, of Belfast, and after- Schools, and
Presbytery
of St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
P.
of Holy-
identify Drumbo, the scene of the conten- tion, between the Ulidians and the Hy- Nialls, for the honour of the sepulture of St. Patrick, as Lismoghan, near the Blackstaff Bridge, on the inner bay of Dundrum. This, too, is the Rev. Dr. Reeves' suggestion.
obsolete ; but, it is very possible, that the
name Quoile or Coyle, although signifying in Irish "a wood," may preserve, in some
"
a hill—the suffix "bo," a cow, being dropped. The place, where the oxen were caught, which conveyed his body to Down, is called, in the " Book of Armagh,"
Clogher, to the east of Findubrec.
" Jocelyn also alludes to this swelling of the sea. From such an allusion, and from other passages in St. Patrick's Acts, of a like
collis,"
Colgan in his
that the Ulidians followed their waggon to Down, and the Oriors theirs to Armagh, both believing themselves to be in possession of the body of our saint. The Fourth Life of Colgan says, that the waggon of the Oriors disappeared, but that the Ultonians had the real waggon, and buried the remains at Down. Probus agrees with the " Book of Armagh," and he writes, that the waggon of the Oriors vanished, at the River Cau- bene, called, as before-mentioned, Cab-
"
Mr. W.
Hanna that *• So this river is in
concludes, Drumboe, or " Collum Bovis," adjoined the sea, not far from Saul, that it lay in the north
import,
Jocelyn's Life.
J.
called,
The Third Life of St. Patrick, published by
"
of Lecale, and could not by any possibility be a Drumbo, near Lisburn, which is com-
pletely inland.
*3 In a note, to his " St. Patrick, Apostle
of Ireland," the Rev. Dr. Todd writes, this was "probably a ford on the narrow inlet of Strangford Lough, called Quoile, which
separates Inch parish from Saul. "—Chap, iii. , n. 2, p. 492. Mr. W. J. Hanna also argues, with much critical acumen, that this unquestionably was the place, where the present Quoile Bridge stands, as it answers all the requirements of the biographers, and it led directly to the county of Armagh. On Quoile hill, above the old castle, which margins the river, were some time past the remains of a small ecclesiasti—cal edifice, near
Book of Armagh. " All the
a spot called Ballyhassan probably
cenna, in the
writers, who mention this river, place it near the city of Armagh. With this loca- tion. Dr. Todd, in his '•Memoir of Saint Patrick," agi-ees, but he writes, that the name is no longer remembered, in the dis- trict. It could not have been the Callan, which runs west of Armagh, on the
de- riving its name from one of the many saints
River
corrupted fashion, the Latin form
Trias Thaumaturga," states,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 789
wain disappeared from their sight. ^^ In the meantime, the people of Ulidia, or Ullagh/7 entered the city of Down, and after a great solemnization of
Masses, they interred the holy body, in a place miraculously shown. It ap- peared then, to each of the contending parties, that they were bringing St. Patrick's body into their own country. Thus, God separated them, in this miraculous manner, through his grace, and owing to the great merits of his blessed Apostle. According to the Tripartite Lives of our saint, the oxen carried him to that place, where Dun-da-leth-glas was, in the time of their writers. His re- mains were buried there,^^ with all honour and respect. ^9 In addition to this statement, the authority of nearly all his ancient Acts may be cited, to show that Down was the real place of St. Patrick's interment \^° and there, too, at the present time, have several interesting religious memorials been erected, to consecrate, as it were, the popular tradition. ? ^ However, some old
opposite side of the city, approaching from the neighbourhood of Downpatrick ; and, it
is most hkely, in the opinion of Mr. Hanna, to have been the stream or river, which flows by Cavanacaw, about two miles south of that city, and which discharges itself into the Callan, about two miles to the east, giving to or taking its name from that town- land. There—it has been supposed—was fought a celebrated battle, A. D. 1188, be- tween the English of Moy-Cova—between Newry and Banbridge — and Donnel O'Loughlin, of Ailech. See Dr. O'Dono- van's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iii. , pp. 80 to 83, and nn. (q, r, s, t, u. )
^3 According to the " Book of Armagh," these signs of the times were shown, so that an innumerable host of souls should be turned from destraction and death unto salvation, by a happy deception, as the blinded Assyrians of old should have perished, but for the holy prophet Elisha, by whom, under Divine Providence, they were led into Samaria ; and this deception, also, was made the means, for producing concord among the people.
^ See Probus or Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. xxxix. , xl. , p. 61. Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. cvii. , cviii. , pp. 168, 169. Also, Tertia Vita S. Patricii, cap. xci. , p. 29. In the foregoing authori- ties, the circumstances of this contest are differently related.
^^ Ulidia, or Ullagh, whence the modern name Ulster, comprehended only a part of this province. It consisted chiefly, at least, of a great part of the present Down County.
^^ The Latin Tripartite Life of our saint,
however, mentions Saul inadvertently, as the place, where St. Patrick was to be in- terred. A subsequent passage contains the correction.
*9 Ussher's Tripartite, as may be seen in the " Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 873, has Down as the place of St. Patrick's deposition. More authorities will be found in Ussher, Ibid. , p.
7° See Tertia Vita S. Patricii, cap. Ixxxviii. , p. 28. Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xcvii. , p. 47. Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cxcvi. , p. 108. Septima Vita S. Patri- cii, lib. iii. , cap. cviii. , p. 169.
7' From the times of Henry VIII. and of
Queen Elizabeth, the Catholic institutes of
Down were profaned, and the Catholic in-
habitants suffered a variety of persecutions.
The more ancient Church and its renowned
monuments are said to have been destroyed,
by the Lord Deputy, Leonard de Grey,
A. D. 1538. SeeMr. andMrs. Hall's"Ire-
land, its Scenery, Character," &c. , vol. iii. ,
pp. 8, 9, 10. A representation of the more
modern Cathedral is there given, as an
illustration. However, we find, by the
Itinerary of Father M'Cann, who had con-
versed with people, on the spot, that the
foul deed was perpetrated, towards the latter
end of Elizabeth's reign, by Edward, Lord
Cromwell, of Okeham, Governor of Lecale,
and grandson of the infamous Thomas
Cromwell, Earl of Essex, the Mephisto-
pheles of Henry VIII. , and who subse-
quently obtained a reversionary grant of the
monastic lands of Down, Saul, and portions
of Grey Abbey. Father M'Cann thus
"
writes :
the human race, having been sent to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth in command, came with an army to the city of Down, and set fire to the noble church and monastery of St. Patrick, where even the reliqiies of Saints Patrick, Columba, and Bridgid were ex- posed to the fury of the flames. And there cannot be a doubt that many other sacred monuments and very ancient writings, as he was told by old men who were alive at that time, perished in that conflagration. And not content with this wickedness, the im- pious infidel burned all the other churches of Ultonia, especially in the regions of Down and Antrim, very i^^^ of which have been since then restored. " It is likely, the reliques alluded to were the statues of the saints, which occupied the three vacant
8S8, and following pages, as also in Colgan's
"Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix niches over the east window. He also
ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxi. , pp. 259 to writes, that the natives gave him the name
263. of
"
This son of earth and foul spot on
Maol-na-teampull," literally signifying
790 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
Calendars? ^ have stated, that the Lipsana, or relics, ot St. Patrick—Senior- thoughttohavebeennootherpersonthanthegreatIrishApostle reposed inthecityofArmagh. 73 TirechanandNenniussay,indeed,thattheplace, in which St. Patrick's remains lie, is unknown. Whatever truth there may
New Catholic Church, Convent, Schools and Presbytery of St. Tatrick, in Downpatrick.
be in this assertion, it need not be understood, with regard to the place in general ; such as, that his body was somewhere, in Down ; but, it ought to
the "flail" or "scourge of the churches. "
His descendants, subsequently created Vis-
counts Lecale and Earls of Ardglass, erected
tlieir mansion-house and pleasure-grounds
on the tenements, stretching westward to the
circular road and Prior's Island. In 1578,
the Franciscan house, founded by Hugh de
Lacy, where the Protestant church now
stands, was destroyed by Andrew Brereton,
an officer who farmed Lecale from the
crown. Baffled in plundering the sacred
vessels previously concealed, he subjected
to torture, and strangled, fiom an adjacent
oak tree, three of the brethren, named
O'Lochran, Fitzsimons, and O'Rorke,
whom he considered to have prevented his
sacrilege. Henceforward, writes Mr. John
W. Hanna, in the Ulster Weekly Examiner,
of June 8th, 1872, we have but scanty re- Scotch-street, beside the Blackamoor's cord of a Catholic place of worship in Down.
In the reigns of Charles II. and James II. ,
Head. Ultimately, he procured a more eligible place on the Stream Brae, from Mr. William Trotter, on which a church was began in 1784, and opened in 1787, a lease in perpetuity being granted on the 2nd of
some slight stay was given to the persecu-
tion code. A few monks and secular clergy
may have -been tolerated in Down, and in
other parts of Lecale, which has been May, 1789, to the bishop, and Messrs.
always eminently Catholic : but, during the existence of the infamous and terrible penal laws, no Catholic church was permitted in the town. The people worshipped, in the
\Yilliam Sawey and John Dogherty, in trust for the congregation. It was frequently
altered, and subsequently, a gallery was erected, to meet the wants of the people.
old ruined chapel at Struel, till about 1751,' when that house, then about being re-
edified, was partially destroyed and unroofed, by the Rev. Thomas Brereton, Protestant curate of the parish. Then, a rude barn, at the Flying Horse, in Ballymote, at the corner of the roads leading to the racecourse and Killough, began to be used as a tempo- rary church. On the opposite side of Kil- lough Road lay the site ol the Presbyterian meeting-house, that denomination also not being permitted to have a place of worship in the town, till about 1724. After the ap- pointment of the Most Rev. Hugh M'Mullan, to be Bishop of Down and Connor, and after his removal to the Stone Park in Erynagh, he sought for a church site within the town, and, at one time, he purposed building in
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 791
be considered, relatively to the particular spot,74 selected for deposition. The illustrious St. Columba, or Columcille, had received part of his ecclesias- tical education, at the Monastery of Moville, near Newtownards ; and, we may naturally presume, that he had frequently visited the grave of our Irish Apostle. He had founded the church of Derry, besides many monasteries, and had acquired great celebrity and paramount influence throughout Ireland. According to the Annals of Ulster, in the year 552, he was called to Down, where he exhumed the relics of our Apostle, then sixty years dead. In the tomb, he found three precious reliquaries, namely, a "Vial, or Coagh, the Angel's Gospel, and the Bell of the Testament. Directed by angelic revela- tion to divide these, he gave the Coagh7S to the church of Down ; the Angel's Gospel, otherwise called the Gospel of St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, who had presented it to his relative St. Patrick, fell to Columcille himself, who con- ferred it on Derry, where it subsequently formed the chief reliquary ; while, the Bell of the Testament he assigned to Armagh. ? *^ In the Book of Armagh, it is stated, that according to the command of God, a cubit of earth was placed over St. Patrick's body,77 and that the fulfilment of his prophecy was manifested in after times, when the church was building over his remains. Then, those men, who were digging the foundation, perceived fire to break out from the grave, and they fled with fear from that flame. The site of the
But, at any time, it was a very indifferent liuilding, unworthy of the purpose to which
it was devoted, and the great St. Patrick, to whom it was dedicated. In the latter end
known, yet the place in general was, it being a valley of the land of Moab, over against Phogor. The sacred text adds : " and no man hath known of his sepulchre
of 1863, the Very Rev. Patrick O'Kane, until this present day. " Deuteronomy,
V. F. , on the death of the Very Rev. Bernard M'Auley, was promoted from the curacy to
be parish priest, when with great zeal and
labour, he collected funds to build, as a
memorial to Ireland's patron saint, a fine
Gothic church, with its spacious nave, its
beautiful traceries, its lofty towei", as also
dedicating a chapel to the Virgin, with its
xxxiv. 6.
75 No description of the Coagh, nor its purpose for use, has reached us, nor what be- came of it after the suppression in the reign of HenryVIII. ; though,itishighlyprobable, it escaped profanation from sacrilegious hands, as was the case with the sacred vessels in the Franciscan monastery of the same town,
guardianship
marble altar. The church was de-
dicated on the 30th of June, 1872, when the
Most Rev. George Conroy, Bishop of of the O'Mellans and O'Mulhollans. By Ardagh, preached the opening sermon. one of this latter sept, it was given to Soon, afterwards, the Mercy Convent, Adam M 'Clean, Esq.
, of Belfast, and after- Schools, and Presbytery of St. Patrick were
splendid
added and, the grouping of all—on a
wards it passed to the late Very Rev. Dr.
; — charming elevated site
Todd. A valuable account of it was
by Rev. Dr. Reeves, and it was published, with chromo-lithographic drawings of the jewelled shrine, by Marcus Ward, in 1850.
will be understood from the accompan—ying illustration, taken from a photograph kindly furnished to the writer by Rev. Bernard M'Cann, C. C. , Saul —and drawn on the wood, by William F.
77 St. Patrick's body is stated to have been laid, in a very deep pit, to prevent its Wakeman. The engraving is by Mrs. being stolen. See Jocelyn's or Sexta Vita Millard. S. Patricii, cap. cxcvi. , p. 108, and Septima
7^ See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. cviii. , p. 169.
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxi. , pp. 258 to 263.
To guard against the commission of such a theft, at any time, it might have been thought proper to conceal the spot, as much as possible. We may also suppose, that the accumulation of graves, around that of the
73 This will help us to explain the expres-
sion of St. Bernard, alluding as he does to
Armagh : "in qua et vivus prasfuit et mor-
tuus requiescit. " See "Vita S. Malachise," saint, after a long lapse of time, may have
cap. vii. Ussher in his
"
Primordia," cap.
given occasion to doubt, which was the peculiar resting spot for our holy Apostle's body. Similar doubts have been started, con-
cerning the burying places of several eminent saints, and of various illustrious individuals, who flourished in past ages.
"^ "
xvii. , p. 888, quotes, to the same purpose, an unpublished Life of St. Patrick.
7* Nor does the supposed conformity, as in the case of Moses, require anything more ; for, although the few feet of ground that con-
tained his body were not particularly
The tomb of St. Patrick is still
7* This remained under the
written,
792 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
Irish Apostle's grave is yet pointed out,? ^ in the cemetery, attached to the Protestant Cathedral; and, people, coming from the most distant places, take away the earth, so that a large and deep hole had been formed there, when that spot was seen by the present writer. The Protestant Cathedral of Downpatrick is said to occupy the site of St. Patrick's more ancient church.
Here were formerly preserved the tombs of St. Patrick, St. Brigid and St. Columkille; because,duringtheperiodoftheNorthmeninvasions,thecity
of Down was deemed to possess advantages of security, greater than most places in Ireland. When St. Brigid's relics79 were transferred to Down is not
known exactly ; but, Colgan conjectured, this act was done by Kellach, some-
time Abbot of Kildare, and Abbot of lona, from 852 to 865. During the
same century, in the year 878, the body of St. Columba^° was also transferred
to Down as stated in the " of it was buried in ; and, Martyrology Donegal,"
onetombwithPatrickandBrigid. Itseems,thatthebodieshadbeentaken from the shrines, as there is no mention made of the latter, when the relics werefound. However,theNorsemenextendedtheirravagestothisquarter, and they frequently returned, during the tenth century, seeking for spoil, and destroying the city of Down, with its churches, so late as the year 988. In
1 103, Magnus, King of Norway, with a vast army, proceeded to the coast of Down, and having incautiously landed, was himself slain. According to the "Annals of Ulster," he was interred near the church of St. Patrick,^' though tradition points out an insulated spot, adjacent to Horse Island, as the place
for his sepulture. Under these circumstances, it was not surprising, that the saints' bodies were deposited for security, in some secret spot, when, in the course of time, the exact place became unknown, and that, when more peaceful times returned, and the Norseman's power was overthrown, a Christian people should anxiously desire to recover their precious deposit. During the earlyandmiddleages,Downwasaresortfornumberlesspiouspilgrims. In 1 1 76, Malachy, the third Bishop of Down bearing that name, succeeded GelasiusMacCormac. AccordingtoWare,hehadbeentakenprisoner,by John de Courci,^^ the succeeding year ; but, at the urgent request of Cardinal
then in — he was
Vivian, Ireland, immediately
restored to his
liberty,
and to
hisformerhonours afactunnoticedbytheFourMasters,inrecordingthe
battle of Dun-da-lethglas, although minutely given, in the Dublin copy of the
" Annals pf Innisfallen. " Being a pious and a holy man, deeply solicitous for the honour of his Church and of its Great Founder, Bishop Malachy spent, we are told, long and weary nights before the altar, praying and begging of
pointed out, with a cross on it, but the teirecl in a Reilig, near his own church, better informed class do not believe, that The body M'as placed in a shrine, adorned
tliis is the place, where he was interred, Ijut with precious metals, in the eighth century ; under the altar in the Cathedral. " County and, it appears to have remained in peace of Down Ordnance Survey Letters. Mr. until the ninth, when lona, like all the
O'Donovan's Letter, dated Downpatrick, April 28th, 1834, pp. 103, 104.
other British isles, fell a prey to the Danish ravages. It was several times sent to Ire-
79 St. Bridget or Brighit, Abbess of Kil-
dare, affectionately called "the Mary of Erinn," died ist February, about the year
523, and was interred in her own church;
her relics and those of Bishop Conlaeth being See afterwards enshrined, and adorned with gems
and precious stones, as also, with crowns of gold and silver.
^° While kneeling at the altar, on the 9th of June, A. D. 597, without ache or struggle, the spirit of St. Columba gently t—ook its flight, andafterthreedays'obsequies—thatofSt. Patrick having lasted twelve he was in-
xi. , chap, vii. , p. 283, and chap, viii. , pp.
291 to 294.
^'
See the Rev. James Johnstone's "An- tiquitates Celto-Normannica. %" p. 84.
^^
Inside the walls of the city, there was a castle erected by DeCourci, in the angleof the presentChurch-streetandChurch-lane. Itwas
land for safety, by t! ie abbots, and finally it was deposited in Down A. D. 878, thus realiz-
ing his own prophetic Irish verses, as given by Montalembert, in a French translation,
'"
Les Moines d'Occident," tome iii. , liv.
prostrated, within the last forty years
;
and,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IJilSH SAINTS. 793
God to make known to him, that precise spot where the sacred bodies lay in- terred.
One night, in 1185, when solemn silence reigned all around, the holy man, engaged as usual in fervent prayer, saw a bright sunbeam traversing the church. Thereupon,heprayed,yetthemoreintensely,thatitmightstop,where the sacred bodies were interred. Eventually, it became fixed on a particular spot ofthechurchfloor. Thisinducedhimtobelieve,thathisdesiredwisheshad beenrealized. Procuringassistance,anddiggingbeneaththeplace,tohisun- bounded joy, he found the coffin of St. Patrick, lying between those of the two othersaints. Thiswastheyearinwhichthelord,EarlJohn,afterwardsEng- land'sKing,firstcameintoIreland. ^3 Thegladdiscoverywascommunicated toDeCourci. He,thebishop,andthePrimateTomaltach,otherwiseThomas O'Conor, son of Hugh, and brother to Rory, Kings of Connaught, sent ambassadorstoPopeUrbantheTliird,inRome. HesentCardinalVivian backtoIreland,tooverseeandtoassist,atthetranslationofthoserelics. On Monday, the 9th of June, 1186, on the festival of St. Columba, the Benedic- tine IMonastery and Cathedral of Down witnessed a noble gathering, for a sacred and national object. ^+ Cardinal Vivian, in his magnificent robes, the Primate, Thomas O'Conor, Bishop Malachy, besides thirteen other bishops, with abbots, and provosts, deans, archdeacons, priors, and many other
dignitaries of the Church, the imposing figure of the stalwart De Courci, his barons and knights, mailed retainers and English settlers, a multitudi—nous
of Irish chiefs and assemblage people,
from all of the f— parts country,
so we are told, in the office of the Translation, and by contemporary writers, y/erethatdaycongregated,atthegreatchurchofDown. ^s Thisgorgeouspro- cessionhasbeenminutelydescribed. Theshadowsofthehighecclesiastical and military dignitaries were flashing in the surrounding waters, beneath the gloriousskyofJune; theairwasredolentwithrichperfumeandwiththevoice of Psalmody; and, when the attendants reached the interior, that ceremonial prescribed by the ritual having been celebrated, the bodies were solemnly re- moved and placed in that more distinguished part of the church, which had been prepared and dedicated for their reception. It was then resolved, that the anniversary of that glorious event should thereafter be celebrated, in Ireland, as a high festival, while the Feast of St. Columba was transferred to the morrowofhisOctave. ^^ Itiscertain,thatonthisoccasion,someoftherelics of St. Patrick were removed by Cardinal Vivian to Rome, where they still remain. ^7 It is likewise traditionally reported, that, at this time, the hand of St. Patrick^^ was enshrined and placed over the high altar, where it rested, in a conspicuous position, until the destruction of the abbey caused its removal. That religious object, however, has not been lost.
"
further up in the Irish Quarter stood another, called M'Rory's Castle, on the west side of Irish-street, nearly opposite to the Shambles.
In burgo Duno, tumulo tumulantur in uno, Brigida, Patritius, atque Columba; pius. "
S3 According to Giraldus Cambrensis. These Latin lines are thus rendered, in
See "
edited F. by James
: edition or version of the record —
Opera,"
Dimoclc, Topographia Hibernica,
Wright's
M. A. , vol. V.
Dist. iii. , cap. xviii. , pp. 163, 164.
"
Patrick, Columba, Brigit, rest in glorious Doun :
Lie in one tomb, and consecrate the toun. "
^^ A Solemn with nine lessons,' Office,
^* See the Rev. Sylvester Malone's "Church History of Ireland," chap, iii. , pp. 95 to 97.
^'^ Ussher mentions several authorities—
of and Marleb—urg, John Brampton,
Henry
Ralph of Chester as narrating the transla-
commemorative of the translation, was pre-
pared by the proper ecclesiastical authority, This has bet-n printed at Paris, in 1620.
Colgan and Wessingham have published it.
tion, besides Giraldus, who, as previously mentioned, states it to have occurred in his own time, and he gives the—well-known verses written on the occasion
*?
Portions of these were
given, by
direc-
:
or
794 LIVES OF THE IHISH SAINTS. [March 17.
We are inclined to believe, that at this period, a portion of the relics of
our saint were enshrined for the church of Armagh,^9 as well as for the
church of Down, and another portion for Saul. This affords a simple ex-
planation of the facts, recorded by our writers, that various shrines of our saint,
belongingtothesechurches,hadbeenviolated,orcarriedawayforsafety. The
Cathedral of Down had been frequently restored and embellished, and among
others, bySt. Malachy O'Morgair. On the siteof old Downpatrick gaol,9° stood
a house of Irish Canons, founded by that great prelate, when bishop there, in
1 138. 91 In 1316, Edward Bruce, with his Scottish troops, destroyed the
Abbey. 92 Again,BishopTiberius,whodiedin1526,repairedtheCathedral.
From the twelfth, until some time in the seventeenth, century, the entire
plains, north and west of the cathedral and city of Down, were covered by
the tidal waters of Lough Cuan, from which sprung up several islands,
clothed with wood and beauty, among which was that of Inishcouscry, with
its old Irish monastery. 93 The Cathedral stood on the apex of the great hill,
to the west of the city, which, half-way down, was encircled by a deep fosse,
portions of which are still slightly discernible. Some forty feet distant from
the western door was the noble round tower, sixty-six feet in height. 94 The
Benedictine monastery lay a httle further west, on the slope of the hill, now
partially occupied by the new cemetery. To the north, lay the great Dun of
«'
the fort of the peninsula o—f the battles. " 9^ Dun-leth-glas, or
kos-catha,95
I3rom-leth-glas, as it is frequently called the prefix D—rom proving decisively that it could not have been an insulated promontory stood close to the in- tersection of John and the modern Mary-street. 97 In the year 1441, the See of Down was united to that of Connor, by Pope Eugene the Fourth. From
that period to the present, its bishopss^ are noticed, by several eminent Irish
lions of his Holiness, Pope PiusJIX. , to the late Bishop Denvir, when on his visit to the tomb of the Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, in the Eternal City.
^ Now, this greatly-prized object is happily placed under the guardianship of
glory, seated near St. Dalian's Well. It is
described in its original charter, as lying at the angle, between the roads leading to Crevisse, and it is returned in a survey of James I. 's time as an aliter, for the present Killyvees, and the Grange of Saul, now Saul Quarter.
95 This actually stood, as stated by Father M'Cana, in his Itinerary of 1645, "outside the city on the north-east," correctly south- west, and also, by Downing, in 1680.
9° it is called corruptly in Inquisitions, Dones coscue, or the Round Mount, which some modern writers have erroneously de-
the Most Rev. Dr. Dorrian. — ^9 This conjectured fact—if correct
pro- bably led to the misconception of St. Bernard, that St. Patrick's remains had been deposited
in Armagh.
9° Close behind the Cathedral, or "hard
by," as the Terrier expresses it, in 1615.
9' On the adjoining Windmill Hill, where
the new county gaol stands, according to
tradition, was placed the church of St.
Bride, described in the Annals of Ulster, at
1005, as in the midst of the town, and as
profaned in that year, by the murder of stood the Monastery or Priory of St. John Madagan, son of Domhnall, King of Ulster,
by Dubhthinne, surnamed the Tore, in
violation of the guarantees of the saints of
Ireland. This violation was speedily yard. " Now, it forms part of the present avenged, by the death of the murderer, at
ihe hands of Muireadhach, the victim's son.
9= See Rev. Thomas Walsh's "History of
the Irish Church, with the Monasteries of House Hill, still known as tlie Prior's
each County," &c. , chap, xliii. , p. 413.
93 This was afterwards converted, by De Courci, into a Cistercian Abbey, whose grey and ivy-covered ruins, on the banks of the
Coyle, still attest its former grandeur.
s-t Outside the walls, lay the Priory of St. Thomas the Martyr, otherwise called Tober-
Island, from having been that official's property, until the suppression of the reli- gioiis houses.
9S Their names and acts will be found, in the works of Ware, Lanigan, Theiner, Reeves, Rev, Sylvester Malone, Rev. James O'Laverty, and Father Walsh. For a de-
scribed as the Dun-leth-glas of history,
97 it lay alongside where the Convent School now stands, and is so marked, in a map of the town, dated, A. D. 1729. Near it
the Baptist, belonging to the Cross-bearers, marked on the same map and accompanying
""
survey, St. John's Close," and Chappel
convent grounds, the gardens of the prior of the Cross-bearers stretching past the site of the new Catholic Church, back to the Gas
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 795
ecclesiastical historians. For several centuries after the Anglo-Norman
invasion, there existed a very bad feeling, between the Anglican and
Irish clergy and people. This was considerably fomented, by the Colonial
Government, who passed a statute, prohibiting the appointment of Irish clerics to appointments in monastic houses. This decree necessarily pro-
duced intense bitterness of feeling against the Anglican monks, and it caused th. e repeated destruction of their houses.
identify Drumbo, the scene of the conten- tion, between the Ulidians and the Hy- Nialls, for the honour of the sepulture of St. Patrick, as Lismoghan, near the Blackstaff Bridge, on the inner bay of Dundrum. This, too, is the Rev. Dr. Reeves' suggestion.
obsolete ; but, it is very possible, that the
name Quoile or Coyle, although signifying in Irish "a wood," may preserve, in some
"
a hill—the suffix "bo," a cow, being dropped. The place, where the oxen were caught, which conveyed his body to Down, is called, in the " Book of Armagh,"
Clogher, to the east of Findubrec.
" Jocelyn also alludes to this swelling of the sea. From such an allusion, and from other passages in St. Patrick's Acts, of a like
collis,"
Colgan in his
that the Ulidians followed their waggon to Down, and the Oriors theirs to Armagh, both believing themselves to be in possession of the body of our saint. The Fourth Life of Colgan says, that the waggon of the Oriors disappeared, but that the Ultonians had the real waggon, and buried the remains at Down. Probus agrees with the " Book of Armagh," and he writes, that the waggon of the Oriors vanished, at the River Cau- bene, called, as before-mentioned, Cab-
"
Mr. W.
Hanna that *• So this river is in
concludes, Drumboe, or " Collum Bovis," adjoined the sea, not far from Saul, that it lay in the north
import,
Jocelyn's Life.
J.
called,
The Third Life of St. Patrick, published by
"
of Lecale, and could not by any possibility be a Drumbo, near Lisburn, which is com-
pletely inland.
*3 In a note, to his " St. Patrick, Apostle
of Ireland," the Rev. Dr. Todd writes, this was "probably a ford on the narrow inlet of Strangford Lough, called Quoile, which
separates Inch parish from Saul. "—Chap, iii. , n. 2, p. 492. Mr. W. J. Hanna also argues, with much critical acumen, that this unquestionably was the place, where the present Quoile Bridge stands, as it answers all the requirements of the biographers, and it led directly to the county of Armagh. On Quoile hill, above the old castle, which margins the river, were some time past the remains of a small ecclesiasti—cal edifice, near
Book of Armagh. " All the
a spot called Ballyhassan probably
cenna, in the
writers, who mention this river, place it near the city of Armagh. With this loca- tion. Dr. Todd, in his '•Memoir of Saint Patrick," agi-ees, but he writes, that the name is no longer remembered, in the dis- trict. It could not have been the Callan, which runs west of Armagh, on the
de- riving its name from one of the many saints
River
corrupted fashion, the Latin form
Trias Thaumaturga," states,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 789
wain disappeared from their sight. ^^ In the meantime, the people of Ulidia, or Ullagh/7 entered the city of Down, and after a great solemnization of
Masses, they interred the holy body, in a place miraculously shown. It ap- peared then, to each of the contending parties, that they were bringing St. Patrick's body into their own country. Thus, God separated them, in this miraculous manner, through his grace, and owing to the great merits of his blessed Apostle. According to the Tripartite Lives of our saint, the oxen carried him to that place, where Dun-da-leth-glas was, in the time of their writers. His re- mains were buried there,^^ with all honour and respect. ^9 In addition to this statement, the authority of nearly all his ancient Acts may be cited, to show that Down was the real place of St. Patrick's interment \^° and there, too, at the present time, have several interesting religious memorials been erected, to consecrate, as it were, the popular tradition. ? ^ However, some old
opposite side of the city, approaching from the neighbourhood of Downpatrick ; and, it
is most hkely, in the opinion of Mr. Hanna, to have been the stream or river, which flows by Cavanacaw, about two miles south of that city, and which discharges itself into the Callan, about two miles to the east, giving to or taking its name from that town- land. There—it has been supposed—was fought a celebrated battle, A. D. 1188, be- tween the English of Moy-Cova—between Newry and Banbridge — and Donnel O'Loughlin, of Ailech. See Dr. O'Dono- van's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iii. , pp. 80 to 83, and nn. (q, r, s, t, u. )
^3 According to the " Book of Armagh," these signs of the times were shown, so that an innumerable host of souls should be turned from destraction and death unto salvation, by a happy deception, as the blinded Assyrians of old should have perished, but for the holy prophet Elisha, by whom, under Divine Providence, they were led into Samaria ; and this deception, also, was made the means, for producing concord among the people.
^ See Probus or Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. xxxix. , xl. , p. 61. Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. cvii. , cviii. , pp. 168, 169. Also, Tertia Vita S. Patricii, cap. xci. , p. 29. In the foregoing authori- ties, the circumstances of this contest are differently related.
^^ Ulidia, or Ullagh, whence the modern name Ulster, comprehended only a part of this province. It consisted chiefly, at least, of a great part of the present Down County.
^^ The Latin Tripartite Life of our saint,
however, mentions Saul inadvertently, as the place, where St. Patrick was to be in- terred. A subsequent passage contains the correction.
*9 Ussher's Tripartite, as may be seen in the " Primordia," cap. xvii. , p. 873, has Down as the place of St. Patrick's deposition. More authorities will be found in Ussher, Ibid. , p.
7° See Tertia Vita S. Patricii, cap. Ixxxviii. , p. 28. Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xcvii. , p. 47. Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. cxcvi. , p. 108. Septima Vita S. Patri- cii, lib. iii. , cap. cviii. , p. 169.
7' From the times of Henry VIII. and of
Queen Elizabeth, the Catholic institutes of
Down were profaned, and the Catholic in-
habitants suffered a variety of persecutions.
The more ancient Church and its renowned
monuments are said to have been destroyed,
by the Lord Deputy, Leonard de Grey,
A. D. 1538. SeeMr. andMrs. Hall's"Ire-
land, its Scenery, Character," &c. , vol. iii. ,
pp. 8, 9, 10. A representation of the more
modern Cathedral is there given, as an
illustration. However, we find, by the
Itinerary of Father M'Cann, who had con-
versed with people, on the spot, that the
foul deed was perpetrated, towards the latter
end of Elizabeth's reign, by Edward, Lord
Cromwell, of Okeham, Governor of Lecale,
and grandson of the infamous Thomas
Cromwell, Earl of Essex, the Mephisto-
pheles of Henry VIII. , and who subse-
quently obtained a reversionary grant of the
monastic lands of Down, Saul, and portions
of Grey Abbey. Father M'Cann thus
"
writes :
the human race, having been sent to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth in command, came with an army to the city of Down, and set fire to the noble church and monastery of St. Patrick, where even the reliqiies of Saints Patrick, Columba, and Bridgid were ex- posed to the fury of the flames. And there cannot be a doubt that many other sacred monuments and very ancient writings, as he was told by old men who were alive at that time, perished in that conflagration. And not content with this wickedness, the im- pious infidel burned all the other churches of Ultonia, especially in the regions of Down and Antrim, very i^^^ of which have been since then restored. " It is likely, the reliques alluded to were the statues of the saints, which occupied the three vacant
8S8, and following pages, as also in Colgan's
"Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix niches over the east window. He also
ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxi. , pp. 259 to writes, that the natives gave him the name
263. of
"
This son of earth and foul spot on
Maol-na-teampull," literally signifying
790 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
Calendars? ^ have stated, that the Lipsana, or relics, ot St. Patrick—Senior- thoughttohavebeennootherpersonthanthegreatIrishApostle reposed inthecityofArmagh. 73 TirechanandNenniussay,indeed,thattheplace, in which St. Patrick's remains lie, is unknown. Whatever truth there may
New Catholic Church, Convent, Schools and Presbytery of St. Tatrick, in Downpatrick.
be in this assertion, it need not be understood, with regard to the place in general ; such as, that his body was somewhere, in Down ; but, it ought to
the "flail" or "scourge of the churches. "
His descendants, subsequently created Vis-
counts Lecale and Earls of Ardglass, erected
tlieir mansion-house and pleasure-grounds
on the tenements, stretching westward to the
circular road and Prior's Island. In 1578,
the Franciscan house, founded by Hugh de
Lacy, where the Protestant church now
stands, was destroyed by Andrew Brereton,
an officer who farmed Lecale from the
crown. Baffled in plundering the sacred
vessels previously concealed, he subjected
to torture, and strangled, fiom an adjacent
oak tree, three of the brethren, named
O'Lochran, Fitzsimons, and O'Rorke,
whom he considered to have prevented his
sacrilege. Henceforward, writes Mr. John
W. Hanna, in the Ulster Weekly Examiner,
of June 8th, 1872, we have but scanty re- Scotch-street, beside the Blackamoor's cord of a Catholic place of worship in Down.
In the reigns of Charles II. and James II. ,
Head. Ultimately, he procured a more eligible place on the Stream Brae, from Mr. William Trotter, on which a church was began in 1784, and opened in 1787, a lease in perpetuity being granted on the 2nd of
some slight stay was given to the persecu-
tion code. A few monks and secular clergy
may have -been tolerated in Down, and in
other parts of Lecale, which has been May, 1789, to the bishop, and Messrs.
always eminently Catholic : but, during the existence of the infamous and terrible penal laws, no Catholic church was permitted in the town. The people worshipped, in the
\Yilliam Sawey and John Dogherty, in trust for the congregation. It was frequently
altered, and subsequently, a gallery was erected, to meet the wants of the people.
old ruined chapel at Struel, till about 1751,' when that house, then about being re-
edified, was partially destroyed and unroofed, by the Rev. Thomas Brereton, Protestant curate of the parish. Then, a rude barn, at the Flying Horse, in Ballymote, at the corner of the roads leading to the racecourse and Killough, began to be used as a tempo- rary church. On the opposite side of Kil- lough Road lay the site ol the Presbyterian meeting-house, that denomination also not being permitted to have a place of worship in the town, till about 1724. After the ap- pointment of the Most Rev. Hugh M'Mullan, to be Bishop of Down and Connor, and after his removal to the Stone Park in Erynagh, he sought for a church site within the town, and, at one time, he purposed building in
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 791
be considered, relatively to the particular spot,74 selected for deposition. The illustrious St. Columba, or Columcille, had received part of his ecclesias- tical education, at the Monastery of Moville, near Newtownards ; and, we may naturally presume, that he had frequently visited the grave of our Irish Apostle. He had founded the church of Derry, besides many monasteries, and had acquired great celebrity and paramount influence throughout Ireland. According to the Annals of Ulster, in the year 552, he was called to Down, where he exhumed the relics of our Apostle, then sixty years dead. In the tomb, he found three precious reliquaries, namely, a "Vial, or Coagh, the Angel's Gospel, and the Bell of the Testament. Directed by angelic revela- tion to divide these, he gave the Coagh7S to the church of Down ; the Angel's Gospel, otherwise called the Gospel of St. Martin, Bishop of Tours, who had presented it to his relative St. Patrick, fell to Columcille himself, who con- ferred it on Derry, where it subsequently formed the chief reliquary ; while, the Bell of the Testament he assigned to Armagh. ? *^ In the Book of Armagh, it is stated, that according to the command of God, a cubit of earth was placed over St. Patrick's body,77 and that the fulfilment of his prophecy was manifested in after times, when the church was building over his remains. Then, those men, who were digging the foundation, perceived fire to break out from the grave, and they fled with fear from that flame. The site of the
But, at any time, it was a very indifferent liuilding, unworthy of the purpose to which
it was devoted, and the great St. Patrick, to whom it was dedicated. In the latter end
known, yet the place in general was, it being a valley of the land of Moab, over against Phogor. The sacred text adds : " and no man hath known of his sepulchre
of 1863, the Very Rev. Patrick O'Kane, until this present day. " Deuteronomy,
V. F. , on the death of the Very Rev. Bernard M'Auley, was promoted from the curacy to
be parish priest, when with great zeal and
labour, he collected funds to build, as a
memorial to Ireland's patron saint, a fine
Gothic church, with its spacious nave, its
beautiful traceries, its lofty towei", as also
dedicating a chapel to the Virgin, with its
xxxiv. 6.
75 No description of the Coagh, nor its purpose for use, has reached us, nor what be- came of it after the suppression in the reign of HenryVIII. ; though,itishighlyprobable, it escaped profanation from sacrilegious hands, as was the case with the sacred vessels in the Franciscan monastery of the same town,
guardianship
marble altar. The church was de-
dicated on the 30th of June, 1872, when the
Most Rev. George Conroy, Bishop of of the O'Mellans and O'Mulhollans. By Ardagh, preached the opening sermon. one of this latter sept, it was given to Soon, afterwards, the Mercy Convent, Adam M 'Clean, Esq.
, of Belfast, and after- Schools, and Presbytery of St. Patrick were
splendid
added and, the grouping of all—on a
wards it passed to the late Very Rev. Dr.
; — charming elevated site
Todd. A valuable account of it was
by Rev. Dr. Reeves, and it was published, with chromo-lithographic drawings of the jewelled shrine, by Marcus Ward, in 1850.
will be understood from the accompan—ying illustration, taken from a photograph kindly furnished to the writer by Rev. Bernard M'Cann, C. C. , Saul —and drawn on the wood, by William F.
77 St. Patrick's body is stated to have been laid, in a very deep pit, to prevent its Wakeman. The engraving is by Mrs. being stolen. See Jocelyn's or Sexta Vita Millard. S. Patricii, cap. cxcvi. , p. 108, and Septima
7^ See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. , cap. cviii. , p. 169.
Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Patricii, cap. xxi. , pp. 258 to 263.
To guard against the commission of such a theft, at any time, it might have been thought proper to conceal the spot, as much as possible. We may also suppose, that the accumulation of graves, around that of the
73 This will help us to explain the expres-
sion of St. Bernard, alluding as he does to
Armagh : "in qua et vivus prasfuit et mor-
tuus requiescit. " See "Vita S. Malachise," saint, after a long lapse of time, may have
cap. vii. Ussher in his
"
Primordia," cap.
given occasion to doubt, which was the peculiar resting spot for our holy Apostle's body. Similar doubts have been started, con-
cerning the burying places of several eminent saints, and of various illustrious individuals, who flourished in past ages.
"^ "
xvii. , p. 888, quotes, to the same purpose, an unpublished Life of St. Patrick.
7* Nor does the supposed conformity, as in the case of Moses, require anything more ; for, although the few feet of ground that con-
tained his body were not particularly
The tomb of St. Patrick is still
7* This remained under the
written,
792 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
Irish Apostle's grave is yet pointed out,? ^ in the cemetery, attached to the Protestant Cathedral; and, people, coming from the most distant places, take away the earth, so that a large and deep hole had been formed there, when that spot was seen by the present writer. The Protestant Cathedral of Downpatrick is said to occupy the site of St. Patrick's more ancient church.
Here were formerly preserved the tombs of St. Patrick, St. Brigid and St. Columkille; because,duringtheperiodoftheNorthmeninvasions,thecity
of Down was deemed to possess advantages of security, greater than most places in Ireland. When St. Brigid's relics79 were transferred to Down is not
known exactly ; but, Colgan conjectured, this act was done by Kellach, some-
time Abbot of Kildare, and Abbot of lona, from 852 to 865. During the
same century, in the year 878, the body of St. Columba^° was also transferred
to Down as stated in the " of it was buried in ; and, Martyrology Donegal,"
onetombwithPatrickandBrigid. Itseems,thatthebodieshadbeentaken from the shrines, as there is no mention made of the latter, when the relics werefound. However,theNorsemenextendedtheirravagestothisquarter, and they frequently returned, during the tenth century, seeking for spoil, and destroying the city of Down, with its churches, so late as the year 988. In
1 103, Magnus, King of Norway, with a vast army, proceeded to the coast of Down, and having incautiously landed, was himself slain. According to the "Annals of Ulster," he was interred near the church of St. Patrick,^' though tradition points out an insulated spot, adjacent to Horse Island, as the place
for his sepulture. Under these circumstances, it was not surprising, that the saints' bodies were deposited for security, in some secret spot, when, in the course of time, the exact place became unknown, and that, when more peaceful times returned, and the Norseman's power was overthrown, a Christian people should anxiously desire to recover their precious deposit. During the earlyandmiddleages,Downwasaresortfornumberlesspiouspilgrims. In 1 1 76, Malachy, the third Bishop of Down bearing that name, succeeded GelasiusMacCormac. AccordingtoWare,hehadbeentakenprisoner,by John de Courci,^^ the succeeding year ; but, at the urgent request of Cardinal
then in — he was
Vivian, Ireland, immediately
restored to his
liberty,
and to
hisformerhonours afactunnoticedbytheFourMasters,inrecordingthe
battle of Dun-da-lethglas, although minutely given, in the Dublin copy of the
" Annals pf Innisfallen. " Being a pious and a holy man, deeply solicitous for the honour of his Church and of its Great Founder, Bishop Malachy spent, we are told, long and weary nights before the altar, praying and begging of
pointed out, with a cross on it, but the teirecl in a Reilig, near his own church, better informed class do not believe, that The body M'as placed in a shrine, adorned
tliis is the place, where he was interred, Ijut with precious metals, in the eighth century ; under the altar in the Cathedral. " County and, it appears to have remained in peace of Down Ordnance Survey Letters. Mr. until the ninth, when lona, like all the
O'Donovan's Letter, dated Downpatrick, April 28th, 1834, pp. 103, 104.
other British isles, fell a prey to the Danish ravages. It was several times sent to Ire-
79 St. Bridget or Brighit, Abbess of Kil-
dare, affectionately called "the Mary of Erinn," died ist February, about the year
523, and was interred in her own church;
her relics and those of Bishop Conlaeth being See afterwards enshrined, and adorned with gems
and precious stones, as also, with crowns of gold and silver.
^° While kneeling at the altar, on the 9th of June, A. D. 597, without ache or struggle, the spirit of St. Columba gently t—ook its flight, andafterthreedays'obsequies—thatofSt. Patrick having lasted twelve he was in-
xi. , chap, vii. , p. 283, and chap, viii. , pp.
291 to 294.
^'
See the Rev. James Johnstone's "An- tiquitates Celto-Normannica. %" p. 84.
^^
Inside the walls of the city, there was a castle erected by DeCourci, in the angleof the presentChurch-streetandChurch-lane. Itwas
land for safety, by t! ie abbots, and finally it was deposited in Down A. D. 878, thus realiz-
ing his own prophetic Irish verses, as given by Montalembert, in a French translation,
'"
Les Moines d'Occident," tome iii. , liv.
prostrated, within the last forty years
;
and,
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IJilSH SAINTS. 793
God to make known to him, that precise spot where the sacred bodies lay in- terred.
One night, in 1185, when solemn silence reigned all around, the holy man, engaged as usual in fervent prayer, saw a bright sunbeam traversing the church. Thereupon,heprayed,yetthemoreintensely,thatitmightstop,where the sacred bodies were interred. Eventually, it became fixed on a particular spot ofthechurchfloor. Thisinducedhimtobelieve,thathisdesiredwisheshad beenrealized. Procuringassistance,anddiggingbeneaththeplace,tohisun- bounded joy, he found the coffin of St. Patrick, lying between those of the two othersaints. Thiswastheyearinwhichthelord,EarlJohn,afterwardsEng- land'sKing,firstcameintoIreland. ^3 Thegladdiscoverywascommunicated toDeCourci. He,thebishop,andthePrimateTomaltach,otherwiseThomas O'Conor, son of Hugh, and brother to Rory, Kings of Connaught, sent ambassadorstoPopeUrbantheTliird,inRome. HesentCardinalVivian backtoIreland,tooverseeandtoassist,atthetranslationofthoserelics. On Monday, the 9th of June, 1186, on the festival of St. Columba, the Benedic- tine IMonastery and Cathedral of Down witnessed a noble gathering, for a sacred and national object. ^+ Cardinal Vivian, in his magnificent robes, the Primate, Thomas O'Conor, Bishop Malachy, besides thirteen other bishops, with abbots, and provosts, deans, archdeacons, priors, and many other
dignitaries of the Church, the imposing figure of the stalwart De Courci, his barons and knights, mailed retainers and English settlers, a multitudi—nous
of Irish chiefs and assemblage people,
from all of the f— parts country,
so we are told, in the office of the Translation, and by contemporary writers, y/erethatdaycongregated,atthegreatchurchofDown. ^s Thisgorgeouspro- cessionhasbeenminutelydescribed. Theshadowsofthehighecclesiastical and military dignitaries were flashing in the surrounding waters, beneath the gloriousskyofJune; theairwasredolentwithrichperfumeandwiththevoice of Psalmody; and, when the attendants reached the interior, that ceremonial prescribed by the ritual having been celebrated, the bodies were solemnly re- moved and placed in that more distinguished part of the church, which had been prepared and dedicated for their reception. It was then resolved, that the anniversary of that glorious event should thereafter be celebrated, in Ireland, as a high festival, while the Feast of St. Columba was transferred to the morrowofhisOctave. ^^ Itiscertain,thatonthisoccasion,someoftherelics of St. Patrick were removed by Cardinal Vivian to Rome, where they still remain. ^7 It is likewise traditionally reported, that, at this time, the hand of St. Patrick^^ was enshrined and placed over the high altar, where it rested, in a conspicuous position, until the destruction of the abbey caused its removal. That religious object, however, has not been lost.
"
further up in the Irish Quarter stood another, called M'Rory's Castle, on the west side of Irish-street, nearly opposite to the Shambles.
In burgo Duno, tumulo tumulantur in uno, Brigida, Patritius, atque Columba; pius. "
S3 According to Giraldus Cambrensis. These Latin lines are thus rendered, in
See "
edited F. by James
: edition or version of the record —
Opera,"
Dimoclc, Topographia Hibernica,
Wright's
M. A. , vol. V.
Dist. iii. , cap. xviii. , pp. 163, 164.
"
Patrick, Columba, Brigit, rest in glorious Doun :
Lie in one tomb, and consecrate the toun. "
^^ A Solemn with nine lessons,' Office,
^* See the Rev. Sylvester Malone's "Church History of Ireland," chap, iii. , pp. 95 to 97.
^'^ Ussher mentions several authorities—
of and Marleb—urg, John Brampton,
Henry
Ralph of Chester as narrating the transla-
commemorative of the translation, was pre-
pared by the proper ecclesiastical authority, This has bet-n printed at Paris, in 1620.
Colgan and Wessingham have published it.
tion, besides Giraldus, who, as previously mentioned, states it to have occurred in his own time, and he gives the—well-known verses written on the occasion
*?
Portions of these were
given, by
direc-
:
or
794 LIVES OF THE IHISH SAINTS. [March 17.
We are inclined to believe, that at this period, a portion of the relics of
our saint were enshrined for the church of Armagh,^9 as well as for the
church of Down, and another portion for Saul. This affords a simple ex-
planation of the facts, recorded by our writers, that various shrines of our saint,
belongingtothesechurches,hadbeenviolated,orcarriedawayforsafety. The
Cathedral of Down had been frequently restored and embellished, and among
others, bySt. Malachy O'Morgair. On the siteof old Downpatrick gaol,9° stood
a house of Irish Canons, founded by that great prelate, when bishop there, in
1 138. 91 In 1316, Edward Bruce, with his Scottish troops, destroyed the
Abbey. 92 Again,BishopTiberius,whodiedin1526,repairedtheCathedral.
From the twelfth, until some time in the seventeenth, century, the entire
plains, north and west of the cathedral and city of Down, were covered by
the tidal waters of Lough Cuan, from which sprung up several islands,
clothed with wood and beauty, among which was that of Inishcouscry, with
its old Irish monastery. 93 The Cathedral stood on the apex of the great hill,
to the west of the city, which, half-way down, was encircled by a deep fosse,
portions of which are still slightly discernible. Some forty feet distant from
the western door was the noble round tower, sixty-six feet in height. 94 The
Benedictine monastery lay a httle further west, on the slope of the hill, now
partially occupied by the new cemetery. To the north, lay the great Dun of
«'
the fort of the peninsula o—f the battles. " 9^ Dun-leth-glas, or
kos-catha,95
I3rom-leth-glas, as it is frequently called the prefix D—rom proving decisively that it could not have been an insulated promontory stood close to the in- tersection of John and the modern Mary-street. 97 In the year 1441, the See of Down was united to that of Connor, by Pope Eugene the Fourth. From
that period to the present, its bishopss^ are noticed, by several eminent Irish
lions of his Holiness, Pope PiusJIX. , to the late Bishop Denvir, when on his visit to the tomb of the Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, in the Eternal City.
^ Now, this greatly-prized object is happily placed under the guardianship of
glory, seated near St. Dalian's Well. It is
described in its original charter, as lying at the angle, between the roads leading to Crevisse, and it is returned in a survey of James I. 's time as an aliter, for the present Killyvees, and the Grange of Saul, now Saul Quarter.
95 This actually stood, as stated by Father M'Cana, in his Itinerary of 1645, "outside the city on the north-east," correctly south- west, and also, by Downing, in 1680.
9° it is called corruptly in Inquisitions, Dones coscue, or the Round Mount, which some modern writers have erroneously de-
the Most Rev. Dr. Dorrian. — ^9 This conjectured fact—if correct
pro- bably led to the misconception of St. Bernard, that St. Patrick's remains had been deposited
in Armagh.
9° Close behind the Cathedral, or "hard
by," as the Terrier expresses it, in 1615.
9' On the adjoining Windmill Hill, where
the new county gaol stands, according to
tradition, was placed the church of St.
Bride, described in the Annals of Ulster, at
1005, as in the midst of the town, and as
profaned in that year, by the murder of stood the Monastery or Priory of St. John Madagan, son of Domhnall, King of Ulster,
by Dubhthinne, surnamed the Tore, in
violation of the guarantees of the saints of
Ireland. This violation was speedily yard. " Now, it forms part of the present avenged, by the death of the murderer, at
ihe hands of Muireadhach, the victim's son.
9= See Rev. Thomas Walsh's "History of
the Irish Church, with the Monasteries of House Hill, still known as tlie Prior's
each County," &c. , chap, xliii. , p. 413.
93 This was afterwards converted, by De Courci, into a Cistercian Abbey, whose grey and ivy-covered ruins, on the banks of the
Coyle, still attest its former grandeur.
s-t Outside the walls, lay the Priory of St. Thomas the Martyr, otherwise called Tober-
Island, from having been that official's property, until the suppression of the reli- gioiis houses.
9S Their names and acts will be found, in the works of Ware, Lanigan, Theiner, Reeves, Rev, Sylvester Malone, Rev. James O'Laverty, and Father Walsh. For a de-
scribed as the Dun-leth-glas of history,
97 it lay alongside where the Convent School now stands, and is so marked, in a map of the town, dated, A. D. 1729. Near it
the Baptist, belonging to the Cross-bearers, marked on the same map and accompanying
""
survey, St. John's Close," and Chappel
convent grounds, the gardens of the prior of the Cross-bearers stretching past the site of the new Catholic Church, back to the Gas
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 795
ecclesiastical historians. For several centuries after the Anglo-Norman
invasion, there existed a very bad feeling, between the Anglican and
Irish clergy and people. This was considerably fomented, by the Colonial
Government, who passed a statute, prohibiting the appointment of Irish clerics to appointments in monastic houses. This decree necessarily pro-
duced intense bitterness of feeling against the Anglican monks, and it caused th. e repeated destruction of their houses.
