OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Mermaids in the Medieval Irish Church

    Next month will see the commemoration on the Irish calendars of Muirgen, the mermaid saint and so I republish what was one of the most popular posts at my former blog, a paper by an American researcher on the topic of mermaids in the medieval Irish church. It’s a most interesting read. There are some photographs of a tapestry of Muirgen found in Bangor Abbey church here and some further illustrations at the original source of the paper here.

    Below is a paper by an American scholar whose interest was caught by the carving of this image of a mermaid at Clonfert Cathedral. In her essay, the late Patricia Radford examines the symbolism of the mermaid and what her image may signify within the context of the church.
    Patricia Radford (d. 2003) Curator/Lecturer Oklahoma State University
    For several years I have been engaged in research involving imagery sculpted on the medieval churches of Ireland. During one trip there, while I was visiting St. Brendan’s Church at Clonfert, County Galway, my companion called my attention to a lovely image of a mermaid located on a pier of the chancel arch. Initially, I was surprised to see the mermaid image here at all, bare as the piers were of much else in the way of decoration. This also seemed a peculiar placement in light of the symbolic importance of the chancel arch as a liminal marker and sparked a new line of inquiry for me. The usual interpretation of mermaids is that they are images of lust and sexuality intended to caution the faithful against related sins. But perhaps there is a deeper meaning or an alternate meaning – or even a dual meaning for these images. That is what this paper will explore, along with the history of the mermaid in art.
    The earliest known depiction of a mermaid dates back to the 18th century BC on a Babylonian sealstone. Classical references to creatures that are half-human and half-sea creature include the mythology of the gods Nereus and Triton. Nereus is often shown with a trident and was reported to appear to humans in many forms. Depictions of Triton sometimes show him with a single tail while in others he has two. These, however, are male images.
    From the Classical period, female creatures associated with the sea or water include Scylla, the half-human, half sea-monster who consumed six of Odysseus’ sailors in Homer’s Odyssey, and the Sirens, again from the Odyssey, against whose seductive songs Odysseus caused himself to be lashed to the mast and his sailors’ ears plugged with wax lest they be tempted to guide the ship and his comrades into their diabolical clutches. Greek mythology and lore are filled with tales of nereids, water nymphs, naiiads, and all manner of female water creatures. Although the Sirens were not possessed of fish tails, they were intimately associated with the sea. Despite their basic physiological differences from mermaids, Beryl Rowland asserts that ” . . . in the Middle Ages, the features of mermaids and sirens become confused.” [1] When beliefs about the physiology of mermaids and sirens become muddled, their symbolism becomes intricately entwined. Sirens, earlier thought of as having the bodies of birds, had come to be seen as anatomically identical with our conception of mermaids by the medieval period. As a result, we can safely say that these early Classical legends had a great deal of influence upon notions of mermaids throughout Western Europe and within the Church. It is equally likely that they have some bearing upon early Irish tales of mermaids too.
    However, Irish tales tend to be more romantic than mermaid legends elsewhere. Known as merrows or muiroighe from ‘muir’ meaning sea and ‘oigh’ meaning maiden or youthful woman, these creatures were believed to have the ability to assume human form. The most common mermaid motif in early Irish literature involves the marriage between a mermaid or merrow and a mortal. [2] Typically, the legends describe a mortal who happens upon a group of these creatures who have shed their sea-skins or enchanted red caps to play along the beach. The mortal confiscates one of the skins or caps and hides it. Upon his return to the beach, he finds a lovely young woman who is searching desperately for the lost item so that she may transform back into a mermaid and join her companions in the sea. Instantly enamored of the maiden, the mortal comforts her and offers her the protection of his home as his wife. Seeing no other course, the mermaid-now-human consents. Many years pass and, after bearing the man several children, the wife happens across her enchanted cap or sea-skin one day, hidden by her husband many years prior. She returns to the beach, dons it, and returns to the sea, leaving her mortal husband and children to mourn her loss. Interestingly, several old Irish families trace their lineage to mermaids or muiroighe and include images of them on their family crests and arms.
    From various of the annals of Ireland, including the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of the Four Masters, come reports of the capture of mermaids in the years 558, 571, 887, and 1118. Of these, the most famous tale is that of Liban, daughter of Eochaidh, who was spared when the flooding of Lough Neagh drowned her family around 90 A.D. She lived as a human for many years in a cave below the sea prior to her transformation into a mermaid. Once transformed, her singing so enchanted the denizens of Ulster that she was captured and placed on display. In one version, a certain young cleric named Beoc was so charmed by her singing that he asked her to be buried in the same coffin with him upon her demise. She was supposedly baptized “Muirgen” by St. Comgall of Bangor (Muirgen means ‘born of the sea’ or ‘daughter of the sea.’) As a result of several miracles associated with her, she became known as St. Murgen.
    Thus the literature of early Ireland tells many tales of these half-fish, half-human creatures. From these stories, we glean that mermaids were invariably beautiful, sexual creatures described as having olive skin and webbed fingers, and whose lovely singing irresistibly lured mortal men [3] – even holy men such as Beoc!
    This is in keeping with the Greek tradition of the sirens in the Odyssey whose beauty and glorious songs lulled hapless sailors to sleep and brought their ships crashing upon the rocks. The traditions diverge, however, regarding their relationships with humans.
    While the sirens were malevolent beings and Greek mermaids were sometimes helpful but always elusive, Irish muiroighe were reported to have long-term relationships with mortal men through marriage and the bearing of their children or even, as in Liban’s case, becoming saints. Contrasted with this early Irish notion of the mermaid as being relatively benign is the tradition of the mediaeval Christian Church. The Church saw the mermaid as a symbol of vanity and lust, of sexual display, and seduction and temptation leading to damnation. [4]To enhance this meaning, she is usually depicted, as at Clonfert Cathedral, with a comb and mirror. [5] Lust is, of course, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
    Mermaids are often shown swimming among fish or sometimes holding one. At St. Mary’s Priory, Clontuskert, she holds a starfish, a symbol of Christ or Christians. Where images of mermaids swimming with fish occur, it is clear that the intended meaning relates to the notion of temptation and is a warning lest the pious, represented by the fish, be lured by the Deadly Sin of lust. Where a mermaid is shown holding a fish or starfish, it is meant as an image of a Christian soul captured by lust. The inevitable conclusion is that the unfortunate soul yielded to temptation and is now damned. The message is cautionary – a warning so that the faithful will not be similarly seduced. Certainly this is the intended meaning of the 15th century mermaid carved on the chancel arch at St. Brendan’s Cathedral at Clonfert. Located at approximately eye level, her placement is such that she is very visible from the nave. At about ten inches high, she can be seen from as far back as the middle of the small church. Although she appears on the right pier as viewed from the nave, she is on the soffit, facing the passageway rather than the nave itself. Her placement situates her at the priest’s left as he stood facing the congregation. Evil was associated with the off- or left-hand side from ancient times.
    Directly above the mermaid at Clonfert, and at many other locations including Clontuskert, is a beautifully carved, symmetrical knot. Knotwork in Irish and Celtic art has protective associations, so it seems the purpose of this motif is to protect the viewer from the mermaid’s dangerous pull since merely gazing upon the creature might incite lust. At Clonfert, on the pier opposite the mermaid, at the priest’s right, are three carved angels. It is typical of Irish churches that images associated with good are placed so that they can be seen to balance the potential evil of images of warning, such as mermaids. It is the nature of medieval art that an image may have multiple layers of meaning.
    Recognition of this raises the possibility that images of mermaids may have meanings beyond the obvious sexual associations. It is my position that this is the case, especially when the mermaid is pictured with a comb and mirror, as seen in a relief on the steps of the Country Club in Galway (not it’s original location, and the date records when the mermaid was moved to this location, not when she was carved). According to Barbara Walter, the mermaid’s act of combing her hair was believed to be a form of spell-casting or magic-making. [6] Through the act of combing her hair, she was drawing strength and power to herself. So, images of mermaids with combs seem to be a clear reference to the weaving of a spell upon hapless mortals, the usual interpretation. Certainly a woman’s hair was seen as potent source of feminine power. One need go no further than tales of Medusa and Rapunzel to see this. But, also, the widespread custom in early Europe of combing the bride’s hair on the night before or the day of her wedding, suggests this. Hair, because of its ability to re-grow relates to re-birth. Meanwhile, the taming of a bride’s hair through combing, coupled with the custom of married women wearing their hair “tamed” by putting it up rather than wearing it down and loose, suggests the power associated with it. Hair that was put up or covered with a cap could, metaphorically, be seen as lost – along with any power it was believed to possess. Hair, then, is associated with vital female forces, best harnessed once a woman comes of age.
    Yet within the Church, priests practiced a ritual of purification of body and soul that involved combing the hair. [7] Special liturgical combs were used for this rite. They were rectangular with teeth arranged along both sides, many bearing Christian motifs, their overall form very much like the comb held by the Clonfert mermaid and others. Believed to have begun as early as the 4th century, this priestly ritual is documented as late as the 16th century in Western Europe and continues today within the Greek Orthodox Church. The placing of such a liturgical comb in St. Cuthbert’s tomb in the 11th century indicates that the ritual was known and practiced in the Irish church as a form of cleansing prior to the celebration of Mass.
    Therefore, as with so much of medieval art, the Irish mermaid with her comb and mirror, along with her obvious associations with water, can be interpreted as bearing various levels or nuances of meaning. Mermaids can be interpreted as temptresses who seduce the weak into the deadly sin of lust and, at the same time, a reminder of salvation through the sacrament of baptism.
    Images of mermaids are placed at significant boundaries of Irish churches, separating secular from holy space at entrances or, as at Clonfert, dividing the nave from the chancel through placement on the chancel arch. A graphic reminder of the weakness of man, they also point to his need for salvation through the Church and the sacrament of baptism. [8]
    Patricia Radford, M.A., lectured art history at Oklahoma State University where she was also Curator of Visual Resources. INSIGHT is grateful to her sister, Louisa, and her father, Robert, for permission to publish this paper.
    1. Beryl Rowland. Animals with Human Faces: A Guide to Animal Symbolism. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1973, p. 140.
    2. Sean O’Suilleabhan. Folktales of Ireland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966, pp. 272-273.
    3.Jim Higgins. Irish Mermaids: Siren, Temptresses and their Symbolism in Art, Architecture and Folklore. Galway: Crow’s Rock Press, p. 28.
    4. Higgins, p. 13.
    5. Gertrude Grace Sill. A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art. NY: MacMillan, 1975, pp. 22-23.
    6. Barbara Walter, The Women’s Dictionary of Smbols and Sacred Objects, 1st edition. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1998), p. 129.
    7. Sheila K. Redmon, “From the Bearer of the Rising Goddess to the Bearer of the Rising Soul: They Symbolism of Scallop Shells in Early Medieval Art,” found in Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Oklahoma Conference of Art Historians, edited by Gay Clarkson & Patricia Radford (Stillwater, OK: Oklahoma State University Department of Art, 2000), p. 71.
    8. Arnould Locard, Recherces historiques sur la coquille de pèlerins. (Lyon: 1888), pp. 75-76.

  • Saint Lucius of Coire, December 3

    December 3 is the commemoration of a saintly king whose story has fascinated me since I first read about it on Father Ambrose’s celt-saints list. This is the story of Lucius, an early king of Britain, who is credited with being a missionary to an area of Switzerland later associated with the Irish saint Fridolin. Scholars suspect that some sort of confusion has arisen here and caused a British [Welsh] king who requested a missionary effort to his own land to be conflated with a missionary who laboured in Switzerland and was martyred there. Below is the text of a paper on Saint Lucius and his sister Saint Emerita, who is commemorated on the day after her brother. It appeared in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record of 1895 and gives a good account of the devotion which these early martyrs still inspired in the region at the end of the nineteenth century, especially as the author was able to access the Coire Breviary and read the Lessons for the saints’ feasts. 
    COIRE AND ITS APOSTLE
    COIRE, Chur, or Quera for by all these names it is known, according as its title is French, German, or Romanesque will always have a special interest for Catholics of the British Isles, on account of its connection with St. Lucius, and St. Fridolin. From the former, a British prince, this part of Switzerland received her faith in the earliest ages of Christianity; whilst the latter, an illustrious Irish Abbot, revived the faith and spread monasticism in the sixth century. From a visit paid in1879, and also in the May of this present year, and from sundry information derived therefrom, the writer hopes to awaken some interest in this ancient capital of Rhoetia, the modern Canton of the Grisons.
    This town, of about eight thousand inhabitants, almost equally divided between Catholics and Lutherans, is situated on the slope of the Mittenburg, a lofty and well-wooded mountain. The latter dwell in the lower part, and are split up into two sects ; each have a separate Church ; and, from a onversation with a priest of the cathedral, they seem to have lost all prestige, to have no bishop, and, in fact, are destitute of that dignity which a State Church enjoys in Protestant countries. Nevertheless, they appear to live on good terms with their Catholic neighbours. On the other and, the true Church seems to hold the ascendancy, as well from a topographical as from a religious point of view. The highest part of the city is known as the “Episcopal Quarter,” and here in the “Hof,” or square, stands the quaint old cathedral, flanked on one side by the residences of the bishop and clergy, and on the other, by the handsome day-schools for boys and girls of the parish. In the centre of the square (which is strictly a spacious triangle) is a large stone cistern, with a finely-carved pillar in the centre, having four statues of saints in the niches, with water constantly flowing from four spouts. The whole is an interesting piece of mediaeval Gothic work. This square is entered from the lower town, through what may be called the apex of the triangle, by the steep tunnelled passage of an old gate-way, the rooms over being known as the “Ampthor,” or the “Canons’ Tavern.” A gloomy tower of great antiquity adjoins the Episcopal Palace, and is said to be partly of Roman construction, and to mark the site of the martyrdom of St. Lucius. It is called the Marzol (martiola), and is used [as an archive office and muniment room. An ecclesiastical seminary stands higher up the mountain, overlooking the cathedral, and near at hand is the large Cantonal School for Higher Education. Here boys of thirteen to eighteen years, from the town and adjacent country, are taught music, drawing, languages, &c. They are conspicuous as they stroll along the streets, or woodland paths, in their handsome uniform of dark blue, and silver buttons; and though all are polite in manner, the Catholic students always raise their caps to a priest.
    In the centre of the town is the Rhoetian Museum, full of curiosities and paintings, interesting to Switzers, the chief being a wonderful work on oak-panels of Holbein’s “Dance of Death.” When we consider the treasures kept here, and the library of twenty-five thousand volumes, as also the sacred shrines of silver and copper in the cathedral sacristy, it will be seen that this quaint little city is well worth a visit of the antiquarian. The following account, however poor and scanty in detail, of the connection between Coire and Great Britain, as shown in her ecclesiastical history, can hardly fail to interest the Catholic reader.
    Every 3rd of December, the capital of the Grisons keeps high festival “in honour of her Apostle and Patron, the “solemnity,” as it is styled in their Calendar, of St. Lucius, king and martyr. Through the kindness of one of the clergy, I obtained the Proper Lessons from the Breviary of the diocese of Coire, Breviarium Curense, to aid me in writing this article. These Lessons, along with the scattered fragments gathered from other sources are the only matter at hand for this purpose.
    In that most authentic record, the Roman Martyrology, there occurs for December 3rd, the following : “At Coire (Curiae), in Germany (!) St. Lucius, king of the Britons, who, first of those kings, received the faith of Christ, in the time of Pope Eleutherius.” Likewise, in the British Martyrology, for the same date, occurs this notice: “At Coire, or Chur, in the land of the Grisons, the festivity of St. Lucius, said to have been a British prince, who, through the zeal of the glory of God and the conversion and salvation of souls, going abroad, preached the faith of Christ among the” Switzers and Grisons; where he was made Bishop of Coire, and at length ended his days by martyrdom. His feast is solemnly kept with an octave, in the diocese of Coire, where there is, not far from the city, an ancient monastery which bears his name.” December 4th, “At Coire, the festivity of St. Emerita, virgin and martyr, sister to St. Lucius.”
    The interesting question now arises as to who is this St. Lucius, and is he the same as the Leurwg Vawr, or “Great Light” (Latinized into Lucius), who sent to Pope Eleutherius for an Apostle to convert his subjects. It is a most pleasing discovery, that from such scanty accounts as we possess of the primaeval Christianity of Western Europe, there seems no doubt but that he is one and the same saint. Thus, a spiritual relationship is established between our country and the Grisons Canton, which through many vicissitudes and the throes of the Reformation has clung to the faith, and yet preserves with honour the bones of her Apostle in the cathedral of Coire.
    Before turning to the Proper Lessons of the Coire Breviary for the feast of St. Lucius, let us notice the Third Lesson of the English Supplement to the Breviary, for St. Eleutherius, May 29th: ” He (the saint) received, by ambassadors, letters from Lucius, King of the Britons, asking for ministers of the Divine Word, to whom he despatched Fugatius and Damianus, priests of the Roman Church. The king and his whole family, as well as nearly all his subjects, were by them regenerated in the holy laver of baptism.” This fact is also mentioned in the Roman Martyrology for May 26th.
    The oldest Welsh records, such as the Book of Llandaff, give the names of four missionaries sent from Rome – Dyfan, Ffagan, Medwy, and Elvan; and it is certain that churches dedicated to these saints formerly existed near Llandaff. It is stated in this book, that Leurwg erected the first church at Llandaff. which was the first in the island of Britain, and he bestowed the freedom of the country and nation upon those who were of the faith of Christ.” Hence it was that Llandaff naturally laid claim to the Archiepiscopal dignity, being styled, in this book, the “foundation of Leurwg ap Coel” (i.e., Lucius, son of Cole). The evidence of the British Martyrology is interesting on these points of our early history:
    ” Jan. 2. At London, the commemoration of the holy Confessors, Elvan and Medwyne, who (according to divers historians and ancient records) being sent to Rome by King Lucius to the holy Pope Eleutherius, to desire missionaries from thence, who might receive him and his people into the Church of Christ, returned home so well instructed in the Christian faith, as to become both eminent teachers and great saints. Elvan is said to have been the second Bishop of London, and to have converted many of the Druids to the faith of Christ.”
    ” Jan. 3. At Avallonia, now Glastenbury, the commemoration of the Apostolic Missionaries, Fagan and Dwywan, or Deruvian, honoured by the ancient Britons among their primitive saints. They are called by the Lessons of theRoman Breviary, May 26, Fugatius and Damianus : and are there said to have been sent by St. Eleutherius, the Pope, for the conversion of the Britons, which they happily effected. The antiquities of Glastenbury further inform us that they, in their progress through Britain, visited the solitude of Avallonia, and found there the old church, supposed to have been built by St. Joseph of Arimathea and that they there appointed twelve of their disciples to lead a monastical, or eremitical life in the neighbourhood of that holy church; which number of twelve, they say, was kept up by succession till the days of St. Patrick.”
    A pleasing coincidence occurred to the writer when visiting Coire in last May. Having recited the Proper Lessons of the English Breviary of St. Eleutherius, above alluded to as making mention of St. Lucius, he was anxious to identify the latter saint with the patron of the city. The priest he consulted in the matter straightway handed to him the Proper Lessons from the Coire Breviary, which solved the difficulty, and which are now presented to the reader. On this same day, May 29th, the Feast of St. Augustine, our Apostle, was being kept in the Cathedral, and it seemed another link between England and Switzerland, when, at High Mass, were chanted the words of the Collect: “Concede, ut, ipso interveniente, errantium corda ad veritatis tuae redeant unitatem, et nos in tua simus voluntate Concordes.”
    ” Dec. 3. In Solemnitate S. Lucii, Eeg. Ep. et M. Basilicao Cathedralis, ac Diocesis Curiensis gloriosissimi Patroni primarii, Duplex I. cl. cum octava.”
    “Lucius, King of the Britons, son of Coillus Justus, for a long while abandoned to the superstitions of the Gentiles, became acquainted with the wonderful works of the Christians, and, pondering carefully over the integrity of their lives, he determined to embrace that religion, to which he had never shown any dislike. Nevertheless, because he discovered that they appeared to be objects of hatred to other nations, and especially the Romans, and that they were subjected to every kind of suffering, insult, and torment, he judged it better to put off his conversion to another time. Afterwards, however, he learned that several Romans of high standing, and, among others, men of senatorial rank, had embraced the Christian faith, and that the Emperor himself, Marcus Antoninus, was of a milder disposition towards the Christians, by whose prayers a victory had been gained.
    Without any further delay, ambassadors were sent to Eleutherius, the Roman Pontiff, to say that he wished to be admitted within the ranks of the Christians. In order to gratify his devout behests, the Pope sent Damianus and Fugatianus into Britain, who instructed and baptized the king.”
    “Lucius, now filled with heavenly zeal, began to despise the things of. this world, and having abdicated his throne, he wandered over large tracts of country, in order to spread the Christian faith. Coming to Rhoetia, he reached a town called Augusta-Vindelicorum, and there converted a leading man, named Patritius, along with his entire family, and many of the citizens. On this occasion, the first temple was built to the true God, which place, by a change of name, is said to be now the town of St. Gall. But the hatred and envy of wicked men were now excited, and he was beaten, stoned, and finally cast into a well, whence he was drawn out by pious hands in a half dead condition.
    “He now departed to Alpine Rhoetia, where he took up his abode in a rocky cave, where a throng of persons came to him, on account of a fountain (which exists to this day), sovereign for diseases, but especially those of the eyes. Thus, by word and example, he brought almost the whole of Rhoetia under the yoke of Christ ; and being made bishop of that nation, he ruled for a long period, glorious for his virtues and miracles, until he was seized by the pagans and stoned to death. He received the crown of martyrdom on the 3rd day of December, about the year 182, in the tower called the Martiola (Marzol), at Coire, which is now the episcopal see.”
    This Coillus, or Cole, is, doubtless, the British Prince, who founded the ancient town of Colchester (Coili-castra), which was in our earliest times a bishopric. In Butler’s Lives of the Saints, May 26th, it is stated that the Bishop of Colchester was present along with two other British bishops at the Council of Aries, A.D. 314.
    The Gospel used for the feast of St. Lucius is that of the “Good Shepherd,” the same as is used for St. Thomas of Canterbury.
    We here give the Lessons for the feast of St. Emerita, virgin and martyr, whose feast is kept as a “greater double,” on the 4th of December, as being connected with the history of her brother :
    “The virgin Emerita, sister of St. Lucius, King of Britain, having been taught by him the Christian doctrine, and baptized by the legate of St. Eleutherius, wished to copy her brother in the practice of her faith and of every Christian virtue. Wherefore she demolished the idols and their temples ; she built churches and provided them with all things necessary : she gave all her goods to the poor. Having brought many into the fold of Christ ; and spurning an earthly kingdom, in order to follow after the things that are of God, she determined, in spite of all obstacles, to go abroad after her brother. Thus, having made every careful provision for the kingdom and its needs, Emerita, despising all earthly riches and pleasures for love of Jesus Christ, took up the pilgrim’s staff, and, with a pious retinue of men and women, set out in search of her holy brother. Wandering through many lands, she at length found him at that very spot which is now Coire, preaching in his mountain cave, and expounding the rudiments of the faith to the people. When she had made herself known to Lucius, and had given him her reasons for coming thither, they both gave thanks to God, and both spent a long time together in holy prayers and canticles of praise.
    “Emerita, having both by word and example, confirmed the preaching of St. Lucius, was at length accused by certain Pagans of being a Christian. When these could by neither entreaties nor threats prevail upon her to abjure the Christian faith, she was put to many tortures, and at last burnt to death at the town of Trimonte. Thus did she finish her martyrdom; and the faithful, hearing of it, took the bones and ashes of the holy martyr, and placed them in a fair linen cloth. On the spot where her relics were interred, there afterwards arose a Church in honour of the Holy Virgin Mary, St. Andrew the Apostle, and of St. Emerita, Virgin and Martyr.”
    The rocky cavern, here alluded to, is in a wood on the Mittenberg, above the town, and is a favourite place of pilgrimage for the devout visitor to Coire. At certain times, too, it is thronged by the natives, who come here for spiritual exercises, and it can be easily reached in about half an hour by any of the climbing paths that lead to it through the forest glade. The beetling cliff shelters a small chapel dedicated to St. Lucius, in which there is a handsomely adorned altar, used occasionally for Mass. This marks the hollow spot, where, as in another ” Sagro Specu” of Subiaco, our royal saint prayed and instructed, and shone as a veritable “light to the Gentiles,” a “Leurwg Vawr” to the Pagans of Rhoetia. Near this small chapel is a block of stone, with a basin-like cavity, where tradition says he administered the holy rites of baptism. From this spot is a magnificent view, and one that will never be forgotten. It embraces the open valley of the Rhine, in the direction of Thusis, with the mighty Calanda and the Pizokel, right and left respectively, whilst at the foot of the mountain, immediately below this cave of the St. Luzikapelle lies snugly ensconced the city of Coire. In this net-work of walks, which extend up the mountain side of the Mittenberg, the geologist and the botanist will find much to delight and interest them. Amongst other curious flowers, we noticed a strange kind of black columbine.
    The Cathedral of Coire is a quaint and irregular edifice, the nave and chancel being evidently built at separate times, since their arches do not coincide. The choir is reached by a double flight of nine well-worn steps, and contains some finely-carved stalls for the canons, and a very old high altar,over which is a splendid triptych of oak-carving, richly coloured. Here are painted groups of saints, and various mysteries of the Passion. The work is alto-relievo, and was carved in 1492, by Russ of Lucerne, being painted by Wahlgemuth, of Nuremberg. It is said by competent judges to be ” among the sweetest and most beautiful creations of fifteenth century art” (Burkhard). In the nave, just below the choir, and between the two flights of steps, is a second altar, used for popular devotions, the high altar being used for the daily Canonical High Mass at 7, and Vespers at 2 p.m.
    In the sacristy are some valuable treasures. The chief of these are the shrines, containing the bones of St. Lucius and St. Emerita; two splendid large silver busts, adorned with jewels, of these two saints ; a silver cross, and some old vestments. But not the least interesting remains are two copper shrines of the seventh or eighth centuries, undoubtedly of Celtic design and origin. They are covered on all sides with that well-known interlacing ribbon pattern, of the most elegant design, and would vie with any similar shrine in the museum of Irish antiquities in Dublin. They evidently point to the time when St. Fridolin and his monks dwelt in these parts.
    WILFRID DALLOW.
    Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 16 (1895), 1099-1106.

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  • The Annals of the Four Masters

    A tribute to the seventeenth-century Irish clerical scholars who laboured to preserve the religious heritage of Ireland in a changing world. I first posted this in 2009 at my former blog and cannot now locate a working link to the original at the Irish Franciscan website.

    FR PAT CONLAN, OFM, tells of the origin of the famous ‘Annals of the Four Masters’.
    The name of Saint Anthony’s College in Louvain is immediately associated with Irish history. Two Irish friars, Hugh Ward and Patrick Fleming, met in Paris in 1623 and discussed working on past events in Ireland. Ward headed for Louvain where he had been appointed a lecturer. He was promoted to Guardian in 1625. This enabled him to gather the resources needed for research and publication on Irish history. Given the events of the Reformation, he was particularly interested in matters relating to the Church and the lives of Irish saints. Hugh Ward went to meet his Maker in 1635. Fr John Colgan took over leadership of the Louvain School. He had joined the Order in Louvain in 1620 and lectured for a while in Germany before returning to Louvain by 1634. He had done some research on Irish documents in Germany. It was natural that he took up the challenge of writing the lives of the Irish saints. The Bollandists were a group of researchers based near Brussels who were systematically publishing the lives of the saints. Following their example, Colgan planned to publish lives of the Irish saints in Latin in the chronological order found in the liturgical calendar. The first volume of the Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae [The doings of the Saints of Ireland], covering the months of January, February and March, was published in 1645. The next volume, Triadis thaumaturgae [The Three Miracle- workers], with the lives of Saints Patrick, Brigid and Columba, appeared in 1647. The third volume for April, May and June, was ready in 1649 but, due to the changed situation in Ireland, no patron could be found to finance its publication. Colgan’s health also failed and he died in 1658. The Louvain School died with him.
    A Son of Donegal
    Br Micheál Ó Cléirigh was a member of the community in Louvain and an acknowledged expert on Irish history when Hugh Ward arrived. Ward knew that someone would have to undertake research in Ireland. He sent Br Micheál there in 1626. His family was from Clare but had migrated to South Donegal. He was one of four sons of Donnchadh Ó Cléirigh and Honora Ultach probably living near Kilbarron west of Ballyshannon. His brother, Maolmhuire, was born around 1589 and received the name Bernardine when he joined the Franciscans at Louvain in 1616. He later returned to minister in Donegal and was Guardian of the friary there for much of the time that Br Michael was in the community. His young brother, Tadhg an tSléibhe, received the name Micheál when he joined the friars, also at Louvain, soon after his brother’s ordination in 1619. The Ó Cléirighs were traditional chroniclers and historians. Br Micheál had received some training in Irish learning even before he joined the Franciscans. Fleming and Ward knew of his understanding and knowledge before Micheál Ó Cléirigh was sent back to Ireland in 1626. His life in Ireland followed the same pattern every year. He spent winter with the Donegal friars at the banks of the river Drowes. As the days lengthened he set off through different parts of Ireland working on manuscripts. He returned to Drowes later in the year to edit and annotate what he had transcribed.
    Br Micheál worked in Dublin, Drogheda and Kildare during the summer and autumn of 1627. He transcribed the rules of Columcille, Ailbe and Comgall as well as working on the Martyrology of Tallagh and possibly the Book of Leinster. In 1628 he began in the Midlands around Athlone and Multyfarnham before heading to Dublin and thence into Carlow, Kilkenny and Cashel. Among the books he used were the Cogadh Gael is Gall, a book describing the wars between the Irish and the Normans, and the Book of the Dun Cow. In 1629 it was the turn of Cork, including Timoleague, Limerick, where the Provincial Chapter took place, and Clonmel before making his way back north. He stopped for a while at Kilnalahan near Loughrea. He worked on the Book of Lismore, the Leabhar Breac and lives of Saint Finbar. 1630-33 was given over to writing in Donegal, at Killinure north of Athlone and at Lisgoole near Enniskillen. He spent the summer of 1634 around Ennis. Then it was a matter of finishing various writings and heading back to Louvain.
    The Four Masters
    Br Micheál gathered a team of laymen around him. They became known as the Four Masters after a commentary of 1241 on the Franciscan Rule known as the Expositio Quatuor Magistrorum [Commentary of the Four Masters]. In addition to Br Micheál, the others were Fearfeasa Ó Maolchonaire, a poet and historian from Roscommon, Cúcoigcríche (Peregrine) Ó Dubhgennáin of Leitrim and Cúcoigcríche Ó Cléirigh, a distant cousin. Two others helped for shorter periods, Conaire Ó Cléirigh and Muiris Ó Maolchonaire.
    During the winter of 1629-30, Br Micheál compiled Félire na naomh nEireannach [Calendar of the Saints of Ireland], otherwise The Martyrology of Donegal, at Drowes. The Four Masters came together for the first time in the autumn of 1630 to compile the Réim ríoghraidhe na hÉireann agus senchas a naomh [Stories of the kings and saints of Ireland] at Killinure near Athlone. They were working at the friary of Lisgoole on the banks of Upper Lough Erne in the autumn of 1631.
    The masters had returned to Drowes by 22nd January 1632 when they officially began work on Annála ríoghachta Éireann, the Annals of the Four Masters. It was a history of Ireland from the earliest possible date going year by year. It incorporated parts of many annals that have since been lost. Today it allows researchers to reconstruct parts of these lost works. The work took over four and a half years. It was finished on 10th August 1636.
    A Complete History
    This complete history of Ireland from its recorded beginnings required the approval of experts. Br Micheál approached two such people, Flann Mac Aedhagain at Baile Mac Aedhagain in North Tipperary and Conor Mac Brody at Cill Chaoide in North Mayo. Br Micheál then went to the Catholic authorities: Bishop Malachy O’Queely of Tuam, Bishop Boetius Mac Egan, OFM, of Elphin, Bishop Ross Mageoghegan, OP, of Kildare and Bishop Thomas Fleming, OFM, of Dublin. Finally, two censors appointed by the Irish Franciscan Provincial examined the book in Carrickfergus in July 1637 and gave their approval. Br Micheál then set off for Louvain with his priceless manuscript. It appears that he died there in the summer of 1643. Several of his manuscripts remained unpublished until researchers discovered them during the nineteenth century. The noted antiquarian John O’Donovan published the Annals in 1851. It was a work of beauty with a lovely Irish type. Unfortunately it was not a critical edition in the modern sense. We now know, for example, that some of the years are slightly out. A full critical edition has yet to appear.

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