OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Saints of Dublin

  • Saint Foelchu of Finglas, September 24

    A County Dublin saint, Foelchu of Finglas, is among the Irish saints commemorated on the Irish calendars at September 24, as Canon O’Hanlon records:

    St. Foelchu, of Finglas, County of Dublin.

    Colgan tells us, that among those Saints, who were buried and venerated at Finglas, in the Dublin diocese, may be found a St. Foelchu. The time when he flourished is not known, but it seems to have been remote. His name, place, and feast are solely entered in our calendars. A festival in honour of Failchon of Fionughlass, is set down in the manuscript and published Martyrology of Tallaght. The place where he was venerated, is now a village, about two miles north-east from the present City of Dublin, and in the county of the same name. The foundations of a much older church than the present ruined one are yet traceable around the exterior of its chancel… The feast of Faelchu occurs on the 24th of September, according to the Martyrology of Marianus O’Gorman. His commentator adds, that he was of Fionnghlaisi or Findglas. In the Martyrology of Donegal, his feast is entered, at the 24th of September.

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  • Saint Mochua of Clondalkin, August 6

     

    August 6 is the commemoration of a County Dublin holy man and monastic founder, Cronan Mochua of Clondalkin. In his account of the saint below, Canon O’Hanlon is unable to bring us many specific details of Saint Mochua as an individual, but compensates by supplying a later history of the monastery he founded. It is impossible for me to reproduce the many footnotes which cite the sources for this history, but if you are interested in following up on any of the references, Volume 8 of the Lives of the Irish Saints is available through the Internet Archive. The references to monastic foundations and their abbots in the various Irish annals is often a clue to the perceived relative importance of the monastery. Clondalkin seems to have suffered at the hands of the Vikings in the ninth century but nevertheless continues to feature in the sources well into the twelfth century, when the potted history given here ends. This would suggest that it recovered from the raids by the ‘foreigners’, not all Irish monasteries were so fortunate. A couple of final points – I have transferred the stanza in the Martyrology of Oengus for the feast from the footnotes into the main text, but note that Canon O’Hanlon says this entry occurs on August 12. I assume that this is an accidental misquoting, for in the text of the Martyrology cited by the author, the stanza is indeed found on August 6:

    ST. MOCHUA OR CRONAN, BISHOP AND ABBOT OF CLONDALKIN, COUNTY OF DUBLIN.

    That St. Mochua lived at an early period in our ecclesiastical annals is sufficiently manifest, from the fact of his being recorded in the “Feilire” of St. Oengus, and at a time when Clondalkin had already been celebrated for its religious establishment. In the “Leabhar Breac” copy, the following stanza is to be found at the 12th day of August, and it has been translated by Whitley Stokes, LL.D. — Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i., part i. On the Calendar of Oengus, p.cxxii.

    “Sixtus a Roman bishop bore upwards a buoyant troop:
    with Mo-Chua a victorious prince, from multitudinous Cluain- Dolcain.”

    To this is added a comment, that he was the son of Lugdach or Lugaid, and that he was previously called Cronan. Thus: “Mochua, .i. Mac lugdach qui prius Cronan dictus est.”—Ibid., p. cxxix.

    According to the O’Clerys, Cronan, or Mochua, belonged to the race of Cathoir Mór, and he was also of the Lagenians. Cainer, of Cluain-da-Saileach, was his mother, and the mother of the other six sons of Lughaidh, who were saints, viz., Lasrain, Baedan, Garbhan, Baothin, Senchan, and Ruadhan. In the Martyrology of Tallagh, we find a festival recorded, at the 6th of August, in honor of Cronan, son of Lugdach. He is the same, we are told, as Mochua, of Cluana Dolcain. This place is now known as Clondalkin, a parish in the barony of Upper-Cross, and County of Dublin.

    The first Abbot of this place was St. Mochua, and, it seems probable, he was the founder of a religious establishment there, at a very early period. We are told that he was known, likewise, by the alias name of St. Machotus. It is evident, from the accounts contained in the Irish Annals, which record the deaths of many successors in the monastery of Clondalkin, that Mochua cannot have flourished later than the eighth century, while it is quite possible he may have lived in a still earlier age. According to one authority, St. Mochua was a Bishop and Confessor, so that an ancient tradition seems to have prevailed, that he was elected to discharge the episcopal office here; but, whether for his own early religious community, or on behalf of the people residing near Clondalkin, cannot be ascertained. Frequently, in our Irish Annals, we find the abbatial and episcopal offices united in the same person.

    We have on record the decease of these following Clondalkin Abbots, who succeeded the founder, at the several years hereafter named, viz : Aelbran Ua Lagudon, A.D. 776 [recte 781]; Ferfuguil or Fearfughuil, Bishop or Abbot, A.D. 784 [recte 789]; Feidhlimidh Ua Lugadon, A.D. 796 [recte 801]; and Tibraide, son of Rechtabhar, A.D. 828. Lying about four miles south-west of Dublin city, Clondalkin has a Round Tower, still in a good state of preservation. Adjoining it, in a graveyard, are the ruins of an old Church, which is separated from the Round Tower, by the public road, which leads into the town. The etymology of this place has been rendered into English, as meaning, Dolcan’s Meadow.

    Having established themselves very securely in Dublin, and in other cities around the coast, the Scandinavians meditated the entire conquest of Ireland. Being so near to Dublin, and almost necessary for their preservation within its walls, Clondalkin was held as an outpost and fortified. However, having adopted Christianity, together with its accompanying civilization, at an early period, Clondalkin seems to have still preserved its Irish inmates, in the monastery which had been there founded. It would appear, that Amhlaibh, King of the Danes in Dublin, had a fort or palace here; but, at what period it had been erected does not seem to be known. From him, it was called Dun-Amhlaeibh, signifying Auliffe’s, Aulaft’s or Amlafi’s Fort. In the year 832, Clondalkin was plundered; and, as we are told, by the foreigners. In 865 or 866, Dun Amhlaeibh was set on fire, and destroyed by the son of Gaithen and by Mael Ciaran, the son of Ronan; while the Scandinavian defenders were slain, and one hundred heads of the foreigners were exhibited —according to the war usage of that period—after their slaughter at Cluain-Dolcain.

    That Clondalkin was an ancient episcopal see appears from various entries in the Irish Annals. Besides St. Ferfugil, we read about the death of Bishop Cathal, son to Cormac, who was Abbot of Clondalkin, likewise, and who died A.D. 876, according to Archdall, or 879, according to the Annals of the Four Masters. During the ninth and tenth centuries, the abbatial succession at Clondalkin was kept up by Ronan, son of Cathal, who was abbot here, and he departed this life, A.D. 885. Maelinmhair Ua Glascon, abbot of Cluain-Dolcain, died A.D. 920. Duibhinnreachr, the son of Ronan, was abbot here, and he died A.D. 938.

    In the year 1071, Clondalkin was burned; while the Annals of the Four Masters record at the same date the burning of Kildare and of Glendalough. These fires were probably accidental. About this period, a son of Maeldalua appears to have been chosen as an Abbot in Cluain-Dolcain; but, one Ua Ronain had usurped the Abbacy, and this was the occasion of a great scandal. In the year 1076, Clondalkin was again invaded; for, at this date, an aimy was led by the clergy of Leath-Mhogha, with the son of Maeldalua, to Cluain-Dolcain, to expel Ua-Ronain from that place, after he had assumed the abbacy in violation of the right of the son of Maeldalua. On this occasion, a church, with its land, at Cluain-Dolcain, was granted to Culdees forever, together with twelve score cows. These were given’ as a mulct to the son of Maeldalua. In 1086, the death of Fachna, Archdeacon of Clondalkin, is recorded. In the Annals of the Four Masters, at the same date, he is styled Fiachna Ua Ronain. In the year 1152, when the Synod of Kells assembled, the rural bishopric of Clondalkin was united to the See of Dublin. Afterwards, in 1179, Pope Alexander confirmed Clondalkin, with all its appurtenances, to the See of Dublin; while the old Danish or Irish occupants of a large portion of the land, Macgilleholmoc and Dervorgilla, his wife, surrendered to the use of its Church—expressly called the Church of St. Machotus—all their ancient inheritance. About the year 1184, Prince John, King of Ireland, confirmed by charter Clondalkin and its tithes to the see of Dublin, as did Pope Clement III., in 1187, Pope Celestine III., in 1191, and his successor, Pope Innocent III., in 1218. Clondalkin Church, the old ruins, the Round Tower, and a rude Celtic cross, are shown in Grose’s “Antiquities of Ireland.” This church was made prebendal by Archbishop John Comyn; and afterwards, Henry de Loundres, who succeeded in the see of Dublin, established the dignity of Dean for St. Patrick’s Church, assigning for his support the Church of Clondalkin, with its appurtenances. Furthermore, this locality has an interesting medieval history.

     

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  • Saint Maelruain of Tallaght, July 7

     

    7th July sees the feastday of an important monastic saint – Maelruain of Tallaght, County Dublin. The name of this great abbot is inextricably linked with the movement known as the Céile-Dé, anglicized as Culdees. The received wisdom about the Céile-Dé is that it was a reform movement which sought to restore a stricter ascetic discipline to an Irish church which had grown lax. Contemporary scholars have begun a critical examination of this thesis too, Westley Follett’s 2006 study Céle-Dé in Ireland: Monastic Writing and Identity in the Middle Ages, challenges the idea that Céile-Dé was primarily a reform movement at all. The Céile-Dé exerted a certain fascination for some writers at the time of the Reformation who saw them as proto-Protestants standing against the corruption of the Roman church. Romanticism has re-surfaced in the latest wave of ‘Celtic Christianity’ where ‘culdees’, like ‘soulfriends’, are very much in vogue. And no modern ‘Order of the Culdees’ seems to be complete without at least one leader called Maelruain. So what do we know of the historical Maelruain of Tallaght?

    His feastday is attested to in the earliest Irish calendars, not surprisingly as Oengus the martyrologist, was himself numbered among the Céile-Dé. Oengus pays tribute to his old master in the entry for July 7th thus:

    “With a great beautiful host, Parmenius’
    heavy troop, Moelruain ran to heaven,
    splendid sun of the isle of the Gael.”

    He repeats the sun motif in the Prologue to the calendar:

    225. MaelRuain after his pious service,
    the great sun on Meath’s south plain,
    at his grave with purity
    is healed the sigh of every heart.

    The later Martyrology of Donegal relates a story of the mother of Saint Brendan of Birr in connection with Maelruain’s famous monastic foundation:

    7. F. NONAS JULII. 7.

    MAELRUAIN, Bishop, of Tamhlacht, in Leinster. Tamhlacht is between Ath-cliath and Cill-dara. Maelruain is of the race of Eochaidh, son of Muireadhach, who is of the seed of Heremon. Brocseach was the name of his mother.

    Mainnsena, the mother of Brenainn, of Biorr, came to Saighir, and she was desirous of going to the island of Doimhle; “Go not,” said Ciaran, of Saighir, “but it is in Tamhlacht thy own resurrection and the resurrection of thy son, Brenainn, shall be.” He died A.D. 787.

    Canon O’Hanlon, in his Lives of the Irish Saints, gives a fascinating glimpse into the survival of popular devotion to Saint Maelruain well into the 19th century:

    Saint Maolruain or Maelruain, Abbot of Tallagh, County of Dublin 

    [Eighth Century]

    It is greatly to be regretted, that we have so few personal records of a saint, who was so very remarkable in his time, and whose life had such a marked influence on the revival of religion and literature in the early Irish Church. We do not know where he had been educated, although it seems to be a fact well established, that he had been well grounded in a religious and literary training, before he thought of establishing his own very celebrated school. He must have resolved on leading a religious life, when young, and he was probably advanced to holy orders, when he was of an age to assume their obligations…

    It is stated, that St. Maelruan founded a church, in honour of God and of St. Michael the Archangel, in the year 769. This, likewise, is the date given for the first erection of Tamlacht-Mailruain, in the Annals of the Four Masters…; and, if we may draw an inference from a Festival set down in its Calendar, the 10th of August was a day on which the holy founder brought to or deposited at that place the relics of venerated Martyrs and Virgins, with suitable rites and ceremonies.

    ..Besides his other excellent virtues and accomplishments, St. Maelruain is traditionally regarded as having indulged in literary work, and he is credited with having been a poet. Yet of his genuine metrical compositions, we doubt if many of them have been preserved. An Irish poem is said to have been composed by St. Maelruan of Tallagh. A much more important compilation has come down to our times, and it is known as the Martyrologium Tamlactense, or the “Martyrology of Tallaght.” It has been supposed, that the conception and authorship of this work were due, in the first instance, to St. Maelruain ; although, it is thought, he received assistance in its preparation, from the celebrated St. Oengus the Culdee, who was a subject and an inmate of his monastery…

    One of the eight Ecclesiastical and Religious Rules established in Erinn, and the sixth in chronological order, was that of St. Maelruain. It is known as the general Rule of the Céile-Dé , vulgarly called the Culdees. It contains a minute series of regulations for their lives, their prayers, their preachings, their conversations, their confessions, their communions, their ablutions, their fastings, their abstinences, their relaxations, their sleep, their celebrations of Mass and their other duties… It is said, that Moelruain originally composed his Rule for the Céle-Dé in metre…

    It has been stated, in the “Annals of the Four Masters,” that St. Maelruain, Bishop of Tamhlacht Maelruain, died, on the 7th of July, A.D. 787. Yet, under the head of Tamlacht, Duald Mac Firbis enters, Maolruain, bishop of Tamlacht, at A.D. 789, and at the 7th of July. According to the Annals of Ulster, Maelruain of Tamlacht, a bishop and soldier of Christ, slept in peace, in the year 791. However, Dr. O’Donovan states, that the true date for his death is A.D. 792. St. Maelruain was interred in his cemetery at Tallagh, and the site of his grave is yet pointed out by the people of that village. For the spot, extraordinary veneration is manifested; nor will the people suffer any corpse to be interred too near it. His festival was kept on the 7th of July, and it was long commemorated by the people with processions. This commemoration appears to have come down from remote times. The Martyrology of Tallagh records, that at the 7th of July, veneration was given to Maolruain, Bishop of Tamlachta. This name appears in the Martyrology of Donegal, also, at the same date, as Maelruain, Bishop of Tamlacht, in Leinster. Tamlacht, says the Calendarist, lies between Ath-cliath and Cilldara; but it should have been observed, not in a direct line. Even, St. Maelruain was venerated in Scotland, as we find him entered at the 7th of July, in the Kalendar of Drummond; from which we further learn, that his life was distinguished, not alone by his virtues, but by miracles. After his death, as we learn from the “Feilire,” which was soon composed by his contemporary St. Oengus, the people began to frequent his tomb, and after pious service there, with purity, was ” healed every heart’s sigh.”

    A pattern was kept up at Tallagh, on the 7th of July, by the people of the town, and they were accustomed to call it St. Mollrooney’s day. Probably owing to their mode of pronouncing this saint’s name, the people supposed St. Maelruan was a female, and they show an object called her griddle and her cake, in the churchyard. This information the writer has received from W. D. Handcock, Esq., in a letter, headed 52 Dame-street, Dublin, 26th of November, 1874.

    [O’Hanlon’s informant went on to publish a book on The History and Antiquities of Tallaght in the County of Dublin, which can be read in full online here and in which he informs us that the pattern, after running uninterruptedly for 1,082 years, was only abolished in 1874. O’Hanlon also gave some further details of the procession on the feast of Saint Maelruain in a footnote elsewhere:

    Every year, on the 7th of July, at Tallagh, and from time immemorial, the inhabitants have been accustomed to walk from the adjoining village in procession, bearing a long pole, crowned with natural flowers, to the site of St. Melruan’s grave. The standard-bearer carries what is locally called “the garland,” seven times in a walking circuit around the grave: then all the processionists return to the village, after prayers have been said at the spot. The pole is carefully set aside, until required for floral decoration the following year. This custom is probably but the remnant of an ancient processional and solemn religious service in memory of St. Melruan. The site of his grave is held to be sacred, and no person is allowed to be interred there. The people are accustomed to measure their family places of interment, as being so many feet or so many yards from the grave of Tallagh’s holy patron.]

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