Below is an account of a saint commemorated on this day, Airennan, a successor at the monastery of Tallagh to its founder Maelruain. Canon O’Hanlon tells us what is known of him and speculates that Saint Airennan may even have been known to Saint Oengus the Martyrologist himself. He also refers to the confusion between our saint and the famous sapiens of Clonard, Saint Aireran, whose feast day falls in December, but both appear to be distinct learned holy men:

St. Airennan, Bishop of Tallagh, County of Dublin.

[Eighth Century.]

The Martyrology of Tallagh enters Airendan, Bishop of Tallaghta, at the 10th of February, and in the Martyrology of Donegal, we find entered, on this day, the name of Airennan, Bishop of Tamhlacht, now Tallagh, in the county of Dublin. He was born, most probably, during the earlier part of the eighth century; and, it is also likely, that he made his religious profession at, or soon after, the foundation of Tallagh, in the year 769. Under the head of Tamlacht, Duald Mac Firbis places Airennan, or Erennan, Bishop of Tamlacht, at February 10th. In the Dublin extracts, belonging to the Irish Ordnance Survey, and at the same date, in the Irish Calendar, we have this holy man’s name occurring, as connected with Tamlacht. This, too, agrees with Ward’s statement. As St. Melruan, the founder died, A.D. 787, or recte 792 the promotion of St. Airennan must be deferred to a subsequent period; and, accordingly, we find his death announced as Airfhindan, Abbot of Tamhlacht-Maeleruain (Tallaght), at A.D. 798, or recte 803. He therefore seems to have been the immediate successor of St. Melruan, whom he survived in office, only for a few years. He must, also, have been the companion of St. Oengus the Culdee, at Tallagh. In our calendars, we find the name of a St. Aireran, also called Aileran, surnamed “the Wise,” Abbot of Clonard. The present saint’s name is not very dissimilar. He is also known as Airenan, and called ” the Wise.” ” He appears to have exercised the duties of a bishop, in addition to those of abbot. So far as we know, he is not distinguished as a writer.

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September 27 is the commemoration of one of the many Irish saints who bear the name of Fintan (Fionntain). In his account of the saint below, Canon O’Hanlon makes the case for Saint Fintan of Howth and engages in an illustrated discourse on the remaining ruins at this County Dublin site, only to finish up by saying that he doesn’t have any evidence that this is the Saint Fintan commemorated today! I find this a charming, if occasionally irritating, feature of Canon O’Hanlon’s work and even if we cannot conclude that the Fintan named on the Irish calendars at September 27 is Saint Fintan of Howth, I welcome the opportunity to learn of him.

St. Fionntain, or Fintan.

Nothing particular appears to be known regarding this St. Fionntain, whose name occurs, in the Irish Calendars at this date. The entry of Fintan’s feast at the present day is noticed, in a line of Marianus O’Gorman’s Irish metrical Festilogy. [It is translated as follows by Dr. Whitley Stokes:” Fintan himself against plunderings.”] Among the many holy men having the same name, and without any other designation, it seems difficult to know when and where he lived. On the peninsula of Howth, in the vicinity of Dublin, and at a considerable elevation on the Hill, may be seen the small church or oratory of a St. Fintan. It is supposed to have been formed out of the “survivals” of at least two churches—it may be of more—one of which was of much greater dimensions than the present church, and the other was about the same size as the structure now extant. The present “St. Fintan’s” appears to stand partly on the site of that early oratory. An examination of the foundations shows, that they are laid at two levels. Evidence for such conclusions are seemingly afforded, by the peculiar stone dressings of the apertures, such as found in the door, small windows, and interior recesses. There is a gable over the western door, now covered with ivy, but having an ope for a bell in its upper part; while between it and the door-way, there is a recessed circular window. The whole of the interior had been plastered with mortar, and the exterior was dashed; but, both the mortar and the dashing have fallen off, leaving only an indication that the walls had been thus treated. At the western end are traces showing, that the ends of beams resting on the side walls supported a loft, while light was afforded only from the circular window already mentioned.

A short distance from the church is the holy well of St. Fintan, but any tradition of the day when pilgrims resorted to it has not been preserved in the locality to give a possible clue, which might serve for the patron’s identification. An ancient cemetery surrounds the oratory, and there are still to be seen several tombs and graves. The scenery around St. Fintan’s Oratory has been described and admirably versified in a local legend, which introduces Aideen as the heroine, and records her rest under a remarkable Cromlech, in the adjoining beautiful demesne of Lord Howth. From the simple entry of his name, at this date, we do not feel warranted in connecting the present Fintan with this locality; neither is it established, on any fair grounds, that any other so called had been venerated at Howth. We find Fionntain merely set down in the Martyrology of Donegal, at the 27th of September, and the same notice is in the Irish Calendar, belonging to the Ordnance Survey Records.

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We open the month of August with the commemoration of Saint Nathi of Cuil Saccaile. As we will see in Canon O’Hanlon’s account from Volume 8 of his Lives of the Irish Saints, it was suggested that this saint’s locality was to be found in County Down, even though other evidence pointed to a Leinster origin for the saint. The Anglican writer, Bishop William Reeves, whilst he included the saint in his work on the Ulster dioceses of Down, Connor and Dromore, was unable to identify the place of Cuil Saccaile. Professor Pádraig Ó Riain, however, in his recent authoritative Dictionary of the Irish Saints identifies this place with Taney (Teach Nathí), formerly Sacoyle, County Dublin. He further suggests that our saint could be identical with Saint Nathi of Achonry whose feast is celebrated on August 9 and that he may also be the same Bishop Nathí who was said to have conferred religious orders on the monastics of Saint Brigid of Kildare. Thus although I have reproduced Canon O’Hanlon’s  account of Saint Nathi below (including his identification of Cuil Saccaile with County Down), I think this is a case where modern scholarship has been able to offer a fresh perspective:

St. Nathi, of Cuil Saccaile, in Dalaradia, County of Down.