Albeus, Episcopus, in the
Franciscan
Convent, Dublin,?
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
On the death of this latter, he immediately succeeded, being the
first Abbot of Hy, whose descent is referred to a different house from that of
Conal Gulban. s During the term of his office, Dunchad is stated to have
held the principatus of Hy, in a. d. 706 6 or 707;? by which we may
understand, either that he had been appointed in consequence of the age or
infirmities of Conamhail to administer the affairs of the society as a ianist
8
or that some schism arose in the Monastery, possibly on the Paschal
abbot ;
question, and which led to a rival appointment. 9 This Abbot of Iona died
a. d. IO to the Annals of the Four Masters. 11 The 708, according
Martyrology ofDonegal, atthissamedate,records,Conamhail,sonofFailbhe.
6
According to the Annals of Ulster. See
12
Article VII. —Reputed Festival of a St. Queranus, Abbot of Foilen, in Scotia. Among the Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of David
1 there is a festival at the nth of for a St. Camerarius, September
Queranus, Abbot of Foilen, in Scotia. 2 This statement is given by the Bollandists, on
his authority, at the present date,3 with a reference to the 9th of September. As we have already seen, at the latter day, Father Suyskens* and others have
5 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni- cum," p. 108.
6
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. i. , parti. , pp. 88, 89.
7 See " Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down,
Connor, and Dromore," Appendix LL. , p.
380.
Article VI. —'Edited Rev. Dr.
by Kelly,
p. xxxiv. In that copy contained in the Book of I. einster is the entry ConamAil.
e Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. Tiger- nachi Annales.
3 He began to reign in a. d. 323, and in 326, he and his brothers were expelled to Scotland. They returned to Ireland the year following, and accepted service under Muircadhach Tireach, the reigning king. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 122, 123.
* See his Life, at the 23rd of this month, in the present volume.
5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life
of St. Columba. " Additional Notes, O, p.
378.
-OmnAlA nla-oh, edited with translation and notes by William M. Hennessy, vol. i. , pp. 156,157.
7 According to Tigernach.
8 He was a promoter of the Roman observance for Easter.
9 See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , n. p. 72.
I0 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Columba? , cap.
iii. , sect, v. , p. 501.
" See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. i. , pp.
30S, 309.
"Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
244, 245. — Article VII.
'
"11 Die. Sanctus Queranus Abbas Foilensis in
Scotia. "
Thus entered
:
3"
See Bishop Forbes' Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 240.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii.
Septembris xi. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 744.
4 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. Septembrisix. DeS. KieranoseuQuerano, Abbate Cluain-mic-noisensi, Commentaries Hisloricus, sect, i. , num. 3, 4, 5, 6, p. 371.
is noticed,
September ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 277
given reasons for supposing him to have been confounded with St. Kiaran of Clonmacnoise. However, Camerarius s and Lubinus,6 who scarcely distinguish between both, make the abbot of Clonmacnoise different from him of Foilen. In a Missal, published by order of Pope Clement XII. , there is a festival prescribed for a St. Kiran, Abbot and Patron of Foilen. 7 It seems difficult to find any place bearing such a name in Ireland, or in any part of Great Britain. Although Father Suyskens adopts the opinion, that through some mistake, this festival had been intended to commemorate St. Kyran of Clonmacnoise, and whose true feast had been fixed for Sepember 9th, where we have already treated about him ; he still allows it might be conjectured, that there had been some one bearing the name of the patron of Clonmacnoise in a monastery which followed his rule, or perhaps the editor of the Missal adopted the authority of Camerarius or Lubinus, notwithstanding the unknown
sources from which their statements had been derived. At the 5th of March, 8
when treating the Life of St. Kyran of Saigar, Colgan takes exception to Camerarius placing a St. Kieran or Queran, abbot, at the nth of September, and at the end of October. 9
Article VIII. —St. Colman, Bishop. It is a necessity of our nature
to love something; but it is a duty to discover the right objects to which
1
our souls should cling with affection. The Martyrology of Tallagh registers
a festival, at the nth of September, in honour of Colman, Eps. Ailbi, is found appended to this notice ; but, we are under the impression it has been misplaced, and refers to the next day, owing to some inadvertence on the
2
part of the scribe. At the same date, the Martyrology of Donegal simply
enters the name, Colman, Bishop. Marianus O'Gorman only enters Colman. His see or the time when he flourished has not been recorded.
Article IX. —St. Mosinu or Moshinu. Veneration was given to Mosinu at the nth of September, as we find entered in the Martyrology of
z and in that of Marianus O'Gorman and of 2 the name is Donegal,
Tallagh ;
writtenMoshinu. Further,hedoesnotseemtobeknown.
Article X. —Reputed Feast of St. Columbanus, Abbot of Luxeu.
1
In a Florarian Manuscript of the Saints' Lives, according to the Bollandists, a Commemoration of St. Columbanus, Abbot of Luxeu, took place on the
nth of September. However, in the Roman Martyrology, his feast is on the 2 1 st of November; and, at the latter date, his Life may be found in the
present work.
2
5 In "De Scotorum Pietate," lib. iii.
" Erat abbas Foilensis in
the Book of Leinster we read ColttiAin epf <MLbi.
6 He writes
Scotia," in Tabulis geographicis ad Mar-
:
tyrologium Romanum, at the nth of Sep- tember.
7 In it is the announcement, "In Festo Sancti Kirani, Abbatis Foilensis et Patroni. "
8
See his Life at that date, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
9 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae, v. Martii. Vita S. Kierani, Appendix, cap. i. , p. 470.
1
Article VIII. — Edited by Rev. Dr.
Kelly, p. xxxiv. In that copy contained in
244, 245.
Article ix. —• Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly,
p.
xxxiv. In like
manner,
in that in copy
2
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
the Book of Leinster, the name is written
mopnu.
2
Edited by Drs- Todd and Reeves, pp.
244,245. — "
Article x ' See Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Septembris x. Among the pre-
termitted feasts, p. 746. 3
IntheEleventhvolume,atNovember2ist.
278 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September \i
ArticleXL—FestivalofSt. Eata,BishopofLindisfarne. Ina
Calendar of
Bishop of Lindisfarne, was venerated. However, they refer his chief feast to the 26th day of October.
Ctoelfti) JBap of September.
ARTICLE I. —ST. ALBEUS OR AILBE, PATRON AND BISHOP OF EMLY.
[FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED ACCOUNTS OF ST. AILBE—HIS DESCENT AND PARENTAGE—PROBABLE DATE OF BIRTH—LEGENDS REGARDING HIS INFANCY —SAID TO HAVE VISITED ROME, AND TO HAVE BEEN SENT BY THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF TO PREACH THE GOSPEL IN IRELAND—HIS ARRIVAL THERE AND SUCCESS OF HIS MISSION.
acceptance of ancient traditions, which are uncritical and incredible,
Manuscript
Antwerp, according
to the
Bollandists,
1 St.
Eata,
THE
to arrive at some true indirectly
is for the
purpose admissible,
historical criticism. In the present instance, it is extremely difficult to
rectify the errors caused by popular superstitions, which have displaced in our records the knowledge of facts. However ineffective the attempt, con- jecture and doubts must obtrude on our efforts to shape a rational biography for the present saint, and excuse some misconceptions which are probably unavoidable in the process.
Manuscript Acts of St. Ailbe are extant, and to some of these we shall
here allude. In the Codex Kilkenniensis, we meet St. Albeus' Life at fol.
x 35 t0 J 39- However, fol. 137 is wanting. A manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin, classed E. 3. 11. , contains Vita S. Albei, S. Patricii suc-
1
cessors, fol. 132, and also another Vita S. Albei Archiepiscopi et Confessoris. There is an Irish Life transcribed by Michael O'Clery from an older copy.
2
There is a Latin Life of St.
Albeus, Episcopus, in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin,? and another among the Manuscripts of the Burgundian Library, at Bruxelles. 4
8
St. Aileran the 5 6 the and Stanihurst, when
only
It is among the Burgundian Manuscripts in the Bruxelles Library.
Wise, Jocelyn, Tripartite Life,? treating about St. Patrick,? make allusion to Bishop Albeus.
Also, the Acts
of St. Kiearn of
Saigir
10 and of St. I 11 have notices bar,
regarding
him.
Article xi—• tomus iii. , Septembris x. termitted Feasts, p. 745.
"
6
Ibid. , Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap, lxxxiii. , p. 84, and n. 90, p. 112.
1 Ibid. , Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. ,
and n. 66, 186. cap. xxxiii. , p. 156, p.
"In "Vita S. Patricii. "
9 See his Life, at the 17th of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
10 See his Life, at the 5th of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
" See notices of him at the 23rd of s See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," April, in the Fourth -Volume of this work,
See
Acta Sanctorum, Among the pre-
Article i—Chapter i. —' See a Manu-
script at Trinity College, Dublin, at p. 53. "Classed vol. iv. , part ii.
3 In the
Sanctorum," ex Cod. Inisensi, pp. in to 123.
Manuscript, intituled,
4 Vol. xxii. , at fol. 91.
Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. lxxviii. , p. 45. Art. i.
" Vitse
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
279
Archbishop Ussher gives us various notices of St. Ailbe or Albeus.
12
Also,
Dr. Meredith Hanmer,z3 and Sir James Ware1 * have accounts of him. It
was Colgan's intention, to have published the Acts of St. Albeus at this
date. 15 It would seem, that this Irish Minorite friar of the Franciscan
convent, in Louvain, had Acts of St. Ailbe, drawn from the Codex Kil-
kenniensis and the Codex Inisensis, or copies extracted from these manu-
16 1? 8 scripts. The Acts of St. Ailbe have been published, by the Bollandists,*
at the 12th of September, which is the day for his festival. The editor of these scattered memoranda is Constantine Suyskens, who very properly rejects many fabulous accounts, which came under his observation. ^ It would seem, that at an earlier period in 1634, the celebrated Hugh Ward, the Irish Franciscan Minorite, wrote a letter20 to the still more celebrated Father John Boland, regarding this holy bishop, whom he calls Albeus. 21 In this letter, Ward appears to have stated, that the Irish Martyrologies concur
to the 12th of 22 The writer September.
in the feast of St. assigning
Ailbe,
had given the Bollandists three different manuscript copies of St- Ailbe's
Acts but, he did not state to them the source whence these had been ;
obtained. 2^ The Bollandists had a parchment Salamancan manuscript Life
of St. Ailbe, marked P. MS. II. 24 However, Suyskens regrets, that although these Acts may be of sufficient length, and abounding in incidents ; they are usually filled with fables and anachronisms, which render them altogether unreliable in many particulars. He remarks with truth, that such was generally the case, where the Lives of Irish saints have been found written at great length. Nor are the Acts of St. Ailbe, attributed to St. Evin2* as
12 "
In Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xvi. , pp. 409, 412, 414, and cap. xvii. , pp. 450, 451, 452, 476.
gentos annos floruit, alter ante quadrin- 14 See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. gentos. Item ex Martyrologio metrico
O Bresseani, alio in et antiquissimo prosa,
13 See Chronicle of Ireland," pp. 71, 72.
and "
Archiepiscoporum
i. , cap. i. , pp. I, 2,
Casseliensium et Tuamensium Vitae," p. I.
libro, quern Psalterium carminum vocant, a 15 See Cafalogus Actuum Sanctorum S. . /Enea eodem conscripto, et Psalterio
"
quae MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
Casselensi ac libro per Possidium, archi-
poetam et historicum, inde et ex aliis collecto. "
16
St. Brigid in Trias Thaumaturga," num. 9, 10, p. 604. One among these Lives of our saint begins with the following sen- tence: "Albeus virorum Mumenensium pater beatissimus, ac totius Hyberniae insulae post S. Patricium secundus patronus, ortus est ex Orientali parte regionis Cliach, quae est in Mummonia. " Another Life of our
"
Saint thus commences :
beatissimus, Hyberniae insulae alter Patricius,
ex Orientali parte regionis, quae Arycliach dicitur oriundus fuit. "
17 In a Sylloge Historico-Critica of two sections, comprising thirty -four paragraphs.
18
See ''Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. ,
See his Second Appendix to the Acts of
" 22
Septembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo
Episcopo Imelacensi, pp. 26 to 31.
x 9 The editor remarks, that it is not a little surprising, when Irish writers regard our Saint as another Patrick, Martyrologists appear to have made so many mistakes
24 "
regarding him.
20 From Louvain.
21 Ward adds
:
" Uti ex Martyrologio
Helveus episcopus
metrico S. /Eneae Unifabri constat, et altero
metrico B. Mariani Gormani abbatis Collis
Apostolorum ; quorum primus ante octin-
These statements fell into the hands of Suyskens, who does not undertake to ques- tion Ward's critical accuracy concerning the authors and times, to which the respective Martyrologies are referred.
23
Ward wrote
habes ex duobus diversis codicibus Hiber- nicis, et aliis Latinis ; quorum unius auctor est S. Evinus abbas monasterii S. Albani (recte Abbani) in Lagenia, coaevus discipulis Alvei. " And after a few other remarks, the writer continues: "Ipsa Vita, quam fecit Latinam D. O'Sullevanus ex codice D. comitis de Birhaven, etiam est penes me, inde extracta ante annos octo. "
In a letter accompanying this present,
:
" Item ex ejus vita, quam
Albeus Sanctus episco- pus, sanctorum virorum, Mumenentium praeses beatissimus, Hyberniae insula altar Patricius, ex orientali parte regionis Cliach
oriundus fuit. "
25 Suyskens appears to have had no dis-
tinct knowledge regarding this saint. However, he was the same as St. Emhim,
It thus begins
:
28o LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
their author, free from such defects. They are regarded as a farrago of
unbearable figments ; and specimens are only given from them to prove the
truth of Suysken's observations. There are notices of this saint, in the works
26 2? 28 of Bishop Challoner, of Rev. Alban Butler, of Rev. S. Baring-Gould,
and of Alfred Webb. 2?
Many years before the time of St. Patrick^ a Christian Priests is said to
have been sent to the Island of Hibernia, that he might there propagate the
true faith. The learned Ussher cannot agree with the opinion of those
writers, who think the priest baptising our saint could have been no other
2
than Palladius,3 sent to announce the Christian faith in Ireland, immediately
before St. Patrick commenced his mission in 432. 33 When that priest came,
the Irish are said to have been Gentiles, and with very few exceptions, they
rejected his mission and teaching. ? 4 When the priest travelled into Munster,
it is stated, that he found the boy Ailbe praying out of doors, and intently
regarding the Heavens above, while asking earnestly for the light of truth, in
these terms " I pray, that I may know the Creator of all things, and I will :
believe in Him, who made Heaven, earth and all creatures ; for I understand, that all these elements were not formed without an artificer, nor could any human agency create them. " As the holy child, Albeus, had offered up this prayer, the priest, who had been near, heard it and accosted him. Then the boy was taught all he wished to learn respecting those great subjects. Afterwards,hewasbaptised,bythenamehehadalreadybome. 35 Another account has it, that St. Albeus was born in the eastern part of the land of Eliach, and that he was brought up by Britons who dwelt in that territory, until a priest of the British nation, who had made some efforts to convert the Irish nation to Christianity, came thither, and finding the child desirous of
6
knowing and serving God, instructed him in the faith, and baptised him. 3 The date of St. Ailbe's baptism appears to be referred by Ussher, with some
hesitation, to a. d. 360. 37 However, this early date is altogether irreconcil- able with the subsequent statements which have been set forth in reference to him. Colgan has adopted some of these accounts 38 but, he has been
;
bishop of Rosglass, and whose feast occurs with that in the text ; and, in the Salaman-
on the 23rd of December. can and Island MSS. , which the
26 See "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. Bollandists possessed, that priest who
"
126 to 128. Also, A Memorial of British
Piety," pp. 128, 129.
27 See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
and other Principal Saints," voL ix. , Sep-
3S Ussher adds a comment, on the fore- See Lives of the Saints," vol ix. , Sep- going account, that the Christian priest
tember 12 5,8 '•
tember 12, pp. 180, 181.
29 See " A Compendium of Irish Blogra-
phy," p. 3.
3° See his Life, at the 17th of March, in
the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
31 This statement is taken from the Kil-
here mentioned as sent from the Roman See to Ireland is said to have been there many years before St. Patrick ; nor could he coincide with those who thought him to have been identical with Palladius, who received
his mission the year before St. Patrick came "
kenny Manuscript, and buyskens doubts to preach in Ireland. See Britannicarum not this priest must have been Palladius, Ecclesiaium Antiquitates," cap. xvi. ,
unless we are to imagine some other, and withoutsufficientauthority,tohavebeensent from the Roman See.
3* See his Life at the 6th of July, the date for his festival, in the Seventh Volume of this work, Art. i.
p. 409.
3> bee Bishop Challenor's "Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , p. 126.
baptised our Saint is called Palladius. He is said, also, to have been sent into Ireland, by Pope Celestine, before the time of St. Patrick,
3J See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum death, A. i>. 527, St. Ailbe should have
Antiquitates," cap. xvi. , p. 409.
34 The Kilkenny Manuscript, quoted by
Suyskens, gives an account corresponding
lived 167 years, in such hypothesis.
38 Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Ap- pendix v. ad Acta S. Patricii, cap.
first Abbot of Hy, whose descent is referred to a different house from that of
Conal Gulban. s During the term of his office, Dunchad is stated to have
held the principatus of Hy, in a. d. 706 6 or 707;? by which we may
understand, either that he had been appointed in consequence of the age or
infirmities of Conamhail to administer the affairs of the society as a ianist
8
or that some schism arose in the Monastery, possibly on the Paschal
abbot ;
question, and which led to a rival appointment. 9 This Abbot of Iona died
a. d. IO to the Annals of the Four Masters. 11 The 708, according
Martyrology ofDonegal, atthissamedate,records,Conamhail,sonofFailbhe.
6
According to the Annals of Ulster. See
12
Article VII. —Reputed Festival of a St. Queranus, Abbot of Foilen, in Scotia. Among the Scottish Entries in the Kalendar of David
1 there is a festival at the nth of for a St. Camerarius, September
Queranus, Abbot of Foilen, in Scotia. 2 This statement is given by the Bollandists, on
his authority, at the present date,3 with a reference to the 9th of September. As we have already seen, at the latter day, Father Suyskens* and others have
5 See Archdall's " Monasticon Hiberni- cum," p. 108.
6
See "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish MSS. Series, vol. i. , parti. , pp. 88, 89.
7 See " Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down,
Connor, and Dromore," Appendix LL. , p.
380.
Article VI. —'Edited Rev. Dr.
by Kelly,
p. xxxiv. In that copy contained in the Book of I. einster is the entry ConamAil.
e Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. Tiger- nachi Annales.
3 He began to reign in a. d. 323, and in 326, he and his brothers were expelled to Scotland. They returned to Ireland the year following, and accepted service under Muircadhach Tireach, the reigning king. See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 122, 123.
* See his Life, at the 23rd of this month, in the present volume.
5 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' Adamnan's " Life
of St. Columba. " Additional Notes, O, p.
378.
-OmnAlA nla-oh, edited with translation and notes by William M. Hennessy, vol. i. , pp. 156,157.
7 According to Tigernach.
8 He was a promoter of the Roman observance for Easter.
9 See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , n. p. 72.
I0 See "Trias Colgan's
Thaumaturga," Quinta Appendix ad Acta S. Columba? , cap.
iii. , sect, v. , p. 501.
" See Dr. O'Donovan's Edition, vol. i. , pp.
30S, 309.
"Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
244, 245. — Article VII.
'
"11 Die. Sanctus Queranus Abbas Foilensis in
Scotia. "
Thus entered
:
3"
See Bishop Forbes' Kalendars of
Scottish Saints," p. 240.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii.
Septembris xi. Among the pretermitted feasts, p. 744.
4 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. Septembrisix. DeS. KieranoseuQuerano, Abbate Cluain-mic-noisensi, Commentaries Hisloricus, sect, i. , num. 3, 4, 5, 6, p. 371.
is noticed,
September ii. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 277
given reasons for supposing him to have been confounded with St. Kiaran of Clonmacnoise. However, Camerarius s and Lubinus,6 who scarcely distinguish between both, make the abbot of Clonmacnoise different from him of Foilen. In a Missal, published by order of Pope Clement XII. , there is a festival prescribed for a St. Kiran, Abbot and Patron of Foilen. 7 It seems difficult to find any place bearing such a name in Ireland, or in any part of Great Britain. Although Father Suyskens adopts the opinion, that through some mistake, this festival had been intended to commemorate St. Kyran of Clonmacnoise, and whose true feast had been fixed for Sepember 9th, where we have already treated about him ; he still allows it might be conjectured, that there had been some one bearing the name of the patron of Clonmacnoise in a monastery which followed his rule, or perhaps the editor of the Missal adopted the authority of Camerarius or Lubinus, notwithstanding the unknown
sources from which their statements had been derived. At the 5th of March, 8
when treating the Life of St. Kyran of Saigar, Colgan takes exception to Camerarius placing a St. Kieran or Queran, abbot, at the nth of September, and at the end of October. 9
Article VIII. —St. Colman, Bishop. It is a necessity of our nature
to love something; but it is a duty to discover the right objects to which
1
our souls should cling with affection. The Martyrology of Tallagh registers
a festival, at the nth of September, in honour of Colman, Eps. Ailbi, is found appended to this notice ; but, we are under the impression it has been misplaced, and refers to the next day, owing to some inadvertence on the
2
part of the scribe. At the same date, the Martyrology of Donegal simply
enters the name, Colman, Bishop. Marianus O'Gorman only enters Colman. His see or the time when he flourished has not been recorded.
Article IX. —St. Mosinu or Moshinu. Veneration was given to Mosinu at the nth of September, as we find entered in the Martyrology of
z and in that of Marianus O'Gorman and of 2 the name is Donegal,
Tallagh ;
writtenMoshinu. Further,hedoesnotseemtobeknown.
Article X. —Reputed Feast of St. Columbanus, Abbot of Luxeu.
1
In a Florarian Manuscript of the Saints' Lives, according to the Bollandists, a Commemoration of St. Columbanus, Abbot of Luxeu, took place on the
nth of September. However, in the Roman Martyrology, his feast is on the 2 1 st of November; and, at the latter date, his Life may be found in the
present work.
2
5 In "De Scotorum Pietate," lib. iii.
" Erat abbas Foilensis in
the Book of Leinster we read ColttiAin epf <MLbi.
6 He writes
Scotia," in Tabulis geographicis ad Mar-
:
tyrologium Romanum, at the nth of Sep- tember.
7 In it is the announcement, "In Festo Sancti Kirani, Abbatis Foilensis et Patroni. "
8
See his Life at that date, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
9 See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- niae, v. Martii. Vita S. Kierani, Appendix, cap. i. , p. 470.
1
Article VIII. — Edited by Rev. Dr.
Kelly, p. xxxiv. In that copy contained in
244, 245.
Article ix. —• Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly,
p.
xxxiv. In like
manner,
in that in copy
2
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
the Book of Leinster, the name is written
mopnu.
2
Edited by Drs- Todd and Reeves, pp.
244,245. — "
Article x ' See Acta Sanctorum,"
tomus iii. , Septembris x. Among the pre-
termitted feasts, p. 746. 3
IntheEleventhvolume,atNovember2ist.
278 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September \i
ArticleXL—FestivalofSt. Eata,BishopofLindisfarne. Ina
Calendar of
Bishop of Lindisfarne, was venerated. However, they refer his chief feast to the 26th day of October.
Ctoelfti) JBap of September.
ARTICLE I. —ST. ALBEUS OR AILBE, PATRON AND BISHOP OF EMLY.
[FIFTH AND SIXTH CENTURIES. ]
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED ACCOUNTS OF ST. AILBE—HIS DESCENT AND PARENTAGE—PROBABLE DATE OF BIRTH—LEGENDS REGARDING HIS INFANCY —SAID TO HAVE VISITED ROME, AND TO HAVE BEEN SENT BY THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFF TO PREACH THE GOSPEL IN IRELAND—HIS ARRIVAL THERE AND SUCCESS OF HIS MISSION.
acceptance of ancient traditions, which are uncritical and incredible,
Manuscript
Antwerp, according
to the
Bollandists,
1 St.
Eata,
THE
to arrive at some true indirectly
is for the
purpose admissible,
historical criticism. In the present instance, it is extremely difficult to
rectify the errors caused by popular superstitions, which have displaced in our records the knowledge of facts. However ineffective the attempt, con- jecture and doubts must obtrude on our efforts to shape a rational biography for the present saint, and excuse some misconceptions which are probably unavoidable in the process.
Manuscript Acts of St. Ailbe are extant, and to some of these we shall
here allude. In the Codex Kilkenniensis, we meet St. Albeus' Life at fol.
x 35 t0 J 39- However, fol. 137 is wanting. A manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin, classed E. 3. 11. , contains Vita S. Albei, S. Patricii suc-
1
cessors, fol. 132, and also another Vita S. Albei Archiepiscopi et Confessoris. There is an Irish Life transcribed by Michael O'Clery from an older copy.
2
There is a Latin Life of St.
Albeus, Episcopus, in the Franciscan Convent, Dublin,? and another among the Manuscripts of the Burgundian Library, at Bruxelles. 4
8
St. Aileran the 5 6 the and Stanihurst, when
only
It is among the Burgundian Manuscripts in the Bruxelles Library.
Wise, Jocelyn, Tripartite Life,? treating about St. Patrick,? make allusion to Bishop Albeus.
Also, the Acts
of St. Kiearn of
Saigir
10 and of St. I 11 have notices bar,
regarding
him.
Article xi—• tomus iii. , Septembris x. termitted Feasts, p. 745.
"
6
Ibid. , Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap, lxxxiii. , p. 84, and n. 90, p. 112.
1 Ibid. , Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. iii. ,
and n. 66, 186. cap. xxxiii. , p. 156, p.
"In "Vita S. Patricii. "
9 See his Life, at the 17th of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
10 See his Life, at the 5th of March, in the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
" See notices of him at the 23rd of s See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," April, in the Fourth -Volume of this work,
See
Acta Sanctorum, Among the pre-
Article i—Chapter i. —' See a Manu-
script at Trinity College, Dublin, at p. 53. "Classed vol. iv. , part ii.
3 In the
Sanctorum," ex Cod. Inisensi, pp. in to 123.
Manuscript, intituled,
4 Vol. xxii. , at fol. 91.
Quarta Vita S. Patricii, cap. lxxviii. , p. 45. Art. i.
" Vitse
September 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
279
Archbishop Ussher gives us various notices of St. Ailbe or Albeus.
12
Also,
Dr. Meredith Hanmer,z3 and Sir James Ware1 * have accounts of him. It
was Colgan's intention, to have published the Acts of St. Albeus at this
date. 15 It would seem, that this Irish Minorite friar of the Franciscan
convent, in Louvain, had Acts of St. Ailbe, drawn from the Codex Kil-
kenniensis and the Codex Inisensis, or copies extracted from these manu-
16 1? 8 scripts. The Acts of St. Ailbe have been published, by the Bollandists,*
at the 12th of September, which is the day for his festival. The editor of these scattered memoranda is Constantine Suyskens, who very properly rejects many fabulous accounts, which came under his observation. ^ It would seem, that at an earlier period in 1634, the celebrated Hugh Ward, the Irish Franciscan Minorite, wrote a letter20 to the still more celebrated Father John Boland, regarding this holy bishop, whom he calls Albeus. 21 In this letter, Ward appears to have stated, that the Irish Martyrologies concur
to the 12th of 22 The writer September.
in the feast of St. assigning
Ailbe,
had given the Bollandists three different manuscript copies of St- Ailbe's
Acts but, he did not state to them the source whence these had been ;
obtained. 2^ The Bollandists had a parchment Salamancan manuscript Life
of St. Ailbe, marked P. MS. II. 24 However, Suyskens regrets, that although these Acts may be of sufficient length, and abounding in incidents ; they are usually filled with fables and anachronisms, which render them altogether unreliable in many particulars. He remarks with truth, that such was generally the case, where the Lives of Irish saints have been found written at great length. Nor are the Acts of St. Ailbe, attributed to St. Evin2* as
12 "
In Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti-
quitates," cap. xvi. , pp. 409, 412, 414, and cap. xvii. , pp. 450, 451, 452, 476.
gentos annos floruit, alter ante quadrin- 14 See " De Scriptoribus Hiberniae," lib. gentos. Item ex Martyrologio metrico
O Bresseani, alio in et antiquissimo prosa,
13 See Chronicle of Ireland," pp. 71, 72.
and "
Archiepiscoporum
i. , cap. i. , pp. I, 2,
Casseliensium et Tuamensium Vitae," p. I.
libro, quern Psalterium carminum vocant, a 15 See Cafalogus Actuum Sanctorum S. . /Enea eodem conscripto, et Psalterio
"
quae MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
Casselensi ac libro per Possidium, archi-
poetam et historicum, inde et ex aliis collecto. "
16
St. Brigid in Trias Thaumaturga," num. 9, 10, p. 604. One among these Lives of our saint begins with the following sen- tence: "Albeus virorum Mumenensium pater beatissimus, ac totius Hyberniae insulae post S. Patricium secundus patronus, ortus est ex Orientali parte regionis Cliach, quae est in Mummonia. " Another Life of our
"
Saint thus commences :
beatissimus, Hyberniae insulae alter Patricius,
ex Orientali parte regionis, quae Arycliach dicitur oriundus fuit. "
17 In a Sylloge Historico-Critica of two sections, comprising thirty -four paragraphs.
18
See ''Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. ,
See his Second Appendix to the Acts of
" 22
Septembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo
Episcopo Imelacensi, pp. 26 to 31.
x 9 The editor remarks, that it is not a little surprising, when Irish writers regard our Saint as another Patrick, Martyrologists appear to have made so many mistakes
24 "
regarding him.
20 From Louvain.
21 Ward adds
:
" Uti ex Martyrologio
Helveus episcopus
metrico S. /Eneae Unifabri constat, et altero
metrico B. Mariani Gormani abbatis Collis
Apostolorum ; quorum primus ante octin-
These statements fell into the hands of Suyskens, who does not undertake to ques- tion Ward's critical accuracy concerning the authors and times, to which the respective Martyrologies are referred.
23
Ward wrote
habes ex duobus diversis codicibus Hiber- nicis, et aliis Latinis ; quorum unius auctor est S. Evinus abbas monasterii S. Albani (recte Abbani) in Lagenia, coaevus discipulis Alvei. " And after a few other remarks, the writer continues: "Ipsa Vita, quam fecit Latinam D. O'Sullevanus ex codice D. comitis de Birhaven, etiam est penes me, inde extracta ante annos octo. "
In a letter accompanying this present,
:
" Item ex ejus vita, quam
Albeus Sanctus episco- pus, sanctorum virorum, Mumenentium praeses beatissimus, Hyberniae insula altar Patricius, ex orientali parte regionis Cliach
oriundus fuit. "
25 Suyskens appears to have had no dis-
tinct knowledge regarding this saint. However, he was the same as St. Emhim,
It thus begins
:
28o LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
their author, free from such defects. They are regarded as a farrago of
unbearable figments ; and specimens are only given from them to prove the
truth of Suysken's observations. There are notices of this saint, in the works
26 2? 28 of Bishop Challoner, of Rev. Alban Butler, of Rev. S. Baring-Gould,
and of Alfred Webb. 2?
Many years before the time of St. Patrick^ a Christian Priests is said to
have been sent to the Island of Hibernia, that he might there propagate the
true faith. The learned Ussher cannot agree with the opinion of those
writers, who think the priest baptising our saint could have been no other
2
than Palladius,3 sent to announce the Christian faith in Ireland, immediately
before St. Patrick commenced his mission in 432. 33 When that priest came,
the Irish are said to have been Gentiles, and with very few exceptions, they
rejected his mission and teaching. ? 4 When the priest travelled into Munster,
it is stated, that he found the boy Ailbe praying out of doors, and intently
regarding the Heavens above, while asking earnestly for the light of truth, in
these terms " I pray, that I may know the Creator of all things, and I will :
believe in Him, who made Heaven, earth and all creatures ; for I understand, that all these elements were not formed without an artificer, nor could any human agency create them. " As the holy child, Albeus, had offered up this prayer, the priest, who had been near, heard it and accosted him. Then the boy was taught all he wished to learn respecting those great subjects. Afterwards,hewasbaptised,bythenamehehadalreadybome. 35 Another account has it, that St. Albeus was born in the eastern part of the land of Eliach, and that he was brought up by Britons who dwelt in that territory, until a priest of the British nation, who had made some efforts to convert the Irish nation to Christianity, came thither, and finding the child desirous of
6
knowing and serving God, instructed him in the faith, and baptised him. 3 The date of St. Ailbe's baptism appears to be referred by Ussher, with some
hesitation, to a. d. 360. 37 However, this early date is altogether irreconcil- able with the subsequent statements which have been set forth in reference to him. Colgan has adopted some of these accounts 38 but, he has been
;
bishop of Rosglass, and whose feast occurs with that in the text ; and, in the Salaman-
on the 23rd of December. can and Island MSS. , which the
26 See "Britannia Sancta," part ii. , pp. Bollandists possessed, that priest who
"
126 to 128. Also, A Memorial of British
Piety," pp. 128, 129.
27 See "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs,
and other Principal Saints," voL ix. , Sep-
3S Ussher adds a comment, on the fore- See Lives of the Saints," vol ix. , Sep- going account, that the Christian priest
tember 12 5,8 '•
tember 12, pp. 180, 181.
29 See " A Compendium of Irish Blogra-
phy," p. 3.
3° See his Life, at the 17th of March, in
the Third Volume of this work, Art. i.
31 This statement is taken from the Kil-
here mentioned as sent from the Roman See to Ireland is said to have been there many years before St. Patrick ; nor could he coincide with those who thought him to have been identical with Palladius, who received
his mission the year before St. Patrick came "
kenny Manuscript, and buyskens doubts to preach in Ireland. See Britannicarum not this priest must have been Palladius, Ecclesiaium Antiquitates," cap. xvi. ,
unless we are to imagine some other, and withoutsufficientauthority,tohavebeensent from the Roman See.
3* See his Life at the 6th of July, the date for his festival, in the Seventh Volume of this work, Art. i.
p. 409.
3> bee Bishop Challenor's "Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , p. 126.
baptised our Saint is called Palladius. He is said, also, to have been sent into Ireland, by Pope Celestine, before the time of St. Patrick,
3J See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum death, A. i>. 527, St. Ailbe should have
Antiquitates," cap. xvi. , p. 409.
34 The Kilkenny Manuscript, quoted by
Suyskens, gives an account corresponding
lived 167 years, in such hypothesis.
38 Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Ap- pendix v. ad Acta S. Patricii, cap.
