"Fina, daughter ol Cennfaeladh,
Hibernia
was common to both.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
The
whole of this legendary story is sufficiently told in the Life of St. Molingus, or St.
Moling Luachra of Teach-Moling, in the
Sixth Volume of this work, at the 17th of
June, the day for his feast. Art. i. , chap. iii.
688 or 689. See Dr. O'Conor's
118
Besides the victory obtained over
By Fleming in his "Collectanea Sacra," Dissertatio de Monastica S. Colum- bani Luxoviensis et Bobiensis Abbatis Professione. Art. iii. , sect, ii. , num. 87, p. 435.
Cennfaeladh in 673, he destroyed Ailech,
a stronghold of the Northern Hy-Niall, in A. D. 674 ; he defeated the Leinster-men at
Loughgower, near Dunshaughlin, in Meath, and he gained the battle of Tailltin over Becc Boirche, in A. D. 677. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 282 to 283, and notes, ibid.
"'The appellation Fledhach is said to
have been derived from " a
jrlexvo, banquet,"
"3 See also Father Ward's " Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti, &c, Acta, &c," Dissertatio iIistorica, de Patria S. Rumoldi,
and from the festivities which prevailed passages in the body of his edition of
during his reign. See Jeoffrey Keating's Adamnan's " Life of St. Columha. " See
M
History of Ireland," part ii. pp. 38, 284,
many
formerly in possession of William Monck Mason, Esq.
,21
The Annals of Tighernach and of Ulster state, that Finnachta became a clergy- man, in the year 687 or 688, but that he
"
Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Annales Tigernachi, pp. 214, 215, and ibid. , tomus iv. Annales Ultonienses,
p. 64.
,2a
Art. iii. , p. 219.
Ia* See " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,"
xxii. Februarii. De B. Malbrigido sive
Brigidano, Abbate Derensi et Primate
Ardmachano, p. 387, n. 7.
"5 At these and similar references, the
Rev. Dr. Reeves refers to and pages
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 487
venerated at Drumhome, a parish in the diocese of Raphoe, barony of Tirhugh, and County of Donegal. It is the Dorsum Tomme, and it was probably in the neighbourhood of St. Adamnan's birth-place. In the
136
barony of Coleraine, County of Londonderry, is the townland of Ballintemple, where was the site of the old church. Here foundations remain, measuring 52 by 18 feet. South of this is the only local commemoration remaining in the parish, namely, aneminencecalledSt. Onan'sRock. "7 IntheparishofClonleigh,diocese of Derry, County of Donegal, and barony of Raphoe, there is a townland called Ballindrait, supposed to have had some connexion with St. Adamnan. 128 It adjoins Raphoe on the east, and is the Pons Adamnani mentioned above
diocese of Deny, parish of Errigal,
by Fleming.
,29 At
present
no ancient church is in that The hamlet place.
of Greallach, now known as Templemoyle, in the parish of Cloncha,^
diocese of Derry, barony of Inishowen, County of Donegal, was dedicated
to St. Adamnan. ^1 It is a small burial ground, with the faintest traces of
a quadrilateral building. It is situated on a rocky slope, amid a wretched
group of cabins. The parish of Dunbo,132 in the same diocese, county, and
and barony, was dedicated to St. Adamnan. The ruins of the old church,
situate near Downhill, measure 63*2 by 27*6 feet. The parish of Bovevagh
in the same diocese and county, barony of Keenaght, had St. Eugenius as
x
the patron. 33 This name may be regarded as a Latin form of Eunan. '34
The old church measures fifty-one feet, by seventeen feet, six inches. The
townland of Kilonan, in the parish of Derrygalvin, County of Limerick, is supposed to have been so called from a church formerly dedicated to St. Eunan or Adamnan. *35 Another foundation attributed to St. Adamnan was
6
the monastery of Kill Rois,^ in the territory of Fera Rois, which extended
into the barony of Farney, in the County of Monaghan, and which took in a considerable part of the present County of Louth. *37
On the death of Failbhe, eighth abbot of Iona, a. d. 678, according to the 8x
Annals of Ulster,^ a. d. 679, according to the Annals of Tighernach, 39 or a. d. 677, according to those of the Four Masters,1 * Adamnan was elected
superior, both in North Britain and Ireland, when appointed as next Abbot,
136 Formerly called Airecal Adhamnain, age when these matters were better under- or "the habitation of Adamnan. " stood than now.
127 " I34 M
It is marked on the Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of London- derry," Sheet 18. At the time it was noted, there was not a man in the country that knew who St. Onan was.
128 The Irish name is "Ortoicec <Vd4tfm4in, or the "Bridge of Adamnan. " See Dr.
See Archbishop Colton's Metropoli- tan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry,
a. d. mcccxcvii. ," n. (o), p. 85.
,3S The name seems to be formed from
all <v6Airm4in, but without confirmation from any other ostensible local evidence.
I36 See " Some Account of the Territory or Dominion of Farney," by Evelyn Philip Shirley, chap, i. , at p. 2.
I37 The Obits of two Priors, at this place, are recorded in our Annals, at a. d. 825 , andatA. D. 845; andachurchtherecalled Magheross is noticed in Pope Nicholas' Taxation.
'38 See Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiberni- carum Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses, p. 61.
I3» See i&id. , tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales, p. 210.
M° The Annals of Clonmacnoise place his death in the year 674. It occurred on the 22nd of March, at which date, some notices of him may be found, in the Third Vo'ume of this work, Art. i.
O'Donovan's
"
Annals of the Four Masters,"
at A. D. 1607, vol. vi. , p. 2353.
129 See "Collectanea Sacra," Dissertatio
de Monastica S. Columbani Luxoviensis et
Bobiensis Abbatis Professione. Art. iii. ,
sect, ii. , num. 87, p. 435.
130 In the Irish Calendar at July 16th it is
written CIuahi Caca.
131 See Archbishop Colton's "Metropolitan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry, a. d.
MCCCXCVII. ," n (z), p. 69.
I3* In this parish is the Munitio
Cethirini.
133 According to Archbishop King's List, local belief makes St. Ringan, that is,
Ninian, the patron ; but Colgan's authority, already cited, is superior, as he lived in an
488 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 23.
over the celebrated monastery belonging to the Columban institute, on the IslandofHy. Hissupremejurisdictionthusextendedoverallthemonastic institutions of St. Columkille. Almost contemporaneously, Aldfrid, the Northumbrian prince, known to the Irish by the name of Flann Fina,'41 and whose mothei 142 is said to have been of Irish birth or 1 had been
descent, -^,
obliged on the death of his reputed father, Oswy,144 to leave his native country, and to become an exile in Scotia or Ireland. :« There he was educated in piety and learning by some Irish monks. 1*6 Others will have it, that he sought a refuge in Hy 14? but probably he visited both places. 14* An
his death says : A. \tcp|tich tdac Oppu . 1. JTl-Atro pr>A Ia gAe-oelu hinAi-oh [he was called Fland Fina by the Irish] rex Saxon
;
Irish poem,'49 of twenty-four ranns, said to have been composed by him in
Whereupon it is related, Hiberniam, seuvi seu indignatione, secesserat. Ibi, et ab odio
U1 Thus at A. c. 704, Tighernach recording superseded on the ground of illegitimacy, ""
^
"
nicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Quocirca, imperii habenis, habiliorem Annales, p. 222. So the Annals of Inis- aestimantes, qui quondam expulerant ultro fallen, in the parallel place a. d. 694, have expetiverunt. "—" Wilhelmi Malmesbirien- JTlAnn rine itiac goffA Rex Saxonorum sis," "Gesta Regum Anglorum," p. 52,
germani tutus, et magno otio Uteris imbutus, fnit. " See Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hiber- omni philosophia composuerat animam.
edition of Thomas D. Hardy, 1840.
145 Irish writers observe; " Non sui tan- turn Uteris excolendi causa in Hiberniam mother. He is distinguished from J? lAnn venit, verum etiam ut Sanctis Hibernue pnn, an ecclesiastic, whom the Gloss and deprecantibus limace qui in aurem ejus the Felire of /Engus at January 14th, places irrepsit, et capitis humoribus attractis at Inbher Neola [An fheblA of the intumuit educto, molestia et morbo—ex ea Foyle ? ] on the confines of Tir Connell and recontracta immunis efficeretur. " Arch-
quievit. " See ibid. Annales Inisfalenses, y. 17.
143 The surname Fina was derived from his
Tir Eoghain ; or at Chuillinn beside Corcagh, as Mananus O'Gorman has it at the same
from
Cambrensis Eversus,"
M oreover, he is to be
day.
Flann Finn, as chief of the Cinel Eoghain, Christianity," vol. ii. , book iv. , chap, iv. ,
Aliter, Kina, daughter of Colman Rimidh, son of liaedan, son of Muircertach, son of Muiredhach, was mother of Flann Fina, King of the Saxons. Tract on the Mothers of the Iiish Saints in the Leabhar Lecain, fol. 43, a Manuscript classed H. 2. 16, in Trinity College, Dublin, p. 365 of the
278, Goodall finishes the climax ;
illas insulas minime Hibernia, Uteris nun- quam Celebris sed Hebrides, et ex iis Heii
—vel Iona insula pnecipue designari videtur. " "
Fordun's Scotichronicon," vol. i. , p.
159, n. 4.
148 Fordun writes: "Qui non pancis
distinguished
in 698, whom the Annals of Ulster call Flann Albus at a. d. 699. Pinkerton greatly errs in confounding this Aldfrid with Alchfrid, a legitimate son of Oswy, and who was invested with regal power by his father, but who died at an earlier date.
143 She is stated by . /Engus, a writer of the
eighth century, to have been from the
princely house of Niall : pnA injen
mic DAeTMin mic tTluijicefXAij mic Scotia, and, as appears by this passage of muijie'OAij;, mACAifi f? loimo ptiA 1115 Malmesbury and others, even t—he name
Chin-ofAetAT) mAtAift f/lom-o pnA mic
OffA. Aliter pnA injen ColmAin ftime Ireland in these times, when the name
SAXAn.
"Fina, daughter ol Cennfaeladh, Hibernia was common to both. " was mother of Flann Fina, son of Ossa.
Catalogue. In the Claun Neill Genealogy
Fina is represented as the great grand- curam dedit. " Scotichronicon lib. iii. , p.
daughter of Muircertach, either through his son Baedan,—or through Ailill, father of
$*• ,4»
It begins :
Cennfaeladh.
Ibid. , fol.
63.
•"Oswy, King of Northumbria, died in
670, and was succeeded by his son Egfrid. Though an elder brother, Aldfrid was
Uo-oeA-o in Imp pnn Ail J?
In efimn ji e iaji n-imAjifJAij.
1m mAr bAn, ni bAech An bjieAch. ImAC lAec, imAc clefeAch
"
deacon Lynch's
edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, vol. ii. , p. 236.
146 See Dean Milman's " of Latin History
p. 267.
147 Such is the account of a Lindisfarne
:
Benedictine Monk. See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus hi. , Martii xx. Tertia Vita S. Cuthberti, lib. iii. , sect. 6, p. 121. T. Innes endeavours to make it appear, that Aldfrid 's place of retirement was Ycolmkill, and draws the startling con- clusion
" We see that it was usual to the exactest writers to confound Scotland with
"Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," p.
"
annis in Scoti—a et Hibernia discendo literas
""
per
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 489
111
reference to his sojourn in Ireland, ** is still preserved. * The original has
12
been printed by James Hardiman, * and a literal translation into English
has been furnished by John O'Donovan,^ with critical notes appended. '5* James Clarence Mangan has given a metrical version of this poem. 'ss It may
be supposed, that owing to an alleged relationship of his mother with the chief northern family, Aldfrid had been induced to seek refuge on the shores of our Island. It is also probable during the time of his exile, that prince had formed an intimacy with Adamnan, of whom he is called the alumnus *& This friendship thus early formed, afterwards proved serviceable to Adamnan, when his protege ascended the throne. Ecgfrid had been slain by the Picts,
in a fatal
undertaken —them, in the expedition against year 684*57
8 near
a
Loch,
J59 and at Dun Nechtainl6°
supposed
1mu jio bit mAC OffA, Accacff1 ctAi-orhejtAfa, C1A -DO fAT)A A1C1fje,
1f hi mx> ht iAf nAffa. 1mu f. o bit mAC OffA,
CAf a mbi-oif -ouftA -oeojA. Tlo cuaVa Cfifc Af nsui-oe, RoifAOf. buc Ofui-oe bfejjA.
" The death of Flann Fiona, son of Ossa, King of the Saxons, the illustrious wise man, thefoster-sonofAdamnan; ofwhomRiaguil of Bennchor sung :
To-day Bruid fights a battle
About the land of his grandfather.
Unless it be too much to ask of the Son of
God,
Mayhenotperishinit.
To-day the son of Ossa falls
In battle with green swords, Although he did his penance,
And shall lie in Hi after his death. To-day the son of Ossa fulls,
Who had the brown drinks.
Christ has heard our supplication, He will save the splendid Bruide. "
The writer appears to confound Aldfrid
withEcgfrid,asregardsthebattle. Tigher- nach places the death of Aldfrid in the year
704, and Bede at 705. Riaguil, of Bangor, is placed in the Irish Calendar, at June nth, although he is not noticed in the Annals. See at that date, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. ii.
,57 The Venerable Bede places this event
"
plAnn £itiA idac Oofa Affor-AoiefienneotofA
x\f bf. u c-ffotA Ren Afecc fTUAIf. A fieift TttAjl -DO f. AI'OeAT).
The translation into English is thus given : — •' It is natural in fair Inis-fail,
In Erin, without contention, Many women, no silly boast, Many laics, many clerics.
Flann Fina, son of Osa, ArchdoctorinErin's
On the banks of the river Ren
[this] ;
Received his due as was natu—ral. "
Rann 23.
150 Charles O'Connor, senior, had a copy "
o—f thispoeminaveryobscurecharacter. "
"
iv. , p. 129. Also in the Stowe Catalogue,
vol. i. , p. 95. Other ancient copies are
mentioned by Edward O'Reilly in his
"
Chronological Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," p. xlviii.
'51 It is marked H. 2. 16, among the Manuscripts in Trinity College, Dublin.
152 In his "Irish Minstrelsy," vol. ii. , p. 372.
^3
Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus
See "The Dublin Penny Journal," vol. i. , No. 12, pp. 94, 95.
'54 However, the translator omitted to observe, that the introduction of the deno- mination Dublin, in one of the stanzas, deprives the poem of an antiquity dating back to the seventh
155 " century.
See Poems by James Clarence
at A. D. 684. See
Historia Ecclesiastica
Mangan;" with Biographical Introduction
Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. 26.
's8 With Bede's account coincides that of
Mathew, of Westminster, except as to date, which he places in the year 685. He adds that Egfrid was succeeded by " frater ejus Aelfridus licet non de legitimo matrimonio susceptus, & in scripturis vir doctissimus, qui regni statum, in magna parte inclinatum
by John to 381.
Mitchel. Irish
Anthology, pp. 379
156 In a Brussels MS. 530I, p. 80, of
Mac Firbis's Irish
Annals,
the death of trioff £lAmn
Alfrid is thus recorded :
JTionA true OffA fi SAXAn, An cejnAit)
"OAtiCA xVoArhnAin bennchuif cecemc,
x>e
quo ttiA5Uit
ArhjiA,
;
1niu pejiAf bfwoe cac,
1m fofbA a fenACAji. ITlAnAT) At$Af Ia niAC *Oe,
Conit) x>e At) jenACAft.
159 This event is thus related by Simeon of Durham: " Extinctum regem apud Nech- tanesmere, quod est Stagnum Nectani,
learning, composed
laudabiter reparavit. " rum," p. 224.
—"
Flores Historia-
or
to have been the modern
685,'5
49© LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
l6x 162
Dunnichen, near the North Sea, in Scotland. Aldfrid was afterwards
restored to his country and to the possession of his hereditary rights. Attheyear683,163wehaveanaccountconcerningaforay,whichis said to have taken place in the month of June, when the churches and territories
of Magh-Breagh were devastated. 16*
16
pleading with Ecgfrid. ? Certain it is, however, that he had in view the
release of some Irish captives, who had been carried away from Meath, by the Saxon general of that prince. From Adamnan's own account, we learn, that he visited Aldfrid, the year after King Ecgfrid's death. Wherefore, this
the Saxons to their
16* The Bollandist editor
brought by
that Adamnan's first visit166 to the Saxons had for its object a desire of
visit must have its date in the latter end of l68 or the 685,
of l69 beginning 686,
sepultum. "— Historica Dunelmensis Eccle-
sise," pp. 3, 5. This lake formerly occupied the place of Dunnichen Moss.
160 The Annals of Ulster, at the year 685, ""
record ; Bellum Duin Nechtain in vicesimo
die mensis Maii, die sabbati, factum est, in
quo Elfrith mac Ossu rex Saxonum, xv.
anno regni sui, consummata magna cum
caterva militum suorum interfectus est ; et
combussit cuIa AmAn -oum OtlAijh. " In
686, Tighernach relates this same event :
"
CAi -cum tlechtAin [praelium Dun- Nechtain], xx. die mensis Maii sabbati die factum est, in quo Ecfrit Mac Ossu ex Saxonum xv. anno regni sui, consumata magna cum caterva militum suorum interfectus est tA [a] Brudhi mac Bili rege roficfiein [Pictimia],
161 A parish in Forfarshire, next Forfar, on the south-east, and which is mentioned as
Egfrid's war, in the Vita S. Columbse," lib. ii. , cap. xlvi,
167 See the " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Junii ix. De S. Columba, Presbytero, Abbate, in Iona Scotiae Insula. Commen- tarius Praevius, sect, i. , num. 2, p. 190.
in a charter of William the Lion to the Abbey of Arbroath. See " Liber de Aberbrothoe, pp. 4, 10, 124,
165.
,6a The Saxon Chronicle, at a. d. 685,
places the scene of this action near the
North Sea, to which the situation of
Dunnichen answers, as it is only twelve
miles distant from the German Ocean. See
"
vol. i. , p. 419 ; also Chalmers' "Caledonia,"
168 The " Annals of the Four Masters" have it at A-D. 684, and mark it as the eleventh year of the reign of Finnacta. It was that, in which the dreadful plague, mentioned by them at said year, broke out, the commencement of which is affixed by FlorenceofWorcesterto685. SeeColgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," p. 385. Having observed that this plague raged when he was on that visit, and that the Continent —of Europe and the islands Sc—
Dunnechtyn
otia et Britannia viz. , Ireland and Britain were laid waste by it, except those parts of North Britain inhabited by the British Scots and the Picts, these, he thought, were preserved from it
Old Statistical Account of Scotland,"
through the intercession of St. Columba.
l0» Roderick O'Flaherty has a manuscript note to Adamnan's Vita S, Columbse, lib. ii. ,
cap. xlvi. , referring to Tigernach's Annals, assigning this visit to a. d. 686, in his former
copy of Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
which is now preserved in the Library of
the Royal Society, Dublin.
'70 « ne visited Alfrid more than once on
some subsequent occasions but
; this, his
first embassy, was either in the latter e—nd of
the
vol. i. , pp. 210, 255.
163 See Dr. O' Donovan's
164 The Annals of Clonmacnoise relate this event at the year 680.
Annals FourMasters,"vol. i. , pp. 288to291.
of the
"
ships.
supposed,
l
according to a learned authority. i° The circumstances connected with
Adamnan's journey are related in his Irish life, but with that disregard for historic accuracy, so characteristic of later Irish hagiology. The piratical expedition of th—e North-Saxons, and the plundering of Magh-Breagh so far
1
as Bealach dui—n now Castlekeeran on the Blackwater,^ and lying north-
west of Kells with the number of male and female captives made by them, are recorded. Then we are told, that the men of Erin requested Adamnan to go to Saxon-land, in quest of those unhappy people. Our saint accordingly
Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses, p. 62.
166
Making mention of his visits to Alfrid, Adamnan calls him his friend, and he speaks of this visit as the first one after
ejusque corpus in Hii, insula Columba "
'•5 The date given by the Annals of 685, or in the beginning of 686. "
Ulster is 684, for the devastation of Breg
plainsi or Meagh-Breagh, by the Saxons. See Dr. O'Conor's M Rerum Hibernicarum
Dr. Langan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. iii. , chap, xviii. , sect. 5, n. 53, p. 98. * Formerly called the Sele.
Many spoils and several hostages were
September 23. ] LIVES OP THE IRISH SAINTS. 491
went to demand the prisoners, and put in at a place called Tracht-Romra. '? 3 The strand is said to have been long, and the flood rolling at this place. The current was so rapid, that if the best steed in Saxon-land were ridden by the best horseman, and started from the tidal water's edge when it begins to flow, so extensive is the strand and so impetuous was the tide, that he might only bring his rider to the shore by swimming. The Saxons, as related, were willing to allow Adamnan's landing upon their shore. u Push
your
currachs on the land," said Adamnan to his " for both land and people,
sea are obedient to God, and nothing can be done without His permission. "
The clerics did as they had been told, when Adamnan drew a circle with his
crozier around the currachs. Providence rendered the strand firm under
their vessels, and a high wall of sea-waves was formed about them ; so that
the place where they were became an island. The sea even went to its
limits past it, but did them no injury. When the Saxons had observed this
great miracle, they trembled for fear of Adamnan, and granted his full
demand. It was to this effect ; that a complete restoration of the captives
should be made to him, and that no Saxon should ever again go upon a
predatory excursion to Erin. Our saint is then said to have brought back
all the I?
whole of this legendary story is sufficiently told in the Life of St. Molingus, or St.
Moling Luachra of Teach-Moling, in the
Sixth Volume of this work, at the 17th of
June, the day for his feast. Art. i. , chap. iii.
688 or 689. See Dr. O'Conor's
118
Besides the victory obtained over
By Fleming in his "Collectanea Sacra," Dissertatio de Monastica S. Colum- bani Luxoviensis et Bobiensis Abbatis Professione. Art. iii. , sect, ii. , num. 87, p. 435.
Cennfaeladh in 673, he destroyed Ailech,
a stronghold of the Northern Hy-Niall, in A. D. 674 ; he defeated the Leinster-men at
Loughgower, near Dunshaughlin, in Meath, and he gained the battle of Tailltin over Becc Boirche, in A. D. 677. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 282 to 283, and notes, ibid.
"'The appellation Fledhach is said to
have been derived from " a
jrlexvo, banquet,"
"3 See also Father Ward's " Sancti Rumoldi Martyris Inclyti, &c, Acta, &c," Dissertatio iIistorica, de Patria S. Rumoldi,
and from the festivities which prevailed passages in the body of his edition of
during his reign. See Jeoffrey Keating's Adamnan's " Life of St. Columha. " See
M
History of Ireland," part ii. pp. 38, 284,
many
formerly in possession of William Monck Mason, Esq.
,21
The Annals of Tighernach and of Ulster state, that Finnachta became a clergy- man, in the year 687 or 688, but that he
"
Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Annales Tigernachi, pp. 214, 215, and ibid. , tomus iv. Annales Ultonienses,
p. 64.
,2a
Art. iii. , p. 219.
Ia* See " Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae,"
xxii. Februarii. De B. Malbrigido sive
Brigidano, Abbate Derensi et Primate
Ardmachano, p. 387, n. 7.
"5 At these and similar references, the
Rev. Dr. Reeves refers to and pages
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 487
venerated at Drumhome, a parish in the diocese of Raphoe, barony of Tirhugh, and County of Donegal. It is the Dorsum Tomme, and it was probably in the neighbourhood of St. Adamnan's birth-place. In the
136
barony of Coleraine, County of Londonderry, is the townland of Ballintemple, where was the site of the old church. Here foundations remain, measuring 52 by 18 feet. South of this is the only local commemoration remaining in the parish, namely, aneminencecalledSt. Onan'sRock. "7 IntheparishofClonleigh,diocese of Derry, County of Donegal, and barony of Raphoe, there is a townland called Ballindrait, supposed to have had some connexion with St. Adamnan. 128 It adjoins Raphoe on the east, and is the Pons Adamnani mentioned above
diocese of Deny, parish of Errigal,
by Fleming.
,29 At
present
no ancient church is in that The hamlet place.
of Greallach, now known as Templemoyle, in the parish of Cloncha,^
diocese of Derry, barony of Inishowen, County of Donegal, was dedicated
to St. Adamnan. ^1 It is a small burial ground, with the faintest traces of
a quadrilateral building. It is situated on a rocky slope, amid a wretched
group of cabins. The parish of Dunbo,132 in the same diocese, county, and
and barony, was dedicated to St. Adamnan. The ruins of the old church,
situate near Downhill, measure 63*2 by 27*6 feet. The parish of Bovevagh
in the same diocese and county, barony of Keenaght, had St. Eugenius as
x
the patron. 33 This name may be regarded as a Latin form of Eunan. '34
The old church measures fifty-one feet, by seventeen feet, six inches. The
townland of Kilonan, in the parish of Derrygalvin, County of Limerick, is supposed to have been so called from a church formerly dedicated to St. Eunan or Adamnan. *35 Another foundation attributed to St. Adamnan was
6
the monastery of Kill Rois,^ in the territory of Fera Rois, which extended
into the barony of Farney, in the County of Monaghan, and which took in a considerable part of the present County of Louth. *37
On the death of Failbhe, eighth abbot of Iona, a. d. 678, according to the 8x
Annals of Ulster,^ a. d. 679, according to the Annals of Tighernach, 39 or a. d. 677, according to those of the Four Masters,1 * Adamnan was elected
superior, both in North Britain and Ireland, when appointed as next Abbot,
136 Formerly called Airecal Adhamnain, age when these matters were better under- or "the habitation of Adamnan. " stood than now.
127 " I34 M
It is marked on the Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of London- derry," Sheet 18. At the time it was noted, there was not a man in the country that knew who St. Onan was.
128 The Irish name is "Ortoicec <Vd4tfm4in, or the "Bridge of Adamnan. " See Dr.
See Archbishop Colton's Metropoli- tan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry,
a. d. mcccxcvii. ," n. (o), p. 85.
,3S The name seems to be formed from
all <v6Airm4in, but without confirmation from any other ostensible local evidence.
I36 See " Some Account of the Territory or Dominion of Farney," by Evelyn Philip Shirley, chap, i. , at p. 2.
I37 The Obits of two Priors, at this place, are recorded in our Annals, at a. d. 825 , andatA. D. 845; andachurchtherecalled Magheross is noticed in Pope Nicholas' Taxation.
'38 See Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiberni- carum Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses, p. 61.
I3» See i&id. , tomus ii. , Tigernachi Annales, p. 210.
M° The Annals of Clonmacnoise place his death in the year 674. It occurred on the 22nd of March, at which date, some notices of him may be found, in the Third Vo'ume of this work, Art. i.
O'Donovan's
"
Annals of the Four Masters,"
at A. D. 1607, vol. vi. , p. 2353.
129 See "Collectanea Sacra," Dissertatio
de Monastica S. Columbani Luxoviensis et
Bobiensis Abbatis Professione. Art. iii. ,
sect, ii. , num. 87, p. 435.
130 In the Irish Calendar at July 16th it is
written CIuahi Caca.
131 See Archbishop Colton's "Metropolitan Visitation of the Diocese of Derry, a. d.
MCCCXCVII. ," n (z), p. 69.
I3* In this parish is the Munitio
Cethirini.
133 According to Archbishop King's List, local belief makes St. Ringan, that is,
Ninian, the patron ; but Colgan's authority, already cited, is superior, as he lived in an
488 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 23.
over the celebrated monastery belonging to the Columban institute, on the IslandofHy. Hissupremejurisdictionthusextendedoverallthemonastic institutions of St. Columkille. Almost contemporaneously, Aldfrid, the Northumbrian prince, known to the Irish by the name of Flann Fina,'41 and whose mothei 142 is said to have been of Irish birth or 1 had been
descent, -^,
obliged on the death of his reputed father, Oswy,144 to leave his native country, and to become an exile in Scotia or Ireland. :« There he was educated in piety and learning by some Irish monks. 1*6 Others will have it, that he sought a refuge in Hy 14? but probably he visited both places. 14* An
his death says : A. \tcp|tich tdac Oppu . 1. JTl-Atro pr>A Ia gAe-oelu hinAi-oh [he was called Fland Fina by the Irish] rex Saxon
;
Irish poem,'49 of twenty-four ranns, said to have been composed by him in
Whereupon it is related, Hiberniam, seuvi seu indignatione, secesserat. Ibi, et ab odio
U1 Thus at A. c. 704, Tighernach recording superseded on the ground of illegitimacy, ""
^
"
nicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , Tigernachi Quocirca, imperii habenis, habiliorem Annales, p. 222. So the Annals of Inis- aestimantes, qui quondam expulerant ultro fallen, in the parallel place a. d. 694, have expetiverunt. "—" Wilhelmi Malmesbirien- JTlAnn rine itiac goffA Rex Saxonorum sis," "Gesta Regum Anglorum," p. 52,
germani tutus, et magno otio Uteris imbutus, fnit. " See Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hiber- omni philosophia composuerat animam.
edition of Thomas D. Hardy, 1840.
145 Irish writers observe; " Non sui tan- turn Uteris excolendi causa in Hiberniam mother. He is distinguished from J? lAnn venit, verum etiam ut Sanctis Hibernue pnn, an ecclesiastic, whom the Gloss and deprecantibus limace qui in aurem ejus the Felire of /Engus at January 14th, places irrepsit, et capitis humoribus attractis at Inbher Neola [An fheblA of the intumuit educto, molestia et morbo—ex ea Foyle ? ] on the confines of Tir Connell and recontracta immunis efficeretur. " Arch-
quievit. " See ibid. Annales Inisfalenses, y. 17.
143 The surname Fina was derived from his
Tir Eoghain ; or at Chuillinn beside Corcagh, as Mananus O'Gorman has it at the same
from
Cambrensis Eversus,"
M oreover, he is to be
day.
Flann Finn, as chief of the Cinel Eoghain, Christianity," vol. ii. , book iv. , chap, iv. ,
Aliter, Kina, daughter of Colman Rimidh, son of liaedan, son of Muircertach, son of Muiredhach, was mother of Flann Fina, King of the Saxons. Tract on the Mothers of the Iiish Saints in the Leabhar Lecain, fol. 43, a Manuscript classed H. 2. 16, in Trinity College, Dublin, p. 365 of the
278, Goodall finishes the climax ;
illas insulas minime Hibernia, Uteris nun- quam Celebris sed Hebrides, et ex iis Heii
—vel Iona insula pnecipue designari videtur. " "
Fordun's Scotichronicon," vol. i. , p.
159, n. 4.
148 Fordun writes: "Qui non pancis
distinguished
in 698, whom the Annals of Ulster call Flann Albus at a. d. 699. Pinkerton greatly errs in confounding this Aldfrid with Alchfrid, a legitimate son of Oswy, and who was invested with regal power by his father, but who died at an earlier date.
143 She is stated by . /Engus, a writer of the
eighth century, to have been from the
princely house of Niall : pnA injen
mic DAeTMin mic tTluijicefXAij mic Scotia, and, as appears by this passage of muijie'OAij;, mACAifi f? loimo ptiA 1115 Malmesbury and others, even t—he name
Chin-ofAetAT) mAtAift f/lom-o pnA mic
OffA. Aliter pnA injen ColmAin ftime Ireland in these times, when the name
SAXAn.
"Fina, daughter ol Cennfaeladh, Hibernia was common to both. " was mother of Flann Fina, son of Ossa.
Catalogue. In the Claun Neill Genealogy
Fina is represented as the great grand- curam dedit. " Scotichronicon lib. iii. , p.
daughter of Muircertach, either through his son Baedan,—or through Ailill, father of
$*• ,4»
It begins :
Cennfaeladh.
Ibid. , fol.
63.
•"Oswy, King of Northumbria, died in
670, and was succeeded by his son Egfrid. Though an elder brother, Aldfrid was
Uo-oeA-o in Imp pnn Ail J?
In efimn ji e iaji n-imAjifJAij.
1m mAr bAn, ni bAech An bjieAch. ImAC lAec, imAc clefeAch
"
deacon Lynch's
edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, vol. ii. , p. 236.
146 See Dean Milman's " of Latin History
p. 267.
147 Such is the account of a Lindisfarne
:
Benedictine Monk. See the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus hi. , Martii xx. Tertia Vita S. Cuthberti, lib. iii. , sect. 6, p. 121. T. Innes endeavours to make it appear, that Aldfrid 's place of retirement was Ycolmkill, and draws the startling con- clusion
" We see that it was usual to the exactest writers to confound Scotland with
"Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," p.
"
annis in Scoti—a et Hibernia discendo literas
""
per
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 489
111
reference to his sojourn in Ireland, ** is still preserved. * The original has
12
been printed by James Hardiman, * and a literal translation into English
has been furnished by John O'Donovan,^ with critical notes appended. '5* James Clarence Mangan has given a metrical version of this poem. 'ss It may
be supposed, that owing to an alleged relationship of his mother with the chief northern family, Aldfrid had been induced to seek refuge on the shores of our Island. It is also probable during the time of his exile, that prince had formed an intimacy with Adamnan, of whom he is called the alumnus *& This friendship thus early formed, afterwards proved serviceable to Adamnan, when his protege ascended the throne. Ecgfrid had been slain by the Picts,
in a fatal
undertaken —them, in the expedition against year 684*57
8 near
a
Loch,
J59 and at Dun Nechtainl6°
supposed
1mu jio bit mAC OffA, Accacff1 ctAi-orhejtAfa, C1A -DO fAT)A A1C1fje,
1f hi mx> ht iAf nAffa. 1mu f. o bit mAC OffA,
CAf a mbi-oif -ouftA -oeojA. Tlo cuaVa Cfifc Af nsui-oe, RoifAOf. buc Ofui-oe bfejjA.
" The death of Flann Fiona, son of Ossa, King of the Saxons, the illustrious wise man, thefoster-sonofAdamnan; ofwhomRiaguil of Bennchor sung :
To-day Bruid fights a battle
About the land of his grandfather.
Unless it be too much to ask of the Son of
God,
Mayhenotperishinit.
To-day the son of Ossa falls
In battle with green swords, Although he did his penance,
And shall lie in Hi after his death. To-day the son of Ossa fulls,
Who had the brown drinks.
Christ has heard our supplication, He will save the splendid Bruide. "
The writer appears to confound Aldfrid
withEcgfrid,asregardsthebattle. Tigher- nach places the death of Aldfrid in the year
704, and Bede at 705. Riaguil, of Bangor, is placed in the Irish Calendar, at June nth, although he is not noticed in the Annals. See at that date, in the Sixth Volume of this work, Art. ii.
,57 The Venerable Bede places this event
"
plAnn £itiA idac Oofa Affor-AoiefienneotofA
x\f bf. u c-ffotA Ren Afecc fTUAIf. A fieift TttAjl -DO f. AI'OeAT).
The translation into English is thus given : — •' It is natural in fair Inis-fail,
In Erin, without contention, Many women, no silly boast, Many laics, many clerics.
Flann Fina, son of Osa, ArchdoctorinErin's
On the banks of the river Ren
[this] ;
Received his due as was natu—ral. "
Rann 23.
150 Charles O'Connor, senior, had a copy "
o—f thispoeminaveryobscurecharacter. "
"
iv. , p. 129. Also in the Stowe Catalogue,
vol. i. , p. 95. Other ancient copies are
mentioned by Edward O'Reilly in his
"
Chronological Account of nearly Four Hundred Irish Writers," p. xlviii.
'51 It is marked H. 2. 16, among the Manuscripts in Trinity College, Dublin.
152 In his "Irish Minstrelsy," vol. ii. , p. 372.
^3
Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus
See "The Dublin Penny Journal," vol. i. , No. 12, pp. 94, 95.
'54 However, the translator omitted to observe, that the introduction of the deno- mination Dublin, in one of the stanzas, deprives the poem of an antiquity dating back to the seventh
155 " century.
See Poems by James Clarence
at A. D. 684. See
Historia Ecclesiastica
Mangan;" with Biographical Introduction
Gentis Anglorum," lib. iv. , cap. 26.
's8 With Bede's account coincides that of
Mathew, of Westminster, except as to date, which he places in the year 685. He adds that Egfrid was succeeded by " frater ejus Aelfridus licet non de legitimo matrimonio susceptus, & in scripturis vir doctissimus, qui regni statum, in magna parte inclinatum
by John to 381.
Mitchel. Irish
Anthology, pp. 379
156 In a Brussels MS. 530I, p. 80, of
Mac Firbis's Irish
Annals,
the death of trioff £lAmn
Alfrid is thus recorded :
JTionA true OffA fi SAXAn, An cejnAit)
"OAtiCA xVoArhnAin bennchuif cecemc,
x>e
quo ttiA5Uit
ArhjiA,
;
1niu pejiAf bfwoe cac,
1m fofbA a fenACAji. ITlAnAT) At$Af Ia niAC *Oe,
Conit) x>e At) jenACAft.
159 This event is thus related by Simeon of Durham: " Extinctum regem apud Nech- tanesmere, quod est Stagnum Nectani,
learning, composed
laudabiter reparavit. " rum," p. 224.
—"
Flores Historia-
or
to have been the modern
685,'5
49© LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23.
l6x 162
Dunnichen, near the North Sea, in Scotland. Aldfrid was afterwards
restored to his country and to the possession of his hereditary rights. Attheyear683,163wehaveanaccountconcerningaforay,whichis said to have taken place in the month of June, when the churches and territories
of Magh-Breagh were devastated. 16*
16
pleading with Ecgfrid. ? Certain it is, however, that he had in view the
release of some Irish captives, who had been carried away from Meath, by the Saxon general of that prince. From Adamnan's own account, we learn, that he visited Aldfrid, the year after King Ecgfrid's death. Wherefore, this
the Saxons to their
16* The Bollandist editor
brought by
that Adamnan's first visit166 to the Saxons had for its object a desire of
visit must have its date in the latter end of l68 or the 685,
of l69 beginning 686,
sepultum. "— Historica Dunelmensis Eccle-
sise," pp. 3, 5. This lake formerly occupied the place of Dunnichen Moss.
160 The Annals of Ulster, at the year 685, ""
record ; Bellum Duin Nechtain in vicesimo
die mensis Maii, die sabbati, factum est, in
quo Elfrith mac Ossu rex Saxonum, xv.
anno regni sui, consummata magna cum
caterva militum suorum interfectus est ; et
combussit cuIa AmAn -oum OtlAijh. " In
686, Tighernach relates this same event :
"
CAi -cum tlechtAin [praelium Dun- Nechtain], xx. die mensis Maii sabbati die factum est, in quo Ecfrit Mac Ossu ex Saxonum xv. anno regni sui, consumata magna cum caterva militum suorum interfectus est tA [a] Brudhi mac Bili rege roficfiein [Pictimia],
161 A parish in Forfarshire, next Forfar, on the south-east, and which is mentioned as
Egfrid's war, in the Vita S. Columbse," lib. ii. , cap. xlvi,
167 See the " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. ,
Junii ix. De S. Columba, Presbytero, Abbate, in Iona Scotiae Insula. Commen- tarius Praevius, sect, i. , num. 2, p. 190.
in a charter of William the Lion to the Abbey of Arbroath. See " Liber de Aberbrothoe, pp. 4, 10, 124,
165.
,6a The Saxon Chronicle, at a. d. 685,
places the scene of this action near the
North Sea, to which the situation of
Dunnichen answers, as it is only twelve
miles distant from the German Ocean. See
"
vol. i. , p. 419 ; also Chalmers' "Caledonia,"
168 The " Annals of the Four Masters" have it at A-D. 684, and mark it as the eleventh year of the reign of Finnacta. It was that, in which the dreadful plague, mentioned by them at said year, broke out, the commencement of which is affixed by FlorenceofWorcesterto685. SeeColgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," p. 385. Having observed that this plague raged when he was on that visit, and that the Continent —of Europe and the islands Sc—
Dunnechtyn
otia et Britannia viz. , Ireland and Britain were laid waste by it, except those parts of North Britain inhabited by the British Scots and the Picts, these, he thought, were preserved from it
Old Statistical Account of Scotland,"
through the intercession of St. Columba.
l0» Roderick O'Flaherty has a manuscript note to Adamnan's Vita S, Columbse, lib. ii. ,
cap. xlvi. , referring to Tigernach's Annals, assigning this visit to a. d. 686, in his former
copy of Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
which is now preserved in the Library of
the Royal Society, Dublin.
'70 « ne visited Alfrid more than once on
some subsequent occasions but
; this, his
first embassy, was either in the latter e—nd of
the
vol. i. , pp. 210, 255.
163 See Dr. O' Donovan's
164 The Annals of Clonmacnoise relate this event at the year 680.
Annals FourMasters,"vol. i. , pp. 288to291.
of the
"
ships.
supposed,
l
according to a learned authority. i° The circumstances connected with
Adamnan's journey are related in his Irish life, but with that disregard for historic accuracy, so characteristic of later Irish hagiology. The piratical expedition of th—e North-Saxons, and the plundering of Magh-Breagh so far
1
as Bealach dui—n now Castlekeeran on the Blackwater,^ and lying north-
west of Kells with the number of male and female captives made by them, are recorded. Then we are told, that the men of Erin requested Adamnan to go to Saxon-land, in quest of those unhappy people. Our saint accordingly
Scriptores," tomus iv. , Annales Ultonienses, p. 62.
166
Making mention of his visits to Alfrid, Adamnan calls him his friend, and he speaks of this visit as the first one after
ejusque corpus in Hii, insula Columba "
'•5 The date given by the Annals of 685, or in the beginning of 686. "
Ulster is 684, for the devastation of Breg
plainsi or Meagh-Breagh, by the Saxons. See Dr. O'Conor's M Rerum Hibernicarum
Dr. Langan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. iii. , chap, xviii. , sect. 5, n. 53, p. 98. * Formerly called the Sele.
Many spoils and several hostages were
September 23. ] LIVES OP THE IRISH SAINTS. 491
went to demand the prisoners, and put in at a place called Tracht-Romra. '? 3 The strand is said to have been long, and the flood rolling at this place. The current was so rapid, that if the best steed in Saxon-land were ridden by the best horseman, and started from the tidal water's edge when it begins to flow, so extensive is the strand and so impetuous was the tide, that he might only bring his rider to the shore by swimming. The Saxons, as related, were willing to allow Adamnan's landing upon their shore. u Push
your
currachs on the land," said Adamnan to his " for both land and people,
sea are obedient to God, and nothing can be done without His permission. "
The clerics did as they had been told, when Adamnan drew a circle with his
crozier around the currachs. Providence rendered the strand firm under
their vessels, and a high wall of sea-waves was formed about them ; so that
the place where they were became an island. The sea even went to its
limits past it, but did them no injury. When the Saxons had observed this
great miracle, they trembled for fear of Adamnan, and granted his full
demand. It was to this effect ; that a complete restoration of the captives
should be made to him, and that no Saxon should ever again go upon a
predatory excursion to Erin. Our saint is then said to have brought back
all the I?
