Situated
in the parish of Templecairn, barony of Tyrhugh, county of Donegal, and diocese of Clogher, the Lough and its Hospice 26 are most usually visited by pious pilgrims, during the months of July and August.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v7
But, it seemed too fresh and sound, as pointed out by the people, to date back so far as the fifth or sixth century.
However, on this sub- ject, the accounts were conflicting, and they merited little credence.
60
That Declan was much esteemed for his great sanctity, not only his own Acts, but even those of other saints connected with his native country, sufficiently demonstrate. If we are to rely on the account left us, by the ancient writer of his 61 our saint could not exhibit nobleness of
Life, only birth;but,hewasaman,possessingabeautifulfigure. Hewasdistinguished, moreover, by an humble mien and dress ; his voice, although powerful, was characterized by naturally melodious inflexions and cadence ; he was esteemed much for his prudent counsels, and for his ardent charity. This latter bounteous virtue often urged him to bestow large gifts on those who stood in need of support. His conversation was animated, while his actions were
holy ; and, we may infer justly, that he was renowned for his powers of eloquence in preaching God's word, owing to these natural characteristics.
cup for the use of pilgrims, and you may —Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
avail yourself of it. This well is a holy well, and called St. Declan's; it is believed to have been blessed by him, and endowed with some sanitary virtues. When the country people draw water from it, they bend a knee before it. From the veneration in which it is held, and from its situation near the en- trance of the I — it to have
Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 450.
S7 This holy well "owes its present neat
and enticing appearance to an individual, named Hugh Byrne, a private soldier in the Donegal militia, who, after the Irish Rebel- lion of 1798, came here, and passed the re- mainder of his life in this solitary abode, and was buried beside St. Declan. " See Dublin
State of the County and City of Waterford," chap, iii. , p. 47.
59 See Rev. Samuel Hayman's "New
Handbook for xiii. , xiv. Youghal, pp.
60 See Smith's "Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Waterford," chap, iii. , pp. 48, 49.
6l See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus v. , Julii
xxiv. Acta S. Declani, cap. iii. , sect. 19,
See Ussher's Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," cap. xvi. , p. 412.
church, conjecture
Frazer's "Ma- gazine for Town and Country," for Septem-
been used as a Baptistery. "
n. 106. 118, p.
ber, 1845, P- 296.
56 This is expressed in the following Latin
verses, trans—lated from an Irish original, by John Kelly :
"
Albeus est humilis, dixit Calphurnia proles ;
Patriciusque esto hinc Albe Mo- monise.
Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto,
Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos. "
vol.
58 See Smith's "Ancient and Present
Penny fournal,
iii. ,
p. 597.
<* "
354 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 24.
The greatness and frequency of his miracles caused him to be regarded, as the special favourite of Heaven. 6a These great qualifications must have exalted him, not alone in the sight of God, but of man ; while, the potency of his intellectual attainments acquired a merited ascendency, over the minds of his fellow-creatures. This enabled him, moreover, to direct many souls, in a true knowledge of heavenly things, and in the secure way, which leads to eternal life.
Article II. —St. Beoc, Mobheoc, Mobheog, Beog, Beanus, Dabeoc, Dabheoc, or Dabheog, Abbot of Termonn, Lough Derg, County of Donegal. [Fifth or Sixth Century. ~\ Refinement and gracefulness of mien aretheusualresultsofexaltedlineageandofintellectualculture; but,com- bined with true piety and enlightened zeal they are heightened still more in
degree. When those in high stations chose to relinquish the fleeting enjoy-
ments of earth for the lasting beatitude of Heaven, we may regard them as
truly wise, and they should be held before our view as models for human
admiration, even though in life they disregarded the praise or applause of
men. Aswehavealreadystated,therewerethreedistinctfestivalsannually
kept at Lough Derg, in honour of St. Beoc, Mobheog or Dabheog, viz. : on
the 1 st of January, on the 24th of July, and on the 16th of December. 1 In
addition to there seems to be an 3 as to whether or not the these, uncertainty,
present saint should be identified with the Mobecocc,3 or Mobeoc, or Beoan,*
venerated on the 28th of or with the October,
Beoan,s feastissetdownatthe3rdofDecember. Indeed,PrinceO'Donnellmakes
8 Already have we treated about this holy and primitive Abbot, at the first day of the year ? and, at the present date, we purpose adding somewhat, to the
Sanctus Dabeocus identical with Sanctus Beoanus,? in his Life of St. Columba.
particulars
there
given.
Weareinformed,
by
the
O'Clerys,
10 thatthe
King
of Britain, named Brachan, son of Brachameoc," was his father, and the 12 x
father of Mogorog, of Sruthar, and that Dina, 3 daughter to the King of Saxonland, was his mother. Sufficient has been written, regarding the various
Article ii. — x In the opinion of the Rev. Donegal.
Daniel O'Connor, the first of these may have 1 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
been his dies natalis, the second the day of Quinta Vita S. Columba}, lib. i. , cap. x. ,
his installation by St. Patrick as abbot, and
the third his dies obltus. See " Lough Derg
and its Pilgrimages," chap. vi. , p. 39. To this
very learned and interesting book, which
contains a Map of Lough Derg and numer-
p. 390.
* See the Sixth Volume of this work
at June 9th, Life of St. Columkille, chap. i. 9 See the First Volume of this work, at
January 1st, Art. ii.
10 See the " of Martyrology Donegal,"
edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 200, 201.
" In Rees' " on the Welsh Saints," Essay
he is called Braccanoc or Brycan, Junior, his father bearing the same name, and being styledBraccan. Seep. 143.
" Supposed to have been venerated, at the 23rd of December.
,3 She is also called Dwynmas, and she is said to have been the daughter of Banhad- lewdd, by the King of Powys. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's " Loca Patri- ciana," No. viii. The Dalaradian Genealogy, with a Cambro-British Genealogy, showing the connexion of St. David and other Cam- brian Saints with Ireland, p. 157.
ous we are indebted for woodcuts,
many par- ticulars, which occur in the course of this
narrative.
3 See "Trias
Colgan's Thaumaturga,"
Quarta Vita S. Columba;, n. 19, p. 449.
3 So named in the Martyrology of Donegal. 4 These two names, as distinct entries, are
in the Martyrology of Tallagh.
5 In the "Topographia Hibernica," Dist.
ii. , cap. xi. , allusion is made to a St. Beanus, who lived in a remote part of Ulto- nia, where he had a church, which was re- garded as a sanctuary for birds, and about which is related an extraordinary legend. See Giraldi Cambrensis "Opera," vol. v. Edited
by James F. Dimock, M. A. , pp. 124, 125.
*
Thus noted, in the Martyrology of
son of 6 whose Libren,
July 24. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
355
members of a holy offspring, so that our attention can only be engaged at
present with St. Mobheog or Dabheog. It is evident from his parentage, and
from a previous statement at the 1st day of January, that the present saint is 1
identical with St. Dabheog, of Lough Derg, * in the county of Donegal. The earlier name of this celebrated lake appears to have been Lough Gerg. 's
However, a conjecture has been advanced, that although the foregoing saint might have been on Lough Derg, another Dabheoc, living in the seventh
century,
likely
patron
16 is more
of it. To this conclusion us,
to have been the
seems to be warranted by no proof or even by any plausible inference. It
has been supposed, that the Cambrian St. Daveog had been at first a disciple to the illustrious Apostle of Ireland ; yet, in the list of his disciples, we do not find his name. He probably left Wales for Ireland, towards the close ofthefifthorbeginningofthes—ixthcentury. Selectingfortheplaceofhis
1 retreat an Islan—d of Lough Derg more anciently known as Fionloch, ? or
""
the fair lake among the wilds of Donegal, there he is said to have built
hischurchandmonastery. Hisretreatwascalledthe"Saint'sIsland,"and
18
as tradition has it, St. Patrick visited that place,
1^
prayer.
Son of God appeared to him, and brought him to that desert, where a round
cave was shown, and quite dark within, while he was thus addressed: "Who- soever shall enter this cave, truly penitent and full of Faith, for the duration of a day and night, shall be purged in it from all sins, committed during the whole course of his life, and he, entering it, shall not alone see the torments of the damned, but also the joys of the blessed, if only he shall persevere in the love of God. " Then the Lord disappeared. The great St. Patrick, while preaching in Ireland, and while eminent for working stupendous miracles, had endeavoured to withdraw the wicked men of that Island from everlasting death, through fear of infernal torments, and through desire for the delights of Paradise. But, they had openly declared, that they would not be converted to Christ, until they had seen with their own eyes what he had promised. Grateful to the Lord for vouchsafing the vision of this cave, he now hoped the miserable people of Erin should be converted to the Catholic Faith.
after a course of and fasting, vigil
According
to the 20 the Legend,
he erectedan There, immediately
oratory.
31 Hebuiltawallaroundthe
cave,
14
"Illustrated Handbook of the Scenery and it states that the lake was dyed of a reddish Antiquities of South-Western Donegal. " colour by its blood. Hence it changed its
Lough Derg is well described, in the death the serpent ; and the legend regarding 13 Latinized Gergensis. See Colgan's name Fionn, or fair, into Dearg, which sig-
"
Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbse, n. 19, p. 449.
nines "red. "
*» See the account contained, in Matthaei
Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti " Chro- Albani,
nica Majora," edited by Henry Richards
Luard, M. A. , &c, vol. ii. , pp. 193, 194. "There is a fabulous Account of the
Origin of St. Patrick's Purgatory, among the Manuscripts contained in the Royal Irish Academy's Library. It is in the Manuscript classed 23, A. 15, as also, a Religious Legend on St. Patrick's Purgatory, in Manu- script classed 23, L. 24.
16 to the Saint
in the "Leabhar Breac he was of Ulster origin. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
" Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 158, n. 1. 17 The name is thus referred to by Roderick O'Flaherty, in connection with two other
lakes, the names of which are long obsolete, "
thus, Fordremanus, Finloch, Lochlurgan, stagna vetusta. " See "Ogygia," pars iii. , cap. iii. , p. 164.
According
"
Genealogies
18 the Regarding change
of the name to
" In the of St. Benedict's Library
Lough Derg, a strange legend is recorded.
Lough Fionn was known in ancient Erin as
being connected with alarming terrors. A torio S. Patricii. "
frightful monster, like the Lernean hydra, of the serpent class, and of prodigious size, made it still more dreadful. When St. Patrick came into this district, he put to
" Regular Canons are said to have been
brought there by St. Patrick, and to the prior of that church he entrusted the key, whilehedecreed,thatwhoeverdesiredtoenter
whither he had been led,
College, England, we find a Manuscript, numbered 1280, which contains a Tract, " De Purga-
356 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 24 which was in the cemetery, and right before his church ; and, he set up a
23
door, which was locked, so that no person could enter without his permission. In thedays of the Irish Apostle, many are stated to have visited that cave, known as the Purgatory of St. Patrick, and on leaving it, they bore witness to the grievous pains endured within it, and also to the great and ineffable glory theybeheld. 23 Accordingtotheusuallyreceivedtradition,theApostleofIre- land 2* was the first holy person that landed at Saints' Island, on Lough Derg, and that gave a future celebrity to the place. Here, in after times, was
shown his bed. Not long after his period, it must have been, that St. Dabeoc or Beoan lived in that Island containing the Purgatory of St. Patrick, and when he had a vision of St. Columkille's birth. 8* The bleak shores, around the surface of Lough Derg, present a scene of melancholy loneliness, espe- cially in the winter season.
Situated in the parish of Templecairn, barony of Tyrhugh, county of Donegal, and diocese of Clogher, the Lough and its Hospice 26 are most usually visited by pious pilgrims, during the months of July and August. Theexpanseof Lough Derg is bespangled with numerous and pretty islands, some crowned with stunted trees, some bared to the mountain
2 of these islands are Station Island, Saint's Island, ?
breezes. The
Prior's Island, Kelly's Islands, the Stormy Islands, Goat Islands, near the River Fluchlynn, and Bilberry Island,28 with many little islets, which are but isolatedrocks,andwithoutanyparticularname. LoughDergisaboutfive miles in length by four in width. 2? It consists of two large sheets of water, which may be designated the upper and lower lakes. The upper lake is con- nected with the lower though means ofthree channels formed by Saint's Island and an islet lying north-east of it, called u The Wildgoose Lodge. " Its prin- cipal inlet is called the River Fluchlynn, which empties itself into upper LoughDerg,atitsnorthernextremity. TheoutletiscalledtheRiverDerg, which issues from the lake at its eastern shore, and pursues its winding way until it mingles with the ocean at Lough Foyle. Among the islands of Lough Derg, only two merit the special attention of the pilgrim or tourist. These are Station Island, also called Pilgrims' Island, and Saint's Island. On the former, now the more frequented 3° and conspicuous one, to —borrow a beau-
principal
tiful metaphor, more beautiful in—deed in the original Irish " White as a "
swan on the breast of its waters are a presbytery, inns, a hospice, and two
his Purgatory, he must first obtain leave from the local bishop, and from the latter receiv- ing letters, he should wait then on the prior and receive his instructions before entering.
considerable for reaching Lough Derg. It is about three miles distant from the town of Pettigo, a station on the Bundoran branch of the Enniskillen and Londonderry Rail- way. InPettigo,thereisagoodhoteland inn accommodation, and ample posting faci- lities.
's During the reign of King Stephen over
England, a soldier of his, called Hoenus, or
Owen, obtained leave from that king to visit
his native country of Hybernia, where in
penitence for his great crimes, he resolved
on visiting the Purgatory of St. Patrick.
Henry of Saltery gives a singular narrative
in detail of his pilgrimage to that cave, and tinctive name it is difficult to understand, regarding the visions he had within it. See since most of the other islands equally
Matthew of Paris' " Chronica Majora," vol.
ii. , pp. 192 to 203.
2* See the Third Volume of this work, at
the 17th oi March, Art. i. Life of St. Fatrick, Apostle and chief Patron of Ireland, chap. xiv.
as See the account in Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. i. , cap. x. , pp. 390, 391.
36 The conveniences are at present very
abound in a profusion of this succulent little mountain fruit.
*9 It is said to cover an area of 2,140 sta- tute acres.
3° During the Station season. Lough Derg presents from all points of view, amid its dreary solitude of surrounding mountain and moorland, a singularly charming and truly
picturesque prospect.
3I An illustration of Pilgrims' Island and
3; Saint's Island was sometimes designated
St. Fintan's Island, and very often the island
of St. Dabeoc, pronounced Davoc.
a8 How it has come to receive this dis-
July 24. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 357
neat churches. 3 1 For ages it was untenanted ; while the waves then as now often beat with angry plashes against its solitary shores. About two miles north of Station Island lies Saint's Island—also called St. Dabheog's or
Daveog's Island—in pre-Reformation times the place of pilgrimage. This Island comprises about seven acres. Its formation is like a ring, and it rises
in gentle acclivity from the lake. Here, there is hardly a doubt, but that the holy man lived, and probably in that cave, which formerly rendered the place so famous. On the mainland, also, is shown, in the townland of Seeavoc, a remarkable artificial mound, on the summit of which is a stone,
Lough Derg and Pilgrims' Island, County of Donegal.
still named St. Dabheoc's seat. *2 locally
in front of it is a
like opening, which measures about three feet in depth, while it is betwe—en
four and five feet in Its sides were bu—
ilt with stone and these
length. flags, probablygivingwayduringthelapseofages havelefttheenclosedspaceat present so confined. In this cave, one can only kneel with some difficulty. Here St. Dabheoc is supposed to have passed some of his time occasionally, for the two-fold purpose of a seat, in a retired spot for meditation, and to
perform penance in the cave. There, too, on the mountain top, holy
Dabheoc detached himself from all from — earthly considerations, apart men,
and
quite likely to be reliable in nearly all such cases
special patron of the present Saints' Island, which for centuries continued to be known as St. Dabheoc's Island. That the penance he practised was of a very austere character may be inferred from the accounts regarding it, and which have come down to us from very remote times. One of the penitential circles
in communion with his Creator. 33 — to local tradition only According
of its buildings is here presented. The view was taken on the spot from Friars' Island
in Lough Derg, by William F. Wakeman, who afterwards tnnsferred it to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
of Seeavoc, in Irish Swohe "OAbheog.
33 See Rev. Daniel O'Connor's "Lough
Derg and its Pilgrimages," chap, vi. , pp. 40 to 42. There is also a woodcut, representing St. Dabheog's seat.
32 This has given name to the townland
34 These are shown, marked on a copper-
Immediately
grave-
he was regarded as the
358 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 24.
or beds, on the Island of St. Patrick's Purgatory, was styled Lectus vel circu- lus SS. Abogi et Molaisei. Quite near it was the larger Lectus vel circulus
"
Patrick of the fort of Macha loves,"35 that Mobheog was in the habit of placing 3 6 his head constantly, in a pit or pool of water. 37 It is somewhat remarkable, that such a penitential act had
been practised for many centuries by the pilgrims who visited the Island of St. Dabheoc. Even yet, on Station Island, it continues to be observed by
8
In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,39 the Apostle is represented as having founded a church in or near thepeninsulaofInnishowen,andonhiswaytotheRiverBann. Overthis he placed a bishop, both in name and in reality Beatus. 40 Another holy man
S. Patricii? * In the poem beginning,
some penitents, but in a modified way. 3
Eugenius
wasalliedwithhimin
Ithasbeen 1 thatthe supposed,*
friendship.
former may have been identical with the present St. Beog, or Mobheog. He
2
says, likewise, Beatus* is rendered into Irish by the words Beoaidh or
Beoadh,orBeoan/3 Theprefixmo,"my,"beingaddedinamannerused among the Irish, the Latin Irish, or Hiberno-Latinized words, Beoadus,
Beatus, Beoanus, Beanus, can likewise be resolved into Mabheoc or Mab-
heoan, in Irish, or as Latinized into Mobheanus or Mobhoecus. 44 However,
this is all purely speculative, and it by no means establishes identity with the
present holy man. A supposition has been made, that St. Dabheoc, who
lived at an early period on Lough Derg, might have introduced or observed
the rule of one of those eight monastic orders that were in the primitive Irish
Church, and that St. Molaisre,4* Abbot of Devenish, perhaps adopted it.
Both holy men appear to have been very nearly, if not altogether, contem-
poraries. 46 Besides, their places were not very far apart, and there are just
grounds for supposing, that the inmates on Lough Derg and those on Lough
Erne, although living in Island homes, had sometimes visited each other.
It is stated, that when St. Kevin 4 ? was —at the school of his relative, Bishop
48
Eoghan, at Ardstra, St. Bioc or Boean wheth present holy
anotherbearingthesamenameisundetermined paidfrequent
when in his extreme old
DabheoclivedatLoughDerg. Theyearinwhichhediedhasnotbeen
plate Map, in Sir James Ware's work, " De Hibernia, et Antiquitatibus ejus, Disquisi- tiones," cap. xxvi. , p. 190.
35 Attributed to St. Cuimin of Condeire or Connor.
36 Thus he says :—
"
seminary,
age.
4? It is not known how St. long
The victorious Mobheog loves, According to the synod of the learned, Often to bow his head
To dip his head into a pit [of water]. "
grimages," chap, vi. , p. 39.
39 See the Third Volume of this work, at
the 17th of March, Art. i. Life of St. Patrick, Apostle and chief Patron of Ire- land, chap. xiv.
«° See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. cxxv. , p. 146.
*• p, v Father John Colgan.
4a A Latin word, meaning "blessed" in
37 The last line of the foregoing quatrain
reads inthe of as « " or to
differently poem Cuimin, printed in the Rev. Matthew Kelly's Calen- dar of the Irish Saints, at p. 168 :—
" " He
This, according to Professor O'Curry, is a better reading.
3» " Such force, we may well say, has the continuance of a pious usage in the trans-
English.
Signifying vital," referring life.
<s His feast occurs, on the I2th of Septem- ber. He died a. d. 563.
<« see Rev. Daniel O'Connor's u Lough
Derg and its Pilgrimages," pp. 45, 46.
*7 Patron of Glendalough. See his Life in the Sixth Volume of this work, at the 3rd of
June, Art. i.
** jjis feast occurs, on the 23rd of August. « See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
" Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 158.
t)o cuirxeA* 6 fa 6uice. "
plunged it into the pond. "
—er the man or
mission of historical facts. "—Rev. Daniel "
O'Connor's Lough Derg and its Pil-
« See Colgan, ibid. , n. 188, pp. 181, 182.
visits to that
July 24. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 359
noted in our Annals, nor has it been ascertained. It appears probable enough, that he departed this life during the first half of the sixth century, and possibly before the birth of St. Columba,50 which took place about the year 520 or 521. That St. Dabheoc has been regarded as the special patron of Lough Derg may be inferred, from the circumstances of his bed, the seat, a cross, the termon-lands, and Saint's Island itself, having been called after him. It would
appear, that St. Mobheog was interred within the circling waters of Lough ""
Derg, and on Saint's Island, probably at the place where his Aherla or bed
was situated. Veneration was given, at the. 2 4th of July, according to the
of 1 to of Termonn, Abbot. Even to the Martyrology Donegal,* Mobheog,
present day, the people living in the neighbourhood of Lough Derg and the pilgrims thither entertain a great traditional reverence for this holy man, about whom such meagre records now exist. After his time, a monastery and churches, together with seven penitential beds, or cells, where the pilgrims knelt in succession, and prayed for the intercession of the seven tutelary saints of the place, were situated on Saint's Island. 53 On the eastern extremity of this island, the Purgatorial Cave,53 which was known as the Cavcrna Purgatorii, appears to have been situated. 5* During the middle ages, pilgrims were attracted thither for penitential exercises, 55 not alone from Ireland, but from the neighbouring Island of Great Britain, and from the most distant countries of Europe. In the seventeenth century, it was uprooted and completely destroyed, by direction of the English Government. Thereligiousmen5<5 livingtherewereexpelledfromtheirconvent. 5? This cave was so completely filled up with stones, by the iconoclasts, who were deputed to utterly demolish this pious retreat, that scarcely a vestige of it now remains. In the year 1703, being the Second of Queen Anne's reign, at a Parliament held in Dublin, an Act was passed to prevent the growth of Popery ; while, in the 26th clause was introduced a special enactment, to pre- vent pilgrimages to Holy Wells, and especially to the place called St. Patrick's
s° See the Life of St. Columkille or Columba, Abbot of Iona, and Apostle of Caledonia, in the Sixth Volume of this work, atthe9thofJune,Art. i. , chap. i.
51 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 200, 201.
53 The soil partakes of the ruin, which ha3
visited and made such havoc of its holy clois-
ters and churches. It isquite overgrown with
coarse grass, with ferns, and with rushes ;
and, in some parts of it, a thick covering of
heather indicates, that it has to some extent
returned to its original state of wildness. tatibus ejus Disquisitiones," cap. xxvi. , The ruins of the sacred enclosures, churches p. 189. Evident traces of their agricultural
_
and cemetery, are filled with rank and labours Still remain,
luxuriant weeds.
53 A small Tract,
57 During the reign of King Charles I.
s8 The Protestant Bishop of Down and Connor, Right Rev. Bishop Mant, quotes
"
" Le toirede Saint Patrice," was printed at Paris.
Ithasno leaves.
" For the more effec- tual preventing and suppressing all such superstitious, dangerous, and unlawful assem-
date,
andit isan8voof
only
16
the clause as follows
:
intituled,
Purga-
s* The Caverna is also marked on the Ord- nance Survey Map of the island.
ss The celebrated Spanish poet Don Pedro Calderon de la Barca, born in Madrid in the beginning of 1600, composed as one of
his dramas "
This has been elegantly rendered into Eng- ment, be publickly whipped ; and persons lish metre, by our own distinguished poet, convicted of building booths, selling ale, Denis Florence MacCarthy. With an Inuo- victuals, or other commodities, shall forfeit
Purgatorio
de San Patricio. "
duction, this version was first published in Duffy's "Irish Catholic Magazine," vol.
That Declan was much esteemed for his great sanctity, not only his own Acts, but even those of other saints connected with his native country, sufficiently demonstrate. If we are to rely on the account left us, by the ancient writer of his 61 our saint could not exhibit nobleness of
Life, only birth;but,hewasaman,possessingabeautifulfigure. Hewasdistinguished, moreover, by an humble mien and dress ; his voice, although powerful, was characterized by naturally melodious inflexions and cadence ; he was esteemed much for his prudent counsels, and for his ardent charity. This latter bounteous virtue often urged him to bestow large gifts on those who stood in need of support. His conversation was animated, while his actions were
holy ; and, we may infer justly, that he was renowned for his powers of eloquence in preaching God's word, owing to these natural characteristics.
cup for the use of pilgrims, and you may —Ussher's " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum
avail yourself of it. This well is a holy well, and called St. Declan's; it is believed to have been blessed by him, and endowed with some sanitary virtues. When the country people draw water from it, they bend a knee before it. From the veneration in which it is held, and from its situation near the en- trance of the I — it to have
Antiquitates," cap. xvii. , p. 450.
S7 This holy well "owes its present neat
and enticing appearance to an individual, named Hugh Byrne, a private soldier in the Donegal militia, who, after the Irish Rebel- lion of 1798, came here, and passed the re- mainder of his life in this solitary abode, and was buried beside St. Declan. " See Dublin
State of the County and City of Waterford," chap, iii. , p. 47.
59 See Rev. Samuel Hayman's "New
Handbook for xiii. , xiv. Youghal, pp.
60 See Smith's "Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Waterford," chap, iii. , pp. 48, 49.
6l See " Acta Sanctorum," tomus v. , Julii
xxiv. Acta S. Declani, cap. iii. , sect. 19,
See Ussher's Britannicarum Ecclesia- rum Antiquitates," cap. xvi. , p. 412.
church, conjecture
Frazer's "Ma- gazine for Town and Country," for Septem-
been used as a Baptistery. "
n. 106. 118, p.
ber, 1845, P- 296.
56 This is expressed in the following Latin
verses, trans—lated from an Irish original, by John Kelly :
"
Albeus est humilis, dixit Calphurnia proles ;
Patriciusque esto hinc Albe Mo- monise.
Declanus pariter patronus Desius esto,
Inter Desenses Patriciusque suos. "
vol.
58 See Smith's "Ancient and Present
Penny fournal,
iii. ,
p. 597.
<* "
354 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 24.
The greatness and frequency of his miracles caused him to be regarded, as the special favourite of Heaven. 6a These great qualifications must have exalted him, not alone in the sight of God, but of man ; while, the potency of his intellectual attainments acquired a merited ascendency, over the minds of his fellow-creatures. This enabled him, moreover, to direct many souls, in a true knowledge of heavenly things, and in the secure way, which leads to eternal life.
Article II. —St. Beoc, Mobheoc, Mobheog, Beog, Beanus, Dabeoc, Dabheoc, or Dabheog, Abbot of Termonn, Lough Derg, County of Donegal. [Fifth or Sixth Century. ~\ Refinement and gracefulness of mien aretheusualresultsofexaltedlineageandofintellectualculture; but,com- bined with true piety and enlightened zeal they are heightened still more in
degree. When those in high stations chose to relinquish the fleeting enjoy-
ments of earth for the lasting beatitude of Heaven, we may regard them as
truly wise, and they should be held before our view as models for human
admiration, even though in life they disregarded the praise or applause of
men. Aswehavealreadystated,therewerethreedistinctfestivalsannually
kept at Lough Derg, in honour of St. Beoc, Mobheog or Dabheog, viz. : on
the 1 st of January, on the 24th of July, and on the 16th of December. 1 In
addition to there seems to be an 3 as to whether or not the these, uncertainty,
present saint should be identified with the Mobecocc,3 or Mobeoc, or Beoan,*
venerated on the 28th of or with the October,
Beoan,s feastissetdownatthe3rdofDecember. Indeed,PrinceO'Donnellmakes
8 Already have we treated about this holy and primitive Abbot, at the first day of the year ? and, at the present date, we purpose adding somewhat, to the
Sanctus Dabeocus identical with Sanctus Beoanus,? in his Life of St. Columba.
particulars
there
given.
Weareinformed,
by
the
O'Clerys,
10 thatthe
King
of Britain, named Brachan, son of Brachameoc," was his father, and the 12 x
father of Mogorog, of Sruthar, and that Dina, 3 daughter to the King of Saxonland, was his mother. Sufficient has been written, regarding the various
Article ii. — x In the opinion of the Rev. Donegal.
Daniel O'Connor, the first of these may have 1 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
been his dies natalis, the second the day of Quinta Vita S. Columba}, lib. i. , cap. x. ,
his installation by St. Patrick as abbot, and
the third his dies obltus. See " Lough Derg
and its Pilgrimages," chap. vi. , p. 39. To this
very learned and interesting book, which
contains a Map of Lough Derg and numer-
p. 390.
* See the Sixth Volume of this work
at June 9th, Life of St. Columkille, chap. i. 9 See the First Volume of this work, at
January 1st, Art. ii.
10 See the " of Martyrology Donegal,"
edited by Rev. Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 200, 201.
" In Rees' " on the Welsh Saints," Essay
he is called Braccanoc or Brycan, Junior, his father bearing the same name, and being styledBraccan. Seep. 143.
" Supposed to have been venerated, at the 23rd of December.
,3 She is also called Dwynmas, and she is said to have been the daughter of Banhad- lewdd, by the King of Powys. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's " Loca Patri- ciana," No. viii. The Dalaradian Genealogy, with a Cambro-British Genealogy, showing the connexion of St. David and other Cam- brian Saints with Ireland, p. 157.
ous we are indebted for woodcuts,
many par- ticulars, which occur in the course of this
narrative.
3 See "Trias
Colgan's Thaumaturga,"
Quarta Vita S. Columba;, n. 19, p. 449.
3 So named in the Martyrology of Donegal. 4 These two names, as distinct entries, are
in the Martyrology of Tallagh.
5 In the "Topographia Hibernica," Dist.
ii. , cap. xi. , allusion is made to a St. Beanus, who lived in a remote part of Ulto- nia, where he had a church, which was re- garded as a sanctuary for birds, and about which is related an extraordinary legend. See Giraldi Cambrensis "Opera," vol. v. Edited
by James F. Dimock, M. A. , pp. 124, 125.
*
Thus noted, in the Martyrology of
son of 6 whose Libren,
July 24. ]
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
355
members of a holy offspring, so that our attention can only be engaged at
present with St. Mobheog or Dabheog. It is evident from his parentage, and
from a previous statement at the 1st day of January, that the present saint is 1
identical with St. Dabheog, of Lough Derg, * in the county of Donegal. The earlier name of this celebrated lake appears to have been Lough Gerg. 's
However, a conjecture has been advanced, that although the foregoing saint might have been on Lough Derg, another Dabheoc, living in the seventh
century,
likely
patron
16 is more
of it. To this conclusion us,
to have been the
seems to be warranted by no proof or even by any plausible inference. It
has been supposed, that the Cambrian St. Daveog had been at first a disciple to the illustrious Apostle of Ireland ; yet, in the list of his disciples, we do not find his name. He probably left Wales for Ireland, towards the close ofthefifthorbeginningofthes—ixthcentury. Selectingfortheplaceofhis
1 retreat an Islan—d of Lough Derg more anciently known as Fionloch, ? or
""
the fair lake among the wilds of Donegal, there he is said to have built
hischurchandmonastery. Hisretreatwascalledthe"Saint'sIsland,"and
18
as tradition has it, St. Patrick visited that place,
1^
prayer.
Son of God appeared to him, and brought him to that desert, where a round
cave was shown, and quite dark within, while he was thus addressed: "Who- soever shall enter this cave, truly penitent and full of Faith, for the duration of a day and night, shall be purged in it from all sins, committed during the whole course of his life, and he, entering it, shall not alone see the torments of the damned, but also the joys of the blessed, if only he shall persevere in the love of God. " Then the Lord disappeared. The great St. Patrick, while preaching in Ireland, and while eminent for working stupendous miracles, had endeavoured to withdraw the wicked men of that Island from everlasting death, through fear of infernal torments, and through desire for the delights of Paradise. But, they had openly declared, that they would not be converted to Christ, until they had seen with their own eyes what he had promised. Grateful to the Lord for vouchsafing the vision of this cave, he now hoped the miserable people of Erin should be converted to the Catholic Faith.
after a course of and fasting, vigil
According
to the 20 the Legend,
he erectedan There, immediately
oratory.
31 Hebuiltawallaroundthe
cave,
14
"Illustrated Handbook of the Scenery and it states that the lake was dyed of a reddish Antiquities of South-Western Donegal. " colour by its blood. Hence it changed its
Lough Derg is well described, in the death the serpent ; and the legend regarding 13 Latinized Gergensis. See Colgan's name Fionn, or fair, into Dearg, which sig-
"
Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columbse, n. 19, p. 449.
nines "red. "
*» See the account contained, in Matthaei
Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti " Chro- Albani,
nica Majora," edited by Henry Richards
Luard, M. A. , &c, vol. ii. , pp. 193, 194. "There is a fabulous Account of the
Origin of St. Patrick's Purgatory, among the Manuscripts contained in the Royal Irish Academy's Library. It is in the Manuscript classed 23, A. 15, as also, a Religious Legend on St. Patrick's Purgatory, in Manu- script classed 23, L. 24.
16 to the Saint
in the "Leabhar Breac he was of Ulster origin. See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
" Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 158, n. 1. 17 The name is thus referred to by Roderick O'Flaherty, in connection with two other
lakes, the names of which are long obsolete, "
thus, Fordremanus, Finloch, Lochlurgan, stagna vetusta. " See "Ogygia," pars iii. , cap. iii. , p. 164.
According
"
Genealogies
18 the Regarding change
of the name to
" In the of St. Benedict's Library
Lough Derg, a strange legend is recorded.
Lough Fionn was known in ancient Erin as
being connected with alarming terrors. A torio S. Patricii. "
frightful monster, like the Lernean hydra, of the serpent class, and of prodigious size, made it still more dreadful. When St. Patrick came into this district, he put to
" Regular Canons are said to have been
brought there by St. Patrick, and to the prior of that church he entrusted the key, whilehedecreed,thatwhoeverdesiredtoenter
whither he had been led,
College, England, we find a Manuscript, numbered 1280, which contains a Tract, " De Purga-
356 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 24 which was in the cemetery, and right before his church ; and, he set up a
23
door, which was locked, so that no person could enter without his permission. In thedays of the Irish Apostle, many are stated to have visited that cave, known as the Purgatory of St. Patrick, and on leaving it, they bore witness to the grievous pains endured within it, and also to the great and ineffable glory theybeheld. 23 Accordingtotheusuallyreceivedtradition,theApostleofIre- land 2* was the first holy person that landed at Saints' Island, on Lough Derg, and that gave a future celebrity to the place. Here, in after times, was
shown his bed. Not long after his period, it must have been, that St. Dabeoc or Beoan lived in that Island containing the Purgatory of St. Patrick, and when he had a vision of St. Columkille's birth. 8* The bleak shores, around the surface of Lough Derg, present a scene of melancholy loneliness, espe- cially in the winter season.
Situated in the parish of Templecairn, barony of Tyrhugh, county of Donegal, and diocese of Clogher, the Lough and its Hospice 26 are most usually visited by pious pilgrims, during the months of July and August. Theexpanseof Lough Derg is bespangled with numerous and pretty islands, some crowned with stunted trees, some bared to the mountain
2 of these islands are Station Island, Saint's Island, ?
breezes. The
Prior's Island, Kelly's Islands, the Stormy Islands, Goat Islands, near the River Fluchlynn, and Bilberry Island,28 with many little islets, which are but isolatedrocks,andwithoutanyparticularname. LoughDergisaboutfive miles in length by four in width. 2? It consists of two large sheets of water, which may be designated the upper and lower lakes. The upper lake is con- nected with the lower though means ofthree channels formed by Saint's Island and an islet lying north-east of it, called u The Wildgoose Lodge. " Its prin- cipal inlet is called the River Fluchlynn, which empties itself into upper LoughDerg,atitsnorthernextremity. TheoutletiscalledtheRiverDerg, which issues from the lake at its eastern shore, and pursues its winding way until it mingles with the ocean at Lough Foyle. Among the islands of Lough Derg, only two merit the special attention of the pilgrim or tourist. These are Station Island, also called Pilgrims' Island, and Saint's Island. On the former, now the more frequented 3° and conspicuous one, to —borrow a beau-
principal
tiful metaphor, more beautiful in—deed in the original Irish " White as a "
swan on the breast of its waters are a presbytery, inns, a hospice, and two
his Purgatory, he must first obtain leave from the local bishop, and from the latter receiv- ing letters, he should wait then on the prior and receive his instructions before entering.
considerable for reaching Lough Derg. It is about three miles distant from the town of Pettigo, a station on the Bundoran branch of the Enniskillen and Londonderry Rail- way. InPettigo,thereisagoodhoteland inn accommodation, and ample posting faci- lities.
's During the reign of King Stephen over
England, a soldier of his, called Hoenus, or
Owen, obtained leave from that king to visit
his native country of Hybernia, where in
penitence for his great crimes, he resolved
on visiting the Purgatory of St. Patrick.
Henry of Saltery gives a singular narrative
in detail of his pilgrimage to that cave, and tinctive name it is difficult to understand, regarding the visions he had within it. See since most of the other islands equally
Matthew of Paris' " Chronica Majora," vol.
ii. , pp. 192 to 203.
2* See the Third Volume of this work, at
the 17th oi March, Art. i. Life of St. Fatrick, Apostle and chief Patron of Ireland, chap. xiv.
as See the account in Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Columba? , lib. i. , cap. x. , pp. 390, 391.
36 The conveniences are at present very
abound in a profusion of this succulent little mountain fruit.
*9 It is said to cover an area of 2,140 sta- tute acres.
3° During the Station season. Lough Derg presents from all points of view, amid its dreary solitude of surrounding mountain and moorland, a singularly charming and truly
picturesque prospect.
3I An illustration of Pilgrims' Island and
3; Saint's Island was sometimes designated
St. Fintan's Island, and very often the island
of St. Dabeoc, pronounced Davoc.
a8 How it has come to receive this dis-
July 24. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 357
neat churches. 3 1 For ages it was untenanted ; while the waves then as now often beat with angry plashes against its solitary shores. About two miles north of Station Island lies Saint's Island—also called St. Dabheog's or
Daveog's Island—in pre-Reformation times the place of pilgrimage. This Island comprises about seven acres. Its formation is like a ring, and it rises
in gentle acclivity from the lake. Here, there is hardly a doubt, but that the holy man lived, and probably in that cave, which formerly rendered the place so famous. On the mainland, also, is shown, in the townland of Seeavoc, a remarkable artificial mound, on the summit of which is a stone,
Lough Derg and Pilgrims' Island, County of Donegal.
still named St. Dabheoc's seat. *2 locally
in front of it is a
like opening, which measures about three feet in depth, while it is betwe—en
four and five feet in Its sides were bu—
ilt with stone and these
length. flags, probablygivingwayduringthelapseofages havelefttheenclosedspaceat present so confined. In this cave, one can only kneel with some difficulty. Here St. Dabheoc is supposed to have passed some of his time occasionally, for the two-fold purpose of a seat, in a retired spot for meditation, and to
perform penance in the cave. There, too, on the mountain top, holy
Dabheoc detached himself from all from — earthly considerations, apart men,
and
quite likely to be reliable in nearly all such cases
special patron of the present Saints' Island, which for centuries continued to be known as St. Dabheoc's Island. That the penance he practised was of a very austere character may be inferred from the accounts regarding it, and which have come down to us from very remote times. One of the penitential circles
in communion with his Creator. 33 — to local tradition only According
of its buildings is here presented. The view was taken on the spot from Friars' Island
in Lough Derg, by William F. Wakeman, who afterwards tnnsferred it to the wood, engraved by Mrs. Millard.
of Seeavoc, in Irish Swohe "OAbheog.
33 See Rev. Daniel O'Connor's "Lough
Derg and its Pilgrimages," chap, vi. , pp. 40 to 42. There is also a woodcut, representing St. Dabheog's seat.
32 This has given name to the townland
34 These are shown, marked on a copper-
Immediately
grave-
he was regarded as the
358 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [July 24.
or beds, on the Island of St. Patrick's Purgatory, was styled Lectus vel circu- lus SS. Abogi et Molaisei. Quite near it was the larger Lectus vel circulus
"
Patrick of the fort of Macha loves,"35 that Mobheog was in the habit of placing 3 6 his head constantly, in a pit or pool of water. 37 It is somewhat remarkable, that such a penitential act had
been practised for many centuries by the pilgrims who visited the Island of St. Dabheoc. Even yet, on Station Island, it continues to be observed by
8
In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick,39 the Apostle is represented as having founded a church in or near thepeninsulaofInnishowen,andonhiswaytotheRiverBann. Overthis he placed a bishop, both in name and in reality Beatus. 40 Another holy man
S. Patricii? * In the poem beginning,
some penitents, but in a modified way. 3
Eugenius
wasalliedwithhimin
Ithasbeen 1 thatthe supposed,*
friendship.
former may have been identical with the present St. Beog, or Mobheog. He
2
says, likewise, Beatus* is rendered into Irish by the words Beoaidh or
Beoadh,orBeoan/3 Theprefixmo,"my,"beingaddedinamannerused among the Irish, the Latin Irish, or Hiberno-Latinized words, Beoadus,
Beatus, Beoanus, Beanus, can likewise be resolved into Mabheoc or Mab-
heoan, in Irish, or as Latinized into Mobheanus or Mobhoecus. 44 However,
this is all purely speculative, and it by no means establishes identity with the
present holy man. A supposition has been made, that St. Dabheoc, who
lived at an early period on Lough Derg, might have introduced or observed
the rule of one of those eight monastic orders that were in the primitive Irish
Church, and that St. Molaisre,4* Abbot of Devenish, perhaps adopted it.
Both holy men appear to have been very nearly, if not altogether, contem-
poraries. 46 Besides, their places were not very far apart, and there are just
grounds for supposing, that the inmates on Lough Derg and those on Lough
Erne, although living in Island homes, had sometimes visited each other.
It is stated, that when St. Kevin 4 ? was —at the school of his relative, Bishop
48
Eoghan, at Ardstra, St. Bioc or Boean wheth present holy
anotherbearingthesamenameisundetermined paidfrequent
when in his extreme old
DabheoclivedatLoughDerg. Theyearinwhichhediedhasnotbeen
plate Map, in Sir James Ware's work, " De Hibernia, et Antiquitatibus ejus, Disquisi- tiones," cap. xxvi. , p. 190.
35 Attributed to St. Cuimin of Condeire or Connor.
36 Thus he says :—
"
seminary,
age.
4? It is not known how St. long
The victorious Mobheog loves, According to the synod of the learned, Often to bow his head
To dip his head into a pit [of water]. "
grimages," chap, vi. , p. 39.
39 See the Third Volume of this work, at
the 17th of March, Art. i. Life of St. Patrick, Apostle and chief Patron of Ire- land, chap. xiv.
«° See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. ii. , cap. cxxv. , p. 146.
*• p, v Father John Colgan.
4a A Latin word, meaning "blessed" in
37 The last line of the foregoing quatrain
reads inthe of as « " or to
differently poem Cuimin, printed in the Rev. Matthew Kelly's Calen- dar of the Irish Saints, at p. 168 :—
" " He
This, according to Professor O'Curry, is a better reading.
3» " Such force, we may well say, has the continuance of a pious usage in the trans-
English.
Signifying vital," referring life.
<s His feast occurs, on the I2th of Septem- ber. He died a. d. 563.
<« see Rev. Daniel O'Connor's u Lough
Derg and its Pilgrimages," pp. 45, 46.
*7 Patron of Glendalough. See his Life in the Sixth Volume of this work, at the 3rd of
June, Art. i.
** jjis feast occurs, on the 23rd of August. « See Rev. John Francis Shearman's
" Loca Patriciana," No. viii. , p. 158.
t)o cuirxeA* 6 fa 6uice. "
plunged it into the pond. "
—er the man or
mission of historical facts. "—Rev. Daniel "
O'Connor's Lough Derg and its Pil-
« See Colgan, ibid. , n. 188, pp. 181, 182.
visits to that
July 24. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 359
noted in our Annals, nor has it been ascertained. It appears probable enough, that he departed this life during the first half of the sixth century, and possibly before the birth of St. Columba,50 which took place about the year 520 or 521. That St. Dabheoc has been regarded as the special patron of Lough Derg may be inferred, from the circumstances of his bed, the seat, a cross, the termon-lands, and Saint's Island itself, having been called after him. It would
appear, that St. Mobheog was interred within the circling waters of Lough ""
Derg, and on Saint's Island, probably at the place where his Aherla or bed
was situated. Veneration was given, at the. 2 4th of July, according to the
of 1 to of Termonn, Abbot. Even to the Martyrology Donegal,* Mobheog,
present day, the people living in the neighbourhood of Lough Derg and the pilgrims thither entertain a great traditional reverence for this holy man, about whom such meagre records now exist. After his time, a monastery and churches, together with seven penitential beds, or cells, where the pilgrims knelt in succession, and prayed for the intercession of the seven tutelary saints of the place, were situated on Saint's Island. 53 On the eastern extremity of this island, the Purgatorial Cave,53 which was known as the Cavcrna Purgatorii, appears to have been situated. 5* During the middle ages, pilgrims were attracted thither for penitential exercises, 55 not alone from Ireland, but from the neighbouring Island of Great Britain, and from the most distant countries of Europe. In the seventeenth century, it was uprooted and completely destroyed, by direction of the English Government. Thereligiousmen5<5 livingtherewereexpelledfromtheirconvent. 5? This cave was so completely filled up with stones, by the iconoclasts, who were deputed to utterly demolish this pious retreat, that scarcely a vestige of it now remains. In the year 1703, being the Second of Queen Anne's reign, at a Parliament held in Dublin, an Act was passed to prevent the growth of Popery ; while, in the 26th clause was introduced a special enactment, to pre- vent pilgrimages to Holy Wells, and especially to the place called St. Patrick's
s° See the Life of St. Columkille or Columba, Abbot of Iona, and Apostle of Caledonia, in the Sixth Volume of this work, atthe9thofJune,Art. i. , chap. i.
51 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 200, 201.
53 The soil partakes of the ruin, which ha3
visited and made such havoc of its holy clois-
ters and churches. It isquite overgrown with
coarse grass, with ferns, and with rushes ;
and, in some parts of it, a thick covering of
heather indicates, that it has to some extent
returned to its original state of wildness. tatibus ejus Disquisitiones," cap. xxvi. , The ruins of the sacred enclosures, churches p. 189. Evident traces of their agricultural
_
and cemetery, are filled with rank and labours Still remain,
luxuriant weeds.
53 A small Tract,
57 During the reign of King Charles I.
s8 The Protestant Bishop of Down and Connor, Right Rev. Bishop Mant, quotes
"
" Le toirede Saint Patrice," was printed at Paris.
Ithasno leaves.
" For the more effec- tual preventing and suppressing all such superstitious, dangerous, and unlawful assem-
date,
andit isan8voof
only
16
the clause as follows
:
intituled,
Purga-
s* The Caverna is also marked on the Ord- nance Survey Map of the island.
ss The celebrated Spanish poet Don Pedro Calderon de la Barca, born in Madrid in the beginning of 1600, composed as one of
his dramas "
This has been elegantly rendered into Eng- ment, be publickly whipped ; and persons lish metre, by our own distinguished poet, convicted of building booths, selling ale, Denis Florence MacCarthy. With an Inuo- victuals, or other commodities, shall forfeit
Purgatorio
de San Patricio. "
duction, this version was first published in Duffy's "Irish Catholic Magazine," vol.
