OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Year: 2017

  • Saint Molua and Saint Munna's Angelic Visitor

    August 4 is the feast of the great Irish monastic founder, Saint Molua. Canon O’Hanlon has included in his account of the saint the story of a miracle at the time of Saint Molua’s death involving another Irish saint, Munna of Taghmon:

    The Angel of God was accustomed to make two visits each week—namely, on each Sunday and Thursday—to the holy abbot Munnu, of Taghmoon, in Hy Kinsellagh; but, he came not on the week when our saint died. Munnu had a revelation, that there was great rejoicing in Heaven, on account of our saint’s accession to the angelic choirs. After the interval of a week, that angel again appeared. Then Munnu said, “Wherefore, servant of God, have you not come to me as usual, during the last few days ?” The angel answered: “Because on those days the venerable servant of God, Molua, son to Coche, went to Heaven. Therefore, the angels did not visit the saints of Ireland, as usual; for, they rejoiced together, on the arrival of Molua among them.” Then, St. Munnu said :” Now doth it appear, he accomplished the will of God, in a manner superior to us all. But, go thou to the Lord, and learn for me, on what account the Almighty was more pleased with Molua’s approach, that he should in consequence neglect to visit me.” The angel obeyed. Within a short time he returned, saying: ” This is the reply to thy question. The face of no man was ever suffused with blushes through Molua, for he was mild to all, and governed his monks with great piety and gentleness. With moderation, he drew them to the right path. However, rejoice, also; for you shall find a similar honour in Heaven, since you must endure suffering in this life, and to the hour of your death.” On the following Thursday, Munnu was struck with a leprosy, which covered all parts of his body, and thus was he afflicted, for the remaining twenty years of his life.

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  • The Daughter(s) of Fachtna, of Ernaidhe

    At August 3 we find the names of several female saints commemorated on the Irish calendars, including Saints Trea and Deirbhile. We can add another name to the list, an unnamed ‘Daughter of Fachtna’, who may have been associated with the locality of Urney in County Tyrone. In his brief account below, Canon O’Hanlon, who begins on a pious note, brings only the details from the Martyrology of Donegal which identifies a single daughter in its entry for the day. The twelfth-century calendarist, Marianus O’Gorman, however, suggests that she may have had siblings. His entry reads:

    The festival of Fachtna’s modest daughters by whom every false assembly was purified.

    Such groups of saints, described as daughters or sons of a named parent, are a feature of the Irish calendars. I suppose the most well-known might be the daughters of Léinín, whose memory lives on in the place name Killiney (Cill Iníon Léinín – the Church of the Daughters of Léinín)  in County Dublin.
    There is no mention of Fachtna’s offspring in the earlier calendars of Oengus or Tallaght. Canon O’Hanlon records:
     

    The Daughter of Fachtna, of Ernaidhe, said to be Urney, in the County of Tyrone.

    Fairest and most full of consolation to the perfect religious is that morning, when she consecrates her love to Him, who will jealously demand its faithful observance. We find in the Martyrology of Donegal, that a festival was celebrated to honour the daughter of Fachtna, belonging to Ernaidhe, at the 3rd of August. Another rendering of her name is Facundide, as found at the alphabetical entries in a table superadded to that Martyrology. In William M. Hennessy’s copy of the work, that place with which the present saint is represented as having been connected, has been identified as Urney, in the County of Tyrone.

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  • Saint Christopher in Irish Art

    July 25 is the feast of Saint Christopher and below is a 1910 paper by the Belfast antiquarian, F. J. Bigger, in which he examines a later medieval carving of the saint from Jerpoint Abbey, County Kilkenny. The author, a northern Presbyterian, threw himself wholeheartedly into the Irish cultural revival in all its aspects. To his eye, the Jerpoint Saint Christopher possessed a uniquely ‘Gaelic fervour’ missing in the artistic representations of other lands. I regret that the accompanying illustration of the kilted Saint Christopher is not of better quality, but it is one of Bigger’s own photographs reproduced in the Journal of the Royal Society of Irish Antiquaries. If you have a look at some of the photographs on this site, you will be able to enjoy a picture of Bigger himself resplendent in a kilt, bonnet and Tara-style brooch, what the well-dressed cultural revivalist was wearing a century ago. Bigger’s collection of Irish books became the core of the Irish and Local Studies Department of the Belfast Central Library, and thus his legacy lives on in the city.

    ST. CHRISTOPHER IN IRISH ART.

    BY FRANCIS JOSEPH BIGGER, M.R.I.A., FELLOW.
    [Read MARCH 29, 1910.]
    AT Jerpoint Abbey, in County Kilkenny, there is much sculpture amongst the tombs and in the building itself. Built up against one of the pillars of the cloister, in high relief, were two figures that deeply attracted my attention, because I had not previously noticed similar figures in any other part of Ireland. Many of the cloisters of our abbeys have been destroyed, and with them much legendary lore which the monks chose to carve there on wall and column. Every stone of a cloister is worth examining. Here are found the best mason-marks, quaint little pieces of Celtic ornament and symbolism. I have noticed such at Quin, and at Drumahaire there is a St. Francis preaching to the birds. At Bective there are quaint figures in the cloisters, also at Fore. I have only noticed one St. Christopher, and that is at Jerpoint. This abbey was founded in 1158, but the cloisters date from the end of the fourteenth century, so the statue is about the later date. The story of St. Christopher is generally told in mural paintings. Many hundreds still remain in England and on the Continent, and there are numerous old prints with similar portraits.
    Shortly, the legend is as follows: Christopher (literally, Christ-bearer) received his name because he bore Christ across a stream in Syria. When he gave up paganism, he desired to do some great Christian service, being a giant in stature and strength. He undertook to ford strangers across a deep stream. Once in the night a little Child presented himself to be carried across. Christopher carried the Child on his shoulder until the burden grew so heavy he almost sank in the waves. He succeeded at last in getting across, when he said, “Child, thou hast put me in great peril; if I had had the whole world upon me, it might be no greater burden.” And the Child answered, “Christopher, marvel nothing; for thou hast not only borne all the world upon thy shoulders, but thou hast borne Him that made and created the world. I am the Christ whom thou servest.”
    And so the saint is mostly represented crossing a stream, with a treelike stake in his hand for support, and the Infant on his shoulders. There are those who say the whole story is allegory; that Christopher is Christ the Cross-bearer, the Child is the offspring of Adam, the river is Death. The saint is a giant or mighty person, because the Redeemer was able to bear the burden of the sins of the world. Be all this as it may, here we have St. Christopher carved in stone after the manner of the Irish, and set up in the cloister of an Irish abbey as a lesson and an example. The figures are boldly carved, the whole stone being about 3 feet high. The saint is kilted and draped in the Gaelic way, showing bare legs and feet, with a wave across the feet and a large fish cut upright beside the left leg, reaching from the foot to above the knee. In his right hand he grasps a stout stake or tree, with a crowned or branched top, while his left arm lovingly embraces the Child, thus showing a Gaelic fervour lacking in all the representations I have seen of other countries, where the Child sits on the shoulders unclasped. A halo surrounds the head of the Divine Infant, whose face is upturned, and His right hand is upheld in the attitude of blessing. The saint has on his head a cap or crown, and his beard is interlaced and twined in the Irish style. The whole representation savours of local art, with the deep Gaelic spirit so commonly traceable during the Irish revival of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In conclusion, I may add that the late Walter B. Mant, Archdeacon of Down, wrote at Hillsborough a poem on this subject, and published same in 1861 in a volume entitled Christopheros and other Poems.

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