OMNIUM SANCTORUM HIBERNIAE

Category: Saints of Mayo

  • Saint Aodhán of Clontarf, August 3

     

    On August 3 the Irish calendars record the name of Saint Aodhán of Clontarf. Although there are no other details of the saint as an individual, the location associated with him remains rather more problematic. For most people the name Clontarf will automatically suggest Cluain Tarbh, the County Dublin location of Brian Boru’s famous battle in the year 1014. Clearly this is the case for Canon O’Hanlon, whose entry below is illustrated by a picture of the Dublin suburb which he identifies as the place associated with our saint.  He admits, however, that a degree of confusion has been introduced by the fact that some of the later Irish calendars have associated Saint Aodhán with a locality called Cluain Cairbre (Carberry): 

    Article VIII. — St. Aodhan, of Cluain Tarbh, or Clontarf. 

    In the published Martyrology of Tallagh, this saint is called Aedhan Cluana Tarbh. This latter place is the celebrated village of Clontarf, lying on the north shore, at the entrance to the River Liffey, and near the City of Dublin. To this historic place— on the ancient plain called Magh n-Elta — allusion has been already made, in the Life of the Blessed Bryan Boroimha, King of Munster, Monarch of Ireland, and Martyr. It should now be a matter of great difficulty to decide, where exactly the former church of Clontarf had been located. The houses in that village range in a low situation along the coast, but they have a picturesque appearance from the Bay of Dublin, especially as woods recede in the background. According to the Martyrology of the O’Clerys of Donegal, a festival was celebrated at the 3rd of August, to honour St. Aodhan, of Cluain Cairpre. On what authority this denomination has been substituted for Cluain Tarbh, we cannot discover. There are various districts in Ireland called Carberry, and a still greater number of places known as Cluain or Cloon, either simply or in composition. But among over nine hundred places, so designated on the Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland, we can find none corresponding with Cluain Cairpre which seems to indicate, that the O’Clerys have set it down through a mistake.

     Finally, Pádraig Ó Riain in his Dictionary of Irish Saints suggests another possibility, one of the two County Mayo townlands called Cloontarriff which is also an anglicization of Cluain Tarbh.

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  • Saint Balin of Tech-Saxon, September 3

    September 3 is the feast of an English saint who came to Ireland with Saint Colman of Lindisfarne following the decision of the Synod of Whitby to adopt the Roman dating of Easter. Saint Balin or Balloin is said to have been a brother of Saint Gerald of Mayo, as Canon O’Hanlon explains:

    St. Balin or Balloin, of Tech-Saxon.

    The present holy man was a brother to St. Gerald, or Garalt, whose life has been given, at the 13th of March. The Martyrologies of Marianus O’Gorman, of Cathal Maguire, and of Donegal, record the festival of St. Balan or Balloin, at the 3rd of September. It is stated, that he came from England to Ireland, with his brothers, Gerald, Berikert and Hubritan, after the middle of the seventh century. He lived at a place, called Tech-Saxan, or the House of the Saxons, most probably because it had been founded or occupied by himself, or by his brothers, or by some of his countrymen, who accompanied him from England. This place is said to have been in Athenry Parish, in the Diocese of Tuam, and County of Galway. Castellan places this St. Balo in the province of Connaught, and his feast at the present day, as noted by the Bollandists.

  • Saint Loarn of Achadh-Mor, August 30

    August 30 is the commemoration of Saint Loarn of Achadh-mor. As Canon O’Hanlon explains below, he is said to have been an early disciple of Saint Patrick from County Mayo:

    St. Loarn, Priest, of Achadh-mor, now Aghavower, or Aghamore, County of Mayo

    [Fifth Century]

    In the published Martyrology of Tallagh, a festival occurs, at the 30th of August, in honour of Loarn, Priest, of Achadh-moir. In that copy, as found in the Book of Leinster, the record is nearly identical, for this same date. Loarn was the son of Ernasc, who lived in the western province of Ireland, when St. Patrick’s missionary course led him thither. At that time, Loarn seems to have been a youth of good and pious dispositions. He received the gift of Divine Faith, and he then became a disciple of the great Apostle. The incident is thus related. The illustrious missionary, after leaving Kierragia Airtech, came to Kierragia Airne. Here he found both Ernasc and Loarn sitting under a shady tree. To them the Apostle opened the welcome message of salvation, and, in return, he was kindly received, with twelve of his companions. They were invited to spend a week at that place. During his sojourn there, St. Patrick taught Loarn to write an alphabet. His instruction in letters and piety was rapid, and to the end of his life, it was in still greater progress. Moreover, the youth was celebrated for holiness and the gifts of God’s spirit. It appears probable, that he was ordained priest by the Irish Apostle, although this is not recorded in the Acts of the latter. However, St. Patrick had desired to establish a church in that part of the country. This place is now known as Aghavower or Aghamore, a parish in the barony of Costello, and County of Mayo. Near this place, too, Saint Patrick designed the measure and spot where a church should be erected. It rose near a fountain, called in Irish Tober Muena. The church was designated Seincheall, meaning the “old cill,” or church. When Saint Patrick had there laid the foundations of a church, in due course of time, Loarn presided over it. Some of our modern writers call it a monastery. In the Martyrology of Donegal, Loarn is commemorated on this day, as a Priest of Achadh-mor.

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