July 31 is the feast of a County Dublin saint, Papán of Santry. As Canon O’Hanlon’s entry for this saint in Volume VII of his Lives of the Irish Saints explains, a seventeenth-century hagiologist, Meredith Hanmer, whilst he  preserved the memory of the saint’s annual patron at Santry, confused  him with a Belgian  saint, Poppon of Stavelot. Actual details of our Irish saint’s life are hard to come by but his memory lives on in Saint Pappin’s holy well and also in the name of the townland of Poppintree or Pappan’s tree. His name also occurs in connection with the feast of the Sons of Nadfraech, although it is not certain that he is one of this group. Canon O’Hanlon contents himself by giving us an historical sketch of the later medieval foundation which stood at Santry and ends by citing the evidence for the saint’s feast day from the Irish calendars:

Article IV. — St. Papan, of Santry, County of Dublin. 

[Supposed to be of the Fifth and Sixth Centuries.] 

The Martyrology of Tallagh  mentions, that veneration was given, at the 31st of July, to Papan, of Sentribh, now Santry, near the Irish metropolis. Here was one of the ancient sanctuaries of Ireland, with an old church or a monastery, long since gone, yet tradition preserves the memorial of this saint. Already, at the 25th of January, we have alluded to a St. Poppo, Pappan, or Poppon, supposed to have been Abbot of Stabuletum, who had a festival at that date; but, it is probable, the present St. Papan, of Santry, was a distinct person. Much obscurity, however, surrounds his history. According to what we find recorded, the father of this saint must have been Nathfriach— or more correctly Aengus. From this parentage, it must be inferred, that Papan was born in the fifth, and he probably lived on to the sixth, century. If we are to believe Dr. Meredith Hanmer, he was a native of Santry. In the townland of Poppintree, or Papan’s Tree, so late as the beginning of the present century, the Patron of St. Papan, used to be held annually, on the 31st day of July. It may be supposed, that the former parish church of this pretty village stands on the site of the present Protestant church, which is surrounded by an ancient burying-ground. Whether, at this spot, an older ecclesiastical structure, than that erected in the latter part of the twelfth century, existed, we have now no means left for ascertaining; but, it seems very probable, since in the year 827, we find recorded in our ancient annals the death of Cormac, son of Muirgheas, Abbot of Seantrabh, interpreted Santry. After the Anglo Norman Invasion, however, King Henry II. of England, in granting the kingdom of Meath to Hugh De Lacy, included this neighbourhood within that charter. The latter feudal lord regranted the manors of Skryne and Santry to Adam de Feipo or Phepoe. Afterwards, this proprietor erected a church, consisting of a chancel and nave, separated or connected by a choir-arch. This he conveyed by deed to the Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary, in Dublin. It seems to us, that the Anglo-Norman Baron intended to dedicate the church of his foundation to St. Poppo or Poppon, Abbot of Stavelot, in the Low Countries, rather than to the more ancient Irish Saint bearing a nearly similar name. Wherefore, it is very probable, that both have been confounded in local popular tradition. In the family of De Feipo or Phepoe the manor of Santry continued until about 1375, when Johanna, daughter and heiress to Francis de Feipo or Phepoe, married Thomas Mareward, who was afterwards created Baron of Skryne. The village here seems to have grown up about the church, and it is mentioned in a Chancery Roll, which is dated 1379. In the year 1435, it is recorded as belonging to the Phepoe family; the manor at that time extending over the lands of Ballymun, Shillok, Little Ballycurry, Ballystrawan, &c. In many documents of the period, it gives its own name to the surrounding barony. In 1539, on the 28th of October, William Landey, the last Abbot of St. Mary’s, Dublin, surrendered to King Henry VIII. all the estates of his Abbey, including those belonging to this parish, at that time when the dissolution of religious establishments took place. Then, the rectory, with a manse and a glebe, was of the annual value of £14 12s.; and in the sixteenth century, the manor of Santry passed from the Marewards, who had previously acquired the fee, to William Nugent, eighth Baron of Delvin, who had married Janet, the daughter and heiress of Walter Mareward, Baron of Serine. Afterwards, it was transmitted to the family of the Barrys, and later still to that of the Domviles. In 1609, the church of Santry was rebuilt, and it became the burial place for the latter  families; while, in 1615, we learn, that the church was in good repair, but that the chancel was ruined. The present edifice was erected in 1709, on the ruins of the former one. At this same date, July 31st, the Martyrology of Donegal, has the simple entry, Papan. Marianus O’Gorman and the Martyrology of Tamlacht appear to be cited for confirmation of this insertion.

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

May 15 is the commemoration of an eighth-century County Dublin saint, Dubhlitir of Finglas. In common with other monastics from this foundation his passing was recorded in the Irish Annals, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

St. Dubhlitir, Abbot of Finglas, County of Dublin.

[Eighth Century.]

The death of Faelchu, of Finnghlais, is noticed at A.D. 758. He is supposed to have been identical with a saint similarly designated [feastday September 24]. Again, Caencomhrac, bishop of this place, died A.D. 786 [according to the Annals of the Four Masters]. Contemporaneously with this bishop, and possibly ruling over a monastery during his term of incumbency, Dublitir lived. When he began to govern the monks there has not been ascertained; or what age he had reached, at the date assigned for his death, must yet remain an open question. St. Dubhlitir appears to have lived as a contemporary with St. Aengus the Culdee. Tallagh and Finglas were not very distantly separated, and both of these holy men may have enjoyed the privilege and happiness of a personal acquaintance. As St. Aengus survived, however, it seems pretty certain, he must have known perfectly well the character of this deceased guardian over Finglas Monastery. In the “Felire of Aengus,” as preserved in the “Leabhar Breac,” and in that copy formerly belonging to St. Isidore’s convent, at Rome, a special eulogy has been pronounced, in reference to this holy Abbot, in common with other saints, mentioned in the stanza. The original Irish rann has been obligingly copied and collated, while the English translation has been supplied, by William M. Hennessy, Esq., M.R.I.A.:-

“The grace of the seven-fold Spirit
Poured on great-bright clerics,
Timothy, the rich Saran,
On the festival of renowned Dubhlitir.”

However fanciful etymological derivations of Irish names may be regarded, the present holy man’s name can literally be Anglicized “black-letter.” This term is usually applied to students, who closely apply themselves to books; and, in a double sense, it was most probably appropriate to St. Dubhlitir, whose feast has been assigned for the 15th May. This Dubhlittir, no doubt, was the person referred to in the following entry, in the “Annals of Ulster,” at A.D. 779 (780): “An assembly of the synods of the Ui-Neill and the Leinstermen, where there were many anchorites and scribes, over whom Dubhlitter was President”. He is briefly alluded to by Colgan, in the Bollandist collection, and also in Manuscript Book of “Extracts,” among the Records for Dublin County, at present kept in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. On this day, likewise, the commentator on St. Aengus, and also the Martyrology of Donegal, register Dubhlitir, Abbot of Finnglais-Cainnigh, near Ath-cliath. It must be regarded as the correct date for his death. The present saint’s name occurs, at the 15th of May, in the published Martyrology of Tallagh. The year when his demise took place is set down, in the Annals of the Four Masters, as 791. The Annals of Ulster write it, at A.D. 795. His remains were deposited, probably, within the old church walls, or under some now unnoticed sod of the present cemetery, which rises high over the “bright stream,” that rushes onward to join the classic Tolka River. The present holy man was also venerated in Scotland, at the 15th of May, as we find from the entry in the Kalendar of Drummond. A considerable share of misunderstanding has prevailed—while even distinguished Irish historians and topographers appear to have fallen into errors- in reference to the special Patron Saint of Finglas. The original name of this village seems to have been derived from the small, rapid, and tortuous “bright stream,” that runs through a sort of ravine, beside the present cemetery. Towards the close of the eighth, or in the beginning of the ninth century— as we find in the “Feilire of Aengusa”—this place had been denominated Finnghlais-Cainnigh, after some earlier patron, called Cainnigh or Canice. He is generally thought to have been the Patron Saint of Ossory, as no other one, bearing such a name, can be found in connexion with this spot. Whether or not, a monastery had been founded by Cainneach, while under the tuition of Mobhi Clairenech, Abbot of Glasnevin, and who died in 544, can scarcely be determined. It seems probable, at least, that a cell, or monastic institute, had been here erected by St. Canice, and before the close of the sixth century…

February 20 is the feastday of Saint Colga the Wise, lector at Clonmacnoise, reputed teacher of the English saint Alcuin and author of a famous prayer known as the Scuab Chrabhaidh (Broom or Besom of Devotion). I was interested to see that in his entries for this day in Volume II of his Lives of the Irish Saints, Canon O’Hanlon does not begin with this famous Saint Colga but with another, lesser-known abbot of Lusk, County Dublin, who shares the same name. Indeed, it seems that Colga of Lusk is assigned this feast day by the 17th-century hagiologist Father John Colgan, simply on the grounds that this is the day when his Clonmacnoise namesake is commemorated:

ARTICLE I.—ST. COLGA, ABBOT OF LUSK, COUNTY OF DUBLIN

[SEVENTH CENTURY.]

EVERY step, taken in religious progress, tends to purify and to ennoble a monk’s profession. Nor can it fail to impart a generous and an honourable impulse, in the home of his choice. Colgan acknowledges his inability to discover any important biographical particulars, regarding this saint, with the exception of a few, which are entered in his collection. The Bollandists and Dr. Lanigan have only a passing allusion to him. It is supposed, that our saint was son to Moenaegh, and that he presided over the monastery of Lusk, as abbot. This establishment is thought to date back so far as before the close of the fifth century, when St. MacCuilinn or Macculind, its founder, is said to have died. The place is certainly most ancient, and it has many historic associations of very great importance. In the old graveyard may still be seen a very perfect specimen of an Irish round tower, attached to a mediaeval church, which has lately undergone restoration, in a very excellent style of Gothic architecture. No doubt, a more ancient church occupied this site. This holy man flourished about the year 690, or even later ; for, he is named, as one of those who subscribed with other prelates of Ireland, to the Acts of a synod, held by Adamnan, about the year 695 or 696. A copy of these decrees, called the Cain Adhamnain, or the “canons of Adamnan” had been in Colgan’s possession. He has also placed on record some of the subscribers’ names, to these statutes. Wherefore our saint was not identical with one bearing a similar name, and exercising a like office, in the same place, and whose death occurred A.D. 782, according to the Annals of the Four Masters. The Colga, who died in 782, or more correctly, 787, is expressly named in our Annals, as son to Crunnmail. The present St. Colga did not long survive the year, in which the celebrated synod of Adamnan had been held  for, we read, about the death of his successor, an abbot of Lusk, who departed this life, in the year 731. The present holy man died, probably, near the beginning of the eighth century ; nor do we know what reason, his namesake, Father John Colgan, had, for giving him a festival at this date, beyond the circumstance of another celebrated Colga or Colgu having been venerated on the 20th day of February.