The tower, as at present built, and fitted with a peal of bells, is destined with crowning spire to reach an
elevation
of 150 feet.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
545, according to the Annals of the Four Masters.
Dr.
Lanigan thinks, that some documents might have entered 541, instead
them. "—"
Emly
of old, and
as it Emly is,"
"
of 546. See Ecclesiastical History of the causes of some disorders in the
p. 6.
8sin the time of Archbishop Palliser,"
writes Harris, "two neighbouring magis- trates obtained a licence from him to demolish the cross and stop up the well, as being encouragements to idolatry, and
vol. i.
"
Bishops of Emly," p. 490.
as it is, See Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , xii. 87 In the Leabhar Breac"—copy is the
pp. 44, 45. p. 6.
81" "
Emly
:
Ceilebain peiL nAiLbe
Septkmber 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 2 95
88
89
There appears in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 12th of
September, a festival in honor of Aeilbhe, Bishop of Imlecha. In the Book of Leinster copy it is also entered. ** In the anonymous List of Irish Saints,
at the 1 2th of September. The glossographer on this notice is brief.
published by
Albius,
at the same date, as
ALutyrology
of
Ailbhe,
O'Sullivan
Beare,
we find
at the same date. ? 1 The
2
Donegal^ registers him,
Arch- bishop of Imleach Iobhair, in Minister. Also, Castellanus records his memory, at the 12th of September. ^ Father Ward declares, that at the period when he wrote the letter to Bollandus in 1634, the feast of our saint was kept on the same day, in the diocese of Emly. In the second edition of John Wilson's English Martyrology, at the 27th of February, a St. Elvius, confessor and bishop of Menevia in Pembroke, Wales, is set down j but the Bollandists have observed at that day " in Prsetermissis," and elsewhere, they have no doubt of Wilson's error, both as to St. Elvius' day of veneration,
and as to his identical episcopate. 94
Certain relics of our saint seem to have been carefully preserved in Emly,
for many centuries after his death. 95 A mitre of St. Ailbe was burned by
On that occasion, the reigning successor of our Saint, Bishop Maelmorda
robbers, when the City of Emly had been plundered, in the year 1 1 23.
saved himself 96 This Saint seems to have by flight. formerly
Mac-Inclodnai,
been honoured with an office of Nine Lessons. ? A Missal, printed at Paris,
a. d. , 1734, and edited by order of Pope Clement XII. , comprises the proper Masses for patrons and guardians, both French and Irish Saints. Among others, at the 12th of September, a Mass for the feast of St. Albeus, bishop
08
and confessor, general patron of Emly Church and diocese,
is found.
Thus translated by Dr. Whitley Stokes :—
"Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Septembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Episcopo
Imalecensi. SyllogeHistorico-Critica,sect,
"
luminous, buoyant : with the feast of Laisren
Celebrate Ailbe's feast, with Fled the
— "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stokes,
the beautiful of multitudinous Daim-inis. "
i. ,
num. 26. 3, p.
LL. D. , p. exxxvii.
88 He has only -Ailbe . i. imlech ibair, i. e. ,
55 The Third Volume of O'Longan MSS. , in the Royal Irish Academy, contains a short account of the Discovery of St. Ailbhe of Imliech's shrine, by St. Colman Mac Leinin, p. 14.
96 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of
Emly," p. 493.
9? A MS. ' in T. C. D. , classed B. 3. 12,
contains at September 12th, Ides ii. , Elbe et Molesea, Conf: ix. Lect.
98 Our Saint is also said to have belonged to the order of Regular Canons. The follow-
" Deus, qui beatum Albeum pontificem ad regna ccelestia transtulisti, ejus intercessione tuo- rum excita corda fidelium,ut ad ejus sacra vir- tutum exempla fideliter apprehensa, aeterna gaudia consequi mereantur. Per Dominum. "
at the Secret "
Again, : Ipse nostrum
offerat tibi, Deus, Sacrificium, qui beatum Albeum pontificem suae charitatis ministrum,
et suae gloriae in ccelo participem esse voluit, Dominus noster Jesus Christus, qui tecum vivit," &c.
At the Post Communion " Populum tuum, Domine, bonis tuis adimpleant divina Sacramenta, quae animam beati Albei ponti-
of Imlech Ibair. —Ibid. , p. cxlv.
89 Edited by Rev. Mr. Kelly, p. xxxiv. 90 Thus at the v. Ides, *Mlbei epr* 1tn
teAcha.
91 See " Historian Catholicse Ibernise Com-
pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 51.
"
Catalogus Aliquorum Sanctorum Ibemiae," where he is called Elbeus, bishop, and identified with Albius, although his festival is not given.
See ibid. , cap. xii. , p. 54.
92 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
246, 247.
93 " In Momonia Hibernia
Also, Father Henry Fitzsimons'
S. Albous episcopus Emelicensis, in comitatu
Tiperariensi. "
94 "
Suyskens adds : quemadmodum etiam monuit Michael Alfordus in Annalibus His- toric Ecclesiasticae Britanniae ad annum
Christi 462, num. 7. Corrigendi pariter sunt Henrici Fitzsimon Catalogi Sanctorum
Hiberniae, in quibus S. Albius recte quidem
:
ad diem xii.
copus Stanihurstus perperam appellatur. " Dominum,"
regione
ing form of prayer here occurs
:
sed — ficis
Septembris refertur, epis- inebriarunt pinguedine ccelesti. Per
&c.
296 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
Among the sees in the South of Ireland, during remote ages, if Emly had
some honorary precedence, its jurisdiction was never of that really metro- politanical nature, which afterwards had been conferred on Cashel. Keating laboured under a mistake, in assigning archbishops to Cashel in the ninth century. It is yet very doubtful, if Cashel had been a bishop's see, at that
00
100
in the year 1 1 1 2, presided over a Synod held at
St. Celsus,
century, Cashel is said to have been made an Archiepiscopal see by the
existing primate, St. Celsus. With the exception of Armagh,101 no other truly archiepiscopate was then to be found in Ireland. St. Malachy
102 his immediate
confersuchadecision. 104 AccordingtoSirJamesWare,10*intheyear1568, Emly was annexed to the See of Cashel, by an Act of Parliament.
When the Protestant Cathedral after the Church Disestablishment became a remembrance of the past, and had become derelict, the Very Rev. Maurice Power, Parish Priest of Emly, resolved on the erection of—a new Catholic church in the village. H—e offered the large sum of ,£2,000 far more than the building was worth to the Church Commissioners, in order that he might enlarge, restore and beautify the structure, as it then stood. He
early period,
Fiadh-mac-Aengusa, now known as Usneagh, in the county of Westmeath. Among other prelates who assisted at it, we find mention of Milar O'Dunan, who is styled Archbishop of Cashel. At the commencement of the twelfth
O'Morgair,
successor,
influenced Innocent ,03 to Pope II. ,
desired to have it consecrated once more to the olden memories and totheancientfaith. However,theChurchCommissionersabsolutelyrefused
greatly
and soon afterwards, some of the revered old monuments
were removed, the land-marks of Catholicity were pulled down and dragged away, so that the old place was deprived of many time-honoured relics. Still
it was determined, that the religious renown, for which Emly had been so distinguished, in successive years of Irish history, should be revived, in the building of a new Catholic church, and on an eligible site in the neighbour- hood. 106 Accordingly,Mr. GeorgeAshlin,Architect,ofDublin,wasentrusted
to prepare plans and elevations. With appropriate religious ceremonies, the first stone was laid on May 30th, i88o,io7 by His Grace the Most Rev.
Thomas W. Croke, Archbishop of Cashel, in the presence of a large concourse of the clergy and laity, and again he was present on the opening day, the Feast of the Epiphany, 1883, when the energetic and respected Pastor celebrated the first Mass within the building, which had been dedicated to St. Ailbe. It
that liberal offer
;
w See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sec. vii. , n. 67. , pp. 285 286.
100 See his Life at the 6th day of April, in the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i.
Bernard's account in "Vita S. Malachi. e," cap. x. ,xi.
,0S See " Commentarius dc Praesulibui Hibernian"
101 The Most Rev. Dr. MacMahon, Arch-
bishop over this city, states that Celsus it is. The new church of Emly. " Tralee,
transferred the archbishopric from Emly to Cashel. See "Jus Primatiale Ardmacha-
1 880, 8vo.
*°7 The founda—tion stone bore the follow-
num, in omnes Archiepiscopos, Episcopos, et Universum Clerum, totius Kegni Hiberniae. Assertum per H. A M. T. H. P. Sect. 62, p. 43. Anno Dom. 1 728, 4to.
:
Sub invocatione Sancti Alhei, Mense Maii. a. d. MDCCCLXXX.
Thorna Gul. Croke, Archiepo. Mauritio Power Parocho.
wSee the life of this great Saint, at the
3rd of November, in a subsequent part of thiswork. TheMetropolitandiocesenewly erected was called Cashel.
103 He ruled over the Roman See, from
A. D. 1 1 30 to a. d. 1 143.
,0* However, this does not agree with St.
lo6
are drawn from " Emly of old, and Emly as
The particulars contained in the text
ing inscription
September 12. I LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
297
measures 108 feet in length, and in the clear ; the transepts are 76 feet, in the clear ; the nave and aisles are 45 feet, clear ; the columns interiorly are 2 feet 7 inches, in diameter. The ashlar masonry is of the best dark lime-
108
stone, while the mouldings and dressings are in Tralee white limestone.
The tower, as at present built, and fitted with a peal of bells, is destined with crowning spire to reach an elevation of 150 feet. After an interval of rest, to allow the parishioners breathing time, when the church had been roofed, the interior decorations were commenced, in April, 1885, and elegantly completed, in April, 1887. This building is now one of the finest parochial Catholic churches, within the archiepiscopal diocese of Cashel.
St. Ailbe's Catholic Church, Emly.
Thus it is meet, that worth and holiness be recognized and honoured, in places rendered celebrated by association with our Saints and their influences on earth. A time-honoured personality always demands the veneration of mortals. In the case of St. Ailbe, Divine grace seems to have prevented his earlier youth from wandering into the dangerous paths of error. His natural good dispositions were enriched with many blessings. He soon renounced these pagan delusions which surrounded him ; while his strong purpose and earnest desires led him perforce to the light of truth. Afterwards, faith and the love of God conducted him to a sublime degree of perfection ; he grew in wisdom and in holiness, even when moral darkness had over- spread the land.
108
The accompanying illustration, from a was drawn on the wood, and the engraving photograph kindly furnished by the Very is by Mr. Gregor Grey.
Rev. Maurice Canon Power, P. P. of Emly,
298 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
ARTICLE II. —ST. MOLAISSI, OR LAISREN, OF DEVENISH ISLAND, COUNTY OF FERMANAGH.
[SIXTH CENTURY. ] CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED LIVES OF ST. MOLAISSI OR LAISREN— HIS FAMILY AND BIRTH—HIS EARLY TBAINING—HE SELECTS DEVENISH AS A PLACE FOR HIS RELIGIOUS FOUNDATION—DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND AND OF ITS ANTIQUITIES.
Those individuals, who rely on such perishable possessions as rank, ability, affluence, or human position, for their permanent sources of happi-
ness, must be regarded in the light of unreasoning persons, like the lunatic, who often conceives his cell to be a palace ; deeming a wreath of straw to be his coronet ; and whose chains become golden ornaments ; his ideal of
greatness consisting solely in the extravagancies of his own absurd fancies.
Yet, such complacency only proves the imbecility of his mind, and follows as the effect of its infirmity. How much more reasonable and exalted are the
ambitions that engaged the Saints in God's love and service, and taught
them to disregard the perishable pursuits of worldlings. Although it might be a difficult matter to remove such delusions of pride and self-love, we are yet aware, it should be necessary to succeed in this effort, before the mind can be thought really sane or capable of exercising its proper faculties.
However, this is a mental task all true saints engage upon, when applying
its practice to themselves, in the first instance, so that they may become instrumental in removing human idiosyncrasies and clouds from the minds of their fellow-mortals. There are various manuscript Lives of St. Molassius or Laisren of Daimhinis yet extant.
1 Among the Royal Irish Academy's Manuscripts, there is an Irish Life of
St. Molaise. It is full of rare Irish poems and curious information, in
8
reference to its immediate subject.
Edward O'Reilly. 3 There are a few small chasms in the text, as if the
in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, there are Manuscript Lives of this saint.
There is a manuscript Life, in the Burgundian Library at Bruxelles. ? Among the Franciscan Records, in the Convent at Dublin, is a Latin Life
This is a copy in the hand-writing of
had been broken or
Lite of this Saint, preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy. Also,
6
original
illegible
at those
places.
Manuscript 5
of St. Molassius Damhims. 8
which he gives a few meagre extracts. s>
Colgan
had a
of our Saint's from Life,
Article 11. - -Chapter i. —' Headed 6 See Vita S. Molasi, alias Laseriani, beacattlolAife. Abbatis Dairainiensu sive Devenishensis, 2 In a small 8vo. paper MS. , classed No. noticed as MS. liodl. Rawl. 13. 505, pp. 95-100, veil, folio, xiv. cent, and MS. Boil.
41, 4. It consists of 115 written pages.
3 Prefixed to it is a note " This life of
:
Rawl. B. 485 and 169, veil. 4to, xiv cent.
7 It is a in Irish, Brother transcript, by
St. Molaisse was me from a copied by
very ancient vellum MS. , the property of Robert
Michael O'Clery, fol. 91. 8"
Lemon, Esq. , of His Majesty's State Paper Office. "
In the Manuscript, intituled, Vitae
4 See Eugene O'Curry's "Catalogue of '
39.
9 See
"
MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, series i. , vol. i. , p. 208.
Trias Thaumaturga. '' Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. l'atricii, pars ii. sect. 5 It is classed, 23. A. 43. , among the vi. , p. 209. And Secunda Appendix ad
Manuscripts. Acta S- Columbae, pars i. , sect, xxxx. , p. 461 .
4 There is a
copy
We can ascertain from these,
Sanctorum," ex cod. Inisensi, pp. 31 to
September 12.
J
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
299
however, that it had been a panegyric pronounced on the festival day of St. Molassius. Our Irish hagiographer intended to publish St. Molaissi's Acts, at the 1 2th of September. 10 The Bollandists" have a few observations regarding Molassius of Damhinis, Abbot and Bishop, otherwise called Lasreanus. But, so far was the writer from having a distinct knowledge of the Irish Calendars, and the duplex nature of entering Irish Saints' names, that he thinks it to be not unlikely, the present holy man may have been identical with St. Molassius or Lasreanus, Abbot and Bishop of Leighlin, venerated at the 18th of April. He remarks, that recent authors affirmed them to have been distinct persons, relying on authorities of an uncertain kind, which not clearly to him establish the distinction. 12 There
T
are various notices of St. Laisrean or Molaissius in Ussher's work, 3 by
1
Bishop Challoner, * and Rev. Dr. Lanigan,^
Like many of the pioneers of Christianity in Ireland, the very distin- guished Cenobiarch, whose festival occurs at this date, descends through a
11
See Acta Sanctorum. " tomus iv. ,
exalted
16
to the race of son to Connal Irial,
very
Cearnaigh, ? he was seventh in descent from Crum Badhraighe, son to Eochaidh Cobha, son of Fiacha Araidhe. 18 St. Molaise or Molaisi, called also Laisren or Laisrean,10 was the son of Natfraich, and born in Carberry, near Sligo, according to the most probable accounts ; while Dr. Lanigan, with some others, states it as not improbable, that he was a native ofBrefifny. Monua was the name of his mother, as the account is found in his own Life. 20 The Virgin Osnata21 was daughter to Nadfraic, and sister to St. Molassius of Damhinis, and to the Saints, Talulla and Muadhnata, according to Marianus*, at the 6th of January, on' which day the feast of these three sisters was celebrated. 22 Marianus adds, that St. Muadhnata was comme- morated at a place called Caille, in the territory of Cairbre, and that St.
Septembris xii. saints, p. 2.
12 He adds " :
Among the pretermitted
1
lineage.
Belonging
10 See "
quae MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
whom it is carried to Adam, up
Catalogus
Actuum Sanctorum
through
This mistake must have crept in at a modern period, but that it is an error is evident by a reference to the pedigrees of the Irish Saints in the Leabhar Breac and Mac Firbis, where this St. Molaise of
Praeterea,
Damh-inis,
of the race of Fiacha Araide, from whom are the Dalaradians. See Eugene O'Curry's
ille, qui hodie obiisse dicitur ab aliquibus,
refregantibus tamen aliis, de ejus cultu nobis
" of MSS. in the Irish Catalogue Royal
Academy," series i. , vol. i. , p. 208.
l8 See Dr. Reeves, quoting the "Annals
of Ulster. "—Ibid.
I9 " The name Molaise in the Irish is also
written Molaisre, and Laisre, and Latinised Molassius and Lasserianus, and hence he is mentioned by several writers as St. Lasse- rian. " See Owen Connellan's translation of the "Annals of the Four Masters," at a. d. 1505, note 3. In the same note, our Saint is
non constat. Vide
sive Molassio adxvm. Aprilis. "
13 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates,'' cap. xvii. , pp. 497, 498.
14 See "Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , pp.
igitur
dicta de Lasreano
128, 129.
15 See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. ii. , pp. 183 to 185, and pp. 218 to 221.
*'See a very admirable article by W. F,
si forte aliis sit
on is set down as Lough Erne,
"
with appropriate and correct drawings, styled "a native of Breffney," pp. 354,
The Antiquities of Devenish,"
Wakeman,
in "The Journal of the Royal Historical
355. 2°
and
vol. iil. , Fourth
Association
of Ireland,
"
to the in the O'Clerys,
v. is
Archaeological Series,
No.
17, p. Royal
"
According Martyrology
17 The Irish Life in the
demy commences with the Pedigree of Molaise, son of Nadfraoch, son of Barrain, son to Conbrain, son of Tuaislein mac Deaga, son of Crunn badraoi, and so far it is correct ; but afterwards, it is ingrafted on the pedigree of Natfraich, King of Munster,
60.
of
for this statement,
Irish Aca-
quoted
2I See the notice of her, at that date, in
the First Volume of this work, Art. xi.
23 The Martyrology of Tallagh and the continuator of /Enguss treat regarding them at the same day, while observirjg, that they were venerated in Enac-ard.
Donegal. " Chapter
300 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 12.
2
Talulla was Abbess of Kiklare. 3 Molasi is falsely said, by some authors,
to have been a brother of Aengus, the first Christian King of Munster.
His education and religious instruction were received at the celebrated
2
school of Clonard, and under St. Finian, * as we find these circumstances
related, in the Acts of this latter holy Abbot. He was'one of the twelve chief disciples of that saint, and these were commonly called the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Having planted the seeds of piety and ecclesiastical learning deeply in his mind, a fixed object appears to have been the desire of embracing a religious life, and the training up under his own direction a community of men, who might be induced to follow his example and emulate his virtues. In the Life of St. Maidoc of Ferns,"* we find the following legend, that he and St. Laisrean were bosom friends j and one day, while both saints sat under the shade of two trees, they asked from God a mani: festation of His holy will, as to whether they should live together or separate. Then, by a Divine decree, the two trees under which they were seated fell. That tree, under which Lasserian sat, inclined towards the North, and that under which Maidoc had been seated fell towards the South. Then, being filled with the spirit of God, they concluded those signs to have been an admonition from Heaven, indicating the course each was destined to take. Tenderly embracing each other, and in tears, Maidoc set out for the Southern part of Ireland, where he afterwards founded the monastery of Ferns while Laiserian directed his course towards the Northern parts,
;
where he could prosecute his intention of promoting God's greater glory, and of attending to the interests of his own immortal soul. 26
With a view to attain his cherished purpose, St. Molaise selected a charming site for the foundation of a religious establishment. At an early age, our saint fixed his habitation on the lone Island of Devenish, at the
entrance to Lower Lough Erne, and about —two miles distant, from t—he "
present town of Enniskillen. 3 The situation one of romantic beauty was equally distinguished for retirement, which excluded in a great measure the presence of externa and a knowledge of the every day occurrences in life. According to the pseudo-antiquarian writer, Ledwich, the religious
28
the celebrated disciples of St. Columba 9 continued to exercise their piety and virtue, till overborne by superstition and an intolerant religion. 3°
foundation on the Island was originally a Culdean establishment, 2
where
Devenish is remarkably fertile, comprising nearly one hundred acres, and the shores slope gently down to the surface of that placid, expansive, and lovely lake, by the waters of which it is surrounded. At what precise period St. Molaise established himself on this island cannot be accurately ascertained.
The Island of Devenish is undoubtedly one of the foremost and most
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- ruins on that island, is given in Ledwich's
a3See
niae," xv. Februarii, n. 36, pp. 339, 340.
Colgan's
"
34 — ofhim the—
See some notices at 23rd day
his Life may be found.
2s See his Life, at the 31st of Ianuary, in the First Volume of this work, Art.
them. "—"
Emly
of old, and
as it Emly is,"
"
of 546. See Ecclesiastical History of the causes of some disorders in the
p. 6.
8sin the time of Archbishop Palliser,"
writes Harris, "two neighbouring magis- trates obtained a licence from him to demolish the cross and stop up the well, as being encouragements to idolatry, and
vol. i.
"
Bishops of Emly," p. 490.
as it is, See Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , xii. 87 In the Leabhar Breac"—copy is the
pp. 44, 45. p. 6.
81" "
Emly
:
Ceilebain peiL nAiLbe
Septkmber 12. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 2 95
88
89
There appears in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 12th of
September, a festival in honor of Aeilbhe, Bishop of Imlecha. In the Book of Leinster copy it is also entered. ** In the anonymous List of Irish Saints,
at the 1 2th of September. The glossographer on this notice is brief.
published by
Albius,
at the same date, as
ALutyrology
of
Ailbhe,
O'Sullivan
Beare,
we find
at the same date. ? 1 The
2
Donegal^ registers him,
Arch- bishop of Imleach Iobhair, in Minister. Also, Castellanus records his memory, at the 12th of September. ^ Father Ward declares, that at the period when he wrote the letter to Bollandus in 1634, the feast of our saint was kept on the same day, in the diocese of Emly. In the second edition of John Wilson's English Martyrology, at the 27th of February, a St. Elvius, confessor and bishop of Menevia in Pembroke, Wales, is set down j but the Bollandists have observed at that day " in Prsetermissis," and elsewhere, they have no doubt of Wilson's error, both as to St. Elvius' day of veneration,
and as to his identical episcopate. 94
Certain relics of our saint seem to have been carefully preserved in Emly,
for many centuries after his death. 95 A mitre of St. Ailbe was burned by
On that occasion, the reigning successor of our Saint, Bishop Maelmorda
robbers, when the City of Emly had been plundered, in the year 1 1 23.
saved himself 96 This Saint seems to have by flight. formerly
Mac-Inclodnai,
been honoured with an office of Nine Lessons. ? A Missal, printed at Paris,
a. d. , 1734, and edited by order of Pope Clement XII. , comprises the proper Masses for patrons and guardians, both French and Irish Saints. Among others, at the 12th of September, a Mass for the feast of St. Albeus, bishop
08
and confessor, general patron of Emly Church and diocese,
is found.
Thus translated by Dr. Whitley Stokes :—
"Acta Sanctorum," tomus iv. , Septembris xii. De S. Albeo seu Ailbeo Episcopo
Imalecensi. SyllogeHistorico-Critica,sect,
"
luminous, buoyant : with the feast of Laisren
Celebrate Ailbe's feast, with Fled the
— "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stokes,
the beautiful of multitudinous Daim-inis. "
i. ,
num. 26. 3, p.
LL. D. , p. exxxvii.
88 He has only -Ailbe . i. imlech ibair, i. e. ,
55 The Third Volume of O'Longan MSS. , in the Royal Irish Academy, contains a short account of the Discovery of St. Ailbhe of Imliech's shrine, by St. Colman Mac Leinin, p. 14.
96 See Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Bishops of
Emly," p. 493.
9? A MS. ' in T. C. D. , classed B. 3. 12,
contains at September 12th, Ides ii. , Elbe et Molesea, Conf: ix. Lect.
98 Our Saint is also said to have belonged to the order of Regular Canons. The follow-
" Deus, qui beatum Albeum pontificem ad regna ccelestia transtulisti, ejus intercessione tuo- rum excita corda fidelium,ut ad ejus sacra vir- tutum exempla fideliter apprehensa, aeterna gaudia consequi mereantur. Per Dominum. "
at the Secret "
Again, : Ipse nostrum
offerat tibi, Deus, Sacrificium, qui beatum Albeum pontificem suae charitatis ministrum,
et suae gloriae in ccelo participem esse voluit, Dominus noster Jesus Christus, qui tecum vivit," &c.
At the Post Communion " Populum tuum, Domine, bonis tuis adimpleant divina Sacramenta, quae animam beati Albei ponti-
of Imlech Ibair. —Ibid. , p. cxlv.
89 Edited by Rev. Mr. Kelly, p. xxxiv. 90 Thus at the v. Ides, *Mlbei epr* 1tn
teAcha.
91 See " Historian Catholicse Ibernise Com-
pendium," tomus i. , lib. iv. , cap. xi. , p. 51.
"
Catalogus Aliquorum Sanctorum Ibemiae," where he is called Elbeus, bishop, and identified with Albius, although his festival is not given.
See ibid. , cap. xii. , p. 54.
92 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
246, 247.
93 " In Momonia Hibernia
Also, Father Henry Fitzsimons'
S. Albous episcopus Emelicensis, in comitatu
Tiperariensi. "
94 "
Suyskens adds : quemadmodum etiam monuit Michael Alfordus in Annalibus His- toric Ecclesiasticae Britanniae ad annum
Christi 462, num. 7. Corrigendi pariter sunt Henrici Fitzsimon Catalogi Sanctorum
Hiberniae, in quibus S. Albius recte quidem
:
ad diem xii.
copus Stanihurstus perperam appellatur. " Dominum,"
regione
ing form of prayer here occurs
:
sed — ficis
Septembris refertur, epis- inebriarunt pinguedine ccelesti. Per
&c.
296 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
Among the sees in the South of Ireland, during remote ages, if Emly had
some honorary precedence, its jurisdiction was never of that really metro- politanical nature, which afterwards had been conferred on Cashel. Keating laboured under a mistake, in assigning archbishops to Cashel in the ninth century. It is yet very doubtful, if Cashel had been a bishop's see, at that
00
100
in the year 1 1 1 2, presided over a Synod held at
St. Celsus,
century, Cashel is said to have been made an Archiepiscopal see by the
existing primate, St. Celsus. With the exception of Armagh,101 no other truly archiepiscopate was then to be found in Ireland. St. Malachy
102 his immediate
confersuchadecision. 104 AccordingtoSirJamesWare,10*intheyear1568, Emly was annexed to the See of Cashel, by an Act of Parliament.
When the Protestant Cathedral after the Church Disestablishment became a remembrance of the past, and had become derelict, the Very Rev. Maurice Power, Parish Priest of Emly, resolved on the erection of—a new Catholic church in the village. H—e offered the large sum of ,£2,000 far more than the building was worth to the Church Commissioners, in order that he might enlarge, restore and beautify the structure, as it then stood. He
early period,
Fiadh-mac-Aengusa, now known as Usneagh, in the county of Westmeath. Among other prelates who assisted at it, we find mention of Milar O'Dunan, who is styled Archbishop of Cashel. At the commencement of the twelfth
O'Morgair,
successor,
influenced Innocent ,03 to Pope II. ,
desired to have it consecrated once more to the olden memories and totheancientfaith. However,theChurchCommissionersabsolutelyrefused
greatly
and soon afterwards, some of the revered old monuments
were removed, the land-marks of Catholicity were pulled down and dragged away, so that the old place was deprived of many time-honoured relics. Still
it was determined, that the religious renown, for which Emly had been so distinguished, in successive years of Irish history, should be revived, in the building of a new Catholic church, and on an eligible site in the neighbour- hood. 106 Accordingly,Mr. GeorgeAshlin,Architect,ofDublin,wasentrusted
to prepare plans and elevations. With appropriate religious ceremonies, the first stone was laid on May 30th, i88o,io7 by His Grace the Most Rev.
Thomas W. Croke, Archbishop of Cashel, in the presence of a large concourse of the clergy and laity, and again he was present on the opening day, the Feast of the Epiphany, 1883, when the energetic and respected Pastor celebrated the first Mass within the building, which had been dedicated to St. Ailbe. It
that liberal offer
;
w See Dr. Lanigan's "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, vi. , sec. vii. , n. 67. , pp. 285 286.
100 See his Life at the 6th day of April, in the Fourth Volume of this work, Art. i.
Bernard's account in "Vita S. Malachi. e," cap. x. ,xi.
,0S See " Commentarius dc Praesulibui Hibernian"
101 The Most Rev. Dr. MacMahon, Arch-
bishop over this city, states that Celsus it is. The new church of Emly. " Tralee,
transferred the archbishopric from Emly to Cashel. See "Jus Primatiale Ardmacha-
1 880, 8vo.
*°7 The founda—tion stone bore the follow-
num, in omnes Archiepiscopos, Episcopos, et Universum Clerum, totius Kegni Hiberniae. Assertum per H. A M. T. H. P. Sect. 62, p. 43. Anno Dom. 1 728, 4to.
:
Sub invocatione Sancti Alhei, Mense Maii. a. d. MDCCCLXXX.
Thorna Gul. Croke, Archiepo. Mauritio Power Parocho.
wSee the life of this great Saint, at the
3rd of November, in a subsequent part of thiswork. TheMetropolitandiocesenewly erected was called Cashel.
103 He ruled over the Roman See, from
A. D. 1 1 30 to a. d. 1 143.
,0* However, this does not agree with St.
lo6
are drawn from " Emly of old, and Emly as
The particulars contained in the text
ing inscription
September 12. I LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
297
measures 108 feet in length, and in the clear ; the transepts are 76 feet, in the clear ; the nave and aisles are 45 feet, clear ; the columns interiorly are 2 feet 7 inches, in diameter. The ashlar masonry is of the best dark lime-
108
stone, while the mouldings and dressings are in Tralee white limestone.
The tower, as at present built, and fitted with a peal of bells, is destined with crowning spire to reach an elevation of 150 feet. After an interval of rest, to allow the parishioners breathing time, when the church had been roofed, the interior decorations were commenced, in April, 1885, and elegantly completed, in April, 1887. This building is now one of the finest parochial Catholic churches, within the archiepiscopal diocese of Cashel.
St. Ailbe's Catholic Church, Emly.
Thus it is meet, that worth and holiness be recognized and honoured, in places rendered celebrated by association with our Saints and their influences on earth. A time-honoured personality always demands the veneration of mortals. In the case of St. Ailbe, Divine grace seems to have prevented his earlier youth from wandering into the dangerous paths of error. His natural good dispositions were enriched with many blessings. He soon renounced these pagan delusions which surrounded him ; while his strong purpose and earnest desires led him perforce to the light of truth. Afterwards, faith and the love of God conducted him to a sublime degree of perfection ; he grew in wisdom and in holiness, even when moral darkness had over- spread the land.
108
The accompanying illustration, from a was drawn on the wood, and the engraving photograph kindly furnished by the Very is by Mr. Gregor Grey.
Rev. Maurice Canon Power, P. P. of Emly,
298 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September12.
ARTICLE II. —ST. MOLAISSI, OR LAISREN, OF DEVENISH ISLAND, COUNTY OF FERMANAGH.
[SIXTH CENTURY. ] CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION—MANUSCRIPT AND PRINTED LIVES OF ST. MOLAISSI OR LAISREN— HIS FAMILY AND BIRTH—HIS EARLY TBAINING—HE SELECTS DEVENISH AS A PLACE FOR HIS RELIGIOUS FOUNDATION—DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND AND OF ITS ANTIQUITIES.
Those individuals, who rely on such perishable possessions as rank, ability, affluence, or human position, for their permanent sources of happi-
ness, must be regarded in the light of unreasoning persons, like the lunatic, who often conceives his cell to be a palace ; deeming a wreath of straw to be his coronet ; and whose chains become golden ornaments ; his ideal of
greatness consisting solely in the extravagancies of his own absurd fancies.
Yet, such complacency only proves the imbecility of his mind, and follows as the effect of its infirmity. How much more reasonable and exalted are the
ambitions that engaged the Saints in God's love and service, and taught
them to disregard the perishable pursuits of worldlings. Although it might be a difficult matter to remove such delusions of pride and self-love, we are yet aware, it should be necessary to succeed in this effort, before the mind can be thought really sane or capable of exercising its proper faculties.
However, this is a mental task all true saints engage upon, when applying
its practice to themselves, in the first instance, so that they may become instrumental in removing human idiosyncrasies and clouds from the minds of their fellow-mortals. There are various manuscript Lives of St. Molassius or Laisren of Daimhinis yet extant.
1 Among the Royal Irish Academy's Manuscripts, there is an Irish Life of
St. Molaise. It is full of rare Irish poems and curious information, in
8
reference to its immediate subject.
Edward O'Reilly. 3 There are a few small chasms in the text, as if the
in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, there are Manuscript Lives of this saint.
There is a manuscript Life, in the Burgundian Library at Bruxelles. ? Among the Franciscan Records, in the Convent at Dublin, is a Latin Life
This is a copy in the hand-writing of
had been broken or
Lite of this Saint, preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy. Also,
6
original
illegible
at those
places.
Manuscript 5
of St. Molassius Damhims. 8
which he gives a few meagre extracts. s>
Colgan
had a
of our Saint's from Life,
Article 11. - -Chapter i. —' Headed 6 See Vita S. Molasi, alias Laseriani, beacattlolAife. Abbatis Dairainiensu sive Devenishensis, 2 In a small 8vo. paper MS. , classed No. noticed as MS. liodl. Rawl. 13. 505, pp. 95-100, veil, folio, xiv. cent, and MS. Boil.
41, 4. It consists of 115 written pages.
3 Prefixed to it is a note " This life of
:
Rawl. B. 485 and 169, veil. 4to, xiv cent.
7 It is a in Irish, Brother transcript, by
St. Molaisse was me from a copied by
very ancient vellum MS. , the property of Robert
Michael O'Clery, fol. 91. 8"
Lemon, Esq. , of His Majesty's State Paper Office. "
In the Manuscript, intituled, Vitae
4 See Eugene O'Curry's "Catalogue of '
39.
9 See
"
MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy, series i. , vol. i. , p. 208.
Trias Thaumaturga. '' Tertia Appendix ad Acta S. l'atricii, pars ii. sect. 5 It is classed, 23. A. 43. , among the vi. , p. 209. And Secunda Appendix ad
Manuscripts. Acta S- Columbae, pars i. , sect, xxxx. , p. 461 .
4 There is a
copy
We can ascertain from these,
Sanctorum," ex cod. Inisensi, pp. 31 to
September 12.
J
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
299
however, that it had been a panegyric pronounced on the festival day of St. Molassius. Our Irish hagiographer intended to publish St. Molaissi's Acts, at the 1 2th of September. 10 The Bollandists" have a few observations regarding Molassius of Damhinis, Abbot and Bishop, otherwise called Lasreanus. But, so far was the writer from having a distinct knowledge of the Irish Calendars, and the duplex nature of entering Irish Saints' names, that he thinks it to be not unlikely, the present holy man may have been identical with St. Molassius or Lasreanus, Abbot and Bishop of Leighlin, venerated at the 18th of April. He remarks, that recent authors affirmed them to have been distinct persons, relying on authorities of an uncertain kind, which not clearly to him establish the distinction. 12 There
T
are various notices of St. Laisrean or Molaissius in Ussher's work, 3 by
1
Bishop Challoner, * and Rev. Dr. Lanigan,^
Like many of the pioneers of Christianity in Ireland, the very distin- guished Cenobiarch, whose festival occurs at this date, descends through a
11
See Acta Sanctorum. " tomus iv. ,
exalted
16
to the race of son to Connal Irial,
very
Cearnaigh, ? he was seventh in descent from Crum Badhraighe, son to Eochaidh Cobha, son of Fiacha Araidhe. 18 St. Molaise or Molaisi, called also Laisren or Laisrean,10 was the son of Natfraich, and born in Carberry, near Sligo, according to the most probable accounts ; while Dr. Lanigan, with some others, states it as not improbable, that he was a native ofBrefifny. Monua was the name of his mother, as the account is found in his own Life. 20 The Virgin Osnata21 was daughter to Nadfraic, and sister to St. Molassius of Damhinis, and to the Saints, Talulla and Muadhnata, according to Marianus*, at the 6th of January, on' which day the feast of these three sisters was celebrated. 22 Marianus adds, that St. Muadhnata was comme- morated at a place called Caille, in the territory of Cairbre, and that St.
Septembris xii. saints, p. 2.
12 He adds " :
Among the pretermitted
1
lineage.
Belonging
10 See "
quae MS. habentur, ordine Mensium et Dierum. "
whom it is carried to Adam, up
Catalogus
Actuum Sanctorum
through
This mistake must have crept in at a modern period, but that it is an error is evident by a reference to the pedigrees of the Irish Saints in the Leabhar Breac and Mac Firbis, where this St. Molaise of
Praeterea,
Damh-inis,
of the race of Fiacha Araide, from whom are the Dalaradians. See Eugene O'Curry's
ille, qui hodie obiisse dicitur ab aliquibus,
refregantibus tamen aliis, de ejus cultu nobis
" of MSS. in the Irish Catalogue Royal
Academy," series i. , vol. i. , p. 208.
l8 See Dr. Reeves, quoting the "Annals
of Ulster. "—Ibid.
I9 " The name Molaise in the Irish is also
written Molaisre, and Laisre, and Latinised Molassius and Lasserianus, and hence he is mentioned by several writers as St. Lasse- rian. " See Owen Connellan's translation of the "Annals of the Four Masters," at a. d. 1505, note 3. In the same note, our Saint is
non constat. Vide
sive Molassio adxvm. Aprilis. "
13 See " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Anti- quitates,'' cap. xvii. , pp. 497, 498.
14 See "Britannia
Sancta," part ii. , pp.
igitur
dicta de Lasreano
128, 129.
15 See "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland,"
vol. ii. , pp. 183 to 185, and pp. 218 to 221.
*'See a very admirable article by W. F,
si forte aliis sit
on is set down as Lough Erne,
"
with appropriate and correct drawings, styled "a native of Breffney," pp. 354,
The Antiquities of Devenish,"
Wakeman,
in "The Journal of the Royal Historical
355. 2°
and
vol. iil. , Fourth
Association
of Ireland,
"
to the in the O'Clerys,
v. is
Archaeological Series,
No.
17, p. Royal
"
According Martyrology
17 The Irish Life in the
demy commences with the Pedigree of Molaise, son of Nadfraoch, son of Barrain, son to Conbrain, son of Tuaislein mac Deaga, son of Crunn badraoi, and so far it is correct ; but afterwards, it is ingrafted on the pedigree of Natfraich, King of Munster,
60.
of
for this statement,
Irish Aca-
quoted
2I See the notice of her, at that date, in
the First Volume of this work, Art. xi.
23 The Martyrology of Tallagh and the continuator of /Enguss treat regarding them at the same day, while observirjg, that they were venerated in Enac-ard.
Donegal. " Chapter
300 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 12.
2
Talulla was Abbess of Kiklare. 3 Molasi is falsely said, by some authors,
to have been a brother of Aengus, the first Christian King of Munster.
His education and religious instruction were received at the celebrated
2
school of Clonard, and under St. Finian, * as we find these circumstances
related, in the Acts of this latter holy Abbot. He was'one of the twelve chief disciples of that saint, and these were commonly called the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Having planted the seeds of piety and ecclesiastical learning deeply in his mind, a fixed object appears to have been the desire of embracing a religious life, and the training up under his own direction a community of men, who might be induced to follow his example and emulate his virtues. In the Life of St. Maidoc of Ferns,"* we find the following legend, that he and St. Laisrean were bosom friends j and one day, while both saints sat under the shade of two trees, they asked from God a mani: festation of His holy will, as to whether they should live together or separate. Then, by a Divine decree, the two trees under which they were seated fell. That tree, under which Lasserian sat, inclined towards the North, and that under which Maidoc had been seated fell towards the South. Then, being filled with the spirit of God, they concluded those signs to have been an admonition from Heaven, indicating the course each was destined to take. Tenderly embracing each other, and in tears, Maidoc set out for the Southern part of Ireland, where he afterwards founded the monastery of Ferns while Laiserian directed his course towards the Northern parts,
;
where he could prosecute his intention of promoting God's greater glory, and of attending to the interests of his own immortal soul. 26
With a view to attain his cherished purpose, St. Molaise selected a charming site for the foundation of a religious establishment. At an early age, our saint fixed his habitation on the lone Island of Devenish, at the
entrance to Lower Lough Erne, and about —two miles distant, from t—he "
present town of Enniskillen. 3 The situation one of romantic beauty was equally distinguished for retirement, which excluded in a great measure the presence of externa and a knowledge of the every day occurrences in life. According to the pseudo-antiquarian writer, Ledwich, the religious
28
the celebrated disciples of St. Columba 9 continued to exercise their piety and virtue, till overborne by superstition and an intolerant religion. 3°
foundation on the Island was originally a Culdean establishment, 2
where
Devenish is remarkably fertile, comprising nearly one hundred acres, and the shores slope gently down to the surface of that placid, expansive, and lovely lake, by the waters of which it is surrounded. At what precise period St. Molaise established himself on this island cannot be accurately ascertained.
The Island of Devenish is undoubtedly one of the foremost and most
" Acta Sanctorum Hiber- ruins on that island, is given in Ledwich's
a3See
niae," xv. Februarii, n. 36, pp. 339, 340.
Colgan's
"
34 — ofhim the—
See some notices at 23rd day
his Life may be found.
2s See his Life, at the 31st of Ianuary, in the First Volume of this work, Art.
