OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Saint Ernin of Inis-Caoin, July 13

    July 13 is the commemoration of Saint Ernin of Inis-Caoin and the name of both the man and his locality are shared in common with a number of others. Canon O’Hanlon reckons the place in this case is to be found in counties Meath and Cavan. In the Lives of the Irish Saints he lists twenty-five saints with the name Ernin, most of whom, like today’s saint, are obscure figures. There is evidence though that at one time this saint was remembered in his locality by a pattern at a holy well dedicated to him:

    St. Ernin, or Arney, of Inis-caoin, now Inniskeen, Counties of Meath and Cavan.

    At the 13th of July, veneration was given to Ernin, of Inis-caoin, as appears in the Martyrology of Donegal. There are three distinct Inis-caoins, viz. : first, Inishkeen, on Lough Erne; secondly, another on Lough Melvin— both of these are in the county of Fermanagh—and thirdly, Inis-caoin-Deagha, or Iniskeen, in the county of Louth. But, the Enniskeen, or Eniskeen, with which the present saint appears to have been connected, was a parish located, partly in the baronies of Lower Kells and Lower Slane, in the county of Meath, but chiefly in the barony of Clonkee, in the county of Cavan. This old church of Eniskeen has been torn down and uprooted, save and except old crosses and numerous tombs, which serve to mark the resting-places of the faithful. No traces remain at present illustrative of the ancient worship. Here, the festival of St. Arney had been celebrated each 13th day of July. A holy well, dedicated to this saint, springs from the soil, and convenient to the burying-ground. It is now dried up, but stations used to be performed there, on the feast-day. It was called Toberarney. In the days of persecution, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass had to be celebrated on a large block of stone, outside the graveyard of Eniskeen. Anciently, this seems to have been the pedestal of a stone cross or a sanctuary terminus. Various other curious antique objects are in this parish. There is a notice of this saint’s festival, on the 13th of July, as furnished by Father O’Sheerin to the Bollandists.
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  • Saint Ultán of Cork, July 12

    July 12 is the commemoration of a County Cork saint, Ultán. Canon O’Hanlon, as he often does when there is not much to say about the individual life of a saint, talks instead about places, in this case Cork city. Modern scholar Pádraig Ó Riain however, informs us in his Dictionary of Irish Saints that our saint is most likely to be associated with Caherultan in the parish of Ballyoughtera, not far from Clonpriest, whose patron Colmán shares Ultán’s July 12 feast day. Canon O’Hanlon’s account below does not make this connection:

    St. Ultan, of Cork, County of Cork.

    The Martyrology of Donegal mentions, that veneration was given to Ultan of Corcach, at the 12th of July. The city of Cork derives its name from the Irish word Corca, “marsh” sometimes called Corca-mor,” the great marsh.” It was a tract of low ground, often flooded, near the debouchment of the River Lee. This celebrated district has a pre-Christian history ; but its Christian origin dates back to the earlier part of the seventh century.  Other accounts, at an earlier period, make St. Finbarr first founder of a religious house at this place. The present city of Cork—the main part of it south of the river—stands over a concealed network of running waters, veins from the Lee, and above the city is the public walk called Mardyke—interpreted Marshes-dyke. At the 12th of July, likewise, the Bollandists  record a festival for Ultanus mundus de Corcagia.

     

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  • Saint Gaibhthene, July 11

    July 11 sees the commemoration of an obscure Irish holy woman, Saint Gaibhthene, latinised as Gabtina. As ever, all we have is the recording of her name, first on the earliest of the calendars, the Martyrology of Tallaght and subsequently on the Martyrology of Donegal. Canon O’Hanlon adds the detail that the seventeenth-century Irish Franciscan hagiologist, Father Thomas Sheerin, brought her to the attention of the Bollandists:

    St. Gabtina or Gaibhthene, Virgin.

    According to the Martyrology of Tallagh, St. Gabtina, virgin, had a feast on this day. Father O’Sheerin furnished the Bollandists  a like record for this date. In the Martyrology of Donegal, a festival was celebrated, it is stated, at the 11th of July, in honour of Gaibhthene, virgin. Nothing more seems to be known about her.

     

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.