OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Saints of Fermanagh

  • Deacon Aedh of Cuil-Maine, July 10

    On July 10 Canon O’Hanlon brings details of a Saint Aedh, described in the Martyrologies as a ‘Deacon’. He identifies the locality associated with this holy man as Clonmany, County Donegal. Pádraig Ó Riain’s entry for the saint, however, places him instead in the County Fermanagh parish of Magheraculmoney and suggests that he is identical with Saint Maodhóg of Ferns. Deacon Aedh has a second feast day on August 31, one he shares with a couple of namesakes. So, he is one of the Irish saints who well illustrates the difficulties in trying to work through the evidence from genealogical, martyrological, and place name sources. Ó Riain’s account of the saint can be found on page 70 of his  A Dictionary of Irish Saints (Dublin, 2011), below is that of Canon O’Hanlon from Volume VII of his Lives of the Irish Saints:

    Deacon Aedh, of Cuil-Maine, now Clonmany, County of Donegal. 

    Veneration was given, at the 10th of July, to Aodh Deochain in Crichmaine, according to the Martyrology of Tallagh. Elsewhere this record styles him Mac Maine. Marianus O’Gorman remits his feast to the 31st of August, as the Bollandists, who notice him at the 10th of July, observe. At the the same date, an entry appears in the Martyrology of Donegal, regarding Deacon Aedh, of Cuil-Maine. This was the ancient name of the parish of Clonmany, in the north-western part of the barony of Inishowen, and county of Donegal. This church was served by a vicar, to the close of the fifteenth century. The village here is pleasantly situated on a small rivulet, which rising in the adjoining mountains finds its course to the Atlantic Ocean. Another festival, in honour of the present saint, seems to have been observed, on the 31st of August.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2016. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Sistan of Lough Melge, July 17

    The memory of a saint associated with Lough Melvin and described as a priest is preserved in the Irish calendars on July 17. This is really the only detail we have and Canon O’Hanlon thus starts off his account of Saint Sistan or Siostan of Lough Melvin with some romantic musings on how the very soil of Ireland has been hallowed by the remains of its long-forgotten holy men:

    St. Sistan or Siostan, Priest, of Loch Melge, now Lough Melvin, Counties, of Fermanagh and Leitrim.

    The merits of several holy servants have ascended like incense before the throne of God, and have secured his rewards. However, hardly can the patient pilgrim even alight on the sod, where their bodies rest. Yet, their undiscovered remains have sanctified that earth, with which they have long since mingled. Record or vestige of many holy persons that once existed in our Island can hardly be found ; still a magical spell, like an indescribable charm, hallows the surrounding lovely scenes, blessed with their presence during life. In the Martyrology of Tallagh, at the 17th day of July, is the following entry: Sistan sac. for Loch Melge. From the contraction sac. meaning sogarth we may probably conclude that he had been a priest. The Lough Melge, now Lough Melvin, with which he was connected, is a beautiful sheet of water, bordering on the counties of Fermanagh and Leitrim ; but, it lies chiefly within the bounds of the latter county. From the shores of Lough Melvin, its former holy inhabitants have departed long ago from the scenes of this life. Their souls have been received into a brighter and happier world. The Martyrology of Donegal records a festival in honour of Siostan, Priest, of Loch Melghe, at the 17th of July. In a table appended to this record, this saint’s name is Latinized Xistus.
    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.

  • Saint Coelain of Doire Choelaine, June 19

    On June 19th the earliest of the Irish calendars, the late eighth/early ninth-century Martryrology of Tallaght, records the name of Coelain, of Doire Choelaine. Canon O’Hanlon speculates that this locality could be the modern Derrycullion in the lakeland county of Fermanagh:

    St. Coelain or Caolan, of Doire Choelaine.

    On the 19th of June, we read in the Martyrology of Tallagh, that Coelain, of Doire Choelaine, was venerated. Derrycullion is the only Irish townland we find, nearly resembling the foregoing ancient denomination. It is situated in the parish of Aghalurcher, barony of Magherastephana, and county of Fermanagh. The Martyrology of Donegal, at this same date, merely records Caolán, of Doire. In the table, subjoined to this Martyrology, his name has been rendered into the Latinized form, Caelianus.

    Content Copyright © Omnium Sanctorum Hiberniae 2012-2015. All rights reserved.