OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Saint Aedh, June 27

    Canon O’Hanlon brings the details of an obscure saint, Aedh, commemorated on the Irish calendars on June 27:

    St. Aedha or Aedh.

    The Martyrology of Tallagh registers the name of Aedha, at the 27th of June. In the copy of an Irish Calendar, now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy’s Library, he is called St Aodh, the Fair, or White, son to Lugack. He is alluded to by Father John Colgan, as St. Aidus, Confessor, placed at the 27th of June, in the list of Irish Festivals. In the Martyrology of Donegal at this date, we have the entry of Aedh.
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  • Saint Colman of Lambay Island, June 26

    On June 26 we commemorate another of the many Irish Saints Colman, this one with the interesting epithet ‘of the refectory’. He appears to be associated with an island off the County Dublin coast, I must admit that I had never heard of Lambay Island before and so was interested in this illustrated article on its history here. The author repeats the information given by Canon O’Hanlon below, that Saint Colman was the deacon left in charge of the island monastery by Saint Columcille:

    St. Colman, Son to Roi of the Refectory, and over Lambay Island Church, County Dublin.

    The name of Colman Partraighi appears in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 26th of June. This appears to be the St. Colman, son of Roi, belonging to Reachrainn, according to Marianus O’Gorman, who enters him in the Calendar at this date. He is said to have been that deacon, placed by St Columkille, over the church founded by him in Reachrann, now Lambay Island, off the County Dublin coast. He flourished, about the middle of the sixth century. At the same date, in the Martyrology of Donegal, his name occurs as Colman Proinntighe, or of the refectory. In a Manuscript Calendar of Professor Eugene O’Curry, at this same date, he is entered simply, St. Colman.

    Photo Credit: Malahide Historical Society

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

  • Saint Tiú of Rubha, June 24

    Canon O’Hanlon begins his accounts of the saints for June 24 with the following notice of what he believed to be an obscure County Down holy woman:

    ST. THIU, PATRON OF RUBHA, DIOCESE OF DOWN.

    THE festival of St. Thiu or Tiu, of Rubha, is celebrated, on the 24th of June, according to the Martyrology of Donegal. This female saint’s name does not appear in the earliest Irish Calendars; so, it is probable, she flourished after the eighth century. She belonged, it is said, to the posterity of Eochaidh, son to Muiredh, who descended from the race of Heremon. We are informed, likewise, that Rubha was the name of this holy woman’s place, and that in Ard Uladh it was situated. Some doubt existed, regarding the modern denomination of Rubha. A learned writer inclines to the opinion, that it is identical with the townland of Echlinville, in Ballyhalbert parish, otherwise St. Andrews, barony of Upper Ards, and called at present Row or Grange-Row, but formerly Rowbane or Rheubane. The adjoining townland is still called Rowreagh. In the year 1306, we find a chapel, named Grangia, on the townland of Gransha, parish of Inishargy, and barony of Upper Ards, in the county of Down. The townland of Gransha, at the south end of Inishargy parish, is bounded southwardly by the River Blackstaffe, which was formerly regarded as a line of demarcation, between the Great and Little Ards. About a mile eastward of this townland, the other chapel, called Row or Grange Row, stood. This seems to have been the place, anciently called Ruba, and Anglicized Rue or Rubha. Before the middle of the last century, the name of Rheubane was changed by James Echlin, Esq., who had a seat here, to Echlin-ville, which was called after himself as being the proprietor. The old chapel formerly stood at the entrance to Echlinville demesne; but, a single trace of its ruins cannot be seen at present. In the O’Clerys Calendar, Rubha is located, also, in the Ards of Ulster.

    The entry in the Martyrology of Donegal, referenced by Canon O’Hanlon above also presents Tiu as a female saint:

    Tiu,  of  Rubha,  i.e.,  Rubha  is  the  name  of  the  place,  and  in  Ard- Uladh  it  is  situated.  She  is  of  the  posterity  of  Eochaidh,  son of  Muiredh,  who  is  of  the  race  of  Heremon.

    Bishop William Reeves mentions this calendar entry and includes Saint Thiu of Rubha in his own calendar of the saints appended to the 1847 Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dromore, but does not mention the saint’s gender.

    In the 2011 A Dictionary of Irish Saints, however, Professor Pádraig Ó Riain does not address the issue of the saint’s gender but says that Tiú is a son of Fionán, attached by the genealogists to a branch of the Ulaidh of east Ulster and that ‘his’ feast was June 24.  So, there would appear to be a question around whether Saint Tiú is actually a male saint. There are cases where even much more well-known saints, Dabheog of Lough Derg and the great Saint Maol Ruain of Tallaght, to name two who come to mind, were described as females to researchers in the nineteenth century. 

    Note: This post, first published in 2014 was revised in 2022.

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