No More Learning

xxi. The is in the following reading
in Ireland," num. 16, pp. 145, 146. "3
Conspicuous Hermogenes went, after In the Monastery, Inisense or Insulense, achievinghisflight,toJesus,—asplendid livedtheCanonRegular,AugustineMagrai-
— !
one of themost celebrated
poor din, hagiographers
out of body of clay. "
"
coldness of his
change
(the)
This Apostle's feast occurs, at the 1st of May.
of his time, in Ireland. He also composed a Chronicle of the country, toA. D. 1405, the yearwhenhedied. SeeL. Aug. Alemand's "Histoire
'' Someaccountoftheir
recorded,
name, in ancient Kalendnrs, will be met 48. A Paris, 1690, l2mo.
with, in the Bollandists' "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Aprilis xix. De Sanctis Martyii- bus Melitinensibus Heiniogene, Caio, Ex- pedite, Aristonico, Rufo, Galata, Mitina, Arminia, Rufo, Hilario, Aristonico, Foitu- nato, Caio, Donato, Mavilino, pp. 619, 620. There it will be seen how divergent are the authorities cited, regarding these martyrs.
• The monarch of Ireland, Eochaidh Feidhlech, lived about a century before the Incarnation, and besides the celebrated Meclbh or Meave, Queen of Connaught, he had other daughters and three sons, who are said to have been born at one birth, and who were named Lothur, Nor and Breas. In Irish history, these were designated the Tri Finn Eamhna, or the Three Fair or
* See ibid. De Sanctis
ciano, Hermoge—ne et aliis duobus, p. 620.
Afris Sericiano, Donato et Helladio, item Seri-
Twins, "
AlfMCLE
I.
'
The insertion thus stands,
Lect. vii. ,
5 A more detailed account of this celebra-
"Sinaig, ocus Flann, ocus Moelochtraigh. " Rev. Dr. Kelly's "Calendar of Irish Saints,"
p. 145.
ted heroine will be found, in " The Irish
being
by
Monastique d'Irlande," &c. , p.
Martyiibus
Franciscan copy, SiriAi^ ocuf ^riain'o ec
niiebioficpAtg.
'
It is seventeen miles in length, and it varies from one mile 10 six miles in breadth. See a description of its islands and shores, in James Fraser's " Hand liook for Travellers
Triplets. See Eugene O'Curry's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish," vol. ii. ,
April 20. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. *4S
naught. Here, the latter is thought to have been killed, while bathing,' by a stone shot from the sling of Forby, who stood and watched her from the Longford shore, while compassing her destruction. ' The islanders had long preserved a tradition of this murder, and localities' were pointed out, in con- nexion with it. Here, in the sixth century, St. Diarmaid, or Diermit,'° chose his place of retreat, and he established a monastic institute, where several re- ligious men placed themselves under his direction. " However, it seems rather unaccountable, that the pagan rather than the Christian traditions should have been more vivid, in the recollection of the islanders. Referring to the gentile period of our history, and the story to which allusion has been made, the distance between Inis Clothran and the shore of Longford County is about one English mile, so tliat it sliould require a very muscular arm to cast a stone so far, even with a sling; unless we conceive the alternative, that the Ama- zonian Maeve was swimming, nearer to the shore, than to the island. " In the Annals of the Four Masters, the present St. Sinach is said to have been of Innis Clothrainn,nowInnisclogIiran,'3orasmodernizedQuaker'sIsland. '^ Theis- land obtained this later name, owing to the circumstance of a member, belong- ing to the Society of Friends,'' from the north of Ireland,'' having built a small cottage,"' on Inniscloghran. It is also called Seven Churches Island. '* At pre- sent, according to Mr. Hills,'9 it contains the ruins of six churches. Perhaps, it is owing to this circumstance, and to the fact, that a monastic establishment had been liere, in early times, that it was called the Sacred Isle, on the Island of All Saints. *" It has been contended, that as a rule, there were not seven cliurches, in most of those places referred to, in Ireland, as containing so many ; and that, the term Seven Churches arose, in some loose popular way, without such churches
Penny Magazine," vol. i. , num. 4, in the article on Ancient Irish Biogr. iphy, headed
other machine, quite different from a sling. O'Flaherty only supposes, that it was a sling.
" of —and Meyv, Queen Connaught
Kinj; of Ulster," pp. 26 to 28.
'J
the Island itself
the
on
'Thenameof
' The stoty is thus told, by Keaung, and
"Soisitcalled, the by
Connor,
. So is It called,
by
people
living
on either shore. However, under neither title it has been repeated by O'Fiahetty, and by do we find it, in the General Alphabetical
bhakespeare's fairy.
people living
other writers ; but, none ol them knew the situation of the Island, or its di>tance from the land, so that ihey could not have known' the amount of fable in the story, or even as to whether it contained anything inci edible.
Index to the Ordnance Survey IJenomina- tions for Ireland.
'i This in. in was named Fairbrother, and originally he was a weaver, who came to re- si^ieon this isol ited spot, where he lived in comnarattve solitude.
"The old man himself was eighty years of
age, when Mr. U'Uonovan visited this
Island, on the 23rd of . \ugust, 1837.
' In this retreat, his sons were accustomed
to live, during the summer season.
" That there were really seven churches, in those localities known l)y that name, is a theory advanced by many writers on Irish antiquities, and that the number had, in each instance, a sacred meaning is also an opinion
pretty generally maintained.
' Mr. Gordon M. Hills has written a se-
ries of papers, intituled "Notes on the Archi-
tecture of ' and these have been Ireland,
illustrated by beautiful, and we believe, very accurate engravings, on wood. See the "Gentleman^ Magazine" for 1864, part i. , pp. 3to20,141to161,277to294,411to 426, 547 10 556.
Monaslique d'lrlande," &c. ,p. 48.
*
head, by the stone cast at her. The roman- tic circumsiances, attending her death, are re-
"
lated, in Uermod U'Connor'a Keaiing's neral History ol Ireland," book i. , pp. 2 14, 2 1 5.
» Elfeet Castie, in ihe County of Longford,
to the field called Beor Laiyhionn (Bcoilyon)
in Inis Clothnnn, is . said to have been the
distance, between Maeve and Forby.
'"
See his Life, in vol. i. , at the loth day of January.
"
l. 'AI>be Ma-Geoghegan makes the
It is said, she was struck on the lore-
younger St. Kieran, of Clonmacnoi^e, the founder of this monastery. See " Hi^toire
de rirlande Ancienne et Partie li. , chap, ii. , p. 299.
" Another supposition is, that Forby must have been on the Island itself, or must havecomeinaCurrachsonearit,astobe able to fling the stone to that spot, jiointed outbytradition or,ifeitherb=nutthe
;
that the Crann tabhuill must have been some
Moderne," tomei. ,
Ge-
case,
"• h>cc L. Alemand's " Histoiie Aug.
246 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS [April 20.
havinghadanyco-relativeexistence. '" Theantiquitiesontheisland,atpresent, areaClogas,orSquareBelfry,='witharuinedchurch. =3 Itisabeautifullittle building, with lancet windows, exactly resembling those of the old church at
Banagher, near Dungiven ; and evidently, it is of the same age and style with the church of Kilbarry, and with the older churches, on Devenish Island, near Enniskillen. Tradition says, that this was the first church erected by St. Dermot, on Inis Cloithrinn, and, again, the bell in —its belfry was so loud in tone, that it sounded, so as to be heard at Roscommon a distance of seven miles. '*
Church on Inishchlorin, Lough Ree.
The Greenan Meeva, towards the north-west, is the highest point of the island. Tradition says, that Meave had a castle on it, but the remains of this are very nearly effaced. 's Moving on from Grianan Mevee, in a south-eastern direc-
" See an Article in "The Gentleman's
our Irish Saints, recorded by Augustine Magraidin ; in accordance with our object, to illustrate the several volumes of this work
Magazine," part i. for 1864. pp. 550> 551-
" John O'Donovan thus writes
one fact connected with this belfry more than
puzzles me ; it is about 30 feet high, and specially connected with Irish Hagiography,
square ! Whether this belfry be a modern addition—during the Gothic ages from 1 100 to 1600—I am not mason enough to be a judge ; but, I would say, that the rest of the church is as old as the church of Banagher. Why is not this a Round Tower ? It is called a Clogds, and this is the general name for a Round Tower throughout Connaught.
'5 The accompanying sketch was taken on the spot, by William F. Wakeman, and it was by him transferred to the wood ; it was engraved by Mrs. Millard. As this locality was celebrated, for preserving the Acts of
we give an illustration before the title-page of this volume, which presents another view of this island ruin, but from an opposite standpoint.
' At certain times, the monks of this Island used to meet those of Roscommon, at a river, called from the circumstance the Banew river (beAnugax)), which is as much
:
" Now,
with a Frontispiece, representing some spot,
as to say, in English, the tion. "
"
River of Saluta-
'5James Moran, the oldest native on the
Island, told Mr. John O'Donovan, that there was certainly a fort on this hill, but be could
April 20. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. ,947
tion, the visitor comes upon the ruins of a group, comprising six beautiful little
churches,andbelongingtotheprimitiveagesofChristianity. Theyaresituated in a field, called the Moor, i. e. Mums. Some ofthem are very small, and very
much ruined ; but, three are in tolerable preservation. The largest occupies the middle place, and it is in very good condition, built in the primitive style, with the exception of one Gothic window. Comparatively, this is of large size
and of exquisite workmanship; it is placed in a north wall, and it is evidently of rather modern erection. In this church, also, was observed a Deartheach or penitential prison. ^ The natives have forgotten the names of these churches, with the exception of three, viz. : The Clogas, already referred to, TeampuU Muire, or Lady's Church, and Teampul Diarmada, or Dermot's Church. This last was a very small one, of which only one gable now re- mains f^ and, owing to its title, we may deem it, probably, the most ancient Two other objects here are Innadmarfa Meeva, and Beorlyne, a field so called not many years since on this island. ^^ If we are to credit Archdall,"' St. Sinach was an Abbot there ; and, this account seems probable, as he has had anna- listic commemoration. Of this saint, we know but little. His death, which took place, on the 20th day of April, a. d. 719, is recorded. 3° This entry is not to be found, however, in the Annals of Ulster. In the Irish Calendar, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy, his festival is recorded. 3'
Article II. —St. Flann. A festival, in honour of Flann, is set down, in the Martyrology of Tallagh. ' This appears to have been the saint, who is also called Florentius, son of Malduin, son to Snetgal, son of . \rnelac, son to Malduin, son of Kennfailad, son to Garuis, son of Ronan, son to Lugad, son of Sedna, son of Ferguss, son to Conall Gulban. ' Perhaps, he was Flann, the
not show its ring or circuit. He said, it was of stone, an'l that its stones were in a hedge, which then extended across the hill. In a field, situated about 40 perches to the east ofthisGreenan hill, lies the hollow, in which tradition says Meave was killed, with a stone cast at her, from the county of Longford side. There is no well in this hollow, at present, nor has the hollow itself any name, but it is designated, as the place where Queen Meave was killed.
* Mr. O'Donovan remarks, "It is not
separate from the church, like the ceAch
t)0|\<l;a. Dark house, at Kilbarry. " [At this sentence, Mr. O'Donovan has the following
of the Ordnance Survey in 1837-8," vol. ii. ,
pp. 189 to 196. , Mr. O'Donovan's Letter,
dated Athlone, August 24th, 1837.
''
The foregoing particulars are given, by the late Dr. O'Donovan, who, on Wednes- day, 23rd of August, 1837, hired a boat at Cruit, not far to the east of Knockeroghery, and was rowed across to the Quaker's Is- land.
"
"»See MonasticonHibemicum,p. 440. *> gge £)f_ O'Donovan's " Annals of the
Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 318, 319.
3> Thus, at the xii. of the Calends of M. iy (April 20th), we find "Sionac Innp Cloc- |vanti Atino. 00m. 719. " See Ordnance Survey Copy, formerly kept at Mountjoy
"
lates Dtar-thiach, Nosocomium, an error, or
note, in the margin :
Dr. O'Conor trans-
Tathera fabrication, to which there is
a parallel to be found in the annals of litera-
Book F," — p. 39.
ture. "] " '' Mr. O'Donovan adds :
I thought I could trace the rings of forts to the west of this group of churches, but the tradition on
scarcely
The Sanctilogium Genealogicum, and the Island is, that ^o^e. field-works were the Seluacius, cap. i. , are quoted as authority
enclosures of the gardens of the monks.
Son. e 01 them were probably enclosures of
their ho—uses— (? ) little houses of timber and
earth. " "Letters containing Information
relative to the Antiquities of the County Appendix ad Acta S. Columbse, cap. iii. , Roscommon, collected during the Progress p. 481.
Barracks,
Phoenix
Park,
' ' Common Place
Article II.
p. xxi. As we have already seen, the name
is joined, with that of St.
Sinach, in the Franciscan copy.
"
'
Edited
Rev. Dr.
for the foregoing pedigree ; but, there ap- pears to be a typographical error admitted, in assigning his festival to the 24th of April,
See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quarta
by
Kelly,
248 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 20.
son ofNessan, three of whose of brothers are commemorated, on the isth of March ;3 as has been already stated, at that date. t His name occurs, in the
Martyrology of Donegal,? on this day. *
Article III. —St. Moelochtraigh, or Maelochtraigh. Like their
Divine Master, the truly great among his followers labour with indefatigable zeal and love, to mitigate the afflictions of the poor, the broken-hearted and
the erring. The name of this servant of Christ appears, in the Martyrology
of Tallagh,' at the 20th of April, as Moelochtraigh. This, too, is the only saint of the name, to be found in our Calendars. It is difficult to identify
him. Wefind,aMaelochtraigh,AbbotofCill-Foibrigh,whodieda. d. 737. But, it is not certain, if he be identical with this saint. His place has been set
down as Kilbrew," a townland and parish in the barony of Ratoath, in the countyofMeath. Here,therewasanancientmonastery. 3 Theoldchurch of Kilbrew has been uprooted, and a Protestant edifice has been built on its site. The parish is dedicated, as we are told, to St. Brigid. * This day was set apart for the veneration of Maelochtraigh, according to the Martyrology of Donegal. s
Article IV. —Festival of St. Serf, or Sair, or Servanus, Bishop,
in Scotland. There can hardly be a doubt, that the history of this holy
man has been misconceived, fabricated, or mixed with fables, during the
middle ages ; for, we find the transmitted Lections, in the earliest Scottish
Breviaries, largely infused with the tasteless and unmeaning Legends, found in the Lives of Saints, many of which were composed in those times. There
is a Manuscript Life of St. Servanus contained, in a Manuscript, belonging to the Library of Archbishop Marsh, in Dublin. " This is manifestly a version of the Life, made use of by Wyntoun,^ in the Legend of St. Serf, or Servanus, in- serted in his Chronicles. 3 Thus, that Legend of St. Servanus forms the basis for Wyntoun's metrical account. In Aberdeenshire, he is commemorated, under the name of St. Sair. '' The Dublin Life of St. Servanus ^ has been published,
"
XV. Martii. De S. Dichullo, Munissa,
et Fratribus,
< See an account of them, in vol. iii. , at
the 15th of March, note 15.
5 Edited by Urs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
106, 107.
' In a note, Dr. Todd says, the more re-
3 See Colgan's nias,"
Acta Sanctorum Hiber-
lo5j 107. Article IV. — '
Neslugio
p.
says
:
cent hand adds mac mA0ilex)uim, " Son of Maelduin. "
—' Edited Rev. Dr. by
As we have noted before, from the Franciscan copy, the present saint's name is united with those of St. Sinach and St. Flann, but without anyfurther distinc-
tion.
' It is noted, townland and parish, on the
" Ordnance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Meath," sheets 38, 39.
3 See Rev. A. Cogan's "Diocese of Meath, Ancient and Modern," vol. i. , chap, xxiv. ,
Andree et Insule supradictte. See trum Prioratus S. Andree," p. ix.
"
Article hi.
Regis-
Kelly, p. xxi.
3 gee William F. Skene's " Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and other early Memorials of Scottish History," Pre- face, sect, ii. , p. Ixxiv.
« On the transmutation of the JEoMc
Digamma F, into the Latin pronunciation Van, and as referring to this name, see
to *SeeiiiJ. ,i>. 141.
quitates," cap. xv. , p. 353.
^ Taken from the in Marsh's Lib- copy,
rary,incorrectlystyledCodexKilkeimiensis, and classed vol. 3, 4, 16.
pp. 139
5 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
141.
609.
to allude to it, when he
Vita . J. Servajii MS. stultissimorum menda- ciorum portentis undique referta. "—"Bri- tannicarum Ecclesiarum Anliquitates," cap. XV. , p. 353.
Ussher seems
" In 1413, Wyntoun was prior of St. Serfs Island, in Lochleven. He there produced the Liber Cartarum Prioratus Cathedralis S.
Ussher's
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
Archbishop
" Habetur
April 20. ] LIVES OF THE IJilSH SAINTS. 249
by William F. Skene ;* but, the whole legend is of a character, to render many
of its statements very questionable. We find, in different Menologies of Scotland, the name of St. Serf, Bishop, entered at the 20th of April, corres- ponding with xii. of the May Kalends. The Aberdeen Breviary calls Servanus a Scot. Again, he is said to have been a Pict, on the mother's side, and her name is set down as Alma, a daughter to the King of the Cruithne ;> while his father is called by some Proc, King of Canaan of Egypt, and by others Obeth, son of Eliud,* Thus, it appears, there is evidently great confusion, in the accounts furnished, regarding him. ' David Camerarius,'" and the Scottish Kalendar," place his festival, at the 20th of April ; while, by other writers, it is assigned, to the 1st July. " Some notices of this holy man, called Servanus, BishopovertheOrkneys,havebeengivenas,byThomasDempster;'3 and, again, he has an account of St. Serfus, as a distinct personage. '* This latter is said to have flourished, a. d. 293, and to have lived at the time of the first dawn- ing of religion in Scotland. Dempster gives the festival of this holy man, for the ist of August, citing the Scottish Breviary. He is said to have been elected as Bishop,andtohavebeentaken,fromacommunityofCuldees. Withgreatzeal, he preached the Gospel, among the people of the Orkney Islands, not yet converted to the Christian Faith ; and, although he was not the first,'s Dempster regards him as being the second. Apostle of that distant mission. The writings attributed to him, by Dempster, are, Conciones ad Orcadianos, Lib. i. , De Religionis Christianae Mysteriis, Lib. i. , as also Epistolae ad Scoticas Ecclesias, Lib. i. '* By some writers, his period is assigned to the fifth century ;•' while others have him entered, in the time of Brude, brother to Nectan, who died a. d. 706. '' He is thought to have been identical with a Servandus,'9 who was one of the companions of St. Boniface,'" the circum- stances of whose history are also shrouded in legend. " However, it is stated.
* Seehis " Chronicles of the Picts, Chroni- * See itiif. , nnm. 1032, p. 574.
cles of the Scots, and other early Memorials '5 Thii seems to indicate, that another St.
of Scotiish History," Appendix num. vi. , pp. . Servanus preceded him there ; but, as an 412 to 420. instance 01 Dempster's recklessness of <. tate- ' III that Tract on the Mothers of the Irish meiit, the former is said to have flourished, Saints, attributed to St. Magna the Culdee, A. D. 440. and the latter, A. n. 293. On this
she is so named. matter, also, see Archbishop Ussher's re- '"
-According to the Life, published by Wil- liam F. Skene, where the mother is called
daughter tu the King of Arabia.
"
» Itisnot — unlikely that there were two
marks, in Britannicarum Ecclesiarum An-
blihops of the name of Serf, or Servanus one, the disciple of Palladius, the other, of Columba—and that their actions were mixed
See ilistoria Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. xvii. , num. 1032, P- 574.
our writers. "—Rev. Ur. F. up together by J.
' According to the Breviary of Aber- deen.
"
Scalachronica," as quoted by William F. Skene, in his Pre- face to the "Chronicles of the Picts and
Scots, "p. clix.
'» See William F. Skenes' work, ibid. . Pre-
face, sect, viii. , p. clix.
"Both are said to have been natione
Isr(ulitici. This curious History is taken from the Breviary of Aberdeen, Temp. Hyem. , fol. Ixix. Appendix vii. , pp. 421 to 423. Ibid.
" It is said, that St. Kyrinus, or Kristinus, who flourished in Scotland, A. D. 660, had been identical with the venernble man Boni- facius, an Italian, who came into that coun-
"
'" to According
Gray's
S. Gordon's
Bishop Keith's Catalogue of Scottish Bis-
At p. 237.
Bishop Forbes' Saints," p. 250.
"
Kalendais of Scottish
Scotichronicon : comprising
hops, enlarged ; with Ree%'es' and Goodall's
Treatises on the Culdees," vol. i. , p. 42.
'" "
Thus : 20 Die. Sanctus Scrnanus Epis-
—et Confessor et Orcadensium coptis
"
lus.
Aposto- " At xii. Kl. Mail. Serf, Bishop. —See
" This holy man is noticed, by the BoUan- dists, as Semanus, at the present date. See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Aprilis xx.