^
A certain wealthy and good nobleman lived in the plain of Macha.
A certain wealthy and good nobleman lived in the plain of Macha.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v2
51.
"Ancient Churches of Armagh," sec. v. ,
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 107
lionedinourannals. 3^ NowSt. Bride'ssharesitshonourswithapaddockJ^
From the expression coarb,^^ or abbatial successor, we may conclude that, though small, it was a religious house which might have traced back its
origin to the era of its reputed founder. 34 In 1179, the Regies Brighde and the Teampull-na-Fearta35 escaped a wide-spread conflagration,36 which consumedthegreaterpartofArmagh. 37 In1189,however,Armaghwas burned from St. Brigid's cross to the Regies Brighde. 38 The occupants of the nunnery here were possibly of St. Brigid's order, and observants of her rule, from the earliest period. 39 Two townlands belonging to it, at one time, paid a rental of four shillings a year. 4° Afterwards, these endowments seem to have been absorbed in some more powerful interest ; for, at the period of the suppression of religious houses, its sole possessions were the building and the surrounding premises, which occupied about one acre. ^^ At the time ofthedissolution42itwasanunnery,andpossiblyacellofTemplefertagh; for, in inquisitions and patents, both are coupled, and they have changed hands incompanyeversince. 43 TheprecinctsofTemplebreedoccupyanirregular space, situated to the south-east of the Protestant cathedral, at Armagh, and having frontage in the middle, at the south side of Castle-street. 44 The old Catholic chapel stands on the south-west bound, and the site of Temple- breed lies about thirty yards north-east of the near end of the chapel. 45 An ancient cemetery adjoined the nunnery. 4^ The historian of Armagh cor- rectly identifies Teampull na Fearta with the Dobbin holding ;47 yet, strange tosay,elsewhere,heprofesseshisinabilitytodetermineitsposition. 48 Like
p. 25. Printed for the Author, Lusk:
39
See Rev. William Reeves' "Ancient
MDCCCLX, small 8vo. Churches of Armagh," sec. i. , p. 10. ""
3' The Annals of Ulster" and Annals /"According to Primate Dowdall's Re-
of the Four Masters" record atA. D, 1085.
gister of the See of Armagh.
4' An inquisition of 1612, finds that this
was a nunnery. Ultonia Inq. Armagh, No. 3, James I.
42 Then it was occupied by a singer, or "cantator," who resided in said monastery, place, or house, called Templebreed.
43 Both lots, known as the two Abbey
Courts, or the Earl of Anglesey's Liberty, were assigned by lease in 1799, and this was converted into fee by the late Leonard Dobbin, Esq.
44 The enclosure extended back- nunnery
wards down the slope, south and south-east, to near, but not touching, Thomas-street.
43 On the Castle-street of St. frontage
Brigid's ground stood the old castellated house
which gave name to the street. It was an-
ciently called Port-Rath or Rath-Armagh,
and occasionally Rathene. See Stuart's
the death of
Gormgeal Loighseach.
See
Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip-
tores," tomusiii. , p. 648, and tomus iv. p.
350. In the former Annals, the Latinized rendering is " Vicaria Ecclesise S. Brigidse
in Ardmacha, sapiens intelligentia et pie- tate. " In the "Annals of the Four Mas-
*'
Gormgalus Lagisiensis Vicarius Ec- 3' See Rev. William Reeves' "Ancient
ters,"
clesise Brigidse in Ardmacha, sapiens sci-
entia et religione. "
Churches of
33 The word coarb is applied to the suc-
Armagh," p. 3.
cessor or representative of the patron saint,
or founder of a original
monastery, priory, or any ecclesiastical establishment, or to the successor of a bishop. See Owen Connel- lan's and Philip MacDermott's "Annals of Ireland, translated from the original Irish
of the Four Masters," n. 2, p, i.
34 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' "Ancient
"
chap, v. , p. 144.
4^ See the "Dublin for Penny Journal,"
notice of an ancient bronze seal belonging to a former Dean of Armagh, vol. ii. , p. 112. This communication of the late John Corry, the truest antiquary Armagh ever produced, is accompanied by an illustration. The seal was found on the site of Temple Brigid.
"
Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh. " chap, xxvi. , pp. 511, 512, 514.
'''^'Stt ibid. , chap, i. , pp. 83, 87, and in the Appendices vi. and vii. Stuart conjec- tures, that it was at an old abbey, used as a cemetery in the early part of the last cen-
Churches of sec. Armagh,"
v. , p. 25.
33 This is represented as having been the
present Scotch-street, supposed by Dr. Reeves to have been called Templefartagh- street in the time of King Charles II. See ibid. , sec. i. , p. ii.
3* See Rev. Robert King's "Memoir in- troductory to the early History of the Pri- macy of Armagh," p. iii.
37 Probably on account of their position
outside the rath, and the densely-occupied portion of the town.
3^ See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iii. , pp. 84, 85.
47 See
Historical Memoir of the City of Armagh,"
Io8 LIVES OJP THE IRISH SAINTS,
[February i.
many other cathedral cities, Armagh sprung up and extended around its minster church. It likewise grew by degrees into beauty of design and
appearance. '*^ Incomparably fine and picturesque views of it are furnished
City of Armagh, from the East.
at every point of approach ; hills and valleys and rushing streams give va- riety and interest to each of its suburbs.
The ready resources of true charity, as exercised on behalf of our neigh-
bour, are ever versatile, and applicalDle towards objects and conditions, which call forth their exercise by cloistered religious. One day, a poor
leper came to our saint, entreating permission to have his garments washed at her establishment. It is probable, that some public provision had been
there made. Brigid compassionately assented to the leper's request, and when told by the afflicted pauper, that he had no other garments for a change, while what he wore should be washed and dried, our holy abbess directed one of her nuns to present him with her second habit, which she was not obliged to wear. Having a very natural objection to give her clothes to a man, labouring under so loathsome a disease, that nun could hardly bear such a proposal. She was immediately struck with leprosy,s° for her disobedience, and she continued in this state for the lapse of an hour.
Then, indeed, she repented on account of her refusal. Through the prayers of St. Brigid, however, she was soon cleansed from this infectious disease. s^
tury, and that it was situated within the ProtestantPrimate'sdemesne. Seep. 598. *9 The annexed view, from a photograph by Frederick W. Mares, Dublin, was drawn on the wood by William F. Wakeman, and engraved by George A. Hanlon. On a high hill to the right is the new Catholic cathe-
dral, with its double flanking towers and spires. The Protestant cathedral, with its square tower, occupies a high hill in the
centre of the city.
5° The Sixth Life of our saint says
**
:
—
Virgineamque cutem percussit Candida — lepra. " "
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita ti. Brigidse, sec. Ixiii. , p. 596.
5' The leprosy of cold climates seems to be a local disease of the cutis, its vessels
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 109
One of the other nuns, with more charity, had already presented the poor man with a garment, whilst all the community acknowledged the justice of God's judgment on their now penitent sister. When the poor leper had
resumed his own attire, the holy abbess procured for him, likewise, the blessing of a release from his miserable condition. Her sisters gave thanks to God, on witnessing these manifestations of His Almighty power. The holy abbess and her nuns dwelt in a particular cell, in that part of the
:
country, where the foregoing occurrences took place. One night, during Lenten time, eight darmg thieves came to steal four horses, which belonged tothecommunity. Anun,whoremainedawakeatthattime,announcedto our saint this robbery which had been perpetrated. The abbess said
" Be it so ; I already know it, but there will be found others, more powerful than we are, who may retaliate. " On departing with their prey, those robbers went towards the house of a peasant or farmer, from whom they took forty measures of corn. These were put on the four horses and on their own shoulders. Afterwards, they proceeded, as they thought, to their homes. Yet, the Almighty had decreed, that the thieves should retrace their course towards that granary belonging to the nuns. Having deposited their booty, they retired to rest in a corner of the barn. On the following morning, the persons, who had experienced a loss of their corn, setting out on the tracks of those thieves and of the previously-stolen horses, came in chase to St. Brigid's dwelling-place. They declared their reason for coming, and ex- plained about certain indications, which led them to suppose, they had fol- lowed in a right direction. They also requested our abbess to give them whatever information she could furnish regarding this matter. The holy
virgin then went to that granary, where she found the robbers sleeping. Having awakened them, she asked why they had dared to bring their booty
thither, when they replied, in fear and amazement, that they had been under animpressiontheyreturnedtoandsleptintheirownhomes. s" Afterwards, St. Brigid sent a message to St. Patrick, who was not far distant from that place, with a request that he would come and release those robbers. The holy prelate immediately came to our saint. Having ransomed them, they repented, and sought to atone for their crimes, by offering that corn they had taken to St. Brigid and to her nuns, being convinced, such restitution should be acceptable to God. 53 By the occurrence of this miracle, St. Brigid's fame was greatly diffused, through this particular district of country. s* While St. Brigid, with some of her nuns, was one day seated near Armagh city, two men approached, bearing water in an uncovered wooden vessel. ss On coming towards the holy abbess, they entreated her to bless this water. With their request she complied, and she also blessed themselves, at the
and glands ; but, it is much more virulent trated. See Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, cap. and contagious in warm climates. See lix. , p. 533, Ibid.
Dr. Robert Thomas' *' Modern Practice of " We are not informed, whether our Physic," &c. Article, Lepra or Leprosy, saint received this offering, which she could
London : 1834. 8vo. Tenth
Colgan's
Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xxviii. , xxix. , p. 554. In another of our saint's
lives, it is said, that a deficiency of corn ex- isted at the time of this robbery, that the grain taken had been winnowed, and in- tended for seed, and that the thieves en- tered, not a barn, but a small hut, to sleep there, alter this robbery had been perpe-
only have accepted right<ully, with consent of the real owner ot the corn stolen.
54 it is the unfinished portion of probable,
our saint's Sixth Life, as found in the Bar- barini MS. , had reference also to this miracle, See Vita Sexta S. Brigidce, sec. Ixv. , p. 596. Ibid.
55 See Abbate Certani's " La Santiti Pro-
digiosa. Vita di S. Brigidalbernese. " Libro Quinto, pp. 340, 341.
pp. 729, 730. edition.
5=* See
" Trias
Thaumaturga,"
iio LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIMTS
[February i.
same time. Departing from her, it happened, that vessel containing water
fell on its side, and not only did it remain unbroken, but not even one
drop of its contents spilled through the aperture. ^^ This remarkable cir-
cumstance was attributed to the efficacy of St. Brigid's prayers. When St.
Patrick had been informed regarding such an occurrence, he grdered a part of the water contained in that vessel to be divided among particular
churches about Armagh,57 and to be used in the Eucharistic sacrifices^ Another portion he desired should be sprinkled on the fields, to make them productive. 59 His orders were obeyed, and many, who had been benefited by this distribution, gave thanks to God and to his glorious servant, St. Brigid.
^
A certain wealthy and good nobleman lived in the plain of Macha. ^^
He suffered greatly from disease and a pestilence, which baffled the skill of
physicians. At last he sent to St. Brigid, requesting a visit from her ; and,
while approaching the house, which she saw at a distance, our holy virgin
declared, that from whatever quarter the wind blew, it should bring calamity
and disease on the master of that
man, he was surprised, and declared he did not know why he should incur such a judgment, as he had done evil to no person. Then his herd re- plied, by stating, it had been rumoured, that all wayfarers without exception were in the habit of cursing this nobleman, because he had allowed his husbandmen to enclose certain fields, with hedges,^3 which had the effect of making an adjoining highway impassable, owing to their thorny obstructions. When St. Brigid heard of this, she declared it was the cause of his misfor- tune. Wherefore, that nobleman gave orders to restore the highway to its former unincumbered state. Afterwards, all passengers bestowed their bless- ings on him. He was also relieved from his infirmities, through the prayers of St. Brigid, to whom, and to the Almighty, he offered humble acknow-
dwelling.
ledgments-^-^
To the pious abbess, among other gifts, was accorded the spirit of pro-
phecy. ^5 We are told, while St. Patrick, on a certain day, preached the
s<5 In Professor O'Looney's Irish Life of
St. Brigid, it is said to have rolled from the
door of the Rathto Lochlaphain, pp. 29,30. 57 And throughout Airthiria (Orior) is
addedinProfessorO'Looney'sMS. Ibid.
"
58 Ut ad Eucharistiam sanguinis Christi
mitteretur," &c. , are ihe words used in our saint's Third and Fourth Lives. They show how early in Ireland was the practice of mingling some drops of water with wine used at Mass, thus according with the pre- sent Roman rite.
depressions and eminences, highly cultivated and improved by art.
''^
This account, with his usual classical illustrations, is also to be found elaborated in Abbate D. Giacomo Certani's " La San- tit^ Prodigiosa. Vita di S. Brigida Iber- nese. " Libro Quinto, pp. 334 to 338.
^^ This passage indicates early Irish agri- cultural improvements, in fencing landed property. These probably, in many in- stances, should favourably compare with the present state of landed proprietors' efforts
59 We are told, moreover, that it cured in Ireland. Much more should have been
every disease and distemper that was in the
country. Professor O'Looney's Irish Life
done to trim hedges and secure fields in an ornamental manner. By planting trees more generally and by building commodious and
of St. Brigid, pp. 29, 30.
^See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," handsome dwellings for farmers and cot-
Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xxxii. , tiers, the natural features of our landscapes PP- 554> 555- Vita Tertia S. Brigid ae, cap. might be rendered far more picturesque, Ixii. , p. 534. Ibiii. while social order and happiness should be
*'In one reading, Colgan found **in increased,
campo Mancho, which he amends in the following comment, "rectius yJ/o^/^<7. " This
was a plain extending round Armagh, called
in Irish, Macha, n. — This Magh, 34, p. 543.
^* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xxxi. , p. 554. Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, cap. Ixi. , p. 534. Ibid.
"
De
prospects, with delightful rolling surfaces, gidse Officium, Lect. vi. , p. 13.
plain now—
^5
charmingly diversified sylvan and pastoral Sanctorum Hibernian. " In Festo S. Bri*
if it can be so called
presents
Bishop
Burgo's
Officia
Propriil
^^ When this was told the noble-
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. lit
word of God, in the province of Ulster, and while the pearl of Ireland^^ formed one of a numerous concourse of persons present, the whole multi- tude saw a cloud of surpassing brightness descending from the heavens to- wards the earth. ^7 This luminous meteor rested over a place, adjoining that in which the congregation had been assembled. Afterwards, this bright meteor drifted towards the citadel or Dun of Leathglass. ^^ This remarkable Dun is still a prominent object near Downpatrick. '^s Having continued there for a considerable time, it finally disappeared. The congregation pre-
^ Thus is St. Brigid poetically styled by according to authors worthy of credit, the Jocelyn, who relates these incidents. See whole of Britain, and especially the He-
*'
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga. " Sexta brides, suffered from the frequent incur-
VitaS. Patricii, cap. clxxxviii. , clxxxix. , p. 107.
^ The Abbate D. Giacomo Certani thus
non
sions of Danes and other Pagans, and for nearly two hundred years subsequently Dub- lin had been occupied by the Northmen,
writes —' '
while
made
alia sua
Canonica Saballense discorrendo delle into other parts of our island, especially
:
Staua
egli
lungi
A. D.
840,
they
frequent
inroads
bellezze del Paradiso, alle quali di gia s'ap-
prossimaua, quando si vide vn Globe grande
di luminosissima luce fermarsi sul cimitero,
que staua poco lungi allaCitta di Duno. "— A. D. 835, while Kethernus, prior in this *'
La Santita Prodigiosa. Vita di S. Brigida Ibemese. " Libro Quarto, p. 328.
city, with many others, had been put to death, A. D. 843. Wherefore, Colgan thinks it fair to conjecture, although he could not pronounce with certainty, that St. Brigid's sacred relics had been transferred from Kil- dare, while those of St. Columkille had been removed from lona Island to Down, before or about the middle of the ninth cen- tury. This he considers a more probable opinion, because no other period for this translation can be pointed to as more op- portune, and because, at that time, it is not a little remarkable, that one and the same abbot presided over the monasteries of Kil- dare and lona, while it is probable, he con- ceived a desire of having those sacred trea-
^* "
Ubi sepultus est ipse Sanctus Patri-
cius, Beata Brigida et reliquse Beatissimi Abbatis Columbae post multos annos collo- catse in sepulchro," will be found inserted between brackets, in the Fourth Life of St. Brigid, where an account of these events is given. The site of the citadel here men- tioned was known as Dun da leth-glas, by the ancient inhabitants of our island, or as contracted into Dun, now Anglicized Down. In Latin it is called Dunum. It is now a city and an episcopal see, in the eastern part of Ulster. At a period long subse- quent to their several deaths, the relics of
Saints Patrick, Brigid, and Columkille were sures, which had been committed to his
preserved in Down. This incidental pas- sage—already quoted from the Fourth Life of our saint—shows that the writer of this treatise must have written it, subsequent to
charge, removed to a safer place, owing to the frequently-recurring ravages of infidels. The Ulster province was then considered more secure than any other part of Ireland,
as Niall Cuille, King of Ireland, was sta- van's Annals of the Four Masters," tioned there, with his forces. At the year
A. D. 823, when, according to Dr. O'Dono- "
"Blathmac, son of Flann, received the
crown of martyrdom, for he was killed by
the foreigners at I Coluim-Cille," vol. i. , pp.
436, 437. At that date, St. Columkille's the Abbot of la, died in Pictland," vol. i. , relics were kept at lona, off Albanian Sco-
tia's coast, as Walafrid Strabo, a contempo- raneous writer, relates, in his account o—f St.
Blathmac's martyrdom, in these lines
:
** "
Et reliquis rabida sociis feritate peremptis, pendix V. See Trias Thaumaturga,"
Ad sanctum venere patrem, pretiosa me- Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, n. 30, p. 543.
talla
Redere cogentes, quels sancta Columbae
Ossa jacent ; quam quippe suis de sedi- bus arcam
Tollentes tumulo terra posuere cavato Cespite sub denso, gnari jam pestis ini-
quae. "
At the time of St. Blathmaic's martyrdom.
Also, Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, nn. 13, 14, pp. 565, 566, ibid. Also, Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 460, 461, and nn. (f, g), pp. 452, 453, and n. (p), pp. 466, 467, with pp. 442, 443,
^ The ancient Dun Keltair at this place
is composed of three great earthen ramparts, with as many intervening trenches. These were covered with a growth of furze, briars,
upon Leinster, burning and devastating va- rious places where they came. Kildare is
mentioned, as having been spoiled by them,
863, in Dr. O'Douovan's "Annals of the
"
lach, son of Ailill, Abbot of Cill-dara, and
Four Masters," it is recorded, that
Ceal-
pp. 500, 501. He appears to have sue* ceeded Sedulius, Abbot of Kildare, who died in 828, since we read of no other Abbot of Kildare that lived there as an interme- diary. This he undertook to prove in Ap-
112 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
sent would not dare to inquire, from their venerated Apostle, the meaning of this portent ; but, they applied for a solution of it, from the holy virgin, Brigid. She told them to ask their common father, St. Patrick, for an ex-
planation.
:
The latter replied to her " You and I are equals, therefore
explain this mystery to the people. "7o St. Brigid then spoke to the assem-
bla^^e ; she told them, that apparition indicated St. Patrick's spirit, which
went, as it were, before to visit the place where his body should be interred
""
after his death. 7^ For," said she, where this meteor first rested near us,
there shall the body of our holy patron lie unburied for some days,7» and thence shall it be brought, and be interred in Leathglaisse Dun,73 where it shall remain to the day of judgment. ''74 Holy Patrick then requested our saint to make with her own hands that shroud, in which his body should be wrapped after death, and he expressed a desire to arise from the grave, clothed with it, to receive his eternal reward. This request our holy virgin promised should be complied with, and she also predicted to St. Patrick, that he with herself and the celebrated St. Columkille, another great Irish apostle, not then born, should arise for judgment, from this same tomb. 75 The body of Ireland's illustrious Apostle was afterwards wrapped in that shroud then promised him by St. Brigid. On hearing this colloquy and pre- diction, the crowd assembled praised Almighty God. 76
Subsequently, as we are told, having obtained permission from the holy Archbishop Patrick for a return to her own part of the country, St. Brigid travelled over a plain called Breagh, within the Meathian territory. While she dwelt there at a certain cell, it would seem the wife, probably of Fer- gus,77 the son of Conall Crimthann, who was son to Niall, King of Ireland,7^
sloe and hawthorn bushes, when visited by the writer in May, 1874. The whole is surrounded with marshy meadows, re- claimed from the waters of Lough Strang- ford.
70 See "The Life of St. Brigid," by an Irish Priest, chap, vii. , p. 88.
7' In a note, on this passage, Colgan ob- serves, the meaning does not appear to be, that St. Patrick s soul, not yet departed from his body, actually came to the place of his future interment, but that the meteor represented it, and the place lor its future burial. See "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Tertia S. Brigidse, n. 32, p. 543.
72 See ibid. Vita Quarta S. Brigidse, n.
15, p. 566.
^^ At this present time, in the small and
Joceline, cap. 189, viz. , that St. Patrick died in the monastery of Saul, and that his body afterwards had been interred in the city of
Down. Joceline also adds, cap. 193, that the Irish Apostle s body remained twelve days unburied at the former place, before it was brought to Down, on account of a con- test that took place between the Armagh
and Down people, who respectively con- tended for the possession of his remains.
75 See ibid. , Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. XXX. , p, 554. Also, Vita I'ertia S. Brigidoe, cap. Ix. , pp.
"Ancient Churches of Armagh," sec. v. ,
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS 107
lionedinourannals. 3^ NowSt. Bride'ssharesitshonourswithapaddockJ^
From the expression coarb,^^ or abbatial successor, we may conclude that, though small, it was a religious house which might have traced back its
origin to the era of its reputed founder. 34 In 1179, the Regies Brighde and the Teampull-na-Fearta35 escaped a wide-spread conflagration,36 which consumedthegreaterpartofArmagh. 37 In1189,however,Armaghwas burned from St. Brigid's cross to the Regies Brighde. 38 The occupants of the nunnery here were possibly of St. Brigid's order, and observants of her rule, from the earliest period. 39 Two townlands belonging to it, at one time, paid a rental of four shillings a year. 4° Afterwards, these endowments seem to have been absorbed in some more powerful interest ; for, at the period of the suppression of religious houses, its sole possessions were the building and the surrounding premises, which occupied about one acre. ^^ At the time ofthedissolution42itwasanunnery,andpossiblyacellofTemplefertagh; for, in inquisitions and patents, both are coupled, and they have changed hands incompanyeversince. 43 TheprecinctsofTemplebreedoccupyanirregular space, situated to the south-east of the Protestant cathedral, at Armagh, and having frontage in the middle, at the south side of Castle-street. 44 The old Catholic chapel stands on the south-west bound, and the site of Temple- breed lies about thirty yards north-east of the near end of the chapel. 45 An ancient cemetery adjoined the nunnery. 4^ The historian of Armagh cor- rectly identifies Teampull na Fearta with the Dobbin holding ;47 yet, strange tosay,elsewhere,heprofesseshisinabilitytodetermineitsposition. 48 Like
p. 25. Printed for the Author, Lusk:
39
See Rev. William Reeves' "Ancient
MDCCCLX, small 8vo. Churches of Armagh," sec. i. , p. 10. ""
3' The Annals of Ulster" and Annals /"According to Primate Dowdall's Re-
of the Four Masters" record atA. D, 1085.
gister of the See of Armagh.
4' An inquisition of 1612, finds that this
was a nunnery. Ultonia Inq. Armagh, No. 3, James I.
42 Then it was occupied by a singer, or "cantator," who resided in said monastery, place, or house, called Templebreed.
43 Both lots, known as the two Abbey
Courts, or the Earl of Anglesey's Liberty, were assigned by lease in 1799, and this was converted into fee by the late Leonard Dobbin, Esq.
44 The enclosure extended back- nunnery
wards down the slope, south and south-east, to near, but not touching, Thomas-street.
43 On the Castle-street of St. frontage
Brigid's ground stood the old castellated house
which gave name to the street. It was an-
ciently called Port-Rath or Rath-Armagh,
and occasionally Rathene. See Stuart's
the death of
Gormgeal Loighseach.
See
Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip-
tores," tomusiii. , p. 648, and tomus iv. p.
350. In the former Annals, the Latinized rendering is " Vicaria Ecclesise S. Brigidse
in Ardmacha, sapiens intelligentia et pie- tate. " In the "Annals of the Four Mas-
*'
Gormgalus Lagisiensis Vicarius Ec- 3' See Rev. William Reeves' "Ancient
ters,"
clesise Brigidse in Ardmacha, sapiens sci-
entia et religione. "
Churches of
33 The word coarb is applied to the suc-
Armagh," p. 3.
cessor or representative of the patron saint,
or founder of a original
monastery, priory, or any ecclesiastical establishment, or to the successor of a bishop. See Owen Connel- lan's and Philip MacDermott's "Annals of Ireland, translated from the original Irish
of the Four Masters," n. 2, p, i.
34 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' "Ancient
"
chap, v. , p. 144.
4^ See the "Dublin for Penny Journal,"
notice of an ancient bronze seal belonging to a former Dean of Armagh, vol. ii. , p. 112. This communication of the late John Corry, the truest antiquary Armagh ever produced, is accompanied by an illustration. The seal was found on the site of Temple Brigid.
"
Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh. " chap, xxvi. , pp. 511, 512, 514.
'''^'Stt ibid. , chap, i. , pp. 83, 87, and in the Appendices vi. and vii. Stuart conjec- tures, that it was at an old abbey, used as a cemetery in the early part of the last cen-
Churches of sec. Armagh,"
v. , p. 25.
33 This is represented as having been the
present Scotch-street, supposed by Dr. Reeves to have been called Templefartagh- street in the time of King Charles II. See ibid. , sec. i. , p. ii.
3* See Rev. Robert King's "Memoir in- troductory to the early History of the Pri- macy of Armagh," p. iii.
37 Probably on account of their position
outside the rath, and the densely-occupied portion of the town.
3^ See Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. iii. , pp. 84, 85.
47 See
Historical Memoir of the City of Armagh,"
Io8 LIVES OJP THE IRISH SAINTS,
[February i.
many other cathedral cities, Armagh sprung up and extended around its minster church. It likewise grew by degrees into beauty of design and
appearance. '*^ Incomparably fine and picturesque views of it are furnished
City of Armagh, from the East.
at every point of approach ; hills and valleys and rushing streams give va- riety and interest to each of its suburbs.
The ready resources of true charity, as exercised on behalf of our neigh-
bour, are ever versatile, and applicalDle towards objects and conditions, which call forth their exercise by cloistered religious. One day, a poor
leper came to our saint, entreating permission to have his garments washed at her establishment. It is probable, that some public provision had been
there made. Brigid compassionately assented to the leper's request, and when told by the afflicted pauper, that he had no other garments for a change, while what he wore should be washed and dried, our holy abbess directed one of her nuns to present him with her second habit, which she was not obliged to wear. Having a very natural objection to give her clothes to a man, labouring under so loathsome a disease, that nun could hardly bear such a proposal. She was immediately struck with leprosy,s° for her disobedience, and she continued in this state for the lapse of an hour.
Then, indeed, she repented on account of her refusal. Through the prayers of St. Brigid, however, she was soon cleansed from this infectious disease. s^
tury, and that it was situated within the ProtestantPrimate'sdemesne. Seep. 598. *9 The annexed view, from a photograph by Frederick W. Mares, Dublin, was drawn on the wood by William F. Wakeman, and engraved by George A. Hanlon. On a high hill to the right is the new Catholic cathe-
dral, with its double flanking towers and spires. The Protestant cathedral, with its square tower, occupies a high hill in the
centre of the city.
5° The Sixth Life of our saint says
**
:
—
Virgineamque cutem percussit Candida — lepra. " "
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vita ti. Brigidse, sec. Ixiii. , p. 596.
5' The leprosy of cold climates seems to be a local disease of the cutis, its vessels
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 109
One of the other nuns, with more charity, had already presented the poor man with a garment, whilst all the community acknowledged the justice of God's judgment on their now penitent sister. When the poor leper had
resumed his own attire, the holy abbess procured for him, likewise, the blessing of a release from his miserable condition. Her sisters gave thanks to God, on witnessing these manifestations of His Almighty power. The holy abbess and her nuns dwelt in a particular cell, in that part of the
:
country, where the foregoing occurrences took place. One night, during Lenten time, eight darmg thieves came to steal four horses, which belonged tothecommunity. Anun,whoremainedawakeatthattime,announcedto our saint this robbery which had been perpetrated. The abbess said
" Be it so ; I already know it, but there will be found others, more powerful than we are, who may retaliate. " On departing with their prey, those robbers went towards the house of a peasant or farmer, from whom they took forty measures of corn. These were put on the four horses and on their own shoulders. Afterwards, they proceeded, as they thought, to their homes. Yet, the Almighty had decreed, that the thieves should retrace their course towards that granary belonging to the nuns. Having deposited their booty, they retired to rest in a corner of the barn. On the following morning, the persons, who had experienced a loss of their corn, setting out on the tracks of those thieves and of the previously-stolen horses, came in chase to St. Brigid's dwelling-place. They declared their reason for coming, and ex- plained about certain indications, which led them to suppose, they had fol- lowed in a right direction. They also requested our abbess to give them whatever information she could furnish regarding this matter. The holy
virgin then went to that granary, where she found the robbers sleeping. Having awakened them, she asked why they had dared to bring their booty
thither, when they replied, in fear and amazement, that they had been under animpressiontheyreturnedtoandsleptintheirownhomes. s" Afterwards, St. Brigid sent a message to St. Patrick, who was not far distant from that place, with a request that he would come and release those robbers. The holy prelate immediately came to our saint. Having ransomed them, they repented, and sought to atone for their crimes, by offering that corn they had taken to St. Brigid and to her nuns, being convinced, such restitution should be acceptable to God. 53 By the occurrence of this miracle, St. Brigid's fame was greatly diffused, through this particular district of country. s* While St. Brigid, with some of her nuns, was one day seated near Armagh city, two men approached, bearing water in an uncovered wooden vessel. ss On coming towards the holy abbess, they entreated her to bless this water. With their request she complied, and she also blessed themselves, at the
and glands ; but, it is much more virulent trated. See Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, cap. and contagious in warm climates. See lix. , p. 533, Ibid.
Dr. Robert Thomas' *' Modern Practice of " We are not informed, whether our Physic," &c. Article, Lepra or Leprosy, saint received this offering, which she could
London : 1834. 8vo. Tenth
Colgan's
Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xxviii. , xxix. , p. 554. In another of our saint's
lives, it is said, that a deficiency of corn ex- isted at the time of this robbery, that the grain taken had been winnowed, and in- tended for seed, and that the thieves en- tered, not a barn, but a small hut, to sleep there, alter this robbery had been perpe-
only have accepted right<ully, with consent of the real owner ot the corn stolen.
54 it is the unfinished portion of probable,
our saint's Sixth Life, as found in the Bar- barini MS. , had reference also to this miracle, See Vita Sexta S. Brigidce, sec. Ixv. , p. 596. Ibid.
55 See Abbate Certani's " La Santiti Pro-
digiosa. Vita di S. Brigidalbernese. " Libro Quinto, pp. 340, 341.
pp. 729, 730. edition.
5=* See
" Trias
Thaumaturga,"
iio LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIMTS
[February i.
same time. Departing from her, it happened, that vessel containing water
fell on its side, and not only did it remain unbroken, but not even one
drop of its contents spilled through the aperture. ^^ This remarkable cir-
cumstance was attributed to the efficacy of St. Brigid's prayers. When St.
Patrick had been informed regarding such an occurrence, he grdered a part of the water contained in that vessel to be divided among particular
churches about Armagh,57 and to be used in the Eucharistic sacrifices^ Another portion he desired should be sprinkled on the fields, to make them productive. 59 His orders were obeyed, and many, who had been benefited by this distribution, gave thanks to God and to his glorious servant, St. Brigid.
^
A certain wealthy and good nobleman lived in the plain of Macha. ^^
He suffered greatly from disease and a pestilence, which baffled the skill of
physicians. At last he sent to St. Brigid, requesting a visit from her ; and,
while approaching the house, which she saw at a distance, our holy virgin
declared, that from whatever quarter the wind blew, it should bring calamity
and disease on the master of that
man, he was surprised, and declared he did not know why he should incur such a judgment, as he had done evil to no person. Then his herd re- plied, by stating, it had been rumoured, that all wayfarers without exception were in the habit of cursing this nobleman, because he had allowed his husbandmen to enclose certain fields, with hedges,^3 which had the effect of making an adjoining highway impassable, owing to their thorny obstructions. When St. Brigid heard of this, she declared it was the cause of his misfor- tune. Wherefore, that nobleman gave orders to restore the highway to its former unincumbered state. Afterwards, all passengers bestowed their bless- ings on him. He was also relieved from his infirmities, through the prayers of St. Brigid, to whom, and to the Almighty, he offered humble acknow-
dwelling.
ledgments-^-^
To the pious abbess, among other gifts, was accorded the spirit of pro-
phecy. ^5 We are told, while St. Patrick, on a certain day, preached the
s<5 In Professor O'Looney's Irish Life of
St. Brigid, it is said to have rolled from the
door of the Rathto Lochlaphain, pp. 29,30. 57 And throughout Airthiria (Orior) is
addedinProfessorO'Looney'sMS. Ibid.
"
58 Ut ad Eucharistiam sanguinis Christi
mitteretur," &c. , are ihe words used in our saint's Third and Fourth Lives. They show how early in Ireland was the practice of mingling some drops of water with wine used at Mass, thus according with the pre- sent Roman rite.
depressions and eminences, highly cultivated and improved by art.
''^
This account, with his usual classical illustrations, is also to be found elaborated in Abbate D. Giacomo Certani's " La San- tit^ Prodigiosa. Vita di S. Brigida Iber- nese. " Libro Quinto, pp. 334 to 338.
^^ This passage indicates early Irish agri- cultural improvements, in fencing landed property. These probably, in many in- stances, should favourably compare with the present state of landed proprietors' efforts
59 We are told, moreover, that it cured in Ireland. Much more should have been
every disease and distemper that was in the
country. Professor O'Looney's Irish Life
done to trim hedges and secure fields in an ornamental manner. By planting trees more generally and by building commodious and
of St. Brigid, pp. 29, 30.
^See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," handsome dwellings for farmers and cot-
Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xxxii. , tiers, the natural features of our landscapes PP- 554> 555- Vita Tertia S. Brigid ae, cap. might be rendered far more picturesque, Ixii. , p. 534. Ibiii. while social order and happiness should be
*'In one reading, Colgan found **in increased,
campo Mancho, which he amends in the following comment, "rectius yJ/o^/^<7. " This
was a plain extending round Armagh, called
in Irish, Macha, n. — This Magh, 34, p. 543.
^* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. xxxi. , p. 554. Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, cap. Ixi. , p. 534. Ibid.
"
De
prospects, with delightful rolling surfaces, gidse Officium, Lect. vi. , p. 13.
plain now—
^5
charmingly diversified sylvan and pastoral Sanctorum Hibernian. " In Festo S. Bri*
if it can be so called
presents
Bishop
Burgo's
Officia
Propriil
^^ When this was told the noble-
February i. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. lit
word of God, in the province of Ulster, and while the pearl of Ireland^^ formed one of a numerous concourse of persons present, the whole multi- tude saw a cloud of surpassing brightness descending from the heavens to- wards the earth. ^7 This luminous meteor rested over a place, adjoining that in which the congregation had been assembled. Afterwards, this bright meteor drifted towards the citadel or Dun of Leathglass. ^^ This remarkable Dun is still a prominent object near Downpatrick. '^s Having continued there for a considerable time, it finally disappeared. The congregation pre-
^ Thus is St. Brigid poetically styled by according to authors worthy of credit, the Jocelyn, who relates these incidents. See whole of Britain, and especially the He-
*'
Colgan's Trias Thaumaturga. " Sexta brides, suffered from the frequent incur-
VitaS. Patricii, cap. clxxxviii. , clxxxix. , p. 107.
^ The Abbate D. Giacomo Certani thus
non
sions of Danes and other Pagans, and for nearly two hundred years subsequently Dub- lin had been occupied by the Northmen,
writes —' '
while
made
alia sua
Canonica Saballense discorrendo delle into other parts of our island, especially
:
Staua
egli
lungi
A. D.
840,
they
frequent
inroads
bellezze del Paradiso, alle quali di gia s'ap-
prossimaua, quando si vide vn Globe grande
di luminosissima luce fermarsi sul cimitero,
que staua poco lungi allaCitta di Duno. "— A. D. 835, while Kethernus, prior in this *'
La Santita Prodigiosa. Vita di S. Brigida Ibemese. " Libro Quarto, p. 328.
city, with many others, had been put to death, A. D. 843. Wherefore, Colgan thinks it fair to conjecture, although he could not pronounce with certainty, that St. Brigid's sacred relics had been transferred from Kil- dare, while those of St. Columkille had been removed from lona Island to Down, before or about the middle of the ninth cen- tury. This he considers a more probable opinion, because no other period for this translation can be pointed to as more op- portune, and because, at that time, it is not a little remarkable, that one and the same abbot presided over the monasteries of Kil- dare and lona, while it is probable, he con- ceived a desire of having those sacred trea-
^* "
Ubi sepultus est ipse Sanctus Patri-
cius, Beata Brigida et reliquse Beatissimi Abbatis Columbae post multos annos collo- catse in sepulchro," will be found inserted between brackets, in the Fourth Life of St. Brigid, where an account of these events is given. The site of the citadel here men- tioned was known as Dun da leth-glas, by the ancient inhabitants of our island, or as contracted into Dun, now Anglicized Down. In Latin it is called Dunum. It is now a city and an episcopal see, in the eastern part of Ulster. At a period long subse- quent to their several deaths, the relics of
Saints Patrick, Brigid, and Columkille were sures, which had been committed to his
preserved in Down. This incidental pas- sage—already quoted from the Fourth Life of our saint—shows that the writer of this treatise must have written it, subsequent to
charge, removed to a safer place, owing to the frequently-recurring ravages of infidels. The Ulster province was then considered more secure than any other part of Ireland,
as Niall Cuille, King of Ireland, was sta- van's Annals of the Four Masters," tioned there, with his forces. At the year
A. D. 823, when, according to Dr. O'Dono- "
"Blathmac, son of Flann, received the
crown of martyrdom, for he was killed by
the foreigners at I Coluim-Cille," vol. i. , pp.
436, 437. At that date, St. Columkille's the Abbot of la, died in Pictland," vol. i. , relics were kept at lona, off Albanian Sco-
tia's coast, as Walafrid Strabo, a contempo- raneous writer, relates, in his account o—f St.
Blathmac's martyrdom, in these lines
:
** "
Et reliquis rabida sociis feritate peremptis, pendix V. See Trias Thaumaturga,"
Ad sanctum venere patrem, pretiosa me- Vita Tertia S. Brigidae, n. 30, p. 543.
talla
Redere cogentes, quels sancta Columbae
Ossa jacent ; quam quippe suis de sedi- bus arcam
Tollentes tumulo terra posuere cavato Cespite sub denso, gnari jam pestis ini-
quae. "
At the time of St. Blathmaic's martyrdom.
Also, Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, nn. 13, 14, pp. 565, 566, ibid. Also, Dr. O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 460, 461, and nn. (f, g), pp. 452, 453, and n. (p), pp. 466, 467, with pp. 442, 443,
^ The ancient Dun Keltair at this place
is composed of three great earthen ramparts, with as many intervening trenches. These were covered with a growth of furze, briars,
upon Leinster, burning and devastating va- rious places where they came. Kildare is
mentioned, as having been spoiled by them,
863, in Dr. O'Douovan's "Annals of the
"
lach, son of Ailill, Abbot of Cill-dara, and
Four Masters," it is recorded, that
Ceal-
pp. 500, 501. He appears to have sue* ceeded Sedulius, Abbot of Kildare, who died in 828, since we read of no other Abbot of Kildare that lived there as an interme- diary. This he undertook to prove in Ap-
112 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [February i.
sent would not dare to inquire, from their venerated Apostle, the meaning of this portent ; but, they applied for a solution of it, from the holy virgin, Brigid. She told them to ask their common father, St. Patrick, for an ex-
planation.
:
The latter replied to her " You and I are equals, therefore
explain this mystery to the people. "7o St. Brigid then spoke to the assem-
bla^^e ; she told them, that apparition indicated St. Patrick's spirit, which
went, as it were, before to visit the place where his body should be interred
""
after his death. 7^ For," said she, where this meteor first rested near us,
there shall the body of our holy patron lie unburied for some days,7» and thence shall it be brought, and be interred in Leathglaisse Dun,73 where it shall remain to the day of judgment. ''74 Holy Patrick then requested our saint to make with her own hands that shroud, in which his body should be wrapped after death, and he expressed a desire to arise from the grave, clothed with it, to receive his eternal reward. This request our holy virgin promised should be complied with, and she also predicted to St. Patrick, that he with herself and the celebrated St. Columkille, another great Irish apostle, not then born, should arise for judgment, from this same tomb. 75 The body of Ireland's illustrious Apostle was afterwards wrapped in that shroud then promised him by St. Brigid. On hearing this colloquy and pre- diction, the crowd assembled praised Almighty God. 76
Subsequently, as we are told, having obtained permission from the holy Archbishop Patrick for a return to her own part of the country, St. Brigid travelled over a plain called Breagh, within the Meathian territory. While she dwelt there at a certain cell, it would seem the wife, probably of Fer- gus,77 the son of Conall Crimthann, who was son to Niall, King of Ireland,7^
sloe and hawthorn bushes, when visited by the writer in May, 1874. The whole is surrounded with marshy meadows, re- claimed from the waters of Lough Strang- ford.
70 See "The Life of St. Brigid," by an Irish Priest, chap, vii. , p. 88.
7' In a note, on this passage, Colgan ob- serves, the meaning does not appear to be, that St. Patrick s soul, not yet departed from his body, actually came to the place of his future interment, but that the meteor represented it, and the place lor its future burial. See "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Tertia S. Brigidse, n. 32, p. 543.
72 See ibid. Vita Quarta S. Brigidse, n.
15, p. 566.
^^ At this present time, in the small and
Joceline, cap. 189, viz. , that St. Patrick died in the monastery of Saul, and that his body afterwards had been interred in the city of
Down. Joceline also adds, cap. 193, that the Irish Apostle s body remained twelve days unburied at the former place, before it was brought to Down, on account of a con- test that took place between the Armagh
and Down people, who respectively con- tended for the possession of his remains.
75 See ibid. , Vita Quarta S. Brigidae, lib. ii. , cap. XXX. , p, 554. Also, Vita I'ertia S. Brigidoe, cap. Ix. , pp.
