No More Learning

erection of that religious liouse. 5 He wrote many works, which are now lost, and he lived to be advanced in years. * The disciple and successor of Mail- dulph was St. Aldelmus,' who afterwards founded a stately monastery, at that place, and it was enriched with ample donations. " His master was buried at
Malmesbury. 9
Article VHI. —Festival of St. Septimus, Deacon and Martyr, at Salona, in Dalmatia. The feast of Septimus was celebrated, in the old Irisn church, on the i8th of April, according to the Feilire of St. . ^Engus. ' This holy martyr suffered for the Faith, at Salona, in Dalmatia, with St. Victo- ricus, as a companion. The Bollandists notice them, at this date,' and they refer to that ancient Martyrology, attributed to St. Jerome, as also to other and similar records, where, however, some errors seem to have occurred.
Article IX. —Reputed Feast of the Blessed Marianus Scotus. [Eleventh C'tttury. ^ A festival of Marianus Scotus is set down, for the
17th of April;' but, already, we have given his Acts, at the 9th day ot February. '^
Article X. —Reputed Festival for the Elevation of the Abbot Donnan'sRelics. CitingtheKalendarofAdamKing,orJamesChey- neus, as also a Scottish Breviary, the Elevation of Abbot Donnan was a feast
' observed,onthei8thofApril,accordingtotheMenology andEcclesiastical
History' of Thomas Dempster. The Bollandists 3 merely notice this state- ment, referring it to St. Donnan, already treated of, at the previous day. <
5 See tome i. , p. So-
' SeeL'AbbeMa-Geoghegan's"Histoire de I'Irlande Ancienne et Moderne," tome i. , Partie ii. , chap. iv. . p. 351.
7 His feast is assigned, by the Bollandists, to the 25th of May, when his Life was to be
])ubli. >hed, with a possibihty of mentioning
torico, Martyribus Salonas in Dalmatia,
ing to Colgan, he had a feast.
incidentally
present holy
Dempster '
the
thus enters it, xiix. In Buchania
dulph.
* See Gibson's Camden's "Britannia : or
a Chorographical Description of Great Bri- tain and Ireland," &c. , vol. i. , col. 104.
p. 197. '"
9 William of Malmesbury treats of him, in
"De Gestis Regum Anglorum," lib. i. ,
cap. 2. — p. 207.
Article viii. L. eabhar Breac copy
T—hus, is itentered,in the :
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Ap-
xviii. the
rilis Among pretermitted saints,
p. 521.
* In Bishop Forbes' " Kalendars of Scot-
tish Saints," the following churches and
places dedicated to St. Donan are named :
Kildonnan, in Kintyre ; Kildonan, in Col- monel ; Castle Donnan, in Kintail ; Kil-
donune, in Carrick; Kildonyng (? ), in Perth ; Kildonan, in Arran; Kildonan, of Egg; Kildonnan, South Uist; St. Donan 'sin Uig;
Kildonan, in Lochbroom ; and Kildonan, in Sutherland. See p. 325.
man Mail-
Article x. — '
in his Menologium :
Donani ejusdemabbatiselevatio. " SeeBi>hop
"
Forbes' Kalendars of Scottish Saints,
'3
Ayvfec ijreit ^epcim SAeyvweocli<Mti tdo'Oioiia'O
AW lechgtiti-oe Li^Ach.
" On (the) feast of Septimus, a noble dea- con, Laisren, a victorious flame (lassar), gentle abbot of Lethglenn, was declared to have been solaced. "
"See- " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Ap- rilis xviii. De SS. Septimo Diacono et Vic-
p. 540. — Article ix.
See our Life of St. Muri- cherodac, Recluse, at January 19th, vol. i. , p. 296, n. 6: At the 9th February, accord-
°
In vol. ii. of this work.
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iv. , num. 377,
April 19. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 241
^uiftfentl) i9ap of Slpn'U
ARTICLE I. —ST. KILLIAN, CONFESSOR.
WEare told, by Colgan,' that the festival of a St. Killian, confessor, was
on this We have no further him, than kept day. account, regarding
this simple record, in our earliest authorities. His name, without further distinctive particulars, occurs, in the Tallagh Martyrology,' and in that of
MarianusO'Gorman,astheBollandists3 notice,whenrecordingKillenus,in their great work, at the 19th of April. There was a Cillen, tlie son of his mother Derinilla,* who had children by four different husbands. ' He is said to have belonged to Achadhcail,* in the territory of Lecale, at tlie bank of Dundrum^ A
5
According
the Ordnance Survey Maps, although a re- ference to old charters, or even to the land- holders' rental books, could easily supply such omissions.
" The parisli of Maghera, in the barony of Upper Iveagh, is described, on the "Ord- nance Survey Towniand Maps for the County of Down,' sheets 43, 49.
"Itisquote1, byRev. Dr. Reeves.
" See the Rev. lames " His- O'Laverty's
toric. il Account of the Diocese of Down and
to St.
his Tract, on tlie Mothers of the Irish Saints.
. i€ngus
the Culdee in
very competent archaeologist
and ' seems ecclesiologist
estuary.
to identify his place with Rathscillan,' near Maghera,'° County Down. He
tells that Rathscillan us,
" the Rath of and that St. Donard Cillan,"
signifies
had a brother, named Cillen, whose church was somewhere in the neighbour-
hood. AmongthepossessionsoftheSeeofDown,attheendofthetwelfth century, and recited in a patent roll," belonging to the Tower of London,
are "
Rathmurval, along
Maghera. Thereisadifficulty,however,inidentifyingRathscillan,asthere isnoplaceinthatneighbourhood,nowknownbythename. Yet,asisevi- dent, by the grouping of names, Rathsillan must have been near Maghera. " In a field,'3 at Wateresk,"'* are the remains of an ancient cemetery, which once was enclosed in a rath. 's This site exactly corresponds with that of the
Article i. — ' See "Acta Sanctorum See Ulster Examiner ol ]wVj <)'Ca, 1870.
Hiberniae," xiv. Februaril Vita S. Kiliani et Sociorum, n. 3, p. 331.
'
' This denomination is not to be found, on the Irish Ordnance Survey Towniand Maps
At the xiii. of the Kalend? of
19th), there is solely an insertion, Cilleni," in the Rev. Dr. Kelly's published version of this Martyrology. See " Calendar of Irish Saints," &c. , p. xxi. The Franciscan copy has Sci CitLeni.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Ap- rilis xix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 617.
< She was also the mother of St. Mura of Fahan, venerated at the 12th, and St. Domangart, at the 24th of March, and of Aillean and Aidan, and of Mochumma of Drunibo.
•
for the of Down. County
be
with Rathsillan. '' The former was the old name for
Jfay (April
it observed, that several thousand well known, and local denominaiionsoftownlands and sub- divisions—many of these of ancient date and
'•
S.
Connor, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , ''
Opuscula, lib. iv. , cap. 7.
This denomination is not to be found,
on the Irish Ordnance Survey Towniand Maps.
P- 53-
'1 This belongs to a Mr. Savage, and it
immediately adjoins his house.
'* This in the of Kilme- towniand, parish
gan, and barony of Upper Lecale, is to be met with, on the " Ordnance Survey Town- land Maps for the County ol Down," sheets 43. 44-
'5 The bodies were interred in graves lined with flag-stones, and a large granite stone
' The town of
of
Rev. James O'Laverty, P. P. , M. R. I. A. in Papers on Down and Connor, num. xvili.
Dundrum,
Kilmegan, and barony of Upper Lecale, is described, on ''The Ordnance Survey Town- land Maps for the County of Down," sheet
44- »
in the
parish
of historical notoriety
—
may
are from yet missing
Indeed,
243
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 19.
church of St. Cillen, as described by St. ^ngus the Culdee It w^s m the ter ritory of Lecale, and it lay close to the estuary of Dundrum "^ It must have been in early times, like Maghera, a scene for the piety and labours of sorne
eccLsiastic. On this day, Cillen is mentioned Sent m
of Donegal,'^ as having been venerated. The name of St. ^K"i-U^ei^niofcc^u^rs^, also, in die Martyrolog^, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy ;^« but, it does not seem possible, to recognise his place or period.
Article II. -The Sons of Erc, of Darmagh, said to have been
Dttrrow, King's County. The Martyrology of Tallagh
EcErcca of Dermaigh, at this same date. This place, which is Anglicised
afn of the Oaks," is said to have been identical with the P-sent Bur-
J^the
row a parish, partly in the barony of Moycashel, county
P
prrndpaUy
in that of Ballycowan, King's County. This
of Westmeath, but founded
.
ndsed stone, promised Rev. Mr. O'Laverty, to have it rolled back to Us ongmal posi-
"". "'it adjoins the lands, attached to the
^^^S:V^^^^^^rt^ "Rathmurval (Maghera) ^l°"g;vfJ^^*"
-^-S^eteMX^i. T. T^:^^^ ofJune.
and,
chiefofTeffia. 3 OtheraccountshavethefoundationofDurrow,
EySt-CokimkiUe,'
about'theyear55°
;
Swas subsequently governed, by St. Lasren
and drew up certain rules and instructions, for the future good government of
house. We have a long list of annalistic entries, re erring to
th^ celebraid
t and reaching down to the time of its suppression, by Queen
Elizabeth = The saints here commemorated appear to have had a second festival, at No-
ver^ber the I2tb. Marianus O'Gorman,
hodmen f and, at this date, also, quodng his authority, and that of die Ta laahMartvrology,theBoUandistsenterFiliiErcsedeDermagia. ' Thefesti-
valNn honour of 'the sons of Erc, of Dermagh,^ was celebrated, on this day,
as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal. ?
^^^^^^
Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. '°'» In the Irish Calendar, at the xiii of the
- '-
°^--;-^,, ^odd and Reeves, pp.
106, 107.
. jEdUed
by
enters as a festival
monasteij^^asBredan a onasite grantedby
at a. d
; but, St. Columba retired here
at this has an entry of those day, -
^,^^^^ ^^ Meath Ancient and Modern," vol. m. .
^ ^-^L. fe^at^the^gth^of
^^f^^^c^a^'^Monast. o„ "r^. f^^S-
Hiherni- "Ecclesiastical
^^b^
April 19-] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
243
Article III. —St. Lasse, or Laisse, Virgin, of Cluain Mind.
An entry is found, in the Martyrology of Tallagh. 'at the 19th of April, regarding
St Laisse.
Bollandists notice her feast, at this date. ' It is difficult to ascertain, where her place of Cluain Mind must be sought for ; but, there is a parish. s called Clonmines,^ in the barony of Shelbourne, and county of Wexford, as also, a parish, called Clonmeen,^ in the barony of Duhallow, and county of Cork— these are the nearest approaches to the spelling and pronunciation of that ancient name, which can be found, at present. There is a Clonmeen North and South, as also a Clonmeen wood, as townland denominations,* within the parish of Rathdowney,' in the barony of Clandonagh, Queen's County. There IS a Clonmin Glebe,* likewise, in the parish of Gailoon,9 and barony of Coole, countyofFermanagh. Onthisdaywasvenerated,accordingtotheMartyr- ology of Donegal,'" Laisse, virgin, of Cluain Mind.
Article IV. —Reputed Festival of St. Columban, Abbot and Re-
Following this authority, as also that of Marianus O'Gorman, the
cluse, OF Ghent, in Belgium. February,-wehavealreadygiventheActsofthisholyman. Atthe19thof April, Camerarius has his festival. ^- in his Scottish Menology, which the Bol- landists3 merelyquote,atthisdate,whiletheyrefertothe15thofFebruary,* where he is more particularly noticed. ' No doubt, it is to this saint, Thomas Dempster refers,* where he is set down as a Recluse and a Benedictine Abbot,7
and where he is absurdly stated, to have lived always in Scotland, and to have been a metrical writer. '
Article V. —Feast of St. Hermogenes. In the Irish Church, at the 19th of April, was celebrated the festival of St. Hermogenes, as we find, from
Articlb III. — Edited by Rev. Dr. Maps for the County of Fennanagh," sheet
Kelly, p. XXI. The Franciscan copy enters Urre nip Clu4,n min-o.
lUey call her Lassia, Virgo de Cluain-
39.
9 This parish, with its Islands, is parted
within the respective baronies of Clankelly
of Coole, of Knockninny all of
; it beinE
shown, on the "Ordnance Survey Town- land Maps for the County of Fermanagh," sheets 34, 35, 39, 40, 42, 43.
mind. See "Acta tomus Sanctorum,"
'
ii. , Apnlisxu. Among the pretermitted saints,
P-f3'7-.
1 his and the townland, so called, are
described, on the " Ordnance Survey Town- land Maps for the County of Wexford,"
**'txl'*°i;*^ r^, ^ ,, 'The Abbey of Clonmmes, County Wex-
ford, sketched bv Barralet, a. d.
vol. 1. , pp. 44, 45.
5 This parish is within the East Riding,
» Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 106, 107.
1780, graved m Groses "Antiquities of Ireland,"
and It 15 described, on the "Ordnance Townland Maps for the County of Cork,"
-or
sheets 23, 31 32, 40, 49. On sheet townlands Clonmeen North and Clonmeen
South are distinRuished.
"
Ihese are noticed, on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the Queen's
,' T^' '"'? ' 33- . ^. ^, .
31,
ibid. , tomus ii. , Februarii xv. , at p p.
is en-
" Die. 19
Survey
Amongthepretermittedsaints,i rp.
the
"
[Tent/t Century. ] At the 2nd day of
Clandonagh and of Clarmallagh, and i Dempster places his festival, at the 13th "
^. . ' °" "'' Ordnance Survey Town- of February, and he cites Joannes Molanus
1
Und Map, for the Queen s County," sheets
*'}"•*/•2^'33>34-
"Seethe "Ortiaance Survey Townland
in " Natalibus Sanctorum 'Theworkattributedtohimis "Pise
Sententise,'' lib. i.
ARTiCLEiv. -'Invol. ii. , of this work. ' In the Entries to his Kalendar, we read
Scottish Saints," p. 237.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Ap-
rilis xix.
617.
« See
:
Sanctus Columbanus Abbas re- clusus. "—Bishop Forbes' "Kalendars of
846, 847.
5 See, also, our vol. ii. , Article at viii,,
the i Sth of February.
« See " Hisloria Ecclesiastica Gentis
Scotorum," tomus i. , lib. iii. , num. 281, Ihis parish is within the baronies of p. 165.
Belgii. "
244 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 20.
theFeilireofSt. ^ngus. ' Inacomment,onthispassage,wearetold,that he was the wizard, who contended with St. James,' son of Zebedee, and there- after beUeved. We find one of the martyrs, who suffered at MeHiina, in Armenia, called Hermogenes ; and, their feast was celebrated, on the 19th ofApril. 3 Atthissamedate,theBollandists*haveanotherHermogenesin- cluded, among certain African martyrs. We believe, however, that the first of the martyrs, so named, was the one especially venerated, in the Church of Ireland.
2CtDcnti>tb 3Bap of april.
ARTICLE I. —ST. SINAG, OR SINACH, OF INISCLOGHRAN, ON LOUGH REE, COUNTY OF LONGFORD.
[SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. -\
THEentry ofthis saint's name, without any further distinction, occurs, in
the atthexii. ofthe oratthe Tallaght Martyrology, May Kalends,
zoth of April. ' The Bollandists have not a notice of his name, at this day. On the River Shannon's noble Lough Ree,' so beautifully diversified with
islands, there is one of singular picturesqueiiess, formerly Latinized Inisense, or Insulense,3 and by the Irish called Inis Chlothrinn, said to have derived its name from Clorina,* who was sister to Maeve,5 or Mab,^ Queen of Cod-
Article v. — " In the Leabhar Breac copy we read :
tviitj enmogiti eiATjAipc 1Al^)^0)^bu ajUat)
Co iViu An j-o<iT)
AfUAclic cnoppAin cTn\iAt).
&c. , p.
xxi. The is in the following reading
in Ireland," num. 16, pp. 145, 146. "3
Conspicuous Hermogenes went, after In the Monastery, Inisense or Insulense, achievinghisflight,toJesus,—asplendid livedtheCanonRegular,AugustineMagrai-
— !
one of themost celebrated
poor din, hagiographers
out of body of clay. "
"
coldness of his
change
(the)
This Apostle's feast occurs, at the 1st of May.
of his time, in Ireland. He also composed a Chronicle of the country, toA. D. 1405, the yearwhenhedied. SeeL. Aug. Alemand's "Histoire
'' Someaccountoftheir
recorded,
name, in ancient Kalendnrs, will be met 48. A Paris, 1690, l2mo.
with, in the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Aprilis xix. De Sanctis Martyii- bus Melitinensibus Heiniogene, Caio, Ex- pedite, Aristonico, Rufo, Galata, Mitina, Arminia, Rufo, Hilario, Aristonico, Foitu- nato, Caio, Donato, Mavilino, pp. 619, 620. There it will be seen how divergent are the authorities cited, regarding these martyrs.
• The monarch of Ireland, Eochaidh Feidhlech, lived about a century before the Incarnation, and besides the celebrated Meclbh or Meave, Queen of Connaught, he had other daughters and three sons, who are said to have been born at one birth, and who were named Lothur, Nor and Breas. In Irish history, these were designated the Tri Finn Eamhna, or the Three Fair or
* See ibid. De Sanctis
ciano, Hermoge—ne et aliis duobus, p. 620.
Afris Sericiano, Donato et Helladio, item Seri-
Twins, "
AlfMCLE
I.
'
The insertion thus stands,
Lect. vii. ,
5 A more detailed account of this celebra-
"Sinaig, ocus Flann, ocus Moelochtraigh. " Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Calendar of Irish Saints,"
p. 145.
ted heroine will be found, in " The Irish
being
by
Monastique d'Irlande," &c. , p.
Martyiibus
Franciscan copy, SiriAi^ ocuf ^riain'o ec
niiebioficpAtg.
'
It is seventeen miles in length, and it varies from one mile 10 six miles in breadth. See a description of its islands and shores, in James Fraser's " Hand liook for Travellers
Triplets. See Eugene O'Curry's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish," vol. ii. ,
April 20. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. *4S
naught. Here, the latter is thought to have been killed, while bathing,' by a stone shot from the sling of Forby, who stood and watched her from the Longford shore, while compassing her destruction. ' The islanders had long preserved a tradition of this murder, and localities' were pointed out, in con- nexion with it. Here, in the sixth century, St. Diarmaid, or Diermit,'° chose his place of retreat, and he established a monastic institute, where several re- ligious men placed themselves under his direction. " However, it seems rather unaccountable, that the pagan rather than the Christian traditions should have been more vivid, in the recollection of the islanders. Referring to the gentile period of our history, and the story to which allusion has been made, the distance between Inis Clothran and the shore of Longford County is about one English mile, so tliat it sliould require a very muscular arm to cast a stone so far, even with a sling; unless we conceive the alternative, that the Ama- zonian Maeve was swimming, nearer to the shore, than to the island. " In the Annals of the Four Masters, the present St. Sinach is said to have been of Innis Clothrainn,nowInnisclogIiran,'3orasmodernizedQuaker'sIsland. '^ Theis- land obtained this later name, owing to the circumstance of a member, belong- ing to the Society of Friends,'' from the north of Ireland,'' having built a small cottage,"' on Inniscloghran. It is also called Seven Churches Island. '* At pre- sent, according to Mr. Hills,'9 it contains the ruins of six churches. Perhaps, it is owing to this circumstance, and to the fact, that a monastic establishment had been liere, in early times, that it was called the Sacred Isle, on the Island of All Saints. *" It has been contended, that as a rule, there were not seven cliurches, in most of those places referred to, in Ireland, as containing so many ; and that, the term Seven Churches arose, in some loose popular way, without such churches
Penny Magazine," vol. i. , num. 4, in the article on Ancient Irish Biogr. iphy, headed
other machine, quite different from a sling. O'Flaherty only supposes, that it was a sling.
" of —and Meyv, Queen Connaught
Kinj; of Ulster," pp. 26 to 28.
'J
the Island itself
the
on
'Thenameof
' The stoty is thus told, by Keaung, and
"Soisitcalled, the by
Connor,
. So is It called,
by
people
living
on either shore. However, under neither title it has been repeated by O'Fiahetty, and by do we find it, in the General Alphabetical
bhakespeare's fairy.
people living
other writers ; but, none ol them knew the situation of the Island, or its di>tance from the land, so that ihey could not have known' the amount of fable in the story, or even as to whether it contained anything inci edible.
Index to the Ordnance Survey IJenomina- tions for Ireland.
'i This in. in was named Fairbrother, and originally he was a weaver, who came to re- si^ieon this isol ited spot, where he lived in comnarattve solitude.
"The old man himself was eighty years of
age, when Mr. U'Uonovan visited this
Island, on the 23rd of . \ugust, 1837.
' In this retreat, his sons were accustomed
to live, during the summer season.
" That there were really seven churches, in those localities known l)y that name, is a theory advanced by many writers on Irish antiquities, and that the number had, in each instance, a sacred meaning is also an opinion
pretty generally maintained.
' Mr. Gordon M. Hills has written a se-
ries of papers, intituled "Notes on the Archi-
tecture of ' and these have been Ireland,
illustrated by beautiful, and we believe, very accurate engravings, on wood. See the "Gentleman^ Magazine" for 1864, part i. , pp. 3to20,141to161,277to294,411to 426, 547 10 556.
Monaslique d'lrlande," &c. ,p. 48.
*
head, by the stone cast at her. The roman- tic circumsiances, attending her death, are re-
"
lated, in Uermod U'Connor'a Keaiing's neral History ol Ireland," book i. , pp. 2 14, 2 1 5.
» Elfeet Castie, in ihe County of Longford,
to the field called Beor Laiyhionn (Bcoilyon)
in Inis Clothnnn, is . said to have been the
distance, between Maeve and Forby.
'"
See his Life, in vol. i. , at the loth day of January.
"
l. 'AI>be Ma-Geoghegan makes the
It is said, she was struck on the lore-
younger St. Kieran, of Clonmacnoi^e, the founder of this monastery. See " Hi^toire
de rirlande Ancienne et Partie li. , chap, ii. , p. 299.
" Another supposition is, that Forby must have been on the Island itself, or must havecomeinaCurrachsonearit,astobe able to fling the stone to that spot, jiointed outbytradition or,ifeitherb=nutthe
;
that the Crann tabhuill must have been some
Moderne," tomei. ,
Ge-
case,
"• h>cc L.