No More Learning

'' "
See Rev. Dr. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical
of vol. i. , sect. History Ireland," chap, viii. ,
ii-. P- 377-
'' There is an interesting engraving, which
" See Rev. iJr.
History of Ireland," vol. ii. , chap, i. , sect, xiii. , p. 70, and n. 224, p. 73.
Lanigan's
" Ecclesiastical
represents
.
the shaft of an ancient cros;, at
Kilcullen, in an unpublished work, "Thirty-
six Etchings of Iiish Antiquities," No. 6.
Of this work, only fifteen co])ics were
printed, in 4to, A. D. 1830.
"^
In August, 1883, the writer drew a sketcli of this round tower, as here repre- sented, with fragments of old cresses in
542 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [Aprii, 29.
are placed within the ancient graveyard, and this crowns a beautiful eminence, from which fine views of the adjacent country can be obtained. Coiningean must have flourislied, at an early period; since, we are told, she was a pupil or daltha to Mac Tail, of Cill Cuillinn. It was on her account, the clergy of Leinster denounced Mac Tail. This appears, from the gloss of iEnghus ;" and both the original Irish and its English translation have been given, by Dr. Wliitley Stokes, in his version of the calendar of Oengus. ^^ However, it
niay well be supposed, that the charges jjreferred against Mactail were
unfounded; and, moreover, when hispupil had been instructed in the duties of a
religious life, she ruled over a pious community of women. Her church, called
Cill Finn Miughi, is said to have been in the vicinity of Killeen Cormac ; but,
while it is not easy to identify it, among many of the church sites about Nar-
raghmore,^3 the Rev. John Fran< is Shearman ''^ thinks it may be the cemetery,
now called Kyle, near Blackrath, midway between Killeen Cormac and
Narraghmore. According to the Feilire of ^ngus,=s this virgin was buried
in the Dionnlatha of Cinel Lugair : by a learned investigator^' of Irish anti-
quities, it is identified with Killeen Cormac, an old graveyard, in the county of
Kildare. '? We are told, that some churches in Leinster formerly bore the
name of this saint, and that Kilcoagh, a townland on the side of a hill over
Donard. got its name from an old church, now nearly defaced, and dedicated
to hcr. =^ It was formerly called "Cell Chuachi. 'S She is said,3° also, to
have been the patroness of Kilcock, in the present county of Kildare, and to
have been not distinguishable from Cuach,3' the virgin of Cill Cuaich, in
Cairbre ua Ciardha. 3' According to the Martyrology of Donegal,33 venera-
tionwasgiven,onthisday,toCoiningean. Herfestivalwasalsocelebrated,
in Scotland ; for, in the Kalendar of Drummond, at the 29th of April,3't her
Natalis is noted. We regret that other renseignemenis are wanting, to give a more reliable account of this pious maiden.
ArticleIII. —St. Fia>chan,orP'iachna. Wehavenomeanslefttoascer- t lin the identity of the present holy man, whose name seems to be resolvable into Fiachan, Fiechnan, Fechno, or Fiachna. There appear to be only two saints bearing this name, in the Irisli calendar, viz. , the present holy man, and one as we have already noticed, as having been venerated, at the 30th of
the foreground. Subsequently it
ferred to the wood, William F. by
Wakeniaii, and it was engraved by Mrs. Millard.
jEngus is in the original hand, according to the Rev. Dr. Todd's note 6.
" See ' Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i,, p. Ixxvii.
'3 This parish is partly in the Baronies of Narragh and Reban West, and shown, on
" See Rev. John Francis Shearman's "Loca Patriciana," No. iv. , p. 47.
"> This is mentioned in a Concessio made
to the Abbey of Glendalough, in 1173, the twentieth year of Henry II. s reign.
3° By Rev. John Francis Shearman.
was tr. ins-
ciana," No. i. , pp. 349, 350, and notes ibid.
" of the Historical and Arch- Journal Koyal
jeological Association of Ireland," Fourth " This reference to the gloss or scholia on . Series, vol. ii. , No. 14, April, 1873.
3i Her feast is already set down, at the 8th the "Ordnance . Survey Townland Maps ofjanu. iry.
for the County of Kildare," sheet 31 ; and
partly in the Baronies of Narragh and Reban
32 gee " Loca Patriciana," No. iv. , pp. 47, 48, and No. viii. , n. 2, p. 150.
33 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
112,113.
34xhusiii. Kl. "ApudHiberniamnalale
Sanctorum— Confessorum Coningin et
East, show'i on sheets 31, 32, 35, 36, ibid. "
°<See LocaPatriciana,"No. iv. ,p. 48. '5IntheLeabharBreac,R. I. A.
'^
Rev. John Francis Shearman, who was formerly C. C. of Howth, and who isnow P. P. ofMoone.
"^ See an article intituled " Loca Patri-
Fiachna. "
Scottish Saints," p. 12.
Bishop Forbes' "Kalendar of
I
\
April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 543
March. ' In the Martyrology of Talhigh,'' the name Fiachnae occurs, at the
29th of April, and it is the only entry concerning him. 3 It would seem, that
inreferringtothesamecalendar,theBoUandists< haveenteredhisnameas
Fiarchua, at this date. The Rev. Alban Butler 5 refers to Colgan's Manu-
script,* at the 29th of April, for some notices of this saint, of whom we are
yet ill ignorance. The glossographer to the Feilire of St. ^Engus ' states, that
this Fiachna had been a monk with Mochuda. This, however, is a mere
guess. That St. Fiachna is said to have been of the Desies, in Munster. By
the most perfect spirit of obedience, Fiachma laid the foundation for the most
sublimegiftsofprayerandofallothervirtues. ^ Therewasamonk,belonging
tothemonasteryoftheLongPlain,intheIslandofEthica,inScotland. He
came as a penitent from Ireland to St. Columba,? as we find specifically set
forth,intheLifeofthelatterholyAbbot. '° ThatFechnohadthedenomination
Sapiais ox\^'\i,& bestowed upon him, and lie seems to have died in the Island
of Ethica, soon after he had been placed under the charge of the Abbot
Baithen. A conjecture has been offered," that Fiachan may not have differed
from a certain St. Fachnanus Sapiens, of Ross, or Ros-Alithre,'^ who was blind,
in the days of St. Mochoenioc or Pulcherius. 's A St. Fiachna had been
venerated, at a small church, on tjie road side, and not far from Bantry, in the
county of Cork. Here, tradition states, that he led a very holy life. Some
curious legends, connected with this saint, and with his church, are related.
Very curious objects of antiquity, and referred by the people of that neigh- bourhood, to the time of St. Fiachna, '< are there to be seen. The Martyro-
logies of Marianus O'Gorman and of Cathal Maguire have a St. Fiechna, at
April 29th. '5 On this day, the Martyrology of Donegal '* mentions, that Fiachan, a monk of Mochuda, had veneration paid him. For this statement,
"
. r^ingus "' is cited. Both Butler's
principal Saints,"'* and the " Circle of the Seasons,"'9 register St. Fiachna, confessor, at the 29th of April.
Article IV. —St. Russen, also called Rus, Russls, Russenus, Son
OF RoDAN. \Sixtli Century^ The present holy man is generally supposed to have been a disciple to the illustrious Abbot and founder of lona. St.
Russen, otherwise named Rus, Russeus, Ruthius, and Russenus, is called the
Article hi. —' See Colgan's "Trias
Thaumaturga," Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. Colurobse, cap. x. , p. 490.
" See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Adamnan'sor QuartaVita S. Columba;, lib. i. , cap. xxx. , p. 345. Also, O'Donnell's or Quinta Vita S. Columbae, lib. ii. , cap. xUii. , p. 417.
'
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxii.
' The Franciscan
copy,
at this date, en-
lers piAcJirie.
*See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus
" By Colgan. See ibid. , n. 75, p. 378.
iii. , Aprilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints,
" He was of this and he patron place,
p. 611. 5 See
"
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs
flourished, in the sixth ceiUury.
'3 See his Life, at the 13th of March, in
vol. iii.
'* See Mr. and Mrs. Hall's " its Ireland,
Scener)', Character," &c. , vol. i. . pp. 121. '5 . See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga,"
and other xxix.
principal Saints,"
vol.
iv. , April
' He quotes, likewise, Engus in Cliron.
' The Leabliar Breac
actions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i.
Calendar of Oengus, edited by Whitley Stokes, LL. D. , p. Ixxvii.
' See Rev. Alban Butler's "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iv. , April xxix.
' See bis Life, at the
9th
of
June.
of iiingus. " '* See vol.
iv. , April
xxix.
copy.
See "Trans-
Vita . S. lib. Quarta Columbae,
i. , cap. xxx. ,
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other
n. 75. p. 378.
" Edited by Drs. Todd and Keeves, pp.
114, 115.
'? A note by Dr. Todd says, at this word
Ai. n«us, "The woids m<snAc xio inocux)d
are quoted, from the Scholia, on the Feilire
544 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 29.
sonofRodan. " Hisfestivalissetdownatthe9thdayofApril,byColgan,"
who quotes various Irish Martyrologies for his statement, but, as we have seen, at the 7th of this month, Colgan intended to note the 29th. Hector
Boetius,3 Lesley * and Dempster 5 mention a St. Ruthius. According to the latter writer, much against his fatiier's consent, who lived in Hibernia, he went to Scotland, and in some part of it, as bishop, Rus had charge of souls. The same unreliable author informs us, that Ruthius wrote Sermones de Sanctis, lib. i. , and De Vita Monastica, lib. i. He is said, also, to have attached himself as a disciple to St. Columkille,* and that lie was a person, more distinguished for liis great piety, than for his nobility of extraction. 7 We find, that a St. Rus left Ireland, as one of twelve companions, with St. Coluniba, about the year 563, when the great Coenoliiarch was about to take up his permanent habitation on earth, in the neighbouring country of Scotland. * Among the fellow-voyagers of St. Columb. i are distinguished Rus and Fethno, two sons of Rodan. 9 The Martyrologium Anglicanum refers liis feast, to the 14th of December, and, it states, that he died about a. d. 588. According to Dempster,'" however, he flourished in the year 606, and he was venerated on the 27th day of December. The feast of our saint was held, it is said, on the 9th of April, according to the Martyrologies of Tamlacht, of Donegal, of
" Russen
Marian O'Gorman and of Maguire
these writers he is
ol the Islands of the Picts. "" According to Colgan, the year for his death is uncertain. In the edition of the Tallagh Martyrology, published by the Rev. Dr. Kelly, we cannot discover any mention of this saint's name, at the v. of the Ides, or 9th of April ; whereas, at the vii. of the Ides, and 7th day of the month, there is a festival entry of " Ruissen Innse Pich. "'' In this same work, the 14th of December is missing ; consequently, there are no means for determining, whether a festival had been appointed for our saint, at that day. Nor do we discover, that this deficiency has been supplied in tlie supplemen- tary catalogue, compiled from the Martyrology of Donegal. Wherefore, at the vi. ofthe Kalends of January—December 27th—there is no entry of a me-
morial feast for this saint, in the published Tallagh Martyrology. '^
; by
styled,
Article V. —St. Luicridh, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, King's County. \ Eighth Century. '] We find no mention of a festival for this saint, in the pub-
lished Martyrology of Tallagh, at the iii. of the May Kalends, corresponding
'
with the 29th of April ; although the Bollandists
quote that calendar, for
"' See 120.
of St. Adamnan's work. See Ussher's
p. —' Article, iv.
"
Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates,"
According to the Cotto- nian Codex of Adamnan's Life of St.
cap. xv. , p. 363. '" "
See Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis See Trias Thauraaturga, Quarta Ap- Scotorum," tomus ii. , lib. x\i. num. 1036,
Columba, as quoted by Ussher. '""
pendix ad Acta St. Columbie, cap. ix. , p.
p. 544.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thauraaturga,"
Appendix Quarta ad Acta S. Columbre, cap. X. De S. Columbse discipulis, p. 492.
"See "Calendar of Irish Saints,"&c. , pp. xx. , xxi.
'^
j^ the Irish Calendar, belonging to the Irish Ordnance Survey Records, we do not find the name of this saint, at the 9th of
487, and cap. X. , p. 492. "
3 See Scotiae Historia," lib. ix. , fol. 166.
* See " Historia Scotiae," lib. iv. , p. clii.
"
5 See
Historia Ecclesiastica Genlis Sco-
torum," tomus ii. , lib. xvi. , num. 1036, p.
544.
' See his Life, at the 9th of June.
' See Hector Boetius' lib. ix. , fol. clxvii.
"
Historise
but at vii. of the Ides of
• See John Hill Burton's "History of
Scotland," vol. i. , chap, vii. , p. 263.
' In the Appendix to the Cottonian copy
Scotiae,"
April (April
April,
7th), n-e see "
mon Place Book," F. p. 36. In this copy, we do not find his name occurring, either at the 14th or at the 27th of December.
Uuifen in]-e picc. "
—
"Com-
April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 543
the feast of St. Lucridiiis of Kill-Lucridhe, Abbot of Clonmacnoise, at this day. Hewasborn,mostprolwhlytowardsthecloseoftlieseventhcenuny. This saint, it is said, w:is appointed Abbot over Clonmacnoise, the ruins of which yetexist,ontheRiverShannon'sleftbank,withintheKing'sCounty. This great ruonastery was then in a very flourisiiing condition. Through reverence for the founder, even the cemetery at this place had always been a favourite place of burial, from St. Kieran's time. 3 There are several ancient inscriptions to be seen, in the cemetery of Clonmacnoise, and many of which date back to an exceedingly remote period. * As we learn, that Comman of Ross died in the year 742, as Abbot of Clonmacnoise,5 it seems probable, that he was immediately succeeded by St. Luicridh. This latter is said to liave died, a. d. 740,* according to the O'Clerys. Over this date, a more recent hand has
inserted 752. ' Thus, St. Luicridh died, on the 29thof April, a. d. 748, according to the Annals of the Four Masters ;' but, according to the Ulster . Annals, a. d. 752. 9 However, as the Ulster Annals relate at this year an eclipse of the sun, which really took place on the 9th of January, at 11 o'clock, a. m. , in the year 753 ; this also may have been the date for our saint's death, if we aretofollowtheauthorityoftheseAnnals. '" Wefindsetdown,intheMar- tyrology of Donegal," that veneration was paid on this day, to Luichridh, of cm Luichridh, Abbot of Cluain-mic-Nois. " In a copy of the Irish calendar, once belonging to the Irish Ordnance Survey Office, Phoenix Park, it is stated, that this saint was from Kill Luicrid. A marginal note in pencil, affixed to the latter word, and in the handwriting of Mr. O'Donovan, puts the query, if this place l>e identical with Killury, a village of Clanmaunce barony, in the
of —Thereis a a in the of and county Kerry. Killurane, parish barony Tulla,
county of—Clare Killure, a parish in the barony of Gaultier, and county of
Waterf
of Shelmalier, and
of Wex-
—ord a in the Killurin, parish barony
county
ford '-' there is also a Killury, a parish in the barony of Clanuiaurice and
county of Kerry ;'• yet, it is not ascertained, if any of these places derivedits
denomination, from the saiut venerated on this day.
Article VI. —St. Brecan, Bishop ok Movillf,, County of Down.
The name of Brecan appears, in the Martyrology of Taliagh,' at this day ; and, to it, the Bollandists give reference, at the 29th of Aj)ril. ' A festival in
honour of Brecan, Bishop of Magh-bile, or Movtlle,^ was held, on this day, as is recorded in the Martyrology of Donegal. * We know not the years, during which he continued to exercise episcopal rule ;* nor can we discover the year for his departure from this life. There are notices of a St. Braccan, or Brecan, at the i6th of July. * He is called bishop of Ardbraccan, in the county of Meath; but, also, he is called Abbot of Magh-Bile. ' The cir- cumstances related of his race and family point him out, as distinct from St. Breacan, or Brecan, the son of Eochaidh Balldearg, prince of Thomond, and
Article v. — ' In the Fr^inciscan Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 342, 343.
copy, however, we read Lucc^ro ciLli Luc- ' I'his is tlie date, in " Annals of the Four
p.
611.
'See his Life, at the 9th of Septem-
Masters," which do not mention Luicridh, '"
cjMt).
. See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. ,
Aprilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints,
as being distinguished of Cill Luchridh. '|
' Dr. 112. This See a note by Todd, p.
date accords with tlie AiniaU of UKter. 'See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four . Masters," vol. i. , pp. 350, 351, and n.
(o).
' See Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibernica-
rum Scriptores," tomus iv. , p.