OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Saint Aedhan of Cluain-Maelain, March 20

    Another of our many obscure holy men is recorded in the Irish calendars at March 20. Canon O’Hanlon reckons that the locality Cluain-Maelain associated with the Saint Aedhan noted on this day is probably Clonmellon, County Westmeath:

    St. Aedhan, of Cluain-maelain, probably, Clonmellon, County of Westmeath.

    The Martyrology of Tallagh records this holy man, at the 20th of March. The place may be identical with that locality, formerly denominated Cluain-Milain, i.e., Milan’s Lawn or Meadow, now Clonmellon, a small town in the barony of Delvin, and county of Westmeath. Marianus O’Gorman records Aedanus, of Cluain-moelain, at this date. We find the name, Aedhán, of Cluain-maeláin, also set down, in the Martyrology of Donegal, as having a festival, at this date. The Bollandists enter his feast, likewise, on the 20th of March.

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

  • 'Jesu's Pleasant Fosterer'- Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19

    Apart from looking at the actual Irish saints who are commemorated on our native calendars, it is also interesting to look at the commemorations of the saints of the universal church. March 19 is the feast of Saint Joseph and he is noted in a quatrain in the Martyrology of Oengus along with the native Saint Lactean of Freshford and Saint Gregory. The latter may mark the feast of the ordination of Pope Gregory the Great, for whom the Irish had enormous regard and whose main feast occurs on March 12. Although he comes last in the line up of saints, Saint Joseph is certainly not least as the entry from the calendar shows:

    19. My Lachtóc with Gregory,
    the loveable champion who is higher:
    Joseph, name that is nobler,
    Jesu’s pleasant fosterer.

    to which the scholiast notes add:  

    Joseph, i.e. Mary’s spouse: it is nobler to call him ‘Jesu’s foster-father’ than “Joseph.”

    This made me wonder if the practice of fosterage in ancient Ireland meant that our people would have been quite accepting of the notion of Our Lord having a foster father.

    Canon O’Hanlon adds this brief entry in Volume III of his Lives of the Irish Saints:

    The Feast of St. Joseph, Confessor, the Fosterer of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Such is the title given to the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the “Feilire” of St. Aengus, at this date, which it seems was his festival day in the early Irish Church, as it is yet throughout Christendom. The Bollandists, various other hagiologists, and the ancient Fathers, treat largely and learnedly, regarding his race, vocation, and religious culture.

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

  • Saint Caemhán, the Holy, March 18

    Yet another obscure Irish saint is recorded on the Irish calendars at March 18, Caemhán, the Holy. The seventeenth-century hagiologist, Father John Colgan, attempted to make a Patrician link, but Canon O’Hanlon remains unconvinced:

    St. Caemhan, the Holy.

    Caemhan, denominated the Holy, is set down in the Martyrology of Donegal, as having a festival, at this date. The Bollandists notice a St. Caimanus, a Bishop, occurring at the 18th of March, in two distinct Irish Martyrologies. Colgan thinks a disciple of St. Patrick, known as Coeman of Kill-rath, may be identified with the present saint. The same writer identifies the latter with a Coeman, Deacon, mentioned in St. Patrick’s Acts.  There appears to be much confusion, in the short notes of writers, as relating to the present saint’s identity.

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