OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Irish Saints

  • Saint Senach of Clonard, August 21

    August 21 is the feastday of a saint associated with the monastic school of Clonard, County Meath, Senach, a successor to Clonard’s founder, Saint Finnian. The Benedictines appear to have assigned Senach’s feastday to August 3, I am not sure why as the Irish calendars agree that his commemoration is on August 21, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    ST. SINACH OR SENACH, BISHOP OF CLONARD, COUNTY OF MEATH.

    [SIXTH CENTURY.]

    In the Martyrology of Tallagh, a festival is entered at the 21st of August, in honour of Sinach, Bishop, it is said, of Cluand Iraird. In the very early metrical Calendar of St. Aengus, and known as the “Feilire,” we are recommended on the 21st of August, to ask the prayers of the eloquent bishop of Clonard, Senach. In that copy found in the ” Leabhar Breac,” the following stanza occurs, at this date, and the English translation is given by Whitley Stokes, LL.D.

    “Beseech on Vincentius’ feast
    to help thy soul
    bishop Senach the eloquent,
    of vast Clonard”

    It seems probable, likewise, that some further light has been afforded, regarding his connexion with another place in ancient Meath. A commentator on the copy of this calendar, found in the Leabhar Breac, has added, that Senach was tutor of Ailbe, and successor of Finden, and that his place was in Cluain Fota Fine, in Fir Tulach, i.e., Cluain Fota Librein.

    St. Senach was born, probably about the earlier part of the sixth century. When the holy founder of Clonard, St. Finian, had established his celebrated school there, he became tutor to many of the great saints of Ireland. The family origin of the present holy person is not known ; but according to the following account, Senach appears to have been abducted from his parents, if they were then living, and at a very early age.

    In the Life of St. Finnian, of Clonard, it is stated,that at one time, some wicked persons came by night to the place where he then dwelt, called Escair Branain ;and they brought with them a boy, who being wearied with travelling was left upon the glebe, belonging to St. Finnian’s Church. This holy man, on the following morning, came to the boy, and after giving him proper instructions, he received tonsure, at the instance of the abbot. We are told, that having a prophetic knowledge, this boy should succeed as abbot; St. Finnian gave him every necessary instruction, and imbued his mind with a knowledge of letters. Following the order of the biographical narrative, we are led to infer, that the early lessons of Senach were received at Escair-Branain or Ard-bren-n Domnuich, and which at a later time received the denomination of Airdleac. It is supposed, that St. Finian did not leave that place, until about A.D. 530; when, it is likely, those then under his tuition followed their master to his new foundation at Clonard.

    It would appear, that our saint afterwards studied at Clonard, and that St. Finian reposed great confidence in him. Here, too, Senach had the great advantage of companionship with that galaxy of holy, learned and eminent men, who subsequently shed such a lustre on the glorious Irish Church of the sixth century.

    We are told, that St. Finnian, wishing to know how his disciples were employed, sent Senach one day to see them at their several tasks. Our saint found them all engaged at work, although differently employed; some being occupied in manual labour, while others were studying the Holy Scriptures. Among them, St. Columba, son to Crimthann, was found in prayer, with his hands extended towards Heaven, while birds alighted on him. When Senach related this circumstance to his master, Finnian said: “He it is, who shall administer the holy Sacrament to me, at the hour of my departure.”

    It seems most likely, that Senach lived under the rule and discipline of his celebrated master, St. Finian, until the latter departed this life, on the 12th of December, and about the middle of the sixth century. Senach profited so much by those lessons of piety and of learning he had received in earlier years, that in course of time, he became the chosen successor of Finnian.

    Whether or not, Senach immediately succeeded St. Finnian, as Abbot of Clonard, is unknown; however, our saint enjoyed this dignity not long after his death, and we may suppose, his character well qualified him. He also discharged the office of Bishop. The Martyrology of Donegal, at the 21st of August, styles him Senach, Bishop, of Cluain-fhoda Fine, in Fir-tulach, i.e., Cluain-fhoda Librein. However, an error committed by the commentator on the “Feilire” of Aengus, as found in the Leabhar Breac copy, appears to have led the O’Clerys to mistake the locality, which had special connexion with the memory of this holy prelate. We do not know of any Finnen connected with Cluain-fhoda Fine or Cluain-fhoda Librein, now Clonfad, in the barony of Fertullagh, and county of Westmeath, whereas St. Finian was the well-known patron of Clonard in the county of Meath. To this latter place must be assigned the present holy man, notwithstanding contrary statements. But, it must not be forgotten, that the relics of St. Finian were long preserved at Clonfad, and it is thought, also, that he founded its monastery, although St. Etchen is held to have been its chief patron. The present saint seems to have succeeded soon after St. Finian’s death, and to have had a long term of rule, both over the monastery, and as bishop. He died on the 21st day of August, A.D. 587. At this same year is the following record, “St. Seanach, Bishop of Cluain-Iriard, died”. Probably this saint was connected both with Clonfad, or Cluain-foda-fine in Westmeath, as likewise with Clonard, in the county of Meath. The monastery of Cluain-foda Libren is supposed to have perished during the Danish wars, although it seems to have remained to the close of the tenth century. Under the head of Cluain Foda-Fine, Duald Mac Firbis likewise enters Senach, bishop, adding that he was from Cluain-foda-fine, in Fera tulach, i.e., Cluain foda-Librein. We are informed, moreover, that the comarb and disciple of St. Finnen of Clonard, was this bishop Senach. The feast of St. Senaich is entered in the Kalendar of Drummond, at the 21st of August.

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  • Saint Lassar of Cill Arcalgach, August 20

    August 20 is the feastday of a Saint Lassar associated with the area around Lough Lene in County Westmeath. She is alas, one of the many Irish saints about whom nothing much is known apart from the remembrance of her name and locality in the Irish Calendars. Canon O’ Hanlon has this to say:

    St. Lasar, or Lassar, Virgin, of Cill Arcalgach, near Lough Lene, County of Westmeath.

    …A festival in honour of Lasar, of Chill Arealgaich, is registered in the published Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 20th of August. Again, at the 13th of the September Kalends [i.e. August 20], that copy in the Book of Leinster spells the entry in a manner somewhat different [as Lassar o Cill Archalgach]. At this same date, the Martyrology of Donegal mentions Lassar, Virgin, of Cill Arcalgach,on the brink of Loch Lebenn, in Meath. Her place of residence must be sought for within or on the banks of the present Lough Leane—known in our ancient annals as Loch Lephinn or Loch Leibhinn. It is now called Lough Lene, about two miles and three quarters of a mile in length, by one mile in width and for its extent, it is one of the loveliest of the numerous lakes in Westmeath. It contains two wooded islets; and, on one of these, it is said a monastery formerly existed. Lough Leane lies about one mile south of Fore Village, in the barony of Demifore, and in the northern part of Westmeath County… The Irish Calendar now preserved in the Royal Irish Academy has a notice of this person as Lasar, Virgin of Cill Arcalgach, on the border of Locha Leibhean. We cannot attempt further to identify her, nor to know the period in which she lived.

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  • Saint Mochta of Louth, August 19

     

    Below is an account of Saint Mochta of Louth, whose feast is commemorated on August 19, by Patrick Francis, Cardinal Moran (1830-1911). There are many legends attached to the figure of Saint Mochta, as he is reputed to be a disciple of Saint Patrick, but his real historical importance lies in the confession of faith which he wrote to Pope Leo the Great to assure Rome of his orthodoxy. I have not been able to locate an English translation of this important text, but Cardinal Moran reprinted the Latin original as an appendix in his book Essays on the Origins, Doctrines and Discipline of the Early Irish Church, from which this account of its author has also been taken:

    St. Mochta of Louth, whose name was anciently written Macteus,* was a disciple of St. Patrick, and his death is assigned to the year 534, by Tighernach, the Annals of the Four Masters, and the Annals of Ulster. His name is commemorated in our martyrologies on the 24th of March, and the 19th of August.

    Oengus adds to his name the epithets of faithful and devout the great good leader; and Marianus O’Gorman styles him “the lamp of Louth the father of an illustrious family.” The gloss on Oengus adds, that he was bishop of Louth, and cites the following curious poem:

    “Poverty abode not
    With the family of Mochta in his fort of Louth;
    Three hundred bishops and one hundred priests were there with him.
    Eighty psalm-singing noble youths
    Were his household: royal is the enumeration:
    Without ploughing without reaping without drying of corn,
    They laboured not, save at learning only.”

    Amongst our many ancient saints, he was remarkable for his longevity and abstinence, both which traits are thus alluded to by St. Cuimin of Connor, in his poem on the characteristic virtues of the Irish saints:

    “Mochta of Lugh-magh (Louth), loved
    By law and by rule,
    That no dainty food should enter his body
    For the space of one hundred years.”

    The life of this saint records that, guided by an angelic admonition, he proceeded to Rome, and there applied himself to the study of sacred literature; and it further commemorates the offering of a ceraculum or writing-tablet, which he made to the then ruling pontiff. When he visited Rome, the memory of the heretic Celestius was still familiar to the faithful of that city, and the well-known words of St. Jerome were fresh in their ears: “Satan, though silent himself, barks through a huge and corpulent mountain dog, who can do more damage with his claws, than even with his teeth; for he is by descent of the Scotic nation, which is adjoining Britain, and like another Cerberus, according to the fables of the poets, must be struck down with a spiritual club, that thus he may be silent for ever with his master Pluto.”

    Some seem to have feared that Mochta might, perhaps, be infected with a similar contagion, and for this reason he was compelled to vindicate the sincerity of his faith, by presenting, about the year 460, to the great St. Leo, a profession of his belief, of which a copy, written about the year 700, was discovered by Muratori amongst the precious manuscripts of the once famous Irish monastery of Bobbio, and was published in his Anecdota Ambrosiana.

    St. Mochta, in this formula of faith, dwells almost exclusively on the doctrine of the blessed Trinity and on the Apostles’ Creed; indeed it presents a striking similarity with the creed recited by St. Patrick in his Confession, whilst scarcely a hint is given regarding any of those heresies which disturbed the Churches of Britain and the continent. Of his own Church, he says: “we are as yet only in the way to truth” (nos adhuc infenestra id est, in via lucis); and of himself he adds: “why do people interrogate me whence I come ? I am a pilgrim” (ut quid quaeritur patria mea? Peregrinus ego sum); and subsequently he thus briefly but beautifully tells us what was his opinion as to the special prerogative of Rome:

    “If, for the fault of one individual, the inhabitants of the whole country are to be deemed accursed, let that most blessed disciple, too, be condemned, I mean Rome itself, from which hitherto not only one but two, or three, or even more heresies have gone forth ; and, nevertheless, none of them could get hold of, or contaminate the Chair of Peter, that is to say the see of faith.”

    * The Irish a being pronounced like the diphthong au or o, was one of the chief causes of the discrepancy in registering the name of this saint. In some manuscripts of Adamnan, he is styled Mauctaneus, Afaveteus, and Mauctem. The Vita S. Dagei calls him Afoccheus, and subsequently Mochteus. Jocelyn, in his life of St. Patrick, gives his name as Moccheus; and with continental writers, he is commonly known by the name Macceus. Tighernach thus records his death, in 534 : “Dormitatio Moctai discipuli Patricii, xvi. kalend. Septembr. Sic ipse scripsit in epistola sua; Mocteus peccator presbiter Sancti Patricii discipulus in Domino salutem.” This same entry is given in the Annals of Ulster ; but he is said to have signed his own name Macutenus. See Reeves’ Adamnan, page 6, seqq. ; Colgan Acta SS. page 729, seqq.; Martyr, of Christ Church, I. A. S., 1844, page Lxix.; Todd, St Patrick, page 39, seqq.; Ware, de Script Hib. lib ii. cap. 1.

    Essays on the Origins, Doctrines and Discipline of the Early Irish Church by the Rev Dr Moran, (Dublin 1864), 92-4.

     

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