OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Female Saints

  • The Three Daughters of Ailill, August 9

    The Martyrology of Tallaght, one of the earliest of the Irish calendars, lists at August 9 the feast of Tri ingena Ailella – the three daughters of Ailill. Such groupings of saintly siblings are a feature of the Irish calendars, indeed these holy ladies share their day with Cethri meic Ercain – the four sons of Ercan and Ceithre meic Dimmain – the four sons of Dioman. We are unable to learn any more about the identities of the individuals who comprise the group of Ailill’s daughters, nor when or where they flourished. In Volume VIII of his Lives of the Irish Saints Canon O’Hanlon gives this brief account, noting that the Tallaght calendar is the sole source for the feast of Ailell’s daughters as they are not listed on the Martyrology of Donegal, compiled by Michael O’Clery and his associates in the seventeenth century: 

    Article III. Tri h. Inghena Ailalla. 

    Written in this manner, we have a festival entered in the Martyrology of Tallagh, as edited by the Rev. Dr. Kelly; although we find no corresponding entry, at this day, in the Martyrology of Donegal, edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2022. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Mettán of Túaim Átha, March 7

    On March 7 the Irish calendars record the name of Saint Mettán, yet another of Ireland’s enigmatic female saints. As Canon O’Hanlon explains in Volume III of his Lives of the Irish Saints it is not known when or where this holy virgin flourished. All of the calendars record her name at this date and associate the locality of Tuaim-Atha with her. The index of places appended to the Martyrology of Gorman suggests that Túaim Átha might be Tooma, a townland in the barony of Mohill, County Leitrim and that the name Mettán is a diminutive possibly derived from meta ‘timid’:
     

    Article V. St. Metan or Meattan,Virgin, of Tuaim-atha. 
     
    The entry, Metan o Thuaim athi, appears in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 7th of March. Marianus O’Gorman has a like notice, while the Bollandists allude to the circumstance, that her place and history are unknown. The Martyrology of Donegal mentions, likewise, Meattan, Virgin of Tuaim-atha, as having a festival on this day. The word, Tuaim, usually Anglicised, Toom, enters into the composition of many local denominations, in Ireland. 
     
    Note: This post was first published in 2014 and revised in 2022.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2022. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Medhbh of Ardachadh, November 22

    November 22 is the feast of Saint Caecilia, the martyr now regarded as the patroness of music and honoured throughout the universal Church. Indeed the Martyrology of Oengus devotes its entire entry for the day to her with this lyrical tribute, as translated by Whitley Stokes:

    22. After suffering in martyrdom, O Mary! a shining light, Caecilia beautiful, radiant, ran to the angelic Prince.

    But other Irish calendars record the feast of a native holy woman at this date, Medhbh (Medb, Maeve) of Ardachadh. The late twelfth-century Martyrology of Gorman notes:

    Medb of Ard-achad

    whilst at November 22 the early seventeenth-century Martyrology of Donegal  lists:

    Medhbh of Ardachadh

    Stokes identifies the locality Ard-achad, ‘high field’ with Ardagh, County Longford. Much has been recorded of the patron of the Diocese, Saint Mel (feast day February 6), but alas, nothing more is recorded of Saint Medhbh. The most famous bearer of this ancient Irish name is the legendary queen of Connacht, but sadly the saint is one of many Irish holy women who remain shrouded in obscurity.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2021. All rights reserved.