OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Saint Fionan of Druim-Neoid, February 13

    Among the many Irish saints whose life and location are shrouded in anonymity is Saint Fionan of Druim-Neoid, commemorated on February 13. Canon O’Hanlon does his best to cover all the bases but perhaps only loses us in the detail. Put simply, the earliest Martyrology, that of Tallaght written in the early 9th century, records the name of a Saint Fionan at this date but without any further identifying details. The seventeenth-century Martyrology of Donegal records Fionan, of Druim-neoid, but, as Canon O’Hanlon’s geographical gazetteer reveals, this could be anywhere in the country. The seventeenth-century hagiologist Father John Colgan introduces a member of Saint Brigid’s family, a Finan associated with a place called Dromhabrad, who may also have a second feast day on October 4. Overall it seems that this saint’s Christian name is too common and the placename associated with him too vague to be definitive about exactly who he was and when and where he flourished.

    St. Fionan, said to have been of Druim-Neoid, or Dromhabrad.

    The Martyrology of Tallagh has the single name of S. Finan entered, at the 13th of February. Among the saints related by family to the great St. Brigid, we find a St. Finan, son of Fergna, son to Cobthach, son of Muredach, son to Laisre, son of Daire, son to Denius, son of Conla, son of Arturus Corb, &c. We are told that he was either venerated on this day, or on the 4th of October. So it seems difficult to identify him. It is mentioned, in the Martyrology of Donegal, that veneration was paid to Fionan, of Druim-neoid, on this day. The writers state, that he descended from the race of Brian, son of Eoachaid Muighmhedhoin. However, the Finan of Drumneods is called the son of Aldus, son to Ectach, son of Aengus, son to Muredach, surnamed the Bald, son of Eogan Sreibh. The place to which allusion is made cannot be ascertained, with certainty; however, it may be well to state, that it seems to be derived from the Irish words, Drum, Drom, Drim, or Druim, which means “a ridge,” and Neod—probably the same as Nead—which signifies “a nest.” The latter is traceable under the forms of Net, Nad, Neth, Nid, or Ned. Thus, Drumnid, also Drimna, a townland near Mohill, in the parish and barony of this name, county of Leitrim, and Drumneth, in the parish of Magherally or Magheravally, barony of Lower Iveagh, county of Down, means ” the ridge of the nests ;” while, Derrynaned, in Mayo, has the signification of the” oak-wood of the birds’ nests.” There is a Drumnigh, in the parish of Kinsaley, and barony of Coolock, as also a Drimnagh, townland and parish, in the barony of Uppercross—these are to be found in the county of Dublin. We find a Drimnagh, in the parish of Ogulla, in the barony and county of Roscommon. There is a Drimna Beg and a Drimna More, in the parish of Kilcrohane, barony of Dunkerron South, county of Kerry. We also find a Drimna East and a Drimna West, in the parish of Tynagh, barony of Leitrim, and county of Galway. Likewise, there is a Drimna, in the parish of Kilrush, barony of Moyarta, and county of Clare. There is a Drumna, in the parish of Cloon, barony of Mohill, and county of Leitrim. There is a Drumnee, in the parish of Cashel, barony of Rathcline, and county of Longford. Besides the foregoing, we find a Drumny in the parish of Donaghmoyne, barony of Farney, and county of Monaghan. There is a saint of this same name, Finanus, who is stated to have been connected with a place, called Dromhabrad. Yet, this denomination of Dromhabrad does not appear to be recognisable under any existing form of name, shown on the Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland. He is called the son of Garuan, son to Amalgad, son of Endeus, son to Olild, son of Nadfraich. His feast has been assigned by Colgan to this day.

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  • Saint Lugaidh of Cuil-Ruscach, February 12

    Canon O’Hanlon brings us the details of a Saint Lugaidh whose feast is listed on the calendars for February 12, but  of whom nothing else seems to have been recorded:

    St. Lugaidh, of Cuil-ruscach, in Breifne.

    The festival of Lughaidh, of Cuil-ruscach—which means the “rushy-corner” — in Breifne, was celebrated on this day, as is mentioned in the Martyrology of Donegal. Long previous to its compilation, he had been entered in the Martyrology of Tallagh, as Lugaidh, Cule-Ruscaigh, at the 12th of February. Under the compound designation of this place, it does not seem practical to define the locality; but, there is a Roosky, in the parish of Knockbride, barony of Clankee, and county of Cavan, as also, a place so designated, in the parish and barony of Mohill, and in the parish of Rosinver, barony of Rossclogher, county of Leitrim. In either county must his place be sought.

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  • Saint Etchen of Clonfad, 11 February

    On 11 February the bishop and patron of Clonfad, County Westmeath, Saint Etchen (Etchenius, Ecian or Echen) is commemorated. His entry in the Martyrology of Oengus tells an interesting tale:

    11. Etchen, i.e. in Cluain fota Baetain in Fir bile. 

    Bishop Etchen from Cluain fota Baetain aba in Fir bili is in the south of Meath, and of the Dal Mescorp of Leinster is he. It is Colum cille that went to him to have episcopal orders conferred upon him. Then Colum cille sits under the tree to the west of the church, and he asks where was the cleric?
    “There he is,” says a man there,”on the ploughing-field below.” “Meseems,” says Colum cille, “it is not proper for us that a ploughman should confer orders upon us.
    However, since we have come for it, let him be proved by us.” So first, he asks Etchen for the ploughshare. He gives it to them at once, and not the less did the oxen plough. “A good man is the cleric!” say they.
    “Prove him still more,” says Colum cille. He asks him for the outer ox. Etchen straightway bestows it on them ; and bishop Etchen ordered a stag which was in the forest to do that work, and he does it forthwith.
    Then Colum cille, having proved the cleric, goes to him and tells him what he had come for.
    “It shall be done,” says the cleric. Then sacerdotal orders are conferred on Colum cille, and it was episcopal orders that he wished to have. The cleric prays till the morrow. “That is a mistake, O cleric,” says Colum cille,”the order that thou hast conferred upon me ;- and yet I will never change it so long as I am alive. In lieu of that, now, no one shall ever come to this church to have orders conferred upon him.” And this is still fulfilled.

    The later Martyrology of Donegal reads:

    11. G. TERTIO IDUS FEBRUARII. 11.

    ETCHEN, Bishop, of Cluain-foda in Fir-Bile, in Meath. He was of the race of Laeghaire Lore of the Leinstermen. And it was he that commanded the wild ox to come to him to plough, when he bestowed the order of priest upon Colum Cille in place of the order of bishop. And Colum Cille said that he would not accept of any different orders as long as he should live ; and this indeed he observed, and no one ever came to that church to receive orders from that time forth, A.D. 577. The life of Colum Cille, chap. 38, agrees with this.

    So the calendars identify Saint Etchen as the bishop who ordained Saint Columcille (Columba) but mistakenly only to the priesthood and not to the episcopacy. Neither is Saint Columcille the only great Irish saint to be linked to Bishop Etchen. The translator of the Martyrology of Donegal has added a footnote saying that a later hand has added a postscript saying “It is he that is called Etianus in Latin, and Echenus in the Life of Brighid, chap. 101.” According to O’Hanlon, the link to Saint Brigid is that she once enjoyed the hospitality of Saint Etchen’s parents and interceded for her childless hosts to conceive.
    Not much is known of Saint Etchen prior to his appearance in the sources as the founder of the monastery at Clonfad and as the bishop who somehow made a mistake in the rite of ordination he administered to Saint Columcille. O’Hanlon and other earlier writers were at something of a loss to explain this incident, a popular theory was that it had been intended for Saint Columcille to be ordained per saltum i.e. he would be ordained directly from the rank of deacon to that of bishop without first going through the priesthood. It may be that Bishop Etchen had reservations about this and ordained the deacon Columcille instead to the priesthood in the usual way. O’Hanlon suggests that perhaps the incident is an attempt by later writers to explain why the great Saint Columcille did not hold episcopal rank. He goes on to summarize the records of Bishop Etchen’s feast in calendars from home and abroad:

    The death of Bishop Etchen is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters at “577. St. Etchen, Bishop of Clonfad, died on the 11th of February.” His festival, on that day, was kept with great solemnity, at Clonfad, in the southern part of ancient Meath. The foreign Martyrologists, Hermann Greuen, Canisius, Ferrarius and others, note this celebration. Our native calendarists, likewise, mention this saint, with distinctive praise.

    The simple record Etchan, bishop, occurs in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 11th of February. The Calendar of Cashel, Marianus O’Gorman, Maguire, and the Scholiast on St. Oengus, specially note him, as the minister of St. Columba’s ordination. In the ancient Martyrology, belonging to the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, this saint is entered as a bishop at the iii. Ides of February, corresponding with the present day. It seems strange, however, that his name has been omitted from the calendar, which is prefixed. This is probably the Etianus set down for this day, in the anonymous catalogue of national saints, published by O’Sullivan Beare. Under the head of Cluain fota, Duald Mac Firbis enters Bishop Etchen, from Cluain-fota, son of Maine, the poet, of the race of Conchobar Abratruadh.

    At the 11th of February, the Martyrology of Donegal notes the feast of St. Etchen, Bishop of Cluain-foda, in Fir-Bile, in Meath. Scotland, likewise, naturally held the present holy man, in great veneration, because he was the ordaining minister of its great national Apostle. In Ireland, at the 11th of February, the holy bishop and confessor, Etchen, is said to have departed to Christ, according to the Kalendar of Drummond.

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