII. —St. Guarian. The simple entry, Guarian, occurs in the 1
Martyrology of Donegal, at the 27th of July. There was a certain holy
peison, called Genereus, or Guerius, or Guerenus—possibly identical with
the saint. HewasamonkinIona,anda ofSt. Columkille. 3 present disciple
In Scotland, likewise, he seems to have been commemorated as Guaire. 3
Article VIII. —Reputed Feast of St. Congall, Abbot of Jabhnal-
livin. At the 27th of July, the name of St. Congall, Abbot of Jabhnallivin,
in Rev. Alban Butler's 1 as also in the Circle of the Seasons. 2 appears work,
His place is said to have been on the upper part of Lake Erne, and to have been the name for a parish of which he was patron. Before death, he com-
mitted the government of his monastery to his beloved disciple St. Fegnar- nach. His festival was kept as a holyday of precept, in that part of the
country. For the foregoing statement, the Rev. Alban Butler cites Father
Colgan, at the 27th of July. 3 Among the present parish names in Ireland, we do not find one called Jabhnallivin.
Article IX. —Reputed Festival of St. Maelrtjbius, at Marne
orMearns,Scotland. The27thdayofJulyisassignedbyDempsterfor thefeastofSt. Maelrubius,ahermitandmartyr,puttodeathbytheDanes
at Mama, in Scotland. 1 The Bollandists follow this
date, but they refer their readers for further notice to the 27th of August.
Article X. —Reputed Feast for the Translation of St. Pantaleon's
Relics, Cologne. At the 27th of July, Thomas Dempster, in his Menolo-
gium Scotorum, has inserted a feast for the Translation of St. Pantaleon's
at
1
He is to have been of the Scottish monas- stated, patron
Relics,
tery, in that city.
Dempster undertakes the writing of history, it is quite evident, that he desires to make St. Pantaleon of Cologne identical with the still more cele- brated St. Pantaleon, who was a medical practitioner of Nicomedia, in Bithy- nia ; the son of a pagan father and of a Christian mother. He became a
Cologne.
Saints," Kalenda—r of Drum mond, p. 19. 1
Marnae Malrubi Krcmitae et martyris a
However, according to the reckless manner in which
niam Sancti Confessores Guari et Dirad. "— Article ix—" See " Menologium Sco- "
Bishop Forbes' Kalendar of Scottish torum," at Julius xxvii. There he enters :
"
Article vii. Edited by Drs. Todd Danis interfecti. K. "—Bishop Forbes'
and Reeves, pp. 202, 203. 22
See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbie, cap. x. , p. 490.
3 See the entry, in the Kalendar of Drum-
See "Acta Sanctorum," toinus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 352.
inthe— Article. rum
mond, given previous patroni
*
Article viii. See "Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. vii. , July xxvii.
2 See
3 As we do not meet with such notices Saints," tome ix. , xxviie Jour de Juillet,
among Colgan's preserved papers, might it not be possible, that the Rev. Alban Butler had borrowed some of his Manuscripts from the Franciscans at Louvain, and that these had not been returned ?
p.
209.
.
LL. D. ;—
"
Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 207.
Article x.
— x " Colonise Scoto- Thus :
account,
at the same 2
Pantaleonistranslatio, monasterium Sanctorum ferax est. ML. B. " —Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of Scottish
Saints," p. 207. 2
^ic Lea Petite Bollandisles, "Vicsdes
pp. 53 to 63. — Article XI.
The text from the "Leabhax Breac" copy is as follows, with an English translation by Whitley Stokes,
'
cujus
July 27. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIN1S. 403
fervent Christian, under the direction of a priest, named Hermolaus. Panta- leon became also the happy instrument of his father's conversion. However, he was apprehended, and brought before the tribunal of the wicked tyrant Maximian ; when, after the most inhuman tortures had been inflicted on him, the intrepid soldier of Christ at last was beheaded on the 27th of July, about the beginning of the third century. The relics of this holy Martyr were after- wards brought to Constantinople, while some of them were obtained by the
3 Emperor Charlemagne.
Article XT. —Festival of St. Simeon, the Monk. In the ancient
Irish Church, a festival was celebrated on the 27th of July to honour St.
"1
Simeon, as we find it recorded in the Feilire" of St. ^ngus. There is a
comment added to his name. 2 The Bollandists have a commemoration of St. Simeon Monachus, venerated at Treves, but referring to what they had noticed concerning him, at the 1st day of June; while they have entries regarding St. Simeon the stylite, of whom they had treated at the 26th of July ; besides, they notice another Symeon, at the 27th of July, but without throwing much light on their personal history. 3
Article XII. —Reputed Feast of Blessed Marianus, a Recluse at Ratisbon,Bavaria. ThemeritsofBlessedMarianus,anIrishRecluseat
Ratisbon,
noticed,
by
Again,
but in an obscure
manner
Rader. 1
are
Bucelin quotes this writer, for his allusion to the Blessed Marianus. He seems not to have been different from that Blessed Marianus Scotus or St. Muiredhac Mac Roburtach, the Benedictine Abbot of Ratisbon, in Bavaria, and whose Acts have at the
appeared
of 2 The Bollandists February.
9th
have notices of the Blessed Marianus at the 27th of July, —and stating, that he
was a distinct personage from Marianus Chronographus 3
otherwise known
About him, we have already treated, at the 30th of
as Marianus Scotus. 4
January. s The present Marianus Beatus is said to have died a. d. 1070 f but, it seems more probable, that he lived to a later period, and that he died a. d. 1088. 7
"
£JAitnc1iiu Semeoin mAiiAig
OAtriorxSiMAn •ooucAlmxvm l-acefa-o fUiAig inniAin
1n ^ncuAig arvo AT>b<Ml.
tomus ii. , p. 117.
The bed-death of Simeon the monk: a great sun was he to the earth : with the passion of a —loveable host in Antioch high (and) vast. " "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series,
PP- 35°» 35 l - — Article xii.
•
See "Bavaria Sancta,"
:
"Semeoin,
the Benedictine Annals have been brought down to a. d. 1116, yet there does not appear to have been any mention
in that work of this holy man.
7 According to Rader's "Bavaria Sancta,"
tomus ii. , p. 117.
On the Calendar of Oengus,
vol. i. , part i. p. cxii.
a T—hus
est. " Ibid. , p. exxi.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts,
*
3 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 351.
4 He was born A. D. 1028, and he died at Mayence, A. D. 1086. See Michaud's " Bio- graphie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne," tome xxvi. , pp. 576, 577.
s See the First Volume of this work, at that date, Art. xi.
in antiochia 6
passus Although
2
at that date, Art. i.
See the Second Volume of this work,
4o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 28.
Ctoentg*etff6tB Sag of 3ulj>.
ARTICLE I. —ST. SAMSON OR SAMPSON, BISHOP OF DOL, OR DOLA, IN ARMORICA, FRANCE.
{FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—SOURCES FOR ST. SAMSON'S BIOGRAPHY—HIS PARENTAGE AND BIRTH —HIS EARLY TRAINING—HE STUDIES AT THE SCHOOL OF ST. ILTUT—HIS LIFE WHILE THERE—HE IS ORDAINED DEACON AND AFTERWARDS HE IS RAISED TO THE PRIESTHOOD—HIS MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION FROM A MALICIOUS ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE—HIS FASTS AND AUSTERITIES.
OUR
Island justly classes among her saints many holy men, who were not born within her when their education had been
shores, religious
received in our country. We have good reason for adopting them, as their
residence here and their culture reflect credit and character on the places where they dwelt. Nearly all hagiographers have treated in some shape or manner about St. Samson, who was greatly celebrated among the Celtic races. Some writers have pretended, indeed, that there were two British saints bearingthisname,andwhosucceededeachotherintheSeeofDole. Ithas been asserted, likewise, that the former had been Archbishop of York, while the latter had ruled over the See of Menevia. These assertions, however, have
1
no sufficient grounds to support them.
by most modern critics as untenable, and as not deserving the attention of those engaged in the study of ecclesiastical history.
The most ancient Life of this holy man was one written at the request of
a certain named 2 The author is supposed to have Bishop, Tigerinomalus.
been a Gallicanmonk, and who lived in a generation immediately succeeding that of the saint. There are reasonable grounds for supposing this narrative
to contain authentic facts j although undoubtedly they are mingled with a mass of traditional fictions. 3 From the statements found in it, we are left to infer, that this biography had been written at the beginning of the seventh century, and within a few years of Samson's death, embodying too an older
Article 1. —J See Bishop Challenor's " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. 43, 44.
2
It has been thought, by Mabillon, that he differed not from Tirnomalus, whom St. Paul after Jehovius had placed in the See of Laon, not as his successor, but rather as his coadjutor, and which may be seen in Vita S. Pauli, cap. xvii.
3 " I wish it to be understood," he says,
had founded beyond the sea (*. <? . , in Britain), living a Catholic and religious life, in times most approximate to those of the Saint, and which his mother had transmitted to her uncle, named Henoch, being himself a cousin of St. Samson, and a deacon. . . . That no doubt may be thrown upon the veracity of my words, I call Christ, the Saviour of us all, to witness that 1 have not under-
in the
" that these words are not
taken to hand down brief narrative to thisvery
preface,
put together thoughtlessly and rashly, or
from confused and unauthorized rumours, but
that they consist of information which I de-
rived from a certain religious and venerable
man, who resided for about eighty years
in a monastery which St. Samson himself monastery, written in a true and Catholic
Therefore, they have been rejected
posterity from any fallible or uncertain con- jecture of its truth, but from the statements
of most holy and thoroughly competent men, and also from most accurate and elabo- rate documents, which I found in the same
July 28. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 40$
document, drawn up by a kinsman and fellow-labourer of the saint. How- ever, those fictions it contains do not invalidate the genuine basis of the nar- rative.
having
carved crosses on 12
them. This
1 -* that Beoghain, Abbot of Magh-bile, or Moville, had veneration given him, at the present date. In that Calendar, compiled by the Rev. Dr. Reeves,^ he is
Lutt, a virgin, of Tigh Luta, in Fotharta Mora; Where that district or place wassituateddoesnotseemtobeknown. ThepeoplecalledFothartawere descendants of Eochadh Finn Fuathart, brother to Conn of the Hundred Battles, and who settled in Leinster Here they acquired lands in the coun- ties of Carlow and of Waterford. The of Fothart —
monly called Fothart an Chairn, now Carnsore Point, took the name of
O'Lorcain, or Larkin, but shortly after the Anglo-Norman invasion, the O'Lorcains were dispossessed. 3 There were other territories of the name in Leinster, such as Fothart Airbreach, around the Hill of Cruachan Bri Eile, now Croghan, in the north-east of ihe King's County ; and Fothart Oirthir Life, in the present county of Wicklow. *
—com-
was so fromCillOsnadha,nowKellistown. ItwasmorefrequentlyknownasFotharta Fea, from the plain of Magh Fea, in which that church was situated. 2 The O'Nuallains, Anglice, O'Nolans or Nowlans, were the chief inhabitants of this district. The chief family of the Fotharta, in the county of Wexford, com-
prised in the present barony of Forth, in the county of Carlow
called
10 See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesias-
tical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro-
more," p. 14, n. (r).
. " The oldest tombstone ever come across
by the present gravedigger in his excava- tions, was dated 1114.
12
The greater number of these slabs have been carefully preserved. Seethe "Irish Builder," vol. xxxi. , No. 709, July 1st, 1S89.
13 In it is to be seen the grave of the Rev.
Archibald Warwick, who was executed for
participation in the Rebellion of 1798. He was the Presbyterian Minister of Newtown-
I4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
202, 203.
'5 In his "Ecclesiastical Antiquities
Down, Connor and Dromore," Appendix
Ardes. See
Ireland," vol. ii. , p. 810.
Gazetteer of
4 See
Article hi. 'Edited by Rev. Dr.
"Parliamentary
n. — 221. ibid. , (y), p.
territory Osnadhaigh
'
LL, p. 379. — Article ii.
* Edited Drs. Todd by
and Reeves, pp. 202, 203.
2
Reference is made to the Book of Bally- mote, fol. 77 b, a Manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy's Library, and to Keating's History of Ireland, at the reiyn of Oiliiol Molt.
3 See John O'Donovan's " Leabhar-na- g-Ceart, or Book of Right," n. (j), p. 211.
Donegal,
400 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 27.
Article III. —St. Lasrain or Lassar, of Tipra Roisrain. The '
MartyrologyofTallagh registersafestivalinhonourofLasrain,*ofTipratoss, at the 27th of July. Tiprat or Tipra is usually derived from the Irish word,
Tubber, meaning a " well" or "a fountain. " Many townland denominations, simply or in composition, proceed from this natural feature of almost every landscape to be seen in "Erin of the Streams. " At the 27th of July, the Martyrology of Donegal* commemorates Lassar of Tipra Rosrain.
Article IV. —Reputed Feast of St. Luican, Parish of Kill-Lucain.
of Westmeath, there is a Killukin, in—the barony of Boyle, and another Killukin 2 in the barony of Roscommon both in the county of Roscommon. The Rev. Alban Butler, 3 and the Circle of the Seasons/ record at the 27th of July the name of St. Luican, Confessor in Ireland. He is said to have been the titular saint of a parish called Kill-Luicain, but which of the fore- going parishes so named is not further indicated.
Article V. —St. Brenainn, of Fore, County of Westmeath.
Wereadinthe of 1 that of hada Martyrology Donegal, Brenainn, Fobhar,
Besides, the parish of Killucan, in the baronies of Delvin and Farbill, county 1
festival at the
of 2 His 27th July.
place
is now known as of Fighan Fore,
or
St. Fowre, a parish in the barony of Demifore, and county of Westmeath.
The founder of its monastery, St. Feichin, died of the great plague, a. d. 664,
so that the present saint must have flourished after this time; yet, we find no record of his having presided over that monastery, at any exact date. 3 That ancient town is situated near Lough Lene, a beautiful sheet of water, studded with small islands, and surrounded by rising grounds. * Several antique remains are to be found in this parish, and especially those of an ecclesiastical character. * After the destruction—probably by fire—of the old buildings here, Walter De Lacy refounded the abbey, under the invocation of St Fechin and of St. Taurin, for monks belonging to the order of St. Benedict.
6
Article VI. —Reputed Feast of St. Diraidh. A festival is entered
1
at the 27th of July, in the Martyrology of Donegal, to honour Diraidh
2
[Bishop of Ferna]. Or, as the O'Clerys state, this may be Diraidh, of
These he brought from the Abbey of St. Taurin, in Evereux, Normandy.
Kelly, p. xxx.
2 In Irish usually written nobapor nob-
paiT).
3 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
202, 203.
ARTICLE iv. — This contains 4,831a. or.
chap. Ixxiv. , n. , p. 562.
3 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
nine," xx. Januarii. Vita S. Fechini, Appen- dix, cap. iii. , pp. 143, 144.
4
See Lewis' "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," vol. i. , p. 616.
5 Its is well set forth in Rev. history
Mervyn Archdall's "Monasticon Hiberni- cum, pp. 711 to 715.
See ilnd. , p. 713. See likewise, Rev.
ip. ,
'
and it is shown, on the "Ordnance
Survey Townland Maps for the County of
Roscommon," sheets 10, 11. 26
This contains 5,956a. 3r. 3p. , and it is shown, on sheets 22, 23, 28, 29, ibid.
3 See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. vii. , July xxvii.
"
cient and Modern," vol. iii. , chap. Ixxiv. ,
4 See p. 209. Article v. —1
Edited by Drs. Todd and
and Reeves, pp. 204, 205.
2 The Rev. Dr. Todd states at this word
Bishop: "The note within brackets is added by the second hand ; it is evidently from the gloss in Mar. O'Gorman. "
Reeves, pp. 202, 203. 2"
See Rev. Anthony Cogan's Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. iii. ,
Anthony Cogan's
Diocese of Meath, An-
pp. 566 to 568. — Article vi.
'
Edited
Drs. Todd
by
JULY 27. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 401
Eadardruim, son to the King of Britain, i. e. , Brecan, son of Bracha [meoc3], brother to Dabheog,4 of Tearmonn. Dina, daughter to the King of—Saxon- land, was his mother. To—the latter opinion, the compiler of a table post- fixed to this Martyrology would seem to incline, at an entry of the name Diraid, of Eadardruim, for he remarks, the King of Britain, i. e. , Brachan, son
Abbey of Ferns, County of Wexford.
Martyrology of Tal- lagh, there is no entry of Diraidh, either at the 27th of July, or as mistakenly supposed, at the 27th of August. In Scotland, St. Dirad was also commemo-
rated, at the 27th of July.
10
3 Brachameoc. "This name is Bracha in the Manuscript. The last syllable has been supplied by Mr. Curry, as having been evi- dently intended. "—Note by Rev. Dr. Todd.
7 See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 294, 295, and n. (h), ibid. In the note, Dr. O'Donovan states,
this saint at 4 There are two saints this the of — rather it should be at
entered in the Martyrology of Donegal one ;
is venerated at the 1st day of January, and the other at the 22nd of July. To the former allusion is made in the foregoing passage.
;
for I find there is no entry of Diraidh's fes-
tival in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the
27th of August.
8 Thus anno 'ootn. : "Oiajvai'o epr\ Ve-^wiA
690. See Common Place Book F, p. 66. 9 See Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Calendar of Irish
Saints," pp. xxx. , xxxiii.
10 Thus is the feast entered in one of the
5 See ibid. , 402, pp.
403.
6 The accompanying illustration of Ferns
abbey, in its present ruined state, was drawn on the spot, by William F. Wakeman, and
him transferred to the Mrs. Millard.
by
wood, engraved by
" ;
bearing name, 27th August
that O'Clery's Calendar enters
the
27th July
Kalendars
vi. Kal. Aug. Apud Hiber- IC
of Brachameog, was his father.
s There
had been a religious establishment and a See at Ferns, in the county of Wexford, from an early period. Even still, there are some interestingruins
6
seems to be known,
however, regarding the Bishop of Ferns, called Diraith, except that his death is re- corded at a. d. 688, intheAnnalso(CIon- macnoise at a. d.
;
690, in the Annals of
the Four Masters; and
at 692, according to the Ulster Annals. 7 In the Irish Calendar belonging to the Ord- nance Survey, and now preserved in the Royai Irish Academy, thereisarecordofDia-
8
raidh, at the sixth of
the August Kalends,
corresponding with the27thofJuly. Inthe
to be found.
Little
vi. of the Kalends— August
402 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 27.
Article VII. —St. Guarian. The simple entry, Guarian, occurs in the 1
Martyrology of Donegal, at the 27th of July. There was a certain holy
peison, called Genereus, or Guerius, or Guerenus—possibly identical with
the saint. HewasamonkinIona,anda ofSt. Columkille. 3 present disciple
In Scotland, likewise, he seems to have been commemorated as Guaire. 3
Article VIII. —Reputed Feast of St. Congall, Abbot of Jabhnal-
livin. At the 27th of July, the name of St. Congall, Abbot of Jabhnallivin,
in Rev. Alban Butler's 1 as also in the Circle of the Seasons. 2 appears work,
His place is said to have been on the upper part of Lake Erne, and to have been the name for a parish of which he was patron. Before death, he com-
mitted the government of his monastery to his beloved disciple St. Fegnar- nach. His festival was kept as a holyday of precept, in that part of the
country. For the foregoing statement, the Rev. Alban Butler cites Father
Colgan, at the 27th of July. 3 Among the present parish names in Ireland, we do not find one called Jabhnallivin.
Article IX. —Reputed Festival of St. Maelrtjbius, at Marne
orMearns,Scotland. The27thdayofJulyisassignedbyDempsterfor thefeastofSt. Maelrubius,ahermitandmartyr,puttodeathbytheDanes
at Mama, in Scotland. 1 The Bollandists follow this
date, but they refer their readers for further notice to the 27th of August.
Article X. —Reputed Feast for the Translation of St. Pantaleon's
Relics, Cologne. At the 27th of July, Thomas Dempster, in his Menolo-
gium Scotorum, has inserted a feast for the Translation of St. Pantaleon's
at
1
He is to have been of the Scottish monas- stated, patron
Relics,
tery, in that city.
Dempster undertakes the writing of history, it is quite evident, that he desires to make St. Pantaleon of Cologne identical with the still more cele- brated St. Pantaleon, who was a medical practitioner of Nicomedia, in Bithy- nia ; the son of a pagan father and of a Christian mother. He became a
Cologne.
Saints," Kalenda—r of Drum mond, p. 19. 1
Marnae Malrubi Krcmitae et martyris a
However, according to the reckless manner in which
niam Sancti Confessores Guari et Dirad. "— Article ix—" See " Menologium Sco- "
Bishop Forbes' Kalendar of Scottish torum," at Julius xxvii. There he enters :
"
Article vii. Edited by Drs. Todd Danis interfecti. K. "—Bishop Forbes'
and Reeves, pp. 202, 203. 22
See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Columbie, cap. x. , p. 490.
3 See the entry, in the Kalendar of Drum-
See "Acta Sanctorum," toinus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 352.
inthe— Article. rum
mond, given previous patroni
*
Article viii. See "Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. vii. , July xxvii.
2 See
3 As we do not meet with such notices Saints," tome ix. , xxviie Jour de Juillet,
among Colgan's preserved papers, might it not be possible, that the Rev. Alban Butler had borrowed some of his Manuscripts from the Franciscans at Louvain, and that these had not been returned ?
p.
209.
.
LL. D. ;—
"
Kalendars of Scottish Saints," p. 207.
Article x.
— x " Colonise Scoto- Thus :
account,
at the same 2
Pantaleonistranslatio, monasterium Sanctorum ferax est. ML. B. " —Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of Scottish
Saints," p. 207. 2
^ic Lea Petite Bollandisles, "Vicsdes
pp. 53 to 63. — Article XI.
The text from the "Leabhax Breac" copy is as follows, with an English translation by Whitley Stokes,
'
cujus
July 27. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIN1S. 403
fervent Christian, under the direction of a priest, named Hermolaus. Panta- leon became also the happy instrument of his father's conversion. However, he was apprehended, and brought before the tribunal of the wicked tyrant Maximian ; when, after the most inhuman tortures had been inflicted on him, the intrepid soldier of Christ at last was beheaded on the 27th of July, about the beginning of the third century. The relics of this holy Martyr were after- wards brought to Constantinople, while some of them were obtained by the
3 Emperor Charlemagne.
Article XT. —Festival of St. Simeon, the Monk. In the ancient
Irish Church, a festival was celebrated on the 27th of July to honour St.
"1
Simeon, as we find it recorded in the Feilire" of St. ^ngus. There is a
comment added to his name. 2 The Bollandists have a commemoration of St. Simeon Monachus, venerated at Treves, but referring to what they had noticed concerning him, at the 1st day of June; while they have entries regarding St. Simeon the stylite, of whom they had treated at the 26th of July ; besides, they notice another Symeon, at the 27th of July, but without throwing much light on their personal history. 3
Article XII. —Reputed Feast of Blessed Marianus, a Recluse at Ratisbon,Bavaria. ThemeritsofBlessedMarianus,anIrishRecluseat
Ratisbon,
noticed,
by
Again,
but in an obscure
manner
Rader. 1
are
Bucelin quotes this writer, for his allusion to the Blessed Marianus. He seems not to have been different from that Blessed Marianus Scotus or St. Muiredhac Mac Roburtach, the Benedictine Abbot of Ratisbon, in Bavaria, and whose Acts have at the
appeared
of 2 The Bollandists February.
9th
have notices of the Blessed Marianus at the 27th of July, —and stating, that he
was a distinct personage from Marianus Chronographus 3
otherwise known
About him, we have already treated, at the 30th of
as Marianus Scotus. 4
January. s The present Marianus Beatus is said to have died a. d. 1070 f but, it seems more probable, that he lived to a later period, and that he died a. d. 1088. 7
"
£JAitnc1iiu Semeoin mAiiAig
OAtriorxSiMAn •ooucAlmxvm l-acefa-o fUiAig inniAin
1n ^ncuAig arvo AT>b<Ml.
tomus ii. , p. 117.
The bed-death of Simeon the monk: a great sun was he to the earth : with the passion of a —loveable host in Antioch high (and) vast. " "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series,
PP- 35°» 35 l - — Article xii.
•
See "Bavaria Sancta,"
:
"Semeoin,
the Benedictine Annals have been brought down to a. d. 1116, yet there does not appear to have been any mention
in that work of this holy man.
7 According to Rader's "Bavaria Sancta,"
tomus ii. , p. 117.
On the Calendar of Oengus,
vol. i. , part i. p. cxii.
a T—hus
est. " Ibid. , p. exxi.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts,
*
3 See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Julii xxvii. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 351.
4 He was born A. D. 1028, and he died at Mayence, A. D. 1086. See Michaud's " Bio- graphie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne," tome xxvi. , pp. 576, 577.
s See the First Volume of this work, at that date, Art. xi.
in antiochia 6
passus Although
2
at that date, Art. i.
See the Second Volume of this work,
4o4 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 28.
Ctoentg*etff6tB Sag of 3ulj>.
ARTICLE I. —ST. SAMSON OR SAMPSON, BISHOP OF DOL, OR DOLA, IN ARMORICA, FRANCE.
{FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—SOURCES FOR ST. SAMSON'S BIOGRAPHY—HIS PARENTAGE AND BIRTH —HIS EARLY TRAINING—HE STUDIES AT THE SCHOOL OF ST. ILTUT—HIS LIFE WHILE THERE—HE IS ORDAINED DEACON AND AFTERWARDS HE IS RAISED TO THE PRIESTHOOD—HIS MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION FROM A MALICIOUS ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE—HIS FASTS AND AUSTERITIES.
OUR
Island justly classes among her saints many holy men, who were not born within her when their education had been
shores, religious
received in our country. We have good reason for adopting them, as their
residence here and their culture reflect credit and character on the places where they dwelt. Nearly all hagiographers have treated in some shape or manner about St. Samson, who was greatly celebrated among the Celtic races. Some writers have pretended, indeed, that there were two British saints bearingthisname,andwhosucceededeachotherintheSeeofDole. Ithas been asserted, likewise, that the former had been Archbishop of York, while the latter had ruled over the See of Menevia. These assertions, however, have
1
no sufficient grounds to support them.
by most modern critics as untenable, and as not deserving the attention of those engaged in the study of ecclesiastical history.
The most ancient Life of this holy man was one written at the request of
a certain named 2 The author is supposed to have Bishop, Tigerinomalus.
been a Gallicanmonk, and who lived in a generation immediately succeeding that of the saint. There are reasonable grounds for supposing this narrative
to contain authentic facts j although undoubtedly they are mingled with a mass of traditional fictions. 3 From the statements found in it, we are left to infer, that this biography had been written at the beginning of the seventh century, and within a few years of Samson's death, embodying too an older
Article 1. —J See Bishop Challenor's " Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. 43, 44.
2
It has been thought, by Mabillon, that he differed not from Tirnomalus, whom St. Paul after Jehovius had placed in the See of Laon, not as his successor, but rather as his coadjutor, and which may be seen in Vita S. Pauli, cap. xvii.
3 " I wish it to be understood," he says,
had founded beyond the sea (*. <? . , in Britain), living a Catholic and religious life, in times most approximate to those of the Saint, and which his mother had transmitted to her uncle, named Henoch, being himself a cousin of St. Samson, and a deacon. . . . That no doubt may be thrown upon the veracity of my words, I call Christ, the Saviour of us all, to witness that 1 have not under-
in the
" that these words are not
taken to hand down brief narrative to thisvery
preface,
put together thoughtlessly and rashly, or
from confused and unauthorized rumours, but
that they consist of information which I de-
rived from a certain religious and venerable
man, who resided for about eighty years
in a monastery which St. Samson himself monastery, written in a true and Catholic
Therefore, they have been rejected
posterity from any fallible or uncertain con- jecture of its truth, but from the statements
of most holy and thoroughly competent men, and also from most accurate and elabo- rate documents, which I found in the same
July 28. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 40$
document, drawn up by a kinsman and fellow-labourer of the saint. How- ever, those fictions it contains do not invalidate the genuine basis of the nar- rative.
