OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

A Few of the Most Eminent of the Irish Saints

Written by

Michele Ainley

in

Books written for children are among my favourite sources for the lives of the saints. I was recently having a look at an early twentieth-century school textbook ‘A Child’s History of Ireland’, and saw that the author, P.W. Joyce, included a list of what he termed ‘a few of the most eminent of the Irish saints’. I am always interested when reading any source to note which saints are under discussion, since the cult of the saints is not a static thing and interest in individual saints tends to wax and wane over the centuries. In Joyce’s list, which is a footnote to a longer entry for each of the three Irish patrons, he begins by numbering some of the great monastic founders, then moves on to a representative selection of Irish saints who flourished in Europe and finishes with the ninth-century scholar John Scotus Erigena. It is worth noting that in addition to Saint Brigid, he includes another two women in the list, Saints Ita and Dympna:

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Besides Patrick, Brigit, and Columkille, the
following are a few of the most eminent of the Irish saints:
St. Ailbe of Emly in Limerick, who was ordained
bishop of Cashel by St. Patrick: he was ecclesiastical head of Munster.
St. Enna or Endeus of Aran in Galway Bay; died
about 542. This island was afterwards called Ara-na-Naemh [naive], Aran of the
saints, from the number of holy men who lived in it.
St. Finnen of Clonard, the founder of the great
school there: called “The Tutor of the Saints of Ireland”: died 549.
St. Ciaran [Kieran] of Clonmacnoise, which became
one of the greatest of all the Irish monasteries: died 549.
St. Ciaran or Kieran, the patron of Ossory: born
in the island of Cape Clear; but his father belonged to Ossory: died about 550.
St. Ita, Ida, or Mida, virgin saint, of Killeedy
in Limerick; often called the Brigit of Munster: died 569.
St. Brendan of Clonfert in Galway, or
“Brendan the Navigator”: born in Kerry: died 577.
St. Senan of Scattery Island in the Shannon: died
about 560.
St. Comgall, the founder of the celebrated scbool
of Bangor in Down, which rivalled Clonard: died 602.
St. Kevin, the founder of Glendalough in Wicklow:
died 618.
St. Carrthach or Mochuda of Lisrnore, where he
founded one of Ireland’s greatest schools: died 637.
St. Adamnan the biographer of St. Columkille;
ninth abbot of Iona: born in Donegal: died 703.
Among the vast number of Irish men and women who
became illustrious on the Continent, the following may be named : —
St. Fursa of Peronne and his brothers Foillan and
Ultan; Fursa died about 650 (see page 17).
St. Dympna or Domnat of Gheel, virgin martyr, to
whom the great sanatorium for lunatics at Gheel in Belgium is dedicated:
daughter of an Irish pagan king: martyred, seventh century.
St. Columbanus of Bobbio in Italy, a pupil of
Bangor, founded the two monasteries of Luxeuil and Fontaines: expelled from
Burgundy for denouncing the vices of king Theodoric; preached successfully to
the Gauls; wrote learned letters: finally settled at Bobbio, where he died,
615.
St. Gall, a disciple of Columbanus, patron of St.
Gall (in Switzerland) which was named from him.
St. Fridolin the Traveller of Seckingen on the
Rhine: died in the beginning of the sixth century.
St. Kilian the apostle of Franconia: martyred
689.
St. Cataldus bishop of Tarentum, from the school
of Lismore, where he was a professor: seventh century.
Virgil or Virgilius bishop of Salzburg, called
Virgil the Geometer, from his eminence in science: taught, probably for the
first time, the rotundity of the earth: died 785.
Clement and Albinus, placed by Charlemagne at the
head of two great seminaries.
John Scotus Erigena, celebrated for his knowledge
of Greek: the most distinguished scholar of his time in Europe: taught philosophy
with great distinction in Paris: died about 870.
P.W.Joyce, A Child’s History of Ireland (Dublin and London, 1910), 81-84.


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