34 Also, Sir James Ware tells us,35 he
governed
the See of Louth to a.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v8
Luachair, venerated at
According to Colgan, he must have
:
One day, while travelling " Go, brothers, and bring
and to those of St. Trian, Bishop, at the 23rd of March, as also to those of St. Trenan, Monk, at the latter date. To St.
In the northern
284 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 19.
The holy prelate Daygeus I2 was his disciple, and preaching to the monks
:
at Bangor he bears this testimony " I give thanks to my God, that I see
you like the last class of St. Mochta's monks. For he had three orders of
monks succeeding him : the first, distinguished for angelic purity; the second, for apostolic acts ; the third, as holy martyrs prepared to shed their blood for Christ. " A life abundant in virtue was that spent by St. Mochta, while he was at Louth. There he is thought to have exercised the offices both of Bishop and Abbot. Some writers have even stated, that he succeeded St. Patrick, in the government of the See of Armagh. Nevertheless, this does not seem to have been the case, since his name is not found inscribed on the
J
Catalogue of the Archbishops at that place 3 but, Colgan inclines to an
;
opinion, that such omission may be accounted for, as he only held that See for a few days, and until the proper successor to the Irish Apostle had been elected and consecrated. 14 The fame of Mochta was so exalted, that he is
panegyrized as a chief man among the priests of Ireland. 1S The Martyrology of Donegal quotes an old poem regarding St. Mochta. 16 The account given of him in it shows, that there were three score seniors in his house, or those
who did not perform any labour, except the occupation of repeating psalms and prayers. Those seniors abode continually within the conventual precincts, as contradistinguished from those who were engaged at manual labour out in the fields. 1 * A panegyrist of Mochta states, that he never uttered a false word or an ignorant one j nor did he eat one morsel of fat, or that on which there was fatty moisture during the whole term of his long life. His predic- tions are also stated to have been admirably verified. He prophesied thus regarding St. Columkille, as Adamnan had been informed on the testimony of learned ancients. * In the last of the
Ocean's Islands; and, he shall brilliantly enlighten the last days of the
world. Our little monastery shall have only a small field, with a hedge
separating them l8 he shall be a man very dear to God and having great ;
merit in his ;,I 9 However, it must be sight.
world,"
be born, whose name Columba shall be announced in every province of the
Columba.
21
This account seems to have been drawn from an Irish Life ot
Art. iii , and at March 23rd, Art. ii. , iii.
Barony and County of Monaghan. The ancient chapel of Ardpatrick, which lay about half-a-mile south-east, and Cnoc-na- seangain, where the Abbey of Knock was
founded, A. n. 1 148, are. both in the parish of Louth. One of these may have been
originally appropriated as in the text.
19 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life
of St. Columba," Secunda Praefacio, pp. 6, 7, and n. (r).
12
The feast of St. Dageus is held on the
18th of August. See an account of him, in
the present volume, and on the previous day, Art. i.
13 See in Archbishop Ussher's work," Bri-
tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"
cap. xvii. , p. 454.
14 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,"
Martii xxiv. , Vita S. Mochtei Episcopi Lug- madensis, n. 10, p. 731.
2Q
This is the account given by O'Clery, in
15 By Prince O'Donnell, he is styled, Hiberniensium sacerdotum primicerius. "
Reeves, pp. 222 to 225.
** Note of Rev. Dr. Reeves, n. 2, p. 223.
18
ages
quite
such a prophecy was pronounced two hundred years before the birth of St.
a loose sheet of paper, which has been found •' "
—Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 389. 16 See the edition of Rev. Drs. Todd and
in his Manuscript copy of the Martyrology of Donegal," and which is found repeated in the work, as edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves. See pp. 152 to 154, and nn. 5, 6,
also pp. 224, 225, and n. 3.
" As Mochta was a disciple of St. Patrick,
and as St. Columba was born about A. D. 520, this could not have been the case. Besides, St. Cuimin, in his Vita S. Columbae, cap. ii. , more accurately places the date, at
Nevertheless, there seems to remain no
record of any church or lands belonging to
St. Columba having been near to St.
Mochta's church of Louth, nor an accouut
of any other church under this saint's patron-
age, except Louth and Kilmore, in the Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," Vita
he " a son shall said,
incorrect to 20 that state,
sixty years only having elapsed. See "
August 19. J LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 285
St. Columkille; and allusion is probably made to that of Prince O'Donnell, which has been abridged by Colgan, but, the date is not there to be found. 22 Even, the prophecy of St. Mochta is differently given, and it is said to have
been pronounced by him, in the Island of Iona, long before Columba took 2
possession of it. 3
Although St. Mochta lived probably to a great age, we cannot accept the
extraordinary term of years given to him, by some writers. It may be, that
he attained the of one hundred as Cuimin of Connor states. 2* He age years,
is therefore usually styled longcevus. Nor are we obliged to accept the
O'Clerys' statement, that three hundred years was his age, when he went to
heaven, a. d. 534,23 since these comparatively modern writers relate it, in
quoting an old Irish poem. 26 From bards and story-tellers, among mediaeval
writers, Jocelyn *7 probably inferred, that Mochta lived three hundred years.
However, Colgan
28
such a nonsensical statement. He the quotes
rejects
Irish distich, already given in a previous note, whence we may conclude,
that his age did not exceed one hundred. This was certainly an age to
entitle him to the of u epithet
longaevus. "
When Mocteus found the last days of his long life approaching, St.
Dageus came to administer the Holy Viaticum to him, and having devoutly
received it, our blessed and venerable saint
stated, his death occurred in the first half of the sixth century.
The date of St. Mochta's death, and also that for his festival, have been set down at the 14th of the September Kalends—August 19th—a. d. 532, in the " Chronicum Scotorum. "3° The old Chronicle of Tighernach and the Annals of the Four Masters record his death at 534. 31 It is said, that St. Mochteus departed to our Lord, on the 19th of August, a. d. 535. 32 His
Secunda S. Columbae, cap. ii. , p. 325.
gal," as edited by Rev. Drs. —Todd and
22
the Life of St. Columkille or Columba, Abbot of Iona, and Apostle of Caledonia,
See what has been set down already in
Reeves, at the 19th of August
" A man of three score, a man of three
chap, i. , and nn. 185 to 191, at the 9th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work.
hundred,
Blessed be God ! how old the set of
teeth
Not more has the youth under valour
How the ancient tooth. " lasting
23 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. iii. ,
!
8
PP- 3 9> 390-
24 In his Poem on the Characteristic Vir- tues of Irish Saints occurs this verse : —
CA^Af tnocca tu §mAi§
Cj\e peace if cne piAJAil, 5ah mij\ n-ArmUnrm hia coj\p tlA bocc pr\i j\e cea-o bliadain.
'
Thus rendered into
"
English :
—
The Irish letter y which follows in the original indicates, that the poem is com-
pleted. According to Rev. Dr. Todd : "It is the initial letter of its first word, which,
according to custom, is repeated at the close, as a mark of completion. "
27 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. exxxv. , p. 95.
28
See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniac," xxiv. Martii. Appendix ad Vitam S. Mochtei, cap. iii. , p. 734.
2? See the Bollandists' "Acta Sancto-
rum,"tomusiii. , Augustixix. DeS. Mocteo
vel Mochteo Episcopo Lugmadensi in Hi- beinia. Vita auctore anonymo, cap. ii. ,
num.
17, p. 746.
3° See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp.
44, 45.
31 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 1 76, 1 77.
32 See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal saints," vol. viii. , August xix.
Mochta of Lugh-magh loved,
By law and by rule,
That no rich food his body should
enter,
For the space of one hundred years. "
" Calendar of
—Rev. Dr. Matthew
Kelly's Irish Saints," pp. 160, 161.
25 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 176 to 179.
26
Its concluding verse has been omitted by
Colgan, who nevertheless quotes it. The
translation is given, in the lollowing lines, to be found in the "Martyiology of Done-
happily departed.
generally
2 ^ As
:
286 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 19.
death happened in a. d. 534 or 536, as stated in the Annals of Ulster. 33 But, Archbishop Ussher, according to his computation, changes both dates respec-
tively to a. d. 535 or 537.
34 Also, Sir James Ware tells us,35 he governed the See of Louth to a. d. 535, alias 534, when he departed this life. Other accounts have 537,36 as the date for his death.
The Irish Calendars, at the 24th of March,37 and at the 19th of August, have two festivals, as already mentioned, to commemorate St. Mochta or Mochteus. In the "Feilire" of St. ^Engus,38 the feast of this saint is com- memorated, at the 19th of August. 39 At the 19th of August, likewise, the
Martyrology of Tallagh 4° simply records the name, Mochta of Lugmadh. 1
Marianus O'Gorman places his festival at the same date,* and with a eulogy whichexpressesthelocalvenerationinwhichhewasheld. IntheMartyro- logy of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, the feast of this holy
man is entered at the xiiii. Kal. Septembris, as follows
sandi Mocthei confessoris. "43 He is described more fully, in the Martyro- logy of Donegal,43 where his feast is entered at this date. This holy man was commemorated, likewise, in the Scottish Kalendars. His feast, at this date, is entered in the Kalendar of Drummond. 44 Also, at the 13th of the Sep-
45 6 tember Kalends, both Archbishop Ussher and Sir James Ware/—have
Cjvoch intMAfvcij\ marm Cocleirx combu4i'obl<xiche niochcA tnop maich pchbe enAii Oj\oni4 tlAichne.
" The cross of the martyr Magnus, with a
train victorious, blooming, Mochta the great
— chieftain, Enan of Druim Roithne. " good
"Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, p. cxxiv. An explanatory scholion is found
nostrse sene nxxxv. vel
dxxxvii. ")
cap. xvii. , p. 445.
35 See " De Scriptoribus Hibernise,"
to have committed a mistake
they appear they
placed his festival
should have noted xiv. Kal. Septembris, a date which corresponds only with the 19th of August. In the Circle of the Seasons,47 the festival of holy Mochta
33 Thus we read
discipuli Patricii, xvi. Kal. Sept. sic ipse scripsit in epistola sua, Mocteus [Macutenus- Ann. Ult. ] peccator prespiter, sancti
Patricii
:
;
but,
" Dormitatio Moctai
in Domino salutem. "
34 To the Annals of Ulster account he
discipulus,
adds within a parenthesis (" hoc est, usitatse
— " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"
lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 105.
36 See Bishop Challoner's " Britannia attached. See ibid. , p. cxxxii.
Sancta," part ii. , p. 89.
57 At the 24th day of March, Colgan thus
39 Differently translated from the Feilire is Colgan's version referring to this saint,
writes: "Duo ut minus H. Mochtafesta viz.
:
olim in Hibernia solere celebrari tradunt
nostra communiter, etiam per antiqua Festi-
logia. Primtim here 24 Martii : quo de ipso
sic scribit Martyrol. Tamlact. ante annum
783 compilatum ; S. Mocteus Lugmadensis :
Cumainnomenmatrisejus. 5. SEngussius.
Mocteus fidelis et deuotus. Marianus
Gorm. Mocteus Lugmadensis, Pater egregiae
familire. Calend. tassel. Mocteus Episco- Trinity, commonly called Christ Church, pusLugmadensis. Deeoetiamsimiliahabc—nt
Metguir et Martyrol. Dungall eodem die. "
" Acta Sanctorum Hibernne," xxiv. Martii.
Appendix ad Vitam S. Mochtei, cap. i. , p.
In the " of published Martyrology
Trinity College, Dublin, Rev. Dr. James Ilcnthorn Todd, p. 147.
732.
Donegal," however, there is no notice of this saint, at the 24th of March. See the edition of Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves.
43 Edited Drs. Todd and Reeves, by
pp.
—
In the Leabhar Breac copy is the Mochtai etEnain. " Bishop
38 " "
Forbes' "Ka- lendars of Scottish Saints," p. 22.
45 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 445.
following stanza, with its equivalent trans-
lation into English, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. :—
:
" Mocteus, magnus, egregius et longcevus. "
40 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxii. At the xiv. Kal. of September, in the Book of Leinster copy we find nioccA lu^mAiT).
41 Thus
:
" Mochteius episcopus lucerna
Lugmadensium. "
42 See " The Book of Obits and Martyr-
ology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Dublin,"editedfromtheoriginalManuscript
in the Library
of
by John Clarke Gosthwaite, M. A. , and
222, 223.
44 Thus at xiv. Kal. Sept. : "Apud
Hiberniam Natale Sanctorum Confessorum
" Et in Hibernia;
August 19. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 287
is entered, and at this day. Evidently confounding a Maccseus Vates, and a
disciple of St. Patrick, with the present holy man, Thomas Dempster has a
festival for at the nth of 8 where he is connected with the Island him, April/
of Bute in Scotland. 4? He is followed by Ferrarius. 50 But, as Colgan
observes, taking the liberty of fixing saints, with their places and festivals, to suit his own fantasies, Dempster is not to be trusted in such a statement.
Again, a festival has been assigned to him, at the 5th of October, yet on
no better grounds of probability.
According to Ussher, this holy man's memory was celebrated to his own
day, in the counties of Louth and Cavan. 51 Moreover, —in the western part of Louth County, there were ruins of St. Motti's chapel as the place was designated by the peasantry—and these were within half-a-mile from Ard- patrick. The remains measured twenty-seven feet in length, by seventeen in width. We are informed, that St. Mochta, the last survivor of St. Patrick's disciples, was patron of the old church at Clonsilla,52 a few miles west of Dublin City. The church was a plain building, surrounded with trees. His memory has been preserved there to the present century, and a well, dedi- cated to him, is shown in that locality. 53
The successors of St. Mochta at Louth are called abbots, in the Irish
Annals, until the ninth century. At this period, bishops begin to appear amongthem. 54 However,Colganstates,thataSeewasestablishedatLouth, from the time of our saint ; not alone as appears from his Life, but as shown
from the Register of the Apostolic Camera, in which it is represented as one of the suffragan dioceses, belonging to the Archbishopric of Armagh. He
appends a chronological Catalogue of the many Abbots and Bishops, noted down in reference to this place, and to be met with in the Annals of the Four
Masters, as also other incidents of a local character. Having first noticed the erection of a noble church at Louth, by Bishop Edan O'Kelly, and by Donagh O'Carroll, chief of Orgiel, in 1148,55 when it was consecrated by St.
Malachy O'Morgair,56 Archbishop of Armagh ; he ends this account with an interesting allusion to some relics, which had been there preserved, in the thirteenthcentury,5? andformerlybroughtfromRomebySt. Mochta,accord- ing to the received tradition. 58 The subsequent Annals of this celebrated Priory are interesting, down to the period of the Reformation ? * its Priors were Barons of Parliament ; while its possessions and endowments were very considerable, as shown by the Inquisitions.
46 See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," sect, xii. , n. 125, p. 310.
lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 105.
47 See p. 232.
48 See the Fourth Volume of this work,
55 An endowment of land was attached to it. —This church stood on the hill of Knock formerly known as Cnoc-na-sean- gan—near the town of Louth ; but scarcely
at the nth of April, Art. xii.
49 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of a vestige of it now remains. See Dr.
O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters,"
Capitulum 52 This townland, in a parish bearing the seruatur Lugmagiae per Archiepiscopum
Scottish Saints,'*' p. 196.
i0 In rum. "
"
"
Catalogus
Generalis
Sancto-
vol. and n. ii. , pp. 1082, 1083,
51 See
quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 445.
(s).
56 See his Acts, at the 3rd of November in the Eleventh Volume of this work, Art. i .
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
same name, and in the barony of Castle-
Ardmachanum et Abbates Canonicorum Regularium Hiberniae : in quo elevatae sunt multae Sanctorum reliquke, per S. Moch- teum olim Roma asportatse. "
58 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae," Martii xxiv. Appendix ad Vitam S.
Mochtei, cap. v. , pp. 736, 737.
59 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
cum," pp. 469 to 479.
knock, is shown on the
"
Ordnance Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Dublin," sheet 13. The parish is marked on sheets
13 and 17.
53 See John D'Alton's "History of the
County of Dublin," p. 574.
54 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. ,
57 At A. D. 1242, it is noted :
%V
288 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 19.
Passing away from life, this holy man slept sweetly in the Lord, with other honoured pastors of the Church, who had laboured strenuously to pro- mote God's honour and man's salvation. For this purpose, Mochta left country and kindred. Hence, he is variously called a proselyte, a pilgrim, a stranger, or a convert to the true religion. His actions and words gave edification in the land of his adoption, where many profited through his
labours,zealandedifyingexample. Thissaintwasspeciallyadmiredforhis purity of life and conversation. Therefore, being under angelic tuition while young, the Angels received him with rejoicing, when the term of his earthly career had come to a close.
Article II. —Festival of St. Cummin, or Cumianus, a Bishop, and
a Monk at Bobbio, in Italy.
According to Colgan, he must have
:
One day, while travelling " Go, brothers, and bring
and to those of St. Trian, Bishop, at the 23rd of March, as also to those of St. Trenan, Monk, at the latter date. To St.
In the northern
284 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [August 19.
The holy prelate Daygeus I2 was his disciple, and preaching to the monks
:
at Bangor he bears this testimony " I give thanks to my God, that I see
you like the last class of St. Mochta's monks. For he had three orders of
monks succeeding him : the first, distinguished for angelic purity; the second, for apostolic acts ; the third, as holy martyrs prepared to shed their blood for Christ. " A life abundant in virtue was that spent by St. Mochta, while he was at Louth. There he is thought to have exercised the offices both of Bishop and Abbot. Some writers have even stated, that he succeeded St. Patrick, in the government of the See of Armagh. Nevertheless, this does not seem to have been the case, since his name is not found inscribed on the
J
Catalogue of the Archbishops at that place 3 but, Colgan inclines to an
;
opinion, that such omission may be accounted for, as he only held that See for a few days, and until the proper successor to the Irish Apostle had been elected and consecrated. 14 The fame of Mochta was so exalted, that he is
panegyrized as a chief man among the priests of Ireland. 1S The Martyrology of Donegal quotes an old poem regarding St. Mochta. 16 The account given of him in it shows, that there were three score seniors in his house, or those
who did not perform any labour, except the occupation of repeating psalms and prayers. Those seniors abode continually within the conventual precincts, as contradistinguished from those who were engaged at manual labour out in the fields. 1 * A panegyrist of Mochta states, that he never uttered a false word or an ignorant one j nor did he eat one morsel of fat, or that on which there was fatty moisture during the whole term of his long life. His predic- tions are also stated to have been admirably verified. He prophesied thus regarding St. Columkille, as Adamnan had been informed on the testimony of learned ancients. * In the last of the
Ocean's Islands; and, he shall brilliantly enlighten the last days of the
world. Our little monastery shall have only a small field, with a hedge
separating them l8 he shall be a man very dear to God and having great ;
merit in his ;,I 9 However, it must be sight.
world,"
be born, whose name Columba shall be announced in every province of the
Columba.
21
This account seems to have been drawn from an Irish Life ot
Art. iii , and at March 23rd, Art. ii. , iii.
Barony and County of Monaghan. The ancient chapel of Ardpatrick, which lay about half-a-mile south-east, and Cnoc-na- seangain, where the Abbey of Knock was
founded, A. n. 1 148, are. both in the parish of Louth. One of these may have been
originally appropriated as in the text.
19 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's "Life
of St. Columba," Secunda Praefacio, pp. 6, 7, and n. (r).
12
The feast of St. Dageus is held on the
18th of August. See an account of him, in
the present volume, and on the previous day, Art. i.
13 See in Archbishop Ussher's work," Bri-
tannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"
cap. xvii. , p. 454.
14 See " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,"
Martii xxiv. , Vita S. Mochtei Episcopi Lug- madensis, n. 10, p. 731.
2Q
This is the account given by O'Clery, in
15 By Prince O'Donnell, he is styled, Hiberniensium sacerdotum primicerius. "
Reeves, pp. 222 to 225.
** Note of Rev. Dr. Reeves, n. 2, p. 223.
18
ages
quite
such a prophecy was pronounced two hundred years before the birth of St.
a loose sheet of paper, which has been found •' "
—Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. iii. , p. 389. 16 See the edition of Rev. Drs. Todd and
in his Manuscript copy of the Martyrology of Donegal," and which is found repeated in the work, as edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves. See pp. 152 to 154, and nn. 5, 6,
also pp. 224, 225, and n. 3.
" As Mochta was a disciple of St. Patrick,
and as St. Columba was born about A. D. 520, this could not have been the case. Besides, St. Cuimin, in his Vita S. Columbae, cap. ii. , more accurately places the date, at
Nevertheless, there seems to remain no
record of any church or lands belonging to
St. Columba having been near to St.
Mochta's church of Louth, nor an accouut
of any other church under this saint's patron-
age, except Louth and Kilmore, in the Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," Vita
he " a son shall said,
incorrect to 20 that state,
sixty years only having elapsed. See "
August 19. J LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 285
St. Columkille; and allusion is probably made to that of Prince O'Donnell, which has been abridged by Colgan, but, the date is not there to be found. 22 Even, the prophecy of St. Mochta is differently given, and it is said to have
been pronounced by him, in the Island of Iona, long before Columba took 2
possession of it. 3
Although St. Mochta lived probably to a great age, we cannot accept the
extraordinary term of years given to him, by some writers. It may be, that
he attained the of one hundred as Cuimin of Connor states. 2* He age years,
is therefore usually styled longcevus. Nor are we obliged to accept the
O'Clerys' statement, that three hundred years was his age, when he went to
heaven, a. d. 534,23 since these comparatively modern writers relate it, in
quoting an old Irish poem. 26 From bards and story-tellers, among mediaeval
writers, Jocelyn *7 probably inferred, that Mochta lived three hundred years.
However, Colgan
28
such a nonsensical statement. He the quotes
rejects
Irish distich, already given in a previous note, whence we may conclude,
that his age did not exceed one hundred. This was certainly an age to
entitle him to the of u epithet
longaevus. "
When Mocteus found the last days of his long life approaching, St.
Dageus came to administer the Holy Viaticum to him, and having devoutly
received it, our blessed and venerable saint
stated, his death occurred in the first half of the sixth century.
The date of St. Mochta's death, and also that for his festival, have been set down at the 14th of the September Kalends—August 19th—a. d. 532, in the " Chronicum Scotorum. "3° The old Chronicle of Tighernach and the Annals of the Four Masters record his death at 534. 31 It is said, that St. Mochteus departed to our Lord, on the 19th of August, a. d. 535. 32 His
Secunda S. Columbae, cap. ii. , p. 325.
gal," as edited by Rev. Drs. —Todd and
22
the Life of St. Columkille or Columba, Abbot of Iona, and Apostle of Caledonia,
See what has been set down already in
Reeves, at the 19th of August
" A man of three score, a man of three
chap, i. , and nn. 185 to 191, at the 9th of June, in the Sixth Volume of this work.
hundred,
Blessed be God ! how old the set of
teeth
Not more has the youth under valour
How the ancient tooth. " lasting
23 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. i. , cap. iii. ,
!
8
PP- 3 9> 390-
24 In his Poem on the Characteristic Vir- tues of Irish Saints occurs this verse : —
CA^Af tnocca tu §mAi§
Cj\e peace if cne piAJAil, 5ah mij\ n-ArmUnrm hia coj\p tlA bocc pr\i j\e cea-o bliadain.
'
Thus rendered into
"
English :
—
The Irish letter y which follows in the original indicates, that the poem is com-
pleted. According to Rev. Dr. Todd : "It is the initial letter of its first word, which,
according to custom, is repeated at the close, as a mark of completion. "
27 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. exxxv. , p. 95.
28
See "Acta Sanctorum Hiberniac," xxiv. Martii. Appendix ad Vitam S. Mochtei, cap. iii. , p. 734.
2? See the Bollandists' "Acta Sancto-
rum,"tomusiii. , Augustixix. DeS. Mocteo
vel Mochteo Episcopo Lugmadensi in Hi- beinia. Vita auctore anonymo, cap. ii. ,
num.
17, p. 746.
3° See William M. Hennessy's edition, pp.
44, 45.
31 See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 1 76, 1 77.
32 See Rev. Alban Butler's " Lives of the
Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal saints," vol. viii. , August xix.
Mochta of Lugh-magh loved,
By law and by rule,
That no rich food his body should
enter,
For the space of one hundred years. "
" Calendar of
—Rev. Dr. Matthew
Kelly's Irish Saints," pp. 160, 161.
25 See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 176 to 179.
26
Its concluding verse has been omitted by
Colgan, who nevertheless quotes it. The
translation is given, in the lollowing lines, to be found in the "Martyiology of Done-
happily departed.
generally
2 ^ As
:
286 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 19.
death happened in a. d. 534 or 536, as stated in the Annals of Ulster. 33 But, Archbishop Ussher, according to his computation, changes both dates respec-
tively to a. d. 535 or 537.
34 Also, Sir James Ware tells us,35 he governed the See of Louth to a. d. 535, alias 534, when he departed this life. Other accounts have 537,36 as the date for his death.
The Irish Calendars, at the 24th of March,37 and at the 19th of August, have two festivals, as already mentioned, to commemorate St. Mochta or Mochteus. In the "Feilire" of St. ^Engus,38 the feast of this saint is com- memorated, at the 19th of August. 39 At the 19th of August, likewise, the
Martyrology of Tallagh 4° simply records the name, Mochta of Lugmadh. 1
Marianus O'Gorman places his festival at the same date,* and with a eulogy whichexpressesthelocalvenerationinwhichhewasheld. IntheMartyro- logy of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, the feast of this holy
man is entered at the xiiii. Kal. Septembris, as follows
sandi Mocthei confessoris. "43 He is described more fully, in the Martyro- logy of Donegal,43 where his feast is entered at this date. This holy man was commemorated, likewise, in the Scottish Kalendars. His feast, at this date, is entered in the Kalendar of Drummond. 44 Also, at the 13th of the Sep-
45 6 tember Kalends, both Archbishop Ussher and Sir James Ware/—have
Cjvoch intMAfvcij\ marm Cocleirx combu4i'obl<xiche niochcA tnop maich pchbe enAii Oj\oni4 tlAichne.
" The cross of the martyr Magnus, with a
train victorious, blooming, Mochta the great
— chieftain, Enan of Druim Roithne. " good
"Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca-
demy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, p. cxxiv. An explanatory scholion is found
nostrse sene nxxxv. vel
dxxxvii. ")
cap. xvii. , p. 445.
35 See " De Scriptoribus Hibernise,"
to have committed a mistake
they appear they
placed his festival
should have noted xiv. Kal. Septembris, a date which corresponds only with the 19th of August. In the Circle of the Seasons,47 the festival of holy Mochta
33 Thus we read
discipuli Patricii, xvi. Kal. Sept. sic ipse scripsit in epistola sua, Mocteus [Macutenus- Ann. Ult. ] peccator prespiter, sancti
Patricii
:
;
but,
" Dormitatio Moctai
in Domino salutem. "
34 To the Annals of Ulster account he
discipulus,
adds within a parenthesis (" hoc est, usitatse
— " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"
lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 105.
36 See Bishop Challoner's " Britannia attached. See ibid. , p. cxxxii.
Sancta," part ii. , p. 89.
57 At the 24th day of March, Colgan thus
39 Differently translated from the Feilire is Colgan's version referring to this saint,
writes: "Duo ut minus H. Mochtafesta viz.
:
olim in Hibernia solere celebrari tradunt
nostra communiter, etiam per antiqua Festi-
logia. Primtim here 24 Martii : quo de ipso
sic scribit Martyrol. Tamlact. ante annum
783 compilatum ; S. Mocteus Lugmadensis :
Cumainnomenmatrisejus. 5. SEngussius.
Mocteus fidelis et deuotus. Marianus
Gorm. Mocteus Lugmadensis, Pater egregiae
familire. Calend. tassel. Mocteus Episco- Trinity, commonly called Christ Church, pusLugmadensis. Deeoetiamsimiliahabc—nt
Metguir et Martyrol. Dungall eodem die. "
" Acta Sanctorum Hibernne," xxiv. Martii.
Appendix ad Vitam S. Mochtei, cap. i. , p.
In the " of published Martyrology
Trinity College, Dublin, Rev. Dr. James Ilcnthorn Todd, p. 147.
732.
Donegal," however, there is no notice of this saint, at the 24th of March. See the edition of Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves.
43 Edited Drs. Todd and Reeves, by
pp.
—
In the Leabhar Breac copy is the Mochtai etEnain. " Bishop
38 " "
Forbes' "Ka- lendars of Scottish Saints," p. 22.
45 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 445.
following stanza, with its equivalent trans-
lation into English, by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. :—
:
" Mocteus, magnus, egregius et longcevus. "
40 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxii. At the xiv. Kal. of September, in the Book of Leinster copy we find nioccA lu^mAiT).
41 Thus
:
" Mochteius episcopus lucerna
Lugmadensium. "
42 See " The Book of Obits and Martyr-
ology of the Cathedral Church of the Holy Dublin,"editedfromtheoriginalManuscript
in the Library
of
by John Clarke Gosthwaite, M. A. , and
222, 223.
44 Thus at xiv. Kal. Sept. : "Apud
Hiberniam Natale Sanctorum Confessorum
" Et in Hibernia;
August 19. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 287
is entered, and at this day. Evidently confounding a Maccseus Vates, and a
disciple of St. Patrick, with the present holy man, Thomas Dempster has a
festival for at the nth of 8 where he is connected with the Island him, April/
of Bute in Scotland. 4? He is followed by Ferrarius. 50 But, as Colgan
observes, taking the liberty of fixing saints, with their places and festivals, to suit his own fantasies, Dempster is not to be trusted in such a statement.
Again, a festival has been assigned to him, at the 5th of October, yet on
no better grounds of probability.
According to Ussher, this holy man's memory was celebrated to his own
day, in the counties of Louth and Cavan. 51 Moreover, —in the western part of Louth County, there were ruins of St. Motti's chapel as the place was designated by the peasantry—and these were within half-a-mile from Ard- patrick. The remains measured twenty-seven feet in length, by seventeen in width. We are informed, that St. Mochta, the last survivor of St. Patrick's disciples, was patron of the old church at Clonsilla,52 a few miles west of Dublin City. The church was a plain building, surrounded with trees. His memory has been preserved there to the present century, and a well, dedi- cated to him, is shown in that locality. 53
The successors of St. Mochta at Louth are called abbots, in the Irish
Annals, until the ninth century. At this period, bishops begin to appear amongthem. 54 However,Colganstates,thataSeewasestablishedatLouth, from the time of our saint ; not alone as appears from his Life, but as shown
from the Register of the Apostolic Camera, in which it is represented as one of the suffragan dioceses, belonging to the Archbishopric of Armagh. He
appends a chronological Catalogue of the many Abbots and Bishops, noted down in reference to this place, and to be met with in the Annals of the Four
Masters, as also other incidents of a local character. Having first noticed the erection of a noble church at Louth, by Bishop Edan O'Kelly, and by Donagh O'Carroll, chief of Orgiel, in 1148,55 when it was consecrated by St.
Malachy O'Morgair,56 Archbishop of Armagh ; he ends this account with an interesting allusion to some relics, which had been there preserved, in the thirteenthcentury,5? andformerlybroughtfromRomebySt. Mochta,accord- ing to the received tradition. 58 The subsequent Annals of this celebrated Priory are interesting, down to the period of the Reformation ? * its Priors were Barons of Parliament ; while its possessions and endowments were very considerable, as shown by the Inquisitions.
46 See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," sect, xii. , n. 125, p. 310.
lib. ii. , cap. i. , p. 105.
47 See p. 232.
48 See the Fourth Volume of this work,
55 An endowment of land was attached to it. —This church stood on the hill of Knock formerly known as Cnoc-na-sean- gan—near the town of Louth ; but scarcely
at the nth of April, Art. xii.
49 See Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of a vestige of it now remains. See Dr.
O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters,"
Capitulum 52 This townland, in a parish bearing the seruatur Lugmagiae per Archiepiscopum
Scottish Saints,'*' p. 196.
i0 In rum. "
"
"
Catalogus
Generalis
Sancto-
vol. and n. ii. , pp. 1082, 1083,
51 See
quitates," cap. xvii. , p. 445.
(s).
56 See his Acts, at the 3rd of November in the Eleventh Volume of this work, Art. i .
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
same name, and in the barony of Castle-
Ardmachanum et Abbates Canonicorum Regularium Hiberniae : in quo elevatae sunt multae Sanctorum reliquke, per S. Moch- teum olim Roma asportatse. "
58 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
niae," Martii xxiv. Appendix ad Vitam S.
Mochtei, cap. v. , pp. 736, 737.
59 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni-
cum," pp. 469 to 479.
knock, is shown on the
"
Ordnance Survey
Townland Maps for the County of Dublin," sheet 13. The parish is marked on sheets
13 and 17.
53 See John D'Alton's "History of the
County of Dublin," p. 574.
54 See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's " Ecclesiastical
History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. ,
57 At A. D. 1242, it is noted :
%V
288 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
[August 19.
Passing away from life, this holy man slept sweetly in the Lord, with other honoured pastors of the Church, who had laboured strenuously to pro- mote God's honour and man's salvation. For this purpose, Mochta left country and kindred. Hence, he is variously called a proselyte, a pilgrim, a stranger, or a convert to the true religion. His actions and words gave edification in the land of his adoption, where many profited through his
labours,zealandedifyingexample. Thissaintwasspeciallyadmiredforhis purity of life and conversation. Therefore, being under angelic tuition while young, the Angels received him with rejoicing, when the term of his earthly career had come to a close.
Article II. —Festival of St. Cummin, or Cumianus, a Bishop, and
a Monk at Bobbio, in Italy.
