OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Saints of Donegal

  • The Seven Bishops of Tigh na Comairce, May 28

    May 28 brings the commemoration on the calendars of a group of saints, The Seven Bishops of Tigh na Comairce. This group is one of a number of such commemorations recorded on the Irish calendars.  It is possible in some of these cases to find names for the individuals who comprise the grouping recorded in the sources, but more usually, as in this case, further specific details are lacking. The 17th-century Donegal scholars who compiled the Martyrology of Donegal identified the locality of our episcopal saints as lying in their own county, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    The Seven Bishops, of Tigh-na-Comairce.

    At the 28th of May, the Martyrology of Tallagh registers Secht n. Esp. o Thigh na Comairce. The Bollandists have a notice – on the same authority – for the Seven Bishops of Teg-na-Comairre, at this date. As will be seen, there is probably a typographical error, in spelling the name of this locality. The place is said to have been within the present parish of Clonleigh, in the barony of Raphoe, and county of Donegal.  There is a Tigh-na-Comairce, in Tir Conaill, near to Loch Feabhail – now Lough Foyle – as we are told by the O’Clerys. The Martyrology of Donegal, on this day, records a festival, in honour of the Seven Bishops, of Tigh-na-Comairce. Under the head of Teach-na-Comairce, Duald Mac Firbis enters, the Seven Bishops from Teach-na-Comairce, at May 28th. We are informed, likewise, that Teach-na-Comairce is in the parish of Clonleigh, and in the county of Donegal.

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  • Saint Lughaidh of Clonleigh, March 24

    March 24 is the commemoration of a County Donegal saint, Lughaidh of Clonleigh. The calendars also record his patronymic and the locality associated with him. Canon O’Hanlon, in his account below, also notes that Saint Lughaidh may also have been related to Saint Colum Cille:

    St. Lughaidh, son of Eochaidh, of Cluain-laogh, now Clonleigh, County of Donegal.

    [Sixth Century.]

    A holy man is recorded, in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 24th of March, as Lughaidh, mac Eachach. He is classed, among the disciples of St. Columkille.  The Bollandists pass him over, with a few brief remarks. We are told, that Lugaid Mocu-Theimne, or “the son of Teimne,” was the son of Eochaid, son of Ulan, son to Eogan, son to Niall of the Nine Hostages, as his paternal pedigree has been traced, in the Genealogies of the Irish Saints. He was a relation of St. Columba, and his companion, when the latter first set out on his voyage to the shores of Britain. As we are informed, by the Martyrology of Tallagh, this saint belonged to Cluain Laigh. This place is at present called Clonleigh, meaning the “pasturage,”  “lawn,” or “insulated meadow of the calves.” This parish is situated, on the western bank of the River Foyle, about two miles northward from Lifford, in the barony of Raphoe, and in the county of Donegal, formerly Tyrconnell. There was a monastery of considerable importance, in this place. Marianus O’Gorman and Cathal Maguire have this holy man, in their respective Calendars. On this day is entered, likewise, in the Martyrology of Donegal, Lughaidh, son to Eochaidh, of Cluain-laogh.
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  • Saint Sillán of Imleach Cassain, September 11

    Saint Sillán, commemorated on September 11 on the Irish Calendars, has a strange legend attached to his name preserved in the scholiast notes on the Martyrology of Oengus. I have appended this to Canon O’Hanlon’s entry below on the life and locality of Saint Sillán, whom the calendars associate with both counties Donegal and Louth:

    St. Sillán or Siollan, of Imleach Cassain, in Cuailgne, or of Imleach-caoin, in Tir-Aedha.

    This holy man lived at an early period. He is commemorated in the “Feilire” of St. Aengus, at the 11th of September, and with praise. However, the scholiast has added a foolish and incredible legend in reference to him. A festival is also recorded in the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 11th of September in honour of Sillán in Imlig Cassain, of Cuailgni. The district of Cuailge — now Cooley— was a mountainous tract in the north of Louth County. Although now in the Leinster province, it once formed a part of Uladh. Imleach Cassain’s modern equivalent must be sought for in some townland denomination not far from Carlingford Lough or Dundalk Bay. By Marianus O’Gorman, the festival of Sillán has been set down at the 11th of September. At the same date, in the Martyrology of Donegal, his name also appears, as Siollan, of Imleach Cassain, in Cuailgni; or of Imlach-caoin,in Tir Aedha, and, he is said to have been interred or honoured, at Inis Cameda, in Loch Eirne. Tir Aedha is now commensurate with the barony of Tirhugh, in the southern part of Donegal County, and there Imleach-caoin was situated, state the O’Clerys. The ancient name of Inish Coimeda may not at present be easily discovered, among the many modern designations that are applied to the numerous islands, which dot the surface of the beautiful Lough Erne. Veneration for this saint prevailed in Scotland, and his name is registered in the Kalendarium Drummondiense, at the iii. of the September Ides, corresponding with the 11th of the month.

     

    From the Martyrology of Oengus:

    B. iii. idus Septembris.

    Paiss Prothi Iacinthi,
    ba co nimbud galair,
    Sillán salm cech lobair
    i nImbliuch cain canair.

    11. The passion of Protus and Hyacinthus:
    it was with abundance of sorrow.
    Sillán, the psalm of every sick man,
    is sung in fair Imbliuch (Cassain).

    Notes

    Sillán, i.e. from Imbliuch Cassain in Cualnge. salm, i.e. oratio, of every feeble one, i.e. every one who used to be in sore sickness: for this was the wish of them all, to see the hair of Sillán’s eyebrow so that they might die swiftly, for this was the peculiarity of that hair, every one who would see it in the morning died at once. Now Sillán happened (to come) to Lethglenn, and Molaisse comes early in the morning round the graveyard. Sillán of the Hair happens to meet him. “This hair,” says Molaisse, “shall not be killing every one,” plucking it out perforce. Then Molaisse, after seeing the hair, dies at once, and hence Sillán dictus est (Sillán of the Hair).