OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Author: Michele Ainley

  • Saint Sedrach, August 22

    Another obscure name is found on the Irish calendars at August 22 – Saint Sedrach. Canon O’Hanlon records that the Martyrology of Tallaght describes him as a bishop, but otherwise has no other information to offer:

    St. Sedrach, Bishop.

    The published Martyrologies of Tallagh and of Donegal register Sedrach, at the 22nd of August. The former Calendar designates him as a bishop, and this is found, likewise, in that copy of the Tallagh Martyrology, contained in the Book of Leinster, at this same date. The see over which he presided is not known, nor the date for his episcopacy.
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  • Saint Uncan, August 21

    On August 21 Canon O’Hanlon brings yet another obscure saint to our attention – Saint Uncan:

    St. Uncan or Unchan Tughneda.

    No doubt, from his early days, the ambition of this saint received a right direction. Yet those and his subsequent years are buried in obscurity. According to the published Martyrology of Tallagh, veneration was given to Unchan Tughneda, at the 21st of August. It seems a difficult matter to identify his place, at present, or to find the time when he flourished. The simple entry, Uncan, appears in the Martyrology of Donegal, at this same date. In life, he must have been respected, and his time must have been greatly spent in prayer for himself and others.

     

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  • Saint Rónán, August 18

    August 18 is the feast of Saint Rónán, a name borne by a number of Irish holy men, most of whom are obscure. Pádraig Ó Riain’s Dictionary of Irish Saints records that the name is derived from rón, a seal. Canon O’Hanlon, in his account below, covers the dearth of information about the August 18 Rónán by diverting us to the island of Iona. As he so often does, however, he builds us up to embrace a possible Scottish connection only to let us down by admitting that there is no actual evidence to connect our saint of the day with the Rónán commemorated on Iona. We do get a charming sketch as compensation though:

    St. Ronan.

    There are several saints bearing this name, included in the Irish Calendars; but of most, we have nothing left to determine their identity or period, or even the localities with which they were respectively connected. At the 18th of August, the Martyrology of Donegal registers a festival in honour of Ronan, having in like manner, no further designation. In Scotland, also, this name appears to have been known, and it is found as a compound word in local denominations. On the east side of Iona, there is an old church, Tempul Ronain, and a village at a landing place, called Port Ronan, a little to the south of the cathedral and chief group of antiquities there. Tempul Ronain was formerly a parish church, dependent on the Monastery of Iona. It had a nunnery connected, in which several prioresses are said to have been buried. Towards the close of the last century, the nunnery church was quite entire, one end of it being arched and very beautiful; then also stood the parish church entire, but tottering. This was a building about the size of St. Oran’s chapel, and north-east of the nunnery, but inside of its enclosures. It is not known, however, to which of the saints named Ronan, this place had been dedicated.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2017. All rights reserved.