son William
Antisell
Cooke, chap, x.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v5
Hearing of this violence, St.
Kieran went to Dymma, to remon- stratewithhim,onbehalfofBrunsecha but,thechieftainrefusedtorestore
tended for the reception of chains. " Thomas Lalor Cooke's " Early History of the Town of Birr or Parsonstown," &c. , chap. X. , p. 179.
^° One of these here figured was sketched by the writer, in June 1885 ; it has been transferred to the wood, by William F. Wakeman, and it has been engraved, by Mrs. Millard.
*' The writer was told by a young man,
;
living near the place, that in digging a deep trench, which runs along one of the four sides, he uncovered a vast quantity of human skulls and other bones.
" This extended from Birr to the Hill of Uisneach, in Westmeath. See Rev. James Graves' and John G. Augustus Prim's " His- tory, Architecture, and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny," sect, i. , chap, i. , p. 5, n. (d).
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May 29.
her to liberty. He even derisively told the saint, he would not release the lady, unless it should happen, on the following morning, that the heron's note awoke him from sleep. At this time, which appears to have been in the winter season, although a great fall of snow covered the ground, yet, it did not obstruct the place, where Kieran and his companions were. On the following morning, the piping of a heron was heard in the castle, contrary to a usual natural course. Surprised and moved by this miraculous occurrence, Dymma prostrated himself in penitence, at the feet of St. Kieran, and he released Brunechia, although she had been already pregnant. ^3 On her release, St. Kieran conducted his spiritual daughter back to Kill-Liadhuin,^+ now Killyon,^5 and left her, as before, under the charge of his mother.
However, Dymma appears to have felt regret, after separation of that lady from his home. He then went towards the monastery, in which she lived, to re- peat his former violence. When Brunechia heard of his approach, she became terrified, to such a degree, that her sudden death ensued. Seeing what had occurred, Dymma demanded of St. Kieran—who it appears was present how he had dared to kill his wife ; for such, he declared Brunechia to be, and he had determined she should so continue. He threatened, at the same tim. e, to expel the saint, from this part of the country. Then, Kieran replied : "Thou hastnopoweroverme; for,theomnipotentGod,solongasHewillsit,hath given thee only a shadow of earthly power ; therefore, I shall remain in this my place, contrary to thy will. " Shortly afterwards, the chiefain was chastised for this insolence, towards God's servant. On returning to his castle, he found it enveloped in flames. A very dear son, named Dunchad, had been left, at this time, sleeping in one of its apartments, when a nurse, despairing of his preservation, cried out with a loud voice : " I commend thee, my child, to the protection of St. Kieran of Saigir. " This boy was found alive and unharmed, after the castle had been entirely consumed. Dymma felt moved by such a miraculous preservation of his son ; and, in company with a saint, named Aidus,^^ he went to St. Kieran, promising to perform whatever should be required of him, as a proof of his penitence. He presented Dun- chad '7 and another son, saying, as he had been absolved from his sins, through the holy bishop, that henceforth he and his posterity should be sub-
ject to St. Kieran. =^ Having received the blessing of the saint, he departed ;
592
=^3 However, the birth of a child did not succeed. In two lives of the holy Bishop, it is expressly stated, at that time, the fatus viz. s inanimate. In a note on this portion of St. Kieran's Life, Colgan observes, that a mira- cle of his may have been wrought, by the Almighty, for a double purpose ; namely, to repress the violence of sacrilegious trans- gressors, by removing in such manner a wicked parent's offspring, and to consult for the mother's good fame and modesty, by obviating any scandal that might arise in the Church, and in the person of a spouse of Christ. See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibernia:," v. Martii. Vita S. Kierani Episcopi et Confessoris, n. 19, p. 464.
"* A town'. and near Seir-Keiran, in the King's County.
^5 See iliid. Vita S. Kierani, ex Codice Kilkennicnsi, caj). x. , ]). 459. Also, Vita S. Kierani, ex MS. Salmanticensi, and Officium, Lect. iv. , p. 467.
'* According to Colgan, this holy man appears to have been either, St. ^Edus, son
of Brec, Bishop of Rath-Aedh and Kill-air, within the confines of Meath, who lived in St. Kieran's time, his feast occurring on the loth of November, and he died A. D. 5S8, ac- cording to the " Annals of the Four Mas- ters ;" or, St. . -Edus, Bishop, son of Mured, son of Fortchern, relative to St. Declan, of whom and of his six brothers, who were saints and bishops, the Sanctilogium Genea- logicum, at cap. xvi. treats. The Martyr- ologies of Tamlacht and of Marianus O'Gorman, with other writers, state, that the latter had been venerated, on the l6th of February. jn the church of Rathnanepscop. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernia:," v. Martii, n. 20, p. 464.
'' Who had been rescued from the flames. It is probable, that the apartment in which he had been sleeping, if not the whole house, had been built with wood.
'-"^ The English MS. Life of S. Ciaran states, tiiat the chief presented him " also the monastery, rents, and profits, arising from burials. "
—
——
May 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
593
while sorrowful on account of the death of Brunecha, Kieran went to that
place, where her body lay. He prayed with great earnestness, for her restora-
tion to life. ^9 This prayer was heard, for the virgin arose from the sleep of
death. 3° She subsequently lived, in her state of religious profession, for many
3'
years.
It is supposed, that if not the first nunnery erected, at least Kill-Liadhain
must have been among the very early nunneries, in Ireland. This appella- tion which it received is said to have been derived from Kill, or Ceall, mean- ing "a place of retirement," or "a cell," joined to Liadana, or Liadhain, the name of its foundress. Again, the latter proper name, pronounced Leean, gave rise to the modern denomination of Killyon. The little river, called Comcor,runsbesidethatplace,whereherreligioushousewasfounded; and, while St. Kieran had his monastery at Seir-Kyran, within the territory of Ely,32 yet was his mother's nunnery within the territory of Fearcall,33 in the king- dom of Meath ; for, that stream, to which allusion has been made, was re- garded as the boundary between both districts. When tiie curious discoveries of 1846 and 1847 there came to light ; about the middle of the courtyard was foundahearth,whichdidnotappeartobeshelteredfromtheweather. 34 This indication serves to illustrate, what is known to have been an ancient practice of cooking in Ireland, 35 as elsewhere. 3^ Only a few years have passed, since many interesting material vestiges of Killyon's former celebrity have passed away ;37 and now, little seems to be known about its earlier history . 3^ How
^ For this lioly woman may well be appro- priated the following poetic lines, indited by a distinguished American poet :
"ThanksgivingtotheLordofLife to ;
Him all praises be,
Who from the hands of evil men hath
set His handmaid free. "
—Whittier's "Legendary Poems," p. 76.
3° "The legend of the Bollandists says no more ; but, who will believe that Kieran did not restore to the contrite prince, son, and city, and palace ? The name of the saint was invoked ; the castle, the child and city were
savetl ; the Legend of Kilkenny affirms it —; itought toknowbest. " "Legendary History
of Ireland," byL. Tachet De Barneval, trans- lated by John Gilmary . Shea, chap, xi. , p. 88. 3' See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," Martii v. Vita S. Kierani, ex Codice Kilkenniensi, cap. xi. , xii. , p. 459. Also, Vila S. Kierani ex MS. Salmanticensi, and
Officium, Lect. v. , pp. 467, 468.
3- The O'Carrolls are represented as having
"castrnm ant villam in Elycarwyll," by the Friar John Clyn, which was attacked by John Bermingham and Thomas Butler, A. D. 1325. See "AnnalesHiberni3e,"editedbythe Very Rev. Dean Richard Butler, A. B. , p. 17.
translated from the Irish by Dudley Fir- bisse, or, as he is more usually called, Duald Mac Firbis, for Sir James Ware, in the year 1666, edited by John O'Donovan, n. p. 289.
^'S " The hearth was a circular basin of about ten feet diameter, and two and a-half feet deep, the bottom and sides being lined with granite rocks, each containing about one or two cubic feet. Close by the edges of this pit, on the surface of the ground around it, were several similar rocks, which, as well as the lining of the basin, exhibited marks of having been subjected to intense heat. There was a considerable quantity of charcoal, mixed with ashes, all around. " Thomas Lalor Cooke's " Early Histoiy of the Town of Birr," &c. , chap, x. , p. 180. Second edition.
35 It is stated, that the Fiana Eirion or or Irish militia were accustomed to roast or stew the raw flesh of animals, in pits paved with hot stones. The meat was covered with sedge or bull-rushes, and over these was placed another layer of hot stones. Some- times, they preferred to roast it before the fire, to make it palatable and wholesome. See Dermod O'Connor's Keating's "Gene- ral History of Ireland," Book i. , pp. 282, 283. Duffy's edition.
3* At the end of the fourteenth century, this modeof cooking was used in Scotland. Sir Walter Scott refers to it, in his novel, " St. Valentine's Day; or the Pair Maid of Perth," chap, xxviii.
35 It is comprised in the baronies of Fircall,
Ballycowan, and Ballyboy, Kmg's County.
" It was the most southern territory in the
ancient Meath, and its southern boundary is
still preserved in that of the diocese of
Meath. "—" Miscellany of the Irish Archaeo-
logical Society," vol. i. , Art. xiv. The 3' A person of some consequence, named reader is referred here, to the Annals Nicholas Herbert or Harbert, resided at of Ireland, from the year 1443 to 1468, Killyon ; for, by a Deed, made on the ist of
IP
———
594 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May 29.
long St. Brunsecha lived, under the rule of St. Liadania, is not known, nor whether she succeeded as superioress over that nunnery, founded by her and by her celebrated son St. Kieran. It seems likely, however, that she sur- vived both of these holy contemporaries.
The year of our saint's death is not recorded ; but, it happened, most probably, witliin the sixth century. The festival of St. Brunsecha occurs, on the 29th of May, according to the Mart)rologies of Tamlacht,39 of Marianus O'Corman,-*"ofMaguire,andofDonegal. InanotherIrishCalendar,'*'at the iv. of the Calends of June—May 29th—her feast is recorded. She was venerated, also, at Magh-trea, according to various accounts. This place we may assume to be identical with Magh Treagha,-*^ in Teathbha territory said to be the same as Moytra,'*^ in the barony and county of Longford.
We cannot doubt, that many of our native chiefs abused their authority, in a veryunhappymanner; but,oursainthadcompassionfortheweaknessoftheir nature, especially when their state or vocation did not incline them to exalted perfection. Sincere contrition for sin pleaded effectively for their absolution, and it is to be hoped, that after grievous offences, they were mindful of God's mercies towards them. If frequently they yielded to violent assaults of temp- tation,andtowildimpulsesofpassion; theirfaithinatonementwasamotive always urging them to bewail their past transgressions, knowing there was joy in Heaven fur one sinner doing penance, more than for ninety-nine just who needed not penance.
Article II. St. Commain, Virgin, of Dal-Buinne, and of Derry, Parish of Ballyphillip, County of Down. In the "FeiHre" of St. . ^ngus,' at the 29th of May, a festival is entered for Cummain, who is characterizedas"thepureandgood. " Fromtheway,inwhichthisholy
January, 1634, Daniel M'Guilfoyle conveyed to him and to others, incUiding Robert Sweetman of Birr, the Manor of . Shinrone, &c. In the reign of James II. , Killyon and other lands in that neighbourhood were the property of Terence and John Coghlan. These appear to have sided with that king, and to have been attainted; for, when William III. succeeded to the throne, those lands were forfeited, and subsequently sold to John Asgill of Ross Castle, by the Com- missioners for the sale of forfeited Estates. The conveyance describes them as " the Manor of Killyon, with the castles towns and lands of Rathiire," &c. In 1704, one Daniel Pritchett, of Killyon. gentleman, and Hugh Conraghee of Ballinahown, gentleman, were sureties for the Rev. John Kennedy, resident Roman Catholic Parish Priest of " Seir Keran, Roscomroe, and Kinnitty. "
3* See Thomas Lalor Cooke's "Early HistoryoftheTownofBirr,"&c. Second edition, and edited by his .
son William Antisell Cooke, chap, x. , pp. 17810 183.
39 In the Rev. Dr. Kelly's is>ue of the Martyrology ofTallagh, at the iv. of the Ka- lends ofjune (May 29th). we find the entry of this fea-t, " BrunseciaVir. " See " Calen- dar of Irish Saints," &c. , p. xxv.
•» See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nix," V. Mariii. Vita S. Kicrani Episcopi
at Confessoris, n. 18, p. 464.
*' I find, " btMiiunifioc c<iol> . 1'. ciorncdin
65 6 moij r]\ed. "—Ordnance Survey Office copy, formerly kept in the Phoeni. \ Park, but now transferred to the Royal Irish Aca- demy, Common Place Book F. p. 50.
^- Here a great cow mortality broke out A. D. 696, as mentioned in the " Chronicum Scotorum. " edited by William M. Hennessy, pp. 112, 113.
^^ According to William M. Hennessy, in the Index, ibid. , p. 39S. Vet, the name cannot be ascertained, on the Ordnance Sur- vey Townland Maps for the County of Longford.
ARTICLE II. — ' In the " Leabhar Breac " copy, the following stanza appears, with its translation, by Dr^ Whitley Stokes :
tlloiAfluAj pollioni]- UonpiA-Ov\c T5onj\int)nini LaCiinuMnConj;lAnbAil, Ingen A\illen inino,m.
—
" May Pollio's great host convey us to the star-heaven, with Cummain the pure and good, daughter of lovable Aillen. "— "Trans- actions of the Royal Insii Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. . part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stckes, LL. D. , p. Ixxxi.
Dr. Reeves, into English :
" A great host flocked
Who served starry heaven To Cumain of the fair town Dear daughter of Allen. "
3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxv.
* See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vii. , Mail xxix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 3.
= He ruled only from A. D. 37 to A. D. 39, when he was slain by Fiacha Finnfolaidh. See Dr. John O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 96 to 99.
^ They were in the county of Down. i\lac Donlevy, who offered such a brave resistance to John De Courcy, in the twelfth century, was head of this family. See ibid. , n. (t).
the Royal Irish Academy," vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Dr. Whitley Stokes, LL. D. p. xci.
,
9 See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesias- tical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro- more," n. (s), pp. 23, 24.
'° See also, Appendix R, p. 234, and Appendix LL, p. 378, ibid.
" This townland contains 267a. 3r. l8p.
'- It is in the barony of Upper Ards, and it is described, on the " Ordinance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Down,", sheets 25, 32.
'^ See "Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire- land," vol. i. , p. 191.
'* Thus rendered into English, "i. e. , another woman from Daire Ingen Aillen in ArdUlad. "
—
May 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
virgin's name has been noticed in a stanza ^ of that metrical Calendar, we infer, she was a daughter of Aillen, or Allen. In the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ at this date, the entry is, Cumne, Virgin, i. Ingen Alleain, in Aird UUadh. The Bollandists* notice her, at the 29th of May, as Cumania, filia Alleani in Ard- vladh, while quoting the same authority. She descended from the race of Fiatach Finn s—head of the Dal-Fiatach ^ and monarch of Erin—in this wise. Her father Aillen was son of Baedan, son to Echaid, son of Brian, son to Enna, son of Cathbu, son of Echaid Gunnat, son of Fiacc of Dal Fiatach. ? In another place, she seems to have been connected with a church, in the ter- ritory of Dal-m-Buinne—in Latin Dalmunia—but the exact site is now unknown. To it, allusion appears to be made, in the " Felire " of ^ngus, at the29thofMay. Analternativeconjectureofacommentatorseemstobe, that a Cill Ingen Aillen, in Idrone territory, county of Carlow, may have been herplace. ^ ThechurchofCumain,aswearetold,9layintheArdsofUlster. '° Her place has been identified with Derry,^' "an oak wood," and a townland in the parish of Ballyphillip,^- county of Down. The surface of that parish forms a chief part of what is called Little Ardes, and it lies between the neck or sound of Lough Strangford and the Irish Sea. The land of this parish is extremely fertile. ^3 At its north end are the ruins of chapels, unroofed, and side by side. The space between them does not exceed 22 1^ feet. They appear to be very ancient, and built with adhesive clay, instead of mortar. The northernmost building is 26 feet long, by i6|- broad. The other, less dilapidated, is 24 feet long, by i6|- broad j its side walls are 5-|- feet high, and the east wall is 15 feet. Here, the virgin's feast wasformerlykept,asagloss^+ontheMartyrologyof^ngusstates. '5 Inthe
small parish of Ballyphilip, the chief town is Portaferry, which stands on the east shore of the strait or entrance-channel to Lough Strangford. A large sweep of this very picturesque gulf, and a variegated view of its shores, may be seen from the vicinity of Portaferry, and within the demesne here, there is an old ruined castle, built by De Courcey. It afterwards became the resi- dence of the Savage family. ^^ The town seems to have sprung up under their protection ;'? but, the site of the former parish church is said to have been at
^ It is thus translated, in a work of Rev. Hui-Drona besides. " See/' Transactions of
'= Colgan conjectures this gloss to have 7 According to the scholiast, on the been written, by St. zEngus himself ; and,
" Feilire of St. . ^ngus," in the " Leabhar Breac. "
** There is a gloss, thus Anglicized : " i. e. , a woman, i. e. , virgin, in Dal-Buinde she is. There is a cell of the daughter of Aillen, in
in such case, the founding of this church must be referred to a date, anterior to A. D. 800.
'^ According to an inscription on the arms of the Savages, placed over the door, this
595
—
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May 29.
Ballyphilip, where there is an old building. '^ Also, on this day, veneration was given, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal,'^ to Commain, Virgin, of Daire-inghen-AUen, in Uladh.
Article III. St. Buriena, Virgin, of Cornwall, England. The Acts of this saint have not been recovered,' if they formerly existed. How- ever, it is stated,^ that in the church of Exeter, they had been preserved among its dyptics ; although. Father Michael Alford,3 when treating about the Irish Saints that made their home in Cornwall, had not been able to verify that statement. Short notices of her have been inserted, in the great Bollan- distcollection. * Theseconsistofonlytwoparagraphs. Onthe29thofMay, in the first edition of his English Martrology,5 John Wilson commemorates St. Buriena, an Irish Virgin. She is said, to have been born of noble parents inIreland,andthenceSt. BurienapassedovertoEngland. There,forsome time, she lived in the practice of great virtue, and leading a holy life, on a promontory of Cornwall, where she erected an oratory. ^ She also wrought various miracles. She was honoured of old, with several other Irish saints, in
Cornwall; and, the people of this district seem to have regarded them, as their special patrons, for nearly all the Cornish towns are named after Irish saints. ? There, too, St. Buriena departed this life, in the odour of sanctity ; and, she was buried ^ on the promontory of Cornubia,? where now is St. Buriens. What- ever importance it possessed in former times, during the sixteenth century, it had dwindled down to a hamlet, containing only about eight houses. A fine church,dedicatedtothisholyvirgin,wasthereerected. '° Atfirst,itwascalled Eglis Buriens, in Latin, Ecclesia Buriense. There is still the town and a church—with a lofty tower rising high over the sea—bearing her name in that country, and situated in the Hundred of Penwith. Near the south porch of the church is an ancient cross, while there is another close to the church- yard. " The former religious house here was exempted from all episcopal and other authority, except from that of the Church of Rome. " To this place was added a collegiate church,'3 thought to have been built by King Athelstan. '* He formerly had granted the privilege of sanctuary to it, in the year 936. 's During the reign of William the Conqueror, a chapter of
596
castle was enlarged and completed in 1636. '7 See " Parliamentary Gazetteer of lie-
land," vol. iii. , p. So.
'* See Walter Harris' " Ancient and Pre-
sent State of the Couniy of Down," chap, iii. , sect, i. , pp. 20 to 23.
'9 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 140, 141.
Article HI. —' Bishop Challenor, who mentions this holy woman in his " Biilannia Snncta," makes this statement, at part i. , p. 334.
'By Philip Ferrarius, in " Catalogus Generalis Sanctorum. "
3 In " Annalcs Ecclesiw Britannicje," tomus i. , num. vi. , at a. d. cccclx. , p. 607.
^ See Rev. William Borlase's " Antiqui- ties. Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall," vol. i. , book iv. , chap. xi.
tended for the reception of chains. " Thomas Lalor Cooke's " Early History of the Town of Birr or Parsonstown," &c. , chap. X. , p. 179.
^° One of these here figured was sketched by the writer, in June 1885 ; it has been transferred to the wood, by William F. Wakeman, and it has been engraved, by Mrs. Millard.
*' The writer was told by a young man,
;
living near the place, that in digging a deep trench, which runs along one of the four sides, he uncovered a vast quantity of human skulls and other bones.
" This extended from Birr to the Hill of Uisneach, in Westmeath. See Rev. James Graves' and John G. Augustus Prim's " His- tory, Architecture, and Antiquities of the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, Kilkenny," sect, i. , chap, i. , p. 5, n. (d).
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May 29.
her to liberty. He even derisively told the saint, he would not release the lady, unless it should happen, on the following morning, that the heron's note awoke him from sleep. At this time, which appears to have been in the winter season, although a great fall of snow covered the ground, yet, it did not obstruct the place, where Kieran and his companions were. On the following morning, the piping of a heron was heard in the castle, contrary to a usual natural course. Surprised and moved by this miraculous occurrence, Dymma prostrated himself in penitence, at the feet of St. Kieran, and he released Brunechia, although she had been already pregnant. ^3 On her release, St. Kieran conducted his spiritual daughter back to Kill-Liadhuin,^+ now Killyon,^5 and left her, as before, under the charge of his mother.
However, Dymma appears to have felt regret, after separation of that lady from his home. He then went towards the monastery, in which she lived, to re- peat his former violence. When Brunechia heard of his approach, she became terrified, to such a degree, that her sudden death ensued. Seeing what had occurred, Dymma demanded of St. Kieran—who it appears was present how he had dared to kill his wife ; for such, he declared Brunechia to be, and he had determined she should so continue. He threatened, at the same tim. e, to expel the saint, from this part of the country. Then, Kieran replied : "Thou hastnopoweroverme; for,theomnipotentGod,solongasHewillsit,hath given thee only a shadow of earthly power ; therefore, I shall remain in this my place, contrary to thy will. " Shortly afterwards, the chiefain was chastised for this insolence, towards God's servant. On returning to his castle, he found it enveloped in flames. A very dear son, named Dunchad, had been left, at this time, sleeping in one of its apartments, when a nurse, despairing of his preservation, cried out with a loud voice : " I commend thee, my child, to the protection of St. Kieran of Saigir. " This boy was found alive and unharmed, after the castle had been entirely consumed. Dymma felt moved by such a miraculous preservation of his son ; and, in company with a saint, named Aidus,^^ he went to St. Kieran, promising to perform whatever should be required of him, as a proof of his penitence. He presented Dun- chad '7 and another son, saying, as he had been absolved from his sins, through the holy bishop, that henceforth he and his posterity should be sub-
ject to St. Kieran. =^ Having received the blessing of the saint, he departed ;
592
=^3 However, the birth of a child did not succeed. In two lives of the holy Bishop, it is expressly stated, at that time, the fatus viz. s inanimate. In a note on this portion of St. Kieran's Life, Colgan observes, that a mira- cle of his may have been wrought, by the Almighty, for a double purpose ; namely, to repress the violence of sacrilegious trans- gressors, by removing in such manner a wicked parent's offspring, and to consult for the mother's good fame and modesty, by obviating any scandal that might arise in the Church, and in the person of a spouse of Christ. See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hibernia:," v. Martii. Vita S. Kierani Episcopi et Confessoris, n. 19, p. 464.
"* A town'. and near Seir-Keiran, in the King's County.
^5 See iliid. Vita S. Kierani, ex Codice Kilkennicnsi, caj). x. , ]). 459. Also, Vita S. Kierani, ex MS. Salmanticensi, and Officium, Lect. iv. , p. 467.
'* According to Colgan, this holy man appears to have been either, St. ^Edus, son
of Brec, Bishop of Rath-Aedh and Kill-air, within the confines of Meath, who lived in St. Kieran's time, his feast occurring on the loth of November, and he died A. D. 5S8, ac- cording to the " Annals of the Four Mas- ters ;" or, St. . -Edus, Bishop, son of Mured, son of Fortchern, relative to St. Declan, of whom and of his six brothers, who were saints and bishops, the Sanctilogium Genea- logicum, at cap. xvi. treats. The Martyr- ologies of Tamlacht and of Marianus O'Gorman, with other writers, state, that the latter had been venerated, on the l6th of February. jn the church of Rathnanepscop. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibernia:," v. Martii, n. 20, p. 464.
'' Who had been rescued from the flames. It is probable, that the apartment in which he had been sleeping, if not the whole house, had been built with wood.
'-"^ The English MS. Life of S. Ciaran states, tiiat the chief presented him " also the monastery, rents, and profits, arising from burials. "
—
——
May 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
593
while sorrowful on account of the death of Brunecha, Kieran went to that
place, where her body lay. He prayed with great earnestness, for her restora-
tion to life. ^9 This prayer was heard, for the virgin arose from the sleep of
death. 3° She subsequently lived, in her state of religious profession, for many
3'
years.
It is supposed, that if not the first nunnery erected, at least Kill-Liadhain
must have been among the very early nunneries, in Ireland. This appella- tion which it received is said to have been derived from Kill, or Ceall, mean- ing "a place of retirement," or "a cell," joined to Liadana, or Liadhain, the name of its foundress. Again, the latter proper name, pronounced Leean, gave rise to the modern denomination of Killyon. The little river, called Comcor,runsbesidethatplace,whereherreligioushousewasfounded; and, while St. Kieran had his monastery at Seir-Kyran, within the territory of Ely,32 yet was his mother's nunnery within the territory of Fearcall,33 in the king- dom of Meath ; for, that stream, to which allusion has been made, was re- garded as the boundary between both districts. When tiie curious discoveries of 1846 and 1847 there came to light ; about the middle of the courtyard was foundahearth,whichdidnotappeartobeshelteredfromtheweather. 34 This indication serves to illustrate, what is known to have been an ancient practice of cooking in Ireland, 35 as elsewhere. 3^ Only a few years have passed, since many interesting material vestiges of Killyon's former celebrity have passed away ;37 and now, little seems to be known about its earlier history . 3^ How
^ For this lioly woman may well be appro- priated the following poetic lines, indited by a distinguished American poet :
"ThanksgivingtotheLordofLife to ;
Him all praises be,
Who from the hands of evil men hath
set His handmaid free. "
—Whittier's "Legendary Poems," p. 76.
3° "The legend of the Bollandists says no more ; but, who will believe that Kieran did not restore to the contrite prince, son, and city, and palace ? The name of the saint was invoked ; the castle, the child and city were
savetl ; the Legend of Kilkenny affirms it —; itought toknowbest. " "Legendary History
of Ireland," byL. Tachet De Barneval, trans- lated by John Gilmary . Shea, chap, xi. , p. 88. 3' See Colgan's " Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nise," Martii v. Vita S. Kierani, ex Codice Kilkenniensi, cap. xi. , xii. , p. 459. Also, Vila S. Kierani ex MS. Salmanticensi, and
Officium, Lect. v. , pp. 467, 468.
3- The O'Carrolls are represented as having
"castrnm ant villam in Elycarwyll," by the Friar John Clyn, which was attacked by John Bermingham and Thomas Butler, A. D. 1325. See "AnnalesHiberni3e,"editedbythe Very Rev. Dean Richard Butler, A. B. , p. 17.
translated from the Irish by Dudley Fir- bisse, or, as he is more usually called, Duald Mac Firbis, for Sir James Ware, in the year 1666, edited by John O'Donovan, n. p. 289.
^'S " The hearth was a circular basin of about ten feet diameter, and two and a-half feet deep, the bottom and sides being lined with granite rocks, each containing about one or two cubic feet. Close by the edges of this pit, on the surface of the ground around it, were several similar rocks, which, as well as the lining of the basin, exhibited marks of having been subjected to intense heat. There was a considerable quantity of charcoal, mixed with ashes, all around. " Thomas Lalor Cooke's " Early Histoiy of the Town of Birr," &c. , chap, x. , p. 180. Second edition.
35 It is stated, that the Fiana Eirion or or Irish militia were accustomed to roast or stew the raw flesh of animals, in pits paved with hot stones. The meat was covered with sedge or bull-rushes, and over these was placed another layer of hot stones. Some- times, they preferred to roast it before the fire, to make it palatable and wholesome. See Dermod O'Connor's Keating's "Gene- ral History of Ireland," Book i. , pp. 282, 283. Duffy's edition.
3* At the end of the fourteenth century, this modeof cooking was used in Scotland. Sir Walter Scott refers to it, in his novel, " St. Valentine's Day; or the Pair Maid of Perth," chap, xxviii.
35 It is comprised in the baronies of Fircall,
Ballycowan, and Ballyboy, Kmg's County.
" It was the most southern territory in the
ancient Meath, and its southern boundary is
still preserved in that of the diocese of
Meath. "—" Miscellany of the Irish Archaeo-
logical Society," vol. i. , Art. xiv. The 3' A person of some consequence, named reader is referred here, to the Annals Nicholas Herbert or Harbert, resided at of Ireland, from the year 1443 to 1468, Killyon ; for, by a Deed, made on the ist of
IP
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594 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May 29.
long St. Brunsecha lived, under the rule of St. Liadania, is not known, nor whether she succeeded as superioress over that nunnery, founded by her and by her celebrated son St. Kieran. It seems likely, however, that she sur- vived both of these holy contemporaries.
The year of our saint's death is not recorded ; but, it happened, most probably, witliin the sixth century. The festival of St. Brunsecha occurs, on the 29th of May, according to the Mart)rologies of Tamlacht,39 of Marianus O'Corman,-*"ofMaguire,andofDonegal. InanotherIrishCalendar,'*'at the iv. of the Calends of June—May 29th—her feast is recorded. She was venerated, also, at Magh-trea, according to various accounts. This place we may assume to be identical with Magh Treagha,-*^ in Teathbha territory said to be the same as Moytra,'*^ in the barony and county of Longford.
We cannot doubt, that many of our native chiefs abused their authority, in a veryunhappymanner; but,oursainthadcompassionfortheweaknessoftheir nature, especially when their state or vocation did not incline them to exalted perfection. Sincere contrition for sin pleaded effectively for their absolution, and it is to be hoped, that after grievous offences, they were mindful of God's mercies towards them. If frequently they yielded to violent assaults of temp- tation,andtowildimpulsesofpassion; theirfaithinatonementwasamotive always urging them to bewail their past transgressions, knowing there was joy in Heaven fur one sinner doing penance, more than for ninety-nine just who needed not penance.
Article II. St. Commain, Virgin, of Dal-Buinne, and of Derry, Parish of Ballyphillip, County of Down. In the "FeiHre" of St. . ^ngus,' at the 29th of May, a festival is entered for Cummain, who is characterizedas"thepureandgood. " Fromtheway,inwhichthisholy
January, 1634, Daniel M'Guilfoyle conveyed to him and to others, incUiding Robert Sweetman of Birr, the Manor of . Shinrone, &c. In the reign of James II. , Killyon and other lands in that neighbourhood were the property of Terence and John Coghlan. These appear to have sided with that king, and to have been attainted; for, when William III. succeeded to the throne, those lands were forfeited, and subsequently sold to John Asgill of Ross Castle, by the Com- missioners for the sale of forfeited Estates. The conveyance describes them as " the Manor of Killyon, with the castles towns and lands of Rathiire," &c. In 1704, one Daniel Pritchett, of Killyon. gentleman, and Hugh Conraghee of Ballinahown, gentleman, were sureties for the Rev. John Kennedy, resident Roman Catholic Parish Priest of " Seir Keran, Roscomroe, and Kinnitty. "
3* See Thomas Lalor Cooke's "Early HistoryoftheTownofBirr,"&c. Second edition, and edited by his .
son William Antisell Cooke, chap, x. , pp. 17810 183.
39 In the Rev. Dr. Kelly's is>ue of the Martyrology ofTallagh, at the iv. of the Ka- lends ofjune (May 29th). we find the entry of this fea-t, " BrunseciaVir. " See " Calen- dar of Irish Saints," &c. , p. xxv.
•» See Colgan's "Acta Sanctorum Hiber- nix," V. Mariii. Vita S. Kicrani Episcopi
at Confessoris, n. 18, p. 464.
*' I find, " btMiiunifioc c<iol> . 1'. ciorncdin
65 6 moij r]\ed. "—Ordnance Survey Office copy, formerly kept in the Phoeni. \ Park, but now transferred to the Royal Irish Aca- demy, Common Place Book F. p. 50.
^- Here a great cow mortality broke out A. D. 696, as mentioned in the " Chronicum Scotorum. " edited by William M. Hennessy, pp. 112, 113.
^^ According to William M. Hennessy, in the Index, ibid. , p. 39S. Vet, the name cannot be ascertained, on the Ordnance Sur- vey Townland Maps for the County of Longford.
ARTICLE II. — ' In the " Leabhar Breac " copy, the following stanza appears, with its translation, by Dr^ Whitley Stokes :
tlloiAfluAj pollioni]- UonpiA-Ov\c T5onj\int)nini LaCiinuMnConj;lAnbAil, Ingen A\illen inino,m.
—
" May Pollio's great host convey us to the star-heaven, with Cummain the pure and good, daughter of lovable Aillen. "— "Trans- actions of the Royal Insii Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. . part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Whitley Stckes, LL. D. , p. Ixxxi.
Dr. Reeves, into English :
" A great host flocked
Who served starry heaven To Cumain of the fair town Dear daughter of Allen. "
3 Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxv.
* See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus vii. , Mail xxix. Among the pretermitted saints, p. 3.
= He ruled only from A. D. 37 to A. D. 39, when he was slain by Fiacha Finnfolaidh. See Dr. John O'Donovan's " Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i. , pp. 96 to 99.
^ They were in the county of Down. i\lac Donlevy, who offered such a brave resistance to John De Courcy, in the twelfth century, was head of this family. See ibid. , n. (t).
the Royal Irish Academy," vol. i. , part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, by Dr. Whitley Stokes, LL. D. p. xci.
,
9 See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesias- tical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro- more," n. (s), pp. 23, 24.
'° See also, Appendix R, p. 234, and Appendix LL, p. 378, ibid.
" This townland contains 267a. 3r. l8p.
'- It is in the barony of Upper Ards, and it is described, on the " Ordinance Survey Townland Maps for the County of Down,", sheets 25, 32.
'^ See "Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ire- land," vol. i. , p. 191.
'* Thus rendered into English, "i. e. , another woman from Daire Ingen Aillen in ArdUlad. "
—
May 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
virgin's name has been noticed in a stanza ^ of that metrical Calendar, we infer, she was a daughter of Aillen, or Allen. In the Martyrology of Tallagh,^ at this date, the entry is, Cumne, Virgin, i. Ingen Alleain, in Aird UUadh. The Bollandists* notice her, at the 29th of May, as Cumania, filia Alleani in Ard- vladh, while quoting the same authority. She descended from the race of Fiatach Finn s—head of the Dal-Fiatach ^ and monarch of Erin—in this wise. Her father Aillen was son of Baedan, son to Echaid, son of Brian, son to Enna, son of Cathbu, son of Echaid Gunnat, son of Fiacc of Dal Fiatach. ? In another place, she seems to have been connected with a church, in the ter- ritory of Dal-m-Buinne—in Latin Dalmunia—but the exact site is now unknown. To it, allusion appears to be made, in the " Felire " of ^ngus, at the29thofMay. Analternativeconjectureofacommentatorseemstobe, that a Cill Ingen Aillen, in Idrone territory, county of Carlow, may have been herplace. ^ ThechurchofCumain,aswearetold,9layintheArdsofUlster. '° Her place has been identified with Derry,^' "an oak wood," and a townland in the parish of Ballyphillip,^- county of Down. The surface of that parish forms a chief part of what is called Little Ardes, and it lies between the neck or sound of Lough Strangford and the Irish Sea. The land of this parish is extremely fertile. ^3 At its north end are the ruins of chapels, unroofed, and side by side. The space between them does not exceed 22 1^ feet. They appear to be very ancient, and built with adhesive clay, instead of mortar. The northernmost building is 26 feet long, by i6|- broad. The other, less dilapidated, is 24 feet long, by i6|- broad j its side walls are 5-|- feet high, and the east wall is 15 feet. Here, the virgin's feast wasformerlykept,asagloss^+ontheMartyrologyof^ngusstates. '5 Inthe
small parish of Ballyphilip, the chief town is Portaferry, which stands on the east shore of the strait or entrance-channel to Lough Strangford. A large sweep of this very picturesque gulf, and a variegated view of its shores, may be seen from the vicinity of Portaferry, and within the demesne here, there is an old ruined castle, built by De Courcey. It afterwards became the resi- dence of the Savage family. ^^ The town seems to have sprung up under their protection ;'? but, the site of the former parish church is said to have been at
^ It is thus translated, in a work of Rev. Hui-Drona besides. " See/' Transactions of
'= Colgan conjectures this gloss to have 7 According to the scholiast, on the been written, by St. zEngus himself ; and,
" Feilire of St. . ^ngus," in the " Leabhar Breac. "
** There is a gloss, thus Anglicized : " i. e. , a woman, i. e. , virgin, in Dal-Buinde she is. There is a cell of the daughter of Aillen, in
in such case, the founding of this church must be referred to a date, anterior to A. D. 800.
'^ According to an inscription on the arms of the Savages, placed over the door, this
595
—
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [May 29.
Ballyphilip, where there is an old building. '^ Also, on this day, veneration was given, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal,'^ to Commain, Virgin, of Daire-inghen-AUen, in Uladh.
Article III. St. Buriena, Virgin, of Cornwall, England. The Acts of this saint have not been recovered,' if they formerly existed. How- ever, it is stated,^ that in the church of Exeter, they had been preserved among its dyptics ; although. Father Michael Alford,3 when treating about the Irish Saints that made their home in Cornwall, had not been able to verify that statement. Short notices of her have been inserted, in the great Bollan- distcollection. * Theseconsistofonlytwoparagraphs. Onthe29thofMay, in the first edition of his English Martrology,5 John Wilson commemorates St. Buriena, an Irish Virgin. She is said, to have been born of noble parents inIreland,andthenceSt. BurienapassedovertoEngland. There,forsome time, she lived in the practice of great virtue, and leading a holy life, on a promontory of Cornwall, where she erected an oratory. ^ She also wrought various miracles. She was honoured of old, with several other Irish saints, in
Cornwall; and, the people of this district seem to have regarded them, as their special patrons, for nearly all the Cornish towns are named after Irish saints. ? There, too, St. Buriena departed this life, in the odour of sanctity ; and, she was buried ^ on the promontory of Cornubia,? where now is St. Buriens. What- ever importance it possessed in former times, during the sixteenth century, it had dwindled down to a hamlet, containing only about eight houses. A fine church,dedicatedtothisholyvirgin,wasthereerected. '° Atfirst,itwascalled Eglis Buriens, in Latin, Ecclesia Buriense. There is still the town and a church—with a lofty tower rising high over the sea—bearing her name in that country, and situated in the Hundred of Penwith. Near the south porch of the church is an ancient cross, while there is another close to the church- yard. " The former religious house here was exempted from all episcopal and other authority, except from that of the Church of Rome. " To this place was added a collegiate church,'3 thought to have been built by King Athelstan. '* He formerly had granted the privilege of sanctuary to it, in the year 936. 's During the reign of William the Conqueror, a chapter of
596
castle was enlarged and completed in 1636. '7 See " Parliamentary Gazetteer of lie-
land," vol. iii. , p. So.
'* See Walter Harris' " Ancient and Pre-
sent State of the Couniy of Down," chap, iii. , sect, i. , pp. 20 to 23.
'9 Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp. 140, 141.
Article HI. —' Bishop Challenor, who mentions this holy woman in his " Biilannia Snncta," makes this statement, at part i. , p. 334.
'By Philip Ferrarius, in " Catalogus Generalis Sanctorum. "
3 In " Annalcs Ecclesiw Britannicje," tomus i. , num. vi. , at a. d. cccclx. , p. 607.
^ See Rev. William Borlase's " Antiqui- ties. Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall," vol. i. , book iv. , chap. xi.
