OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • A Septet of Irish Hagiologists

    I have recently finished posting a series of biographies of Irish saints taken from a nineteenth-century encyclopaedia published in the United States. The same volume also contains potted biographies of some of the later hagiologists who collected and published the lives of this country’s holy men and women. They were operating in a very different climate from the days when hagiography was produced in Irish monasteries, for they were working against the backdrop of the Reformation and from within the various Irish Colleges in continental Europe. I have selected the following seven, with an indication of the era in which they flourished:

    Colgan, John 1650

    Creagh, Richard 1570

    Messingham, Dr. Thomas 1600

    O’Clery, Michael 1630

    Roth, Dr. David 1600

    Wadding, Luke 1620

    Ward, Hugh 1620

    There are some posts already on this blog on Friars Colgan and O’Clery which can be found under the tag ‘seventeenth century’. My other site, named after Father Colgan’s most famous work, the Trias Thaumaturga, contains a sample of Dr David Roth’s work on Saint Brigid and can be read here. Dr Messingham’s famous work, the Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum, can be read online at the Internet Archive here. Finally, there is an introductory article by scholar Colm Lennon on the life and times of Dr Richard Creagh here. 

    COLGAN, JOHN, a learned Irish divine and antiquarian, was a priest of the Order of St. Francis, and was educated on the Continent. He was a cotemporary of Ward and O’Clery, the learned antiquarians, and a member of the same order. He labored principally on the Continent, in the Monastery of St. Anthony of Padua, and also at Louvain, where he was professor of Theology. On the death of Dr. Ward, Colgan made use of the materials collected and in 1645 produced a folio volume at Louvain, containing Lives of the Irish Saints, whose feasts fall in January, February and March. It is entitled “Acta Sanctorum Veteris et Majoris Scotiae.” He published a second volume in 1647, entitled “Triadis Thaumaturgae,” containing lives of St. Patrick, St. Bridget and St. Columb. He also wrote a critical treatise on the Life and Writings of Dr. John Scot — Duns Scotus — his celebrated countryman, called “The Subtle Doctor,” a man of universal knowledge and unrivalled penetration and powers of analysis. The last was published at Antwerp in 1655. He also left many valuable MSS. in his monastery at Louvain in reference to other Irish missioners and doctors who flourished on the Continent. He died about 1670.
    CREAGH, RICHARD, a learned
    Irish divine scholar and confessor, was
    educated at Louvain, and was consecrated in Rome Archbishop of Armagh.
    He was the author of “Treatise on the
    Irish Language,” “Ecclesiastical History,” a controversal work, “Chronicle
    of Ireland, and Lives of Irish Saints,  etc., etc. He was at length arrested
    under the persecution of Elizabeth, and
    imprisoned in the Tower. He was offered his liberty, and a substantial reward if he would consecrate some of
    the reformed bishops, but he firmly refused, and at length died in the Tower,  from neglect and suffering, A. D. 1585.

    MESSINGHAM, THOMAS, an Irish divine and writer, was born in the province of Leinster, Ireland, about 1575. He received his education principally in France. He was an Apostolic Prothonotary and Superior of a community of Irish ecclesiastics in Paris. He published in Latin a volume containing lives of many of the Irish saints. It was issued in Paris in 1624, and was entitled “Floreligium Insula Sanctorum.”

    O’CLERY BRO. MICHAEL, an eminent and learned antiquarian and historian, was a native of Ulster and a monk of the order of St. Francis. He was educated on the continent, and was a contemporary of Dr. Hugh Ward, who was his religious superior, and who sent him to Ireland from their monastery in Louvain to collect material for projected Irish histories and monuments of the past. On the death of Dr. Ward, O’Clery continued the labors, and produced an “Abridgment of the Lives of the Irish Kings,” with their genealogies. Also lives of Irish saints called “Sanctilogium Genealogium,” and also a history of the different inhabitants and conquests of the island, wars, and other remarkable events up to the twelfth century. This work is called “Leabhar Gabheltas.” He was also the principal author of the “Annals of the Four Masters.” His assistants were his brothers Conary and Peregrine O’Clery and Ferfessa O’Mulconry, or O’Conroy.

    ROTH, DR. DAVID, an Irish divine and philosopher, and one of the most learned and eloquent men of his age, was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, about 1570. He finished his education on the Continent and became Professor and Doctor of Theology in the College of Douay, and still later Bishop of Ossory. He was skilled in all the learning of the day, and according to Usher was unrivalled in the extent and profundity of his knowledge; a renowned orator, a subtile philosopher, a profound theologian and a learned historian; he wrote on all subjects, and contributed materially to the sum of human knowledge. He was the author of many works in Latin, and among them “Hibernia Resurgeras,” which was printed at Rouen and Cologne in 1621, and also a work on the antiquities of Ireland.

    WADDING, REV. LUKE, an able and learned Irish priest, was born October 16, 1588 at Waterford, and like most of the Irish ecclesiastics of those days received his education on the continent, principally in Spain and Portugal with the Jesuits, on account of the Penal Laws which made it felony at home. He held a professorship at Salamanca where he joined the Franciscan order and afterward resided in France and later in Rome, where he wrote with indefatigable industry, pursuing historical investigations. He was author of a History of the order of St. Francis and edited the Opera Speculativa of his renowned countryman Duns Scotus, which he published in 12 folio volumes, at Lyons in 1639. He was offered a Cardinal’s hat, which he declined. He also edited Calasio’s Concordance, besides producing many other important works. He died at Rome in 1657.

    WARD, HUGH, an Irish divine, writer and antiquarian of the seventeenth century, was a native of Donegal and was educated at Salamanca, in Spain. In 1616 he joined the Order of St. Francis and was sent from Salamanca to Paris where he completed his ecclesiastical studies. He was afterwards Lecturer in Theology and Warden at Louvain, Netherlands. He wrote a number of works relating to Ireland, and planned writing an Universal History of Irish Saints, and sent one of his monks, Michael O’Clery to Ireland to collect materials for the purpose, but died before the project was well commenced.

  • Irish Saints in August

    Below is an article by Irish writer Magdalen Rock on some of the saints whose feasts we will be commemorating in the month of August. Once again the author includes an impressive range of saints, she begins with the two saints from the end of the month and works her way back. We meet those who laboured not only in Ireland but in Britain and Europe, all I have added is the name of the patron saint of Derry city, Eugene/Eoghan, as it seems to have been omitted.

    Irish Saints in August.
    MAGDALEN ROCK.

    THE little islet of Lindisfarne lies two miles off the coast of Northumberland, and some nine miles or more south-east of the border-town of Berwick. At low-water the island is joined to the mainland, and twice in the course of the twenty-four hours it is accessible by means of a track across the sands. The resemblance of the isle in the Northern Sea to the island from whence Saint Aidan went to re-evangelise the pagan people of old Northumbria has obtained for Lindisfarne the name of the Iona of England. Perhaps it was this resemblance, perhaps the instinctive love of the Irish monks for solitude, that induced Aidan to set up his bishop’s stool at Lindisfarne in 635. The island became the centre of great missionary activity, and was the seat of sixteen successive bishops.

    The erudite pen of the Venerable Bede tells much of Saint Aidan as a priest, a bishop, and an indefatigable missionary, but nothing of his lineage or place of birth, save that he was an Irish monk.

    The saint whose memory is commemorated on the last day of August was of the race of Columba, and he probably entered the monastery of Iona at an early age. When Oswald of Northumbria was an exile from his native land he had received much kindness from the Irish monks, and he had imbibed the traditions of Iona. On the eve of the battle that was to decide the fate of the northern realm, Oswald, tradition says, had a vision of Columba, who informed him of his victory of the next day and of his restoration to the throne of his ancestors. Oswald set up on the battle ground a huge wooden cross to hearten his small army, and ere nightfall the forces of Cadwallon, the last of the British warriors, was defeated.

    Safely established on the throne of his fathers, Oswald turned, not to Canterbury, but to Iona, for missionaries to re-Christianise his far-spreading kingdom. The first who came at his call found the task difficult, and went back to the island monastery to report his failure. “Was it their stubbornness or your severity?” Aidan asked. ” Did you give them the milk first and then the meat?” In obedience to the command of his superior Aidan departed to become first bishop of Lindisfarne. Missionaries came to his help both from Iona and Ireland, and the work of instructing the people began.

    Green tells how the bishop and the king worked at first side by side, Oswald translating the words of the missionary to his rude thanes. Soon the Irish monks learned the Northumbrian dialect,and Boisil led a little band of workers to the valley of the Tweed, while Aidan wandered on foot among the peasantry of Bernicia.

    From the first the saint tried, and not ineffectually, to check the reckless manner of life of the Northumbrian nobles, and many of the gifts bestowed on him by his converts did Aidan pass on to the poor and afflicted. In barren Lindisfarne the saint and his monks observed the austerities practised by the founder of Iona. Slavery was as prevalent in Northumbria as in the other kingdoms of the Saxons, and not a few of the king’s gifts went in procuring the freedom of some poor slaves.

    Over and over again has the story been told of how the saint, much against his custom, sat one Easter day beside the king. A sumptuous repast had been prepared, but ere the viands were touched word came that a hungry multitude waited at the castle gates. Oswald at once ordered the untasted food to be carried to the crowd, and gave directions that the silver dishes should be broken up and divided among them. Aidan blessed the royal hand “May this hand never grow old” and when all else of the saintly monarch had perished the white hand of Oswald remained firm and incorrupt in the church of Bamborough.

    All too soon Oswald died, praying with his last breath for his men, but Aidan exercised the same beneficent influence over his successor. Once when the pagan king of Mercia tried to burn Barnborough, Aidan raised his eyes to heaven: “Oh, God, see what ill Penda is doing” he cried, and instantly the wind shifted, and the royal residence was saved.

    Aidan was overtaken by his last illness on one of his journeys, and at his own desire he was borne back to the monastery. A tent was erected for him on the west side of the church, and there he died. On the night of his decease a shepherd lad on the hills of Lammermoor saw his soul borne to Heaven by angels. This boy was Cuthbert, destined long after to be Bishop of Lindisfarne.

    Saint Fiacre is honoured by the Church one day earlier than Aidan. In his own country little is known of him, but in France he is greatly venerated and esteemed, particularly by gardeners, whose patron he is. He was the son of an Irish prince, and born towards the end of the sixth century. He received his education from Saint Conan in the Isle of Man, and when ordained priest he retired to a little oratory on the banks of the River Nore, where the townland Kilfiachra still perpetuates his memory. Crowds of disciples flocked to his retreat, and at length, to find more complete solitude, he left his native land for France. He arrived at Meaux about the year 627, and was welcomed by Saint Faro, who ruled the diocese, and who recollected the graces which he and his kin had received through Saint Columbanus. The bishop gave the Irish exile a site for an oratory at Breuil out of his own patrimony, and this oratory Fiacre dedicated to the Mother of God.

    In time the sanctity of the holy hermit became known, and many men sought out his place of abode. In the little garden, beside his cell the saint cultivated vegetables with which to feed his visitors, and simple blooms to decorate his church. In obedience to an order of the bishop, Fiacre erected a sort of hospice for the convenience of those visiting him, but in course of time the accommodation was not sufficient for those seeking the hermit’s retreat, and the saint unwillingly asked the bishop for further ground in the forest and additional facilities for strangers. Saint Faro at once granted a further gift of land. Its extent was to be the ground round which the saint could erect an earthern rampart in the course of a single day. Fiacre went out with his staff, and as he walked he drew the staff along the ground. Instantly an earthen fortification rose. An evil-minded lady complained to the bishop that this had been done through magic, and an order was despatched to Fiacre to stop all work until the bishop could visit him. The saint obeyed, and sat down on a hard rock to wait Faro’s coming, and the hard rock became soft and yielding, and was fashioned into a comfortable chair. In the new ground wondrous blossoms had miraculously appeared, and when the bishop arrived he implored Fiacre’s pardon, and enabled him to erect a larger hospice.

    The years passed tranquilly on till a pilgrim from Rome called at Fiacre’s retreat. The pilgrim was a close relative to the saint, and through him the news spread to Ireland that Fiacre still lived. His father was dead, and his younger brother had been deposed for taking part in the Pelagian heresy. Ambassadors from Ireland sought the French king’s intervention to induce Fiacre to take his place as head of the tribe. The poor anchorite prayed God that he might remain in the forests of Breuil, and his prayer was answered. When the ambassadors came they found Fiacre covered with leprosy, and he was not urged to visit his native land. Saint Fiacre died on the thirtieth of August, 670, and was interred in the forest church not far from his cell. Miracles took place at his tomb, and centuries after a beautiful basilica was erected in his honour.

    To the shrine of the Irish hermit Anne of Austria came on foot to pray Heaven for a son, and that son later came with his wife on a pilgrimage. Two English royalties interfered to their own disaster with Saint Fiacre. The Black Prince when ravaging the district gave orders to have his shrine opened, and he, himself, extracted a portion of the holy relics with the intention of taking them to England. When passing through Normandy he left the relics temporarily on the altar of a church in Montloup, and not all the efforts of men could remove them. Shortly afterwards the Black Prince died.

    The victor of Agincourt permitted his troops to pillage the district of Meaux. An ancient Scotch historian tells: “He invaded the lands of Sanct Fiacre, and by the vengeance of God he was stricken with sic infirmitex that na nigine of man micht cure him.” Henry was attacked by a fistula called the malady of Saint Fiacre and died at the early age of thirty-four.

    Among the modern saints who visited the tomb of the hermit were Saints Francis de Sales and Vincent de Paul.

    Saint Andrew, whose feast occurs on the twenty-second day of the month, spent but a short, part of his life in his native country. He is supposed -to have been born about the beginning of the eighth century, but in what part of Ireland is not known. From early youth he and his sister Brigid honoured in Irish rnartyrologies on the same date as her namesake of Kildare were devoted to prayer and works of charity . A distinguished teacher of Divine philosophy came into the neighbourhood where Andrew lived. This teacher was Saint Donatus, afterwards bishop of the old-world diocese of Fiesole in Italy. Donatus had been educated in the monastery of Iniscaltra in an island of the Shannon, and it was his great desire to visit the Eternal City. When he set out on his journey Andrew accompanied him despite the opposition of his friends. After many adventures they reached Rome and, after visiting its tombs and churches, set out on the return journey. They halted at Fiesole and found the city distracted and without a bishop; Donatus was reluctantly obliged to take charge of the district, and in time appointed Andrew his archdeacon. The two friends laboured assiduously to reorganise the diocese, and with great success. Once as they walked outside the town they came upon a ruined church which had been dedicated to Saint Martin. Both lamented over the ruin, and Andrew humbly offered to make its restoration his business. The bishop accepted the offer, and Andrew founded a society for priests something like the Missionary Oblates of the Blessed Sacrament. He and his small band of helpers cleared the ground and procured new building material, and finally the church was restored. The people of the neighbourhood were generous with alms, which was used entirely for charitable purposes, the little community earning their scanty subsistence by the labour of their hands.

    Even a brief enumeration of the many miracles attributed to Saint Andrew would cover many pages; the afflicted who only touched his garments were relieved. At length, after a holy and tranquil life, death came. The dying saint longed to see once more his beloved sister, Brigid. And Brigid came, some authorities say miraculously, to comfort his last hours. She never returned to Ireland. Close to the source of the River Liece she founded an oratory, and dedicated it to Saint Martin; it is yet a place of pilgrimage, and the peasants of the Appenines never forget to invoke the intercession of Saints Donatus, Andrew, and Brigid.

    Saint Blane, whose memory survives in the town of Dunblane, was born of Irish parents in the Isle of Bute. His uncle was Saint Cathan, and this holy man attended to the early education of his nephew. Afterwards the youthful Blane studied at Bangor, in Ireland, under Saint Comgall. On his return to Bute, where his uncle still lived, he decided to become a priest, and soon after his ordination he was raised to episcopal dignity. He continued his former austere mode of life in this position, and many miracles are credited to him, and among them is the restoration to life of a dead youth. The pious bishop selected the site for his monastery at a place equidistant from the German and Atlantic oceans, and this monastery was later created an episcopal See.

    After a laborious life Saint Blane died, but authorities differ as to the date of his death. Butler’s date 446 is manifestly incorrect, and the most reliable writers say he died towards the end of the sixth century. His feast is kept on the tenth of August.

    The patron of Derry city [Eugene] was born in Leinster towards the close of the fifth century, and he received part of his religious education at the monastery of Clones, from which school he was captured by British pirates. On his release he studied under Saint Ninnian. He founded the monastery of Kilnamanagh in Wicklow, and resided rhere till, following a Divine inspiration, he proceeded northward to preach the Faith. In Tyrone, at Ardstraw, he founded a monastery, and soon after was raised to a bishopric. Authorities differ as to the time of his death, but he passed to his reward at an advanced age fortified by the last rites of the Church. He is honoured on the twenty-third of the month. A beautiful cathedral in Derry bears his name.

    Saint Bernard is the authority for saying that Saint Luanus founded no less than one hundred monasteries in his native land. He was educated at Bangor. The rule he gave his monks was very stringent and enjoined complete silence and recollection and hard manual labour. No women were permitted to approach the confines of the monasteries. When dying he received the Holy Viaticum from the hand of one of his monks, and his death is supposed to have occurred in the seventh century. Persons afflicted with ague were in the past accustomed to visit one or other of his holy wells in order to obtain relief.

    Saints Nathy and Felimy are honoured on the ninth of August. The former was a priest to whom it is said Finian, Bishop of Clonard, gave the charge of a church at Achonry. By some writers the saint is said to have been a bishop. Saint Felimy lived in the sixth century, and was Bishop of Kilmore, where his festival is still kept with an octave and indulgence.

    The patron and first bishop of Killala was Saint Muredach, a descendant of Leogaire, the high-king of Ireland at the time of Patrick’s coming. Little is told regarding him; some writers assert that he was a contemporary of Saint Columba. His feast is observed on the twelfth of the month.

    Saint Mac Cartan, titular saint of the diocese of Clogher, was appointed to that See by Saint Patrick, and governed it long. Tradition ascribes many miracles to him. He died in 506, and is honoured on the Feast of the Assumption.

    Saint Crumin, whom Butler credits with writing a long and erudite letter to the fourth abbot of Iona urging him and his monks to conform to the Roman usage regarding Easter, is venerated on the nineteenth of August. He was consecrated bishop in some part of Ireland, but resigned his See to become a monk at Bobbio, where he died at an advanced age. The inscription on his tomb has been translated by Miss Stokes, and it begins: “Here the sacred members of Cunniam are dissolved.”

    Alban Butler does not mention, among the saints of the eighth of August, Saint Coleman, Bishop of Lindisfarne, who assisted at the famous Synod of Whitby. When the Assembly decided to adopt the Roman custom of the tonsure and the Roman method of observing Easter, Colman resigned his bishopric and retired to Mayo, where he founded a new monastery for the Irish and Saxon monks who had followed him across the sea. Later it became necessary to found a separate monastery for the Saxon monks.

    Nor does the same ecclesiastical writer make mention of Attracta, on the eleventh day of the month. This holy virgin desired to become a nun, and though opposed by her family, she and a female attendant journeyed to Boyle where Saint Patrick was preaching. Patrick consented to receive her vows; and when he raised his hands to heaven to implore the Divine benediction for the young novice a veil of dazzling whiteness fell from the skies for Attracta. She founded her first convent near Lough Gara, and during her life often acted as peacemaker among the surrounding tribes.

    Irish Rosary, Volume 25 (1921), 625-630.

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  • Saint Berchán of Clúain Sosta, August 4

    The Martyrology of Tallaght at 4th August records the commemoration of Berchán of Clúain Sosta (Cloonsast, County Offally). Canon O’Hanlon has a very sparse entry for this saint, perhaps he intended to write a fuller entry on the saint’s other reputed feast day of 4th December. For there is a fascinating story behind Saint Berchán who is credited with being not only an important poet but also one of the four chief prophets of Ireland. Benjamin T. Hudson has examined the life and work of this saint in his book Prophecy of Berchán – Irish and Scottish High-kings of the Early Middle Ages. The Prophecy is a two-part historical poem, part one dealing with the history of Berchán’s own monastery and the Viking attacks upon it, plus details of the reigns of a number of Irish high-kings. Part two deals with Scottish kings and includes a description of Macbeth. Hudson gives a useful summary of the possible candidates for the identity of the poet:

    A saint named Berchán is not celebrated before the 10th century. No Berchán is found in the uninterpolated text of the 9th-century ecclesiastical calendar Féilire Oengusso. By the 12th century when notes were added to the text, two Bercháns are common. Berchán of Eigg (10 April) and Berchán of Clúain Sosta (4 December)… In the Martyrology of Tallaght there are four individuals named Berchán: Berchán of Eigg (10 April), Berchán of Clúain Caon (24 May), Berchán (5 June) and Berchán of Clúain Sosta (4 August)….

    Hudson then goes on to identify Berchán of Clúain Sosta as the best fit for the reputed authorship of the poem and offers some further information on his genealogy:

    Among these holy men, Berchán of Clúain Sosta was the best known in the Middle Ages. His name is not found in the original text of the Féilire Oengusso, but it is in the notes in Rawlinson B.505 where he is described as fer dá leithe (“man of two halves”) who lived half his life in Scotland and half in Ireland. He is identified as a native of Britain who is settled at Clúain Sosta in the territory of the Kingdom of Uí Failge (now Cloonsast, Co. Offally). Among the bishops listed in the Book of Leinster is included Berchán i Clúain Sasta. The list of bishops of Ireland compiled by the celebrated 17th-century antiquarian Dubhaltach mac Firbisigh on 17 March 1666 includes a ‘Berchán, bishop and prophet from Clúain Sosta, and his feast day is 4 December’… The full name of the bishop from Clúain Sosta was Berchán mac Muiredaich who is identified as Berchán of Clúain Sosta in the Book of Leinster’s version of his mother’s genealogy. Her name was Fiaman ingen Diarmata, from the northern branch of the powerful Uí Neill dynasty. Berchán mac Muiredaich’s paternal genealogy is also preserved in the Book of Leinster, where he is described as prophet, bishop and poet.

    Saint Berchán’s reputation as a prophet is referred to by Gerald of Wales in his book, The Topography of Ireland. He lists the saint as one of the four prophets of Ireland, the other three being Saints Patrick, Colum Cille and Moling. Gerald is especially interested in Berchán as he is credited with a prophecy that the English would prevail in Ireland until they were subdued by a king from Uí Fáeláin. In a later Irish manuscript of Gerald’s other work, The Conquest of Ireland, this prophecy has become a prediction of the conquering Anglo-Norman Richard de Clare, or Strongbow, whom we last encountered on the blog being given a deathbed lesson in the proper respect for the Irish saints by Saint Brigid herself (see here.)
    Saint Berchán is also mentioned in a number of other medieval sources including the Book of Howth and the Book of Fenagh. His prophecies were also supposedly collected and published in 1317 by Walter de Islip, the royal custos of Kilkenny. The prophecies continued to be of interest to the Irish in their later struggles against the English, they are credited, for example with contributing to the Irish victory over the English forces at the Battle of Yellow Ford in 1598.
    Finally, Saint Berchán is also associated with a book, produced at his monastery of Clúain Sosta. There is a note in the Leabhar Breac that its version of a history of Alexander the Great came from the Book of Berchán and that its copy had been made in the monastery of Clúain Sosta. Hudson records that the book was still extant in the 16th century, when the Earl of Kildare listed a ‘Saint Beraghan’s boke’ in his library catalogue. It has since disappeared and its fate remains unknown.
    In the 19th century, the scholar John O’Donovan recorded in his Ordnance Survey Letters that the local people of Clonsast kept the memory of their patron saint alive. He wrote ‘the Patron is vividly remembered to be St. Brachan (Brochan?) (perhaps a contradiction for Berachan) whose memory was annually celebrated with great devotion at his well called Tobar-Brachain on the third of December’. O’Donovan’s letter of 1837, which includes an interesting account of the suppression of the traditional pattern days at Clonsast can be read in full here.
    It would thus seem that the December date may have the better claim to be the feastday for Saint Berchán. Whatever the case, I find him to be a fascinating and compelling figure, this ‘man of two halves’ and will explore some of the works associated with him in future posts.

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