OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Irish Saints

  • Saint Amphitina, January 2

    In the first volume of his Lives of the Irish Saints Canon O’Hanlon closes his list of those commemorated on January 2 with this notice of yet another enigmatic female saint: 

    Article VI. St. Ainbhithen, Virgin. 
     
    The feast of Ainbhithen, a Virgin, is mentioned in the “Martyrology of Donegal,” as occurring this day. We have not been able to find any further account regarding her.
    At first reading I assumed this holy lady was one of the many Irish saints whose names alone have survived without any further details, but it was not until consulting the entries in the other calendars that I began to wonder. For in the earlier Martyrology of Tallaght we find

    Amphitinae uirginis as the final name among the non-Irish saints listed for this day. Marianus O’Gorman, the twelfth-century calendarist has Anpthín among those he commemorates. Whitley Stokes, who edited and translated The Martyrology of Gorman says in the Index of Persons attached to his work:

    Anpthín, virg. Jan. 2. Ainbhthen, Mart. Don. An Ainpthini ingen Maelduin occurs in Mart. Taml. at Sep. 10. Probably cognate with Anfadán

    I could not find Ainphthin the daughter of Maelduin at September 10 in either of the versions of the Martyrology of Tallaght I can access but did find Anfadán at September 16. This name occurs more than once on the calendars but is it indeed cognate with that of Anpthín? For I found myself wondering if the virgin Amphitina, listed among the non-Irish saints in the Best and Lawlor edition of the Martyrology of Tallaght, has perhaps found her way from the Roman or some other continental martyrology upon which Tallaght drew onto the later Irish calendars where there has been an attempt to Gaelicize her name? It is all reminiscent of another female saint, the Roman martyr Balbina, who is remembered as Baluíne on the Irish calendars at October 4 and who was taken out of the catacombs by later commentators and relocated to Meath. It would be interesting to know what the truth is behind the holy virgin Amphitina/Anpthín/Ainbhithen, commemorated on the Irish calendars on the second day of January, but I join Canon O’Hanlon in being unable to find any further account regarding her.

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  • Saint Noe, November 25

     

    In previous years I have written about Irish devotion to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, as November 25 is her feast day. It is time now to take a long overdue look at some of our native saints who share this day with her. One in particular, Fionnchú of Brigown, is well-known but I was intrigued by the mention of a Saint Noe. Alas, he seems to be one of the many whose names are recorded on the Irish calendars but who have left no other trace. His name is not found on the Martyrology of Oengus but at November 25 he is listed simply as Noe on both the later martyrologies of Gorman and of Donegal. I find his name an interesting one but it is not unique as there is also a Saint Noe of Finglas, whose feast is on January 27.

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  • 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.

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