There can hardly be a doubt, this latter person is
identical
with Coimnatain.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
D.
, Bishop of Raphoe, has been drawn on the wood and engraved by Gregor Grey.
noble
tions. 200 The architecture is the
early pointed style, with lofty lancet windows, the severity of which is relieved by the introduc- tion of trefoil heads. Thebuild- ing is cruciform, and at the inter- section of nave and
transepts, there are four
arches rest- ing on massive square columns, ornamented with
panels, and carved in high relief with sub-
jects of religious history in Done-
lofty
gal.
The aisles
columns,
propor-
September i. i] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 531
spife. The Cathedral is 200 feet long; 100 feet wide across the transepts, and 66^2 feet across the nave and aisles. At the entrance to the transepts, there is a departure from the pointed style, the doors being in the Hiberno- Romanesque,withcharacteristicGaelicornamentation. Theviewfromthe chancel along the long line of aisles to the entrance is very fine, while by looking the other way the effect of the arcade round the chancel is beautiful and impressive. The panel figures in alto relievo, in the columnar supports of the arches at the intersection of the nave and aisles, are very interesting.
The work is excellently executed, with great attention to detail and the finest workmanship. On the column at the right hand side of the nave there is a beautiful series of panels devoted to many striking incidents in the
201 and on the left hand side is the Adamnan column,202 devoted to illustrations from the life of the founder of the church and diocese ofRaphoe. ThearchhasfiguresoftheBlessedTrinityandothersubjects. Above the spring of the arch from the Columban column is a panel repre- senting Conal Gulban asking the saint to admit him to the ministry, and the saint refusing, prophesying the glory of his race, and pointing to the motto, u in hoc signo vinces. " Above this is a panel representing St. Patrick at Assaroe, near Ballyshannon, when he was requested by Conall to bless his country, his people, and himself, and the saint blesses the son with more fervour than Conall, as one who was nearer by a generation to the great Columcille. The saint is represented breaking forth into the sublime prophesy regarding the future saint of Conall's line. The next panel represents
201 The Columcille column in its lower are a group of the doves of Columba. The
life of St.
Columcille,
panel shows the veil seen by the mother of
the saint before his birth. The other panels
illustrate some of the scenes in the life of
the saint. In the first panel, a double one,
the saint is seen at one side as a little boy
at Kilmacrenan, near Letterkenny, taking and Iona. The first panel, a double one,
lessons from the venerable priest, Cruthe-
necan. At the right of the panel Columba is
represented as a young monk, seriously
engaged in copying the famous manuscript, which afterwards was the Cathach. In the
roof above, a star is seen lighting the young
student at his work. The second panel . second panel shows the saint writing the represents the saint, now a priest and an life of St. Columba. The third panel apostle, preaching the gospel to the people, represents an ordination scene, with St. surrounded by the Scottish chiefs, who Adamnan as first Bishop of Raphoe, re- were already to some extent become his
disciples. The third panel shows the saint
at the famous Feis or assembly of Drom-
ceat,countyofDerry,wherehesucceededin
protecting the rights of the bards of Erin,
and getting Alba's exemption from tribute
to Erin acknowledged. The fourth panel the inscription, "I. H. S. " On the arch
is the death scene. Diarmaid, the faithful body attendant of the saint, raises his head, and raising also his right hand, enables the dying saint to bless the fathers as they rush into the church with lamps in their hands. Between the panels are scrolls and symbols. The first is the figure of the Corr Mona or Crane. The beaten Crane which came to Columba at Iona was supposed to come from Gartan, his natal place in Donegal. There is a head of an Irish elk, the horns thrown back as in swimming, and there
the figure at the apex is that of the First
Person of the Most Holy Trinity, repre- sented as looking down from Heaven upon the created world. On one hand is the Son, and on the other the Holy Ghost. The group is a bold outline in stone of the Adorable Trinity. The Holy Ghost holds the burning torch in one hand, and from the other hand drops the oil of sanctification. God the Son is represented carrying the Cross in one hand, and the other raised in an attitude of instruction.
last is the figure of the white horse that wept over Columba before his death.
302 The Adamnan column has panels dealing with the life of the Cathedral patron who succeeded St. Columba both in Raphoe
shows on one side the boy Adamnan listen-
ing to St. Ernan, of Dromhome, relating the wonders that he saw on the night of Columba's death, and the other represents Adamnan being received as a novice in Iona by Suibhne, the fourth Abbot. The
ceiving the young priests into the ministry. The panel at the bottom, to correspond with the veil-panel in the Columban monu-
ment, represents the glory of God in judgment, the rays of glory shooting high into the sky as in the sunburst, and bearing
532 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 23
the laying of the foundation stone of the Cathedral of Let terkenny by his EminenceCardinalLogue,assistedbytheMostRev. Dr. O'Donnell. On the arch over the Adamnan column is a representation cf Nuala O'Connor, of Ophaly, of the house of the O'Donnell Chief, receiving the Fransciscans at Donegal. The next panel represents the flight of the Earls, and the next shows the Four Masters in Donegal Convent writing the Annals. 2°3 To aid in the completion of this noble Cathedral, a grand /<? /* was organized, and designated the Aenach. It was held at Gartan on the 9th of June, the
laiety assembled from the most distant places.
After his death, the remains ofAdamnan were religiously preserved by
the monks in his monastery at Iona, and although some time must have elapsed, before their prejudices against him for his efforts to innovate on the disciplinary institutions of their great founder were removed ; yet, in due course, he was revered as only second in greatness and sanctity to St. Columkille in all houses of their order. This was especially the case, after the year 716, when Egbert, the holy priest who received his education in Ireland, had paid his visit to Iona, when Dunchad was superior of Hy, and in fact of the whole Columban Order. Then the Roman Paschal cycle, together with the circular tonsure, advocated so strenuously by Adamnan in his life-time, were universally adopted. 205 St. Adamnan's remains were
206 The account of this transaction in our annals is so equivocal, that it might be inferred the holy Abbot died and was there buried, and that his body had then been removed for the first time to the parent establishment of his order. There is every reason to suppose those relics were encased in a rich shrine. Even, there is a poetical enumeration of relics, contained in a famous shrine of St. Adamnan,
as yet extant. 20? It is alleged to have been composed by the Saint himself, but this does not appear to be probable. There is a brief preface to this poem. 20' However, this is to be understood of a shrine, which had been pre- pared during his life-time, and which enclosed the relics of other Saints he had placed there, and which, as we have already seen, he had deposited at Scrin- Adamnhan. Intheyear831,accordingtotheAnnalsofUlster,200theSerin Adomnain was taken away from Domnach Maghan or Donaghmoyne, by the Gentiles. The Shrine of Adamnan was then in the keeping of Tuathal mac
Thirteenth Centennial of St. Columkill, 2°4 It i8q7.
to be a
cent religious and national demonstration, attended by His Eminence Cardinal Logue, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of Ireland ; Most Rev. Dr. O'Donnell, Bishop of Raphoe, with a vast concourse of clergy and
translated from Ireland, in October of the
year 729.
203 In accordance with the design carried
out in previous volumes of this work, a
tical History of Ireland," Eighth Century, chap. i. , p. 137.
2o6
frontispiece is prefixed, and designed to
commemorate some particular spot, where
Irish hagiology found writers and a home,
in ancient and modern times. Thus, the Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip-
frontispiece to the present volume repre- sents the existing ruins of Donegal Con- vent, where lived the Four Masters, who gathered so many precious documents of Irish civil and ecclesiastical history in the
seventeenthcentury.
204 A detailed account of the
proceedings" maybe found in the "Cuirhne CoUntnalle
or the Gartan Festival, published in Dublin, 1898, 8vo.
2c8
It contains 18 stanzas.
2°5 See Rev. M. J. Brenan's "Ecclesias-
Ultonienses, p. 208.
proved
magnifi-
According to the Annales Ultonienses
"
"
tores," tomus iv. Annales Ultonienses, p. 81.
a0? It is included in the ten folia, extracted from the Book of Leinster, and now pre- served in the Franciscan Convent, Mer- chant's-quay,Dublin. Theselinesoccurat column 5 on the page,
Reversio reliquiarum Adomnani <\<t Ilibernia in menseOctobr. " —
at this year is entered :
20* " See Dr. O'Conor's
Rerum Hiberni- carum Scriptores," tomus iv. Annales
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 533
Feradhaich,210 known as Abbot of Rechra and Durrow. 211 This was the shrine that gave name to Scrin-Adamnan.
Few of our national saints deserve more of our reverence and gratitude than Adamnan, as may be judged from the foregoing incidents we have even imperfectlygleanedtofurnishhismemoir. TheyoungerPlinyesteemedas happy those whom Providence had distinguished with abilities, either for
doing such actions, as are worthy of being related, or for relating them in a manner worthy of being read. Doubly happy are those blessed with both of these uncommon talents. 212 Such remarks have a special bearing on the Life of St. Adamnan, since his activity of mind and body had been rightly directed to serve the highest interests of religion, and to preserve in writing for us, the Life of one, the greatest archimandrite of his age, as also an early recordoftheHolyLand. Bothareofinestimablevaluetothehistorianand antiquary. The authenticity of those works may not be questioned, while our literary interest and desire for information are both excited and gratified by their fortunate preservation to our own times.
ARTrcLEII. —St. Conaing,orConnichMicLuachain. Themanu- 12
script and published Martyrologies of Tallagh register a festival, at the 23rd of September, in honour of Connich, son of Luachain. He is also entered at this date in the Martyrology of Marianus 0'Gorman,3 whose com- mentator calls him Mac Lucunain, or the Son of Lucunain. In Colgan's opinion,4 the present holy man appears to be identical with a certain Conagius, who is mentioned in the Acts of St. Mochoemoc, Abbot of Liath- mor,s He is also thought to have been the Conangius O'Daithil, who is mentioned in the Life of St. Molagga. 6 At the year 660, we meet the death of Conaing Ua Daint, Abbot of Imleach Ibhair, or Emly, recorded. The Irish accords with the foregoing spelling of the name. St. Alveus was first Abbot and Bishop of Emly, as would appear from his Life. ? The successor
of St. Alveus, the present Conangius, appears to be the Saint bearing such name, whose Natalis was observed on the 23rd of September, and who is
called son to Luachan, by the Martyrology of Tallagh, by Marianus
O'Gorman, and by the commentator on St. Angus.
8
There was a chapelry
of a St. Cunning,? in the parish of Carncastle, County of Antrim, supposed to have been Tulach or Killchonadhain, mentioned in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick. 10 The present Saint's festival is found in the Martyrology of Donegal," at this day.
210 Thus noticed in the Irish Annals, at A. D. 832: " Tuathal mac Feradhaich raptus est a Gentilibus, et scrinium Adamnani de Domnach-moghan. "
6 See his Acts in the First Volume of this
work, at the 20th of January, Art. i. , chap, iii.
? This Colgan promised to give at the 12th of September, at which date his Acts are to be found in the present'volume, Art. i. 8 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xx.
Januarii. Vita S. Molaggte, n. 27, p. 150. 9 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' " Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dro- more," n. (d), pp. 53, 54. Also Appendix GG, n, (w), p. 338.
211 212
His death is recorded at A. D. 850.
See the Letters of Pliny the Younger.
Melmoth's — book vi. , Translation, chap.
Article ii.
copy, Conich mac LuAchanAi.
x
16. In the Book of Leinster
2
3"
See Dr. Whitley Stokes' Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
4 See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xiii.
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxv.
I0 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga, Martii, Vita S. Mochoemoci, cap. xxxv. . . Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars ii. , cap.
and n. 38, pp. 595, 596, 598.
s See his Life, in the Third Volume of this
work, at the 13th of March, Art. i.
exxxiii. , p. 147.
" Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
256, 257.
534 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23 Article III. —St. Comnat or Coimnatain. At the 23rd of September,
we find entered, in the published Martyrology of
Tallagh,
1 a festival in
honour of Coimnatain. A similar is in the Book of Leinster entry
2
copy. His place in history we cannot find. Also on this day, Marianus O'GormanS
commemoratesCo[e]mnat,orComnat. SimplythenameComnat,without
any further designation, appears in the Martyrology of Donegal,-* at this same date.
There can hardly be a doubt, this latter person is identical with Coimnatain.
Article IV. —St. Saran. In the of published Martyrology
1
Tallagh, there is a Ciaran at this day ; but we think, this must have been introduced
for Saran, as we find it in the Book of Leinster copy. ' In the Martyrology ot
Marianus O'Gorman,3 Saran is entered at the 23rd of September. According 4
totheMartyrologyofDonegal, Saranwasveneratedatthe23rdofSeptember.
Article V. —St. Tecla, Virgin and Martyr. The swan is said
noiselessly to float over the silver lake, or to rest tranquilly in the brakes
around it, until the time of death approaches, when enchanting notes are
heard before it expires. So do the holy Virgins conceal until the final hour
those latent harmonies of the soul, which break into hymns sempiternal
among the choirs of the Blessed. In the ancient Irish Church, the festival
of St, Thecla, Virgin and Martyr, was celebrated on this day. Although her
memory has been preserved with great veneration from the earliest ages of
the Christian as a who suffered at Seleucia in Isauria, 1 and Church, Martyr,
although mentioned in nearly all the ancient Martyrologies and Calendars j yet her Acts as coming down to us are interspersed with fables, which the
Jesuit Father John Stilting has shown in a learned disquisition in the Bollandist Collection of Saints' Acts. 2 The Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman3 celebrates the feast of St. Thecla, at the 23rd of September, and invokes her intercession. This holy Virgin is reputed to have been well- versed in profane philosophy and in various branches of polite literature, when she was converted to the Christian faith by the Apostle St. Paul at Iconium,4 about the year 45. She became his disciple, and renounced the worldly prospects of marriage with a young and rich nobleman, who, incensed at her refusal, accused her to the magistrates with' being a Christian. She
Article ill. —' Edited Kelly, p. xxxv.
2
by
the Rev. Dr.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Septembris xxiii. De S. Thecla Virg. Mart. Seleuciae in Isauria. Commentarius Critico-IIistoricus. This is comprised in seven sections, having one hundred and five paragraphs. —
Thus : Coimndcan.
3 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' "Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
356, 357. — Article iv.
Kelly, p. xxxv.
2
In the following Irish verses
:
'
Edited by the Rev.
Dr.
Tecla
for oebnemh co hebhinn.
Thus: SAj\4ni.
3 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' "Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
"Felire Hui Gormain,"
of a Lycaonia, province
and Pliny describe it as a very populous
inhabited Greeks and See city by Jews.
"
Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of Greek
and Roman Geography," vol. ii. , p. 12.
256, 257. — Article v.
of a wild, mountainous character, and but little known to the Romans. See Dr.
William Smith's "
65, 66.
beautiful heaven. " pp. 182, 183.
•4 A district in Asia Minor,
Dictionary
and Roman Geography," vol. ii. , pp.
of Greek
3
Thus translated into English by Dr. Whitley Stokes: "White Tecla whom I entreat (and who—dwells) delightfully in
The chief of Asia Minor.
city
The Acts of the Apostles
oengel alimm,
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISh SAINTS. 535
was condemned to be torn in pieces by wild beasts, and exposed in the
amphitheatre, but she was miraculously preserved. 5 Afterwards, she attended
St. Paul during several of his apostolical missions ; but she is said to have
passed the latter years of her life in devout retirement. The Maityrology of
6
Donegal records a festival in honor of Tecla, Virgin, at the 23rd of Septem-
ber. The Calendarist expresses his opinion that she is the Greek virgin and martyr whose festival on this day is celebrated by the Church. 7 She was buried in Seleucia, one of the chief towns of Isauria, and over her tomb a magnificent church was erected, under the first Christian Emperors. Although preserved from the violent death intended for her by persecutors; yet, by St. Isidore of Pelusium and the Greek writers St. Thecla has been called the protomartyr of her sex, and as such venerated from the earliest times. At this her name is noted in the Roman 8
Article VI. —Reputed Festival of St. Lolan, Scottish Bishop.
date, Martyrology.
At the of the Bollandists 1 refer to a 23rd September,
which gives a festival to Lolan, a Scottish Bishop ;
Manuscript Kalendar, but, he seems to have
been no other than the Lolan, Bishop and Confessor, of Kincardine, whose feast is generally assigned to the Z2nd of this month, where notices of him have been inserted. 2
ArticleVII. —ReputedFestivalofSt. Hildulph. Atthe23rdof September, the Bollandists notice a festival found in a Manuscript Kalendar
to the Church of St. Saviour
regarding hi—m, the reader is referred —to his Acts, which are given at the nth
belonging
day of July which is his chief feast
at*Antwerp.
particulars
2
Article VIIL—Reputed Festival of St. Kynnera or Canera'
Virgin, at Inis Cathaigh. We know not on what authority, Bishop
1
Challenor has a feast of commemoration for St. Kynnera at Inis Cathaigh.
She led a solitary life of great sanctity, in the South of Ireland. A further
account her be seen at the 28th of 2 the regarding may January,
assigned as that of her chief festival.
day generally
5 This happened during the reign of tomus vi, Septembris xxiii. Among the
Nero, according to the Roman Martyr- ology.
pretermitted feasts, p. 537.
2
See at that date, in the present volume, Art. viii.
6
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
2 6 2
5 > 57-
7 In a note, Dr. Reeves says at the fore-
going passage, which is within brackets, that it has been entered in the more recent hand.
8"
See Martyrologium Romanum," editio
Article vii. — • See " Acta
tomus vi,, Septembris xxiri.
pretermitted feasts, p. 537.
2
Sanctorum," Among the
novissima. NonoKalendas
British Piety," p. 134.
2 In the First Volume of this
Art.
work.
Octobris, p. 142. Article vi. — See "Acta Sanctorum,"
*
x For further
in the Seventh Volume of this work.
Art. i.
Article viii. —' See " A Memorial of
536 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 24.
CtuentiK-fouvtl) JBap of September.
ARTICLE I. —SAINTS CHUNIBALDUS OR CUNIALUUS AND GISLAR1US, PRIESTS AND MISSIONARIES IN BAVARIA.
[SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. }
veneration had been entertained for Saints Chuniald and Gisilar
THAT
in from their own Bavaria,
down to the
is an
acknowledged
age
Various writers have assigned different days for festivals referring to the
present holy companions of St. Rupert, Apostle of Bavaria. In some cases
they are noticed singly, and in others their names are together united. Nor
is it to be understood, that the present day represents the anniversary of their respective deaths.
Acts of Saints Chuniald and Gislar appear to have been prepared by
Colgan, for the 24th of September, as we find from the posthumous list of his
12 MSS. The Bollandists have notices at this date of those Saints, in a
historic Sylloge,3 having pretermitted their Festival, at the 8th of February. * To adopt such a course they were impelled ; because, at the latter date, they had promised to defer their remarks on both to the 24th of September. The Manuscript Florarium Sanctorums in their possession, and Hermann Greuen,6
8
placed their Festivals at the 8th of February. 7 The Petits Bollandistes have notices of St. Chuniald, Cunibald, Chunibald or Kuniald, and of St.
Gisilaire, Gislaire, or Gisibaire, priests and confessors, at the 24th of Septem- ber, which is generally received as the anniversary for the Translation of
"
fact ; yet, no special record of their Acts—if any such existed—now remains.
their relics. In the
Dictionary of Christian Biography,"9 there are b—rief
10 11
of St. Gisilarius or Gizolarius as
Acts of St. Chunialdus, and— Gislarius,
his name is variedly written their periods being assigned to about the
middle of the eighth century.
These holy men are constantly referred to by ecclesiastical writers, as
and fellow-labourers with St. 12 his compatriots Rupert, during missionary
career in Germany ; and hence, accepting the very general tradition there
prevalent regarding the country of their birth, we may suppose it took place in Ireland, at some time about the middle of the seventh century. Among
writers, however, the country of their birth has been questioned. Some have thought—and among these the Bollandist Father Constantine Suyskens—
Article I. —* See •* Actuum Catalogus
erroneously placed Chunibaldi confes- sons. Mengokli militis. Gislarii presbyteri. " 7 See notices of them, at that date, in the Second Volume of the present work, Art. xi. 8 See " Vies des Saints," tome xi. , xxivc
Jour de Septembre, p. 346.
3 Written by Father Constantine 9 Edited by William Smith, D. C. L. ,
soldier,
Sanctorum quae MS. habentur, ordine between them, thus :
"
"
Suyskens, S. J. , in twenty-five paragraphs.
ii. , p. 152.
s At the 8th of February it enters " Cuni-
baldi confessoris et Gislarii episcopi. "
Mensium et Dierum ! 2"
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Septembris xxiv. De SS. Chunialdo et Gisilario Presbyteris Salisburgi in Ger- mania, pp. 708 to 713.
* See tomus ibid. ,
,0 See vol.
" See vol. ii. , p. 673.
M See his Acts at the 27th of March, in
*
In his Additions to Usuard, Mengold, a
the Third Volume of this work, Art. ii.
present,
is and
strangely
LL. D. , and Henry Wace, M. A.
i. , p. 535.
September 24. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 537 that Saints Rupert, with his companions Chuniald and Gisilar, were natives
16 CarolusCointius,1? MatthewRader,18 andothers. That
x 3
St. Rupert a native of Ireland, 15 and this tradition has been chiefly followed,
of Gaul;
yet, the
ancient Life of St.
Rupert,
as
by John Colgan,
old tract relates, that when Theodon, Duke of the Boii, with many of his
nobles and a great number of people, had been baptised by St. Rupert, and
when the of or 20 had been erected, after
bishopric Juvavensis,^ Juvavum,
the death of Theodon, his successor Theodebert entertained a great respect
for the Apostle. Accordingly, having brought many of the Bavarians to the true faith, finding the errors of paganism still prevailing in the kingdom of
21
Noricum, Rupert then sought his country,
to accompany him. Among these are specially named Chunialdus and
22
Gisilar. Withthem,andhisnieceErendrude, RupertreturnedtoSaltzburg.
ThereheappointedherAbbessoveracommunityofreligiouswomen. The others were destined for missionary labour.
noble
tions. 200 The architecture is the
early pointed style, with lofty lancet windows, the severity of which is relieved by the introduc- tion of trefoil heads. Thebuild- ing is cruciform, and at the inter- section of nave and
transepts, there are four
arches rest- ing on massive square columns, ornamented with
panels, and carved in high relief with sub-
jects of religious history in Done-
lofty
gal.
The aisles
columns,
propor-
September i. i] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 531
spife. The Cathedral is 200 feet long; 100 feet wide across the transepts, and 66^2 feet across the nave and aisles. At the entrance to the transepts, there is a departure from the pointed style, the doors being in the Hiberno- Romanesque,withcharacteristicGaelicornamentation. Theviewfromthe chancel along the long line of aisles to the entrance is very fine, while by looking the other way the effect of the arcade round the chancel is beautiful and impressive. The panel figures in alto relievo, in the columnar supports of the arches at the intersection of the nave and aisles, are very interesting.
The work is excellently executed, with great attention to detail and the finest workmanship. On the column at the right hand side of the nave there is a beautiful series of panels devoted to many striking incidents in the
201 and on the left hand side is the Adamnan column,202 devoted to illustrations from the life of the founder of the church and diocese ofRaphoe. ThearchhasfiguresoftheBlessedTrinityandothersubjects. Above the spring of the arch from the Columban column is a panel repre- senting Conal Gulban asking the saint to admit him to the ministry, and the saint refusing, prophesying the glory of his race, and pointing to the motto, u in hoc signo vinces. " Above this is a panel representing St. Patrick at Assaroe, near Ballyshannon, when he was requested by Conall to bless his country, his people, and himself, and the saint blesses the son with more fervour than Conall, as one who was nearer by a generation to the great Columcille. The saint is represented breaking forth into the sublime prophesy regarding the future saint of Conall's line. The next panel represents
201 The Columcille column in its lower are a group of the doves of Columba. The
life of St.
Columcille,
panel shows the veil seen by the mother of
the saint before his birth. The other panels
illustrate some of the scenes in the life of
the saint. In the first panel, a double one,
the saint is seen at one side as a little boy
at Kilmacrenan, near Letterkenny, taking and Iona. The first panel, a double one,
lessons from the venerable priest, Cruthe-
necan. At the right of the panel Columba is
represented as a young monk, seriously
engaged in copying the famous manuscript, which afterwards was the Cathach. In the
roof above, a star is seen lighting the young
student at his work. The second panel . second panel shows the saint writing the represents the saint, now a priest and an life of St. Columba. The third panel apostle, preaching the gospel to the people, represents an ordination scene, with St. surrounded by the Scottish chiefs, who Adamnan as first Bishop of Raphoe, re- were already to some extent become his
disciples. The third panel shows the saint
at the famous Feis or assembly of Drom-
ceat,countyofDerry,wherehesucceededin
protecting the rights of the bards of Erin,
and getting Alba's exemption from tribute
to Erin acknowledged. The fourth panel the inscription, "I. H. S. " On the arch
is the death scene. Diarmaid, the faithful body attendant of the saint, raises his head, and raising also his right hand, enables the dying saint to bless the fathers as they rush into the church with lamps in their hands. Between the panels are scrolls and symbols. The first is the figure of the Corr Mona or Crane. The beaten Crane which came to Columba at Iona was supposed to come from Gartan, his natal place in Donegal. There is a head of an Irish elk, the horns thrown back as in swimming, and there
the figure at the apex is that of the First
Person of the Most Holy Trinity, repre- sented as looking down from Heaven upon the created world. On one hand is the Son, and on the other the Holy Ghost. The group is a bold outline in stone of the Adorable Trinity. The Holy Ghost holds the burning torch in one hand, and from the other hand drops the oil of sanctification. God the Son is represented carrying the Cross in one hand, and the other raised in an attitude of instruction.
last is the figure of the white horse that wept over Columba before his death.
302 The Adamnan column has panels dealing with the life of the Cathedral patron who succeeded St. Columba both in Raphoe
shows on one side the boy Adamnan listen-
ing to St. Ernan, of Dromhome, relating the wonders that he saw on the night of Columba's death, and the other represents Adamnan being received as a novice in Iona by Suibhne, the fourth Abbot. The
ceiving the young priests into the ministry. The panel at the bottom, to correspond with the veil-panel in the Columban monu-
ment, represents the glory of God in judgment, the rays of glory shooting high into the sky as in the sunburst, and bearing
532 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 23
the laying of the foundation stone of the Cathedral of Let terkenny by his EminenceCardinalLogue,assistedbytheMostRev. Dr. O'Donnell. On the arch over the Adamnan column is a representation cf Nuala O'Connor, of Ophaly, of the house of the O'Donnell Chief, receiving the Fransciscans at Donegal. The next panel represents the flight of the Earls, and the next shows the Four Masters in Donegal Convent writing the Annals. 2°3 To aid in the completion of this noble Cathedral, a grand /<? /* was organized, and designated the Aenach. It was held at Gartan on the 9th of June, the
laiety assembled from the most distant places.
After his death, the remains ofAdamnan were religiously preserved by
the monks in his monastery at Iona, and although some time must have elapsed, before their prejudices against him for his efforts to innovate on the disciplinary institutions of their great founder were removed ; yet, in due course, he was revered as only second in greatness and sanctity to St. Columkille in all houses of their order. This was especially the case, after the year 716, when Egbert, the holy priest who received his education in Ireland, had paid his visit to Iona, when Dunchad was superior of Hy, and in fact of the whole Columban Order. Then the Roman Paschal cycle, together with the circular tonsure, advocated so strenuously by Adamnan in his life-time, were universally adopted. 205 St. Adamnan's remains were
206 The account of this transaction in our annals is so equivocal, that it might be inferred the holy Abbot died and was there buried, and that his body had then been removed for the first time to the parent establishment of his order. There is every reason to suppose those relics were encased in a rich shrine. Even, there is a poetical enumeration of relics, contained in a famous shrine of St. Adamnan,
as yet extant. 20? It is alleged to have been composed by the Saint himself, but this does not appear to be probable. There is a brief preface to this poem. 20' However, this is to be understood of a shrine, which had been pre- pared during his life-time, and which enclosed the relics of other Saints he had placed there, and which, as we have already seen, he had deposited at Scrin- Adamnhan. Intheyear831,accordingtotheAnnalsofUlster,200theSerin Adomnain was taken away from Domnach Maghan or Donaghmoyne, by the Gentiles. The Shrine of Adamnan was then in the keeping of Tuathal mac
Thirteenth Centennial of St. Columkill, 2°4 It i8q7.
to be a
cent religious and national demonstration, attended by His Eminence Cardinal Logue, Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of Ireland ; Most Rev. Dr. O'Donnell, Bishop of Raphoe, with a vast concourse of clergy and
translated from Ireland, in October of the
year 729.
203 In accordance with the design carried
out in previous volumes of this work, a
tical History of Ireland," Eighth Century, chap. i. , p. 137.
2o6
frontispiece is prefixed, and designed to
commemorate some particular spot, where
Irish hagiology found writers and a home,
in ancient and modern times. Thus, the Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hibernicarum Scrip-
frontispiece to the present volume repre- sents the existing ruins of Donegal Con- vent, where lived the Four Masters, who gathered so many precious documents of Irish civil and ecclesiastical history in the
seventeenthcentury.
204 A detailed account of the
proceedings" maybe found in the "Cuirhne CoUntnalle
or the Gartan Festival, published in Dublin, 1898, 8vo.
2c8
It contains 18 stanzas.
2°5 See Rev. M. J. Brenan's "Ecclesias-
Ultonienses, p. 208.
proved
magnifi-
According to the Annales Ultonienses
"
"
tores," tomus iv. Annales Ultonienses, p. 81.
a0? It is included in the ten folia, extracted from the Book of Leinster, and now pre- served in the Franciscan Convent, Mer- chant's-quay,Dublin. Theselinesoccurat column 5 on the page,
Reversio reliquiarum Adomnani <\<t Ilibernia in menseOctobr. " —
at this year is entered :
20* " See Dr. O'Conor's
Rerum Hiberni- carum Scriptores," tomus iv. Annales
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 533
Feradhaich,210 known as Abbot of Rechra and Durrow. 211 This was the shrine that gave name to Scrin-Adamnan.
Few of our national saints deserve more of our reverence and gratitude than Adamnan, as may be judged from the foregoing incidents we have even imperfectlygleanedtofurnishhismemoir. TheyoungerPlinyesteemedas happy those whom Providence had distinguished with abilities, either for
doing such actions, as are worthy of being related, or for relating them in a manner worthy of being read. Doubly happy are those blessed with both of these uncommon talents. 212 Such remarks have a special bearing on the Life of St. Adamnan, since his activity of mind and body had been rightly directed to serve the highest interests of religion, and to preserve in writing for us, the Life of one, the greatest archimandrite of his age, as also an early recordoftheHolyLand. Bothareofinestimablevaluetothehistorianand antiquary. The authenticity of those works may not be questioned, while our literary interest and desire for information are both excited and gratified by their fortunate preservation to our own times.
ARTrcLEII. —St. Conaing,orConnichMicLuachain. Themanu- 12
script and published Martyrologies of Tallagh register a festival, at the 23rd of September, in honour of Connich, son of Luachain. He is also entered at this date in the Martyrology of Marianus 0'Gorman,3 whose com- mentator calls him Mac Lucunain, or the Son of Lucunain. In Colgan's opinion,4 the present holy man appears to be identical with a certain Conagius, who is mentioned in the Acts of St. Mochoemoc, Abbot of Liath- mor,s He is also thought to have been the Conangius O'Daithil, who is mentioned in the Life of St. Molagga. 6 At the year 660, we meet the death of Conaing Ua Daint, Abbot of Imleach Ibhair, or Emly, recorded. The Irish accords with the foregoing spelling of the name. St. Alveus was first Abbot and Bishop of Emly, as would appear from his Life. ? The successor
of St. Alveus, the present Conangius, appears to be the Saint bearing such name, whose Natalis was observed on the 23rd of September, and who is
called son to Luachan, by the Martyrology of Tallagh, by Marianus
O'Gorman, and by the commentator on St. Angus.
8
There was a chapelry
of a St. Cunning,? in the parish of Carncastle, County of Antrim, supposed to have been Tulach or Killchonadhain, mentioned in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick. 10 The present Saint's festival is found in the Martyrology of Donegal," at this day.
210 Thus noticed in the Irish Annals, at A. D. 832: " Tuathal mac Feradhaich raptus est a Gentilibus, et scrinium Adamnani de Domnach-moghan. "
6 See his Acts in the First Volume of this
work, at the 20th of January, Art. i. , chap, iii.
? This Colgan promised to give at the 12th of September, at which date his Acts are to be found in the present'volume, Art. i. 8 See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xx.
Januarii. Vita S. Molaggte, n. 27, p. 150. 9 See Rev. Dr. Reeves' " Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dro- more," n. (d), pp. 53, 54. Also Appendix GG, n, (w), p. 338.
211 212
His death is recorded at A. D. 850.
See the Letters of Pliny the Younger.
Melmoth's — book vi. , Translation, chap.
Article ii.
copy, Conich mac LuAchanAi.
x
16. In the Book of Leinster
2
3"
See Dr. Whitley Stokes' Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
4 See " Acta Sanctorum Hibernise," xiii.
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxxv.
I0 See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga, Martii, Vita S. Mochoemoci, cap. xxxv. . . Septima Vita S. Patricii, pars ii. , cap.
and n. 38, pp. 595, 596, 598.
s See his Life, in the Third Volume of this
work, at the 13th of March, Art. i.
exxxiii. , p. 147.
" Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
256, 257.
534 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September23 Article III. —St. Comnat or Coimnatain. At the 23rd of September,
we find entered, in the published Martyrology of
Tallagh,
1 a festival in
honour of Coimnatain. A similar is in the Book of Leinster entry
2
copy. His place in history we cannot find. Also on this day, Marianus O'GormanS
commemoratesCo[e]mnat,orComnat. SimplythenameComnat,without
any further designation, appears in the Martyrology of Donegal,-* at this same date.
There can hardly be a doubt, this latter person is identical with Coimnatain.
Article IV. —St. Saran. In the of published Martyrology
1
Tallagh, there is a Ciaran at this day ; but we think, this must have been introduced
for Saran, as we find it in the Book of Leinster copy. ' In the Martyrology ot
Marianus O'Gorman,3 Saran is entered at the 23rd of September. According 4
totheMartyrologyofDonegal, Saranwasveneratedatthe23rdofSeptember.
Article V. —St. Tecla, Virgin and Martyr. The swan is said
noiselessly to float over the silver lake, or to rest tranquilly in the brakes
around it, until the time of death approaches, when enchanting notes are
heard before it expires. So do the holy Virgins conceal until the final hour
those latent harmonies of the soul, which break into hymns sempiternal
among the choirs of the Blessed. In the ancient Irish Church, the festival
of St, Thecla, Virgin and Martyr, was celebrated on this day. Although her
memory has been preserved with great veneration from the earliest ages of
the Christian as a who suffered at Seleucia in Isauria, 1 and Church, Martyr,
although mentioned in nearly all the ancient Martyrologies and Calendars j yet her Acts as coming down to us are interspersed with fables, which the
Jesuit Father John Stilting has shown in a learned disquisition in the Bollandist Collection of Saints' Acts. 2 The Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman3 celebrates the feast of St. Thecla, at the 23rd of September, and invokes her intercession. This holy Virgin is reputed to have been well- versed in profane philosophy and in various branches of polite literature, when she was converted to the Christian faith by the Apostle St. Paul at Iconium,4 about the year 45. She became his disciple, and renounced the worldly prospects of marriage with a young and rich nobleman, who, incensed at her refusal, accused her to the magistrates with' being a Christian. She
Article ill. —' Edited Kelly, p. xxxv.
2
by
the Rev. Dr.
3 See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Septembris xxiii. De S. Thecla Virg. Mart. Seleuciae in Isauria. Commentarius Critico-IIistoricus. This is comprised in seven sections, having one hundred and five paragraphs. —
Thus : Coimndcan.
3 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' "Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
356, 357. — Article iv.
Kelly, p. xxxv.
2
In the following Irish verses
:
'
Edited by the Rev.
Dr.
Tecla
for oebnemh co hebhinn.
Thus: SAj\4ni.
3 See Dr. Whitley Stokes' "Felire Hui
Gormain," pp. 182, 183.
4 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
"Felire Hui Gormain,"
of a Lycaonia, province
and Pliny describe it as a very populous
inhabited Greeks and See city by Jews.
"
Dr. William Smith's Dictionary of Greek
and Roman Geography," vol. ii. , p. 12.
256, 257. — Article v.
of a wild, mountainous character, and but little known to the Romans. See Dr.
William Smith's "
65, 66.
beautiful heaven. " pp. 182, 183.
•4 A district in Asia Minor,
Dictionary
and Roman Geography," vol. ii. , pp.
of Greek
3
Thus translated into English by Dr. Whitley Stokes: "White Tecla whom I entreat (and who—dwells) delightfully in
The chief of Asia Minor.
city
The Acts of the Apostles
oengel alimm,
September 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISh SAINTS. 535
was condemned to be torn in pieces by wild beasts, and exposed in the
amphitheatre, but she was miraculously preserved. 5 Afterwards, she attended
St. Paul during several of his apostolical missions ; but she is said to have
passed the latter years of her life in devout retirement. The Maityrology of
6
Donegal records a festival in honor of Tecla, Virgin, at the 23rd of Septem-
ber. The Calendarist expresses his opinion that she is the Greek virgin and martyr whose festival on this day is celebrated by the Church. 7 She was buried in Seleucia, one of the chief towns of Isauria, and over her tomb a magnificent church was erected, under the first Christian Emperors. Although preserved from the violent death intended for her by persecutors; yet, by St. Isidore of Pelusium and the Greek writers St. Thecla has been called the protomartyr of her sex, and as such venerated from the earliest times. At this her name is noted in the Roman 8
Article VI. —Reputed Festival of St. Lolan, Scottish Bishop.
date, Martyrology.
At the of the Bollandists 1 refer to a 23rd September,
which gives a festival to Lolan, a Scottish Bishop ;
Manuscript Kalendar, but, he seems to have
been no other than the Lolan, Bishop and Confessor, of Kincardine, whose feast is generally assigned to the Z2nd of this month, where notices of him have been inserted. 2
ArticleVII. —ReputedFestivalofSt. Hildulph. Atthe23rdof September, the Bollandists notice a festival found in a Manuscript Kalendar
to the Church of St. Saviour
regarding hi—m, the reader is referred —to his Acts, which are given at the nth
belonging
day of July which is his chief feast
at*Antwerp.
particulars
2
Article VIIL—Reputed Festival of St. Kynnera or Canera'
Virgin, at Inis Cathaigh. We know not on what authority, Bishop
1
Challenor has a feast of commemoration for St. Kynnera at Inis Cathaigh.
She led a solitary life of great sanctity, in the South of Ireland. A further
account her be seen at the 28th of 2 the regarding may January,
assigned as that of her chief festival.
day generally
5 This happened during the reign of tomus vi, Septembris xxiii. Among the
Nero, according to the Roman Martyr- ology.
pretermitted feasts, p. 537.
2
See at that date, in the present volume, Art. viii.
6
Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
2 6 2
5 > 57-
7 In a note, Dr. Reeves says at the fore-
going passage, which is within brackets, that it has been entered in the more recent hand.
8"
See Martyrologium Romanum," editio
Article vii. — • See " Acta
tomus vi,, Septembris xxiri.
pretermitted feasts, p. 537.
2
Sanctorum," Among the
novissima. NonoKalendas
British Piety," p. 134.
2 In the First Volume of this
Art.
work.
Octobris, p. 142. Article vi. — See "Acta Sanctorum,"
*
x For further
in the Seventh Volume of this work.
Art. i.
Article viii. —' See " A Memorial of
536 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 24.
CtuentiK-fouvtl) JBap of September.
ARTICLE I. —SAINTS CHUNIBALDUS OR CUNIALUUS AND GISLAR1US, PRIESTS AND MISSIONARIES IN BAVARIA.
[SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES. }
veneration had been entertained for Saints Chuniald and Gisilar
THAT
in from their own Bavaria,
down to the
is an
acknowledged
age
Various writers have assigned different days for festivals referring to the
present holy companions of St. Rupert, Apostle of Bavaria. In some cases
they are noticed singly, and in others their names are together united. Nor
is it to be understood, that the present day represents the anniversary of their respective deaths.
Acts of Saints Chuniald and Gislar appear to have been prepared by
Colgan, for the 24th of September, as we find from the posthumous list of his
12 MSS. The Bollandists have notices at this date of those Saints, in a
historic Sylloge,3 having pretermitted their Festival, at the 8th of February. * To adopt such a course they were impelled ; because, at the latter date, they had promised to defer their remarks on both to the 24th of September. The Manuscript Florarium Sanctorums in their possession, and Hermann Greuen,6
8
placed their Festivals at the 8th of February. 7 The Petits Bollandistes have notices of St. Chuniald, Cunibald, Chunibald or Kuniald, and of St.
Gisilaire, Gislaire, or Gisibaire, priests and confessors, at the 24th of Septem- ber, which is generally received as the anniversary for the Translation of
"
fact ; yet, no special record of their Acts—if any such existed—now remains.
their relics. In the
Dictionary of Christian Biography,"9 there are b—rief
10 11
of St. Gisilarius or Gizolarius as
Acts of St. Chunialdus, and— Gislarius,
his name is variedly written their periods being assigned to about the
middle of the eighth century.
These holy men are constantly referred to by ecclesiastical writers, as
and fellow-labourers with St. 12 his compatriots Rupert, during missionary
career in Germany ; and hence, accepting the very general tradition there
prevalent regarding the country of their birth, we may suppose it took place in Ireland, at some time about the middle of the seventh century. Among
writers, however, the country of their birth has been questioned. Some have thought—and among these the Bollandist Father Constantine Suyskens—
Article I. —* See •* Actuum Catalogus
erroneously placed Chunibaldi confes- sons. Mengokli militis. Gislarii presbyteri. " 7 See notices of them, at that date, in the Second Volume of the present work, Art. xi. 8 See " Vies des Saints," tome xi. , xxivc
Jour de Septembre, p. 346.
3 Written by Father Constantine 9 Edited by William Smith, D. C. L. ,
soldier,
Sanctorum quae MS. habentur, ordine between them, thus :
"
"
Suyskens, S. J. , in twenty-five paragraphs.
ii. , p. 152.
s At the 8th of February it enters " Cuni-
baldi confessoris et Gislarii episcopi. "
Mensium et Dierum ! 2"
See Acta Sanctorum," tomus vi. , Septembris xxiv. De SS. Chunialdo et Gisilario Presbyteris Salisburgi in Ger- mania, pp. 708 to 713.
* See tomus ibid. ,
,0 See vol.
" See vol. ii. , p. 673.
M See his Acts at the 27th of March, in
*
In his Additions to Usuard, Mengold, a
the Third Volume of this work, Art. ii.
present,
is and
strangely
LL. D. , and Henry Wace, M. A.
i. , p. 535.
September 24. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 537 that Saints Rupert, with his companions Chuniald and Gisilar, were natives
16 CarolusCointius,1? MatthewRader,18 andothers. That
x 3
St. Rupert a native of Ireland, 15 and this tradition has been chiefly followed,
of Gaul;
yet, the
ancient Life of St.
Rupert,
as
by John Colgan,
old tract relates, that when Theodon, Duke of the Boii, with many of his
nobles and a great number of people, had been baptised by St. Rupert, and
when the of or 20 had been erected, after
bishopric Juvavensis,^ Juvavum,
the death of Theodon, his successor Theodebert entertained a great respect
for the Apostle. Accordingly, having brought many of the Bavarians to the true faith, finding the errors of paganism still prevailing in the kingdom of
21
Noricum, Rupert then sought his country,
to accompany him. Among these are specially named Chunialdus and
22
Gisilar. Withthem,andhisnieceErendrude, RupertreturnedtoSaltzburg.
ThereheappointedherAbbessoveracommunityofreligiouswomen. The others were destined for missionary labour.
