OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Irish saints in Scotland

  • Saint Palladius, July 6

    It seems to me, as I read the views of modern scholars on the saints of the early Irish church, that there are winners as well as losers in the revisionist process. One clear winner has been Saint Palladius, whose reputation as the first bishop sent to the Irish has been reclaimed from the ‘Armagh propagandists’ who did their best to airbrush both the man and his mission out of the historical record in order to promote the idea of Saint Patrick as the national apostle. A summary of the views of one modern scholar on this theme can be read at my other site here. What kept the memory and claims of Palladius alive, however, was the fact that his mission was recorded in an unimpeachable historical source: the works of Prosper of Aquitaine. This 5th-century chronicler and champion of the teachings of Saint Augustine against Pelagianism records for the year AD 431:

    Ad Scottos in Christo credentes ordinatus a papa Celestino Palladius primus episcopus mittitur.

    ‘Palladius, having been ordained by Pope Celestine, is sent, as their first bishop, to the Irish who believe in Christ’.

    As scholar Michael Richter points out in his book Medieval Ireland- The Enduring Tradition:

    ‘This is the only reliable date for Irish history in the fifth century. Yet Prosper’s statement raises several questions: When had Christianity come to Ireland? How many Christians were there in Ireland in the year 431? Who was Palladius? How long was he active in Ireland? Where did he carry out his work?’

    and he attempts some answers, starting with the last question – where did Palladius carry out his work?:

    ‘In the Middle Irish Life of Patrick (Bethú Phátraic), we are told: ‘He (Palladius) founded three churches. Cell Fine in which he left his books, the casket with the relics of Paul and Peter and the board on which he used to write, Tech na Román (“House of the Romans”) and Domnach Airte containing Sylvester and Solinus’ (presumably two of his followers)… The three churches mentioned are situated in Leinster, the region lying opposite the coast of Wales.’

    Modern scholarship seems to be in agreement that the Palladian mission operated in Leinster and Munster and that it is likely that Palladius came to Ireland via Wales. Richter seeks to locate Palladius within a specific historical context – that of the fight against Pelagianism:

    ‘Palladius was dispatched to the Irish Christians at about the same time as Germanus of Auxerre was sent to the Christians in Britain. Germanus had been dispatched to Britain in AD 429 to combat the heretical teachings of Pelagius. Active from around the year 400, Pelagius was a British monk who had developed a doctrine of human free will. Since this conflicted with the Catholic doctrine of grace, Pelagius was declared a heretic in 418. In his Ecclesiastical History Bede tells us that Germanus had refuted Pelagianism in Britain through the healing power of relics (H.E. 1, 17ff.). A similar function could be attributed to the relics Palladius brought to Ireland. If this was the case, it would indicate that Rome assumed a rather highly-developed level of Christianity amongst the Irish.

    He now turns to another of his initial questions – who was Palladius?:

    ‘Two deacons with this name are known from this period, one from Rome, the other from Auxerre, and it was probably the latter who came to Ireland. However, before we consider this and other questions regarding Palladius’ activities, we must turn our attention to Patrick…. Patrick does not give us any concrete details concerning the region in which he was active, nor does he mention that he had an episcopal see. Indeed, after his writings, nothing more is heard in Ireland about Patrick throughout the sixth century.

    This gives rise to the following problems: Patrick was a bishop; Palladius is referred to as the first bishop. Palladius came to the Irish who already believed in Christ whereas Patrick was active among the Irish for many years; Palladius apparently spent a long time among the Irish according to the information in the tribute paid to him by Pope Celestine I and described by Prosper in his work Contra Collatorem.’

    Richter does not quote the text of this tribute so I have found it in another source:

    ‘He (Celestine) has been, however, no less energetic in freeing the British provinces from this same disease (the Pelagian heresy); he removed from the hiding-place certain enemies of grace who had occupied the land of their origin; also having ordained a bishop for the Irish, while he labours to keep the Roman island catholic, he has also made the barbarian island christian.’

    The Roman island, is of course, Britain, the barbarian island which has been Christianized is Ireland.

    Richter then attempts to reconcile some of the contradictory statements about Palladius and Patrick which he had raised above. He suggests as a starting point an assumption that Patrick was active in a part of Ireland which had not yet been reached by Christianity. He therefore proposes that Patrick’s primary mission was carried out in the provinces of Ulster and northern Connacht, whereas, as we have seen, the Palladian mission was based in Leinster and Munster. Richter goes on to say:

    ‘Nor does the description of Palladius as the first bishop of the Irish pose any real problem: Patrick had no contact with Rome and Prosper apparently knew nothing of Patrick’s activities. The later legend tells of Patrick spending many years in Gaul, mainly in the monastery of Lérins. There is, however, no mention of this in the authentic works of Patrick; the Latin in the Confessio and the Epistola is such that a long stay on the part of their author can be ruled out. Gaulish bishops who, according to later sources, worked with Patrick in Ireland are more likely to have worked with Palladius.’

    And the reason for the silence regarding Patrick in the 6th century?:

    ‘The fact that nothing was heard of Patrick in the century following his missionary work can no doubt be explained by the increasingly important role which the monasteries were to play in the Irish Church from the end of the 5th century. Palladius and Patrick were, however, both bishops. Their work developed from this office and both wanted to establish a diocesan Church in Ireland.’

    Richter ends by saying that although both Palladius and Patrick were committed to the Roman organisational model of the Church, the fact that Ireland had not been part of the Roman Empire and lacked towns and other aspects of the Roman heritage, made this model quite unsuitable.

    By contrast with the way in which Richter and other modern writers approach the mission of Palladius, Canon O’Hanlon espoused the traditional view that his mission was a short-lived failure:

    ‘Notwithstanding his high commission to evangelize the people, St. Palladius remained not long in Ireland. To St. Patrick, and not to him, had Providence assigned the grand measure of a successful mission’.

    In this view, Palladius was unable to face the opposition of the locals:

    ‘..the prevailing opinion appears to be, that the rude and inhospitable people where he landed did not readily receive his doctrine, and therefore he willed not to remain in a country strange to him. His resolve was formed, to return with the first tide which served, and to seek the Pope who had sent him.’

    Of course, it took more than a few hostile pagans to scare off the true apostle to the Irish:

    ‘Here we have to admire the inscrutable ways of Divine Providence, who so willed it, that the mission of Palladius should prove comparatively barren of results, while within a short time after his leaving Ireland, St. Patrick was destined to arrive, and to preach the Gospel among the natives, with most successful and consoling results’.

    If this traditional Patrician triumphalism is hard to swallow, Richter offers a comforting thought:

    ‘Some scholars are of the opinion that the later legend of Patrick was compiled from accounts relating to the activities of both Patrick and Palladius. In this case, the controversy over the description of Patrick as ‘the Apostle of the Irish’ would become irrelevant’.

    Thus does Saint Palladius emerge as one of the winners in the efforts of modern revisionist scholars, with his reputation restored. What ultimately became of the first bishop to the Irish is unclear. Later accounts say that Palladius, having failed in Ireland, went instead to Scotland and was martyred there. More recent writers tend to be sceptical of the Scottish connection. The Aberdeen Breviary has assigned July 6 as his feast day, although some other sources commemorate a feast of Saint Palladius on January 25.

    There is a most interesting blog entry on Saint Palladius and the Dunlavin area of County Wicklow here which concludes:

    ‘Ultimately perhaps, Palladius’ life should not be measured by the success or failure of his mission, but by how much he endured and what he gave for his cause and his God.’

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

  • Saint Conval of Strathclyde, May 18

    May 18 is one of the commemorations of Saint Conval, a disciple of the Scottish Saint Kentigern. His feast day is recorded as September 28 in the Aberdeen Breviary, whose modern editor, Alan Macquarrie, remarks that the Lessons appointed for the day ‘give the appearance of having been drawn from a vita et miracula of St  Conval, but this has not survived’. The Lessons begin by associating Saint Conval with Saint Kentigern but go on to describe his reputation as a healer.  Since September 28 seems to be his main feast day, at least at Inchinnan, the site with which he is mainly associated, I will prepare another and more detailed post on Saint Conval for this date. The account below has been taken from Bishop (later Cardinal) P.F. Moran’s 1879 work Irish Saints in Great Britain. It was a matter of some pride to the Bishop that Irish immigration into Glasgow had revived the memory of this saint in the suburban parish of Pollockshaws:

    One of the most illustrious of St. Kentigern’s disciples was St. Conval, who inherited in an eminent degree the zeal and sanctity of his great master. He was the son of an Irish chieftain, and forsaking his country and friends, through the desire of winning souls to God, sailed to the banks of the Clyde, and enrolling himself among the clergy of St. Kentigern, soon proved himself a devoted missioner, and became a bright ornament of the Scottish Church. In many of the mediaeval records he is styled Archdeacon of Glasgow, and by his untiring labours he merited to be honoured as a second apostle of that great city. Each memorial of the saint was long cherished by the faithful to whom he ministered. The rock on which he landed on the sea-shore, and on which in after years he was wont to pray, was held in the greatest veneration, and several churches erected under his invocation attested the reverence and fond affection in which his hallowed memory was held. It is recorded that he visited his countryman, King Aidan, of Dalriada, and was welcomed by that prince with the highest honours. The purport of St. Conval’s visit was probably to secure the aid of King Aidan for the religious works in which he was engaged south of the Clyde; and we are further told that, at that pious monarch’s request, St. Conval passed into the Pictish territory, and there gained many souls to God. He also visited St. Columba, and seems for a time to have been associated with that great saint in his missionary labours.

    He is venerated as patron at Inchinnan, in Renfrewshire, on the Clyde, about seven miles below Glasgow, and Boece writes that the saint’s relics were still preserved there in his time. Near the ancient fort of Inchinnan there stood, till a comparatively late period, an ancient Celtic cross, erected in honour of St. Conval. Now its base alone remains. He was also venerated at Cumnock and at Ochiltree. The parish of Pollokshaws had also our St. Conval for its patron, although his feast was there kept in the month of May. “Its ancient church,” thus writes the learned Cosmo Innes, “probably stood beside the castle upon the bank of the Cart. It was dedicated to St. Convallus, the pupil of St. Kentigern, whose feast was celebrated on the 18th of May.” A church bearing St. Conval’s name existed at Eastwood down to a comparatively late period. The burial ground attached to it is still used, and a portion of it near the still-flowing fountain that supplied the monks with water is set apart for the exclusive interment of Catholics, but no trace of the ancient church or monastery now remains. Near the burial ground there was a ruin known as the “Auld House,” which, with its enclosure, was called “St. Conval’s Dowry.” His memory after having been forgotten for three hundred years has been revived in our days by the erection of a beautiful church at Pollokshaws, dedicated to God under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin and St. Conval…

    Rt. Rev. P. F. Moran, Irish Saints in Great Britain (Dublin, 1879), 156-159.

    Note: This post, first published in 2012, was revised in 2024.

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

  • Saint Kessog of Lennox, March 10

    On March 10, we commemorate a Scottish saint, Kessog (Kessoc) of Lennox, also known as Kessog of Luss . It is claimed that this saint was a native of Cashel and related to the ruling family of Munster. One of the sources, the lessons from the Aberdeen Breviary, begins: ‘Kessog, the noble confessor of Christ, drew his origin and name from the state of Munster and the stock of illustrious Irish kings…’ However, the saint appears to be unattested in Irish sources, his name is not found on the Irish calendars of the saints, nor in the Irish genealogies or Annals. It was suggested by W.J.Watson in his 1926 study of Scottish place names that our saint may be the same as a Saint Cessán who acted as a chaplain to Saint Patrick:

    Cessóc, Ceaság, March 10, is stated by the Aberdeen Breviary to have been born in Cashel in Munster, of royal family, a statement which would be of much interest if it were confirmed. He is perhaps the same as Cessán, who is styled ‘son of the king of Alba, and a chaplain of Patrick.’ His name is a reduced form of some compound beginning with cess, a spear. He is specially connected with Luss on Loch Lomond. In 1566 (RMS) mention is made of ‘the lands of Buchquhannan, with the bell and alms of St. Cassog’ (cum campana et elimosina S. Cassogi). On the east he is the patron of Auchterarder, ‘ecclesia Sancti Mechesseoc de Kohterardeuar,’ 1200 (Chart. Inch.), ‘ Sancti Mahessoc de huctherardouer,’ 1211, 2b. Tom mo Cheasaig, ‘my-Kessock’s knoll,’ and Féill mo Cheasaig, ‘St. Kessock’s  fair,’ are at Comrie and Callander in Perthshire. Cladh nan Ceasanach in Glenfinglas, near Glen Main Burn, seems to mean ‘graveyard of St. Kessock’s people.’ In Strathearn there is ‘ Barrnakillis (Church-hill) with the chapel and holy bell of St. Kessog,’ 1538, 1542 (RMS). Port Cheiseig, Kessock Ferry on the Beauly Firth, is probably named after the saint. In 1270 (Reg. Pasl.) ‘Mauricius filius Gilmekesseoch ’ was witness at Paisley.

    W.J. Watson, The History of the Celtic place-names of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1926), 277-78.

    Watson also records the traditions preserved in the twelfth-century Book of Leinster that the Eoganacht dynasty of Munster were the forbears of the mormaer (mormáir) or Earl of Lennox. Doctor Alan Macquarrie, editor of the 2012 edition of the Aberdeen Breviary, suggests that this may provide a context for the claims that Cashel was the birthplace of Saint Kessog:

    Perhaps an exotic Munster origin has been constructed for a local saint of Lennox to parallel the Munster origin claimed for the mormáir of Lennox. This may have lifted material from the vita of a Munster saint, but the source has not been traced.

    A. Macquarrie, ed., Legends of Scottish Saints – Readings, Hymns and Prayers for the Commemorations of Scottish Saints in the Aberdeen Breviary (Dublin, 2012), 376.

    So it seems that, as Watson remarked, the statement in the Aberdeen Breviary that Saint Kessog was born in Cashel in Munster, of royal family ‘would be of much interest if it were confirmed’, such confirmation still eludes us. Canon O’Hanlon, brings in all of the traditional sources in his account of the saint found in Volume III of his Lives of the Irish Saints:

    St. Kessog, Mackessog, or Makkessagus, Bishop, and Confessor, Patron of Lennox, Scotland.
    [Sixth Century]

    This holy bishop is venerated, and not unmeritedly, in the church of Scud, on his natal day, as elsewhere in Scotland. There, while living on earth, he sought out the true way of living for ever in heaven. The Bollandists have the Acts of St. Kessog, at the 10th of March. These consist of two preliminary sections, with the lection of his Life, as found in the Breviary of Aberdeen. From this we learn, that it had been compiled, from a special Life of St. Kessog. Bishop Forbes gives an interesting account of this Scottish bishop. The Rev. S. Baring-Gould has some notices about St. Kessog. He was born,as we are told, in Cashel, the capital city of Munster, while his name and family were derived from the royal race of Irish Kings. From early youth, his virtues were remarkable, and he was distinguished for his miracles. His father was King of Cashel; and, in that station, he not only desired to cultivate the friendship of other Irish kings, but he hospitably invited them to banquets, and he even desired, that his noble guests should be accompanied by their sons. We learn, from the Aberdeen Breviary, that the King of Cashel was accustomed to receive his visitors, in great state, when trumpets and musical instruments welcomed them to his royal city. On one of those occasions, while Kessog, still a child, played with two other handsome young princes, who were sons of a visitor, near a lake, or pond, all fell into it, and Kessog alone escaped with life. He told the tale in secret to his father. A certain Elinthus, a citizen of Cashel, feared that such intelligence should cause a great commotion among the kings; and, he endeavoured, as best he could, to relate all the circumstances of the sad accident, so as to excuse Kessog, who, in some manner, seems to have been blamed, in connexion with its occurrence. Filled with grief and indignation, the strange kings vowed they would burn the city of the King of Cashel, and that they should devastate all his province. But, after a night spent in prayer by Kessog, at the request of his aftrighted father, the boy heard an angel of the Lord say to him, towards morning, “Kessog, rise at once from prayer, for the Lord hath heard you, since the kings’ sons, for whom you prayed, have come to life and are restored.” Soon were their parents satisfied on the matter, and their rejoicing was very great. Many other miracles were wrought by him, as related in his special Life. According to their National Breviary, St. Makkessagus ruled over the Scots, as a bishop. His feast occurs, on the 10th of March, and he flourished, it is said, A.D. 520. According to Dempster’s conjecture, he was elected from the Culdee order. His church was in Levinia, near the county of Menteth, and, it was called, “Templum Portus.” Celebrated for its fair, the place was much resorted to by crowds. He is stated to have written “Manipulum Precum,” lib. i., and ” Catechesin ad Neophytos,” lib. i. He is thought to have lived, in the Island of Inchta-vanach, where he devoted himself to prayer and to evangelizing the neighbourhood.

    According to tradition, St. Kessog suffered martyrdom for the truth, at Bandry. There a cairn, and a large stone, on which an ecclesiastic’s effigy is carved, were erected to his memory. Another account has it, that he was martyred in a foreign land, and that, embalmed in sweet herbs, his body was brought to the church of Luss, his native place. There he was buried, according to the Breviary of Aberdeen. These herbs, called Luss, in Gaelic, germinated, and gave name to the parish. At the place of his burial is Carn-ma-cheasaig. Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, granted a charter to John of Luss, “for the reverence and honour of our patron the most holy man, the blessed Kessog.” In 1313, Robert Bruce granted a sanctuary-girth of three miles, to the church of Luss, in a charter, which is preserved at Buchanan. In the Lennox, a bell of St. Kessog was held in reverence, during the seventeenth century. The church of Auchterarder is dedicated to him, and he was honoured at Callander. In this latter place was a curious conical hill, or mound, which seems to be artificial. It is called Tom-ma-chessaig, and there an old church stood. In like manner, the fair of Fel-ma-chessaig is held, on the 21st of March, the 10th, old style. There is a Kessog’s fair, in Cumbrae, on the 3rd Wednesday in March, and there is a Kessog Ferry, at Inverness.

    The Rev. Dr. Todd identifies this saint with Moshenoc, of Beitheach, at the 11th of March. According to the Kalendar of Arbuthnott, we find, at the 10th of March, or vi. Ides, St. Kessog, Bishop, and Confessor; while, the same notice occurs, in the Kalendar of the Breviary of Aberdeen, having the addition, that his Office was celebrated with Nine Lessons. Adam King’s Kalendar, at the 10th of this month, enters S. Makkessage bisch. and cof. in Scotl. Dempster, in his “Menologium Scoticum,” at this same date, has in Levinia, Makkessag, bishop, who is depicted in a military habit, and whose intercession is earnestly implored by soldiers. Also, in the Scottish entries, as found in the Kalendar of David Camerarius, we have, at the 10th of March, St. Makkessog, who is also called Kessog, Confessor and Bishop “in Boina Scotie provincia,” celebrated for the lustre of his miracles. The “Circle of the Seasons” has its note of St. Kessog, at this date. In art, it is said, he was represented as a soldier, with a stretched bow and arrows in his hand, and a quiver at his back.

    Note: This post, first published in 2014 has been revised in 2025.

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